When I was young I stayed at my grandparents on their small farm while my parents worked at public work. I really enjoyed the company of my grandparents and my uncle, who stayed with them. If you live on a farm there are always different jobs to be done and for a young boy there is plenty to learn. Sometimes while doing a job, granddad told me to stand...
Read MoreFirst Bridge Across the Pee Dee River
At first, the many Native American tribes that lived along the Pee Dee River used dugout canoes to navigate the mighty river. When the white settlers came, they also used small wooden johnboats or rafts on the river. As the need for livestock and farm products to be moved or sold at market increased, private ferries came into use along the Pee Dee. The...
Read MoreBubba Goes To The Beach
Several years ago, my friend Bubba and I decided we would take our wives on a weekend trip to the beach. Now, if you have been keeping up with my column you know that going anywhere with Bubba is an adventure. Bubba was working second shift at a local mill and we decided to pull out for the beach when he got off...
Read MoreFirst Time Away From Home
How many of you can remember when you left home for the first time? Was it to go into the armed forces, go off to school, get married, or just to get out on your own? Right out of high school I left home to attend an electrical lineman course at what was then Central Carolina Technical School in Sanford, NC. The 60s was a time when our state saw several...
Read MoreRemembering Fourth of July Vacations
In the 50s and early 60s, a lot of folks had jobs at textile mills. Work at the mills was hard, but if you were willing to work you at least had a job. A lot of the mills closed during the week of the 4th of July. Many employees took advantage of this by spending a well-deserved vacation with their family at the beach. My Dad didn’t work in textiles so he...
Read MoreScottish Fairs in the Sandhills
Stories and history play a big part of who we are today. Both are intermingled to make up the very fabric of who we are in our own society. Some stories that are told are as true as the Holy Scripture, while others just seem to make our lives more exciting and sometimes, we even get a good laugh out of them. Like the story of how the old stoplight in the...
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