Late Belmont Mayor Richard Turner Receives Montcross Area Chamber’s Public Service Award
The Harley B. Gaston, Jr. Public Service Award has special significance because it is named in honor of one who gave so much throughout his life to his community. The late Harley B. Gaston, Jr. was a Korean War veteran, was a founder of our Chamber of Commerce, an accomplished attorney, judge and chief judge, who also served on the Gaston County Board of Commissioners and as chair of the board. He received every award that could be given from Belmont Citizen of the Year to the state’s highest honor, The Order of the Long Leaf Pine, conferred by the governor.
The recipient of the Harley B. Gaston, Jr. Public Service Award this year is unique in many respects, including becoming the first to receive the award posthumously. This year the award goes to the late Mayor of Belmont Richard Turner, who passed away in July after a short illness while serving his first term as mayor. Richard’s service to his city and the community began long before he was elected to the Belmont City Council.
A 31-year resident of Belmont, he was leader of Boy Scout Troop 56 at First United Methodist Church and served six years on the Belmont Central School PTO as a member, vice president and president. He was a founding member and board member of the Historic Belmont Foundation, where he helped revive the Belmont Letter Girls tradition. And he was an avid supporter of the Belmont Historical Society.
Richard served three terms on the Belmont City Council as a council member and mayor pro tem before being elected mayor in 2023.
He also served two terms on the Belmont Planning & Zoning Board, two terms on the Belmont Parks & Recreation Board, two terms on the Council on Government, eight years on the Belmont Travel and Tourism Authority, eight years on the Gaston – Cleveland – Lincoln Metropolitan Planning Organization. He represented Belmont on the Safe Routes to Schools Initiative and on the Technical Advisory Committee on Transportation Issues. And in 2024, he was presented an award for his service on the NC League of Municipalities Board of Directors.
Mayor Turner’s dedication was well described by a family member who reported that even while in the hospital and in severe pain, he continued to watch city council meetings online and to respond to citizens’ emails, phone calls and texts.
In one of the nominations Mayor Turner received for this award, a fellow mayor said: “Richard was a good friend and mentor to me as well as to many of the other mayors across Gaston County. He never missed a mayors’ meeting, discussing topics that affect our region. He brought a pragmatic thought process to solving problems large and small. His voice and approach carried significant weight in the room. Richard was simply a good man with a servant’s heart. The City of Belmont and Gaston County are truly better places from his efforts, his wisdom and his number of years of public service.”
That endorsement and his many years of service well describe why the late Mayor Richard C. Turner was chosen as this year’s recipient of the Chamber’s Harley B. Gaston, Jr. Public Service Award.
Presented Feb. 6, 2025 at the Montcross Area Chamber of Commerce 65th Annual Celebration