April 14, 2023 Coats Museum News
How many of you can remember who the school secretary was when you attended public schools? If you attended Coats High School, it might depend upon the years you were educated there. I personally remember first -Miss Louise Smith who later became Mrs. Leron Parrish. I want to think that she was allowed to ride a school bus to school. There was Mrs. Mildred Dorman Avery who herself was a former Coats student. Mrs. Tyson was another secretary. I think she was from Erwin. I do know she made the most delicious cooked fruitcakes and gave one to my husband H.L. along with the recipe. I don’t know if that was a hint that I could make him the next one or not but I did the next Christmas.
The secretary I remember best is Joy Bowden Coats. She was a former student of H.L.’s and he highly recommended to Mr. Joe Hawley to hire her when a vacancy became available. That was the best advice H.L. gave to Mr. Hawley and one of the wisest decisions he accepted. Joy had a smile as wide as the ocean and the patience even deeper. Can you imagine having to keep over 800 plus students and 50 or more staff informed on what could, should or must be done at a K-12? I never saw her lose her cool.
Joy and Dottie lost their father, Herman Bowden, 68, who had died on a Wednesday. He was a retired body repairman for Collins Chevrolet in Dunn. Services were at the Coats United Methodist Church in Coats with burial in the Lakeside Memorial Gardens. His survivors were his wife Lillian Bowden, and two daughters-Dottie Tyndall and Joy Coats (Daily Record July 23, 1992).
The Coats Area Chamber of Commerce named the Pope’s Repair Shop as its Focus of the Week. Gail Pope, who operated the business with the assistance of his wife, Hilda, owned the business. Gail had learned the business from his Dad, Willis Pope, and from 20 years of gun repair business as a civilian employee at Fort Bragg. The shop was located at the Pope home place northeast of Coats (Daily Record July 22, 1992).
About 50 people were present at the Coats Baptist Church to honor Fred Robinson, scoutmaster of the Troop 779. Mayor and Mrs. Tim McKinnie had helped organize the event. Fred had 40 years in Scouts beginning in Cub Scouts in 1954. He had earned countless honors and awards. Two were the Good Shepherd Award and the Silver Beaver Award. Sharon Heath also played a role in the event (Daily Record July 23, 1992).
How does one measure the impact that Fred Robinson has had on the lives of young scouts in the Coats area?
The Coats All Stars defeated Angier 8-6 due to the solid pitching of Brooks West and the fine defensive play by Steven Tart. Gary Walden, Kevin Blackman, Thomas Hamilton, Ashley Stewart, and Adam Ennis helped Coats emerge as the winner (Daily Record July 24, 1992).
Death came and took a very young woman connected to the Coats area. Barbara Jean McNeill Wallace, 38, had died on Friday. Burial was in the James Cemetery near Coats. She was survived by James Roscoe and Annie Ruth McNeill of Coats. Her fiancé’ was Timothy Jones. Her brothers were Cural Van McNeill, Tony Dale McNeill, Whynn McNeill and Curtis McNeill–all of Coats. Staff Sgt. Charles McNeill was also her brother (Daily Record July 28, 1992).
Jeffrey Holmes and Claris Holmes announced the birth of a son, Jeffrey Allen Holmes, born at the Central Carolina Hospital. Maternal grandparents of the baby were Cathy Simpkins and Charles Holifield and paternal grandparents were Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Holmes (Daily Record July 30, 1992).
Have you ever visited the western states during July? I know they are extremely beautiful in the spring. Well I do know that Conrey and Sarah Ennis Flowers spent days in the western U.S. taking in dozens of tourists sites. They were not alone, however, because Fletcher and Verle Flowers were sightseeing with them as part of the children’s 50th wedding anniversary gift (Daliy Record July 30, 1992). Wonder what the other part of the gift was.
I wonder who is more excited when a child receives a college scholarship- the parents or the student. Michelle Ennis Smith of Coats was awarded a Scott-Ellis Transfer Scholarship at Campbell University. She was the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Gerald Ennis of Coats and the wife of Johnny Smith (Daily Record Aug. 5, 1992).
Can you imagine how excited Edna Beasley was to see an old friend from Annapolis, Maryland whom she had not seen in over 47 years? Since Edna had recently had a transplant in one eye, she was likely able to really see her old friend better.
Get well wishes were sent from Belle in her notes to Mrs. Rosa Lee Moore who was recovering at her daughter’s house, Betty Gregory, in Garner. (Was this Mr. Clarence Moore’s wife? Everyone with any age at all remembers Mr. Clarence Moore and his policing skills!)
Dallas Jones was at Wake Med with a broken hip. She also went wishes to Ms. Ellie West, Ray Roberts and Nancy who had undergone surgeries (Daily Record Aug. 6, 1992).
We seem to read more about the Boy Scouts in Coats than we do the Girl Scouts. They, however, were very busy young ladies. Jennifer Robinson and Terri Bennett had attended the Girls Scouts camp at Kerr Lake (Daily Record Aug. 6, 1992).
Practically every day I have someone express to me that they had never been so shocked to hear about H.L.’s death. I am sure that the Honeycutt family heard similar comments when Dan died; but in 1992, there was good news about Dan. He had been picked to replace Leonard Arnold as principal of Triton High School. Dan had taught agriculture at Coats High School for 13 years and became an assistant principal at Triton when it opened in 1985. He had served as principal at Erwin Middle for the past two years. Dan had received his Masters in Education at Campbell University (Daily Record Aug. 8, 1992).
Memorial gifts to the museum for H.L continue to be appreciated by our family and the museum folks. A special thank you goes to the ones who have given recently -- Ralph and Lorena Denning, Debbie and Vincent Bryce, Stewart Akerman, Andrea Smith, Rose Mary McCaffrey and the J.B. Smith family. We hope H.L.’s dream for an even bigger and better museum will be realized someday.
How many of you can remember who the school secretary was when you attended public schools? If you attended Coats High School, it might depend upon the years you were educated there. I personally remember first -Miss Louise Smith who later became Mrs. Leron Parrish. I want to think that she was allowed to ride a school bus to school. There was Mrs. Mildred Dorman Avery who herself was a former Coats student. Mrs. Tyson was another secretary. I think she was from Erwin. I do know she made the most delicious cooked fruitcakes and gave one to my husband H.L. along with the recipe. I don’t know if that was a hint that I could make him the next one or not but I did the next Christmas.
The secretary I remember best is Joy Bowden Coats. She was a former student of H.L.’s and he highly recommended to Mr. Joe Hawley to hire her when a vacancy became available. That was the best advice H.L. gave to Mr. Hawley and one of the wisest decisions he accepted. Joy had a smile as wide as the ocean and the patience even deeper. Can you imagine having to keep over 800 plus students and 50 or more staff informed on what could, should or must be done at a K-12? I never saw her lose her cool.
Joy and Dottie lost their father, Herman Bowden, 68, who had died on a Wednesday. He was a retired body repairman for Collins Chevrolet in Dunn. Services were at the Coats United Methodist Church in Coats with burial in the Lakeside Memorial Gardens. His survivors were his wife Lillian Bowden, and two daughters-Dottie Tyndall and Joy Coats (Daily Record July 23, 1992).
The Coats Area Chamber of Commerce named the Pope’s Repair Shop as its Focus of the Week. Gail Pope, who operated the business with the assistance of his wife, Hilda, owned the business. Gail had learned the business from his Dad, Willis Pope, and from 20 years of gun repair business as a civilian employee at Fort Bragg. The shop was located at the Pope home place northeast of Coats (Daily Record July 22, 1992).
About 50 people were present at the Coats Baptist Church to honor Fred Robinson, scoutmaster of the Troop 779. Mayor and Mrs. Tim McKinnie had helped organize the event. Fred had 40 years in Scouts beginning in Cub Scouts in 1954. He had earned countless honors and awards. Two were the Good Shepherd Award and the Silver Beaver Award. Sharon Heath also played a role in the event (Daily Record July 23, 1992).
How does one measure the impact that Fred Robinson has had on the lives of young scouts in the Coats area?
The Coats All Stars defeated Angier 8-6 due to the solid pitching of Brooks West and the fine defensive play by Steven Tart. Gary Walden, Kevin Blackman, Thomas Hamilton, Ashley Stewart, and Adam Ennis helped Coats emerge as the winner (Daily Record July 24, 1992).
Death came and took a very young woman connected to the Coats area. Barbara Jean McNeill Wallace, 38, had died on Friday. Burial was in the James Cemetery near Coats. She was survived by James Roscoe and Annie Ruth McNeill of Coats. Her fiancé’ was Timothy Jones. Her brothers were Cural Van McNeill, Tony Dale McNeill, Whynn McNeill and Curtis McNeill–all of Coats. Staff Sgt. Charles McNeill was also her brother (Daily Record July 28, 1992).
Jeffrey Holmes and Claris Holmes announced the birth of a son, Jeffrey Allen Holmes, born at the Central Carolina Hospital. Maternal grandparents of the baby were Cathy Simpkins and Charles Holifield and paternal grandparents were Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Holmes (Daily Record July 30, 1992).
Have you ever visited the western states during July? I know they are extremely beautiful in the spring. Well I do know that Conrey and Sarah Ennis Flowers spent days in the western U.S. taking in dozens of tourists sites. They were not alone, however, because Fletcher and Verle Flowers were sightseeing with them as part of the children’s 50th wedding anniversary gift (Daliy Record July 30, 1992). Wonder what the other part of the gift was.
I wonder who is more excited when a child receives a college scholarship- the parents or the student. Michelle Ennis Smith of Coats was awarded a Scott-Ellis Transfer Scholarship at Campbell University. She was the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Gerald Ennis of Coats and the wife of Johnny Smith (Daily Record Aug. 5, 1992).
Can you imagine how excited Edna Beasley was to see an old friend from Annapolis, Maryland whom she had not seen in over 47 years? Since Edna had recently had a transplant in one eye, she was likely able to really see her old friend better.
Get well wishes were sent from Belle in her notes to Mrs. Rosa Lee Moore who was recovering at her daughter’s house, Betty Gregory, in Garner. (Was this Mr. Clarence Moore’s wife? Everyone with any age at all remembers Mr. Clarence Moore and his policing skills!)
Dallas Jones was at Wake Med with a broken hip. She also went wishes to Ms. Ellie West, Ray Roberts and Nancy who had undergone surgeries (Daily Record Aug. 6, 1992).
We seem to read more about the Boy Scouts in Coats than we do the Girl Scouts. They, however, were very busy young ladies. Jennifer Robinson and Terri Bennett had attended the Girls Scouts camp at Kerr Lake (Daily Record Aug. 6, 1992).
Practically every day I have someone express to me that they had never been so shocked to hear about H.L.’s death. I am sure that the Honeycutt family heard similar comments when Dan died; but in 1992, there was good news about Dan. He had been picked to replace Leonard Arnold as principal of Triton High School. Dan had taught agriculture at Coats High School for 13 years and became an assistant principal at Triton when it opened in 1985. He had served as principal at Erwin Middle for the past two years. Dan had received his Masters in Education at Campbell University (Daily Record Aug. 8, 1992).
Memorial gifts to the museum for H.L continue to be appreciated by our family and the museum folks. A special thank you goes to the ones who have given recently -- Ralph and Lorena Denning, Debbie and Vincent Bryce, Stewart Akerman, Andrea Smith, Rose Mary McCaffrey and the J.B. Smith family. We hope H.L.’s dream for an even bigger and better museum will be realized someday.