Wagstaffs deck the halls early for Community Free Clinic

 

By Joanne Gonnerman

For the Kannapolis Citizen

Did you know that lime green is the current, on-trend color that will be found in holiday decorations this year? Or that it’s possible to set a beautiful dinner table with mix-and-match plates?

If decorating tips like these sound interesting, then visit the Community Free Clinic 2008 Holiday House in the home of Kannapolis residents Don and Peggy Wagstaff, in the Village at Kellswater Bridge.

Holiday House 2008 is an annual fundraiser sponsored by the Community Free Clinic, a nonprofit organization that provides free medical care, medicine and emergency dental services to low-income and uninsured Cabarrus County residents. Read more

‘They had so much potential’

 

By Beth Feeback

For the Citizen

There’s a big void in the hearts of A.L. Brown High School students and alumni with the Friday morning shooting deaths of two of the school’s most beloved graduates. Read more

Cotton to Towels and Sheets Part 16: Carpenter Shop

 

16th in a series

 

By Norris Dearmon

For the Kannapolis Citizen

It would be interesting to know where J.W. Cannon was able to find all the carpenters, brick masons and other laborers needed to begin construction on his new mill in 1906. 

No one lived nearby except a few farmers. I am sure some of them helped in the construction as a side line. Read more

Hospital describes expansion

Council also hears about need for city recycling program

By Hugh Fisher

hfisher@kannapoliscitizen.com

The Kannapolis City Council met Monday at the Kannapolis Train Station.

All council members were present. Councilman Roger Haas gave the invocation.

Business before the council included the following:

• NorthEast: Council members heard a presentation from Carolinas Medical Center NorthEast regarding the proposal to build an eight-story tower and perform renovations at the Concord hospital.

Larry Hinsdale, executive vice president of the CMC network, presented a brief video highlighting the planned expansion. A state hearing on the proposed expansion was held Monday.

Hinsdale called the tower a replacement “for beds built literally when Mr. Cannon laid the cornerstone,” although in later comments  he said the actual bed count of the hospital would not change.

Instead, a few beds originally constructed in the 1950s, and others still in need of updating, would be renovated. Other hospital departments would gain space in the expansion.

The proposed tower will cost an estimated $264 million, with a projected opening date of January 2014. 

Hinsdale said the need for growth was noticeable as patients using the hospital on crowded days noted the age of some of the rooms.

Charles Cannon helped establish the original Cabarrus County Hospital in 1937. 

Hinsdale’s talk was for information only and council members took no action.

• Recycling: A presentation given by Renee Goodnight and the Environmental Stewardship Commission highlighted the continuing demand and need for a curbside recycling program.

Kannapolis is North Carolina’s largest municipality without a recycling program, according to research by commission members, headed by Goodnight and Public Works Director Wilmer Melton.

Goodnight described the large number of inquiries from new residents interested in recycling.

“A lot of them are coming from communities that already recycle and are surprised to learn there are no recycling bins or carts,” Goodnight said.

Eleven members of the city’s Environmental Stewardship Commission, formed last May, sat in the audience as Goodnight and Melton presented a proposal that the commission said could have curbside recycling up and running in Kannapolis within seven months of approval.

Also on hand were eleven students from Kannapolis Middle School. The Kannapolis City school district is planning its own recycling program, which may be online by next year if funding is available through the system’s budget.

They sat in the audience as Melton and Goodnight presented the commission’s report, which projected costs for single-stream recycling with a weekly curbside pickup at all households currently receiving city garbage services.

Single-stream recycling means that households could put all their recyclables – aluminum, plastic, glass and paper – into one container, with no sorting needed.

The key to their plan is a proposed user fee of $4.60 per month, which the commission projects will raise $993,600 for the program.

After expenses, including the purchase of carts, $10,000 for administration and $50,000 to educate the public on the program, a balance of $8,712 is projected to remain in the first year, according to the presentation to City Council members.

The initial surplus would help keep costs from rising as quickly in later years, even if fuel goes up, Melton said.

But Mayor Misenheimer expressed some concern about adding another $55.20 per year to each household’s fee load.

Councilman Richard Anderson agreed. “My concern is that if this council is not careful, we’re going to ‘fee’ people to death,” he said.

“I’m really for recycling, but I’m not ready to jump in here with what I see here,” Anderson said.

No action was taken on the proposal, which was for council members’ information only. But Goodnight urged that attention be paid to the issue.

Mayor Misenheimer commended the commission, Goodnight and Melton for their work. But it remains unclear when or how the proposal might be acted upon.

• Beautification: Council members passed, by consent, a resolution to support code enforcement and beautification efforts in the city.

Among the efforts listed are an educational campaign to better inform homeowners and businesses of code enforcement efforts, a partnership effort with local businesses and a new list of beautification and code enforcement priorities.

D-Day vet shares memories

By Lee Ann Sides Garrett

For the Kannapolis Citizen

When Bob Slaughter joined the National Guard at the age of 16, he had no idea he would end up fighting in one of the most difficult and historic battles in history. 

“I grew up in the Great Depression; people were starving,” the retired staff sergeant told a group of students at Cannon School in Concord. “I joined the National Guard. They got a dollar a drill. Back then a dollar was huge. I had no idea I was going into combat.” 

In September 1942, Slaughter’s unit, the 116th Infantry 29th division, was sent over to help the English fight off the Germans. On the way, an English cruiser ran in front of their ship, cutting it in half and killing 332 British soldiers. 

Less than two years later, on June 6, 1944, Slaughter was a squad leader for Company D as they landed on the beaches of Normandy in the D-Day invasion. Nine thousand Allied soldiers were killed in the invasion. Casualties included 2,200 American soldiers, 72 of them in Slaughter’s company. 

About 100 high school students listened intently as Slaughter explained how the Omaha Beach invasion was postponed for 24 hours because of a storm. Anxious soldiers waited to complete the mission they had trained so long for. 

“We were elated,” Slaughter said. “We were so sick of training that when the real thing came along, we all were excited.”

Slaughter said one of his buddies broke a small bone in his back during training and “he got out of that hospital bed to go.” 

On the beach, craters that were supposed to be blasted by air support were not there and the invading soldiers had no places to hide, Slaughter said. “The Germans had fortified the entire coastline. Pillboxes, mines, trenches, barbed wire were everywhere.” 

Pillboxes were small, round concrete forts for encasing a machine gunner. Slaughter said some units’ landing craft hit the beach right in front of the pillboxes, taking on mass casualties and losing nearly all their men to machine gun fire before they even reached the beach. 

Since the war, Slaughter settled in Roanoke,Va., and lobbied for a D-Day Memorial, which now stands in Bedford, Va. 

He has also written a book, “Omaha Beach and Beyond, The Long March of Sergeant Bob Slaughter.” 

Author Steven Ambrose included Slaughter in his book, “D-Day June 6, 1942: The Climactic Battle of WWII,” which was studied by Stephen Spielberg for the movie, “Saving Private Ryan.”

 Slaughter also got to walk on Omaha Beach with President Bill Clinton for a D-Day anniversary. 

“That was my proudest moment,” he says. 

Cannon School Senior Nick Coleman was in awe. 

“It was amazing,” Coleman says. “I’m planning on joining the Army myself. These are stories that only someone who’s been there can tell you. It gives us a more tangible perspective.” 

Coleman says he wants to be a Green Beret and is applying to The Citadel. 

Retired Lt. Col. John Falkenbury, who introduced Slaughter, brought the presentation to the students in connection with the nonprofit Carolinas Freedom Foundation. He was commissioned from The Citadel at age 22 and spoke with Coleman about his plans.

City opens new segment of 8th Street Greenway

By Joanne Gonnerman

For the Kannapolis Citizen

Teresa Parker of Kannapolis and her daughters, Kendyl Parker, 13, and Brandy Parker, 10, were in the right place at the right time Monday evening.  

The family had just begun their walk along the recently finished 8th Street Greenway at West A Street when they were invited to participate in the ribbon-cutting ceremony which officially dedicated the newest segment of the  greenway.

“It kind of brings the community together,” said Teresa.  “We walk at least three times a week as a family and the greenway is a great place to see other people.”

Gary Mills, director of the Kannapolis Parks and Recreation Department, said that cooperation between many people contributed to the development of the greenway.

“There’s so many facets to make this project possible,” said Mills.  “It’s been great to see all the cooperation.” 

The 8th Street Greenway creates an approximately 2-mile loop from Village Park to Bakers Creek Park to Loop Road and back, according to Karen Whichard, communications director for the City of Kannapolis.

Thomas Norman, director of the N.C. Department of Transportation (DOT) Division of Bicycle & Pedestrian Transportation, which funded the Kannapolis greenway, said that the DOT budgeted some $6 million during the past year for development of greenways and bicycle paths in the state.

“Greenways and bike paths are the (DOT) No. 1 priority,” said Norman.   

Roughly 10 percent of the 2008 DOT greenway budget, or approximately $620,000, was awarded to the city of Kannapolis to build a greenway. 

David H. Murdock, developer of the N.C. Research Campus, donated roughly 16 linear acres of land for the greenway project.

Encouraging citizens to get outdoors and be active and develop healthy lifestyles are reasons to build greenways, according to Norman.

Calendar

Today

• Teen author Amanda Burris, free presentation, Kannapolis Train Station, 2 p.m. For more information, call Parks and Recreation at 704-920-4346.

 

Nov. 22

• Barbecue Fundraiser, First Wesleyan Church, 301 Bethpage Road, 10 a.m. until the food runs out. Whole Boston butts, $30; order by calling Kathy Chester, 704-932-0248. Sandwiches ($3.50) and sides also for sale. 

 

Nov. 24

• Kannapolis City Council meeting, 6 p.m., Meeting Room, Kannapolis Train Station. Contact Bridgette Bell,  704-920-4303, bbell@ci.kan napolis.nc.us.

Astronomical group meets Saturday

The Astronomical Society of Rowan County will be holding its monthly meeting Saturday at 7:30 p.m. at the home of Ralph and Alice Deal of 1920 Deal Road, Mooresville. 

Weather permitting, the club plans on stargazing, so bring your telescopes and binoculars and learn more about the universe. 

For more information, contact Ralph Deal at 704-857-1591 or Alice Deal at 704-857-2788.

Kannapolis Academy grads recognized

City Council members recognized graduates of the Kannapolis Academy on Monday. 

The academy is a series of informational seminars given to city employees and concerned citizens to help them better understand the function of city government.

Representatives of the Police Department, Fire Department, Public Works and Parks and Recreation took part in the voluntary luncheon seminar series.

Local citizens, meanwhile, met over dinner in recent weeks to hear the same presentations.

Community Outreach Coordinator Renee Goodnight presented certificates to all of those who took part in the meetings. Additionally, Assistant City Manager Eddie Smith was given a special trophy, the Proud Peacock Award, in recognition of his department’s presentation having been voted the best overall by participants.