Clear Creek to host fundraising night of fun
Boys and girls basketball stats page 20
page 12 Locally Owned & Operated www.matthewsminthillweekly.com
Volume 8, Number 4 • Jan. 22 to 28, 2015
An unsung hero of the Civil Rights Movement Colleague of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. reflects on 1960s-era fight for social justice by Josh Whitener editor@matthewsminthillweekly.com
Josh Whitener/MMHW photo
Dirt moving along South Trade Street Town breaks ground on project, drivers to see increased activity by Josh Whitener editor@matthewsminthillweekly.com
MATTHEWS – Construction workers have begun moving dirt on the South Trade Street widening project, and drivers in Matthews should expect to see increased activity next month. Matthews held a ceremonial
groundbreaking for the project on Friday, Jan. 16, though work on the project began earlier this month. Town officials and staff; representatives from the North Carolina Department of Transportation; N.C. Rep. and Matthews resident Bill Brawley; and Rev. Ken Lyon, senior pastor of Matthews United Methodist Church, were among those attending. “Here we are, over 10 years later from the time we wanted to do something about (widening South Trade), and
we’re actually turning dirt and making the project become a reality,” Matthews Mayor Jim Taylor said at the ceremony. The South Trade widening project first appeared on the town’s radar more than a decade ago. Matthews voters passed $5.5 million in streets bonds in 2004, and while the bonds weren’t attached to any specific project, widening South Trade Street was listed as a possibility. But as plans developed, town (see South Trade Street on page 10)
MINT HILL – It was 1960 in Atlanta, Georgia. Rev. Dr. Jesse L. Douglas Sr. was a student at the Interdenominational Theological Seminary and visiting the school library, when a chance meeting changed his life and, potentially, altered the course of American history. “We both happened to be in the library at the same time,” Douglas, now a resident of Clear Creek Nursing & Rehabilitation Center in Mint Hill, said. “Somehow we struck up a conversation, and I got to know who he was.” The “he” Douglas was referring to is Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Before meeting in the school library, Douglas didn’t know much about King beyond who he was. In the years that followed, Douglas, under King’s wing, became an integral part of the mid-20th century American Civil Rights Movement, eventually walking arm-inarm with King in a famous civil rights march in 1965. Meeting King inspired Douglas to join a student-formed organization, the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, which launched a series of nonviolent demonstrations in area stores and restaurants that refused to serve black customers. One of such demonstrations took place in an eating facility in Atlanta’s capitol building. “When we got there … we were talking about a strategy. We knew if our entire group marched in there at one time, (the restaurant) would (see Douglas on page 4)
INDEX: News Briefs, 6; Crime Blotter, 7; Scores, 8; Education, 12; A&E, 16; Calendar, 18; Sports, 20; Classifieds, 23