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Serving Belmont, Mount Holly, Stanley, Cramerton, and McAdenville
Volume 78 • Issue 50 • Wednesday, December 11, 2013
Martin takes over reins in Belmont By Alan Hodge alan.bannernews@gmail.com
Following a Christmas tree lighting ceremony and celebration in front of city hall last week, the Belmont council and other officials filed into their chamber and got down to the serious business of running the municipality. First up was the swearing in of Charlie Martin as the new mayor, and new council members Richard Turner and Ryan Schrift. Outgoing mayor Richard Boyce, who had served for eight years, made a few heartfelt remarks to the council as well as the audience before stepping down from the dais. “I want to thank you sincerely for the deep privilege of serving you,� Boyce said. “I want to thank you as well for how well I feel we worked together in this town. To the current and future councils, I hope and pray we continue to work together.� Boyce went on to remark about the growth Belmont had seen during his term in office and a need for diversity in local government- especially racial diversity on the See BELMONT COUNCIL, 4A
New laws aimed at child abusers
Photo by Alan Hodge
The new Carolina Thread Trail section south of Belmont near Seven Oaks and DSBG was dedicated last Friday. Seen cutting the ribbon are Harding Stowe, Tom Okel, and Pamela Kimbrell Warlick.
Stroll the Thread Trail Seven Oaks Preserve new addition to Carolina Thread Trail
By Alan Hodge ALAN HODGE
alan.bannernews@gmail.com
alan.bannernews@gmail.com
Dozens of new laws took effect in North Carolina on Dec. 1 and two of them are designed to lower the boom on child abusers. More than 134,000 children in North Carolina were referred to county social service agencies in the state for possible abuse and neglect for the year ending June 30, 2012. One new law would increase maximum prison terms for the most serious child abuse charge from 15 years to 33 years. Another creates a requirement that parents alert authorities when they neither know the location of their child under 16 nor had contact with them for 24 hours. Failing to do so will be a low-grade felony, with no jail time on a first offense. The other new law is named for Kilah Davenport of Concord, who authorities say was severely beaten in May 2012, when she was three. Her stepfather was charged with felony child abuse. Prevent Child Abuse North Carolina helped craft "Kilah's Law�. The other law is in remembrance of Caylee Anthony, the Florida girl whose dis-
Folks who like to take a stroll in the woods now have a new place to enjoy the wonders of nature with the opening of a fresh segment of the Carolina Thread Trail, just south of Belmont. The 2.8 mile section of trail,
known as the Seven Oaks Preserve Trail, was officially dedicated last Friday. The trailhead is located at 6900 S. New Hope Road, across from the Seven Oaks Preserve near Daniel Stowe Botanical Garden. “The trail features beautiful views of Lake Wylie,� said Randi Gates, Carolina Thread
Trail community grants coordinator. “There are also two trails that connect with the Garden and lets hikers make a loop of 4.6 miles.� A number of dignitaries were on hand for the ribbon cutting. “This is a great day and a beautiful trail,� said Tom Okel, executive director of Catawba
Lands Conservancy and the Thread. “We have been looking forward to it for a long time.� Harding Stowe, nephew of the late Daniel Stowe, also spoke. “The trail fits well with the Garden,� Stowe said. “Daniel would be thrilled with this.� See THREAD TRAIL, 4A
$50k needed to move Fighting Yank
See NEW LAWS, 4A
BHS to host play Dec. 13 In conjunction with a new exhibit entitled “The Carolina Backcountry Woman: Hero of the American Revolution- A Love Story�, the Belmont Historical Society will feature a play on Friday, Dec. 13 starting at 7pm and lasting for about a half hour. The event will feature local historian Dan Seufert who will read letters of colonial characters Harold and Eileen that were written during the American Revolution. “Through Eileen's journal entries there unfolds the seldom spoken story of a backcountry woman's battles and struggles, her victories and defeats, her pain, sorrows, and sacrifice, as well as her contributions to winning America's fight for freedom,� said Seufert. “While the exhibit and play tells of one woman's experiences during the Revolution, it also portrays a universal story of women throughout North Carolina and the thirteen colonies.�
Photo courtesy Millican Pictorial Museum
This group of folks standing in front of the “Fighting Yank� statue are just a few of those who have contributed time and money to help see that the bronze soldier is moved to his new spot in Stowe Park next spring. A fund raising effort is now underway to finance moving of the World War II Statue “Spirit of the Fighting Yank� from its present site on Central Avenue at Belmont Middle School to its proposed new location on Main Street in Stowe Park, downtown Belmont.
The statue is one of only five like it in the nation. It was dedicated in 1946 on the campus of what was then Belmont High. Cost estimate for the project is $50,000 which will include a stone pavilion with benches and flags, landscaping, and security. The project “Veterans Memo-
rial Pavilion� featuring the “Fighting Yank� was initiated by Art Shoemaker, Bobby Brown, and Ron Foulk. A tentative date for dedication and unveiling of this project is set for Memorial Day 2014. Funding this project comes from donations by area veterans
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and citizens. No city tax monies will be used for this project. All donations are tax deductible. Contributions should be made payable to American Legion Post #144 Belmont, marked “Fighting Yank�. To invest in this historic event or for more information call Shoemaker at 704-827-8433.
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Call us today at 704.263.4646
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