Post by Brian on Jun 8, 2009 0:42:52 GMT -5
01/24/07 at 10:34 PM
tarheel
this is a continuation of the Post that I started called MEMORIES!
several have asked me to tel the rest of it...so here it is as best as i can remember...
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Peg and I left Winston-Salem in 1967 after I was offered a Job on the production crew at WSOC-TV in
Charlotte.N.C.
We lived and worked there for 22 years before returning home.
I took an offer to work at WGHP-TV NEWS.in High Point,N.C, and that was long before it was bought by the Fox
Network
and then became FOX 8 NEWS!
Anyway,after living in High Point for the first couple of years,we found a neat place in Rural Hall.N.C.
After moving there somehow the Lawson Family tragedy came up in conversation one day and i knew that we lived very close to the Brook Cove highway and highway 8 intersection!
I drove out there one day with my son and Peggi.
We found the cemetary and the graves of the Lawson family!
I had never told the story to my son Kevin nor my wife Peggi,before this day!
While standing there gazing at the large grave plot,Peggi turned to me and asked that we leave because she felt 'creepy* standing there looking at all of this as I told them about the terrible tragedy'
Well,we left and i got to thinking how i wished that i could produce a news story about the Lawson tragedy,because i knew the folks in our news room at channel 8, were mostly from out of town and knew nothing about what had taken place near here on Christmas Day, 1929!
That moment there stayed with me the rest of the year and as the Chnstmas Holidays were fast approachng that year in 1988, I tossed and tumbled many nights trying to figure out how to do the story...
So,one Saturday morning I got up and told Peggi that I was going to take the day to go over to Germanton and see if i could find anyone who could steer me in the right direction to produce the story!
(we are talking about a minute and a half hero for a tv news story and how i could tell the entire story in that lenghth of time!)
While driving through Germanton, i stopped at the little Exon grocery store and gas station that was smack in the middle of the town!
The store is now a used car lot office!
Anyway,I went inside and pulled up a chair and sat by the ole pot belly stove with my feet propped up on an
old straight back cane bottom chair!
Only a handful of folks were there and I finally introduced myself to the gentleman behind the counter!
I remember asking him if he knew of anyone who could put me touch with any of the Lawson relatives and if they would talk to me about Charlie!
He reached under the counter and pulled out an old Stokes County newspaper dated December 30, 1929!
There in bold letters was the headline about the tragedy!
My heart pounded as i read it and then i asked the gentleman if i could photograph the paper with my news camera!
"Be my guest!' he responded!
Wow! I was excited to say the least!
Then he told me about Claude Lawson and how to find his home on highway 8!
I couldn't believe all of this so quick!
Anyway.i drove up highway 8,pulled into the driveway,knocked on the door and Claude Lawson opened the door!
Again, i introduced myself and explained what i was wanting to do and before i could finish he was already telling me how he and some folks were out hunting that day and...
"Wait! please...may I get my eqiupment and you tell me on camera what happened?'
Dang,i was so excited!
I knew If i let him continue,he would never say it the same way again with the camera rolling!
(something you learn right away in the news business!)
I took my equipment into his living room and sat my camera on the tripod!
Because there was so much daylight coming through the windows,! didn't bother to set up any of the lights that are usually used in tv news stones!
Besides,the lights would be hot and he would feel uncomfortable sitting there with bright lights shinning in his face!
So i clipped a micrphone on him and sat down beside my camera and very gently asked Mr.Claude Lawson to me the story of how he and his hunting friends stopped at Charlie Lawson's home that fateful Christmas Day,1929!
The interview was amazing,
He was so relaxed and at ease, it was like he had been waiting for me to show up to tell me his story!
I couldn't believe what i had found here with little effort at all!
After the interview i was packing up me gear and he mentioned the recording of the song,'the ballad of Charlie Lawson" or whatever it was called then!
He went to his closet,opened it up and pulled out the old 78 rpm record and showed it to me.
Holding it by the edge of the record,i almost had a heart attack for fear that it would break into at that moment!
So i asked him if he had a record player so that i could listen to it and record it for my story!
Again he went back to the closet and pulled out and old table model of a 78 rpm record player...but he told me that the plug was broken!
Like a flash, i ran out to my car, got some of my tools and raced back inside his home and sat down and repaired the broken plug to the record player!
He played the song and i recorded the sound and video of the record as it played!
As I was about to leave, his grandson pulled up in the driveway.
Being curious as to what was going on. i quickly told him who i was and what i was doing!
Then i asked hm if he knew where Charlie's old homeplace was located!
It was then that i found out for the first time that the onginal home did not exist anymore!
but...he told me about an old log cabin down in the woods across the road...somewhere behind the baptist church that was across the road from his grandfathers home!
i had an old coat and big hat that i was going to use myself to record some video of a 'Charlie Lawson' type person walking through the woods ...i needed lots of re-creation video to help tell the story!
The grandson's wife was with him too and she even played a part for mo too, but it did not make my story!
But i did get video of the grandson walking through the woods wearing my old coat and my old hat pulled down over his eyes and he even had a shotgun that he earned in his arms!
It really enhanced the video of him and walking through the woods and entering the old log cabin that we used for the home of Charlie Lawson!
when i finished that day.I was exhausted ...not from the work.but from the excitement over how everything just fell into place for me that day...
How everything and everywhere i went that day just seemed to be waiting for me as if to say..."what took you so long!
we've been waiting a long time!*
l know it sounds crazy.but i would not have traded that day for anythmg at all!
And so using some of the old photos of the scene that was given to me on another assignment one day(and i have no idea why the fellow gave then to me or even why i took them,because it was long before i had even thought about doing this story about Charhe Lawson and the tragedy that took place in Stokes County,Christmas Day, 1929!)
And...because it was the holidays, things were kinda slow, the editor that day gave me all the time that i needed to edit the story for the news show that Christmas season!
and...as Paul Harvey always use to say...
"And now you know, the rest of the story!"
Tarheel
01/24/07 at 11:56 PM
jackhammer
Cool story, tarheel. it does seem like everything was all in place just waiting for your presence.
Thanks tor sharing it I
Much of the evil in the world is brought about by people believing they are acting for good and nghteous reasons. -
Margaret Weiz
jackhammer
01/25/07 at 01:07 AM
cephus
That was great I enjoyed reading it thanks for posting
cephus
01/25/07 at 03:04 AM
ladebug
Thank you Tarheel for sharing that wonderful story and how it all came to be for you. It sounds like so many who have posted here have shared how this story came to be a part of there lives in a profound way. As much as it is a very tragic story it has lead so many on a journey of a more upbeat nature meeting new friends and the search as to why anything like this anywhere still can happen. Life is a journey.
Ladebug
01/25/07 at 08:30 AM
Maria
I love stories like yours Tarheel. It's as if some how it's meant for us to be reminded of that tragedy from time to time. Lest we forget. Thank you Chuck. Keep your stories and your music alive for us. And THANK YOU for at least tying to get a photo of the cabin for me. You went to quite a bit of trouble to get it and that says alot to me about the kind of man you are. You kept your word and that's enough for me. That's much more important than any photo.
Maria
01/25/07 at 10:37 AM
cpage
Wow! Sitting here reading about all this... I can't believe it! But thanks to you all it is here and real...and available for all to read. I got the first book published "Merry Christmas, Bloody Christmas" ,in 1992, and read it in 3 1/2 hrs, I just couldn't lay it down til I finished reading it. I am a Bluegrass, and ol' time musician who had heard and appreciated the "Ballad" that was played and sang about the tragedy. So when I heard there was a book published about Charlie Lawson and his family, I just had to get it and read it. Now, 15 years later, I find there is more to it than what was in that book. I have just ordered the DVD and cant wait to see it. All, these forum messages are great and especially hearing from those in the family. I appreciate the information you share, and my heart goes out to all of you from what you have experienced down through the years. Will stay tuned...carol
cpage
01/25/07 at 11:44 AM
tarheel
Thank you Maria,for your very kind words!
being a part of this forum and documentary has been another exciting journey through my life!
the most exciting part is meeting such wonderful folks as you,ladebug,matt,ehc and all their family folks too!
everytime i write something like this i'm always afraid o' offending someone for not including their names here!
please be assured that every name connected here in this project,has been a real exciting Journey and blessing to me!
warm regards,
tarheel
01/25/07 at 01:52PM
sissy
1 would just like to add that i enjoyed your story too.
sissy
01/25/07 at 04:30 PM
douglasboulding
hi tarhill i liked your story very much to. i have talked to Claude many times at family gatherings he is a great guy just a good old stokes co boy. the kind of people i love to be around wish there more like him. again thanks doug
keneth d boulding
tarheel
this is a continuation of the Post that I started called MEMORIES!
several have asked me to tel the rest of it...so here it is as best as i can remember...
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Peg and I left Winston-Salem in 1967 after I was offered a Job on the production crew at WSOC-TV in
Charlotte.N.C.
We lived and worked there for 22 years before returning home.
I took an offer to work at WGHP-TV NEWS.in High Point,N.C, and that was long before it was bought by the Fox
Network
and then became FOX 8 NEWS!
Anyway,after living in High Point for the first couple of years,we found a neat place in Rural Hall.N.C.
After moving there somehow the Lawson Family tragedy came up in conversation one day and i knew that we lived very close to the Brook Cove highway and highway 8 intersection!
I drove out there one day with my son and Peggi.
We found the cemetary and the graves of the Lawson family!
I had never told the story to my son Kevin nor my wife Peggi,before this day!
While standing there gazing at the large grave plot,Peggi turned to me and asked that we leave because she felt 'creepy* standing there looking at all of this as I told them about the terrible tragedy'
Well,we left and i got to thinking how i wished that i could produce a news story about the Lawson tragedy,because i knew the folks in our news room at channel 8, were mostly from out of town and knew nothing about what had taken place near here on Christmas Day, 1929!
That moment there stayed with me the rest of the year and as the Chnstmas Holidays were fast approachng that year in 1988, I tossed and tumbled many nights trying to figure out how to do the story...
So,one Saturday morning I got up and told Peggi that I was going to take the day to go over to Germanton and see if i could find anyone who could steer me in the right direction to produce the story!
(we are talking about a minute and a half hero for a tv news story and how i could tell the entire story in that lenghth of time!)
While driving through Germanton, i stopped at the little Exon grocery store and gas station that was smack in the middle of the town!
The store is now a used car lot office!
Anyway,I went inside and pulled up a chair and sat by the ole pot belly stove with my feet propped up on an
old straight back cane bottom chair!
Only a handful of folks were there and I finally introduced myself to the gentleman behind the counter!
I remember asking him if he knew of anyone who could put me touch with any of the Lawson relatives and if they would talk to me about Charlie!
He reached under the counter and pulled out an old Stokes County newspaper dated December 30, 1929!
There in bold letters was the headline about the tragedy!
My heart pounded as i read it and then i asked the gentleman if i could photograph the paper with my news camera!
"Be my guest!' he responded!
Wow! I was excited to say the least!
Then he told me about Claude Lawson and how to find his home on highway 8!
I couldn't believe all of this so quick!
Anyway.i drove up highway 8,pulled into the driveway,knocked on the door and Claude Lawson opened the door!
Again, i introduced myself and explained what i was wanting to do and before i could finish he was already telling me how he and some folks were out hunting that day and...
"Wait! please...may I get my eqiupment and you tell me on camera what happened?'
Dang,i was so excited!
I knew If i let him continue,he would never say it the same way again with the camera rolling!
(something you learn right away in the news business!)
I took my equipment into his living room and sat my camera on the tripod!
Because there was so much daylight coming through the windows,! didn't bother to set up any of the lights that are usually used in tv news stones!
Besides,the lights would be hot and he would feel uncomfortable sitting there with bright lights shinning in his face!
So i clipped a micrphone on him and sat down beside my camera and very gently asked Mr.Claude Lawson to me the story of how he and his hunting friends stopped at Charlie Lawson's home that fateful Christmas Day,1929!
The interview was amazing,
He was so relaxed and at ease, it was like he had been waiting for me to show up to tell me his story!
I couldn't believe what i had found here with little effort at all!
After the interview i was packing up me gear and he mentioned the recording of the song,'the ballad of Charlie Lawson" or whatever it was called then!
He went to his closet,opened it up and pulled out the old 78 rpm record and showed it to me.
Holding it by the edge of the record,i almost had a heart attack for fear that it would break into at that moment!
So i asked him if he had a record player so that i could listen to it and record it for my story!
Again he went back to the closet and pulled out and old table model of a 78 rpm record player...but he told me that the plug was broken!
Like a flash, i ran out to my car, got some of my tools and raced back inside his home and sat down and repaired the broken plug to the record player!
He played the song and i recorded the sound and video of the record as it played!
As I was about to leave, his grandson pulled up in the driveway.
Being curious as to what was going on. i quickly told him who i was and what i was doing!
Then i asked hm if he knew where Charlie's old homeplace was located!
It was then that i found out for the first time that the onginal home did not exist anymore!
but...he told me about an old log cabin down in the woods across the road...somewhere behind the baptist church that was across the road from his grandfathers home!
i had an old coat and big hat that i was going to use myself to record some video of a 'Charlie Lawson' type person walking through the woods ...i needed lots of re-creation video to help tell the story!
The grandson's wife was with him too and she even played a part for mo too, but it did not make my story!
But i did get video of the grandson walking through the woods wearing my old coat and my old hat pulled down over his eyes and he even had a shotgun that he earned in his arms!
It really enhanced the video of him and walking through the woods and entering the old log cabin that we used for the home of Charlie Lawson!
when i finished that day.I was exhausted ...not from the work.but from the excitement over how everything just fell into place for me that day...
How everything and everywhere i went that day just seemed to be waiting for me as if to say..."what took you so long!
we've been waiting a long time!*
l know it sounds crazy.but i would not have traded that day for anythmg at all!
And so using some of the old photos of the scene that was given to me on another assignment one day(and i have no idea why the fellow gave then to me or even why i took them,because it was long before i had even thought about doing this story about Charhe Lawson and the tragedy that took place in Stokes County,Christmas Day, 1929!)
And...because it was the holidays, things were kinda slow, the editor that day gave me all the time that i needed to edit the story for the news show that Christmas season!
and...as Paul Harvey always use to say...
"And now you know, the rest of the story!"
Tarheel
01/24/07 at 11:56 PM
jackhammer
Cool story, tarheel. it does seem like everything was all in place just waiting for your presence.
Thanks tor sharing it I
Much of the evil in the world is brought about by people believing they are acting for good and nghteous reasons. -
Margaret Weiz
jackhammer
01/25/07 at 01:07 AM
cephus
That was great I enjoyed reading it thanks for posting
cephus
01/25/07 at 03:04 AM
ladebug
Thank you Tarheel for sharing that wonderful story and how it all came to be for you. It sounds like so many who have posted here have shared how this story came to be a part of there lives in a profound way. As much as it is a very tragic story it has lead so many on a journey of a more upbeat nature meeting new friends and the search as to why anything like this anywhere still can happen. Life is a journey.
Ladebug
01/25/07 at 08:30 AM
Maria
I love stories like yours Tarheel. It's as if some how it's meant for us to be reminded of that tragedy from time to time. Lest we forget. Thank you Chuck. Keep your stories and your music alive for us. And THANK YOU for at least tying to get a photo of the cabin for me. You went to quite a bit of trouble to get it and that says alot to me about the kind of man you are. You kept your word and that's enough for me. That's much more important than any photo.
Maria
01/25/07 at 10:37 AM
cpage
Wow! Sitting here reading about all this... I can't believe it! But thanks to you all it is here and real...and available for all to read. I got the first book published "Merry Christmas, Bloody Christmas" ,in 1992, and read it in 3 1/2 hrs, I just couldn't lay it down til I finished reading it. I am a Bluegrass, and ol' time musician who had heard and appreciated the "Ballad" that was played and sang about the tragedy. So when I heard there was a book published about Charlie Lawson and his family, I just had to get it and read it. Now, 15 years later, I find there is more to it than what was in that book. I have just ordered the DVD and cant wait to see it. All, these forum messages are great and especially hearing from those in the family. I appreciate the information you share, and my heart goes out to all of you from what you have experienced down through the years. Will stay tuned...carol
cpage
01/25/07 at 11:44 AM
tarheel
Thank you Maria,for your very kind words!
being a part of this forum and documentary has been another exciting journey through my life!
the most exciting part is meeting such wonderful folks as you,ladebug,matt,ehc and all their family folks too!
everytime i write something like this i'm always afraid o' offending someone for not including their names here!
please be assured that every name connected here in this project,has been a real exciting Journey and blessing to me!
warm regards,
tarheel
01/25/07 at 01:52PM
sissy
1 would just like to add that i enjoyed your story too.
sissy
01/25/07 at 04:30 PM
douglasboulding
hi tarhill i liked your story very much to. i have talked to Claude many times at family gatherings he is a great guy just a good old stokes co boy. the kind of people i love to be around wish there more like him. again thanks doug
keneth d boulding