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Thursday, September 1, 2022
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News from a neighbor! Volume 88 • Issue 35
• Belmont • Cramerton • Lowell • McAdenville • Mount Holly • Stanley
Thursday, September 1, 2022
Mt. Holly police getting ready for Labor Day weekend on the lake By Alan Hodge alan@cfmedia.info
Labor Day weekend is here, and the Mt. Holly Police Dept. will be busy keeping boaters and barbecuers on Mt. Island Lake safe. Last week saw MHPD Capt. D.W. Sisk and Sgt. W.A. Monroe take the department’s boat out for a lake shore patrol. The craft has a johnboat style hull, is 21-feet long, eight feet wide, and powered by a 150 horsepower Mercury motor that can send it skimming along at up to 50 miles per hour. It also features a center console, lights, siren, and safety equipment. The boat has Lowrance electronics including a depth finder and sophisticated 3D side-scan and down-scan sonar. The boat didn’t cost the taxpayers of Mt. Holly a penny. It was purchased with a $35,000 grant from the NC crime commission. Six MHPD officers have been trained in its use.
So, what exactly does it get used for? “There are several locations on the lakeshore where people gather to swim and party and we visit them,” said MHPS chief Brian Reagan. “Also, if someone on the shore or in the woods near the shore were to be injured, it might take officers on foot an hour to get there. The boat can be there in a fraction of that time.” In the sad case of a drowning, the boat’s electronics come in handy locating a victim. The electronics can also detect evidence such as a weapon thrown in the water. Thankfully, no one has drowned on Mt. Island Lake this summer. “We’ve been lucky this year,” said Capt. Sisk. The boat is not the only MHPD presence on Mt. Island Lake. Keeping the Riverbend Access Area at 199 Eddie Nichols Rd. under control has been a challenge. See MHPD, Page 7
MHPD Sgt. W.A. Monroe and Capt. D.W. Sisk take the department’s boat out for a Mt. Island Lake patrol.
Belmont Gadabouts are hitting the highway again By Alan Hodge alan@cfmedia.info
Post 144 past commander Barry Smith reads the rededication remarks as Susan and Frank Martello listen.
Belmont’s WWI memorial rededicated By Alan Hodge alan@cfmedia.info
Members of Belmont’s Auten-Stowe American Legion Post 144 and other patriotic persons gathered in
Greenwood Cemetery last Saturday for a ceremony re-dedicating the WW1 memorial there on its 100th anniversary. See MEMORIAL, Page 9
After a Covid-induced time off, the Belmont Gadabouts senior social and travel group is back on the road again. The Gadabouts are affiliated with the City of Belmont Parks and Rec. Dept. In fact, it was former Parks and Rec. director Sallie Stevenson who first organized the group back in the late 1990s. The group is for Belmont residents 55 and up who like to “go and do”. Currently there are around 40 members. Membership is free. The group travels to its destinations in a nice bus provided by Belmont Parks and Rec. The bus can seat 28 people and has a lift to help those who need a boost get off and on. After the aforementioned break in travels due to the
The Gadabouts recently enjoyed a lunch meeting at Simonetti’s in Belmont. pandemic, the Gadabouts have been logging lots of miles and smiles since early
EVERY THURSDAY
spring of this year. Gadabouts leader Phyllis Hayes rattled off a roster of
some of the places the participants have seen as well as See GADABOUTS, Page 6