ROCKINGHAM — William “Pete” Ussery received something on Saturday he never expected — the Order of the Long Leaf Pine.
A resident of Winston-Salem for about a decade, Ussery returned to his home church, McDonald Baptist, just north of Rockingham, to receive the state’s highest civilian honor.
The award was presented in the church’s fellowship hall by his stepson, George Burns, and grandson, Miles Burns, in the presence of family and friends.
“From time to time, the state of North Carolina sees fit to honor citizens that have given back to (their) community, given back to the state, and just given of themselves throughout the course of their lives,” said George Burns, prior to the presentation. “And the way the state…recognizes that is with the induction into the Order of the Long Leaf Pine.”
George Burns said he and others put the application together, which featured letters of recommendation from several people in the community, including current County Manager Bryan Land.
“I’m not deserving of this,” Ussery said, choking back tears.
“I worked all my life, hard, and I took on some projects that nobody, nobody would have taken on,” Ussery said — to which someone in the crowd jokingly blurted out, “You’ve always been hardheaded.”
A 1961 graduate of Rockingham High School, Ussery went on to serve in the U.S. Coast Guard. He worked in the construction business for years and was behind the building of the Carolyn’s Mills condos on Ledbetter Lake.
As president of the Booster Club, Ussery also led the remodeling of the bathrooms on both the home and visitors sides of Raider Stadium at Richmond Senior High School.
Ussery was also a member of the Rockingham Masonic Lodge and served one term on the Richmond County Board of Commissioners from 1992-1996.
Several people spoke, including Sheriff Mark Gulledge, about memories shared with Ussery.
Following the toast, Miles Burns gave an overview of the long leaf pine.
“It’s amazing how the good Lord was able to design such a species of tree,” he said. “One thing interesting about a long leaf is, when you plant the long leaf sapling, it starts off as a couple of blades of grass…after two or three years or three years it starts to develop a stem, but before that, it develops a deep taproot to allow that firm foundation.
“And I think that ties in great to the award,” Miles Burns continued. “We build that foundation first with faith, but also with friends and family to build and grow our networks and really accomplish different things throughout life.”
As the tree gets older, he added, it continues to grow upward towards the light.
“I think that’s a great example that we should follow in our lives — always growing ourselves toward the light of Jesus, no matter the adversity that comes towards us, no matter the obstacles that we face.”
