1970 Tigers Take on Rival Landrum

It had been a long time - Tryon did not beat a rival during the 1969 football season. Landrum's visit to Harmon Field was met with much anticipation. In what was probably a turn around for the season, the game was literally over mid-way through the first quarter. The Tigers completely dominated the Landrum Cardinals and went on to a 42 to 6 victory. You can read the newspaper clips of the game by clicking here.

The Asheville paper had this to say, "although plagued with inexperience and a lack of size (Tryon), are according to head coach Elmo Neal, "displaying plenty of hustle and putting out 100 per cent this year." Tryon is 3-1 and leading the Parkway Conference with two league victories.
The Tigers backfield is led by 165-pound hard running fullback Ken Warrington who is the teams leading ground gainer. Neal also cited the Tryon defense as doing a good job. "They put us in position to score three times against Landrum and allowed only 2 of 15 passes to be completed for 8 yards", noted Neal.

Ain't No Mountain High Enough by Diana Ross made it to the top of the charts as the Tigers Looked toward perennial power Hendersonville's visit to Harmon Field for next weeks game.

Toy museum opens, lets Tryon play on its 125th birthday

NC town celebrates anniversary with parade, other festivities

By Jessica Goodman
NYT Regional Media Group

Published: Sunday, September 5, 2010 at 3:15 a.m.
Last Modified: Sunday, September 5, 2010 at 12:40 a.m.

TRYON, N.C.

The hand-carved wooden toys and items adorned the small house, seemingly cut into the side of a hill near downtown Tryon. The house, completed in 1925, was home to the Tryon Toymakers and Woodcarvers group, who created toys and other items from 1915 until 1940.

“The amount of history this building holds is just incredible,” museum director Nathan Galloway said.

The Toy Maker’s House Museum opened this weekend in conjunction with the town of Tryon’s 125th birthday celebration held Saturday. Showcasing the history of the group, the house had on display many of the craft items from the guild.

“This was the gallery space and the office building,” Galloway said. Another building behind the house served as a workshop.

Toy making came to Tryon with two women, Eleanor Vance and Charlotte Yale. The women, who helped found Biltmore Estate Industries with the backing of Edith Vanderbilt, came to Tryon in 1915. They started the Tryon Toymakers and Woodcarvers, which taught children and adults the art of toymaking and wood carving.

“Teaching them a craft gave them jobs,” Galloway said. “Tryon Toymakers and Woodcarvers, literally, their pieces span the world.”

The mantel around the fireplace of the small house at 43 E. Howard St. showed the intricacy of the art, with interlacing leaves, flowers and vines.

“Looking up at the rafters, the crossbeams — they certainly don’t make them like this anymore,” Galloway said.

Pieces were either donated or loaned to the museum, including a delicately painted set of Goldilocks and the Three Bears toy set.

Morris the Horse, the mascot of Tryon, originally was created by a student of Vance and Yale. Galloway explained the original Morris was 17 feet tall and was built in 1928 for the Tryon Riding & Hunt Club. He was an enlarged version of one of the group’s toy horses. The original Morris was destroyed in a fire, and a reconstructed one now stands in downtown Tryon.

The opening of the museum was part of the 125th birthday celebration of Tryon. The city of Tryon, granted a charter from the State Legislature in 1885, was incorporated into Polk County.

The anniversary was celebrated Saturday morning with a parade down the center of Main Street. Other activities included a Friday morning golf tournament. On Saturday at Harmon Field, the Tryon Arts & Crafts displayed local arts and crafts, and an African-American exhibit will be displayed in the Shops of Tryon on Trade Street.

Tryon's Lake Lanier Written up in Gainesville Paper

Greetings from the ‘other’ Lake Lanier S.C. reservoir not as big as its Georgia cousin, but a happy home for lake dwellers

	By Jeff Gilljgill@gainesvilletimes.com

	POSTED: September 5, 2010 12:30 a.m.

	South Carolina's Lake Lanier A visit to Lake Lanier's smaller namesake in South Carolina near Tryon, N.C. TOM REED/The Times With about six miles around the shoreline, Lake Lanier in South Carolina is much smaller than Northeast Georgia's Lake Lanier. View Larger View More » 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 TRYON, N.C. — Hogback Mountain rises in the distance. Sounds from nature fill the air, occasionally broken by the sound of a car passing by on the curvy Lakeshore Drive. Welcome to the other Lake Lanier, a tranquil community in upstate South Carolina, bounded by the historic village of Tryon, N.C. "It's like stepping back a little bit in time, watching the kids skiing and swimming and just having good, old-fashioned fun," said Patty Otto, treasurer of the Lake Lanier Civic Association for homeowners around the lake. The private man-made lake dates to 1925, preceding by some 30 years the North Georgia reservoir by the same name. It was part of a project started by the Tryon Development Company. A set of aging plaques embedded in original stone pillars at the community entrance gives that brief history. Initial business was brisk, with some $1.6 million in land sales taking place in the summer of 1925. "People were flocking here from Atlanta and Charlotte to buy lots," said Otto, owner of the Lake Lanier Tea House restaurant, which doubled as a sales office in those early days. In its heyday, the Tea House was a popular stop for famous folk traveling through the scenic area. Presidents Dwight D. Eisenhower, Richard Nixon and Bill Clinton dined there, along with such celebrities as actor David Niven and author F. Scott Fitzgerald. "There used to be cabins around, as well," Otto said. "On the end where the (restaurant's) bar is now, there was a bathhouse in the 1930s. People would pay 50 cents and swim here all day." During World War II, soldiers would visit before being shipped overseas. "And then, when they came back, the boys would get off at the Tryon or Landrum (S.C.) depot, and their first trip would be up here at the Tea House," Otto said. "I'm told they would come up and throw their uniforms and medals, everything, right in the water." Lake Lanier also was the longtime home of a Boy Scout camp. Several structures remain from those days, including the rustic dining hall and a tall diving tower extending over the water. Allen Smith, president of the civic association, grew up going to the lake, including attending the Scout camp. "Every time I went swimming over here as a kid, my mother would tell me to be careful where I jumped in," he said. "She would say, ‘They just cut the trees (when building the lake). They didn't drag them out.'" Over the years, all the lots on the 6-mile shoreline were bought, with most residents building homes at - or over - water's edge. Today, some 300 families call Lake Lanier home, with nearly half of them belonging to the civic association. "The town of Tryon controls what's built over the waterbed, and they own the lake bottom," Smith said. "I don't think they own the water, but they have a right to it once it crosses the dam." Tryon uses Lake Lanier as its main water source. Lakeview Drive encircles the community, following the contours of the lake and crossing the dam, which breached in 1926. Photographs of the disaster hang in the Tea House, along with pictures from other eras. Georgia's Lake Lanier, which hugs shoreline in Hall and several surrounding counties, traces its roots to the River and Harbor Act, which was approved by Congress in 1946. The law authorized "a multiple purpose dam on the Chattahoochee River at Buford in the interest of navigation, flood control and power and water supply." A groundbreaking ceremony was held on March 1, 1950, on the Buford Dam. Work on the main earthen dam, as well as three saddle dikes, powerhouse and road improvements, took five years to complete. Gates at the intake structure were closed so that the lake could start to fill. Two years later, the lake reached full pool. A dedication ceremony was held on Oct. 9, 1957. Unlike its South Carolina counterpart, much of its history would be marked by controversy. Georgia, Alabama and Florida have been embroiled in lawsuits over the use of water in Lanier, with a federal judge ruling last year that it couldn't be used as a municipal drinking source. Both lakes draw their name from Sidney Lanier, who was born in Macon and died in Lynn, N.C., just outside Tryon. The house where Lanier died of tuberculosis still stands, a private residence with historic markers facing Lynn Road. A plaque in a stone monument declares Lanier as "the beloved poet of the South." Beyond their rich histories, the two lakes differ widely in physical comparison. Lanier in North Georgia covers about 38,000 acres and stands at nearly 1,070 feet above sea level (1,071 feet is full pool). South Carolina's Lanier contains about 140 acres of water and is about 50 feet deep at its deepest. The deck across the road from the Tea House overlooks a depth of about 20 feet, Otto said. The two-year drought that throttled much of the Southeast drained Lanier in Georgia to about 1,050 feet above sea level. Lanier in South Carolina dropped by 6 to 8 inches. Georgia's Lake Lanier, which is operated by the U.S. Corps of Army Engineers, draws hundreds of thousands of visitors per year. During a weekday boat tour of South Carolina's Lanier, no other craft hit the waters, despite bright blue skies and warm temperatures. Forget the crowds, though. Those who live on the lake swear by its laid-back, neighborly lifestyle and friendly atmosphere. Ellen Delehanty, 88, grew up on the lake, then went on to live for a while in California. On a trip back home in the mid-1970s, she said she was ready to come back. As she and her husband "were riding our bicycles around the lake, I stuck my head through a broken window of this place and thought it was pretty nice," Delehanty said, looking back at her home. The couple returned to California, then packed their bags for South Carolina. "I call this God's country," said Delehanty, who grew up on the lake and has lived the past 33 years there. "My children said, ‘Well, mother, God made it all.' I said, ‘Yeah, but he made a special something around here.'"

Tigers Travel To Edneyville in Week Three

From 1 Tryon

Tryon traveled to Edneyville (now part of North Henderson) to try and redeem themselves after a less than stellar performance against Cowpens. The task wouldn't be easy as the Yellow Jackets were led by Danny Dalton, who would later go to Western Carolina University and set school passing records, with Chuck Nix as a 205 pound running back, and with a couple of linemen weighing in at 240+ pounds. This was an issue going in to the game because we knew that Joe Covil at 137, Mike Burns at 155, and Bob Willis at 160 were not going to be able to move those guys out of the way - so - during the week preceding, we practiced shield blocks - just attempting to get between them and the ball carrier. During the game, one of Edneyville's big folks fell on Bob Willis and remarked, "I didn't hurt you did I little fella". 

Anyway, the offense was still a little under performing but the Tigers managed to pull out a 6-0 win and with two Parkway Conference Wins, were now on top of the conference standings. Read the write-ups of the game by clicking here.

Tigers Fall To Red Raiders - What Happened?

From 1 Tryon

Decal from top of Tryon Tiger Helmet.

The Tryon Tigers Came up on the short end of the score against the Cowpens (now Broome) Red Raiders by the score of 7 to 6. In a close, low scoring game, Tryon just couldn't get the offense moving and one missed defensive opportunity and an extra point was the difference in the game. See the write up and program by clicking here.