Kannapolis City Council Member Doug Wilson was honored with the Order of the Long Leaf Pine at Monday’s City Council Meeting.
The Order of the Long Leaf Pine is one of the highest honors a citizen of North Carolina can receive. Wilson was honored for his volunteer work with numerous organizations in Kannapolis.
Eric Dearmon, former president of the Downtown Kannapolis Association, presented the award by saying, “You will not find a more committed individual to the youth of our community. He has served in many leadership roles throughout the community as well as coaching teams to many championships honors over the years.”
Wilson, a native of Kannapolis, has served as a volunteer with the Cabarrus County Special Olympics, Meals on Wheels, Cannon YMCA Board of Managers and Youth Sports Advisory Board, and as a Youth Coach at the Cannon YMCA.
His interest in serving the youth of Kannapolis is evident in his role as the head women’s basketball coach at A.L. Brown from 1998-2006 and again in 2018. His 2001 team won the conference championship, the only one in the last 30 years. He was the head women’s coach at Kannapolis Middle School from 1995-1998 where his teams’ won two conference championships. He also coached the Concord First Assembly Christian School Women’s Basketball team for three years – all three years they won the conference championships. He was the founder and club director of the Kannapolis Komet Girls Travel Basketball Club, which is in its 13th year. He was awarded the South Piedmont Women’s Basketball Coach of the Year in 2001.
He joined the City of Kannapolis Parks and Recreation Commission when it was organized in 1988 and remained on the commission until 2001. He was chairman of the commission from 1996-2001.
A member of the A.L. Brown Booster Club since 1996, he has served as president of the group from 2001 to now.
He is also a member of the Kannapolis Rotary Club, where he is a Paul Harris Fellow; a member of Trinity United Methodist Church where he is on the church board, the Sunday School president and teacher. A charter member of the Kannapolis Kiwanis Club, he is the current president elect.
Wilson has served on the Kannapolis City Council since 2013 and was Mayor Pro-tem in 2017.
He and his wife, Cathy Julian Wilson, have been married for 41 years. They have two daughters and three grandchildren.
