“We could have spent $20 million on a national advertising campaign, and we could never have come close to doing what these girls did for our community in nine short days.”

— Greg Edds, chairman, Rowan County commission, on Rowan’s Little League World Series championship softball team

“Many teachers became first-year teachers all over again with the way instruction was being delivered to students in our classrooms.”

— Dr. Lynn Moody, superintendent, on dip in school performance grades in Rowan-Salisbury

“I sense it in my spirit that we are in the end times. These events ask us, ‘What are you going to do about it?’ Those of us who do love Christ must make a stand.”

— The Rev. Leamon Brown, pastor, First Calvary Baptist Church, on black and white churches

coming together

“He did not serve as a firefighter as a career. He did it as a calling.”

— The Rev. Randy Foster, at the funeral for Chris Phillips

“Education is not an expense. It is an investment. It always positions you for advancement.”

— Dr. Carol Spalding, president, Rowan-Cabarrus Community College