Longtime educator, community advocate and current Vance County Arts Council Director Dr. Alice Clark Sallins has joined the ranks of The Order of the Long Leaf Pine, becoming the latest local recipient during Sunday services at Holy Temple Church.
Sallins said she was “overjoyed” to learn that she was to receive the award, the highest civilian honor given in the state. Rep. Frank Sossamon presented the award to Sallins and in his written recommendation, called Sallins “a pillar of leadership and service for decades, demonstrating a selfless dedication to the people of Vance County and beyond.”
She said it was fitting to receive the honor at her church. “It was very special,” she said, “because church is the core of my existence.”
Sallins, herself a minister since 1995, said Sossamon – also a retired pastor – told the congregation that Sunday wouldn’t be long enough for him to list all her good works and accomplishments.
One of those good works was a group for young men called Royalty: Students Striving For Excellence. It began in 1988, when Sallins was a middle school teacher. The idea of Royalty was to support students and “get them to do better on tests, on Reading and Math EOGs,” Sallins recalled on Wednesday’s TownTalk.
But another goal was to keep the young men off the streets, out of trouble and headed for success.
She has a soft spot in her heart for youth and senior adults, and with the arts council she spends a good bit of time bringing arts activities for the young and the young-at-heart to enjoy.
“That was my life’s work – what I really like to focus on,” she said of her special connection with children and with senior citizens.
By week’s end, she will have visited several different schools and worked with more than 150 students, plus a free program at the Senior Center Thursday at 1 p.m.
She’s been involved with the Arts Council since the 1990’s, but added a leadership role to her crowded plate of activities back in 2004.
“As the first African American leader of the Vance County Arts Council, her leadership has been nothing short of transformative,” stated Sossamon in his letter of recommendation. “From producing Broadway-quality plays in the early 1990’s to ensuring that the Christmas Parade became a celebration of the entire community, Dr. Sallins has been a driving force for inclusivity and creativity.”
Thanks to the way her parents raised their children, Sallins has always been a giver and a doer.
There’s a lot of work to do in the community, she said. “Someone has to do it. My focus has always been to make the community better.”
Not one to seek the spotlight, she prefers to work behind the scenes to make changes for the better, whether it’s giving young people access to the arts or making sure the Henderson Christmas Parade goes off without a hitch each holiday season.
For Sallins, it’s simple: “Just let me do what I need to do to glorify God – that’s what I want to do.”
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