Gilmore’s list of public service is expansive, ranging from the board of the North Carolina Zoo to the North Carolina Senate. Well, at least his time in Raleigh prepared him well for his duties in Asheboro.
Gilmore’s lifetime achievements in civic affairs, politics and business will receive recognition at a luncheon this afternoon at the Country Club of North Carolina. It is a political fund raiser for the Moore County Democratic Party. Gilmore served as mayor of Southern Pines, a state senator, and just about every level of his political party.
While Gilmore is best described as a small “d” Democrat, it would be a mistake to write him off as a partisan. It was Gilmore who brought his close friend, former Speaker of the U.S. House Newt Gingrich (R-Georgia), to town last year and who recruited former U.S. Sen. Alan Simpson (R-Wyoming) for next week’s Ragan Lecture at Sandhills Community College.
Unfailingly polite and courtly, the intellectual Gilmore is a gentle man and a gentleman. He represents the last of a generation to which manners matter almost as much as service to community. Fortunately, for those of us fortunate enough to call the Sandhills home, Gilmore cares passionately about both.
