Barry Jessen has four folding chairs in his grey Chevy Trailblazer, a cooler for bottled water, and a schedule dictating when to go fuss at annoying Little League umpires who can’t distinguish the obvious difference between a ball and strike.

“For all the years they used to fuss at me for refereeing, now I get to call the umpires out for a bad pitch,” said Jessen, 72, who is not one bit bitter, and laughs when he discusses outings to watch his twin grandsons play in Stanley’s 10-year-old baseball league, or his granddaughter cheer for the Hawks at Mount Holly’s middle school. Jessen has reached that chapter when he can sit on the sidelines in street clothes, but he hasn’t forgotten what it’s like to be the ref. “It’s a thankless job. You can’t please everybody,” he said. “I found out about that real fast, but it didn’t bother me.”

Jessen’s involvement in Mount Holly sports, which has earned him the Community Spirit award in the city’s 2015 Sports Hall of Fame class, stretches from being a three-sport athlete at Mount Holly High School from 1957 to 1961, to 23 years of Saturdays in stripes, refereeing Optimist Club basketball at the Mount Holly gym for five, six hours straight. For free.

“As I recall, there wasn’t a recreation department in the city. So, having been involved in sports and athletics all my life, I wanted to help and do something,” he said of his stint from the 1970s into the 1990s. “The basketball was my passion. The pay was that we got the satisfaction of helping, and I enjoyed every minute of it. You have to contribute somehow, and that’s the way I wanted to do it.”

“He truly loved the game and the opportunity to help kids develop good basketball skills and better knowledge of the game,” Jessen’s wife of 49 years, Camille, said of her husband’s Saturday ritual. “He took special interest in watching the youth that he had coached progress. As these young ballplayers advanced to the high school level, he spent many Friday nights at East Gaston football and basketball games watching many of the Optimist players play their games on a higher level.”

Barry Jessen and his three brothers grew up within walking distance of Mount Holly’s schools. He played baseball and basketball at Mount Holly High, and also put in time on the football field. He spent four summers playing outfield for the Mount Holly-Paw Creek American Legion team. “Back in those days, it wasn’t like this day and time. We didn’t have the electronic games like kids do now. Sports is what we did,” Jessen said. “My daddy worked in textiles, and we didn’t have a whole lot like they do nowadays. I enjoyed it, and I still have a lot of memories of the fun and fellowship.”

Jessen graduated from King’s College in Charlotte with a business degree, then spent three years enlisted in the Army, which included a year in Vietnam.

He married Camille, who is one year younger, in 1965. They met when she was still in eighth grade, and he asked her to a square dance at his church. “His brother had to come pick us up, because he wasn’t old enough to drive,” she said.

Jessen’s decades at the Optimist Club are just one fragment of his contributions to Mount Holly. His two sons, now 43 and 41, were East Gaston athletes – one tennis, one golf. “So, I still wanted to help. I was in the Booster Club. I mean, if your sons are participating, you should help,” he said. For nine years, he was in charge of the school’s concession stand on football Friday nights. “They needed someone to go to the wholesale company and get the stuff. It was a long day, and a small concession stand, but they needed somebody,” he said. “After the boys graduated, I stepped aside.”

There’s a difference, however, between stepping aside and being on the sidelines. “Even in his retirement years, he’s still helping the community,” Camille said. “You will find him every Wednesday morning at the CRO (Community Relief Organization) giving his time. He has always enjoyed helping serve his church, Good Shepherd Lutheran – sing in the church choir, visit shut-ins, be a chauffeur for doctor appointments, cook pancakes for breakfast, wash dishes, cut grass, deliver meals, work with the youth, replace light bulbs, paint a fellowship hall and always support many of the church young  people at their sports events.”

Jessen worked for 35 years with the Ferry-Morse Seed Company, as a company representative in the Carolinas and Virginia. He retired at age 65. Which gives him plenty of time to use those folding chairs in the Trailblazer.

So, how much of his life has been spent playing, officiating or watching sports?

“Oh my goodness, it’s impossible to know. Four years of high school, three years of Legion ball, I don’t know,” said Jessen, who still enjoys taking the family to Atlanta for a weekend, to watch the Braves. “But time wasn’t important. You would be there because you wanted to do it. I worked very hard at it, but I enjoyed it.

“I had a blast.”