News

Nine inducted into Education Hall of Fame

Henderson County School Board Chairman Ervin W. Bazzle was keynote speaker during the 12th annual Henderson County Education Foundation Hall of Fame ceremony.

By , Published: March 23, 2014

The Henderson County Education Foundation enshrined nine more people into its Education Hall of Fame during the 12th annual TD Bank/HCEF Hall of Fame Induction Ceremonies Thursday in the Hendersonville Country Club.

The nine honored for exemplary contribution to local public schools are former Supt. Dr. Dan Lunsford and these retirees: principal Julia Trimble Redden; basketball coaches-teachers Drew Brannon and Rick Wood, first-ever Child Nutrition Director Ruth Sass; and teachers Bobbie L. Caldwell, Madeleine C. Duncan, Linda B. Flynn and Sara Lee Nickell. All but Redden are living.

Keynote speaker Ervin W. Bazzle told the audience that during his upbringing on a farm in rural eastern South Carolina outside of Walterboro he learned important lessons by watching his mother read, playing sports and attending cotillion dances.

Education Foundation secretary Tracy Young emceed the awards presentation.

The hall is one of merely a handful across the state on such a scale and the only one in western North Carolina, State Supt. June St. Clair Atkinson said as banquet keynote speaker in 2006.

Here is more on the 2014 inductees:
Lunsford
• Dr. Dan Lunsford helped to shepherd through the merger of city and county schools in 1993, despite much objections initially. His initiatives included requiring athletic directors to be assistant principals and head coaches, creating the county's alternative school, Junior ROTC at East and West Henderson, lighting at baseball fields, and a food service warehouse. Supplemental teacher salary was uniform in his era. He has been president of Mars Hill since 2002. Mars Hill expanded into a full university last August. Lunsford is the most recent superintendent to join the HCEF Hall of Fame.

• Julia Trimble Redden (1878-1951) has the earliest legacy of 2014 inductees. She is considered among the very earliest female principals in North Carolina, going back nearly a Redden
century to the Twenties. She was Valley Hill School principal officially by 1927-28, but as early as 1923-24. She was at Valley Hill for 43 years, starting as a teacher in 1902. In earlier years she may have been classified as more of a lead teacher, when actually acting as a headmaster. She is described as authoritative. She taught grades 5-7, then high school grades by the mid-Twenties. She retired in 1945.

Wood
• Rick Wood is still involved in education, as a School Board member. He coached boys' varsity basketball for 40 years, the last 17 with West Henderson until retiring in 2006. Previously, he coached at Edneyville for two years. His Falcons were unbeaten before falling in the 1992 state title game. The 1994-95 squad produced current boys varsity basketball coaches Joey Bryson at North Buncombe and Ronnie Coren at North Henderson, and Luke Manuel who is West's athletic director. Wood emphasized teamwork, sportsmanship, citizenship and academics. He taught history, most enjoying going over Civil War battles. His autobiography is 40 Seasons: The Life of a High School Basketball Coach.

• Drew Brannon has also contributed to local education in numerous ways. He taught for 10 years at Mills River
Elementary, and coached boys' basketball and track. Previously, he taught and coached at Dana Elementary for two years. He was in Mills River High School's last class, of 1960, before high school students went to then-new West Henderson. Brannon helped commemorate Mills River School, via the local History Initiative. He is a longtime major booster of West Falcon athletics. He helped Wood start recreation basketball on Saturdays, for seventh and eighth grade youth. Brannon has much impact in local farming, having served as county Soil and Water Conservation District chairman for 40 years.

Caldwell
• Bobbie L. Caldwell taught for 30 years, mostly home economics in Rugby Junior High. She started in Fletcher High School in 1957-59, as among merely five teachers there. She next taught in Fletcher Elementary for eight years, starting in 1965. Then she shifted to Rugby Junior High/Middle. She taught language arts, history, science and math as well as entry-level home economics "exploratory." Finally, she focused solely on home economics at Rugby for 14 years, from 1978-92. Skills included cooking, sewing, child care and interior decorating. Caldwell started Rugby's award-winning parliamentary procedure teams, molding leaders.

• Madeleine C. Duncan taught sixth grade for 30 years combined, at East Flat Rock ElementaryDuncan
then Flat Rock Middle School. She taught at Balfour Elementary for six years. After the school burned on her wedding night in 1971, classes were held in trailers. At Flat Rock, she mostly taught language arts. Students read the novel that spawned a hit movie, often preferring the book and thereby appreciating literature. In both schools, she put together a book of her students' poetry. She has volunteered since retiring in 2006, such as in helping monitor state testing locally.

Flynn
• Linda B. Flynn taught for 31 years, mostly fourth grade in Mills River Elementary School in 1986 to 2007. She was very comprehensive about a subject, such as by researching the Wright Brothers' historic flight in person at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington. She personalized history, getting a B-17 crew of WWII veterans including her father to talk to students. She shared values of her youth, working hard on a farm. She'd call on a struggling student to answer questions, to get that youth more involved. She rewarded her class daily with "story time."

• Sara Lee Nickell is among teachers cited by noted author and Green River native Robert Nickell
Morgan as one of his most influential educators. She taught English and world history in Flat Rock then East Henderson high schools. She also taught drama at EHHS. She was among longest-serving teachers at East Henderson, teaching for 31 years from its opening in 1960 until retiring in 1991 as head of the English department. Her first year, 1955-56, was in East Flat Rock Elementary. She led East Henderson to victory in a statewide United Nations speaking contest in the 1960s, winning a week-long trip to the U.N. in New York City.

Sass
• Ruth Sass was the first child nutrition supervisor, in 1973-95. Previously, she was a hospital dietician then child nutrition consultant for schools statewide. She served both city and county schools in a joint service, for 20 years leading to the 1993 merger. Her menu analysis revealed half of schools were not meeting basic requirements. She standardized menus, improving nutrition. She saved money with bulk purchases. The local system gained an unusual honor when all of its schools received state awards of excellence for meal operations, and for several years.