Judges’ Collective Comments: “We thought we knew where this author was going before we even opened the book…Pilot Mountain, but were we in for a surprise and a rude awakening. We only had to read to page FOUR to gain our education, as we were informed that there were EIGHT (8)…YES, EIGHT…landmarks in NC named Pilot Mountain. One judge sarcastically remarked, “What, they couldn’t come up with other names…they had to name eight landmarks the same thing? No wonder I get lost all the time!” Thank goodness Ms. Griffith cleared it up for us with regard to the Pilot Mountain School of which she writes. The school’s namesake is situated near Morganton, NC, and the writer goes on to record area history delving into the inhabitants, war time periods, social changes, discoveries that made an impact, businesses that took root, etc. She also included some absolutely awesome visuals, such as the vintage photograph of the Glen Alpine Springs Hotel featured on page 12, groups of children having their class picture taken, photos of teachers…and, an interesting vintage photo of a moonshine still, probably moonshiners in the background, the law up front! There was no stone left unturned by Ms. Griffith. Subject matter can be learned from the book’s table of contents. Griffith discusses: the history of the area; foundations of a Pilot Mountain education; construction; war years at the schoolhouse; post-WWII recovery; the 1950’s; numbers and the baby boomers; principals; changes that impacted the school; the 1960’s; Junior High years; the schools closing; and memories of lessons learned. Interviews with past students of the facility tug at the heartstrings. They absolutely loved their school and this feeling is felt through their words. These feelings, all these facts about the school, would be forgotten if not for the exhaustive work, careful research, wonderful production, of this book. Griffith has brought new life to this little Pilot Mountain School on paper. She then goes on to uplift the reader by informing them that, even though the school closed at the end of the 1972-73 school year, and even though the principal’s house and schoolhouse were occupied over the years by various and sundry people and businesses, and for odd uses, it finally fell into disrepair and for sale. A former student, Tom Britain, and his wife Judy, purchased the school and literally took on the responsibility to breathe new life into it. It was purchased in 2005. Why did they buy it…to have a place where ‘persons with disabilities could work, live, recreate all in one place…’ But their renovation of the building didn’t stop there. They created a walking track around the old ball field after cleaning up the trash that was there; built a coffee shop in the former cafeteria that was detached from the main schoolhouse; they had the gymnasium redesigned to create a large meeting room, and raised the floor in one area two steps high to form a stage. The first grade classroom became a second hand consignment shop; the principal’s classroom became the Boots and Saddles western store. The old schoolhouse, once a beloved community hub, was revived to become alive again and frequented by the locales who had once had to sit quietly at their desks to…learn! “Superb job from cover to cover.”