The Bluffton Eccentric was the first and only newspaper the town of Bluffton has had in fifty years. We felt such a kinship with them that we asked Graham Bullock, publisher of The Bluffton Eccentric, if we could resurrect articles from previous issues and republish them. Graham graciously gave his permission and loaned us volumes of old papers. It has been a treat for me to read them and it is with great honor that I get to share them with everyone again. So, kick back, relax and get ready for a blast from the past. Wandering about town... Where no news is Big News
Written by Graham Bullock, Bluffton Eccentric 1989
walked into the Bluffton Pharmacy last week to re-new my prescription
for blood pressure medicine and remembered what I had read
recently about beta blockers. What’s that you say? You thought a job
like publishing a weekly newspaper would be easy on the old veins? Hardly. Take a teaspoon of stress, add
a weekly dose of Rotary breakfast, and look what happens. Besides, in today’s socioeconomic world half the
people over thirty are on some type of blood pressure medicine, the other half are afraid to see a doctor.
So I mentioned to my older brother, Jim Sauter, the local pharmacist, that I had read where beta blockers are thought to contribute to premature heart failure.”Really,” he said, “I’ve never heard anything about that,” and continued to fill out my prescription.
About that time I heard a familiar voice behind me. I turned and saw an old friend of mine asking Patty Simoneaux for some playing cards. I hadn’t seen this fellow in years and shouted his name across the store. He looked bewildered, so I walked up to him, extended my hand and re-introduced myself. It was an embarrassing case if mistaken identity, he didn’t know me from Adam. I apologized for making a scene and walked back to the counter to get my prescription.
As I turned to pick up my little bottle of pills, Jim, without missing a beat, picked up where our conversation left off and said, “but I have heard that beta blockers impair your ability to recognize old friends.” Nothing like a smart-aleck older brother to start your day.
Continuing to wander
Blount Shepard says he may be guilty of spreading a rumor around town. Not a nasty rumor, in fact it is a rumor that makes good sense to me. Blount is the project director of Beaufort County Schools and, more specifically, is in charge of the construction of the new Michael C. Riley Elementary School on the McCracken Middle School site. The rumor going around is that Blount may try to save part of McCracken Middle School for a minitown government complex. I n the original plans it was to be completely leveled after it is vacated. The sixth grade building, including the 300 seat auditorium, the part of the school which sits on the corner of Alljoy Road and Pritchard Street, would be an ideal spot for a new town hall and administration office. Of particular interest is the auditorium. With a little work, it would be an absolutely ideal spot to hold public meetings. The rest of the building could be used for desperately needed storage, since there is no place to store public school items this side of the Broad River. The physical location of that building would nit interfere with the planned growth of the Michael C. riley, since that school will grow towards Bruin road and the new post office. There is a small contingency that wants to keep the old gymnasium as well, but Blount says that building is too old and would cost too much money to fix, that it is better if it comes down. Besides we have a perfectly good gymnasium at the Bluffton recreation center.
Continuing to wander
Now that the new town council election is over and Laura Floyd is in office, I can tell you something that was
pointed out to us last week. Islander hank Cram said he saw Laura after the annual Christmas parade last Sunday,
walking down the parade route picking up trash left by paraders and people. As this is not a required duty
for rookie town council people, Hank thought the effort by Laura was worth noting. It is not known how many
voters saw Laura in her clean up effort but it can be said that Bluffton has elected to town council someone
who really cares about the town.
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