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MOUNT AIRY WOMAN MARKS 100 YEARS
Frances Johnson was born on March 25, 1900, and during her 100 years this energetic, fun-loving lady has covered a lot of ground.
Her church, the First Baptist, honored her on March 19 as their oldest member. Up until recent years, the centenarian was a faithful member singing in the choir, serving as president of the Women�s Missionary Union and heading the Primary Department.
And in the community, she has been well-known for her contributions to her garden club, the Mountain View Gardeners, and the Order of the Eastern Star Chapter No. 18.
A charter member of the garden club, she served as president in 1952-53 and again 1971-72. She also held other offices and was instrumental in helping organize another garden club, the Modern Gardeners, in 1956.
She is a past matron of the Mount Airy Chapter of the Order of the Eastern Star No. 18 and past Grand Matron of the Grand Chapter of the North Carolina Order of the Eastern Star.
Mrs. Johnson was born to S.A. and Ada Coble Hennis and grew up with two brothers, Sam Hennis and the late Hugh Hennis, and two sisters, Lily Bondurant and the late Verona Wall.
She was married on Dec. 31, 1918, to Claude Johnson, a prominent business man who owned Mount Airy Produce Exchange. They had one daughter, Eva, who is married to Walter Page Jr., and resides in Columbus, Ohio. There are two grandchildren, Frances Page Porter of LaCanada, Calif., and Walter S. Page II of Hermosa, Calif. And there are two great-grandchildren, Stevan Porter Jr., a student at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, and Charles Johnson Porter of California.
Reflecting on her past, Mrs. Johnson recalled that after finishing Mount Airy High School she took early employment as one of the first women hired by Belk�s Department Store (now Belk of Mayberry Mall.) It was during that time that she created a wonderful relationship with some of her dearest friends, Nell Cox, Ethel Doss, Sudie Lee Welch and Cora Shackelford.
Later, she worked for a well-known doctor in Mount Airy, Dr. Thomas Worrell. He later retired and Dr. R.M. Caldwell took over his practice. She continued to work for him until they both retired.
During the past weekend Mrs. Johnson was entertained with a birthday luncheon hosted by members of her garden club and another event on Sunday afternoon at the Masonic Temple with members of the Eastern Star as hosts.
Hundreds of friends attended the events to pay tribute to an outstanding citizen.
Ann Bolen, a garden club hostess, said of Mrs. Johnson, �She has shown all her life, her love of God through her love of people and the beauty of His world.�
FROM THE MT. AIRY NEWS,April 4, 2000
Thomson Hopes To See Book Published Before His Death
By CAROLINE BEAMER
Staff Writer
It�s the struggling writer�s story. Spend years working on a book, only to have it rejected by literary agents and editors alike. But this time the story has a twist.
William D. �Bill� Thomson, a native of Glasgow, Scotland, and resident of Mount Airy since 1997, is running out of time; he has terminal cancer. Like an impatient child, he waits to hold The Lion and the Leopards in his hands, to touch the physical evidence of years of research and �total commitment.�
His dream is about to come true. His historical novel, set in 13th century Scotland, will be published shortly by Xlibris.com, an Internet publisher. Xlibris will publish the novel in hardback, paperback and in e-book form. It will be marketed through Internet retailers, in addition to traditional book stores.
Will Thomson be here to see his book in print? Probably.
�I�m riding it out,� he said, referring to his cancer. �It�s a day-by-day thing. The pain is what I have to deal with.�
Thomson added the pain is what he struggles to regulate �so that I can keep on doing things.� He wants to stay productive, to keep writing.
The Lion and the Leopards is a subject that puts a sparkle into Thomson�s eyes. Thin and slightly pale, his cancer, adeno carcinoma of the gall bladder, is one that doctors say has a 4 percent survival rate.
�They tried three cycles of chemotherapy, but we stopped,� said Thomson, who is not one to wax melancholy about his circumstances. �You just go on,� he said.
Thomson began his writing endeavors in 1996, using the medieval time period to write a romance novel.
�I did my first edit and chucked it right into the garbage,� said Thomson, who rethought his plan. �I had to have something I cared about.�
He wanted characters with depth and courage.
�Not a bodice ripper with shallow people,� said Thomson. �So I went to my consultant editor, Melody (his wife).�
They talked and decided he would do a rewrite, so that the book would capture the epic proportions of what happened when 13th century English King Edward told the Scots that they no longer needed their own king.
�Those people and that time period were larger than life,� Thomson explained.
Eventually the peasants banded together and rebelled. It�s this conflict that sets the scene for Thomson�s book. His hero, Alexander MacWrath, is based upon real-life William Wallace, a commoner who led the rebellion and was captured by the British, tried and put to death. The story, which has a romance between MacWrath and a Lady Elizabeth, culminates with England�s inevitable defeat.
�It was a crushing blow for England,� Thomson said.
The novel is accurate in details of the time period, but the historical facts were adjusted slightly to give the story the track Thomson wanted. A postscript at the end discusses what the actual dates and facts were.
Thomson is excited about at last being published.
�You have to be driven,� he said, referring to his desire to be a writer and his outlook on life, as well.
FROM MT. AIRY NEW, AUG 17,2000
Tri-century citizen celebrates birthday
Ola Edwards celebrates her 102nd birthday at Hugh Chatham Nursing Center on Saturday. Edwards was born July 14, 1899.
By Carrie J. Sidener
Staff Reporter
Not very many people can say they have lived in three centuries.
Ola Edwards can. She was born July 14, 1899. Her family held her 102nd birthday celebration Saturday at Hugh Chatham Nursing Center in Elkin.
Edwards was born and raised in Ronda at Claymont Hill, the family home overlooking the south side of the Yadkin River. She is the third oldest and the last surviving child of six children born to W.A. and Eva Jane Hampton Hendrix.
"Her whole life was her family and her home," daughter-in-law Dorothy Edwards said Monday. "She was very dedicated to her family and her home."
Edwards went to Ronda Academy, Miss Mamie Barber�s Home School for Young Ladies and Girls and graduated from Ronda High School. She also attended Queen�s College in Charlotte.
"She was a giver," said Edwards. "She loved to help people. Most everyone she�d see in need she would help."
Edwards retired from Chatham Manufacturing Company in 1964. She worked there for 30 years. Edwards has lived in the nursing center since 1998.
"Her grandchildren and great-grandchildren," said Edwards. "She could just eat them up. Now she doesn�t even know them."
Edwards� husband Earl died in 1981. She has twin sons, Bill Edwards of Elkin and Jim Edwards and his wife Dorothy of Hamptonville. Edwards has two grandchildren and their spouses, Tammy and Gary Church of Charlotte and Doug and Brooke Edwards of Salisbury. She also has six great grandchildren, Ashley, Lindsey, Zachary and Matthew Church, and Logan and Travis Edwards.
From The Tribune, Elkin, NC,Monday, July 16, 2001.
Cook Article
