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www.KMinsure.com Volume 130 • Issue 28
kmherald.com • 704-739-7496
July 11, 2018
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City welcomes Thombs as RED, WHITE newest City Council member SCENES FROM JULY 4TH
& BOOM Inside: A & B Sections
Kings Mountain woman helps the homeless By Loretta Cozart Every day Kings Mountain resident Teresa Wingo ministers to the homeless, those in need with precious little of their own. She learned to do this from her mother and grandmother before her, by watching and learning from them. “When I was six, I watched my mother give a woman her shoes. She just took them off and gave them to her.” “Grandma Georgia would bake cakes and make extra food for anyone who needed it. Her home was always filled with people. Helping others is a generational thing in my family.” Wingo follows in the footsteps of two strong women who set her on this path an early age. “When I was young people called the homeless ‘Hobos’,” Wingo said. “I didn’t understand and asked my Mom why people called them Hobos. “Mom said ‘we call people by their names, because they matter to God.’ “In elementary school, I would to give my lunch money to anyone who needed it. They were in need much more than me. I would give away my toys and anything I had that I thought others needed.” These early life lessons continued with Wingo into adulthood. Each day, she collects water, Gatorade, and snacks to distribute to the homeless. Folks wishing to donate supplies communicate with her on Facebook and she meets them around town to gather their donations. She loads up her coolers and ventures out four or five hours every day. “I go anywhere within one a half hour’s drive from Kings Mountain: Gastonia, Shelby, Lincolnton, Cherryville, Rock
On July 1st at 3:00 p.m., Annie Thombs was sworn in as Kings Mountain’s newest City Council member, filling a vacancy left by the passing of Howard Shipp in March. Thombs is a lifelong resident of Kings Mountain and has been married to husband Daniel for 48 years. Together, they have two children: Pamela and Danny. They also have 4 grandchildren and, as of last April, one great-grandchild. Early in her career, Thombs worked in the City of Kings Mountain’s Redevelopment Commission for 10 years. In that role she acquired and relocated 160 families. Subsequently, she worked for the City of Gastonia for 30 years and retired
as their Assistant Community Development Administrator. After retirement, Thombs began working with with grassroots non-profits, training and advising their Board of Directors. One such group is the Davidson Alumni Association that recently acquired Davidson Elementary School, which they plan to develop it as a one-stop-shop resource for the community. Thombs foresees this as a facility as a catalyst for positive change. Among other things, she envisions a program there that will help redirect children’s creative energies in positive ways. See THOMBS, Page 5A
COUNCILWOMAN ANNIE THOMBS
Kings Mountain resident Teresa Wingo helps others in need right where they are. Photo provided Hill, Spartanburg, Rutherfordton, Charlotte, and even Asheville. I help folks in Kings Mountain, too. “I have an eye for the homeless, I can see them. I stop and offer them water or whatever they need. I ask people their names and spend time with them, because they matter to me. Everybody is God’s beloved,” Wingo said. She has become well known in the homeless communities where she visits. “I give them whistles and flashlights and when they see my car, they whistle or flash their lights, and I stop,” said Wingo. She is a lifeline for many in need and they are glad to see her. “Everything I do is for the Kingdom of God, out of my car, out of a cooler. I help ‘the least of them’ and I thank God for trusting me to love them right where they are. I go alone and don’t ask those I help how they got where they are now. “We all have bad days and we are instructed to help others. Only God can judge. Wingo says, “I just ask God to not let me love anything I own more than I love Him. “Every day, I work to help others, because God says, ‘through you, let them see Me!’”
Discharge of fireworks at Mayors Park under investigation Three Shelby residents reported being injured by explosives July 4 at the Mayors Park at the Kings Mountain YMCA.
By Loretta Cozart
The report is being investigated by Sgt. K.L. Hamrick of Kings Mountain Police Department. Reporting the incident were Sydney Meeks and Addison Meeks, both of 122 Cline St., Apt. 9, Shelby, and Sharon Crocker, 602 Broad Street, Shelby.
L-R City Council Members – David Allen, Jay Rhodes, Rodney Gordon, Annie Thombs, Mike Butler, Tommy Hawkins, Keith Miller and Mayor Scott Neisler. Photos by Gary Smart
Ferris lands featured role in Liberty Mountain By Loretta Cozart Devanna Ferris is a budding young actor who portrays the character ‘Franklin McQueen’ in the fifth season of Liberty Mountain. Ferris’ stage presence commands your attention as she breezes in and out of scenes with the finesse of a seasoned actor. During her first year of middle school, Ferris took a drama class and found that she loved acting. She has performed in ‘SHREK’ and ‘Rascals Under the Big Top’. She describes herself as a real ‘drama geek’. “When I take on a character, I become that character. It isn’t me pretending to be that person, I feel like I become that person.” Ferris has been watching Liberty Mountain for the last four years, since she was eight years old. Playwright Bob Inman is her grandfather and through him she has come to love the play and the story behind it. At the age of twelve, Ferris decided the time had come to audition for this year’s play and she was good enough to land a key role.
Playwright Bob Inman and Granddaughter Devanna Ferris Photo by Loretta Cozart When asked what it was do them over. When you look ments. “It isn’t difficult playlike to be cast in a profes- out into the audience, you can ing a boy. In fact, many of the sional production, Ferris only see the first three rows women take on male roles for replied, “It is exciting and because of the lights. Any- most of the battle scenes. This frightening at the same time. thing past that is just a black year, we probably have more men in the performance than Opening night was scary, be- abyss.” Ferris’ character is a boy cause you can’t forget your lines. You can’t just stop and from the overmountain settleSee FERRIS, Page 2A
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