Senator Fred Smith Visits Bertie County On BBQ Tour

Senator Fred Smith is currently one of the leading candidates for Governor for the State of North Carolina. In the last two weeks he has gained significant momentum, even getting recognized by one of the leading Democrat Party web sites, bluenc.com. BlueNC spoke of Fred's surge as being the first serious movement of any candidate since the announcements by the major players earlier in the year.

Some of that movement is attributable to the enthusiastic endorsement of Senator Smith by Lee Greenwood, a man some call America's number one patriot. Greenwood is famous for his song, God Bless the USA. Fred and Lee met through a family friend that was impressed with both men.





Senator Smith started his visit to Bertie County with an early morning press conference from hole 17 at the Innsbrook Golf Course, the signature hole of this Arnold Palmer Signature Course. His statement this day was about his plans for Creating Jobs in North Carolina and what a small business oriented Governor can do to dramatically improve the job climate here.

Innsbrook is nearing completion on the eastern edge of our county overlooking the beautiful Albemarle Sound and is bounded by Salmon Creek and Black Walnut Swamp. It is one of the truly beautiful places in this beautiful heart of the Inner Banks called Bertie County. The visual symbol for the idea of taking risks to succeed was made when Senator Smith (shown above) played the hole in front of those present. I have video (click here to see video) proving that he made par! Pretty good for this really tough, spectacular hole.





Next, Kay Byrum (above left) took Senator Smith on a tour of Hope House, home of former Governor of North Carolina, David Stone.




Johnny Pierce (above left) registers with Bill Fields for the BBQ at the Heritage Center at Historic Hope House. Johnny and Rachel from the Heritage House Restaurant provided the food for the event.




Chairman John Stallings (above) acted as master of ceremonies this day and started the event off with a welcome to everyone who came out for this Free BBQ for citizens of Bertie County.




Reverend Carroll Tarkington (above) gave the invocation and blessed the food.




Deidre Jersey (above), led all attendees in singing the national anthem.




During lunch there was an excellent discussion of education and the wishes of Bertie County citizens. Education is one of the key concerns of Senator Smith (in rear left) and he listens intently to input from some Bertie County residents, Tim Phelps (shown above on left), John Davis (shown above on right), Anita Davis (in rear center) and Cathy Mizelle (in rear right).




There was a large crowd present in the beautiful John Tyler room at the Roanoke-Chowan Heritage Center, a popular location for meetings in Bertie County.




Everyone enjoyed the meal provided by Johnny and Rachel from Heritage House Restaurant. The food was excellent. Joe Humphries, Rita Hoggard, Jim Hoggard, Collins Cooper and Gary Gardner are at the foreground table (shown above).




Senator Smith waits to start his keynote address towards the end of the event. Jim Hoggard, member of the Town Council from our largest town Windsor, introduced Senator Smith.




Before Senator Smith came up, a video was played that introduced people to Senator Smith's family including his wife, Ginny, and mother, Eudell, and which ended with the campaign song "Good To Great", written and performed by Lee Greenwood (double click arrow above to hear song).




Senator Smith gave his usual excellent talk about the things he sees as important at this critical time in our state's history. His message is about "empowering people", "protecting people" and "reflecting the values of North Carolina". Within this plan he emphasizes education, small business, safe streets, affordable health care, immigration reform and honest government.

The meeting was closed by singing "God Bless America", led by Deidre Jersey. This is the traditional way that Fred closes his BBQs and it is always a great ending. His message was well received by this Bertie County audience and there was a great deal of enthusiasm among the people who came. Almost no one left when the meeting was over, but stuck around to talk with Fred and their friends about what they had heard.

It is unlikely any other candidate for Governor will come to Bertie County in a meeting open to the public and stick around until everyone who wants to talk gets a chance to meet face to face. Fred explains it this way, "Political wisdom is that you go to the high population counties and run TV ads. I don't think that's right. Every county is important." It was a great meeting and a rare opportunity. Make sure you go meet this impressive man when he has a BBQ near you.


After this event was over Senator Smith headed for Northampton County and the second BBQ of the day. Click here to read about Northampton.