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| The Frampton Family in Bygone Days (John is door boy) |
The purpose of the trip was to attend a reunion on my mother’s side of the family (Donnelly).
Friday, June 9, 2023
This morning we (including Zorro) drove the RV while towing the car to Paris Mountain State Park in Greenville, SC. We have found this park to be a nice spot to stay while visiting my childhood hometown. After checking in, setting up, and relaxing awhile, Jane found a nearby brewery online and suggested stopping by on the way to Lisa’s place for dinner.
So, we followed the GPS to 13 Sripes Brewery on Mill Street in Taylors. Upon arrival and entering the brewery, a feeling of deja vu, became ever stronger. I had worked two summers while in high school at a J.P. Stevens sheet factory in Taylors. I discussed this with the bartender for awhile but couldn’t verify that this building was my former work site. We enjoyed our beers before heading on to Lisa’s condo for a nice dinner. From Lisa’s place, we walked to, and toured, a nearby renovated condo that our friends, Suzanne and Gary, will be occupying soon and then Jane and I drove back to Paris Mountain SP to feed Zorro and head to bed.
Later online, I learned the history of the former mill site that is now renovated and being utilized by local businesses including the brewery, restaurants, and even a vendor with multi-scale model train displays. The area was oringally known as Chick Springs and the mill was originally operated by The Southern Bleachery & Piedmont Print Works. Later, J.P. Stevens did indeed purchase the property and owned it from 1966 to 1998 which includes the years I worked there (1973 & 1974).
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| Inside 13 Stripes |
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| Taylors Mill Site |
Saturday, June 10, 2023
This morning, with Lisa driving, we set off toward Columbia to attend the Donnelly family reunion. My brother, Robert, joined us but Jane drove back to the RV to stay with Zorro and work on an art project. The reunion was held at the Macedonia Lutheran Church on the shore of beautiful Lake Murray and near Prosperity, SC. A relative, Rev. Terry Hundley, is pastor of the church, so he and his wife, Sharon, helped to host the reunion. We arrived and enjoyed walking around the grounds and the shoreline of Lake Murray. There was an outdoor pavilion that was used during the COVID pandemic to broadcast sermons to boaters anchored off shore. Today, these lakeshore worship services continue and congregants have the option of coming ashore and using seating in the pavilion.
As fellow reunionists began arriving, we headed back inside to socialize. Most had traveled from various SC locales, some from Atlanta, but our Aunt Jane and cousins from Florida (Bradenton, Ft. Lauderdale, and Tampa) had traveled the furthest. We enjoyed fellowship and catching up on news as we dined on a delicious pot-luck lunch.
There was a huge family tree printed out that covered several table tops and elucidated how we are all related. Cousin Bill had brought hundreds of photographs of the reunion attendees that his deceased parents had taken. They were of varied vintages (some B&W, some color) and were also laid out across several tables. Bill announced that we could take any that we liked because his parents had left him thousands more. My favorite photo of my immediate family was one from the ’60s with the six of us in front of our “woody” Ford Country Squire station wagon with my older sister, Lynn, holding our first cat, Ashley.
After eating heartily, cousin Bill read a story that my father had written about a trip Bill’s and our parents had taken together to Florida when Bill was still a diapered baby. I had read the story before, but it was now both humorous and poignant to hear Bill read it aloud and the audience appreciated the entertainment. Then, Rev. Hundley gave us a tour of the church and discussed its history. The original building is located under Lake Murray but another building was erected on the current location before the original was inundated by the lake’s water. We then posed in front of the church for a family photo and gradually said our goodbyes and began to disperse.
Lisa had invited the Florida contingent to stay with her for a couple of nights so, we formed a three-car caravan heading back to Greenville. Lisa and Robert led the way. I rode in the second car with cousin Hope and Aunt Jane and caught up on family news while cousin Gene and his wife and son (Luz and Dylan) brought up the rear. After unpacking and settling in at Lisa’s condo, Jane arrived from the campground. We all enjoyed a nice dinner and evening together before Jane & I headed back to Paris Mountain SP.
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| Macedonia Evangelical Lutheran Church |
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| Lisa and Robert on the Shore of Lake Murray |
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| Pavilion for Lakeshore Worship |
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| The Donnelly Clan |
Sunday, June 11, 2023
It rained heavily off and on during the night and was still wet when we awoke. Jane & I enjoyed a leisurely morning and breakfast before heading to Lisa’s condo in time for lunch with the Donnelly clan and Robert. The stream behind Lisa’s condo had swollen to a fierce roar but we watched it slowly abated as the rain lessened.
I had not seen the Donnelly family in decades so enjoyed learning about their lives: Hope’s Project Manager position at the US Department of Veteran Affairs, Gene’s career as a pilot, and Aunt Jane’s girlhood in rural New Hampshire. Dylan was interested in body building (similar to his father) and struck some poses for us. We called sister Lynn and cousin Wes who couldn’t make the trip but vicariously joined our reunion for awhile. After dinner, I was assisted in searching through a large pile of quarters that Lisa had saved and was able to find 15 or 20 to add to my collection. Jane and I finally said our goodbyes to all and heading back to our motorhome.
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| Aunt Jane and Cousins Hope and Gene |
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| Cousin Hope with Lisa and Aunt Jane |
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| Lisa with Cousins Gene and Hope |
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| Causing Gene with his Wife, Luz and Son, Dylan |
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| Dylan posing in front of the Reedy River, Downtown Greenville |
Monday June 12, 2023
Lynn,Tom , and Lisa just enjoyed reading your blog!