A Look Back, March 27, 2009

50 years ago
(March 26, 1959)

Lady finds pearl

Mrs. Lucille Alexander bit down, grimaced, and immediately thought she’d broken a tooth.
She hadn’t.

She had found a pearl.

And in her oyster stew, yet.

It happened just last Saturday night as the Alexander family was having supper at their home, 716 East Carolina Avenue. Mrs. Alexander’s mother, Mrs. John Donahue, had prepared the stew, and “had washed the oysters, good, too,“ she reported.

Her husband, Gary, and the Alexander children, Ray, Benny, and Leannie and Mrs. Donahue watched in open-mouth amazement as Mrs. Alexander fingered a tiny, teardrop pearl.

Mrs. Alexander, an employee of Eagle Finance Company, had the pearl valued, and though it was said to be worth less than a hundred dollars, it will have much more “sentimental value. I plan to have it placed on a necklace for my daughter,“ she said.

Had it been a round pearl - rather than a teardrop - the value would have been increased many, many times, she pointed out.

The owner of the new found pearl says she plans to thank - profusely - Carl Britt, manager of the meat market in the Winn Dixie Store at 1314 Carolina Avenue. That’s where she bought the oysters.

First in nation

The National Clean Up-Paint Up-Fix Up Bureau announced last Thursday that Hartsville has won first place in the 5,000to 10,000-population class of the 1958 National Cleanest Town contest.

John McIntosh and C.M. Pennington served as co-chairmen of the 1958 Clean Up program in Hartsville.

Among the winner’s achievements, the judges especially commended the city for its mosquito and fly control program, along with general improvements about the town - new store fronts, new and remodeled homes, renovations, vacant lots cleaned, etc. - also went a long way toward copping the first place award.

This is the seventh time Hartsville has scored in the national contest. The town was second in ‘57, third in ‘56, second in ‘51,and Hartsville won an achievement award in 1950. The town did not enter the 1953 and ‘54 national clean up contest.

F.C. Chitty Sr., former executive secretary, told The Messenger “This award could not have been won, but for the excellent work of our co-chairmen John McIntosh and C.M. Pennington who had the finest cooperation from all our citizens.

Dignitaries invited

Gov. Ernest F. Hollings of South Carolina and Gov. Luther H. Hodges of North Carolina have been invited to take part in the Carolina Flower Festival, to be held in Hartsville April 29 to May 2. The list of invited dignitaries includes Sen. Strom Thurmond, Sen. Olin D. Johnston and many others.

James L. Coker is chairman of the welcoming committee for visiting dignitaries. The prominent guests will appear in the Flower Festival Parade on Thursday afternoon, April 30, and will be honored at a banquet on the second evening of the festival.

A permanent Carolinas Flower Festival float will be built and it will make its debut in the parade. Other floats that have been asked to participate include those of Southern 500 Raceway, Carolina Power and Light Company, Pageland Watermelon Carnival, S.C. Peach Festival of Greer.

Directors of the Merchants Division of the Chamber of Commerce agreed this week to take responsibility for decorating the streets in gala fashion during the time of the festival. C.E. Denny will have charge of this phase of the preparations.

Births: Daniel O’Neal Griffin, 3/24; Ransom Hart (Randy) Tyner, 3/18; Sherry Lynn Dowling, 3/22; Sharon Kay Warren, 3/18; Katherine Ruth Brown, 3/18; Jerrie Gay Tyner, 3/16; John Michael Morrison, 3/16; William M. Griggs, 3/17; Rebecca Blanche Williamson, 3/14; Craig Pennington Buie, 3/10; Jeffrey LaCoaste Jackson, 3/4; Twins Elna Jo Kirven and Joel Pollard Kirven, 2/3.
Engaged: Mary Annette Cook to Gordon Eugene Stokes.

25 years ago
(March 24, 1984)

Byerly fashion show

The theme of the fashion show portion of the Auxiliary of Byerly Hospital Luncheon Fashion Show will be “The Hartsville Woman - Sunup to Sunset.“

On Thursday, March 29 at noon, members of the Auxiliary will parade in the latest fashions. Held at the first Presbyterian Church in the fellowship hall, the show promises to offer fashions that are right for all occasions from breakfast through an evening on the town.

The luncheon, by popular demand, will offer an array of salads.

Auxilians will be wearing their uniforms, which come in four styles, pinafores, wrap-around, smock and pants suit.

Models will be Nancy Bell, Lee Boyd, Jeanne Brown, Joan Coker, Van Kerfoot, Mary Verne Powell, Louis Thomas and Nancy Washington.

Tickets, limited to 300, are available from Auxiliary members and from the Pink Pinafore Shop at Byerly Hospital.

Sanders adds girls to duties

Heading a high school track team can be tough for one man, but trying to coach two teams can be very difficult.

That’s the task staring Keith Sanders in the face right now. Sanders, who has been in charge of the Hartsville High boys team for a number of years, now assumes the duties of girls mentor as well.

“I think they’ve adjusted well, and I think I get as much work out of both groups as I do with one,“ Sanders said. “I might not always get enough out of them, but I think they work well together, and they do work fairly hard. It depends on the kids you’ve got out there, and right now I’ve got kids who work fairly hard. They’re going to work hard on their own, regardless of who’s there.“

Tony Shaw nominated

Tony Shaw, who led the Lamar Silver Foxes to the 1983-84 Northeastern A regular season championship, has been nominated for the 1984 Converse National High School Basketball All American Team.

Shaw, a three-year starter for Don Poole’s club, made an early college loop commitment and signed with South Carolina in November.

The squad will represent the finest basketball players in America. No more than five nominees are submitted from each state by high school coaches.

Two selected

Two students from the Darlington County School District have been selected for special recognition in the State Superintendent’s Celebration of the Arts competition.

Michele Haywood, a junior at Hartsville High School, and John Warford, a senior at St. John’s High School, received awards of merit in poetry and music, respectively, at ceremonies on Tuesday, March 13 at the Marriott Hotel in Columbia.

Other students who entered the competition from the school district were: Audrey Nicholson, Stephen Sturgill, Elizabeth Duncan and Ellen Bethea, Hartsville High School, and Anthony Wilson, St. John’s High School.

Engaged: Penny Beck to Dennis Parker; and Melissa Jean Byrd to Dennis LeRoy McCoy.
Wed: Katherine Elizabeth Brown to Ernest Samuel Nuspliger, 3/17.