Philip D. Brown

Richmond County Daily Journal

While Rohanen still has its fans, the Richmond County Board of Education’s decision to name the newest elementary school after East Rockingham seems sit well with residents.

Former Richmond County Board of Education Chairman Daniel McLean owns McLean Automotive in East Rockingham. He served on the school board from about 1980 to 1994.

“I think East Rockingham is a lot better name for the school than Chalk Road,” he said at his auto shop Thursday afternoon. “I think East Rockingham, because of where it’s sitting and everything, ties everything together a lot better. A lot of people from East Rockingham have moved out to Hamlet and other places in the county, but I think it’s a great name, in my personal opinion.”

He said he graduated from Rohanen High School in 1956, and all of his children attended Rohanen schools.

“And now my grandchildren are over at Rohanen Middle School,” he said. “My whole family went to Rohanen schools, and I like the name Rohanen, but I think for the people that are going to be going there, East Rockingham covers the locale a lot better than Rohanen would.”

For the last surviving founding member of the East Rockingham Fire Department and past president of the East Rockingham Men’s Club Bill Dennis Jr., however, the loss of the name Rohanen in the county’s elementary schools is an occasion for lament.

“To me, personally, I’m glad they changed the name of the school to East Rockingham, and I think that relates more to the community,” he said Wednesday. “However, for me and some of the older members of the (East Rockingham Men’s) Club, it was a second choice. I would’ve personally loved to have seen it keep the name Rohanen.”

He noted “East Rockingham is not what it used to be,” but pointed out the rich heritage behind the name Rohanen is something that virtually every family in Richmond County has a connection with.

“A lot of people don’t realize this, but the name Rohanen originated from the names of the mill villages around the textile plants that used to be there in East Rockingham,” he said. “Now the textiles are gone, and I understand that, but it’s a shame that we are losing the rich heritage behind the name Rohanen.”

He explained the name Ro-Han-En was an amalgamation of the three mill villages around — Roberdel Plant #2, the Hannah Pickett Plant and the Entwistle Plant.

“That name is real important to Richmond County,” he said. “Anybody in Richmond County, if they didn’t personally live there and work in the mills, they had a family member who did.”

For Dennis, he said one source of his consternation over the naming of the school lies in a campaign promise that was made before the school bond referendum came up for vote.

“A couple of the board members and one of the officials from the schools came to (The East Rockingham Men’s) Club and promised us if we approved the bond they would keep the name Rohanen,” he said. “I understand that a couple of them are gone now, they’ve been voted off, but that’s the thing about a politician. They can promise you something, then when it comes time to deliver they’re not even around anymore.”

He reiterated the fact East Rockingham is a better name than Chalk Road, “and East Rockingham is probably fine with some of the younger members out there. They probably don’t care as much about the name Rohanen.”

Both Dennis and McLean listed some of the great number of successful people who came from Rohanen, including two college presidents, the vice president of Sara Lee and many others whose successes weren’t as public.

“Almost all of them have written or talked about the strong moral up-bringing they had there in the mill villages,” Dennis said.

McLean recalled the days of Rohanen High School.

“Rohanen, at one time, was just a little community,” McLean said. “Now it’s not a little community anymore. There aren’t many people left in East Rockingham that went there, but it was a little school and you knew everybody you went to school with. Now, the textile mills are gone, and times change. You have to change with the times.”

Dennis, like many others in the community, has now moved away from East Rockingham, and is saddened by what has become of the town since the bulk of the jobs left.

“There are still some of the best, most moral people you’d ever meet who live there, though,” he said. “All you ever hear about are the bad things that go on, but that community was the backbone of Richmond County for years. Even though I now live in Hamlet, East Rockingham will always have a special place in my heart.”

He said he’s struggled with health issues of late, and missed the meeting when Richmond County Schools Superintendent Dr. George Norris came and spoke with the men’s club. He wishes he’d done more to keep the name Rohanen in the schools.

“Everything’s leaving, and everything’s changing, and that’s one of the few things we had left from that time — the name of the school,” Dennis summed up his thoughts. “The textile mills are all gone now and the name did come from the mill villages, but I would’ve liked to have seen it stay Rohanen and I know a lot of the old-timers would’ve liked to have seen that, too.”

In the 2010-2011 school year, no elementary school will bear the name, but Rohanen Middle School remains