LAURINBURG — Scotland High football coach Richard Bailey spoke to an engaged crowd at the Laurinburg-Scotland County Area Chamber of Commerce’s 80th annual meeting and banquet on Thursday, delivering his speech as he paced the stage like it was a game sidelines. The theme for the night was “Growing Together.”
The St. John Association Building was decorated with lit candles and fresh red and white roses on each table. Various fruit, chips and artichoke dip spread were the appetizers and dinner was provided by Rick’s Catering. Members enjoyed pork tenderloin, chicken Marsala, mashed potatoes, green beans and key lime pie or chocolate cake for dessert. Guests greeted each other over hors d’oeuvres and sat for dinner and Bailey’s speech.
Bailey, like a true coach, chose to walk around the stage instead of using the podium — and he even took off his jacket so he could move freely. He said that Chamber Executive Director Chris English inspired him to give a message like a pre-season game meeting with players.
“I’ve got to get into character for this — I got my whistle — I can’t speak behind the podium,” said Bailey.
Through his jokes and football comparisons, Bailey won the audience over with his different approach to improve the county.
The coach left four points for guests to live by as leaders in the Scotland County community: Have a vision, plan, get everybody in the boat (work together) and motivate or get rid of the hole-diggers.
“With this group, what is our vision for Scotland County? What do we want it to look like?” he asked. “We want it to be a place we can all be proud of, we feel great about the education system, medical care, being safe and our kids having places to play and be a nurturing place where everybody cares about each other.”
He quoted that a goal without a plan is just a wish, encouraging the crowd to make a plan and make sacrifices to reach the vision of Scotland County they want to see.
“Everybody says they want to win a state championship, but are you willing to do the work — you better have a plan,” said Bailey. “To reach the vision of a better Scotland County, you have to be willing to work every day to execute the plan and believe in it. Sometimes you have to block out the noises of the critics and believe in your inner voice.”
He compared the movement of Scotland County to his 2018 season, remembering how it looked tough. The coach thought back to how the Scotland High football season started, losing needed players and coaches before it even began.
“Sometimes it looks like we have a long way to go. We were 3-4, lost my quarterback, right tackle, starting inside linebacker. Heck, I lost six coaches before the season even began!” said Bailey. “Things weren’t looking real good and it may look and appear to us that we have a long ways to go in Scotland County.
“Sometimes we get so caught up in looking forward we don’t look behind us and see how far we’ve come and see all the positive things going on in our community,” he added.
He listed positive actions in the community like a few organizations and people who are making a difference, and a new addition that made the crowd laugh.
“’Tis the Season, Parks and Recreation, Committee of 100, education people making sure kids graduate, and more importantly we opened a Hardee’s in downtown Laurinburg, one more option to eat at!” said Bailey. “Sometimes that journey looks long, but we can’t change the beginning, but we can change the ending. But we in this community, we can do a lot about what’s going forward from this point. I tell the football (team), you know who wins isn’t the one who believes in the most but believes in it the longest.”
He asked the crowd if they willing to fight and commit to their goals.
“We all have a hand in this, to give back to the community or to make this a better place, so we gotta reach out and make sure we get everyone in the boat. For the community, that is the business leaders, government leaders, the hospital, the real estate people, the churches, all the people and we got to all row the same way. If we can help each other be prosperous, we can all be prosperous.” said Bailey.
To end, he said to get rid of the hole-diggers, people who run down the community, especially on social media.
“Social media is the best thing and the worst thing to happen in my lifetime. We need to talk to each other and not about each other — if you are gonna be in the boat you can’t be digging holes, you have to row. We have to motivate the hole-diggers or someone may have to push them out,” said Bailey.
English gave Bailey a framed jersey for his 200th game won at Scotland High and added, “If anyone catches a hole-digger, just go ahead and throw ‘em out!”
Also during the festivities Thursday, Jay Todd was announced as chairman for 2019.
“You can get involved and be heard, consider how you can engage others with your impact and what you do,” he told the crowd.
Award winners …
— Mountaire Farms Better Carolina Award: Tis’ the Season founders Terry Parker, Cynthia Womble, Janice Creed and Carol Coughenour.
— Volunteer of the Year Award: Bill Rabon
— Small Business of the Year: WLNC
— Big Business of the Year: Z.V. Pate
— Dormagen-McLean Community Youth Service Award: Ali Andrews
— Dunbar-McCoy Quality Of Life Award: William B. Riggins
Other awards were given to John Ferguson for his retirement from the board and Matt Pratt for his diligent work in the past year.
Jael Pembrick can be reached at 910-506-3169 0r [email protected].
