Karen Kistler

karen.kistler@salisburypost.com

 

SALISBURY — A portion of I-85 in Salisbury bears a new name — the Senator Elizabeth Dole Highway.

In a special dedication ceremony held June 6 at the F&M Trolley Barn, a sign unveiling was held to showcase the name of the new section of the highway, which is located in the Salisbury city limits between mile marker 75 and Bringle Ferry Road.

As the final speaker of the afternoon, Margaret Kluttz, a longtime friend and former mayor of Salisbury, was sharing, she told the crowd she had gotten word that while they were gathered there, the sign on I-85 had been uncovered.

Former Senator Elizabeth Dole and Graham Bennett, board member with the N.C. Board of Transportation, did the honors of unveiling the sign, which brought lots of applause from the filled room.

In addition to the unveiling, testimonies were shared by individuals including former North Carolina governors Pat McCrory and Jim Martin, Lindsay Reusser, the regional director for U.S. Senator Ted Budd, who read a letter on his behalf, N.C. General Assembly Representative Harry Warren, N.C. General Assembly Senator Carl Ford, Rowan County Board of Commissioners Chair Greg Edds, Salisbury Mayor Tamara Sheffield and Kluttz.

Each shared what an honor it was to participate in the event and be able speak. They told of the many contributions Dole made to Salisbury, the state and the nation, and expressed their gratitude for her commitment and dedication.

On behalf of the board of transportation, Bennett said it was a great privilege to be a part of the ceremony and noted that after hearing what was shared that day, “you will walk away with a little bit deeper gratitude of what she has done for us.”

Sheffield gave a welcome to Salisbury to all who were there and then said she wanted to take the opportunity to directly address the honoree and looking to her said, “Senator Dole, Secretary Dole, Activist Dole, Volunteer Dole, Servant Leader Dole and Salisbury’s daughter thanks for your unwavering dedication to your public service.”

Prior to reading the resolution to rename the section of highway, which had been passed the county, Edds said Dole’s roots run deep in the county.

“She learned the values of family, hard work, determination and service to others at a young age,” he said.

Edds added that these values would serve as the guiding principles of her life, a life dedicated to her family, to public service and remarkable positive leadership. She’s consistently demonstrated that one person can indeed make a profound difference in the lives of so many.”

He also made mention that Dole had served as the chair of the National Republican Senatorial committee making her the first woman to serve in that position and that she founded the Elizabeth Dole Foundation and “has been a tireless advocate for veterans and their caregivers, championing initiatives to provide our service members the support and the resources they deserve.” 

He concluded by challenging the residents of Rowan County to be inspired by her example and “embrace our own call to leadership, to service and let us work together to build a brighter future for our community and beyond.”

McCrory’s story took the audience back to when he was a junior at Catawba College and he was attending his roommate’s graduation. At that ceremony in 1977 he said, that Dole was the speaker and it was then as he listened to her speak, he said, “I admired her for her intelligence, her character, her vision, her leadership skills, and I think you can say for her beautiful and I can say I had a respectful crush.”

At that time he never dreamed he would be serving with her as she was a U.S. Senator and he a mayor and then later with hurricanes, floods and storms that he would be dealing with her as she had the role of president of the American Red Cross.

And now, he said as he rides along this area of I-85, he would “always remember this beautiful, beautiful woman with intelligence, character, integrity and vision that will have a lasting impact on a city, on a state and this nation forever.”

Martin shared about Dole’s background being the daughter of Mary Ella and John Van Hanford, and a graduate of Duke University. 

“She was a public servant in so many ways,” Martin said as he mentioned the Federal Trade Commission, Secretary of Transportation, Secretary of Labor,” each required approval of the U.S. Senate, he pointed out.

And, he added, she married a distinguished national hero of the senate, Bob Dole of Russell, Kansas and it “was with her love and devotion that he lived to be almost 100 years old.”

Warren highlighted the many firsts that Dole can lay claim to as he recognized her for what he said is an “outstanding, incredible, illustrious life of service” that she has had.

He said that Dole was the first female to represent North Carolina in the U.S. Senate; the first woman to be a Secretary of the Department of Transportation; the first woman to be in charge of a branch of the military; and the first woman since Clara Barton, who founded the Red Cross to become the first female president. Dole was also a viable candidate for a major political party with her bid for a presidential nomination in the Republican party. 

“That’s truly amazing when you think of the scope of all that happening in one lifetime, and in addition to that, in a time period, when, let’s face it, it was a man’s world but she stood toe to toe with the most powerful men in the country, serving with five different presidents.”

Looking at Dole, he told her “you didn’t just break the glass ceiling, you shattered it.”  

Noting that this event was held on D-Day, Ford said he thought, “maybe it’s D-Day in Salisbury, Dole Day, and we appreciate her and what she’s done. She’s such an inspiring lady.”

And he said that being able to have this portion of the interstate named after her “makes it even better, and we’ll be able to see that from now on.”

He concluded by presenting her with a flag flown over the capital in her honor which he and Warren had gotten and thanked her for what she has meant to so many, those in the room, in the city and the county.

Lindsay Reusser, the regional director for U.S. Senator Ted Budd, shared a letter on his behalf honoring Dole, who he said is “one of North Carolina’s finest public servants.”

He said that it was fitting to dedicate the highway in her name there in Salisbury adding that her “impact on our nation can be seen across America but it starts here at home.

The letter concluded with thanks for her “decades of tireless public service and commitment to our country.” 

Mentioning the testimonies that had been shared, Kluttz said she was going to depart from the usual and told of how she got to know Dole, which was through her family and their attending church together.

She said she would hear people telling them how proud they were of her and learned she had been elected as the women’s president of the student body at Duke University. Kluttz said as a teen, she was really impressed

Knowing neighbors, family, former classmates and friends were in the audience, she told the story that many would probably remember of Dole, then Hanford, started the first bird club in Salisbury.

“That’s another first for us, and then she promptly appointed herself president. So this servanthood started a long time ago,” said Kluttz.

She concluded with the last line of Robert Frost’s poem, “The Road Not Taken,” which reads, “two roads diverged in a wood and I took the one less traveled by and it has made all the difference.”

She said to Dole, “you have made all the difference in so many lives, the educational opportunities for women, the political opportunities for women, the career opportunities, the caregivers, all those things we’ve been hearing about.” It was then she announced that the sign on the highway had been uncovered and said, “isn’t it almost ironic that the most traveled of roads in this part of the country is being named after the woman that chose the less traveled road throughout all of her life.”