Oct. 10. The year was 1966 and Lyndon Johnson was president of the United States, there was no such thing as the Super Bowl, a Mustang cost $2416, and Woody Washam Jr. was the new organist at Mt. Zion United Methodist Church.

He still is. Washam, who is also mayor pro tem of Cornelius, was recognized during Mt. Zion’s 11 am church service yesterday and at a reception afterward. Everyone from church members in their 90s to current town commissioners were there to say hello and catch up on old times.

Washam’s childhood pictures were out on a table. The affable 66-year-old knows just about everyone in Cornelius. He’s played the organ at 600-plus weddings and some 350 funerals and memorial services.

Washam played his favorite hymn, “Blessed Assurance,” at the service. A lifelong member of Mt. Zion, following in his parents’ footsteps, Washam studied music and business at Catawba College.

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