Index-Journal press manager to retire

August 6, 2007

By MIKE ROSIER
Index-Journal staff writer

The job used to be a much hotter affair.
And there were days when Ronnie Brown couldn’t have told the difference between The Index-Journal press room and a circle of Dante’s Inferno.
The room was that hot, and the 35-pound lead plates that heavy.
Back then — some 45 years ago — they called it “hot type” for a reason.
“It was real manual labor back then, that’s for sure. Much more so than it is nowadays,” Brown said. “I started out in the composing room making pages. It was real hot in there then. It’s a whole world of difference now.”
That’s what press room folks call progress.
Brown will retire as press manager later this month.
Most press room managers operate one, and perhaps even two printing press machines during their tenure. Ronnie Brown is on his third.
“I’ve seen a few of them,” he said.
Brown needed the couch that’s in his office when that third press went in.
Press installation is a bit of an involved process — by day or night.
“I spent a few nights on that couch for sure,” he joked.
The first press he worked on was an old letter press, which used those heavy lead plates. Those were the manual labor days.
Then, when the newspaper moved from its Maxwell Avenue location to a new home on Phoenix Street, a new press was brought in.
It was the early ’70s and Ronnie Brown finally cooled off.
“We put that one in in sections so we could keep running,” he said. “That one didn’t use any of the lead plates and the rooms were air conditioned. There was nothing really manual about (the job) anymore. With these newer presses like what we have now you can just do a lot more with color.”
The newspaper has also never missed a run on Brown’s watch, something he’s very proud of. And it isn’t because Murphy’s Law hasn’t tried.
“We broke a drive shaft one night and we had to have the pages printed up in Anderson, I remember that,” Brown said. “We were late, but we’ve still never missed a run. Snow or rain has never kept us from getting the paper out. Sometimes you’re late, but you do what you have to do.”
Working at The Index-Journal is the only real job Brown has ever known, and for that experience he is as grateful as anyone could ever be.
“The way that I always looked at it was that I had a job I never had to worry about leaving,” he said. “As long as you worked your job everything was fine. You worked for good people. It’s been a good home for me.”
Judi Burns, president and publisher of The Index-Journal, said she will miss Brown — not only as a faithful employee, but as a dear friend.
“Ronnie was instrumental in helping advise me on the purchase and installation of our new Goss press in 2003,” Burns said. “He is a great friend as well as a business partner. I have known him for almost 45 years. We have had several long-time folks retire from The Index-Journal over the past few years, but Ronnie’s departure is especially hard for me. I will miss him very much and wish him well.”
Eddie Latham will take over for Brown as press manager.
The two men have worked together for more than 30 years.
Brown says there’s no one better for the job.
“I think he’ll do a great job,” he said. “We’ve worked together for a lot of years and that’s the way that I see it. I know he’ll do a great job.”
Latham says it’s not going to be the same in the press room.
“It’s going to be a little different,” he said. “He’s been the man for a lot of years. He’s going to be missed, that’s for sure. He knows that printing backward and forward for sure. I hate to see him go, I really do.”
Burns said the press room will remain in good hands.
“I look forward to working with Eddie Latham as he assumes duties as press room manager,” she said. “He is also a good friend and an expert in the knowledge of our press. We know Ronnie leaves us in good hands.”
Latham said Brown taught him plenty over the years.
“He taught me not to ever give up,” Latham said. “That was just kind of his attitude. If something broke down or happened he would just say don’t give up. He was the last one from that older press crew. Everyone else from back then is gone. He probably will go fishing now.”
Latham is right on point because Brown has bait on the brain.
“I’m going to go fishing, you better believe it,” he said.
But what is that first night away going to be like? Will he get the urge to call and check in to make sure the paper will be on time?
“As long as (the newspaper) is in my box the next morning everything will be all right,” Brown joked.
And what about the couch? Does it stay or go?
He takes a look over at the veteran piece of furniture and grins.
“It’s going to be the next man’s,” he says. “I want him to have it.”
Brown pauses for a few seconds.
“He may need it.”

Demise of the drive-in

Theater/parking lots all but gone in U.S.

August 6, 2007

By KENNY MAPLE
Index-Journal staff writer

The word “nostalgia” should not be used again when referring to drive-in theaters. The word has already worn out its welcome.
How about going with something unique and really silly-sounding: “schmaltz”? (For the record, this is the definition referring to the excessive sentimentalism, not the listing for liquid chicken fat).
That’s right — “schmaltz” is the precise word to re-create the atmosphere of drive-in theaters. Imagine — or just recall, depending on whether you’ve been to a drive-in theater — a procession of glowing red dots marching toward a looming, vivid movie screen. Think of them like moths flying toward the light. If you show it, they will come.
Schmaltz.
To have excessive sentimentality, we must have excessive sights, sounds, tastes and smells. How’s this for your nose and tongue? Hot dogs, sausage dogs, corn dogs, hamburgers, barbecue sandwiches, popcorn, pizzas, nachos, ice cream and soft drinks.
Sounds like America on a really big plate, doesn’t it?
But as much as the combination of dogs in buns captures the American life, drive-in theaters might capture it more — or they used to.


HISTORY

According to Drive-Ins.com, Richard Hollingshead is credited with the idea for the first drive-in movie theater, which could be viewed from his driveway.
Hollingshead mounted a screen on a set of trees and placed a 1928 Kodak projector on the hood of his car.
The inventor also stuck a radio behind the screen and then positioned vehicles strategically in his driveway, with blocks underneath the cars for better viewing.
His idea became an invention, and Hollingshead applied for a patent in 1932. The following year in Camden, N.J., Hollingshead’s theater opened, spurring other outdoor theaters across the country to open. The post-World War II years saw the greatest number of theaters opening.
Drive-Ins.com says the United States had 820 drive-ins in 1948 — a tremendous increase over 1942, when there were only about 100 scattered across 27 states.


THE BIG MO’

Lumped in this post-war group was the Big Mo’ Monetta Drive-In, which opened in 1957 and ran nearly continuously until 1986, when it closed after showing pornographic material.
Fortunately for the drive-in, a married couple came along with a fondness for drive-ins.
Richard and Lisa Boaz, originally from Virginia, used to go to a nearby drive-in when they were in high school. When the couple moved to Irmo in 1998, they saw the closed drive-in theater in Monetta.
“When we moved down here, I figured I would take a look at it for historical reasons,” Richard Boaz said.
But the visit became less of a historical trip and more of an affair with the drive-in.
“Insanity set in,” Boaz said.
“I liked it,” he said. “We went ahead and found the owner and bought it and spent a year fixing it up.”


A SUCCESSFUL DRIVE-IN

Now, in 2007, the theater is still up and running — one of two in the state.
But how has the theater continued showing films when others have closed?
Boaz said there are a number of reasons: “We work incredibly hard at it.”
Boaz doesn’t depend on the theater for his sole source of income; therefore, he and his wife don’t necessarily have to rely on the theater’s success every weekend.
Boaz also said the money isn’t really made at the ticket booth. He said most of the money made from the movies goes right back into paying for new films. Plus, at least in Monetta, movie-goers are able to see two first-rate movies for less than what they might spend at a traditional indoor theater. Instead, the money is made at the concession stand.
But the real secret to The Big Mo’s success is that the owners realize the two most important aspects of drive-ins.
“Regardless of the nostalgia, it’s about the weather and the movies,” he said.
Their booker is very aggressive, and The Big Mo’ is able to get current movies. At the time of this writing, movies such as “The Bourne Ultimatum,” “I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry,” “The Simpsons Movie” and “Live Free or Die Hard” were on the two big screens in Monetta.
As far as the weather goes, the Big Mo’ has a link on its Web site for weather forecasts. Movie fans with plans to go to the drive-in can make sure the weather will be optimum for the experience.
“Even a bad forecast can keep people away,” Boaz said.


THE DEMISE OF THE DRIVE-IN

A number of difficulties have faced drive-in owners over the years. One of those factors cannot be attributed to all theaters.
“What killed them was daylight-saving,” said Maria Mappin, of Greenwood. Mappin, as she entered REI’s Greenwood Ten movie theater, explained that in the summertime in the South, the movies would have to start at 9 or 10 p.m. Children couldn’t stay awake to see the end of the movie.
Another killer was the rise of video. Movies played in the drive-in usually came out about the same time as the home release. Bob and Joan Stockton, McCormick residents, said that while drive-ins gave movie-goers the comfort of watching a film from their own vehicles, videos allowed even more comfort from the home.
As movies came out on video, drive-ins looked for a way to bring the audience back. But what could save the drive-ins from becoming extinct?
Pornography.
Or so they thought.
Boaz said pornographic material could be found in theaters during the 1980s. But that didn’t last for long.
“After porn was offered on video, people could watch it at home,” Boaz said.
If theaters survived the video phase, they might have crumpled under the price to keep a theater open, especially in the North when theaters were limited by the temperature. Though Bob Stockton said people could rent heaters for their cars as it got cooler, real estate became too expensive for many theaters that might have only been used in the summer.
Today, theaters not only face some of the same difficulties, but they also face the multiple-screen dilemma.
“The way the business is, it’s built toward multiple screens,” Boaz said.
The Big Mo’ owner said theaters are tied to a two- or three-week commitment to a film. If the film fails, scarce audiences will occupy a space that otherwise could be used for a more popular film. For this reason, it is nearly a necessity for theaters to play movies on more than one big screen.
This exact reason might have contributed to the closing of the Greenwood Auto Drive-In, whose lone screen stands naked overlooking a sea of weeds along Highway 25 South. The theater was resurrected, like The Big Mo,’ in 1999 by Marsha and Martin Murray. However, despite a run that opened with the Will Smith film “Wild, Wild West” (which, according to an Index-Journal article written by Charlee Marshall, contributed to the Drive-In’s “fabulous” opening), the theater only lasted for three months.


THE SCHMALTZ

Hollingshead’s invention has come a long way since its origin in a driveway, but the appeal is still there, maybe more so now than ever before.
“I think people like their cars still,” Boaz said. “It’s like their home on the road. They eat in their cars; they talk on the phone in their cars.”
Mappin was emphatic about the drive-in experience. “You haven’t lived until you’ve been to a drive-in,” she said.
She said she saw her first drive-in flick in 1968. It was “Bonnie and Clyde.”
She also used to go to Disney movies. Her parents would drink beer and the kids would drink Kool-Aid.
Like Mappin, the Stocktons both recalled the drive-ins with a smile.
They recollect the spots being perfect for double dates. Joan also said that those movies were good places to take the whole family.
“You could take the kids and they could make noise,” she said.
Another plus was getting the kids in free if they were under 12. On top of that, Bob said some places just charged by the carload.
Bob admitted he actually hid in the trunk of a car to get into a movie that did not charge by the carload.
And with the gigantic sport utility vehicles that can be found on the road today, maybe more and more people will return to the theaters. And maybe they’ll return in an actual car seat.
Returnees to the remaining theaters might be surprised at what they find — an authentic drive-in experience. Boaz said his theater tries to highlight the drive-in experience, giving movie-goers a chance to spend a full evening at the theater enjoying great company, theater food and, of course, the feature films.
“People like their cars, they like being outside, and they like making an evening of it.”

Obituaries

Mattie Lou Holloway

McCORMICK — Mattie Lou Patterson Holloway, wife of John Albert Holloway, 1215 McKenzie Road, Ninety Six, SC, died at Hospice Care of the Piedmont August 3, 2007.
She was born in McCormick, SC, December 27, 1926, a daughter of the late Ollie and Emma Bland Winn. She was a member of the Refuge Temple Church in Greenwood where she was the Mother of the church, a Sunday School Teacher and a member of the Prayer Warriors Group.
Survivors are her husband of the home; a son, James Ollie (Irma) Patterson of Snellville, GA; a daughter, Mary P. (Rev. Melvin) Searles of McCormick; two sisters, Mamie Lee Callaham and Ella Mae Chiles of McCormick; a Goddaughter, Diacy T. Lyons of Greenwood; fifteen grandchildren and a host of nieces, nephews and other relatives.
One son, Timothy Patterson, preceded her in death.
Services are Tuesday, August 7, 2007 at the Refuge Temple Church in Greenwood at 2 p.m. with Pastor Elder Robert Brown officiating. Interment will be in the Straight Gate Holiness Cemetery in McCormick. The body will be placed in the church at 1 p.m. Tuesday.
The family is at her home and the home of her daughter Mrs. Melvin (Mary P.) Searles, 1496 Jefferson Street in McCormick.
Walker Funeral Home is in charge.

Theodore C. ‘T.C.’ Parker Sr.

HONEA PATH — Theodore Carroll “T.C.” Parker Sr., age 80, of 107 Rouse Street, died Wednesday, August 1, 2007, at Hospice of the Upstate, Anderson, SC.
He was born in Honea Path, SC and was a retired carpenter. He was a faithful member of the Liberty Baptist Church where he served on the Trustee Board, Male Chorus and was a former Sunday School Teacher. He was a U.S. Army veteran of World War II. He was also very active in his community.
He was the son of the late Emory and Annie Gambrell Parker. He was preceded in death by his first wife, Eugenia Patton Parker, three brothers, one sister and one step-son.
He is survived by his wife, Mary Chapman Montgomery Parker of the home; two sons, Theodore C. Parker, Jr. of South Carolina and Jonathan Montgomery of Maryland; one brother, James R. Parker, Cleveland, Ohio; one sister, Dorothy P. Reeder, of Honea Path; three step-daughters of Maryland, 20 grandchildren and 11great-grandchildren.
Funeral services are 2 p.m. Tuesday at the Liberty Baptist Church by the Rev. Kenneth Harrison.
Burial will be in the church cemetery. The body will be on view Monday beginning at 3 p.m. at Robinson-Walker Funeral Service and. will be placed in the church Tuesday at 12 noon where the family will receive friends from 1:30 p.m. until the hour of service.
The family is at the home.
Arrangements are by Robinson-Walker Funeral Service, Ware Shoals, SC.

Mayme Scurry

Mayme Holloway Scurry, age 101, died August 4, 2007.
Born December 26, 1905 in Newberry County, she was a daughter of the late Dr. W.O. and Sally Smith Holloway. She was a 1927 graduate of Coker College and attended Municipal School of Nursing in Tampa, Florida. She was formerly employed by Self Memorial Hospital and retired from private duty nursing.
She was a member of Main Street United Methodist Church.
Surviving are a daughter, Nancy Scurry Marshall and husband, William B. Marshall, III of New Castle, NH; four grandchildren, Laura Marshall, Tony Scurry, Trisha Scurry and Ro Scurry; a daughter-in-law, Ellen Scurry and extended family of Holloways and Scurrys.
Graveside services will be conducted at 10 a.m. Tuesday at Greenwood Memorial Gardens with Mr. Fred Alewine officiating.
The family will receive friends at the home after the service.
Memorials may be made to Meals on Wheels, Piedmont Agency on Aging, P.O. Box 997, Greenwood, SC 29648 or Greenwood Humane Society, P.O. Box 242, Greenwood, SC 29648.
For online condolences please visit www.blythfuneralhome.com.
Blyth Funeral Home & Cremation Services is assisting the Scurry family.

Opinion

Politics and blame game follow collapse of bridge

August 6, 2007

News item:
“WASHINGTON - Federal officials described the Minneapolis bridge collapse as a ‘wake-up’ call Thursday, but industry groups and others have tried to draw attention to gaps in funding for the nation’s aging infrastructure for years.”
Years? Of course. The Interstate system was begun a half century ago by President Dwight Eisenhower. Funding? Isn’t that what Congress does ..... whether Republican or Democratic? Like the bridge in Minneapolis, the system has been heavily used all that time. The stress has to be terrific. Except for sections where improvements have been made, there’s bound to be problems coming up all the time. Time and use dictate that.

THAT, HOWEVER, APPARENTLY doesn’t make any difference when politicians can use the bridge collapse to try to score partisan political points.
Proof? Almost immediately following the collapse of the Minnesota bridge critics of President Bush were already blaming him and the war in Iraq for the condition of the bridge.
There’s no question that Mr. Bush has made mistakes. The severity of them mostly depends, naturally, on who is doing the assessing, opponent or supporter. But, then, every president makes mistakes. Still some of the Bush blunders have been colossal. Blaming him personally, as many do, for everything that goes wrong in the world, though, can’t be right. Remember, “He who is without sin, let him cast the first stone.”

IN BUSH’S SITUATION, IT seems, the standard operating procedure for critics is not to follow the golden rule, but do unto others ..... and do it first. Many of his opponents violate a long-standing practice in politics. That’s to focus on issues and not personalities. In Bush’s case, opponents lambaste him as the devil incarnate.
Why is that? Is it because he is not ashamed or reluctant to wear his faith on his sleeve? Is it purely partisan politics? Is it jealously? Hatred? From all appearances it just might be a bit of all of them.
There’s a popular philosophy that has been making the rounds in recent years. It’s “hate the sin, love the sinner.” There’s also a lot of hypocrisy. That kind of thinking is nowhere to be found these days.