Jeff Hathorn, the pride of the Pinebelt Pacers was with Mr. Moore the entire day, acting as pacer, if you will. The town wanted him to get to the finish line at precisely 4:00 and Jeff was the man to do it.

Mr. Moore was accompanied by many as he came in sight. He was led in by a Prentiss police car with the siren blowing. Many cheers went up and thunderous hand clapping as he approached the finish line.

The entire event was filmed by a movie crew who, I understand, will be doing a documentary on Mr. Moore's life.

Also present was WDAM who interviewed Mr. Moore and Mr. Harry Strohm.

The eight year old girl, Taylor Stone, ran a 10K with Mr. Harry. A very sweet little girl. Mr. Harry commented that if she decides to do another 10k next year, he will have to train for it. According to him, she wore him out!

Marvin Overstreet did his first 50 miler. He not only had the advantage of the event's aid stations, he had his own crewperson, Shannon Holder. She was sweet enough to carry a change of clothes for me as well to Bassfield. It was quite chilly at the start and warmed up a bit as the sun came up. With Shannon's help, we were able to change from winter clothing to more suitable attire. She tirelessly drove from town to town to see to Marvin's needs. A truly great lady.

There were three decorated cakes for the celebration which were very well done not only in taste but in design as well. The three ladies who are pictured with the cakes are the ones who baked them and also there were about five more that were baked but not decorated to accommodate the huge crowd. I am so sorry that I did not get their names.

Mr. Harry introduced Mr. Moore, as though he needed an introduction. He went on to say that Mr. Moore attempted to do his age in miles on his 75th birthday and was not successful. His birthday is July 3rd and the temperature that day was 95 degrees. He offered to exchange birthdays this year with Mr. Moore so that he could do his age in miles with the hope of much cooler temperatures. Mr. Harry's birthday falls on November 17th.

Of course, since they exchanged their birthday dates, only Mr. Moore had the honor of the birthday song which was led by another sweet little gal. Again, I apologize for not getting names. (New at this reporting stuff. I was hoping that Elmer would do it all. Phillip who usually does this was absent...at a wedding somewhere. Another apology to Bob Clark. He asked me if I was going to write a report and I said that I wasn't. I was charmed into it, Bob.)

Mr. Moore was presented with gifts of a Longleaf Trail t-shirt and cap. He was also given the key to the city. Mr. Moore tried to give a speech, but failed due to the immense emotion that he was experiencing. There were a lot of tears shed by many others during this moment.

Major General Harold Cross, who was present at the Pentagon on that fateful day, September 11, gave a stirring speech about our great country and our veterans.

Several choirs and soloists entertained us with Christian and Patriotic songs. Prentiss has some wonderful talent and it was a pleasure to hear them.

The celebration ended with a spectacular fireworks show as we all sang, "God Bless America" while we each held a lighted candle. This celebration could not have ended any better. Antha Estridge