Small town Fourth sticks to traditions
My column today:
Don't try to call me today. I've gone back in time.
Columbus, N.C., my wife's hometown, holds an old-fashioned Fourth of July celebration that I've come to love. ...
Columbus is the seat of Polk County, wedged between Rutherford and Henderson counties on the South Carolina state line. It's beautiful country, favored by horse people who have purchased large portions of its hilly, lower regions. Columbus is nestled against a wall of mountains, notably White Oak and Tryon's Peak. One of my favorite running routes anywhere takes me down Skyuka Road along the base of those mountains, then follows the cool and shady Pacolet River for miles -- where I know a good spot for a refreshing plunge on warm days.
Margaret's family has lived in Columbus since the 1800s. Her grandfather was sheriff of Polk County, and an uncle was clerk of court. Her father practiced law there for more than 50 years, and her brother runs the practice, its office in nearby Tryon, today. Until going off to college, my father-in-law attended one school, Stearns, grades one through 11. Margaret went there, too, but only through elementary school. By that time, Polk County had separate middle and high schools. The old Stearns building, across the street from the courthouse in the center of Columbus, now houses the school system's administrative offices, and its front lawn is a park. It will be a hub of activity today.
The population of Columbus has hovered around 1,000 ever since Margaret and I were married in the Presbyterian church there in 1977. That's not to say the town hasn't grown. Columbus has an exit on Interstate 26, drawing commerce for gas stations, fast-food restaurants and a motel. There are two traffic circles at the highway interchanges, developments that bamboozle locals and visitors alike. The town has a shopping center, banks, medical offices and a couple of Mexican restaurants, pointing to its increasing diversity.
But on the Fourth, things remain much as they were long ago. East Mills Street (N.C. 108), is shut down all day and late into the night. Mayor Kathleen McMillan opens the festivities at 10, Tena Greene sings the National Anthem, and the celebration is on.
Set up your chairs on the courthouse lawn and listen to live bluegrass, folk and country music -- and some rock for the younger folks. Explore the arts and crafts booths. Watch the greased pole-climbing competition, the horseshoe tournament and the 40-yard dash. Buy a raffle ticket for a chance to win a riding lawn mower or maybe a rifle. Visit the veterans' memorial by the fire station and read the bricks engraved in honor of all the men and women who served their country in times of war and peace. Greet the old friends you haven't seen since last year. Everyone's sure to show up.
Columbus is a safe, friendly town. Even when the kids -- our sons and nieces -- were little, we could let them wander around on their own, just as Margaret did when she was a child. Yes, since then the police force has ballooned from one to six, but you have to blame the highway for that.
By mid-afternoon I'll probably be back at my in-laws' house, the home where Margaret and her sister and brother grew up, cooking something on the grill. It's just around the corner, across from the Baptist church. Feel free to drop by for a bite and something cold to drink. We'll still have time to catch the featured acts, the Larry Stephenson Band and Grasstowne, after we eat.
Later on, we'll watch the fireworks from the front yard. They're always spectacular, and there's no better vantage point, expect maybe up on Chocolate Drop, the town's picturesque mini-mountain.
From morning 'til night, it will be a day to savor, a "Brigadoon" day that reappears barely altered from one appearance to the next. I hope a hundred years from now the Fourth is celebrated the same way in Columbus and other small towns across America where people don't mind stepping into the past for a day.
Tomorrow will come all too quickly, even here.
Doug Clark can be contacted at dgclark@news-record.com and 373-7039.
More about Polk County here.
Comments (5)
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Hey, Doug, have you seen Nelson Johnson's letter to Florence Gatten that was copied to a small group of 60 people? He slams you in the letter for your racist views. If you haven't read it, it can be seen at Ben Holder's site, The Greensboro Troublemaker. This guy continues to stir the racial pot in Greensboro and cause trouble (Johnson, not Holder).
Posted on July 4, 2007 12:18 PM
I hope a hundred years from now the Fourth is celebrated the same way in Columbus and other small towns across America where people don't mind stepping into the past for a day.* Doug
Love Columbus, My brother lives just down the road. So tell us how the local politics is going. Is the local Republican DA [ a another Nifong in Republican drag] still chasing the local and new democrat sheriff about those child abuse sex charges from 20 years ago?
Posted on July 4, 2007 1:22 PM
Following Doug's lead , I too took to the road over the Fourth, after making the mistake however, of being the one selected to transport several teenage males to the pre-selected mountain hideaway, where the family holiday celebration was to take place.
I had decided to enter the Blue Ridge Parkway just south of Roanoke and then drive south, not having driven it for many years. The trip started uneventfully enough, heading north on 220, after people seemed to retreat to their individual I-Podia, when the silence was interupted by exhortations to "turn the car around, NOW." which was followed by laughter.
Upon re-inspection, it seems a billboard along the road had advertised "Emergency Services-Morehead". I did think the billboard a bit strange, especially since reaching middle age and coming to think of this particular need as more of a chronic condition, but could understand how younger members of the species may feel differently.
The joke was quickly exposed when it became apparent that the sign was an advertisement for Morehead Medical Center in Rockingham Co. and I explained to the crew that they were mis-interpreting the sign and it probably would not be appreciated if the crew showed up at the door of the ER.
I turned the car around, but much like Mr. Clark above; a nostalgic smile for a small town Americana now perhaps gone forever, crossed my face as I remembered emergencies from years past.
As you can probably imagine, I encountered furthur trouble on my Blue Ridge trek after reaching "Blowing Rock", again with exhortations to stop the vehicle.
"Why do they call it Blowing Rock" I was asked amid some rowdy cheers of "Allright" and "Yeah". Unable to answer them, I decided to make inquiry and stopped at various curios etc. Was told various things like it was something to do with cloud formations, a fellow tourist said they heard soemthing about hot springs etc. Then we found an old timer kind of gnarly guy who said Blowing Rock was a translation from the Cherokee word "Che'ettahcheem Woh" which means "Blowing Rock". I asked "Why Blowing Rock"? He then went into the legend of Cherokee rights of manhood, kind of like an Indian Bar Mitzvah if you will. Feeling increasingly uneasy, I asked him to go on while the rest of the crew hung on his every word. It seems there lived upon the mountain a, well lets just say- a wise, seasoned kind of a witch-woman if you will, held in very high esteem by her tribe, and you can guess the rest. I couldn't believe it. The boys were right!
It just goes to show that despite racial and cultural differences, which seem to be the chief point of conflict on these blogs, even across the centuries, underneath we are all the same.
As we turned to leave the shop, the guy started laughing and said he told that story several times a week providing the company was appropriate. He then added he hadn't the faintest idea why they caLLed it Blowing Rock and one could realize that that was the beauty of it.
Anyway, the Fourth is over. the Dog Days are here
Posted on July 5, 2007 3:25 PM
WW, thanks for the heads up. I think I'll wait until I'm back in town to check out what Nelson Johnson said. Something to look forward to.
Connie, Polk County politics has way too much intrigue for me to decipher.
OTR, that's certainly not the story they tell tourists up there in Blowing Rock.
By the way, the Fourth celebration in Columbus just might have been the biggest ever.
Posted on July 5, 2007 3:46 PM
Connie, Polk County politics has way too much intrigue for me to decipher.* Doug
I agree! I have every reason to suspect that it goes back to family inbreeding many centuries ago, thus creating the first Hatfield and McCoy fights in North Carolina. If my history is right! I believe Pope County sided with the Union during the civil war.
Posted on July 5, 2007 7:05 PM