November 13, 2015 Coats Museum News
Do some of you remember reading The Harnett County News? How many editors or publishers can you name who headed up the Lillington paper? Was there ever one who grew up in Coats? This I do know. Friends and subscribers were shocked and saddened at the death of J. Frank Steele, 46, co-publisher of the weekly Harnett County paper. The son of Henderson Steele had dropped dead with a heart attack on Sunday afternoon. Elsewhere, President Eisenhower was recovering from an “average case” of coronary thrombosis. Locally, eight schools were represented at the county FHA meeting in Lillington. Joyce Faye Johnson, vice-president of the Coats FHA Club, represented her school. Mrs. Lyda Surles, 87, of Benson had died at the home of her son W.A. (Bill) Surles (Daily Record September 26, 1955).
Does anyone have any guess as to how many students attended Campbell College in 1955? According to the same edition of the Daily Record as above, the student population had increased 59 percent in two years. There were 634 students according to Robert L. King, registrar. A new men’s dorm was expected to increase the enrollments. Forty men students had stayed at a neighboring Benson hotel and traveled to the campus by the college bus.
Mr. and Mrs. Donnie E. Carroll welcomed the birth of a daughter named Hilda Ann. Mrs. Carroll was the former Hilda Mae Partin (Daily Record September 27, 1955).
The Little Flock Primitive Baptist Church had split. Both groups claimed exclusive use of the church property. In Raleigh, the WPTF radio station had interviewed Mrs. Sue Nichols Byrne of Coats via long distance telephone after her husband, Tommy Byrne, had pitched the winning game for the Yankees (Daily Record September 30, 1955).
Tommy Byrne was a real charmer. He attended our 2005 centennial celebration where more than one lady received a kiss on the cheek. A note of interest is that his son, John Byrne, is mayor of Fuquay and Mayor Byrne had his father Tommy Byrne’s Yankees baseball glove and ball in one of our earlier museum exhibits.
Jurors were summoned for the November 14 session and Grove had an unusually large number. Sampson H. Williams, Gordon O. Bennett, Luther Miller, Ira Joseph Williams, Graham Turlington, Robert Turlington, Mayton Upchurch, Jr., F.P. Blalock, Fred Turlington, Randall Turlington, Percy Nordan, Robert W. Turner, Earl Avery, A.R. Byrd, and Raymond B. Bowden (Daily Record October 5, 1955).
Are you observing the dates on the paper? Recall that this is the year of the first centennial of our Harnett County. “Beauties and Bearded” competed for titles on October 7th. The ten pretty princesses competed for the Centennial Queen. Barbara Stewart, 16, of Coats was to sing a solo to compete in the street clothes and evening dress competition. The best bearded were to be singled out (Daily Record October 6, 1955).
The big events of the centennial for the county were held on different days. Coats had its events on October 13. A big parade was part of the Coats event. Mayor Gene C. Stewart had rounded up some extra floats. The following merchants had floats: City Market, Beasley Barber Shop, McKnight’s Drug Store, Norris-Johnson Real Estate, Coats Motor Company, Vic Lee, M.E. Ennis and Company, Roberts Supply Company, Stewart Lumber, Coats Beauty Shop, Howard Barnes, Coats Fire Department, Norris Jewelry , Coats Mercantile and Coats FHA. Out of town floats were supplied by Woodall’s of Benson, Johnson Cotton Company, Erwin Cotton Mills, McLamb Farm Machine, Big Four Warehouse, US Air Force, and CP&L (Daily Record October 7, 1955).
Coats beauty Barbara Stewart had competed in the centennial beauty contest and sang “Full Moon” and “Empty Arms” (Daily Record October 10, 1955). Who can sing some of the words of those songs?
The schedules for the Coats events in the Harnett County Centennial celebration were announced via the paper. From 9:00-9:30am, there was to be music on the Main Street. From 9:20-9:30am, address and welcome from Mayor Gene Stewart. From 9:30-11:30am, a Fat Beef Cattle Stock Show was to be held. Also from 9:30-11:30am, athletic events were scheduled on the school grounds (especially for the children). From 11:30-12:30pm, “A History of Education” pageant, written by Mrs. Mattie Highfill, was to be shown in the school auditorium (no admission).
At 1:00pm, Senators Kerr Scott and Sam Ervin were to speak at the school house. The parade was planned for 2:00pm. After the parade, the display of home products by the home demonstrations clubs would be at Stephens Hardware. From 3:00 -5:00 pm, a Fiddler’s Convention would be held at the school house. Then a barbecue supper would be on the school grounds. It was open to the public with plates selling for $1.25. A couple of questions—why was it on the school grounds and not in a cafeteria and where did they stand to eat the BBQ? Was it on the athletic field? Were there bleachers in 1955? Recall the Fellowship Club was working with CP&L to get lights for night play.
This we do know. The play, “The Highland,” was to be at 8:00pm (Daily Record October 12, 1955). Does anyone know where? The museum has pictures of the parade, the senators, and a program for the “The Highland”, but we do not have a copy of the “A History of Education” by Mrs. Highfill. Does a copy exist?
A big crowd was at Coats for the events of the centennial that were carried out as were planned. D.G. Darrock of Coats was a winner in the Beard Contest for the centennial. Winners in the high school essay contest were also announced. Jimmy Honeycutt of Coats and Mabel Broadwell of Angier won in the schools. Would you believe a few years, Jimmy’s uncle, Dan Honeycutt, and Mabel Broadwell’s brother, Coy Broadwell, would both teach at Coats High School?
The scrapbook contest was judged on general appearance, content, neatness, arrangement, writing, lettering, and evidence of research. The Coats winners were announced and Mrs. Ruby Arnold’s seventh grade won the $5.00 first prize and Rumel Taylor in Mrs. Ruth Gregory’s eight grade class won second place and $3.00. Class projects of maps, songs, poems, folk dancing, quiz programs, skits and speech classes stimulated an interest in history (Daily Record October 17, 1955). Are there any of those documents in trunks or attics around Harnett County?
This I do know. The Coats Museum volunteers have already sponsored two events to collect the names of Grove area veterans who had served in wars through WWII. We have over 800 names, records, pictures of veterans in alphabetized books in our Research Library.
This Saturday is the big day at our museum as we show appreciation to our men and woman who have served and sacrificed to protect our freedoms since WWII. Dozens of our “Defenders of the Red, White and Blue” are scheduled to participate on the square. At 1:00pm, we hope to add more names to the military books as living veterans and flag bearers for deceased veterans meet in the community building to register and prepare for their 2:00 walk from the deck of the community building to the lawns on the museums to post a flag tagged with name, rank and branch of service. While the participating individuals are preparing for the event inside the building, the families and friends can benefit from an hour on the grounds where Banner Unit 109 American Legion and Auxiliary and the Girl Scouts will share demonstrations on folding, respecting and retiring the American flag. Following the program and placing of the flags, the museum will be opened for the veterans, family and friends to enter for “Cake and Conversation”.
Free parking is available behind the museums, the lot beside the Colonial Corners, and in the Matthews Realty lot. There are a limited number of handicapped spaces on the square but no regular parking is allowed because of activities. If one cannot stand for an hour, we suggest bringing a lawn chair. A blank in a rifle will be fired at 1:55 to designate the beginning of the program and we ask that you not be alarmed when you hear gunfire.
A special thank you goes to Patsy and Stacy Avery for their memorial gifts to the museum for Ray McLean, Ralph Smith and Cathy Williams. Also thank you to Patsy for inviting the Four Seasons Garden Club and the Williams Reunion folks to tour the museum. We are also very appreciative of the many people who have helped us as we have prepared for “Defenders of the Red, White and Blue.”
Do some of you remember reading The Harnett County News? How many editors or publishers can you name who headed up the Lillington paper? Was there ever one who grew up in Coats? This I do know. Friends and subscribers were shocked and saddened at the death of J. Frank Steele, 46, co-publisher of the weekly Harnett County paper. The son of Henderson Steele had dropped dead with a heart attack on Sunday afternoon. Elsewhere, President Eisenhower was recovering from an “average case” of coronary thrombosis. Locally, eight schools were represented at the county FHA meeting in Lillington. Joyce Faye Johnson, vice-president of the Coats FHA Club, represented her school. Mrs. Lyda Surles, 87, of Benson had died at the home of her son W.A. (Bill) Surles (Daily Record September 26, 1955).
Does anyone have any guess as to how many students attended Campbell College in 1955? According to the same edition of the Daily Record as above, the student population had increased 59 percent in two years. There were 634 students according to Robert L. King, registrar. A new men’s dorm was expected to increase the enrollments. Forty men students had stayed at a neighboring Benson hotel and traveled to the campus by the college bus.
Mr. and Mrs. Donnie E. Carroll welcomed the birth of a daughter named Hilda Ann. Mrs. Carroll was the former Hilda Mae Partin (Daily Record September 27, 1955).
The Little Flock Primitive Baptist Church had split. Both groups claimed exclusive use of the church property. In Raleigh, the WPTF radio station had interviewed Mrs. Sue Nichols Byrne of Coats via long distance telephone after her husband, Tommy Byrne, had pitched the winning game for the Yankees (Daily Record September 30, 1955).
Tommy Byrne was a real charmer. He attended our 2005 centennial celebration where more than one lady received a kiss on the cheek. A note of interest is that his son, John Byrne, is mayor of Fuquay and Mayor Byrne had his father Tommy Byrne’s Yankees baseball glove and ball in one of our earlier museum exhibits.
Jurors were summoned for the November 14 session and Grove had an unusually large number. Sampson H. Williams, Gordon O. Bennett, Luther Miller, Ira Joseph Williams, Graham Turlington, Robert Turlington, Mayton Upchurch, Jr., F.P. Blalock, Fred Turlington, Randall Turlington, Percy Nordan, Robert W. Turner, Earl Avery, A.R. Byrd, and Raymond B. Bowden (Daily Record October 5, 1955).
Are you observing the dates on the paper? Recall that this is the year of the first centennial of our Harnett County. “Beauties and Bearded” competed for titles on October 7th. The ten pretty princesses competed for the Centennial Queen. Barbara Stewart, 16, of Coats was to sing a solo to compete in the street clothes and evening dress competition. The best bearded were to be singled out (Daily Record October 6, 1955).
The big events of the centennial for the county were held on different days. Coats had its events on October 13. A big parade was part of the Coats event. Mayor Gene C. Stewart had rounded up some extra floats. The following merchants had floats: City Market, Beasley Barber Shop, McKnight’s Drug Store, Norris-Johnson Real Estate, Coats Motor Company, Vic Lee, M.E. Ennis and Company, Roberts Supply Company, Stewart Lumber, Coats Beauty Shop, Howard Barnes, Coats Fire Department, Norris Jewelry , Coats Mercantile and Coats FHA. Out of town floats were supplied by Woodall’s of Benson, Johnson Cotton Company, Erwin Cotton Mills, McLamb Farm Machine, Big Four Warehouse, US Air Force, and CP&L (Daily Record October 7, 1955).
Coats beauty Barbara Stewart had competed in the centennial beauty contest and sang “Full Moon” and “Empty Arms” (Daily Record October 10, 1955). Who can sing some of the words of those songs?
The schedules for the Coats events in the Harnett County Centennial celebration were announced via the paper. From 9:00-9:30am, there was to be music on the Main Street. From 9:20-9:30am, address and welcome from Mayor Gene Stewart. From 9:30-11:30am, a Fat Beef Cattle Stock Show was to be held. Also from 9:30-11:30am, athletic events were scheduled on the school grounds (especially for the children). From 11:30-12:30pm, “A History of Education” pageant, written by Mrs. Mattie Highfill, was to be shown in the school auditorium (no admission).
At 1:00pm, Senators Kerr Scott and Sam Ervin were to speak at the school house. The parade was planned for 2:00pm. After the parade, the display of home products by the home demonstrations clubs would be at Stephens Hardware. From 3:00 -5:00 pm, a Fiddler’s Convention would be held at the school house. Then a barbecue supper would be on the school grounds. It was open to the public with plates selling for $1.25. A couple of questions—why was it on the school grounds and not in a cafeteria and where did they stand to eat the BBQ? Was it on the athletic field? Were there bleachers in 1955? Recall the Fellowship Club was working with CP&L to get lights for night play.
This we do know. The play, “The Highland,” was to be at 8:00pm (Daily Record October 12, 1955). Does anyone know where? The museum has pictures of the parade, the senators, and a program for the “The Highland”, but we do not have a copy of the “A History of Education” by Mrs. Highfill. Does a copy exist?
A big crowd was at Coats for the events of the centennial that were carried out as were planned. D.G. Darrock of Coats was a winner in the Beard Contest for the centennial. Winners in the high school essay contest were also announced. Jimmy Honeycutt of Coats and Mabel Broadwell of Angier won in the schools. Would you believe a few years, Jimmy’s uncle, Dan Honeycutt, and Mabel Broadwell’s brother, Coy Broadwell, would both teach at Coats High School?
The scrapbook contest was judged on general appearance, content, neatness, arrangement, writing, lettering, and evidence of research. The Coats winners were announced and Mrs. Ruby Arnold’s seventh grade won the $5.00 first prize and Rumel Taylor in Mrs. Ruth Gregory’s eight grade class won second place and $3.00. Class projects of maps, songs, poems, folk dancing, quiz programs, skits and speech classes stimulated an interest in history (Daily Record October 17, 1955). Are there any of those documents in trunks or attics around Harnett County?
This I do know. The Coats Museum volunteers have already sponsored two events to collect the names of Grove area veterans who had served in wars through WWII. We have over 800 names, records, pictures of veterans in alphabetized books in our Research Library.
This Saturday is the big day at our museum as we show appreciation to our men and woman who have served and sacrificed to protect our freedoms since WWII. Dozens of our “Defenders of the Red, White and Blue” are scheduled to participate on the square. At 1:00pm, we hope to add more names to the military books as living veterans and flag bearers for deceased veterans meet in the community building to register and prepare for their 2:00 walk from the deck of the community building to the lawns on the museums to post a flag tagged with name, rank and branch of service. While the participating individuals are preparing for the event inside the building, the families and friends can benefit from an hour on the grounds where Banner Unit 109 American Legion and Auxiliary and the Girl Scouts will share demonstrations on folding, respecting and retiring the American flag. Following the program and placing of the flags, the museum will be opened for the veterans, family and friends to enter for “Cake and Conversation”.
Free parking is available behind the museums, the lot beside the Colonial Corners, and in the Matthews Realty lot. There are a limited number of handicapped spaces on the square but no regular parking is allowed because of activities. If one cannot stand for an hour, we suggest bringing a lawn chair. A blank in a rifle will be fired at 1:55 to designate the beginning of the program and we ask that you not be alarmed when you hear gunfire.
A special thank you goes to Patsy and Stacy Avery for their memorial gifts to the museum for Ray McLean, Ralph Smith and Cathy Williams. Also thank you to Patsy for inviting the Four Seasons Garden Club and the Williams Reunion folks to tour the museum. We are also very appreciative of the many people who have helped us as we have prepared for “Defenders of the Red, White and Blue.”