Noting A Passing ::

LAKE WATEREE — A memorial service for James M. “Jim” Stogner, 65, of Lake Wateree, will be held at 11:00 a.m. Saturday, January 2, 2010 at Springvale Baptist Church. Reverend Todd Horton will officiate. The family will receive friends following the service in the Fellowship Hall at the church. Memorials may be made in Mr. Stogner’s memory to Springvale Baptist Church Building Fund, 1496 Springvale Rd., Lugoff, SC 29078.

Mr. Stogner died Tuesday, December 29, 2009. Born in Lancaster, he was the son of the late Henry Melvin and Louise Flowers Stogner. A 1968 graduate of the Citadel, Mr. Stogner was retired from Westinghouse Nuclear Energy, Savannah River Site. He was a member of Springvale Baptist Church.

Surviving are his wife, Linda Graham Stogner; son, Henry P. (Kathi) Stogner of Bluefield, WV; daughters, Susan S. (Gordon) Morris, of Lugoff and Lisa S. (Heath) Hill of North Augusta; grandchildren, Lydia and Jessi Stogner; Will, Charli and Jake Morris and Abby, Reagan and Preston Hill; sister, Nancy S. Lee (Chip) of Summerville. In addition to his parents, he was predeceased by his sister, Sue Stogner Wilson.

Kornegay Funeral Home, Lugoff-Elgin Chapel, is assisting Mr. Stogner’s family.

Online condolences may be sent to the Stogner family by visiting

Clemson vs Kentucky ::

The Music City Bowl should be starting in about 1 hour. Let's see how many ways Clemson can find to lose this game. The team always finds a way to disappoint me in a big game!

[halftime update] Clemson is up 14 to 7 at halftime so maybe they'll prove me wrong--I certainly hope so!

[final update] Clemson beats Kentucky 21 to 13. I often like to be proven wrong!

Diana Krall Sings Jingle Bells ::

I've been a huge Diana Krall fan for years and she doesn't disappoint with her rendition of this classic Christmas song:

An Update On Becky Moody ::

Along with a bit of other news from Buster:

I bumped in to Sandra Geddings Laney this afternoon and she said that she had talked on the phone with Becky Moody....and that Becky is now home and doing well. Becky awoke one morning , got out of bed, and collapsed. She spent 4 weeks in intensive care, but is now home and just has a little short time memory loss- so do I. She will get to spend Xmas w/ her grandchildren.
Don't know if you remember Tim Horton. Tim was a class ahead of us. He and his 40 year old wife are expecting his and her first child. Nice to know that the gun is still loaded at age 63.
About 2 weeks ago, Tim's first wife died. Tim runs a successful auto repair shop and several years his ex. was stealing $ from him. When Tim confronted her about it, she pulled out a pistol and shot him 3 times. He played dead and she fired twice more and missed him.
Immediately afterwards, she decided that she needed to fix supper so she headed to the grocery store, where the police arrested her over by the milk and cheese. Had the cart full.
And you don't think anything happens in Camden. B.

We're glad that Becky is doing much better!

"Big Daddy" Passes Away ::

From this morning's The State:

LUGOFF — Lee Bryan Hicks, formerly of Pageland, SC, died December 18, 2009.

Funeral Services will be held 2:00 p.m. Monday, December 21, 2009 at High Point Baptist Church, burial to follow in the High Point Baptist Church Cemetery. Visitation will follow the funeral at Family Life Center at High Point Baptist Church.

Mr. Hicks was the son of the late Lester Lee and Beatrice Carnes Hicks. Mr. Hicks was known in the Camden area as “Big Daddy” in the radio world. His brother Harold Hicks predeceased Mr. Hicks.

Survivors: special friend, Pat Moore of Rock Hill, SC; son, Timothy (Donna) Hicks of Pageland, SC;

brother, Tommy (Amy) Hicks of Pageland, SC; sisters, Kaye Jenkins of Pageland, SC, Linda (Bill) Terry of Pageland, SC, Jean (Harold) Outen of Lancaster, SC; grandchildren, Thomas (Akiko) Leopard of Hawaii, Brandi (Lance) Cummings of Hawaii; two great-grandchildren; several nieces and nephews.

Memorials: High Point Baptist Church, 16 High Point Church Rd.,

Pageland, SC 29728.

I don't see how any of us could have forgotten Bryan Hicks given that we pretty much came of age in the rock and roll era!

Additions To The Sidebar ::

I added a "collections" header to the sidebar to the right where I will share any more information on what we collected when we were young that Buster may receive from classmates.

I really would like to get more news and information to post here!

Collections ::

A while back Buster sent out an e-mail to his list asking what we may have collected as kids. About all I could remember were my grandmother's switches and my marbles, but today he forwarded me this from Blair Holden:

Hi Buster

In response to your question about collecting, about the only thing I collected was baseball cards. Do you remember when we used to play "baseball" with our cards? We used a pencil for the bat and a marble for the ball. We would play on your or my side porch. The kids now would think we were crazy but we sure had a lot of fun. Do you remember in school David Parker used to collect the round centers from the glass milk bottles. He would say that was going to be money on Pluto when he got there. I don't think he made it.

On another subject I remember an email from you a few months back about Jim Ring playing his trumpet again and being in a band. On a personal note I have always (like a lot of people I guess) liked to listen to good old rock and roll. I had always thought about playing a guitar. When I was in high school I thought about ordering a guitar from Sears for about $20. I never did due to sports and school. Fast forward 40 years and I still have a desire to play the guitar. I took the plunge about 18 months ago and bought an inexpensive
acoustic guitar and started taking lesson. I am having fun and learning to play the guitar! I would never have dreamed that I would be playing rock and roll songs I listened to in high school. While I never will be on TV, I will have years of enjoyment and hopefully bring joy to others. The point of this is that it is never too late to fulfill your desire to do something. I don't have musical talent but where there is a will there is a way. Hopefully this and Jim Ring's story might get some on our classmates off the couch. Guess what I want for Christmas? A Fender American Standard Stratocaster electric guitar. Rock ON and Don't Ever Grow Up!

Blair

Blair's desire to play guitar is interesting. About a year ago I decided to take the guitar back up even though my musical ability is nil (or less)! I had a nice guitar in high school and college, but sold it for tuition money and never bought another until last year when I picked up a Takamine and an Ovation. I've been gradually learning some things and it's fun. In some ways I think that it's easier to pick up new things at our age. It's not really that I have more time, but I think that I have more patience!

Blair, I hope you get your Strat for Christmas!

PS: I'm watching the Concert For George on DVD right now. Eric Clapton has nothing to fear from me!

Liam Clancy ::

Liam, last surviving member of The Clancy Brothers with Tommy Makem, passed away today! He was one of a kind!