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By Carrie Miller

Events Coordinator

Davie Sr. Services

Wednesday, Feb. 17 was a wonderful day.

The weather was gorgeous – not too windy, not too cold.

Davie County Senior Services parking lot was filled with cars at 3 p.m. to celebrate this year’s Drive-In, Parking Lot Radio Black History Month program.

The first part of the program was posted a week prior on the Davie County Senior Services Facebook page. The title was “Our Journey, Our Songs: 1619-1865.”

This annual program at Davie Senior Services is sponsored by the Dorothy Graham Family.

Terry Renegar, chair of the Davie County Board of Commissioners, stepped in for NC House Rep. Julia Howard to award Dorothy Rucker Graham with the Order of the Longleaf Pine, one of the most coveted awards in North Carolina. The Order of the Longleaf Pine is awarded to persons who have made significant contributions to the state and to their communities through their exemplary service and exceptional accomplishments. Mrs. Graham shares this honor with the likes of Billy Graham, Maya Angelou, and many other deserving North Carolinians.

Graham was raised in Davie County and was the first in her class when she graduated from the Davie County School System. She became Davie County’s first licensed funeral director in 1957. Mrs. Graham is a member of the local, state, and national Funeral Directors and Morticians Association, and she served as an officer for 20 years.

In 1997, Graham became the first female owner of a funeral home in Davie County with the opening of Graham Funeral Home on Wilkesboro Street in Mocksville. She is also best known by some as a sponsor of the Annual Memorial Day and Black History Programs and by others as a dedicated member of the Clement Grove Church of God, for the Dorothy Rucker Graham Scholarship, or her leadership and planning of the DCTS/Central Davie Reunions.

Graham has distinguished herself as a life member of the Mocksville Rotary Club and a Paul Harris Fellow, past president of the Davie Business Women Association, past treasurer of the local Democratic Party, Calahaln Precinct Judge, All American City Award delegate, and a certified Red Cross Disaster Coordinator and Shelter Manager.

Graham’s community service to Davie County expands to being a board member of the Davie County Department of Social Services, the Nursing Home Advisory Board, the Pearls of Empowerment, the NAACP, and a charter member of the local American Legion Ladies Auxilliary. She also delivered Meals on Wheels for Davie County Senior Services.

To congratulate Mrs. Graham, attendees filled the parking lot with a round of honks – it was a joy to hear!

After the award presentation, Alice Brown shared an educational presentation of the journey and songs from 1619-1865. Each person who came to the event was given a tea light to remember to be the light as they go through every day. The presentation closed with everyone singing along to “This Little Light of Mine.”

Alice Brown made this year’s event one to remem.Brown did an exceptional job.

Davie Senior Services and the Dorothy Graham family would like to thank all who came out to the parking lot and all that watched on Facebook Live. For more information on things going on in the future at Senior Services, call 336-753-6230.