The Rotary Club of Kernersville, NC

Good morning. As many of you know, for the last 12 years, our club has presented a member of the Kernersville community with our Four Way Test Award.

The award honors a non-Rotarian member of the community who exemplifies in their daily life the high standards of ethical behavior, integrity and goodwill required by the Four Way Test.

As explained in "The ABC's of Rotary":

"…the Four-Way Test…was created by Rotarian Herbert J. Taylor in 1932 when he was asked to take charge of the Chicago-based Club Aluminum Company, which was facing bankruptcy. Taylor looked for ways to save the struggling company mired in depression-caused financial difficulties. He drew up a 24-word code of ethics for all employees to follow in their business and professional lives. The Four-Way Test became the guide for sales, production, advertising, and all relations with dealers and customers, and the survival of the company was credited to this simple philosophy.

…The Four-Way Test was adopted by Rotary in 1943 and has been translated into more than 100 languages and published in thousands of ways. The message should be known and followed by all Rotarians. It simply asks: 'Of the things we think, say or do:

1. Is it the truth?
2. Is it fair to all concerned?
3. Will it build goodwill and better friendships?
4. Is it beneficial to all concerned?'"

As a club, we've had the honor of presenting the award to a veritable "honor roll" of Kernersville Citizens, from the first recipient, the late Solly Coltrane…to last year's recipient, Kernersville Chamber of Commerce CEO Bruce Boyer.

Over the years, we've recognized such notable citizens as business leader Joe Dudley, former Mayor Roger Swisher, Kernersville icon Charlie Snow, Coach Jack Blaylock, and long-time Kernersville News Editor John Staples.

Like most of those gentlemen, this year's recipient is no stranger to our club. In fact, he used to be one of us. Kernersville Police Chief Neal Stockton was a member of this club from 1988 to 1990 (and Arnold King tells me he's been working on the Chief to get him back ever since!) Chief Stockton is also a Paul Harris Fellow.

Chief Stockton holds a Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice from Gardner-Webb College, and has served the people of the Town of Kernersville for over 30 years, over 20 of them as Chief of Police.

Chief Stockton is the recipient of numerous awards, including the Kernersville Chamber of Commerce's Distinguished Lifetime Service Award, the Town of Kernersville's Employee of the Year Award, this club's Most Outstanding Citizen Award, the Exchange Club's Officer of the Year Award, a Medal of Valor and a Medal of Commendation from the Town of Kernersville.

Under his watchful eye, the police department has grown from a 22 to an 86 member department, and has deployed an arsenal of state-of-the art crime fighting tools, including mobile data computers, in-car camera systems, new weaponry and new communications systems.

I know the Chief is very proud of all of these accomplishments, and, as a community, we should be proud of them as well. However, if you asked a member of the Kernersville community to tell you about Neal Stockton, or if you ask Chief Stockton you what he is most proud of, I doubt you'll hear much about fancy radios, new computers or awards. Somewhere in the back of our minds, we, as citizens know about all of these things, but we know something more about Neal Stockton that's more important. We know that he's a man of principal, of integrity, someone who, whether or not he recites The Four Way Test with us every week, puts it to work in his life every day.

You know, I often hear people compare Kernersville to the fictional town of Mayberry of television fame; and there are a lot of similarities: we're a close knit community, a community where people work to make things better, and we're proud of what we've accomplished here. We pride ourselves on our small town charm, and Kernersville truly is a special place. But, let's face it, Kernersville probably never was, and definitely no longer is, Mayberry. We as a town have grown up, and, like it or not, this isn't a small, sleepy little town anymore. The growth and development Kernersville has experienced over the last 30 years has changed things in our beloved town forever.

The folks in Mayberry didn't have to worry about the Crystal Meth epidemic or gangs like MS-13. Otis, the town drunk, was always locked away in the jail, not out on the road driving a car. Chief Stockton and his officers face dangers and challenges everyday that Sheriff Andy Taylor and Deputy Barney Fife could never have dreamed of. The put their lives on the line everyday to protect us from dangers the folks in Mayberry never had to worry about.

The folks in Mayberry loved and trusted Sheriff Andy Taylor, not so much for his heroic crime fighting ability, but rather because he was a steadying force on their town. He always seemed to know just what to do, and the people of the town always knew Andy was going to do the right thing, the thing that was fair to all concerned, the thing that would build goodwill and better friendships. But, Sheriff Taylor had it easy, he lived in a fictional town in a simpler time.

Times have changed, and Kernersville certainly isn't Mayberry. But, you know, there is one way that Kernersville is just like Mayberry. Just like the citizens of Mayberry, we each can sleep well at night, knowing that our town is being kept safe by a police force that is lead by a man who is always going to do the right thing. Who's going to ask himself the tough questions, and then do what is right. That man is Chief Neal Stockton.

So it's with great pride that the Rotary Club of Kernersville presents Chief Neal Stockton as the 2008 recipient of our Four Way Test Award.