Hey There

Born on Maybe Hill, Chalmers Drive, July 17, 1955, I was the third child (knee baby) of four children born to John Avery and Gertha Mae Kelly Chalmers. I remember the hot sun shining down on my medium honey brown skin. I knew I existed; I could see, I could hear, I could feel. I was in a neighborhood I felt I belonged in.  The neighborhood listened to the ball games across the field at Dalrymple Park on Woodland Avenue, but little Negro children were not able to be a part of the laughter. The tennis courts were banned from little black boys and little black girls, but we always admired the players in their short white skirts or shorts as we drove by. I ate my beloved hot dog made “all-the-way” from the basement of Roses Department Store on Steele and Wicker Streets but not at the upstairs lunch counter.  Oh No! That was for “Whites Only”.  I played with the children and/or interacted with all the neighborhood families that came and went over twenty-two years on Maybe Hill. I never will forget Washington Park now Horton Park where Black children could swim!!!

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I rode on the back of the bus with my grandma Mollie Judd Chalmers from Great Vineyard to downtown Sanford. A good friend to this day is Mildred Elaine McLean who worked for BB&T Bank (retired). The Lee and Chalmers children worked together at Otis and Hazel Kelly’s Farm less than one mile away from the neighborhood going west on Highway 78 for many years.  Our beginning wage was 15 cents per hour.  Some of the tobacco barns are still standing today. No!  They have just been torn down in 2023 or thereabouts due to a new housing development!! There were three of them, there used to be four. One barn was moved and now erected at the Sanford Lee County fairgrounds!!!  Many childhood conversations and games were shared under the once then, huge maple tree called (The Shade Tree) over the sound of the Jonesboro Baptist and or Methodist church’s chimes ringing throughout the neighborhood.  "Let's meet at the shade tree", one would say! The Baptist Church chimes continue to ring today which brings back some nostalgia for me. 

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I attended Vineland Elementary School in West End, salutatorian of my class, and Pinecrest High School in Southern Pines, NC where I was inducted into the National Honor Society and won the Crisco Award in Home Economics. I always felt my social development in Sanford was limited, because my mother taught school in Moore County and I had to attend school there, some 30 miles from Sanford.

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One fond memory in the Sanford community was when I attended the Home Extension Sewing
Program on Steele Street, under native Sanford student teacher at North Carolina Central University in Durham at the time, Joyce Williams and coordinator, Miss Mary Estelle Doyle, where I and my younger sister, Sharon, played the piano for the culmination program over 50 years ago. Perhaps this is where I got my interest in sewing, crafts, and fiber art which landed me in pursuing a major in Home Economics Education.

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Star Of Hope Free Will Baptist Church was where I recall another good friend, Rita Tomlinson McIver. I sang in the Youth Choir later becoming pianist, president and secretary of the Young People’s Christian League, and was involved in program planning and implementations of many projects in my childhood church which I continue to volunteer today. I am presently the Superintendent of Church School at St. Paul African Methodist Episcopal Church in Chapel Hill. My mother taught me to play the piano and later my older sister, Joan, gave me techniques for playing by ear! As first soprano of The Chalmers Sisters trio for many years, I sang in many of the area churches in greater Sanford. My first Sunday School teacher, Miss Artrice McLeod, taught me to crochet and knit and that God was love!!! Another reason why I enjoy crafting! I was a short order cook for the once Kings Department Store in the Kendale Shopping Center, Jonesboro Heights. My beloved Theresa Elliott was my manager where I eventually was promoted to assisted manager.

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When my brother, Anthony sang with us, we were called the Chalmers Singers; but when the announcer mis-introduced us as the Chalmers Sisters before our performance, that was the end of Anthony singing with us. I graduated from the University of North Carolina in Greensboro with a Bachelor of Science in Home Economics Education and a Master of Business Administration in Health from Eastern University, St. Davids, Pennsylvania. I began my teaching career in Angier, NC with the Exceptional Children’s Program in Harnett County.

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After fifteen years spent in Massachusetts, one year in California, two years in Pennsylvania as a public-school teacher and parenting counselor in Massachusetts, I returned to the greater Sanford-Lee County area in North Carolina as coordinator of the Maybee Hill Neighborhood Association and became the editor of the neighborhood’s newsletter.  Believe it or not, I returned to Pennsylvania for another 12 years traveling back and forth between Chapel Hill and Sanford monthly.

I am also the co-organizer of the annual Maybee Hill National Night Out.  I am a homemaker and
reside in Chapel Hill, North Carolina with my husband, Willie. Brandon, my adult son lives in
Tanzania, married to Ashley, with their sons Bridge and Asante'. Brandon worked with Brick Capital here in Sanford, as a cooperative student from New York University where he produced a documentary of Sanford entitled, "Bridging The Gap", preceptor, Mrs. Cora McIver (check back here future, for the link). Brandon and Ashley are now the filmmakers and writers of “Our Blues Make Us Gold”, a historical account of North Carolina A&T State University, a land grant college, and the largest (HBCU) Historically Black College and University in the nation! The documentary is being shown now on the Comcast Infinity channel and Xumo Play. Follow them on youtube.com/@ourbluesmakeUSgold! Check it out!!!  bit.ly/ourbluesourgold

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I manage heir property, the Chalmers-Judd Land Enterprise, LLC, in Lee County and I am Genealogist Emeritus of the Judd-Chalmers Family Reunion where I researched ancestry for thirteen years. I will never forget my hometown of Sanford and I get a warm feeling every time I enter the city limits.

I encourage all people - young and old to “give back” their knowledge and talents to their neighborhoods, community, and city! No talent is too small or great to share with those coming after us.

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In conclusion, “There is no place like home.”

Carol Delaine Chalmers Deese