70 Year Anniversary

After celebrating their 70th anniversary this month, Kernersville residents Genette and Weldon Clinard still have the same sparkle in their eyes for each other.
Born in Surry County, Genette Bryant Clinard moved to Kernersville, off of Hwy. 66, with her family, including her parents and three brothers, and attended Union Cross and Kernersville schools. Meanwhile, Weldon attended Oakview School, living in High Point with his parents and five brothers and sisters, with one of his brothers being his twin, the late William Clinard.
Developing a friendship in the beginning, Weldon and Genette first met while Genette was selling watermelon at her home.
“My mom and daddy wanted some watermelon sold. I was seventeen at the time,” she said. “Weldon came up on his bicycle to look and see if he wanted some.”
Genette said they ran into each other several more times while she was working at dime stores in both Kernersville and High Point.
“We kept bumping into each other around town,” she recalled. “I was dating someone at the time.”
Weldon shared that their friendship continued to grow even after he was drafted into the Navy during WWII, writing her letters while overseas.
When he returned, Weldon learned that Genette was engaged to be married.
“He walked into my house and sat on the hearth and said, ‘Well, I’d’a married ya,’” Genette recalled, as Weldon shared, without hesitation, that Genette accepted his informal proposal.
“She took off the ring and threw it and said, ‘Okay,’” Weldon said.
Genette and Weldon had secretly loved each other. They both shared what they liked about each other as they reminisced back to those days.
When Genette’s daughter, Annette, asked her mom, “Was it the fact that Daddy was in the Navy that you liked him?” Genette replied, “Oh man, yeah!”
Weldon shared that what he liked about Genette was her “really pretty smile” and red hair.
“She was so sweet,” he said with a big smile.
After being married, Weldon and Genette said they had little money and lived in a stable, with only a small stove for heat.
“They didn’t have a bathroom or anything and would go over to daddy’s mom’s house to eat,” Annette said, as she recalled the stories her parents told her. “Momma didn’t cook in the beginning, but Daddy wanted her to.”
“I finally had to teach myself how to cook,” Genette remarked.
While living in the stable, Weldon first worked at Adams Millis and worked at several other places until he became a truck driver, working for Central Motor Lines for 25 years until he retired.
“He drove with his twin brother,” Genette shared.
After he found a job driving trucks, Genette and Weldon bought a house in Winston-Salem and started a family.
“I was pregnant with Michael, our oldest, when we moved in,” Genette shared.
Weldon and Genette moved back to Kernersville in 1957.
Throughout their marriage, Weldon and Genette said they never really argued, and when they did, it was in private.
Genette said their biggest argument was right after they were married.
“Weldon drove me to my parents’ house and dropped me off, and my daddy drove me back home and told us to work it out,” she said.
A little later in their marriage, Genette said they sat down and talked about what they didn’t like about each other and decided to make a change in themselves to make each other happy.
“Things were great after that,” Weldon remarked.
Annette shared that while her father was gone a lot for work, when they were together, they enjoyed their time as a family, especially on vacations.
“He would get about two weeks’ vacation, and we would go to the beach,” she said. “We would plan to go for a week and we would have so much fun that he would call in and take another week.”
Along with family vacations, Genette and Weldon traveled to Bermuda after winning a trip through ABF. Both Genette and Weldon have been active members of Hillcrest Baptist Church throughout their marriage, with Weldon having ushered for 45 years alongside his twin brother, and Genette having been the president of her Sunday school class.
When asked what has kept their marriage so strong over the years, Genette said, respect, as Annette reiterated those remarks as a witness to their success.
“They had so much respect for each other, and to this day, they both still have that same sparkle,” she said.
Annette said her mom, age 88, and dad, who will be 90 in February, still wink at each other often.
The Clinards had five children: Michael, Annette, David, Jenee’, and Angie.
They have 11 grandchildren, 19 great grandchildren, and one great great grandchild due in April.