There was little fanfare in 2010 when Mary Earnest opened the Blue Rooster, a Southern diner in a strip mall past its prime.

When Kathy Sheppard got her start in the insurance world 30 years ago, she was a pioneer in a male-dominated profession.

It isn’t often students in the creative arts program and the high-tech machinery program get to collaborate on a project, but Haywood Community College’s 50th anniversary has brought them together to create one-of-a-kind commemorative pieces.

SEE ALSO:
• 50 years forward: HCC invites community to ‘Big Day’ of celebration
• HCC graduates find success
• History in the making: HCC grows to meet community needs
• HCC President Parker looks forward 50 years

What better way to celebrate 50 years of education at Haywood Community College than to invite the community for a firsthand look at what the school has to offer?

Not every success story starts with a four-year degree from an elite university, and there are many Haywood Community College graduates to prove it.

As Haywood Community College leaders look to the future, it’s import to reflect on how far the institution has come in its first 50 years. 

What is the significance of HCC’s 50th anniversary?

The 50th anniversary celebration gives us an opportunity to reflect upon those who preceded us and had the vision and wherewithal to create the North Carolina Community College System and specifically Haywood Community College.

Trying to create a small logo that encompasses everything Haywood Community College stands for is no easy task. 

But with only three letters and a symbolic leaf, Aaron Mabry, marketing and communication director, thinks he and Lee White Media pulled it off. The old logo said Haywood Community College and featured a gradient leaf, but the new logo was shortened to HCC, features four new colors and a solid-color leaf.

It never ceases to amaze me the incredible people, places and things I cross paths with here in Western North Carolina. From craft artisans to world-class musicians, stealthy moonshiners to stoic veterans, backwoods folks and cosmopolitan socialites — they’re all here in Southern Appalachia.

For true local charm, look no further than Canton and Clyde, the neighboring towns nestled in eastern Haywood County. They are situated around the Evergreen paper mill, which started life as Blue Ridge Paper Products and has been running steadily for more than 100 years.