Nov. 15 - 21, 2013
bringing the local news home to northwest Guilford County since 1996 nwobserver.com •
IN THIS ISSUE News in brief................................ 3 Your Questions............................ 4 Oak Ridge Town Council........... 6 Bits & Pieces................................ 9 High School Football.................11 Photo courtesy of Jennifer Zeleski/NWO
Northern Guilford High School students and staff showed their support for the family of classmate Sam Hanlon (center, seated) by purchasing dark blue (the honorary color for colon cancer) T-shirts in honor of her father, who has been battling colon cancer since 2006. Hanlon’s supporters wore their T-shirts and created a “sea of blue” in the stadium at the Nov. 1 home football game. See story on p. 9
Out of the hot seat
and into the saddle
Mayor Mark Brown reflects on 14 years of service, and what’s ahead by ANNETTE JOYCE SUMMERFIELD – For the past 14 years, Mark Brown has served on the Summerfield Town Mark Brown Council – first as a town councilman, and for the last eight years as the town’s mayor. At age 62, Brown says he decided it was time to move on so did not seek re-election earlier this month. He’ll turn over the mayor’s seat on Dec. 10.
A member of the Guilford County sheriff’s department for over 30 years, Brown became interested in town government during his tenure as the assistant district commander at the sheriff’s District 1 office, which serves the northwest area. “Part of my job was to be a liaison with Summerfield, Stokesdale and Oak Ridge,” says Brown. “I started attending the town meetings and over a period of time I was seeing areas that needed improvement and felt I had something to offer.” Even before he decided to run for of-
fice, Brown was an avid volunteer. He became involved with the first Founders’ Day celebration in Summerfield in 1996 when a group of citizens asked him to help with traffic concerns during the parade. The next year he was asked to chair the event – a position that seemed to automatically renew for four more years. After stepping down from the leadership role, he remained on the committee and continued to help find ways to make the event more enjoyable for citizens each year. Along with the Founders’ Day committee, Brown has served on various
Northwest Guilford and Northern Guilford high schools both claimed their division’s conference championship title and will head into the state playoffs on Nov. 15.
Community Calendar.............. 14 Crime/Incident Report............. 15 Letters/Opinions ...................... 16 Grins & Gripes........................... 17 Classifieds................................. 19 Index of Advertisers................. 23 other town committees including Public Safety and Parks and Recreation. His contributions also extend to Stokesdale, where he has been instrumental on the town’s Holiday Parade Committee with handling anything involving traffic. When asked about what has given him the most satisfaction in his tenure on the council, Brown was quick to answer.
...continued on p. 18