Remembering Coach Neal #tryonnc

As most of you know by now, Coach Neal passed away early Wednesday morning. He had been in declining health for several years. It is hard to say what the impact he had on the youth of Tryon was, because the values he instilled will be helping children and grandchildren for many years to come. I made some brief comments in this piece from 2010 about the 1970 football team, but I cannot overstate what he has meant to Tryon High School.

Elmo F. Neal 

(April 19, 1926 - January 29, 2014) Send Flowers Send Sympathy Card View/Sign Guest Book | Create Memorial Website 
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Spartanburg, SC- Elmo F. Neal, 87, husband of Toma Austin Neal, died Wednesday, January 29, 2014 at his home. Born in Summerville, SC, Elmo was a son of the late Peter J. and Mary Dunning Neal. He was a graduate of Summerville High School, received his Master’s Degree from Western Carolina University, and was a World War II Veteran serving in the Navy. Elmo was principal, head coach, and a teacher at Tryon High School, in Tryon, NC, and served the Polk County school district in various capacities for over 30 years. He also taught and coached at Hart County High School in Hartwell, Georgia. Elmo was also a member of the Catholic Church of Jesus Our Risen Savior in Spartanburg, SC. He will always be remembered for living his faith, loving his family, and his loyalty to his profession.

In addition to his wife, he is survived by his children, DeWanda (David W.) Dyson, of Spartanburg, and D. Austin Neal of Austin, TX; grandsons, D. Andrew Dyson, and Jared A. Dyson of Spartanburg; a brother, George P. (Joann) Neal of Atlanta, Ga; sisters, Trudy Flannagan of Madison, Wisconsin, and Mary Thomas Neal of Charleston, SC; and several nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by a sister, Mary Ellen Harrelson.
Pall bearers are: Steve Massey, Bill Metcalf, Ken Sanford, Glenn Thompson, Lewis Crissone, Sonny Lankford, Bob Gregg, Anson Merrick, Newt Raff, and Bill Brock. All former players are asked to serve as Honorary Pall Bearers. His players want everyone to know that he was and will always be known as “Coach”.
The family will received friends on Saturday, February 1st, 10:30am, at Jesus Our Risen Savior Catholic Church.
A funeral mass will follow at 12:00noon in the sanctuary.
Burial will be held in Mountain View Cemetery, North Ave, Greer, SC 29651.
The family is at the residence.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Catholic Church of Jesus Our Risen Savior, 2575 Reidville Rd, Spartanburg, SC 29301; Covenant Baptist Church, 200 Evangel Road, Spartanburg, 29301, and Piedmont Hospice, 209 Riverside Ct, Greer, SC 29650.

A Time From Long Ago in #Tryonnc

Old #Tryonnc Pictures

Tryon Reunion Information #tryon #tryonnc

Welcome to the All Grades ~ All Classes  ~ All Teachers
Reunion of the Tryon City Schools
Open to everyone who had attend school between 1923 ~ Today are welcome !

This web site was last updated on 05/11/2013 Open to ALL students, faculty and staff of Tryon City Schools from 1923 through the present are hear by invited to attend the 2013 Tryon School Reunion to be held onSaturday, October 12, 2013, at the Log Cabin and surrounding area of Harmon Field in Tryon, North Carolina. This will be a massive TAILGATE party and get-together ! We welcome you to celebrate all of your memories with us, starting from around 1:00pm and going until 10:00pm. Bring your tailgate picnic dinner, folding chairs, canopies, photos, memorabilia and more with you. Do mix and mingle with all of your classmates and former teachers in an alcohol-free, family-friendly atmosphere.  And there is a playground for the smaller kids to keep them preoccupied. The Log Cabin at the river will open at around 8:00am providing coffee and pastries, plus there will be staff available for assistance and information concerning all of the activities for the day. The Reunion Committee members will be available in the cabin to take donations toward future events and to provide information about future reunions. Also you will be able to purchase brick pavers (see below for more info) here anytime of the day or evening. After you have enjoyed your dinner, there will be desserts and coffee available which will be furnished in the Log Cabin from 5:00pm until 9:00pm for your enjoyment. The committee members will be making the goodies so be sure to tell them how good their cooking is now ! All musicians are invited to bring their instruments for an informal jam session in the long shed next to the Log Cabin anytime throughout this event. Please bring your lawn chairs for people that wish to just sit and listen as seating inside the shed is limited.  There is a concrete floor in the shed which will be available for dancing if you desire. The Willows Planned events & activities More will be added as time moves on. Tryon Elementary School will be open on Saturday, October 12, from 10:00am until Noon with staff and/or faculty present on site to allow visitors to tour the school and answer any and all questions that you might have about the "new" school. Downtown Tryon merchants will be displaying photos and memorabilia from Tryon Schools in their shop windows – feel free to take a leisurely walking tour of downtown … see if you can remember what shops were downtown when you were in school ! This might pose a challenge !    A memorial wall will be available to view in the Log Cabin with the opportunity to leave messages for the families of those who have passed away recently. These photos and other memorials will be presented to the family members after the event. Paver Bricks for the School Courtyard All attendees will have the opportunity to purchase personalized brick pavers to be included in the remodeling of the courtyard at Tryon Elementary School. Details will be provided at the Log Cabin or you can contact Andrea Webber at 828-859-6584 for more information.  There will be on line information and an application on line shortly.  But in the meantime, feel free to call the school and if Andrea is not available to the phone then leave a message that you want to purchase a brick and need to have the application mailed to you. EVENTS IN TRYON There are also several local events going on the weekend of October 12 for those who are interested: 1. Tryon Arts and Crafts Fall Festival is on October 12 from 10:00am until 5:00pm and October 13 from 11:00am until 5:00pm at Tryon Arts and Crafts in the former Tryon High School buildings on the other side of the football field for those who graduated before it was built. 2. A Horseshow will be held in the show ring at Harmon Field during the day on October 12. This will be on the left side as you enter through the stone pillars or main gate of Harmon Field. 3. Tryon's "Gallery Trot" in downtown Tryon is also being held on October 12 from 5:00pm until 8:00pm. This is a walking tour that will allow you to have a guided tour of the various art, painting and craft peoples work being displayed in the many gallery's in Tryon. Oak Hall Hotel AN IMPORTANT REQUEST ~ WE NEED YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS We ask that you RSVP with this form below - weather or not you are planning to attend this reunion.  If you plan to be here, please let us know so that we are able to plan for your participation. If you are unable to attend, we would appreciate you still sending the completed form so that we can contact you about events in the future. Registration / Information Form If you wish to contact us direct, then please use this email address:tryonreunion2013@gmail.com Someone from the committee will get back with you as soon as possible.  If you would like to make a donation to this year’s reunion or to increase the fund for the next event, please send a check or money order made out to : Tryon School Reunion, c/o Joyce Kimpton , 188 Whitney Avenue, Tryon NC 28782. Please use the form below which is a PDF and print it out and fill it in then remember to mail it! We do not have a paypal account, sorry but that cost money ! $.$$ Please use this form to send your check with We hope to see everyone in October!  If you know of someone who attended Tryon City Schools between 1923 through the present, please make sure they know about the reunion and direct them to this website or have them send a request to Wendy Kimpton on the  Facebook page. You will need to ask to be included on this group page. Remember to be able to log into the Facebook page requires you to provide your school first and last name and years attending school. We would like to make contact with as many classmates as possible and would love to keep in touch with everyone! Remember that the Facebook page is kept updated all the time by Wendy Kimpton.  This web page will be updated on a as needed basis or when we get a batch of pictures in for posting here. So for the most current information on the reunion please check both locations.  There is a date at the top of the page stating when this page was lasted updated. Ballengers Department Store There will be a large number of special class photos from all the different years available for your personal purchase. These have been chosen by the reunion staff. These photos will range from 4 X 6" to Poster size. We also will be taking pictures of as many of you as we can find and then will be making a photo cd or photo dvd depending on the number of photos we can amass.  So if you wander around and take a lot of photos - please share them with us for inclusion into this project.  The cost of the disks will be approx. $5.00 for the CD and $10.00 for the DVD versions. We need your help If you want to send in some photos / pictures, please submit you scanned photos. They MUST be in TIF format at 300 dpi.  Or, should you have more than a few photos from back then, consider putting them on a CD. You may choose to mail your photos to this mailing address:  Tryon School Reunion, PO Box 1016, Tryon NC 28782.  or bring them to the reunion and give them to one of the committee members. If you wish to have these photos returned to you, then they will be waiting for you at the check in area on the day of the reunion or you may request them to be mailed back to you. Please be sure to use a Sharpie Marker and place you name and address on the back of each photo or if you choose to – you may use a small printer label with this same information stuck to the back of the photos.  PLEASE DO NOT TRY TO EMAIL PHOTOS. They will be sized to small to be usable if they go through the email servers. Remember that we need them to be in the TIF format at 300 dpi. All TIF photos in digital format at very large files.  Here is some of what we are looking for. Pictures of the ROCK GRILL, WILLOWS, DRIVE IN MOVIE, and any other Tryon area landmarks that are now gone.  These photos should be original photos or negatives - NOT - photocopied and be at least 5X7" in size - NOT hobby size (3.5X3.5") and scanned as requested above. Please follow the above directions. Should they be smaller then try to scan them at double size rather than 1:1 and at 600 dpi in TIF format. Lanier Grocery and Service Station Remember that the CD or DVD of pictures of all of the days activities will be available. Pleases check back here after a month or there-abouts to give us time to compile it and set it up for burning to disc. This disc will contain all of the pictures from the event and a computer based slide show. A DVD playable on any DVD player for playback on a TValong with all of the pictures that are in the show. A reasonable cost will be determined later and will be posted here on the link setup below.  Non active link for the PDF Picture DVD/CD Order Form.

  More pictures from 1923 on to today

 Pictures of Harmon Field

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Some Pine Crest Inn History #tryon #tryonnc

From

1906 Pine Crest Inn & Restaurant

Tryon, North Carolina

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The Pine Crest Inn is the last of the four major inns still in operation associated with the early development of Tryon as one of the finest resort communities of western North Carolina. The moderating climate and the notable scenery of the small town on the southern slope of the Blue Ridge Mountains began to attract summer visitors from across the nation after the arrival of the railroad in 1877.

Among these early visitors were people suffering from various respiratory ailments, and the original four buildings of the Pine Crest Inn were built in 1906 as a tuberculosis sanatorium called the Thermal Belt Sanatorium. In 1917 Carter Brown, a young resort developer from Castle Park, Michigan, took over the property and managed it as the Pine Crest Inn. Brown attracted a large clientele, many of whom stayed and contributed to the growth of Tryon. He was also the moving force behind Tryon earning a national reputation as an equestrian center.

Brown's architectural interests also were manifested throughout the area and are most evident at the Pine Crest Inn, where he designed and built four cottages and a private residence, as well as making other improvements. The inn and its associated cottages are simple structures that reflect the unpretentious comfort that characterizes Tryon's overall quality.

The history of the Pine Crest Inn and the town of Tryon are intertwined. Tryon has gained fame in many areas, from its vineyards to its crafts and furniture-making to its variety of architecture, but it is perhaps its reputation as a resort with which it is best identified. Engendered by its climate, recreational activities, and friendly citizens, Tryon's resort status is embodied in the numerous inns and boarding houses that have operated over the years and in turn have contributed to the success of the other endeavors associated with Tryon.

Since the late 1870s, four hostelries -- McAboy Inn, Oak Hall Hotel, Pine Crest Inn, and Thousand Pines Inn -- signified Tryon's fame as a resort. Of these four, only the Pine Crest Inn continues to operate and maintain the high standards established by its developer, Carter Brown, standards that create a reputation of excellence for its gracious hospitality that is unpretentious yet is in keeping with the Inn's position as a resort.

Although Brown's name was synonymous for several decades with the Pine Crest Inn and, indeed, with Tryon's architectural and sporting developments, prior to Brown's arrival in Tryon the Inn property was closely associated with the town's reputation for a healthy climate that initially attracted those ailing from lung disease. Tryon is in the Thermal Belt -- an area in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains protected from the northern winds -- where temperatures are milder than in neighboring towns. Prior to 1877, with the advent of the Spartanburg-Asheville railway, there was little major commerce in the area and no tourism as it is known today.

During the early 1870s, Dr. L. R. McAboy had purchased the Dr. Columbus Mills House just north of Tryon and had expanded and converted it to the McAboy House, soon to become a popular inn. With the construction of the railroad, many of those who had been traveling to Asheville, famous for its tuberculosis sanatoriums, began to visit Tryon and the McAboy House in search of the "cure"; apparently many of the invalids attracted to the warmer climate and pleasant surroundings of Tryon were disillusioned with the unpredictable Asheville weather and tired of being around so many tuberculosis patients.

In 1906, three doctors, Earle Grady, E. M. Sally, and W. R. Engel, acquired the nucleus of the Pine Crest Inn property and proceeded to have what would become the main inn building and the Oak, English, and Hunt Cottages, erected as a sanatorium.

During the first decade of the twentieth century, Tryon experienced a great deal of growth. Crafts operations were established and land values rose rapidly as investors became interested in the town. The number of visitors, increasingly more tourists instead of patients, rapidly increased. Many of these visitors were train passengers who had time to look around Tryon during stopovers and liked it so much that they decided to stay, often becoming seasonal visitors, and permanent residents. Property records indicate, however, that one enterprise that did not succeed was the Thermal Belt Sanatorium. In December of 1911, E. M. Sally purchased the interests of Drs. Grady and Earle, and when Brown arrived in Tryon in 1917, the property had been idle for several years.

In 1916, Brown had graduated from the University of Illinois, married and immediately purchased from his uncle, John Parr, the Castle (later known as Castle Park), a modest summer resort near Holland, Michigan. In September of 1917, realizing that the winter would be long and unproductive after their first season of operating the Castle, the Browns visited Tryon at the urging of Mrs. Brown's grandmother who recently had visited the area. They were so impressed with the town and the sanatorium property that they rented the property from Dr. Sally for the winter seasons of 1917-1918 and 1918-1919 and with H. A. Wilkie, Mrs. Brown's father, purchased it in 1920. The Browns named the Tryon property the Pine Crest Inn and continued to operate it from October to May until 1951. (They operated Castle Park from June through September until 1977.)

Over the years the Browns upgraded and enlarged the Pine Crest Inn and attracted a substantial carriage trade clientele to Tryon. Many of their guests continued a trend that had been established in Tryon during the late 19th century by buying property in the town. These seasonal or year-round residents in turn attracted others who would stay at the Inn and perpetuate the trend. The Inn became the focal point for Tryon's growth and development.

The Pine Crest has entertained a diverse assortment of guests during its 88 years of operation. They include South Carolina governor Jimmy Byrns; "Lefty" Flynn of silent movie fame and his wife Nora Langhorne, the screen's Gibson Girl; authors F. Scott Fitzgerald and Ernest Hemmingway, who frequented the Swayback Cabin; French artist George Aid; Lord and Lady Astor; and the historians Mary and Charles Beard (he wrote The Republic in the Woodcutter Cottage). Industrial magnates include Harry Ferguson of Ferguson Tractors and John Kimberly of Kimberly-Clark Paper Co. Many of the guests were upper mid-westerners, due to Brown's ties there, and the majority were sporting people.

Although many Pine Crest Inn guests were merely looking for the relaxed atmosphere it affords, a strong interest in horses always has been in the foreground. Brown was a principal force in establishing Tryon as an equestrian center of national importance. He opened riding trails, started Tryon's annual horse and hound show, steeplechase, and popularized fox hunting. At the Inn he maintained the Galax Stables of riding and steeplechase horses and he kenneled hounds.

In developing Tryon's reputation as a riding and hunting center, he built on a tradition that dated from the early 1800s when settlers from the South Carolina Low Country laid out race paths in the area for horse racing and fox hunting. Many of the first residents of Tryon had re-established these sports, and Brown proceeded to make them part of Tryon's essential business and community character.

Brown's interest in horses was associated with his interest in local architecture. He stabilized a fort and trading post known as the Block House and converted it to a private residence, as well as encouraged its nomination to the National Register. He also carved out the Harmon Field race course next to the Block House, the site of the horse show and football, baseball and track events. Brown strongly demonstrated his architectural interests at the Inn; he designed and built four of the cottages and moved three log cabins to the property and converted them to cottages. One of those cottages, Swayback, was a revolutionary war period cabin originally constructed in eastern Tennessee that is now 245 years old.

Brown also instituted many activities associated solely with the Pine Crest Inn. These included Thanksgiving dinner preceding the opening formal fox hunt of the season; weekly barbecues at the large outside stone fireplace; mid-day and moonlight picnics in the surrounding mountains; and candlelight Sunday evening buffet suppers, followed by group singing.

He also established a school in a cottage once located on the site of the innkeepers' quarters. This one-room building with a large porch on which the desks were located could accommodate five to 20 students. They were Inn guests and children of former guests who became permanent Tryon residents.

In 1951, Brown sold the Inn to a partner, Edwin McLean. Brown continued to live in Tryon until the late 1960s when he returned permanently to Castle Park, where he died in 1978.

Pine Crest Inn then passed through a number of capable hands, but during the last decade the inn had developed a growing conference and meeting trade, adding a state-of-the-art conference center. Carl Caudle purchased the property in 2003 and continues to preserve and improve the standards of comfort, cuisine, and service necessary to maintain the wonderful history and high standards for both lodging and dining, as well as the Wine Spectator Best of Award of Excellence for the Pine Crest's extensive wine collection.

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