On Monday evening, Gaston County Commissioners voted to remove the long standing Confederate monument located outside the Gaston County Courthouse. Since 1912, the statue has sat outside of the courthouse, but has been a topic of discussion over the last several years. These discussions, along with pressure from the community resulted in a 6-1 vote for the statue to be moved to another location.
Following the motion, county commissioners voted on what would replace the cement figure and Gastonia News Now has confirmed its successor - a giant ice cream cone.
"This had nothing to do with Tony's, we swear." stated county commissioner Ed Millsaps. "We literally just couldn't make up our minds and figured it'd be a nice addition to the county property. Plus it's been so hot the last two weeks, we felt like it would at least remind people of something cold".
Some Gastonia residents love the idea and some people just aren't having it, especially after the incident just a few blocks away where a woman was arrested at a local ice cream shop. Alexandria James, protestor who frequents the courthouse, stated "This is unacceptable. We all know what ice cream means now in Gastonia. Don't pretend like you don't know. Even eating ice cream is supporting the confederacy. Just like we got this statue down, we're going to do the same to this one".
Billy Sutton, who was walking inside for a domestic dispute court appearance, told GNN, "I don't know what the big (censored) deal is. It's ice cream. It's good for you. Everyone loves it and everyone knows that strawberry and chocolate are the best combination anyways. I'm willing to die to make sure this cone stays up. It's that important to me".
County commissioners are expected to meet again next week to discuss further steps about the replacement statue. Others options originally included a giant Sundrop bottle, a large sliced BBQ from R.O.'s, and cement figure of the band Limp Bizkit's Fred Durst.
GNN will update this story as new development arise.
That is the best idea I have heard in a long time