Published: August 03, 2008 12:47 am            

A Knight's Tale

This past week Meridian lost (temporarily, I hope) another great asset to our community. Naval Air Station Meridian Commanding Officer Capt. Russ Knight packed up and moved to his new assignment as Deputy/Chief of Staff at the Naval War College in his home state of Rhode Island. Russ will be the Vice President of the Navy’s War College. Not too shabby for a fly boy transferring from Meridian.

I first heard about Russ a little over two years ago when I arrived in Meridian as publisher of The Star. At that time, Russ Knight and Curt Goldacker were the leaders at NAS Meridian. A few months later I was invited to join the Navy League members on a trip to the air craftcarrier Teddy Roosevelt. Because I am an adrenaline junkie, I jumped at the chance to “hook” and “shoot” off an air craft carrier deck. That’s when I really began to see why the people of Meridian have grown to love these guys.

Spread over 8,000 acres of land, Naval Air Station Meridian is our area’s largest employer with a workforce of more than 3,300. During his tenure at NAS Meridian, Russ has pushed to continually improve the facilities and the quality of life for the sailors at NAS. He genuinely cares for the well-being and future of the sailors at NAS.

Those leadership skills didn’t stop at the front gate of the base, which, by the way, has been remodeled under Russ’s tenure. Russ carried his leadership into the streets of Meridian, Lauderdale County and the majority of our surrounding counties. He believed in being involved in the community and encouraged other sailors and aviators to do the same. You would be hard-pressed to find anyone who moved from the North into this area that has more passion, more love, and more of a positive attitude toward the Meridian area – except, perhaps, his wife, MaryLou.

There is a saying that behind every strong man is a strong woman, and Mary Lou are no exception. Have you ever met a person and walked away from them saying, “Wow, that is one of the nicest people I have ever met. In fact, she may be too nice.” That is one of many ways to describe MaryLou Knight.

The spouse of a successful career man can sometimes get lost as being labeled “his wife.” Not MaryLou. She has paved her own road in Meridian and that road has more offshoots than any combination of back roads you may take to get to Gulf Shores. She, as well as Russ, believes in giving back to the community and they both did just that.

MaryLou is probably best known in Meridian for her love and passion for tennis. As a wife, a mother of two, and an employee of the hospital, she taught various exercise classes every week at both NAS and Jeff Anderson Regional Medical Center gym, and yet somehow she managed to find time to play tennis nearly every day. I am not kidding — she played tennis almost every day. In fact, when she first arrived in Meridian, Russ brought her to the tennis courts before even taking her to her new home. I know that her tennis family at Northeast and Northwood Country Club will miss her.

We will all miss the Knight family terribly. The loyalty and love they have shown to the Naval Air Station and our community has far surpassed anyone’s expectations. We wish the Knight family the absolute best in the next chapter of their lives and hope that one day they will find their way back to Meridian and make it their permanent home.

So, what’s next for NAS Meridian? Captain Charles Gibson has now taken over at the helm of NAS and has already begun to get involved in the community. I have had the opportunity to meet Charlie and his wife, Angel, a couple of times over the last few weeks and have genuinely enjoyed being with them. They are both great people and I am sure the community will welcome them with open arms. Welcome aboard, Gibson family.



Crystal Dupré is publisher of The Meridian Star. E-mail her at

cdupre@themeridianstar.com

        

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