The Surry County community of Mount Airy was one of ten winners in the 1994 All-America City Award program, which annually recognizes communities that engage in creative collaborative problem solving.
In Mount Airy, juvenile delinquency was a budding problem. A group of law enforcement officers took it upon themselves to round up juveniles who had been in trouble and take them fishing. The rate of juvenile delinquency has decreased as a result.