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Thursday, December 31, 2015
Mount Holly City official
Jamie Guffey passes away unexpectedly By Alan Hodge
wry smile. However, when it came to city affairs, he was all buisness. This writer saw him A true tragedy struck at council meetings and every Mt. Holly on December 18 time someone had a question, when assistant city manager especially concerning the and financial director Jamie intricacies of city finances, Guffey, 46, died unexpectGuffey was always ready with edly at CaroMont Regional a quick and accurate answer. Medical Center from compliLike many who knew and cations of a previously diagworked with Guffey, Mt. nosed ailment. Holly city manager Danny Just days before, at the Jackson not only lost a profesDecember 14 city council sional colleague, but a friend meeting, Guffey had been as well. recognized for 15 loyal years “My relationship with of service to the city. Jamie Guffey was honored Jamie started with the very Guffey lost his father, by the City of Mt. Holly for 15 day he came for a job interCarl Bruce Guffey, Jr. at an years service just four days view in the year 2000,” Jackearly age. He is survived by before he passed away unex- son said. “I immediately saw his wife of 18 years Beth, pectedly. on his resume’ that he graduchildren Ruby and William, Photo by Alan Hodge ated from the same college as mother and stepfather Sue me (Appalachian State Uniand Sam Carpenter, and others. A service versity). I knew then we would have a confor Guffey was held last Tuesday at Cramer nection, which obviously lasted for fifteen Memorial United Methodist Church, where years. Jamie and I had a wonderful friendship he had just accepted a post as head of the and working relationship for all of the years church’s council, followed by a graveside we knew each other. A lot has already been service at Gaston Memorial Park. said about his kindness, intelligence, love for Guffey was a graduate of Appalachian family and sense of humor. I can attest to the State University and a member of Delta Chi fact that all of that is true. Fraterrnity. Guffey had a keen sense of humor and See GUFFEY page 2 alan.bannernews@gmail.com
Chronicle Mill project takes another step forward By Alan Hodge alan.bannernews@gmail.com
The multi-year, multi-million dollar, multi-use Chronicle Mill repurposing project by real estate investor John Church at 96 E. Catawba St. in Belmont took another step forward when the Belmont city council recently approved rezoning the 6.01 acre site from Business Campus Development (BC-D) to Business Campus Development/Conditional Disctict (BC-D/CD) and also rezoning ten surrounding parcels totaling 1.14 acres where several mill houses were once located from General Residential (G-R) to BC-D/CD. Among the rezoning details, the former zoning had 30’ setbacks from the street, but
the new zoning will allow setbacks similar to that in “downtown” Belmont. “The rezoning will really help the city and us,” Church said. “It will especiallty help with the hotel we plan to put at the corner of Catawba and First streets.” In addtion to the boutique hotel, which is still in the early stages of design, other aspects of the Chronicle Mill project Church plans to implement could include retail space, a brewery, restaurant, shopping, amphitheater, green space, meeting space for civic events, office space, cafe, and an airy glass and steel lobby. The completed project is also seen as a link between historic downton Belmont and East Belmont. See CHRONICLE page 3
Southwest Region Teacher of the Year Bobbie Cavnar (center) is pictured (from left) with South Point High School principal Gary Ford, Gaston County Board of Education member Chris Howell, North Carolina Teacher of the Year Keana Triplett, Gaston County Schools Superintendent W. Jeffrey Booker, and Gaston County Board of Education member Catherine Roberts. Gaston Schools photo
South Point High teacher receives honor
Cavnar named Southwest Region Teacher of the Year For the fourth time in six years, Gaston County Schools has the Southwest Region Teacher of the Year. Bobbie Cavnar, an English teacher at South Point High School in Belmont, was named the 2015-2016 Regional Teacher of the Year during an announcement at the school this afternoon (December 17). He will compete against eight other regional winners for the North Carolina Teacher of the Year title. Cavnar has 16 years of experience in education, spending the past 12 years at South Point High School where he teaches English. He is a graduate of Florida State University with a Bachelor of Science in English Educa-
tion, and he earned a master’s degree in English from UNC-Charlotte. He was named the Gaston County Teacher of the Year in May. “It is an honor and privilege to represent the Charlotte region as the Teacher of the Year,” stated Cavnar. “As the Regional Teacher of the Year, I want to continue to be a voice for students and teachers and do all that I can to promote our public schools. We have great schools in Gaston County and across the region, and I am so excited to represent all teachers in the Charlotte area. This is a wonderful opportunity, and I am so grateful.” See CAVNAR page 2
The Year In Review... Interesting people and patriotism provided plenty of news for the first half of 2015 By Alan Hodge alan.bannernews@gmail.com
Though local economic growth and development continued to be a theme in the first half of 2015, there were lots of other interesting news lines including the return home and burial with full military honors of a Vietnam War MIA from Belmont and the grand opening of Goat Island Park Phase II in Cramerton.
January: The year kicked off with the retirement of Belmont’s long-time Parks and Rec. director Sallie Stevenson who had been on the job for 28 years. Another hot story in the Jan. 8 BannerNews was the announcement that local musical composer Meredith Varn was set to have her work appear at the NC Museum of Art. See REVIEW pages 8, 9 & 10
As we celebrate the season, let’s remember to treat one another with kindness, love and understanding. We hope you’ll join us in the true spirit of the season with prayers of peace and goodwill toward all mankind.
From the BannerNews to our readers, go our best wishes for a blessed happy New Year 2016