March 2, 2018 Coats Museum News
It was fall of 1968 and Richard Nixon had been elected president and had promised to restore law and order in the nation, and to stage a U.S. troop withdrawal in Southeast Asia. He had won by a slim margin and third-party candidate George Wallace had received 13.5 percent of the vote. The U.S. death toll in Vietnam had passed 30,000.
The Apollo 8 had made the first of ten manned lunar orbits and allowed the first human eyes to see the dark side of the moon. Before this, the highest altitude flown by a manned craft was 851 miles, but Apollo 8 rose 240,000 miles. The crew of the spy ship Pueblo was released after eleven months of brutal captivity by North Korea. Wonder if any Coats veterans had memories of that event?
David Surles wrote in his story in the Defenders of the Red, White and Blue that after basic training, he was off to AIT M.P. School at Ft. Gordon, GA. Following a Saturday night graduation, he was headed to Korea on Monday morning. He had been destined for Vietnam but a spy ship, Pueblo, was hijacked off the coast of North Korea and the crew taken. David thought he was at the end of the earth when he arrived in Korea. The worst thing about being there was having no connection to home but by letter. He wrote that two very good things happened while he was there- the release of the crew of Pueblo and the other was the Bob Hope Show with Ann Margaret (Defenders of the Red, White and Blue, page 294).
Jackie Kennedy had married shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis on the island of Skorpios while in the Coats area, Miss Janell Weaver and Donald Johnson were married at the Pleasant Memory Church. The bride was the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Bernice Weaver and the groom was the son of Mr. and Mrs. Glenn Johnson (Daily Record Nov. 6, 1968).
Two birth announcements were recorded in the Nov. 6, 1968 Daily Record. Stanley Frank and Bonnie Pate of Coats were parents of a son at GHH. A daughter was born to Terry and Diane Williams McLamb.
The Coats FHA Chapter had its first meeting with an Ugly Girl Contest. The judges were Sybil Lamm as Mrs. Johnson of Harper Valley PTA; Helen Lockamy as Phyllis Diller; Carolyn Denning as Jackie Gleason; Joan Ennis as Mr. Case and Gayle Wilkins as Julie London. Who won the contest? Linda Tart was the Ugliest Girl (Daily Record Nov. 7, 1968).
A Fayetteville couple with close Coats connections died in an automobile accident. Mr. and Mrs. Thurman Ennis were formerly from Coats. Mrs. Ennis was survived by a son, Harry Ennis; her mother, Mrs. Ellis Langdon; eleven siblings-Mrs. Bertie Byrd, Mrs. Ollie Penny, Mrs. Nora Jones, Mrs. Myrtle Brodgin, Mrs. Geraldine Capps, Talmadge, Alvis, Jarvis, Ralph, Stewart, and Ernis Langdon (Daily Record Nov. 11, 1968). Was Mr. Ennis the son of Joel Ennis? Who were his survivors?
Airman Thurman Tart, son of Mr. and Mrs. Jarvis Tart of rural Coats, had completed his basic training at Lackland AFB, TX. He had specialized in aircraft maintenance. Thurman was a Coats High graduate (Daily Record Nov. 14, 1968).
How much is a pig worth? How much does a pound of bacon cost? I do know that the Nov. 15, 1968 edition of the Daily Record printed that Mr. H.A. Turlington, Sr. had sold a pig litter for $3,950. Yes-that is what the litter brought!
Several Coats students had participated in the Harnett County Basketball Jamboree. Debbie Ennis won free-throw shooter and Jeff Turlington won the same for the boys (Daily Record Nov. 27, 1968).
Funeral services were held for James Garland Lee, 58, of Route 1, Coats. Mr. Lee was survived by his wife, Mrs. Bessie Barefoot, and a son and daughter-James H. and Mrs. Mary Helen Baldwin (Daily Record Dec. 3, 1968).
Deaths continued to be the big news from Coats. Curtis Bryan Ennis, 50, well-known Dunn accountant, had died at his office from an apparent heart attack. He died just five days after his brother Thurman Ennis and sister-in-law had been killed in an automobile accident. Mr. Ennis was Coats native and the son of Mr. and Mrs. Joel Ennis. He was survived by his wife, Mrs. Lina Suggs Ennis, one daughter-Mrs. Thomas Hobby and two brothers-Raymond and Sgt. Fred Ennis and one sister-Mrs. H.L. McInturff (Daily Record Dec. 13, 1968).
The death angel lingered in the Coats area as it was printed that Randall (Rabbit) Norris, 80, of Coats and a retired farmer, had died on Friday. His services were conducted at Hodges Chapel Church by Elder A.D. McGee and Revs. W.O. Lassiter, Condary Ellis and Sam McMillan. Mr. Norris was survived by his wife Mrs. Blanche R. Norris and a brother, Haywood Norris (Daily Record Dec. 16, 1968).
T. Sue Turner of Coats, the eight-month-old daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Ray Turner, had died. Other survivors were Kim Turner’ s, grandparents- Mr. and Mrs. Jesse J. Turner and Mrs. Jimmy Ferguson, and maternal grandfather Donald Lee (Daily Record Dec. 18, 1968).
Yet another passing had appeared in the next edition of the Daily Record. James W. “Bud” Weaver’s death touched so many Coats people. His services were at Pleasant Memory Baptist Church by Rev. Irvin Stevens. Harnett Memorial Park was his burial site. He was survived by three daughters-Mrs. James Russell Moss, Mrs. W.R. Moss, Jr., and Mrs. Thelma Berry and one son, Holt Weaver. His siblings were Mrs. Susan Johnson, John Weaver, Paul Weaver and Wade Weaver (Daily Record Dec. 19, 1968).Is it a coincidence that two daughters had married a Ross or is there an error?
I do know it is so easy to make errors. Most of the material that I use in this column was collected by several volunteers and me who were welcomed into the Daily Record Library by the late Mr. Hoover Adams and Lisa Farmer. They saw our faces from 8am to 5pm for about three years. We read and summarized all Coats news from of all editions of the Daily Record, Dunn Dispatch and Harnett County News. It was a physically and mentally exhausting task. We surely made copy errors. My latest error---I recently married the wrong brother to a girl at Grove Presbyterian Church. Thank you, John Ennis, for sharing that your good friend, Roy Denning, from the Fayetteville area, called you to tell me that Roy Wood Denning’s late brother, Lonnie Denning, was the groom of Sharon Gail Butler. I should have caught that error since I attended church with the Denning brothers who grew up in the Oakdale area on Denning Road. Thanks goes to John and Roy Wood for reading the column and keeping the column news accurate.
Another Coats native who had close connection with the Daily Record a few years ago was Joe Byrd. In 1968, Joseph E. Byrd, Airman First Class, son of Mr. and Mrs. Edward Byrd, was on duty at U.S. Air Force, Thailand-Lorat Royal Thai AFB. Joe served as weapons mechanic at that time. He was a 1966 Coats High graduate (Daily Record Dec. 20, 1968).
The entire Coats area was saddened to learn that Raymond Pope, 21, of Coats, was killed in an automobile accident. He had just returned from a tour of duty in Vietnam. His services were at the Gift Primitive Baptist Church by Elder A.D. McGee and Elder Shepard Stephenson with burial in the Lakesie Memorial Gardens. He was survived by his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Sam Pope; his three sisters-Mrs. Ed Lewis, Mrs . Douglas Ray Martin and Mrs. Norfleet Gardner. His six brothers were Leon, Charles, Aaron, Johnny, Sammy and Sherwood (Daily Record Dec. 23, 1968). This had to be so traumatic for them to lose a brother, mother and grandmother within a three month period.
The story of Raymond’s service in Vietnam is in our Defenders of the Red White and Blue where it shares how his sister Kathleen Pope Martin was able to use all resources to learn more about Raymond’s valorous actions on the battlefield and was able to learn of the many medals that he had earned because of those actions.
Thanks to all who continue to drop by the museum to see the new exhibits. Likewise, appreciation goes to those who are purchasing copies of the Defenders of the Red, White and Blue. If you do drop in, make sure you check to see if your family has its genealogy in the Research Library.
It was fall of 1968 and Richard Nixon had been elected president and had promised to restore law and order in the nation, and to stage a U.S. troop withdrawal in Southeast Asia. He had won by a slim margin and third-party candidate George Wallace had received 13.5 percent of the vote. The U.S. death toll in Vietnam had passed 30,000.
The Apollo 8 had made the first of ten manned lunar orbits and allowed the first human eyes to see the dark side of the moon. Before this, the highest altitude flown by a manned craft was 851 miles, but Apollo 8 rose 240,000 miles. The crew of the spy ship Pueblo was released after eleven months of brutal captivity by North Korea. Wonder if any Coats veterans had memories of that event?
David Surles wrote in his story in the Defenders of the Red, White and Blue that after basic training, he was off to AIT M.P. School at Ft. Gordon, GA. Following a Saturday night graduation, he was headed to Korea on Monday morning. He had been destined for Vietnam but a spy ship, Pueblo, was hijacked off the coast of North Korea and the crew taken. David thought he was at the end of the earth when he arrived in Korea. The worst thing about being there was having no connection to home but by letter. He wrote that two very good things happened while he was there- the release of the crew of Pueblo and the other was the Bob Hope Show with Ann Margaret (Defenders of the Red, White and Blue, page 294).
Jackie Kennedy had married shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis on the island of Skorpios while in the Coats area, Miss Janell Weaver and Donald Johnson were married at the Pleasant Memory Church. The bride was the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Bernice Weaver and the groom was the son of Mr. and Mrs. Glenn Johnson (Daily Record Nov. 6, 1968).
Two birth announcements were recorded in the Nov. 6, 1968 Daily Record. Stanley Frank and Bonnie Pate of Coats were parents of a son at GHH. A daughter was born to Terry and Diane Williams McLamb.
The Coats FHA Chapter had its first meeting with an Ugly Girl Contest. The judges were Sybil Lamm as Mrs. Johnson of Harper Valley PTA; Helen Lockamy as Phyllis Diller; Carolyn Denning as Jackie Gleason; Joan Ennis as Mr. Case and Gayle Wilkins as Julie London. Who won the contest? Linda Tart was the Ugliest Girl (Daily Record Nov. 7, 1968).
A Fayetteville couple with close Coats connections died in an automobile accident. Mr. and Mrs. Thurman Ennis were formerly from Coats. Mrs. Ennis was survived by a son, Harry Ennis; her mother, Mrs. Ellis Langdon; eleven siblings-Mrs. Bertie Byrd, Mrs. Ollie Penny, Mrs. Nora Jones, Mrs. Myrtle Brodgin, Mrs. Geraldine Capps, Talmadge, Alvis, Jarvis, Ralph, Stewart, and Ernis Langdon (Daily Record Nov. 11, 1968). Was Mr. Ennis the son of Joel Ennis? Who were his survivors?
Airman Thurman Tart, son of Mr. and Mrs. Jarvis Tart of rural Coats, had completed his basic training at Lackland AFB, TX. He had specialized in aircraft maintenance. Thurman was a Coats High graduate (Daily Record Nov. 14, 1968).
How much is a pig worth? How much does a pound of bacon cost? I do know that the Nov. 15, 1968 edition of the Daily Record printed that Mr. H.A. Turlington, Sr. had sold a pig litter for $3,950. Yes-that is what the litter brought!
Several Coats students had participated in the Harnett County Basketball Jamboree. Debbie Ennis won free-throw shooter and Jeff Turlington won the same for the boys (Daily Record Nov. 27, 1968).
Funeral services were held for James Garland Lee, 58, of Route 1, Coats. Mr. Lee was survived by his wife, Mrs. Bessie Barefoot, and a son and daughter-James H. and Mrs. Mary Helen Baldwin (Daily Record Dec. 3, 1968).
Deaths continued to be the big news from Coats. Curtis Bryan Ennis, 50, well-known Dunn accountant, had died at his office from an apparent heart attack. He died just five days after his brother Thurman Ennis and sister-in-law had been killed in an automobile accident. Mr. Ennis was Coats native and the son of Mr. and Mrs. Joel Ennis. He was survived by his wife, Mrs. Lina Suggs Ennis, one daughter-Mrs. Thomas Hobby and two brothers-Raymond and Sgt. Fred Ennis and one sister-Mrs. H.L. McInturff (Daily Record Dec. 13, 1968).
The death angel lingered in the Coats area as it was printed that Randall (Rabbit) Norris, 80, of Coats and a retired farmer, had died on Friday. His services were conducted at Hodges Chapel Church by Elder A.D. McGee and Revs. W.O. Lassiter, Condary Ellis and Sam McMillan. Mr. Norris was survived by his wife Mrs. Blanche R. Norris and a brother, Haywood Norris (Daily Record Dec. 16, 1968).
T. Sue Turner of Coats, the eight-month-old daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Ray Turner, had died. Other survivors were Kim Turner’ s, grandparents- Mr. and Mrs. Jesse J. Turner and Mrs. Jimmy Ferguson, and maternal grandfather Donald Lee (Daily Record Dec. 18, 1968).
Yet another passing had appeared in the next edition of the Daily Record. James W. “Bud” Weaver’s death touched so many Coats people. His services were at Pleasant Memory Baptist Church by Rev. Irvin Stevens. Harnett Memorial Park was his burial site. He was survived by three daughters-Mrs. James Russell Moss, Mrs. W.R. Moss, Jr., and Mrs. Thelma Berry and one son, Holt Weaver. His siblings were Mrs. Susan Johnson, John Weaver, Paul Weaver and Wade Weaver (Daily Record Dec. 19, 1968).Is it a coincidence that two daughters had married a Ross or is there an error?
I do know it is so easy to make errors. Most of the material that I use in this column was collected by several volunteers and me who were welcomed into the Daily Record Library by the late Mr. Hoover Adams and Lisa Farmer. They saw our faces from 8am to 5pm for about three years. We read and summarized all Coats news from of all editions of the Daily Record, Dunn Dispatch and Harnett County News. It was a physically and mentally exhausting task. We surely made copy errors. My latest error---I recently married the wrong brother to a girl at Grove Presbyterian Church. Thank you, John Ennis, for sharing that your good friend, Roy Denning, from the Fayetteville area, called you to tell me that Roy Wood Denning’s late brother, Lonnie Denning, was the groom of Sharon Gail Butler. I should have caught that error since I attended church with the Denning brothers who grew up in the Oakdale area on Denning Road. Thanks goes to John and Roy Wood for reading the column and keeping the column news accurate.
Another Coats native who had close connection with the Daily Record a few years ago was Joe Byrd. In 1968, Joseph E. Byrd, Airman First Class, son of Mr. and Mrs. Edward Byrd, was on duty at U.S. Air Force, Thailand-Lorat Royal Thai AFB. Joe served as weapons mechanic at that time. He was a 1966 Coats High graduate (Daily Record Dec. 20, 1968).
The entire Coats area was saddened to learn that Raymond Pope, 21, of Coats, was killed in an automobile accident. He had just returned from a tour of duty in Vietnam. His services were at the Gift Primitive Baptist Church by Elder A.D. McGee and Elder Shepard Stephenson with burial in the Lakesie Memorial Gardens. He was survived by his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Sam Pope; his three sisters-Mrs. Ed Lewis, Mrs . Douglas Ray Martin and Mrs. Norfleet Gardner. His six brothers were Leon, Charles, Aaron, Johnny, Sammy and Sherwood (Daily Record Dec. 23, 1968). This had to be so traumatic for them to lose a brother, mother and grandmother within a three month period.
The story of Raymond’s service in Vietnam is in our Defenders of the Red White and Blue where it shares how his sister Kathleen Pope Martin was able to use all resources to learn more about Raymond’s valorous actions on the battlefield and was able to learn of the many medals that he had earned because of those actions.
Thanks to all who continue to drop by the museum to see the new exhibits. Likewise, appreciation goes to those who are purchasing copies of the Defenders of the Red, White and Blue. If you do drop in, make sure you check to see if your family has its genealogy in the Research Library.