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Season of Thanksgiving
By: E. Bishop
The moral teachings of Thanksgiving hopefully given out by many parents and grandparents down through the ages have been of gratitude and appreciation. These fundamental lessons emphasize the importance of acknowledging and being thankful for the blessings in life – food on the table, a roof over our head to the love and support of family. It is a time to give thanks for all our blessings in life and to reconnect with what matters most.
This message was brought home to many of us in attendance at the celebration of life service for Kevin Dodd held Saturday, Nov. 16, 2024 at Victory Baptist Church in Cooleemee. As his obituary states, he was a U.S. Army veteran, firefighter, EMT, rescue technician, pastor, loving father and husband. He served the Manhattan Fire Department of Manhattan, Kansas, the City of Salisbury Fire Department, the NC Air National Guard Fire Department, Rowan County EMS, Rowan County Rescue Squad as well as serving his church and community where he was a blessing to so many.
The celebration was a great tribute where several spoke recognizing Kevin’s attributes and many accomplishments, how he was always uplifting, never complaining, and leading a life of continual service to others. The last speaker, his son Jack, left us with what he felt his father would want us to all carry forward – the simple word “LOVE.” Leviticus 19:18 “thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.” May the wonderful memories made be a blessing and comfort as the family and friends of Kevin go forward in life without him.
I’m grateful to have known Kevin and his family and all that he stood for. Cooleemee has lost a good one. Let us join together in giving special thanks during this season of thanksgiving to all those, like Kevin, who give so much to keep us safe, put out those fires, fight for our country – the veterans, firefighters, EMTs, police, etc.
I’m raising my large cup of coffee (Folger’s, of course) to you, Kevin.
Godspeed.

Early Churches in Davie County
Heidelberg Evangelical Lutheran Church
By Linda H. Barnette
Several German Protestants who came to America probably to escape religious persecution settled on Dutchman Creek in southeastern Davie County in the mid-1700s. They established a church called Heidelberg Evangelical Lutheran Church, known locally as the Old Dutch Meeting House It was located on what is now known as Bixby-Cornatzer Road.
The only extant record of its timeline was an old church record book that notes the baptism of a baby girl, Christiana Buhe, born on Oct. 2, 1766. There were also over 200 names of church members listed in that book. I don’t know the location of this book, but Mr. Wall mentioned it in his book.
These early settlers also knew the Moravians who lied in Wachovia as Moravian preachers often preached to them. Rev. George Soelle, a Moravian minister, regularly visited the homes of some of these members and preached in their homes. Soelle apparently traveled all around this area because I have read that he visited Boone’s.
In 1771 the pastor at Heidelberg was named Wartman, and according to Soelle, “came from Hanover and is educated and ordained.” Remember that the Moravians kept great notes in their Moravian Records, where much material about this early time period is found. The Rev. Paul Henkel was pastor there from 1785-1789, and a Rev Shober was there in 1810-1811.
Around 1815 several members of the Heidelberg Church led by Nicholas Click built a new church nearer to their home. This church was called the New Jerusalem Church, and it was for Lutherans, Methodists, and Baptists. It was located near where Jerusalem Baptist Church stands now.
Services at Heidelberg were discontinued in 1860, and today there are only 2 physical evidences that remain of this church, the cemetery which is very overgrown, and the granite gate posts. The other artifact is the church weathervane which came from Germany and is now safe in the Rowan County Museum in Salisbury.
Of particular interest to me as a genealogist were the names of the original members, several of which are names in my own family.: Isaac Holdman, Nicholaus Cope, and William Wyatt. If this is the same Isaac, he moved to the Ratledge Road area and is [probably buried in the old Holman Cemetery there. Nicholas Cope sold 300 acres of his property below Fork to the elder Peter Hairston, later a part of the plantation, and is buried in the old Cope Family Cemetery, which is now near the river in the Thousand Trails Campground, and William Walker Wyatt, and his wife, Susannah Cope, who are buried at Fork Baptist Church.

Ostracized
By Stephanie Williams Dean
Recently, someone I considered a friend was arrested for a bad deed. The deed was a despicable and shameful one – the kind of act you wouldn’t want your mother or neighbors to hear about.
But bad news travels fast – the information was made public and released to the media. The big news circulated faster than the speed of lightning. The crime made a good story for televised news and hit the internet with photos of the perpetrator and a description of the arrest.
And then I listened to and watched how quickly people were to judge, condemn, and ostracize him. You know, often, people love to see others fail and fall. They are quick to jump on the judgment wagon, start pointing fingers at other people, and spread gossip like wildfire. They gang up, take sides, and from what I can tell – they get a positive charge from it all.
Way too often I hear of devout Christians standing back and observing others and making judgment calls about the behaviors of others when instead, they should be judging their own behavior. And the gossip – you know one gossiper feeds on another. Among their tribe – the gossip and judgment are rampant. They bolster one another with judgment calls on others, which serve to elevate their false, self-perceived self-righteousness.
Many suffering people have fought and are still fighting huge battles with the devil. The situations folks have lived through and had to overcome are beyond what many of us can comprehend. And where were their friends? Absent due to judgment or too embarrassed to walk alongside them because it didn’t support the image they’d worked so hard to maintain? We all know people like this.
I never feel good about someone else’s failure, falling, or demise. I desire to see folks do well – to do the best they can do and be the best people they can be. One of my goals in life is to be able to walk with anyone.
My uncle once asked me, “If you were blind, would you want someone to walk with you?”
I’ve never forgotten his question and it has become a mantra in my life. The meaning of the word “blind” here is not in the literal sense but more of a spiritual nature. Spiritual blindness is the inability to see the truth of God through Jesus. Every human being has been born spiritually blind and is spiritually dead in their sin. To not live in accordance with Godly values, one remains blind to the truth. Many spiritually blind folks walk among us.
For the remainder of my life, I want to be so confident in myself that I can walk with anyone – the poor, the sick, the disfigured, the downtrodden, the afflicted, the mentally ill – and the blind sinner. Most of all – I want to abandon any and all judgment of others.
Jesus said, “Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye. You, hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.” (NIV)
Judge less.
Be kind.