Tribute to a Dean of Righteousness

 

        I grew up in Alabama where football was king and Bear Bryant had more clout than George Wallace.  I knew very little about Tobacco Road and the great ACC basketball traditions of Everett Case and Frank McGuire.  When I moved to North Carolina in the 1970s NC State became my adopted team.  I soon learned about the great legacy of Norm Sloan, David Thompson and Tommy Burleson.  I rode the emotional tide of Jimmy Valvano’s 1983 NCAA Championship for the ages. But there was always this quiet guy at the other school, the one where they wear light blue—a guy named Dean. 

        I didn’t know if Dean was his first name or if he was an actual Dean at the university.  He didn’t have the personality of Jimmy Valvano, he wasn’t a lightening rod like Lefty Driesell, he didn’t rub people the wrong way like Mike Krzyzewski; but he was a consistent winner who ran a clean program and never let any one player, not even Michael Jordan, become bigger than the team. While his basketball accomplishments were extraordinary, when I learned that Coach Smith was a dedicated member of the Binkley Memorial Baptist Church in Chapel Hill I started to realize that there was more to the story.

        Dr. Robert Seymour became the founding pastor of Binkley Church in 1958 and served for 30 years.  One the church’s first members was Dean Smith who was then an assistant basketball coach.  The two men quickly became good friends, an influential friendship that would last a lifetime. 

        Dr. Seymour’s prophetic voice guided his church to be on the cutting edge of social issues.  One of the first interns at the church was James Forbes, an African-American student from Union Theological Seminary.  Forbes went on to a legendary career of his own, later becoming the Senior Minister of the Riverside Church in New York City.  But his short time at Binkley Church was transformational and resulted in a dramatic, but little known event that many credit to ending segregation in Chapel Hill.

        The North Carolina basketball team often ate at the Pines Restaurant, a popular upscale Chapel Hill institution.   Of course, the basketball team was all white and the restaurant only served white people, as did all the other restaurants in Chapel Hill.  That all changed one day at lunch when four men entered the restaurant and asked to be seated.  Two of the men were black.  The manager was quickly summoned and was about to deny their request until he recognized one of the white men who was the Assistant Basketball Coach at the University of North Carolina.  Without any resistance, Dean Smith, along with his pastor Bob Seymour and a black student and a black minister were seated.  Most people never learned about this until years later.  Amazingly, it took place a year before the much publicized Greensboro lunch counter sit-ins. 

        A few years later it was Bob Seymour who told now head Coach Dean Smith that it was time for him to recruit a black player.  Charlie Scott had committed to Davidson and was actually enrolled in the freshman class but a visit to the campus with his parents had resulted in an ugly incident when they were refused service at a diner.  Charlie went home and called Dean Smith who brought him to visit the UNC campus.  They didn’t go to a diner.   Coach Smith brought the prized recruit to church.  Years later Charlie Scott would recall, “That’s when I knew he cared about me as a person.”

        It wasn’t just racial issues, but Dean Smith was a champion for women’s rights, equality for homosexuals, and other progressive causes.

        John Feinstein, an acclaimed sports writer, was interviewing Coach Smith a few years ago and asked him to tell him the Pines Restaurant story.  Smith gave him an angry look and said, “Who told you about that?”

        “Rev. Seymour,” he responded.

        “I wish he hadn’t done that,” Coach Smith said. 

        John Feinstein said, “Why?  You should be proud of doing something like that.”

        Dean Smith leaned forward in his chair and in a very quiet voice said, “You should never be proud of doing what is right.  You should just do what’s right.”

        And he did.  He did what was right his entire life.  He was a Dean of Righteousness. 

                                                               

                                        

Vinnon Williams--"Citizen of the Year"

        The Lexington Area Chamber of Commerce annually recognizes the “Citizen of the Year.”  It was my honor to present the award to Vinnon Williams, one of the most deserving men I know.  Vinnon has been a special friend since we arrived in Lexington in 1990.   Here are the remarks I made at the Chamber Banquet on Tuesday night.

      (Vinnon did not have a clue that he was being recognized!)

 

        It is an honor to stand here tonight to recognize a dedicated community servant, a man who has made a made a qualitative difference in Lexington, a man who believes that planning for the future involves investing in the lives of children and young people.  Most people call him by his first name, many former students still call him “Coach.”  I call him my good friend.

        A former educator and coach, he spent 21 years working with young people in the classroom and on the athletic field and court.  He changed professions, but he never changed his commitment to children as he works now to make a positive difference in the lives of the poorest and most deserving children in our county.

        Let’s step back in time 32 years ago, to 1983, when our honoree is attending his SS class at First Baptist Church.  The focus of the lesson that day was feeding the hungry, caring for the needy, providing shelter for the homeless.  The discussion wasn’t whether those were things we should do or not, but it centered around how all we usually do is talk about it.   The one we honor tonight led his class to not just talk the talk but walk the walk as they started the homeless shelter—literally in their SS classroom that had an outside door.  The Homeless shelter later became Crisis Ministry of Davidson County. 

        The nomination for Citizen of the Year, which came from a number of influential people, is primarily due to the work, the labor of love, that our honoree has tirelessly dedicated himself to in recent years. 

        The Lexington Kiwanis Club founded the Kiddie Kamp in 1928.  For almost 90 years now, this camp has provided a positive, happy, safe, and remarkable summer camp experience for children in this county whose families could not afford a camp, a beach trip, or a summer vacation.  The children, who are selected by the Department of Social Services, often come from unfortunate home situations where they are not encouraged, not valued, and sometimes abused.  These children are desperate for any type of encouragement and happiness.  They need a safe place, where they can have good food to eat, and where they are loved and valued. Kamp Kiwanis provides this experience, but it is an expensive endeavor.

       In 1946 the Kiwanis Club received approval from the Davidson County Commissioners to operate the annual county fair with the revenue providing for the Kiddie Kamp.  In the almost 70 years of operation, the county fair has had only four managers.  When Jaybird McCrary retired, Vinnon Williams became the fair manager, which is his labor of love for the children of this community.

        Jim Nance wrote:  As Fair Manager, Vinnon is totally responsible for one of the largest public undertakings in our community.  His managerial gifts and his love for and commitment to Davidson County have enabled him to make this project a continuing success even in trying and evolving times.

        Dan Smith says, “Vinnon has worked selflessly over many years to bring the Davidson County Fair to fruition.”

        Jimmy Holshouser:  “Everyone in the Kiwanis Club knows that our mission is to help children and Vinnon has taken this on as a personal challenge to see the fair grow and prosper to continue this community service to deserving youngsters in our community”

        Wayne Alley, who works with Vinnon, tells how Vinnon is working on the fair all year long, constantly on the phone.  The week of the fair, Wayne says “He will spend over 100 hours at the fairgrounds.  It is one heck of a job but he does it gladly because he knows the club’s purpose is to send 180 needy children to camp in the summer.

        Jim Tate wrote:  “He is a good example of a person with a positive attitude, a heart for giving and one who is a leader and mentor to others.”

        And Gene Klump summed it all up when he wrote:  “His efforts literally changes the lives of many underprivileged children in Davidson County through Kamp Kiwanis”

        His reputation and influence as fair manager led to his election last year as the President of the North Carolina Agricultural Fair Association.  Vinnon is also on the board of American Legion Baseball and volunteers each summer at the ballpark.  There is a long list of other accomplishments, but it is time for us to recognize a man who is most deserving of this prestigious honor.  Vinnon’s wife Gloria, has come in, and his son Chad, and his wife Brooke, and their sons Anden and Braden. 

        (At this point Vinnon received a standing ovation!)

       

A TRIBUTE TO MY HERO--ABRAHAM LINCOLN-ON HIS BIRTHDAY

        My hometown newspaper publishes once a week and it usually takes another week or two before I receive it in the mail.  It’s never a problem because my favorite section is not the current news, but a feature titled: “A Look Back.”  Events that were reported 50 years ago are highlighted and I know I’m getting old because I recognize most of the names.  A recent entry noted how the townspeople observed the big state holiday on January 19, 1961.  What state holiday?   Robert E. Lee’s birthday, of course.  We are talking Alabama here! 

        It was in Dixieland where I was born, way down south one frosty morn where the “Heart of Dixie” was the logo our license plates and Jefferson Davis pie was the staple on our dessert plates.  We never sang “The Battle Hymn of the Republic” in church because it was a Yankee song and we had to gently remind our great-grandparents that “The War of Northern Aggression” was indeed over and the outcome was not good.  Therefore it may surprise you to learn that one of my heroes as a boy was none other than Abraham Lincoln. 

        Two portraits hung over the blackboards in my elementary classrooms, George Washington and Abraham Lincoln.  Mention the names of U.S. Grant or especially William Tecumseh Sherman and most southerners would launch into a vitriolic and venomous tirade not fit to print in anyone’s hometown paper.  But mention Abraham Lincoln and people would pause and speak of his greatness. 

        My grandmother took me to Washington, D.C. when I was a boy and I remember the feeling of awe as I stood before the imposing figure of our greatest president at the Lincoln Memorial.  She guided me to the wings of the memorial where the eloquent words of the Gettysburg Address and his second Inaugural Address are inscribed—words that inspired a little boy then, and continue to move this older man now. . .that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom—and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth. . . With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in.

        Lincoln was not only eloquent, but his practical leadership and natural ability to bring people of differing persuasions together saved our nation.  Presidential historian Doris Kearns Goodwin in her exceptional book, Team of Rivals, describes how this little known prairie lawyer from Springfield, instead of appointing his cronies, brought his political rivals together to form his cabinet that would guide the nation through its darkest hours.  Long time adversary William Seward who started as the front-runner in the 1860 Presidential campaign and initially used his position on the cabinet to undermine the President, later called Lincoln’s magnanimity “almost superhuman” and said, “He is the best and wisest man I’ve ever known.” 

        The late historian Shelby Foote said that before the Civil War, people would speak of the United States in the plural.  The United States are . . .  But after the war, people said, “The United States is . . .”  Only the man who spoke of malice toward none and charity for all could create such unity.  How we need such eloquence and statesmanship today! 

        Have you noticed that Lincoln’s birthday on February 12 isn’t celebrated like it used to be?  Maybe we need to change that, to revisit our 16^th President, not only to learn from his genius and marvel at his eloquence, but to follow his example of graciousness, kindness, fairness, and genuine respect for friend and foe alike.  With our country so deeply divided, we need a Lincoln like leader to bring us together and experience a new birth of freedom, one nation, under God, because a house divided against itself cannot stand. 

        Abraham Lincoln is still my hero.