The majority of polar plungers at Duck Pond are students, so the Hearns stick out not only for their colorful and thoughtful costumes but for their age. Dick is 81, and Joan is younger. She didn’t want her age mentioned because people seem to downgrade others because of their age. “We have found that age is not really anything except being on your driver’s license,” Joan said. “Have you ever met people who tell you not to do things? Well, we never met them.” The Hearns are in the public eye, but not because they try to be. They have been in numerous newspaper articles not because they want the attention but because they are so engaged in the community. As Winecoff said, “They are not after fame or accolades. It’s just what they want to do. They are models in how a community should operate. You do what you can and when you can for those around you.” Joan and Dick love the High Country and the people who live here. They moved here because they loved the mountains, and they liked a university being within a small town. Joan said the university kept them from going stale, and there isn’t
Members of the Mast General Store present a check to the Middle Fork Greenway Association, which the Hearns organize. The association is a collaborative effort of volunteers to promote and organize the expansion of a trail connecting Boone and Blowing Rock. Photo by Heather Wagoner
anywhere else they would rather be. For them, volunteering isn’t a chore. It is not something they do because they feel like they have to. “We wouldn’t be a member of a group unless we didn’t enjoy what they were doing,” Dick said.
Joan added, “It is a wonderful way to meet people in your community. We love it. We learn something new from somebody every week. We meet so many great people, all kinds of people doing so many different things that I find incredible.”
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High Country Magazine
July 2011