PANORAMA
THE SUMTER ITEM
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2015
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YESTERYEAR, FROM PAGE C1 • A crowd of around a thousand gathered at the Edmunds High School Auditorium last night for “Rollin’ Rhythm,” the home talent variety show presented under the sponsorship of the Junior Welfare League and Bundles for Britain. The show more than came up to expectations, pleasing practically every member of the big crowd. The entire show went off smoothly and without delays, attesting to the faithful practice of the big cast. The show consisted of a series of skits, some musical and some not, but all snappy and fast-moving. 50 YEARS AGO – 1965 Dec. 20-26 The Lincoln High School boys repeated their feat of last year by capturing the championship of the Third Annual Holiday Tournament for Sumter area teams. Lincoln boys came through three games in fine fashion to display their superiority over the neighboring schools. The only time the Bulldogs appeared to be in any trouble was in the finals when the Dennis High team from Bishopville led them in the second quarter of play by a score of 11-6. James Dunbar and Phenis Brockington led the Bulldogs with 24 and 20 pints respectively. • A fire yesterday burned to the ground a one-story frame building housing the Oswego Bait Farm at Oswego. The building housed a cricket- and worm-raising operation owned by Jimmie Altman. Capt. L.B. Wells of the Sumter Fire Department said that apparently there was some fishing equipment also in the structure. • Police Chief Clarence Kirkland recently was appointed a member of the Crime Prevention Committee of the International Association of Chiefs of Police. He received notification of his appointment in a letter from Phillip Purcell, president of the association. Kirkland is known to be particularly interested in the crime prevention aspect of law enforcement and therefore attaches considerable importance to the appointment. • Family Christmas traditions? No, I don’t think there are any special ones. It doesn’t matter much where you spend Christmas, there’s a feeling of sameness.” With these first words, Ilario Carignano of Turin, Italy, Edmunds High foreign exchange student this year, almost had us thinking that maybe there wasn’t a story here after all. However, with a little prompting and further conversation we found out that there are certain ways his family observe during the holiday season that differ from ours. He’ll probably have more comparisons after he has spent Christmas here with his American family, the Joel Elys, with whom he is living this year.
• I was just doing my job,” said a 30-year-old Shaw reconnaissance pilot, Capt. James A. Yeager, this morning after he was awarded three Distinguished Flying Crosses at once – maybe for the first time in military history. He was decorated for valor while photographing missile sites in North Viet Nam under intense enemy ground fire. Maj. Gen. Marvin L. McNickle, commander of the Ninth Air Force, awarded the medals to the stocky blond pilot in a ceremony in the general’s office. • Thieves broke into S.H. Kress and Co.’s five and ten cent store in Palmetto Plaza sometime last night, “peeled” the office safe, and made off with what was estimated at between $2,000 and $3,000. The ripped-open safe was discovered this morning by B.S. Calvert, manager of the store, when he came to work. • Many Shaw men have returned home from Vietnam in time to be with their families for Christmas. Many are receiving decorations for combat in aiding the war effort. But there is another war that cannot be won in the normal sense. That’s the war against poverty. There are no medals for aiding this war. Lt. Col. Willard G. Mattson and his men in a task force in Saigon were not looking for medals, just going about their military duties. But then the unit became appalled at the abject poverty existing in the city of Saigon. They thought they would do something about it – and did. The unit raised funds and collected needed supplies to assist with care of 300 children plus 1,200 grownups housed in a Catholic-run hospital. • State Senator Henry B. Richardson said today he felt that the reapportionment plan approved by the Senate places Sumter County is the “best possible situation” under the circumstances. The plan, which provides for 59 senators in 26 districts, would group Sumter with Clarendon and Lee counties. Under a negative residency clause in the plan, Sumter would be entitled to one senator. • Le Coeurs Cognes marked their 25th anniversary this year at the annual Christmas dance. Held at Sunset Country Club, dinner was served followed by dancing to the music of the Knights. Special guests were last year’s members and officers of the charter group. • Mary Lemmon McCoy, 78, of Lynchburg, died suddenly. Mrs. McCoy, organizer of the first home demonstration club in the world and a Winthrop alumna of 1908, was a retired school teacher. She taught in Lynchburg and in Georgetown. She was a life-long member of the Methodist Church and a teacher of the Lynchburg Ladies Bible Class. At one time she was supervisor of the Area Training Schools and on the
1965 -- Youngsters who brought canned goods to the Sumter Theatre Saturday morning were admitted free to a Roy Rogers movie. The donated items were picked up by the Salvation Army for distribution to the needy at Christmas. Three young Yarboroughs, Ricky, 6, Cheri, 9, and Lynda, 11, are shown making their contributions to W.E. Bynum Jr., chairman of the Kiwanis Boys and Girls Work Committee, sponsoring organization, and K.E. Ward, right, theatre manager and part president of the Kiwanis Club. Methodist Board of Education. 25 YEARS AGO – 1990 Sept. 21-27 Hurricane Hugo’s $6 billion price tag of destruction made it the most expensive disaster in American history. But two Clemson University professors contend that South Carolina’s so-called “storm of the century” a year ago was in fact a manmade financial disaster caused in part by the state’s lax building codes. They say that if standard building codes were in effect statewide, some $3 billion to $4 billion in damage – primarily along the coast – could have been avoided. • Mannequins of children stand surrounded by the tools that help children learn in the Sumter County Museum’s exhibit. The exhibit, “From McGuffey’s to Apple: Practice Makes Perfect,” tries to “compare and contrast the education of the past 100 years,” museum Director Kay Teer said. Authentic school furniture is featured in the sections that recreate the classroom environments of different times. • Sumter Police Chief Harold Johnson unveiled a plan Thursday to open a small branch office at South Sumter Park gymnasium, which is located in one of the highest crime districts in the city. Johnson outlined his plan at a community meeting at the gym, located at the corner of South Sumter Street and Atlantic Avenue. He said at least one officer will be stationed at the office, which will be equipped with a telephone line, police radio and a typewriter for officers to fill out their reports. • Civil Defense leaders in Lee and Clarendon counties fought the effects of Hurricane Hugo with few resources, making clean-up and recovery difficult undertakings. In Clarendon County, more than 1,500 county residents took refuge in dozens of shelters organized by
SUMTER ITEM FILE PHOTOS
1990 -- The Wilson Hall football and track stadium was dedicated Sept. 14 to the memory and life of Gaither Spencer, longtime friend and patron of the school. Bill Calloway, far right, chairman of Wilson Hall’s board of trustees, presents the dedication proclamation to members of Spencer’s family, from left, son Shea Spencer, wife Jeanne Spencer and daughter Clarice Spencer. Looking on from behind are trustees Alvis Bynum and Kathi DuBose.
Civil Defense Director Emilee Hemingway with help from the Department of Social Services, the Red Cross and school officials. Lee County’s Emergency Operations Center was stunned by the magnitude of the hurricane. Recovery work ground to a halt for nearly 48 hours after the storm while staff members went to check on their homes and families – and some stayed away to rest up for the grueling hours they knew were ahead. “That was a ball that dropped that shouldn’t have been,” Lee County Administrator Barry Hickman said. • Wally Richardson threw four touchdown passes, and Kelton Dunnican rushed for 125 yards as Sumter rolled to a 36-13 win over Fairfield Central at the Griffins’ stadium. The win gives the Gamecocks a 3-2 overall record and 1-0 Region IV-4A mark. • Hurricane Hugo created many “unsung heroes,” along with countless individuals and groups recognized for work they did to help their communities recover from the storm. Among emergency response officials, Sumter County’s Vic Jones has become a state and national celebrity since Hurricane Hugo. Besides being named state Civil Defense Director of the Year, Jones has been invited to communities all over the U.S. to talk about Sumter County’s plight after the Sept. 1989 storm. • When Barbara Gulledge closed the doors last week at Hughes Inc. for the final time, it felt a little bit like what it was – the end of another Main Street business in Sumter. But she said it felt a lot more like the end of an era. “Hughes Inc. was always based on service,” Gulledge said of the business started almost 50 years ago by her father, the late J. Clarke Hughes. “In the old days, when your washing machine broke, Daddy would give you a washing machine while yours was being repaired. If your car needed new tires and you had a doctor’s appointment, Daddy would give you his car to go to the doctor’s office. “But the era for those type businesses is gone,” Gulledge said. “All people are concerned with now is finding the lowest prices they can find.” • Two Sumter High School seniors have been selected as semifinalists in the 1991 competition for National Merit Scholarships Program. Charles Davis Jr., son of Ms. Kay Davis, and Daniel Cude, son of Mr. and Mrs. Michael Cude, were two of 15,000 high school seniors from across the United States to be named semifinalists. • Until Saturday, Derrick Witherspoon’s freshman year at Clemson had been nothing special. In the Tiger’s first three games, the Sumter High graduate had carried the football just eight times for 46 yards. “I have not been too satisfied with my performance, so I knew I had to do something big,” Witherspoon said after Clem-
son’s 48-0 blowout of Appalachian State University. • Roland Davey, the chief executive officer and general director of the YMCA of Sumter, has resigned to take a similar position in Kannapolis, N.C., the local YMCA announced Monday. Davey’s resignation is effective Oct. 19, according to a statement from the Y, just one day before he becomes CEO and executive director of the Cannon Memorial YMCA. • Sumter School District 17’s Doug Witherspoon has been named to a committee that will study a statewide survey on alcohol and drug abuse. The Study Committee For Drug-Free Schools and Communities will review the “Youth Survey Regarding Alcohol and Other Drug Use in South Carolina During the 1989-90 School Year” and will recommend ways to reduce youths’ alcohol and drug use. • Three years after a car accident that cost her the use of both of her legs, Willene McFadden is back and ready to get on with life. A Sumter resident and USC Sumter student, the 24-year-old McFadden took second runner-up in the 1991 Ms. Wheelchair South Carolina Pageant earlier this month. “This is my year dedicated to life,” she said after the pageant. Celebrating life, she explained, means actively pursuing her pharmacy degree, dating a new man and traveling around the country. • The Sumter Gallery of Art is offering a two-Saturday workshop in quilting and design for mother-daughter, grandmother-granddaughter, aunt-niece, sister-sister, or any combination of young and older. The workshop will be taught by Sylvia Pickell, a well-known fabric artist. • For the S.C. Forestry Commission, Hurricane Hugo “is a nightmare that’s only just beginning.” “For most people, Hugo’s over, but for the forestry commission, it’s not,” he said. “We’re just getting into it,” said Lee Reaves Jr., Clarendon County’s forestry specialist. Tree limbs damaged by the Sept. 22, 1989, hurricane still hang like skeletons – some as much as 50 feet in the air – in many wooded areas in Sumter, Lee, and Clarendon counties. Reach Item Archivist Sammy Way at waysammy@ yahoo.com or (803) 774-1294.
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