Get the Look! Pawsitively the Best Care in Grooming
Kings Mountain Herald
OVER 20 YEARS EXPERIENCE! CALL
APPOINTMENT TODAY!
786 Bell Rd., Kings Mountain
704.473.4048
Volume 124 • Issue 31 • Wednesday, August 1, 2012 • 75¢
kmherald.net
FOR AN
PAWSITIVE TOUCH G ROOMING
Baby Justin in the fight of his life Benefit bake, yard sale set for Saturday ELIZABETH STEWART lib.kmherald@gmail.com
Justin Thomas Styers, a beautiful 10-month-old baby boy, is fighting for his life. His family asks for prayer. This week Justin and his family returned to Levine Children's Hospital at Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte for his third round of chemotherapy. The hospital and Ronald McDonald House have become second home for his young parents and their families for over three months now since the little boy was diagnosed May 1 with a very rare brain cancer called Medulloblas-
toma. "Most of the tumor was removed on May 3 but my grandson will need 8-9 months of chemo to stop the cancer from returning and the pediatric oncologist has entered Justin in a clinical trial of a new high dose therapy that will lessen the need for radiation later when he is older," said his grandmother, Tammy Styers of Grover. Justin has had six surgeries to date. The bills are piling up and other support from the community can come with donations through the computer link prayers for justin.com. Donations will go to a PayPal account set up for Justin
and then be transferred to a savings account created by his great-grandmother. A benefit bake/yard sale for Justin will be held Saturday beginning a 11 a.m. at White Harvest Ministry Church off S. Post Road, Shelby, behind the old location of Hallelujah Acres. Individuals or businesses wishing to make donations may call Tammy at 704-472-2974, Edna at 704-819-7056 or Diane Goins Injejikian at 704-9532368. Members of the family are also available to pick up donations. Their son's serious illness means See JUSTIN, 7A
84,000 POUNDS OF POTATOES
Potato project to feed hungry growing strong The Cleveland County Potato Project - a volunteer effort to feed the hungry with locally-grown potatoes continues to grow. Volunteers have harvested a total of 84,000 pounds of white and red potatoes so far this year, while sweet potatoes - yet to be plucked and counted - sprout in seven plots across the county. At half-way into 2012, the production of white and red potatoes is "equal to our total production for last year and is 41,000 pounds more than the total for white potatoes last year," said Doug Sharp, co-organizer and co-founder of the project. If hungry deer stay out of the seven sweet potato patches that have been planted, Sharp suspects they could reap another 30,000See POTATO, 7A
National Night Out Tuesday at Patriots Park The city will celebrate National Night Out Tuesday, August 7th, 6-10 p.m. at the Patriot's Park Gazebo. Local law enforcement and first responders will have displays and exhibits set up for the community and visitors to learn and have a better understanding of the services they provide. They include: Kings Mountain Police Department’s Criminal Investigation Division, K-9 Unit, Traffic Units, the Moss Lake Boat Patrol and the Explorer Scout Unit. Gaston County Rural Police and the N.C. Highway Patrol will be
JUSTIN STYERS
Where there is life, there is hope
Missing half her digestive system McDaniel recalls life-saving surgery JADA McDANIEL ELIZABETH STEWART lib.kmherald@gmail.com
The "I Love Lucy" road sign on Chestnut Ridge Road leads to the comfortable home of Jada and Cale McDaniel and their three children. Not only does the sign mean that the mother of the house, Jada, is a fan of the popular TV show but it holds an even more special meaning for the parents. Four years ago doctors told Jada Brown McDaniel, then 32, that she should abort the baby girl she was expecting because Jada was suffering from a genetic defect that had resulted in a very serious and painful chronic pancreatitis. That baby, Lucianna Jane McDaniel, nicknamed Lucy, was 12
weeks old when her mother underwent a total pancreactomy and Islet Auto-transplant of her pancreas. Doctors removed her pancreas, extracted the islets, and then transferred them to her liver during a 14-hour operation. Now four years old, Lucianna Jane ("Ann" from her paternal grandmother's middle name, and "Jane" from her maternal grandmother's middle name) is a preschool student at St. Matthew's Lutheran Church and the joy of her parents and brothers, Bryson Cale (10), a 5th grader at KM Intermediate School; and Stetson Brooks, (7) a 2nd grader at East Elementary School. Jada's bout with this life-threatening illness started in 2006. She
recalls that she was 18 when she had her first attack and the doctors blamed it on indigestion or her gall bladder. Those attacks continued intermittently throughout her 20's, but it was always said to be her gall bladder. Even with an attack causing her to go into labor three weeks early with her second son, Stetson, it was still unclear that there was anything wrong. "I just thought I was having strong labor pains," she said. By age 29, the attacks worsened, she followed doctors' orders diligently, and then her family physician, Dr. Jeffrey Carley of Kings Mountain, recommended she go to Charleston, SC, to the See McDANIEL, 5A
IN THE SPOTLIGHT
‘Foxfire’ premiers Friday at Joy theatre Kings Mountain Little Theatre, Inc. and director Stan Logan will present “Foxfire” on Friday and Saturday, August 3, 4, 10, and 11 at 7:30 p.m. and on Sunday, August 5th at 3 p.m. Tickets are $10 for adults and $8 for students and senior citizens. Reservations can be made by calling the Joy Performance Center at 704-7309408. Reservations must be made 24 hours in ad-
vance of any performance. No same day reservations will be accepted. Synopsis: Annie Nations (Eleanor Wixson), an indomitable Appalachian widow of 79, lives on her mountain farm with the acerbic ghost of her husband, Hector (Steve Austin). Her tranquility is threatened by a brash real estate developer (Caroline Dedmon) who wants to turn her land into a
vacation resort and by concern over her son, Dillard (Robert Jenkins), a country singer who has come home with two stranded children because his wife has run away. Annie's battle to decide her future takes her through some funny, touching, and magical flashbacks to her life with Hector. Dillard, See KMLT, 5A
KM players star in 'Little Mermaid' opening Friday The curtain goes up Friday at 7 p.m. at the Cherryville Little Theatre, 301 W. Academy Street, for the first of five performances of the one-act play, "Disney's The Little Mermaid JR." Five young actors from Kings Mountain and Grover are starring in the show. Sophia Kellstrom, former Little Miss North Carolina,
See CITY, 5A
See CLT, 5A
The cast of “Disney’s Little Mermaid, Jr.” acts out a scene in Cherryville Little Theatre’s play which opens Friday.
Store up your crop with ‘fruitful’ savings Great selecion of Preserving Jars. And at a great price! Danny
Bridges
Hardware
A.
7
A. 12-Pk Qt. Mason Jars B. 12-Pk. Pt. Wide Mouth Mason Jars
B.
99
699 12-Pk Pt. Mason Jars
STORE HOURS
Mon-Fri 8a-8p Sat 8a-6p
301 W Kings St. • Kings Mountain • 704-739-5461 • www.bridgeshardware.com