01312010 WAX

SUNDAY, JANUARY 31, 2010www.waxhawexchange.com

+

Index

Classified 13Churches 3Editorial 4Letters 4-5Local news 2Movies 6Obituaries 8Sports 11

The Waxhaw Exchange

is published by:The Enquirer-Journal

P.O. Box 5040Monroe, NC 28110

waxhawexchange.comCopyright 2010

Advertising: (704) 261-2251Delivery: (704) 261-2215News: (704) 261-2223

Sewer debateEast/West sewer debate continues as county officials discuss the importance of mov-ing forward with a planned project that commissioners first approved, then denied.

See 2

MuSeuMScott Farb takes over as director at Museum of the Waxhaws.

See 7

recall

Scott Clark’s Toyota parks a quarter of its inventory due to company’s recall of eight different models.

See 8

a new voice

Dorothy Moloney joins The Exchange as its newest columnist. In the weeks to come, she’ll share with you some of the great hap-penings around town. This week, she tells you why she loves Waxhaw so much.

See 5

SportS

Marvin Ridge defeats archrivals Weddington.

See 11

Inside

Post ^ News and Events • Share ^ Photos and VideosWaxhawExchange.com

“Union County’s Largest Community Newspaper Network”The Enquirer-Journal • Indian Trail Trader • The Waxhaw Exchange

BY TIFFANY LANEStaff Writer

M adison Jones noticed a lump on her collar bone while taking a

math test. She called her mom later that day, panicked and in tears.

“She said, ‘I think I have can-cer. I’ll lose all my hair,’” Tanya Jones said.

Tanya laughed it off and told her it had to be something else, not knowing that’s exactly what would happen.

Madison is a senior basketball player for the Parkwood High School Rebels. It’s been three months since she was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

“One day you’re planning for college,” Tanya said. “Then the doctor appointments take over and you’re planning on the cal-endar when the chemo will have to be.”

Madison got the news on a Fri-day. She had surgery Monday, followed by another one a week later.

“The first thing I did was pray,”

BY ELISABETH ARRIEROStaff Writer

WAXHAWCounty officials are putting a lid on

resident complaints about the sewage smell in Waxhaw – literally.

Through a $4.79 million odor control project, the county is putting large dome covers over its four solids stabilization tanks at Twelve Mile Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant. Those tanks release most of the stench, said County Public Works director Ed Goscicki.

The covers will prevent the air from escaping so that it can be channeled through a fiberglass tower. Chlorine mist released in the tower will scrub odors out of the air before it’s released into the environment, Goscicki said.

Project funding came from water and sewer enterprise funds and will have no effect on taxpayers, he said.

Maintenance costs for the new sys-tem will be about $20,000 annually, said Mark Tye, assistant public works direc-tor. The estimate does not include elec-tricity costs because they’re minimal, he said.

The odor control project began in April 2009 after several residents of nearby neighborhoods, such as Cure-ton and Quellin, complained of the foul fumes coming from the plant.

“Anytime you smell something noxious like that, you’re going to be

County battles sewage smell in Waxhaw

Part teamof the

Cancer won’t stop Madison from supporting Rebels, or her basketball teammates from standing with her

Photo by Ed Cottingham

A solid stabilibilization tank at the Twelve-Mile Creek waste water treatment plant stands in the background.

Odor control project cost $4.79 million

SMELL / 6

Jones to run for D.A.Weddington resident to face SnyderBY JASON DeBRUYNStaff Writer

MONROEA homicide prosecutor

announced Friday that he will chal-lenge the district at-torney.

Mecklen-burg Coun-ty assistant district at-torney and Weddington r e s i d e n t C l a y t o n Jones con-firmed that he will vie for the seat cur-rently occupied by John Snyder.

“It’s probably not going to be easy, but I think there


MONROEWaxhaw Mayor Daune Gardner

met with 230 other mayors last week in Washington D.C. to dis-cuss concerns with the nation’s leaders, including the president and vice president.

It was the second year Gard-ner attended the winter meeting, which is now in its 78th year.

Between Jan. 20 and 22, the may-ors met with First Lady Michelle Obama, Education Secretary Arne Duncan, Labor Secretary Hilda Solis, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and others.

The mayors also unveiled The

2010 Metro Agenda for America, which lists their five key policy areas: job creation through di-rect funding to cit-ies; a more balanced transportation bill, energy indepen-dence and climate protection through green, sustainable jobs, improved airport security; and continued funding for proven, working programs like Communi-ty Development Block Grants.

The trip cost about $2,300, which included mileage, reimbursement and three nights stay in a hotel. Gardner said those funds are part of a line item in Waxhaw’s budget which goes toward the mayor’s travel and education. Altogether,

$5,000 is set aside for that, she said.

Gardner talked with The Ex-change about what she took away from the meeting and how it ben-efits Waxhaw residents. Q: What were your impressions of our nation’s leaders?A: This was the second time that I’ve par-ticipated in the mayor’s conference ... This year, rather than have committee meetings, they brought in various officials who then took a series of questions. You got to hear a variety of perspectives from throughout the nation and it was interesting for me be-cause the conference of mayors is a pretty high powered thing. Most of the mayors are from cities much larger than Waxhaw. The perspectives are interesting. It was

Mayor attends conference in nation’s capital

Gardner

Jones

GARDNER / 6

Jones biographyBackgroundBorn in Gaston County, the son of a “blue-collar” familyEducation•UndergraduateCentral Piedmont Community College University of North Carolina at CharlotteAppalachian State University“Neither of my parents gradu-ated college, but they made sure we knew how important it was,” he said.•GraduateNorth Carolina Central Uni-versity (summer courses at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill) •Post GraduateGeorge Washington University

Professional careerStarting in 1985, served as the attorney in the Navy, including as the personal attorney for admirals, and was assigned to the Navy surgeon general.In 2002, he was hired as an assistant district attorney in Mecklenburg County and moved through the ranks to now work on the homicide team.“I’m a trial attorney,” he said. “That’s what I’m good at.”

JONES / 6

Photos by Ed Cottingham

Madison attends the game against Marvin Ridge. She goes to games and practice when she feels up to it but her treatment leaves her tired. Above left: Madison huddles with the lady Rebels.MADISON / 9

A1/MAIN

Sunday, January 31, 2010 Waxhaw Exchange2

A2/MAIN

“Oh my aching feet.”

Board CertifiedPedorthistOn Staff

Great Program For Plantar Fasciitis Call For Appointment

We FillFootcare

Prescriptions

Medicare has generous benefits for diabetics on

Medicare. Call for Details

We take Medicare &Supplemental assignment

on Diabetic Footwear

The solution to your footproblems is Xtra Depth® shoes,

only by P.W. Minor

MONROE’S FAMILY SHOE CENTER“Locally Owned and Operated”

18800 Dickerson Blvd. (beside Monroe Mall) • Monroe, NCPhone (704) 283-5814 — Hours: Mon 10-6, Tues - Fri 9-6, Sat 10-6

❑ Plantar Fasciitis ❑ Heel PainX X❑ Arthritis ❑ Hammertoes ❑ Foot Trauma❑ Diabetes ❑ Prolonged Standing ❑ Congenital❑ Geriatric Conditions ❑ Narrow/wide Feet Deformities

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

132 South Main Street Downtown Monroe • 704-283-9640Mon. – Fri. 10am-6pm Sat. 10am-5pm

Can’t Wait for Spring?New Inventory Arriving Daily

Come see the Spring Arrivals and Warm Up!

Valentine Love LinesSend a message in our classified sectionto someone special on Valentine’s Day.

UP TO 15 WORDSExamples AreActual Size

Small Heart : $8Medium

Heart : $12

LargeHeart : $15

John,I love you very much.You are special. Happy

Valentine’s Day!Love, Mary Abigail,

I love you very much.You are special. Happy

Valentine’s Day!Love, Matt

Kyla,Happy

Valentine’s Day. We love you so

much little girl!Love,

Nana & PapawSimply complete the form

below and drop off or send it to our office. Must be received by

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 9 at 4:30 pm.

MAIL FORM TO: ENQUIRER-JOURNAL,ATTN: LOVE LINES, P.O. BOX 5040, MONROE, NC 28111

OR DROP OFF AT OUR OFFICE AT 500 W. JEFFERSON ST. (BY 4:30 FEB. 9)

CHECK THE SIZE OF HEART ABOVE (Small, Med, Large)

YOUR NAME: ____________________________________DAYTIME PHONE: _________________________________MESSAGE: _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Remember to include a check or money order.

I would like to pay by credit card: Card Type: ________________________

Card Number: _______________________ Exp. Date: _______________

Card Holder’s Name: ___________________________________________

WINTER SPECIAL20 SEER HEAT PUMP SYSTEM

$100000 REBATE FROMJERRY’S MEcHAnicAl &

$150000 TAX cREDiT (with qualified units) = $2,50000 SAVinGS!

“Your Comfort Matters, Call Us Today”

(704) 289-3807421 E. Old Hwy. 74, Monroewww.jerrysmechanical.com

*See American Standard Dealer for details, offer available only on qualifying units. Some restrictions apply.

Save up to $2,500!

3144 Hwy 74 East • Monroe, NC 28112704-233-4242

Open Monday - Friday 7:30-5:00pm Closed Saturday Jan. and Feb.www.brookssales.com

A New Holland T1510 or T1520 compact tractor will give you years of dependable, trouble-free performance. They’re easy to operate, built tough and have the features to suit your needs. Choose 2WD or FWD, with gear or hydrostatic transmission. No matter how you equip a

T1500 Series tractor, you can be sure you’re getting the absolute best value for your dollar.

RELIABLE 30- OR 35-HP ENGINE 1,635-POUND 3-POINT LIFT CAPACITY

OUTSTANDING VISIBILITY AND COMFORT REFRESHINGLY SIMPLE OPERATION

FAST REFUELING AND MAINTENANCE

BY JASON deBRUYNStaff Writer

MONROEUnion commissioners

remained unmoved on a sewer project, despite a state violation and loom-ing fines.

Union staff proposed a project they said will miti-gate sewer spills and fend off any fines, but Commis-sioner Lanny Openshaw remained unconvinced that there is not a better option. Commissioners Kim Rogers and Tracy Kuehler followed his lead and have demanded a bet-ter solution.

Tuesday, county man-ager Al Greene and coun-ty public works director Ed Goscicki repeated that the proposed project is the best solution and one that should have been done months, if not years ago.

“I don’t think we can convince all the mem-

bers of this board that this is a legitimate p r o j e c t , ” Greene told the com-m i s s i o n -ers. “And if (this project) is not accept-able, the board needs to tell us how to respond to the state of North Caro-lina.”

Commissioners Parker Mills and Allan Baucom said they were perplexed at why the project is not moving forward and ac-cused Openshaw of using the eastern project, and a $1.961 million grant that was proposed to go with it, for political gain.

“He (Openshaw) is us-ing that 1.96 million grant as a campaign tool, while they have sewer spilling

on the ground in Wing-ate,” Mills said.

“It’s becoming more and more apparent,” add-ed Baucom.

Openshaw said he was trying to save the county money and argued that the proposed $8 million project was too expensive and a smaller-scope proj-ect would eliminate the problem and save money on the county’s much-strained budget.

Sewer spills, especially after heavy rains, have become common in the eastern system and Union County has until Feb. 4 to show the N.C. Depart-ment of Environment and Natural Resources that it can prevent such spills. If Union does not pacify NCDENR, it could face fines of up to $25,000 per day. Goscicki told com-missioners on two occa-sions that the proposed

project will settle the is-sue, but the board ma-jority has not passed the project.

Problems in the east-ern system have less to do with fail-ing county infrastructure and more to do with rain- and groundwater seeping into the pipes maintained by Marshville and Wing-ate, said Openshaw.

That extra water, called inflow and infiltration, or I&I, will be added to actu-al wastewater and take up capacity. Wingate under-took a $2.3 million project Monday targeted at the worst areas and will go a long way in stopping the I&I, Wingate mayor Bill Braswell said.

Commissioners will meet Feb. 1 to decide the fate of the eastern water project.

Commissioners continue sewer plan debateCounty faces state fines as opposition to proposed project lingers

Greene Openshaw

BY JASON deBRUYNStaff Writer

MONROEA jury convicted Dan

Warren Edwards of first-degree murder Thurs-day; he was sentenced to life in prison.

Edwards, 59, formerly of 3204 Collaroy Road in Waxhaw, was convicted of smothering his wife, Logan Drake Edwards, in their home on Oct. 31, 2008.

When the verdict was announced, members of Logan Edwards’ family exhaled deeply and loos-ened their shoulders; they smiled at one an-other and rubbed each other’s backs.

Dan Edwards’ fam-ily sat silently and some lightly dabbed tears away from their eyes; Dan Ed-wards barely moved and his facial expression did not change.

“The most difficult thing I have ever had to do, was to sit my children

down and tell them their grammy is not coming back,” Logan Edwards’ daughter, Patricia Bur-ney said. “My world has fallen apart.”

The jury returned a verdict in about two-and-a-half hours. They never considered a “not-guilty” verdict juror David Matthews said. On first count, seven jurors favored a second-degree charge and five wanted the first-degree. The jury then hashed it out and Matthews said three more jurors de-cided on the first-degree charge fairly quickly. Af-ter sleeping on the deci-sion, the jury returned Thursday morning and reached a consensus by 10:30 a.m.

Dan Edwards father, Warren Edwards said the ruling would be ap-pealed. “I don’t see how, with the evidence, you could come to that ver-dict,” he said.

Edwards gets life in prison for killing wife

Waxhaw Exchange Sunday, January 31, 2010 3

Amazing Grace Evangelical Lutheran416 W. North Main St., WaxhawPastor: Richard CarterRegular Sunday: 9 a.m., Sunday school; 10 a.m., worship; 7 p.m. Antioch United Methodist3205 Antioch Church Road, Matthews Pastor: Betty Jeanne DayRegular Sunday: 9:30 a.m., worship, 9:30 a.m.; 10:30 a.m., Sunday school.

Bethlehem United Methodist5300 Nesbit Road, WaxhawPastor: Howard FlemingDec 20: 11 a.m. Christmas CantataRegular Sundays: 8:30 a.m., contemporary service; 11 a.m., traditional service.

Bonds Grove Methodist8215 Bonds Grove Church Road, Waxhaw; 704-843-5231; www.gbgm-umc.org/bondsgrove/Pastor: Randy BlantonSundays: 9:15 a.m., Sunday school; 10:30 a.m., worship.Mondays: 6:30 p.m., TOPSTuesdays: 6:30 p.m., disciple class.

Central Baptist4821 Waxhaw-Indian Trail Road, Matthews; 704-821-6509Pastor: Tim Helms

Regular Sundays: 10 a.m., Sunday school; 11 a.m., worhship; 6 p.m., evening worship.Wednesdays: 7:30 p.m., Bible study, youth group.

Evangelistic Temple of Deliverance6016 Waxhaw Hwy., Mineral Springs; 704-598-8203Pastor: William McLainToday: 2 p.m., special service to honor pastor.Sundays: Sunday School 10 a.m.; worship 11 a.m.

Faith Community Independence701 Howie Mine Road, Waxhaw; 704-843-2085Pastor: Rickey TruesdaleRegular Sunday: Sunday school, 9:45 a.m.; worship, 11 a.m.

First Presbyterian Church of Waxhaw7700 Waxhaw Highway, Waxhaw; 704-843-4774Pastor: James C. SheltonSunday: 10 a.m. worship, 11:15 a.m. Sunday School

God’s Temple of Zion Internation Fellowship5017 Waxhaw-Marvin Road, WaxhawPastor: Victor D. Thompson

Gospel Way Church

7310 Tirzah Church Road, WaxhawPastor: Ben Karecsky

Greater Blessed Hope Baptist3607 Andrew Jackson Drive, Waxhaw, 704-843-2553Pastor: Waymon Jordan Sr.Jan. 17: 4 p.m., church 21st anni-versary celebration; guest speaker Rev. Jerry Allen Aiken Sr., guest choir Charlotte Chapter Gospel Music Workshop

Greater Grace World Outreach 5017 Waxhaw-Marvin Road, Waxhaw; 704-843-5418Pastors: Charles Carter, Jacqueline Carter

Heath Memorial United Methodist9908 Richardson-King Road, WaxhawPastor: Marilyn Wooten Hermon Baptist9713 Lancaster Highway, Wax-haw; 704-843-4924; [email protected]; www.hermon-baptist.orgPastor: Donnie GambleRegular Sunday: 8:30 a.m., wor-ship; 9:45 a.m., Sunday school; 11 a.m., worship; 6:30 p.m., worship, youth and children’s activities.Mondays: 6 p.m. Celebrate

Weight Loss; 7 p.m., Celebrate Recovery.Wednesdays: 5:30 p.m., Family Night supper (advance reserva-tions required); 7 p.m., Bible study and prayer; 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., Awana.

Howie BaptistHowie Mine Church Road, WaxhawPastor: Donnie B. CrumpRegular schedule: 10 a.m. Sunday school; 11 a.m., worship.Wednesday: 7:30 p.m. Bible study.

Liberty Hill Missionary Baptist520 Billy Howey Road, WaxhawPastor: Michael Flowers Maple Grove BaptistMaple Grove Church Road, Wed-dingtonPastors: Terry SimpsonSundays: 10 a.m., Sunday school;

11 a.m. and 6 p.m., worship.Wednesdays: 7:30 p.m., worship

Mary Elizabeth Baptist3703 Mary Elizabeth Church Road, WaxhawPastor: Curtis LaneySundays: 10 a.m., Sunday school; 11 a.m., worship; 6 p.m., disciple-

ship trainingWednesdays: 7 p.m., prayer meet-ing, youth meeting, GAs & RAs

Mineral Springs Church of Christ6403 Waxhaw Highway, Mineral Springs; 704-243-3388; www.mineralspringschurchofchirst.org

ommunities of aithA LIST OF CHURCHES IN WAXHAW,

WESLEY CHAPEL, WEDDINGTON, MARVIN

Add yours to the list: Call Alan Jenkins at 704-261-2223 or e-mail him at [email protected] F

A3/MAIN

www.helmsautosales.com

1101 Skyway Dr.Monroe, NC 28110

(704) 283-7115

Only 31,000 Miles V6, Automatic,

Chrome Sport Wheels, CD Loaded with Equipment

“08” Pontiac

G-6 GT

4 door

$11,945

Enter to WinRoses from August Lily Florist

and a Prime Rib Dinner for Two With All the Trimmings from

Spiro’s Hilltop Bistro & BarFor You and Your Special Valentine

Simply complete the entry formand mail or drop off to:

Valentine ContestThe Enquirer-JournalPO Box 5040500 W. Jefferson St.Monroe, NC 28111Or email the information to:[email protected]

Your name

Address

Day Phone

2nd Phone

Email

Deadline for Entries is Wednesday Feb. 10th at 4pm.Winner will be chosen on February 11th.


H aving been in town only a month, I’m just now learning a

few of the many, many ins and outs of Waxhaw and Union County. It takes at least six months to become relatively competent in a community, and years afterward to really become a part of it.

“I’m still a newcomer,” one person said to me in a town I lived in a while back. “I’ve only been here 20 years.”

In my short time here, I’ve become amazed with the long list of high achievers in Union County. While I don’t mean to leave my own gender out, there are several women who deserve the spotlight, and I have been blessed to speak with some of them. The rest, I learn about through the fine reporters I work with while reading their stories.

I wanted to tell you about them, just in case you’ve missed any mention of them along the way.

Madison Jones, Parkwood High student. The Rebels girls basketball player discovered a lump on her collar bone, and it was eventually diagnosed as Hodgkins’ lymphoma — cancer. The teenager quickly, and sadly, learned that life doesn’t always follow the paths we hope it will.

That didn’t stop her, though. According to Tiffany Lane, who wrote the story about her, Madison still shows up on the sidelines to support her team while she’s battling this disease.

Her teammates have stood by her as well. She is a brave woman, and her courage in the face of daunting challenges has earned her a large measure of respect.

Karla Davis, the winner of the Colgate Country Showdown. Karla’s a well-known country singer around town, but she opened the door to real stardom recently by winning the Colgate Country Showdown, an annual competition held at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, Tenn.

I’ve been playing her song,

“Whiskey’s Got a Job to Do,” over and over again at the office when no one was around to be bothered by it. Karla’s going to be a star … there’s going to be a time forty years from now when I’m going to tell my grandkids I interviewed Karla Davis one time and they’re going to look at me like I’m making up stories again. “Granddad thinks we’ll believe he talked to Karla Davis,” they’ll say. “We aren’t that stupid…”

Katherine Southard, 2009 Miss North Carolina. I haven’t talked to her, but her family is very nice … she’s in Las Vegas, where the Sun Valley High School graduate is competing in the Miss America pageant. Will she earn the top honor? The announcement came Saturday night, long after this column was sent to the press. If she doesn’t get the crown, however, it won’t make all of us in Union County any more proud if she does.

The unnamed driver of school bus 187. There’s a woman in Monroe who, while driving a school bus full of children, saw two men fighting, and noticed one had a gun. She thought of the 23 East Elementary students on her bus, threw it in reverse and got them out of harm’s way. The bus was never fired upon and no child was injured.

Afterwards, the school district wouldn’t tell us who she was, stating that she wanted to remain anonymous.

It goes against our grain to let someone stay out of the limelight — especially a woman who deserves to be touted as a hero. So, I’ll do it here.

Thank you, Ms. Bus Driver!

THE IDEA"Freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor;

it must be demanded by the oppressed." — Martin Luther King, Jr.

Many great women

OUR VIEW

Alan Jenkins

The Long Road Home

YOUR VIEW

Reader sees the beginning of the end

Well, Americans, the line has been drawn.

The Supreme Court has ruled that the vote of the people doesn’t amount to a hill of beans. Corporate America will now be telling our elected officials exactly what they can and can’t do. Their dollars will silence the voice of the American people.

We the people are now considered the peasantry of this country. The Constitu-tion of the United States of America is now considered an out-dated thing of the past. You are now a member of the U.A.S.R. (Union of America Socialist Republic.)

Get ready tor a steady died of potatoes and turnips while the politicians con-tinue to have filet mignon

and caviar in even greater abundance (at your expense.)

The saddest part of all is that we the people have been too blind to apathetic or too stupid to see this coming.

The only bright spot that I can see is that the U.A.S.R. hasn’t taken away our right to keep and bear arms. YET!

Robert PopeWesley Chapel

Candidate wants focus on issues, not atacks

In a couple weeks the news-papers as well as the citizens of Union County will have plenty to talk about concern-ing the upcoming 2010 elec-tions. Unfortunately some races will get down right ugly, if not all as in the past.

Having been a political activist for several years I do

expect this juvenile form of behavior to continue. I for one will not be participating in negative campaigning.

I never understood why candidates spend so much time attacking their opponents instead of focusing on educat-ing the public on how they are going to address the needs of their constituents which

is really all that matters. After all we do in-

deed work for them.As a conservative Christian

I am used to the verbal at-tacks, though I assure you I am strong willed and can take anything that comes my way.

I don’t expect everyone to always agree with me all the time, though you will always know where I stand on issues.

I have been listening to the citizens of NC House Dis-trict 68 for a very long time having worked in the Union County area for the past twenty years, and am quali-fied and determined to address these issues in Raleigh.

The citizens are concerned about infrastructure needs such as roads and schools, and certainly low taxes. Unfortunately we still have not received our fair share of state funding from the state

legislature. This must change. These issues are what I intend to fight for in Raleigh as well as addressing domestic violence, and lastly term limits as this is the only way to “throw the bums out of office.”

I expect certain special interest groups to hand pick their candidate of choice to run against me. Unfortunately not all candidates want hon-est, effective government.

Together we shall prevail and make Union County a better place to live, work and raise our families. The voters have been fooled in the past, though surely most would agree we have all waken up to the many broken promises made during past elections.

Jeff Gerber(committee to elect

Jeff Gerber)Monroe

What’s your story? Do you know the ins and outs of Waxhaw’s gov-ernment and politics?

Are you a resident who spends all of your time commuting during the day, but makes Weddington, Wesley Chapel or Marvin your home at night? Are you the one everyone on your block turns to for interesting views and opinions about what’s happening in these growing com-munities?

Then we’re looking for you. The Waxhaw Exchange is looking for local personalities to write 200- to 250-word columns as many times as once a week or as few times as once a month.

These columnists earn the op-portunity to share their unique views and stories about life in western Union County in print with their neighbors, friends and community leaders.

Think you’ve got what it takes? Call Alan Jenkins at 704-261-2223 or e-mail him at [email protected].

Be ready to send two samples of columns you would like to publish, and plan to have your picture taken by one of our staff to include with your writings every week.

Good luck, storytellers, and we look forward to sharing your views and stories with Waxhaw!

Calling all opinionated souls

Letters policyLetters to the editor should be no more than 200 words; longer letters may be edited

to fit available space. Photos and editorial cartoons will also be

considered for publication.Please include the letter writer’s

name and town of residence. Send letters to [email protected]

or fax 704-289-2929. Call 704-261-2223 with questions.

A4/EDIT


A5/MAIN

MONROE AQUATICS AND FITNESS CENTER

MONROE AQUATICS AND FITNESS CENTEREasy to find… Hard to Leave! Located across the street from Super Wal-Mart off Hwy.74. Visit for a FREE tour or CALL 704-282-4680.

Great Facilities…

Call Today for a FREE Tour

Low Price2

1

GOING OUT OF BUSINESSCLOTHING WAREHOUSE

nothing over

only 20 days left!

GOING OUT OF BUSINESS

$$

ALL NEW NAME BRANdS

Hours Sun 1-6Mon-Sat 9:30am - 7:00pm

704-283-5613606 W. Roosevelt Blvd.

last day saturday feb. 20th

Editor’s note: Dorothy Molo-ney joins The Waxhaw Exchange as its newest columnist. Start-ing next week, Dorothy’s column will focus on community events. If you have an event you want Dorothy to mention in her column, send it to [email protected].

O h, Waxhaw, why do I love thee?

Having relocated to Waxhaw this past April in or-der for my husband, Bill, and I to help our recently widowed son Paul and his two sons, Ryan and Jake, in their fairly new home in beautiful Waxhaw.

Each day I discover some-thing wonderful that makes living here so desirable. The first thing I noticed was the open spaces, mostly all green, clean and well-maintained.

Then, to be able to drive for a couple of hundred miles without experiencing the bumpty-bump potholes — that in itself is a pleasure.

Next, the warm, caring, polite people, all so willing to extend that famous southern hospitality. I find that people here are warm, because they care about their fellow man as well as their home-land. Our surrounding neighbor-hoods are nicely maintained, once again, because people care.

Carolinians, whether native or transplants, care. Politeness? It is rare not to receive well wishes for the day, or a please, or a thank you.

Southern hospitality is demon-strated consistently, in such acts as being invited into people’s homes, or welcoming you to their commu-nity organizations with open arms.

Also, the local organizations are always available to help those in need.

Do you appreciate, as I, the beautiful brick shopping centers with high quality shops, especially along Providence Road in Waxhaw?

Now, I haven’t even begun to mention the charming, quaint, his-torical little village of Waxhaw, sit-ting on the railroad tracks with the very impressive freight trains that pass through town quite frequently.

Some tell me they don’t even hear it anymore.

To me, that sound is part of the mystique of a freight train. Where is all that ‘stuff ’ going? Who is going to use it? To me it represents commerce. I love it.

How I love the brick build-ings so lovingly cared for, with the antique, quilting, knitting, bike, jewelry, home furnish-ings shops, and nice restaurants on both sides of the tracks.

I could go on forever, be-cause I just love living in Waxhaw! I’m here to stay.

New to Waxhaw, but in love already

Dorothy Moloney

Around Town

Dorothy Moloney joins The Exchange as its newest columnist

YOUR VIEW

East, west sewer battle continues

What have you ever done for the east side, commissioners?

Do yourself and every-one else a favor, Com-missioner Openshaw, and dig a little deeper into the east side sewer situation. You will find that long before you de-cided to grace the South with your presence, Mohammed Shaliti was responsible for divert-ing funds for repair and maintenance of the joint venture between Union County, Wingate and Marshville, to proj-ects on the west side. This was proven by Fern Shubert acting as a spe-cial auditor for Marsh-ville and cost the county hundreds of thousands of dollars in restitution.

The east has suffered far too long without adequate sewer capac-ity, but I guess you are just following the

lead of Richard Stone, Hughie Sexton and now the Mark DiBiasio anti-economic coali-tion, that there are just not enough votes in the east to worry about.

Also, as we all know, Mark DiBiasio was the major force behind try-ing to stop the visionary leaders of Wesley Cha-pel from building the beautiful, tax producing, job creating, gas sav-ing, business attracting, commercial develop-ment in Wesley Chapel. I know so. And now he is trying to do the same for Eastern Union County.

After you engineer the sale of the hospital Mr. Openshaw, why don’t you sell the jail and animal shelter? Call it the Eastern Union County Zoo! Show the East Side that you really do care about them.

Clayton Loflinformer com-

missioner, state representative


interesting to see that the per-spective of the small town was not really present. Last year was my first op-portunity to be present in that type of a forum. I just sat back and took it all in and had the opportunity to network in social times with various other mayors. I visited with [former Charlotte Mayor] Pat McCrory, which I thought was very helpful in un-derstanding how Waxhaw could begin to work with Charlotte. This year, I spent time with [cur-rent Charlotte] Mayor [Anthony] Foxx. Not as much as I would have preferred but it was inter-esting. This conference is a little bit of a reunion because a lot of the folks have been there and they come every year. There’s a little bit of a camaraderie over there. I certainly am very appreciative that President Obama and Vice President Biden took the time out of their schedules to carve out time for the nation’s mayors. I heard a lot of concern about the impact of the stimulus pack-ages in that they’re all being channeled through the states. Sometimes the state distribution system doesn’t really take into account the economic impact to the cities. That’s something I heard over and over again.

Mayor [Michael] Nutter of Philadelphia was probably most vocal about that. The challenge for the Obama administration is they’re trying to jump-start the economy and the economic centers are really focused in our cities. The point that was continuously brought up: we need to find a way to focus the stimulus dollars on cities or give cities a little bit more weight. It seemed to me the president was the most responsive to understanding the idea. The charisma of President Obama just overshadows Vice President Biden. What I really appreciate is that both the vice president and president made their re-marks and just like all the other folks from the White House, the president then took questions. It did not seem that it was too carefully controlled. It seemed like there was an opportunity for a genuine exchange. Q: Before you left, what were your goals for the trip and did you achieve them?A: I did not sit down and outline specific goals for the trip. Based on my experience from last year, I found the networking to be very helpful as well as the opportunity to visit with mayors from towns and cities of other sizes and pick their brains and ask, “What do you all do in the face of these challenges?” I had the opportunity to speak

to Mayor [Tadatoshia] Akiba of Hiroshima, Japan. he wanted to talk to me about what they’re doing in Hiroshima to promote local foods. It was a completely different culture, size city, and type of cities, but the bottom line is the challenge of local foods comes down to education. He was telling me about the different programs they use over there to educate the population about the value of local foods and what it does for a commu-nity besides just providing food. Waxhaw is in same place. We have an increasingly suburban population. In Waxhaw, we’re still a place where farming and growing food is something that happens here. If we take the opportunity to educate our incoming population and provide support networks for re-integrating agriculture into our community, we can maintain a more robust local foods network in Waxhaw without ever having to lose it first. Those types of exchanges were really the types of things I an-ticipated getting out of it even though it wasn’t something specific. By being open to the topics that were being pre-sented and the sentiment in the crowd, I was able to bring back some really good ideas. Q: Tell me about your en-counter with the secretary of agricultureA: He spoke with the mayors and afterward, he concluded his remarks and took some ques-tions. This is one of the times when it was really highlighted to me how the small town perspective was really under-represented in this group. I

was hearing a lot of things that I could see made sense from an urban perspective looking out. Being a small town on the edge between urban and rural areas, some of the perspectives that I was hearing seemed to be uninformed. They’re working from inside their city. It took me a little while to work up my nerve. I was actually the last person to answer a question. The question I asked him was, given the broad range of things the USDA is engaged in – hous-ing, emergency services, jobs, high speed internet – maybe we need to ask ourselves if the USDA is responsible for the rapid loss of farmland in the South. I did not intend any dis-respect but if we have programs that are intended to do one thing and they’re not producing the results we desire, maybe we should look at that. We continue to lose farmland in Union County and North Caro-lina to growth and development pressures and partly it’s because of the type of development we allow and seem to prefer in the South, which is suburban development. That’s the least efficient land use pattern for a large popula-tion. So if the programs aren’t necessarily reaching their goals, maybe we need to think how we’re approaching it. He went into the spiel of what the USDA does and their focus on trying to provide assistance to people in rural areas to help them improve their quality of life and that sort of thing. I talked a little bit about the desire and energy in Waxhaw to support a sustainable local food system and I used the example of the local farms we have which are already in operation. As businesses, they’re doing fairly well for themselves and they get a lot of attention from the fact that they’re the growers that provide the produce to some of the high profile restau-rants in Charlotte. First, we have to show it’s possible for a producer to be

profitable and to have a good quality of life while being in that profession. I wanted to highlight that local foods is the future of agriculture and sus-tainable food systems in the U.S. and that was one of the things that the secretary mentioned that the USDA is engaged in and I just wanted to highlight that that’s something that is a good thing for Waxhaw and ultimately all of the U.S. Q: What were some obser-vations you made about the other mayors? Was there any divide between big cities and rural ones? Northern and Southern Cities? East Coast and West Coast in terms of needs?A: I didn’t really see a divide. I didn’t really see a group of these and a group of those on any particular issue. What I did see is that most of the folks in this conference are from municipalities much larger than Waxhaw and so what I observed was sometimes a disconnect between what goes on in the cities and what goes on in the surrounding landscape. In the conversation I had just in one-on-one conversations, I tried to communicate that. I talked to Mayor Mark Kleinschmidt of Chapel Hill. That’s a jurisdiction that is much more in tune to the surrounding landscape than a lot of other cities, even of that size. That was the strongest perception for me. Even though I might not necessarily bring home stimulus dollars for Waxhaw, by having some small town voices in that conversation – it helps larger city leaders better understand or maintain a perspective that includes the impact on the surrounding small towns and landscape. Q: How will Waxhaw ben-efit from your trip?A: One, by having the oppor-tunity to interact with mayors from other areas and towns of other sizes, I’m able to bring back information and ideas, just like my conversation with Mayor Akiba about how to educate our

population on the value of local foods. So that’s one tangible benefit. Second, it’s the networking that I was able to do. The other may-ors that I had the opportunity to meet, even though we have not discussed a particular question while at the conference, as other questions and challenges come up, I now have a connection with some of these other may-ors and I can pick up the phone or send an E-mail saying, “What do you think about that?” So just having access to that network of folks will help us in the future. Was I able to bring home any stimulus dollars from this trip? No. I wish. But I think the ideas and the conversations and the networking that come from an experience like this are the types of things that lay the ground-work for future conversations. What are some of the top issues that you think today’s mayors face?I went in thinking about Wax-haw’s issues, Charlotte’s issues. There’s anecdotal evidence of challenges faced by families and businesses. Some of the challenges being faced by older cities in the U.S. are completely different but when you distill it down, what we are all facing is rapid change. So Charlotte continues to grow rapidly. Detroit – their change is in diminishment. Nobody’s really sitting still. It seems as if there is a lot of movement in the U.S. from one place to the other and while we’re on the receiving end of that movement, there are other cities that are on the other side of that. And yet, fundamentally, the challenge that we’re all facing is change and fairly rapid, unex-pected and unplanned change and ultimately the end result that we’re all looking for is to have quality places, communi-ties that have all the elements that make for a good quality of life at whatever size we are. That is the mutual challenge of every mayor in America.

GARDNERContinued from Page 1

suspicious that this is probably not that good for me to be breathing,” May-or Daune Gardner said. “Whether it’s hazardous or not, it has significant impact on the ability of people to enjoy their homes.”

Mayor Pro Tem Martin Lane said the smell is es-pecially strong on humid days, when fumes can travel all the way to the Harris Teeter in the Cure-ton Town Center.

The plant was built in 1997 on a 250 acre farm site, Goscicki said. It was later expanded in 2007, which was about the time that Cureton and Quellin developed.

“We wound up with neighbors in our back-yard,” he said. “When neighbors are that close to a waste water plant, you’re going to get odor complaints.”

But local developer Bill Reule Sr. questioned whether all the fumes can be attributed to the plant.

“People who have been in the area a long time

know that when the wind is blowing right, we get a whiff of something like rotten cabbage from the Bowater Paper Mill in Van Wyck [S.C.],” he said.

Time will tell whether the technology adequately addresses the occasional stench in the area but Go-scicki said he is confident it will work.

“It’s pretty common technology that’s used in a lot of other plants,” he said. “When you get in a suburban setting, cov-ering up these tanks be-comes a necessary part of the process.”

SMELLContinued from Page 1

there for change,” Jones said.

In early December, Jones said he was think-ing about the position but had not committed to the race.

After talking with peo-ple around the county, he said he thinks he will have enough support to become Union’s next dis-trict attorney.

“I’ve been thinking about this for a long time,” he said.

Jones characterized the district attorney’s office under Snyder as a “ship without a rudder” that “does not seem to have a focused direction.”

“I can fix that,” he said.

As district attorney, the first thing Jones said he would address would be the relationship be-tween that office and law enforcement.

After talking with county law enforcement officials, Jones said. “My perception is that the re-lationship between the district attorney’s office

and law enforcement in Union County is at an all-time low,” he said. “I want to build a trust be-tween the DA’s office and law enforcement. ... Earn their re-spect.”

S n y d e r has said he will run for reelection and Jones is the only person to p u b l i c l y announce he will challenge the position.

JONESContinued from Page 1

Snyder

A6/MAIN

The Big 10 Value lunches

Starting at $3.99Monday-Friday 11-3

Eat In or Drive-thru & CateringBBQ Chicken, Rib Plate, Pork Plate,

Salad & 6 other entreesOpen 10:30 A.M. to 10:00 P.M.

We cater to small and large groups.1507 Roosevelt Blvd., MonRoe

704-289-5102

TM

Lunch served daiLy 11am to close

We offer:Boxed Lunches & PLatters to Go

Fresh Bread Pick uP Time is 4:30Pm!

215 E. Franklin St.Downtown Monroe

Tuesday-Friday 7am-5:30pmSaturday 10am-3pm

Closed Monday

Lunch

specials

$5.95

or Less

704-254-3738704-254-3738

Monday, February 8, 2010

7:00 pm at Station

ALL COMMUNITY MEMBERS ARE URGED TO ATTEND

For additional info:(704) 506-2200

Stack Road VolunteerFire Department

NOTICE OF ANNUAL MEMBERSHIP MEETING

SAVE $20.00Keep coupon for your

next service call Heating & Air

Conditioning repairs

FREE ESTIMATES!

GRIFFIN HEATING & AIR704-575-7436

2008 & 2009 IBMA Entertainer of the Year

The Fairway RoomAt Lancaster Golf Club

1821 Springs Club Road, Lancaster, SCTickets $15

Showtime 7:00 PMFor tickets & information contact:

803-286-2119The Most Recognized Bluegrass Band Of 2008 and 2009

Stopping in Lancaster, SC

Saturday, February 20, 2010

www.daileyvincent.com www.myspace.com/thedaileyvincentband


A7/MAIN

NC License #22092SC License #1129

It’s Cold! You Deserve To Be Comfortable

$1,000 Rebate*on a qualifying Lennox® home comfort system

Plus, get a tax credit of $1500 plus Duke Energy & Piedmont Natural Gas rebates of up to $500 when

you choose a high-efficiency system.

A complete home comfort system from Lennox includes:

• Gas or oil furnace• Air conditioner or heat pump• Choice of air cleaners or other indoor air quality system• ComfortSense™ programmable thermostat

Offer good 1/18/2010 - 2/26/2010*Rebate offer is valid January 18, 2010, through February 26, 2010, with the purchase of qualifying Lennox products. Contact

Dorton’s Heating & Air for details.

INDOOR COMFORT SYSTEMSInnovation never felt so good.

24 HR.SERVICE

No Overtime Charges

704-226-0900Family Owned & Operated Since 1998

Comfort for

ALL Seasons

AwardWinningSERVICE

Indian Trail UnitedMethodist Men’s BBQ

NOTICE OF A CITIZENS INFORMATIONAL WORKSHOP FOR THE PROPOSED CLOSURE OF SR 1176 (ELIZABETHAN ROAD)

AT-GRADE HIGHWAY / RAIL CROSSING OF THE CSX RAILROAD NEAR MONROE

TIP Project No. Y-4810H Union County

The North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) will hold the above Citizens Informational Workshop on Monday, February 8, 2010 between the hours of 5:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. in the cafeteria of Walter Bickett Elementary School, located at 830 South Martin Luther King Boulevard, Monroe.

Maps depicting the proposed project will be on display and NCDOT representatives will be available in an informal setting to an-swer questions and receive comments regarding the proposed proj-ect. The opportunity to submit written comments or questions will also be provided. Interested citizens may attend at any time during the above mentioned hours. Please note: there will not be a formal presentation.

NCDOT proposes the closure of the Elizabethan Road (SR 1176) at-grade highway / rail crossing (Crossing #638 864N) located on the CSX Railroad near Monroe. The proposed closure of this at-grade rail crossing is part of an effort to reduce the number of redun-dant and / or unsafe rail-highway at-grade crossings statewide.

Anyone desiring additional information may contact Mr. Jah-mal Pullen, Rail Division - Engineering and Safety Branch, at 1556 Mail Service Center, Raleigh, NC 27699-1556, phone (919) 715-8748, or email [email protected].

NCDOT will provide auxiliary aids and services under the Americans with Disabilities Act for disabled persons who wish to par-ticipate in this workshop. Anyone requiring special services should contact Mr. Pullen as early as possible so that arrangements can be made.

Monroe1774-B W. Roosevelt Blvd., Monroe, NC 28110

Call Nowfor more information

704-282-1063Phones Open Sunday 866-849-9069

www.MannTravels.comServing Travelers Since 1979

Corporate Travel/Foreign Currency 704.556.8311

Book Your Escape With US Today!

Book Your Escape

*$300 air credit. Book by March 1, 2010 and travel by June 23, 2010. New bookings only. Restrictions apply. Availability is limited

on Bahamas Vacation Packages

$300!*

Save up to


Waxhaw’s only history museum came under new leadership Jan. 8 when Scott Farb became the Museum of the Wax-haws’s di-rector.

Farb will replace Sha-ron Murrer, who left for p e r s o n a l reasons re-cently.

T h e 47-year-old New Jersey native has lived in the area for a year but has big plans for in-creasing attendance and diversifying exhibits.

He’s volunteered doing living history interpre-tations for the museum. His background is in sales and marketing.

With his new job, Farb will be responsible for handling the museum’s public relations and mar-keting, maintaining the museum’s archives, so-liciting contributions for the museum’s collections and directing its living history program.

Farb spoke with The Exchange about struggles the museum has faced re-cently and his goals for the future. Q: What are some new ideas you’re bringing to

the museum?A: I’m trying to make the educa-tion communities in Union and Mecklenburg aware that we have two different things that go on at the museum: a regular museum with static displays and a living history site with five his-toric buildings, several of which were moved here. We have people in period clothing, like 19th century clothing. We have a group called the Catawba [Valley] Cooking Guild that comes the third Saturday of ev-ery month and they do colonial cooking. So we actually do a lot of hands-on history interpreta-tion. It’s really good for younger children who might get bored reading about history to actually see things implemented. One of my goals is to promote the hands-on approach to history with the schools.We’re the only historical muse-um in Union county and people don’t even know about us. I want to have an old-fashioned baseball game here, too. At least two teams in N.C. put on an 1870s baseball game so you can watch them play baseball in 1870. By having those games, it will bring people to the museum who might not usually come. I want to make people aware of Q: What are some of the biggest challenges the museum faces today?A: The economy definitely had an effect on museum atten-dance. When the economy started to turn sour, a lot of

schools put field trips on the back burner. That’s a big chal-lenge. And the other thing is that, because we’re a private, self-funded museum, we have to do a lot of fundraisers for dona-tions. Since we’re only open 2.5 days a week, the admission fee doesn’t pay for stuff like fixing a leaking roof. We have to do a lot of fundraising. That’s always challenging. Q: How do you plan to ad-dress those challenges? A: Almost everyone I speak to knows we exist but many of them have never been here or if they have been here, they’ve been here once about 10 years ago. I’m planning on changing exhibits every month. Before, they had static exhibits that didn’t change. If you live here and there’s the same exhibit six months later, you don’t come back. I plan to change exhibits every 30-45 days. It won’t be just military history or Waxhaw Indian history. We’re planning on having an exhibit on the early Belk stores. We’re going to start doing workshops that teach you about colonial craft. The goal is to have more people become aware of what we offer so we can increase our hours

and become a five-day-a-week Museum Again. Q: How do you plan to reach out to the younger population in the county and people who haven’t lived here for generations?A: I myself have only lived here one year. When we appeal to kids, we usually appeal to third to fifth graders. To try and appeal to them, we have to try and do something different than what they’re used to seeing at other places or at school. The whole hands-on approach to history is what keeps them coming back. It sparks their interest more than a static

learning technique. When we talk about the early settlers of Union County, every-body came here from someplace else. When you look back at some of those families, you see some of them started in Penn-sylvania or other places. A lot of times people can see a common bond. They see a Waxhaw name and say, “I knew someone with that name in Ohio.” It’s not hard to make that connection once you retrace the roots. If you look at the American Revolution, during the first few years of the Revolution, almost everything took place up North. The last two years of the war, everything shifted to the south. A lot of people from this area were very instrumental in turn-ing the tide of the war. So it started up north and culminated from what the people did here in key battles like Cowpens and Guilford Courthouse.

Q: How do you plan to generate more money for the museum?A: With roof project, it went back to traditional good ol’ fundraising. We wrote a letter, which went out to distribution list. And the letter went out in the fall. We got a decent number of contributions. It’s hard to say at this point because I’ve only been here three weeks. Really the roof was our biggest challenge. We were getting estimates between $30,000 and $50,000. As far as future fundraising, I’m not sure what we’ll do that’s different. I’d like more special programs run at the museum, like music programs with historic ties. I’d like to see the amphitheater used more. You could bring your own seating. It’s an outdoor theater in a calm and quiet setting, so I could see that being used again.

New Jersey native leads Museum of the WaxhawsScott Farb addresses challenges of his new position in question, answer session with The Exchange

Farb

Almost everyone I speak to knows we exist, but many of them have never been here, or if they have been here, they’ve been here once about 10 years ago.

— Scott Farb, Museum of the Waxhaws director

“


STALLINGSMore than a quarter of

the cars at Scott Clark’s Toyota City can’t be sold until workers install new accelerator pedals.

Toyota Motor Sales an-nounced Tuesday that its 1,200 American deal-

erships will temporar-ily suspend sales of eight models involved in the re-call for sticking accelera-tor pedals.

The company recalled four million vehicles in late November, saying they’d all need to get their pedals replaced.

Pedals made by a Cana-dian company have two

parts, and the connector can sometimes become worn overtime, causing the pedal to give more eas-ily or depress more slow-ly, internet sales manager Mario Santoro said.

A Japanese company’s counterpart is made with one piece and does not have the same issues.

The Canadian compa-

ny makes car pedals for 42 car companies, with Toyota being one of the largest.

The cars will remain on display and sales agents will get contact infor-mation from customers interested in buying the recalled models, Santoro said.

“Customers have a lot of confidence in Toyota to fix this problem,” he said. “We’re directing people to come back at a later time.”

The dealership exam-ined records from the past five years and hasn’t heard one complaint from customers about the ac-celerator getting stuck, Santoro said. No one had brought in their car fol-lowing Tuesday’s sales suspension as of 4 p.m. Wednesday.

“I was actually blown away. I figured there’d be a lot of people stand-ing outside this morn-ing with questions about their cars,” he said.

Scott Clarks is the sec-ond largest Toyota dealer-ship in a five-state region, selling 6,800 cars each year, Santoro said.

The Camry, the number one selling car in Ameri-ca, is a part of the recall and Santoro acknowl-edged it will hurt busi-ness.

Of the dealership’s 650 vehicles, 175 cannot be sold.

“What they’re doing is

very proactive,” he said. “They want to fix the ones on the road first and then fix the ones on the produc-tion line.”

Monroe resident Kath-ern Aldridge appreciates the company’s voluntary recall.

“It’s considerate to their customers. Safety in the United States is becoming more and more important,” said the Mon-roe resident, who owns a 2008 Highlander.

Matthews resident Lau-

rie McCormick worried Wednesday about her hus-band, who drove down to Atlanta on business in a newer rental Camry.

“I looked at it last night [before he left Wednesday morning] and said, ‘Oh my God, that’s probably right in that category,’” she said. “I told him I don’t want him driving back in it.”

Her husband educated himself on what to do if the accelerator gets stuck, she said.


Mikhael Braverman

WAxhAWMr. Mikhael Braver-

man, of Waxhaw, died on Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2010.

Graveside services were held at Forest Lawn East.

Arrangements were handled by Heritage Fu-neral Home, Weddington.

Bernice Massey Higgins

WAxhAWMrs. Bernice Massey

Higgins, 92, died Mon-day, Jan. 25, 2010 at CMC-Union in Monroe.

Funeral services were held Saturday, Jan. 30 at Steele Hill AMEZ Church with burial to follow in the church cemetery.

Born in Union County, NC, July 28, 1917, a daugh-ter of the late James Nelson Massey and the late Easter Lilly Harris

Massey.Survivors include two

sons, John L. Cureton of Lancaster, SC and Samu-el Crow of Waxhaw; one step-daughter, Mrs. Floss-ie Mae Williams of Heath Springs, SC.

Public viewing will be Friday, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. at L.D. Grier Memorial Chapel.

Visitation was held Sat-urday, Jan. 30 from 12:30 to 1 p.m. at the church.

The family will be at the home of John Cure-ton, 6946 Cureton-Taylor Drive, Lancaster, SC.

Grier Funeral Services in Monroe is in charge of arrangements.

Joyce Ann Zuber WAxhAW

Joyce Ann Zuber, 72, died on Tuesday, Jan. 26, 2010 at CMC-Pineville.

Funeral services were held Saturday, Jan. 30. at Heritage Funeral Home,

Weddington Chapel. Mrs. Zuber was born

on May 15, 1937 in China Spring, Texas. Daughter to the late Jack and Ruby DeHay Crump. She was also preceded in death by her daughter, Kathy Zu-ber Shadle.

Survivors include her husband Darrell Zuber of Waxhaw; daughter Terri Zuber of Charlotte; three grandchildren; two sis-ters, Penny Platt of Dal-las, Texas, and Peggy Up-church of Denton, Texas.

Memorials should be made to the Barnabas Fund, C/O, Church at Charlotte, 2500 Carmel Road, Charlotte, NC, 28226 or to Wesley Chapel Vol-unteer Fire Department, 8221 New Town Road, Waxhaw, NC, 28173.

Arrangements are in the care of Heritage Funeral Home, Weddington. On-line guestbook is available at heritagefuneral.net.

Obituaries

Toyota recall shelves more than quarter of area dealer’s inventory

A8/MAIN

Attend the Church of Your Choice

5520 Hwy 74 West • Indian Trail, NC704-535-3883

Wesley Chapel Family Dentistry5922 Weddington-Monroe Rd.

Suite A2Wesley Chapel, NC

704-843-5757www.larryperkinsadds.com

P.O. Box 931Waxhaw, NC

Office704-843-9338Cynthia Hahn704-363-1544

NC#56935 SC#102454

www.sunnysideupchildcare.com

DOWNTOWN WAXHAW• Serving Ages 2-12 Years• After School Programs & Pick Up• Full Child Care

704-243-2590416 College St. • Waxhaw

1201-H N. Broome StreetWaxhaw, NC

704-545-7299

S & K Garage& Wrecker Service

• 24 Hour Wrecker& Rollback Service• 25 Years Experience

• NC Inspection StationSpin Spittle292-4547 (M)

843-4876 Office843-3377 Night

308 Rehobeth RoadWaxhaw, NC 28173

Heritage Funeral Home“At the sunset of life, we care.”

Indian Trail 704-821-2960Weddington 704-846-3771

Charlotte 704-714-1540

Waxhaw Antique MartPhone: 704-243-2223

Hours:Wed-Fri: 10-5

Sat: 10-6Sun: 1-4

Over 35 Vendors101 S. Main St. P.O. Box 1214 Waxhaw, NC 28173

Owner Betty Matthews

101 Waxhaw Professional Park Dr., Ste. E704-243-1010 • Kyle B. Jones, D.C.

www.carolinaschiropractic.com

500 W. Jefferson St. P.O Box 5040Monroe, NC 28111

704-261-2251Fax 704-289-2929


Internet sales director Mario Santoro for Scott Clark Toyota discusses the models involved with the recall of several of the brand’s most popular models.


Tanya said. The fam-ily researched the cancer online, she said, and felt better knowing it’s eas-ily treatable. Still, it took its toll on Madison, who, at one time, took up to 14 pills several times a day.

The magnitude of the disease didn’t hit her un-til post-surgery.

“I was like, ‘Oh man, I have cancer,’” Madison said. “Your whole life is just basically stopped, and all you can do is get the medicine and lay down ... and wait for it to be gone.”

Madison also had a lump, the size of “a rath-er large orange” on her chest. Medications make her nauseous, emotional and off-balance, she said, and focusing can be next to impossible.

“I depend on God a lot,” she said. “I would rather this happen to me than any of my other friends or other people I love.”

Treatments take place at the Blume Clinic in Charlotte, where Madison regularly sees children in the same condition. That makes it hard to throw herself a pity party, she said.

Since the diagnosis, the girls’ basketball team has supported its teammate, calling Madison and hold-ing fundraisers nonstop.

Madison takes the side-lines at games and doesn’t dress out for practice, but still claims No. 30.

“She was always going to be part of the team,” coach Jamal McGee said. “It’s not really about bas-ketball. It’s about how to deal with life” and the tri-als it deals.

The team was devastat-ed to hear the news last fall, he said. “They were afraid at first because of course you equate cancer with dying sometimes.”

To alleviate medical expenses, the team sold T-shirts with Madison’s number on the back and silicone wristbands that say “Rebels for Madison.”

The team also raised nearly $800 in a basketball scrimmage fundraiser.

“She’s just one of those

players you like having around,” McGee said, and never doubted the team’s ability to fight Madison’s disease with her. “We were going to beat it,”

Madison went to day care with her best friend and teammate, Parkwood junior Lynne Hall. The two used to go to the beach together and shared a room at basketball camp.

Hall was shocked when she heard the diagnosis and wondered why some-one so young and sweet would get cancer, she said. “I thought that only happened to people who smoked or people who are old or people who tan too much.”

The pair see each other every other day, but keep outings to a minimum since too many germs could be detrimental to Madison’s immune sys-tem. “She’s still the same Madison, still corny,” Hall said, twisting her “Rebels for Madison” wristband. “She’s never lost her faith.”

Madison’s older broth-er, a junior at the Univer-sity of North Carolina at Pembroke, also stepped in to help.

“Madison was always his target of torment,” Tanya said. “It used to be an argument to take her somewhere,” but now he volunteers to drive her to doctor appointments. “He looks out for her.”

Doctors say the cancer is dead, but Madison still has 10 radiation treat-ments to go. Her silky, long brown hair is gone, but growing back. “I’ve got little pricklies on my head,” she said. Wigs prove hot and itchy, so she often opts for a scarf.

“She can pull it off,” Tanya said.

Madison plans to at-tend prom and may go to Lenoir-Rhyne University in the fall. Hall wants her

to go to North Carolina State University, the same school she hopes to at-tend.

Until then, family, friends, church members and strangers have reached out to help her family. “That’s been just as overwhelming for me as the diagnosis,” Tanya said.

Madison missed many days of her first semes-ter, but completed her work from home. She still attends youth group at Bethlehem United Meth-odist Church, where she is a youth leader.

There are times she wants to go for a run, she said, but starts jogging and loses her balance. She was out of breath af-ter climbing some stairs to the school gym.

She shrugs it off. “It’s just a bump in the road.”

MADISONContinued from Page 1

Madison Jones

and her childhood friend and teammate

Lynne Hall.

Photos by Ed Cottingham

Madison cheers for her teammates from the sidelines as they try to make a comeback against Marvin Ridge.

A9/MAIN

311 West Phifer Street Marshville

AUTUMN CAREO F M A R S H V ILLE

704-624-6643The A rea ’s P rem ier Inpatien t

& O utpatien t R ehab ilita tion .

Trust Union County’s Oldest Real Estate Firm

MONROE3203 HWY. 74 WEST

Across from Bob Mayberry & DMV

701-292-2288

INDEPENDENCE6153 EAST INDEPENDENCEBetween Harris Blvd.

& Idlewild Rd.

704-535-8383

PINEVILLE11523 CAROLINAS PLACE PKWY.

Across from BJ’s at Park Rd. Exit

704-542-9331

SOUTH BLVD.5700 SOUTH BLVD.Between Archdale

& Tyvola

704-527-4626FAST DELIVERY! 0% INTEREST!

VALID ONLY WITH THIS ADEXPIRES 2-6-10

“FOR A LIMITED TIME, WE WILL PAY YOUR TAX!”


A10/MAIN

Paid Advertisement

SUNDAY, JANUARY 31, 2010

+

Scorebox

Robinson beats Weddington

WEDDINGTON — J.M. Robinson, ranked

third in the state among 3A wrestling teams, handled Weddington 63-18 on Thursday.

Robinson took advan-tage of five forfeits and lost only two contested matches.

Weddington’s Joe Centrella and Jake Perkins pinned their opponents at 171 pounds and 215 pounds, respectively.

Centrella is currently ranked fourth in the state at 189 pounds among 3A wrestlers.

The Warriors, who have a short-handed team, are 1-4 in the Southern Carolina Conference.

WHS has its senior night against Porter Ridge coming up Tuesday, fol-lowed by the conference tournament a week from Saturday.

Robinson 63, Weddington 18

103: Hamilton Jones (R) forfeit

112: Garrison White (R) forfeit

119: Dominic Parisi (R) forfeit

125: Jay Similton (R) pinned Chad Grey

130: Caleb Swinson (R) dec over Will Burch 2-1

135: Davante Andujar (R) forfeit

140: Patrick Oakley (R) pinned Wes Edwards

145: Kenan Robertson (R) forfeit

152: Jake Eldridge (R) pinned John Guba

160: Nathan Tesh (R) pinned Wes Chapman

171: Joe Centrella (W) pinned Tyler Shepardson

189: Kendall Bost (R) pinned Justin O’Hara

215: Jake Perkins (W) pinned Tripp Moore

HWt: Jake Helms (W) forfeit

Ice storm leads to scrambling

With the threat of an ice storm this weekend, Union County basketball teams scrambled to make plans for Friday’s scheduled games.

Union County officials decided to allow teams to play on Friday, but all varsity games had to start at 6 p.m — meaning all junior varsity games were canceled.

Friday’s scheduled matchup between Porter Ridge and Marvin Ridge was the only game postponed. The Pirates and Mavericks will make up the game next Wednesday.

Cuthbertson and Forest Hills decided to move up their game on Thursday with the chance of inclem-ent weather affecting the area on Friday. Union Academy also played at Berry Academy on Thursday, but that was a scheduled makeup game.

Area basketball games that were played on Friday included: Weddington at Parkwood; Anson County at Sun Valley; Piedmont at Union Academy; Monroe at West Stanly; Central Academy at North Stanly.

BY JERRY SNOWSports editor

MARSHVILLEWith Cuthbertson packed

in a zone defense, Forest Hills High heated up from behind the 3-point line on the way to a 56-47 home win on Thursday.

Senior point guard Dre Hunt-ley did most of the damage for the Yellow Jackets, hitting four of his five 3-pointers in the first half.

The Jackets made seven 3-pointers in the first half, allow-ing them to build a 31-20 lead, and nine for the game.

The win ended the Cavaliers’ five-game winning streak, and

gave FH a needed confidence boost. The Jackets, now 9-3 in the Rocky River Conference and 11-8 overall, had lost four of their pre-vious five games.

“I was worried because we’re banged up and Cuthbertson’s been playing well,” said Forest Hills coach Warren Taylor. “Its a good win for us because we’ve been struggling.

“Besides the Monroe game (a 59-57 loss), I thought this was the second-best game we’ve played as far as playing smart and togeth-er. This time of year, you better

Forest Hills High beats Cuthbertson 56-47

BY JERRY SNOWSports Editor

MARVINTJ Tolbert was struggling to find

an offensive rhythm in the first quarter of Tuesday’s home game, and so was the rest of his Marvin Ridge High teammates.

After the Mavericks mustered just three points in the first eight minutes against archrival Wed-dington, the 6-3 wing took it upon himself to drive to the basket in the second quarter.

The strategy worked, as Tolbert scored 10 of his 16 points in the sec-ond quarter to help his team grab a six-point halftime lead and go on to defeat the Warriors 71-56.

“They were playing the (outside) shot so I just started driving,” said Tolbert, who finished 8 for 8 at the foul line.

The win gives Marvin Ridge sole possession of first place in the Southern Carolina Conference with a 4-1 record (7-7 overall), while WHS fell to 3-2 (9-9).

The Mavericks finished 23 of 29 at the foul line (79.3 percent), and made 11 more attempts than the Warriors (12 of 17).

“Free throws are a big part of our practices,” Tolbert said. “We probably spend 20 minutes a day shooting free throws.”

Tolbert is one of three juniors who were among the Mavs’ nine-man rotation last season, along with point guard Colby Rhodes and center Patrick Bellucci.

Rhodes also scored 16 against the Warriors while Bellucci con-tributed 10 points and five boards.

When 10 seniors from last year’s team graduated, it meant a lot of holes had to be filled.

“A lot of the guys that are play-ing were on J.V. last season and it took us a while to get up to speed,” Tolbert said. “But we got those guys up to varsity speed and we’ve come together as a team and things have gotten a lot better.”

After managing just one field goal in the first quarter, Marvin Ridge scored at least 20 points in the final three quarters.

The Mavs dominated the third

Archrivals square off


Marvin Ridge junior T.J. Tolbert goes for the shot against a Weddington opponent.

Marvin Ridge beats Weddington 71-56

MAVS / 12

BY JERRY SNOWSports editor

N ow juniors at Virginia Tech, and the pride of Forest Hills High,

J.T. Thompson and Dorenzo Hudson are helping the Hok-ies prosper this season.

Thompson made most of the critical plays in a huge OT road win over archri-val Virginia on Thursday, when he scored 17 points and grabbed seven rebounds in 29 minutes off the bench.

Virginia Tech is now tied for third place in the ACC standings at 3-2, and stands 16-3 overall.

Thompson, the Hokies’ expe-rienced sixth man, is averag-ing 6.2 points and 4.1 rebounds

per game. A 6-foot-6 forward, Thompson is VT’s most dy-namic dunker and a difficult matchup with his combination of quickness and strength.

Thompson’s had a couple rough patches this season, but virtually carrying the Hokies to a road win in the league should do wonders for his confidence.

Hudson’s confidence has been riding high since he scored 41 points in a win over Seton Hall — the most points by an ACC player this season.

Over the last 10 games, Hudson has averaged 17.1 points — reaching double figures in nine of them while scoring nine points in a blow-out win over N.C. Central.

Hudson has pulled his sea-

son scoring average up to 13.1 points per game, which ranks 18th in the ACC.

A 6-5 shooting guard, Hudson scored 18 points and was 3-for-3 from 3-point range in the win at Virginia. He ranks sixth in the ACC in minutes played

(33.4 per game) and ninth in free throw percentage (76.3).

Virginia Tech doesn’t have a dominant shot blocker, but the Hokies play excellent man-to-man defense. The Hokies are allowing just 60.5 points per game, which leads the ACC.

Hudson is regarded as the Hokies’ best defensive player, and usually guards the other team’s best perimeter scorer whether it’s a point guard, shoot-ing guard or small forward.

The ACC is wide open this year, and the Hok-ies are in the thick of it.

If Hudson didn’t score with 5 seconds left to give Va. Tech

Thompson, Hudson help Hokies make critical plays

HOKIES / 12

The ACC is wide open this year, and the Hokies are in the thick of it.”

— Jerry Snow, sports editor

“

Forest Hills junior guard John Goodrum draws a foul against the Cavs’ Chris Bristow on Thursday night.Photo by Ed

CottinghamJACKETS / 12

B11/SPORTS


B12/SPORTS

YOUTH BASEBALL REGISTRATIONMONROE PARKS AND RECREATION

WHO: 5-12 Year Olds WHERE: Dickerson GymWHEN: Tuesday, February 2nd & Wednesday, February 3rdTIME: 5:00 – 7:00 pm COST: T-Ball (5-6 year olds) Cal Ripken (7-12 year olds) $20.00 for city residents $25.00 for city residents $40.00 for non-city $50.00 for non-city

CALL 704-282-4663 FOR MORE INFORMATION! COACHES NEEDED!!

be playing smart or it’s go-ing to be a short season.”

Huntley led all scorers with 25 points; he made all eight of his free throw attempts in the fourth quarter.

Dre played well,” Taylor said. “He’s been a pretty consistent shooter for us all year.”

FH led by as many as 14 points in the first half and pushed the advantage to 16 after the break.

Cuthbertson rallied, cutting the lead down to seven more than once, but Huntley kept them at bay with his foul shooting.

Junior guard John Goodrum made a pair of threes and finished with nine points for FH, while senior forward Markell Lotharp also scored nine and pulled down eight re-bounds.

Junior wing Brandon Glenn was also instru-mental to the win, finish-ing with game-highs of 10 rebounds and seven as-sists to go along with six points, three steals and a block.

“Brandon always brings something,” Taylor said. “His effort is always go-ing to create something. He’s 90 miles an hour all the time.”

Junior guard Cody Es-ser had a team-high 20 points for the Cavs (5-6, 9-10). Esser made all five of his team’s 3-pointers and was also fouled twice attempt threes.

Teammate Mike Cuth-bertson, a junior center, added 15 points and nine boards.

Forest Hills (6-6, 7-11) won the girls game 36-20 after building a 22-9 half-time lead. Sherita Thom-as had a game-high 12 points for FH while Kinya Adams added nine points and Shekeilah Gaddy had eight.

Brogan O’Brien led Cuthbertson (0-18) with five points.

Cuthbertson is at Union Academy on Tues-day while Forest Hills hosts Berry Academy on Thursday.

FH boys 56, Cuthbertson 47Cuthbertson (5-6. 9-10)Cody Esser 6 3-6 20, Mike Cuthbertson 7 1-4 15, Emmitt Afam 1 2-2 4, Lucius McMillon 2 0-0 4, Lamar Wade 1 0-0 2, Wright 0 0-0 0, Hardrick-Givens 0 0-0 0. Totals 18 6-12 47.Forest Hills (9-3, 11-8)Dre Huntley 6 8-8 25, Markell Lotharp 3 2-3 9, John Goodrun 3 1-2 9, Brandon Glenn 2 1-2 6, Hykeem Robinson 2 2-4 6, Jarvis Wilson 0 1-2 1, Roderick Poag 0 0-0 0. Totals 16 15-21 56.

Cuthbertson 8 12 10 17 — 47Forest Hills 12 19 13 12 — 56

3-pointers: Cuthbertson 5 (Esser 5); FH 9 (Huntley 5, Goodrum 2, Glenn 1, Lotharp 1). Rebounds: Cuthbertson 26 (M. Cuthbertson 9, McMillon 6, Bristow 4); FH 33 (Glenn 10, Lotharp 8, Huntley 5, Robinson 4). Assists: Cuthbertson 12 (Afam 4, Bristow 3, Wade 3); FH 11 (Glenn 7, Huntley 2, Goodrum 2). Steals: Cuthbertson 3 (Afam 1, Esser 1, M. Cuthbertson 1); FH 9 (Huntley 4, Glenn 3). Blocks: Cuthbertson 4 (M. Cuthbertson 2, Esser 1, Afam 1); FH 1 (Glenn 1).

JACKETSContinued from Page 11

Forest Hills point guard Dre Huntley (10) drives in against the defense of Mike Cuthbertson during Thursday’s 56-47 home win. Huntley made three triples in the first quarter.

Photo by

Ed Cottingham

a one-point win over Boston College last Sat-urday, the Hokies would have been tied for last in the 12-team league.

Add in Thompson’s heroics that led them to

the win at Virginia on Thursday, and the Hokies are suddenly in prime position to make the NCAA tournament and have one of the school’s best seasons ever.

Up next for Virginia Tech is Sunday’s game at Miami, which will be broadcast on the Raycom

network starting at 1 p.m.The Hurricanes are

last in the ACC at 1-5, but that’s a bit deceiving. Miami is 14-0 outside of league play and was ranked 24th in the nation before an 81-66 loss at Virginia Tech on Jan. 13.

To reach the NCAAs, the Hokies will need to

finish no worse than 6-5 the rest of the way in the ACC or make a deep run in the ACC tournament.

With six home games remaining, the task seems doable, but the Hokies can help them-selves out greatly by pulling out another road win at Miami on Sunday.

HOKIESContinued from Page 11

quarter 24-13 to take a 17-point lead (47-30) head-ing into the fourth.

But WHS came storm-ing back, led by senior guard James Haynes, trimming the advantage to six midway through the fourth.

Haynes erupted for 13 of his game-high 20 points in the fourth, as he nearly carried the Warriors back into the game.

But with his team cling-ing to a six-point advan-tage, Rhodes beat his de-fender in the backcourt and drove into the lane for an old-fashioned 3-point play that made it 57-48 with 3:43 remaining.

Ten Mavericks scored, including senior post Da-vid Powell, who came off the bench and added nine points. Reserve guard Tim Neal helped hold off the Warriors by scoring six of his eight points in the fourth.

“We have a deep bench and we have a lot of guys that contribute,” Tolbert said. “A lot of teams don’t have the depth we have. With us, all 14 guys can come in and play.”

Junior forward Tyler Koenig made back-to-back 3-pointers in the second quarter for WHS and fin-ished with 12 points and five rebounds. Sophomore guard Bennett Rutherford added nine points, four assists and three steals while junior wing Ben Buchan contributed eight points, five boards, two steals and two blocks.

The loss ended a three-game winning streak for the Warriors, who travel to face Parkwood on Fri-day.

Marvin Ridge hosts Por-ter Ridge on Friday.

With five league games left, the Mavs have at least a one-game lead on the

rest of the field.Not bad for a team that

started the season 0-3.“It took us a little while,

but we’re playing a lot bet-ter now,” Tobert said. “We have a lot better chemis-try now.”

Tolbert, like most of his teammates, went to Wed-dington Middle School and would have attended WHS if Marvin Ridge didn’t open in 2007.

“We know all these guys,” Tolbert said of the Warriors. “When we broke off a few years ago, it’s been a big rivalry ever since. We’ve been waiting for this game for a long time. It’s a big win for us.”

MR girls pull awayMarvin Ridge used its

superior size to domi-nate the glass and pull away from archrival Wed-dington 42-30 in the girls game.

Sophomore Jordan Hen-ry had 10 points, eight re-bounds and three blocks to lead the Mavs, who im-proved to 4-1 in the SCC and 10-5 overall.

Henry, a 6-2 center, went 6 of 7 at the foul line.

The Mavs led 19-10 in the second quarter but WHS trimmed the advan-tage to 21-17 at halftime.

MR outscored the visi-tors 21-13 after the break to maintain sole posses-sion of second place in the standings behind 5-0 Porter Ridge.

Senior guard Chelsey Horan had eight steals, seven points, six rebounds and three assists for Mar-vin Ridge, while junior small forward Eryn Cur-ry led all rebounders with 11 in addition to her six points and five steals.

Weddington senior Sa-mantha Sebastian led all scorers with 14 points and also grabbed nine boards. Kinsey Wilson, a junior guard, had nine points and three steals for WHS.

MAVSContinued from Page 11


Senior forward David Powell (33) scored nine off the bench for Marvin Ridge.

Marvin Ridge sophomore

Jordan Henry had 10 points, eight

rebounds and three blocks in Tuesday’s

win over Weddington.

Photo by

Ed Cottingham


B13/CLASS


B14/CLASS

01312010 WAX

Documents

Transcript of 01312010 WAX