Born in Lenoir to Clarence and Ann Coffey, John Coffey began private piano lessons while enrolled at East Harper Elementary School. At the age of 10, he began studying at Lenoir-Rhyne College and as a teenager, was the first bassoonist for the Lenoir High School Band. He was also the organist for the First Baptist Church of Lenoir from the age of 13 until his high school graduation in 1968.
 
After graduation, he attended Lenoir-Rhyne College, then continued piano studies at the NC School of the Arts. He entered the Juilliard School in 1973 and completed his M.M. degree as a student of the late Irwin Freundlich. He remained in New York working as a collaborative pianist and a musical director for a Broadway Revue, Four on the Town, which began his association with musical theatre.
 
Returning to Lenoir in 1978, he became actively involved in Foothills Performing Arts and taught piano at Lenoir-Rhyne College and Appalachian State University. He became the first Artist-in-Residence for Catawba County Council for the Arts in 1982, playing 250 concerts in that same year.
 
During the 1980's he served as Musical Director for the Hickory Community Theatre, Lenoir-Rhyne Playmakers, Foothills Performing Arts, and Theatre Charlotte, leading more than 150 productions across the state and the East Coast. He also served as pianist for Hickory Choral Society and soloist with Western Piedmont Symphony, Salisbury Symphony, Winston-Salem Symphony, and NC Symphony. He became Artistic Coordinator of The Green Room Community Theatre and facilities Coordinator for Newton-Conover Civic and Performance Place.
 
After returning to New York City in 2000, he worked with many professional theatres and toured extensively to include 42nd Street Moscow, The Full Monty National Tour, and Evita national tour. In summers, he served as the Musical Director for Gretna Theatre in Mount Gretna, PA.
 
As a composer, he has written five musicals and one large classical work, "Behold the Lamb of God." He has been awarded the Keys to the City of Lenoir, Hickory, and Newton-Conover, and he has been honored by the Governor of North Carolina as a member of the Order of the Long Leaf Pine. 

Patrick Crouch was born in Lenoir to Paul and Patricia Land Crouch. He graduated from Hudson High School in 1974 and cum Iaude from Appalachian State University in 1978 with a Bachelor of Music Education degree. 

His entire thirty-year career in education was spent as band director at Granite Falls Middle School. Crouch was elected GFMS Teacher of the Year in 1999, and he was the recipient of the VFW National Citizenship Education Teacher Award in 2009. His easy-going manner, along with his love, knowledge, and appreciation for all styles of music, made him a superb role­model for 4500+ students.

In 1998, Crouch created the Caldwell Traditional Musicians Showcase to celebrate and build pride in the vernacular music tradition of Caldwell County. Now in its seventeenth year, the annual showcase has featured 166 musicians to date. From 2000 to 2010, Crouch recorded 128 musicians on a series of ten CDs funded by the North Carolina Arts Council and Caldwell Arts Council. Crouch has hosted a local television program entitled It Must Be Something in the Water, and he is a frequent guest on local radio programs promoting Caldwell County musicians. He was recognized by the Caldwell Chamber of Commerce as the 2015 Tourism Ambassador of the Year. 

Along with his wife, Kay, and Ron Shuffler in the acoustic trio Strictly Clean and Decent, Crouch has entertained hundr􀀧s of thousands throughout the southeast as well as in multiple tours of Ireland and Germany. The trio has been listed in the NCAC Touring Artist Roster and in the Blue Ridge National Heritage Area Traditional Artist Directory. 

Crouch currently operates Ticknock Studio. He was recording engineer for the CD, George Shuffler and James Alan Shelton: The Legacy Continues, which was nominated for the 2001 Recorded Event of the Year by the International Bluegrass Music Association. His dedication to preserving and sharing the traditional music of Caldwell County remains unsurpassed. 

Dr. Janet Land, daughter of Ted and Jean Sanders of Lenoir, grew up in the Clark's Chapel Community of Caldwell County and attended Hudson schools through twelfth grade, graduating at Hudson High School in 1970. Encouraged by her parents and grandparents, she entered UNC Greensboro as a first generation college student and completed her BS Degree in Home Economics /Interior Design. 

Later, she married Robert Land, a Hibriten High School graduate. Alternating her career moves with those of her husband, Land completed a Master's Degree in English at East Carolina University and a Doctorate in 19th Century British Literature from the University of South Carolina. 

Her childhood dream to become a fulltime English teacher became a reality in 1993, when she was selected as an assistant professor of English at Gardner­ Webb University. Over the past two decades, she has built a distinguished career as an English professor and member of the faculty, known among colleagues and administrators alike as a person of wisdom, discernment, tact, courage, and integrity. 

She has served as the elected chair of several university committees, such as the Educational Policies and Standards Committee, and served as Chair of the English Department from 2001-2006. With the conclusion of the five-year term, her colleagues elected her to the Senior Staff as Faculty Chair, a representative to the President and the Office of the Provost. 

In 2009 she was invited to take on the role of founding Director for the newly created Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning. To no one's surprise, she was awarded the Excellence in Teaching Award in 201 I, Gardner-Webb's most coveted recognition for excellence in the classroom, based on nominations by students, faculty colleagues, and administrators. 

She has also served as Secretary of the NC American Association of University Professors and Chair of the Broad River Greenway Council. As a secretary of the Boiling Springs Rotary Club, she is a Paul Harris Fellow and recipient of the Meritorious Service and Distinguished Rotarian Awards. She continues her teaching career at Gardner-Webb University. 

Dr. William Nye Corpening's interest in medicine was part of his heritage: "From my earliest memory, I had no doubt that I would be a doctor. I never considered any other profession." He was born March 16, 1918, one of seven sons and five daughters born to Dr. and Mrs. O.J. Corpening of Granite Falls. Four of the Corpening sons became doctors. 

Before graduating from Granite Falls High School in 1935, William N. Corpening had set two goals for himself: to follow his father into medical practice and to run track at UNC-Chapel Hill - he did both exceedingly well.

The Tar Heel track team led by Corpening won conference titles three consecutive 
years. He set two school records in the broad jump and the high hurdles _and set conference records in the high jump and high hurdles. He was ranked third best 
hurdler in the world in 1939. 

After graduation at UNC-Chapel Hill he entered the University of Maryland School of Medicine and received a Doctorate of Medicine in 1943 . During his residency at Methodist Hospital in Houston, Texas, he married Avis Hardin Simons, who was employed at Memorial Hospital and was a graduate of the University of Maryland School of Nursing. 

At one point, he wanted to try out for the Olympics, "But World War II came, and I had to go into the Army." He entered the U.S. Army Medical Corps in July, 1945 and was assigned to the hospital ship "Chateau Thierry" for duty in the Pacific until March, 1946. Later, while assigned to the station hospital at Fort Lawton, Washington, he was promoted to acting Chief of Medicine and in October, 1946, promoted to Captain. 

After his discharge in 1947, Corpening returned to Granite Falls and went into general practice with his father. During his 41-year career as a physician, he built a reputation of being a tireless and caring family doctor, delivering more than 2,000 babies in the area. He said he adhered to the philosophy that describes medicine as "an art, not a trade - a calling, not a business." 

Before retiring in 1984, he also served as the team physician for the Granite Falls 
High School athletic teams, medical advisor for the Lovelady Rescue Squad, and volunteer physician for the American Red Cross. He was a member of the American 
Medical Association, NC Medical Society, American Academy of Family Physicians and the John Motley Morehead Foundation Selection Committee. He served as Past President of the Granite Falls Optimist Club and the Galdwell County Medical Society. 

He was the recipient of the Optimist Heritage Award, the Physician's Recognition Award and was inducted into the Caldwell County Sports Hall of Fame in 1989 and the UNC Hall of Fame in 1997. In 2009, Dr. Corpening was inducted into the UNC Hall of Honor representing the Southern Conference Championship Track & Field and Cross Country Teams from 1926-1952. 

He and his wife Avis raised their six children in Granite Falls and were both active members of the First Baptist Church of Granite Falls. 

Born in the Buffalo Cove Community of Caldwell County to Roby Ellis and Mabel Virginia (Greene) Hawkins, he started school in a one-room school house where he finished his first three grades in two years. After graduation at Happy Valley School in 1957, he attended Berea College in Kentucky. Later in 1961, he joined the U.S. Air Force for four years as a communications center specialist, serving in Missouri and in Greenland, achieving the rank of Airman First Class. 

Returning to Buffalo Cove where he still resides on family land, he worked in furniture manufacturing until 1970. After deciding to enter the teaching profession, he completed a Bachelor of Arts Degree in English at Lenoir-Rhyne College in 1973. In the same year, he began teaching English at Gamewell-Collettsville, then moved to West Caldwell High School and retired in 1999. 

His life-long interest in history and genealogy led him to become a charter member of the Caldwell County Genealogical Society. In 1990 he took over as the local History Columnist for the News Topic and is still writing that column today. Hawkins became the Director of the Caldwell Heritage Museum in 2001 and brought the museum out of obscurity to become an integral part of Lenoir and the Caldwell County's Tourism Establishment. He served as an unpaid volunteer for more than 13 years and retired in 2014. 

His involvement also included the Caldwell County Public Library Board of Trustees, the RSVP Board of Directors, and past president of the Caldwell County Genealogical Society. He was a member of the staff which produced "The Heritage of Caldwell County," and he compiled a valuable resource for educators entitled "The Most American Thing: A History of Education in Caldwell County, NC." He has been co-­scriptwriter and star performer of the five part DVD on the History of Caldwell County, and the recipient of several awards given by the NC Society of Historians for his writings. 

He was named the recipient of the NC Award for Outstanding Volunteer Service in 2002 and the Orin Whitener Award for Excellence in 2005. The Board of Directors of the Caldwell Heritage Museum named him a Director Emeritus and conferred him a lifetime seat on the Board. 

John Hawkins is a member of the Yadkin Baptist Church in Patterson where he is a Sunday School teacher and former choir member. He has served as choir director of four different churches. His interests include artistic endeavors, such as theatre, classic movies, all forms of music and reading, and he continues to volunteer daily at the Caldwell Heritage Museum.