The Rockford Preservation Society, Inc., was organized in 1972 as a private, non-profit corporation. It was founded to fulfill three primary purposes: (1) to preserve the Town of Rockford, NC, as a historic site, (2) to acquire, restore, reconstruct and maintain sites, places and buildings of significant historical, architectural, scenic and aesthetic value and (3) to investigate, preserve and make available knowledge of the history of the town of Rockford and of its inhabitants.
The organization is managed by a five-member Board of Directors. These directors include:
Hannah Holyfield, president, is a compliance auditor for a national insurance company. She and her husband, Doug, restored their ancestral home place, the former home of RPS Founder Evelyn Holyfield. The Holyfields operate the circa 1848 house as the Rockford Inn Bed and Breakfast. They also own and operate the Rockford Vineyards and Bent Creek Farm, a Century Family Farm. Doug’s family, both Holyfield and Burrus, donated both the Masonic Lodge and the Grant-Burrus Hotel site to the Rockford Preservation Society.
Marion Venable, director and immediate past president of the RPS, is executive director of the Surry Community College Foundation in Dobson, N.C. Known throughout the region as the “Surry County historian,” she has worked with cultural and natural resource organizations since 1975. She frequently lectures on local history and leads tours for the public schools and historical and civic organizations.
Paula Key Stanley, director, has had a career in marketing research. She and her husband, Randel, are partners in Garanco, a construction company in Pilot Mountain. She is chairman of the Armfield Civic and Recreation Center's foundation board.
Joe Hicks, director, worked for 36 years at Westinghouse Electric and enjoys researching local history and genealogy. He is a descendant of Capt. William M. Norman, a well-known member of the Rockford community both before and after the Civil War.
Jack Norman, director, retired in 2005 from a long career in marketing, broadcasting and media production. He, too, is a descendant of Capt. Norman and has enjoyed discovering his family's heritage since becoming an RPS volunteer and board member.
Rockford Preservation Society, Inc.
4844 Rockford Road, Dobson, N.C. 27017.
(336) 374-3825. |
