Peggy Mainess has a story about everyone who’s ever lived in Hickory. “I come from a family of talkers and storytellers. I come from a family where people talked about what happened 100 years ago is if it happened last night.” Peggy is known all around town for her love of storytelling and outgoing demeanor; she makes friends with everyone she meets.

After retiring from the school system, she began her second career and found her true calling. Working at the library as a genealogist blends her love of history and helping others. She has tracked down birth parents and connected people to their last living relatives, but finds joy in the smaller discoveries, too. “It’s a wonderful thing to just help people find that the answers to the questions that don’t seem significant to other people.”