October 18, 2019 Coats Museum News
The pages on the 1980 calendar were quickly flipping. The month of June brought the school year to an end. Graduation services for the forty-nine 1980 Coats High seniors were on June 12th. Rev. Tom Melvin of the Coats United Methodist Church and Rev. Troy Daniel of Friendship FWB Church took part in the ceremony. Mrs. Laura Langdon and Earl Denning of the school advisory board made comments. The 1980 seniors were Tracy Allen, Cindy Barnes, Joann Barnes, Nona Betts, Bryan Byrd, Pamela Dailey, Annette Daniel, Dona Denning, Michael Denton, Robin Faircloth, Vivian Faircloth, Annette Ferguson, Beth Garriss, Bobby Gregory, Sharon Gregory, Kenneth Harvey, Bonnie Hayes, Charles Johnson, Kent Johnson, Tony Johnson, Belinda Lee, Denise Lucas, Delores McDuffie , Patrick McGill, Gary McKoy, Stanley McLeod, Michael Messer, Kent Miller, Ricky Moore, Glenn Parker, Sonya Pope, Charlotte Powell, Van Powell, Lillian Purcell, Sharon Rowland, Lee Morris Smith, Ricky Stephenson, Robert Stewart, Thomas Stone, Pamela Strickland, Calvin Summers, Sharron Walden, Tony West, Catherine Westbrook, Elnora White, Allen Whittington, Dennis Wiggins, Kathy Williams and Robin Williams (Together We Leave (108-09).
The student speakers were Student Council president, Michael Messer; senior class president, Patrick McGill; class salutatorian, Sharon Rowland, and valedictorian, Vivian Faircloth. Marshals for the ceremony were Karen Fuquay, Joseph Ferrell, Kathy Turlington, Robbie Lane, Steven Walker, Barbara Knox, Gwen Bass, Domini Ennis, Sherri Whittington and Pattie Sue Parker.
Three fire departments were called out to a fire at 11:50 PM at Ted’s Gas and Grocery on Route One, Coats. The fire was believed to have ignited due to overloaded circuits (Daily Record June 6, 1980).
The Coats Lions Club is made up of community-minded members. Their giving back to community has been going on for years which are backed up by the June 10, 1980 edition of the Daily Record which wrote that the Coats Lions Club had donated $5,000 to the construction of the Coats Lions Club Little League Park. Dudley Langdon, president of the Lions, presented the check to Director Doug Stevens.
The Lions also came on board in helping to make the Coats Museum possible. Many in the organization helped renovate the old “Goat House”, the 1914 two -room school, into a history museum. After a large number of farm items from locals began to be donated, a shelter was needed to display them. With the help of the Lions, Kiwanians and museum folks, a shelter for all the farm implements was made possible.
That is not the end of the Lions’ story. In 2004-05, the Lions renovated the Community Building’s bathrooms while the Kiwanians renovated the kitchen. The Lions built a gazebo on the Heritage Square for a centennial project and donated money, along with the Kiwanians and museum volunteers, to establish the Coats Museum Endowment for future upkeep of the museums in 2006. There’s more. In 2013, the museum’s Nell Penny and Kress Williams Exhibit Hall was built and paid for because of individuals and clubs such as the Lions and Kiwanians who volunteer countless hours at fund raisers in order to meet yearly pledges of financial support.
Coats High School named the Most Valuable Players in sports. Pat McGill was named Most Valuable Player on the baseball team. JoAnn Barnes won the Most Valuable in both basketball and softball. Edward McDuffie was the MVP in football. Dan Honeycutt was Coach of the Year in the Carolina 1-A Conference (Daily Record June 11, 1980).
All news out of Coats was not happy news. A young man’s family was saddened when Graham Bass was killed in an accident in New Jersey. He was driving a truck that collided with a car. Survivors were his wife, Mrs. Jackie Whittington West Bass; a son Graham Bass, Jr.; a stepson Danny West; two daughters-Gwen and Andora Bass, and one stepdaughter Pat West Autry (Daily Record June 12, 1980).
Coats High School held its Awards Day. The Best –All-Around Boy was Van Powell and the Best-All-Around Girl was Vivian Faircloth. Sportsmanship went to Ricky Moore and JoAnn Barnes while Citizenship went to Tony Johnson. Service Award was earned by Nona Betts and Americanism went to Robin Williams and Annette Daniel. Senior Social Studies was earned by Elnora White while freshman Social Studies went to Sherri Whittington. Vivian Faircloth and Sharon Rowland took home the English Award while Karen Fuquay won the French, Math and Science Awards. Tony Johnson and Tommy Stone received the Carpentry Award. Tony Johnson won the senior Carpentry Award and Duane Baker won the junior Carpentry Award. Sonya Pope carried home the Home Economics honor and Angela Penny won the Speech and Drama Award. Dona Denning earned the Photography Award. High School Library Award went to Delores McDuffie and the Elementary Library Award went to Carlie Cole. Vivian Faircloth and Annette Daniel carried home the Commercial Award. Pam Dailey won the Cheerleader and Flag Girl went to Tammy Parker.
A second list of winners was relevant to junior high school athletics. Best Defensive- Rattler (Elton, Jr.) Stewart; Best Offensive-Trace Denning; Most Improved-Joe Lee; Sportsmanship –Paul Capps; Yellow Jacket-Chris Ennis; Most Valuable-Trace Denning were recognized.
Much newspaper space was given to the Coats High School Athletic Awards Banquet. The following were recipients in football: Best Defensive-Edwin Ennis; Best Offensive-Darwin Denning; Most Improved-Sandy Langdon; Sportsmanship-Michael White; Yellow Jacket- Gary Baker; Most Valuable Player- Edward McDuffie. In basketball, al players received Most Valuable Player because of the team effort. Team members were Bryan Byrd, Tony West, Charles Johnson, Levon Johnson, Garry McKoy, Teddy Byrd, Robert White, Steve Norman, Bobby Gregory, Lenny Brown, Jerry Coats and Roger Jernigan.
The awards given in baseball were presented to the following: Best Defensive- Tim Stephenson; Best Offensive- Joe Ferrell; Most Improved-David Holmes; Sportsmanship- Tony West; Yellow Jacket-Thomas Johnson.
The final award given went to the Most Outstanding Male and Female Players who were Tony West and JoAnn Barnes (Daily Record June 18, 1980).
End of year awards days and banquets were a big event that surely brought tears or heartbreak to the young students who watched and waited for names to be called. One person not there was Robin Alan Jones, son of Mrs. Holt Cannady and T.R. Jones. He was a member of the Dunn Police Department and was engaged to Jeanie Tyler of Dunn (Daily Record June 16, 1980).
The Coats Town Board passed an Interim Budget. Due to reevaluation of property in Coats, the commissioners had not had time to set tax rates. J.C. Allen had asked for $30,000 for the police department because grant money was not available this year (Daily Record June 27, 1980).
The Class of 1975 had their first class reunion at Howard Johnson’s Restaurant in Dunn. Cynthia Bennett, Danny Stevens and Cecil Regan gave a humorous presentation. The class purchased a wreath to go on the grave of a classmate (Daily record July 2, 1980).
Does anyone know who the deceased 1975 classmate was in 1980? I do know several who are deceased in 2019.
Who remembers hearing a weird noise overhead in the sky and looking up to see a strange contraption with propellers connected to something that allowed a man to sit upon it? Earl Denning flew over the fields in my area many times all the while my two little one scampered to get a better view of it. Two other gents who loved flying similar manmade machines were Tony Tyndall and his brother Jerry Tyndall.
These machines really weren’t contraptions and might not have been made by the flyers of them, but their uniqueness just made them appear that way. Tony and Jerry flew Gyro helicopters even though neither ever had flying lessons. They made their helicopters using a 90 horse-power McCullough motor. How high do you think they flew—one half mile, a mile, or mile and a half? The brothers always flew at altitudes of 3500 feet. Do your math-that was 1780 feet less than a mile (Daily Record July 3, 1980). Question-How did they measure their height of flight?
This I do know. Mrs. Hautense J. Denning of Coats announced the engagement of her daughter, Peggie D. Clayton, to Billy G. Pope, son of Mrs. Kizzie Williams and Woodrow Pope of rural Dunn. Peggie was the daughter of the late Edward Denning (Daily Record July 3, 1980).
Now, there are some names you recognize but do the younger readers recognize the place mentioned in this Daily Record article? Youth from the Coats community helped build concession stands at the Junior Order Field. The group included Doug Stevens of the Coats Recreation Department. Catherine Westbrook, John Dragg, Jimmy Reaves, James Lee, Ricky Stephenson, Roosevelt Barnes, William Byrd, Levon Johnson, Kent Johnson, Dennis Wiggins, Tony Johnson, Ricky Moore and Tony Capps. Billy West was the shop instructor at Coats School (Daily Record July 23, 1980).
What a nice project for these students and amazingly, I can see the faces of each of those students in my mind and what they looked like in 1980. Should I pass them in the grocery store today in 2019, I wonder if we would recognize each other.
Talking about students, we had the museums full of little kids who were eager to learn and share their knowledge of the town of Coats. The third graders are always a delight to give tours and we thank our museum volunteers-Robie and Lynda Butler and Kendall and Becky Adams for giving of their Friday to share the museum stories. It is always amazing to watch the parents and chaperones who have not seen the museum and we are amazed at the number who return with someone on Farmers Day to tour the museum.
Donations were given to the Coats Museum Endowment this week for Patsy Avery, Lynda Butler and to Hilda Pope who celebrated birthdays and for memorial birthday donations for Kress Williams and Jonah C. Johnson. A very good friend of Colin Baker gave a memorial to the Coats Museum in his honor. Thank you to these donors.
The pages on the 1980 calendar were quickly flipping. The month of June brought the school year to an end. Graduation services for the forty-nine 1980 Coats High seniors were on June 12th. Rev. Tom Melvin of the Coats United Methodist Church and Rev. Troy Daniel of Friendship FWB Church took part in the ceremony. Mrs. Laura Langdon and Earl Denning of the school advisory board made comments. The 1980 seniors were Tracy Allen, Cindy Barnes, Joann Barnes, Nona Betts, Bryan Byrd, Pamela Dailey, Annette Daniel, Dona Denning, Michael Denton, Robin Faircloth, Vivian Faircloth, Annette Ferguson, Beth Garriss, Bobby Gregory, Sharon Gregory, Kenneth Harvey, Bonnie Hayes, Charles Johnson, Kent Johnson, Tony Johnson, Belinda Lee, Denise Lucas, Delores McDuffie , Patrick McGill, Gary McKoy, Stanley McLeod, Michael Messer, Kent Miller, Ricky Moore, Glenn Parker, Sonya Pope, Charlotte Powell, Van Powell, Lillian Purcell, Sharon Rowland, Lee Morris Smith, Ricky Stephenson, Robert Stewart, Thomas Stone, Pamela Strickland, Calvin Summers, Sharron Walden, Tony West, Catherine Westbrook, Elnora White, Allen Whittington, Dennis Wiggins, Kathy Williams and Robin Williams (Together We Leave (108-09).
The student speakers were Student Council president, Michael Messer; senior class president, Patrick McGill; class salutatorian, Sharon Rowland, and valedictorian, Vivian Faircloth. Marshals for the ceremony were Karen Fuquay, Joseph Ferrell, Kathy Turlington, Robbie Lane, Steven Walker, Barbara Knox, Gwen Bass, Domini Ennis, Sherri Whittington and Pattie Sue Parker.
Three fire departments were called out to a fire at 11:50 PM at Ted’s Gas and Grocery on Route One, Coats. The fire was believed to have ignited due to overloaded circuits (Daily Record June 6, 1980).
The Coats Lions Club is made up of community-minded members. Their giving back to community has been going on for years which are backed up by the June 10, 1980 edition of the Daily Record which wrote that the Coats Lions Club had donated $5,000 to the construction of the Coats Lions Club Little League Park. Dudley Langdon, president of the Lions, presented the check to Director Doug Stevens.
The Lions also came on board in helping to make the Coats Museum possible. Many in the organization helped renovate the old “Goat House”, the 1914 two -room school, into a history museum. After a large number of farm items from locals began to be donated, a shelter was needed to display them. With the help of the Lions, Kiwanians and museum folks, a shelter for all the farm implements was made possible.
That is not the end of the Lions’ story. In 2004-05, the Lions renovated the Community Building’s bathrooms while the Kiwanians renovated the kitchen. The Lions built a gazebo on the Heritage Square for a centennial project and donated money, along with the Kiwanians and museum volunteers, to establish the Coats Museum Endowment for future upkeep of the museums in 2006. There’s more. In 2013, the museum’s Nell Penny and Kress Williams Exhibit Hall was built and paid for because of individuals and clubs such as the Lions and Kiwanians who volunteer countless hours at fund raisers in order to meet yearly pledges of financial support.
Coats High School named the Most Valuable Players in sports. Pat McGill was named Most Valuable Player on the baseball team. JoAnn Barnes won the Most Valuable in both basketball and softball. Edward McDuffie was the MVP in football. Dan Honeycutt was Coach of the Year in the Carolina 1-A Conference (Daily Record June 11, 1980).
All news out of Coats was not happy news. A young man’s family was saddened when Graham Bass was killed in an accident in New Jersey. He was driving a truck that collided with a car. Survivors were his wife, Mrs. Jackie Whittington West Bass; a son Graham Bass, Jr.; a stepson Danny West; two daughters-Gwen and Andora Bass, and one stepdaughter Pat West Autry (Daily Record June 12, 1980).
Coats High School held its Awards Day. The Best –All-Around Boy was Van Powell and the Best-All-Around Girl was Vivian Faircloth. Sportsmanship went to Ricky Moore and JoAnn Barnes while Citizenship went to Tony Johnson. Service Award was earned by Nona Betts and Americanism went to Robin Williams and Annette Daniel. Senior Social Studies was earned by Elnora White while freshman Social Studies went to Sherri Whittington. Vivian Faircloth and Sharon Rowland took home the English Award while Karen Fuquay won the French, Math and Science Awards. Tony Johnson and Tommy Stone received the Carpentry Award. Tony Johnson won the senior Carpentry Award and Duane Baker won the junior Carpentry Award. Sonya Pope carried home the Home Economics honor and Angela Penny won the Speech and Drama Award. Dona Denning earned the Photography Award. High School Library Award went to Delores McDuffie and the Elementary Library Award went to Carlie Cole. Vivian Faircloth and Annette Daniel carried home the Commercial Award. Pam Dailey won the Cheerleader and Flag Girl went to Tammy Parker.
A second list of winners was relevant to junior high school athletics. Best Defensive- Rattler (Elton, Jr.) Stewart; Best Offensive-Trace Denning; Most Improved-Joe Lee; Sportsmanship –Paul Capps; Yellow Jacket-Chris Ennis; Most Valuable-Trace Denning were recognized.
Much newspaper space was given to the Coats High School Athletic Awards Banquet. The following were recipients in football: Best Defensive-Edwin Ennis; Best Offensive-Darwin Denning; Most Improved-Sandy Langdon; Sportsmanship-Michael White; Yellow Jacket- Gary Baker; Most Valuable Player- Edward McDuffie. In basketball, al players received Most Valuable Player because of the team effort. Team members were Bryan Byrd, Tony West, Charles Johnson, Levon Johnson, Garry McKoy, Teddy Byrd, Robert White, Steve Norman, Bobby Gregory, Lenny Brown, Jerry Coats and Roger Jernigan.
The awards given in baseball were presented to the following: Best Defensive- Tim Stephenson; Best Offensive- Joe Ferrell; Most Improved-David Holmes; Sportsmanship- Tony West; Yellow Jacket-Thomas Johnson.
The final award given went to the Most Outstanding Male and Female Players who were Tony West and JoAnn Barnes (Daily Record June 18, 1980).
End of year awards days and banquets were a big event that surely brought tears or heartbreak to the young students who watched and waited for names to be called. One person not there was Robin Alan Jones, son of Mrs. Holt Cannady and T.R. Jones. He was a member of the Dunn Police Department and was engaged to Jeanie Tyler of Dunn (Daily Record June 16, 1980).
The Coats Town Board passed an Interim Budget. Due to reevaluation of property in Coats, the commissioners had not had time to set tax rates. J.C. Allen had asked for $30,000 for the police department because grant money was not available this year (Daily Record June 27, 1980).
The Class of 1975 had their first class reunion at Howard Johnson’s Restaurant in Dunn. Cynthia Bennett, Danny Stevens and Cecil Regan gave a humorous presentation. The class purchased a wreath to go on the grave of a classmate (Daily record July 2, 1980).
Does anyone know who the deceased 1975 classmate was in 1980? I do know several who are deceased in 2019.
Who remembers hearing a weird noise overhead in the sky and looking up to see a strange contraption with propellers connected to something that allowed a man to sit upon it? Earl Denning flew over the fields in my area many times all the while my two little one scampered to get a better view of it. Two other gents who loved flying similar manmade machines were Tony Tyndall and his brother Jerry Tyndall.
These machines really weren’t contraptions and might not have been made by the flyers of them, but their uniqueness just made them appear that way. Tony and Jerry flew Gyro helicopters even though neither ever had flying lessons. They made their helicopters using a 90 horse-power McCullough motor. How high do you think they flew—one half mile, a mile, or mile and a half? The brothers always flew at altitudes of 3500 feet. Do your math-that was 1780 feet less than a mile (Daily Record July 3, 1980). Question-How did they measure their height of flight?
This I do know. Mrs. Hautense J. Denning of Coats announced the engagement of her daughter, Peggie D. Clayton, to Billy G. Pope, son of Mrs. Kizzie Williams and Woodrow Pope of rural Dunn. Peggie was the daughter of the late Edward Denning (Daily Record July 3, 1980).
Now, there are some names you recognize but do the younger readers recognize the place mentioned in this Daily Record article? Youth from the Coats community helped build concession stands at the Junior Order Field. The group included Doug Stevens of the Coats Recreation Department. Catherine Westbrook, John Dragg, Jimmy Reaves, James Lee, Ricky Stephenson, Roosevelt Barnes, William Byrd, Levon Johnson, Kent Johnson, Dennis Wiggins, Tony Johnson, Ricky Moore and Tony Capps. Billy West was the shop instructor at Coats School (Daily Record July 23, 1980).
What a nice project for these students and amazingly, I can see the faces of each of those students in my mind and what they looked like in 1980. Should I pass them in the grocery store today in 2019, I wonder if we would recognize each other.
Talking about students, we had the museums full of little kids who were eager to learn and share their knowledge of the town of Coats. The third graders are always a delight to give tours and we thank our museum volunteers-Robie and Lynda Butler and Kendall and Becky Adams for giving of their Friday to share the museum stories. It is always amazing to watch the parents and chaperones who have not seen the museum and we are amazed at the number who return with someone on Farmers Day to tour the museum.
Donations were given to the Coats Museum Endowment this week for Patsy Avery, Lynda Butler and to Hilda Pope who celebrated birthdays and for memorial birthday donations for Kress Williams and Jonah C. Johnson. A very good friend of Colin Baker gave a memorial to the Coats Museum in his honor. Thank you to these donors.