Welcome to Piedmont Online weekly blog. Be sure to check out our e-paper version also. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter, and on our website piedmontonline.net
Avery Roberson bundles up to make a snow man Saturday morning in Henderson, but the Friday night storm wasn’t quite enough to make Emma Clark bundle up as she greets the snow in her Wake Forest neighborhood.
For the second time this month, the Piedmont saw snow fall, but snow lovers were once again left disappointed.
After early forecasts predicted as much as 10 inches in the Henderson area, most places saw less than two inches. But it still made for some beautiful scenes, like the photo on the above taken by Heather Taylor at Kerr Lake.
Inside this week’s edition. more snow pictures that were contributed by readers.
The Salvation Army at Sunset (photo by Gill Clopton)
Covering photography needs in the Creedmoor area. Contact Madisom Primm through us.
gillclopton@outlook.com
Remember When
Workers build Corbitt trucks on an assmebly line at the Henderson plant in 1942 (Goodrich photo)
For an appointment to visit Bennett H Perry Jr Museum, contact:
Charles Powell at 252–767–2247
Ken Stegall 252–432–6476
Tommy Roberson 252–430–9045
********************************************
God’s Little Brat Pack
There was Kimberly, her sister Cindy, Alisha, Amy and Melissa. I remember them vividly because of one thing… one day… at Fellowship Christian School. We all became friends later in life but they don’t remember me from school. And why should they; they were elementary students and I was in high school.
It was Wednesday morning which meant chapel service. There were only about 50 students in the entire school, so we all went to chapel together. Older students were selected randomly to give their testimony, and this day they were adding something new: we had to stand in the pulpit. And of course, they called upon you-know-who to give his testimony.
Keep in mind; we weren’t giving our testimony during a moment of being touched by the Holy Spirit. We were doing it because the teacher told us to and we knew that if they called mom, she’d come to the school and beat us right in front of our friends.
So I walked up onto the platform and turned around. I knew not to look at Joe, Paul, and John because they’d make me laugh and Mr. Overton would be headed straight for that phone to call mom. So I looked at the elementary kids. They all stared at me; straight-faced as they could be. It was like they were expecting me to say something smart like a tall person is supposed to say.
But I showed them. Either one of them could have probably made more sense than I made. I mean, how could I give a testimony; I was 15 years old and had never made a mistake.
Joe, Paul and John were the best friends I ever had. Our parents must have been crazy because they would let us take off for the night with nothing but a pup tent and off into the woods we’d go. Did they really think we’d stay in that tent? At 2 in the morning you could find us at Motor Freight truck stop eating a burger, or walking toward Gillburg with a bb rifle as if we foolishly thought we could defend ourselves. But oh, the memories.
Recently I visited North Raleigh Christian Academy to see McKenna Snively, a basketball player I keep up with. It is the most beautiful high school campus I’ve ever seen. I asked her dad why she decided to transfer there. But as he answered, I was saying to myself: you know what McKenna’s really going to remember? The people.
The Christian school I went to looked a lot different than NRCA. Our gym had a dirt floor and a cloud ceiling, heated by God’s lantern. The baseball/football field was unmarked but we all knew that the street was out of bounds, a home run was anything that went too far into the woods to go after, and the school record for a play from scrimmage was a 147 yard run that still fell 20 yards short of a touchdown. The cafeteria was a big empty room with no heat where we stashed the peanut butter sandwiches mom had made us. The classroom (there was only one) had high school on one side and elementary on the other.
But we had one thing in common with NRCA: we were a Christian school, and that’s what really mattered. It was during that one year of high school that I met the best people I’ve ever known.
But oh my, we were a bunch of brats. Even those innocent little girls who were staring at me; Cindy told us years later that they knew when to push their luck and when not to by looking at the teacher’s ears. If his ears were red, they turned around and did their work. If not, it was showtime.
But me and my friends: we weren’t that smart. We stayed in trouble. But the church’s job is to plant the seed, and they did that for every one of us.
What ever happened to that brat pack?
First, the 5 little girls. Kimberly owns Midnight Blue Martial Arts School in Henderson; her sister Cindy lives in Asheboro. Alisha is in Durham and Amy is in Raleigh. Melissa only went to FCS one year but she and I became friends in recent years. Christian women: each of them.
The older girls were some of the finest people I’ve ever known. Amy’s older sister Sheila lives in western NC. Her brother Bill and I became good friends in high school. Bill passed away a few years ago. Sherry Spain and I stayed friends for awhile until she moved to Florida.
Lisa Dickerson, Sandy Mulchi and Kaye Edwards are still in Henderson. Joyce King lives in east Tennessee; she and I are still friends and stay in touch. I found Connie and Natalie Towe on Facebook after years of wondering about them.
The girl in the picture with Joe Anderson is Renee Swain. She arrived about the time I was leaving, so I never got to know her. Kaye and I have been searching for her in hopes of getting her to come to a reunion.
And then there were the wrecking crew. Paul and I both went to Vance Sr High after leaving FCS. I lost track of him for awhile until we spotted each other on Facebook and we’re still friends. John passed away in 2005.
Joe never made it to graduation. He moved back to his hometown of Rockingham where he and a girlfriend died in a vehicle incident. Seldom does a day go by that I don’t think of him. I find solace in knowing from our conversations that he believed in God.
Fellowship Christian is now Victory Christian and is still planting seeds in young minds. My friend Ricky Easter has been the preacher there for over 30 years now and I hope he’ll be there 30 more. That’s when this year’s class, as well as McKenna and her classmates at North Raleigh, will look back and say “I sure did love those people”.
Cooper Signs With Pfeiffer
Vance Charter softball star Charly Cooper has signed to continue her education and her softball career at Pfeiffer University. Cooper said she selected the school partly because of their drive to win, but mostly because it’s a perfect fit for her life goals. She plans to major in criminal justice.
Cooper is one of the best high school shortstops in North Carolina.
- ********************************************
GVC Impresses In Myrtle Beach Showcase
The Granville Volleyball Club was among over 300 teams to compete in the annual Winter Bump tournament in Myrtle Beach and Charleston over the Martin Luther King Day weekend.
According to Coach Fred Collier, GVC-Heat 15 won the Flight 2 15U bracket. GVC-17 were the runner-ups in the Copper bracket after losing a close tiebreaker in the championship game. GVC-18 lost in the semi-finals of the Diamond bracket.
Collier spoke of his team’s success with kind words. “I’m super proud of the way each of the GVC teams competed in such a large, competitive tournament. This is just the beginning of club season and each of the teams and coaches are excited to get back on the court for the next tournament.”
Falls Lake Splits With Raleigh
Falls Lake Academy split varsity games with Raleigh Charter this week. The boys fell to Raleigh in a close contest 49–46. The Falls Lake girls continued their tear through the regular season by topping Raleigh 51–23. The Lady Firebirds are now 13–1 on the year.
Photographs by Madison Primm.
The Oxford Prep girls picked up a huge win over Voyager Academy by the score of 31–30 to remain undefeated in conference play with arch-rival Vance Charter next on the agenda. (photo by Nicole Sievert)
Then & Now
When the Northwood girls’ basketball team showed up at North Raleigh Christian Academy last week, it was a show of support for former teammate McKenna Snively who now plays for the Knights. But it was also a reunion of sorts…. the girls all played together in the sixth grade on the Adidas National Championship team, coached by current NRCA coach Avie Lester and McKenna’s dad Chip Snively.
NRCA players pictured in the bottom photo are McKenna Snively, Imani Lester and Elisa Harris. Accompanying them are Northwood players Caroline Allen, Skylar Adams, Myla Marve and Olivia Porter.
(photos courtesy of Chip Snively)
Snow Is For Puppies….
… and Children
- *****************************************************
What did you do during the snow?
Go sledding?
Make smiley faces in the snow?
Camp by the fire?
Or just have fun with friends?
Thanks to everyone for contributing so many snow pictures; I wish I could have used them all. But don’t wait for it to snow again; send us pictures any time…. we want you to take part in making this e-paper and blog a part of our hometown.
send to gillclopton@outlook.com
Follow us on Facebook (Piedmont Online)
or online at piedmontonline.net
