The Wheat Swamp Ruritan Club, founded in 1956, strives to serve the Wheat Swamp community through community service, promoting citizenship and patriotism, public service, and social development.

The club holds a banquet each year to acknowledge the Ruritan of the Year and the President’s Award recipient for members. The club also honors a person whose achievements and dedication to the community have made a difference.

Tuesday evening, the club honored E.B. Frink history teacher Chadwick Stokes as Citizen of the Year this year. Stokes is not content with merely teaching in the classroom. One of his achievements was creating a History Lab at E.B. Frink Middle School. He is filling the History Lab with “artifacts” – some original, some copies, and some reproductions Stokes made himself. The lab gives seventh- and eighth-grade students a visual and tactile connection to American history.

An original World War II cot provides a bed for several newspapers reproduced from that era, an infantryman’s helmet, and a crewman’s cap from the battleship USS North Carolina. Across the room, a dress styled after a Revolutionary-era frock adorns a mannequin. A cash register that would look at home in a 1900’s general store sits on a cabinet.

A map showing the route of the Lewis and Clark expedition lies unfurled on a table next to the reproduction of a helmet that looks as if it might have come ashore in 16th-century Florida with the forces of Ponce de Leon.

The history lab is part museum – a collection of artifacts that helps students make visual and tactile connections to American history – and part research center. Stokes designed the lab’s hands-on activities to make history lessons three-dimensional and memorable. For instance, as part of the lesson on gem mining, the students constructed sluice boxes. When students studied the Boston Tea Party, they sampled various types of tea. For a class on the Colonial Era, the students made quills – and wrote with them.

Recently, the CSS Neuse Museum praised Stokes. “Chadwick Stokes is one of our unique volunteers because he is a teacher in Lenoir County and also volunteers at Tryon Palace. He enjoys promoting local history and assists with special events and Scout Nights at the Museum.”

He attended East Carolina University for both his undergraduate and graduate degrees. He enjoys living out his passion for history by volunteering at the CSS Neuse Museum, aboard the CSS Neuse II, and with Tryon Palace. Some non-history-related things he enjoys include attending movies, concerts, and sporting events like NASCAR.

He also enjoys traveling, particularly to historic sites like Colonial Williamsburg. His parents introduced him to historic sites at a young age. Those excursions began his love for and interest in history. In addition, he worked for the Walt Disney Company as an operations cast member at the Walt Disney World resort for six years, first as a college program intern and then on a seasonal basis.

He is active in Revolutionary-era reenactments. He directed Frink students in a living history event he organized in 2019. He serves as President of the Lenoir County Historical Association and on the boards of the CSS Neuse Foundation and Friends of the CSS Neuse Museum. Historic Harmony Hall is one of his passions.

In 2022, he won the Outstanding Teacher of North Carolina History Award from the Historical Society of North Carolina. The Historical Society’s Teacher Award Committee cited Stokes’ work in creating a history lab at Frink and his “overall commitment to generating excitement among middle school students about the possibilities for historical discovery.”

The Wheat Swamp Ruritan Club honored him because members believe in the profound impact Chadwick Stokes is having on future residents and citizens of Lenoir County. His efforts are already bearing fruit. Several of his students have volunteered to work on various projects to promote local history.

Mike Parker is a columnist for the Neuse News. You can reach him at mparker16@gmail.com .