From The Good Old Days ::

The Tams:

Camden High Bulldogs ::

Friday night score:
Camden 57--North Central 14

Congrats!

Discovery ::

The orbiter Discovery is scheduled for launch at 1:36 am Eastern time which means 12:36 am here. I seldom miss seeing a launch on the TV, but I'll probably miss this one!



I just checked the sighting schedule and it looks as though a week from this coming Thursday SC should have a good viewing opportunity for the ISS trailed by Discovery after separation at 5:57 am. I'll post the details later.

[update] Scrubbed 'til early Wednesday am 'cause of weather.

Iris Dement ::

Our Town

South Of Broad ::

I finished the book Sunday evening and it was good, but my favorite Pat Conroy book is still The Prince Of Tides! As an aside, within the last few pages of South Of Broad there is a reference to Camden.

"Return To Vietnam" ::

I got this from Buster a few days ago and held off publishing it 'til now. The piece speaks for itself:

Let's travel back in time and do a little role playing. Now try to remember what your priorities and challenges were when you were 19 years old. Do you think that the biggest inconvenience could have been that the buttons on your shirt would be in the way?

For Chuck Sturkie on one hot humid day, the buttons on his shirt were in the way because thry was keeping him from becoming an earthworm. When there are a couple of dozen Viet Cong soldiers with machine guns pounding away at you and you are in an exposed position, you can not get low enough.

Like many young men of his generation, Chuck served a tour in Viet Nam. What makes this story rather unique is that Chuck returned to Viet Nam to the area of operations where he served with the the 5th Marine division from December of 1966 to January of 1968. Chuck had enlisted as a Marine after graduating from high school. He had been a football lineman for Red Lynch and Clyde Jones and had been a key member of the 1964 state championship team. As a member of that team he had received a memorial championship watch.

Chuck was stationed in what was called 'up north.' His unit's area of operations stretched from Da Nang to the DMZ. He served as a rifleman and has two purple hearts to show for his efforts. He also lost good friends in the fighing. His last month stationed there was during the Tet offensive. One night his unit got hit and has he was running for the bunker he felt his state championship watch slip off his wrist. Afterwards he retraced his path, but could not locate his watch.

One of the members of his Marine unit had returned several years ago to Viet Nam and began booking group tours. Chuck and his son, Shawn, joined in with 17 other members of his unit and last September the group returned to Viet Nam. The members landed in Hanoi and visited the infamous Hanoi Hilton [which was located in the middle of the city] and other war museums.

They moved south by bus and visited the various sites where they had been engaged in combat. Many of their former base camps,such as Khe Sanh, are now overgrown. Much of the jungle has been developed into farms and as most places the duration of 40 years has brought changes. There are still many thatched roof homes and the disparity between cities and farms income and daily life is still vastly different.

According to Chuck, there are still many similarites. The split dresses with pajama bottoms, the cone-shaped straw hats, the smell of the rice paddies and the water buffalo, the external sanitation, the squating by individuals,and the congestion of the cities are all constants. The first advice given to incoming troops is that the Vietnameese only know where the horn and accelerator are located and drive accordingly.

The cities are more westernized and the people are excellent host. Many of the neon lights and sounds, sights and activities of the night have returned. You have to remember it was a French colony for a long time. There are now many other nationalities working and living there and like most Communist countries they are appreciating capitalism.

Like any serviceman who returns to the area where they fought and lost friends, there will be the mysticism and flashback of the past. Because Chuck was with his fellow marines they were able to recreate and remember many of the experiences. Talking with his former comrades brought back vivid memories. The former radio operator was able to fill in the blanks and answer a lot of questions which had lingered for over 40 years.

The war in Viet Nam is a vivid benchmark in the life of the babyboomer generation. Whether you agreed with or opposed the war, we need to remember that there were 13 Kershaw County citizens who lost their life while serving in Viet Nam. Families such as those of Matt Hough, Michael Christmas, and Terry Hearon sent out brave soldiers who never returned. There are also an unusual large number of local returned vets, such as Rolly Jacobs, Bruce Rush, Caston West, Bobby Bruce, Rusty Brannon, Steven Edwards, and Robbie Anderson whose life was taken much too early by cancer.

Thank you for your attention.

Amen!

Mrs. DuVal ::

It seems so long ago!


From this morning's The State:

CAMDEN — Memorial services for Mary Boykin “Teene” Mustard DuVal will be held at 2:30 p.m. on Friday, August 14, 2009, at Grace Episcopal Church, Camden. The Rev. Douglas L. Holmes and the Rev. William M. Shand, III will officiate. The family will be at the home of Mrs. Usher N. Myers, Jr., 1610 Fair Street in Camden. Burial in Quaker Cemetery will be private.

Mrs. DuVal, widow of Moylan Lansdale DuVal, died on Tuesday, August 11, 2009. She was born in 1915 in Charleston, the daughter of Harry Stoll Mustard, M.D. of Charleston and Sarah Hopkins Haile Mustard of Boykin. She resided in Boykin and Camden from the time of her marriage until she moved to the SC Episcopal Home at Still Hopes in West Columbia. She attended St. Mary’s in Raleigh, NC, graduated from Ward Belmont School in Nashville, TN, and Goucher College in Baltimore, MD, did graduate work at Columbia University in NYC and earned her masters and professional degrees at the University of South Carolina.

Mrs. DuVal, an educator, was a classroom teacher, principal of Camden Junior High School, and retired as assistant superintendent of the Kershaw County School District. It was her interest in education that prompted her to become active in politics. Concerned with the inequities in the values placed on real property, costing the schools many thousands of dollars in tax revenues, she ran unsuccessfully for the SC House of Representatives in 1950 and 1952.

Known for her love and knowledge of history, Mrs. DuVal was on the original commission for the Camden District Heritage Foundation, a founding board member of Historic Camden, and a member of the Kershaw County Historical Society. She was an organizer and served as president of the Business and Professional Women’s Club, the local chapter of the League of Women Voters and the Friends of the Kershaw County Library. She belonged to local, state and national professional education organizations. She served as chairman of the Kershaw County Democratic Party, was a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution, a former member of Springdale Hall Club and the Wateree Sailing Club. She was name the “Kershaw County Mother of the Year’ in 1973 the “Kershaw County Business Woman of the Year” in 1980 and in 1999 received the “Order of the Palmetto.” Mrs. DuVal was dedicated to family, intellectual clarity and community service. She was an active communicant of Grace Episcopal Church and a member of its vestry prior to her move to Still Hopes.

Surviving are her daughters, Mary Boykin “Bebe” DuVal Myers (widow of the late Usher N., Jr.), Katharine “Kitty” Lansdale DuVal Beard and her husband, Henry E., III, Moylan “Molly” Lansdale DuVal Nettles and her husband, William F., III, and Sarah “Sally” Mustard DuVal Campbell and her husband, Jay D., all of Camden; grandchildren, Mary Boykin “Molly” Haile Myers Bridges, Kathryn Nettles Myers, Caroline DuVal Myers Reeves, Sarah Usher Myers, William “Bill” Fletcher Nettles, IV (Elizabeth), Elizabeth DuVal Nettles Crotty (Jerry), Sarah Brennen Nettles; stepgrandchildren, Regen Campbell Parks (Randy), Matthew Campbell (Sherri), Jeffrey Campbell and several great-grandchildren. Also surviving is her sister, Elizabeth “Ridie” Haile Mustard Wooten. She was predeceased by her brother, Harry Stoll Mustard, Jr., M.D.

Memorials may be made to the Talking Book Services-SCSL, P.O. Box 821, Columbia, SC 29202, Historic Camden, P.O. Box 710, Camden, SC 29021 or to the charity of your choice.

Kornegay Funeral Home, Camden Chapel, is assisting the family.

Online condolences may be sent to the DuVal family by visiting www.kornegayfuneral.com.

Mrs. Duval ::

Got this from Buster this afternoon:

Hello Buster...
Thought I would let you know that Ms. Duval passed away last night. She was here in Camden at the home of her daughter, Bebe Myers. The services will probablly be on Friday. I'm sure you are aware that Sally is also in very poor health. She has cancer that she got following a liver transplant. I'm sure we all have a lot of thoughts that come to mind when we think of Ms. Duval. She was so in charge of her surroundings and that included us.

A sad week continues! A co-worker's mother passed away Monday afternoon after a long battle with cancer.

South Of Broad ::

Pat Conroy's new book is in bookstores today. I work just about 3 miles from a Barnes & Noble so I'm running, actually driving, over at lunch for my copy!

Bad News ::

But it's not as bad as I thought when I heard about it yesterday. A co-worker stopped me in the hallway and told me than another co-worker in a different division had had a massive heart attack the night before. Now D. is only, I would imagine, in his early 40's and this sort of thing happens to younger people, but later in the day we found out that he is doing much better and the problem, although serious, may not have been as serious as first thought so we'll be waiting 'til Monday for more news.

The doctors seem to think that the heart attack was caused by an infected tick bite which caused fluid build-up around the heart. As one who lives in what passes for "the country" these days I often get several ticks on me in a day of working in the yard so I will be even more extra careful in spraying myself down and finding the little insects!

Selling Off Our Old High School? ::

I saw this Monday in the on-line edition of The Chronicle-Independent and wondered if it was our old school, but I forgot about it 'til I got this e-mail from Jim Ring today:

I see from The Chronicle (on-line edition) that the halls we walked throughout high school are on the market, destined, I suppose, to go the route of the CHS building it replaced. I'm saddened to see it, although I guess I really shouldn't be suprised. It just never occured to me it would happen in my lifetime. Maybe if had continued to live in Camden over the past four plus decades I wouldn't think much of it. I think we all have volumes of great memories attached to that building. As I sit here typing I see images in my mind's eye as clear as if it were yesterday.....Mr. Hipp's geometry class, the cafeteria, the band room, the library (hello Mrs. Morrison wherever you are)...and certainly all the kids who were a big part of such a special time in my life. I moved away from Camden the summer after we graduated. But, in my heart, I still consider it home.

The allusion to Rawson Hipp's geometry class brings back a lot of memories, most of them humorous in spite of my deficiency in math. The reference to Mrs. Morrison also brought back some old memories of great times in the library. I also remember vividly Mrs. Schreiber's french class. Who was it who could sleep with his eyes open?

We've been privy to sea changes in our lives and the world is just so much different than when we were youngsters! I often wonder just how my grandchildren will relate to their youth when they approach our ages. I hope that they have a better world than what we have now, but I'm pretty pessimistic!

[UPDATE] I was looking at the obits in this morning's The State and came across this:

CAMDEN — Funeral service for Rachel Susan Schreiber Neal, 53, will be held Thursday at 11:00 a.m. at Mt. Olivet Baptist Church with burial to follow in the church cemetery. Rev. Steve Lee will officiate. The family will receive friends Thursday 9:30 - 11:00 a.m. prior to the service at the church. Memorials may be made to Mt. Olivet Baptist Church.

Mrs. Neal, wife of the late Rusty Neal, died Monday, August 3, 2009. Born in Camden, she was a daughter of the late Dr. Herbert Schreiber and Gladys G. Schreiber.

Surviving are her children, David Neal II and his wife, Bonnie, Dustin Neal and his wife, Dawn, Herbert Neal and his fiance, Jordan Lynch, and Jack Neal; brothers, Toby Schreiber, Tommy Schreiber, and Max Schreiber; sister, Rebecca Kitchen; and grandchildren, Ali Neal, Madison Neal, Mackenzie Neal, Blayne Neal, and Katherine Gladys Neal.

Coke Goodwin ::

I cribbed this entire article from the really crappy on-line edition of The Chronicle-Independent. I keep intending to subscribe to the dead tree edition, but I keep forgetting so I'm posting this article about Coke Goodwin in the entirety of which it was published on the web.

I had Mr. Goodwin for both Chemistry and Physics and I've got to say that he was one of my favorite teachers. My only regret is that I so much marginalized the importance of math in my education. Every time I get a chance to talk to a young person I emphasize the importance of learning math in whatever path they choose in pursuing their education.

Longtime educator cashes in 49-year career for job opportunities for others

For several years, Coke Goodwin has looked forward to celebrating his 50th year as an employee in the education system.

But a few months ago, Goodwin walked into Camden High School Principal Reggie Dean's office and voluntarily quit his teaching job after his 49th year. Goodwin hoped that by his decision to resign, other teachers' jobs may have been spared.

"To be blunt with you, I wanted to make 50 years. But with the economy like it is, my making 50 years wasn't as important as what was going to happen financially in this district," Goodwin said. "I went in and told the principal that with this situation, I wouldn't be back and maybe it would save one or two other peopleÕs jobs."

Sitting in his Camden home, Goodwin's eyes lit up as he talked about his career. But when asked about what made him want to become a teacher, Goodwin let out a big sigh.

I added some emphasis, but I salute one of my teachers from high school who I think of often, as I'm sure many others do!

1st Pepper Harvest ::

My pepper plants are wildly prolific this year and I just harvested my first batch of Jalapeños along with a couple of Habañeros although I will have tons more Habañeros soon. I started growing peppers several years ago with no clear direction in mind so I scratched my head when I had a basketful of ripe Habañeros and Jalapeños trying to decide what to do with them. I eventually found a recipe for Habañero pepper jelly so I make a few dozen jars each year.



I primarily use the jelly as a glaze for cooking,it's especially good on chicken, but I generally wind up giving most away and everyone likes it (some people absolutely love it!). I just get a kick out of making it although it is time consuming and expensive to make. I guess it's kinda a once or twice a year hobby!

[update] Oooops, I meant to post this to one of my other blogs. I just realized my error. Oh well! I'll throw in a Missy photograph here now since I've already added all of the above: