Dear Editor:

We are nearing Halloween 2012 and I thought I would tell some things that happened Halloween 1938 in Edgefield.  The “Bad Boys” of the mill hill covered Mrs. Helen Nicholson’s front yard with “confetti.”  My brother Joseph Wood and Maurice Gilchrist short wired the fire alarm and it blasted for hours.  The stately home of John Hollingsworth burned to the ground.  Mr. Atkinson picked his sons James and Julian, my sister Maggie Nell and me to go see the fire.  A lot of history gone.

I would like to mention the great snow of February 1940, 14 inches and school was out.  One afternoon, we children of the Nicholson Pond area got together with our roller skates and went to the pond which was frozen over.  Frank, John, and Wad Allen Reece; Julian Atkinson, Jimmy Ouzts, Sara, Maggie Nell and Georgia Wood  decided to go ice skating on the pond. We played for hours.  We were ready to go home and my sister Sara decided to check the thickness of the ice — a mere ½ inch! Only about 5 or 6 of us could swim.  The Lord had to be watching over us.  I am the only one left to tell the story.

The next day after I helped Jimmy gather eggs, we walked over to see James and Julian.  Across the road of East View Cemetery were wild plum trees and 2 black kittens were in them.  Jimmy talked Aunt Tab to keep them because they had the dairy farm and milk.  After years, those black cats lined the tall Kemp steps.

Georgia Wood Lamb