Researching an Ayden book

William Harrington and I are in the process of doing research for a future book about Ayden High School athletics.
Both of us are Ayden alumni. Both of us have an abiding love, not only for sports, but also for the community in which we grew up. It was there that we learned many lessons, among them was persistence, a consistent work ethic, and an attempt for excellence in our life pursuits.
I can’t speak for William. I have not reached the excellence plateau, but I have certainly enjoyed an attempt at excellence in the work I’ve performed over the past 44 years. I’ve fell short, but the trip toward that plateau was well worth the effort.
I have been trying to get copies of Ayden High School yearbooks. I’ve had a great deal of success but I still need to find quite a few yearbooks in the 20’s, 30’s, 40’s and 50’s. In future blogs here I will get more year specific.
What is our plan for the book we wish to write? In a nutshell we’d like to provide a history of Ayden athletics from its early days until the school closed its doors in 1971. We hope to show how the early days set the foundation for Ayden’s record football winning streak, its basketball and baseball state championships. We don’t know exactly how this book will play out. I am sure our thoughts today may change before we conclude. But, we’re going to give it the old Ayden effort.
In the process we hope to learn some stores former alumni will have to tell us. Stay tuned. You may be someone we’d like to talk to.
Our first interview was with Coach Thomas L. Lewis. William, Paul Miller and I spent several hours at his home on Oak Island, N.C. We enjoyed his company and we got his view of the times in Ayden from 1962-1967. Lewis was the football coach when Ayden began its 46-game winning streak in 1964. He left before the streak ended.
We’ll be interviewing other coaches and players and hopefully we’ll have a book a lot of people will want to read.
I think I do speak for William when I say this is an effort of love, not one for monetary gain on our part. We want to capture a history of Ayden High School that no one, to-date, has captured. And, those who want that history will have the opportunity for a keepsake.
Email me at moakley@coastalnet.com if you have AHS athletic information that we might be able to use.