For Millie Barbee, Monday afternoon packed a very prestigious surprise. Barbee, who recently came out of retirement, was awarded the Order of the Long Leaf Pine - the highest civilian honor awarded by the Governor's office - for her years of hard work and service across the state.

N.C. Representative Cullie Tarleton was on hand at the award ceremony, held at the Ashe County Chamber of Commerce in West Jefferson, to present Barbee with her award. He described it as "a very special occasion.

"It is an award that is not just given, it must first be earned," said Tarleton. "You earn it by giving years and years of service to the communities, the state and the people. Millie joins an illustrious group of individuals who have received this award in the past," including Billy Graham and Michael Jordan. Locally, Gayle Winston of River House and former Town of West Jefferson Mayor Dale Baldwin have received the award.

Tarleton later noted that people must be nominated for the award, at which point their representatives "go to the Governor's office to make our case. In this instance, it was an easy case to make."

The award follows a long career that began when Barbee studied history and economics at Guilford College. She taught social studies and language arts in the Guilford County School System before moving on to a variety of jobs including being executive director of the Beaufort Historical Association, N.C. High Country Host and the Hickory Metro Convention and Visitor's Bureau. She retired in 2007, when she moved to West Jefferson permanently, but recently returned as interim director of the High Country Host.

Barbee described the Order of the Long Leaf Pine as an award she didn't earn alone.

"This award is shared with everybody in this room and across the state," she said. "You do not win awards working alone by yourself - you win awards because you have worked and been mentored and had all these wonderful people who have wished you well, encouraged you along the way and given you tremendous opportunities."

She noted that she loves "putting things back together" and she "never took a job that didn't need a lot of work.

"It's very special to me to see the motivation of people once you can get them thinking and working toward a common purpose," she said.

Barbee also pointed to family members as key inspirations.

"Wherever I am, my parents taught me - in that Quaker tradition - that you need to work with people," she said. "You need to build some fences." She also mentioned the support of her husband of 48 years, A.T., who passed away in May, who "insited I do all these things.

"He didn't want to do it himself, but he insisted that I do it," Barbee said. "After he retired from the bank, he became my driver. We'd go to all these meetings and he's Driving Miss Millie."

Barbee has also served on several boards across the state, including the Maritime History Council and the North Carolina Travel Industry Association, and locally for the Blue Ridge Parkway Association, West Jefferson Community Partnership and the Blue Ridge Rural Land Trust.

In addition to the Order of the Long Leaf Pine, Barbee has received other prestigious awards including the Outstanding Tourism Development Award form the Walker College of Business at Appalachian State, the Bill Sharpe Award for Outstanding Service from the North Carolina Tourism Association and the Christopher Crittenden award from the North Carolina Literacy and Historical Association for contributions to the preservation of North Carolina history.