STORY: Whitfield welcomes new batch of inductees

By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on January 14, 2017 11:26 PM

• Print
• Email

rcoggins@newsargus.com

Helen Goldsby stepped into the Goldsboro High auditorium Friday evening.

She looked around.

Nothing had changed.

The stage spotlights glistened in her eyes.

"It's been well-kept," she said.

It felt like home.

With the voice of a nightingale, Goldsby took her talents from North Drive Elementary to Goldsboro High and then to the global stage.

Now a resident of the Big Apple, Goldsby returned home for induction into the 45th George Whitfield Hall of Fame.

"I'm honored," the soft-spoken Goldsby said. "It's very humbling being among this class of amazing scholars and accomplished people. I'm just happy to be home...proud to be part of the Goldsboro community."

Goldsby was one of 24 members enshrined into the Hall -- a group of individuals who used athletics as the springboard to outstanding careers where they set standards of excellence in their respective occupations.

Whitfield produces a "people" list.

The long-time baseball enthusiast, who turned 80 this past August, searches for individuals who embrace the morals and values he cherishes the most -- character, Christianity, community service and education.

"What George does here and the people he selects, this is one of your career highlights," said Nora Lynn Finch, who was slated for induction last year, but could not attend the ceremony.

"His group stands for more than just my professional accolades. That is tremendously meaningful for me. If you have met him, you are going to love him.

"You will be blessed by that."

Fellow inductees retired and highly-decorated Brigadier General Arnold N. Gordon Bray and Metropolitan Opera performer William Stone echoed Finch.

Stone participated in three sports -- football, basketball and track -- during the early 1960s while a student-athlete at Goldsboro. He asked Coach Charles Lee at the time for a key so he could get into what is Norvell T. Lee Gym to practice.

But that diligent and determined practice undoubtedly bolstered Stone's musical career.

"I owe an awful lot to Goldsboro because I got the foundation that I needed here," said Stone, whose childhood home on Walnut Street is the only structure to survive the wrath of Hurricane Matthew this past October.

"The commitment you have to have in sports is what is really necessary to be successful. It's the discipline and teamwork that carry you through life."

Bray resourced and synchronized more than 100 Army and joint experiments during his military career that spanned three-plus decades.

A native of the Palmetto State (South Carolina), he attended the Navy War College and Air War College. During those strategic studies, he understood the theme of Whitfield's induction proceedings.

"All of us started with athletics," Bray said. "And athletics taught me two great lessons. The first one was you don't ever quit. And the second one is that just like guys you play against, the enemy doesn't care what kind of shape you're in so you've always got to bring your 'A' game.

"Tonight was a recognition of all of these folks from various backgrounds who started with athletics, but they learned those same two lessons and it resonates in all you capture."

Clutching his plaque underneath his right hand and reveling in the cool breeze that entered from an open door, a surprised Joey Price experienced a special evening.

Before his passing, Jack Holley -- Price's mentor -- was inducted into Whitfield's Hall of Fame. The moment wasn't lost on Price, who has carried on the tradition established by Holley, who has turned the small town of Teachey -- located on Highway 117 -- into a football factory.

The Bulldogs won their fifth N.C. High School Athletic Association Class 1-AA (large-school) state title this past December.

"Mr. A.J. Carr, I think he nominated me. He's from Wallace," Price said. "When he called me and told me, I didn't know what it (the Hall) was even though my friend Jack Holley had been inducted. It's a nice honor....a lot of people (inducted) that I don't think I'm associated with at some levels.

"I appreciate it."

Whitfield occasionally sipped from a cup of sweet tea as he called each inductee onto the stage, and regaled the audience with their athletic and community achievements. And each recipient earned a well-deserved ovation from an appreciative crowd that reached upwards of 450 people in the venerable -- and sweltering -- auditorium.

"(These people make) great contributions to athletics, and boys and girls," Whitfield said. "It's a great class, I can promise you that. We've had some good ones (in the past)."

Expect more in the future.