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Volume 117 • Issue 37
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Wednesday, September 13, 2023
City of Lincolnton Cherryville FD addressing recent appoints Greene issues with calling them or 911 as new police chief In case of emergency, callers need to know when to actually call the emergency number and why…
New Chief has Cherryville, Gaston County PD associations through children
by MICHAEL E. POWELL Editor michael@cfmedia.info
The City of Lincolnton has selected Brian R. Greene as the new Police Chief after a rigorous nationwide search for a permanent replacement was conducted by Developmental Associates, LLC. City Manager Ritchie Haynes said, “I am extremely pleased to announce this appointment. It is always grat-
BRIAN R. GREENE New Lincolnton PD Chief ifying to be able to promote from within, and I am excited that our search led us back to Lincolnton. Working with See GREENE, Page 10
The Cherryville Fire Department is addressing some recent issues with 911 calls that have come up; mainly why someone should call the all-important number as well as a number of valid reasons to do so. Assistant Chief Colby Heffner and a couple of his crew members, Capt. Trent Rayfield and Driver/Engineer Doyle Brown, came together and put together a list of rea-
sons as to why anyone should need to call the number. Said AC Heffner, “Well, everyone knows firefighters often work 24-hour shifts and are many times away from the phone either running fire calls, or answering the phones, but also they may be engaged in cutting the grass at the station house or other similar daily chores. They also are involved in training and continuing education.” Heffner noted the Gaston County 911 Call Center, however, is staffed, at all times, with trained telecommunicators and can field calls as many time firefighters are not always at the station. “Also, reaching the telecommunicators at 911 speeds up care to your loved ones, and important questions will
The Cherryville Fire Department’s station house, located on Hwy. 150, across from Rudisill Stadium. (photos provided) be answered and instructions can be given to help assist your loved ones until emergency responders arrive,” he said. Heffner noted the responders may also be able to “ping” your location should
you become disconnected, whereas the fire department does not have that capability. “If you are deaf or hard of hearing,” noted Capt. Rayfield, “Gaston County 911 is See 911, Page 2
Cherryville Little Theatre celebrating 50 years of art, plays, and fun Focus of the first part of the celebration Reading proficiency and math scores were up in a recent article is about the release of test data for public school students. upcoming productions (photo provided) of Sept. 22, 23
New test data show improvements from the worst of COVID pandemic “A third of kids in North Carolina are missing more than 10 days of school per year. This is, as compared to other states in the South, not a good number.” – NC DPI Superintendent Catherine Truitt by DAVID N. BASS Carolina Journal
Test scores for public school students in North Carolina are showing some improvement since pandemic-era lows, according to new data presented Wednesday, Sept. 6, to the State Board of Education. Learning outcomes continued to build on recent improvements, with reading proficiency taking a jump across the board. The biggest gains came for fourth graders with a 3.8 percent increase in proficiency for the 20222023 school year compared to 2021-2022. The smallest increase was seventh graders at 0.3 percent. The gains are even more pronounced in math. Fourth
grades improved proficiency by 4.1 percent – the highest of all grades – and seventh graders by 1.5 percent – the lowest of all grades. “Am I surprised that North Carolina scores on standardized tests still lag pre-pandemic levels? No,” said Dr. Robert Luebke, director of the Center for Effective Education at the John Locke Foundation. “While the general trends point toward improved scores in recent years, the glacial pace of improvement is unacceptable, especially after North Carolina has spent nearly $4.8 billion on COVID relief. Over half that money went to salaries and benefits, and very little too tutoring or spent on proven methods to address learning loss. When North Carolina gets serious about addressing learning loss, test scores will improve. Until then, I wouldn’t expect any real improvement in test scores.” The student achievement data is based on an analysis of all end-of-grade and end-of-course tests. The data show the percentage of students who scored at level 3 and above (grade level proficiency), level 4 and above See DATA, Page 5
by MICHAEL E. POWELL Editor michael@cfmedia.info
(Editor’s note: This is Part One of the story of the 50th anniversary of the Cherryville Little Theatre. It begins here, and will continue and conclude with Part Two, in the Sept. 20 issue of the Eagle.) Cherryville’s beloved Little Theater will celebrate a half century of existence and community service this year, and its most dedicated director and spokesman Wade Stroupe, now is the time to let
folks know what a great service the CLT has provided to its home community. To that end, he has put together a media blitz to let all know about an upcoming 50year commemoration planned for Sept. 22 and 23, 2023. But, let’s let Mr. Stroupe continue his story… “According to an old local newspaper (The Shelby Daily Star; April 28, 1973), ‘No one seems to know just how the Cherryville Little Theatre came into being…no one knows where the initial interest sparked or who was responsible for lighting the spark. The important thing is there was enough interest in little theatre to bring some 25 Cherryville residents out on a November evening, based on a radio announcement, and enough sustained interest to plan for a first production in May… Their enthusiasm and
A fragment of the Cherryville Little Theatre’s 50th Anniversary poster, heralding the upcoming celebration this month of 50 years in serving the community. (photo provided) energy are seemingly boundless, so the Cherryville Little Theatre is well on its way toward being a successful venture for the community…” “Yes, that is the way it
was! In November of 1972, a meeting was held at Cherryville High School, to gauge the interest on starting a ‘theatre’ group in Cherryville. See CLT, Page 8
22nd Annual C. Grier Beam Truck Museum Car Show a huge success We’ve all heard the phrase, “The show must go on.” Well, this past weekend, the 22nd Annual Antique Car Show, hosted by the C. Grier Beam Truck Museum, did just that. “We were blown away by how many antique vehicles showed up,” noted Museum co-directors, Stan and Kathy Bumgarner. In the 22 years this event has been scheduled, always running in conjunction with the popular Cherry Blossom Festival in April, this was the first year the weather made it impossible to hold the event on the day it was originally planned.
Best of Show – 1955 Chevy Two-Door; Larry Stikeleather, of Charlotte. (photos provided) The weeks following the cancellation, Stan said, “We heard from so many car enthusiasts who still wanted a
show, and we did too! The Truck Museum Board of Directors liked the idea, and our sponsors, Michael Beam and
FleetNet America, were on board as well. So, we set a rain date with no idea of what to expect.” With picture-perfect weather for last Saturday morning, by 7:30 a.m., the Museum staff and volunteers were ready to go. By 8 a.m., cars were lined up to register. Over the next hour the cars came rolling in. Said Kathy, “We had classics lined up Mountain Street, blocking traffic all the way to Main Street. The ladies at the registration table were working as fast as they could and our judges were trying to get everyone parked, but the cars just kept coming.” See CAR SHOW, Page 4 & 5
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