Hill, Harrington honored

Historical museum hailed for exhibit, book, furnishings

Robert “Bob” Hill was honored Monday night at the 68^th annual Wake Forest Community Christmas Dinner as the 2016 winner of the Peggy Allen Lifetime Achievement Award for his community work since moving here in 1976.

Town Commissioner and former police chief Greg Harrington was named the 2016 Citizen of the year, and the Wake Forest Historical Museum was chosen as the 2016 Organization of the Year.

Over 200 people were at The Forks Cafeteria for the event emceed by former Peggy Allen recipient Durward Matheny. Harrington, who is a member of the committee which sponsors the dinner, read the account of the Pearl Harbor attack printed in the Old Gold & Black in early December 1941 and then called on local resident Joe Delois, who was at Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941. Delois recounted how he enlisted when he was 16 and said that if anyone in the room had seen the movie “Tora! Tora! Tora!,” “I was the one running down the road.” Other veterans were also recognized.

Mayor Vivian Jones presented plaques to the winners after reading the nomination for each. The three winners were selected after an area-wide nomination process with a secret ballot vote by the members of the Wake Forest Community Council.

Bob Hill came to town, Jones read, “and began immediately a more than 30-year commitment to serving children, civic groups, charitable organizations and schools.” He served on the District 1 school advisory council for six years and was chair for two along with coaching soccer and T-ball in the town recreation leagues. He served as a town commissioner for two terms, elected in 1991 and 1995, and has been a member of the planning board for 18 years, eight of them as chairman. The Wake Forest Area Chamber of Commerce, the Koinonia Foundation Board, Habitat for Humanity and Backpack Buddies have all benefited from his involvement and hard work.

In his speech, Hill recounted the day he and his wife, Jane, moved to town and suddenly, late in the afternoon, realized there was nothing in the house to eat. He went to Keith’s Grocery, which at that time occupied the building that now houses the Forks, gathered what was needful for the evening and morning, and went to check out. That was when he discovered his wallet was on the kitchen counter at their new home. He explained they were new in town and started throwing out the names of those involved in the house purchase – attorney James Warren, the Wake Forest Savings & Loan. The man at the cash register heard him out, reached under the counter, brought out a receipt book, wrote “Groceries — $13.79,” handed the paper to him and said, “Just come by and pay this when you can.” That was when Hill met Bruce Keith and decided they had indeed found the right town.

He’s Uncle Sam for the Fourth of July, was the police chief for 16 years, was on the town planning board, was just elected to his second term as a town commissioner, and probably sold the dinner tickets to a sizable portion of those attending. Greg Harrington has worked with the Wake Forest Boys & Girls Club, Kiwanis, Hoops for Wake Forest, the Wake Tech Advisory Board, and is very involved with the Purple Heart Foundation, one of its founders. He works hard also for veterans organizations and is a docent at the Wake Forest Historical Museum. His speech was short but heartfelt.

The mayor said the Wake Forest Historical Museum “serves as a community anchor for the Town of Wake Forest and its residents.” This year it has hosted almost 10,000 visitors from across the country and the world. Many of them, 2,900, were drawn to the Smithsonian Institution’s Hometown Teams exhibit, one of only six sites in North Carolina. The museum board and dedicated volunteers have worked to preserve and restore the Dr. Calvin Jones House, and this year completed furnishing the entire house with period furniture and household items, recreating the settings of the house’s most significant periods. “Wouldn’t Mrs. Binkley and Mrs. Mackie be proud,” Jones said.

The nomination also noted that Matheny and Jennifer Smart, the museum’s assistant director, received an award from Capital Area Preservation for their book, “Legendary Locals of Wake Forest.” Also, the museum has just been awarded a $25,000 grant to survey, research, digitize and preserve a substantial portion of the museum’s photograph collection.

The hosts for the dinner are the General James Moore Chapter of the DAR, the Wake Forest Purple Heart Foundation, the Wake Forest Historical Museum, the Wake Forest Historical Association, the Wake Forest Rotary Club and the Wake Forest Community Council. Wake Forest Awards and Engraving donated the award for the Peggy Allen Award, and The Forks Cafeteria and The Wake Forest Weekly were thanked for their help.