AYDEN NORTH CAROLINA
2018
Summer/Fall
Furniture School
Teaching the ins & outs of woodworking
STEM: Growing Young Minds
‘68: The Year of the Tornadoes Twilley still calls Ayden his home
Cindirene’s:
Everyone’s Hometown Tavern
Community Foundation:
Making a Difference
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AYDEN
“One of America’s Best Small Communities to Raise a Family.” U.S. MEDIA GROUP 2013
A clean, safe and attractive community that encompasses the characteristics of a village. Our town features an economically thriving retail and service district located in the historic downtown area that’s populated with a variety of residential neighborhoods; all within walking distance to both downtown and a multitude of recreational opportunities. We are also surrounded by a flourishing commercial and industrial corridor. For more information about our town, visit us online:
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What’s Inside Cindirene’s .........................6 Furniture School ...............10 STEM: Growing Minds .......15 Year of the Tornadoes........20 Ayden’s Highest Hero ........25 Community Foundation .....30 Staff ANGELA HARNE Group Publisher/Editor JOSHUA BETTS Sports Editor AMBER REVELS-STOCKS Staff Writer DONNA WILLIAMS Staff Writer TOM LITTLE Advertising Rep
Stuart Kent, owner of the North Carolina Furniture School, creates a rocket ship out of wood at his studio in downtown Ayden. He also has a mobile classroom that provides classes across the state. Photograph by Angela Harne
AYDEN NORTH CAROLINA
Volume 15 No. 1 - Summer/Fall 2018
AYDEN Magazine is published by The Times-Leader newspaper. Contents are the property of this newspaper and the Town of Ayden and may not be reproduced without consent of the publisher. To advertise in this publication please contact The Times-Leader at 252-746-6261. Ayden Magazine Summer/Fall 2018
5
Cindirene’s got a facelift in early April, when signage and paint were refreshed.
Home sweet home
Cindirene’s has become more than just a part of the community, the tavern has literally become a part of many lives.
W
hen Charlie and Cathy Swinson moved to Ayden in 2007, they expected to find a new home — they did not expect it to be a bar. Cindirene’s A Southern Emporium was started by Chuck and Cindy Dunn in 2004 as an antique store, according to long-time customer Kay Bright. “Then, Chuck and Cindy decided they were beer snobs, so they put some craft beer in there,” she said. The beer became more popular than the
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By Amber Revels-Stocks antiques, and the rest is history. “Every little town needs a place where people can go where they feel welcome and happy and where they feel like they fit in, like they belong,” Charlie said. “For Ayden, Cindirene’s is that place. Plus it’s a lot of fun to run.” When the Dunns decided to retire in 2016, they sold the bar to the Swinsons. Cathy had worked in the restaurant business for years, but Charlie had no experience. They decided to go for it anyway.
“We just loved the place,” Cathy said. Charlie added, “We’re very happy the previous owners trusted us with something like this.” The bar started with two taps, but the Swinsons increased the draught options to seven taps. “Chuck had only two taps when we started, so you either had a dark beer or an IPA. DuckRabbit’s milk stout was the dark beer most of the time,” Charlie said. “We beefed it up. That allows us to be a little more diverse.” Ayden Magazine Summer/Fall 2018
One can always find an option from DuckRabbit, though. They try to keep the draught options to local beers brewed in North Carolina. The bottle options are mostly craft beer, but they have several options. “We have domestic for people who don’t like weird beer,” said David Walls, a bartender and long-time customer. “Stuff like Bud Light and Miller light. You have to be able to mix it up a bit.” Cindirene’s is an atypical bar. It has no televisions, jukebox or DJ. If the music is not live — and performed by the customers — there is none. They also do not serve liquor-by-the-drink. If one does not want beer or wine, there are soda and water options. Even though many things have changed since the Swinsons took over in 2016, a lot has stayed the same. “Cindy told us we could use the name, but it stays with us,” Charlie said. “If the bar ever passes hands, the name doesn’t go on. She doesn’t know if she could trust her name with others, but she trusts it with us. It will always stay Cindirene’s as long as we own it.” Cathy added, “We really wanted to maintain the feel of it, as much as possible. This is a special place for just so many people.” Long-time customer Tom Best agrees. “I’m only here five days a week; the other two days, they’re closed,” he said. Best has been coming to Cindirene’s since the beginning. In fact, he built the tables in the middle of the main room. Under the glass of one is a board game a local artist has been creating. Best’s face grins at the players from the upper left corner. In the early days, the antique store just sold beer, according to Best. Then people started hanging out and it became a bar. Then the music started. “A friend bought a guitar, and he knew David played a few chords,” Bright said. “So he brought his guitar out here (on the deck), and David showed him some chords.” Before long, Chuck and Bright started bringing their guitars to play during the lessons. “It just grew from there. Now people who really know how to play are coming,” Bright said. Cindirene’s hosts Open Jam every Wednesday evening. Anyone of any skill level is invited to come and play. Someone starts a song, and others jump in, sometimes regardless of whether they know the song. Ayden Magazine Summer/Fall 2018
“People just come in and grab an instrument and start playing music,” Charlie said. “There are instruments on the wall. If you didn’t bring your own, you can just grab one.” Some nights, 20 people will play together, according to regular Cliff Dunn. Several bands have started as a result of people meeting and playing together during Open Jam, Cliff said. “In the past six months, I reckon that we’ve
Lowtiders, and acoustic group, Three Asses and a Mule. The latter actually formed as the result of Wednesday’s Open Jam, according to Cliff. Charlie hosts the Open Mic nights on the first and third Fridays of the month, barring a town event, like the Kings of Q or Collard Festival. “It’s amazing. Some people, their first time
Customers can purchase beer to enjoy at home or to drink at the bar.
more than doubled audience participation, and it’s growing each week,” he said. “I have a great time listening to some incredibly good musicians here.” Customers of all ages attend the Open Jam, including teenagers and the grandchildren of regulars. “It is the sort of place you can bring your grandchild, and you’ve got 14 grandparents watching them,” Bright said. “You’re not bringing them to a bar; you’re bringing them home.” There are a large variety of soft drinks for under aged individuals. Occasionally, Cindirene’s hosts acoustic bands, but those are rare occasions. “We don’t have much space,” Cathy said. “If a band has a drum, forget it. We don’t have the space, and it’ll be too loud in here.” They have had folk and bluegrass band, the
here, will grab stuff off the wall and jump right in. They just feel like they’re home,” Charlie said. That is part of the point. “This is a place where a person can go and feel at home,” said regular customer Shane Joyner. “That’s what’s most important. That’s what people are looking for. People want to feel at home. They love to come somewhere and to feel accepted and to be able to hang out and be able to maybe have a beer.” Laughing, Cliff said, “Or six.” Joyner continued, “Then we look after each other. That’s what family does.” The owners often make sure other patrons make it home safely, offering to call them Ubers if they are not sure they can drive. Cindirene’s has healed wounded souls, according to Best. Many of them have suffered 7
The Lowtiders, a local folk and bluegrass band, perform at Cindirene’s in May.
the loss of a loved one, and the community supported them through it. When Bright’s daughter died, the regulars saved her life. “Don’t get me wrong; I have a great family, but this place was my extended family. When you don’t want your blood family to be sad, your extended family steps up and says, ‘We got you. We got you.’ This place saved my life,” she said. The Swinsons consider all of Ayden their family, which is why they host fourth Friday charity dinners. In December, Cindirene’s has a chili cook off to benefit Operation Santa. The program has people adopt letters to Santa. Volunteers facilitate Santa’s response and may help him grant the Christmas wishes. “We do a traditional and a non-traditional chili category,” Cathy said. “We do first, second and third place winners, and we do people’s choice as well.” 8
They have also done benefits for Meals on Wheels, St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital and Ayden Christian Care Center. “We don’t ever tell (the charity),” Cathy said. “We just send them a check. … We just get all into it, and we don’t even think about letting them know. It’s just a surprise for the charity.” In addition, Cindirene’s supports local artists. Most of the artwork in the bar was made by local artists. Bright painted the inside mural, while two other artists painted the sign and outside mural. They hope to have another local artist paint a mural on the deck as well. But people do not keep coming back to Cindirene’s for the art, the music or the alcohol. They come for the community. “You don’t get this sense of community anywhere,” said customer Shae Geyer. “I mean, you go to Greenville and you’re just a
stranger in the crowd. … I love these people, and we’ve only known each other for about a year. I know that if I needed anything, I can rely on them, and if they needed anything, they can call on us.” Laughing, Best added, “This is definitely not a pick up bar. If you’re looking to pick somebody up, it ain’t gonna happen here. This is a family bar.” And there is a real Cindirene. Kind of. The name came from the previous owner’s first and middle names: Cindy Irene, Cathy explained. “As far as I know, that’s what her aunts called her: Cindirene,” she said. But Bright tells a slightly different story. “Cindirene’s came from Cindy’s name and her aunt, Irene. They put both names together, so it was Cindirene’s,” she said. Everyone remembers the story slightly different, just like a family. Ayden Magazine Summer/Fall 2018
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Wooden bowls fill the floor of the N.C. Furniture School. The bowls are part of a project benefiting the Dorothea Dix Park project in Raleigh. The school recently delivered 75 bowls.
Building a future Proving his abilities came easy, but relying on the companies he worked for became an issue ... until he became the company. By Angela Harne
S
tuart Kent began woodworking at age 15. The Texas native began creating special pieces for high-end customers of a firm that contracted with Bassett Furniture, private corporations and higher learning institutions. “My first job, I was at the highest end of woodworking … the highest level of craftsmanship. I loved it and decided to pursue a career in the field,” he said. Kent felt he had “found his calling,” he said. At his peak, the company closed. Kent stayed in the business and began his tenure at a chair manufacturing company.
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“You got paid by the part, so I made it my business of being the fastest,” he said. Kent soon reached his goal and was promoted. This company also shut down. Most United States-based companies were closing and sending trade work overseas, Kent explained. In the early 1990s, Kent began working for a plastics factory. Here, too, he quickly moved up from supervisor to a management position, and then the plant closed. He met his wife, a native of eastern North Carolina. He followed her to East Carolina University, realizing his career of choice was
“dying on the vine,” he said. Kent enrolled in college and double majored in furniture design and sculpture. He began teaching classes for the university, which took him overseas to Finland, Russia and Costa Rica, just to name a few. Now a graduate student, Kent was the first student in the North Carolina college system to write a study abroad program. This program gave him the opportunity to travel with 17 students to Costa Rica for a month to hold a sculpture symposium. From there, he flew to Finland and assisted with a teaching program. By this time, Kent Ayden Magazine Summer/Fall 2018
was serving as East Carolina University’s co-director of study abroad programs for the School of Arts. In 2008, he decided to branch out on his own and launched his furniture-making business. Then the recession hit. “I weathered the first part and kept at it,” Kent said, explaining just prior to the recession he had landed a contract to build bookcases and chairs for East Carolina University’s Laupus Library. In 2012, Kent was named a Fulbright Scholar, which granted him the ability to travel with his wife for 18 months to write a furniture-making curriculum for National University of Costa Rica. While he was gone, East Carolina University closed the furniture-making department, so he decided to begin teaching on his own and offering private lessons. He founded the N.C. Furniture School in 2014. In August 2017, he opened the Woodturning Mobile Classroom and moved the N.C. Furniture School to downtown Ayden. Four years into his business, Kent said, “it was the best decision I’ve made so far.” Kent offers flatwork classes, which allows students to create traditional furniture, like chests and chairs. He also offers round work classes, where students create wood bowls, boxes, urns, vases, candlesticks and more. The school offers two weekend sessions a month from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. either Friday and Saturday or Saturday and Sunday. “We try to accommodate people’s schedules,” Kent said. His wife, Susan, caters the lunch. “It is a lot of fun,” Kent said, explaining he and his wife collaborate. “My wife makes a salad, and students make a salad bowl. We make the bowl Saturday and serve lunch in the bowl Sunday.” Classes are either traditional furniture making or skill building workshops. In furniture making courses, students construct blanket chests and learn how to use the tools and equipment. The interest for the school’s woodturning classes appears higher than the furniture making classes. “It’s a smaller footprint with an instant gratification. Students can come in and make a bowl and then eat a salad out of it,” Kent said. “There’s also a general interest in bowls and vessels.” The classroom features six full-sized lathes Ayden Magazine Summer/Fall 2018
Stuart Kent, the owner of the N.C. Furniture School, creates a rocket ship out of wood at his studio in downtown Ayden.
and 14 mini lathes, allowing 20 students to turn at a time. The mobile classroom has eight stations. Kent works with children age 12 and older, accompanied by an adult. His students are quite diverse in race, gender and age with his oldest student 92 years old.
“A majority who walk in our door have never done anything like this before but have an interest to learn,” Kent said. “Our students bring questions every day. It is fun to be challenged and learn something new.” Cedric Barrett works part-time at the furniture store. 11
Stuart Kent, owner of the N.C. Furniture School, stands in his mobile classroom. Middle: Cedric Barrett works on a wooden door frame. Kent learns new things daily from his employee, he said. Bottom: The N.C. Furniture School is known across the state as the ideal location to learn wood turning.
“I am always learning from Cedric,” Kent said. His mobile classroom frequents schools, churches, civic organizations and private parties. He partners with a Christian camp in Washington, N.C. and a group of parents who home school their children in Raleigh. He helps the children create bowls, baseball bats, rocket ships and cars. The N.C. Furniture School teaches full courses at Wake Technical School and is in talks with Lenoir Community College. Kent has also reached out to Pitt Community College for a possible partnership, he said. In April, the furniture school held a woodworking session for women in Ayden. Twenty-seven women attended, hailing from South Carolina, Tennessee, Massachusetts, Florida, the Triangle and Pitt County. Kent is working with the governor’s office to create 960 bowls using an oak tree that was removed from the governor’s office grounds in 2015. The contract started under former Gov. Pat McCrory and is continuing under Gov. Roy Cooper. “It has opened a lot of doors for me … people call me and say, ‘You’re the bowl guy,’” Kent said. He is also working to create bowls using a diseased tree that was planted by Dorothea Dix in 1856. The former mental hospital property in Raleigh is being converted into the nation’s first major park created since 1965, according to Kent. The bowls are being distributed to donors of the project, Kent said. He recently completed the first batch of 75 bowls. In August, he will attend the N.C. Museum of History to host a garden tool-making class. “We do all kinds of fun stuff … fun for all ages,” Kent said. “I work with oak, walnut, maple, pine. I can’t predict the project. Some requests are totally wild, but my answer is also ‘yes, I can do that.’ I will figure out how to get it done. I like a challenge.” Kent’s ultimate goal is to convert his business into a nonprofit. To register for a class or to view Kent’s work, visit ncfurnitureschool.com or stuartkent.com. 12
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Ayden Middle School STEM students (L-R) Abby Langemann, Ashlee Capizzi and Phoebe Starnes put together their Solar Charge’N Go bench prototype.
Expanding young minds Ayden Middle School STEM gives students a hands-on opportunity to learn from various aspects of science and math while having fun. By Donna Marie Williams
A
yden Middle School STEM students placed third in the 2018 Armed Forces Communications and Electronic Association-N.C. Conference competition April 26 at Fort Bragg’s TechNet Symposium in Fayetteville. The two-day symposium’s mission is to “allow a forum to demonstrate new, innovative ideas and share best practices that promote valuable results to technology challenges faced by our military today,” according to Ayden Magazine Summer/Fall 2018
Ayden Middle School’s STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) facilitator Anthony Wade. The symposium is a mix between a science fair and trade vendor show, Wade said. Students showcase and explain their projects to attendees. Ayden Middle School, for the second consecutive year, was the only middle school to compete among high schools in the competition. The school’s eighth graders exceeded all expectations.
Ayden Middle School’s STEM program will enter its fifth year in the fall. It was the school’s third year competing in the regional competition. “STEM is a hot, trendy subject. It incorporates different aspects of science and math, and allows students to do hands-on learning,” Wade said. Ayden Middle School principal Marieka Harrison added, “STEM is a very unique part of the school.” 15
Ayden Middle School STEM students (L-R) Clayton Shaver, Dillon Koonce, Jordan Frazier and Anthony Cano-Hernandez demonstrate how easy it is to remove the sole containing the piezoelectric disk in their e-Charge 2.0-electronic shoe.
Throughout Wade’s class, his students are preparing for a place in the Armed Forces Communications and Electronic AssociationN.C. Conference competition. The competition gets students “out of their comfort zone,” Wade said. Teams of four to six were tasked with identifying a problem in society within the environment or technology. Once identified, students had to solve the problem. “I’m very proud of our students. It gives me a huge sense of pride to see our students think about real world situations and think about how to fix it,” Harrison said. The students were allotted six to nine weeks to complete the learning-based project. “It is all about creativity, and I know my kids are creative,” Wade said. Students created in-shoe cellphone chargers, a cellphone charger generated through a solar powered picnic table and a mouth guard that detects concussions. They also transformed cooking oil into fuel for vehicles to name just a few solutions.
e-Charge 2.0-Electronic Shoe The students who created the in-shoe cellphone charger, e-Charge 2.0- electronic shoe, placed third in the Armed Forces Communications and Electronic Association-N.C. Conference competition winning Ayden Middle School a $500 cash price, a HP Laptop and 16
an Amazon Echo Dot. The e-Charge 2.0, created by Clayton Shaver, Dillon Koonce, Anthony Cano-Hernandez, Cooper Pilgreen and Jordan Frazier, generates power to one’s cellphone by using kinetic energy stored in the shoe. Kinetic energy is “energy that is built up by movement,” Shaver explained. The shoe uses piezoelectric disks to generate electricity when pressure is applied to it, and then the energy is stored in a bridge rectifier. This technology allows users to charge their cellphones by simply walking. Pressure from the heel is applied to the piezoelectric disk, and the kinetic energy can be used to power one’s cellphone. Any unused energy is stored in the bridge rectifier for use later. The charging cord can be made in various lengths depending on the users preference, Koonce said. There could also be a slot built into the shoe that would hold a portable battery charger, he added. The students designed the e-Charger with college students, military personnel and runners in mind, Cano-Hernandez said. The product is also valuable to the every day person, he said. “It is an everyday struggle to keep your phone charged. (The shoe) allows for people to charge their phone on the go and encourages people to be active,” Pilgreen said. The students contacted Starbury Inc., a
manufacture of shoes and electronics, regarding their project. The company provided the team two pairs to use as their prototype. The competition sparked additional ideas for the e-Charger team. They noticed military personnel using radios and thought the shoe would be great to charge the radios, too. Since the competition, two companies have expressed an interest in their prototype. “The level of ingenuity is impressive,” said Donald Brockel, a marketing liaison of Bren Tronic Inc., adding he wished to further discuss the prototype. Since the competition, the students have tweaked the e-Charger. “We’re hoping to create just a sole, so that it will be more cost-effective,” Frazier said. Production of each shoe is estimated to cost $80, while production of a sole would cost less than $15, according to Koonce.
G-Force Detection Mouth Guard STEM students Cadence Kistler, Holly Cannon, Joslyn Mussell, Yaneth Meza and Ivy Johnson were inspired to create the GGM, a G-Force detection mouth guard. Mussell’s older brother is a student-athlete who has encountered multiple concussions. She suggested creating a product to detect concussions immediately on the field or court. With the GGM, a sensor is placed in the mouth guard, resting on the back of one’s molar. These two sensors meet and are able to measure the amount of force a player receives when they take a hit. When a person receives an impact more than 20g — acceleration due to gravity at the Earth’s surface — the sensor sets off LED lights and a transmitter, which works like Bluetooth, alerting coaching staff or a head trainer via an app, Kistler explained. “Players can get the help that they need and hopefully will not get CTE,” Cannon said, referring to Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, which is caused by multiple concussions. A generalized concussion is measured at 20g, according to Kistler. “Football and contact sports are one of our main focuses, but it can be used for airborne soldiers,” Mussell said, adding the device has the ability to alert fellow military personnel if something happens while the soldiers are jumping or landing during drills or in combat. Mass produced, the mouth guard would cost approximately $75. Ayden Magazine Summer/Fall 2018
“Schools can afford our mouth guard,” Meza said, adding most mouth guards cost $100 each. Team members hope their product one day makes it onto fields and courts throughout the nation’s schools.
Bio-diesel Gas STEM students Caleb Daugherty, Matthew Roth, Christian Shearouse and Gabe Munoz sought to reduce carbon monoxide emissions produced by vehicles and lower the cost of diesel fuel. “We wanted to make it better for transportation and the environment,” Roth said. Bio-diesel is better for the air because it burns cleaner than normal diesel and puts out fewer emissions, Daugherty explained. Bio-diesel is composed of a methyl-based filament. “A lot of places use bio-diesel,” Daugherty said, referring to gas pumps that list the gas contains 5 to 10 percent bio-diesel. His team took the first step to making bio-diesel by using cooking oil. Obtaining a base for bio-diesel is simple because “most restaurants will give (you used vegetable oil) for free,” Munoz said. Munoz’s father, who owns a restaurant, provided the team its used vegetable oil or grease. Students filtered the cooking oil with a 100-grit bag filter to remove impurities, which if left would clog engines, according to Roth. The cooking oil was then infused with methane in a metal cooking pot. Teammates hope cooking oil is one day used as an alternate to gasoline in tractor trailers and buses.
Ayden Middle School STEM students (L-R) Gabe Munoz, Caleb Daugherty and Matthew Roth develop a structure to filter cooking grease to transform it into fuel.
Solar Charge N’ Go STEM students Phoebe Starnes, Abby Langemann, Chelsea Jolly, Ashlee Capizzi and Marissa Sullivan designed and created the Solar Charge N’ Go, a picnic table that allows technology users to charge their cellphones or other devices by using a solar panel. The solar panel takes in energy, and a battery is inside the base of the table, which allows energy to be stored. “(The sun is a) free renewable source of energy that you would not have to worry about running out,” Sullivan said. Jolly said, “Most people get electricity Ayden Magazine Summer/Fall 2018
when oil and coal are burned off.” These gases are not healthy for public consumption, she added. The Solar Charge N’ Go would help reduce such gases. Her team’s picnic table features four outlets and a solar panel. Estimated to cost $4,473, the Solar Charge N’ Go could be housed in parks, schools, colleges and amusement parks.
STEM Growth The competition locally and regionally is like no other learning experience, STEM
students agreed. “This is a class you enjoy coming to every day,” Langemann said. Students left with a sense of accomplishment, maturity and better understanding of collaboration. For Jolly, STEM class will forever be etched in her middle school memories. “It is a once in a lifetime thing. I probably will never experience a thing like this again,” Jolly said. “We are thankful to have a teacher like Mr. Wade.” Sullivan added, “(Mr. Wade) knows our potential and pushes us to our limits.” 17
PHOTO COURTESY OF MITCHELL OAKLEY
Members of the 1968-69 State Champion Ayden High School football team (front row: L-R) Rodney Hill, B.T. Chappell, Bobby Wilson, George Booth, Ricky Eason, Jerry Gibson, Robert Short, Vernon Warren, (middle) Sam Jones, Charles Smith, Andy McLawhorn, Allan Wilson, Bill Babington, Mike Brady, Wayne Harris, Robert Jones, Chuck Babington, (back) John Hoover, Luke Williams, Robert Twilley, Glenn Cannon, Danny Oakley, Mike Tripp, Jackie Eason, Jimmy Robinson and Debro Blount.
The year of the Tornadoes Ayden High School was noted as a “winning” school when it came to athletics, and 1968 was certainly a year of proving the point. By Joshua Betts
I
n 1968, Ayden was the place to be when it came to sports. The town shut down for games played by the Ayden High School Tornadoes, where wins in football, basketball and baseball were a known commodity and expected. The football team, led by head coach and offensive mastermind Tommy Lewis and defensive wizard and hall of famer Stuart Tripp, was in the midst of a 27-game winning streak, which resulted in not losing a game in more than three seasons, including two District Class A Championships.
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The basketball program had back-to-back undefeated seasons, resulting in a 56-0 record, while grabbing a Class A District Title and a Class A State Championship. And not to be outdone, the baseball program came into the school year with a 28-4 record spanning the past two seasons, including the 1965-66 season, which was perfect until the East Final loss to a Cleveland team by a 2-1 score. To say the least, heading into the 1967-68 season, standards were high and wins were expected, but changes had occurred.
Bill Kluttz had taken over the football program after Lewis took the principal position at Ayden High School and Tripp became principal at Ayden Elementary School. Tripp would retire at the elementary school. Lewis stayed at Ayden High School for a mere month — enough time to hire Kluttz and head basketball and baseball coach Bob Murphrey — before returning to his hometown to serve as principal of Tabor City High School. Kluttz guided the Tornadoes to a flawless 13-0 record — one that pushed the Ayden Magazine Summer/Fall 2018
program’s winning streak to an incredible 40 games. The team captured the Eastern Class A Championship. Having an all-world quarterback in senior Paul Miller made life easier on the head coach. Miller never lost a game while playing football for the Tornadoes, something athletes can only dream of. “I have been a part of some great teams with great players. I still personally think that the 1966 team was the best group of athletes that Ayden ever had, and a lot of us wouldn’t have even come to Ayden had it not been for DuPont in Kinston moving the factory, but to grow up with these guys and look back on the things that we did is pretty special,” Miller said. The left-hander was the star quarterback but missed out by a semester on being a part of the 1968 state championship team. He was also the starting point guard for the basketball team that had back-to-back undefeated state championship teams and a pitcher on the 1968 baseball team. Miller graduated high school with an athletic scholarship to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where he won an ACC championship in football and selection as all-ACC quarterback. He participated in the Coaches’All-American Game and was chosen as the ACC’s first recipient of the Brian Piccolo Award. After being selected to the All-ACC Academic Team, Miller enrolled in a joint Law/ MBA program at UNC, intending to pursue a legal career. He has been named as one of the top 100 high school athletes in North Carolina history. Murphrey took over the basketball and baseball program after graduating from East Carolina University. He also coached basketball and baseball at Chicod High School from 1966-68 before taking over the Tornadoes
Leslie and Paul Miller at the Community Foundation Golf Tournament at the Ayden Country Club.
The 1968 State Champions offensive team included linemen (front row: L-R) Rodney Hill, Robert Short, Ricky Eason, Andy McLawhorn, Charles Smith, Randy Loftin, Wayne Harris, (back) Jerry Gibson, Danny Oakley, and George Booth with Quarterback Allan Wilson. PHOTO FROM THE 1968-69 WHEEL, AYDEN-GRIFTON HIGH SCHOOL’S YEARBOOK.
Ayden Magazine Summer/Fall 2018
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B.T. Chappell was a terror on defense for the Tornadoes during the team’s 1968 State Championship run. He later became the head football coach of the Ayden-Grifton Chargers.
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PHOTO FROM THE 1968-69 WHEEL, AYDEN-GRIFTON HIGH SCHOOL’S YEARBOOK
programs. In his very first season at the helm of the Tornadoes basketball team, his squad compiled a 21-5 record and a state championshiplike effort before falling to Newland High School, a school that was from the North Carolina mountains led by the “Newland Noodle” Tom Burleson, later of N.C. State University fame. Murphrey capped off his first full year at Ayden High School with a state baseball championship and 16-3 record. Murphrey and the Tornadoes were equipped with two standout pitchers in lefty Miller and a right-hander by the name of David McGlohon, who pitched the second of the championship games versus Chatham Central High School. Miller and the Tornadoes won the first game, 8-3, and McGlohon won the deciding game, 7-0, ending the season on a 10-game winning streak. “Having a guy like Paul makes life easier on a coach. He’s a great, selfless leader who would go out there and just get the job done and bring out the best in guys around him,” Murphrey said. Murphrey has always been one to give others credit, repeatedly stating much of his basketball coaching philosophy came from Tripp. The state championship baseball team in his first year was a “ready-made team,” Murphrey said. “I was very, very fortunate to come to Ayden High School when I did; they were in the midst of a lot of great athletes and quality recreational programs and coaches just before and during my times,” Murphrey said. “Coach Tripp was a huge mentor to me during my career, and Coach Lewis was a true visionary, able to come up with schemes and plays years before everyone else came up with them. “That 1967-68 season, we had pitching; Miller, McGlohon, Jerry Gibson and Allan Wilson were all good pitchers for us, and we had Ayden Magazine Summer/Fall 2018
good hitting with George Booth being a really good hitter. “All those guys were able to hit and field and run the bases, just everything you want in a team. That’s what those guys were, a true joy to coach,” he added. The following season, Miller and company had moved on to Chapel Hill and the Tornadoes were again tasked with carrying on the football winning streak of 40 games. As the winning reached its peak of 45 games, Farmville came to town with quarterback Fred Sauls. Ayden’s 45-game winning streak began after a loss to a Farmville team quarterbacked by Sauls’ older brother, Dixon, who gave Ayden a 13-0 defeat. Ayden’s next game following that loss ended in a tie, 13-13, to Beaufort High School, but then the winning streak was on — that is until the Tornadoes ran into the younger Sauls, fours years later. Sauls handed Ayden a 24-7 defeat that was the first of two the Tornadoes would face that year. A Pamlico County High School one-point loss, 13-12, was the other. With just a two-game loss, the Tornadoes
Ayden Magazine Summer/Fall 2018
Coach Bob Murphrey (right) was inducted into the N.C. High School Athletic Association Hall of Fame after 43 years of coaching with three state championships at Ayden High School, now Ayden-Grifton High School.
advanced to the playoffs. Ayden took on Robersonville High School at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium in Greenville in the first round of the playoffs and handled them rather easily with a 47-9 victory. The second round, played in Rocky Mount, was tougher for the Tornadoes, as they faced a Weldon team that they narrowly defeated, 22-21, to advance to the state championship
game. The Tornadoes, known for their long winning streak and excellent fellow sports programs, looked to lock down the team’s first-ever state title with Red Springs High School standing in the way of that goal. The goal was met. The Tornadoes defeated Red Springs, 1413, bringing home a state championship title.
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Robert Twilley (center) and his research students attend the Coastal and Eastuarine Research Federation (CERF) Conference in Providence, Rhode Island in 2017. He was president of CERF at this time.
Highest Hero soars Twilley credits much of his accomplishments to his roots which are deeply embedded in his beloved town of Ayden. By Amber Revels-Stocks | Photos Courtesy of Robert R. Twilley
Dr.
Robert R. Twilley may not live in Ayden anymore, but he has always considered himself an Aydenite. “It’s been quite interesting in my travels … I’m always asked where I’m from, and I always say Ayden,” Twilley said. “It’s amazing how many times people would have a connection to Ayden. I’m very proud of my roots there.” That’s part of why he won the Ayden Highest Hero Award, an award given annually by the Ayden Chamber of Commerce. The annual award goes to a former or current citizen of Ayden who has done someAyden Magazine Summer/Fall 2018
thing extraordinary in his or her life and carried the Ayden name outside of its borders while spreading its cheer and goodwill. It is a unique award that should go to a unique person that calls Ayden home, according to Mitchell Oakley, a Highest Hero nominating committee member. Twilley received the award for his work with wetlands, estuaries and mangrove forests as part of Louisiana State University’s Sea Grant program. “(Receiving the award) was pretty grand. It was quite surprising but a pleasant surprise,” Twilley said.
Twilley was born in Delaware, but when DuPont opened its plant in Kinston, his family moved to Ayden. Twilley was 9-months-old at the time. “Ayden was a great community to grow up in,” he said. “I was very active in high school. I played football and was in student government.” When he was in high school, the baseball, football and basketball teams all won state champions. “When I was growing up in Ayden, it was called the ‘City of Champions,’” Twilley said. “We had signs by the highway intersections 25
Twilley (second from left) visiting his parents, Reece (seated, left) and Jo (seated, right), at Cypress Glen Retirement Community in Greenville.
that said, ‘Welcome to the City of Champions’ and a list of everything we’d won. It gave me a tremendous sense of confidence.” During his senior year, Twilley was part
Twilley says he owes a lot of his success to growing up in the town of Ayden. of a group of students helping plan AydenGrifton High School. “As the student body president (at Ayden High School), we worked on the mascot and the colors for the new school. I loved the San Diego Chargers and the Green Bay Packers, so I pushed for the colors green and gold and the name Chargers,” Twilley said. “The toughest part was trying to get away from the hyphenated name, but whatever we tried 26
Ayden-Grifton always came out as the preferred name (when the schools voted). Having a hyphenated name worked out well, though.” His wife, Louise, was in the last class to graduate from Ayden High School, and one of her relatives was in the first class to graduate from there. His sister was in the first class to graduate from Ayden-Grifton High School. After high school, Twilley had to decide where to go to college. “I struggled with where to go to college. I got offers from Wake Forest and Western Carolina,” Twilley said. “I ended up at ECU more as a matter of convenience since it was about 20 miles from home.” He planned to major in biology and return to high school as a teacher and football coach. “Then I met two people — Professor Wilton and Mark Prinson. Professor Wilton opened up the field of biology, and I fell in love with it,” Twilley said. “My senior year, I met Mark Prinson from the University of Florida. I was always into environmental sci-
ence, and he got me into the study of ecology.” Prinson made Twilley realize how important wetlands are to the environment. “My first undergrad project was on the Pamlico River. The idea of learning science and using it to solve water quality issues in the area I grew up in was amazing. It opened my eyes to the idea I can contribute using science,” he said. Twilley did his master’s work on the Chowan River with Pinson as his graduate adviser. Pinson convinced him to continue with schooling and to get his PhD at the University of Florida. “When I graduated from Ayden High School, if you’d told me I would do my PhD at the University of Florida, I’d ask what you were drinking. ECU opens doors for kids from small towns,” Twilley said. “If I hadn’t gone to ECU, my life would be very different. Maybe I would have been a football coach and a high school teacher. I would’ve been fine with that.” Ayden Magazine Summer/Fall 2018
While in Florida, Twilley did paleo- that we just really fell in love.” ecology, which is the study of interactions In 2004, he got a call from Louisiana between organisms and their environments State University. The state was in the middle across geologic timescales. It is as boring as of a restoration project, and Twilley became it sounds, according to Twilley. the leader of it. “I hated it. I wanted to use science to help “I felt the same thing as I did working people,” he said. on the Chowan (in grad school). I wanted That is when Ariel Lugo of the Environmental Protection Agency came to Twilley’s rescue. “He was trying to look into protecting mangroves. They are the only tree that grows in salt water. The idea is that a lot of food that mangroves produce get exported into fisheries because fish utilize them,” Twilley said. While he started his work in Florida, he has now visited every tropical mangrove forest in the world. During his work in Florida, Twilley was offered a postdoctoral position at the New Hornspoint Lab on the site of the former DuPont Estate. It is located roughly 45 miles from where Twilley was born. Twilley has some fun with an elementary student, a pelican and a bald eagle at “It was a study of the ChesOcean Commotion held at Louisiana State apeake Bay funded by the EPA. University. “Ocean Commotion is our The oyster catch was declinprogram’s premier outreach event when ing. The soft-shelled crab catch it comes to elementary and middle school was declining. The striped education,” he said. bass were almost gone. Back in 1980, the Chesapeake Bay was a mess,” Twilley said. “We thought (a loss of sea grass) was causing the decline. We thought if we to be giving back to people,” Twilley said. brought the sea grass back, we’d bring back “It’s a great feeling to do science and help the animals. I worked for five years on that, the economy and people, to take complicated and it was a tremendous experience.” science and help people understand it. I testiWhen Twilley began looking for full- fied in D.C. in front of Congress; I had to time teaching positions, he was offered a pinch myself.” tenure track position at Lafayette College When Hurricane Katrina hit in August in Louisiana, which has a marine lab that 2005, Twilley was there. He spoke to Time studies wetlands. magazine, NPR and the nation through press “I had no motivation to move all the way conferences. down there. My wife and I are from Ayden. We “It was a fascinating experience when had two sons born in Cambridge, Maryland. Katrina hit. They closed LSU, so I was doI said, ‘Let me get tenure, and we’ll move ing everything from our home in Lafayette,” back.’ If you’re offered a tenure-track job, Twilley said. “Melissa Block from NPR called you don’t turn it down,” he said. “Lafayette my house. My wife answered and was like College reminds me a lot of ECU. There’s ‘Do you want to talk to Melissa Block?’ Of about 15,000 students. And (the town of) course, I did.” Lafayette reminded us so much of Ayden, He drove to a nearby NPR studio and was Ayden Magazine Summer/Fall 2018
interviewed on Block’s show “All Things Considered.” “So many people, even from Ayden, emailed me to say, ‘I heard you on NPR.’ It was incredible, a real highlight of my career,” Twilley said. During Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010, Twilley was the chief scientist for the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority. “It probably was the largest oil spill in U.S. history. It was just chaos. It shut down fishing grounds and wetlands. Black oil washed up on everything. We needed to find a way to keep it from everything,” he said. Then-Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal formed a committee to approve proposals based on science. Twilley voted down one of the governor’s plans. “I got crossways with politicians,” he said. “All politicians have a great intention to do something helpful, but my job was to tell them the science of it. I could have done a better job articulating that, but I didn’t.” While he is still involved with policy, Twilley has gone back to teaching at LSU, where he works as director of the Sea Grant program. The program works to promote stewardship of the state’s coastal resources through a combination of research, education and outreach, according to Sea Grant Louisiana. “I love it. … We get to research and use it to solve problems in the community. I get to see science turned into real solutions,” Twilley said. He owes a lot of his success to Pinson and growing up in Ayden. “Growing up in the ‘City of Champions’ gave me a tremendous sense of confidence, and I worked my butt off in the tobacco fields, which gave me a tremendous sense of discipline. I never imagined this. Doors just kept opening for me, and I just kept grabbing opportunities,” Twilley said. “At every point, everything circled back around. If you keep working hard and performing, everything will keep building. Everything will work out.” 27
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Community Foundation 2017 Legend Ike Baldree (right) presents George Booth the 2018 Legend award. (Inset) Dink Mills became the first recipient of the Legend award in 2010.
Jackets, scholarships & golf Ayden’s Community Foundation is more than just a foundation. By Donna Marie Williams
T
radition, service, sports and community are a reoccurring theme within the Community Foundation Inc. of Ayden. The Community Foundation has served the communities of Ayden and Grifton since 1999 with a mission to provide letterman jackets and scholarships to students at Ayden-Grifton High School and to honor past alumni or employees of the community’s high schools. The foundation received its humble start from a single contribution. The contribution 30
was originally meant as a means to purchase a bus to transport Ayden-Grifton High School’s athletes to and from sporting events. Unfortunately, they were unable to purchase a bus due to state regulations. Bob Murphrey suggested forming the committee of the Ayden-Grifton Charger Club. The committee would serve as an athletic booster club and would later figure out how to best use the contribution. Murphrey, Charles White, Tony Dail and Mitchell Oakley were the founding members
of the committee. The committee has since transitioned into the Community Foundation Inc. and has gained nonprofit status. Today, the foundation is run by a board of directors and officers. The board elects new members every two years. The 2018 officers include chairman Trudy Riggs, vice chairman Paul Russell and secretary Kathy Frazier. Founding member Oakley serves as the board’s treasurer. Dail, Al Butts, Johnny Davis, Bruce Gray, Charles Mitchell, Art Rouse and Robbie Rouse Ayden Magazine Summer/Fall 2018
Founder Mitchell Oakley (right) and chairwoman Trudy Riggs are proud to be a part of the Community Foundation and to support student-athletes — past and present.
serve as directors. Ayden Mayor Steve Tripp, Grifton Mayor Billy Ray Jackson and Murphrey serve as ex-officio non-voting members.
One of the primary functions of the club from its creation is to provide letter jackets to student-athletes at Ayden-Grifton High School. To letter, an athlete must meet certain criteria that is determined at the school level. Ayden Magazine Summer/Fall 2018
An athlete may letter their freshman year, but only juniors and seniors receive the jackets. “We do this to keep the kids in the program. Chance is they get it their freshmen year, then they won’t play as a senior,” Oakley said. The foundation began providing the jackets to the students in 1999 and took over funding the letter jacket program completely from the Ayden-Grifton Booster Club in 2006. The booster club provided the students with their letterman jackets before the foundation became involved. The foundation spends approximately $6,500 annually to provide approximately 75 jackets. “Some students could not afford to buy their jackets,” Riggs said.
Ayden-Grifton High School’s athletic director Corey Skinner added, “So many of our kids are given so little, and for them to have the (jackets, you) see the pride it gives them.” That pride leaves a lasting impression. Russell still remembers receiving his jacket and how proud he was to receive it. The players put in a lot of hard work even before a game is ever played. They and their families contribute hard work. “(The jackets) honor their hard work and dedication to whichever sport they are involved in and their longevity in that sport,” Riggs said. Russell added, “The jackets not only are a way to reward students who put in the countless hours, (but) rewards (them) as being good students.” 31
Top: Tony Dail (right), recipient of the 2013 Legend, congratulates Charles Becton as the 2014 Legend. Above: Bobby Worthington (left), former chairman of the Community Foundation, presents Vern Davenport the 2012 Legend award. 32
Along with the letter jacket program, the foundation also presents three scholarships to Ayden-Grifton High School student-athletes. The scholarships are first presented to the students during the senior awards ceremony at Ayden-Grifton High School and then during the awards ceremony at the foundation’s Alumni Charity Golf Tournament. To earn one of the three scholarships, the recipient must be an Ayden-Grifton High School senior athlete. The foundation relies heavily on the coaches at the high school to establish criteria and to determine which student-athletes best meet those criteria. “We look for well-rounded kids with good character and good academics, who are good athletes,” Skinner said. Frazier added, “(The recipients) are not only good athletes but good students. They represent the total package that you would like to have as a student-athlete.” The foundation awards the Stuart Tripp, Bob Murphrey and Thomas G. (Tommy) Bullock scholarships annually. The Stuart Tripp scholarship fund was established in 2006 to honor Hall of Fame coach Stuart Tripp. Tripp was inducted into the N.C. High School Athletic Association Hall of Fame in 2004. An Ayden native, Tripp graduated from Ayden High School and the former-East Carolina Teachers College, now East Carolina University. Tripp coached basketball, football and baseball the majority of his life in Ayden and eventually became principal at Ayden Elementary School. While coaching, he had an overall record in all three sports of 554-164-4 and had led the Ayden Tornadoes basketball teams to go 72-4, including two consecutive unbeaten teams of 28-0 and back-to-back state basketball championships in 1966 and 1967. Tripp died in 2009, but during his lifetime he touched many lives. His friends, family, former players and former students still contribute to his scholarship fund today, according to Oakley. Thirteen Chargers have received the $1,000 Stuart Tripp scholarship, including Allison Frazier, Justin Johnson, Stephon McGee, Zachary Pipkin, Kyle Allen, Spencer Demato, Elizabeth Ann Spear, Matt McLawhorn, Giddell Waters, Garrett Woods, John Winslow, Noah Little and Aaron Gray. The Bob Murphrey scholarship was Ayden Magazine Summer/Fall 2018
Ayden-Grifton High School Class of 2018 graduates (L-R) Haley Davis, Aaron Gray and Marissah Waggoner receive the 2018 Community Foundation Inc. scholarships.
established in 2011 to honor Coach Bob Murphrey. At the time of his retirement, Murphrey maintained the record for being the coach with the most amounts of wins — more than 600. Murphrey was the basketball coach at Ayden-Grifton High school after Tripp stepped down. In 2016, Murphrey was inducted in the N.C. High School Athletic Association. Since the formation of the scholarship, eight recipients have received the $500 scholarship, including Derrica Jones, Taylor Cabinass, Samantha Easton, Destiny Dixon, Brittany Taylor, Hunter Cannon, Charlie W. McLawhorn and Marissah Waggoner. Murphrey is honored to have the scholarship named after him and is proud to make a difference in a student’s life. “It is always important for a kid to have some help for higher education,” Murphrey said. Thanks to a substantial contribution from an anonymous benefactor in 2012, the foundation launched the Thomas G. (Tommy) Ayden Magazine Summer/Fall 2018
Bullock scholarship. Bullock moved to Ayden from Norfolk, Va., at age 13. He graduated from Ayden High School in 1949 where he played football and basketball. He received his teaching degree from the then-East Carolina Teachers College and later taught in Greene County. While in Greene County, he also coached basketball and baseball. Later, he became a sales representative with a radio station in Farmville and then became the personnel director at Collins & Aikman before he retired. The Farmville Jaycees named Bullock Man of the Year after he started the youth football and basketball programs in Farmville. Five student-athletes have garnered the $500 Bullock scholarship, including Jorge Martinez, Noah Johnson, Amanda Spear, Kelly Pridgen and Haley Davis. The foundation also awards a Legend Award annually. The Legend award began in 2010 to honor those in the communities who have gone forward and made a difference in their life and in the lives of others.
The award may be presented to alumni, principals, athletic directors, coaches, players, managers, scorekeepers, announcers or sports bus drivers in the Ayden and Grifton communities. The person who receives the award must be either a graduate or have been employed at Ayden, South Ayden, Grifton or Ayden-Grifton high schools. “To me, it is important that we name a legend. They have been a pillar to the community. This gives us a chance to give back to them,” Davis said. Past legends include Dail, Dennis “Dink” Mills, Leonard Bullock, Verm Davenport, Charles Becton, Paul Miller, Alice Jean “Buggy” Smith, Nelson Ike Baldree and George Booth. To provide funding for all of its activities, each year the foundation hosts a golf tournament. The Alumni Charity Golf Tournament is traditionally held at the Ayden Country Club the Thursday before Memorial Day. As tradition goes, Bum’s Catering of Ayden provides food for the ceremony dinner 33
Paul Oakley wearing a Community Foundation letter jacket.
each year and alumni from Ayden, South Ayden, Grifton, and Ayden-Grifton high schools are invited back each year to compete in the golf tournament. Teams pay $240 or $60 a person to participate in the 18-hole super-ball tournament. Typically, there are around 20 teams with four players each, but the tournament has had as many as 25 teams play. Prizes for the longest drive, closet to pin and four different flight awards are presented during the evening’s ceremony. This is also when the Legend Award and scholarships are presented. Sponsorship can also be purchased in different fashions and begins at $100. The golf tournament is jam-packed with “camaraderie,� Riggs said. “It’s like a reunion of sorts,� Riggs said. Since the Community Foundation Inc. was founded, it has continuously strived to honor past and present athletes in the Ayden-Grifton communities. While each foundation member joined for different reasons, the common goal is to give back to current students and past athletes is present within each individual, Oakley said. Foundation members remain grateful for all the support shown throughout the years. “The people who played today in the tournament, helping these kids get scholarships and jackets, are my hero,� said Mitchell during the 2018 golf tournament banquet. For Dail, the 2013 Legend, the foundation’s success is attributed in part to Oakley. “Mitchell has been the common denominator for all of us to stay informed,� Miller, the 2015 Legend, added. To support the foundation, email Oakley at moakley62@embarqmail.com. Checks, made payable to “Community Foundation Inc.,� may be mailed to 5480 W.W. Gaskins Road, Ayden, NC 28513.
Y’S GRILL D N A & Recreation -FF 4U "ZEFO t 0QFO B N UP Q N .POEBZ 4BUVSEBZ
“The Pool Room� a common name heard throughout Ayden, has been in operation in downtown Ayden since the 1940s. Renamed Andy’s Grill & Recreation in 1971, the Stocks family bought the iconic business and expanded its services from a pool hall to a restaurant that also serves breakfast, lunch and dinner. “We were Andy’s way before the chain and outlasted them,� said owner and manager Johnny Stocks, whose father, Andy, bought the business in the early 70s. Stocks has watched his customers grow up over the years and their families expand. “Being in business 50 years, you develop relationships. Friends and family come to Andy’s when they are in town from D.C. and New York, just like they do at Bum’s and Skylight (Inn). “I have seen generations grow up, like kids who used to come in with their grandparents and now come back with their kids. I love it.�
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Ayden Magazine Summer/Fall 2018
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