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                                                                                      October 11, 2019 Coats Museum News
The month was April and base ball was on the school calendar. Tony West and Pat McGill had led the Jackets baseball team all season. Coaching the team were Ed Knittle, Al Black and head coach Bill Ray Turner (Daily Record Apr. 2, 1980).
Granville Avery was suggested to take over the vacancy in the Dunn post office left by assistant Postmaster Bill Signor, who was upgraded to postmaster of Four Oaks (Daily Record Apr. 4, 1980).
Mr. and Mrs. Charles Denning, from the Oakdale area, announced the engagement of their daughter, Anita Watson Denning, to Kenny D. Tart. Mr. and Mrs. William Golden Tart were parents of the prospective groom. Anita had graduated from Harbarger Junior College and her fiancé attended ECU in Greenville. He was associated with Cutters Laboratories in Clayton (Daily Record Apr. 15, 1980).
In the Daily Record April 17th edition, Marie Jernigan announced her own engagement while the 24th edition shared that Cathy Lane Powell was to marry Ricky Turlington Pope.
Members of the Coats Rescue Squad were thanking Bob Etheridge for his support of the rescue program. The group was helping sponsor a rally at the Coats Community Building (Daily Record Apr. 28, 1980).
Mr. and Mrs. Ronald Steenstra of Route One, Coats, announced the engagement of their daughter, Ronna Steenstra, to Tony Ray Lee, son of Mr. and Mrs. Cecil Ray Lee of Dunn (Daily Record Apr. 30, 1980).
Contestants who competed for the Miss Coats Junior Order were Sherri Williams, Kathy Gregory, Karen Royals, Kathy Williams, Lisa Pleasant and Teresa Lewis (Daily Record May 1, 1980).
There has been much interest in the history of the Coats Community Building and the property around it. The land upon which the community building was reassembled was given by W.E. Nichols in 1948. The land the Coats Museum is built upon was given to the Coats Community Board of Trustees in 1980.
The Amoco Oil Company had donated a nice, large piece of land worth several thousand dollars to the Coats Community Center and the deed was presented at a public ceremony at the community center. Grady McCauley of Charlotte, head of Amoco in the two Carolinas, and Paul White of Dunn, official of Lee-Moore Oil Company of Sanford, the area distributor, were on hand. Herbert Johnson, well-known real estate and insurance executive, served as master of ceremonies of the event. The lot adjourned the Coats Community Center and plans were to establish a mini-park recreational facility and a parking area. The Coats Community Center’s officers were Charles Ennis, president; Mrs. Lottie Lamm, treasurer and Mrs. Margaret Johnson, secretary. The board of trustees was made up of representatives from the eight clubs and organizations that used and maintained the community center (Daily Record May 12, 1980).
 Kathy Strickland was a member of the Campbell University softball team. Kathy played outfield and played in 23 games of the 28 games. Kathy was a math major (Daily Record May 13, 1980).
The Coats Lady Jackets went 15-1 for the 1980 season. The coach was Dan Honeycutt. JoAnne Barnes, Tanya Stewart, Annette Ferguson and Cynthia Dailey had an outstanding game (Daily Record May 13, 1980).
 Teresa Neal who taught at Coats in the Health, PE and math classes, helped coach the Lady Jackets. She was always coaching first base in every game.
Joseph Wade Stanley, 57, retired textile worker of Coats, had died on Wednesday. Survivors were his wife, Lena Moore Stanley; son, Joseph Wayne, and daughter, Mrs. LaRue S. Boone. The funeral service was held at the Overby –Johnson Funeral Home in Coats (Daily Record May 15, 1980). Currently, LaRue lives in SC but she visits Coats on occasions and was a generous financial contributor to the building of the museum’s exhibit hall. Her Coats High School majorette suit is on display in the Research Library.
Do you recall reading that a new bank came to Coats by the name of Carolina Bank? News now was that ground had been broken for a new building and was to be completed in 90 to 120 days. All the Board of Directors and workers were present for the event. The bank was to be located on North McKinley Street and would contain 2500 square feet.
It’s been a while since you have read much about the Coats Woman’s Club. A club has been around since the early 1920’s. In fact, when the 1921 brick school opened, there were no bathrooms, no central heat, or lights. The Coats Woman’s Club actually had Fiddlers Conventions, Spelling Bees, Oyster Roasts and Bingo to raise money to put lighting in the school. They were a dedicated group.
The news from the club in May 19 of 1980 was that Mrs. Mary Langdon had accepted the Woman of the Year plaque from club president, Margaret Johnson. The McCarroll Family was selected as the recipients of the Family of the Year (Daily Record May 19, 1980).
Coats had several Lady Jackets named to the Carolina1-A Conference team. JoAnn Barnes, Kathy Williams, Donna Ennis, Annette Ferguson and Denise Barnes made the list for their outstanding display of skill on the softball diamond (Daily Record May 19, 1980).
Death returned to Coats and took Mrs. Lela Avery Johnson on Saturday. She was the daughter of Frank and Martha Cannady Avery. Her services were held at the Coats Methodist Church and burial in the Coats City Cemetery. Surviving her were her son, Leon Johnson and daughter, Mrs. Evelyn Ennis Roberts (Daily Record May 19, 1980).
Does the name Baxter Ennis sound familiar? Ned Baxter Ennis was promoted to the rank of captain in the Army. Captain Ennis was the son of Mr. and Mrs. Preston Ennis of Coats. He was a 1971 graduate of Coats High and a 1975 graduate of Campbell University (Daily Record May 21, 1980).
Baxter retired from the US Army as a Lt. Col., is an author and speaker in the Chesapeake, VA area. 
Softball continued to dominate the news. The Coats Lady Jackets had lost in the state playoff opener. Sharon Gregory and Annette Ferguson had outstanding performances. Elsewhere the Coats Lions Club sponsored the first annual Woman’s Invitational Softball Tournament. The teams played slow pitch softball (Daily Record May 22, 1980). Question—Is the Coats Recreational Park open now?
I do know that the Coats Police Department and the Coats Recreational Department hosted a fundraiser event featuring g a grunge Donkey Softball game featuring Jesses James’ Gang versus Pork Patrol (Coats Police Department). Rick Brenner of WRAL’s TV 5 captained the “Pork Patrol” made up of Mayor Ronald Coats, NC Rep. Bob Etheridge, Police Commissioner Windell Dorman, Dunn Commissioner Ralph Barefoot, Fred Timper of First Citizens Bank and Trust, M.T. Strickland and his daughter Sharon Holshouser and Police Chief Ron Peters. The “Jesse James Gang” refused to identify their team members (Daily Record May 28, 1980).
Does anyone own up to being a member of the James Gang? Were they riding donkeys? Where did they find that many controllable donkeys?
We can surely  mark off Betsy Pollard as a team player because the May 29, 1980 Daily Record edition printed that Betsy was daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Baxton Pollard and she had spent two weeks in France with a group of students and professors from UNC Chapel  Hill. A group gave the 1979 graduate a departure party.
Here is a name many in Coats will recognize. Thomas Wilbert Parrish, 54, had died on Thursday. His services were at Ebenezer Presbyterian Church. He was survived by his wife Margaret (daughter of Frank and Mary Elliott), a daughter, Mrs. Deborah Matthews, and son, Wilbert Landis Parrish. His five brothers were James, Carl, Wilbert, J.D., and Owen Parrish and his sisters were Mrs. Dixie Parrish, Mrs. Lucille Norris, Mrs. Lottie Parrish and Miss Delphia Parrish (Daily Record May 30, 1980).
Wilbert’s wife currently lives in Benson, but she grew up in the Ebenezer Presbyterian Church area. Her father was one of nicest neighbors that a family could ask for. He was a short, quiet natured man who was an outstanding church leader. When doing some research on the church leaders for our 100th Anniversary on October 13, I was made aware of his years of service to the church. It is going to be exciting on the 13th to touch base with the dozens of former members who grew up in the church but found their way out of the community for various reasons. We hope that former members will come to the church service where Kevin Nelson will share the history of the church. There will be many items on display   touching the past 100 years at Ebenezer. Ebenezer has some of the best cooks around, so the members invite you to come out and help celebrate the once in a lifetime event. Our oldest living member is a very sharp, beautiful lady in her nineties-Mrs. Clara Cobb Barbour.
A big thank you is sent to Patsy and Stacy Avery for remembering Wanda Pope by giving a memorial donation to the museum. Patsy and Stacy are an amazing couple who not only give support of time to worthy causes but also step up with financial assistance.
When you hear the Sorrell name, you might think of Dr. Richard Sorrell, J.W. ,Trent, Van Sorrell or one of the many dozens of Sorrells in the Dunn, Coats, Lillington or Benson area; however, there are many Sorrell girls who have well known children. The Sorrell cousins lost one of its best last week to cancer after suffering for five and a half months in the hospital. H.L. and I have given a memorial to the H. Lentis and Maude Penny Sorrell Brody School of Medicine Scholarship to honor Ed Miller- a cousin, friend and fellow educator. Barbara Gardner from Coats was his secretary at Angier School.