Comments and Conversations On the Growth of Cary, North Carolina, 1955-2015

By J. “Ray” Sparrow

It is not often that you run across a citizen who knows more than anyone else about a small town that he wasn’t even born in. Ray Sparrow adopted Cary, North Carolina in 1956, just about the time it began to grow by leaps and bounds. Although he says this book is not about him, when you read his observations on his participation in Cary’s growth spurt over the last 60 years, his place is undeniable. One feels as if they are right there beside him in a big comfy chair listening to him reflect upon the people he has met and worked with over the years to make Cary a better place to live.
Ray, a designer and builder of many of Cary’s finest homes and businesses, not only worked with Cary’s leaders, he was an ambassador of good will, running a business that put him in touch with people far and wide; many who came to Cary because of him. Ray Sparrow likes people, building their homes, getting to know their families, making friends with them.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu Publishing Services
• Release date: Mar 31, 2016
• ISBN: 9781483447506

Book preview

Comments

and

Conversations

On The Growth of Cary, North Carolina,

1955-2015

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J. RAY SPARROW

Copyright © 2016 Julian Ray Sparrow.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored, or transmitted by any means---whether auditory, graphic, mechanical, or electronic---without written permission of both publisher and author, except in the case of brief excerpts used in critical articles and reviews. Unauthorized reproduction of any part of this work is illegal and is punishable by law.

ISBN: 978-1-4834-4751-3 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4834-4750-6 (e)

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

Lulu Publishing Services rev. date: 03/28/2016

CONTENTS

Section I Comments

Section II Conversations

Section III Credits and Acknowledgements

FOREWORD

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Tamara Barringer

As Ray Sparrow knows well from his many years of public service in Cary and all of North Carolina, one of the highest honors of serving in public office is being asked to introduce a long-time friend and neighbor. So, when Ray recently asked me to write this foreword for his new publication, Comments and Conversations on the Growth of Cary, North Carolina 1955-2015, I simply could not refuse. Ray and Melba Sparrow have been such good friends, neighbors, business colleagues, and such great advocates of all that is good in Southwestern Wake County, that I am truly honored just to be mentioned in Ray's new book.

My husband, Brent, and I have known Ray and Melba since 1988 when I started practicing law in Cary. Even then, over twenty-five years ago, they were both strong leaders and selfless public servants in our community with Ray having served in the North Carolina General Assembly and Melba serving on the Cary Town Council. Always actively engaged in many different philanthropic, charitable and civic organizations, they have not only been great role models for Brent and me, they have forged their own successful business careers, raised their families and provided strong ethical and exemplary public service at both the local and state levels, accomplishing all of this with thoughtful, joyful and humble demeanors.

Over the sixty years summarized in this book, Cary, and really all of Southwestern Wake County, have become model communities for our State, our Nation and even the World. Ray points out the energetic, open-minded, and truly visionary pioneers in Cary who built the foundation and path that my family and I now preserve and follow, I have learned tremendously from their mentoring and leadership, and in this small book, I am reminded and revitalized by Ray's delightful observations and vignettes personified and illustrated on the pages that follow. I sincerely hope you and all 150,000 citizens of Cary, along with the quarter million who now live and work in our corner of Wake County, enjoy as much as I did reading and learning more about Ray Sparrow and the relatively small group of citizens who sparked and nurtured the growth that has made Cary our vibrant hometown today.

Tamara Patterson Barringer

North Carolina State Senate, District 17

A NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR

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