February 13, 2015
Coats Museum News
The calendar posted September 4th of 1951 and the Daily Record printed that Stacy D. Byrd, 19, son of Mr. and Mrs. Maylon Byrd of Coats, had completed his A.F. basic airman indoctrination course at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas. A second young soldier, Pfc. Kenneth Miller, had spent a few days with his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Melvin Miller (Daily Record Sept. 5, 1951). Do any of you remember these two men? Who were other family members?
The Coats Jr. Order members had a lodge meeting and Mayor J.D. Norris, council commander, and Garland Coats, secretary, were in charge of arrangements to divide the State of N.C. into 28 districts for the Junior Order of the United American Mechanics. Coats High School’s six man squad had high hopes for the season’s football. Coach Veasey was looking to a good season with the following players: Dennis Pope, Rudolph Miller, Marvin McLean, Jimmy Vaughn, Maynard Moran, C.L. Hough, Ray Godwin, Dunbar Stewart, Bobby Smith and Carl Grimes (Daily Record Sept. 17, 1951).
Coach Veasey, who later became the mayor of Cary, died a few years ago and on February 2, his wife, Shirley died. Some might remember that she taught at Coats also.
At the intersection of the NC 27 and NC 55 in Coats is located a beautiful Baptist Church. Can anyone recall when this brick church was built? The Daily Record wrote the ground had been cleared and the grading done for the building of the new Coats Baptist Church. While all that activity was going on at the intersection, many of the young people were headed back to college. They were Patsy Grimes at Flora McDonald, Kenneth Keene and Max Avery at Louisburg, Laura Pope, Wilma Barnes, Doris Messer, Sherrill Willis, and Rebecca Whittington at East Carolina College. Doris Johnson entered Woman’s College and Evangeline Stewart headed to Wake Forest after two years at Campbell College.
Representative Carson Gregory sponsored an evening of entertainment for the Coats area at the school auditorium by the Bailey Brothers Hillbillies. Pvt. James Vann Creech of 351st Mobile Army Surgical Hospital Division of Fort Bragg had visited his mother, Mrs. Mildred Creech for a few days (Daily Record Sept. 24, 1951).
A large auction in Coats, N.C. of several nice homes and some large store buildings were held by Capital City Auction Co. of Raleigh N.C. Doris Johnson, a student at Woman’s College, was called home to visit her sick father, Mr. Joseph Johnson (Daily Record Oct. 5, 1951). Would it not be interesting to know where those houses and buildings were in Coats?
Coats cheerleaders were elected and approved by the Student Council and those leading the cheers for the teams were Faye Dean Moore, Shirley Norris, Peggy Stewart, Carolyn Turner, Gloria Wilmoth, and Max Stephenson. The class rings had been ordered for the 51 seniors at Coats High. Does anyone know what color the stone was in the rings? The Coats football team had won over the Benson team. Was it Rudolph Miller or Marvin McLean who made a 30-yard pass to win the game (Daily Record Oct. 12, 1951)?
The U.S. history class at Coats School, directed by Mr. James Valsame, had presented a chapel program in honor of the United Nations Week. Do you remember when the United Nations was organized and who was president of the U.S. at that time?
The Citizenship Club presented the rules for Coats School for 1951-52. Read on. The students were asked not to run in the hall or on the stairs; use good manners at all times and don’t lean out the bathroom windows. What are your thoughts on the rules?
Glenda Parrish and Shirley Norris wrote the Coats Teen Corner. Remember how you felt about reading your name in print? The following tells what the teens chatted about in the Teen Corner. Love songs were dedicated to favorite beaus: Joann Stephenson to T.J. Barnes- “No Other Love”; Ruby to Benny-“I’ll Be Loving You Always”; Glenda Pope to Lundy Denning-“Always Late”; Willie to C.L.-“Slipping Around” and Faye to George-“I’ll Miss You So”. Does anyone recognize the teenagers or better yet, the songs they dedicated? Do you know if any of these girls married these beaus?
I do know that a hero was recognized from the Coats area of Bailey’s Crossroads. Pfc. Frank “Taylor” Elliott, 21years old, saved the life of Pfc. James Fernandez in an exhibition paratroop drop at Fort Benning, Georgia, When Fernandez’s chute failed to open, Elliott grabbed the deflated chute, saving Fernandez’s life as they floated safely to the ground (Daily Record Nov. 19, 1951). Taylor was the brother of Margaret, Albert, Fred, Judy and Sue Elliott.
Neal Barnes, a former FFA member of Coats High School, was the second young man of Harnett County to ever receive the American Farmer Degree award (Daily Record Nov. 30, 1951). I do know Coats had several to earn that award later but does anyone know who was that first one in Harnett to win that degree?
Miss LaRue Coats of Coats and secretary of Post Public Information had donated blood for the “Blood for Korea” campaign (Daily Record December 4, 1951). Does anyone recognize her name? She was Ronald Coats’ sister and her older sister operated an insurance business in Coats. Do you know her name? LaRue later married Carroll Hall and they operated the plant nurseries outside of Benson.
The Coats Community Woman’s Club sponsored a turkey dinner. The proceeds went to complete the community building. Mrs. O.K. Keene was president of the club. Mr. Ted Malone prepared the turkey dinner for the Coats Fellowship Club, Coats School faculty, board and the citizens of Coats. Mr. L.Y Ballentine , Commissioner of Agriculture, was speaker of the evening. The Coats Woman’s Club had their Christmas party at the Coats teacherage. Mrs. Mildred Creech, Mrs. Reggie Parrish, Mrs. Gladys Phillips, and Mrs. Nell Williams were hostesses.
The Sexton and Weaver wedding was held at the Pleasant Memory Church outside of Coats. Miss Ruthleen Weaver, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. W.H. Weaver, and James R. Sexton, son of Mr. and Mrs. Roger Sexton, were married on December 15th at 11:00 AM. Miss Doris Suggs was soloist and Evangeline Stewart was pianist.
Cecil Fuquay who lived at Carolina Beach had spent a few days in Coats visiting friends. Mrs. Mary Stephenson and Mrs. Nell Williams were hostesses for the art exhibit at the Coats PTA meeting (Daily Record December 18, 1951). Did the Coats Merchants Bureau not just select Mr. Fuquay to head up the group in May of 1951? Can he do that from the beach?
Jasper L. McLean, Seaman, USN, son of Nolan McLean of Coats, NC, took six weeks training exercise aboard the submarine-the USS Sea Leopard, to visit Cuban and Caribbean ports (Daily Record Dec. 22, 1951).
Joe Tart, a 1965 graduate of Coats High, shared that an Air Force F-101 VooDoo did indeed crash on the Bartley Cook farm outside of Coats. In fact, Joe’s dad went to the crash site with Mr. Cook. Joe said the plane landed just yards from a house occupied by a family with quite a few children. Mr. Cook had said that the Mother was trying to get the children out of the house to get away from the crashed plane but the children would continue to run back into the house as fast as she could push them out. There was a big hole in the ground just in front of the house.
The Air Force immediately arrived to pick up the pilot and they cordoned off the premises as cars clogged the road which is the now the Bill Avery Road. Joe was later able to pick up a piece of the pilot’s canopy and a piece of the melted aluminum. When you run into Joe, ask him what happened to this memorabilia along with his Lone Ranger’s silver bullet.
The calendar posted September 4th of 1951 and the Daily Record printed that Stacy D. Byrd, 19, son of Mr. and Mrs. Maylon Byrd of Coats, had completed his A.F. basic airman indoctrination course at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas. A second young soldier, Pfc. Kenneth Miller, had spent a few days with his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Melvin Miller (Daily Record Sept. 5, 1951). Do any of you remember these two men? Who were other family members?
The Coats Jr. Order members had a lodge meeting and Mayor J.D. Norris, council commander, and Garland Coats, secretary, were in charge of arrangements to divide the State of N.C. into 28 districts for the Junior Order of the United American Mechanics. Coats High School’s six man squad had high hopes for the season’s football. Coach Veasey was looking to a good season with the following players: Dennis Pope, Rudolph Miller, Marvin McLean, Jimmy Vaughn, Maynard Moran, C.L. Hough, Ray Godwin, Dunbar Stewart, Bobby Smith and Carl Grimes (Daily Record Sept. 17, 1951).
Coach Veasey, who later became the mayor of Cary, died a few years ago and on February 2, his wife, Shirley died. Some might remember that she taught at Coats also.
At the intersection of the NC 27 and NC 55 in Coats is located a beautiful Baptist Church. Can anyone recall when this brick church was built? The Daily Record wrote the ground had been cleared and the grading done for the building of the new Coats Baptist Church. While all that activity was going on at the intersection, many of the young people were headed back to college. They were Patsy Grimes at Flora McDonald, Kenneth Keene and Max Avery at Louisburg, Laura Pope, Wilma Barnes, Doris Messer, Sherrill Willis, and Rebecca Whittington at East Carolina College. Doris Johnson entered Woman’s College and Evangeline Stewart headed to Wake Forest after two years at Campbell College.
Representative Carson Gregory sponsored an evening of entertainment for the Coats area at the school auditorium by the Bailey Brothers Hillbillies. Pvt. James Vann Creech of 351st Mobile Army Surgical Hospital Division of Fort Bragg had visited his mother, Mrs. Mildred Creech for a few days (Daily Record Sept. 24, 1951).
A large auction in Coats, N.C. of several nice homes and some large store buildings were held by Capital City Auction Co. of Raleigh N.C. Doris Johnson, a student at Woman’s College, was called home to visit her sick father, Mr. Joseph Johnson (Daily Record Oct. 5, 1951). Would it not be interesting to know where those houses and buildings were in Coats?
Coats cheerleaders were elected and approved by the Student Council and those leading the cheers for the teams were Faye Dean Moore, Shirley Norris, Peggy Stewart, Carolyn Turner, Gloria Wilmoth, and Max Stephenson. The class rings had been ordered for the 51 seniors at Coats High. Does anyone know what color the stone was in the rings? The Coats football team had won over the Benson team. Was it Rudolph Miller or Marvin McLean who made a 30-yard pass to win the game (Daily Record Oct. 12, 1951)?
The U.S. history class at Coats School, directed by Mr. James Valsame, had presented a chapel program in honor of the United Nations Week. Do you remember when the United Nations was organized and who was president of the U.S. at that time?
The Citizenship Club presented the rules for Coats School for 1951-52. Read on. The students were asked not to run in the hall or on the stairs; use good manners at all times and don’t lean out the bathroom windows. What are your thoughts on the rules?
Glenda Parrish and Shirley Norris wrote the Coats Teen Corner. Remember how you felt about reading your name in print? The following tells what the teens chatted about in the Teen Corner. Love songs were dedicated to favorite beaus: Joann Stephenson to T.J. Barnes- “No Other Love”; Ruby to Benny-“I’ll Be Loving You Always”; Glenda Pope to Lundy Denning-“Always Late”; Willie to C.L.-“Slipping Around” and Faye to George-“I’ll Miss You So”. Does anyone recognize the teenagers or better yet, the songs they dedicated? Do you know if any of these girls married these beaus?
I do know that a hero was recognized from the Coats area of Bailey’s Crossroads. Pfc. Frank “Taylor” Elliott, 21years old, saved the life of Pfc. James Fernandez in an exhibition paratroop drop at Fort Benning, Georgia, When Fernandez’s chute failed to open, Elliott grabbed the deflated chute, saving Fernandez’s life as they floated safely to the ground (Daily Record Nov. 19, 1951). Taylor was the brother of Margaret, Albert, Fred, Judy and Sue Elliott.
Neal Barnes, a former FFA member of Coats High School, was the second young man of Harnett County to ever receive the American Farmer Degree award (Daily Record Nov. 30, 1951). I do know Coats had several to earn that award later but does anyone know who was that first one in Harnett to win that degree?
Miss LaRue Coats of Coats and secretary of Post Public Information had donated blood for the “Blood for Korea” campaign (Daily Record December 4, 1951). Does anyone recognize her name? She was Ronald Coats’ sister and her older sister operated an insurance business in Coats. Do you know her name? LaRue later married Carroll Hall and they operated the plant nurseries outside of Benson.
The Coats Community Woman’s Club sponsored a turkey dinner. The proceeds went to complete the community building. Mrs. O.K. Keene was president of the club. Mr. Ted Malone prepared the turkey dinner for the Coats Fellowship Club, Coats School faculty, board and the citizens of Coats. Mr. L.Y Ballentine , Commissioner of Agriculture, was speaker of the evening. The Coats Woman’s Club had their Christmas party at the Coats teacherage. Mrs. Mildred Creech, Mrs. Reggie Parrish, Mrs. Gladys Phillips, and Mrs. Nell Williams were hostesses.
The Sexton and Weaver wedding was held at the Pleasant Memory Church outside of Coats. Miss Ruthleen Weaver, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. W.H. Weaver, and James R. Sexton, son of Mr. and Mrs. Roger Sexton, were married on December 15th at 11:00 AM. Miss Doris Suggs was soloist and Evangeline Stewart was pianist.
Cecil Fuquay who lived at Carolina Beach had spent a few days in Coats visiting friends. Mrs. Mary Stephenson and Mrs. Nell Williams were hostesses for the art exhibit at the Coats PTA meeting (Daily Record December 18, 1951). Did the Coats Merchants Bureau not just select Mr. Fuquay to head up the group in May of 1951? Can he do that from the beach?
Jasper L. McLean, Seaman, USN, son of Nolan McLean of Coats, NC, took six weeks training exercise aboard the submarine-the USS Sea Leopard, to visit Cuban and Caribbean ports (Daily Record Dec. 22, 1951).
Joe Tart, a 1965 graduate of Coats High, shared that an Air Force F-101 VooDoo did indeed crash on the Bartley Cook farm outside of Coats. In fact, Joe’s dad went to the crash site with Mr. Cook. Joe said the plane landed just yards from a house occupied by a family with quite a few children. Mr. Cook had said that the Mother was trying to get the children out of the house to get away from the crashed plane but the children would continue to run back into the house as fast as she could push them out. There was a big hole in the ground just in front of the house.
The Air Force immediately arrived to pick up the pilot and they cordoned off the premises as cars clogged the road which is the now the Bill Avery Road. Joe was later able to pick up a piece of the pilot’s canopy and a piece of the melted aluminum. When you run into Joe, ask him what happened to this memorabilia along with his Lone Ranger’s silver bullet.