April 9, 2021 Coats Museum News
How thankful the museum volunteers are to the Daily Record for printing the “Notes from Coats” by Wanda Pollard in the 1980”S. That column shared so much personal history of Coats and its citizens from and around the town. In the Feb. 25, 1987 issue of the Daily Record, Wanda shared that sympathy was extended to Mrs. Lillian Bowden at the loss of her father, Mr. Hervie Cutts, to Shirley Fuquay at the loss of her aunt, and to Mr. and Mrs. Phillip Poole at the loss of their baby. Wanda wrote also that Mr. Earl Denning was recuperating from an illness, and Mr. David Stevens had been hospitalized at NC Memorial Hospital in Chapel Hill.
Congratulations were extended to Mr. and Mrs. Benny Ray Weaver on the birth of a boy and to Mr. and Mrs. Ricky Tart on the birth of their baby girl. Mrs. Dee Kelly, Coats Postmistress, was pleased to have her daughter and family back from Alaska to visit Mrs. Kelly’s other daughter.
Mr. Jerry McLamb and Mr. Tony Mangum co-hosted a Valentine’s pig picking for their families, friends, and customers (Daily Record Feb. 25, 1987).
Would you not like to know who attended that event and how many of them are around to talk about the pig-picking? This I do know; many people to whom we give tours at the museum inquire as to when a certain Coats person died. Time seems to pass much faster as we age, so often we usually get it wrong by a few years. What do we do? We can always walk into our Research Library and open our white notebooks filled with the alphabetical obituaries from the newspapers, church and funeral home bulletins. We have even been known to go to our coatsmuseum.com website to see if any memorials or honorariums were listed under Funding--Coats Museum Building Fund or Coats Museum Endowment. Seeing all those there is also an awakening of how many Coats folks have died these past few years.
Wanda referred to the big blanket of rain, ice, and sleet that covered all the area in her Feb. 26, 1987 column. She also mentioned that John, Jenny and Blair Wiggins had recently landscaped their yard. The home was located on the hill beside Washington Street and the old Fleming Pond. The stately white brick house was built by Dr. Fred Fleming on the original site of the N.T. Patterson house which was moved across the street. The Patterson house was built in 1911 for N.T. Patterson who moved to Coats to work at the new bank. Because of the “run on the bank” and his inability to come up with funds to pay off the losses of the bank, Patterson committed suicide. Had he not committed suicide, the landscape of Coats could have been different than it is today. He was a very progressive businessman who was in partnership at the Coats Hosiery with John McKay Byrd when it burned. This Broadway native frthered two doctors and a Chapel Hill artist? Who knows the family connection to Coats? Read pages 39-42 our Heritage of Coats, NC Volume 1 to learn more about the Patterson family and the house that sat on the hill before Dr. Fred and Katherine Fleming built the current one. Who owns the house in 2021?
I do know that Wanda Pollard wrote that Peggy Barnes had just returned from a trip to Cancun, Mexico, with her sisters and their families. Vickie Stephenson Penny was excited about the new Recreation Boosters Club in Coats. Vickie and Mark had another reason to be excited-they were celebrating their wedding anniversary, too. Mark was president of the new club and Sharon Langdon was the secretary-treasurer.
Over in Dunn, Sandy Dorman was declared third place winner in the Costume Centennial Ball. Sandy wore a Southern Belle style gown with ivory lace and a wide brimmed straw hat. Also in Dunn, Marie Clayton helped her grandchild celebrate a birthday at McDonald’s. Question—is the location of the current McDonalds the only site that it has been located upon?
I do know that congratulations had been extended to Randy and Bonnie Pope, who were proud parents of a new baby boy, Ryan Timothy Pope. Ryan was also welcomed by his older brother, Joseph Bradley Pope, and of course, his grandparents- Joe and Eloise Lee and Helen and Tommy Pope.
Other bits of local news that folks enjoyed reading were that Sharon Clayton McLamb celebrated her birthday. Sherri Whittington, daughter of Hartwell and Cheryl Whittington, was on the Dean’s List at NCSU. Brookie Kay Betts, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Curtis Betts, was on the Dean’s list at Campbell University. Mr. Lester Williams was anxiously awaiting the release of his wife, Mrs. Stella Williams, from the Betsy Johnson Memorial Hospital where Mrs. Maylon Pollard also had been a patient a week earlier.
Wonder if Lula Lucas Clark celebrated her 103rd birthday on February 29, 1987? How many people do you know who have lived to be 103? Can you believe that Mrs. Clark was pictured being 112 in a 1996 edition of the Daily Record. Mrs. Clark was pictured with Thelma and Paul Parrish at her 112th birthday party at Harnett Manor Nursing Home. Lula Clark’s niece, Eunice Lucas, married the cousin of Robert Gaskins, Harnett County historian, who proclaimed Mrs. Clark as being the oldest resident of Harnett County in 1996. Wonder if J.C. Lucas, Charles and Maureen Martin and Ruby Bufkin helped celebrate with Lula and Thelma and Paul Parrish at the nursing home. Surely they did since 1987 was the year that she had entered the facility. Mrs. Lillian Bowden of Coats was one of her caregivers at the home. Mrs. Clark liked her stuff, liked having her nails painted and enjoyed listening to the radio according to Mrs. Bowden and other staff at the care home facility ((Daily Record Feb. 29, 1996). That was the year of Hurricane Fran—did Mrs. Clark live long enough to hear about all the damage that storm brought? Have you heard that many old people die around the date of their birthday?
I do know that some of the Coats Museum’s amazing supporters live thousands of miles from Coats. A special thank goes to Claudia and Mike Tocci from Sparks, Nevada for all the exhibit items that they have donated or loaned to the museum since 2013 and for the continued financial support they faithfully send each year for the upkeep of the museum. The hand crafted wedding dress and nightgown (made from a reserve parachute and worn by Mike’s mother) is one of the museum’s most talked about display items. Many of our readers remember Jerry Gardner from his years on the CHS basketball team. Mike’s mom and Jerry’s mom are sisters. Mike returns to NC about twice a year to visit his Aunt Margaret Johnson, his Aunt Joann Baker, and Cousin Jane Barnes. Thank you, Mike and Claudia Tocci for again financially supporting the Coats Museum.
How thankful the museum volunteers are to the Daily Record for printing the “Notes from Coats” by Wanda Pollard in the 1980”S. That column shared so much personal history of Coats and its citizens from and around the town. In the Feb. 25, 1987 issue of the Daily Record, Wanda shared that sympathy was extended to Mrs. Lillian Bowden at the loss of her father, Mr. Hervie Cutts, to Shirley Fuquay at the loss of her aunt, and to Mr. and Mrs. Phillip Poole at the loss of their baby. Wanda wrote also that Mr. Earl Denning was recuperating from an illness, and Mr. David Stevens had been hospitalized at NC Memorial Hospital in Chapel Hill.
Congratulations were extended to Mr. and Mrs. Benny Ray Weaver on the birth of a boy and to Mr. and Mrs. Ricky Tart on the birth of their baby girl. Mrs. Dee Kelly, Coats Postmistress, was pleased to have her daughter and family back from Alaska to visit Mrs. Kelly’s other daughter.
Mr. Jerry McLamb and Mr. Tony Mangum co-hosted a Valentine’s pig picking for their families, friends, and customers (Daily Record Feb. 25, 1987).
Would you not like to know who attended that event and how many of them are around to talk about the pig-picking? This I do know; many people to whom we give tours at the museum inquire as to when a certain Coats person died. Time seems to pass much faster as we age, so often we usually get it wrong by a few years. What do we do? We can always walk into our Research Library and open our white notebooks filled with the alphabetical obituaries from the newspapers, church and funeral home bulletins. We have even been known to go to our coatsmuseum.com website to see if any memorials or honorariums were listed under Funding--Coats Museum Building Fund or Coats Museum Endowment. Seeing all those there is also an awakening of how many Coats folks have died these past few years.
Wanda referred to the big blanket of rain, ice, and sleet that covered all the area in her Feb. 26, 1987 column. She also mentioned that John, Jenny and Blair Wiggins had recently landscaped their yard. The home was located on the hill beside Washington Street and the old Fleming Pond. The stately white brick house was built by Dr. Fred Fleming on the original site of the N.T. Patterson house which was moved across the street. The Patterson house was built in 1911 for N.T. Patterson who moved to Coats to work at the new bank. Because of the “run on the bank” and his inability to come up with funds to pay off the losses of the bank, Patterson committed suicide. Had he not committed suicide, the landscape of Coats could have been different than it is today. He was a very progressive businessman who was in partnership at the Coats Hosiery with John McKay Byrd when it burned. This Broadway native frthered two doctors and a Chapel Hill artist? Who knows the family connection to Coats? Read pages 39-42 our Heritage of Coats, NC Volume 1 to learn more about the Patterson family and the house that sat on the hill before Dr. Fred and Katherine Fleming built the current one. Who owns the house in 2021?
I do know that Wanda Pollard wrote that Peggy Barnes had just returned from a trip to Cancun, Mexico, with her sisters and their families. Vickie Stephenson Penny was excited about the new Recreation Boosters Club in Coats. Vickie and Mark had another reason to be excited-they were celebrating their wedding anniversary, too. Mark was president of the new club and Sharon Langdon was the secretary-treasurer.
Over in Dunn, Sandy Dorman was declared third place winner in the Costume Centennial Ball. Sandy wore a Southern Belle style gown with ivory lace and a wide brimmed straw hat. Also in Dunn, Marie Clayton helped her grandchild celebrate a birthday at McDonald’s. Question—is the location of the current McDonalds the only site that it has been located upon?
I do know that congratulations had been extended to Randy and Bonnie Pope, who were proud parents of a new baby boy, Ryan Timothy Pope. Ryan was also welcomed by his older brother, Joseph Bradley Pope, and of course, his grandparents- Joe and Eloise Lee and Helen and Tommy Pope.
Other bits of local news that folks enjoyed reading were that Sharon Clayton McLamb celebrated her birthday. Sherri Whittington, daughter of Hartwell and Cheryl Whittington, was on the Dean’s List at NCSU. Brookie Kay Betts, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Curtis Betts, was on the Dean’s list at Campbell University. Mr. Lester Williams was anxiously awaiting the release of his wife, Mrs. Stella Williams, from the Betsy Johnson Memorial Hospital where Mrs. Maylon Pollard also had been a patient a week earlier.
Wonder if Lula Lucas Clark celebrated her 103rd birthday on February 29, 1987? How many people do you know who have lived to be 103? Can you believe that Mrs. Clark was pictured being 112 in a 1996 edition of the Daily Record. Mrs. Clark was pictured with Thelma and Paul Parrish at her 112th birthday party at Harnett Manor Nursing Home. Lula Clark’s niece, Eunice Lucas, married the cousin of Robert Gaskins, Harnett County historian, who proclaimed Mrs. Clark as being the oldest resident of Harnett County in 1996. Wonder if J.C. Lucas, Charles and Maureen Martin and Ruby Bufkin helped celebrate with Lula and Thelma and Paul Parrish at the nursing home. Surely they did since 1987 was the year that she had entered the facility. Mrs. Lillian Bowden of Coats was one of her caregivers at the home. Mrs. Clark liked her stuff, liked having her nails painted and enjoyed listening to the radio according to Mrs. Bowden and other staff at the care home facility ((Daily Record Feb. 29, 1996). That was the year of Hurricane Fran—did Mrs. Clark live long enough to hear about all the damage that storm brought? Have you heard that many old people die around the date of their birthday?
I do know that some of the Coats Museum’s amazing supporters live thousands of miles from Coats. A special thank goes to Claudia and Mike Tocci from Sparks, Nevada for all the exhibit items that they have donated or loaned to the museum since 2013 and for the continued financial support they faithfully send each year for the upkeep of the museum. The hand crafted wedding dress and nightgown (made from a reserve parachute and worn by Mike’s mother) is one of the museum’s most talked about display items. Many of our readers remember Jerry Gardner from his years on the CHS basketball team. Mike’s mom and Jerry’s mom are sisters. Mike returns to NC about twice a year to visit his Aunt Margaret Johnson, his Aunt Joann Baker, and Cousin Jane Barnes. Thank you, Mike and Claudia Tocci for again financially supporting the Coats Museum.