‘Where it all began’

Hundreds of relatives gather for reunion at Lake Greenwood

September 5, 2005

By CAROLINE KLAPPER
Index-Journal staff writer

Hackett family members prepare food Sunday during their family reunion weekend.

The Bradys have nothing on this bunch.
The 2005 Hackett family reunion reunited more than 300 family members during the weekend.
The family met to share good food, fun and to say their good-byes on the last day of the reunion Sunday at Greenwood Lake Community Building in the State Park.
The family gets together about once every two years, and each time a different part of the family coordinates the reunion, Bettye Robinson, of Greenwood, said.
She said in recent years, the reunion has taken place in Manchester, N.H. and Miami, Fla.
When asked why so many members of the family traveled from as far north as New Hampshire and as far south as Florida to attend, Robinson said, “We were taught to value family and that’s why when the family calls and says, ‘come together,’ we come.”
She said no single person could take credit for bringing the family together because everyone contributed to the success of the reunion.
Although the family has spread far and wide, the Hackett’s originated from Greenwood with Watt Hackett and wife Lizzie, sharecroppers who farmed the land to make a living in the early 1800s.
“Way back then, they lived in a place off (Highway) 221 they called Hackett’s or Hackett Town,” Robinson said.
The place was called Hackett Town was because most of the Hackett family once lived in that area.
Several of the family members who remember Hackett Town had their thoughts about growing up there recorded in the reunion program.
“We were poor and didn’t realize it. Then again, we were rich because we had the things that mattered,” a statement from Ella Ruth Hackett said. “I feel we were better off then (than) we are now because people had time for one another. In Hackett’s we would walk the road and just talk.”
The reunion’s theme was “Remembering Where it all Began,” and most of the eight generations represented at the picnic wore T-shirts with those words printed on them.
“I think it’s the matter of mentioning the fact of where it all started at,” Larry Hackett, of Greenwood, said.
He said that this reunion was meaningful to many family members because they didn’t know much about the town their ancestors came from.
“It gave them the opportunity to come back and get familiar with where it all began,” he said.
One family member, Rufus Turner, helped to man the grill, which was loaded with chicken, ribs, fish, hot dogs and hamburgers for the picnic later that evening.
He said he was born in Greenwood 59 years ago, and he loves to see the family together.
“It makes me feel that when the whole family comes together, you know, you have love between people and family. It’s a good bond to have,” he said.
The oldest member of the Hackett family, Watt Hackett III, 82, was at the picnic sitting in the shade and watching the youngest generation play while their parents talked and reminisced.
He summed up the reunion with the simple words, “It’s just wonderful.”

Eagles’ defense contains Gilchrist

Robinson runs for 144 yards and 4 scores as Greenwood blanks Abbeville

September 3, 2005

By RON COX
Index-Journal sports writer

Greenwood’s Robert Robinson answered one of the key questions about Friday’s game against rival Abbeville and the Eagles’ defense answered one of the other one.
Robinson, the Eagles’ senior tailback, rushed for 144 yards and four touchdowns in just three quarters to outshine his counterpart Abbeville’s Toquavius Gilchrist, who followed up his 225-yard, seven-touchdown performance with 77 yards against the Eagles defense.
The Greenwood D finished with its second straight shutout in a 40-0 win over the Panthers Friday night at J.W. Babb Stadium.
“I think the best back on the field tonight was Robert Robinson. I don’t think there’s any doubt about that,” Greenwood coach Shell Dula said.
“It was a big challenge for our defensive coaches to go from the wide-open offense (of Emerald) to the wing T in seven days. The kids take a lot of pride in (shutting out teams), and I think our coaches take a lot of pride in that, too.”
Dula’s defense, which kept Emerald scoreless in the season opener, blanked an Abbeville squad that put up 49 points last week, including seven touchdowns from Gilchrist. Greenwood (2-0) forced Abbeville (1-1) into five three-and-out series and didn’t allowed the Panthers to cross midfield until late in the fourth quarter.
“Greenwood is a good football team and I think they showed it tonight,” Nickles said. “Clearly, they dominated us in every phase of the game.
“We’ll start getting better Monday. I was disappointed in the second half. That we didn’t come out with more emotion. We played with some emotion in the first half, but we came out in the second half with no emotion and that concerns me.”
The Eagles threatened to score on the game’s opening possession.
After a Robinson 30-yard kickoff return brought the ball to the Greenwood 41, the Eagles drove into the red zone on five plays.
But the drive ended when receiver Anthony Chalmers, who caught a short pass from quarterback Armanti Edwards, lost the handle on the ball, fumbling it on the Panthers’ 8, with Abbeville’s Tomas Evans recovering.
Abbeville plodded its way down the field on short-yardage runs. The biggest gain of the drive being a 9-yard run from Gilchrist, his third longest run of the night.
But the Panthers’ drive stalled at midfield when three short pickups set up a fourth-and-2 from the 50.
That was the closest the Panthers would get to reaching Greenwood territory. Because on that play, Greenwood’s Steadman Perrin and Anthoine Lagroone dropped Abbeville’s James Moore for a 3-yard loss, giving the Eagles’ offense possession at the Abbeville 47.
Senior kicker Clay Baldwin ended that drive for the Eagles with 30-yard field goal to give the team a 3-0 first quarter lead.
The second 12 minutes belonged to Robinson and the Greenwood defense.
The Eagles’ D, which gave up three first downs on Abbeville’s first drive, gave up two first downs over the next five Panther possessions, with both coming on big runs from Gilchrist.
Robinson ran at will throughout the Panthers’ defense in the second quarter. The senior tailback picked up 66 of his 100 first-half rushing yards and three touchdowns in the second 12 minutes of play.
Robinson, who rushed for 110 yards and three TDs in four quarters against Emerald in the opener, scored the game’s first touchdown on an 8-yard run where he sprinted outside, made a cut back inside and bullied his way through a crowd to cross the goal line.
“I thought I was better coming and I proved it out there,” Robinson said. “I just ran behind my big line. They made some big holes for me out there.”
The Panthers’ next possession ended with a safety, as the fourth-down snap sailed over punter Justin Burton’s head and deep into the end zone. Burton had the presence of mind to kick it out for the safety, rather than let a Greenwood player fall on it for a touchdown.
The Eagles started the ensuing possession from their worst field position of the half, their own 37. But two big plays, a 28-yard run from Robinson and a 31-yard pass play from Edwards to Reggie James, put the Eagles at the goal line. Robinson took it from there, scoring from 3 yards out.
Robinson’s third score of the half wouldn’t have happened without a key play from Edwards.
The Greenwood QB converted a fourth-and-3 from the Abbeville 31 by sprinting to the outside for a 7-yard pickup. On the next play, Edwards faked the handoff to fullback Zack Norman and pitched to Robinson, who simply darted to the outside for the 24-yard touchdown, giving Greenwood a 26-0 halftime lead.
The Eagles started the first series of the half from the Panthers’ 17 after Greenwood’s Demond Hayes tackled Burton before the Abbeville punter could unleash a kick.
Edwards then hooked up with Chalmers for a 16-yard pass play before taking the sneak in for the 1-yard score.
After the Greenwood defense continued to dominate, forcing the Panthers to their second three-and-out series of the second half, Robinson put the Eagles in scoring position again with a pair of 20-plus-yard runs.
Robinson put it in the end zone one final time, jogging untouched from 1-yard out on fourth down. Baldwin’s fifth extra point gave Greenwood a 40-0 lead with 3:39 left in the third quarter. The Eagles played their second string on offense and defense for much of the rest of the game, including the fourth quarter. Neither Robinson nor Edwards saw action in the final 15 minutes of play.
The Panthers reached Eagles territory for the first time when James Moore rushed for 6 yards with 2:15 remaining. Abbeville got down to the Greenwood 25 with seconds left in the contest. Hite made one last attempt to get his team on the scoreboard, heaving a pass to the right goal line, but it was batted away as the clock expired, preserving the Eagles’ second shutout.

Opinion

There are special needs as we mark Labor Day

September 5, 2005

This is Labor Day. It’s a holiday when most Americans relax from their usual labors during the year. Some, of course, have to work today, too, to help put groceries on the table. Most companies, though, will give them another day off to lay back and do what they want to do. Be that as it may, some don’t get time off at any time. But, then, that’s life.
Labor Day is a legal holiday and it always comes on the first Monday in September. It applies to the United States, Puerto Rico, and Canada.
Being a day of rest for most people, thousands in South Carolina celebrate by going to the beach, the mountains, the movies, playing games or just taking it easy. There are parades, cookouts and a whole range of leisure activities ….. and barbecue.

IN THE PALMETTO STATE that’s a big thing. Whether the barbecue is made with mustard sauce, ketchup, vinegar and a variety of other spices. devotees of each, naturally, swear by their own tastes.
The first Labor Day parade was held in New York City in September of 1882. Five years later, Oregon became the first state to make Labor Day a legal holiday. In 1894, President Grover Cleveland signed a bill designating Labor Day a national holiday.
Through the years, of course, Americans have enjoyed the time off and the festivities that go with the occasion. Today, though, there is a terrible irony that detracts from the fun, food and games, especially among textile workers who have lost their jobs in recent years. Many have found other work, to be sure, but many have had to change a way of life that had been special for themselves and their ancestors.

THERE ARE OTHERS NOT working today, too, and Americans have opened their hearts and pocketbooks to them. They are the thousands who’ve been left homeless and jobless ….. at least for months, because of one of the worst disasters to hit this country, Hurricane Katrina. People can’t go back home because they have no homes left. They can’t go back to work because places they worked have been wiped out.
Americans are a generous people. They’ve proved it time after time. Today, though, while enjoying the fruits of our own labor, think of them ….. the old, the young, the sick, those with infirmities ….. the victims of nature. Give blood. Give to the Red Cross and other relief agencies. Offer a prayer for those in need. We never know when it might be our turn.

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Obituaries

Brandon Neill Dye

Brandon Neill Dye, 15, of 228 Shrine Club Road, died Sunday, Sept. 4, 2005.
Born in Spartanburg, he was a son of Kimberly Castleberry and Ron Dye. He was a freshman at Greenwood High School.
Survivors include his mother of Greenwood; his father of Bradley; a sister, Chayse Dye of Bradley; maternal grandmother, Deborah Cox of Inman; maternal grandfather, Sammy Castleberry of Americus, Ga.; paternal grandparents, Betty and Thomas Dye of Abbeville; and paternal great-grandparents, Hilda and Benny Mathews of Inman.
Services are at 2 Wednesday at Harley Funeral Home, conducted by the Rev. David Cobb. Burial is in Oakbrook Memorial Park.
Visitation is from 7-9 Tuesday at the funeral home.
The family is at the home of his mother, 228 Shrine Club Road and paternal grandparents, Thomas and Betty Dye, Highway 72, Box 1227, Abbeville.
Harley Funeral Home of Greenwood is in charge.
Online condolences may be made to the family at www.harleyfuneralhome.com.

Lewis M. St. Clair

Lewis M. St. Clair, 74, of 509 Marshall Road, husband of Mary Carolyn Williams St. Clair, died Sunday, Sept. 4, 2005 at Hospice House.
Services will be announced by Harley Funeral Home.

Mary Frances Williams

Mary Frances Williams, 90, of 520 Milwee Ave., widow of Sammy Williams, died Friday, Sept. 2, 2005 at her home.
Born in Newberry County, she was a daughter of the late Charlie and Florence Coleman Ligon. She was a member of Morris Chapel Baptist Church, where she served as missionary and was former secretary of the Missionary Society.
Survivors include a brother, Joe Speech of Greenwood.
The family is at the home of her brother, 658 Gilliam St., Greenwood.
Services will be announced by Percival-Tompkins Funeral Home.