A Little Heart to Heart
with Paige Ingram,
Executive Director at the Bethany House.
How can we save more children from
substance abuse? Education! Get all up in
your child’s life; be nosy!
What are the warning signs? If one starts
withdrawing from the family, pulling back,
isolating with changes in behaviors, moody.
If you have a feeling, then check into it. Get to
know their friends.
How do we show love to our children?You
show love through time, validation, and
understanding.
What would you tell someone who’s
tempted to get into drugs and alcohol?
Don’t do it!
Favorite part of the job? Being with the
women.
Most difficult part? When the women
leave. We’re like a family; they’re like my children.
Greatest lesson learned? Boundaries.
I need to learn how to say no. The rules are in
place for a reason.
Encouragement for someone at the
bottom right now? There is hope. There is
always hope.
New Year’s Resolutions? One day at a time.
Do you have an inspirational quotation
to share? When it gets too hard to stand, kneel.
How has being involved with Bethany
House changed your life? It saved my life!
When I came through the house; they took the
time to show me that I was worthy to live. Saving
grace! ☐
Paige Ingram, Executive Director.
For more info on the Bethany House, see p. 2.
E-mail: bethanyhouse@embarqmail.com
55 YEARS con't from FRONT PAGE 55 YEARS continued
value, great selection, and fantastic service has
not wavered.
Duncan Archibald Kelly, known to all as
either Dak or Archie, was born and raised
Carthage in 1942, and never plans to leave.
“Growing up in the Carthage couldn’t have been
any better,” exclaims Archie. With six children in
the mix, three boys and three girls, Archie’s dad
was a lumber man; his mom worked with Social
Services in Moore County. Archie continues, “I
treasure the memories of being from a small
town; it’s the best way to come up if you ask me.
I knew everybody, and everybody knew me; I
couldn’t get away with much. I was an athlete
who loved playing basketball, football, and
baseball.”
The basketball skills awarded Archie a
college scholarship while he studied business
administration at Frederick College in
Portsmouth, Virginia. It was during this time
that he met Judi, whom he lovingly calls Gigi,
also studying business at Frederick College.
Archie and Judi were married on June 30, 1961,
soon to celebrate 58 years together.
Archie & Judy Kelly, D.A.K's owners.
Moving to Columbia, South Carolina, to
work for Judi’s uncle who owned two clothing
stores, sparked an interest in retail and soon
established a business career. When one of the
stores closed, Archie and Judi decided to come
back to Carthage and open a women’s clothing
store of their own. With little experience and
no success in finding an available building in
Southern Pines, they opened shop in Sanford
where they sold $6 dresses from plywood tables
and encouraged everybody, “You all come back;
we’ll have more!”
For a while they commuted back and forth
to Sanford. Judi tells, “When Archie wanted
to come back home to Carthage, we returned,
and I’ve lived here for 55 years now.” Living in
Carthage became an equal blessing for both
Archie and Judi as she was born in Columbia,
South Carolina in 1943, and traveled the world
as a Navy brat. “I lived in Alaska before it was
a state, and when I was 14, we lived in Cuba
while Castro was overthrowing Batista. When
we moved to Ocala, Florida, I graduated from
Florida High School.” When her family moved
back to Virginia, that’s when she met Archie;
settling down in Carthage meant finding home
for the both of them. Judi smiles, “When I
married Archie, his whole family accepted me;
his mother was loved by all.”
Blessed to raise their children Duncan, Kim,
and Andy in Carthage, their family has grown
to include eight grandchildren and two greats.
They all live here except for Andy who lives in
Charlotte with his family. Taking after Archie,
Andy played basketball on a scholarship at
Clemson and even studied business. All about
family Judi warms, “We are lucky to have our
children close by, and we are grateful that our
children are doing well.”
With no plans to ever leave Carthage, the
Kellys still live at the home place situated
on 6,000 acres established in the 1800s by
Alexander Kelly. Interestingly, Archie’s great,
great, great grandfather was the first sheriff of
Moore County.
From that first store in Sanford, opportunity
soon opened a second store in Southern Pines,
and another in Carthage, which became the
home base of operations. Archie explains, “From
start to finish, we produced our D.A.Kelly’s
private label clothing. A local girl named Leigh
designed the patterns, and we purchased
the fabric, zippers, buttons—everything was
manufactured locally incorporating the different
mills. Judi exclaims, “We dressed the daughters,
the mothers, and the grandmothers who could
all find something lovely at D.A.Kelly’s.”
With an exceptional product, the business
quickly expanded to 36 stores and employed
over 300 people, all women except for a couple
of men. With stores in every major mall in
North Carolina, one in Myrtle Beach, and one in
Wilmington, the business was successful.
"Although we made our own merchandise,”
tells Archie, “when all of the sewing plants closed
down around here, we weren’t big enough to take
our manufacturing overseas like the big names.
As the economy grew worse, we decided to close
the clothing stores in 1997. Since we had the
fixtures and furniture left over from our stores, it
was a natural progression into the D.A.K.’s office
furniture business.”
Archie opened D.A.K.’s Office Furniture in
1997, and never took a day off. Archie remembers
those discouraging days. “When we had to close
all of the clothing stores, I was determined not to
let that set me back. That determination became
a driving force to recover. One thing that keeps
me going, is that I enjoy coming to work every
day. If you hate going to work, then it’s time to
get out. After all these years, we take great pride
in the fact that we’ve always been self-employed.
I’ve never worked for anyone else aside from
Judi’s uncle for a year, and we opened the first
store in Sanford in 1965. Working with people
and seeing customers come in and out makes
business really enjoyable.”
In continuing the business model of great
value, great price, and great service, D.A.K.’s
office furniture, based out of the Carthage,
covers North Carolina, South Carolina, and
Virginia, encompassing a seven county area.
Thriving at doing business with other businesses
like churches, schools, fire departments,
Archie employs eight employees and furnishes
customers with office furniture needs. Desks
and chairs remain the top sellers. Archie adds,
“We have an awful lot of hunters who buy
55 YEARS con't. next column 55 YEARS con't. p.34
p.32 The Pinehurst Gazette, Inc. No. 133
link