Journey to the Center

My travels have taken me north, south, east, west and even UP! But today I traveled to the center. The day began with a beautiful drive to the edge of the mountains to visit the library at Wilkes Community College in Wilkesboro. It is a college built on the side of a mountain and one student said it was "uphill everywhere you go!" Christy Earp is the Director and Rebecca Kruger handles the acquisitions. Both women love the mountains and their enthusiasm for books and students was evident.
Guilford College in Greensboro was founded by the Quakers in 1837. The Quakers have always been non-conformists. They rejected the authority of the Church of England in the 1600's along with the rituals and even the clergy. So for an anti-slavery community to exist in the South was consistent with their heritage. Today Guilford College is a modern campus offering a world-class education in an urban setting. But the buildings have maintained the look and feel of the Quaker heritage and all the campus streets are named for famous Quakers like George Fox. The Library was in the midst of renovation and the librarian was on vacation but I enjoyed visiting the alma mater of one of my mentors, Paul Baker Wood.
A few miles away and one year later, the Methodists (my brother's movement) founded Greensboro College. It is in the heart of the city of Greensboro and proudly provides a liberal-arts education designed to produce well-rounded students who are able to contribute to all of society, not just their single are of training and expertise. The librarian, William Ritter, looks like a student himself but was hard at work at the front desk during the summer lull before classes begin next month.

Now we get to the title of this blog. The town of Asheboro claims to be the geographic center of the state of North Carolina. Since King George's instructions were not followed explicitly, the boundaries of North Carolina are a bit "whoppy-jawed." But Asheboro claims to be in the exact center. Asheboro is also where I graduated High School.




















But my purpose in going was to meet the fine librarians at Randolph Community College. Debbie Luck is married to a potter from nearby Seagrove (http://discoverseagrove.com/). She and Pam Pollard are barbeque snobs like me and they recommended Henry James Barbeque. HJB has the best hushpuppies I've eaten in a long time and I had the good fortune to meet some of the late Henry James' family members who stopped by to eat lunch.



Just across the street from RCC, is the Richard Petty Educational Center. The Petty Family is from nearby Level Cross, NC and has business interests all over the area.










It is a short drive to Troy the home of the Montgomery Community College. Deborah Ashby is the librarian and explained how the direction of MCC had changed over the years to a school providing technical training including a rather renowned "gunsmithing" school.





Stanley Community College is located in Albemarle. It is there I met Sharon Faulkner who retired as the Montgomery Community College librarian and now works part-time at SCC.
My final stop was at Pfeiffer University. It was established in 1885, once again, by the people of my brother's movement--the Methodist Church. I had a friend named June Hardin from high school who attended there.
While I was eating lunch at Henry James Barbeque, I began to think of people I knew in high school and whether any of them still lived in Asheboro and if any of them would come into the restaurant. I discovered something interesting about my self. As people would enter the restaurant, I looked for people who resembled a high school version of my friends rather than people who are in their mid-sixties like me. Hope springs eternal,I suppose.