Carthage Retailers Organize.

News release: Carthage retailers will gather to organize and plan for the Citywide Sidewalk Sale slated for July 23-24, 2010.

Three meetings are slated to assure every retailer’s ability to participate. "Carthage has an amazing selection of shopping venues," stated Linda Redshaw of the Carthage Chamber of Commerce. "Individuals travel to Carthage from communities throughout the area to shop. We want to build upon that wide customer base as we approach the end-of-summer, back-to-school and fall home improvement and decorating season." Organized promotion of Carthage’s varied shopping opportunities is part of the Carthage Chamber of Commerce’s efforts to maximize benefits of membership and promote the Carthage business community, according to Redshaw.

The three meetings are scheduled for: Monday, June 7th at the Chamber office, Tuesday, June 8th at Humble Pie & Coffee, Wednesday, June 9th at Sirloin Stockade.

The 8:00-8:45 a.m. meetings were selected to enable retailers to participate and still be able to open for business.Retailers should call 358-2373 to reserve seating.

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NASCAR THIS WEEK

By Monte Dutton

Sponsored by Curry Automotive

Honoring the Greats

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- In future years, the NASCAR Hall of Fame will choose five inductees a year, guaranteeing that its shrine will always be exclusive.

There is, however, only one inaugural class ... and only one inaugural induction.

"You get to focus on five people every year, and they get their due," said executive director Winston Kelley. "It could’ve been four, and it could’ve been six. Some people said ‘you need a bunch of people in there,’ but I didn’t like that concept and gave my feedback to NASCAR."

The first induction class consisted of two men, father and son, instrumental in the organization and growth of NASCAR. It included the driver with the most wins, the two with the most championships and one whose fame stretches from driving race cars to building and owning them.

Richard Petty won 200 races at NASCAR’s top level, now known as Sprint Cup. He and Dale Earnhardt each won a record seven championships. Junior Johnson may be the most legendary figure of them all. William H.G. (Big Bill) France founded NASCAR, and his son, William C. (Bill Jr.) France, took stock-car racing into the American sporting mainstream.

Only Petty and Johnson lived to see the induction, which took place on May 23.

Even at the dawn of NASCAR -- an organizational meeting on Dec. 14, 1947, in a Daytona Beach, Fla., hotel -- no one but Big Bill France saw stock-car racing’s possibilities.

Bill France Jr. was underestimated when he took over NASCAR from his father, but how could he have avoided it? He had a father who was larger than life. Though he lacked his father’s vision, he inherited toughness and ambition.

A record 200 victories do not account completely for Richard Petty’s legacy. His personality is central to the sport. One other man equaled The King’s record seven championships, but no one is going to eclipse the 200 victories, or, for that matter, the 27 races he won in a single season (1967).

No race driver was ever tougher than Dale Earnhardt. No one was ever better at closing a deal or doing what it took to win. The presence of Earnhardt’s No. 3 was enough to make most drivers make mistakes, hence the apt nickname The Intimidator. Like Petty, he won seven titles.

Junior Johnson is a living, breathing embodiment of NASCAR’s history. He migrated from the highways, where he "ran moonshine," to the dirt tracks and then the superspeedways. He was among the greatest as driver, mechanic and owner.

I hope the City Council is hearin’ from the folks that have been talkin’ to me about fireworks.

I’ve heard "I don’t wanna hear it" several times durin’ the week. A couple a folks have taken the time to come by the shop to express there support of the ban. A letter or two that were unsigned so I couldn’t print ‘em.

The Council is scheduled to vote on this fireworks thing this next Tuesday evenin’ in City Hall around 7:30. If you have an opinion, it’s time ta speak up.

Let your Council know how ya feel. If they don’t hear anything, they figure ever’one agrees with what they’re doin’.

Take a minute and let ‘em know. You don’t have to be unfriendly, just let ‘em know.

This is some fact, but mostly,

Just Jake Talkin’.

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CLICK and CLACK

TALK CARS

Dear Tom and Ray:

It was a rainy afternoon...I had driven a couple of miles when the car stalled. After 15 minutes the engine started and I limped home. I decided to pop the distributor cap and have a look. In the process, the clip at the back of the distributor broke off. Of course, the friendly folks at my VW dealership say the clip is part of the distributor itself, not sold separately. So I got another distributor on eBay, and went out to remove my old one. No luck. It’s frozen to the block and won’t budge. So far, I have tried repeated applications of PBBlaster and Liquid Wrench. I have tried prying it out with a crowbar. I also tried tapping it with a hammer, and when I couldn’t get a decent swing due to tight quarters, I moved up to an air chisel. It’s still stuck solid. Any suggestions? - Jim

Tom: Well, these all are things we would have tried, Jim. Our next step would have been to set the car on fire.

Ray: No, you’ve far from exhausted your options, Jim. If you haven’t already chiseled Teddy Roosevelt’s profile into the distributor, one option is to simply forget about the broken clip, and glue a new distributor cap to the old distributor.

Tom: What we do is coat the bottom edge of the cap with a silicone adhesive, and then use the remaining clip and a couple of wire ties to secure it. Once that adhesive sets, the cap won’t go anywhere.

Ray: It it’s already too late for that(I’m guessing it is", the next thing to try is, with the cap off the distributor and the remaining "good" clip out of the way, grabbing the distributor with an oil filter wrench.

Tom: But when you start getting frustrated, make sure you stop and take a break, Jim. It’s easy to take you’re frustration out on the car.