When it comes to a passion for preserving our town’s history, or a proclivity for connecting people with resources, or a zeal for overseeing veteran’s groups that enhance our communities, there are three superstars in Fuquay-Varina who shine brightly: Shirley Simmons, David Morris and Bill Slater. We caught up with them to talk about their important work.
Shirley Simmons
As told to Roberta Clayton
Roberta spent over two hours with Shirley Simmons and came away amazed at the knowledge she has of our town and its history. Shirley’s enthusiasm is contagious, and her focus is precise. From the mineral springs to the tobacco culture to our current expansion, Fuquay-Varina’s development is chronicled and recorded with loving care and with displays of objects rare and objects common but meaningful.
The tour begins at the Centennial Museum at 131 S. Fuquay Avenue. Here are found the collections of photos, maps, advertising gifts, business souvenirs and train paraphernalia, along with pump organs, a spinning wheel and other pieces of furniture, uniforms, bank safes, medical equipment, the handmade centennial quilt, and the actual jail cells that were built in the 1950s. Shirley can answer your questions. How did our town name come to be? Who have the local leaders been? Then there are the details you would not have thought of. What is Granville wilt and what did it mean for our town? What is a hogshead? Were there multiple depots? Have there been major fires?
Historic buildings are relocated behind the Centennial Museum and form part of Ashworth Historic Park. There’s a two-room schoolhouse, a post office, a tobacco barn, a children’s playhouse, and a restored train caboose. Plantings and connecting walkways make the visit pleasant. There’s an outdoor classroom with tiered seating for instructing groups who come.
Shirley wants you to know some of the people who have worked hard to bring the facilities to their current level of professionalism. Fuquay Springs Quester Chapter #1134, organized in 1988, with Joanna Proctor, Frances Senter and Dottie Knott as their leaders, first furnished and took over running tours for school groups and others at the Ballentine School House Museum in 2000. They also restored and furnished the Fuquay Springs Post Office as their contribution to the Centennial in 2009. The Questers have served as docents, helped with identification of large donations of pictures, and provided staff for festival days and other events. They have received several grants for the museums.
The Board of the Friends of the Museums has had Larry Bennett, Max Ashworth, Donald Cotton, and Orlean Newton as presidents, with Brenda Johnson serving as treasurer from the start. The Ashworth family has been particularly supportive. Several Eagle Scouts have used the grounds as their special projects, planting, identifying trees, building the sundial, and painting ramps. High school students have served as interns over the past decade.
Your name belongs with the list of supporters. Consider becoming a Friend of the Museums. It’s a 501(c)3 non-profit, seeking annual pledges to support and expand the museums and archives as a valuable resource for our entire community. Their goal is to add professional employees to enable expanded hours, and to provide archival, genealogical, and exhibit expertise. Memberships range from $50 to $500. Visit their website at www.fuquay-varina-museums.org and sign up.
Shirley says, “I am really not excited about any biography but do want to see the museums made better known.”
Roberta’s reply, “I hope our article can inform the many new residents who have come to share our community and remind the old-timers how much we care about them, too.”
Fred Rogers gave us confidence when he invited us to be his neighbors. Shirley Simmons gives us her heart when she shares our local heritage. Treat yourself to a tour. Phone her at 919-552-5562. She will likely pick up. She wants to be your neighbor.
David Morris
By Valerie Macon
If you happen to be looking for the perfect location to shoot a movie scene or need a car and are willing to build it yourself, or if you are an Armenian touring group trying to get visas, David Morris is your “go-to guy.” When I needed some publicity for my newly-published book back in 2011, someone advised me to call David Morris. I didn’t know David Morris at the time, but I gave him a call anyway. And he was on the spot, connecting me with just the right resources. I’ve since come to think of him as the Fuquay-Varina “go-to guy,” the “vice-president of everything.” Where did he come from? How did he become this “expert generalist”?
Sometime after his four-year stint in the Navy on nuclear subs, David left Connecticut in 1992 to visit his brother-in-law in Fuquay-Varina, got a job here, and he knew this town was his home. He has since had varied business experiences that have fostered his remarkable ability to bring people and resources together. He has been a VW mechanic, a machinist mate, a test mechanic, a financial analyst, a purchasing agent for a defense software consulting firm, has designed maintenance management systems for the New Jersey Turnpike, as well as starting his own communication wiring business. David is degreed in accounting, which he calls the language of business. He says, “Business is driven by numbers,” and adds, “accounting gives you the ability to make good decisions, to make connections between needs and solutions.”
What David does best, he says, is “see opportunities and connect the boxes.” And he has a remarkable history of “connecting boxes” all over Fuquay-Varina. He co-founded and served as president of the Fuquay Arts Council and has been a long-time Rotarian. He has done behind-the-scenes work establishing the Fuquay Writer’s Guild, and later the Music, Writers, and Film Society. He has helped figure out where to film scenes for the movie Cora’s Ring, a movie written and produced by local writer, Nancy King. He had a quiet part in the establishment of the Fuquay-Varina Arts Center. And when the Balloon Festival organizers told him they needed a stage, he provided an old sailboat trailer to Modern MetalWorx, which his son and partner (Aaron Morris and Patrick Dunkle) converted into a stage that is still in use for outdoor events.
In addition, he says he has “done a few Volkswagens.” When he saw teens in need of a car, being the ultimate enabler, he offered a dysfunctional VW for free with the caveat that they completely rebuild it, from engine to bodywork, under his direction. Under his supervision, one local teen completed a ’68 Beetle a few years ago, and another is finishing up a ’62 Beetle Convertible this year. He has also guided a teen in putting a diesel engine in a sailboat, installing a garbage disposal, and also a toilet.
On top of this, through his involvement with the Reunite Cultures Fund (formerly the Rotary Children’s Fund), he has helped cultural exchange performing artist students set up tours. Working through the RCF, he and the RCF Board (Vitaliy Bezrodnov, Jill Eagan and Thomas Ray) recently assisted a group of touring Armenians get their visas. They are also working on getting grants to send U.S. performers to other countries.
But perhaps he is most famous for growing his beard, putting on a red suit, and becoming a Santa. He says, “when the red suit goes on, don’t play Santa, be Santa.” I asked him about some of the things children ask him, and it turns out he recently wrote a book, “Thoughts, Considerations and Questions Answered by a Santa.” And as a Santa, he has been asked some interesting questions, like, “Do you have cavities?” The best thing he does when he is a Santa is to connect children with good, solid advice. When a 10-year-old kid asked him for an assault rifle, Santa said: “That is an interesting request. You need to stay in school, make good grades, then join the military and learn how to use it to protect our country.”
Bill Slater
As told to Nancy King
William “Bill” Slater, affectionately called “Santa,” is the Past Commander of American Legion Post 116 in Fuquay-Varina. The membership of the Post includes 1,019 Legionnaires (veterans), 243 auxiliary members and 270 Sons of the Legion. Bill is also the District 11 Commander overseeing all 22 Legions in Wake and Johnston Counties.
Located at 6400 Johnson Pond Road in Fuquay-Varina, Post 116 sits back off the road overlooking the picturesque and tranquil Johnson Pond where canoes and geese share the water. Walking trails and camping spots for Boy Scout troops can be found in the wooded surroundings.
Bill speaks proudly of the Legion but is humble in the portrayal of his role. ”I’m not a star.” Ah, but I believe after one gets to know him a bit, his twinkling eyes and shining smile will convince you otherwise!
Bill joined the U.S. Army in 1974 as part of the Army Security Agency (ASA) travelling the world on missions he still is not at liberty to fully disclose. Still, from the way he lights up and speaks proudly of those days, even without details, it is evident that his work was important for our country.
Bill and his wife, Celeste, were married in 1977 and raised four children, two born during his service in Germany, one in the States and one adopted through the foster care system. Leaving the Army “to spend more time with the family” – this motivation really was the driving force for him. Celeste found life too chaotic and wanted him near, so she told him to make a choice, the military or the family, and he left the Army in 1987, but he has not left service to his country and to his cohort of fellow-veterans.
Post 116 is a busy place and gathering spot for a multitude of veteran and community activities. These include “The Riders,” a motorcycle club, and “The Cruisers,” owners of antique cars who gather regularly to display their treasures.
Several Boy Scout and Girl Scout troops, a model-building club, ham radio operators, a church on Sunday, a dart club and others have a place to gather and interact. Live bands play in the members’ lounge and outside on the patio featuring local musicians. Additionally, special events and activities are staged throughout the year. Cookouts and BBQs are popular events.
Bill and the Legion members participate with RAC (Regional Advisory Committee) in conjunction with Wake Med to provide trauma center services during disaster and weather events. They have the ability to set up a mobile field hospital using tents or hard buildings and can even perform minor surgery on the spot. Rescue missions, working with EMS and cooking and caring for displaced persons, the Post team has travelled from Fuquay-Varina throughout the southern U.S. during hurricanes and floods.
“Backpack Buddies” is another outreach project of the Post providing food and snacks in backpacks for kids in need attending Fuquay-Varina Elementary School, just up the road, to take home for weekend meals helping approximately 80 children this year.
Fall brings “October Fest” with German food and beer, music and raffle, an event open to the public.
Bill recently dressed as a Confederate soldier for a scene in the locally produced film, “Cora’s Ring,” part of which was filmed on-site at the American Legion.
Santa and his helpers appear every December during a “Visit with Santa” event to gather around the Christmas tree and distribute gifts in collaboration with the Auxiliary’s Children’s and Youth Program. Santa can be seen out and about at local businesses and events during the holiday season. He even travels to Fort Bragg in Fayetteville as part of “Operation Homefront” with food and toys donated by local businesses for military families.
American Legion 116 participates in the annual Fuquay-Varina Christmas parade with military vehicles and The Riders. You might catch a glimpse of Santa along the route.
Santa related that the Elves Union has restrictions so that the elves are off the 25th of December and his reindeer only fly one night a year on the 24th, so Santa relies on other forms of transportation to get around and lots of helpers to help spread joy all year.
The webpage at alpost116nc.org states in part:
To the wonderful patriotic citizens of the Fuquay-Varina community. Join our Post as a Booster or sponsor. 100% of the monies raised are given back to the community. Help us to continue sponsoring Scholarships for our children; give aid and assistance to our local needy Veterans and their families. Help us to continue to support financially worthy community programs and projects. Please contact us for more information.
If you are interested in learning more about what Bill and the American Legion Post 116 members and affiliated groups do, need information about membership, or want to participate in some way, contact Bill Slater at 919-552-0278 or visit the Post at 6400 Johnson Pond Road, Fuquay-Varina, NC 27526. Also log onto the American Legion Post 116 Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/ALPost116 for photos and events.
What makes our community a great place to live? It’s people like these three bright stars doing what they do best: working behind the scenes, giving freely of their time and talents, and making life a little better, a little happier for everyone they shine on.
