Taking 5 minutes in between Dakota Walls and Vickey Ritchie to say Happy 40th Anniversary to my Bride πŸ‘°β€

We have made it back from Rocky Mount to the Hotel 🏨 Roanoke, where we will catch our breath long enough to say Happy Anniversary to each other before we turn our focus to supporting Vickey Ritchie tomorrow with her Basketball πŸ€ Classic.

Attached to our Key πŸ”‘ Fob is my medal πŸ…from the Classic game last year as it remains near and dear to me. Truly looking forward to arriving at the Gymnasium tomorrow to start the presentation. Hillsville Elementary School 🏫 is the location and the doors πŸšͺwill open up at 2pm.

The 411…..

Β  If you find yourself with some spare time tomorrow afternoon and want to make someone smile……

A Special Night πŸŒ™ surrounded by Special people ! 2025 Hall of Fame Induction ceremony

  Marion Harris, Linda Carter Christopher Carter are to one side with Tammy Tobler, Velvet Leonard, Douglas Owens and Kevin Burress to the other in a Photo taken by Allen Worrell.

Hanging of the plaque with our Principal Chuck Thompson
Ms. Rose 🌹 has been making people smile around Carroll County for 35 years. The photo above her in the Cake πŸŽ‚ she took the time and energy to make.

Β  It would be noticeable to the readers of our work that this is the first time I have written anything about the fact that Rick Nester nominated me late last year and I was voted in by the Committee.

Β Β  Just last week Bryce Smoot broke the All-Time scoring record for Boys Basketball πŸ€, a record that was held by Tee Jackson. Smoot is a hard working young man that I’ve had the privilege of getting to know ( and his Family) over the years. He is someone that has spent his entire life here and spent over half of his life waiting for his turn to wear the colors of our Community. Bryce is from here and as Allen Worrell wrote in his feature story, reached the pinnacle of a life long journey.

Β  I am honored πŸ™ to have been recognized in the manner I was last night πŸŒ™ and it meant a great deal to be surrounded by the people who were standing πŸ§β€β™‚οΈnext to me. Each one was there because of how much they mean to me.

Β  I made a point to try a say Thank You to everyone that played a role in the ceremony and it wasn’t I made it back out to Laurel Fork that I realized that I couldn’t remember if I had said Thank You to Kevin DeHaven so I did it with a text message.

Β  I understand that I’m not from here and while its year five for us, I’m never going to be from here. I accept that and move on with our mission. It’s fitting that the moments leading up to the Ceremony I was covering a Junior Varsity Basketball πŸ€ game and as soon as it was over I went back into the Gym so I could cover the Varsity team for the Carroll News.

Speaking of which, its now 5: 14 am and that story still needs to be written so its a great time to get to work on it.

Thank you one more time to ANYONE who said Congratulations πŸ‘ last night and everyone πŸ‘ involved with the Ceremony !

Lunch with the Doctor is good for the Soul !

There are few things in life that are more valuable than a quality conversation and I had that in spades ♠️ this afternoon down at Pizza Perfect.

Dr. Oliver McBride is going to be a large role in our upcoming Banquet and we used our 90 minutes to compare notes πŸ“ on our Agenda πŸ“‹.

Besides participating in the Town Hall conversation, Dr. McBride will be sharing his thoughts on Tammy Quesenberry, Dr Mark Burnette and Shannon Dalton.

Β  We are now just over one month away from March 2nd and I am excited about the opportunity to share the stage with so many people who I have Top Shelf respect for !

Pastor Stephen Puckett and The Sign update !

Had to pull into the parking lot of the Church β›ͺ when I saw that the sign was once again being worked on.

The story of the process or better yet, the road traveled can wait βœ‹ until the day that the work vehicle has left the property but that its a tremendous tale of patience and obstacles.

Stephen Puckett is once again going to be a part of our Banquet as he is set to speak about Mrs. Tammy Quesenberry. I just hope that five weeks from today, the sign is fully acting as God’s beacon in our Laurel Fork sky.