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All ye "Old Timer" Blufftonians!!

It is with great sadness to tell you that a Bluffton icon has recently passed away (July 26th). She was just shy of 97 years young. My granny, Mary Wright, was Bluffton's first librarian. She and her very good friend, Mimi Gordon, started our beloved library out of the back of her car. My granny would be seen walking everywhere all through town "getting her excercise" and absolutely refused rides from anyone who tried to offer her one. lol

If any of you "old-timer" Blufftonians would like to share your memories of Mrs. Wright, please feel free to do so here. Poorboy and Localboy, I know you have plenty of stories to tell!!!

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Kimburrkay
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Kimburrkay 07/28/07 - 08:14 am
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Great loss

Sorry to hear of your loss- and from the sounds of it- Bluffton's loss. I'm sure your Grandma held many stories to the history of Bluffton and from

Singer
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Singer 07/28/07 - 09:16 am
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My condolences

I too am sorry for your loss. She sounds like quite a lady! I can't wait to hear more stories.

teveringham
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teveringham 07/28/07 - 09:56 am
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Sorry to hear about your 'granny' Istrait

From your description she had to be a very special individual and it is understandable that she will be missed. However I am certain she has entered a new chapter of existance that has no expiration date. I am confident that you realize that your loss is heaven's gain. Her service to her fellow beings will be rewarded.

momoffour
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momoffour 07/28/07 - 11:09 am
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jstrait--did she attend the

jstrait--did she attend the Church of the Cross on Calhoun street up until about 5 or 6 years ago?

Doxielover
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Doxielover 07/28/07 - 12:32 pm
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My condolences too.

I am sorry for your loss, jstrait. She lived a long and, I am sure, wonderful life. She will be missed, but she left a great legacy for our town.

thedudewalter
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thedudewalter 07/28/07 - 01:24 pm
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Very sorry for your loss,

Very sorry for your loss, jstrait.
my mom's getting up there, and i try to keep an eye on her from down here...
God bless.

"Darkness warshed over the Dude - darker'n a black steer's tookus on a moonless prairie night. There was no bottom."

CarolineJ
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CarolineJ 07/28/07 - 02:05 pm
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I remember your grandmother well

I remember when the Wrights moved to Bluffton with the four children. She was a lovely lady and I am fond of your entire family. My sincere condolences.
Caroline

poorboy
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poorboy 07/28/07 - 03:12 pm
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Lookout Caroline J,

you are just before telling your age. LOL. I believe The Wrights moved to Bluffton in 1948. I think Julie's mother was in the ninth grade that year. Boy, I am going to be in BIG TROUBLE now. LOL. Mr and Mrs. Wright and there lovely family was certainly a great addition to our small community. I have pictures of there wood sided vehicle that they drove, it was real wood too. My family, send our sympathy and condolences to all of the wright family, during this sad time. If I remember correctly after my school days, Mrs Wright was the librarian for the Bluffton High School for a period of time too. Mrs Wright will be remembered and missed by all that knew her.

jstrait
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jstrait 07/28/07 - 03:50 pm
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My granny

was a special lady. She made sure we were always acting like "ladies" when were at her house (at least while we were in earshot range ROFL). It wasn't "proper" for ladies to go sliding down the stairs in our Sunday best dresses and dared not roll our eyes or laugh when she gave us that "look" when we we were caught doing "naughty things". We were to sit in the living room and "listen" to whatever she had to say (yawn LOL). She was a very intelligent person and had every kind of book imaginable in her house. Never a dull moment when we were there.

Poorboy, boy, oh boy, are you in T-R-O-U-B-L-E!!!!! Giving away your age like that! ROFLMKO You are correct, she was the librarian also for Bluffton High.

Thank you all for your very kind words.

Those who trust their own insight are foolish, but anyone who walks in wisdom are safe.

jstrait
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jstrait 07/28/07 - 03:52 pm
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momoffour

Yes, she did go to the Church of the Cross a few years ago.

Those who trust their own insight are foolish, but anyone who walks in wisdom are safe.

CarolineJ
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CarolineJ 08/03/07 - 09:55 pm
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You're right about me telling my age, Poorboy

But I think you're wrong about the year 1948. I have a Book of Common Prayer given to me by Cousin Jenny Dugger when I was confirmed at the Church of the Cross in June of 1950. She was still living there then in the house the Wrights now have, so I would say that the family probably moved to Bluffton about 1951 or 1952.

At any rate, they're certainly old-timers!

We used to catch a ride to Savannah with Mr. Wright in the old wooden station wagon and go to movies while he worked at the bank!

jstrait
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jstrait 07/28/07 - 05:31 pm
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CarolineJ

I'll call Mom in a bit and give you an exact date of "arrival" to Bluffton! LOL

Those who trust their own insight are foolish, but anyone who walks in wisdom are safe.

CarolineJ
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CarolineJ 07/28/07 - 06:01 pm
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Julie

please message me your mom's address. I would like to send her a letter. Thanks.

jstrait
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jstrait 07/28/07 - 06:04 pm
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CarolineJ

Will do, check your inbox in a minute or two.

Those who trust their own insight are foolish, but anyone who walks in wisdom are safe.

poorboy
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poorboy 07/28/07 - 06:47 pm
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CarolineJ, I stand corrected.

I was thinking of me being a freshman, instead of Julie's mother who happen to be a freshman when they moved to Bluffton. Julie's mother was a freshman in the 1951-1952 school year, and that is when they moved to Bluffton. I knew better, but I just wanted to see if anyone else would remember and correct me. LOL. I will give you an A plus on your memory test. LOL.

jstrait
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jstrait 07/28/07 - 06:59 pm
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poorboy

You are seriously OLD!!! 1952 is correct!

Those who trust their own insight are foolish, but anyone who walks in wisdom are safe.

MoodyMama
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MoodyMama 07/29/07 - 01:39 am
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I am so sorry for

your loss jstrait. But what a Dewey decimal system she'll have to work with upstairs.

Can't Dance and Too Fat to Fly

Mishamosha
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Mishamosha 07/29/07 - 06:16 am
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My condolences, JStrait

...and what a heart-warming tale of true Southern-ness! I'm sure she will be missed by so many people.
Keep sharing the stories -- I love 'em!

My deepest sympathy to your family.

Mish :)

jstrait
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jstrait 07/29/07 - 06:22 am
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Mishamosha

I remember my granny having a green VW Beetle. She would drive that thing all over and you could always hear her coming and knew to move out the way! LOL It was a manual and she could really "work" those gears, if you know what I mean:>)) Thank you for your kind words!

Those who trust their own insight are foolish, but anyone who walks in wisdom are safe.

jstrait
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jstrait 07/29/07 - 04:02 pm
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Mrs. Wright's burial

is August 11th at 10 AM at Bonadventure Cemetary in Savannah, Georgia, for those who are interested.

Those who trust their own insight are foolish, but anyone who walks in wisdom are safe.

momoffour
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momoffour 07/29/07 - 05:57 pm
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my mother in law used to sit

my mother in law used to sit in the pew with her at church. And I can remember her too. She left after about a year or two after we started going back. My prayers to you and your family.
Is that date correct? August 11th?

jstrait
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jstrait 07/29/07 - 06:02 pm
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yes, momoffour

August 11th at 10, Bonadventure Cemetary in Savannah.

Those who trust their own insight are foolish, but anyone who walks in wisdom are safe.

infomaniac
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infomaniac 07/30/07 - 05:14 pm
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It looked funny to me...

Bonaventure...Good fortune, not adventure

Bonaventure \b(o)-naventu-re, bon(a)-ven-ture\ is of Latin origin, and its meaning is "good fortune". The Italian Saint Bonaventure was a 13th-century cardinal who, in spite of his great learning, was modest and practical. He was known as "the Seraphic Teacher".

No disrespect intended, my sympathies to your Family. Good Fortune in the afterlife.

born_in_beaufort
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born_in_beaufort 07/30/07 - 05:38 pm
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Bonaventure

Very sorry for your loss Julie. I know she will be missed by many.
That really is a neat cemetary. LOTS of history. Does your family have many plots there?

BCV

jstrait
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jstrait 07/30/07 - 06:19 pm
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thanks BiB

I'm not real sure of any other family history besides my grandparents, as I personally have not done any research. Thank you for your kind words:>)

infomaniac...none taken. I just know my granny is having a "bonne adventure" in Heaven as we speak! ROFLMKO

Choose a good reputation over great riches; being held in high esteem is better than silver or gold. Proverbs 22:1

wadleigh
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wadleigh 08/01/07 - 09:19 pm
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Mary Wright

Yes, She had been an active member of the Episcopal Church of the Cross since 1952. I am trying to put an obituary in the paper but can't figure out how to do it. Otherwise I may just put it on here! Daughter Mary

wadleigh
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wadleigh 08/01/07 - 10:08 pm
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Bonaventure Cemetery

Savannahians think of bonaventure as meaning "good trip" to a happy other world,regardless of the Latin. Yes we have an old family plot there. If anyone is coming to the burial it is in section A plot 68, the Wright plot.

Caroline, you remember well. Cousin Jenny used to walk every day down to the Ulmers'. She died and left the house to Father and then to Gus. We moved to Bluffton in February of 1952 after I recovered from having the measels, mumps and chickenpox all at the same time! We lived at Beaulieu in Savannah before that and also by Forsyth Park...well if you go far enough back..my great Grandmother was Emma Pope from Hilton Head and Bluffton...same place that is barely standing now in Bluffton was where she lived for awhile after the main house was burned in the Civil War.

Indeed we did have a wooden station wagon, affectionately know by all as "The Orange Crate". Nancy convinced my little sister Julie that it had a rabbit that lived under it because Nancy could make it "JUMP". Julie believed her. Gus wore it out on the "Old Ulmer Road" which of course was dirt then. It saw many days and nights at "The Beach". It did not retire until the floorboard was rusted through and the sides were thin :)

Father,being a banker and one of the few if only "commuters" to Savannah then, always kept to the same daily schedule. Some people would call up for a ride and some just stood on the corner and Father would pick them up to and from "Town". It was a free ride because he was going anyway and he was glad to help out. He was a wonderful Father and after his death many a person described him to me as a true gentleman. We still miss him more than forty years after his death. Mother must be so happy now that she is with him again.

It is wonderful to think back on my childhood, when Bluffton was so quiet that I could hear the shrimp jumping down the river, the oars cutting through the water at a rhythmic pace and we bought shrimp by the quart and not the pound. The town streets were crushed oyster shells and summer days were slow (especially because of no air conditioning!), but the river was grand. When I went off to school my classmates would ask me, "What do you DO in Bluffton?" My answer would be,"I watch the tide come in and the tide go out." There was no way to put that Bluffton into words and my life is much richer in quality because of it. I learned to value the worth of silence at an early age, even though I was a talkative one myself, and the unending beauty of live oaks and marshgrass. Mother loved Bluffton and Blufftonians with a passion. She will be looking out for all -even those who hid behind the auditorium curtain and smoked-cigarettes that is...She always tried to make Bluffton better and was never afraid to face change. She loved the Episcopal Church of the Cross and the singing at St John's with Bertha. She sends her love to all and she was living near her daughter Mary in North Carolina, not her son!

jstrait
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jstrait 08/02/07 - 03:58 am
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Thank you, wadleigh

from your niece!! BIG smiles:>)

Emotions are a choice...Choose yours wisely!

CarolineJ
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CarolineJ 08/03/07 - 09:53 pm
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Thanks for the rememberances, Mary

You write beautifully! I remember well when you moved to Bluffton, and of course we knew Gus before that because Cousin Jenny would bring him over to Bluffton for visits. She walked his little legs off walking down to the Ulmers through the woods. I think she only liked three people in the world - Gus, Rose Ulmer, and me! When she would occasionally go for a visit to her daughter in Arkansas, she would charge me with taking care of her flowers. Can you imagine that responsibility for a 10 year old child? I worked myself silly watering and pulling weeds and she would always bring me something back like a scarf or a handkerchief!!

peachblossom
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peachblossom 08/04/07 - 10:22 am
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Agreed, wadleigh

Agreed, wadleigh. You DO write beautifully. As a come-yah who really loves what I found here, I appreciate all the memories that people share about how things were BEFORE, but what you wrote made my eyes misty. I won't go so far as to say I envy your experiences, because I treasure my own childhood, but the romance of a different time and place is very appealing.

I'm sorry for your family's loss, of course, but am awed by the discussion of a life that is so well remembered and admired. May Mrs. Wright rest in peace in beautiful Bonaventure Cemetery.

jstrait
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jstrait 08/04/07 - 10:46 am
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favorite pastimes

To this day, my favorite pastime is to sit and watch the tides turn. Sounds boring to most, but it is the most ultimate relaxing thing in the world to do.

Emotions are a choice...Choose yours wisely!

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