Support the NCCF Disaster Relief Fund. DONATE NOW

Paying respects to a tireless promoter of Harnett County and all things local

The headline of The Daily Record last week read: “The people of Dunn and Harnett County have lost their truest friend and greatest advocate.  Hoover Adams the founder of The Daily Record died July 15th at age 92.”

Mr. Adams was instrumental in the beginning days of the Harnett County Community Foundation. In fact, he and his son Bart have always supported the work of the Foundation.  A special passion of Mr. Hoover’s was the William C. Lee Airborne Museum. Mr. Adams served as an aide to Lee during World War II.

Something I admired about Mr. Adams was his ability to keep and make friends on “both sides of the aisle.” This is something that should be in higher demand these days.  He counted among his closest friends both Democrats, such as US Senator Robert Morgan and US Representative Bob Etheridge, as well as Republicans Jesse Helms and Lauch Faircloth.

Something I found particularly interesting was that in 2001, The Daily Record actually led the nation in circulation penetration, selling more newspapers in its primary market than there are homes, for a penetration of 112 percent! It went to 117 in 2002, but has since declined as has been the case at many community newspapers across the country.  He claimed his secret was to mention as many of his readers’ names in print as possible, and it worked.  All news is local. 

One day in 1995, when 15 people were killed in an airplane crash at nearby Raleigh-Durham Airport, the lead story in The Daily Record was about a bear being hit by a pick-up truck. The headline read: “Bear Hit, Killed in Harnett.”

The Daily Record began publishing Dec 6, 1950, and these days continues Monday through Friday with the tradition of printing the names, birth announcements, even reports of birthday parties according to editor and publisher Bart Adams.

It is a concept we agree with here at NCCF. The beauty of our affiliate model is that everything is local! Our community grantmaking program supports local nonprofit programs based on our affiliate leaders’ knowledge of local needs and the effectiveness of these organizations. Nonprofits in our local communities are aware of our local affiliate grantmaking programs and know when and how to apply.

Like Mr. Adams, we recognize the value of local support and local information. Who else is going to care about the bear?