August 20, 2021 Coats Museum News
So many times when we are giving tours at our Coats Museum, we hear visitors make the statements-“I wish I had listened better”; “I wish I had not thrown that away” or “ I wish that I had written it down.”
An enjoyable part about working as a volunteer at the museum is that we encounter so many people who did listen better, did not throw certain things away and who did write things down. Because of them, we can truly revisit the past of Coats.
Another statement that we hear is “I know so few people in Coats now” or “Most of the people I knew in Coats are dead.” These folks are really serious in making these statements and they find such joy in reading about those folks whose memories are tucked away in the corners of their brain.
Thanks to people who come to the museum and share family pictures, stories, records and artifacts without being contacted; thanks to individuals who shared school, club, church and organization news with the county newspapers especially the Dunn Dispatch and Daily Record; thanks to individuals such as Verl Johnson, L.L. Levinson, M.O. Phillips, “Becca” Williams, Wanda Pollard, Belle Williams, Terry Johnson and unknown others who wrote Coats town news via the newspaper, we can have a an amazing glimpse of our past.
Take for example the notes from Coats by Belle Williams that shared the news Mr. and Mrs. Clyde McLeod had moved into their new home after 47 years of marriage. With a little math, a future descendant of this couple can calculate the age of the old home place. Birthday and anniversary wishes that Bell extended can inform if a certain ancestor was living in 1987. For example, Belle wished Cindy Langdon, Betty Ellen Dixon, Erma Jean Sorrell, Romona Sullivan, Frances Langdon, Joan Patterson, Sharon Langdon, Vickie Lynn Byrd, Jena Bradley, Warren Ennis, Bethany G. Williams, Stephanie Lee, David Bain, and Janie Denning happy birthdays in the her December 10, 1987 column in the Daily Record.
Other December news was that Mayor Tim McKinnie and Commissioners J.D. Norris and Cecil Fuquay had taken the oath of office by Judge Henry Willis. They were serving another term after being reelected without opposition (Daily Record Dec. 11, 1987).
As writer of this column, I am no different than you in that I, too, enjoy reading about individuals that are friends. For example, Sarah Ennis Flowers and I grew up in Ebenezer Presbyterian Church and she attended H.L. and my private marriage ceremony and signed our marriage license. I was so excited to share with the readers in 2005 via “The Heritage of Coats, NC” that Sarah has impacted the lives of many young people. Sarah was the Health Occupations Teacher at Harnett Central High School. She was voted in 1987 the Harnett County Teacher of the Year for (?)1988. She had graduated from Coats High School and later received her BS in Nursing from ECU. Mrs. Flowers is the daughter of the late Laura and Kirkland Ennis and the wife of Conrey Flowers, son of the late Fletcher and Verle Flowers. Sarah had been teaching for 10 years when she received this award (Daily Record Dec. 14, 1987).
Carson Gregory another Coats person who impacted life beyond the town was honored by the N.C. Farm Bureau (Daily Record Dec. 17, 1987).
Being from a small town does not mean that only small things come from having lived in one. Many of the former natives of Coats have made remarkable accomplishments. A good example of one is a local farm girl, Charlotte Ennis Parks, was shown shooting photographs of film production on location in the December 18, 1987 edition of the Daily Record.
Mr. C. Rayvaugh Stewart of Coats had died. He was a retired sawmill operator, fire department volunteer, and WWII Navy Veteran. He was survived by his wife, Mavis N. Stewart, and daughters-Connie S. Johnson, Rhonda Sheffield, and Hope Turlington. His step-son was Donald Ray Stewart and step-daughter was Ann Weaver. Rachael Langdon was a sister.
Congratulations were issued to Stephen Rambeau on being awarded the Good Citizen” Award from Trition High School. Stephen was the son of Randy and Joyce Rambeau of Route 1, Coats, N. C. Who knows where Stephen is today in 2021?
I do know that Nicky Stewart had purchased the old Lamm Appliance Store for a plumbing, electric and hardware business. He was using the same telephone number that Hobart and Lottie Lamm had used.
Belle Williams shared with her readers bits of news such as that Ray Stancil was home from Wake Med; Mr. Hester Williams was home from a stay in the hospital and those driving down NC27 one easily saw Kent Penny’s Christmas star over his barn.
Mr. and Mrs. Baxton Pollard had lived together so long that they often did the same thing. It appeared they each went into the drugstore and each bought the same thing and had it wrapped in the same paper for the same person. That’s very scary-right?
Did you know that Coats once had a Presbyterian Church? In fact, Christine Akerman Parrish went to the church with her mother when she was a child. A.T. Lassiter from Johnston County served as pastor there. Dr. Donald and Anne Moore later lived there prior to Ann and Godfrey Beasley who were giving their 1800 year design home a facelift in 1987.
Another week had passed and Belle shared more birthday wishes to those who lived in the Coats vicinity. I personally recognize many of the names as being those of very young folks. Reggie Parrish, Rupert Parrish, Angie Lee, Jay Johnson, Mattie Norris, Greg Stevens, Dawn Denning, Jonathan Tart, Cecil Regan, Phyliss Smith, Louise Coats Jackson, Ted Penny, Nancy Jeffries, Dana Dixon and Joshua Hudson, son of Richard and Elayne Hudson were noted as was Mr. and Mrs. David Maynor who celebrated their anniversary.
In the Christmas Eve edition of the Daily Record, Belle shared that wedding anniversary congratulations were extended to Mr. and Mrs. Alvin Stone, former residents of Coats. Jamie and Jordan Tart had celebrated their first birthday. Their sister Misty helped her mom Faye Tart with the twins’ party.
Marc and Jean Powell have completed the Boy Scouts Exhibit which will be followed at a later date with a “Gathering of the Eagles”. Due to the quick spread of Covid in the area, a date for that event will be announced later. The museum volunteers also cancelled the “Disaster Response from a Different Perspective” by Lenny Parker, SBI Special Agent (Retired) and Deputy Commander DMORT-WMD (Retired). Marc and Lenny are 1973 graduates of Coats High and surely their classmates will want to reconnect with these two outstanding classmates at the museum events.
The volunteers will be at the museum on Sundays (2-5) and Thursdays (9-3) and we do encourage safety procedures from volunteers and visitors.
So many times when we are giving tours at our Coats Museum, we hear visitors make the statements-“I wish I had listened better”; “I wish I had not thrown that away” or “ I wish that I had written it down.”
An enjoyable part about working as a volunteer at the museum is that we encounter so many people who did listen better, did not throw certain things away and who did write things down. Because of them, we can truly revisit the past of Coats.
Another statement that we hear is “I know so few people in Coats now” or “Most of the people I knew in Coats are dead.” These folks are really serious in making these statements and they find such joy in reading about those folks whose memories are tucked away in the corners of their brain.
Thanks to people who come to the museum and share family pictures, stories, records and artifacts without being contacted; thanks to individuals who shared school, club, church and organization news with the county newspapers especially the Dunn Dispatch and Daily Record; thanks to individuals such as Verl Johnson, L.L. Levinson, M.O. Phillips, “Becca” Williams, Wanda Pollard, Belle Williams, Terry Johnson and unknown others who wrote Coats town news via the newspaper, we can have a an amazing glimpse of our past.
Take for example the notes from Coats by Belle Williams that shared the news Mr. and Mrs. Clyde McLeod had moved into their new home after 47 years of marriage. With a little math, a future descendant of this couple can calculate the age of the old home place. Birthday and anniversary wishes that Bell extended can inform if a certain ancestor was living in 1987. For example, Belle wished Cindy Langdon, Betty Ellen Dixon, Erma Jean Sorrell, Romona Sullivan, Frances Langdon, Joan Patterson, Sharon Langdon, Vickie Lynn Byrd, Jena Bradley, Warren Ennis, Bethany G. Williams, Stephanie Lee, David Bain, and Janie Denning happy birthdays in the her December 10, 1987 column in the Daily Record.
Other December news was that Mayor Tim McKinnie and Commissioners J.D. Norris and Cecil Fuquay had taken the oath of office by Judge Henry Willis. They were serving another term after being reelected without opposition (Daily Record Dec. 11, 1987).
As writer of this column, I am no different than you in that I, too, enjoy reading about individuals that are friends. For example, Sarah Ennis Flowers and I grew up in Ebenezer Presbyterian Church and she attended H.L. and my private marriage ceremony and signed our marriage license. I was so excited to share with the readers in 2005 via “The Heritage of Coats, NC” that Sarah has impacted the lives of many young people. Sarah was the Health Occupations Teacher at Harnett Central High School. She was voted in 1987 the Harnett County Teacher of the Year for (?)1988. She had graduated from Coats High School and later received her BS in Nursing from ECU. Mrs. Flowers is the daughter of the late Laura and Kirkland Ennis and the wife of Conrey Flowers, son of the late Fletcher and Verle Flowers. Sarah had been teaching for 10 years when she received this award (Daily Record Dec. 14, 1987).
Carson Gregory another Coats person who impacted life beyond the town was honored by the N.C. Farm Bureau (Daily Record Dec. 17, 1987).
Being from a small town does not mean that only small things come from having lived in one. Many of the former natives of Coats have made remarkable accomplishments. A good example of one is a local farm girl, Charlotte Ennis Parks, was shown shooting photographs of film production on location in the December 18, 1987 edition of the Daily Record.
Mr. C. Rayvaugh Stewart of Coats had died. He was a retired sawmill operator, fire department volunteer, and WWII Navy Veteran. He was survived by his wife, Mavis N. Stewart, and daughters-Connie S. Johnson, Rhonda Sheffield, and Hope Turlington. His step-son was Donald Ray Stewart and step-daughter was Ann Weaver. Rachael Langdon was a sister.
Congratulations were issued to Stephen Rambeau on being awarded the Good Citizen” Award from Trition High School. Stephen was the son of Randy and Joyce Rambeau of Route 1, Coats, N. C. Who knows where Stephen is today in 2021?
I do know that Nicky Stewart had purchased the old Lamm Appliance Store for a plumbing, electric and hardware business. He was using the same telephone number that Hobart and Lottie Lamm had used.
Belle Williams shared with her readers bits of news such as that Ray Stancil was home from Wake Med; Mr. Hester Williams was home from a stay in the hospital and those driving down NC27 one easily saw Kent Penny’s Christmas star over his barn.
Mr. and Mrs. Baxton Pollard had lived together so long that they often did the same thing. It appeared they each went into the drugstore and each bought the same thing and had it wrapped in the same paper for the same person. That’s very scary-right?
Did you know that Coats once had a Presbyterian Church? In fact, Christine Akerman Parrish went to the church with her mother when she was a child. A.T. Lassiter from Johnston County served as pastor there. Dr. Donald and Anne Moore later lived there prior to Ann and Godfrey Beasley who were giving their 1800 year design home a facelift in 1987.
Another week had passed and Belle shared more birthday wishes to those who lived in the Coats vicinity. I personally recognize many of the names as being those of very young folks. Reggie Parrish, Rupert Parrish, Angie Lee, Jay Johnson, Mattie Norris, Greg Stevens, Dawn Denning, Jonathan Tart, Cecil Regan, Phyliss Smith, Louise Coats Jackson, Ted Penny, Nancy Jeffries, Dana Dixon and Joshua Hudson, son of Richard and Elayne Hudson were noted as was Mr. and Mrs. David Maynor who celebrated their anniversary.
In the Christmas Eve edition of the Daily Record, Belle shared that wedding anniversary congratulations were extended to Mr. and Mrs. Alvin Stone, former residents of Coats. Jamie and Jordan Tart had celebrated their first birthday. Their sister Misty helped her mom Faye Tart with the twins’ party.
Marc and Jean Powell have completed the Boy Scouts Exhibit which will be followed at a later date with a “Gathering of the Eagles”. Due to the quick spread of Covid in the area, a date for that event will be announced later. The museum volunteers also cancelled the “Disaster Response from a Different Perspective” by Lenny Parker, SBI Special Agent (Retired) and Deputy Commander DMORT-WMD (Retired). Marc and Lenny are 1973 graduates of Coats High and surely their classmates will want to reconnect with these two outstanding classmates at the museum events.
The volunteers will be at the museum on Sundays (2-5) and Thursdays (9-3) and we do encourage safety procedures from volunteers and visitors.