Growing up on the mill hill was a rewarding and sometimes trying experience. For some of the folks it was a hard existence. We were often ear-marked by the more arrogant people when we ventured out of our realm as if we were sub-standard.

     I never knew about this until I got in high school. There were little incidents that made me suspect this prejudice but none so much as one day in study hall in the ninth grade. Some of the "up-town boys" were acting rude and disrespectful to our substitute teacher . I was feeling sorry for him at first, until he walked over to the perpetrators and politely asked them, "Are you boy's from Pee Dee?   You guys are from Pee Dee aren't you?" I'll never forget that burning sting I felt on the back of my neck. People who have never experienced prejudice will never know the hurt and anger that it leaves.

     Of course that didn't exist on the athletic field as the mill villages furnished a large percentage of athletes for Rockingham High. Denny " Pride " Johnson, All American and Mickey McIntosh were two of the very best players on the football team. Vicky Capel, Susie Kelly, Lois Coble and Brenda Harris where no doubt the very best on the girls basketball team. All from Pee Dee.

     There were some advantages to growing up in a mill village. For one thing you grow up with every kid around you that is basicly in the same class.  For another, you learn a variety of skills such as carpentry, gardening, raising ckickens and hogs among other things. It's amazing what those folks can accomplish on 1/2 an acre of land. And mill village people always were willing to share the bounty of their efforts. They enjoyed giving you vegetables from their gardens or a little sausage when they raised hogs.

     I remember once, however, that turned out not to be such a good thing. Mr quick was making sausage when one of his horses died. He suddenly, for some reason, came up with a phenominal amount of sausage and he gave some to every house on the village, and a generous portion, I might add. I wouldn't want to sound ungrateful or anything but I have always suspected that a lot of folks around there was eating horse meat that winter.

     In the mill village, people have a certain code that they live by. They place a lot of value on certain things such as strength, courage, skill in their jobs and of course "wit", which is always a valued talent.

     Mill village folks knew all the county Law Officers on a first name basis. That's because they see them so often. They were always coming around and questioning them about thefts, break-ins and other crimes. It didn't really matter where the crime took place, they always seemed to start with the mill village first to conduct their investigations. The one good thing that came out of this situation was that it allowed the mill villagers to become very savy about law enforcement procedure and tactics and they developed considerable knowledge about the laws and citizens rights under the law.

     "Do you have a warrant?" was the first thing a deputy was apt to hear when they stopped at any house. For some families deputies were just another hardship they had to learn to accept and deal with. The resentment of this intrusion was always there and they dealt with it the best way they could, even sometimes with humorous results.

     I recall it was told that one time the deputies came to ole Zeke's house investigating the theft of some stolen saddles from a horse stable somewhere in the county. Zeke had no idea where they were but that didn't prevent him from helping with their investigation. So he made up a story that ended up being a very wicked practical joke. He told them with convincing enthusiasm that he had seen several boys carrying something down behind his barn in the woods and that he wasn't totally sure but it kinda looked like saddles. And they had what appeared to be shovels also. Well, the deputies jumped at this hot lead and took off down where Zeke said he saw them going. They took their own shovels with them knowing the loot had most likely been buried to retrieve later when the heat was off. It was told that about an hour later the lawmen returned to Zeke's back door wanting to borrow his water hose because they were all soaked to their knees with the most foul odor and one was even trying to puke from the terrible odor. They asked Zeke what was buried back there.

     They said Zeke just rubbed his chin, and looking up at the sky like he was trying to think, then said, "Mmmmm, ya'll must have dug up ole Be Bob!"   "Ole Be Bob? " the officers said, looking puzzled.  "Yeah" replied Zeke. "He up and died on me about a month ago! I swear, ole Be Bob was the best breed'en hog I ever did own."

     The mill village had a multitude of interesting characters that brought many hours of of laughter and entertainment to me over the years that I lived there. In the coming weeks, I will share them with all who care to read about them.