Photo by Jon C. Lakey. West Rowan's Player of the year Sara Hendrickson and coach Rebecca Snider

Emory Hale, young Harrison Ailshie.

 

By Mike London

Salisbury Post

SALISBURY — Emory P. Hale was part of the greatest generation.

In 1940, he graduated from Falconer High School in southwestern New York.

Pearl Harbor was battered by Japanese planes on Dec. 7, 1941, just 18 months after Hale received his diploma, Germany piled on with a declaration of war, and like a lot of other American teenagers, Hale was asked to grow up fast.

The U.S. Army was next for Hale. He went through intensive training, and was in action by the time winter turned to spring in 1943. The Marines and U.S. Navy were responsible for most of the war in the Pacific, but Hale was part of the Army’s Amphibious Corps, so his battles were waged on Pacific islands, rather than in Europe.

For 29 months, Hale was in the thick of it. He was involved in nine major campaigns, stretching from the outskirts of Australia to the Philippines to the doorstep of Japan. He was one of the first American occupation soldiers in Japan after the surrender in August 1945. He was stationed on the outskirts of what was left of Hiroshima. They gave everyone who served in his outfit a medal for meritorious service.

No one will ever know how many times a bullet or a shell hit the tree next to Hale or struck the soldier behind him, but Hale survived those nine campaigns and 29 months and came home in one piece.

In peacetime, Hale proved to be a disciplined worker and manager and spent 53 years with two employers, 35 years with the local iron works and 18 in the furniture industry before retiring in 1994 to spend time with his family. He would have been past 70 then.

Hale got married during his working years. He had two daughters. One of those daughters, Linda, is now a registered nurse. She married Mark Hendrickson, a former Syracuse tennis player. Friendlier weather or job advancements were possible things that brought the Hendricksons south to North Carolina. They settled in Rowan County.

Mark and Linda Hendrickson’s daughter, Sara, proved to be a terror on the soccer pitch. A West Rowan Falcon, she was Rowan County Player of the Year in the spring of 1999, ripping through opponents with blazing speed for coach Rebecca Snider, along with talented teammates such as Kari Schenk and Lauren Duffy.

In 2004, at a Willie Nelson concert, of all places, Blaine Ailshie, a handsome guy with a good head on his shoulders, but a pretty average athlete, had the courage to drop down on one knee at Cabarrus Arena and propose marriage to Hendrickson before Willie took the stage in front of thousands of loyal fans. Blaine had graduated from South Rowan in 2000. They were both 21. They had met at the Farmhouse Restaurant — now Breakfast Time — where they were employed.

Blaine was old school. He had asked for her parents’ permission before he got down on one knee. They liked that. They gave their consent.

Blaine’s father had set things up with Willie Nelson’s people, so the pre-concert stage belonged to Blaine and Sara for a short time for the great proposal. Sara was the only one who didn’t know what was coming. She was stunned. She could have kicked Blaine across the stage like he was a soccer ball, but she didn’t. Instead, she said yes. The crowd roared approval, and the blushing young couple heard an ovation as loud as Willie would get for singing “On The Road Again.”

Blaine and Sara had the good sense to postpone their wedding for a while, as they continued to pursue college educations.

It’s been a marriage that has been full of sunshine.

One of the gifts from this union of South and West is an 18-year-old East Rowan rising senior who is one of the country’s best high school players as an outfielder and left-handed pitcher. His movie-star looks are a combination of both of his parents, but there’s no doubt he inherited his mother’s athletic ability. An early commit to UNC, he’s helped East win one state championship, and he’s good enough that the Mustangs may contend for another one in 2026.

Ailshie is the Mark Norris Memorial Award winner as Rowan County Player of the Year for his spectacular 2025 junior season. He was Co-Pitcher of the Year as a sophomore and he’s already been the South Piedmont Conference Pitcher of the Year for 2024 as well as Player of the Year for 2025.

He’s also been named 2025 3A Player of the Year for the state.

Emory P. Hale was tough. He lived until 2012 and stayed close to his family. He got to hug his talented great-grandsons (Harrison and younger brother Brady). Before he passed, he got to see that they were on the right path to being good people as well as good athletes.

The timeline of history treads a narrow path. If a bullet finds Emory P. Hale on some patch of jungle or beach thousands of miles from home, a whole lot changes. If the Hendricksons don’t move south or if Sara Hendrickson says no thanks to Willie — or to Blaine — a lot changes.

Fortunately, it’s all worked out.

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A Harrison Ailshie story as well as a story about the Norris Award will be in Sunday’s print edition.