January 12, 2024 Coats Museum News
It is a new year for us in 2024 as it was a new year for those living in 1994 when the readers of the Daily Record read in the January 6, 1994 edition of that paper that Annie Mae Pope and the brother of Jean Pleasant had died. Belle in her Notes also reminded the readers that several other folks were recuperating. Sonya Pope, Garland Whittington, Vic McLeod, and Mary Denning were on that list.
With the exception of Sonya Pope, all of those wonderful people are deceased. Death took the bodies of Garland, Vic and Mary, but death could not take the impact that those three individuals had on the Coats community.
I spent hours in the living room and in my car with Garland Whittington while he shared his memories of people, events and businesses in early Coats. No-I don’t just make up this stuff I write about each week. His memories of the Dr. Roberts plane crash, the daily chats of the men at the Howard Barnes store, who operated which stores in town and who did things that they shouldn’t have done according to the law.
Then there is Vic McLeod. He was such a community minded man who allowed the local churches to play softball in his yard setting the example for his sons to follow. I have only pleasant thoughts when I write the Vic McLeod name.
Then there is Mary Denning. I can’t write Mary without thinking of the long hours she spent working on the Coats Reunion Project in 1985 trying to locate all the graduates of Coats from 1925 to 1985 in order to celebrate with a three day reunion in May of 1985. Not only did we have a three day reunion, but we have the “Together We Leave” which contains not only pictures of all those who were at Coats School during those years but also the 1985 current status of those who graduated or attended the old Coats school. Only because of folks like Mary and her husband Carsie Denning who had confidence that Marie Salmon could pull off the impossible do we have so many documented pieces of early history of the original Coats Schools.
The Coats Boys defeated East Lee 42-34. Since it is January, we must assume it was a basketball game. Would you not like to know the names of the players? We do know that it was not high school since the high school students from Coats were at Triton.
I do know that the Coats Woman’s Club had met at the Ebenezer Presbyterian Church Fellowship Hall. Hostesses were Joyce Stewart, Elizabeth Nordan, and Juanita Hudson. President Laura Langdon conducted the meeting in the festively decorated room complete with a cozy, warm fireplace. Mary Beth Kaneklides, an eight year old accomplished violinist, played for the party.
The club was joined by the Lion’s Club in making the family have a happier Christmas. Members of 1994 attending were Laura and J.A. Langdon, Helen and Tommy Carroll, Linda Cobb, Mary and Carsie Denning, Frances and Everett Fanning, Gerry Honeycutt, Juanita and Mack Hudson, Margaret and Herbert Johnson, Elizabeth Hudson Nordan, Mary and Woodrow Langdon, Christine and Rupert Parrish, Florine and Howard Penny, Joyce and Randy Rambeau, Gayle and H.L. Sorrell, Joyce and Bobby Stewart, Ruth and Tony Upchurch, Sharon and Doug Stevens and Julia Stewart (Daily Record Jan. 7, 1994).
Do you recognize this name? Jesse J. Johnson of Coats, a member of the Recruiters for Christ Church, was to deliver his initial sermon. Jesse is the son of Annie Lee Johnson and the late William Johnson. His wife Elaine is the daughter of Wilma Byrd and the late Edward Byrd. Mr. Johnson was employed at Titans Mobile Homes in Lillington. Mr. Johnson was a very active member of the church which was located on Hodges Crossroads on Route 3, Dunn (Daily Record Jan. 7, 1994).
“When you are the best at what you do, word gets around.” That is why the rural Coats upholstery business known as the Stacy Williams Upholstery was picked to do upholstery for the Governor’s Mansion in Raleigh. Governor Jim Hunt had admired the furniture work in Gerald and Linda Hayes’s house and wanted to know who had upholstered it. The rest was history.
Stacy and Judy Williams have upholstered countless pieces for the mansion. Stacy said the prices were the same as charged to anyone else. He stated however that some of the fabric used in the mansion was $200 a yard.
Stacy started his own business in 1971. He had previously worked for Eatman’s. Many of his previous jobs included Glaxo, Northern Telecon, and Cellular One. Who helps accomplish these tasks? He uses his wife Judy who knows her fabrics and helps the customers pick the right fabrics to meet their needs. Then there are his sons- Allen and Andy Williams. His sister Hazel Roberts, a cousin Doug Pope and his wife Glenda and Jeff Emery complete his list are those who help make the business so successful.
Another name held with high respect is that of Albert Gregory. Oscar Harris, Mayor of Dunn, swore in Albert Gregory to the N.C. Board of Licensed Counselors. Governor Jim Hunt appointed Gregory. The well-known farmer was also a business leader and Chairman of the Lee-Harnett Mental Health Board. He was former Chairman of the Coats School Advisory Board and was involved with the Harnett County Association of Retarded Children. He served on the board of BB&T and Tobacco Growers Association. Those attending the ceremony were the N.C. Superintendent Bob Etheridge, NC Senator Elaine Marshall, Reps. C.P. Stewart and Bobby Hall, Sheriff Lewis Rosser, Clerk of Court Georgia Lee Brown, Register of Deeds Gayle Holder, Harnett County Manager Neill Emory and Harnett County Board of Commissioners Chairman H.L. Sorrell along with BOE member Craig Matthews (Daily Record Jan. 12, 1994).
Lots of other happenings were recorded in that same issue of the Daily Record. The Coats Area Chamber of Commerce was planning its annual banquet to be held at Triton High School on February 3rd. President Teddy Byrd presided with Darrell Smith, Glenda Denton, Dudley Langdon, Marie Watson, and Linda Johnson present as officers. Members of the board present were Carolyn Moore, Wil Breeden, Jimmy Tripp, Phil Ferrell, Scott Wilson, Sharon Stevens, Carsie Denning, Jr., Beverly McLamb, Debbie Anderson, Charles Byrd, Jr. and M.O. Phillips.
For many years, the J. Walt Sorrell, Sr. family would have a family reunion at the Hodges Chapel Church. H.L. and I were fortunate to be included on the list of those invited. It was there that we met Bobby and Geraldine Byrd who for many years attended the reunion so we enjoyed eating at the table with them when Bobby shared that I should talk with his elderly dad who was sharp as a tack on history. I will confess that was one of my biggest mistakes of letting other things prevent me from interviewing him before he died. His memories and stories of our area are lost to this writer.
However, the generosity of Bobby and Geraldine Byrd is well known to the volunteers at the Coats Museum. Bobby and Geraldine were early donors when we built the Exhibit Hall in 2013. It is because of the generosity of individuals like Geraldine who continues to give memorials for her late husband Bobby Byrd that we have faith that we will continue to grow the museum-Thank you seems small in comparison to your generosity, Geraldine.
We have all heard about moonshine but how many of you have heard about moonlight schools. Read next week to discover if you had ancestors connected to the moonlight schools.
It is a new year for us in 2024 as it was a new year for those living in 1994 when the readers of the Daily Record read in the January 6, 1994 edition of that paper that Annie Mae Pope and the brother of Jean Pleasant had died. Belle in her Notes also reminded the readers that several other folks were recuperating. Sonya Pope, Garland Whittington, Vic McLeod, and Mary Denning were on that list.
With the exception of Sonya Pope, all of those wonderful people are deceased. Death took the bodies of Garland, Vic and Mary, but death could not take the impact that those three individuals had on the Coats community.
I spent hours in the living room and in my car with Garland Whittington while he shared his memories of people, events and businesses in early Coats. No-I don’t just make up this stuff I write about each week. His memories of the Dr. Roberts plane crash, the daily chats of the men at the Howard Barnes store, who operated which stores in town and who did things that they shouldn’t have done according to the law.
Then there is Vic McLeod. He was such a community minded man who allowed the local churches to play softball in his yard setting the example for his sons to follow. I have only pleasant thoughts when I write the Vic McLeod name.
Then there is Mary Denning. I can’t write Mary without thinking of the long hours she spent working on the Coats Reunion Project in 1985 trying to locate all the graduates of Coats from 1925 to 1985 in order to celebrate with a three day reunion in May of 1985. Not only did we have a three day reunion, but we have the “Together We Leave” which contains not only pictures of all those who were at Coats School during those years but also the 1985 current status of those who graduated or attended the old Coats school. Only because of folks like Mary and her husband Carsie Denning who had confidence that Marie Salmon could pull off the impossible do we have so many documented pieces of early history of the original Coats Schools.
The Coats Boys defeated East Lee 42-34. Since it is January, we must assume it was a basketball game. Would you not like to know the names of the players? We do know that it was not high school since the high school students from Coats were at Triton.
I do know that the Coats Woman’s Club had met at the Ebenezer Presbyterian Church Fellowship Hall. Hostesses were Joyce Stewart, Elizabeth Nordan, and Juanita Hudson. President Laura Langdon conducted the meeting in the festively decorated room complete with a cozy, warm fireplace. Mary Beth Kaneklides, an eight year old accomplished violinist, played for the party.
The club was joined by the Lion’s Club in making the family have a happier Christmas. Members of 1994 attending were Laura and J.A. Langdon, Helen and Tommy Carroll, Linda Cobb, Mary and Carsie Denning, Frances and Everett Fanning, Gerry Honeycutt, Juanita and Mack Hudson, Margaret and Herbert Johnson, Elizabeth Hudson Nordan, Mary and Woodrow Langdon, Christine and Rupert Parrish, Florine and Howard Penny, Joyce and Randy Rambeau, Gayle and H.L. Sorrell, Joyce and Bobby Stewart, Ruth and Tony Upchurch, Sharon and Doug Stevens and Julia Stewart (Daily Record Jan. 7, 1994).
Do you recognize this name? Jesse J. Johnson of Coats, a member of the Recruiters for Christ Church, was to deliver his initial sermon. Jesse is the son of Annie Lee Johnson and the late William Johnson. His wife Elaine is the daughter of Wilma Byrd and the late Edward Byrd. Mr. Johnson was employed at Titans Mobile Homes in Lillington. Mr. Johnson was a very active member of the church which was located on Hodges Crossroads on Route 3, Dunn (Daily Record Jan. 7, 1994).
“When you are the best at what you do, word gets around.” That is why the rural Coats upholstery business known as the Stacy Williams Upholstery was picked to do upholstery for the Governor’s Mansion in Raleigh. Governor Jim Hunt had admired the furniture work in Gerald and Linda Hayes’s house and wanted to know who had upholstered it. The rest was history.
Stacy and Judy Williams have upholstered countless pieces for the mansion. Stacy said the prices were the same as charged to anyone else. He stated however that some of the fabric used in the mansion was $200 a yard.
Stacy started his own business in 1971. He had previously worked for Eatman’s. Many of his previous jobs included Glaxo, Northern Telecon, and Cellular One. Who helps accomplish these tasks? He uses his wife Judy who knows her fabrics and helps the customers pick the right fabrics to meet their needs. Then there are his sons- Allen and Andy Williams. His sister Hazel Roberts, a cousin Doug Pope and his wife Glenda and Jeff Emery complete his list are those who help make the business so successful.
Another name held with high respect is that of Albert Gregory. Oscar Harris, Mayor of Dunn, swore in Albert Gregory to the N.C. Board of Licensed Counselors. Governor Jim Hunt appointed Gregory. The well-known farmer was also a business leader and Chairman of the Lee-Harnett Mental Health Board. He was former Chairman of the Coats School Advisory Board and was involved with the Harnett County Association of Retarded Children. He served on the board of BB&T and Tobacco Growers Association. Those attending the ceremony were the N.C. Superintendent Bob Etheridge, NC Senator Elaine Marshall, Reps. C.P. Stewart and Bobby Hall, Sheriff Lewis Rosser, Clerk of Court Georgia Lee Brown, Register of Deeds Gayle Holder, Harnett County Manager Neill Emory and Harnett County Board of Commissioners Chairman H.L. Sorrell along with BOE member Craig Matthews (Daily Record Jan. 12, 1994).
Lots of other happenings were recorded in that same issue of the Daily Record. The Coats Area Chamber of Commerce was planning its annual banquet to be held at Triton High School on February 3rd. President Teddy Byrd presided with Darrell Smith, Glenda Denton, Dudley Langdon, Marie Watson, and Linda Johnson present as officers. Members of the board present were Carolyn Moore, Wil Breeden, Jimmy Tripp, Phil Ferrell, Scott Wilson, Sharon Stevens, Carsie Denning, Jr., Beverly McLamb, Debbie Anderson, Charles Byrd, Jr. and M.O. Phillips.
For many years, the J. Walt Sorrell, Sr. family would have a family reunion at the Hodges Chapel Church. H.L. and I were fortunate to be included on the list of those invited. It was there that we met Bobby and Geraldine Byrd who for many years attended the reunion so we enjoyed eating at the table with them when Bobby shared that I should talk with his elderly dad who was sharp as a tack on history. I will confess that was one of my biggest mistakes of letting other things prevent me from interviewing him before he died. His memories and stories of our area are lost to this writer.
However, the generosity of Bobby and Geraldine Byrd is well known to the volunteers at the Coats Museum. Bobby and Geraldine were early donors when we built the Exhibit Hall in 2013. It is because of the generosity of individuals like Geraldine who continues to give memorials for her late husband Bobby Byrd that we have faith that we will continue to grow the museum-Thank you seems small in comparison to your generosity, Geraldine.
We have all heard about moonshine but how many of you have heard about moonlight schools. Read next week to discover if you had ancestors connected to the moonlight schools.