Roy Ackland, longtime host of the FOX8 Community Spotlight series Roy’s Folks, has died at the age of 84. Akland is one of North Carolina’s most recognizable television faces and voices. The down-to-earth weatherman and easy-going personality brought us all together with Roy’s Folks.
Ackland was born on March 22, 1938 and grew up in England until his father, an academic and author, moved the family to Texas. He served in the Air Force where his knowledge of weather led him to television. In 1987, Ackland joined WGHP as a weatherman and began working with David Weatherly, Positively Piedmont’s photojournalist. The two go together perfectly. The following year, after a trip by Murphy to Manteo, the series was retitled Roy’s Folks.
For three decades, the duo traveled the state and South in search of unique personalities for WGHP viewers across the state and for the television networks that also aired the series. Capturing the best of the Tar Heel State, the duo recounts everyday stories and historical moments, like the removal of the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse from the encroaching sea in 1999.
The collection, which normally includes his wife and three daughters, gave way to the Roy’s Folkcraft Fair, which drew thousands of visitors and raised tens of thousands of dollars for the Salvation Army. Ackland retired to eastern North Carolina in 2017, and Chad Tucker continued the successful series now known as Roy’s Folks.
Check out some of the stories Roy has worked on over the years.
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