Odds and Ends

Ava Gardner

Ava was born in a rural area of Johnston County known locally as Grabtown and nearby Smithfield. She was discovered by a scout for MGM in 1940 and the rest is history. A fan who had amassed a substantial amount of artifacts about Ava visited Smithfield with a desire to establish a museum. A group of locals rallied with the idea and after a determined effort were successful in establishing a permanent museum in downtown Smithfield. I served as a board member of the Ava Gardner Museum for several years.

More about Ava (Here)

Conversion Factors

These conversion factors are essential for coverting measurements in various fields such as physics, chemistry, engineering and everyday life.

These factors are constants used to convert one unit of measurement to another. They are ratios that express the relationship between different units within the same system or between different systems of measurement. Conversions do not change the actual value of the quantity.

View factors (Here)

Grainger High School

This school of learning was one of Kinston N.C.'s segregated high schools for a period of 43 years, 1927 thru 1970.

I, personaly, was especially attached to this institution as I lived only a block away. The siblings of my and my wife's family numbered 11 and we all graduated from Grainger High spanning the years 1927 thru 1950. In 2010, an "all class" reunion was held in the school's auditorium which was well attended.

In support of this event I designed, developed and published a web page for the alumni. At age 95 I am no longer able to support the hosted server and domain name, "graingerhigh.org".

See all the alumni and (More)

Doris Cannon

She was the reporter for the Smithfield Herald newspaper that befriended Dr. & Ms. Tom Banks from Florida. The Banks had assembled a huge collection memorabilia and artifacts of Ava Gardner a native of Johnston County and attempted establish a museum in the area of her birthplace or nearby Smithfield. On the untimely death of Dr. Banks his wife donated their extensive collection to the Town of Smithfield. The friendship, support and respect that Doris shared with them was key to that donation. Town Manager, Ron Owens, was supportive in convincing the Town of Smithfield of its long term benefit. The town made the museum a permanent budget item with funding. The Ava Gardner Museum has a permanent location in downtown Smithfield.

Read her bio (Here).

Kiwanis

I was a member of the Smithfield Kiwanis for over 40 years. In 1975 I attended the Kiwanis International Convention held in Atlanta, GA. The following year I was president of the club. It was the year of the bi-centinial of the United States, 1976. At the end of my one year term I was presented with the customary gavel for service, though mine was decidely different.

Find out (Here).

The Village Forge

Beginning in the mid-60s and on into the 70s there was a growing interest in the crafts of early America as the countdown to the bicentennial of our country approached. Annie and I, along with many of our friends gained interest in antiques found in area auctions. Many items were products of earlier times, many were handcrafted wooden items in pine, tin and wrought iron. Many of the tin and wrought iron pieces could be adapted electrically for useful lighting. I had always been interested in woodworking tools and made a few simple stools and bird houses. Decided to get involved and began reading about early American crafts in books and magazines showing up in print.

The details (Here).

Web sites & items of interest to me