Fieldcrest-Cannon reunion draws hundreds

By Hugh Fisher
Kannapolis Citizen
Hundreds of former employees of Cannon Mills packed Fieldcrest-Cannon Stadium on Saturday for the first ever attempt at a companywide reunion. The textile giant that grew a city ended its life in 2003 as Pillowtex, with some 4,000 employees.
In its heyday, Cannon Mills once employed as many as 25,000 in Kannapolis and surrounding towns, according to workers who attended the reunion.
And while Saturday’s turnout for the Kannapolis Intimidators game against the Hagerstown Suns only drew a little over 4,000 people overall, the former textile workers relished the chance to greet old friends and retell their stories of the “golden age” of Kannapolis.
“It’s been something else to be able to see people I knew out there,” said A.R. Tutterow, who came to the reunion with wife Linda Fay Tutterow. “All told, I worked for Cannon Mills from ’61 until they closed, continuously.”
A.R. Tutterow was first employed at Plant 1 in downtown Kannapolis. “I started as a sweeper and went all the way to plant manager,” he said.
In 1984, he moved to Fieldcrest-Cannon Plant 11 in Rockwell, where he was plant supervisor.
Linda, meanwhile, worked at Plant 1 and later at the Swink Plant beginning in 1973.
“I’m glad to see the city start getting involved,” A.R. said of the reunion.
The city of Kannapolis sponsored the night’s festivities alongside the Intimidators. The city provided free tickets to the game for former Cannon employees and their families.
The Intimidators worked with historian Norris Dearmon and Kannapolis History Associates to create a small replica of Plant 1.
The first 1,000 people received a hand-painted model of the mill, a keepsake that had more than a hundred people lining up half an hour before the gate opened.
“We wanted to create something special,” said Intimidators Vice-President Tim Mueller. He said the idea of honoring Cannon Mills employees came about in part because this July marks the fifth anniversary of the mill’s closure.
With rapid construction taking place at the North Carolina Research Campus, Mueller said that a keepsake of the mill that once stood there seemed fitting.
“All that’s left, really, are photos,” Mueller said.
Dearmon and his Kannapolis History Associates colleagues had hundreds of photos set up behind home plate, along with commemorative towels from as far back as the late 1940s and old weaving equipment.
The pictures jogged the memories of many former weavers who recognized bosses, friends and family.
Sherry Rhodes just about shouted with joy at the sight of one photograph.
“Come and tell me who that is,” she said to her husband, Gary.
While looking through the wall of photos, she found one that showed her father — a young Hugh “Chop” Jordan — working at Plant 1.
“God, I bet I was just born when this was made,” Sherry said.
She and Gary are examples of how the mill sewed together not just sheets and towels, but people. They were working at Plant 4.
“I met him there, and we got married in ’82,” Sherry said. “My mother, my dad, my husband, my father-in-law and me — we’re all lintheads.”
Pointing to a display of reed hooks and other weaving tools in a wooden case, she and father-in-law Edward Rhodes reminisced about their jobs.
“I’ve still got my reed hook and scissors,” Edward said.
“I could still tie a weaver’s knot with my eyes closed,” Sherry said.
Not far away, Lloyd Bittle showed off his own bit of plant history as he walked through the displays with his brother, Junior, and sister-in-law, Linda.
All three once worked in Plant 1. And Lloyd, who was there until the last day in July 2003, is ready to go back.
He still carries his employee I.D. card from the Fieldcrest-Cannon days — “in case we start back up one day,” he said.
City Manager Mike Legg said the reunion is just one way of honoring the workers who never gave up.
“The former Fieldcrest-Cannon workers are still really the foundation of our community,” Legg said. “I think it’s good to pause and honor the contributions they have made to our community through the years.”
There has already been talk of holding another reunion next year, he said.
This first reunion gave locals a chance to see how much history their town still holds — and renew friendships that not even the greatest of changes can dissolve.
“It was a family,” Sherry Rhodes said. “Everybody just loved everybody else.”
Contact Hugh Fisher at 704-933-3450 or hfisher@kannapoliscitizen.com.