Happy Thursday. Back to the coal mine, the fat man's done for the year.
The names and the news of their demise, as you might expect, prompted a range of reactions.
Kris Kristofferson (88), Jerry West (86), James Earl Jones (93), they were older folks who'd lived long, productive and public lives. Some had struggled with illness, and so their deaths, while sad, weren't terribly surprising.
Others were shocking. Liam Perry? The 31-year-pop star fell to his death from a building? Morgan Spurlock, the Super Size Me filmmaker who took on McDonald's, felled by cancer at 53? They were so young.
Yet others still were infamous -- Pete Rose (83) and O.J. Simpson (76) -- and perhaps didn't prompt much sympathy.
Still, those were celebrities, athletes and entertainers whose images we'd gotten to know through television.
While we may have taken a moment to absorb the news -- perhaps you recalled O.J. 's slow-speed chase in the white Bronco -- those deaths were far away. Other than a fleeting thought, those folks didn't directly impact our lives or our community.
Closer to home, in 2024 we suffered losses, too, with the passing of people who'd made a real difference. Some -- Yvonne Johnson, the first Black mayor of Greensboro -- were in the public arena, people whom you may have voted for (or against) in years past.
Others who were lost this year you likely never heard of, but nevertheless were regular folks who made an outsized impact in the Triad through their lives and their actions.
Those are the folks I choose to remember at year's end. Here are a few notables.
May they rest in peace.
Modest war hero
Horace Barrett never wanted to be in the spotlight.
He was a World War II veteran, one of a rapidly dwindling number, and a highly decorated soldier wounded while fighting in Europe as a member of the U.S. Army's 82nd Airborne Division.
But to his way of thinking, so were a lot of his peers. And so whenever he was approached about speaking or being honored by various civic groups, he'd politely decline by saying something like, "Oh, I don't know about that."
Still, with some gentle prompting in a one-on-one setting, Barrett -- the last surviving member of the 508th Parachute Regiment who'd jumped into France on D-Day -- would allow that he'd had "a front row seat to history."
After D-Day, he fought in Operation Market Garden in Holland and the Battle of the Bulge.
Barrett was awarded three Purple Hearts and two Bronze Stars. He worked as a guard to Gen. Dwight Eisenhower and saw in person Gen. George Patton and British Field Marshal Bernard "Monty" Montgomery.
For all that, though, Barrett was distinctly unimpressed with himself. He considered being a husband and a father greater honors and would just as soon discuss old times with his family.
When he did talk about his service, Barrett used a sly and self-deprecating sense of humor to deflect any praise. He did the same when considering his 100th birthday.
"What's my secret?" he said, repeating the standard question about a long life. "I've been very blessed. I've never had any serious (health) situations. Except for the gunshot wounds."
Horace Barrett died Feb. 22. He was 100.
'A difference maker'
As soon as they heard that a man named Scott Nelson had passed, a group of graceless old men who fancied themselves distance athletes -- has-beens, used-to-be's and never-weres, actually -- started texting each other.
More than a few civically minded folks in Boone and first responders in the wider High Country did, too.
"This makes me sad," wrote Jim Vaughan, a Winston-Salem lawyer, in sharing Nelson's obit with his riding buddies. "I hoisted a stout bourbon in his honor."
"Scott was a difference maker," wrote Jim Olson, a retired textile company executive, in response.
Nelson had served for years as the director for Blood, Sweat and Gears (BSG), a bike ride that's drawn thousands of riders to the High Country since 1999. He helped grow it into an event so popular that it would sell out within minutes.
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Hotel operators, restaurateurs, VRBO owners and other small business owners from Boone to Valle Crusis learned to count on a large economic boost at the start of the summer tourist season.
More important, though, was Nelson's steadfast support of first responders in Ashe and Watauga counties and his work in creating the Winter Warmer Project, a labor of love he fiercely championed to provide coats, blankets and anything else anyone in need might require to get through the bitter cold months.
Both endeavors relied on the financial support provided by Blood, Sweat and Gears and two other rides Nelson helped create.
A tax return filed by BSG Events in 2022, the most recent year available, shows that more than $75,000 in grants and donations were made that year.
"I remember discussing with Scott (about) how he wanted the proceeds from the ride to stay in the area, and in more ways than just a boost to the travel economy," wrote Amy Snider, the secretary of the Meat Camp Volunteer Fire Department. "He understood that some organizations, even though they may be great global non-profits, would distribute money to different locations that may be in need at the current moment.
"Scott worked to make sure that any organization receiving money from the ride would put the funds to use locally, explaining that the people in this area deserved to benefit directly."
Scott Nelson died Dec. 5. He was 69.
A community constant
ADVANCE -- If not for railroad tracks bisecting U.S. 801, passersby zipping through a proud little town of some 1,600 souls might never have noticed the L&S Grocery.
But thanks to the efforts of owner Linda Carter to help anyone with needs small or large, local residents certainly did.
Sudden widows (and widowers) with frightened children, the stricken and those displaced by fire or flash floods could all count on Carter's generosity of spirit whether she knew them personally or not.
It's just what people do.
"She was a constant in our community as the owner of the local general store where everyone gathered," members of the Advance Volunteer Fire Department wrote on social media.
"Linda's passion for bringing joy to others, especially during the holidays, will leave a lasting legacy in our hearts. She touched countless lives and will be greatly missed."
The larger population -- Advance residents and those well beyond -- knew Linda Carter because of the wide reach of Aunt Eloise of the WTQR morning show.
Eloise -- a character played on-air by host Toby Young -- announced to tens of thousands of loyal listeners years ago that tiny Advance would be hosting a Christmas parade that would start at the post office and end at the L&S Grocery -- a distance of maybe 100 feet.
Obviously that caught everyone in town by surprise. Young, a customer, clearly meant it as a gag, but Carter saw an opportunity to turn something absurd into something good.
"A girl called me at home and said, 'Linda, do you know anything about a parade?' I hadn't heard nothing about no parade," Carter told a reporter in 2013 after it had become part of the community's fabric. "I even had someone call me to tell me they wanted to be in it."
A longtime member of the Advance Fire Department Auxiliary, Carter had an ace up her sleeve. The volunteers, she knew, would quickly jump on board -- especially if there was a charitable component to it.
And that's how the Advance Christmas Parade morphed into an annual tradition wrapped around an organizing theme locals refer to as "What Christmas is All About."
In addition to the fun of watching tractors, marching bands, homemade floats, fire trucks and classic cars in a holiday parade, volunteers distribute toys, stuffed animals, toiletries and goody baskets to elderly residents and those who may have encountered hardship.
"It's always a nice surprise to know people are thinking of us," resident Jennifer Rominger said in 2013 after she lost her brother to cancer. "It's become a tradition, and I can't explain how much it means."
Linda Carter died Sept. 26. She was 81.
Two from Triad receive commutations
RALEIGH -- In one of the more unusual holiday traditions, outgoing Gov. Roy Cooper announced the commutations of the sentences of six North Carolina inmates.
Most committed crimes as teens, served decades in prison, showed true remorse and proved that they had been rehabilitated -- which at one time in a distant (and kinder) past, was a main goal of incarceration.
And unlike pardons, which clears someone's name in the eyes of the legal system, commutations let convictions stand while demonstrating official mercy.
Two of the inmates Cooper singled out are scheduled to be released Jan. 6. They were teen-agers when they were convicted and have ties to the Triad.
Sethy Seam, 43, was convicted in 1999 for his role in the robbery and murder of Harold King Sr. in Davidson County. Seam was 16 when King was shot to death and served 25 years in prison. Cooper noted that he has an outstanding record and participated in numerous academic and vocational programs.
Jonathan Burdette, 38, has served nearly 20 years for robbing a restaurant in Rockingham County when was 17. While in prison, he has earned his GED, completed an apprenticeship as an electrician and participated in drug and alcohol rehabilitation.
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@scottsextonwsj
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