Editorials

I never knew I liked blueberries until my best friend's mama made blueberry pancakes for breakfast one Saturday morning after a baseball card themed sleepover. I was about 12 and it was one of my first exotic culinary experiences.
I'd never had blueberries, but it was love at first bite. After that, my mama would drive me over to Finch's Nursery in Mount Pleasant on a Saturday morning around July 4th every summer until I was old enough to drive myself. It didn't take long to fill a bucket for pancakes, muffins, and mama's sourdough blueberry loaf that became one of my favorite all time foods.

I began my newspaper career in 1985 at the Rocky Mount paper, which was then named The Evening Telegram. Never did I think I'd become a longtime newspaper gal, now celebrating 41 years in the industry, 35 of those years right here at my hometown newspaper!
I applied for a job opening in the classifieds department at the Rocky Mount paper with plans to arrange evening classes at Nash Technical College with a focus on a business management or marketing career. Little did I know I was about to be bitten by the "newspaper bug" with a journey ahead filled with hands-on experiences and learning.

Robert Coggin was born circa 1748 in Isle of Wight, Va. He enlisted at "Ramsay's Mills" probably Ramseur's Mills in 1781 in Randolph County. He served 12 months as private under Captains Sharp and James Carter in Colonel Armstrong's North Carolina Regiment. Anthony Sharp was Captain of 1st NC Regiment in 1778-1782. That regiment was involved in Battle of Eutaw Springs, South Carolina on 8 September 1781.

This photo published in The Nashville Graphic on Sept. 2, 1976. Nashville Mayor Rex Paramore presents Mrs. Rebecca Shumate of Peoples Bank in Nashville a proclamation designating Sept. 6-12 as American Institute of Banking Week. The AIB had 250,000 members who sought to expand their knowledge of banking through education.