English Bulldog Puppies for Sale in High Point, NC

HIGH POINT, N.C. — Former High Point University goalkeeper Holden Trent, who helped the HPU men's soccer team win its first NCAA Tournament game in 2022, passed away on Saturday. He was 25 years old.

In his final moments, Trent was surrounded by friends and family in Greensboro, North Carolina. A "Celebration of Life" will be held at Vert Stadium on Sunday, November 3 at 2 p.m. All are welcome to attend; however, we respectfully ask for no media coverage or cameras to be visible at the memorial.

"We are all heartbroken. We loved Holden deeply, and will miss him more than words can express," HPU Men's Soccer Head Coach Zach Haines said. "Our staff, student-athletes, and HPU are also determined to do our part in ensuring that his legacy lives on, and that we do everything we can to honor his memory. He is more to the HPU Soccer family than just the greatest to ever play here. He was a leader, a friend, and an inspiration to all. Thank you for supporting Holden and his family during this time. The outpouring of love has been truly amazing, and shows how much this incredible young man meant to so many people from every stage of his life."

Trent was the one of the greatest Panthers to ever don the Purple & White.

Since stepping onto High Point's campus, Trent's impact was felt, and the accolades he accumulated prove as such. He was a two-time Big South Conference Goalkeeper of the Year and three-time Big South First-Team All-Conference member. As team captain, he earned Big South Defensive Player of the Week seven times and helped the Panthers win three Big South Championships.

He was ranked No. 21 in the TopDrawerSoccer 2022 Midseason Top-100 players before being named to the TopDrawerSoccer Best XI Second Team in the same season. Trent was also tabbed to the 2022 United Soccer Coaches All-South Region Second Team.

Trent was monumental in the program's first-ever NCAA Tournament victory as he helped blank North Carolina, 2-0, in 2022. In that same season, Trent and the Panthers defeated seventh-ranked Maryland, 2-1, for the program's fourth win over a ranked team.

In three seasons, Trent started in every game played (52) as he compiled a 1.00 goals-against average with 145 saves and 22 clean sheets. The 6-foot-2 keeper finished his career with a 31-13-8 record.

His career numbers put him amongst the best-of-the-best in the nation. He finished his career sixth among NCAA Division I active career leaders in clean sheets (22) in the fewest games played (52) and was 12th in the same category across all NCAA Divisions. He also finished top-25 for DI active career leaders in goals against average (1.00), while setting the program record.

Following an incredible senior season, Trent became the highest drafted HPU men's soccer player ever in the Major League Soccer Draft when the Philadelphia Union selected him in the first round with pick No. 28 on December 21, 2022. He was the third Big South player to be selected during the first round.

A native of Greensboro, N.C., Trent attended Page High School and played club soccer for the Carolina Rapids and NC Fusion. Our hearts go out to his mother Annie B. Carter, sister Liza McGowan, fiancé Brie Losito and everyone else who loved Holden dearly. The Panthers will wear No. 1 Holden Trent patches the rest of the season to honor him as his memory will live on forever at High Point University.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to the Holden Trent Goal 13 Foundation, an organization that will honor Holden's legacy by helping other athletes or the Holden Trent Soccer Scholarship at High Point University that will benefit a first generation player on the HPU Soccer Team that exudes leadership and dedication to the sport. In honor of Holden's memory, we invite everyone to join us in celebrating his life by registering as an organ donor. This decision provides an unparalleled opportunity to give the gift of life and hope to others.

If you plan to attend the "Celebration of Life" on Sunday, please park at the College Village Shopping Center.

#GoHPU

I’m Brian Gordon, tech reporter for The News & Observer, and this is Open Source, a weekly newsletter on business, labor and technology in North Carolina.

Twice a year, once in April and once in October, the North Carolina city of High Point rivals Milan, Italy, as host of the world’s most prestigious furniture trade show. High Point certainly has the largest.

Starting Saturday, the High Point Market will bring tens of thousands of designers, manufacturers, interior decorators, buyers, sellers, and influencers to the self-proclaimed “Home Furnishings Capital of the World.”

Anchored around two large, labyrinthine buildings, the market contains 11.5 million square feet of showrooms displaying beds, credenzas, linens, paintings, sculptures, tables, rugs, bookcases, wallpaper, recliners, love seats, ottomans, settees, swivel chairs, and at least one $36,000 leather sofa.

“This is a big deal,” said Jerry Epperson, a longtime furniture consultant and member of the American Home Furnishings Hall of Fame. “What these people are buying is for the remainder of the year and in October, for the following calendar year. It’s a lot of new merchandise completely new to consumers. I go to the smaller showrooms and see things I’ve never seen before.”

Epperson attended his first market fresh out of graduate school in 1971. Back then, only about 10% of furniture sold in the United States was imported. And North Carolina was the nation’s largest producer, with manufacturing centered around High Point, a city that straddles four different counties about 90 miles west of Raleigh.

Today, Epperson estimates 90% of our wood and metal furniture is imported while nearly half of upholstered furniture comes from abroad — mostly Asia. Many jobs were lost in this outsourcing. But the industry endures, and in areas of the Tar Heel State, thrives. For example, experts note North Carolina has retained its edge in high-end custom furniture.

“This is a product that China and other countries really don’t want to compete on,” said Andy Counts, CEO of the High Point-based American Home Furnishings Alliance.

“North Carolina is blessed with a lot of literally the world’s best manufacturers,” Epperson said.

And the state still has the Market. The first event was held in 1909. It is now managed by the High Point Market Authority, a nonprofit funded by both exhibitors and the public dollars. Though some worried an upstart Las Vegas furniture event that launched in 2005 would threaten its relevance, the multi-day Triad event remains the industry’s domestic crown jewel.

In April, I attended the multi-day market to glimpse the excitement. I missed the Goo Goo Dolls concert and exclusive night-time parties but did speak to plenty of furniture lovers. One notable conversation was with two women from Minnesota who have a business furnishing Saudi palaces.

During the day, shuttles dropped off attendees at a modern bus terminal downtown. On either side of the street were the market’s two main hubs — multi-story centers owned by the asset management firm Blackstone. Exhibitors rent out rooms in these buildings for 12-months just to present their furnishings for one week in the fall and another in the spring. Some spent weeks or even months arranging their spaces ahead of the market.

Several described the industry struggling with bloated inventories left over from the pandemic years when spikes in consumer demand prompted sellers to order more items. But challenges are par for the course in an industry where, if the builders do it right, customers won’t have to buy replacement furniture items for decades.

Perhaps that’s part of the reason that one sofa was listed for a retail price of $36,105. Then again, it was very comfortable:

Four weeks since Tropical Storm Helene hit Western North Carolina, 26 people remain missing.

That shouldn’t be phrased as only 26 people; not accounting for that many missing nearly a month after a natural disaster is tragic. But given the unsubstantiated rumors I saw on social media this week decryingthousands whose whereabouts remain unknown, I found myself arguing that it’s only, in fact, 26 verified missing people.

I also took a few hours to debunk a specific missing persons rumor spreading on TikTok and X. It centered on a spreadsheet called Hurricane Helene People Finder, which displayed hundreds of people as “missing.” In comment sections, people asked with understandable fury why no government or media outlet was telling this story.

But it wasn’t hard to confirm the unofficial Google Doc was outdated: Its creator made that possibility clear at the very top. I spoke to a “missing” person on the list who was never missing. Her concerned cousin in New York had entered her name after the storm. Cell service was down for days and loved ones couldn’t connect. It all made sense.

I also confirmed the safety of another “missing” person and feel confident I could account for more if I had endless time. But no one does. And the misinformation keeps coming.

Thanks for reading!

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This story was originally published October 25, 2024, 10:45 AM.

HIGH POINT, N.C., Oct. 23, 2024 – High Point University recently welcomed two new members to its Board of Trustees. The new trustees are as follows:

North Carolina Rep. Donny Lambeth

Lambeth, the former CEO and president of Wake Forest Baptist Health and HPU’s 2012 Alumnus of the Year, is known for his work as a lawmaker working to improve North Carolina residents’ access to health care.

Lambeth’s first full-time job after graduating from HPU in 1972 with a bachelor’s degree in business administration was in Wake Forest Baptist’s accounting department. He earned his MBA at Wake Forest University and was promoted through the ranks during his 40 years with the hospital, eventually serving as its president and CEO for four years. He currently is CEO of 437 Logistics Inc., a family-based contractor that provides home pickup and delivery services for Fed Ex.

Lambeth has chaired the North Carolina House Appropriations Committee on Health and Human Services and served on other committees, including education, commerce, job development and regulatory reform. Lambeth was elected to the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County school board five consecutive times and served as its chair. He also chaired the North Carolina March of Dimes and served on local boards, including the United Way and Chamber of Commerce. Through the years, he received numerous awards and recognitions, including being named one of the region’s most influential leaders by the Triad Business Journal from 2006-13 and as Person of the Year in 2019 by The Kernersville News.

He was married for 50 years to the late Pam Gobble Lambeth, who was also an HPU graduate. The couple has four daughters, Kathryn L. Brann, Karrie L. Tuttle, Carly L. Johnson and Kristen Lambeth, and seven grandchildren.

David S. Congdon

Congdon is executive chairman of Old Dominion Freight Line, Inc., one of the nation’s largest LTL transportation companies. He began his career in 1971 as a dockworker learning and taking on roles with increased responsibilities until leading the company as its president from May 1997 until May 2015 and CEO from 2008 until May 2018. Congdon has been recognized over the years for his many contributions to the freight and logistics industry, his local community and HPU.

The David S. Congdon School of Entrepreneurship became North Carolina’s first private school of entrepreneurship and one of only two schools of entrepreneurship in the state when it opened this fall inside Plato S. Wilson Hall.

“I am confident our investment will be used wisely, and this school will be a tremendous success,” Congdon said. “I’m very honored to have been invited and so proud to be now serving on the university’s Board of Trustees, where I hope to be able to offer my deep knowledge and experience as a business leader to further the successful growth of the university.”

The Congdon family has been longtime HPU supporters. In 2017, the university officially opened Congdon Hall, a 222,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art facility that houses two academic schools — the Congdon School of Health Sciences and the Fred Wilson School of Pharmacy.

Congdon has been a civic leader for many years, serving on the boards of Communities in Schools of High Point, High Point Partners, Business High Point, Forward High Point and Business High Point Chamber of Commerce. In addition, he has served on the Board of Directors for the North Carolina Trucking Association, American Trucking Association and the Wake Forest Baptist High Point Medical Center.

Congdon has been named among the Triad’s Most Influential People and an Alumni of the Year by UNC Wilmington’s Cameron School of Business in 2008. He earned the 2008 Fleet Truck Innovators Award, and in 2010, he was named the Piedmont Triad’s Business Leader of the Year. He was recognized 23rd on Fortune Magazine’s 2015 Businessperson of the Year list, was named the 2015 Distinguished Citizen of the Year by the High Point Chamber of Commerce and made the Business North Carolina 2019 Power 100 list. Congdon joined others spearheading High Point 365, a program of Business High Point Chamber of Commerce focused on entrepreneurism, the creation of a business incubator, as well as co-working on the Congdon Yards campus in downtown High Point.