Where in Carolina
Country is This?

The September “Where Is This” photo by Surry-Yadkin EMC member Jessica Icenhour Roberts features the Whittling Wall on Oak Street in downtown Mount Airy (“Mayberry”). The brick sculptures created by NC artist Brad Spencer represent local people who helped shape Mount Airy: legendary fiddle player Tommy Jarrell, banjo player Fred Cockerman, and Ralph Epperson, founder of local WPAQ radio station (all shown here); as well as country singer-songwriter Donna Fargo, African American public educator L.H. Jones, businessman Floyd E. “Flip” Rees, who led the town’s revitalization efforts, and the Mill Worker, representing the men and women who toiled in local textile mills. Reader Marcia Smith said of the artwork: “I love the history it reflects as ghosts of our past that still linger in our midst.” The winning entry chosen at random from more than 400 correct submissions came from David Smith of Newton, a Rutherford EMC member.