Birdie: By Bill Leonard, the former No. 2 at Carolina Eye Associates in Pinehurst, for his promotion to the top job at Hamlet's Sandhills Regional Medical Center. Leonard, whose tennis game possesses tenacity seldom seen in these parts, will get to stay in the area and continue to contribute his talents to the community as well as the local health-care industry.
Birdie: By the Arts Council of Moore County for bringing the Capitol Steps to town on Oct. 19. The Sunday afternoon affair at the Pinecrest High School auditorium promises to be a hoot. Most of the performers are congressional staffers, who poke fun at both political parties and current events. Their songs are witty, clever and laugh-out-loud funny.
Bogey: By CSX Railroad for delaying, delaying and then delaying some more the restoration of the historic depot in downtown Southern Pines. All this bureaucratic wrangling has been going on for the better part of five years, while the landmark continues to deteriorate. The community would be better off if we just rounded up a couple dozen volunteers, armed them with brushes and sandpaper, and let them give the depot a much-needed paint job. Come on, guys. The cash has been appropriated. Let's make it happen.
Birdie: By the organizers and volunteers who made the ninth annual Relay for Life such a success. The event, held this past weekend at the Pinecrest High track, hoped to raise $175,000 for cancer research. Fund-raisers like this one prove time and again what a caring community we are all so fortunate to call home.
Bogey: By Gov. Mike Easley and Sen. Marc Basnight for wanting to spend millions of dollars to repair N.C. 12 on North Carolina's Outer Banks. Hurricane Isabel wiped out a 450-foot stretch of the coastal highway, carving out a new inlet deep enough for a large boat to pass through. The state has already spent $30 million repairing that stretch of road over the past 16 years. Those politicos are throwing good pork dollars after bad. Let Mother Nature take what she wants, put in a ferry system and be done with the situation.
Birdie: By Bob Boone of FirstHealth Moore Regional Hospital for spearheading the relief effort to supply medical facilities in Iraq with up-to-date medical journals. That's a great first step. It's the kind of philanthropy that will help build a nation from the ashes of Saddam Hussein's regime.
Birdie: By Richard Morgan, co-speaker of the House, for coming to the realization that bipartisanship works better than gridlock. The naysayers in his Republican Party would rather stifle any form of progressive legislation — or worse, cram their draconian policies down their adversaries' throats. In spite of the rock-throwing by the fringe elements of his own party, Morgan guided the legislature through the rocky shoals of powersharing with aplomb.
