Class of 2012

May 22

Larry Hartsell

Freddy Whitt

Dr. Fredrick Keith Whitt---or Freddy, as he is known among his Mount Holly High School compatriots---was born on January 4, 1953 in Chattanooga, Tennessee to J. C. and Jean Whitt, the second of three sons.

The Witt family moved to Mount Holly in 1956 and all three boys---Robert, Freddy and Parker---grew up in Mount Holly as active participants in the local sports and community culture.

“I was blessed to have the opportunity to grow up in Mount Holly during the late 50s and 60s,” says Freddy. “It is hard to imagine a better experience than playing sandlot ball for the Woodland Park Mudcats, fishing in Dutchman’s creek, playing on Mount Holly’s first Pop Warner football team, first Little League baseball team, playing in the Mount Holly High marching band, and Friday night football games.”

The Witt family produced several gifted athletes. Freddy’s father (J.C.), a former Mt. Holly Mayor, was an outstanding baseball pitcher growing up in High Point, NC, and was offered a minor league contract with what is now the San Francisco Giants. Freddy’s older brother, Robert---a local attorney and former mayor of Mount Holly---played varsity football for Mount holly before he left to attend prep school in Tennessee. In addition, Freddy’s younger brother, played varsity baseball and basketball for Mount Nolly and East Gaston High School. All three Whitt boys earned undergraduate and advanced graduate degrees in college.

But Freddy, who was the first Mount Holly High athlete to start all four years in tow major sports (basketball and baseball). Lived and breathed sports, says Robert.

“He was a natural athlete, but his work ethic was extraordinary. I would bring my Davidson classmates to some of his games and they loved watching his jump shot and ball handling skills, “ says Robert.

“What I remember most about Freddy growing up is that everywhere we went, he was always simulating a pitcher’s throwing motion,” says Robert. “He constantly was winding up and pretending to throw a baseball when he was a kid. Some people actually thought he was going to throw something at them as they were walking down the street. Freddy would also get into trouble with our parents for hitchhiking around the county to play in pick-up basketball games. He was only in the 6th grade, but he wanted to sharpen his skills by playing with the best competition he could find. Many times he would sneak in and play with college students at Belmont Abbey on weekends.”

Fellow Mount Holly High School alum Scott Pope agrees.

“Freddy was one year ahead of me in school,” says Pope. “He played second base and I played third. I remember him as a hard worker always wanting to improve his skills. He was not known for his speed, but he had quick hands and feet when it came to turning a double play or needing to quickly get rid of the ball to get the runner at first. He was also a consistent hitter with a good eye for the ball.”

Parker, the youngest member of the Whitt clan, saw his older brother from a different vantage point.

“My brother had a huge impact on me in sports. We grew up playing ball all the time,” Parker says. “Even after practice he would come home and begin playing ball again. He never grew tired of practicing.”

Dawn Moose

Dr. Beverly Dawn Moose is arguably one of the greatest student athletes to ever attend East Gaston High School---male or female. Her competitive spirit and drive took her to the heights of scholastic and athletic achievement and has left behind a legacy of excellence that still inspires.

Dawn was born in 1963 to William Boyd Moose and Edith Jenkins Moose. Growing up in Mount Holly, Dawn, along with her brother Mark and sisters, Donna and Debbie, was brought up in an athletic family tradition. Her mother was a high school basketball star and her father excelled at baseball and was an avid golfer. Dawn says her brother Mark, who excelled on the football field himself, was her greatest coach and fan.

“From the time I could walk, my big brother was right beside me, pushing, supporting and challenging me,” says Dawn. “If not for his vital role in my life, I would not have accomplished all that I have achieved.”

Mark, four years older than Dawn, taught his little sister how to play golf, football and basketball from an early age.

“I remember shooting basketball for hours in our driveway,” says Dawn. “He would hold his arms up so I would have to shoot over him. That’s how I learned to shoot a jump shot. We would also spend hours hitting golf balls over all the hard until dark. He was very instrumental in my success in sports.”

Dawn’s sister, Donna Moose Morris, agrees. “They were thick as thieves. He guided her path.”

Another inspiration was Dawn’s high school basketball coach, Dene Eller.

“She pushed me and always encouraged me, on and off the court,” she says. Dawn says she is also grateful for the support of her fellow high school athletes---especially Nancy Crisp, Lisa Abernathy, Linda Lawing, Monica Burrell, Sheila Broome, and Doug Delinger.

A 1982 graduate of East Gaston High School, Dawn (called “Moose” by her fellow students) in her sophomore year participated in volleyball, basketball and softball. During her junior and senior years at East Gaston, Dawn played women’s volleyball and basketball and played golf for the men’s team.

In 1981, Dawn earned a place in the NCHSAA state golf tournament, playing with the boys shooting a 78, better than any of her East Gaston teammates.

“Dawn was slightly apprehensive but flowed into it very well. We were proud she has the opportunity to play on the team,” says Donna.

“The greatest memory I have is playing in the boy’s golf state championship. I was the first female to qualify and play in the event,” says Dawn “On the very first tee shot, I hooked the ball out of bounds. There were so many people watching me, including the media. I wanted to break down and cry. But I didn’t. I picked myself up, raised my head and played on! Thanks to the wonderful support of so many people in my life, giving up was never an option for me. I was honored to be part of the boys’ team and they accepted me and treated em as a teammate.”

Donna says, “She left a great legacy for East Gaston High School. Being the first female on the men’s golf team, she opened it up for others. She made it easier for other girls coming up to see it could be done. She gave up a lot to achieve the things she accomplished.”

Dawn also hopes other young women will be encouraged by her legacy to follow in her path.

“I hope that my achievements in athletics while at East Gaston High School and beyond helped set an example for other students that followed. Through hard work and dedication, I was able to excel in athletics as well as in the classroom. I hope that EGHS continues to promote and develop highly successful scholar athletes.”

The athletic and scholarly abilities Dawn honed at East Gaston High School have served her well. After graduating high school, she attended Wake Forest University on both an academic scholarship as well as a golf scholarship. She graduated summa cum laude in 1986 and was elected to the Phi Beta Kappa honor society. She then attended Bowman Gray School of Medicine from 1986 to 1990. She was elected to the Alpha Omega Alpha (AOA) medical honor society during her junior year (one of only two in her class), Dawn graduated first in her medical school class in 1990.

After completing medical school, Dawn did her residency in Radiation Oncology at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, VA.

After completing her residency in 1995, she stayed on as faculty at UVA for one year and then moved to Winston-Salem, North Carolina, as a faculty member in Radiation Oncology at Wake Forest University/Bowman Gray School of Medicine in 1996. After several years in that position, Dawn’s group practiced severed ties with WFU/Bowman Gray and formed its own private Radiation Oncology group, Piedmont Radiation Oncology.

Dawn currently resides in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, where she is a practicing Radiation Oncologist with Piedmont Radiation Oncology at the D. L. Davis Forsyth Regional Cancer Center. Dawn still enjoys playing golf when time permits. She is a supporter of animal rescue and has five dogs and two cats.

Ron Harrison, Sr.

Ronald Dean Harrison Sr., “Ronnie” to his friends, was born in Gastonia on August 30, 1931 to Delmos and Carrie Harrison. He is one of seven children.

The Golden Glove legend and 2001 inductee to the Carolinas Boxing Hall of Fame literally stumbled upon the sport that defined his youth.

“At around 11 years old I was walking by the old Mount Holly JC Building and noticed that they were boxing in there and it looked like fun,,” said Ronnie. “Since I was a little fellow, I figured boxing would match me up with people my own size.”

Ray Campbell, a former boxing and Carolinas Boxing Hall of Fame Member and Mt. Holly Sports Hall of Fame Member, remembered saying about Ronnie, “he had found his sport”. He excelled in it. Ronnie began his amateur career while attending Mount Holly Jr. High School in 1952. He continued boxing until 1961, by then he had racked up more than 300 winds with only 25 or so loses. He was a finve-time Carolina Golden Gloves Champion with one Runner Up, plus numerous other victories and championships along the way.

“He was good,,” says Campbell. “But he got left hook crazy a lot, and used it quite a bit. He discovered that he had found quite the weapon. He fought in the flyweight and then in the bantamweight class, and he was good in both of them.”

Some of Ronnie’s prouder moments were representing the Carolinas in New York City at Madison Square Garden for the Eastern US Golden Glove Championships in 1956, 1959, 1960 and 1961.

“I was 13 seconds away from a decisive win for a chance to go to the 1960 Olympic try-outs. Those 13 seconds turned into two days,” says Ronnie. “Then I was told that I hit my opponent hard knocking him into the ropes and as he bounced off of them, well, those are the 13 seconds I am talking about. I was KO’d.

While in New York City, they treated the young southern men like celebrities.
“One of my fondest memories is walking around The Big Apple representing the Carolinas at Madison Square Garden, bing treated as if we were famous, (and we weren’t, we were just good ole country boys from North Carolina),” he says. “While in NYC were were having dinner at one of Jack Dempsey’s Restaurants, after we were handed the ticket to pay for our food, someone in management came over to our table and grabbed our ticket and said these boys eat free. I suppose he saw our boxing jackets?”

Ronnie’s greatest inspirations during his boxing career are his wife, Brnnda, and his Coach, Mount Holly Sports Hall of Fame member, T. L. McManus. “My wife put up with the long road trips that boxing in those days too, and her support was wonderful,” says Ronnie. “My boxing coach and mentor, the late T. L. McManus---had it not been for him, there is no telling what would have happened to me, and many others like myself.”

“I think I can speak for my brothers and sisters in saying that we are very proud of our father and all of his accomplishments,” says Ronnie Jr. “But most of all, we are proud of how he raised us as a Father. He always put us first. Being the oldest, I remember our Dad taking out his last $5.00 and giving it to me or my brothers or sisters to go to a football game or something like that, knowing very well he would have to go
several days without lunch money at work. We all do as much as we can for our mother and father now days, but we will never be able to do enough to come close to equal what he did for us.”

Ronnie retired from boxing in 1961. Well, he thought he had retired. While helping with some of the coaching and training around the boxing rings, the fighters found themselves in need of a heavy weight to get in the ring with a very smart mouth US Marine. “It had been several years since I had put on a set of gloves, but this guy was running his mouth way to much, I was going to give it a shot, win or lose,” said Ronnie.

“ So after seven years of boxing retirement, my dad laced up his gloves for the last time and in a very convincing fashion took care of business. Let’s just say that Marine is still trying to figure out what happened, says Ronnie Jr. “It was his last fight, and although dad won by decision, I was there to see it. This was the only fight that I ever got to see my father in. Well, in the ring anyway. I’ll leave it at that,” says Ronnie Jr.

Presently, Ronnie Sr. is an ardent supporter of the Carolinas Boxing Hall of Fame and its efforts to keep boxing alive in the Carolinas.

“And I hope there is even more continued success for the Mount Holly Sports Hall of Fame,” says Ronnie Sr. “It is a tremendous honor having been chosen to be inducted into the MHSHOF Class of 2012.”

Ronnie Sr. worked in retail management for 18 years. He then became a professional welder, retiring in 1993. Later, became an ordained minister (he graduated from Piedmont Bible College in 1978), delivering sermons as a pastor of Calvary Free Will Baptist Church in Mount Holly and preaching throughout North and South Carolina. He and his wife, Brenda, currently reside in Mount Holly. They have five children: Ronnie Jr., Tonya, Jeffery Schott, Phillip and Felicia.

William Outen

1967 MHHS Football Team

2012 Community Spirit Award Bobby John Rhyne

There were usually two things Mount Holly Hawks football players wanted when they were injured on the field in the last 18 years the school was in operation. It was the reassuring face of team trainer, Bobby John Rhyne hovering anxiously above them and the chance to get back up to find whoever hit them in the first place. According to former Hawks star, Bruce Bolick, Jobby John was team trainer, psychologist and PR guy.

This year’s Community Spirit Award Winner, Bobby John “Watermelon” Rhyne, was born in Alexis, North Carolina on June 8, 1929. His parents, John A. Rhyne and Nell Moton Rhyne, along with his brother, JW (deceased), and sister Jean, lived in Stanley until 1938, when Bobby John turned nine. It was at that time the family relocated to Riverbend.

Bobby’s father, John A. Rhyne, was a noted baseball player in the Gaston County area, especially in Stanley, Mount Holly and Belmont. He played semi-pro baseball into his late forties, offering Bobby John, who also played semi-pro ball in the area, the unique opportunity to both play with and against this father.

“One of my greatest memories was having the opportunity and privilege of playing baseball with and against my father for more than ten years,” says Bobby John

The Rhyne family had relocated in the spring that year and when the boys at Riverbend played baseball that summer they found out that Bobby John was pretty good at catching the ball, especially for his age and he easily fit into the sporting lifestyle that defined the little village. The bos at Lucia School were choosing sides to play softball in the fall of 1939. Of of the boys choosing was from Riverbend and the other boy was from Lucia area. The boy choosing from the Lucia area did not know Bobby John. The boy from Riverbend chose him ahead of a number of older boys (fifth, sixth and seventh grades) standing around.

“The boy from Lucia did not know who Rhyne was and they went back and forth---one saying Rhyne and the other one saying ‘who’ until the boy choosing sides from Riverbend pointed at me and said: Watermelon Rhyne,” says Bobby John. “The nickname has stuck for almost 75 years.”

Rhyne was an athlete in his own right, playing football for Mount Holly High School as well as baseball. He dressed out with the Riverbend baseball team at 15 years old. After graduation he became a football trainer/manager for Mount Holly High School in 1952-1954 and 1957-1971. He was also football and basketball trainer/manager at Lenoir-Rhyne College 1948-1951 while attending the college as a student. “I was sitting on the bench as a student manager in 1950 when the Lenoir-Rhyne College Basketball Team beat UNC in three overtimes at the new Hickory Community Center, “ says Bobby John.

Bolick says Bobby John was an amazing baseball player. “He had so much passion for the game, he was a great catcher. I can remember him climbing the backstop to catch a ball.”

Bobby John was also offered a contract with the St. Louis Brown Baseball farm system after hitting over...357 in 1951 on a local mill team.

“The top pay for a ‘rookie’ in 1952 was only $175 per month,” he says. So I declined the offer.”

Neb Hollis, Rhyn’s lifelong friend and member of the Mount Holly Sports Hall of Fame, says that Bobby John’s popularity among the players came naturally.

“Bobby is just a people person, “ says Hollis. “When you are going out on the field and giving it your all (and if you were playing on Welmer Wiles’ team, you were definitely giving it your all) having someone ready and qualified to tape that ankle up or snap that capsule for for you...well, it creates a bond.”

“One of the greatest honors of my life was the confidence shown in me by Coach D.R. Wiles as the trainer for the Mount Holly High School Football Team,” says Bobby John. “He left the decision of when an injured player was ready to return to the field up to me.”
“I seriously doubt any other program int hes tate had someone as qualified as him,” says Bolick. “Everyone wanted Bobby to do the taping of the ankles before the game. He knew and communicated with all of the doctors. He was Coach Wiles’ number one confidant. He’s always had an uplifting personality. He would listen to us and talk to us. He was a trainer before his time. Trainers like him are now required. He was with us before that.”

“I’m not sure I’ve had all that much of an impact” says Bobby John. “But it has always been my goal, as the saying goes, to have my ‘actions speak louder than my words.’” As a Christian, I have tried to lead by example as best I could, both as a player and a trainer.”

Bobby John Rhyne is retired and lives in Mount Holly with his wife, Frances. They have two daughters, Teresa (Terry) and Laura. In 1974, he was voted Mount Holly Man of the Year, yet another tribute to the beloved team trainer/psychologist/PRguy.