The Belmont Front Porch

Gary Ford, current principal at Holbrook MS has been appointed by the Gaston County School board to replace retiring principal Sheri Little at South Point HS.

Ms. Little has been the principal at South Point for the past 15 years and won the Gaston County principal of the year during this tenure.

Ms. Little has been a tireless leader within an active high school program. She regularly participated in all sport activities, meets with parent groups and student groups, and has given great leadership to the staff and faculty at the high school. Her last day on the job will be June 30, but until then, she has plenty of work to complete.

The 2008 class at South Point is the largest to ever proceed to graduation with over 300 slated to receive their diplomas on Saturday, June 7.  

The thriving downtown community of Belmont, North Carolina, recent subjects of a number of Gastonia Gazette articles, hosts the summer kickoff events with Friday Night Live, the Garibaldi Festival, and the annual Belmont Home tours this weekend.

Friday Night Live! kicks off with Chairmen of the Board on Main Street downtown at 6:30 PM. With an expanded ”beer garden”, a strong band following, and good weather, over 4,000 people are expected to crowd the space between the railroad tracks and Myrtle/McLeod intersection. The restaurants are ready to serve and The Shack has stocked up on ice cream.

Saturday, the Belmont Police Department hosts their annual 5K run in downtown Belmont at 8:00 AM, and the Garibaldi Festival in Stowe Park begins at 11 AM.

Sunday, the Belmont Women’s Club hosts its annual tour of homes with several new homes on this year’s tour.

Let’s hope the weather stays good, and all our neighbors remain friendly and welcoming. Oh, and HAVE FUN!

Belmont Middle School Girl’s soccer team is slated to meet the 9-1 Grier team at Belmont Central’s field today at 4:00 PM.

Belmont had a great regular season also finishing 9-1 after a loss at Cramerton on Monday. Belmont is led by the young newest  footie phemon, Molly Fisher, an 8th grader who will be attending SPHS in the fall. Fisher leads the Gaston County school scoring race with 32 goals in ten matches this year. More importantly, Ms. Fisher has “willed” the successes of this year’s squad by her support and and encouragement of all the girls on the team.  

Grier will put it all on the field after an earlier season loss to Belmont by a 1-0 score. This should be a good match up, with a number of the Grier players headed to Ashbrook HS for next year’s round of soccer.

Cramerton (9-1) hosts Holbrook (8-2) in the other semi-final match on Thursday.