The people and organizations that have made a difference in the Mount Olive community and in the lives of the people who live here were honored Thursday night, Feb. 16, during the Mount Olive Area Chamber of Commerce’s annual banquet and awards ceremony.

Chamber President Julie Beck said the awards program was one of her favorite evenings because of the opportunity to recognize individuals, businesses and organizations who have gone above and beyond in the community.

“It is our time to say thank you for the good deeds and making a difference in our lives and our community,” she attested.

Honored were: Ryan Roberts, Lillian B. Langley Award; Hayden Wall, Distinguished Youth Award; Beth Rose, Distinguished Educator Award; Barton Baldwin, Distinguished Senior Citizen; Southern Bank and Trust Co., Business of the Year; Freddie Ellis and Johnny Mac Wells Smokehouse, Spirit of the Chamber Award; Karen Moore, Ruff Huggins Lifetime Community Service Award; and Mount Olive First Pentecostal Holiness Church, Moses E. King Contributions to the Community Award.

“There is a saying that ‘At the end of life, what really matters is not what we bought, but what we built; not what we got, but what we shared; not our competence, but our character; and not our success, but our significance. Live a life that matters. Live a life of love,’” Beck said.

“And tonight we will celebrate those who have shared their skills, their resources and most importantly their love with other people.”

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The Lillian B. Langley Award is named in honor of Langley who was a long-serving Chamber board member.

It is presented in her honor to the individual who went above and beyond with attendance at board meetings, participation in events and a behind-the-scenes worker bee, Beck said.

Roberts attended all Chamber board meetings and events and helped set up and clean up after every event, she said.

He played an active role in amending and updating the Chambers bylaws.

Roberts serves on the Pickles, Pigs & Swigs Committee and N.C. Pickle Festival Committee, both sponsored by the Chamber.

He always offers insight and creative ways to do things at Chamber events and allows the Chamber, N.C. Pickle Festival and Pickles, Pigs & Swigs to have social and fundraising events at his business, R&R Brewing, Beck said.

Roberts hosts a variety of events at his business including bridal showers, baby showers, cookie decorating, painting classes, community fundraisers and company picnics.

In addition to the Chamber, Roberts is actively involved in many community projects like the Arts Council of Wayne County, United Way of Wayne County, Taste of Wayne, Blues, Brew & Que, and other events in Wayne and Duplin counties

“He has been featured in many magazines and on videos including Our State Magazine, N.C. PBS and Tarheel Traveler, and he brings name recognition to our community,” Beck said.

“It has been an honor to have him on the board of directors for the Mount Olive Area Chamber of Commerce.”

Roberts served a three-year term on the Chamber board, then signed up for another three-year term, but due to business expansion, he will step down as a board member to focus on his business, Beck said.

“You have got to have passion in the community that raised you,” Roberts said. “If you are not part of the solution, you are part of the problem.”

Despite stepping down from the Chamber board, Roberts said he hopes to be able to continue to be help the Chamber as much as possible.

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Roberts presented the Distinguished Youth Award to Hayden Wall, a senior and honor student at North Duplin High School, Calypso.

The award is presented to a high school student who attends Southern Wayne, North Duplin or Spring Creek and has excelled academically and given back to the community.

Roberts said the award has a special place in his heart because of his work with the Boy Scouts.

“Recognizing the youth, in my opinion, is the best way to have that brighter future because if you don’t recognize them and show the support and care about them the way they deserve, I really believe they get very disinterested.”

That support could be a key factor in helping to keep young people in the community where they support and help it to continue to grow, he said.

Wall is the son of Angela Hobbs King and the late Ralph Wall and stepson of Randy King.

He was on the varsity football, varsity baseball and junior varsity basketball teams. He was a member of the cross-country and track and field teams.

Wall previously attended Wayne Country Day School in Goldsboro.

He holds a Work Keys Career Ready Certificate and received a Congressional Art Award from Congressman David Rouzer.

Wall is dual-enrolled at Wayne Community College and Sampson Community College where he is taking classes in welding, environmental health and safety classes, agricultural welding and farm equipment repair.

Roberts said he nominated Wall because he wants to see trades make a comeback. Trades can help put infrastructure back together and can even be an artform, he said.

Wall is a youth pre-apprentice with the N.C. Dept. of Labor in mechantronics engineering technology and welding technology.

Wall works at Roberts Machine & Supply and previously worked at The Warehouse Community Center and Fulcher’s Law Care Service.

He also served as a counselor-in-training at Camp Don Lee.

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Melissa Kilpatrick said she was proud to present the Distinguished Educator Award to her friend Beth Rose.

The award is presented to an educator at a local school who goes above and beyond in the classroom and in the community.

Rose is the daughter of Bill and Janet Rose and sister to Scott Rose.

A graduate of North Duplin High School, Rose earned a bachelor of science degree in communication studies from UNC-Chapel Hill.

Rose worked in marketing for pharmaceutical research in planning national and international conferences, writing press releases, creating brochures and promoting products

She worked as a library supervisor for six years at the University of Mount Olive.

Rose taught pre-schoolers at Mrs. Robin’s Academy of Dance when COVID hit and schools were shut down, Kilpatrick said.

She joined Wayne County Public Schools in 2021 and was named Wayne County Beginning Teacher of the Year.

Rose, who teaches seventh-grade English at Mount Olive Middle School, is a finalist for the state North Carolina Center for the Advancement of Teaching Beginning Teacher of the Year.

The state winner will be announced in March.

Rose uses creative ways in the classroom to engage students, Kilpatrick said.

She serves on the Friends of the Library board for Steele Memorial Library and works closely with Literacy Connections of Wayne County.

Rose is an avid reader and takes part in any community opportunity she thinks will enhance reading skills for children from working with small groups to tutoring individuals, Kilpatrick said.

Rose said she is delighted to be able to teach in Wayne County Public Schools.

“But it takes a village to raise a child, and I am grateful to have the Chamber and town of Mount Olive pouring into our students and pouring into our schools,” she said. “Thank you all for helping me do something that I really love.”

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Stephanie Voris presented the Distinguished Senior Citizen Award to Barton Baldwin.

This award goes to a senior citizen who gives back to his community time and time again, and age is irrelevant to these recipients because they realize the value of making a difference, she said.

Baldwin, a native of Georgia, has lived in Wayne County and Mount Olive for more than 45 years, she said.

He opened his CPA practice in Mount Olive in 1977.

He is the past president of the Mount Olive Jaycees, the Mount Olive Rotary and the N.C. State Board of CPA Examiners.

Baldwin is past chairperson of the Chamber and of the National Association of State Board of Accountancy.

He is an active member of the First United Methodist Church

Baldwin is a recipient of multiple Paul Harris Fellowship Awards for service to the Rotary.

He is a recipient of the William H. Rensselaer Award for service to his professional nationally.

Baldwin is currently managing partner of Baldwin & Hodge, LLP, CPA with offices in Clinton, Raleigh and downtown Mount Olive

He and his wife Brenda have been married for more than 50 years. They have two children: Nicole and husband Seth of Winston-Salem and Whit and wife Jenny of New York.

The Baldwins have two grandchildren, Evie and Betty.

Baldwin is an avid fan of his back-to-back national football championship University of Georgia Bulldogs, Voris said.

Baldwin said it was great to be a citizen of Mount Olive and having been able to watch it grow and shrink and grow again.

He thanked his wife’s family for being big supporters for him.

“I could not have done these things without their support and my children’s support,” he said.

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Lauren Branch presented the Business of the Year Award to Southern Bank & Trust Co.

This award goes to a business who provides for the community through a unique product or service, Branch said.

“All of these awards are very important,” she said. “But I think this is one of the most important because without the businesses in this community, Mount Olive could not thrive.”

Founded on Jan. 29, 1901, as The Bank of Mount Olive, the name was changed in 1967 to Southern Bank & Trust.

Today, the bank has total assets approaching $5 billion and has grown to 60 locations in N.C. and Virginia

It is the largest business (in its field) that is headquartered in North Carolina, South Carolina, or Virginia, she said.

It employs about 600 employees, with more than 100 based in Wayne County with most of those in Mount Olive.

The bank is honored to serve the Mount Olive community, especially the surrounding Wayne County region, Branch said.

The bank’s Foundation has a nearly 30-year history of supporting innumerable non-profit organizations, civic organizations, the University of Mount Olive, N.C. Pickle Festival, Pickles, Pigs & Swigs and many more.

Bank employees serve on the board of directors of many community organizations including United Way, Wayne County Chamber of Commerce. Wayne County Development Alliance, Mount Olive Downtown Development Corporation and the Mount Olive Area Chamber of Commerce.

The bank recently created a parklet in downtown Mount Olive that is used for many community events.

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Will Johnson presented the Spirit of the Chamber Award to Freddie Ellis and Johnny Mac Wells Smokehouse.

The award goes to a chamber member who has gone above and beyond in serving their community, Johnson said. It can be awarded to an individual, organization, or a business.

“This award is symbolic of those who represent the Chamber’s purpose of advancing the welfare and prosperity of Mount Olive and promotes health, economic, civic, commercial, cultural and/or educational interests of the community,” he said.

Ellis is a member/leader of the Johnny Mac Wells Smokehouse (named after his grandfather) that has participated in numerous local, state and national championships and won many awards, helping to put Mount Olive’s name on the map

“Freddie has a strong desire to help others and serve his community,” Johnson said. “He is a strong supporter of the Mount Olive Area Chamber of Commerce’s reverse raffle where his team cooks the meat for the event.

“He also is a strong supporter of the town of Mount Olive Pickles, Pigs & Swigs Festival including serving as the chairperson of the cook teams.”

He has sponsored a Mount Olive Area Chamber of Commerce Business After Hours session.

Ellis cooks for many community events including the recent R&R Brewing Cook-off Before the Kick-off chili cooking competition that raises funds for the community.

He is a cook with the Mount Olive Methodist Church peanut crew.

Ellis is working with the Chamber to bring the first Steak Cook-off Association event to Mount Olive.

He has cooked meals for the Mount Olive Family Medicine Center staff during COVID — he wanted to make sure they had a hot meal in all of the craziness of the lockdowns, Johnson said.

Ellis has prepared and served a meal for the Pickles, Pigs & Swigs Committee and for Mt. Olive Pickle Co.

“I wasn’t expecting this,” Ellis said. “Of course being born and raised here, we try to help if somebody calls. I guess that is why I do it. I don’t mind doing it. I want to see Mount Olive grow.”

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Edward Olive presented the Moses E. King Contributions to the Community Award to Mount Olive First Pentecostal Holiness Church.

The Moses E. King Contributions to the Community Award is given to an individual, business or organization who continuously gives back to the community, Olive said.

The award is named in memory of the late Moses E. King, former owner/operator of Piggly Wiggly. King was a long-standing member and supporter of the Mount Olive Area Chamber of Commerce.

“Of course Piggly Wiggly remains a big part of the community today,” Olive said.

Mount Olive First Pentecostal Holiness Church sponsors and/or supports a variety of programs including: a Weekly Celebrate Recovery program; Backpack Buddies for local school; local school adoption; local FCA involvement; community backpack outreach; Christmas Kids Impact community outreach; veterans outreach; first responders and Hero Day outreach; Kiss Mount Olive outreach for local businesses; nursing home outreach; nurses appreciation outreach; teacher appreciation outreach; community Easter egg outreach; and Community Light Up the Night outreach.

It also sponsors and/or supports: Christmas Shoebox outreach and drop-off location; food pantry; Single Moms/Widows Banquet; GriefShare program; Area Churches in Action; Friends of the Parks; Trooper Nolan Sanders Foundation; Outlaw Foundation; Cures for the Colors; Wheelchair Ramp Ministry; Christmas parade; N.C. Pickle Festival; and Upward Soccer Program.

“I am very thankful to be part of such a loving and wonderful community,” said the Rev. Jeff Dail, pastor of the church. “Just to be able to work together, serve together, it takes a lot of people.

“The list he read, it’s a huge church family working together with a wonderful community and our heart is just to touch everybody with Jesus, share His love.”

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“Our last award is the biggest award we give out every year so we purposely save it for the end,” Beck said. “It is the Ruff Huggins Lifetime Community Service Award. It is given to an individual who has donated their time, resources, and dedication to the Mount Olive community year after year after year.

“This is not an annual award, but is presented only when an individual is deemed worthy of winning this award.”

Huggins, former mayor of Mount Olive, was a long-standing member and supporter of the Chamber. The award is named in his honor.

Beck presented the award to Karen Moore.

Moore attended Barton College, graduating with a bachelor of arts in history.

She is president of the Mount Olive Area Historical Society.

Moore is a legacy board member of the Wayne County Public Libraries and a 20-year member of the Steele Memorial Library board.

Moore is president of North Carolina’s longest-running book club, the 20th Century Club

Beck said that Moore has a passion for education and homeschooled all four of her children for all or part of their K-12 years, Beck said. She has seen her children matriculate to Marymount Manhattan College (New York), University of St. Andrews (Scotland), and Duke University.

She played an integral role in her husband Kenney Moore’s 1991 founding of Hwy 55 that now has 115 locations, Beck said.

Moore serves on the the Hwy 55 Charitable Foundation board and on the administrative board of the First United Methodist Church.

She is the daughter of Jimmy and Francis Williams.

“I have enjoyed every minute of it,” Moore said. “I was born and raised, a lifelong resident of Mount Olive, and I love every minute of going out into the community and doing the things that I get to do.

“I am the luckiest person in the world. I have the biggest support system that I get advice from, love from and role models.”