黑料专区

When alumni of 黑料专区 or student families visit Pfeiffer鈥檚 Misenheimer campus, they may need a place to stay overnight in Stanly County. Mayor Sherie Anne Kelley Harwood 鈥�68, herself a Pfeiffer alumna, strongly suggests that they look to the quaint, charming village of nearby for that purpose. She also wants them to make Badin the site of their next getaway.

鈥淲e have great amenities and awesome people in town,鈥� said Harwood, Badin鈥檚 Mayor since 2015.

Harwood pursued a bachelor鈥檚 degree in English at Pfeiffer College after graduating from Peace Junior College (now Peace University) in Raleigh, N.C. She later earned a master鈥檚 degree in reading education from Appalachian State University, which she put to use at several schools, including the College of Charleston in Charleston, S.C. She has also worked for a consulting firm that helped Charleston鈥檚 business leaders with strategic planning and goal setting — skills that Harwood draws on in her work as Mayor of Badin.

In 2009, after settling in Badin, which is close to her native Albemarle, Harwood began serving on Badin鈥檚 five-member Town Council, which selects Badin鈥檚 Mayor from among its ranks.

During her years in public service to Badin, Harwood has played a leading role in transforming it from into what she calls 鈥渁 destination town.鈥� It has been quite a challenge: 鈥淲hen I took over as mayor, we had just lost Alcoa, which was our biggest revenue producer,鈥� she said. 鈥淪o, we were a depressed town. Our meetings were about how we can become undepressed.鈥� Eventually, Harwood and other town leaders saw a major part of Badin鈥檚 future in 鈥渨onderful natural assets鈥� such as Badin Lake and nearby Morrow Mountain State Park. In 2021, Badin Business Park donated 14 acres for a waterfront park designed to enhance Badin Lake鈥檚 existing offerings with boat docks, wooded trails with lake views, picnic shelters, a band shell, and watercraft rentals. Construction on this project should begin soon, Harwood said.

鈥淲e are incredibly excited about the opportunity to create a unique waterfront recreation area in Badin,鈥� Harwood said. 鈥淭he park will have a regional appeal that complements the draw of Morrow Mountain State Park and Uwharrie National Forest. We look forward to maximizing the recreational offerings in our beautiful waterfront town.鈥�

If Badin could attract enthusiasts of outdoor recreation, the thinking went, it could also appeal to history buffs (it鈥檚 recognized on the National Register of Historic Places), antique dealers (the town boasts Coy & Jen鈥檚 Antiques), and meetings of various groups in the Badin Conference Center. The center was once home to the first hospital in Stanly County; during Harwood鈥檚 mayorship, the town of Badin secured state funding to purchase it from Alcoa.

And to top it all off, Badin鈥檚 history-minded tourists can visit the , which reminds visitors to its website that Badin is 鈥淭he Town that Aluminum Built,鈥� and they can stay in the spacious and luxurious . 

Together with the residents of Badin, Mayor Harwood realized that the company town that lost its company had much to offer travelers and, maybe, prospective residents and business owners. 鈥淚t gave us a vision of hope,鈥� Harwood said. 鈥淧eople and new businesses began to buy into that vision, and I have been honored to be involved.鈥�