Terry Crowell Kindley ( she now calls herself Lily sometimes)

MEMORIES

* Couples: The red-headed guy you mentioned with Patty Davis was Steve Smith.  I know this because I "dated" his brother Bruce in junior high and our freshman year until his father retired and they moved back to Tennessee. Steve came to one of the reunions I missed because I remember seeing his picture on-line later. Bruce was voted Freshman Class favorite with Susan Carrison my freshman year.  (OK. a little clarification here.  I started with the class of '67, but ended up skipping my sophomore year. At Shaw Junior High, there were about ten of us who took Freshmen English, Algebra I and one of the history classes when we were in 8th grade, so by the end of our freshmen year we had enough credits to be juniors the next year. Tommy Jacobs was in that class with me. As far as I know, we were the only ones who stayed at HHS and graduated in '66.  That's funny because I haven't thought about that in a long time. That's actually how Kathy Burrows and I became such good friends. I was in her English II class my first year and we hooked up like long-lost sisters and remain close still today.)

*Hot Cars: You left out the 64 1/2 Mustang my father bought--gold, white top, black interior.  Even though you lived around the corner, you probably didn't see it  a lot because I was usually in Don Wilson's car.  I mainly drove the white Lincoln Continental Marian Jackson and I nicknamed "The Tank".  It was so huge and seemed to "float".  It was like trying to drive a boat down those narrow country roads. After Daddy retired, he took over my grandfather's aviation business in Charlotte and he ended up parking "The Tank" at the airport where his plane was.  It was so big that he eventually turned it into a gigantic tool box for all of his tools! You did mention Don's parents' car, and it reminded me of a night when for some reason his father let him drive it for our date.  It must have been a special ocassion or something because I remember that both of us were dressed up.  Don's back yard connected to my back yard (which was very convenient!), but he always drove around and picked me up. We had only gone past the junior high school when Don lit a cigarette and immediately tossed the lighter out the car window. He was used to using matches in his car since it didn't have a lighter, so we spent a good part of that date walking up and down the road looking for the lighter since we weren't supposed to be smoking anyway. Yes, we did find it, but I laughed so hard while we were looking for it that I almost wet my pants.  (Nowdays, at this age, that would have been a certainty.)  And this reminds me of one more funny incident with Don and cars---the drive-in movies. As we were getting ready to leave after a movie one night, they made the standard announcement about remembering to remove the speaker from your window before leaving. I can still hear Don saying how stupid it was that people had to be reminded as he drove off ripping the speaker from the post (since it was still hanging on his window)!  I also remember a stretch of the road going to the HS that measured a perfect quarter of a mile and the late night competitions that sometimes happened there. I remember almost all of the cars you mentioned. I know I remember John Kelly's daddy's T-Bird (?) with the hard top because I vaugely remember that in messing around with it one day, one or more of us were almost trapped in the trunk since that's where the top went when it was lowered.  Actually, John probably did it on purpose. I do remember it being a very cool car.  I think I also remember one of your cars being totalled by a deer--- is that right or another figment of my imagination?

The Teachers:

Dear Mrs. Sanders---I, too, remember her predictable digging of the elusive bra or slip strap and when I first started teaching and felt the need of an adjustment of my own, all I could do was giggle thinking of her. BUT, I'm still not sure how or when it happened, but we had several individual conversations about history and one-on-one, she was a wonderous source of information. She could actually make it very interesting with the individual stories she told, rather than dates, names of battles, etc.  One influence I know she had on me was her insistance in calling the Civil War the War Between the States explaining that in a civil war, one side was trying to take over another the other side's government,. Her contention was that the South was trying to create their own government, not take over Washington's government. Be what it may, I still call it the War Between the States much to the entertainment of some people. I had already developed an interest in history in elementary and junior high, but believe it or not, I'm actually glad I had Mrs. Sanders because she kept my interest alive. 

Of course, it was an experience having Mrs. Jackson since Marion and I spent so much time together. I remember that at one point, we were in the same class together. I had spent the night with them, so I rode into school with them that morning. When we got in class, Mrs. Jackson told us to get out a sheet of paper because we were going to have a pop test. Marian screamed, "Mama, you didn't tell me. That's not fair!" Mrs. Jackson just gave her a smile and began with the first question. She was always the epitome of professionalism.

Mrs. Gantt was the cheerleading sponsor, so I saw her a lot out of class at practices. She was definitely one of the sweetest ladies I can remember. Her husband, Mr. Gantt, was my 6th grade teacher and a great one, too. One of the fringe benefits of having him was the fact that he used to play American Legion ball with Bobby Richardson and they were great friends, so in the off-season for the Yankees, he would come back to Sumter and visit. He always spent a half a day or more in the classroom with us. Boy, did we think we were special!

I remember a lot of other teachers, too, but I can't remember the name of the long-haired, guitar playing Spanish teacher who taught me to sing about a cockroach in Spanish!

Mr. Merritt was a special person to me. He had been my principal in elementary school as well as high school. I think in the back of my mind I felt like he was being promoted with me. Anyway, over the years, he came to know me and my family well. I always thought highly of him.

I remember other teachers I had, but can't seem to be able to recall any incidents in class or whatever.  There is one teacher I will always remember, and that, of course, is Mrs. James. I had her for my junior and senior English classes,  I worked on the annual my junior year and was editor my senior year so I had quite a lot of contact with her. I loved her classes (with maybe the exception of split infinitives!), but her strictness with the grammar paid off in college. More important than that was her approach to literature.  I come from a family who loves to read. (I remember when I was younger, my mother decided that my brother, my father and I would not be allowed to read at the table anymore. My father always had the newspaper, and my brother and I always brought a book, comic book or something to the table since we thought it was the norm to read while you were eating. After all, we didn't do it in public or when we had company. Well, the new rule didn't last too long because a fight broke out on who was going to get to read the cereal box at the table! My mother gave up and said we were beyond hope, but at least she had tried.) My point is that I entered Mrs. James classes as an avid reader, but I left as a lover and student of literature with a desire for more. (At this point, I'm sure there are many of you gagging, rolling on the floor, or at least on your way to mix a stronger drink, but Hell's Bells, if I can't tell the truth now, then when can I? At this age, I have no shame!)  Mrs. James was the teacher I needed because she did expect so much from us and held us to such high standards. She is the reason I majored in English, and continue reading and learning even in retirement. (Or maybe I just have too much time on my hands!)

*Places and Happenings:  There are so many places  and things that bring back memories that I'm just going to list some now and tackle descriptions, incidents, etc. later!

 Big Jim's, Lilford's ( ?) Restaurant, Wateree, the store across from school (?), the base pool,  the tennis courts, base theater, and the Teen Club (You made me remember that one and I spent a lot of time there---must be selective memory or something.)

The Pines,---Am I crazy, or did we really meet somewhere in the woods called "the Pines" to party?  And if we did, where was it???? 

I can't remember the name of the store that was built in Sumter that had the first automatic doors , but they attacked Marian and me. We had gone to the grand opening of the store, but were more fascinated with the doors that would open and close all by themselves when someone came up. We stood on the sidewalk a while watching them operate and then decided to get a closer look at how they worked.  Well, while we were studying the doors, someone came up, the doors were activated and because these doors swung open automatically (instead of sliding as they do now), Marian and I discovered ourselves penned behind the doors up against the stores glass wall. We laughed to the point of tears at which time the manager came out to see if we were hurt. We explained that we were just thoroughly entertained and would come back to visit again.  Where is a camera when you need it? The visual of the two of us smashed between the doors and the wall like bugs still makes me laugh.

All of these bring back memories, too:  cheerleading, American Legion games, fund raisers, Oakland Plantation, Thomas Sumter's Tomb, Sam Young's Riding Academy, Stamey's Auction, Carolina Cup, Dinkens Mill Pond and intergration. These are all things I've started writing about and maybe I'll actually finish them.

The most special place to me was always Pawley's Island beginning in the second grade. It is the one place I won't ever allow my mind to forget regardless of everything else it loses! I'm sure so many can share memories of Pawley's or just the beach. I'll enjoy writing about it.

The train just left the station. (That would be my train of thought again.) I'll let you decide if you can use any of this, but I'm having a ball doing it just for my own sake. 

Once again, I'm really looking forward to Friday, and who knows, maybe my communication skills will improve enough to keep up with you and others better than I have been!

                                                                           Peace Out Brother! 

 (Sorry, just another one of my flashbacks!---Not really. I may not remember everything, but I know for sure I never said, "Peace Out, Brother!"  I just couldn't think of a way to close this thing, so I'll just sign off WITH LOVE AND LAUGHTER---Terry)

Best Friends

We all look back and fondly remember our best friends from high school. These are the kids we learned about life together. We learned how to talk to and get dates. There are so many things that helped to develop and mold the rest of our lives that could not be done without best friends. I am just going to mention a little from my first years at Hillcrest.

Lake Wateree

I move to Shaw the summer between my 8th grade and freshman year. My folks bought a the third house built in Oakland Plantation, the first belonging to the Oakland's first realtor, Bobby Livingston's mother. Since no one lived there, it was hard to meet new friends. Luckily I had an older sister, Glenda, who was attractive and boys found our house in no time. So my first friends that summer and year were older for a while. Jerry Cox, a jr, was one of my first friends. A fun guy with a vw bus that would haul a bunch of us summer and weekend nights to Big Jims and Coles in Sumter. We went to the Base Lake Wateree site, Butches and the old Teen Club. Frank Davis was in that mix too as was Rusty Simenson. As school began I started hanging out with some more kids my age like John Kelly, Jim Crosson and Chris Conlon.

Holy Cross Episcopal in Stateburg

I was interested in girls my freshman year, but they were not really interested in me, mostly upperclassmen. So as a freshman, we just flirted, met up at the Teen Club, skate rink nights, the base movie and the pools. My sophomore year things picked up. I bought a Vespa scooter that gave me some mobility around the base and between HHS and home. I played football, basketball and ran track this year so I was with these guys the most. I tried to be with the cheerleaders as mush as possible. My folks joined Holy Cross Episcopal Church in Stateburg and I became close friends with the boys and girls there. Chappie McCown and Tim Gipe were going there and we became friends.

My junior year I became good friends with John Kelly and later Don Roberts and then George Woodsby. I helped John rebuild a old 1953 Jaguar that year that we later took to the beach. Don and George and I became best friends mid year and to this day Don and I are still best friends. Don's wife Mary Lynne and my wife Kim, moved to Shaw after we graduated from HHS, and we have been best friends as couples all of our adult lives.

My friendship with George and Don was great. Here we really learned about adolescence, girls, parents and cars.George and I both had 55 Chevys and Don had a 1962 MGA... very cool! We hung out at Big Jims, Teen Club, each other houses and on various jobs. George and I worked on the Gillespie farm together and Don and I worked at a steel mill in Columbia. We had many great times... too many to talk about in this blog... I will save some for later posts!

Buses

I was a school bus driver part of my junior and all of my senior year. I really had some great experiences doing this and it was something I wanted to do from my freshman year. It seemed all the cool people drove buses. I think it was only boys who did it, although Mrs. Freeman, the cafeteria lady drove one of the midget buses that was always the first to leave the yard.

Bus driving training was three days and for me it was held in the little town of Pinewood, where Furman High School was located. The first day we had classroom lessons, then took a written test. If we passed, we continued the next two driving test days. We also had an eye exam the first day. I knew I needed glasses, but hadn't gone and gotten them yet. So I memorized the eye chart, forward and backwards down to the 5th line. I could only see the third lines without glasses. I passed, but could not really see. I did get glasses sometime the next year, but did not wear them... too geeky.

Most of the kids got newer decent buses. I got a 1956 Ford. Now in 1965 that was not too old, but most of the kids had buses from the 60s. I think we were paid $37. a month no matter how long your route was. Some of us had bunches of kid and they told us to take two trips to get them home safely. I always had football or basketball practice after school, so I did not have time for two trips. So I crammed nearly 70 kids in my bus that was only supposed to take 38.  Kids were crammed in so much that I joked that babies could be conceived in the back and I would have no clue!

I basically only had five stops. Like everyone going toward the base, I stopped at the Jr High and the Elementary Schools. I then continued down 441 and stopped at the Opa's grocery store, then out to Hiway 76 and dropped off a ton at Cherryvale Trailer Park and one more trailer park about a half a mile down 76. Nothing exciting.

I parked my bus on my street in front of my house in the Oakland Plantation subdivision. We were supposed to check tires, oil and gas every day. I never did as the mechanics were at HHS every day doing this. So one morning, the bus was knocking bad. I picked up my Hiway 76 crowd and it was really raining. I should have stopped and checked, but it was raining to hard. By the time I got to Opa the engine was shot and I "blew an engine rod" and the bus was dead.
The next day I was given a substitute bus. It was a 1953 Chevy clunker. I had that piece of crap for a month while they fixed mine.... such punishment.

The day mine was finished, they took me to the bus garage in Sumter to pick up my bus with a new engine in it and they told me to break it in slowly. All buses had a govenor on the carburetor to keep them going no faster than 38 miles an hour. As I brought mine back to HHS that day, I noticed that I could go 40, then 45 and then 50 mph. They forgot to put a governor on the carburetor!!!  Now I will not get into the stories about my bus, but I had it up to 84 mph once with only a couple of boys. Now I never went faster than 50 with kids on board. In the last three months of the year I had it with the new engine, the mechanics never noticed! My bus became the bus of choice to drive baseball and track teams to away events. I do have many stories, but think I should save these for campfire,  barroom drinking or reunion times!  Ask me!

Cars

It seems that high school boys know all about cars. I don't think my son knew all the cars' models and engines when he was in high school during the 90's. BUT during the 60"s I knew all the cars, by year, model and engine size.
My first vehicle was a motor scooter.... a Vespa. They are still around today... a hit on the college campuses. Scooters could be driven at 14 and many folks had them. They were replaced by Honda, Suzuki and Yamaha mini motorcycles. I never did that route but bought a 1954 Vauxhaul.... a little English Ford. But then as a Jr I bought a 1955 Chevy Two Door Belair Coupe.... white with black and red interior. It was hot! I loved that car with it's 265 cc eight cylinder engine with 3 speed on the floor ( I installed it).  George Woodsby had a yellow 55 Chevy Belair, but his was not a coupe!
Before I bought my Chevy I drove my parent's cars on my dates. Studebaker and Chevy.... big front seats but really family!
Don Roberts had a 60 MGA that he shared with his brother, but for dates, he used his parents Pontiac Catalena. This was a great car that I double in several times and his brother Tom still own it today. Sometimes when I was without date, Don would borrow my 55 Chevy, with the big front seat and give me the MGA since I had no girl to smooch.
Let's see what I remember...
Marian Jackson's folks had a big Plymouth with a 383.
Roland Alston had a small Dodge Dart that hes swore would beat me in quarter mile...( did not show up to race)
John McTamney had a small Simka that he and Adrianne would fold down the front seats all the way.
Don Wilson's family had a hot 1965 Chevy.
John Kelly and I help rebuild a 1954 Jaguar that we took to Pawleys Island. He also had a 1964 Ford with a 406,      4our speed and his dad had a 59 Ford hardtop convertable. Very cool cars.
Tim Gipe had a big Thunderbird and Bruce Thomas a small old white one.
Pete Aynesworth always had VW Bugs
Gary Murphy had a white Dodge convertible... hot!
Lou Ann Busselle had a burgundy Olds 442.   very hot!

I know more but will have to think about this

Teacher Memories

Now all of us can remember our favorite teachers or teacher. As a former teacher myself, I tried to emulate my favorite one, Mr Elmore. He was great in the classroom. He had a great sense of humor and made learning fun. Now he was algebra and did I struggle at Hillcrest and college too. So maybe I had too much of a good time and did less learning. Maybe I was not destined to use algebra in my life. I did major in science, political science and later picked up a masters degree in library science. But no one ever asked me about algebra.

I remember when I was first teaching ( it was Hillcrest) there were a bunch of young teachers there. When we were at HHS, I got the feeling our teachers were just days away from social security. In this category I put Mrs Sanders, Mrs Jackson, Mrs Cuttino, Miss Gaston,  Mrs Kenny, Mrs Estornelle, Mrs Cooper, Mrs McCutchen, and maybe Mr Merritt. ( I did cheat and look up three of these teachers in the annual)

I do not have many memories of these, but just snippets. My homeroom teacher in 9th grade was Miss Gaston. She made us all read a verse from the bible each morning. John Kelly really objected and refused, but she persisted. When it came John's turn, he said the shortest verse in the Bible...."Jesus wept!"  Ha... she went speechless!

I had Mrs Riley Bradham for world history. Now she made this real boring. Later  I learned she was an excellent golfer and left every day to hit the links after school. Well her mind was elsewhere. My class was mischievous and maybe I played a role. She locked the door always between class so she could run and have a smoke. Several of us took turns putting a pencil in the lock and breaking off the lead in the door, so a key would not get in to open it. She never was really pissed, but tried, called Charlie the janitor, and he got it open. Once they had to take off the door.  No one ever caught!  ( later I taught world history at HHS and she was teaching the same down the hall...we never talked)

Mrs Sanders brought her husbands Ku Klux Klan outfit to class one day. She said it was not his but a neighbor's, but we all knew. I loved US History and Government. I wish we would have had someone to make it come alive more. I just remember her reaching down the top of her dress and pulling up her bra or slip strap every day... we would wait for it and giggle!

We had a Latin teacher that died during the first or second year and then we had Mrs Stevenson as a long term sub. I do not think she had Latin since high school. We learned little. Thanks to Kris Shekitka for being a Catholic acolyte and  knowing all the Latin... it saved us. Later we got Mrs Cuttino. She was ok, if you liked Latin.
My senior year some of us needed another credit, so a couple of us took French under Mrs Kerfoot Kinney.
Now she was footsteps away from the nursing home. John and I had a great time there. We had some freshmen in there that were in awe of us and we took advantage... especially with the girls. Mrs Kinney would have us take a vocabulary test every day. First she gave us 15 minutes to learn the words and then she wrote on the board the french  words and never looked back at the class. Every one was talking, sharing ( cheating) and then we gave the papers to someone in the isle next to us and we graded them in class. What a waste of time and education.

A quick note to some others...Mrs Estornelle loved my experiments... alcohol effects on hamsters ( my dad's Canadian Club) and the liquid oxygen one I got from the base. She loved off the wall stuff. She did not love me blasting glass everywhere while making hydrogen.  (her grave is 8 ft from my spot at Holy Cross Church in Stateburg... scary!)
I never had Mrs Jackson, but I did have her daughter... not in the sexual sense...but we did date and had some excellent times making out in her living room right next to Mrs Jackson's bedroom!  I never made out at HHS. I might be in the minority here.
I do remember and may come back later and talk about Mrs James, Mrs Shuler, the coaches, Mr Alston, Mrs Gantt and one more that I cannot remember her name in 9th grade, but she was beautiful!
Oh yes.... Mr Merritt and Mrs McCown!

1965 Football Season

My senior season was one of the best teams Hillcrest had ever dressed out. Whenever we have a reunion, several teammates always bring up our great senior season and what it meant to them. I am afraid that some of those memories are starting to fade and I really want to get them down in writing and hope others can remember and share some of the great times
Our Wildcats were seven wins and two defeat. The two losses were to the two teams that won the state title in their divisions... Lower Richland and East Clarendon. I cannot remember too many of the other games, but some of the plays of these games have stuck with me for over 40 years.
Let me see if I can remember the players. I played right guard, George Woodsby was center, Clarence Strickland was tackle and I Rick Ransbottom was the right end. On the other side of the center was Charlie Stubbs as left guard, Don Roberts as tackle and Chappie McCown as end.  Not this was on offense. I am a little fuzzy about defense. I know I played left end, then Don Roberts as tackle, I think Charlie Stubbs was also left guard. I think George Woodsby was center and Kris Shekitka was right guard, Clarence Strickland was right tackle and I can not remember who was right end.

Now the backfield was often changing. I know John Kelly was always the quarterback. The Lindler twins, Bill and Dick were often in the backfield as was Charlie Craven. I think we had others in the offense as well, but I cannot remember. In out defensive backfield, I think we had Kelly, the Lindlers and maybe Craven too. Someone has to help me out here.

I entered Hillcrest my freshmen year and had never seen a football game in my life. My first one was at Lamar and I had not a clue what was going on. I really did not learn that much by my sophomore year, but I went out. Hillcrest teams had a reputation of never having a winning season. If they won 4 games it was a victorious season. I figured I would probably play a little. I was athletic and in good shape. Later that year I made the varsity basketball team and the track team. But apparently I did not take to football too well, or at least the coaches did not think so. We only had about 23 players on the team. I went to most every practice, ( except the 4 days I missed while in the hospital for being dehydrated) and dressed for all be two games.  However, I never was sent in to play one play all season...not once!!! I have never forgiven those coaches....never.  The next season I started every game and almost played every minute all season.... go figure!

I bet Chappie, Don, Charlie and Clarence remember the games and the season. I have memories of the East Clarendon game when I had to punt because Kris Shekitka was hurt. I was terrible. I may have cost us the game. I recall Lower Richland because we played in the Sumter City Stadium and both of us were 6 and 0 at the time. Mooney Player, their coach ran a trick play in the beginning and we did not catch it!  They scored on the first play and we never recovered. We lost 13-7 I think.

I want to say that my year with those guys were the greatest. We became a team and great friends that have stayed that way until today. We sweated, showered, and slaved together on the hot summer, dry field of the HHS practice fields. We were respected in the school, in the community and among parents. I think that season gave us all a sense of pride that many of us still have today. My hat off to you guys! And the girls who cheered us on and dated us too.