Cooperative Living February 2019 - 14

CoverStory | by Bill Sherrod, Editor
Clarksville's
Franklin Dover
Receives 2019 Good
Samaritan Award
C
larksville resident C. Franklin
Dover, Jr., has earned the
2019 Good Samaritan Award
presented by the Virginia, Maryland
& Delaware Association of Electric
Cooperatives (VMDAEC).
Given to an individual whose body
of good work has been so selfless and
life-changing to others that it is held
up as a " gold standard " of community
service, the award was presented Dec.
6 in a surprise ceremony held during
the Clarksville Lake Country Chamber
of Commerce's Christmas Social in
Clarksville, Virginia.
Dover was chosen as the 2019 Good
Samaritan Award recipient from a
group of nominees from across the
region. The selection was made by a
panel of electric cooperative leaders.
Dover's nomination was sponsored by
his home cooperative, Mecklenburg
Electric Cooperative (MEC).
AN AFFINITY FOR
HELPING OTHERS
The Good Samaritan Award is a good
fit for Franklin Dover. He loves people.
The North Carolina native has had
two distinct careers ― first in education,
then in real estate ― that may seem
vastly different, but both focus on
helping others.
As an educator ― coach, teacher and
principal ― in North Carolina, he helped
young people find their way through the
difficulties of the " growing-up years. "
When he retired in 1992 as principal
of Western Guilford High School in
Greensboro, he and his wife Carol
moved to Clarksville. There he began
12 | Cooperative Living | February 2019
his second career in real
estate, working with
United Country Real
Estate Virginia Realty.
" I love meeting
people, learning what
they need, and helping
them find what best
suits them. I love seeing people find
what they're looking for, " says Dover.
And in Clarksville, a small, friendly
town at the headwaters of Buggs
Island Lake, what people are looking
for, sometimes, is help in keeping a
community institution moving
forward, or help in putting a bad
situation behind them.
" At our office, we formed a cooking
team, " says Dover. " We would cook
for fundraisers to help individuals,
groups, whoever needed help. "
Community beneficiaries of the
cooking team's efforts have ranged
from high school marching bands to
volunteer fire departments to
individuals facing steep medical bills
following illness or accident.
Franklin and Carol joined the
Clarksville Ruritans in 2005. Soon
thereafter, the couple helped the
Ruritans start holding Friday night
dances in an old grocery store building
a block off Clarksville's main drag.
The idea was to create a regular
local event where people could go to
socialize and dance in a tobacco-free,
alcohol-free environment.
" We have good, local musicians, and
the entry fee is $5. This generates about
$10,000 a year for the Ruritans to give
back to the community, " says Carol.
The weekly dances have become
something of a community hallmark
in Clarksville. The space where they're
held doubles as the Ruritans' thrift
shop, so every Friday before the
dance, the Dovers and other Ruritan
members move all of the thrift-shop
merchandise around in the building to
clear a dance floor. After the dance,
the process is reversed so the shop can
open early Saturday morning.
In total, the Clarksville Ruritans'
fundraising efforts, including the thrift
shop, the dances and other events,
enabled the club to give back more than
$182,000 to the community in 2018.
IN LOVE WITH A LAKE AND
A LADY NAMED CAROL
Born in Alamance County, North
Carolina, in 1938, Dover attended
Walter Williams High School in
Burlington, North Carolina, and got
his undergraduate degree in chemistry
from Elon College. He received his
master's in education at UNC Chapel
Hill. He taught chemistry and physics,
coached wrestling and girls' basketball,
and helped with a variety of other
youth-activity functions at Mebane
and Eastern Alamance high schools.
He served as principal of Eastern
Alamance High School and then
Western Guilford High School.
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Cooperative Living February 2019

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