Byron Logan has all kinds of friends.
Many he met through his 59-year-old office supply business. Others he got to know through personal interests, which include running, horseback riding, trout fishing and snow skiing.
"I've been traveling and getting to know people for more than 60 years," said Logan, the 83-year-old owner of Carolina Office Equipment.
"I've got a lot of stories to tell."
One Logan tells with fervor is how as a 12-year-old, he went to work as a $1-per-day grocery delivery boy in Asheville.
"Riding a bike up and down all those hills built up my legs, gave me strength," Logan said.
"Even then, I believed in hard work."
He hasn't changed his mind — or slowed down much — in the 71 years since.
The Caldwell County native served on a mine sweeper in the Pacific during World War II, then attended Blanton Business College in Asheville.
In 1949, Logan started selling typewriters, adding machines and other office supplies from the trunk of a Studebaker.
Most of Logan's sales were made in Catawba County, so when he founded Carolina Office Equipment in 1950, he opened in a 600-square-foot space in downtown Hickory's Arcade Building.
In 1953, older brother Powell Logan joined the business. Powell died in June.
Over the years, Byron Logan's sons Kim, Rance and Joey joined the company, and are still involved in its day-to-day operations.
In 1981, Carolina Office Equipment built its current, 32,000-square-foot facility on Second Avenue, NW. Many of the company's employees have been with the business at least since then.
"We've had a lot of good, dedicated employees over the years, and a lot of loyal customers," Byron Logan said.
"I go places we sold desks to 50 years ago and they're still using them."
Logan regularly puts in 55-hour workweeks, then goes trout fishing, snow skiing, horseback riding or running.
In his office are many of his 125 or so running trophies, proudly displayed among an extensive collection of Old West art and memorabilia and a World War I uniform honoring one of his heroes, President Harry S. Truman.
Truman made the decision to drop two atomic bombs on Japan in August of 1945, finally ending World War II.
"Truman's decision saved a lot of American lives, including mine, probably," Logan said.
It's partly in honor of Truman that Logan wears the military uniform when he rides one of his seven horses in Greater Hickory area Christmas parades.
At some parades, he wears a Western outfit custom made for him by a Crow Indian seamstress.
His love of the Old West is as authentic as that outfit.
In 1989, Logan joined about 500 other cowboys from throughout the United States and the rest of the world in a six-day, 60-mile cattle drive that was part of Montana's centennial celebration.
The cowboys ran a herd of 10,000 cows across the Montana plains from Roundup to Billings.
"It's something I'll never forget," Logan said.
Logan is looking forward to more adventures, and has no plans to stop working.
"I'm a doer, always have been," he said.
"It's my firm belief that if you fold your tent, stop using your muscles, your immune system shuts down and before you know it you're gone.
"As for me, I've got some horses to break and some trails to ride."
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