Alumnus receives the order of the long leaf pine award for community service.

• Author: Crook, C.B., Jr.
• Position: ALUMNI

Crook was selected for the award, which is presented to recognize those who have served their community and the state, due to years of service he dedicated to his hometown in Stanly County. Just after graduating from HPU, he began committing his time to numerous organizations such as becoming the chairman of the community's March of Dimes. He then moved on to serve with the Stanly County Chamber of Commerce and eventually ran as and was elected a county commissioner.

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He has led capital projects for the YMCA and Stanly Regional Medical Center. He led a $5 million capital campaign to rebuild the YMCA 25 years ago. In addition, he created the Stanly Society at the hospital that now has 181 members with each contributing a minimum of $10,000. The foundation currently has $6.6 million in the endowment.

All of these accomplishments were achieved while he owned and operated Crook Motor Company in Albemarle for 41 years. He has been retired from the company, which is still thriving, for 14 years.

Though it's been 55 years since he was a student at the university, he credits much of his life's success to the time he...