The Road Less Traveled
By Henry Piarrot
“
This is free ground. All the way from here to the Pacific Ocean. No man has to bow. No man born to royalty. Here we judge you by what you do, not by what your father was. Here you can be something. Here’s a place to build a home. . . It’s the idea that we all have value, you and me.” US Col. Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain
Amherst is a town in Nova Scotia, Canada. This historic community of nearly 10,000 is situated just east of the
New Brunswick border and is considered the geographic heart of the Canadian Maritimes. In this place, on February 2, 1947, Norman “David” Murdock Moses Sorge was born the only son of an Episcopalian priest.Because of their father’s profession, David and his older sister had many occasions to make new friends, but few opportunities to keep them, as they were continually relocated from one church assignment to the next. This condition did not improve until
young Sorge was twelve
years old. That was when his parents moved the family to the US.
Still, David was sent to boarding
school at Kings College in Canada for three years of daily doses of Scottish infantry drills, hockey and history prior to attending Collinsville High School in Illinois. Before graduating in 1964, young Sorge never let often being the smallest athlete on the football, track, or tennis team stop him from being one of the toughest.
Growing up, David and his father rarely saw eye to eye. Still a boy, he promised himself that he would not become a product of his angry environment. Consequently, college offered a welcome change of atmosphere. Originally intending to become a lawyer, David became one of the first 500 students to enroll at Southern Illinois University to study pre-law. However, Sorge remained a undergraduate until 1972, as studying philosophy and sociology caused the decreasingly idealistic student to think differently about law school.
After several years as a marketing executive, the self-motivated workaholic was literally working himself to death. The stress of trying to keep up with offices in four states finally took its toll in 1988 when he suddenly collapsed. A few months later, David and his wife at the time would move their young family to East Tennessee. After a couple of years with a public relations firm in Knoxville, David decided on a different path. He decided to learn the lodging industry in Pigeon Forge.
The former executive began his second
profession in the reservation room for Smoky Mountain Resorts. Before long, he would work to be a property manager and Sorge’s new career was off and running.Two hotels later, David joined the company he is with today when in 1995, he found himself on the construction crew that was building the Music Road Hotel. He was hired by the new GM to work in sales, but the property had to be mostly built first. Nevertheless, a dozen years later, the outstanding salesman takes great pride in helping build his excellent product.
David re-married two years ago. Sharing a passion for their profession, Deanna Sorge works for the Pigeon Forge Department of Tourism. Individually and together, they contribute mightily to the benefit of their community. They are both Rotarians, loved by their friends, and respected by their rivals. The road less traveled is not often the shortest, but it has been David Sorge’s path. Once, a Canadian kid that had little experience with lasting friendships, today, is living the American Dream in one of the most beautiful places on earth.
Henry Piarrot is a hotel manager in Sevier County. Please send all story recommendations to hpiarrot@yahoo.com.
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