West Of Free Press — December 2022 - Flipbook - Page 9
COMMUNITY
Tidbit Tales Returns
Sorting through small pieces of West Ashley history
By D
o nn a Jac obs
(Disclaimer: some statements
are the product of primary
oral histories, some are urban
legends told by subsequent
generations. This series is
designed to dig a little deeper
and maybe learn a few more
stories.)
I
t has been awhile. Time for
Part 11 (can you believe it)
of this who-knows-howmany-part series where I have
started at the beginning of
the journals/milk crates/digital
information and shared random
small tidbits gathered over the
last 13 plus years of listening
and writing about the Parish.
There are many first
sentences that have developed
into stories from St. Andrew’s
Parish. Some are short and
sweet and to the point. Others
are long threads that weave
through the time, place and
fabric of the Parish. Elements
of stories fill five journals, two
milk crates and over 10 GB of
digital information. Some of
the elements have developed
into the 170-plus West Ashley
Flashback columns. And yet
there are stories still waiting
to be discovered. Most of the
stories have demonstrated that
the six-degrees of separation
theory is more like two degrees
of separation when it comes to
St. Andrew’s Parish.
We continue in the fourth
journal that contains the
threads, tidbits, and urban
legends collected after the
publication of West Ashley, a
then new title in the Arcadia
Publishing Images of America
series.
• But first, there were a few nice
emails after the West Ashley
Flashback with tidbits about the
POW camp on Colony Drive:
• “My father was born in
1934.........born and raised in
Windermere. He used to tell us
a story about him walking up
to the prisoner camp one time
and he left his broken watch
with one of the prisoners. The
prisoner fixed the watch and
my dad got it back. It seems that
I remember my grandparents
weren’t too happy!”
•“I saw your article about the
camp. I lived in Avondale right
next to the camp in the 50’s.
My friends and I spent lots of
time playing in the camp. There
was also a family that lived on
the property as caretakers. My
parents, Maxwel and Dorothy
CONTINUED ON PAGE 19 ...
A Postcard featuring the Lord Ashley Motel. The motel
advertised: 2 1/2 miles from the heart of the city on
Savannah Highway, 38 air conditioned rooms, tile baths, TVs
both black and white and color, pool, restaurant on premise.
(Courtesy of Charlie Smith)
Skeet competitions were held on the west bank of the
Ashley River. W.O. “Sammie” Bootle was known for three
things: competitive skeet shooting, hunting and barbecue.
The photographer caught his aiming pose.
(Photograph courtesy of Ina Bootle)