First Cherryville

Third Thursday event is June 15 in Mini Park

City to host food vendors, music, and shopping this Summer and Fall

by MICHAEL E. POWELL Editor michael@cfmedia.info

Downtown Director David Day said recently that, “Cherryville’s Main Street will come alive on third Thursdays of the summer and fall months with food trucks, live music, and special shopping deals.”

When pressed for a date, Mr. Day noted, “The first (Third Thursday) event will be Thursday, June 15, from 6 to 8 p.m. That evening, in the Mini Park, the featured food trucks, wine and beer garden and music will be by Gary and Wyatt. Main Street merchants will be open and offering special deals. There will be a special food truck, Lake Side, featuring Lobster.”

Day continued, “We want to make Main Street a summer evening destination for our citizens. In addition to the food, music, and shopping deals, residents can enjoy the ever-improving amenities of the Mini Park.”

Some of the downtown merchants at whose establishments one can shop, said David, are Annalise, Art by Sherry, Carpenters Gifts, Home Folks’ Café, Houser Drug, IW-Med Spa, McGinnis Furniture, Niney’s, Print 3-D, Rita Rae’s, and Victoria Cole, said Day.

Mr. Day continued, “We’re working on new and more seating for our summer events. Plus, we now have free WiFi in the Mini Park. Our new living art wall is beginning to grow and will make a beautiful natural art piece for the Mini Park.”

Also, Day noted there is to be an antique car show in the North Alley.

For more information, citizens may call the Main Street office at (704) 4353451.

Gaston County makes history by earning AAA rating from Moody’s

Demonstrates rapid strengthening of County’s fiscal position

by ADAM J. GAUB Director of Communications/Gaston County

On Thursday, June 1, Gaston County earned a AAA bond rating from Moody’s Investors Service for the first time in the

County’s history.

This comes barely more than a year after the County earned its last bond rating increase from Moody’s, demonstrating a rapid strengthening of the County’s fiscal position. “This announcement is a testament to the vision of our board, the leadership of Dr. Eagle and the incredible hard work of our staff,” said Gaston County Board of Commissioners Chairman Chad Brown (R-Riverbend Township). “We’ve made it a priority to balance our budgets the last three years See AAA, Page 2

It has been almost a month since the big May 16 storm tore through Cherryville, doing extensive damage, felling trees, and changing lives in the blink of an eye. The city is still in the process of healing and cleaning up.

Cherryville City Manager Brian Dalton was asked if there was schedule from which the clean-up crews were working to assess the damage and facilitate the clean-up process. Mr. Dalton replied in the affirmative, adding, “We are trying to break the cleanup into sections and tackle a section at a time.”

Mr. Dalton noted there is a lot of storm debris obviously, and when asked where it was all being taken, said, “The debris is being taken to the Gaston County

Landfill,” adding, “We have taken over 200 tons of debris at this point.” Power was out all over the city, with very few areas even having any. Fortunately, the city crews and all of the other power crews who came from other cities and towns to help out got things back up and running as soon as was possible.

Mr. Dalton was asked if there were still any places without power and he said, “No, all power has been restored. Power was restored within three days of the storm to all areas.”

As for citizens who need city crews to come and pick up their debris, Mr. Dalton noted, “We are operating outside our policy and simply trying to help citizens get debris cleaned up. The storm has been such a catastrophic event that we want to work with our citizens. With the (large) amount of debris, it is going to be a lengthy process and we ask our citizens to be patient. I assure you we are taking steps to get it cleaned up as soon as possible.”

See STORM, Page 6

Minutes after the storm blew over, this power pole right outside W. Blaine Beam Intermediate dangles where the power of the wind snapped it like a twig. The pole’s power lines themselves sag and sway after being torn off their ceramic posts. (photo by MEP/The Eagle/CF Media)