FOR IMMEDIATE
RELEASE
February 26, 2005
KANNAPOLIS, NC—Once home to the largest cotton mill village in
the United States, this town will soon host the first-ever “Southwide
Cotton Mill Reunion & Convention” this spring. Last Thursday a group
organized itself to facilitate a warm welcome for hundreds of expected
out-of-town guests.
The unique assembly will take place on Friday, April 22 and
Saturday, April 23rd. Friday’s activities will be held at Kimball
Lutheran Church on Main Street and Saturday’s celebration will be centered
at the A.L. Brown High School.
Two local lay historians with long-standing ties to the heritage
of Carolina cotton mill folks, were there to lend a hand with local
publicity and logistics.
Norris Dearmon, President of the Kannapolis History Associates, had
attended several planning meetings for the Southwide Textile Heritage
Initiative which is sponsoring the April Reunion. He recently completed
work on a new photographic exhibit of historic Kannapolis images at the
renovated train depot on Main Street.
Concord author Hank Utley, whose mill town baseball book
chronicles the Carolina League’s brief life-span, came to help coordinate
Reunion details and spread the word of the gathering to cotton mill people
in his hometown. The son of mill parents and grandparents, Utley attended
the NC State Textile school. Now in their eighties, both men have devoted
many of their “golden years” to preserving the area’s cotton mill
heritage.
Kannapolis native Rick Hudson, now living in China Grove, will
chair the Reunion Host Committee. A member of the Rowan County Planning
Board, Hudson says that across the region’s textile belt “we are losing an
irretrievable part of a bygone era. We need to devote as much effort to
rescuing this cultural heritage as we have committed to historic
preservation in other areas.”
Ann Sternal, Executive Director of the Cabarrus County Convention
& Visitors Bureau, expressed her excitement about showcasing this side of
local history to Reunion attendees.
Attending with Sternal was CCCVB Sales Manager, Libba Barrineau. "I grew up in Lyman, SC and my parents worked for the mill. I’m excited
to be part of an effort to pass on the values and traditions coming from
the work and life of the region’s mill towns." CCCVB recently awarded a
grant for publicizing the Reunion. A grant from the N.C. Humanities
Council has allowed the celebration to be free to the public.
Without a major corporate underwriter, the Reunion is seeking
business and civic group sponsorship of ads in the Reunion’s "Souvenir
Program." Funds raised from ads and its purchase price will pay for
everything from renting the A.L. Brown Auditorium to paying for signs at
the event.
Local participants also taking on tasks were Kannapolis Library
manager Terry Prather, Cannon Village Director Phyllis Beaver, History
Associate leader Mable Brown and lay historian Hank Weaver. Reunion
Coordinator, Jim Rumley and his wife Lynn represented the Textile Heritage
Center at Cooleemee.
"Thanks to all of you for filling this critical need," said Lynn Rumley.
"We’re all going to make some history this April. If the cotton
mill people don’t tell their own story it will vanish from the memory of
future generations. People will be coming from as far away as Alabama and
Tennessee. We hope that hundreds of former mill employees and village
residents from right here in Cabarrus and Rowan Counties will show up,
share their stories and be counted."
Those seeking information about the Cotton Mill Reunion &
Convention, volunteers for "Host Committee" duties and those willing to
sponsor an ad in the Souvenir Program may call (704) 782-4340. Ask for
the “Textile Heritage” line at extension #14. Please leave your name,
phone number, address and area of interest.
The End
More info
Lynn Rumley
Director
Textile Heritage Center at Cooleemee
(336) 284-6040
