News About Chad Merrill ::

I just got this from Buster a few minutes ago:

Just received a note that Chad Merrill has colon cancer. He is in our thoughts and prayers.

My best wishes go out to Chad and his family also!

Some News From Buster ::

I got this earlier today:

Ran into Buster Rush this am and he really  makes me envious. He  has maintained his same high school weight and all of his hair-w/ no grey. He and his wife now live in Wilmington.
  He asked about the next reunion and wanted to know how could help Jerry and Jim w/ the plans.
  It always is good to see former classmates.
  One note - the class of '63 just had their 50th reunion -which is only the 2nd one they have held- and Pecan, Otis and I bumped into Butch Lilly and he said that they had lost 36 out of their class.  B.

I followed up asking how Butch was doing and Buster told me he ran into Butch at the hospital where his brother-in-law is battling terminal cancer.

Just Got Some Sad News From Buster ::

This note is to inform you that Otis Bowers lost his son this am to cancer. Chris was married  to a Haseldon who is kin to Carol. Chris was around 32 years old. Otis's home address is 1907 Brook Dr.  B.

Our thoughts are with Otis and his family at this very sad time!

Camden High Bulldongs ::

Well, they lost another one:

Chapin--25
Camden--20

I'll have to check the schedule. Not sure how many games are left.

Camden High Bulldogs ::

Unfortunately the Bulldogs went down to defeat once again last night:

Westwood--27
Camden--13

Camden High Bulldogs This Friday Night ::

Looking grim. Just a couple of minutes left to go in the game:

Drehr--30
Camden--13

Yep, that's the final!

Camden High Bulldogs ::

I'm afraid they've lost another one:

Lower Richland--28
Camden--21

Next week it's Camden vs. Dreher.

Getting Ready To Head Out To Camden ::

Unfortunately, my brother passed away early this past Thursday morning. I'll be heading out for Camden in a few minutes for his memorial service which is scheduled for tomorrow afternoon:

CAMDEN- A time of gathering to celebrate the life of William George “Bill” Deaton, 62, will be held Sunday 3:00 – 5:00 p.m. at Powers Funeral Home, Lugoff. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the American Cancer Society or the American Heart Association.
Mr. Deaton died Thursday, October 03, 2013. Born in Camden, he was the son of Whit and Doris Truesdale Barfield. He retired from DuPont and served in the United States National Guard. He enjoyed hunting, fishing and NASCAR and was an avid gamecock fan.
Surviving are his wife of 37 years, Wanda Roberts Deaton; daughters, Stacey D. Caulder (Jason) of Camden and Denise D. Harrelson (Charlie) of Camden; brother, Fred Deaton (Jeannie) of Alabama; and grandchildren, Chase Caulder, Cameron Caulder, Devin Harrelson and Kelsey Harrelson.

Camden High Bulldogs ::

Win a big one:

Camden--34
A.C. Flora--33

Congratulations to the team!

Camden High Bulldogs Win Big ::

A good night:

Bulldogs-- 48
Lakewood (which I think is in Sumter)-- 20

Camden High Bulldogs Win Another ::

They did good against Lugoff-Elgin: 35-7. The Footbal games stream across the web here:

http://www.allinbroadcasting.com/kool1027.html

Camden High Bulldogs ::

The team had a bye week last night so no game results to pass on. Next up, the game next Friday evening will be against Lugoff-Elgin.

Camden's Winning Streak of 2 Games Ends ::

And it's not pretty.
Hartsville--47
Camden--7

Apparently the defense was just worn down by the Hartsville offense.

Friday Night Football ::

The beginning of this season continues to be good for the Camden High Bulldogs:

Camden--23
West Florence--20

Another close game!

First Football Game Of This Academic Year ::

And the Bulldogs won in a low scoring game:

Camden--15
Cheraw--13

A squeaker, but still a win. I also found out, courtesy of Margaret Buckalew, that the games can be found streaming across the web on KOOL102.7. I listened to a few minutes of the 2nd quarter last night 'til I got too tired and went to bed. Next Friday night give KOOL 102.7 a Google search and listen to the game!

Buster Runs Into An Old Classmate ::

Bumped into Billy Ogburn at the local farmers market yesterday morning. I recognized his sister and then him. If he had not been with his sister I'm not sure I would have made the connection. 48 years is a long time. He looked healthy and has lived in N.C. for the last 40+ years.
  We swapped some family and mutual friend notes. It was good to catch up with him. It is always nice to run into old classmates- some of you are starting to show some 'age.'

Billy and Beverly are distant cousins of mine somewhere back down the line, but I don't remember exactly how other than it is on my grandmother's side of the family.

More Sad News ::

It's been a tough couple of weeks for me with the deaths of several old friends and, in this morning's State newspaper, I find the news of Dick Stogsdill's passing. Although I had not seen him in decades, I fondly remember good times from our youth!

Bentley Richard Stogsdill III CAMDEN - Graveside services to celebrate the life of Bentley Richard Stogsdill III, 62, of Camden, SC, will be held at 11:00 AM, Friday, June 7, 2013 in Quaker Cemetery. Rev. James Barnhill will officiate. Memorials may be made in his memory to Camp Burnt Gin, Box 101106, Columbia, SC, 29211, attention Margie Horton, or the Walter M. Crowe Animal Shelter, 460 S. Fair Street, Camden, SC 29020 Dick Stogsdill died Sunday, June 2, 2013. He was born in Camden, SC, the son of Lorine Strak and the late Bentley Richard Stogsdill, Jr. Dick was a member of Grace Episcopal Church, the Crazy Quail Club, and Springdale Hall Club. He was a Boy Scout leader, a PAL baseball coach and an avid banjo and guitar player, especially with his father. Dick loved the lake, whether it was cruising on the pontoon or jet ski, working on a project in his workshop or just puttering around, fixing this and that. Besides his mother, Dick is survived by his wife of 29 years, Nancy Gerry Stogsdill; he was completely devoted to Geoff Groat (Sharon) of Charleston and Whitney Henricks (Charlie) of Green Cove Springs, FL, and to his beloved son, Richard Henry Stogsdill of Camden, grandchildren, Eliza and Suzanne Groat. In addition were his brother, Joe Stogsdill of Rembert, SC; sisters, Sandy Ogle (Paul) of Cary, NC and Elizabeth Pentecost (Jim) of Roxboro, NC; and many cousins, nieces and nephews. His family would like to thank all the following people for their loving care, their expertise, the kindness shown & the support given to both Dick and his family: Dr. Steve Madden, Cindy and Paige of Lexington Oncology; Lexington Medical Center's 8th Floor Oncology & ER staff; National Health Care's Azalea Unit; Susan Munn and Anthony Godfrey and their staff at Camden Family Care. Kornegay Funeral Home, Camden Chapel, is in charge of the arrangements. Online condolences may be sent to the Stogsdill family by visiting www.kornegayfuneral.com

Read more here: http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/thestate/obituary.aspx?n=bentley-richard-stogsdill&pid=165161355&fhid=8963#storylink=cpy

Another Tale From Buster ::

I got this just a short while ago:

A Friend and a Fireball

  My initial reaction was to bend over double and my next thought was to wonder what happened to all of the oxygen in the room.
  Johnny Jaynes and I have been good buddies for over half of a century and even though we are good friends neither us want the other to go 'one up.' This day he won.
  Some time ago we were in New Orleans and we decided to enter a store which featured hot sauces. We were casually walking around when we came upon a table which had over thirty small ketchup cups filled with different sauces. There was a supply of pretzel sticks to be used for dipping.
  We had tasted several of the sauces when the owner came and asked us how we were enjoying the various sauces. We told her all of them were good but we were a little disappointed that they were not very hot.
  She replied that she had not put the hot one on the display but if we wanted she would provide us with this devils mixture.
  When she returned I did not want Johnny to get the first taste, so I stepped ahead of him and stuck my pretzel as deep as I could in the sauce and proudly took the first bite. It was downhill from there. I quickly folded over like a paper clip and gasped for air as this skyrocket worked its way through my digestive system. My vision blurred, tears streamed and my tongue doubled in size. I felt like Donald Duck with steam coming out of my ears.
  Now Johnny is a quick study and he turns to the lady and ask her what is the name of this pepper. The lady is more worried about her potential liability as I quickly place my hands on my knees and gasp for air.  My nose hairs have disappeared.
  When I try to say call 9-1-1  Johnny looks down at me and says,'' Buster, please quit making those gurgling sounds, this lady and I are trying to have an informative conversation. Now mam, in which part of Louisiana are these peppers grown." I notice that Johnny has cupped his pretzel.
  I try to position myself where if the dizziness stops and nausea comes I can hit Johnny's pants leg. Johnny senses some danger and fearing that I might bite his leg, which has crossed my mind, has moved he and the owner further away. The owner worries how much bad publicity the shop will receive if the ambulance has to come. Johnny has put his pretzel in his pocket.
  She asked Johnny if they should administer some first aid but he replies that Buster is always showing off with these crazy antics and he will be fine in a minute. He turns to me and says, " Buster quit making those sounds you are scaring the other customers." The other customers have already exited fearing that if I ignite the authorities will find body parts in Kansas.
  I am finally able to partially stand and I try to say an unprintable reference to Johnny's bloodline but it sounds like something in Chinese and he just smiles and ask the owner what type of flower is on this particular pepper plant. She is relieved when I exit her shop.
  Fortunately we are in New Orleans rather than Salt Lake City so there is a bar close and I ask the barkeep for a cold beer. The nectar of the gods taste flat but then  my taste buds will not return for a week. I next ask for a glass of milk trying to recall what I had read in 'Boy's Life'  when I was a Cub Scout. Neither of the first two remedies were successful so I asked for a Coca- Cola on ice. The ice sitting on my tongue for the next fifteen minutes brought some relief and I can finally speak English.
  The old saying about what does not kill us will make us stronger has merit but I am going to let Johnny be the alpha male  next time.
  The name of this nuclear sauce is Dave's Inferno and four drops would kill all the fish in Lake Wateree.
 Thank you for your attention.

Sad News Of Another Classmate ::

Thanks go to Jim Ring for alerting me to the passing of our classmate, Mary Tidwell. Here is the obituary from this morning's The State:

Mary Worley CAMDEN - Graveside services for Mary Estelle Tidwell Worley, 66, of Camden, formerly of Lumberton, NC, will be held at 11:00 AM Tuesday, March 12, 2013 at Wateree Baptist Church Cemetery. Reverend Richard Hicks will officiate. The family will receive friends from 5-7 PM Monday, March 11, 2013 at Kornegay Funeral Home, Camden Chapel. A memorial service will be held at 3:30 PM Tuesday, March 12, 2013 at East Lumberton Baptist Church, Lumberton, NC. Reverend Michael Bowen and Reverend Richard Hicks will officiate. Memorials may be made in Mrs. Worley's memory to the American Cancer Society , 6600 Abercorn St., Suite 206, Savannah, GA 31405. Mrs. Worley died Saturday, March 9, 2013. Born in Camden, she was the daughter of the late Carson and Ruth Merritt Tidwell. Mrs. Worley was formerly employed with the Roberson County Schools in Lumberton, NC and a member of East Lumberton Baptist Church. Surviving are her husband of 45 years, Roger Dale Worley; daughters, Ann Worley Howell (Bill) of Salisbury, NC and Heather Valentine (Daniel) of Savannah; grandchildren, James Robert Howell and Elizabeth Rene Howell; brother, Donald Tidwell (Karen) of Rapid City, SD and sister, Wanda Lyles (Jackie) of Camden. On-line condolences may be made to the Worley family by visiting www.kornegayfuneral.com. Kornegay Funeral Home, Camden Chapel, is assisting the family.

Read more here: http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/thestate/obituary.aspx?n=mary-worley&pid=163577677&fhid=8963#storylink=cpy

A Story About The Buckleys ::

I came across this article through a link from one of my Facebook friends regarding the William F. Buckley family and how they came to reside in Camden. The article is from the Charleston Mercury, but it's far too long for me to post here so here is the link to the entire piece. It's very interesting.

Some Nerws About Billy Ammons ::

I meant to post this a few days ago, but it kept slipping my mind plus the Camden Chronicle-Independent is now behind a paywall so I couldn't get the story directly.

On March 9 Billy is to be inducted into the South Carolina Athletic Administrators Association Hall of Fame at a banquet in Charleston. Here's a link to the short article I was able to find online. Maybe a reader in Camden can send me some more information, if there is any more.

Congratulatins to Billy on this recognition for his achievements at Camden High School!

Another From Buster ::

I've learned far more about the history of Camden in the past few years from Buster than I ever did in school!

On the slope of Malvern Hill is where John Young saved Henry Truesdale's life. Jim Sheorn and W.S. Kirby were on each side of Young. The following questions are to see what you remember from your American history class. How do you make corn pone? What key utensil does one need to make hoe cakes? How did the towns and counties of Union and Abbeville each get its name? Where in S.C. is the other Booger Town located? How many votes difference was there in making Granby's Ferry the S.C. state capital over Stateburg? Which neighboring county hosted the first secessionist meeting? Whatever happened to the Confederate gold? In the 1800's why was 'tar and feathering' popular? After Sherman went through an area, what were the locals dining choices? Where was the last Union officer killed in the War for Southern Independence? On the night before the battle of Malvern Hill, the four above named natives of Westville built a hickory fire, mixed their flour and water into dough which were made into pones which they wrapped in hickory leaves and let the bread cook on the smoldering coals. When the bullets started flying in the next day's battle and the rebs hit the dirt, the long legged Young told the sixteen year old Truesdale to get between his legs. Henry Truesdale was the only Westville survivor and he thought about his buddies every day for the next sixty-four years. In the agrarian south the farm hands would take cornmeal in their pails when they headed for the fields. They would build a fire, add the meal and water, clean a hoe then use the hoe to mix the ingredients. You would want the meal to stick to the hoe before adding additional water. If you peruse antebellum maps of S.C. you will notice that many areas are named for families such as Boykin, Clyburn, and Chestnut in this county. The Chestnut's are was located between Westerham and Pine Grove. Other areas are named for taverns such as DeBruhl's Tavern in Cassatt. The taverns were essentially inns for people and stables for horses. Also some areas were designated by churches, which often served as community centers, voting precincts, and post offices. In the upstate one church was built to serve both the Presbyterian and Episcopal congregations and from this joining Union became the town and the county. Below the state line near Gastonia there was another community union church where the Confederate soldiers met and drilled in Booger Town, which was a community green located next to the church. Nearby Stateburg, a prosperous community was part of Claremont County. When the S.C delegation decided to move the capital from Charleston, Granby's Ferry was chosen as the site of the new capital by one vote over Stateburg. Granby's Ferry was renamed Columbia in a close vote over Washington. A canal was built to link Columbia to Charleston and Camden diminished as a trade center. Claremont County was later changed to Sumter. Neighboring Chesterfield hosted the first ever secessionist meeting and there is a monument which recognizes this note. The town of Abbeville also claims to be both the birth and death place of the Confederacy. Abbeville was settled by French Huguenots who named the town after the city in France. Many Protestant Europeons were granted land in the Carolinas. There is a Secessionist Hill located in the town limits and Jefferson Davis held the last cabinet meeting in Abbeville. Local Pine Grove resident Tom Fort, an Abbeville native, tells of the local legend that the Confederate gold is buried near Abbeville. The only certainty is that when Jefferson's group fled into Georgia the Confederate Seal was tossed into the Savannah River.' Through Georgia and South Carolina Sherman's army left a trail of destruction. Southernners were required to tithe the government in goods or money so as the war concluded there was little wealth. Farming practices had changed because you can not eat cotton. The Union officers got a percentage of the gold and silver which was taken. Quite often the Yankees would sever the feathered mattresses and pillows looking for hidden valuables. With the need for tar to help lubricate wagons and carriages it was easy to "tar and feather' various miscreants. Sherman's troops would take all of the foodstuffs and needed livestock and kill what they did not need. One of the foodstuffs they would usually leave alone was blackeyed peas because they believed it was animal feed. Blackeyed peas are still a stable of Southern cooking. Sherman's troops bivouacked in Liberty Hill and the locals told that they picked the corn kernels from between the barn boards and made lye hominy. Squirrels and song birds were a major source of protien for many southerners. The last Union officer killed in the war was in the skirmish in Boykin. Parker Young's grandmother lived near Boykin and she told Parker that the rebel soldier was as quick to steal a chicken as a Yankee soldier. I would like to thank Kershaw Health's most professional nurse, Gayle Breon, for recomending the collected anecdotal stories which were compiled by the Daughters of the Confederacy for most of the information in this article. Thank you for your attention.