It’s been a couple of weekends of past, present and future for Clarendon County.

The Clarendon County Chamber of Commerce Retreat was held weekend before last in Hilton Head where people interested in the present and future of Clarendon County gathered. Last weekend the County’s Sesquicentennial celebration kicked off in Paxville, where a “standing room only” crowd gathered to talk about the past.

A yearlong celebration started Sunday at the Paxville Baptist Church. Carol and I rushed back from spending the night in Charleston so I could witness this event and so she could start to work on the Tuesday edition of the Times Extra.

I have to admit, as I was driving to Paxville, I was wishing I could stay at home and watch Atlanta beat up on the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFL Championships. But after it was all said and done, I was glad I was able to squeeze into the packed Paxville church to learn and be entertained.

Sesqui Chairwoman (and neighbor) Margaret Jackson, Clarendon County Historical Society President (and great friend) Jerry Robertson and Paxville Mayor Jamie Corbett (and his legion of enthusiastic Paxvillians) had put together a marvelous show. Two hours zoomed by.

I’ve always had a deep respect and admiration for Jim Black, but after watching him emcee the festivities Sunday that admiration has grown … again. He was smooth, charming, funny and friendly. I don’t really know why I was surprised. I had just never seen him in that role. Now I know where Jeffrey got his stage presence.

Keynote speaker Ervin Duggan, who grew up in small town Manning and left to achieve great fame, prestige and I only assume fortune, delivered a message about growing up in small town America that would make any city folk envious, and confirm what every person who grew up in a small town already knows.

Carol and I grew up in the small town Duggan described. It wasn’t Manning, but it was the same small town Duggan portrayed. He talked about everyone knowing your business, the good, bad and ugly, because everyone knew you.

He talked about when he had made a tackle in a Pee Wee football game and got his name in The Manning Times. He said that his sons, who were much more accomplished and skilled athletes growing up in suburbia D.C., never got their names in the paper (The Washington Post) because they (The Post) just didn’t cover things like that.

His story got me to thinking about why I had abandoned the suit I wore every day while working for the big city daily and at the newspaper’s corporate offices. I found comfort in the realization that the small town paper like The Manning Times had much greater impact in my community than The Montgomery (Ala.) Advertiser I had once worked for had in its community.

You can hide at the big city daily never having to face the people who your words affect. When you put your words in The Manning Times (as Managing Editor Cathy Gilbert has discovered as of late) you have to be very careful. Sometimes you can mean one thing, and a group of people in your community can interpret it in their own way, totally missing your point. Words created with ink on newsprint are a powerful (and expensive) proposition, especially in a small town where most everyone knows your name (and face).

Another highlight of the afternoon was when Earle Rowland talked about the characteristics of small town Paxville. He described, “been yeas” and “come yeas” (forgive the spelling…that’s what it sounded like to me…”been here” and “come here”). This is true in every small community in America. Lord knows, Carol and I have lived happily in many across this land and it was the same everywhere.

Rowland went on to explain that “been yeas” were born and raised and in a community and “come yeas” moved in to a community. “Been yeas” could move someplace and become a “come yeas.” But no matter how long a “come yeas” lived in a small town, they could never, ever, under any circumstance, become a “been yeas.”

As I was leaving the celebration, I ran into Sen. John and Marie Land. John jokingly and proudly proclaimed, “I’m a “been yeas.” Marie, with a smile, exclaimed she was a “come yeas.” At that moment, I realized I was something completely different. I’m a “stay yeas.” All three “yeas” in this community are pretty good.