Mint Hill Times Online

Effort to save Bain Auditorium continues

Posted on March 13, 2013 by Derek Lacey

by Derek Lacey / Staff Writer

The Bain auditorium is still slated for demolition, but Mint Hill residents are working to get it removed from the list.

A meeting was held February 19, which saw 70 to 80 people, and a bank account was set up for donations at American Community Bank.

The auditorium has been declared of historical significance, and very early estimates of the cost to refurbish the property are at around $1.5 million.

The Mint Hill Historical Society has commissioned a committee to save Bain auditorium, led by town commissioner Tina Ross.

Ross has spoken to Guy Chamberlain, associate superintendent for auxiliary services at Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools, as well as the John LeGrande, principal at Bain Elementary, and says the results are positive.

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Posted in Around Town | Tagged Bain auditorium, CMS, Mint Hill, Mint Hill Board of Commissioners, tina ross | Leave a comment

News Notes and Happenings

Posted on March 13, 2013 by Derek Lacey

Business Expo

The Mint Hill Chamber of Commerce is holding its first-ever business expo March 14, 4–7 pm, at Blair road United Methodist Church Family Life Center, 9135 Blair Road. The Expo is free to attend. For more information, visit minthillchamberofcommerce.com.

Easter Eggstravaganza

Philadelphia Presbyterian Church will be hosting Easter Eggstravaganza! Saturday, March 23, 10 am, at Wilgrove Park, 7750 Jim Harper Lane in Mint Hill. The event is for children in third to fifth grade, will feature an egg hunt, crafts, and games. Attendees are encouraged to bring their own Easter basket.

Schoolhouse Rock auditions

Spotlight Performing Arts is currently holding auditions for a performance of Schoolhouse Rock Live, Jr., first come first serve, Saturday March 16, at 10 am. Students should prepare 16 bars of a song to sing a Capella, a side to read will be provided. For more information, email info@spotlightacademyonline.com. Spotlight is located at 7714 Matthews-Mint Hill Road.

BBQ Fundraiser

Arlington Baptist Church is hosting a BBQ fundraiser to support summer missions on Saturday, March 16, 11 am to 4 pm. Tickets are on sale now for $7 for a plate with barbecue, slaw, beans, and roll, or $7 per pound. for more information, call the church office at 704-545-4589, or at their website, www.arlingtonchurch.com.

Consignment Sale

Arlington Baptist church will hold a children’s consignment sale March 15-16, with a consignors shop Friday, 6 to 7 pm, early bird Friday, 7 to 9 pm, open to the public Saturday 8 am to noon, with half price 12:30 to 1:30 pm. For more information, visit www.arlingtonchurch.com/consignment.

Walk With the Cross

Mint Hill Baptist Church, along with other area churches, will participate in the annual Walk With the Cross Friday, March 29 at noon. Church members will carry a cross from Mint Hill Baptist to the intersection of Matthews-Mint Hill Road, stopping to read passages along the way.

VFW/VFD BBQ

The Mint Hill Volunteer Fire Department and Veterans of Foreign Wars will hold their semi-annual fundraiser BBQ, all day April 6 at 11341 Bain School Road in Mint Hill. For more information, visit www.vfwpost4059.org.

Posted in Around Town | Tagged business expo, Easter, Easter eggstravaganza, happenings, Mint Hill Chamber of Commerce, mint hill walk with the cross, new notes, Philadelphia Presbyterian Church, Schoolhouse Rock, Spothlight Performing Arts | Leave a comment

Mint Hill Middle/Queen’s Grant locked down for gun scare

Posted on March 12, 2013 by Derek Lacey

This morning, Mint Hill Middle School and Queen’s Grant community school were briefly placed on lockdown, after Mint Hill Police received a call saying there was a man with a gun near the area.

No suspect was found, and Mint Hill Police urge that the lockdown was only a precautionary measure, and that students at either school were never in danger.

A press release by Mint Hill Police reads:

“at approximately 1016hrs, Mint Hill Police were advised that a passing motorist observed a “tan” skin male, slender build, approximately 5’6 to 5’8 was walking along Idlewild Road near Kale Lane. The complainant advised that the male was walking in the direction of Mint Hill Middle School near the wood line. The complainant advised the male was carrying a red backpack and a long gun (shotgun). He was approximately 1/4 to 1/2 mile from the school in a heavily wooded area.”

Officers from Mint Hill Police Department, Matthews Police Department, and CMS Law Enforcement circulated the area for around 90 minutes, with help from a CMPD Air Unit.
No subject was ever found, and officers cleared the area.

Posted in Around Town | Tagged CMPD, down, gun, gun threat, lock, lockdown, Matthews, MHPD, Mint Hill, Mint Hill Middle school, mpd, police, Queen's Grant Community school, school, school lockdown | Leave a comment

Search underway for missing girl

Posted on March 7, 2013 by Derek Lacey

Kiley Hegger, a 13-year-old South Charlotte girl, has been missing for more than two days and a search is underway.
The family suspects that Kiley snuck out her bedroom window in only her pajamas, to meet a person the family does not know after communicating with said person on Facebook.
Kiley Hegger is a white female, with blue eyes and red hair, 5’0″, and 100 pounds. Anyone with information on her whereabouts is urged to call (704) 336-8970.

Posted in Around Town | Tagged Charlotte, girl, Kiley hegger, Mint Hill, missing, missing children, police, South Charlotte | Leave a comment

A special birthday request

Posted on February 28, 2013 by Derek Lacey

Aycock1

Abigael Aycock is 8 years old. Her birthday was February 9. There was a party with friends, family, games, and fun, but one thing was missing: presents.

Abby didn’t want any presents for her birthday–not for herself anyway. She wanted anyone who was going to buy her presents to buy a pair of shoes, to be donated to those in need.

“We have massive birthdays, and I always try to something really cool and memorable for their birthdays,” said Elizabeth Aycock, Abby’s mother.

The idea came last August, from a commercial about a girl in Texas, who gathered 300 pairs of shoes for charity, and Abby told her mother that she wanted a big birthday party with lots of friends, and for presents: shoes.

Abby’s reasoning behind the charity is straightforward and plain, “It’s nice,” she said. “And I’d be growing closer to God.”

Thirty-one pairs of shoes were gathered at the party and then donated to A Child’s Place, which will give them to homeless children in Mecklenburg County.

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Posted in Around Town | Tagged A childs place, Aycock, birthday, charity, Charlotte, donations, Mint Hill, party, philanthropy, shoes | Leave a comment

Mint Hill shopping center sells for $2.5 million

Posted on February 28, 2013 by Derek Lacey

The Mint Hill Festival Shopping Center, located at the corner of Lawyers Road and Matthews Mint Hill Road, was purchased earlier this month by Sierra Building Group, a Canadian real estate firm.

The 59,077-square-foot facility cost Sierra $2.5 million, and was bought from Regions Bank, who acquired the property after American Asset Corporation, the property’s previous owner, went into foreclosure in 2012.

Toronto-based Sierra specialized in home and community building, with most of their properties in Canada, but also builds and manages commercial and retail spaces.

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Posted in Around Town | Tagged big guys pizza, business, center, Mint Hill, Mint Hill Festival, monroe hardware, Shopping, sierra | Leave a comment

Indy basketball advances to round two of state tourney

Posted on February 28, 2013 by Derek Lacey

Coach Preston Davis talks to the team during Monday night’s round one playoff win. Photo by Ron Morris

The Independence Patriots basketball team moved one step closer to the North Carolina High School Athletic Association state tournament last Monday night, with a narrow first-round playoff win against the RJ Reynolds High School Demons.

The game was close and hard-fought the entire time, with the final seconds deciding the outcome, 74-73 in the Patriots’ favor.

RJ Reynolds (12-15) came into the game averaging less than 60 points per game, compared to Independence’s (23-5) Southwestern 4A Conference title season and scoring average of 66.5.

Independence won the tip-off, and strong defense on both sides made scoring difficult in the first quarter, but Independence held on to the early lead, ending the quarter with a score of 21-15, in Indy’s favor.

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Posted in Around Town, Sports | Tagged basketball, High school basketball, Independence High School, indy, nchsaa, Patriots, playoffs | Leave a comment

February reminds pet owners to brush teeth

Posted on February 28, 2013 by Derek Lacey

Your dog’s bad breath might tell you more than what type of snack he found out in the yard.

Bad breath, along with red and swollen gums, brown teeth, frequent pawing at the mouth, and reluctance to eat hard foods, can mean that your pet has a dental disease.

National Pet Dental Health Month is an initiative by the American Veterinary Medical Association that encourages pet owners to brush and care for their animal’s teeth.

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Posted in Around Town | Tagged cat, dog, Mint Hill, pet, pet health, pet issue | Leave a comment

Keeping an eye on mange

Posted on February 28, 2013 by Derek Lacey

“Just imagine your dog with all its hair fallen out, and it smells like yeast, really badly.” That’s how Nancy Yaeger, veterinary technician at Heart and Hand Veterinary Clinic in Matthews, described mange.

Mange is a skin disease caused by parasitic mites that animals carry with them their entire lives, but only cause a problem if the dog is subject to high stress, or if the dog’s immune system is compromised for some reason.

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Posted in Around Town | Tagged cat, dog, mange, Mint Hill, pet, pet health, pet issue, vet, veterinarian | Leave a comment

Pet pictures from our readers

Posted on February 21, 2013 by LS

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UNCC Alumni induct Esther Rose Erwin to Hall of Fame

Posted on February 15, 2013 by Derek Lacey

Esther Rose Erwin loved. She loved teaching, she loved her friends and family, and she loved the University of North Carolina Charlotte.

Rose was recently inducted into the UNCC Alumni Hall of Fame posthumously. She received four degrees from the university, an associate’s in history in 1961, her bachelor’s in history in 1968, her master’s in elementary education in 1972, and an advanced certification in ’83.

While at UNCC, Rose served on the Student Council and Freshman Advisory Council, was a member of Sigma Tau Sigma, a national honor society, and was named the school’s most outstanding student in 1959 and ’60.

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Posted in Around Town | Tagged Alumni, Esther Rose Erwin, Hall of Fame, UNCC | 1 Comment

“Well Seen and Captured” opens at MHA

Posted on February 15, 2013 by Derek Lacey

Visitors packed in Mint Hill Arts’ gallery last Friday night, February 8, to see more than 140 photographs for the opening reception of MHA’s annual photography-only show, “Well Seen and Captured.”

The walls in MHA’s gallery were lined from ceiling to floor with original photographs on a wide range of topics, including architecture, abstracts, portraits, and landscapes.

The show was sponsored by Biggs Camera and Fast Frame of Matthews, who donated the prizes. First, second, and third place prizes were $100, $75, and $50 gift certificates to Biggs Camera, and all four honorable mentions received $25 gift certificates to Fast Frames.

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Posted in Around Town | Tagged arts, Mint Hill, Mint Hill Arts, photography | Leave a comment

Library’s Strategic Plan discussed at community forum

Posted on February 15, 2013 by Derek Lacey

Citizens and Charlotte-Mecklenburg Library officials met at the Mint Hill branch library for a community forum Thursday, February 7, to discuss the future of the library.

The meeting was the last in a series of community forums at various library branches, all with the same goal of gathering community input on the library’s three-year strategic plan.

Topics discussed ranged from uses of meeting rooms, available materials, and operating hours, among many other topics.

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