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State of North CarolinaAlcoholic Beverage Control CommissionNewsletterOctober 2009Our best wishes go out to those ABCstore managers who have recently retiredand congratulations on a job well done!We also wish to recognize other ABCmanagers and industry representativeswho have long years of service andcontinue in the ABC system in NorthCarolina.Joe SullivanCarolina Data Systems45 YearsPioneering CDS Co-founder Bids AdieuJoe Sullivan, Vice President, GeneralManager and one of the foundingmembers of Carolina Data SystemsIssue 8(CDS), retired from the company's dayto-day operations on August 14, 2009.Over the past 25 years, Joe became afamiliar face to the professionals in theNorth Carolina ABC industry as CDSblazed a technological trail for ABCboards to follow to elevate their pointof-sale (POS), inventory control andaccounting functions from proprietarycash registers and labor-intensive officesystems to the open architecture ofpersonal computers. He continues toserve CDS in an advisory capacity and isa member of the company's board ofdirectors.During the course of his tenure withCDS, Joe was instrumental in thecompany's growth from a tenuouslyfinanced startup with four enthusiasticstaff members and a handful ofcustomers to a dynamic enterprise with acustomer base of 123 ABC boards,spanning the state from the mountains tothe coast. In a 45-year career in thebusiness machine industry, Joe says theaccomplishment he is most proud of isthe role he played in bringing costeffective computerization to NorthCarolina's ABC boards. He says thatCDS has been a pivotal player in helpingto automate the state's ABC storesystem, a process that he says was madepractical by the company's developmentof a service infrastructure that meets theNorth Carolina Alcohol Beverage Control Commission Newsletter 8Page 1

maintenance and support needs ofcustomers ranging from high-volume,urban ABC boards to rural and remotesingle-register ABC stores.Upon his graduation from CampbellUniversity in 1964, Joe began his careeras an accounting machine/postingmachine salesman in the Charlotte officeof NCR. Subsequently, he worked atNCR branches in Hickory and Gastoniabefore transferring in 1972 toFayetteville where he and his wifeMaude raised a family and still reside.After decades of daily devotion toprofessional responsibilities, Joe andMaude are enjoying more time with theirchildren and grandchildren and aremaking frequent and leisurely excursionsto their beach home near Topsail Island.In his early career, Joe designed and soldNCR accounting machine systems tosmall-to-mid-sized businesses in variousindustries. His duties also involved theselling of punched card and punchedpaper tape peripherals that were used inthat era for computer input and output.Later, he sold magnetic key-to-tapedevices that were developed to replacepunched card and paper tape equipmentand to speed up and lower the cost ofdata input into mainframe computersystems.Later in the 'sixties and in the early'seventies, Joe recalls, his sales effortsshifted to more sophisticated accountingmachines that had the ability to read andstore data electronically on magneticstripes that adhered to the backs ofindividual ledger cards. In a sign ofthings to come, the machines could beexpanded to include hard drives. Henotes that much of the computerequipment during the early 'sixties wasbased upon iron-ferrite core memory,which was assembled manually and wasvery expensive. Typical memoryrequirements for the hulking entry-levelsystems of that era began with as little as16,000 bytes of memory as compared tocurrent-day entry-level desktop systemswith 2-4 billion bytes of semi-conductormemory.Reflecting on his career, Joe marvels atexperiencing first-hand the evolution ofcomputers from arcane systems thatwere affordable only by very largecompanies to the inexpensive desktopcomputers that are commonplace today.He greatly treasures, he says, theenduring friendships he made along theway. And he is thankful, he adds, for theloyal support he has received over theyears.Joe is succeeded in his day-to-daymanagerial duties by Angie Boone, whowas named Administrator in August.Chris Whitford was appointed SalesExecutive after serving almost two yearsof sales apprenticeship to Joe. Whiletrying to avoid overly interfering withhis Topsail Island fishing exploits,Danny, Angie and Chris consultregularly with Joe for strategic advice.Lonnie SimmonsHertford County ABC33 YearsA local ABC officer, Calvin Pierce,visited Lonnie in his home to make himaware of a clerk position open at theHertford County ABC store inMurfreesboro. Whitey Perry had justtaken over as Manager of the ABCsystem and hired Lonnie for this positionNorth Carolina Alcohol Beverage Control Commission Newsletter 8Page 2

where he has remained for 26 years. Hebecame Manager of the ABC store inFebruary, 1984.Hertford County ABC opened in 1965.Annual sales are approximately 1.9million.Hertford County is home to ChowanUniversity, a Christian educationalinstitution founded in 1848 by Baptistfamilies and named Chowan – whichmeans "people of the south" – to honorthe Native American AlgonquinChowanook tribe.Fred BradleySparrow & Associates31 YearsUpon Mr. Perry's retirement in 2002,Lonnie became the ABC systemManager and has remained in thisposition for seven years. The ABC storein Murfreesboro was the first store inHertford County. Today, there are twoadditional stores located in Ahoskie andWinton.Fred is a Raleigh, NC native who beganhis career in the liquor business there onNovember 12, 1978.After serving in the Air Force inHomestead, Florida, Lonnie returnedhome to his native Hertford County andwas employed with Union Camp inFranklin, Virginia for eight years beforehis ABC career.Lonnie plans to retire December 31,2009 with 33 years and two monthsservice. His wife retired last year with 39years service at International Paper(formerly Union Camp), and they plan toenjoymoretimewiththeirgrandchildren. Lonnie also enjoysfishing and hunting and hopes to domore of each. He has two retiredbrothers in the area and hopes to spendmore time with them.Fred's early careers were with IBM andUnited Parcel Service. Then in 1978,high-school friend Scott Kelly recruitedhim to come and work as salesman withhim and his father Fred Kelly in theirbrokerage business, Kelly Sales AgencyLtd. Fred's territory included easternNorth Carolina and the Virginia and NCmilitary bases. He worked with Fredand Scott for 10 years.North Carolina Alcohol Beverage Control Commission Newsletter 8Page 3

Fred recalls his first sale of two cases ofthe Elvis Presley Bust Decanters toChairman Bart Burgwyn at theNorthampton County ABC. There wereonly two self-service ABC stores inNorth Carolina at that time.In 1988, while retaining his easternNorth Carolina territory, Fred went towork with broker Tom Strickland ofCharlotte, NC.I’d like to take this time to say thank youfor all the friendships and workingrelationships I’ve made with you duringmy twenty-three years with Sparrow &Associates, Inc. I will miss all of youand cherish the memories of knowingand working with the ones that havecome and gone, the ones still here, andwish the best to all I’ve not had theopportunity to meet.In July of 1997, Fred began workingwith Sparrow and Associates ofWashington, NC. He completed his 31years in the business with Sparrow andAssociates and retired on July 1, 2009.In addition to his years in the liquorbusiness Fred was active in the USArmy Reserves from 1968 until January1997. One of his assignments was at Ft.Lewis, Washington, during the DesertStorm War. His job assignment includedprocessing Reservist and National Guardsoldiers who were coming home fromthe war. He was pleased to be a part of aprocessing center arrangement (19921994) that was later implemented by theROTC for processing purposes. Heretired as a Sergeant Major after 29years of service.Fred and his wife Carole, a retired highschool foreign language teacher, nowlive in North Myrtle Beach, SC. Theyhave five sons and 10 grandchildren,ranging in age from two to 14 years.Fred has his real estate license and is"dabbling" a little in that field. He alsoenjoys taking advantage of the manygolf courses in the area.DeeDee LeggettSparrow & Associates23 YearsWhen I began with Sparrow &Associates, Inc., there were fiveemployees and one office with tworooms. This company has grown byleaps and bounds, and I’ve been honoredto be a part of watching it grow.Speaking of watching growth, it’sAMAZING to realize that Avery andAndrew were small children when Ibegan working here, and now they aregrown men. Time is precious, and it suredoes fly.I will be working here for a short whilelonger but wanted to be sure to let myappreciation be known to all the onesI’ve worked with through the years –with Sparrow & Associates, Inc., the NCABC Commission, the ABC Boards, thedistilling companies’ employees andNorth Carolina Alcohol Beverage Control Commission Newsletter 8Page 4

representatives, Keech & Company, LB& B, our computer programmer (Greg),our computer technician (Glenn), and somany more. I will miss you all.Prior to her employment with Sparrowand Associates, DeeDee worked withHamilton Beach, Beaufort CountyMental Health, Barry L. Gutfield &Associates, CPA and a local newspaper.DeeDee has two daughters. Onedaughter graduated from East CarolinaUniversity with a degree in BusinessManagement and the other is a junior atEast Carolina and is pursuing a businessdegree while working with BrodySchool of Medicine.Bob ShippCarteret County ABC15 Yearsthe team won the Junior College WorldSeries. He left college for professionalbaseball and signed on with theCincinnati Reds for two and a half years,playing in the outfield position. Hereturned to Wilmington and completedcollege at what had become theUniversity of North Carolina atWilmington.After graduating from college, Bobrelocated to Carteret County in 1974where be began a 10 1/2 year career asan agent with the State Bureau ofInvestigation. He recalls such highprofile cases as the arrest of a BrunswickCounty Sheriff, two Marine FisheriesOfficers, and the Mayor of HoldenBeach. Former Governor Mike Easleywas the District Attorney for BrunswickCounty at the time of these arrests.After his SBI career, Bob served asMagistrate in Carteret County from 1989to 1995, and later in 1995, began hisABC career as General Manager withCarteret County ABC.There has been a 7.6 million growth insales during Bob's tenure, and the ABCBoard has relocated and modernizedtheir retail stores, converting them toSuper Stores.A Wilmington native, Bob attended highschool with New Hanover CountyGeneral Manager Billy Williams andformer ABC Commission ChairmanDouglas Fox.After graduating from high school, Bobenrolled in 1963 at Wilmington College(now The University of North Carolinaat Wilmington) where he began hisbaseball career. He played first base andBob credits his long career with theABC system in Carteret County to "notordering business cards" during histenure. Previous to his employment,there were four general managers in lessthan a year, and each of them orderedbusiness cards.Carteret County ABC opened in 1936.Annual sales are approximately 10.8million.North Carolina Alcohol Beverage Control Commission Newsletter 8Page 5

Carteret County is home to the CapeLookout Lighthouse and beaches alongits shores.Recent Grand OpeningsNew Hanover County ABCCarolina BeachHigh Country ABCOnslow County ABCRichlandsGreensboro ABC – Ring RoadSend any retirement and otherannouncements for inclusion in futurenewsletters to Guy Pottsguy.potts@abc.nc.gov or call919-218-0748Weaverville ABCNorth Carolina Alcohol Beverage Control Commission Newsletter 8Page 6

NCR accounting machine systems to small-to-mid-sized businesses in various industries. His duties also involved the selling of punched card and punched paper tape peripherals that were used in that era for computer input and output. Later, he sold magnetic key-to-tape devices that were d