Birdie: By Pinehurst resident Jack Farrell, for expending so much of his own personal time and effort to put together a 16-page booklet offering a walking tour of 21 historic sites in the village. He still wants to develop a phone app and says what he has done so far amounts to "just a toe in the water," but it sounds to us like something of a splash.

Birdie: By a new fire investigator named Friday, whose nose for trouble could well end up saving lives one of these days. Friday is a 13-month-old black Labrador who is now undergoing training under the supervision of Moore County Public Safety Director Bryan Phillips. One of his primary duties will be to go rushing into burning buildings to sniff out the presence of "accelerants," which are liquids or other chemicals whose presence is evidence of arson. Friday, who seems to be doing great in his classes, is our hero any day of the week.