OPINION
As I reflected on G.A. Moore’s passing this week, I couldn’t help but think of when he spoke at the Point-Bank Business Breakfast in on July 24, 2024.
I’m lucky enough to have a recording from that day still.
His message, which was sorely needed at the time and still resounds today, was one of positivity.
“Pilot Point was one of the most positive places when I was growing up,” G.A. said.
He spoke of his part in the Positive Pilot Point group, a collection of pastors who meet together to discuss the positive things happening within the Pilot Point community “where you can’t say anything bad,” G.A. said.
He spoke with joy about the impact that group has had by coming together and focusing on the good.
He believed in hard work, too, which he showed in all he did in life, whether that was his Hall of Fame coaching career, serving as the pastor of the church a stone’s throw from where he was born or loving his family.
“You can do anything if you want to bad enough,” Moore said. “It’s the same thing in life and the same thing in church.”
The people around him, whether family or former athletes, talk about the way he motivated others to be their best selves.
In fact, when I interviewed one of those athletes, Jay Zafar, about being named the first Tioga Youth Sports Association Volunteer of the Year, he spoke about G.A.’s impact on his life last week, citing him as the example upon which he built his own coaching style.
He spoke about how G.A. had this way of making everyone who played for him feel like his friend whom he valued and like they wanted to be their best for him. G.A. hinted at part of how he did that during that business breakfast
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“Someone on the city council does something good, tell them about it,” he said. “They do something bad, leave them alone. There is a system to the way you get rid of them, the way democracy is supposed to work, but I won’t get off on that.” “Someone on the city council does something good, tell them about it. They do something bad, leave them alone,” he said. “There is a system to the way you get rid of them, the way democracy is supposed to work, but I won’t get off on that.”
As his daughter Tona VanHook-Drees said during the funeral service on Tuesday, G.A. loved having an impact on young people, whether as a coach or as a pastor.
When he spoke in July 2024, he said one of the best things community leaders can do is to encourage the youth, including by saying, “I’m proud of you, and I’m going to be watching you.”
I’m personally grateful for the encouragement and the support G.A. has extended to me from the day we met.
Like hundreds of others in the Pilot Point, Aubrey and Celina area, not to mention beyond, my life was better because G.A. Moore was part of it.
Rest easy, my friend. You are already missed, and your legacy will definitely live on.
Abigail Allen is the Editor & Publisher of the Post-Signal. She can be reached at aallen@postsignal. com.
