5/10/07

Quilt proceeds will go to paint new murals
By Brian Jarvis

BRIAN JARVIS/Manning Times

Donald Hardy holds up the quilt he won from a drawing sponsored by the Swamp Fox Murals Trail Society. At left is Nell Black.

For a beautiful hand-sewn quilt decked out in colonial blue and meadow morning, $20 wasn’t a bad investment.

After purchasing two dozen tickets last year at a drawing sponsored by the Swamp Fox Murals Trail Society, insurance agent Donald Hardy could hardly believe his number came up.

“I was excited,” said Hardy, who plans to display the quilt in his home before giving it to 11-month-old grandson Landon. “I think it’s something great that will go to a well-deserved cause.”

Crafted by the Clarendon Heart-in-Hand Quilting Club, the quilt capped off a yearlong fundraiser aimed to continue the celebration of the Revolutionary War history of the area.

Murals Society president George Summers said the money would go to paint murals; the next will feature the Redcoats fighting the Patriots.

“It was demonstrative of the county coming together,” Summers said. “We sold tickets in all three districts and outside of Clarendon too.”

In the last five years, the Murals Society has sponsored 14 murals across the walls of various local businesses and buildings.

“Among other mural societies, we’re one of the fastest growing,” Summers said.

“We know that it brings in visitors,” added Summers’ wife Carole. “They call us all the time wanting more information, and they send us pictures that we put on our web site.”

Society member Nell Black said that between the 2006 Striped Bass Festival and 2007, they sold more than 2,000 tickets and raised nearly $2,400.

“We’ve worked hard,” she said. “But it’s really brought history alive for me.”

Quilters who worked on the project include Betty Rogers, Thomasyne Martin, Evelyn Blascak, Cathy Good, Debbie Stacy, Monika King and Carolyn Meistrell.