THE
Pinehurst Gazette
est. 1973 INC
Covering Moore one Neighbor at a time. Stories, Maps & History
It’s what the Locals read.
PRICELESS
P L E A S E E N J OY
Be the light you want to see.
Family Owned & Operated.
Family owned & operated.
Jan/Feb/Mar 2018
Issue No. 129
Frank McNeill, Jr., President of McNeill Oil with Davis Clark, Vice President.
FILL UP con't. p.10
How To Stay Relevant
In A Changing Business World
Linda M. Parsons, President Moore Co. Chamber
From technology to globalization, successful
businesses must continually adapt and
embrace change—rapid change. Any business
in today’s fast-moving environment that is
looking for the pace of change to slow is likely
to be sorely-disappointed. In fact, businesses
should embrace change. Change is important
HOW TO STAY RELEVANT con't. p. 5
ROAD TRIP con't. p. 6
Annette Thompson with a Jackson Springs
Water Bottle for the healing waters.
PACK UP con't. p. 7 THE WATERS CALL con't. p. 8
Fill Up With
McNeill Oil & Propane
by Rebekah Sykes
We gather around the conference room table
as W. H. McNeill and Frank, Sr. join us in spirit
and in memory, as the paintings recording three
generations of McNeill Oil and Propane line the
walls. Frank McNeill, Jr. current President along
with Davis Clark, VP, fill me in as we fill up with
McNeill Oil and Propane. Established in 1928,
with vision, hard work, and family at its core, the
company continues some 90 years later upon
the same foundation.
HOW TAXIDERMY con't. p. 34
Back in the early days, hundreds of tobacco
barns dotted the Moore County landscape.
Used for drying and curing the tobacco leaves
once the farmers had harvested their crop,
these barns housed wood burning stoves to cure
their tobacco. However during the 40s and 50s,
farmers converted to kerosene heaters and later
to fuel oil. Around the same time, W. H. founder
of W. H. McNeill and Sons, which later became
McNeill Oil and Propane, began supplying the
necessary fuel to the farmers. For locals in the
Roseland community who didn’t have electricity,
McNeill delivered oil to their kerosene-powered
refrigerators.
The Waters Call
by Rebekah Sykes
Over the river and through the woods down
211 I go... miss my left turn into Jackson Springs
and end up in Eagle Springs. Graciously the
postal worker allowed me to make a local call
as I had absolutely no cell service in either
direction. I felt as a weary traveler of old seeking
refuge while also seeking my new friend for an
interview. Annette Thompson patiently waited
where the healing waters flow from Jackson
Springs, the same waters that have been drawing
visitors for centuries.
The enchantment of Jackson Springs has
ebbed and flowed with the passing of time.
Refreshing the earliest inhabitants, from the
Native Americans to the Scottish and all passing
How Taxidermy Got
Under My Skin
by Larry Steve Crain
Living in the rural South as a child in the
1950s, I loved animals. Maybe I was destined to
try my hand at taxidermy.
Taxidermy is “the art of preparing, stuffing,
and mounting the skins of animals with lifelike
effect,” including tanning skins and making rugs.
The term comes from the Greek-Latin “taxis”
(“to move or arrange”) and “derma” (“skin”).
“Taxidermy began in Europe in the 16th and
17th centuries to preserve specimens collected
by world-traveling explorers,” says Matt Blitz
(Smithsonian.com). Taxidermy, especially of
birds, was “popular as Victorian-era home
decoration.” Using arsenic in soap to protect
specimens, led “to a golden age of taxidermy
that spanned from about 1840 through the dawn
of World War I.” Today, arsenic is banned in most
countries, and “Borax and tanning techniques
are often used as alternatives.”
In the mid-1950s, I saw a Northwestern
School of Taxidermy (NST) advertisement in
“Outdoor Life” magazine. I ordered a booklet
"Looking in on a Man Cave"
Illustration by L. S. Crain, Southern Pines.
Road Trip
by Jim Murray
Road Trip, just the thing to keep your mind
off the cold winter doldrums.
Most of us love to travel, and if the distance is
not too long it will be by car. Over a 1,000 miles
usually gets a nod to air travel or to lesser extent
trains and buses. Back in the day if a family was
involved it was always by car. Exactly what we
did last summer.
Kim had not seen much of the West where I
grew up, so we more or less planned a little trip.
Pack Up and Head East
by Wilmington and Beaches CVB
With 2017 behind us, there’s no better time to
start planning your first getaway of the new year.
When weighing your options, there are plenty of
things to consider:
How easy is it to get there?
Is the destination family-friendly?
Does it offer a variety of activities?
/(Smithsonian.com