RIDGEWAY – Three Ridgeway mayors reigned over the 100th anniversary celebration of the Town’s Tin Man water tower on Saturday. Current Mayor Heath Cookendorfer introduced the two previous mayors who shared stories about the tower.
Former Mayor Rufus Jones laughed as he told about how one morning during his youth, the town’s folk woke up to a small goat walking around the catwalk of the tower.
“I won’t say who got that goat up there,” Jones said. “But it was Bubba Edmunds and Ricky Miles and another guy.” With that, everyone began laughing and calling out Rufus who, it turned out, was the other guy.
Former Mayor Charlene Herring talked about the tower being a beacon for the town.
“People in town often say that when Highway 21 was the route home from Charlotte, as they came down that big hill, miles from Ridgeway, that they could see the water tower and knew they were almost home,” Herring said.
Former mayor Laura Thomas’ daughter 
Ridgeway Town Councilman Don Prioleau
