Area heroes show heart

March 26, 2008

The heart and what it leads people to do was the theme of an Horry Telephone Cooperative awards luncheon honoring Hometown Heroes on Tuesday at North Conway Baptist Church.

Coastal Carolina University head coach David Bennett, guest speaker, said the letters that spell heart stand for humility, ethics, attitude, respect and trust. 'We're here to honor you today, and we thank you for having a good heart,' he said.

'They may not speak from the mountaintop, but they speak from the heart,' Nicole Hyman, HTC's senior marketing coordinator, said of the Hometown Heroes.

'I don't look at myself as a hero,' said award recipient Jeff Davis of Conway. 'I'm not a hero. I only do what the Lord has called me to do.'

Cecil Gerald of Loris said that when he was growing up, his mother was always out doing things for people. 'She was instilling something in me as a child,' he said, 'that to help people is what you are here for.'

David Stout, a volunteer at North Myrtle Beach High School, said the principal there was always telling him that the school couldn't do without him. 'I've got the news: I can't do without the school,' he said.

Accepting the award for Abe Safa of Socastee, Sandy Marselis said that if he could have been there, she thought he would say, 'We need to remember to treat our brothers and sisters like every day is Christmas.'

'The longer I live, the more I realize the importance of attitude on life. I'm convinced that 10 percent of my life is what happens to me, and 90 percent is how I react to it,' said Cassi Rogers, a student at Socastee High School, as she quoted author Charles Swindoll. 'You walk down the street, and you smile at somebody, and you could change their lives; you don't know.'

North Myrtle Beach High School teacher Charles Horton said that everything his award was for was suggested to him by his students who did the work. 'They deserve all the thanks and gratitude,' he said.

Leola Bellamy, the Hometown Hero representing HTC Communications, helps others while suffering from chronic health issues. She asked for prayer so she could continue to 'grow in Christ.'

Lewis Edwards of Aynor thanked his deceased parents, his family and his Lord. 'I would not be here if it was not for the Lord,' he said.

Lee Dougherty of Murrells Inlet, a co-founder of Help 4 Kids, said, 'We started 18 years ago, and we're still going, thanks to the community and HTC.'

Miriam Rowell of Floyds and Minnie Lovett of Green Sea thanked HTC for hiring local youths. 'It's so amazing to look out there and see lives that I have touched through all these years. They have become an important part of our society,' Rowell said.

Curley Huggins, HTC's chief executive, reminded the recipients that God speaks of a sweet savor. 'You are the thing of which he speaks,' Huggins said.

Miriam Rowell | Floyds

Inside

See profiles of the 2008 HTC Hometown Heroes and their accomplishments for the community, Page 8.

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