A dedication ceremony has been set to rename a Mount Airy road near the Surry County EMS building after longtime emergency worker and late Commissioner Garry Scearce.

The ceremony is set to get under way at 2 p.m. Friday off Forest Drive.

Last month Mount Airy Mayor Deborah Cochran approached the Board of Commissioners with the proposal.

She told the board that the idea to change the name of the street to Scearce Way came from a city resident.

“I was approached by Judy Dehart about a month ago with an idea about renaming that little road that runs down to the EMS Building off Forest Drive in Honor of Garry Scearce,” she told the board.

A slight hiccup presented itself after Cochran began researching the ownership of the property and discovered it is owned by the nearby Holiday Inn Express.

After writing the Aberdeen, S.D., owner, Cochran said she received their whole-hearted blessing.

Scearce served as a commissioner just short of two years after retiring from the county’s emergency services department, where he served for more than 30 years.

County Emergency Services Director John Shelton said he can’t think of a more deserving individual to receive such recognition.

“Garry was strongly committed to helping the citizens of this community for his entire life, and was dedicated to public safety,” he said. “And toward the end of his career he decided he wanted to continue to serve.

“His forethought in all of this was helping others and making the Surry County community better.

Reach Keith Strange at kstrange@heartlandpublications.com or 719-1929.