HARVEST run sets brisk pace: Alex Thompson, 15, wins 5K with time of 17 minutes, 31 seconds

Sam Wineka
For the Kannapolis Citizen
It was a crisp 48 degrees Saturday morning at 8:30, but more than the preregistered 55 participants showed up for the H.A.R.V.E.S.T. Health Fair, 5K and Family Fun Run.

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BPW to hear about ‘No Child’ law

On Tuesday, Oct. 28, the Concord-Cabarrus Business and Professional Women will be holding their monthly meeting at Epworth United Methodist Church on Burrage Road in Concord.
Starting at 6 p.m., the organization is partnering with United Methodist Women for a non-partisan presentation by Teresa Gray, addressing the need for legislative reform regarding the issue of “No Child Left Behind.”
In addition, the Annual Awards Dinner is scheduled for 7 p.m. and will honor the outstanding Employer of the Year and the Woman of the Year.
North Carolina BPW State President Michelle Evans will also be in attendance.
Seating is limited and the cost is $12 with reservations to be made by Oct. 25 with Carolyn Williams, 251 Scenic Drive NE, Concord, N.C. 28025.

Cotton to towels: Distribution kept goods moving

Part 14 in a series

By Norris Dearmon
For the Kannapolis Citizen
According to an interview with Ralph Hoke Sr. in 1972, general superintendent of the new Towel Distribution Center, the first distribution center for Cannon was built in 1915. He told of the 16-inch-thick, 12-inch-wide wooden girders used in the construction of the center.
“They built things to last in those days,” Hoke said. “The first goods shipped were mostly white, although a few were beginning to be made with a border stripe. All textiles were shipped from here in shooks, pre-fabricated wooden crates, which were not nailed together when we received them.”
Cardboard boxes were not made at that time. The express was hauled to the depot by mule and wagon. Everything was shipped by rail.
I started to work in Lipes’ office, part time, in the spring of 1941. The office was above Mr. Hoke’s domain, on the top floor. We went through the loading docks on our way to work. At that time, cardboard boxes were in use. Most everything was still being shipped by rail. There were no dinkies in use then, either. All of the loading was by hand truck with one or more boxes on each trip to the box car. Two men would then stack the boxes in the box car as they were brought in. Blacks pushed the hand trucks and often would start up a song. Soon everyone would join in. It sounded good.
By 1972 all of the above had changed. Dinkies were in use and fewer men were needed to load the box cars. Truck shipments were becoming the prime mover of freight.
A new facility was desperately needed, since sales had increased dramatically since World War II. The seven-story, one-million-square-foot distribution center was designed, engineered and constructed by Cannon Mill employees. The modern building did not replace the original building, but just expanded it.
Some interesting statistics about the building are, it is capable of shipping 60 box car loads of household textiles per day, it added approximately 1,000 more employees to the staff and had a gross floor area equal to 231⁄4 acres, or 21 football fields.
Eight hundred tons of refrigeration were required to air condition the first three floors. A total of 23 trailers can be loaded simultaneously.
There were 17,000 bins to contain stock of items to be shipped. A picker goes through the bins to gather the items on the order and sends it to a packaging location. There a packer packs the order in a cardboard box, and it is placed on a conveyer with necessary documentation. There were miles of conveyors, and overhead tow lines were about a mile long.
An elevator-type vertical lift system was designed to automatically dispose of cargo at desired floors without the aid of humans. The system was designed by Cannon engineers and built by Cannon employees. A floor conveyor was activated when the lift reached its designated level. The cargo was moved to a conveyor just outside the lift and transported to its destination.
Luke Freeze, superintendent of the center, explained “without mechanization in this operation, we would be lost with all the poundage we move each day. In the warehouse section, a sizeable inventory is maintained to allow quick service to the customers.”
Moving and storing cases of goods was not the only work done in the center. Inventories of packing materials were maintained. Their own equipment made poly bags, printed cardboard cartons, color printed inserts, glue and other items used in packing towels and sheets.
Goods were shipped in cases, rolls, bales, boxes and wooden crates. They could travel by truck, rail, parcel post, UPS, Railway Express, ship and air. Thirty-seven truck lines, plus 62 private carriers — such as Wal-Mart Kresge, J.C. Penney, Belk and others — called upon the company.
Order, billing and inventory control were closely coordinated with data processing.
It was said in the business that Cannon’s distribution center at Plant 1 was probably the largest facility of its kind situated at one location in the U.S. textile industry.
Most of this information was gleaned from the files at the History Room of the Kannapolis Branch, Cabarrus County Library System, along with many more pictures not shown here.
Norris Dearmon is a local historian and volunteer at the Kannapolis Library History Room.

Still time to fill a shoe box for a needy child

By Joanne Gonnerman
gonnerman@kannapolis citizen.com
With Christmas morning just 64 days away, thoughts of gift-giving and altruism become more prevalent now than at any other time of the year. This is the season that causes people to bless strangers with kindness and nonprofit organizations with donations. This is the season that Operation Christmas Child loves.
Operation Christmas Child is a ministry of Samaritan’s Purse, a nondenominational evangelical Christian organization that provides spiritual and physical aid to suffering people around the world. Samaritan’s Purse was founded in 1970 by Bob Pierce, an evangelist who was inspired by the ministry he witnessed in China when touring the world as a journalist with Youth For Christ. Through Samaritan’s Purse, Operation Christmas Child now leads the way in continuing Pierce’s mission of supporting Christians around the world who care for the poor and hurting among them.
“This is a mission project to reach children around the world to tell them about Christ,” said Buddy Ervin, who along with his wife, Gail, is an Operation Christmas Child volunteer coordinator for the South Piedmont Area.
The two are busily preparing for Operation Christmas Child’s National Collection Week, which is Nov. 17-24.
Others are helping, too.
Volunteers at Parkwood Baptist Church, which the Ervins attend, completed a workday on Oct. 14 that packed 120 shoe boxes for Operation Christmas Child. Sunday school members had contributed more than $1,500 to buy items for the shoe boxes. Even the $7 cost to ship each shoe box was donated.
“These are people who are just pleased to be a part of this ministry and getting the boxes to the children,” Ervin said.
The filled shoe boxes are just the vehicle volunteers use to begin telling the story of Jesus Christ, he said. Although filled with items that excite and benefit children, a key item in each box is a booklet called “The Greatest Gift of All,” the story of the Christ child.
“All (Operation Christmas Child volunteers) are people who love children and want them to hear about Christ,” said Ervin.
Throughout the year, but especially as the Christmas holiday nears, churches across the region begin a focused effort to collect shoe boxes packed with items from socks to crayons, paper to hair bows, to ship to children living in desperate conditions in foreign countries. Individuals, too, along with businesses and civic groups, collect items to fill shoe boxes that will be sent abroad.
“We accept plastic shoe boxes or plain shoe boxes,” Ervin said. “We prefer just a regular size shoe box.”
The shoe boxes are packed for either a boy or a girl and are filled with items that are appropriate for children in three different age groups, 2-4, 5-9 and 10-14.
Since 1993, approximately 4.6 million Operation Christmas Child shoe boxes have left the United States destined for children around the world. Globally, that number is closer to 7.6 million. In the South Piedmont, more than 20,000 shoes boxes from Cabarrus, Rowan and Iredell counties have been sent overseas.
Operation Christmas Child is a volunteer-driven organization, he emphasized.
For information about Operation Christmas Child in the South Piedmont, contact Buddy Ervin at 704-467-4158 or call 1-800-353-5949 to locate a convenient shoe box collection site.
There’s still plenty of time to help.

Opera singer, pianist offer special music Sunday at Memorial

KANNAPOLIS — Internationally known opera singer and Salisbury resident Teresa Moore-Mitchell and local pianist-actor Daniel Dickens will perform at a special service Oct. 26 at Memorial United Methodist Church, 1100 W. C St.
The special service takes place at 10:30 a.m. on Sunday and will offer a combination of spirituals and dramatic pieces taken from James Weldon Johnson’s “God’s Trombones,” which is a collection of old African-American sermons laid out in poetic form.
A classically-trained soprano, Teresa A. Moore-Mitchell began her operatic studies as an undergraduate at Pfeiffer University in Misenheimer. She graduated with a bachelor’s degree in music and earned her master of music degree from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.
From 1997 to 2003, Moore-Mitchell served as adjunct vocal instructor at Pfeiffer and currently teaches at Winston-Salem State University.
At the same time, she has performed throughout the United States (including Carnegie Hall), Greece, Germany, France and Italy. Her varied repertoire includes contemporary art songs, operatic arias and Negro spirituals.
Moore-Mitchell will perform at the Salisbury Cathedral in Salisbury, England, this year.
Dickens is a 2003 graduate of Pfeiffer University and is an elementary school teacher in Stanly County. But his real passion is his music and drama ministry. He has visited many churches in Rowan and Cabarrus counties and surrounding areas with portrayals of biblical characters: Joseph of Nazareth, Judas and the Roman centurion.
The program will include “Lord’s Prayer,” a variety of spirituals, and the dramatic pieces “The Creation,” “Judgment Day” and “The Crucifixion” from James Weldon Johnson’s “God’s Trombones,” which is a collection of old African-American sermons laid out in poetic form, and influenced by spirituals.
The public is welcome to attend the service.

Kimball Memorial

Kimball Memorial Lutheran Church, 101 Vance St., invites the public to Trunk or Treat this Saturday, Oct. 25, from 4-6 p.m.
Everyone is welcome to attend in costume to trick-or-treat from car to car. There will be games, crafts, food and fun. Admission is free.
For additional information, call or e-mail Shirley Miller at 704-933-0850 or millershirley@ctc.net.

Trinity UMC

Trinity United Methodist Church is hosting its fourth annual Fall Festival this Sunday, Oct. 26.
The festival will be held on the front lawn of the church at 416 E. First St., across from A.L. Brown High School.
The festival lasts from 3 to 5:30 p.m. There will be game booths, relay games, inflated slide, face painting, 3-on-3 basketball, pumpkin painting, cake walk, pie throwing and trunk or treat.
Children are encouraged to wear their Halloween costumes if they wish. Everyone is invited to come and join in the fun.
For more information, call 704-933-1127.

First Presbyterian’s Christmas in October tonight

First Presbyterian Church in Kannapolis will get into the holiday spirit a little early this year, as members celebrate “Christmas in October” today, Oct. 22.
A turkey dinner will be served at 5:45 p.m. in the fellowship hall. At 6:30 p.m., the Kidz Khoir and Adult Chancel Choir will present previews of their upcoming Christmas musicals.
The evening will be a special variation of the ongoing Wonderful Wednesdays program. Supper is served from 5:45 to 6:15 p.m., with a suggested donation of $5 per person or $15 maximum per family.
The Kidz Khoir, made up of children in grades K-8, will sing a number from their musical, “An Island Christmas,” by Wayne and Shelby Haun. The children will present the full musical during the church’s Advent celebration the evening of Dec. 7.
The Chancel Choir will preview their Christmas cantata, “And Glory Shone Around,” by Lloyd Larson and Douglas E. Wagner. The cantata will be presented during the 10:55 a.m. worship service on Dec. 14.
Church members welcome the community to join them in tonight’s meal and Christmas preview. Call 704-983-4623 or visit www.First Presb.org for more information.

Wonders beat Piedmont; look ahead to Hickory Ridge

By Bill Kiser
Kannapolis Citizen
A.L. Brown finds itself with a nice winning streak going as it enters the final three weeks of the 2008 football season.
However, the Wonders’ coaches don’t believe their players have played their best game yet — something they hope to rectify when Brown faces Hickory Ridge on Friday night.
Game time is 7:30 p.m. at the Hickory Ridge High School stadium in Harrisburg.
The Wonders (6-2, 4-1 South Piedmont Conference) have won three consecutive games, including last week’s 28-0 shutout victory over Piedmont on a rain-slickened Kannapolis Memorial Stadium field.
“I guess we’re on a bit of a roll,” defensive coordinator Noah Lyon said. “The teams we’ve beat here recently are truly teams we were supposed to beat. … We could run at will (last week), and we had some big plays on special teams early that sparked us.”
Brown did all of its damage in the first half, jumping out to a 21-0 lead in the first quarter behind Jamill Lott’s two touchdowns _ a 54-yard punt return and 10-yard run — and a 2-yard Travis Riley scoring run.
The Wonders then pushed their lead to 28-0 early in the second quarter on Antwoine Jordan’s 2-yard TD run with less than 10 minutes remaining in the half.
“It was sloppy and cold … but early on, we got better,” offensive line coach Todd Hagler said. “We were worried about being able to run the ball against them, but we ended up doing OK with that.
“We were pleased that the kids played good, but we wished we had played a little better in the second half. But (the weather) didn’t get any better, the conditions were probably a little better in the first half.”
Lott keyed Brown’s ground game with 108 yards rushing on just 10 carries, but it was defense and special teams that played a big role in two of the Wonders’ touchdowns.
A fumbled punt attempt on Piedmont’s next possession set up Lott’s 10-yard scoring run, and another recovered fumble the next time the Panthers touched the ball set up Riley’s run.
“In the first half, our defense played really well,” Lyon said. “I’m not satisfied, though — our pursuit angles weren’t very good, and we didn’t run to the ball very well. I don’t know if that was because the field was muddy or what, but those are things we are going to fix this week.”
While Brown enters with a winning streak, the Ragin’ Bulls (4-5, 1-5) see their season heading the opposite direction.
Hickory Ridge — which finished 1-10 in its inaugural season in 2007 — opened the 2008 season by winning four of its first five games, but have since dropped four straight, including a 30-3 loss to Parkwood last week.
However, Hagler said that it will be a challenge for the Wonders to establish their running game against Hickory Ridge, which employs a 5-3 defense.
“They’ve got a lot of people us front,” Hagler said. “They’ve got some linemen that are tough inside, and they’ve got some linebackers who like to run downhill.
“This is another night where we’ve got to be able to throw the ball some just to loosen them up, and make sure that in our run game we can’t afford to miss a guy (on blocks).”

Northwest looks to end losing skid against Carson

By Bill Kiser
Kannapolis Citizen
In the last two weeks, Northwest Cabarrus has put together good halves against Statesville and West Iredell — and lost both games.
Now, Trojans head coach Rich Williams is looking for his players to put together a complete game Friday night against Carson.
Game time is 7:30 p.m. at Trojan Stadium in Kannapolis.
Northwest (3-5, 1-5 North Piedmont Conference) has lost its last three games, including last week’s 35-22 defeat by the Warriors.
In that game, a turnover-prone Trojan team fell behind 28-3 at the half, only to mount a fourth-quarter comeback that cut West Iredell’s lead down to eight points with less than four minutes to play.
“We’ve talked to our kids about playing a complete game, correcting their mistakes and keep playing,” Williams said. “Our kids really showed a lot of guts to come out there in the second half (against West) and continue to play, and continue to make plays for us.”
Freshman quarterback Aarick Hincher threw for 195 yards and a touchdown — an 8-yarder to Graham Wright — but he was also picked off five times (three by P.J. Clyburn, one which was returned 96 yards for a touchdown).
“Yeah, he’s had his struggles as well,” Williams said of Hincher, Northwest’s third QB this season, following Jeremy Cannon (injured before the first game) and Jonathan Wallace (who sat out the loss to Statesville).
“We’re trying to fix some things he’s doing, and working with our second quarterback as well, to see who can give us the best chance of winning this Friday.”
The bright spot has been the Trojans’ defense, who held West Iredell to 137 yards total offense and forced three turnovers (two fumbles and an interception).
They even put points on the scoreboard for Northwest, recording a pair of safeties in the second half and blocking a punt, which Matt Pless returned 30 yards for a touchdown.
“Our defense played really good the whole game,” Williams said. “Our offense played good in the second half, and we came up short at the end.”
The Trojans will need to put together a complete game against the Cougars (3-5, 2-4), who are trying to reverse their own midseason skid.
The third-year Carson program has lost three straight entering Friday’s game, including a 10-6 loss to North Iredell last week.
“Our kids really want to get a win, and we’re trying to put things together,” Williams said. “But it’s the same ol’, same ol’ — we play a good half, a really good second half, against West Iredell, but we couldn’t put it together in the first half and it cost us.
“Hopefully, we’ll correct those mistakes and get that win Friday.”

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