2015 Boys’ Track and Field Super Team
Teen collects ‘buddies’ for kids in need
page 12
page 4
Locally Owned & Operated www.matthewsminthillweekly.com
Volume 8, Number 25 • June 18 to 24, 2015
Mint Hill approves 201516 budget, addresses tax refund check issue by Josh Whitener editor@matthewsminthillweekly.com
Josh Whitener/MMHW photos
Camp ‘soars’ into its 15th year
MINT HILL – Residents in Mint Hill won’t have to worry about a tax increase in the coming fiscal year. The Mint Hill Board of Commissioners approved with limited discussion on Thursday, June 11, a 2015-16 fiscal year budget proposal from town manager Brian Welch, keeping the tax rate at its current rate of 27 cents per $100 of taxable property. “The town’s revenue forecasting philosophy has always been conservative and will continue for this fiscal year, due to the ongoing uncertainty of current local, state and national economic trends,” Welch said in a memo to commissioners proposing the budget. “… Our citizens and board (of commissioners) have (see Mint Hill Budget on page 5)
Annual Special Olympics program attracts hundreds of participants, volunteers by Josh Whitener editor@matthewsminthillweekly.com
Fifteen years ago, Bob Bowler had a vision to offer a free Special Olympics camp to area individuals with disabilities, and held the first-ever Camp SOAR (Special Olympics Athletic Retreat) at the Levine Jewish Community Center. Fifty-four campers and a handful of volunteers attended that year. Fast-forward one-and-a-half decades,
and the camp now serves more than 360 campers of all ages each year and attracts at least 400 volunteers annually, who give up part or all of their weekdays to work at the camp for one week. This year’s Camp SOAR began on Monday, June 15, and will run through Friday, June 19, at the Levine Jewish Community Center (JCC), which has provided the use of its facilities since
Camp SOAR’s inception. Camp SOAR is a donation-based camp open to individuals with intellectual disabilities living in Mecklenburg, Union and surrounding counties. The camp runs Monday to Friday for one week in mid-June each year. Campers 12 to 25 years old attend camp on Wednesday and Thursday, while those 26 years old and older attend on (see Camp Soar on page 3)
INDEX: News Briefs, 6; Crime Blotter, 7; Education, 8; Faith, 10; Calendar, 11; Sports, 12; Classifieds, 15
Pediatric Boulevard
Union County’s largest pediatric therapy clinic offering services for children ages birth through 20.
Speech/Feeding Therapy • Physical Therapy Occupational Therapy • Aquatic Therapy Services
www.pediatricboulevard.com
704-821-0568
“Is your 13 month old walking independently, feeding himself with a spoon and imitating simple words???” Call us for a free screen to see if your child is meeting his or her developmental milestones appropriately.
S t ro ll in g D o w n th e B o u le v a rd