January 3, 2020 Coats Museum News
Today’s calendar displays January 3, 2020 but the Coats Museum News continues to share the happenings of 1981 in the month of September. In Coats, Mr. and Mrs. Leon Johnson announced the engagement of her daughter, Cindy Mosley, to James M. Parrish, son of Mr. and Mrs. William Lockamy (Daily Record Sept. 24, 1981).
How many of you can remember when the Good Hope Hospital in Erwin was a thriving community hospital? The 1913 original hospital was located in two wooden structures when Dr. Holt established Good Hope. However in 1929, a new hospital was located on a site next to the two wooden structures. The new building was constructed along the lines of a colonial home. It was a one-story structure that could handle 30 patients and was built by Erwin Cotton Mills (Harnett County News Feb. 7, 1929). Does anyone know when the brick hospital was constructed?
I do know that several Good Hope employees received pins for 10-14 years of service in 1981.They were Gale Spears, Nora Suggs, Helen Morris, Sally Dorman, and Helen Morgan (Daily Record Sept. 24, 1981).
Death had visited the area and taken Mrs. Alda Norris Grimes on Saturday. Her funeral services were at Stevens Chapel Church and cemetery. Surviving her were three daughters – Sue Evelyn Grimes Penny, Mrs. Judy Grimes Williams and Mrs. Jewel Grimes Denton. Donald Ray Grimes was her son. Mrs. Mudiel Daniels and Mrs. Bagie (?) Brewer were her sisters (Daily Record Sept. 28, 1981).
When you hear or read someone’s name, are you able to see the face of that individual just as if the person was standing in front of you? Mrs. Alda Grimes and her husband Oris and children were neighbors of my family when I was a very young girl, but I can recall the faces of most of them. Mrs. Alda was a hardworking lady and had the distinction of having no thumbs which should have been somewhat of a handicap to most but as I recall it, she was not encumbered by lack of them. Judy and Jewel were twins but not identical which was another fascination to me since my not having been exposed to twins that often. Donald Grimes died a few years back. He became a very successful businessman in the drywall business. Jewel who had lost a leg was my first exposure to a prosthetic limb. This pretty blond youngster had ask Santa Claus for a leg so she could run and play with her twin sister Judy. The good folks in the community came up with enough money to answer Jewel’s wish.
Albert and Betty Gregory were selected to attend a new farm seminar series at NC State funded by a grant from R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. (Daily Record Sept. 30, 1981).
Mayor Ronald Coats decided to seek re-election for the position he had held for the past ten years (Daily Record Oct. 2, 1981).
Mack Langdon, son of Mr. and Mrs. Harold Ray Langdon, and grandson of Mr. and Mrs. Fernie Lee, received three honors during the recent graduation ceremony at Johnston Community College- Student Government Association Award, Outstanding Electronics Engineering Technology for 1980-81 and President’s Award (Daily Record Oct.6, 1981).
Coats had a new police chief. Kenneth Parker, a Clayton officer, was appointed Chief of Police of Coats (Daily Record Oct. 8, 1981).
Rites were held for Vida Pope of Coats. She was the daughter of the late Albert Wilbert and Flonnie Stone Williams and the wife of the late James Furnie Pope. Survivors were two daughters-Mrs. Fernie Ellen Meadows and Mrs. Violene Stevens .Her two sons were Sexton and John Rex Pope. Three sisters were Mrs. Vergie Knox, Mrs. Ola Barefoot, and Mrs. Dorothy Barefoot and brothers were Jeppie, Odell, Everett, Lloyd, Elder Silas and Eugene Williams (Daily Record Oct. 9, 1981).There are some outstanding grand children and nieces and nephews off those ancestors.
Lloyd Stephenson had become associated with Jack Nordan in the Jack Nordan Real Estate and Auction Co. (Daily Record Oct. 12, 1981).
There were fourteen candidates running for town seats on the Coats board. There was interest in getting electronic help in compiling election results. Joe Giles praised the accounting practices over the past year and said the town’s records were in excellent shape. The town clerk was Marilyn Ennis. The town commissioners were J.D. Norris, John Wiggins, J.C. Allen, Cecil Fuquay and Mayor Ronald Coats (Daily Record Oct. 12, 1981).
One of the fourteen people seeking a seat on the Coats Town Commission was Greg Stevens who was a 1971 Coats graduate. Stevens had earned a degree in civil engineering from Wake Community College and had worked for the state for seven years (Daily Record Oct. 13, 1981).
The Coats Board of Commissioners honored the former full-time recreation director, Doug Stevens, for his long and tireless service to the town (Daily Record Oct. 14, 1981).
Another Coats individual was honored. This one was for Dr. William Donald Moore for his membership and services to the American Academy of Family Physicians (Daily Record Oct. 13, 1981).
A marriage had occurred between William Franklin Dorman, Jr. and Pamela Sue Wood (Daily Record Oct. 13, 1981).
Among the ten candidates seeking the three positions on the board were Tim McKinnie and James L. Pleasant. Sherrill Coats, a former town commissioner, was seeking the mayor’s seat. He was running against the incumbent Ronald Coats, Godfrey Beasley and Floyd Turlington. Mrs. Frances Avery was a female candidate for a board seat. Alton Wood, Cumberland County native, who had lived in Coats for forty years, was also seeking a seat on the board. Margaret House, an employee of the Carolina Bank, had joined the field of candidates who all expressed an interest to serve the town and several expressed a need for a sewer system (Daily Record Oct. 19, 20, 1981).
John Wesley Tadlock, 46, of Route 2, Dunn, had died suddenly on Friday. Surviving him were his wife, Mrs. Hilda McLamb Tadlock; his father, Jim Tadlock; two brothers-Larry and James Tadlock; and one sister-Magadene Stephenson. Mr. Tadlock was a farmer by trade and was a member of the Mason Relief Lodge No. 431 and the Traces and Wheels Riding Club (Daily Record Oct. 26, 1981).
J.C. Allen and John Wiggins were seeking to continue their role on the town board (Daily Record Oct. 27, 1981).
The new Police Chief Kenneth Parker had been back for only a week and was glad to be home. He had found the reception from the people great (Daily Record Oct. 28, 1928).
The ten candidates who sought seats on the Coats Board of Commissioners were J.C. Allen, John Wiggins, Curtis Guy, Frances Avery, Margaret House, Tim McKinnie, James L. Pleasant, Greg Stevens, Sandra Poole Trogden, and Alton Wood. Those seeking the mayor’s seat were Ronald Coats, Floyd Turlington, Godfrey Beasley and Sherrill T. Coats (Daily Record Oct. 30. 1981).
Serving the Coats poll was Lottie Lamm as registrar. Ophelia Roberts and Janice Lucas were judges and Virginia Pollard was to assist with voting machines. M.O. Phillips was chairman of the Election Board and Rev. Howard A. Beard and Sylvia Fowler were on that election board (Daily Record Nov. 2, 1981).
The Coats election ‘cleaned the house’. Godfrey Beasley won mayor; Curtis Guy, Frances Avery and Tim McKinnie won board seats (Daily Record Nov. 4, 1981).
The Farm Bureau Dinner held at Marshbanks Cafeteria had 462 people who attended. Carson Gregory was reelected as president (Daily Record Nov. 9, 1981).
The Swinging Elders Bazaar was held in the Coats Community Building. The event was their annual fundraiser (Daily Record Nov. 11, 1981).Was there no Senior Center?
M.O. Phillips spent two years on a project that created NC filmstrips (Daily Record Nov. 18, 1981). Would you not love to view them? We do have the wonderful 1939 film that was shown at the 1995 opening of the Coats Museum.
Love was in the air and the engagement of Doris Eller Turlington to John Allen Tullock was announced by her parents, Mr. and Mrs. H.A. Turlington, Jr. (Daily Record Nov. 19, 1981).
Several museum volunteers took a short break from the museum to be with family during the holidays and are now ready to crank up several new events. The honoring of the Boy Scout leaders and Eagle Scouts is in the works. Myrtle Bridges, our collector of beautiful glassware, had so much interest in her last “Glass Road Show” that we are thinking of having a second one for those who were unable to participate in our first one. Lenny Parker, 1973 Coats graduate and formerly with the SBI, has agreed to share information about his assignment of identifying those who perished in the Twin Towers. We have a large numbers of veterans who were not identified in our first Defenders of the Red, White and Blue publications so we plan to publish a second edition. Several years ago, Becky Adams, Christine Parrish, Ruth Upchurch, Jimmie Vaughn and I (with the help of Garland Whittington) took pictures of many of the original houses in Coats. In 2020, we hope to expand that research and have it available to those interested in such town story.
Once we have the Boy Scout exhibit on display in the museum; the volunteers will seriously begin making plans for our 2021 main exhibit of education in the Grove area. Does all this sound like work or fun? I do know it gives the museum folks a chance to share the history with visitors –some who grew up in the area and others who just love to visit our museums.
It seems that I write this over and over to thank some of the very special friends and former Coats graduates who so generously give to the Coats Museum to make it a destination for so many. The Coats Lions Club, the Kiwanis Club, Ralph and Lorena Denning, Baxter and Glenda Ennis, Randy and Rhonda Stephenson, Wallace Pollard, Becky Adams, Dana Coats Byrd, Robie and Lynda Butler, H.L. Sorrell, Jr. Mike and Claudia Tocci, Doris Nolan, Mary Ellen Lauder, Jeanette Johnson, Patsy and Stacy Avery are names you have seen so often. Thank you goes to these who are so generous. Another special thank you goes to the J.B. Smith family from Fuquay for giving their end of year Christmas donation to the museum to honor Lenee’s parents. These donations help us volunteers do museum work without worrying about how we are going to pay the bills to operate the Cotton and Heritage Museums.
Here’s hoping your 2020 will be filled with hope, joy, love and peace.
Today’s calendar displays January 3, 2020 but the Coats Museum News continues to share the happenings of 1981 in the month of September. In Coats, Mr. and Mrs. Leon Johnson announced the engagement of her daughter, Cindy Mosley, to James M. Parrish, son of Mr. and Mrs. William Lockamy (Daily Record Sept. 24, 1981).
How many of you can remember when the Good Hope Hospital in Erwin was a thriving community hospital? The 1913 original hospital was located in two wooden structures when Dr. Holt established Good Hope. However in 1929, a new hospital was located on a site next to the two wooden structures. The new building was constructed along the lines of a colonial home. It was a one-story structure that could handle 30 patients and was built by Erwin Cotton Mills (Harnett County News Feb. 7, 1929). Does anyone know when the brick hospital was constructed?
I do know that several Good Hope employees received pins for 10-14 years of service in 1981.They were Gale Spears, Nora Suggs, Helen Morris, Sally Dorman, and Helen Morgan (Daily Record Sept. 24, 1981).
Death had visited the area and taken Mrs. Alda Norris Grimes on Saturday. Her funeral services were at Stevens Chapel Church and cemetery. Surviving her were three daughters – Sue Evelyn Grimes Penny, Mrs. Judy Grimes Williams and Mrs. Jewel Grimes Denton. Donald Ray Grimes was her son. Mrs. Mudiel Daniels and Mrs. Bagie (?) Brewer were her sisters (Daily Record Sept. 28, 1981).
When you hear or read someone’s name, are you able to see the face of that individual just as if the person was standing in front of you? Mrs. Alda Grimes and her husband Oris and children were neighbors of my family when I was a very young girl, but I can recall the faces of most of them. Mrs. Alda was a hardworking lady and had the distinction of having no thumbs which should have been somewhat of a handicap to most but as I recall it, she was not encumbered by lack of them. Judy and Jewel were twins but not identical which was another fascination to me since my not having been exposed to twins that often. Donald Grimes died a few years back. He became a very successful businessman in the drywall business. Jewel who had lost a leg was my first exposure to a prosthetic limb. This pretty blond youngster had ask Santa Claus for a leg so she could run and play with her twin sister Judy. The good folks in the community came up with enough money to answer Jewel’s wish.
Albert and Betty Gregory were selected to attend a new farm seminar series at NC State funded by a grant from R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. (Daily Record Sept. 30, 1981).
Mayor Ronald Coats decided to seek re-election for the position he had held for the past ten years (Daily Record Oct. 2, 1981).
Mack Langdon, son of Mr. and Mrs. Harold Ray Langdon, and grandson of Mr. and Mrs. Fernie Lee, received three honors during the recent graduation ceremony at Johnston Community College- Student Government Association Award, Outstanding Electronics Engineering Technology for 1980-81 and President’s Award (Daily Record Oct.6, 1981).
Coats had a new police chief. Kenneth Parker, a Clayton officer, was appointed Chief of Police of Coats (Daily Record Oct. 8, 1981).
Rites were held for Vida Pope of Coats. She was the daughter of the late Albert Wilbert and Flonnie Stone Williams and the wife of the late James Furnie Pope. Survivors were two daughters-Mrs. Fernie Ellen Meadows and Mrs. Violene Stevens .Her two sons were Sexton and John Rex Pope. Three sisters were Mrs. Vergie Knox, Mrs. Ola Barefoot, and Mrs. Dorothy Barefoot and brothers were Jeppie, Odell, Everett, Lloyd, Elder Silas and Eugene Williams (Daily Record Oct. 9, 1981).There are some outstanding grand children and nieces and nephews off those ancestors.
Lloyd Stephenson had become associated with Jack Nordan in the Jack Nordan Real Estate and Auction Co. (Daily Record Oct. 12, 1981).
There were fourteen candidates running for town seats on the Coats board. There was interest in getting electronic help in compiling election results. Joe Giles praised the accounting practices over the past year and said the town’s records were in excellent shape. The town clerk was Marilyn Ennis. The town commissioners were J.D. Norris, John Wiggins, J.C. Allen, Cecil Fuquay and Mayor Ronald Coats (Daily Record Oct. 12, 1981).
One of the fourteen people seeking a seat on the Coats Town Commission was Greg Stevens who was a 1971 Coats graduate. Stevens had earned a degree in civil engineering from Wake Community College and had worked for the state for seven years (Daily Record Oct. 13, 1981).
The Coats Board of Commissioners honored the former full-time recreation director, Doug Stevens, for his long and tireless service to the town (Daily Record Oct. 14, 1981).
Another Coats individual was honored. This one was for Dr. William Donald Moore for his membership and services to the American Academy of Family Physicians (Daily Record Oct. 13, 1981).
A marriage had occurred between William Franklin Dorman, Jr. and Pamela Sue Wood (Daily Record Oct. 13, 1981).
Among the ten candidates seeking the three positions on the board were Tim McKinnie and James L. Pleasant. Sherrill Coats, a former town commissioner, was seeking the mayor’s seat. He was running against the incumbent Ronald Coats, Godfrey Beasley and Floyd Turlington. Mrs. Frances Avery was a female candidate for a board seat. Alton Wood, Cumberland County native, who had lived in Coats for forty years, was also seeking a seat on the board. Margaret House, an employee of the Carolina Bank, had joined the field of candidates who all expressed an interest to serve the town and several expressed a need for a sewer system (Daily Record Oct. 19, 20, 1981).
John Wesley Tadlock, 46, of Route 2, Dunn, had died suddenly on Friday. Surviving him were his wife, Mrs. Hilda McLamb Tadlock; his father, Jim Tadlock; two brothers-Larry and James Tadlock; and one sister-Magadene Stephenson. Mr. Tadlock was a farmer by trade and was a member of the Mason Relief Lodge No. 431 and the Traces and Wheels Riding Club (Daily Record Oct. 26, 1981).
J.C. Allen and John Wiggins were seeking to continue their role on the town board (Daily Record Oct. 27, 1981).
The new Police Chief Kenneth Parker had been back for only a week and was glad to be home. He had found the reception from the people great (Daily Record Oct. 28, 1928).
The ten candidates who sought seats on the Coats Board of Commissioners were J.C. Allen, John Wiggins, Curtis Guy, Frances Avery, Margaret House, Tim McKinnie, James L. Pleasant, Greg Stevens, Sandra Poole Trogden, and Alton Wood. Those seeking the mayor’s seat were Ronald Coats, Floyd Turlington, Godfrey Beasley and Sherrill T. Coats (Daily Record Oct. 30. 1981).
Serving the Coats poll was Lottie Lamm as registrar. Ophelia Roberts and Janice Lucas were judges and Virginia Pollard was to assist with voting machines. M.O. Phillips was chairman of the Election Board and Rev. Howard A. Beard and Sylvia Fowler were on that election board (Daily Record Nov. 2, 1981).
The Coats election ‘cleaned the house’. Godfrey Beasley won mayor; Curtis Guy, Frances Avery and Tim McKinnie won board seats (Daily Record Nov. 4, 1981).
The Farm Bureau Dinner held at Marshbanks Cafeteria had 462 people who attended. Carson Gregory was reelected as president (Daily Record Nov. 9, 1981).
The Swinging Elders Bazaar was held in the Coats Community Building. The event was their annual fundraiser (Daily Record Nov. 11, 1981).Was there no Senior Center?
M.O. Phillips spent two years on a project that created NC filmstrips (Daily Record Nov. 18, 1981). Would you not love to view them? We do have the wonderful 1939 film that was shown at the 1995 opening of the Coats Museum.
Love was in the air and the engagement of Doris Eller Turlington to John Allen Tullock was announced by her parents, Mr. and Mrs. H.A. Turlington, Jr. (Daily Record Nov. 19, 1981).
Several museum volunteers took a short break from the museum to be with family during the holidays and are now ready to crank up several new events. The honoring of the Boy Scout leaders and Eagle Scouts is in the works. Myrtle Bridges, our collector of beautiful glassware, had so much interest in her last “Glass Road Show” that we are thinking of having a second one for those who were unable to participate in our first one. Lenny Parker, 1973 Coats graduate and formerly with the SBI, has agreed to share information about his assignment of identifying those who perished in the Twin Towers. We have a large numbers of veterans who were not identified in our first Defenders of the Red, White and Blue publications so we plan to publish a second edition. Several years ago, Becky Adams, Christine Parrish, Ruth Upchurch, Jimmie Vaughn and I (with the help of Garland Whittington) took pictures of many of the original houses in Coats. In 2020, we hope to expand that research and have it available to those interested in such town story.
Once we have the Boy Scout exhibit on display in the museum; the volunteers will seriously begin making plans for our 2021 main exhibit of education in the Grove area. Does all this sound like work or fun? I do know it gives the museum folks a chance to share the history with visitors –some who grew up in the area and others who just love to visit our museums.
It seems that I write this over and over to thank some of the very special friends and former Coats graduates who so generously give to the Coats Museum to make it a destination for so many. The Coats Lions Club, the Kiwanis Club, Ralph and Lorena Denning, Baxter and Glenda Ennis, Randy and Rhonda Stephenson, Wallace Pollard, Becky Adams, Dana Coats Byrd, Robie and Lynda Butler, H.L. Sorrell, Jr. Mike and Claudia Tocci, Doris Nolan, Mary Ellen Lauder, Jeanette Johnson, Patsy and Stacy Avery are names you have seen so often. Thank you goes to these who are so generous. Another special thank you goes to the J.B. Smith family from Fuquay for giving their end of year Christmas donation to the museum to honor Lenee’s parents. These donations help us volunteers do museum work without worrying about how we are going to pay the bills to operate the Cotton and Heritage Museums.
Here’s hoping your 2020 will be filled with hope, joy, love and peace.