June 8, 2018 Coats Museum News
How many of you have experienced a tornado or hurricane coming through your property? The experience is not one easily forgotten. Surely those who were affected by the tornado which ripped through the area on a Monday afternoon on February 20, 1971 remember that day well. According to the Daily Record Feb.23, 1971 edition it printed that 25 injured people were treated at local hospitals. Were any of you touched by that event?
I do know Harnett County had 14,661 households according to the 1970 US Census. The population of Harnett County was 49,667 in 1970 which was up three percent from the 1960 census. This might be of interest to the reader. In 2000, Harnett County had 91,029; in 2010 it had 114, 678 while as of March 27, 2018 Harnett County had 132, 754 residents. Does that justify when some folks say after going into local restaurants and grocery stores and exclaim that they didn’t see anyone they knew?
Surely there are those in Coats who remember Sue Turlington Clayton. She taught at Coats for many years. Sue was the wife of C.T. Clayton and daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Robert Turlington. Sue had completed her degree requirements during the fall semester at UNC-A (Daily Record Feb. 21, 1971).
Harold Dixon, a new Coats dentist, had opened his dental practice on Mason and Hamer Streets. Dr. Dixon was the son of Mr. and Mrs. Carlos Dixon. Elsewhere in Coats, Ronald Coats was elected president of the newly organized Lions Club. Larry Denning was elected first vice-president and Kenneth Ennis was the secretary-treasurer. The organizational meeting was held at Luke’s Restaurant. The crowd was large and enthusiastic. There were thirty-seven charter members according to the news release in the Daily Record. The following were named among the membership: Curtis Guy, Herbert Johnson, Grady Matthews, Earl Ennis, Fleetwood Adams, Joe Lee, Jr., Cortez Williams, Godfrey Beasley, Joe Hawley, Rev. A. Howard Beard, Rev. Ray Phillips, Thomas Lee Barefoot, Mike Smith, Dr. Harold Dixon, Dr. Donald Moore, Carson Gregory, Max Hayes Beasley, Roger Simmons, M.O. Phillips, Chester Ennis, William R. Pope, Wesley Pleasant, Dallas Jones, Charles R. Ennis, Howard Penny, Ed Byrd, Graham Turlington, Wade A. Turlington, Edward Turlington, Robert Barefoot, Tony Stewart, and J.D. Lamm (Daily Record Feb. 25, 1971). Whose names are missing from the charter membership?
Basketball continued to be on the minds of local high school sports fans. The Coats High School boys went into the semifinals of District 4 Class A with a 62-59 win over Clarkton. Wayne Matthews led the Coats scoring with 20 points (Daily Record 25, 1971).
Is there anyone who remembers the county talent show showcasing the students from Dunn, Erwin, Coats and Angier at Coats High School? Does that sound like something Marie Salmon would put together? This I do know. Red Springs snapped the Coats boys winning streak by defeating the Yellow Jackets by a score of 61-49 at the Carter Gymnasium at Buies Creek (Daily Record Feb, 26, 1971).
Officials of the school system had continued to visit the schools in Harnett County. They had observed and talked to school students and staff at Coats High School. Evidence of the visit was displayed in the Daily Record when little Carol Hawley, a second grader in Mrs. Linda Barnes’s class, was shown with Harnett County Board of Education Clarence McLamb and Transportation Supervisor Harrington Morrison (Daily Record Mar. 1. 1971.)
When did American textiles begin to be affected by foreign imports? I do know in 1971, US Congressman Bryan Dorn was seeking aid for textiles. Dorn called for immediate congressional action on textile import legislation in the wake of layoffs and textile mill closings in South Carolina stemming from the government’s failing to adopt trade textile policies. Low wage imports of synthetic fiber were forcing release of mill employees and closing of many textile mills. Question-did Washington respond to pleas for policies to protect American jobs or were cheap products more important? Were Harnett County mills touched?
R.N. Honeycutt, a water conservation farmer of the Coats community, had recently had some terraces worked to better carry off the surface water. Also another bit of news from the general area was that Gale Ennis of Coats was the leading performer on the Campbell girls’ basketball team. Gale wore #13 which had proved lucky to the freshman (Daily Record Mar. 4, 1971).
Was Harnett County Board of Education member Edward Turlington’s suggestion to add more vocational class coming to fruition? I do know that practical experience in carpentry was emphasized in the instruction classes taught by W.P. West, Jr. at Coats High School. Several students pictured in the paper were Linwood Ennis, Randy Dawson, Kenneth Lee, Dennis Walden, and Robert Wilbourne who had made an outside storage house (Daily Record Mar.7, 1971).
Mrs. Bessie Clayton, 89, of Fuquay-Varina, had died on Sunday. She was the mother of Paul Clayton of Coats (Daily Record Mar. 8, 1971).
Mr. Bernice Johnson of the Coats community section had developed a soil and conservation plan with the help of the district conservationist. In his plan, he considered a field border to help hold the soil in place. The strip of perennial grass some ten to fifteen feet wide around the edge of the cultivated field would be easy to maintain.
The women in the Coats area also had the opportunity to get out of the house yet benefit their households. A forty-eight hour sewing class was offered in the Coats High School Home Economics Department by Johnston County Technical Institute for the price of $6.00 (Daily Record Mar. 10, 1971).Who was teaching that class in 1971?
The Coats Hunting and Fishing Club had hosted the annual Bird Dog Trials at the Warren Ennis Farm in Coats. At the local Coats Baptist Church, the religious drama entitled, “I Dreamed I Searched Heaven for You,” was performed by sixty-five players coming from churches in and around Coats (Daily Record Mar. 10, 1971). Wonder if anyone saved a bulletin from that event?
We do know that Terry Weaver, son of Mr. and Mrs. Charles W. Weaver, was engaged to marry Sandra Kay Grissom, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Walter Grissom of rural Lillington (Daily Record Mar. 15, 1971).
Several locals were hospitals patients-Mrs. Mettie Lee Spears and Mrs. Montie Wood (Daily Record Mar. 18, 1971).
Who remembers when the Senters operated a business in Coats? Was it in the area of the current Nationwide Insurance business? Mrs. Ophelia Austin Senter, 68, of Coats and the mother of Peggy Senter, Louise Jackson, Edna Smith and Buck Senter, had died at her home. I have fond memories of Buck Senter who was always such a friendly gentleman whether at the Stephens Hardware or in the Howard Barnes Store. I distinctly remember how cooperative he was when I asked for a picture of him to go into our Town Officials notebook that we were putting together before an Open House to gather information for our 2005 Centennial book. He reminded me later how expensive that picture was but that he was glad that he could do it for us.
His sister Peggy is also a good woman. She spent most of her working years at Guy Stewart’s car dealership and was recognized for her hard work. Peggy was always dropping by the museum to give donations and memorials from her 1952 Coats graduating class or was donating items to be placed in our exhibits such as a Jew’s harp for our music exhibit and has given numerous personal and business items from the Senter family. We miss having her drop by the museum since she now lives in Angier. I did not know the other two Senter children but can only assume that Mrs. Ophelia Senter raised all her children to be gracious, hardworking and community minded like Buck and Peggy.
Last Thursday was another fun day for the volunteers at the museum. Lee Honeycutt from Raleigh and his daughter Marlo Baker from Apex came searching for information on the Honeycutt family connected with Honeycutt Pond (now Pope’s Lake). They were excited about a Wednesday tour they were given of the Honeycutt Cemetery by one of the employees of Barclay’s Villa. They were able to take pictures of their ancestors’ tombstones. We were excited to share some military pictures and other materials connected with the Coats Honeycutt family originally from the Barclaysville area before moving to Coats.
Ralph and Lorena Denning stopped by to update the volunteers on the plans for the Coats High School Class of 1963 Reunion on August 25th. The class will take time to tour the two museums, enjoy some refreshments and learn what is available for visitors to see in the Theater Room and Research Library where we have the yearbooks from the old Coats High School and an immense amount of local history.
Should you see Teresa Honeycutt, Paul Parker, Ralph Denning, Walter and Kathy Weeks, Sandy Howard, Patsy and Stacy Avery, Becky Adams, Peggy Robinson, Andy Cole, Hilda Pope, Linda Cobb, Tim Penny, Eric Fann, Ted Penny, Myrtle Bridges, Robie and Lynda Butler and H.L. Sorrell, please thank them for giving their volunteer time to help make the Coats Museums a safe, beautiful and interesting destination for hundreds of visitors from throughout the state and country who come to learn about the history of a typical, small southern farm community in the 19th and 20th centuries.
How many of you have experienced a tornado or hurricane coming through your property? The experience is not one easily forgotten. Surely those who were affected by the tornado which ripped through the area on a Monday afternoon on February 20, 1971 remember that day well. According to the Daily Record Feb.23, 1971 edition it printed that 25 injured people were treated at local hospitals. Were any of you touched by that event?
I do know Harnett County had 14,661 households according to the 1970 US Census. The population of Harnett County was 49,667 in 1970 which was up three percent from the 1960 census. This might be of interest to the reader. In 2000, Harnett County had 91,029; in 2010 it had 114, 678 while as of March 27, 2018 Harnett County had 132, 754 residents. Does that justify when some folks say after going into local restaurants and grocery stores and exclaim that they didn’t see anyone they knew?
Surely there are those in Coats who remember Sue Turlington Clayton. She taught at Coats for many years. Sue was the wife of C.T. Clayton and daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Robert Turlington. Sue had completed her degree requirements during the fall semester at UNC-A (Daily Record Feb. 21, 1971).
Harold Dixon, a new Coats dentist, had opened his dental practice on Mason and Hamer Streets. Dr. Dixon was the son of Mr. and Mrs. Carlos Dixon. Elsewhere in Coats, Ronald Coats was elected president of the newly organized Lions Club. Larry Denning was elected first vice-president and Kenneth Ennis was the secretary-treasurer. The organizational meeting was held at Luke’s Restaurant. The crowd was large and enthusiastic. There were thirty-seven charter members according to the news release in the Daily Record. The following were named among the membership: Curtis Guy, Herbert Johnson, Grady Matthews, Earl Ennis, Fleetwood Adams, Joe Lee, Jr., Cortez Williams, Godfrey Beasley, Joe Hawley, Rev. A. Howard Beard, Rev. Ray Phillips, Thomas Lee Barefoot, Mike Smith, Dr. Harold Dixon, Dr. Donald Moore, Carson Gregory, Max Hayes Beasley, Roger Simmons, M.O. Phillips, Chester Ennis, William R. Pope, Wesley Pleasant, Dallas Jones, Charles R. Ennis, Howard Penny, Ed Byrd, Graham Turlington, Wade A. Turlington, Edward Turlington, Robert Barefoot, Tony Stewart, and J.D. Lamm (Daily Record Feb. 25, 1971). Whose names are missing from the charter membership?
Basketball continued to be on the minds of local high school sports fans. The Coats High School boys went into the semifinals of District 4 Class A with a 62-59 win over Clarkton. Wayne Matthews led the Coats scoring with 20 points (Daily Record 25, 1971).
Is there anyone who remembers the county talent show showcasing the students from Dunn, Erwin, Coats and Angier at Coats High School? Does that sound like something Marie Salmon would put together? This I do know. Red Springs snapped the Coats boys winning streak by defeating the Yellow Jackets by a score of 61-49 at the Carter Gymnasium at Buies Creek (Daily Record Feb, 26, 1971).
Officials of the school system had continued to visit the schools in Harnett County. They had observed and talked to school students and staff at Coats High School. Evidence of the visit was displayed in the Daily Record when little Carol Hawley, a second grader in Mrs. Linda Barnes’s class, was shown with Harnett County Board of Education Clarence McLamb and Transportation Supervisor Harrington Morrison (Daily Record Mar. 1. 1971.)
When did American textiles begin to be affected by foreign imports? I do know in 1971, US Congressman Bryan Dorn was seeking aid for textiles. Dorn called for immediate congressional action on textile import legislation in the wake of layoffs and textile mill closings in South Carolina stemming from the government’s failing to adopt trade textile policies. Low wage imports of synthetic fiber were forcing release of mill employees and closing of many textile mills. Question-did Washington respond to pleas for policies to protect American jobs or were cheap products more important? Were Harnett County mills touched?
R.N. Honeycutt, a water conservation farmer of the Coats community, had recently had some terraces worked to better carry off the surface water. Also another bit of news from the general area was that Gale Ennis of Coats was the leading performer on the Campbell girls’ basketball team. Gale wore #13 which had proved lucky to the freshman (Daily Record Mar. 4, 1971).
Was Harnett County Board of Education member Edward Turlington’s suggestion to add more vocational class coming to fruition? I do know that practical experience in carpentry was emphasized in the instruction classes taught by W.P. West, Jr. at Coats High School. Several students pictured in the paper were Linwood Ennis, Randy Dawson, Kenneth Lee, Dennis Walden, and Robert Wilbourne who had made an outside storage house (Daily Record Mar.7, 1971).
Mrs. Bessie Clayton, 89, of Fuquay-Varina, had died on Sunday. She was the mother of Paul Clayton of Coats (Daily Record Mar. 8, 1971).
Mr. Bernice Johnson of the Coats community section had developed a soil and conservation plan with the help of the district conservationist. In his plan, he considered a field border to help hold the soil in place. The strip of perennial grass some ten to fifteen feet wide around the edge of the cultivated field would be easy to maintain.
The women in the Coats area also had the opportunity to get out of the house yet benefit their households. A forty-eight hour sewing class was offered in the Coats High School Home Economics Department by Johnston County Technical Institute for the price of $6.00 (Daily Record Mar. 10, 1971).Who was teaching that class in 1971?
The Coats Hunting and Fishing Club had hosted the annual Bird Dog Trials at the Warren Ennis Farm in Coats. At the local Coats Baptist Church, the religious drama entitled, “I Dreamed I Searched Heaven for You,” was performed by sixty-five players coming from churches in and around Coats (Daily Record Mar. 10, 1971). Wonder if anyone saved a bulletin from that event?
We do know that Terry Weaver, son of Mr. and Mrs. Charles W. Weaver, was engaged to marry Sandra Kay Grissom, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Walter Grissom of rural Lillington (Daily Record Mar. 15, 1971).
Several locals were hospitals patients-Mrs. Mettie Lee Spears and Mrs. Montie Wood (Daily Record Mar. 18, 1971).
Who remembers when the Senters operated a business in Coats? Was it in the area of the current Nationwide Insurance business? Mrs. Ophelia Austin Senter, 68, of Coats and the mother of Peggy Senter, Louise Jackson, Edna Smith and Buck Senter, had died at her home. I have fond memories of Buck Senter who was always such a friendly gentleman whether at the Stephens Hardware or in the Howard Barnes Store. I distinctly remember how cooperative he was when I asked for a picture of him to go into our Town Officials notebook that we were putting together before an Open House to gather information for our 2005 Centennial book. He reminded me later how expensive that picture was but that he was glad that he could do it for us.
His sister Peggy is also a good woman. She spent most of her working years at Guy Stewart’s car dealership and was recognized for her hard work. Peggy was always dropping by the museum to give donations and memorials from her 1952 Coats graduating class or was donating items to be placed in our exhibits such as a Jew’s harp for our music exhibit and has given numerous personal and business items from the Senter family. We miss having her drop by the museum since she now lives in Angier. I did not know the other two Senter children but can only assume that Mrs. Ophelia Senter raised all her children to be gracious, hardworking and community minded like Buck and Peggy.
Last Thursday was another fun day for the volunteers at the museum. Lee Honeycutt from Raleigh and his daughter Marlo Baker from Apex came searching for information on the Honeycutt family connected with Honeycutt Pond (now Pope’s Lake). They were excited about a Wednesday tour they were given of the Honeycutt Cemetery by one of the employees of Barclay’s Villa. They were able to take pictures of their ancestors’ tombstones. We were excited to share some military pictures and other materials connected with the Coats Honeycutt family originally from the Barclaysville area before moving to Coats.
Ralph and Lorena Denning stopped by to update the volunteers on the plans for the Coats High School Class of 1963 Reunion on August 25th. The class will take time to tour the two museums, enjoy some refreshments and learn what is available for visitors to see in the Theater Room and Research Library where we have the yearbooks from the old Coats High School and an immense amount of local history.
Should you see Teresa Honeycutt, Paul Parker, Ralph Denning, Walter and Kathy Weeks, Sandy Howard, Patsy and Stacy Avery, Becky Adams, Peggy Robinson, Andy Cole, Hilda Pope, Linda Cobb, Tim Penny, Eric Fann, Ted Penny, Myrtle Bridges, Robie and Lynda Butler and H.L. Sorrell, please thank them for giving their volunteer time to help make the Coats Museums a safe, beautiful and interesting destination for hundreds of visitors from throughout the state and country who come to learn about the history of a typical, small southern farm community in the 19th and 20th centuries.