Rutherford Weekly

WINDSHIELD REPLACEMENT 187 N Powell St., Forest City • 828-245-0923 BILL'S AUTO GLASS SHOP BILL'S AUTO GLASS SHOP WINDSHIELDS WINDOWS MIRRORS WINDOW MOTORS REGULATORS ©Community First Media Community First Media EXPERIENCE DOES MATTER 187 N P ll St F t Cit 828 245 0923 IT'S YOUR CHOICE WHERE YOU HAVE IT'S YOUR CHOICE WHERE YOU HAVE YOUR VEHICLE REPAIRED! YOUR VEHICLE REPAIRED! LOCALLY OWNED FOR 54 YEARS YES WE ARE OPEN ALL INSURANCE COMPANYS ACCEPTED WE WILL HELP FILE YOUR CLAIM SMALL TOWN FRIENDLY, BIG TIME RESULTS ISSUE NO. 33 •August 20, ISSUE NO. 33 •August 20, 2020 • 2020 • RutherfordWeekly.com • 828-248-1408 RutherfordWeekly.com • 828-248-1408 Our 28 th Year IN GOD WE TRUST! IN GOD WE TRUST! LEAP Dreams A New World ONE GIRL AT A TIME CAN MAKE DREAMS COME TRUE N.C. TRACTOR & FARM SUPPLY 299 Railroad Ave., Rutherfordton • 828-288-0395 Mobile: 828-429-5008 • mf1dpshehan@gmail.com SALES • SERVICE • PARTS IF YOU BUY ANYWHERE ELSE YOU WILL PAY TOO MUCH! IF YOU BUY ANYWHERE ELSE YOU WILL PAY TOO MUCH! PROUDLY SERVING RUTHERFORD, CLEVELAND, GASTON, LINCOLN, POLK COUNTIES AS THE AREAS HOMETOWN MASSEY FERGUSON DEALER. Great Selection Great Selection Kisha McDowell wants to change the world, one girl at a time. One of her projects is LEAP, Leaders & Entrepreneurs for the Aspirations and Promotion of Girls. On a recent Saturday afternoon a small group of her aspiring leaders gathered at the POPS pavilion in Forest City to hand out bags of information about the program, meet new girls, and promote the work. "We want girls to have the confi dence to start their own businesses," McDowell said as her two daughters, Aniyah and Makalyla and Gracy Hodge milled nearby. Hodge's mom, Dawnette, is a lead volunteer with the group and a budding business person herself. She cooks Caribbean food. McDowell is cooking home-delivered meals for a small group of customers and can be found at 262-989-8982. So that entrepreneurial spirit is not only being taught to the young women in the LEAP program, but it is being modeled by McDowell and Hodge, too. Recent on-line programs have included exposing the LEAP girls to Mia Chapman and Bud Rosan who work with American Zink. The two industrial leaders taught the girls about their skills in working on the industrial scene. McDowell also mentioned the example of Rosa Parks whose leadership was at the heart of the Montgomery Bus Boycott, the igniting incident that fueled the modern civil rights movement. Parks, who was secretary of the local NAACP, had prepared through training and prayer, for the day she would defy the bus segregation in Montgomery. She probably could not have imagined that her courageous refusal to give her seat to a white man would result in the Supreme Court striking down bus segregation in Montgomery and across the nation. McDowell hopes to instill success thinking and believing in the girls through strategies that she describes as: don't leap to conclusions about anyone or anything, use sharing to open doors to communication, engage in learning, fi nd effective strategies, plan the execution, and reach the goal. To fi nd out more call 828-229-3380 or email the group at leap4girlsfc@gmail.com. "And whoever gives one of these little ones only a cup of cold water in the name of a disciple, assuredly, I say to you, he shall by no means lose his reward," Matthew 10:42 Broad River Water Authority might have had the "hand of God" on its inception, according to General Manager Maria Hunnicutt. "I hate to say hand of God, but it was surely the right people at the right time in the right place with the right resources," Hunnicutt said of the soon to be 20-year-old treatment and distribution system that provides 50,000 homes and businesses with those Biblical cups of cold water. The 14-year veteran manager and administrative staff recently moved into the authority's new home on Main Street Rutherfordton to enhance customer convenience and community involvement. "Customer service, environmental quality of life, and economic development are the three pillars of this organization," Hunnicutt said. The new offi ce will enhance all three. One example of how the higher profi le offi ce works came at last year's Mayfest in Rutherfordton when they set up a water meter and showed passersby how to read it and know if they had a problem. "We've also worked with teachers and Chris Burley let me work with his Cub Scout troop to demonstrate fi ltration by using coff ee fi lters," Hunnicutt said. She also bemoaned the fact that, "Most people just think you open the spigot. And that's it." It is so much more. She had high praise for the employees and board who make the whole shebang work. Maintenance workers, for instance, "Get out in the heat and the cold and the wet and the mud," to make repairs and rehab pipes, many of which have been in the ground for a long, long time. "Many of them are well-paid, but there is a problem throughout the industry that our workforce is aging out and retiring. We need young people thinking about water treatment as a career," Hunnicutt said. The authority serves a far-fl ung area including Spindale, Ruth, Rutherfordton, and Cliff side, but also Polk County and Inman-Campobella. BRWA takes about six million gallons of water out of the 130 million that fl ow through the Board River. That's a lot of cups of that Biblical cold water. Broad River Yields Millions Of Cups Of Cold Water Service Waters Local Spigots Story by Pat Jobe Story by Pat Jobe The administrative staff at Broad River Water Authority includes Kathryn Banfi eld, Christy Heavner, Maria Hunnicutt, and Amy Jones. Business & Finance Admin Manager Jennifer Goossens. Three of the girls being taught confi dence and aspiration by LEAP are Aniyah and Makalyla McDowell and Gracy Hodge. They gathered to talk about their goals on a recent Saturday afternoon at the POPS pavilion in Forest City. Story continued on page 6. Story by Pat Jobe

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