954 Magazine - The News Reporter - Spring/Summer 2020 by The News Reporter

Spring & Summer 2020

54 Mabel 46 Waccamaw Sailing Club 22 Historic Chadbourn Depot

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Contents

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954 M aga zine

Spring & Summer 2020

Contents

54 Mabel 46 Waccamaw Sailing Club 22 Historic Chadbourn Depot

954 Finds

Th e c ov e r ph ot o b y G r a n t M e rri t t is of longtime Chadbourn Depot volunteer Robert Cox pictured in f r o n t o f t h e h i s t o r i c d e p o t.

Many Talents of J.D. Peterson

Loretta Hodge McCumbee

Historic Chadbourn Depot

Al Leonard - $80 Million Man

John Mitchell’s Store

Setting Sail for 50 Years

Spring & Summer 2020

Mabel Chestnutt

The News Reporter Company, Inc.

Barn-Style Home, Lakeside View 62 Social Events

Event Calendar

Life Of A Woodsman

We Remember

Volume VIII Issue I Whiteville, NC

910.642.4104 954 Editor Stuart High Rogers Layout Janis Creech Advertising Amelia Sasser • Dean Lewis TJ Enzor • Janna Sasser Contributing Editorial Gordon Batten • Diana Matthews Grant Merritt • Janna Sasser • Bill Thompson Allen Turner • Jefferson Weaver • Patricia L. Woodard • Bill Woodsman Copy Editing Diana Matthews 954 Photographers Gordon Batten • Grant Merritt • Fuller Royal • Justin Smith ART & GRAPHIC DESIGN Isabel Humphreys • Kathryn Caine Ogden • Janna Sasser

Spring & Summer 2020 | 954 | 7

Finds

Smart Distancing = Local Fun Finally with more time to read, choose a few new titles and get a virtual library card with Columbus County Public Library to check out eBooks and other resources. Go to ccplnc.weebly.com to access or find out more.

Check out Boho Chic Boutique’s spring arrivals including clothes, shoes, purses, jewelry, hats and accessories. Facebook message Christy @BohoChicBoutiqueWhiteville to make a purchase. 3458 James B. White Hwy S., Whiteville, 910-207-6336

If you’re looking for new recipes to try from home, find quick, fresh ideas at pinchofyum.com, or grab a to-go meal from a local restaurant or caterer. Chef Sarah Gore offers online ordering and curbside pickup meals. chefsarahgoreorder.com, 910-840-3362

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Smart distance from the comfort of your porch or deck with a variety of Adirondack chairs, rocking chairs, porch swings and hammocks at Pierce & Company. 4229 Sam Potts Hwy, Hallsboro, 910-646-4158

Add new skills or jumpstart your career this summer. Southeastern Community College offers a variety of online and hybrid classes and seminars. In-house scholarships and financial assistance is available. Visit sccnc.edu for course selection or call 910-788-6358.

Find Hawaiian hibiscus, violas and a variety of flowering plants and ferns at Robinson Produce Farms. Grab a locally-grown watermelon or box of strawberries while you’re there. 607 N. JK Powell Blvd., Whiteville; 910-640-1288, robinsonproducefarms.com

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Slap Swamp native J.D. Peterson was an inventor, horseman and creative genius.

J.D. Peterson

Man of Many Talents Bill thompson PHOTOS Peterson Family STORY

ack when tobacco was king, the castle was an old building where the sticky green weed was turned into marketable golden leaves. There was certainly nothing royal looking about those barns, no spires or parapets. They were simple structures, usually wooden with a tin roof and a shed on at least one side. It wasn’t the building that created the alchemy; it was the fire inside, a flame fed by wood cut from the surrounding forests and fed into an incinerator with flues that encircled the floor of the barn. The curing process necessitated constant attention to create just the right amount of heat at the right time. There was someone at the barn all day and all night feeding the fire, or adjusting ventilation. It was time-consuming, back-breaking work. Then along came a fellow named J.D. Peterson. He didn’t look like royalty but he had a tremendous influence on the tobacco industry that was so much a part of the lives of the kingdom. On November 7, 1946, J.D. drove to Washington, D.C. to register his new invention with the U.S. Patent Office. He drove there to personally show the 10 | 954 | Spring & Summer 2020

drawing to “whoever needed to see it.” What he showed them was a design for an oil burning tobacco curing system (liquid fuel burner). Peterson’s patent 2,512,964 was granted on June 27, 1950. It would change tobacco farming and, consequently, the lives of hundreds of families that depended on the crop to make their livelihood. The kingdom had a prince. This man who had such an influence on the kingdom of tobacco was not of royal lineage. He grew up in Slap Swamp, an area near Wannanish, a town within the town of Lake Waccamaw. When he was about 10 years old his family moved to Wilmington, where he immediately went to work delivering The Wilmington Star newspaper and doing other odd jobs. When he was 12 years old (long before child labor laws) he began an apprenticeship at Hanover Iron Works while going to school at night. But he never finished his formal education. At age 13, he took his newly acquired skills to the “big paying jobs up north.” Because

M a n o f m a n y ta l e n t s

J.D. Peterson drove to Washington, D.C. to personally submit the drawings for his oil burning tobacco curing system. Spring & Summer 2020 | 954 | 11

M a n o f m a n y ta l e n t s of his skills and the fact that he looked much older than his age, he found employment, but before he did, he wrote his mother a letter to tell her how well things were going for him. He later admitted that he might have exaggerated his status. He bought a stamp with his last pennies to mail the letter then retired for the night in a cardboard box on the street in Steubenville, Ohio. He soon found employment and moved into a boardinghouse. His job was working on high rise bridges and buildings, utilizing his welding skills. To earn a little extra money, usually a quarter, he would dive off a bridge to retrieve a tool that he or one of his co-workers had dropped into the water. As with so many other native Southerners, the cold northern winters encouraged Peterson to move back to warmer climates and the developing construction boom in Florida. Most of the roads were still unpaved and the hot sand would cause innumerable flat tires. “It took a while to get to Florida,” he said. North Carolina kept calling him

Peterson honed his welding skills working on high rise bridges and buildings in Steubenville, Ohio. He spent time working in Florida and Fayetteville before settling back in Columbus County.

back home, so he came back to Fayetteville, where he opened up a speakeasy at a time when sale of alcohol was illegal. This necessitated numerous trips to the mountains to obtain the liquor for his business. Occasionally, he would have “brief contact” with law enforcement, including some fleeing down dirt roads at night. He soon gave up the bar business and came back home to Columbus County, where he went into the welding and construction business. It was while he was putting a slate roof on the courthouse (1938) that he noticed a young lady in a red suit with black pumps and matching handbag who was walking from the hospital on her way to do some shopping downtown. J.D. rushed down to offer her a ride to her destination. The lady was Lillian Squires. J.D. jokingly told his version of the meeting. According to J.D., Lillian walked around that courthouse in “that little red suit” until he got dizzy watching and had to come down. In any case, sometime later they were

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M a n o f m a n y ta l e n t s married, a union that lasted fifty-eight years. It is unclear exactly what attracted J.D.’s interest in tobacco curers but he began to build metal flues to be used to distribute heat in wood-burning tobacco barns. His was always looking for ways to improve his product. At that time, adjusting the temperature as part of the curing process involved going into the heated barn. J.D. discovered that heating the barn with oil (kerosene) would allow the management of the heat (regulating the amount of fuel) to be done by using a carburetor and a steel burner. Combining this with the metal flues he was already making was a part of the process of developing the new curing system. So, on a fateful winter’s day in 1946, J.D. Peterson, a man with only a basic formal education but a superior creative intelligence, drove to the patent office in Washington, D.C., to get the patent for his new invention. With word of mouth the primary marketing tool, the Peterson Tobacco Curer began to sell all through the tobacco belt. Although he had some distributors, he sold most of his curers directly to the farmer who came to the plant to get the curer. He and his family later moved from Lake Waccamaw to his wife’s family farm on the outskirts of Bolton. From there he expanded his tobacco curer business to include tin smithing, roofing, and some farming of tobacco, corn, soybeans and peanuts as well as a few cattle. Folks who remember J.D. Peterson remember him as a man “who had wide-ranging interests and a mind to match.” Some time in the 1960s he developed an interest in horses. The primary stimulant for J.D.’s interest in horses came from a horse he gave to his daughter for Christmas. Vivian said, “Daddy had a mid-life crisis. He fell in love with horses. He read every book he could put his hands on.” Just as he had been absorbed in developing the tobacco curer, so did J.D. involve himself in the horse business. One of his first efforts

was to train a beautiful Appaloosa mare to stand quietly while J.D. fired a shotgun while sitting on the horse’s back. They became deer hunting companions and J.D.’s ability to train horses spread as he successfully worked with other people’s mounts. Horse shows were popping up in pastures where enthusiasts would build a big round fence and have weekend horse shows, almost informal affairs that involved all ages. J.D.’s show ring was extremely popular as the area interest in horses grew. As with all his efforts, J.D. placed his own unique stamp on the arena he built at Bolton. His engineering instinct and the observation of muddy arenas elsewhere caused him to build a pond in the middle of the show ring. The result was that even after a heavy rain, shows could be held. Most of the events were “game shows” like barrel racing, pole bending, and ring spearing, but he also had pleasure classes and reining and English classes. People came from all over eastern North Carolina to show and play. Vivian remembered, “Those were fun times!” In addition to the shows and horse training, J.D. partnered with Mrs. Sara Sledge, who ran the Ambassador Camp at Lake Waccamaw. He would host members of the summer camp for riding lessons. Over the years, those sessions would become fond memories for the campers and succeeding generations would pass greetings from their parents to J.D. as the younger campers created their own memories. Looking back at accomplishments might be like looking at mirrors facing each other. It is an endless reflection. That is the case with J.D. Peterson. There is so much to see, and each time we look there is more to see. But looking at J.D Peterson’s life is more like looking back through a reflecting kaleidoscope, so colorful, so different, so unique.

Peterson working with one of his horses. Spring & Summer 2020 | 954 | 13

M a n o f m a n y ta l e n t s

Everyone called her Miss Lillian A daughter remembers There is an old axiom that applies to the life of J.D. Peterson: “Behind every great man is a great woman.” That certainly applies to J.D. In recounting some of his early years and those that came after he met Miss Lillian, it would be safe to say that she was probably the catalyst that changed him from the unfocused young adventurer to a man whose vision, creativity, and intelligence changed the tobacco industry, indeed, the culture of the area. Miss Lillian (as everyone called her) had a deep religious faith that was probably a major factor in J.D.’s transformation. She and J.D. were married on February 18, 1939, when the country was on the brink of war and the future was uncertain. But faith and perseverance prevailed. Vivian Brown is the youngest daughter of J.D. and Lillian and the only one of three sisters still living. Her recollection of her mother’s life is a picture of a unique lady, a lady who was ahead of her time yet in many ways exhibited those elements of Southern womanhood that is so much a part of “who we were.” “My mother was born to Leta Blue Squires and Peyton Squires on September 5, 1918. She grew up surrounded by parents and several loving aunts (her mother’s sisters). She, her mother and father, several siblings and her maternal aunts all lived in the Blue family home near Bolton. “She graduated from Hallsboro High School and then attended Flora McDonald College in Red Springs, N.C. Her college studies were interrupted by the sudden illness of her mother. Much of the family finances were drained by the illness and the death of her mother. She found she could not return to Flora McDonald, so she changed her career design to accommodate what she saw available in Columbus County. There was a severe need for trained nurses in the county so she entered the nursing program at Columbus County Hospital under the direction of Dr. Edwin Miller. Dr. Miller was a tall man; Mother was short. Mother had to stand on her tiptoes to reach the operating table height to assist in surgeries. When the good doctor noticed this, he made a stool for her to use during surgeries. Mother never forgot the kindness. “On January 19, 1940, Mama and Daddy were blessed with the first of three daughters. My grandfather Peterson also lived with them for the first twelve years of their marriage until he passed away. During these years she was caregiver to the elderly aunts who lived just down the road and Granddaddy Peterson along with her husband and three girls. She was also bookkeeper for Daddy’s business. Somehow, she found time to be active in the church, where she taught Sunday School. “Although she never received her nursing degree, her passion for helping those in poor health continued. When there was sickness or death within a neighbor’s family, she was always there to help. At a time when most folks were intimidated by taking insulin or even iron shots, she went back and forth to those homes like a “county nurse,” giving injections and helping people understand health 14 | 954 | Spring & Summer 2020

Peterson and his wife Lillian were married 58 years. principles which many country folks were hesitant to embrace. “A Mr. Hux from Whiteville organized a radio program on WENC which was broadcast every Sunday morning at 8 a.m. Mr. Hux asked several people in the county to take turns teaching Sunday School from the lesson study quarterly. Mother was one of those people. She was dedicated to this program. I remember, before Mother got her driver’s license, the whole family would be up before breakfast, be dressed for church, and be at the radio station in Whiteville before 8 a.m. Then we would watch through a large plate glass window as she delivered the lesson over the air. The program was called “Sunday School of the Air.” “Throughout my childhood there were several individuals who came

and went in our household simply because they needed a temporary place to live. Mother would provide one for them. “This account may sound like she was an absolute saint. She wasn’t! But she was an example to all who were close to her as to how to love and give of yourself to a cause you believe in. She was always on the side of what she saw as ‘just and right.’ She never hesitated to stand up and WITH the little guy. “She was a wonderful Christian wife, mother, grandmother, and friend to all. If she had an enemy, they certainly kept to themselves. She had a plaque on the wall in her kitchen which read, ‘Let me live in a house by the side of the road and be a friend to all.’ I believe that is exactly what her life exhibited.”

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Trash to Treasure Loretta Hodge McCumbee is Columbus County’s own Indiana Jones Jefferson Weaver PHOTOS Justin Smith & Submitted by Loretta Hodge McCumbee STORY

oretta Hodge McCumbee loves pawing through trash. However, you won’t find her dumpster diving on a city street. Instead, McCumbee spends nearly every spare moment she has walking, crawling and sometimes wading through woods, forgotten homesteads and swamps, seeking old bottles, arrowheads, pottery, glassware and even prehistoric fossils. “My husband tells me I need to be looking out where I’m walking,” she laughed. “My eyes are always on the ground.” A love of history and art feed her passion for relic hunting, a hobby that was encouraged by her father, R.J. Hodge, when she was growing up near Loris. After she and her husband Gary were married and moved to Crusoe, she found a whole new relic-rich environment along the banks 16 | 954 | Spring & Summer 2020

of the Waccamaw River. She also hunts old farms and homes across the area, always with the owners’ permission. “I just love it,” McCumbee said. “I’ll be going along and see that sparkle, and l know I’ve found something good.” Helping her father around the family farm and on other jobs, McCumbee learned to look inside old homes and buildings. “I have a bird’s nest with an egg in it that was walled up in a porch,” she said. “It was old when we found it – it’s probably 70 years old.” She isn’t afraid to delve into places that sometimes daunt other relic hunters. “One time I crawled on my hands and knees, clipping briars, to get to an old trash pile,” she said. “I had to move a big old black snake off the

trash to treasure pile when I got there. I knew he was just sunning, but I told him I had to get in there.” In addition to staples like large glass Clorox bottles, pottery shards, and patent medicine containers from the last two centuries, McCumbee has found antique toys, perfume bottles, glass marbles from the 1920s and 1930s, and even watches. “You’d be surprised how many watches you find out there in the swamps,” she said. “Watches and watch bands. I found another Timex just the other day.” Among her favorites are a fancy aluminum soap carrier from around 1907 and a Prince Matchabelli perfume bottle complete with stopper. “That perfume bottle is one of my favorites,” she said. “I found it about four feet off the ground in a brush pile against a tree after Hurricane Matthew. The soap dish had to have come from somewhere away from here – it was completely out of place.” Her devotion to her pastime causes some people, including her husband, to shake their heads. “I was at one place where I could drive my truck almost to the trash heap,” McCumbee said. “Multiple generations of the family had used it, and it had never been cleaned up. I got there first thing in the morning, and had to walk out with my flashlight. I found 396 bottles at that site.” McCumbee said she knew her husband wouldn’t be pleased at the massive haul. “The owner said that they would say they hadn’t seen me,” she laughed. Before modern day sanitation services, many rural families simply dumped their trash in a remote area on a farm, a wooded hollow or even in waterways. When outhouses still outnumbered indoor bathrooms, a full privy would often be turned into a new trash receptacle, and the outhouse structure itself moved to a new location. Native Americans often used the same practice

A recent find includes a Biltmore milk bottle with a heat crack.

Left: A Prince Matchabelli perfume bottle with stopper, which McCumbee found in a brush pile after Hurricane Matthew. Right: One of McCumbee’s favorite finds is an aluminum soap box made in 1907. Spring & Summer 2020 | 954 | 17

trash to treasure

McCumbee finds and preserves artifacts from times gone by.

McCumbee’s collection of arrowheads. Pictured to the right is an unusually large cutting or fleshing tool she found in an area rich with native artifacts. The stone blade is shaped somewhat like a modern Buck knife. 18 | 954 | Spring & Summer 2020

when settling in semi-permanent camps. Although discarded items made of materials such as leather and plant fibers eventually decompose, stone, clay and even some bone items can last for centuries when soil conditions are just right. While trash piles make for big hauls of everyday items, McCumbee’s most productive hunting grounds are near bridges and roads along waterways. “There’s so much that has been thrown out as people ride by, or floated down the river,” she said. “It’s fascinating to see what turns up, maybe even having floated all the way from Whiteville or somewhere else.” McCumbee frequently scours the banks and sandbars of the Waccamaw, recovering projectile points of all sizes and eras, as well as pottery shards and other tools from the time before European settlers brought metal to America. Every storm or period of high water moves relics around, providing new treasures for the patient searcher. She calls these types of relics “Natifacts,” her own term for native artifacts. “All these things, you have to wonder about who held them before,” she said. “They were here long before any of us were. They were the first ones here, and we need to remember their history as well. Some of the work they put into these things is incredible.” Some of her findings are even older. While shark teeth are common finds across Columbus

trash to treasure

Liquor bottle with tax stamp from South Carolina

Vintage soft drink bottles Left, Everyday household items like this bottle of Singletary’s insecticide and this graceful brown bottle that once held a “patent” medicine give a glimpse into family life in years gone by. Bottom right, 5 cent cologne bottle found in Charleston in the fallen doorway of slave quarters.

Spring & Summer 2020 | 954 | 19

trash to treasure County (she has picked up more than 600), McCumbee has also located a section of fossilized vertebra larger than her hand. She said she plans to return to that particular area to search for more fossils. “I’ve found fossilized fish, and other things that were preserved in the mud,” she said, “but that vertebra is special – I can’t wait to find out what it came from.” She has learned to watch the river for the exact right level to wade to likely spots where relics of all kinds have washed downstream. “It’s fascinating to see what you can find,” she said. “I’d never heard of Chugamug beer until I found two bottles in the mud by a cypress stump. And then there’s Electric Cola. It was bottled in Wilmington, by Coca-Cola.” Some of her relics can be tied to an individual, like a 1927 hunting license from Columbus County, and a pocketknife that belonged to a State Trooper. “The owner of the property where I found the knife said his cousin had lost that knife 20 years before,” she said. McCumbee said she makes it a point to be a good steward of the ground she visits. Since the “good stuff” is often a foot below ground, she often has to make her way through a layer of semi-modern garbage, including plastic. “All the plastic I find comes home and goes in our recycle bin,” she said. Even broken bottles, china and glass have a home. McCumbee previously worked for a jewelry store, and loves designing and making jewelry. She has a tumbler and glass cutting tools that she plans to use to turn some of her trash finds into treasure. “I have several five-gallon buckets of fragments,” she said. “So much of the glass from the early 1900s is just so pretty. I want to see what I can do with it.” Unlike some relic hunters, McCumbee is no snob when it comes to artifacts. “I love all of it,” she said. “Everything you find has a story we can never know. I like going back and finding the history behind some pieces. “I guess I’m crazy, in a good way,” she said. “I like everything I find.”

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The Atlantic Coast Line Railroad was formed by consolidation of several smaller lines and carried Chadbourn strawberries to Northern consumers until economic changes brought an end to the boom around the time of the first world war.

Chadbourn Depot remains an important hub for history Diana Matthews Photos Grant Merritt & NR Archive Story

ore than a century ago, Chadbourn was an important stopping place on railroad lines that carried freight and passengers north, south, east and west. In the late 19th century, Wilmington was North Carolina’s largest city, and rail traffic to the coast was heavy. Timber was a major resource, but after the forests were cut, investors introduced strawberries as a faster-growing crop to take their place. North Carolina berries ripened about the time the crop in Florida came to an end each spring. Advertisements in the Chicago-based magazine Farm Field and Fireside lured 160 families of prospective farmers to the “Sunny South Colony” of Chadbourn beginning in 1895. A melting pot culture emerged, said Chadbourn native Densil Worthington. The new arrivals’ family names can be seen on a visit to the old section of Chadbourn Memorial Cemetery, the only other feature of the town besides the passenger depot to have survived to this day in its original condition. The Atlantic Coast Line built an earlier depot on Railroad Street to handle both passengers and freight, but by 1910 demand was so great 22 | 954 | Spring & Summer 2020

that the railroad built the passenger depot on what is now Colony Street and began using the older building for freight only. Agricultural, economic and war-related disruptions put an end to the strawberry boom only about a decade after that. After highways took away most of the railroads’ passenger business, the 1910 depot was sold in the 1950s to the Bailey family and was used for storage. That would have been the end of the depot’s history, if the Chadbourn Revitalization Committee had not used state grant money to purchase and restore it in 1990. Worthington has served as president of the 18-member Chadbourn Revitalization Committee since shortly before the passenger depot’s 100th anniversary in 2010. Today Although the huge heyday of Columbus County strawberries is past and the depot no longer serves travelers, it is still an important focal point of the community. The depot is not on the national register of historic buildings because it was moved from its original position; the

a n i m p o rta n t h u b f o r h i st o ry

Robert Cox tends the tiny railroad donated by Edna and Glen Yates and tunes it up each year in time for hundreds of children to enjoy it at Chadbourn’s Christmas party.

The elaborate model train display is a replica of Chadbourn during the early 1900s. Spring & Summer 2020 | 954 | 23

a n i m p o rta n t h u b f o r h i st o ry building, however, is “basically intact,” said lifetime Chadbourn resident Lisa Blake, who began to volunteer with the committee six years ago. Committee members maintain the structure and open it to the public for special events ranging from chili cookoffs to Easter egg hunts, police and firefighter recognition events and of course the Strawberry Festival. The town’s first Strawberry Festival was in 1926, and the festival has continued almost without interruption. “This year is the first without a Strawberry Festival since World War II,” said Worthington. The last public activity held at the Chadbourn depot before large gatherings were banned due to the coronavirus pandemic was a Black History Month program in February. More than 200 third and fourth graders from Chadbourn, Cerro Gordo and Evergreen attended the educational event, in which West Columbus High School drama students portrayed influential African Americans of history. The revitalization committee hosts the town’s Christmas festivities, usually on the first Saturday in December. Blake coordinates with Chadbourn police to give away about 75 bicycles to local children, and Santa Claus has been the guest of honor, arriving on a train supplied by R.J. Corman Railroads, since 2015. It is also a popular rental venue for family reunions, parties and weddings, with room for about 80 people. Committee members say that they keep it reasonably priced because they want it to be available to anyone in Chadbourn. Rental income and an annual chicken bog sale raise funds for upkeep of the building. Revitalization The historic property would never have resumed its place in the community if not for the vision of a group of hard-working volunteers who came to its rescue 30 years ago. In 1990, the Chadbourn Revitalization Committee secured the depot property under the direction of founding director Edna Earl Yates. The building, which had been used for storage, “was totally dilapidated,” said Worthington. The committee applied for grant funds to make major repairs and improvements. Archivist Jerry Cross from the N.C. Department of Cultural 24 | 954 | Spring & Summer 2020

A full calendar of events at the depot includes Extension homemakers packing goodie bags for a children’s party, a summer reading program and an educational event celebrating Black History Month when students dressed as influential African Americans in history.

a n i m p o rta n t h u b f o r h i st o ry

Densil Worthington, CRC president

Lisa Blake, CRC board member and event coordinator

Longtime CRC vice-president and volunteer Robert Cox and his late wife, Virginia who also served on the CRC board.

The historic Chadbourn Depot is a popular rental venue for family reunions, parties and weddings. Spring & Summer 2020 | 954 | 25

a n i m p o rta n t h u b f o r h i st o ry Resources researched the historic significance of the facility and wrote an article that helped the committee obtain the necessary money. Yates and her husband, Glen Yates, donated the three sets of model trains that run in the old freight room as well as models showing what the Chadbourn/ Grists area looked like in its heyday. The curator for those trains today is Robert Cox. He and his late wife, Virginia, both South Carolinians, became volunteers with the committee as soon as they retired to Chadbourn in 2011. He finds it amazing how many local people have never seen the depot. Cox spent 48 years in Baltimore, where he managed the imaging department for a large VA/university health system. He never had any special association with trains except for riding Amtrak between there and New

Event coordinator Lisa Blake looks forward to offering rentals again when pandemic limitations are lifted. 26 | 954 | Spring & Summer 2020

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Early 1900s wedding dress made by Clara and Trixie Yates for Clara Yates’ wedding. 28 | 954 | Spring & Summer 2020

a n i m p o rta n t h u b f o r h i st o ry York City to visit his brother. However, when Glen Yates became ready to retire from maintaining and running the trains, Cox stepped right into the fairly demanding job. The equipment requires expert attention to keep running properly. With hundreds of hours of help from a model train collectors group in Brunswick County, Cox got the engines and cars tuned up and refurbished. He tries to make sure it is in optimum condition for the Christmas party each year. “When I see the kids’ eyes light up, that makes it all worthwhile,” Cox said. There are no regular public open hours, but prospective visitors may call Blake at 910-899-2992 to arrange a look around. She said that people may call the same number for reserving a rental date when public gatherings are once again deemed safe. Ed. note: The 1990 article by state archivist Jerry Cross, available at NRcolumbus. com, describes the economic developments of a century of Chadbourn history and was valuable in the writing of this article.

One of the original four heat stoves remains.

Spring & Summer 2020 | 954 | 29

Al Leonard is the “$80 Million Man” in getting grants for Columbus County towns Allen Turner PHOTOS Submitted

STORY

o call Al Leonard the “$80 Million Man” might be a bit of a stretch, but it wouldn’t be that far from the truth, either. Since 1997, Leonard, the Tabor City town manager who also consults on a part-time basis for four other municipalities in Columbus County, has been a driving force behind the infusion of $79,251,505 in grant funds here. The biggest chunk of that funding – $37.6 million – has gone to Fair Bluff instead of Tabor City, the home of Leonard’s fulltime job, but that’s only because Fair Bluff had the misfortune to be hit so hard and suffer such damage from flooding after hurricanes in 2016 and 2018. Leonard has actively and continuously pursued funding for all the towns with which he is involved. Things have changed a lot since Leonard, a native of Burlington, first arrived in Columbus County in 1987. He was 23 years old, single and attending school three days a week working on a master’s degree in public administration at UNC-Chapel Hill. The other four days a week he lived in a room at the Todd House and worked for the Town of Tabor City. Fast-forward until today: The 56-year-old grandfather continues to be active in assisting five local governments but also finds time to spend 30 | 954 | Spring & Summer 2020

every moment possible with his new grandson in the N.C. mountains and with his aging parents in Alamance County. His wife, the former Suzette Spurrier, has already mostly retired after a career with the Wright, Worley, Pope, Ekster and Moss law firm in Tabor City and has moved west to be near that new grandson, although she still returns to Tabor City to work one day a week in the law office. Will Leonard be following Suzette into retirement? Not in the near future, he says. “I’ve made commitments to each of the towns that I work for that I will carry out some of the big projects that we’re working on right now, and I envision that to be at a minimum another two or three years,” he says. Those projects include a major overhaul of the wastewater treatment plan, the repair of the Lake Tabor dam and the development of a business incubator. In Fair Bluff, Leonard will be busy with the development of the EDA business incubator to replace businesses destroyed by Hurricane Matthew and Hurricane Florence. Brunswick just received a planning grant to combine three small water systems in the Brunswick area into one larger system. Cerro Gordo has just received a three-year recovery and resiliency grant and in Boardman they’re looking at the possibility of a large commercial project (in addition to a new N.C. Dept. of Transportation interchange there).

Al Leonard checking sewer pump run times at a new pump station in Brunswick, which is wrapping up a $2 million CDBF infrastructure project. Spring & Summer 2020 | 954 | 31

$80 Million Man “There are some huge initiatives going on in each of those communities,” he says, “and I am committed to sticking with them until they are completed.” His knack for – and history of – grantsmanship going back to 1987 and continuing into the future are assets well-suited for and sorely needed in Columbus County. “Even before I ever thought about moving to Columbus County, I had noticed in news clips and from talking with people that the 1970s and 1980s had been a time in Columbus County dominated by ‘power’ and ‘politics’,” Leonard says. “It seemed like everyone was preoccupied with getting one-up on some other faction in the county. There was a constant battle in local governments, but there was very little to be shown from all that battling.” Upon moving here, Leonard soon came to feel that the focus needed to change from “power” and “politics” to “projects” and “progress.” He still feels that way. “In the end, we have to show the citizens how we have advanced their situation,” he says. “I didn’t see a lot of that back in the 1980s, and evidently there wasn’t a lot of it in the 1970s, either. It’s always difficult to change a culture, but I sensed that the government culture in Columbus County had to really shift away from local officials garnering headlines for publicity’s sake and instead shifting toward just working hard for the sake of progress.” Columbus was a low-wealth county when Leonard arrived in 1987, and it continues to be a low-wealth county. “There never will be enough money generated in our towns to pay for large capital projects and it’s going to always take money from Washington or Raleigh to implement the big scale projects that our citizens have said they want to see,” he says. Leonard spends much of his time researching N.C. general statues and It is difficult, he says, to tell citizens after they have written their grant regulations.

Leonard and Fair Bluff Town Clerk Peggy Moore are pictured keeping track of 16 disaster relief grants being impleThe first official N.C. Canoe Trail is on the mented in the town. Lumber River as it passes by Fair Bluff.

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What others say about Al Leonard -

“A long time ago, I had to go up to my business at about 3 in the morning. As I was entering the rear of my store, I noticed the lights were on up on the second story of the Town Hall. I saw Al’s car parked outside. Later I learned that he was up there pulling together all the information he needed for a grant that was being written. When you have employees that are willing to pay any price or make any sacrifice then good things happen in your organization. That’s why Tabor City has been awarded over 120 grants. That how we have been able to average winning $1 million in grant money each year for 32 years in a row. Can you imagine where Tabor City would be if we had not received this money? We’d still be on dirt streets with much of the town unserved by utilities. The grants are the key. - Tabor City Mayor Royce Harper -“I think Al Leonard is by far the smartest man I know. He is definitely my go-to guy. Al is passionate about his work and always puts 100 percent in on everything he completes. He is always willing and eager to help me when I have a question concerning my position. Al has told me several times that he is only a phone call away. He is not only a great employee but a great friend for life. Any town in Columbus County is honored to have Al Leonard working for them.” - Boardman Town Clerk Crystal Rogers

34 | 954 | Spring & Summer 2020

-“Al Leonard has been the heart and soul of Fair Bluff since I have known him. He is not only a hard worker, but he also has a very big heart for the many towns he serves. Al looks for the avenues that would enhance growth and prosperity for the towns and, in doing so, he has written many grants specifically for the Town of Fair Bluff to help make things happen. His grant writing efforts have been very beneficial especially in light of the hardships Fair Bluff has suffered from the flooding of two major hurricanes. Al brought attention to the Town of Fair Bluff through his due diligence, his knowledge, skills, grant writing and compassion in his efforts to help restore the Town. - Fair Bluff Town Clerk Peggy Moore -“I first got a call from Al back in the late 1980s when he was looking for a firm to assist the town with writing a grant, and I thought it would be a good possibility for a young engineer like me. However, I didn’t know this relationship would last a lifetime. We’re still assisting Al and the five towns he works with grant applications. I have tremendous respect for Al and for all the mayors, council members, other leaders and staff who seek every opportunity to improve their towns. My work with Al always has been a pleasure, and I am truly thankful for that first call.” - Floyd Adams, consulting engineer

$80 Million Man property tax checks for hundreds or thousands of dollars that local revenues just aren’t enough to pay for local operations. “The total of every tax dollar paid in a small town is not enough to even pay for the operation of the police department in most cases. Where does the money come from to pay for all the other departments, or street paving, or to run the streetlights at night? The answer is that these funds typically come from revenue shared by the state government.” Leonard says that when it comes to major capital projects like water or sewer lines or constructing a building, there is usually no option other than applying for a grant. “The small towns could never even set aside money every year and eventually pay cash for large projects. The bottom line is that it’s either grant dollars or no progress, and I don’t think our citizens would accept us making no progress.” While Leonard enjoys every aspect of his jobs with the five towns “from top to bottom,” he says grantsmanship is his favorite function. “Sitting in a room with others and thinking about what you need and figuring out how to get a grant to pay for it is very rewarding. When you have nothing, and no resources, and a few years later you have built a new town hall or built a park, that is something you can be proud of,” he says. As an example, Leonard remembers that just after he arrived here in 1987, county voters had rejected a bond referendum for a countywide water system. The late Lynwood Norris, then a county commissioner, approached Leonard and said he’d like to see a water system in his district on the southern end of the county. They set up a meeting with the late E.C. Sanders Jr. and the late Roy Lowe, who was county administrator at the time. Engineer Fred Hobbs was involved, too, and the idea came up of holding elections one district at a time to build water systems with federal grants and loans. It was decided that Lynwood’s

district would be the first one to give it a shot. “The election was held and district water passed by less than 10 votes,” Leonard says, “but it was that meager start over 30 years ago that has led to where we are today. Once Lynwood’s district started showing progress through a very large project, other parts of the county wanted their progress, too.”

While Leonard enjoys every aspect of his jobs with the five towns “from top to bottom,” he says grantsmanship is his favorite function. As another example, Leonard remembers that after Hurricane Matthew in 2016, Fair Bluff received a grant from the Golden LEAF Foundation for a new town hall/police department and a new public works facility. “That was a major announcement in the press because it was so important for the future of Fair Bluff,” Leonard said. “A few days later after a Cerro Gordo town council meeting, several of us were standing around talking and Councilman Jeff Green asked me why Cerro Gordo couldn’t get the same type of grant Fair Bluff had. You know, Jeff was right.” Leonard called the town’s engineers and Rep. Brenden Jones the next morning. “We started pursuing a Golden LEAF grant for Cerro Gordo and the result is what you see today. Cerro Gordo has a great town hall that should last them for the next 50 years or so,” Leonard says. “That is an example of the kind of culture I was trying to create when I moved here. Instead of one town trying to just get more power than the other

Spring & Summer 2020 | 954 | 35

$80 Million Man town for the sake of bragging rights, why can’t one town’s success chal- application. Beneath the surface there are the local elected officials, lenge another town to try and be just as successful?” engineers, grant writers, consultants, accountants and municipal emAfter the 2009 recession, the federal government put together a ployees. Each of them has to perform their job to perfection if we’re stimulus package of public works projects to help get the economy going to compete with the 100 counties and over 550 cities in North back on its feet and Leonard began scratching his head to try and fig- Carolina that also are competing for the same money.” ure out how Tabor City could He adds, “I can’t say benefit from that. “Here was enough about our elected ofthe biggest public works inificials. The mayors and countiative of my career, and I cil members I work for are was struggling to see how we the best. They have no egos. could capitalize on it,” he says. They just want to try and accomplish the things that the “We figured out there citizens are telling them they would be funds available for want to see. Another key park construction projects. component is our legislators. Our council and recreation I’ve been successful in workvolunteers had been dreaming ing with all of them, ranging of a way to expand our athfrom former Sen. R.C. Soles letic complex for some time. and former Reps. Dewey Hill It was very rewarding to see and David Redwine to current their dreams come true. Our Sens. Danny Britt and Bill Raengineers put together a very bon and, of course, Rep. Brenstrong application for funds den Jones. I’ve just felt like it to build ball fields and a new Leonard files in 2012 at the Board of Elections as a candidate for N.C. was my role to keep them inconcession stand. Like I said, House of Representatives. formed on what the local towns were trying to prioritize. I think our when you start with nothing and you end up with something, it is very legislators have always appreciated that. Every one of them has worked rewarding and you can be proud of it.” hard to get money back down here in their districts.” Leonard doesn’t take credit for the $80 million in grants he’s been Leonard says that most of the actual grant writing work takes place associated with. “I am just the tip of the iceberg that everyone sees,” in the offices of the towns’ engineers, grant writers and consultants. he says. “There probably are half a dozen folks working on every grant

36 | 954 | Spring & Summer 2020

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$80 Million Man “I still author a few grants myself,” he says, “but the applications are becoming so elaborate that in most cases we have several professionals working on them. It’s a lot of fun. Can we beat out the very large municipalities we are competing against? I hate to lose. We always start out with the position that we are planning on winning.” He says that over the years he has learned a few tricks of the trade on how to transform information into a successful grant application. “The bottom line is that if grants are your number one priority, you have to restructure how you do everything. The way we operate our departments, the way we get our finance reports, the way we set up our calendar for the work year, the way we prioritize our needs are all geared toward one day writing a grant. That’s the secret. We do everything in order to position ourselves for a successful grant.” The quest to make progress in Tabor City has been contagious. “Over the years we’ve had department heads who have written their own grant applications to help their agencies make progress,” Leonard says, “so sometimes I’ve been able to switch roles with them. They’ve become the grant writers and I’ve stayed out of their way and concentrated in the day-to-day operations of the town. In the end, it has worked.” Leonard thinks his goal of changing the culture here has been minimally successful. “I am not naïve to think there never will be power struggles and we obviously live in a super-politicized world, but in some way I think the local governments here have tried to zero in on making progress with grant funding. We all try to get together every quarter and just make sure we know who the leaders are all around the county. We try to talk about what we are working on and what our needs are. Every time a town around here gets a

38 | 954 | Spring & Summer 2020

grant, it raises the bar for the rest of us to do the same. I do think that the bar is a heck of a lot higher than it was in 1987. Maybe I had a little to do with that.” And the new grandson in the western part of the state and how that development might play into his personal plans? “Everyone has been asking me about when I’m going to stop,” he says. “I guess that’s because I surpassed the 30-year full retirement mark five years ago. Well, I have a broad timetable for retiring and I’ve mentioned it in general terms to the five towns I work for. Obviously, there’s more distance in the rear view mirror of my career than there is out my windshield, but it won’t be anytime soon. We’ve got huge projects in the works in each town I work for. I think it will take two or three years to get them fully implemented. Who knows how many more grant applications we can write in that time?” Leonard says that for the past 30 years his “hobbies” have been going to meetings every night or locking himself in a room to read and take notes on 200-page reports. “I just hope it’s not too late in life to maybe have a hobby someday. I hope in a few years to find a pastime that will be as rewarding and enjoyable as finding grant money has been.” He tries to keep everything in perspective. “The five towns I work for were in existence a long, long time before I got here and they will be here a long, long time after I am gone. In context, it’s really just been a brief period of time these towns have asked me to come on board and try to help them make progress. That is humbling when a friend holds out their hand and asks if you will help them out. I’ve tried my best, and for about 80 million times, we’ve been able to get some things done.”

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Although no photos of John Mitchell were available for this article, illustrator Isabel Humphreys used her imagination to create this drawing of Mitchell and writer Gordon Batten enjoying a visit over ice cream. 40 | 954 | Spring & Summer 2020

Memories of John Mitchell’s store Gordon Batten Isabel Humphreys

Story & Photos Illustration

everal years ago, I stopped to take a picture of an old dilapidated building in Hallsboro. As I gazed at the site with awe and respect, I imagined lives and events that had happened there in years gone by. It seemed as if this old piece of the past was desperately hanging on, waiting for recognition and appreciation before its final demise. “If only this old place could talk,” we always say. This wasn’t just some old abandoned building waiting to fall down or to be torn down and forgotten. For me, it was the home and store of a God-loving, hard-working family of Mitchells. John Mitchell was proud of his store and he appreciated his many customers who shared their stories with him as they passed through with the news of the day. It was a pillar of the community. The structure was built of red heart-pine timber, cut from the nearby forest, sawed and finished by the local sawmill. Due to its close proximity to the main east/west road (now old U.S. 74/76), the railroad, the depot, the sawmill and Pierce & Company, the store became one of Columbus County’s most important trade centers. I had the honor and privilege to meet this legendary old gentleman, John Mitchell, when I was just 4 or 5 years old, back in 1937 or 1938. My daddy had sold him some chickens and it was now time to deliver them so we loaded up our

mule-powered wagon with crates and crates of live chickens. We then made the three-mile pilgrimage to Hallsboro, the center of the universe for me. My Uncle Jappie Batten enjoyed telling people that we Battens were from the “backwoods of Bogue Township.” Once inside the store, I became completely overwhelmed at what I saw. It was like walking into a Sears & Roebuck catalog. Seeing all the timeless treasures led to the usual, “Daddy, can I have this?” and “Daddy, can I have that?” which led to the usual “No, no and no.” Reminiscing, I realize that the most valuable treasure was the wagon trip with my dad, on which we “men folks” laughed and talked and just enjoyed each other’s company. I was soon to discover the store’s real treasure: a wonderful thing that the good Lord has blessed us mortals with ice cream. Real, store-bought ice cream. I was overjoyed with my cone of this tasty goodness, and I sure let it be known — maybe a little too much. As I continued to rave and carry on about the ice cream, Mr. John latched the chicken crate lid; then he walked over to me and gave me a very stern and disapproving look. Suddenly, fear set in and it dawned on me that this might be a good time for me to shut up and sit down. Daddy was watching, but said nothing. He knew I was about to learn a valuable lesson about Spring & Summer 2020 | 954 | 41

Memories of john mitchell

All that remains of John Mitchell’s store in Hallsboro. misbehaving in a public place. Mr. John’s black leather wedge-shaped cap, with the leather-covered button in the center, made my fears complete. When he put his big hand on my shoulder, I became absolutely sure that I would face the same fate as the chickens. Mr. John said, “Son, I know that this ice cream is good because I made it myself this very morning!” He then took a deep draw on his “trademark” cigar, blew a huge smoke ring, nodded a sign of success to my dad, then gave me a friendly smile and a mighty fine, brag-worthy handshake. Mr. John said to my dad, “Mr. Frankie, bring that boy back again sometime. He sure is good advertisement for my homemade ice cream.” As Dad and I got back on the wagon to go home, Mr. John said, “Now y’all come back to see me again! You heah?” Understandably, final demolition of this old landmark was inevitable and justifiable, but I am still saddened by its absence. 42 | 954 | Spring & Summer 2020

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Setting sail for 50 years Waccamaw Sailing Club brings nature and families together Grant Merritt PHOTOS Grant Merritt, Submitted & NR Archive STORY

elebrating 50 years of sailing, sportsmanship and family oriented social activities, the Waccamaw Sailing Club has brought together sailors of all ages and abilities from all over North Carolina since April 1970. The club’s main goals are to provide an association and opportunity for sailors to grow in skill in a safe environment and to encourage a peaceful lifetime hobby on the wind and water. The idea for a sailing club started on July 17, 1969, when John Ward, Dick Coburn, Frank Glover and Tom Hayden met at Coburn’s “Owl Roost” to discuss an organized center for the sport of sailing in Columbus County. With 11 families showing interest and three weekends of organized sailing races by the end of the summer, 30 people gathered for a dinner meeting on Sept. 28 with Dr. Joe James of Wilmington to hear him speak about forming a sailing club. During the meeting, four officers 46 | 954 | Spring & Summer 2020

Two Hobie Cats jockey for the right of way on race day.

were elected: Dick Coburn, commodore; Tom Hayden, vice commodore; Nancy Sigmon, yeoman; and John Ward, purser. The winter months of 1969 and 1970 were full of meetings with guest speakers and “arm chair sailing.” By April, the Waccamaw Sailing Club was ready for an active racing season with 35 boats in four classes in accordance with the rules of the North American Yacht Racing Union. Today, the Waccamaw Sailing Club maintains a 100 family membership. Jonathan Medford, a current member, said the membership fee is $250 per year and the club is open to anyone who wants to join. “It’s the cheapest thing around,” Medford said. “Because you have access to a full kitchen, showers, bathrooms, event space and two boat ramps. We have two back lots for boat storage so people can leave their boats here.”

Club member Sally Medford raising the sail. Spring & Summer 2020 | 954 | 47

setting sail for 50 years

Debra Walters and Butch Blanchard in a vintage racing photo from September 1989 and also shown in the top right photo in 2019 with the Waccamaw Cup awarded at the 46th Annual Indian Summer Regatta.

2017 Indian Summer Regatta celebration

48 | 954 | Spring & Summer 2020

Colorful Hobie Cats race to the buoy.

setting sail for 50 years Russell Galvan, a current club member who lives an hour away from Lake Waccamaw, said that boat storage on the club property is very convenient and cuts out the hassle of taking your boat home every time. He said his favorite part about the club is being away from home with his wife. “There can be a lot of boats on the water, but they are so far apart that you can enjoy your space,” Galvan said. “We like to sail to the middle of the lake and just float there.” Galvan explained the trial and error nature of sailing in saying that anyone could figure out how to make a sailboat go in any desired direction. Although it is difficult to truly master the science of sailing, Galvan said anyone could understand its basic concepts within 15 minutes. “You’ll make mistakes, but you’ll understand the premise,” Galvan said. “That’s what’s so cool about it.” With a one-time $375 new member initiation fee and an easy application process, Medford said the board of directors votes to approve new members. He said members enjoy activities throughout the year such as club races, regattas, social hours, shrimp boils, oyster roasts and great fun around the water.

A flying Spinnaker sail captures the off wind.

Race weekend at Waccamaw Sailing Club Spring & Summer 2020 | 954 | 49

setting sail for 50 years A majority of members live outside Columbus County. Medford said the biggest draw to the club is Lake Waccamaw’s size and shape. With an oval shape and 3.5 by 5.2 mile area, Medford said the lake is the best place to sail, with ocean breezes arriving in the afternoons every day. “One of our biggest races is the Indian Summer Regatta in October, and we’ll usually have 30 boats from all over the state,” Medford said. “Clubs from New Bern and Durham, pretty much from all over, come here to participate.” One of Medford’s favorite aspects of the club is camping out with his wife and two kids on his sailboat. He often sails to the middle of the lake with his family, anchors down and enjoys a night out on the water. “People love it here for the sport of sailing,” Medford said. “We’re a sailing club first, but we do a lot of social events centered around sailing.” Medford and Galvan agreed

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setting sail for 50 years that the value of the sailing club pays for itself even if someone does not own a sailboat. Having private access to a pier and beach for people to swim is “less than the monthly price of gym membership,” they said. They are both looking forward to another summer of sailing and making lifelong friends at the club. For more information on the Waccamaw Sailing Club, visit waccamawsailing.com.

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Mabel

The author, Patricia L. Woodard, with Mr. Gracie.

Patricia L. Woodard Illustration Kathryn Caine Ogden & PHOTOS Grant Merritt STORY

ithout a doubt, one of Whiteville’s most colorful characters for butterfly wings. This piano would be a major part of her legacy after a major part of the 20th century was Mabel Chestnutt. Forever she bought one for her home in Whiteville, where she would entertain linked to the brick and mortar of her unique home, she had an exuber- guests while playing by ear (her preferred way of playing) in front of ant spirit that left an indelible mark on the small town in southeastern the tall Palladian windows overlooking the front yard of her Spanish North Carolina. People who knew her still laugh and grin when telling style house. stories about this Columbus County treasure who spread her fairy dust Before she bought that piano and settled into small town domesticover the house that became my home. The many smiles she brought ity, however, she graduated from college and joined an all-girls band to the people who lived that traveled up and down in this little community, the Eastern seacoast – in MABEL AGUSTA CHINNIS CHESTNUTT and the stories that crethe style of the movie February 16, 1902 - Brunswick County, North Carolina ated those smiles, should starring Marilyn Monroe, always entertain us and be January 15, 1987 - Charlotte, Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, “Some Like it Hot.” They available to everyone who played in bars, clubs, and thinks they grew up in a just about any place that small town where not too many exciting people live. needed lively party music. Little is known about Mabel’s early childhood before she left BrunsMabel had an ebullient personality and enjoyed the attention of wick County to attend Salem College in Winston Salem, N.C. In ad- many suitors. While in Miami on one of her tours, one of the men most dition to majoring in science education, she also found time to enjoy taken with her was an architect of the Spanish style houses so prevalent her considerable musical talents. She played the clarinet, saxophone, in the area. He escorted her around the city when they were not workpiano and probably other instruments, and had her first experience ing and had long-term honorable intentions. He even went so far as to with the Art Deco-styled butterfly baby grand piano that was popular in design a small house for her with brick patios, arches inside and out, the 20s and 30s. Originally produced by the Wurlitzer Piano Company white plaster walls, black wrought iron railings, a terra-cotta roof, and for small apartments in New York City, it had 77 keys instead of the sketches for gardens, which he knew she adored. Giving her the plans traditional 88 and had a double-winged slope design which mimicked 54 | 954 | Spring & Summer 2020

Mabel by Kathryn Caine Odgen Spring & Summer 2020 | 954 | 55

Mabel for that house must have seemed the most impressive way he knew to let her know that he hoped to share the house with her someday. That was probably a proposal. Alas, Mabel eventually left Miami, and her architect friend as well, taking along with her the plans for the house that eventually became her home. The story goes that her husband, Ches, didn’t object at all to using the house plans another man had drawn up for Mabel. After all, Mabel chose to marry him, not the architect. No one today really knows the whole story behind the origin of the house plans, but those who remember her say that none of it would be out of character for Mabel. I prefer to think that’s exactly what happened. Physically, Mabel was impressive looking. Tall, robust, and sporting a 44-DD chest of which she was very proud, one can only imagine her presence in the high school classroom after she married, settled down in Whiteville, and started teaching science in the local high school. She married Norwood Bennett (Ches) Chestnutt, a North Carolina boy from Sampson County, who was a graduate of N.C. State University in Raleigh and a career Army man. He served in World War I and World War II and, after spending time in the Philippines during World War II, became Colonel N.B. Chestnutt. Mabel and Ches settled in Whiteville in the mid-1920s and started their family in 1928, when their son Norwood Bennett Chestnutt Jr. was born. In 1927, just before the birth of “Chesty,” the Chestnutts bought property on Madison Street and, with the help of the Bank of Whiteville, started construction on their little Spanish hacienda. Ches continued to serve in the Army until he retired, sometime after World War II, and Mabel took on the main child-rearing responsibilities. Both Mabel and Ches had academic backgrounds in botany and agriculture, and the development of their gardens reflected their expertise. The house was built on a lot that measured 75 feet by 230 feet, which allowed plenty of room for personalized landscaping. During their nearly fifty years in the house, they both contributed to the development of the gardens. From all accounts, it was beautiful and well tended and many of the red and white azaleas they planted in the spacious back

yard remain. Azaleas, camellias, and hollies went in beside the already established magnolia, pine and pecan trees. There were plenty of majestic oaks as well. It didn’t take long for the azaleas to nearly cover the entire front yard and provide a glorious view for residents of the town and friends who visited. A small bricked-in fishpond was built on the patio outside the kitchen along with a fountain, which flowed most of the time. The open brick wall was also the home of a ferocious looking, but laughing, stone gargoyle, which eventually provided a second water feature above the pond. A small brick retaining wall outlined the brick patio and provided spots for exotic ferns. Not long after moving into the house, Mabel was able to buy one of the butterfly baby grand pianos from her alma mater, Salem College. The smaller size was perfect for the living room with its 18-foot ceiling and the tall, stylish, arched European windows, which opened onto the front yard. Friends remember that she would sit at the piano in the early afternoons when the sun would hit the front of the house and the beautiful windows at just the right angle and cast magnificent shadows on the spacious white plaster walls. She would play until her heart was content and seemed to prefer the popular music of the day, probably typical of the kind of music she played during her girl-band days. When the weather was nice, she would open the windows and enjoy the breezes. In those early days there was no air conditioning. They say her arms seemed to float as they flew up and down the keyboard while she smoked her cigarettes and took sips from her tumbler full of bourbon, which always sat to her right on the piano top. When the ashes fell on her ample bosom she would wait until she had finished her song before brushing them away, always with a laugh. Some people say she would smoke an entire cigarette and the ashes would never drop until she flicked them off. One can only imagine the joy she brought into that house. Mabel became well known in the community for her culinary and hosting skills. She loved giving parties inside and outside the house, and local residents valued invitations to her unique and lively home. Spanish style houses were not the norm in Columbus County at that

Mabel and Ches Chestnutt built their home in Whiteville in the Spanish hacienda style. 56 | 954 | Spring & Summer 2020

mabel time and there was a lot of curiosity about it. From a small kitchen she whipped up some tantalizing food and carted it to the patio and back yard when the weather was nice and the mosquitos were not a serious threat. One guest, after commenting on an especially delicious country ham and asking what made it so good, was told that it had been soaked in the bathtub for a few hours. “Right after the dog had been washed”, Mabel said. Her raucous laughter could nearly knock people off their feet. She loved to laugh and make others laugh. Her favorite alcoholic drink, from all reports, was bourbon, and when she cooked, as well as when she played the piano, she always had a tumbler close by. With the gargoyle guarding the fishpond on the patio on summer evenings, with candles glowing and food and drinks plentiful, the ambiance at her parties must have been magical. Mabel and Ches enjoyed traveling and seemed to have been right at the forefront of the new, exciting culture developing around air travel and trips to foreign destinations. In the days before tight security in airports, and when people dressed up to board a plane, Mabel and Ches took off on many trips. Even though security was not as tight as it would later become, passengers still had to go through a checkpoint that would detect anything metal. So, when Mabel walked through security on her way to some foreign destination and alarms went off, her first thought was her keys. Did she forget to remove them from her pocketbook? Maybe it was some jewelry.

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With the gargoyle guarding the fishpond on the patio on summer evenings, with candles glowing and food and drinks plentiful, the ambiance at her parties must have been magical.

“I don’t know what is making that happen,” she chortled. “I don’t have a knife or a gun.” She emptied her pockets and pocketbook and when the guard told her to go through again, she did. Once more, the alarm sounded. After a few more attempts to identify what was triggering the activity, Mabel was led to a room by a female guard. She was instructed to remove some of her clothes and there, in full sight, was her magnificent corset with the metal stays, supporting that ample bosom. There was no mistaking then what had set off the bells and Mabel was soon led back to the checkpoint, laughing and enjoying the look of amazement from the guard. What a treat that must have been for anyone close enough to have witnessed what had just happened. Mabel delighted in telling the story of the male tailor she visited on a trip to China. A custom-made suit was on her list of must-haves. When she went for her first visit to have her measurements taken, the small Asian man must have been stunned by her size. She was not a dainty little woman! On subsequent visits for fittings he managed to touch and feel every bit of her chest as he made sure the fit was correct and proper. She never indicated that she was offended by his familiarity and told the story for many years to anyone who was interested. She wore the suit way past its fashionable time and probably delighted in the memories of her “China affair.” Her fabled chest was often put to good use, such as the times she would need to write a check and found it more convenient to place her checkbook there than to put down her cigarette and find a tabletop. She could often be seen doing just that when she was paying her bill in the grocery store. Those were the days when people smoked anywhere and anytime they wanted to, so apparently no one ever suggested she do otherwise. Mabel and Ches were both avid golfers and played at the local

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Mabel

This laughing gargoyle watched over many of Mabel’s garden parties.

country club on many occasions. In fact, after Ches’ death, in 1968, nearly 100 golfers signed up to participate in the first annual N.B. Chestnutt Memorial Golf Spectacular at the Whiteville Country Club on July 4th. Mabel participated in most of the celebrations through the years and often played with her late husband’s friends. One particular story about her golfing days gives everybody who tells the story another chance to feel good. She was the only female in a foursome one day and was wearing Bermuda shorts, the typical outfit for hot, steamy, eastern North Carolina days out on the links. The group walked around the course and when it came time for Mabel to place her ball on the tee, she bent over and felt a seam pop in her shorts. As she stood up, the shorts came down. The men hooted and guffawed but that didn’t deter Mabel at all. She looked at them and said, “What’s the matter with you? Haven’t you ever seen women’s pants?” With that she pulled up her shorts, secured them and kept on playing. No one knows how the scores turned out but that was somehow beside the point. After Ches’ death in 1968, Mabel continued to entertain her friends and, by all accounts, enjoyed her parties and her music until the very end. Before her death in 1987, she moved to Charlotte to be near her son and his family and took the butterfly baby grand piano with her. The house remained empty a few years until it was purchased by Gil and Vivian Beresoff in 1980. After two years in the house, my own efforts are well underway to refurbish and enhance what remains in the landscaping. The house itself took a big hit from Hurricane Flor-

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Mabel ence just a few months after I moved in, but I’m confident a solution to the problems with the terra-cotta roof will be satisfactorily resolved before long. Most of the original windows had been painted shut but I’ve replaced many of them, and, for the first time in a number of years, they can now be opened when the weather is just right for catching the breezes. Two new sets of gas logs have been installed in the once coalburning fireplaces, one in the living room and the other in my study, a small room at the back of the house where I can do my work and look out at the garden. These are the times I feel an indescribable connectedness to the house and to Mabel and I can almost see her in the garden with her dog faithfully keeping her company. I’ve planted a few camellias and gardenias, rooted from cuttings that were a gift from my sister. Three loads of dirt have been spread out in the back yard and one load in the driveway and I could still use more. A friend of Mabel’s who lives close by has offered some camellia cuttings, and if they turn out like hers, I’ll be thrilled. No perennials have appeared, but I’ve added a few daffodils and tulips with more to come. My prized contribution has been the addition of a lovely, graceful weeping willow tree, situated so that I can see it from my desk when I’m working, as well as from the patio when I’m outside. In fact, it has done so well I’m considering a second one. The fishpond has been filled in and herbs planted, and I’m learning which ones like the area and which ones don’t. My cat, Mr. Gracie, who was adopted a month after I moved in, has been drawn to the rich soil and mulch there, so maybe one day I can come up with a Mabel-style joke about the cat’s contribution – it’s his favorite spot in the yard. Mabel would love that. As a final note, I was fortunate to locate Mabel and Ches’s grandson, Chet, who lives in Gastonia. We have talked on the phone a few times and he told me some of his memories of visiting his grandparents here.

He especially remembers the gargoyle on the patio. “Scariest looking thing I’ve ever seen!” He also told me that he has Mabel’s butterfly baby grand piano and even sent me a picture. What a discovery! With that information, I now have a new goal either buying it from him or finding one somewhere that I can place in the living room in front of the long windows. When the sun begins to move across the afternoon sky and cast its magnificent shadows on the walls, I’ll think of Mabel, smile, and touch a bit of her spirit.

The Chestnutt home was inducted into the Reuben Brown House Preservation Society Historic Landmark plaque program in Columbus County.

Woodard likes to claim that Mr. Gracie, rescued near Grace Episcopal Church, is her guardian cat. 60 | 954 | Spring & Summer 2020

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Barn-style home, lakeside view

What does your dream home look like? Janna Sasser Grant Merritt Architectural Design & Photos Channing Glover Story

Photos

ichael and Lisa Shaw didn’t know the answer until a local designer brought it to life with the help of Columbus County’s agricultural roots. “I’m usually heavily influenced by local buildings,” says Channing Glover, owner of Glover Designs based in Lake Waccamaw. “I draw a lot of inspiration from local farm buildings and barns, and try to interpret that into my architecture and adapt it into a modern living scenario.” Inspiration began with a barn on Smyrna Road. The Shaws’ house is designed to mimic the lines of a traditional tobacco barn, but using 62 | 954 | Spring & Summer 2020

modern technology. One “traditional” aspect with a modern twist is the flooring. A raised concrete slab serves as both finish and foundation. “We’re using the material for what it is,” he explains. “Down in the South, we’re inundated in humidity and mold, and a lot of moisture problems can be remedied by getting the house out of the ground, putting dirt in the foundation and pouring a slab.” The flooring is finished with a coat of polyurethane. The house is raised approximately two feet on its dirt foundation from the ground,

lakeside view which should prevent potential moisture problems found in crawl spaces, like mold and mildew. It’s going up on the same property as the family’s former lake house, which had been there since the 1950s and repeatedly damaged by hurricane-related flooding. After Florence, the family had to decide whether to renovate or start over on their forever home — including selling their permanent farm residence in Chadbourn. “It was a big shift to move from the countryside and the house they’ve lived in and raised their three kids, but they wanted to move to the lake permanently, so that’s where the conversation started,” Glover adds. To design the new home, he took loved aspects of the former lake house and emphasized them. A critical component was the lake view. “We came back to that multiple times — the view of the water, and how many spaces take advantage of that view,” he says. The open floor plan lends a view of the water and pier from the front door. Tall windows and sliding glass line the back of the house, along with a 12-foot porch accessible from Michael and Lisa stand in front of their front door with a view of the lake behind them. The porch ceiling is made of natural cypress wood specially planed for them by Pridgen Woodwork. living room or master bedroom.

From the lake view, the porch features access from the main living area and master bedroom (left), with triple-windowed walls on back right and right side for the lake room. Upstairs features two bedrooms, a shared “Jack-and-Jill” bathroom and walk-in storage. Spring & Summer 2020 | 954 | 63

lakeside view

Glover’s design concept highlights aspects of a traditional barn to emphasize those vantage points.

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lakeside view

A tobacco barn on Smyrna Road in Whiteville inspired the framework for the house.

A street-side view of construction shows the new home’s resemblance to the historic barn. Spring & Summer 2020 | 954 | 65

lakeside view “The lakeside porch is our favorite part,” Lisa Shaw says. We’re really looking forward to the open concept, but the porch is going to be a highlight.” The screened-in porch is large enough to serve several functions — including outdoor dining and the Shaw’s favorite bed swing — and allows a “seamless transition” from interior to exterior, another focal point for Glover. “Their old house had a covered porch that ran the entire length of the house, so I added big sliding glass doors on the rear of the house, and a glass ‘lake room’ with a view from two sides for relaxing and taking in the lake.” Another unique feature is the countertops, made from recycled glass. Using Solid Concepts based in Charleston, S.C., Shaw visited a warehouse that recycles glass from downtown bars to pick

Michael and Lisa look at a quartz countertop sample that will coordinate with a custom countertop for the island made from recycled glass by Solid Concepts in Charleston, S.C.

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lakeside view

Below, blue cabinets are being installed by Fowler Cabinet Shop in Clarendon. Above, the lake room and majority of rooms are painted “Nebulous White” by Sherwin Williams, which has a hint of blue that pairs with the blue and green glass chippings in the countertops.

Spring & Summer 2017 2020 | 954 | 67

lakeside view what she wanted in various countertops, she explains. The 9x4 kitchen island includes a mixture of quartz and Chardonnay-bottle chippings. The bathroom countertops feature a different glass. “This process has been unique because I really tried to emulate a tobacco barn and pull out those forms,” Glover adds. “This is one of the only homes I’ve done that harkens back to old North Carolina tobacco barns…I think it resonates when you stand back and look from certain vantage points.” “I think Channing is the one that got the inspiration, but we liked it when he came back to us,” Shaw says. “We tweaked it a little bit, but Channing and our teams have been a dream to work with.” Shaw Family Home Project Resources General contractor - Jeffrey Sumner, with HERR, Inc. in Whiteville (910) 640-2607 Paint colors and design ideas were chosen with the help of Maggie Pinson with The Magnolia Project, LLC in Wilmington. Find Glover Designs on Facebook, Instagram or Houzz, or contact Channing Glover at (910) 660-3606.

From left, Nathan, Lisa, Michael and Colin Shaw with Colin’s Boykin Spaniel, Jace, visit their home during construction. Daughter Carly is not pictured.

The lakeside screen porch is where the Shaw family looks forward to relaxing and enjoying outdoor dining. 68 | 954 | Spring & Summer 2020

lakeside view

Both navy and white siding elements are made of fiber-cement, which Glover chose because it will weather well over the coming years. The roof is made of galvanized metal.

Spring & Summer 2020 | 954 | 69

lakeside view

Channing Glover and his son Joshua stand in a tree house Glover built for him in their backyard in 2013. Top right is Glover’s sketch of the side project.

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Social Events

10th Annual Shuck ‘n’ Shag Oyster Roast Columbus Chamber of Commerce and Tourism

Sally and Jonathan Medford shuck a few oysters.

Angie Caines dances at the sold-out event.

Jennifer Holcomb, Suzanne Hall, Kathy Wheeler, Jan Stahl

Jimmy Clarida, Whiteville Police Chief Douglas Ipock and Suzanne King

Ray Long of Ray’s Produce provided fresh oysters for the event.

Mary Ann Allgood and Linda Lewis

C RHS F o u n d a t i o n I n s p i r a t i o n G a l a Honoring Linda Bell & Abbie Edwards

Richard & Jessica Edwards, Harriett & Patrick Mills and Rick Edwards

MacKenzie Gore and Todd Burney 74 | 954 | Spring & Summer 2020

November 14

November 16

Jeffrey Bell, Terry Bell, Bradley & Amber Bell

Julia Fort, Lynne Inman and Margo Wright

Social Events

Farm City Week Dinner Chandler Worley inducted into Extension Hall of Fame

Kevin Kinlaw of Cape Fear Farm Credit presents Chandler Worley (center) with the Extension Hall of Fame Award. With them is Extension Director Dalton Dockery.

November 19

Keynote speaker Larry Wooten, Farm Bureau President

Fifth Annual Columbus County Dance Festival

November 21

The Columbus County Dance Festival celebrated dancers from East Columbus, South Columbus, West Columbus and Whiteville high schools. Spring & Summer 2020 | 954 | 75

Social Events

Columbus Jobs Foundation Annual Membership Meeting

Developer Bobby Harrelson was keynote speaker at the event held at the N.C. Museum of Natural Sciences in Whiteville

Columbus Jobs Foundation members Stephanie Miller and Jordan Carter

January 21

Columbus Jobs Foundation President Les High

Joan Dorsett, Amber Dinkins & Sarah Gore

Bobby Harrelson, Lisa Fisher and Henry Edmund

83rd Columbus Chamber Annual Meeting

Butch Pope was presented the Honorary Kira Godwin, right, presented The Young ProLifetime Membership Award sponsored by fessional of the Year Award to Jonathan MedDuke Energy. Pictured with wife Beverly. ford. Pictured left is Amber Bellamy.

January 27

Jess Hill was honored with The Sol B. Mann Community Spirit Award. Pictured with wife Jessica.

2020 Columbus Chamber Board of Directors Seated: Terrie Priest, Bettina Cox, Mary Williamson, Diane Stewart, Amber Bellamy Back Row: Ethan Scott, Stephen Underwood, Brenda Troy, Shawn Maynor, Jonathan Medford, Dan Strickland, Jason Beck, Terry Mann, Jamille Gore, Heath Nance, Nicky Nance, Jennifer Holcomb

76 | 954 | Spring & Summer 2020

Social Events

A Night to Shine February 7

Ultimate Prom Experience

Top left: Robin Rothfuss, Night to Shine County Director, organized the first event in Whiteville. Guests were honored with a walk down the red carpet as they entered the ultimate prom experience at Western Prong Baptist Church. The event was sponsored by The Tim Tebow Foundation.

Rotary Partners Night

Whiteville Rotary Club President Kay Horne with Wayne Overcash, the top seller in this year’s raffle.

Rotarian Coburn Powell pulls a winning raffle ticket as Jonathan Medford looks on.

Whiteville Rotarians and their guests enjoy a dinner prepared by the Whiteville Woman’s Civic League.

February 13

Rotarian Sally Mann announces door prize winners.

Whiteville Rotary Club President Kay Horne Spring & Summer 2020 | 954 | 77

Social Events

N.C. Poet Laureate Jaki Shelton Green

February 18

Reuben Brown House Preservation Society Literary Event

Top left: Marcus Gallagher, Southeastern Community College English instructor, moderates a question and answer session with Jaki Shelton Green. Middle: Green celebrated Green visited the DREAM Center and Central Middle School to her one-year anniversary as N.C. Poet Laureate with a visit to Columbus County. lead workshops with students and teachers.

Whiteville Woman’s Civic League prepared and donated refreshments for Green’s reception at SCC. 78 | 954 | Spring & Summer 2020

Pat Ray and Janice Simms co-chair the Literary committee of the Reuben Brown House Preservation Society.

Social Events

Columbus Cotillion 2020 Debutante Ball

March 14

2020 debutantes include, from left, Leah Kay Sanderson, Marly Elizabeth Gore, Carson Isabella Green, Margaret Worth High, Maud Sealey Scott and Isabel WilLou Humphreys.

Fair Bluff Chamber

Willard D. Small was recognized as Fair Bluff Citizen of the Year. Small was unable Community Service Award to attend, but accepting the award from Randy Britt, left, were his granddaughter, winner Cynthia Smith Andrea Altman, center, and her husband, Terry Altman.

Columbus County Economic Tracy Clark accepts the Community Development Director Gary Service award on behalf of Dewey Lanier Hill.

March 19

Leading by Example award winner Shirley Foley, left, was recognized by Fair Bluff Chamber President Kathy Ashley.

Kathy Ashley presents Ray Lundy with a Commu- Esther Scott accepts a Community Service Award. nity Service Award. Spring & Summer 2020 | 954 | 79

954 Events Columbus County Industrial Golf Tournament Southern Farm Days

Friday - Sunday, June 19 - 21 Carolina’s rich farm heritage is demonstrated at Southern Farm Days at Boys and Girls Homes Equine Events Center at Lake Waccamaw with events including: • Antique tractor show • Farm Life activities • Homestead village • Horse and mule farming demonstration • Music and entertainment • Wagon rides and Wild West show • New this year ... N.C. Mule Association show Admission is $8. Children ages 11 and under and active military are admitted free. Handicap parking available. For more information, visit southernfarmdays.com.

Friday, September 18

Golfers from across the area are invited to participate in the 41st Annual Columbus County Industrial Golf Tournament, Friday, September 18, hosted by the Columbus Chamber of Commerce and Tourism. The Captain’s Choice tournament will begin with registration and lunch at 11 a.m., followed by a shotgun start at noon. The tournament is limited to the first 120 golfers registered. The entry deadline is Friday, September 11, 2020. Call the Columbus Chamber of Commerce and Tourism, 910-642-3171, or visit the website to register, www.TheColumbusChamber.com.

BBQ on the Bluff

N.C. Watermelon Festival Saturday, July 25

The 2020 N.C. Watermelon Festival in Fair Bluff features a street dance, Watermelon Queen Pageant, best tasting watermelon, biggest watermelon, Main Street Parade, Fair Bluff Rotary Duck Race, arts, crafts, food, music and more. Visit ncwatermelonfestival.org for more information and entry forms. 80 | 954 | Spring & Summer 2020

Friday & Saturday, September 25 & 26 BBQ on the Bluff on Riverside Drive in Fair Bluff will feature a barbeque cookoff showcasing the best BBQ cooks in North and South Carolina. Entry into the contest is $150. Weekend events include music and entertainment, cake competitions, chicken bog dinner and, on Saturday, barbecue for sale by the plate or the pound. Entry and prize information is available at fairbluff.com or call the Fair Bluff Chamber of Commerce at 910-649-7202.

Brunswick Stew Festival Saturday, September 26

Brunswick Stew Festival events kick off with a parade at 10 a.m. beginning at National Spinning Mill and ending at the Columbus County Fairgrounds. The Brunswick Stew contest and other festival activities will continue at the fairgrounds until 4 p.m. Cooks will compete for the best pot of Brunswick stew, and entertainment, vendors and children’s games will complete the fun-filled day. For more information contact Brunswick Town Hall at 910-642-6741 or Alonzo McArthur at 910-625-7016.

Waccamaw Siouan Pow Wow Friday & Saturday, October 16 &17

This fall the history, traditional foods, American Indian dance competition, drumming competition, gospel sing, parade and pageant are celebrated on the Waccamaw Siouan tribal grounds near the town of Bolton. A thrilling ceremony closes the event Saturday evening. General admission is $8 per day, 65 & older $5 per day, children 0-4 free. For more information call 910655-8778 or email ashleylpatrick@yahoo.com.

Pine Tree Festival Saturday, October 3

This family-friendly festival celebrates Bolton’s heritage as a timber town with a parade at 10 a.m. followed by music and entertainment, food vendors, children’s activities, arts and crafts. For information call 910-655-8945 or email simshawn@yahoo.com.

N.C. Yam Festival Taste of Tabor Thursday, October 22

Celebrating yam royalty, great food, music and dancing makes Taste of Tabor a fun, family-friendly event hosted at Sunnyfield Equestrian Farm. Tickets will be on sale closer to the event.

N.C. Yam Festival

Saturday - Saturday, October 17 - 24

Columbus County Agricultural Fair Tuesday - Sunday, October 13 - 18

The 40th Columbus County Fair kicks off with a parade through downtown Whiteville Tuesday, October 13 at 3:30 p.m. The fair officially opens at Columbus County fairgrounds after the parade at 5 p.m. Families will enjoy carnival rides, exhibits, vendors, children’s games and more. For complete information, schedule of events and entry forms visit columbuscountyfair.com.

Everyone will have a “yam” good time as the sweet potato takes center stage in downtown Tabor City on Saturday, October 24. Yam festival events begin Saturday, October 17, and continue throughout the week, including the scholarship pageant, sweet potato auction and potato cookoff. On Saturday, October 24, the Yam Festival Parade starts at 10 a.m. in downtown Tabor City followed by music and entertainment, KidZone, food vendors, arts and crafts and more. Festival day admission is free. Go to ncyamfestival.com for more information. Spring & Summer 2020 | 954 | 81

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82 | 954 | Spring & Summer 2020

The Hungry Dog Hunts The Best Story

Bill Woodsman

I have found that principles have no real force except when one is well fed. - Mark Twain

eat beanie weanies, sardines, have often wondered cheese, bologna and other why it is that during mysterious foods that come the period I think I feel in small, round cans, invarimost active, I seem to gain ably packed in oil or grease the most weight. It has been to tempt the tastebuds and my contention that during fill the tummy. By the time hunting season when I am I get home thoroughly exeither hunting quail or out hausted from sitting and ridin the duck blind or doing ing the back roads in a four something very active, I by four, I am usually starvshould maintain my weight ing. Needless to say, I fail to or lose some. By the time comprehend the fact that spring gets here, I am usuI have already consumed ally 15 or 20 pounds overover 8,000 calories and exweight and must go on a pended approximately 400. rather strict diet. I am now Be that as it may, all hunters on one of my diet binges have to come in very hungry and, while counting caloand tired, and I assure my ries, I have discovered that wife that I am no different, perhaps there is some reaand I sit down to a full fourson behind the apparent course supper. folly that has occurred during the winter. Thank God I only hunt Dr. Billy Ogden and his black Lab, Babe. once or twice a week durDuring one of my early morning excursions to hunt turkeys, I had ample op- ing the season because if I hunted more, I would weigh portunity to refuse a large number of calories but in the neighborhood of 500 pounds. I would probably failed! I went along with the crowd and consumed a be as mystified as ever wondering how in the world a number of calories not in keeping with my activity lev- busy, hard-hunting guy like me could ever get so fat. el. It will remain a mystery to me why a hunter needs The more we look into it, I am afraid the more surto eat 6,000 calories for breakfast when he is going to prised and disappointed we become. Perhaps if I made expend 150 sitting beneath a tree waiting for a turkey a rule that I ate only what I shot in one day, no doubt to gobble by. All hunters seem to do this as part of a I would be known as “slim Woodsman.” What’s more, ritual. I admit that, while a cup of coffee and piece of I might even become a better hunter…hunger has a toast would suffice, I prefer the preserves, the biscuits, funny way of making the hungry dog work! the fried and scrambled eggs, the fried potatoes, the sausage, the milk, the orange juice and other goodies typical of a hunter’s early morning feast. After a very “Bill Woodsman” was born in 1954 when eighth grader Billy Ogden created his nom de long and tedious sit beneath a tree, hunger dictates a 10 plume “Willie the Woodsman.” He wrote weekly hunting articles for his all boys junior high o’clock run to the local store to discuss our successes or school in Macon, Georgia. When Dr. Ogden entered college and medical school, “Willie” failures and indulge in a honey bun, some nabs and a matured into “Bill” as he has continued to write about the sports of hunting and fishing. Pepsi-Cola. By 11:30 or 12 we then must go ahead and Spring & Summer 2020 | 954 | 83

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We Remember

Perry Ward and Old Bess The News Reporter Archive - 1973

Spring & Summer 2020 | 954 | 85

Auto • Home • Boat • ATV’s • Motorcycle Trucking • Commercial • Bonds • Renters Inc.

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Teddie Simmons, Administrator Deihlia Moore, Admissions Director Spring & Summer 2020 | 954 | 87

Fast, Reliable,

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Amy Ransom

Amy Ransom Physician Assistant

Board Certified Physician Assistant Amy Ransom, a resident of Whiteville, has joined Southeastern Multi-Specialty and Urgent Care of Whiteville. Ransom is available for both your primary care Certified Physician Assistantpatients Amy Ransom, andBoard urgent care needs, and accepts of all ages by appointment or on a walk-in basis. a resident of Whiteville, has joined Southeastern Originally from Kentucky, she completed the Multi-Specialty and Urgent Care of Whiteville. Physician Assistant Program at the University of Ransomand is available for both your primary Kentucky earned board certification withcare the National Commission of Certification of Physician and urgent care needs, and accepts patients of all Assistants in 1992.

Physician Assistant

ages by appointment or on a walk-in basis. Originally from Kentucky, she completed the Physician Assistant Program at the University of Kentucky and earned board certification with the National Commission of Certification of Physician Assistants in 1992.

She has provided care within our community and its surrounding counties for over 28 years, most recently with Southeastern Health Center Clarkton.

She has provided care within our community Address: 117 East Main Street Hours: Monday Thursday, 8 a.m. to 5 28 p.m.; and its surrounding counties for over years, most Friday, 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. recently with Southeastern Health Center Clarkton. To schedule an appointment or for more information, Address: 117 call East Main Street (910) 207-6440

Hours: Monday - Thursday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Friday, 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. To schedule an appointment or for more information, call (910) 207-6440

954 Magazine - The News Reporter - Spring/Summer 2020

Articles inside

Life Of A Woodsman

Barn-Style Home, Lakeside View

Al Leonard - $80 Million Man

John Mitchell’s Store

Mabel Chestnutt

954 Finds

Loretta Hodge McCumbee

Event Calendar

Many Talents of J.D. Peterson