Ann Anderson: An Ambassador For Her Adopted Hometown

Anyone who follows Pilot Mountain attorney Ann Anderson on Facebook already has a great appreciation for her photography. In particular, the iconic mountain that bears the same name as her adopted hometown has been captured from every conceivable angle in all of its brilliance and glory, from sunrise to sundown.

It would not be a stretch to say that these images have proven therapeutic to many who are looking for reasons to smile and admire nature’s beauty throughout the duration of the COVID-19 pandemic.

What many may not realize is that Anderson feels the same way.

Ann and Tom Anderson

“Absolutely,” Anderson proclaims. “The mountain is such a wonderful distraction, and it is very peaceful. The birds are beautiful, the vegetation is gorgeous. And sometimes in the morning it is actually warmer up on the mountain that it is down below. I was surprised about that.

“The changes of seasons have been wonderful. The view in the evening is so different than in the morning. It changes every day.”

Anderson maintains a mediation practice and is a longtime volunteer leader within the North Carolina Bar Association. She is a past chair of the Dispute Resolution Section and the Labor & Employment Law Section, and previous recipient of the awards presented by both sections. Anderson is also a former member of the NCBA Board of Governors and presently serves on the North Carolina Bar Foundation Board of Directors as chair of the Endowment Committee.

Her husband, Tom Anderson, is also an attorney whose practice focuses mainly on bankruptcy matters. They have two grown daughters.

“I am from Elkin and my husband is from Burgaw,” Anderson said. “He graduated from law school before I did, and when we were starting out, I was with Womble Carlyle in Winston-Salem and he was practicing in Mount Airy. We were looking for somewhere in between for the drive to our offices and settled on Pilot Mountain.

“We bought the only new house that was for sale in the community, which is still small but did not have many of the amenities that is has now. We settled here and really loved it. It is a great community and the people are wonderful. It is very friendly and we love the area; it has a lot to offer. Both of the girls went to the local school system and received an excellent education. Our jobs changed but we liked it so much that we stayed.”

The Andersons have called Pilot Mountain home since 1981, but it wasn’t until the pandemic that Ann Anderson developed a regular routine of hiking and photographing the mountain.

“That has been one nice thing about COVID,” Anderson said. “I have been mediating through Zoom so I haven’t had to drive anywhere. Normally I would be driving to Raleigh and Charlotte and around the state for mediations, but now I am mediating from Pilot Mountain and not dealing with the stress or the traffic.

“When the kids were growing up, we probably went up there a few times and if we had visitors we would take them for picnics or a little bit of hiking. But recently, because of the COVID restrictions, I have realized that we have this wonderful mountain and park that we have not taken advantage of. I started going up in the morning and getting a little hike in and taking pictures. During the day and on weekends the park gets crowded, but when I am at the summit at sunrise, sometimes I am the only person there.”

Although Anderson grew up some 25 miles from Pilot Mountain, and could even see the mountain clearly from her junior high school, she never went there as a child. The roads were not very good and the state park, which was established in 1968, was nowhere nearly as accommodating as it is today.

“The State has built a new visitors center at the bottom of the mountain and added 200 parking spaces,” Anderson said. “The visitors center is very nice, and they have done a lot of work on the trails that has given it a whole different perspective. Some of the trails are not very arduous and you can hike around the knob.

“It has become much, much more popular and sometimes it is difficult to get in. They had close to one million visitors last year, which is unbelievable for the mountain. The park rangers are great, and very protective of it. Because of the pandemic, more and more people have become attached to this wonderful natural landmark.

The N.C. State Parks website states that the mountain was a commercial tourist attraction prior to its establishment as North Carolina’s 14th state park.

“The Pilot Mountain Preservation and Park Committee proposed the establishment of Pilot Mountain as a state park in order to protect it and the surrounding area from further commercial development,” the website notes. “Working with the conservation-minded owner of the property, Mrs. J. W. Beasley, the group secured options on the land and raised matching funds that made it possible to purchase the land with federal grants.”

Long before the pandemic set in last year, Anderson became an ambassador for all things Pilot Mountain – the town, the mountain, the state park and the surrounding area. She is presently spearheading the effort to establish an official specialty license plate promoting the Pilot Mountain National Landmark.

Proposed Pilot Mountain license plate

“Driving around I would see all these other organizations that have license plates with their organization featured,” Anderson said, “and it seemed to me that Pilot Mountain should have one since it is one of the most recognizable landmarks in the state. Why didn’t we have one?

“I reached out to someone to work on some artwork, and talked to our mayor who was very supportive of the idea. The Friends of Sauratown Mountains, which Pilot Mountain is actually a part of, have also been supportive, so we have been working together to try to accomplish it.

“The members of the Friends of Sauratown Mountains do the trail work, and whatever else is needed, on Pilot Mountain and Hanging Rock. They have been handling the paperwork and also trying to advertise it. I don’t know if we will make it this year, but most people think it is a great idea.”

Regardless of whether the license plate comes to fruition this year or in the future, Anderson’s devotion to her community is greatly appreciated.

“It is an honor and a privilege to be able to serve this community alongside people like Ann Anderson,” said Evan Cockerham, the mayor of Pilot Mountain and a former state-certified paralegal. “Through her dedication to our state parks and our town, Ann exemplifies what citizenship and patriotism means.”

Russell Rawlings is director of external affairs and communications for the North Carolina Bar Association.

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