Serving Belmont, Mount Holly, Stanley, Cramerton, and McAdenville
Volume 78 • Issue 11 • Wednesday, March 13, 2013
75¢
Drive has toilet paper rolling in
Photo by Alan Hodge
Bicycling is getting to be very popular in Belmont and the city has a Master Plan to guide its development. These riders were getting set to take off from downtown on a ride during last year’s Fall Festival.
Belmont is buzzing over bicycles Photo by Alan Hodge
North Belmont Elementary student Allie Payton is seen with some of the toilet tissue rolls she and her classmates gathered for the CRO and SOCKS relief organizations. The kids collected 1,000 rolls. By Alan Hodge Editor Alan.bannernews@gmail.com
When North Belmont Elementary fourth grade student, eight-year-old Allie Payton, learned of a plea for toilet tissue from two local relief groups, she quickly formulated a plan for getting the rolls rolling in. “I saw on Facebook where the CRO in Mount Holly and SOCKS needed toilet paper for the people they help,” Allie said. “So I
decided to start a drive at school to collect as much as possible for them.” Allie’s mom, Paisley Payton, contacted North Belmont principal Ryan Smith with her daughter’s idea of having every class in the school collect as many rolls as possible, then bring them to school. She made flyers announcing the contest that were distributed at the school. For an extra incentive, the winning class would See PAYTON, 5A
MH Sports Hall of Fame banquet set for August The Mount Holly Sports Hall of Fame has announced its induction class of 2013. In its seventh year, the Hall has previously recognized 37 individuals and teams. This year continues the tradition of inducting people who displayed excellence in their respective fields and bringing attention to the city, while showing character in the process. The Mount Holly High School Hawkettes basketball teams of 1944-45, 1945-46 and 1946-47 will be inducted. These three consecutive teams stand out as arguably the best era of ladies basketball at MHHS. The teams were coached by three different coaches. L. C. Ward coached the first team to a 13-5-1 record, G. D. Wilson coached the second team to a 15-3-2 record and a conference championship, and Wales Sigmon coached the third team to a 12-1-1 record and another conference championship. Together, the teams racked up a 30-9-4 overall tally. Mount Holly High School Hawkettes basketball teams of 1966-67 and 196768 will also be inducted for 2013. These were the two best teams of the Joe Spears
Archival Photo
Long-time Belmont Banner and Mount Holly News contributor Sarah Nixon will be one of the 2013 Mount Holly Sports Hall of Fame inductees. Nixon is being recognized for her “Community Spirit”. coaching era at MHHS, with records of 17-4 and 18-3, respectively. They lost only one conference game in two years, winning conference c h a m p i o n s h i p s each year. Their two-year record was 35-7. Inductee Charlie “Poss” Drumm was a basketball star on the outstanding Mount Holly Hawks teams of 194849 and 1949-50. Poss achieved state, regional and national fame as a 20-year competitor in the Senior Games. Competing in golf, Poss won the national competition for his age group in St Louis in 1989 against a field of 30 regional winners. His 3-on-3 basketball team won the state medal. At 80 years of age, Poss continues to play 3-on-3 basketball See HALL OF FAME, 6A
By Alan Hodge Editor Alan.bannernews@gmail.com
At the recent Belmont City Council meeting, a presentation on Belmont’s Bicycle Master Plan was given by John Cock of Davidson-based Alta/Greenways and it contained a wealth of information on the direction cycling is taking in the community. The Executive Summary for the Belmont Comprehensive Bicycle Plan covers a lot of ground figuratively and
factually speaking and is based on what is termed the “Five Es”. That is, Engineering, Education, Encouragement, Enforcement, and Evaluation. “The Belmont Comprehensive Bicycle Master Plan envisions a connected network of on-and off-street bikeways, that provides safe and convenient access between neighborhoods, schools, and downtown for all types of bicyclists,” says the Plan Vision Statement. “The Plan expands Belmont’s reputation as a destination for bicycling and recreation, as a community that
considerately shares its roadways, and as a healthy place to live.” The Master Plan recommends that Belmont have a bicycle network of roads and trails stretching nearly 90 miles. The routes would include 14.85 miles of boulevard and neighborhood roads, 13.73 miles of bicycles lanes, 10.9 miles of paved road shoulders, a 4.4-mile cycle track, 7.2 miles of side paths, and 36.6 miles of greenway riding. To help folks navigate on foot or on See BICYCLES, 6A
Brown recalls the roar of airplanes over the Catawba River By Alan Hodge Editor Alan.bannernews@gmail.com
Any hour of any day, people in and near Belmont can see and hear the roar of jets carrying passengers to and from Charlotte-Douglas International Airport. But there was once a time when the purr of Piper Cubs and similar small aircraft was the main sound that filled the air along Wilkinson Blvd. near the Catawba River. The reason being, Belmont had its own airport for several years there during the late1940s and early 1950s. The airport was a dirt strip that ran through Browntown parallel to the north side of the boulevard from about where Catos Trailer Park is now located down to Riverview Avenue. Benny Brown, 73, grew up in the area that was named for his grandfather and as a boy spent a lot of time at the airport. In fact, he credits those days with launching his career in aviation.
Photo by Alan Hodge
Benny Brown grew up near the former Belmont airport and still lives in a house where the runway was. In this shot he’s seen holding a propeller from a Piper J3 Cub of the type that was often stationed at the dirt strip. “I got the flying bug at the Belmont airport,” Brown said. “I went on to become a commercial pilot with over 3,000 hours of flying time.” Brown still lives in a house with his wife Betty and grandson Tyler that sits where the runway ended,
and often thinks about the days when small planes buzzed overhead piloted by characters from Belmont and the surrounding area. Of course, there was plenty of adventure at the little airport. “Near where the house is
there was a big tree and to land, the pilots had to come in over it and drop down,” said Brown. “Once, a pilot misjudged and bounced off the roof then went through the cabbage patch with the See BROWN, 5A
Scrapbooks from the ‘40s discovered By Alan Hodge Editor Alan.bannernews@gmail.com
When Benson Funeral and Cremation Services owner Benny Benson bought the American Legion Building at 101 Oak Grove Street in downtown Mount Holly for his new business, he found a trove of archival items in the form of old scrapbooks, but instead of tossing the treasures, he’s going to see that they go to a good home. “I’m from the old school and enjoy relics and history,” Benson said. “Mount Holly has an interesting downtown and the American Legion building is part of it. After I look at the pictures and other things that are in the scrapbooks I intend to donate them to a group like the Mount Holly Historical Society so others can enjoy them as
well.” The material in the scrapbooks dates to the late 1940s and early 1950s and includes photographs and news clips of Mount Holly American Legion Johnson-Lineberger Post 152 activities. A lot of the pictures in the book show members of the Post 152 baseball team, both individual players and the whole team. The baseball images were taken by Rumfelt Studio in Belmont. A news clip of the team has names attached and declares it to be the “first legion team to represent Mount Holly.” Some of the players included Jack Summey, Jim Rhyne, Otis McCoig, Bob Huffstickler, Bill Painter, David Beane, and Bob Kistler. Another yellowing photo with “Mount Holly News” scrawled on the back in pencil shows Legionnaires James Neill and Clarence Rice shaking
hands in front of an American flag. Yet another old photo shows an unnamed US Navy sailor in front of a large statue of a man clutching a bunch of bananas. An interesting clip found in one scrapbook and dated May 1950 in the publication “North Carolina Legion News” announced with great delight that Mount Holly’s Johnson-Lineberger Post 152 had paid off the loan on its building and elected WWII veteran Jack Summey as Commander. ViceCommander was Rufus Ingle. News of Post 152’s membership drive filled several pages in one of the old scrapbooks. The efforts paid off. By 1950 Post 152 had 250 members. Membership dues were listed at $3.50 a year. Another article in the scrapbook declared that Post 152 had been formed on Sept. 10, 1923 with fifteen See AMERICAN LEGION, 5A
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