Richard D. Messinger, the late president of Power Curbers, has been named to the N.C. Transportation Hall of Fame.
Messinger, who died in 1998, built Power Curbers into the world’s largest manufacturer of curb-and-gutter machines. A former chairman of the Rowan County Board of Commissioners, he also led a fundraising effort to complete restoration of the roundhouse at the N.C. Transportation Museum in Spencer.
Messinger is one of eight Hall of Fame inductees who will be honored at an Oct. 7 ceremony in High Point for “significant career contributions in their respective fields of transportation,” a press release said.
The other 2008 inductees are:
– Wendell Edwards, retired director of the Choanoke Public Transportation Authority, Rich Square.
– Carol Dobyns Fair, flight attendant, formerly with Piedmont Airlines, now with US Airways, Charlotte.
– Carter C. Lassiter (deceased), former owner and president of City Transfer and Storage, Inc, High Point.
– R. V. Moss, retired director of the High Point Department of Transportation, High Point.
– Marion R. Poole, retired manager of the Statewide Planning Branch, N.C. Department of Transportation, Raleigh.
– R. Y. Sharpe (deceased), founder of Pilot Freight Carriers, Winston-Salem.
– Ronald J. Tober, retired executive director of Charlotte Transit System, Charlotte.
Founded in 2003, the Transportation Hall of Fame has held four previous annual induction and awards ceremonies during which 31 inductees representing almost all modes of transportation have been honored.
Previous inductees include Thomas Built Buses founder Perley A. Thomas, aviation pioneers Orville and Wilbur Wright, containerized shipping inventor Malcom P. McLean, Piedmont Airlines founder Tom Davis, Aberdeen & Rockfish Railroad founder John Blue and Old Dominion Freight Line CEO Earl E. Congdon Jr.
Although independent of the N.C. Transportation Museum, a Transportation Hall of Fame exhibit featuring past and present inductees is located among the Wagons, Wheels and Wings exhibits in the Master Mechanic’s Office at the Transportation Museum.
The 2008 ceremony is being held at the High Point Country Club over lunch. In addition to the inductions, annual awards for excellence in the fields of pupil transportation, highway freight transportation, transportation construction and aviation will be presented, and transportation exhibits will be on display. The ticket-only event is open to the general public.
For more information on the 2008 inductees, those from previous years, corporate partners and supporting organizations, visit www.ncthf.org.