WILKES COUNTY, N.C. — THE HOMEPLACE OF AMERICANA MUSIC Contact us at 336-667-0134, e-mail [email protected] In Sports It’s not The bat... complicated See Welborn, page 6A See Cox Page 6A Ted Holder and Sylvia H. Day West’s Cheyenne Clonch throws the out at first from short stop NORTH WILKESBORO, N.C. WEDNESDAY, MARCH 27, 2019 VOL. 37, NO. 42 Only 25¢ ‘Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans’ day set at VFW Post 1142 By HEATHER DEAN public are invited to attend. Various "Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans Day" POW/MIA flags and their significance by Record Reporter Vietnam Era vehicles, uniforms and and it was passed by the U.S. Senate. the post auxiliary. A special ceremony North Wilkesboro Veterans of Foreign weapons will be on display. More than 58,000 lost their lives, and honoring all Vietnam Veterans in atten- Wars Post 1142 is hosting a "Welcome Forty-Seven states and Puerto Rico more than 300,000 were wounded. dance with special guest speakers includ- Home Vietnam Veterans" Day and open recognize Vietnam Veterans Day. Presidents Obama and Trump have ing elected representatives of N.C. begins house, on Friday, March 29, 2019, mark- President Nixon chose March 29, 1974 as signed legislation to recognize these at 2 p.m. A demonstration of flag retire- ing the 45th Anniversary of withdrawal of the first Vietnam Veterans Day. In 2011 American Heroes who served their nation ment will be held at 5 p.m. by local Boy U.S. combat support units from Vietnam, N.C. Senator Richard Burr, a then during what was considered an unpopular Scout Troop 301. Light refreshments will under the Treaty of Paris. Ranking Member of the Senate war back home. be provided. Set to be an annual event, the day will Committee on Veterans Affairs, intro- The post opens at noon. At 1:30 p.m. The post is located at 802 Veterans be full of history and camaraderie. duced a resolution to honor the veterans there will be a flag folding by the post's Drive, formerly Beech Street, off of Veterans of all branches and the general who served, by designating March 30 as Honor Guard, then an explanation of the Highway 115. Lincoln Heights Ceremony The murder of Rhonda Hinson Left is Rhonda Hinson in elementary school and right is a photo taken during her sen- ior year at East Burke High School. Photos courtesy of the Hinson family. The first in a series on the unsolved murder of Rhonda Hinson Floyd Barber, chairman of the Lincoln Heights Recreation Corporation, (Editor's Note: The 1980's was a violent Christmas that year." welcomes the crowd at Sunday afternoon’s ceremony recognizing decade for women in Wilkes and surround- Already there had been some moderate, Lincoln Heights School’s recognition by the National Register of ing counties. At least four young women late December snowfall in the Burke County Historic Places. Built in 1924, as a six-teacher Rosenwald School, Lincoln Heights served as a “Haven of Knowledge for colored students were murdered between 1981 and 1987— Foothills; so, there was more than just a in Alexander, Alleghany, Ashe, Caldwell, Wilkes and Yadkin counties.” their cases remain unresolved: Rhonda slight chance that Christmas, 1981, would The Julius Rosenwald Fund provided money for construction with addi- Hinson of Burke County - who has rela- be white. tional contributions from state and local governments as well as contri- tives in Wilkes County, Angela Hamby of "…And sure enough-as we were walking butions from citizens. Many attended the 3 p.m. ceremony, including Wilkes, who disappeared in 1982, Sherry out of the house to go to church that morn- several elected officials, as well as former students and teachers from the school, which operated from 1924 to 1968. After a brief program, the Hart of Ashe County, and Candy Roberson ing, large white snowflakes started falling," crowd moved outside for the unveiling of the marker designating the of Wilkes. This series, "The Killing of Bobby recalled, as he gazed into the middle building being included in the National Register of Historic Places. Rhonda Hinson" is the second in a trilogy distance. Photo by Ken Welborn. See more photos on page 2A of murder cases that will be detailed in The It was Friday, December 25th. As dads Record over the ensuing weeks and months and moms and children gathered around - cold cases of crimes perpetrated against Christmas trees bedecked with garland and Rotary packs meals for needy women over 30-years ago, whose families twinkling lights to open treasure troves of await justice and closure.) colorful gifts, one family of three-undergird- ed by relatives and friends-quietly buried By LARRY J. GRIFFIN Rhonda Hinson. Special Investigative Reporter for The Record Rhonda Annette Hinson was born 12 I closed my eyes for one second, and you days before Christmas in 1962-Thursday, were gone. Now, my heart aches, my eyes December 13th-the first child and only leak, my soul mourns, and my family is bro- daughter of Judy and Bobby Hinson. "It was ken. Only a moment that changed forev- 2 p.m.," Mother Judy remembered. Their er….You can be sure you will live in my baby girl was healthy; however, the final heart forever…I miss the me I was when you days of pregnancy, leading up to the birth, The Rotary Club of North Wilkesboro hosted its third meal packaging event Sunday at the Wilkes Agricultural Center in Wilkesboro. Rotary were here… — A Facebook meme posted by were not without issues. members, their families, Rotaract and Interact students, and youth from Judy Hinson "We were living in Great Falls, S.C., at the First United Methodist Church of North Wilkesboro met at 1 p.m., the time-in Chester County. But before and packaged 10,000 meals to be shipped the needy. The project is coor- Bobby Hinson remembers his daughter's Rhonda was born, my doctor discovered that dinated through the Rise Against Hunger Campaign. The club pays for the prediction. she was going to be a breech birth with her food, the packaging supplies and provides volunteers. Shown above are "Rhonda told me that it was going to legs tucked against her little chest. So, he (left) are Rotarian Ted Hall, and (right) Rotarians Danny Holman and snow on Christmas Day," he said. "We were sent me to the hospital in Rock Hill, in York David Wiles. They are flanked by various youth volunteers who helped always betting on when it was going to County, because they had more experience with the project. Record photo by Ken Welborn. See more on page 2A snow, and she told me that it would be on See Hinson, page 5A Gaye Taylor: A good neighbor and a good, good soul By JERRY LANKFORD which was one of Momma's Taylor Dyer. I had moved from our Record Editor Column favorite movies - they were "like home ridge about nine months ago Gaye Taylor and my mother peas and carrots." and hadn't kept up with much or somewhere else in town. were best friends - like the Golden We lost Edra Gaye Taylor, 91, around my old home place since The two of them would sit and Girls of Kite Road in Millers last Thursday afternoon, March 21, then. I was saddened deeply when talk for hours on end. Their con- Creek. 2019. Gaye had outlived my moth- I learned last week that Gaye's versations involved anything from When my momma, Willa Mae er by 10 years and 37 days. She health was so poor. what they read in the paper, to McNeil Lankford, was still able to was five days shy of being one year Recently, The Record ran a pair folks they mutually knew, to our get around and drive, she and Gaye younger than Momma. of photos from Gaye and her hus- families or their health issues. Like would go places together, mostly Gaye had been sick for a while, band, Jack's, anniversary. They had the quote from Forrest Gump - just to the grocery store or Walmart according to her daughter, Lisa Gaye Taylor See Taylor, page 5A Classifieds. .......... 3B Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Comics. ................ 4B Community ........... 4B Deaths. ............... 3A Editorial Page. ..... 6A High Low High Low High Low High Low o o o o o o o o Horoscopes. ........ 3B 55 Sunny 30 F 62 F P/Cloudy 39 68 F P/Cloudy 45 69 F P/Cloudy 44 F WILKES COUNTY, N.C. — HOME of WILKES HERITAGE MUSEUM, BLUE RIDGE MUSIC HALL OF FAME, THE RECORD PARK, CHICKENFEST and AMERICANA DAY The Record - North Wilkesboro, N.C. - March 27, 2019 - Page 2A More scenes from the Historic Designation of Lincoln Heights School Left, the school in its hey- day, right, the National Register of Historic Places plaque Dr. Alexander Erwin spoke about the school, one Rev. Richard Watts of the Rickard's Chapel of only 16 Rosenwald Schools built with brick Pictured, left to right are Effley Howell of Mooresville, Luther Parks of AME Zion Church holds a plaque recogniz- and the one of the larger ones in the United Roaring River who gave the invocation for the meeting, and Lazarus ing donors. Record photos by Ken Welborn States. Erwin also recognized special guests. Johnson, also of Roaring River. 5th District Congresswoman Virginia Foxx spoke about the importance of saving and restor- ing old schools for their heritage and history. Also in attendance were County Commissioners North Wilkesboro Mayor Robert Johnson Gary D.