Images Davidson County, NC: 2009

It’s All in The DipRestaurants, festival celebrate love of Lexington barbecue

HERE COMES THE SUN

County-based solar farm would be largest in nation

TEAMING WITH TRIUMPHS

Schools excel in athletics

DAvIDSON COUNTy, NORTH CAROlINA

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EDITOR JESSY YANCEY

COPY EDITOR JOYCE CARUTHERS

ASSOCIATE EDITOR LISA BATTLES

ONLINE CONTENT MANAGER MATT BIGELOW

STAFF WRITERS CAROL COWAN, KEVIN LITWIN

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS LAURA HILL, MICHAELA JACKSON, JOE MORRIS

DATA MANAGER RANETTA SMITH

REGIONAL SALES MANAGER CHARLES FITZGIBBON

INTEGRATED MEDIA MANAGER WHITNEY STREET

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SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER BRIAN MCCORD

STAFF PHOTOGRAPHERS JEFF ADKINS, TODD BENNETT, ANTONY BOSHIER,

IAN CURCIO, J. KYLE KEENER

PHOTOGRAPHY ASSISTANT ANNE WHITLOW

CREATIVE DIRECTOR KEITH HARRIS

WEB DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR BRIAN SMITH

PRODUCTION DIRECTOR NATASHA LORENS

ASST. PRODUCTION DIRECTOR CHRISTINA CARDEN

PRE-PRESS COORDINATOR HAZEL RISNER

PRODUCTION PROJECT MANAGERS

MELISSA BRACEWELL, KATIE MIDDENDORF, JILL WYATT

SENIOR GRAPHIC DESIGNERS LAURA GALLAGHER, KRIS SEXTON, CANDICE SWEET, VIKKI WILLIAMS

GRAPHIC DESIGN ERICA HINES, ALISON HUNTER, JESSICA MANNER, JANINE MARYLAND,

AMY NELSON, MARCUS SNYDER

WEB PROJECT MANAGERS ANDY HARTLEY, YAMEL RUIZ

WEB DESIGN RYAN DUNLAP, CARL SCHULZ

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SR. V.P./CLIENT DEVELOPMENT JEFF HEEFNER

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V.P./SALES HERB HARPER

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Images Davidson County is published annually by Journal Communications Inc. and is distributed through the

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For advertising information or to direct questions or comments about the magazine, contact

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FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:Lexington Area Chamber of Commerce16 E. Center St. • Lexington, NC 27293

Phone: (336) 248-5929 • Fax: (336) 248-2161E-mail: [email protected]

www.lexingtonchamber.net

Thomasville Area Chamber of Commerce6 W. Main St. • Thomasville, NC 27361

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DAVIDSON COUNTY

DOWNTOWN THOMASVILLE

Images gives readers a taste of what makes Davidson County tick – from business and education to sports, health care and the arts.

Learn about the hickory-smoked, fi nger-lickin’ goodness found in the Barbecue Capital of the World. Get a taste of local fl avor in our food section.

We’ve added even more prize-winning photography to our online gallery. To see these spectacular photos, click on Photo Gallery.

Considering a move to this community? We can help. Use our Relocation Tools to discover tips, including how to make your move green, advice about moving pets and help with booking movers.

Take a leisurely stroll through Thomasville’s downtown district, which features a fl owing fountain, clock tower, and the one and only Big Chair. Watch this and other quick videos in the Interactive section.

imagesdavidsoncounty.comTHE DEFINITIVE RELOCATION RESOURCE

2 IMAGESDAVIDSONCOUNT Y.COM DAVIDSON COUNT Y

DAVIDSON COUNTY BUSINESS30 Here Comes the Sun

The state’s new energy law has given rise to a Davidson County solar farm.

32 Biz Briefs

34 Chamber Report

35 Economic Profi le

This magazine is printed entirely or in part on recycled paper containing 10% post-consumer waste.

PLEASE RECYCLE THIS MAGAZINE

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ON THE COVER High Rock Lake Photo by Ian Curcio

DEPARTMENTS

4 Almanac: a colorful sampling of Davidson County culture

20 Image Gallery

25 Portfolio: people, places and events that defi ne Davidson County

37 Arts & Culture

41 Health & Wellness

45 Education

47 Community Profi le: facts, stats and important numbers to know

DAVIDSON

DAVIDSON COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA

TM

2009 EDITION | VOLUME 7

CONTENTS

FEATURES

8 LIVING THE HIGH LIFEWith its awe-inspiring mountain views, pristine lakefront panoramas and abundance of wildlife sightings, High Rock Lake’s appeal is no mystery.

12 IT’S ALL IN THE DIPPlenty of communities like to brag about their particular kind of barbecue, but only a Davidson County city justifi ably lays claim to being the Barbecue Capital of the World.

16 HEALTHY LEARNING ON THE MOVEA unique traveling lab allows Davidson County Community College to stretch its health-care education resources further while reaching more people than ever before.

39 TEAMING WITH TRIUMPHSDavidson County schools have amassed an array of athletics accolades.

DAVIDSON COUNT Y IMAGESDAVIDSONCOUNT Y.COM 3

Wine All You Want

NASCAR team owner Richard

Childress is used to coming in first,

so naturally he is tasting victory in

the vineyard.

After founding Childress

Vineyards in 2004, Childress is

striving to put Yadkin Valley on

the map of quality wine production,

and his efforts have already begun

to bear fruit.

Wine Enthusiast magazine named

Childress Vineyards among America’s

top 25 tasting rooms in 2008.

Lordy, Lordy, Look Who’s 140

Churches in the South are

as common as cornbread.

Special occasions at churches

are common too, but the

celebration St. Stephen United

Methodist Church had in 2008 is

rather uncommon. The congregation

honored a storied history as the

Lexington church marked its

140th anniversary in October.

To commemorate the

anniversary, St. Stephen applied

to be on the National Register of

Historic Places. If approved, the

church will join several other

Davidson County landmarks as

members of the National Register.

That’ll Do, Painted PigThe Barbecue Capital of the World really has a thing for swine.

Since 2003, the historic uptown Lexington district has been the

summer sty for decorative fiberglass pigs during Pigs in the City,

a public art project organized by Uptown Lexington Inc.

Each porker uniquely represents a business of the district,

and 2008 marks the fourth year that the pigs have hit the streets.

A nonprofit organization, Uptown Lexington Inc. strives to establish

community and to fuel business within the historic district.


Almanac

24

109

292

6464 52

6464

29

49

4949

44040

85

858588

DentonHigh Rock Lake

Uwharrie National Forest

Welcome

LexingtonThomasville

Greensborons oGWinston-SalemnsssWin aleW

High Pointh PPoPPPP

DAVIDSON

24

49

Still Breathing FireMaidens beware: Dragons do exist – sort of.

The Green Dragon football team of West Davidson High School

has existed since 1958, and this brood continues to slay challengers

on the gridiron.

In 2007, the Green Dragons advanced to the second round of

the 2-A state playoffs, finishing with a 9-4 record.

Davidson County | At A GlancePOPULATION (2007 ESTIMATE)Davidson County: 156,530

Lexington: 20,338

Thomasville: 26,298

LOCATIONDavidson County is in North Carolina’s

Piedmont Triad region, an equal distance

between Charlotte and Raleigh.

BEGINNINGSDavidson County was founded in 1822

and named for Revolutionary War hero

Gen. William Lee Davidson.

FOR MORE INFORMATIONThomasville Area Chamber of Commerce6 W. Main St.

Thomasville, NC 27361

Phone: (336) 475-6134

Fax: (336) 475-4802

www.thomasvillechamber.net

Lexington Area Chamber of Commerce16 E. Center St.

Lexington, NC 27293

Phone: (336) 248-5929

Fax: (336) 248-2161

www.lexingtonchamber.net

24

WATCH MORE ONLINE | Take a virtual tour of Davidson County at imagesdavidsoncounty.com, courtesy of our award-winning photographers.

Davidson County

Storm the CourtWarning: The Storm is raging in

Davidson County.

Davidson County Community

College tipped off its athletic

program, nicknamed “Storm,” in

2007, fielding a men’s basketball

team and a women’s volleyball

team under the National Junior

College Athletic Association.

The Storm basketball team was

just plain offensive during its first

season, ranking first in points

scored per game (108) in NJCAA

Division III and earning a Tarheel

Conference co-championship.

As an NJCAA

First Team

All-American,

player Justin

Strickland

scored many

honors.


Fast Facts The Lexington

Municipal Golf Course was recently recognized by Golf magazine as one of the best renovated golf venues in the nation.

Boone’s Cave Park features Devil’s Den, a cave where Daniel Boone reportedly hid from American Indian marauders.

Travel & Leisure magazine named the Barbecue Festival in Lexington one of the top 10 food festivals in America.

High Rock Lake has often hosted the Bassmaster Classic, the world-championship fishing tournament.

Thomasville’s Big Chair, a symbol of the area’s rich history of well-respected furniture makers, rises 18 feet from its base.

Bob Timberlake is an internationally known realist painter from Lexington who began painting professionally in 1970 at the encouragement of Andrew Wyeth.

Downtown Brushes Up on ArtVincent van Gogh. Pablo Picasso. Stephen Sebastian?

You may not know that third name, but Stephen Sebastian is a Davidson County artist

who is making strokes on the national canvas.

Enjoy with local art lovers some of Sebastian’s paintings and etchings at the Stephen

Sebastian Gallery in downtown Thomasville. Sebastian often works in the upstairs studio

of the showroom building. Visitors are welcome and admission is free.

This Organization Makes CentsWorking hard or hardly working? Either way, DavidsonWorks could help advance

your career.

DavidsonWorks is an organization that aims to strengthen the local workforce and

economy of the Davidson County community.

In summer 2008, DavidsonWorks held a virtual job fair during which job hunters

sought employment on the

Internet. Work seekers posted

résumés and shopped for

employers via business

“booths” on a Web site.

DavidsonWorks even has

a program for youth to help

ensure the future economic

success of the community.


Almanac

The sun sets over High Rock Lake, popular for its lakefront residences.


HIGH ROCK AREA HOMES LURE LAKE, MOUNTAIN LOVERS

LivingHigh Life

the


STORY BY LAURA HILLPHOTOGRAPHY BY IAN CURCIO

W ith its awe-inspiring mountain views, pristine lakefront panoramas and abun-dance of wildlife sightings, High Rock Lake’s appeal is no mystery.

Did we mention the world-class bass fishing and an easy commute to Raleigh, Charlotte and Greensboro?

One of Davidson County’s most popular weekend/summer retreats for decades, the 15,000-acre lake and its surroundings is steadily becoming one of the most sought-after permanent addresses in the region, as modest summer cabins increasingly make way for larger luxury getaways and full-time residences.

“It’s hard to find a place in the Piedmont with a little bit of mountain and a little bit of lake without driving 150 miles to the west part of the state,” says Jim Kelley, a High Rock Lake resident for the past five years. “Here, you have it all.”

Where once an avid weekend sportsman might have bought a small cabin for far less than $100,000, home prices today range from modest frame houses starting in the $150,000 range to upscale homes in gated communities to elaborate lakefront mansions in the million-dollar range.

And just what makes the area so attractive?“What’s not to like? The weather is beautiful, and the

people are great,” says Jocelyn Kearns, a friend of Kelley’s and another High Rock Lake full-time resident who enjoys her own private dock on the lake, as do many area homeowners.

“Life is so different here,” she says. “We spend a lot of time with friends on the lake, jet-skiing and so on during the day,

playing cards at night. It’s going back to nature – an old- fashioned kind of life.”

Five miles from Denton, High Rock Lake is nestled in the Uwharrie Mountains. Both Kelley and Kearns live in The Springs at High Rock, one of the numerous new developments along the lake’s 360-mile shoreline, Kelley on the mountain side of The Springs and Kearns on the lakefront.

Kearns fell in love with the area first, more than eight years ago, when she and her husband, Phil, were living in Ohio.

“He traveled a lot of the time, and every time he was out of town he would look at a different area. When he saw the lake, he called and said, ‘When you see the deer jumping in the forest, you’ll be crying.’ And that’s just what happened.”

Kearns built a home and moved in five years later. She communicated her enthusiasm three years after to Kelley, who was then retiring from his job with Duke Energy in Greensboro.

“I was having lunch with her one day, and we were talking about retirement,” he recalls. “I was telling her that I’d love to live on a lake, and I’d really love to live in the mountains and she said, ‘Come see where I live.’”

He did, and within two years Kelley and his wife, Rebekah, were living in their mountain dream home, a move that “suits us like a glove,” he says.

Kearns agrees. “I feel like I’m getting down to what is important here,” she

says. “The only thing I would change would be to build a bigger front porch. Who needs a living room?”

Jim Kelley owns a home in The Springs community on High Rock Mountain, the tallest of the Uwharrie Mountains.


The Springs at High Rock clubhouse boasts 20-mile vistas of High Rock Lake from its mountaintop locale.


Along with the dip, a smoky flavor is popular in Lexington-style ’cue.


P lenty of communities like to brag about their particular kind of barbecue, but only one city justifiably lays claim to

being the Barbecue Capital of the World: Lexington, N.C.

Where else will you find 150,000 enthusiasts gathered each October for that renowned pork pilgrimage, the Lexington Barbecue Festival? And how many other towns can boast more than 20 restaurants serving up tons of pork shoulder throughout the year?

“Lexington barbecue in general has a pretty good reputation,” says Roy Dunn, who, along with his brother Boyd, has been in the barbecue business since the early 1960s. The Dunn brothers’ restau-rant, Speedy’s Barbecue, is decked out in nostalgic advertising signs, posters and pig-related memorabilia.

Located on state Highway 8, patrons can order classic pork shoulder barbecue sandwiches, or a plate or a tray, or a pound of Speedy’s pork perfection to go. Add to that slaw, beans, potato salad,

RESTAURANTS, FESTIVAL CELEBRATE LOVE OF

SPECIALTY BARBECUE

STORY BY LAURA HILLPHOTOGRAPHY BY IAN CURCIO

Lexington Barbecue, also known as “Lexington #1,” serves a chopped

pork plate with fries and slaw.

AllDIPin the

It’s


rolls and hush puppies, and you’re good to go.

Lexington barbecue dates back to 1919, when the first barbecue restaurant was opened under a tent. Its popularity grew, and, says Sonny Conrad of The Barbecue Center, when fast food restau-rants appeared, “we just moved on up the ladder with them.”

The secret to real Lexington barbecue is slow cooking and a vinegar-based basting sauce, locally referred to as dip, made with ketchup, but, please, no mustard, as is the case farther east.

Lean pork shoulder is the cut of choice, cooked for hours until it is fork-tender and shreddable. It is generally served chopped, with additional dip on the side.

“We cook ours on the pit and use hickory wood,” says Conrad, whose

restaurant opened its doors in 1955. “We burn the wood down to coals and put the coals under the meat. We make our own dip – mostly ketchup, vinegar, salt, pepper, sugar and water – and try to keep it mild, not too hot.”

Like other eateries in Lexington, The Barbecue Center has a loyal following of customers who frequent his place, and who come to visit from out of town or even have barbecue shipped to them. The secret, Conrad says, is a combination of pit cooking and their special dip.

Dunn agrees that the dip is key. “Ours is the best,” he assures, but says he favors slow cooking in an electric cooker, which he says keeps the meat moist and minimizes shrinkage.

Both Conrad and Dunn participate in The Barbecue Festival, which takes place on Main Street in uptown Lexington.

Along eight blocks, more than 400 exhibitors set up booths, and hundreds of artists and craftsmen take part in a juried show. Five stages offer continuous entertainment and music by local and nationally known artists, and Piglet Land, a special area for kids, offers rides and activities for the young crowd. Barbecue is served by local restaurants in three tents.

The annual festival, in its 25th year, is held in October, which has been dubbed Barbecue Month by Davidson County and the city of Lexington. Other planned events leading up to the festival include the Tour de Pig bicycle race, the 5K Hawg Run and the Hawg Shoot Air Rifle Tournament.

“It’s a busy day for all of us, and the restaurants are busy all day, but it’s a lot of fun,” says Dunn.

Smiley’s Barbecue, The Barbecue Center and Lexington Barbecue, above, are just a few of the local joints famous for their style of barbecue: pork shoulder slow-cooked over hickory wood, right, then mixed with a ketchup-vinegar dip.



HealthyLearning


A unique traveling lab is allowing Davidson County Community College to stretch its health-care edu-

cation resources further while reaching more people than ever before.

The rolling facility, better known as the Mobile Medical Simulation Lab, was born out of necessity. The college’s health technology department had received grant funds and purchased patient simulators, but they came up short in terms of physical space to house them.

“Our president indicated that there wouldn’t be any place on campus to dedicate to a permanent simulation lab and suggested that we consider a mobile unit,” says Jeannine Woody, associate dean for health technology. “We began looking at some funding to go in that direction, and received some through the WIRED initiative, enough to purchase the trailer.”

From that point on, things snowballed. A biology instructor won a small pickup truck, and a trade-up to a larger model gave the trailer mobility. Additional funds were secured to properly outfit it, and

STORY BY JOE MORRISPHOTOGRAPHY BY IAN CURCIO

The Davidson County Community College Mobile Medical Simulation Lab

COLLEGE’S MOBILE LAB TEACHES LIFESAVING SKILLS

Moveon the



Welcome to the Country Hearth Inn – Lexington, North Carolina.

We are a brand new hotel ready to serve you with clean, comfortable rooms

and courteous service. Nearby you will fi nd several restaurants for your

dining needs. We boast easy access to I-85 and are very convenient to the

High Point Furniture Market and Lowe’s Motor Speedway.

Come be our guest in Lexington, North Carolina where your visit will be

“As Close To Home As We Can Make It.”

• Country Hearth

InnCredible breakfast

• On-site deli

• Microfridges

• Cribs available

• AM/FM alarm clock

• In-room coffee maker

• Handicapped

rooms available

• Hairdryers

• Free local phone calls

• High-speed

Internet access

• Fitness center

Our special services include:

Home is where the Hearth is.

(888) 4-HEARTH 1525 Cotton Grove Rd., Lexington(336) 357-2100

the completed mobile lab made its local debut in April 2008.

With the ability to simulate heart attacks, labor and delivery, and other critical situations where care has to be immediate and on-site, the lab already is proving to have multiple uses. And from curriculum instruction and contin-uing education to appearances at career fairs and overall local outreach, it’s already putting on the miles.

“Now we can provide learning expe-riences for our students that you just can’t guarantee otherwise,” Woody says. “People may be in our nursing program for the entire two years and never see a person experiencing a heart attack or a stroke, or a person actually having a pulmonary embolism. You can’t just schedule those opportunities. We can create them in the lab, though, so that situations requiring immediate knowl-edge can be practiced. And if they make a mistake, they learn from it and no one is hurt.”

In addition to nursing students, emer-gency medical services personnel will use the simulator, as will local hospital staff and other medical personnel who need to stay on top of training requirements.

“It’s going to let us assist our health-care facilities around here, because we can help their employees maintain their competencies and also train on new equipment,” Woody says.

The mobile unit is fully outfitted with its own generators, running water and oxygen tank. It can also serve as a field hospital in case of a natural disaster or other major emergency, but Woody says she hopes that its field operations are of a much less perilous nature.

“We look forward to taking it to schools, showing it to students who are interested in health-care careers,” she says. “We can talk to them about what kind of courses to take while they’re in high school, and that will help them prepare early to be successful in these careers. It really is gong to see a lot of use, both here and out in the community.”

The simulation lab helps faculty like health technology department chair Suzanne Rohrbaugh teach students immediate and on-site medical care.


Built in 1858, the old Davidson County Courthouse now serves as the county’s historical museum.


Image Gallery

A caboose sits outside of the Thomasville Visitors’ Center, an 1870 train depot.


PHOTOGRAPHY BY IAN CURCIO

A Davidson County barn


Image Gallery

The clock tower in downtown Thomasville


PHOTOGRAPHY BY IAN CURCIO

©2002 American Cancer Society, Inc.

questions

answers

8 0 0 . A C S . 2 3 4 5 / c a n c e r . o r g


Last summer, hundreds of professional riders converged on Davidson County

for the first-ever Piedmont Triad Omnium, and a beautiful relationship was born.

“It brought a new experience to the community for people who live here, because that kind of bicycle racing we weren’t familiar with,” says Jo Ellen Edwards, director of the Tourism Recreation Investment Partnership, known as TRIP, for Davidson County Foundation.

Months ago, race founder Jim Martin was shopping around for the USA Cycling-sanctioned event’s home when he stumbled across the county and TRIP, a young nonprofit with an eye toward fundraising.

The wheels began to turn, and a partnership was formed. The race also benefits the National Multiple Sclerosis Society’s Central North Carolina chapter. Planning and hosting the race became a community effort. Local sponsors provided the $8,000 purse and other major costs, and during the weekend of the race, Thomasville and Lexington put their best feet forward to support the influx of riders.

“The race brought more than 300 people to Davidson County to see what we have to offer in terms of being a tourism destination, a place they could come and visit with their families,” Edwards says.

The energy during the race itself was electric, particularly the nighttime element in uptown Lexington, Edwards says. The stores stayed open late, and hundreds of people lined the sidewalks in lawn chairs and benches.

“The guys are going 40 miles an hour down Main Street on these two skinny little bike wheels, and everybody was just so excited watching them race,” she says. “Everybody was getting into the moment.”

After just one year, the omnium has already achieved annual status. The race will return to Davidson County in summer 2009.

Bring on the BikesPIEDMONT TRIAD OMNIUM RACE RAISES FUNDS FOR LOCAL ORGANIZATIONS

Criterium, road race and time trial are the omnium’s three cycling events.

IAN

CU

RC

IO


Portfolio

Hobbyist extraordinaire Brown Loflin runs Denton FarmPark, restores steam engines and antique farm equipment, and vows never to retire.

Bypassing Retirement

Brown Loflin strikes you as the kind of person who must never sleep.

He’s done just about everything a man can cram into 74 years – and then some. From race cars to f lying machines, business ownership to farm life, Loflin knows a lot about a lot.

Growing up just south of Denton in the Handy community, he’s seen the town change greatly over the years.

“I can remember when there was no electric power in this part of the county. There was no telephone in this part of the county. Then we got the telephone, and it was only a 10-party line,” Loflin reminisces. “But it beat nothing.”

The simple lifestyle was good to one of his earliest hobbies: race-car driving.

“There was no traffic back then, and we raced up and down the road,” says Loflin, whose racing ultimately took him far beyond Handy, all over North Carolina. He didn’t win much, but that’s not the important thing. “The thrill of racing – that was the thing that I enjoyed the most. It was a lot of fun, and I learned from it.”

One of his many other hobbies was flying. He and a friend bought a small plane and built an airstrip on Loflin’s property. They mostly took to the skies for fun, but jet-setting occasionally came in handy for their box springs frame manufacturing business.

An entrepreneur through and through, Lof lin today combines his fascination with antique machinery and penchant for independent business in the successful Denton FarmPark. The site holds old-fashioned machine demos, bluegrass festivals and the Southeastern Old Threshers’ Reunion.

“I’ve had a good life, and I’m looking forward to some more. I’ve got some more stuff I’d like to do if the good Lord will let me stay here and do it,” Loflin says. “I don’t ever intend to retire.”

PH

OT

OS

BY

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Portfolio

Last June, Nellie Tesh was crowned the 2008-09 Ms. Senior Davidson County as well as Ms. Congeniality.

Twenty-somethings, take notice: The ladies of the Ms. Senior Davidson

County Pageant have got it, and they’re prepared to flaunt it.

Each year, women in Davidson County who are at least 55 years young gather for a three-day beauty and socializing extravaganza culminating in the pageant for the crown.

And they mean business. For the past four years, the winner

has gone on to claim the crown on Ms. Senior North Carolina, a qualifier for the Ms. Senior America Pageant.

The Davidson County Department of Senior Services has hosted the pageant for more than 15 years and has seen more than 75 women as contestants over the years. In recent years, senior

services has even been asked to help start pageants in neighboring counties that admire the program’s success.

“Senior services hosts the annual pageant with the purpose of displaying the inner beauty and promoting the value of senior women,” says Thessia Everhart-Roberts, director of senior services. “The pageant, as well as the reigning year for the winner, is twofold. It affords the women a time to shine, all the while gracing the community with their beauty and talents.”

And grace the community they do. The reigning queen serves as a senior services representative, advocating for senior-related issues at various functions and riding in all county parades. Current and past queens also go out on the town often, decked out in their crowns, of course.

“It’s always such a wonderful sight to see,” Everhart-Roberts says. “Ms. Senior Davidson County is not only a queen during her reign, she is a queen after her reign. They are forever queens.”

Crowning Achievements for Seniors


Locals know Warren King, middle, as the Thomasville Bulldogs’ No. 1 fan.

He’s Got Team Spirit

Warren King has a lot of friends.The 67-year-old is so popular

in Thomasville that he could be con-sidered something of a celebrity.

“People will stop and speak to him, pull off the road and speak to him, stop him in stores and speak to him,” says Tony Hyde, who’s known King for some 20 years. “And many times he remem-bers their names from when they were a child.”

A fixture of the friendly community, King can be seen working at the YMCA or making rounds to greet all his friends. In fact, he calls Thomasville Mayor Joe Bennett every morning.

“He touches base with me about the day, or anything that I need to be made aware of, or if there’s anything special that’s happened overnight that I haven’t read about in the paper,” Bennett says. “Warren is a very outward personality type. He doesn’t know a stranger. Lord forbid, he doesn’t have an enemy.”

The Thomasville High School sports teams certainly know King. Called the No. 1 Bulldogs fan, he’s carried the team’s f lag at home football games for 21 years. “I love to do this for the football team and the kids and the community,” King says. “I’m behind them 100 percent.”

Woody Huneycutt, the high school’s athletic director, remembers King from when Huneycutt was a student in the 1970s. Then and now, King goes out of his way to support the team, Huneycutt says, from encouraging players from the sidelines to learning their names so he can talk with them off the field.

“I’ve never heard him say a bad word about anybody,” says Huneycutt. “He likes everybody. If he said a bad word, it would be to somebody if they made a bad comment about the Bulldogs.”


Portfolio

LEXINGTON UTILITIESNATURAL GAS • ELECTRIC • WATER RESOURCES

“Serving Davidson County Since 1904”

HIGH POINT 476-5074WINSTON-SALEM 722-0075THOMASVILLE 476-5074LEXINGTON 243-2489

WWW.LEXINGTONNC.NET

Providing Home Sweet Homes

Baptist Children’s Homes of North Carolina is Thomasville’s oldest

continuing place of business still in operation: older than the famed Thomasville Furniture, older than the daily newspaper.

And since day one – Nov. 11, 1885 – the organization, which now spans 16 cities, has been committed to bettering the lives of children.

Michael Blackwell, president of the Thomasville-based organization, has shepherded Baptist Children’s Homes for the last 25 years. The 66-year-old is passionate about the organization’s mission and his role in seeing that mission accomplished.

“I think it meets and fulfills all the gifts and talents and abilities that I have,” Blackwell says. “I am able to carry out my own personal passion of helping children and young people, at the same time utilizing the talents that God has given to me. It’s the perfect job for me, and I can’t imagine doing anything else.”

Nor would anyone who has been touched by Baptist Children’s Homes be eager to see him go. Under his watch, the homes have provided shelter for hundreds of neglected children, in

addition to thousands of families who depend on the homes for daytime care.

In 2008, Baptist Children’s Homes served nearly 195,000 meals and pro-vided shoes and coats to 830 children.

The support of the Thomasville and Lexington communities has benefited the children of the homes tremendously, Blackwell says.

“Anytime an organization is helping children, it resonates with just about everybody. And because we’ve been around for 123 years, it would be

difficult to find somebody in the county that does not know about the Baptist Children’s Homes,” he says.

Even after a quarter-century at the helm of the organization, Blackwell says he is not considering retirement.

“I love my job. And I think that’s saying something after 25 years, that I can still say I love this place,” he says. “There are just a few things out there in the future that I need to accomplish before I hand it off to somebody else.”

– Stories by Michaela Jackson

Michael Blackwell received a key to the city in honor of his 25 years of service to Baptist Children’s Homes.

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Here

SuntheComes

COUNTY-BASED SOLAR FARM WOULD BE LARGEST IN NATION


Business

N orth Carolina’s new energy law may soon score its first major coup, a solar photovoltaic farm in Davidson County.

The law, which promotes renewable energy, requires power companies to obtain a set percentage of their power from solar and other renewable sources. The mandate has sent the state’s providers in search of renewable energy providers just as those firms have begun moving into the state to capitalize on the new legislation.

And it looks as though all sides are meeting in Davidson County, where SunEdison has proposed a 21.5-megawatt solar farm, which would be the largest in the United States.

Maryland-based SunEdison has been getting plenty of help on the ground for its effort. In addition to a 20-year power agreement with Duke Energy, the company has partnered with the Davidson County Board of Commissioners, who approved about $2 million in incentives, most of which would pay for land grading and preparation, with around $250,000 in cash grants from 2009 to 2011. For its part, SunEdison proposes to spend around $173 million on the solar farm.

The county’s investment is a strong indicator of how seriously it intends to compete for this and other alterative-energy projects, says Larry Potts, chairman of the Davidson County Board of Commissioners.

“We’re ready to move on our part, so it’s a matter of them finishing their due diligence,” Potts says.

As it exists on the drawing board, the SunEdison farm would use a photovoltaic, or PV, system of f lat panels to collect the sun’s rays and generate electricity. At 21.5 megawatts of output, it would trail only a similar facility in Spain, and outstrip the nation’s current largest facility, a 14-megawatt site at Nevada’s Nellis Air Force Base.

SunEdison has largely been drawn to Davidson County for its large expanses of available land, including three sites that made the company’s final cut. Some 200 acres will be required for the farm, which would take around a year to build.

The development is only the latest piece of good news for the county, which was picked in spring 2008 as the No. 1 micropolitan area in the United States in which to do business, according to Site Selection magazine. The honor didn’t go unnoticed locally or abroad, Potts says, and he hopes to see local economic development officials capitalize on it.

“We’re really unique here, and with the solar plant we’re at a prime location for a lot of other things,” he says. “That ranking got us a lot of attention from the site-selection people and business consultants. We’re hoping this will be a springboard for a larger manufacturing plant to locate here, one that’s interested in green industry.”

“The solar farm as it’s planned now would provide enough electricity to run a small automotive plant, should one ever decide to locate here,” Potts continues. “We’re definitely headed in the right direction with this.”


orth Carolina’s new energy law may soon scoreits first major coup, a solar photovoltaic farm inDavidson County.

The law, which promotes renewable energy,requires power companies to obtain a set percentage of theirpower from solar and other renewable sources. The mandatehas sent the state’s providers in search of renewable energyproviders just as those firms have begun moving into the stateto capitalize on the new legislation.

And it looks as though all sides are meeting in DavidsonCounty, where SunEdison has proposed a 21.5-megawatt solarfarm, which would be the largest in the United States.

Maryland-based SunEdison has been getting plenty of helpth d f it ff t I dditi t 20 p

As it exists on the dwould use a photovoltaic, the sun’s rays and generoutput, it would trail onoutstrip the nation’s curreat Nevada’s Nellis Air For

SunEdison has largelyits large expanses of avaimade the company’s finalfor the farm, which would

The development is onthe county, which was pmicropolitan area in the U

di t Sit S l ti


Larry Potts, Davidson County Board of Commissioners chairman, says the county hopes to attract more green industries in addition to the planned solar photovoltaic farm. Left: Solar panels are gaining popularity in the state thanks to a new energy law.


FINE (GAS STATION) DINING

Who says bigger is better? The tiny Buttercup Café in Denton

seats just 75 people at a time – but every one of them leaves happy.

“It’s easy to be biased on it, being the owner, but I think it’s cozy,” says Mary E. Berrier, who runs the popular eatery. “It’s kind of a cool place for couples, a romantic getaway.”

The café operates in a restored 1930s filling station, offering the charm one might expect from a historic building and the sophistication to match.

The ever-changing menu for dinner, which is served Friday and Saturday nights each week, includes roasted duck, chicken piccata and baked salmon.

Brunch on the first Sunday of each month features items like pot roast and various quiches.

“I wanted to do more than just sandwiches and specialty coffees,” Berrier says. She and a local culinary student do all of the cooking for the restaurant, which also has a robust catering and private party business.

TO MARKET, TO MARKETTodd’s Seafood Market, located in

Thomasville, celebrated quite the signif-icant birthday last year.

The well-known local seafood retailer and distributor turned 50, marking a half-century of family service and quality products.

Jimmy Todd’s parents opened the

market in 1958, and now he runs the business.

“We take pride in letting people know that we are seafood people,” Todd says. “I feel that we provide people with the best product available.”

Todd’s Seafood Market stocks a variety of fresh and frozen foods, including shellfish, shrimp and oysters. The market distributes to restaurants locally and throughout a 250-mile radius.

How has the market achieved such success over the decades?

“Treating people fair, and trying to be fair to the public,” Todd says. “And they have been fair to us.”

The Todd family name is respected in Davidson County, and Todd intends on seeing his family’s role in the local business community remain prominent. He plans to turn the market over to one of his three sons in the future.

BRINGING IN THE BUSINESS

The Davidson County economy has seen no shortage of change over the last several decades.

As jobs and income shift away from the furniture and textile industries, though, the region has begun to find its feet and industry is on the upswing.

Nowhere is that more apparent than in the city of Lexington, where Italian refrig-eration manufacturer Arneg LLC recently opened a multimillion-dollar facility.

“We have a workforce that is blessed with a manufacturing mentality,” says Steve Googe, the Davidson County Economic Development Commission’s executive director. “They understand the manufacturing process and what it takes to work in a manufacturing facility. So we felt that even though we were challenged to do different things, we might go back and look at things like advanced manufacturing recruitment.”

The effort to play up Davidson County’s existing manufacturing strength when recruiting new companies has paid off. Arneg’s initial investment is $20 million, and the company is expected to create roughly 180 jobs over the next three years.

HOMEGROWN CULTURE ON DISPLAY

Nestled along South Main Street in historic uptown Lexington is Gallery

The Buttercup Café operates in a restored Denton gas station on Main Street.

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Business | Biz Briefs

Hall, a 3,600-square-foot powerhouse of artistic creativity.

The establishment combines a gallery with a printing and framing shop, catering especially to Davidson County artists.

Tom Hall’s father started the art reproduction business with acclaimed artist Bob Timberlake in 1971, and Tom, along with his wife, Andrea, have parlayed that successful venture into the gallery of today.

The couple spent 11 weeks renovating a historic building and opened just in time for the city’s famed barbecue festival in 2007.

And the timing paid off: Around 2,000 people walked through their doors during their first day of business.

During the 51 weeks a year in which there is no nationally known festival, Gallery Hall hosts community events of its own, from children’s art contests to wine and cheese tastings. However, the gallery’s real selling point is its role as a stage for roughly 30 artists, most from the area.

“We have a lot of local artists, which is unusual,” Tom Hall says. “Most people aren’t aware that Lexington has so many good artists.”

THE ART OF THE MATTERYou might say Joe Hedgpeth is a bit

of a cupid. The retired physician and avid painter

has introduced art-hungry Thomasville to a thriving community of new artists looking for a public. So far, the relation-ship is going quite well.

“Artists that are just starting out, that haven’t gotten the big publicity push, usually have 10 or 15 paintings around the house – in the closet or under the bed – or at least that’s where mine were,” Hedgpeth says. “I’m offering a place for artists around to have a show.”

His unique gallery, Best In Show, features not only his own original works, but also a rotating selection by other local artists. Artists also help run the gallery, which allows Hedgpeth to offer them a higher-than-normal percentage of any piece they sell.

The community wins by gaining access to original art with a local f lavor.

“I’m really doing it to help bring art into the community and help people who have never shown before,” he says.

– Michaela Jackson

Looking for ways to save money on gas and help the environment? Be aware of your speed ... did you know that for every 5 miles you go over 65 mph, you’re spending about 20 cents more per gallon of gas? For more tips and to compare cleaner, more effi cient vehicles, visit

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Save Money. Smell the Flowers.


Y outh may be f leeting, but the right lessons learned in the middle of it can last a lifetime.

Teaching those lessons, or at least those that have to do with business and professionalism, is the goal of Youth Leadership Davidson County, a joint effort by the Thomasville and Lexington area chambers of commerce.

The program, now in its third year, is geared toward high school juniors from around the county. Participants attend six daylong sessions over the course of a school year, everything from a ropes course designed to foster trust and develop team-building skills to meetings with state and local government officials and programs on social-service issues and challenges.

“Because we have students from all the schools, they get to meet their peers from around the area,” says Doug Croft, president of the Thomasville Area Chamber of Commerce. “And over the course of the program, as they talk about how to lead and solve problems, they work together even more.”

The leadership program features entire sessions devoted to personal finance and the ins and outs of the whole college experience. The goal, Croft says, is to help attendees become as well-rounded on things outside the classroom as possible.

“We want them to be exposed to our businesses, but we also know that not all of them are going to be running companies here,” he says. “We want to start the process of making them better citizens, no matter where they live.”

The program is the most recent of many collaborative programs that the Thomasville and Lexington chambers have put together over the years. And like those that preceded it, a need combined with members’ willingness to pitch in got it up and running, says Radford Thomas, president and chief executive officer of the Lexington Area Chamber of Commence.

“We have the adult leadership program, but we felt like we needed something that was a little different experience for the young people,” Thomas

Leading the Way for the FutureYOUTH LEADERSHIP PROGRAM TACKLES SOCIAL, COMMUNITY ISSUES

says. “So we identified kids that had good leadership skills, or the potential to become good leaders, and started giving them that encouragement to help them take the next step and get out in front.”

Participants and their parents have nothing but praise for the program, as do its business participants and pro-grammers. That alone tells the chambers that they’re onto something. But there are other benefits that, while unexpected, are equally worthwhile.

“In a sense, this is a résumé-builder for high school juniors,” Thomas says, “and we do write letters of reference when they’re applying for scholarships or for their college applications, but they’re getting to know each other and

work together outside the program, and we’re very excited about that.”

Both Thomas and Croft are parents of teenagers, and they agree that any-thing that gets a young person motivated to think about their community and beyond is a good thing.

“Our kids are paying attention to what’s going on around them in the community and in the world,” Thomas says. “They receive their information in different ways than we did, but they are getting it. That has impressed me.”

“We get to see them change before our eyes,” adds Croft. “The ropes course, the session on human services … it helps them see that there’s a bigger world out there.” – Joe Morris

The chambers of commerce in Thomasville, above, and Lexington frequently join forces to create programs such as Youth Leadership Davidson County.

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Business | Chamber Report

BUSINESS CLIMATEDavidson County, once known primarily for its fine furniture manufacturing, now has a well-diversified economy. Textiles, chemicals, electronic connectors, batteries and plastics are just some of the items made here.

DAVIDSON COUNTY

ECONOMIC OVERVIEW

Home to two of the finest

furniture manufacturers in the

world, Thomasville Furniture

Industries and Lexington

Homebrand Furniture, Davidson

County has practically

furnished the world. In addition

to this sector, Davidson County

is also home to manufacturers

of an array of other products.

ECONOMIC RESOURCES

Denton Area Chamber of Commerce27 E. Salisbury St.Denton, NC 27739(336) 859-5922www.dentonnorthcarolina.com

Lexington Area Chamber of Commerce16 E. Center St.Lexington, NC 27293(336) 248-5929www.lexingtonchamber.net

Thomasville Area Chamber of Commerce6 W. Main St.Thomasville, NC 27361(336) 475-6134www.thomasvillechamber.net

Davidson County Economic Development CommissionP.O. Box 1711Lexington, NC 27293(336) 243-1900

Central Park NCP.O. Box 159Star, NC 27356(910) 428-9001www.centralparknc.org

DavidsonWorks

915 Greensboro St.

Lexington, NC 27292

(336) 242-2065

www.davidsonworks.org

TAXES

2.25%County Sales Tax

4.25%State Sales Tax

6.75%Total Sales Tax

$0.54 per $100 Residential Property Tax

55% of appraised value Commercial Property Tax

TRANSPORTATION

Davidson County Airport

1673 Aviation Way

Lexington, NC 27292

(336) 956-7774

Davidson County Transportation

925 N. Main St.

Lexington, NC 27292

Piedmont Authority for Regional Transportation

7800 Airport Center Drive

Suite 102

Greensboro, NC 27409

(336) 662-0002

www.partnc.org

GOVERNMENT OFFICES

Davidson County Government913 Greensboro St.

Lexington, NC 27292

(336) 242-2000

www.co.davidson.nc.us

City of Lexington28 W. Center St.

Lexington, NC 27292

(336) 243-2489

www.lexingtonnc.net

City of Thomasville10 Salem St.


(336) 475-4210

www.ci.thomasville.nc.us

Town of Denton201 W. Salisbury St.

Denton, NC 27239

(336) 859-4231

www.denton-nc.us

MORE ONLINE

imagesdavidsoncounty.com

More facts, stats and community information, including relocation tools and links to resources.

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Business | Economic Profile

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It is easy enough to figure out where Lorrie Anderson got the “hollow” part of Moose Hollow Pottery from,

but how did she come up with “moose?”“My address is Moose Court, we’re out

behind the Moose Lodge and my father used to moose hunt,” Anderson explains. “So the name came pretty naturally.”

Anderson – whose pottery includes decorative teapots, comical face jugs and more – has been a fixture on the local art scene since a visit to North Carolina several years ago in her former career as manager of a sculpture studio, when she fell in love with the land and its people. Along with partner Roy McMahon, she also operates Goldies, a retail store in Thomasville, but it’s the time she spends in her hollow, working the clay and looking out the window, that’s most precious to her.

“I really do get inspired by what I see around me,” she says. “The leaves changing color, my fishpond, the owls

that watch me work in my studio at night … all the things in and around me at home and in the hollow.”

Anderson’s artistic pottery and contemporary folk pieces get a lot of attention, but her face jugs really tend to catch the eye.

“I make a beautiful pot, then go back in and start pushing in for the eyes, out for the cheeks, and they just become characters to me,” she says. “Once I’ve put in porcelain clay for teeth and eyes, they’ve become church ladies or what-ever. They’re a lot of fun.”

And in an effort to keep up with the times, the characters sport everything from baseball caps to tongue piercings, she adds.

Thanks to the owls, Anderson also dabbles in animals. But much like the face jugs, don’t expect the expected.

“A lot of people do pigs and chickens because they’re real popular, but I didn’t want to go there,” Anderson says. “I’m

doing some wild boar heads, large enough to hang on the wall like a real trophy head. I figure since pigs are popular, these will be, too.”

Plus, she admits, she’s got a wild boar head in her own foyer, and after looking at him for years she decided he was worth duplicating.

After four years, Moose Hollow is making a name for itself, and operating the pottery business in addition to Goldies can be a challenge. But Anderson is quick to note that both of her jobs and their locale are near and dear to her heart, and not just because the occa-sional Goldies customer is an unwitting model for a face jug.

“I’m not going anywhere,” she says. “Before I got into the pottery I did a lot of gardening and planting herbs, trees, f lowers. I’ve rooted here, and what better place? It really is our little slice of heaven.”

– Joe Morris

Thomasville Artist Throws DownPOTTER FINDS INSPIRATION RIGHT OUTSIDE HER WINDOW

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Lorrie Anderson works in her Moose Hollow Pottery studio, where her face jugs and other pieces line the shelves.


Arts & Culture

AUTO HOME LIFE BUSINESS

THOMASVILLE 202 National Hwy. Thomasville, NC 27360 tel: (336) 475-2128 fax: (336) 472-3656

www.WilsonInsurance.biz

ARCHDALE 10301 N. Main St. • Ste. D Archdale, NC 27263 tel: (336) 431-2119 fax: (336) 431-3597

DENTON 9 E. Salisbury St. Denton, NC 27239 tel: (336) 859-2021 fax: (336) 859-4425

Internet Access

Toddler/Preschool Bedtime Storytimes

Genealogy/ Local History

Reference and Information

DVDs

Compact Discs

Ongoing Used Book Sales

Meeting/Conference Room Facilities

Over 80 Years of Service as North Carolina’s Oldest County Public Library

“The Very Best Place to Start for Learning and Discovery”

Six Locations

Lexington (242-2040)

North Davidson (242-2050)

Denton (859-2215)

www.co.davidson.nc.us/library

West Davidson (853-4800)

Thomasville (474-2690)

Historic Museum@Courthouse Square (242-2035)

catalog: library.co.davidson.nc.us

North Carolina Digital LibraryAudio BooksReader’s AdvisoryColor Copier/ScannerNC LIVE Young Adult ProgramsWord Processing ApplicationsYoung Patron’s Summer Reading ProgramComputer Games for ChildrenFax Service

Davidson County Public Library& Historical Museum


The high schools of Davidson County are seemingly filled with winners.

In fact, when it comes to state and conference championships, they have sports down to a science. Combined, the schools have won dozens of titles through the years in an array of athletics ranging from football to tennis.

“Each community has its own little niche,” says Woody Huneycutt, athletic director at Thomasville High School.

For their part, the Thomasville Bulldogs are running out of wall space. They’ve won five men’s and four women’s basketball state titles and three football state titles in the last 10 years.

“We’ve got outstanding community support. In the city of Thomasville, they take their Bulldogs very seriously. A lot of our supporters have been supporting the team since the ’50s, even,” says Huneycutt, who is only the third athletic director at Thomasville since 1959. “I think that makes a big difference, when the players know they’re going to be in front of a big crowd every night.”

Lexington High School is also strong in football and basketball, having won titles in both of those sports in recent years. Additionally, West Davidson High School’s volleyball team has been set for success, while North Davidson High

School’s specialty is softball, Huneycutt says. East Davidson High School brought home a women’s

basketball state title in 2008, along with other state and conference championships over the last decade, including a football conference championship in 2007 and a men’s cross-country state championship in 2003.

East Davidson’s principal, Cathi Smith, attributes the Eagles’ success to strong character building, in addition to quality coaches and gifted athletes.

“There’s a certain attitude that’s held by the coaches and the kids,” she says. “I think that has an impact on our athletic program, as well.”

Coaches at East Davidson reinforce on the playing field a weighty character education program that students learn in the classroom.

“I think that our coaches, like all coaches, are so committed with what they do,” Smith says. “They’re so passionate, and it’s infectious with the kids.”

Whatever it is, it’s working in Davidson County. For the Bulldogs, the Eagles and all the other teams in the area, the trophies continue to stack up. And nobody expects that to change anytime soon. – Michaela Jackson

Teaming With TriumphsDAVIDSON COUNTY SCHOOLS AMASS ATHLETICS ACCOLADES

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The West Davidson High School football team practices on their field in Lexington. Several Davidson County high school athletic teams have won conference and state titles in sports such as volleyball, tennis, softball and football.


Sports & Recreation

With 17 years in emergency medicine, Kim Smith has learned a thing or two about how emergency rooms work – or should work.

Expertise such as Smith’s has led a team of architects and builders to erect Thomasville Medical Center’s new emergency department.

Like many hospitals, TMC has seen its emergency medicine population boom, thanks in part to Davidson County’s growing local population, according to Smith, nurse manager of TMC’s emergency department.

“We have been experiencing anywhere from 11 to 12 percent growth each year, and we were seeing 26,000 to 27,000 patients annually in 3,400 square feet of space,” Smith says.

Smith dreamed of a new, state-of-the-art facility, and when hospital administrators gave the go-ahead on a new ED, she jumped into action.

“They supported me in traveling all over the U.S. to other hospitals,” she says, noting a seminar in Philadelphia on building new ERs. “I pulled pieces from things and places I had liked.”

She read up on the latest in ER design, soliciting input from medical staff. She also met repeatedly with the project’s architect, Charlotte-based Peterson Associates, and guided the new facility from its inception until its opening in May 2008.

The new $10 million ED is located in front of the hospital, making it more accessible and serving as the face of the hospital to the community. The new building boasts more than 24,000 square feet, and the number of beds has increased from 10 to 27, all within eyesight of an 84-foot-long nurse and physician station.

Six minor-care beds, with their own waiting room, ensure that less seriously ill patients can be treated more quickly. And chest pain patients who may not need intensive care can be observed in the new five-bed chest pain area.

The new ED also enjoys a less stressful atmosphere for staff and patients alike, with high ceilings, cool blues and green on the walls, and lots of natural light.

“I think patients have been surprised with how nice it is,” says Smith. “We’ve had a lot of compliments.” – Laura Hill

More Room for CareTHOMASVILLE MEDICAL CENTER EXPANDS ITS EMERGENCY DEPARTMENT

A $10 million, 24,000-square-foot emergency department opened at the Thomasville Medical Center in May 2008.

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Health & Wellness

Davidson County


A long history of collaborative care between Lexington Memorial Hospital and Wake

Forest Baptist University Medical Center culminated this fall in an official affil-iation agreement.

Effective Oct. 1, 2008, the two hospitals began working together to provide health-care services in Davidson County. The partnership, which was several months in the making, will offer the 94-bed Lexington Memorial access to Wake Forest Baptist’s expansive network of medical resources.

“Given the pressures facing com-munity hospitals, the board believes now is the best time to join with a large organization that shares our values for a bright future for health care in Lexington and Davidson County,” says Charles W. Taylor, chairman of the Lexington Memorial board of directors.

The agreement comes on the heels of the two hospitals’ announcement that they would jointly operate the Cancer Center of Davidson County in Lexington, which is currently scheduled to open its doors in 2010.

“We see this affiliation as a natural extension of our relationship,” Taylor says.

Other unique offerings at Lexington Memorial include a joint replacement center, a wing devoted to sleep studies and around-the-clock specialist inpatient care.

The three areas in which Lexington Memorial would next like to improve are emergency room updates, operating room improvements, and the addition of a rehabilitation and wellness center, according to Taylor.

“The goal is to strengthen Lexington Memorial through expanded services, updated facilities and more physicians so fewer patients will have to travel to out-of-town hospitals,” says Steve Robertson, chairman of the board of directors for Wake Forest Baptist.

“When patients must be transferred to Wake Forest Baptist, they will have easy access,” Robertson says.

The Wake Forest health-care network

Two Hospitals Are Better Than OneLEXINGTON MEMORIAL AND WAKE FOREST BAPTIST JOIN FORCES

is an academic medical center composed of Wake Forest University Health Sciences and North Carolina Baptist Hospital.

“We are excited to be connected to a world-renowned academic medical center that is in the forefront of edu-cation, research and clinical services,” Taylor says.

Lexington’s 120-physician staff rep-resents more than 20 specialties. It also

provides a variety of medical services including a state-of-the-art imaging center, a critical care unit, a birthing unit and 24-hour emergency services.

“Lexington Memorial is an excellent strategic fit for us as we develop a regional health-care delivery network,” Robertson says. “The affiliation will be a mutually beneficial relationship.”


Lexington Memorial Hospital will jointly operate a new county cancer center.

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Health & Wellness

Turlington and Company, l.l.p.

Certified Public Accountants

www.turlingtonandcompany.com

509 E. Center St. Post Office Box 1697

Lexington, NC 27293-1697

phone: (336) 249-6856fax: (336) 248-8697

www.sheetsmemorial.org

Sheets Memorial Christian School“A quality education from a Christian perspective”

307 Holt St. • Lexington, NC 27292

(336) 249-4224

Preschool: Infant-Age 5 K-5-12th grade

Double accreditations by ACSI & SACS/CASI

Celebrating 41 years in Davidson County.

www.ppg.com

Community Self-Storage

We want to be your storage place.

www.communityselfstorage.com

Silver Needles Golden ThreadsCustom Window Treatments & Bedding

4 E. 1st Ave.Lexington, NC 27292

(336) 224-2354

Anna HedrickWilma Gray

Cell: (336) 596-2949E-mail: [email protected]

Lanier’s

Come and see where yesterday’s and today’s hardware stores meet. We have 55,000 sq. ft. of retail space packed with:

HARDWARE, INC.

The place to find what you want since 1940

hardware ✦ plumbing ✦ paint ✦ tools ✦ office suppliesgas logs ✦ housewares ✦ electrical ✦ lawn and gardenhunting and fishing supplies ✦ hobbies ✦ cake supplies

sporting goods ✦ toys ✦ pet supplies ✦ horseshoeswood stoves ✦ and much more

218 S. Main St. (336) 248-5938www.lanierhardware.com


Most parents dropping off their teenagers for school would probably be a little confused if a Roman gladiator or an 18th-century statesman were to

greet them in the parking lot.But for the parents of East Davidson High School students,

period costumes paired with a straight face are par for the course.

Dan Orr, a world history teacher who also has morning traffic duty, routinely dons full garb to draw his students into the lesson of the day, from ancient eras to classical centuries to modern icons.

“It’s a very visual approach,” Orr says of his unique teaching style. “I’m mostly known as the costume man.”

Dressing as a mummy for a seminar on ancient Egypt may not seem ordinary, but then again, Orr certainly doesn’t claim to be ordinary.

“If you teach the old way, of just lecturing all the time and taking notes and filling out worksheets, the kids can’t handle that anymore, just that alone,” he says. “I still do all that stuff, but they need more of a sensory input.”

Rather than expect kids to leave their penchant for interaction and stimulation at the door, Orr meets them where they are. He not only applies costumes but also props, art and music to make his points.

For example, Orr routinely leads his class in a rousing

rendition of “Rome on the Range,” a lesson on ancient Rome disguised as a revamped version of “Home on the Range.”

“Rome, Rome on the range,” the students sing for a watchful video camera. “Where the patricians and the plebeians once played.” They hardly even realize they’re learning.

The songs, the videos and the practical jokes that Orr often plays (such as screaming loudly in class during a key moment in a scary movie) all serve to keep his students engaged and interested in the material. His strategy works, and his students often remember his antics not simply long enough to pass a test, but for years to come.

According to Orr, when former students run into him years later, they’ll often say something such as, “I remember when you dressed up as a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle to teach us about the Renaissance.”

Orr is walking proof that it helps to think outside the box to connect with teenagers on a historic level.

“I think the kids learn more and grasp more if you give it to them from different angles rather than just having them write notes and memorize facts,” he says.

At the very least, Orr’s class might be the only chance they have to hear a teacher yell, “Cowabunga, dude!” And that’s something worth remembering – especially if they soak in some facts about world history in the process.


Teacher Brings History to LifeCOSTUME-CLAD EDUCATOR MAKES LEARNING FUN

East Davidson High School world history teacher Dan Orr wears costumes to draw students into the lesson of the day.

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Education

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DAVIDSON COUNTY

EDUCATIONAL FACILITIES

Davidson County Schools

250 County School Road

Lexington, NC 27293

(336) 249-8182

www.davidson.k12.nc.us

Lexington City Schools

1010 Fair St.

Lexington, NC 27292

(336) 242-1527

www.lexcs.org

Thomasville City Schools

400 Turner St.


(336) 474-4200

www.tcs.k12.nc.us

Davidson County

Community College

297 Davidson Community

College Road


(336) 249-8186

www.davidsonccc.edu

HOUSING

$131,329Average Home Price

SNAPSHOTDavidson County is situated in the heart of North Carolina’s Piedmont Triad, a vibrant metropolitan region. Known for its natural beauty, Davidson County offers comfortable, affordable living in a small-town atmosphere.

COMMUNITY OVERVIEW

Davidson County is home

to two vibrant communities,

Lexington and Thomasville.

The county is known as the

Barbecue Capital of the

World. Site Selection

magazine ranked its two cities

first among U.S. micropolitan

statistical areas, and the

county is in one of the mid-

Atlantic’s most dynamic

and desirable metro areas.

EDUCATIONAL OVERVIEW

Davidson County’s three

school districts work together,

offering a variety of innovative

ways to educate children, from

allowing them to take courses

in a neighboring district to

enrolling them in the county’s

community college before

their high school graduation.

MORE ONLINE

imagesdavidsoncounty.com

More facts, stats and community information, including relocation tools and links to resources.

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MEDICAL FACILITIES

Lexington Memorial Hospital250 Hospital Drive Lexington, NC 27293(336) 248-516 www.lexingtonmemorial.com

Thomasville Medical Center207 Old Lexington RoadThomasville, NC 27360www.thomasvillemedicalcenter.org


Community Profile

A Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center Hospital

Together We Make A Difference.248-5161

www.lexingtonmemorial.com

LEXINGTON MEMORIAL HOSPITAL and WAKE FOREST BAPTIST have joined forces to provide you and your family with the best health care possible.

As partners, our goal is to improve the health of Lexington and Davidson County residents by expanding services and adding new doctors as needed right in your own community. That means you’ll have easier access to cutting-edge research, diagnostic techniques and treatments in a health care setting close to home.

Lexington Memorial Hospital and Wake Forest Baptist —Together we make a difference.

For more information about Lexington Memorial Hospital and Wake Forest Baptist’s new partnership, visit our Web site at

www.lexingtonmemorial.com

Dimensions of Care

Inpatient Services24-Hour Emergency Care

Comprehensive Medical & Surgical Services120-Member Medical Staff24-Hour Anesthesia Service

New Beginnings Birthing CenterCardiac Care

Critical Care UnitTotal Joint Replacement Center

Outpatient Services

Outpatient Diagnostic & Surgical CenterState-of-the-Art Imaging Center

Latest CT & MRI TechnologyCertified Vascular Laboratory

Women’s Center for Mammography & Bone DensityStereotactic Breast Biopsy Capabilities

Pain Management CenterThe Sleep Lab

LithotripsyCancer Center of Davidson County (Opening 2009)

Lexington Community Cancer CenterAn Affiliate of the Comprehensive Cancer Center of Wake Forest University

Comprehensive Pediatric & Adult RehabilitationEducation & Wellness Programs

Lexington Memorial Hospital is accredited by The Joint Commission

2006

Ad Index 44 CAROLINA FARM CREDIT

44 COMMUNITY SELF-STORAGE

6 CORNERSTONE HEALTH CARE

19 COUNTRY HEARTH INN

33 DATA PUBLISHING

28 DAVIDSON COUNTY COMMUNITY COLLEGE

38 DAVIDSON COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY

C3 DAVIDSON WORKS

24 ENERGYUNITED

47 GOINS-CURRY CPAS PC

46 GREGG’S GRAPHICS INC .

40 HIGH POINT REGIONAL HEALTH SYSTEMS

42 HOSPICE OF DAVIDSON COUNTY

46 LAKE FRONT PROPERTIES

44 LANIER’S HARDWARE

36 LEXINGTON CHIROPRACTIC & WELLNESS PA

48 LEXINGTON MEMORIAL

29 LEXINGTON UTILITIES

42 MCGHEE & ASSOCIATES

36 PARROTT INSURANCE & BENEFITS

26 PIEDMONT CROSSING

44 PPG INDUSTRIES PRODUCTS

44 SHEETS MEMORIAL CHRISTIAN SCHOOL

44 SILVER NEEDLES GOLDEN THREADS

44 TASTINGS WINE & BEER

C4 THOMASVILLE FURNITURE

1 THOMASVILLE MEDICAL CENTER

27 THOMASVILLE VETERINARY HOSPITAL

44 TURLINGTON & COMPANY

38 WILSON INSURANCE ASSOCIATES

What isDavidsonWorks?DavidsonWorks is a dynamic partnership of private and public resources with a successful track record of delivering workforce development solutions for individuals and businesses in Davidson County.

We serve as the primary convener for workforce improvement and talent development for the community. Through our Talent Development approach:

and industry to develop pipelines strategically.DavidsonWorks develops and implements a FiveYear Workforce Development Strategic Plan forDavidson County.

JobLink System in Davidson County.

Our VisionOur vision is to stimulate economic growth byproviding a skilled workforce that exceeds businessneeds for today and tomorrow.

Our MissionOur mission is to provide cutting-edge globallycompetitive workforce development solutions for individuals and businesses fostering a quality workforce.

Why Partner withDavidsonWorks?

your business.

new employees.

on board.

We bring your Federal tax dollars back to DavidsonCounty and put that money to work for yourbusiness and Davidson County’s economy. Work with the leader in business growth and taxpayercreation in Davidson County. We have resources tohelp your business succeed!

DavidsonWorks915 Greensboro St.

PO Box 1067


Thomasville JobLink

www.davidsoncountyjoblink.org

This is a taste of how DavidsonWorks works for you!

Business and Employment TrainingLexington Memorial Hospital received a Business Employment Training Grant from DavidsonWorks to evaluate the effi ciency of their Take Home Medications service. After participating in Lean Health Care Training through North Carolina State University, the hospital saved $2,000,000 by implementing a more effective distribution process. For more information, contact the Business and Industry Manager at 242-2065.

YouthAt Get REAL, Meagan Dillion came prepared to learn. Her leadership skills prompted Get REAL staff to offer her a Workforce Investment Act job placement as the receptionist at Get REAL. Meagan received her high school diploma and began CNA nurse training. DavidsonWorks sponsored her when she enrolled at Davidson County Community College in the nursing program. For more information, contact Get REAL at 242-2217.

AdultsAneetra Daniels, a Dislocated Worker from Thomasville Furniture Industries, received Employment Security Trade Commission benefi ts to enroll in Davidson County Community College skills upgrade classes. She was sponsored by DavidsonWorks for the Health Information and Technology program. DavidsonWorks also helped Aneetra fi nd a Workforce Investment Act job experience in her fi eld. She now works at Wesley Long Hospital and has plans for additional education. For more information, contact Career Programs and Services at 242-2065.

Nancy Borrell Executive Director

L to R: Karen Griggs, Rod Kcuik and Kathy Larsen of Lexington Memorial Hospital, Meagan Dillion and Aneetra Daniels

PAID ADVERTISEMENT PAID ADVERTISEMENT

What isDavidsonWorks?DavidsonWorks is a dynamic partnership of private and public resources with a successful track record of delivering workforce development solutions for individuals and businesses in Davidson County.

We serve as the primary convener for workforce improvement and talent development for the community. Through our Talent Development approach:

and industry to develop pipelines strategically.DavidsonWorks develops and implements a FiveYear Workforce Development Strategic Plan forDavidson County.

JobLink System in Davidson County.

Our VisionOur vision is to stimulate economic growth byproviding a skilled workforce that exceeds businessneeds for today and tomorrow.

Our MissionOur mission is to provide cutting-edge globallycompetitive workforce development solutions for individuals and businesses fostering a quality workforce.

Why Partner withDavidsonWorks?

your business.

new employees.

on board.

We bring your Federal tax dollars back to DavidsonCounty and put that money to work for yourbusiness and Davidson County’s economy. Work with the leader in business growth and taxpayercreation in Davidson County. We have resources tohelp your business succeed!

DavidsonWorks915 Greensboro St.

PO Box 1067


Thomasville JobLink

www.davidsoncountyjoblink.org

This is a taste of how DavidsonWorks works for you!

Business and Employment TrainingLexington Memorial Hospital received a Business Employment Training Grant from DavidsonWorks to evaluate the effi ciency of their Take Home Medications service. After participating in Lean Health Care Training through North Carolina State University, the hospital saved $2,000,000 by implementing a more effective distribution process. For more information, contact the Business and Industry Manager at 242-2065.

YouthAt Get REAL, Meagan Dillion came prepared to learn. Her leadership skills prompted Get REAL staff to offer her a Workforce Investment Act job placement as the receptionist at Get REAL. Meagan received her high school diploma and began CNA nurse training. DavidsonWorks sponsored her when she enrolled at Davidson County Community College in the nursing program. For more information, contact Get REAL at 242-2217.

AdultsAneetra Daniels, a Dislocated Worker from Thomasville Furniture Industries, received Employment Security Trade Commission benefi ts to enroll in Davidson County Community College skills upgrade classes. She was sponsored by DavidsonWorks for the Health Information and Technology program. DavidsonWorks also helped Aneetra fi nd a Workforce Investment Act job experience in her fi eld. She now works at Wesley Long Hospital and has plans for additional education. For more information, contact Career Programs and Services at 242-2065.

Nancy Borrell Executive Director

L to R: Karen Griggs, Rod Kcuik and Kathy Larsen of Lexington Memorial Hospital, Meagan Dillion and Aneetra Daniels

PAID ADVERTISEMENT PAID ADVERTISEMENT

Documents

Images Davidson County, NC: 2009