1980
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1980 in Clemson History
Notable Alumni
Events in 1980
- Associate Degree in Nursing (ADN) program in the College of Nursing is terminated.
- Lehotsky Hall is completed. It is named for Dr. Koloman Lehotsky, the first department head for forestry.
- The Oconee Memorial Hospital expands to provide additional beds, bringing the number to 160. ("The Heritage of Oconee County, Vol. 1, 1868-1995, The Blue Ridge Arts Council, Seneca, South Carolina, 1995, Library of Congress card number 95-61417, page 24.)
- The Catholic Student Center of Saint Andrew Catholic Church is completed on Sloan Street.
- January: R.L. Bryan Company in Columbia refuses to print The Chronicle unless a nude photo is removed from the layout.
- January 9: Clemson gains its only basketball victory in history over the number one-ranked team, an 87-82 win over Duke, played in Littlejohn Coliseum. The Tigers were ranked 18th. It is the largest crowd to ever watch a Clemson basketball game in Littlejohn Coliseum (13,000+).
- January 10: Classes begin.
- January 14: Student Senate meets for first time of the semester. A $200 expenditure is approved to provide each dorm room with a light switch sticker promoting energy conservation. A proposal is heard to provide shuttle bus service from East campus to the remaining home basketball games - expected cost is $310. The General Affairs chairman reports on the coming locations for automatic teller machines to be installed on campus, Academic Affairs is working on a fall break, and the Food and Health committee addresses the issue of ice cream cone debris on the Union Plaza and stairwells, warning that if the problem doesn't resolve itself that there is talk of prohibiting removal of ice cream from the dining halls. (Cartee, Vickie, staff writer, "Teller machines to be in service by March", The Tiger, January 18, 1980, Volume 73, Number 14, page 1.)
- January 15: Dean Walter Cox meets with the Union director Butch Trent and programming director Bill Mandicott over his decision to cancel rock concerts in December.
- January 19: Clemson electrical engineering student Edward Alford Strong, age 21, goes missing after a party at the LeMans Apartments, last seen between 4 and 6 a.m. - two weeks later his body is found in Lake Hartwell and the drowning ruled accidental.
- January 21: Student Senate elections held for the offices of president, president pro-tempore, secretary and clerk.
- January 22: The Performing Artists Series presents Muriel Bach in "Freud Never Said It Was Easy" in Daniel Auditorium.
- January 23: Circuit Court Judge C. Victor Pyle warns the Clemson student body in Pickens County General Sessions Court that any drug violation other than simple possession of marijuana will be met with jail time rather than probationary methods. This follows the sentencing of Dave Lorick, the former head of the Central Dance Association, to three years in prison on cocaine and other assorted charges. Most students in this investigation were arrested in early December.
- January 26: The B-52's perform a breakout set on Saturday Night Live.
- Winter: Thea McCrary, a Greenville native and six year veteran of law enforcement, becomes the first female detective hired by the Clemson University police department.
- February 1: President Bill Atchley announces a reorganization of the university administration, eliminating two vice presidential offices and realigning others.
- February 5-February 6: Overnight snowfall leaves two and a half inches of accumulation, classes cancelled on Wednesday until noon.
- February 7: Presidential hopeful John Connally begins a ten-city campaign tour of South Carolina with an appearance at the Clemson House. Unfortunately for Connally, who would have been Richard Nixon's party heir apparent in 1976, except for that nasty little Watergate break-in problem which led to Tricky Dick abdicating the throne, the former Texas governor suddenly found himself an outsider when former Vice President Gerald Ford decided to validate his accension to the presidency by running for re-election. Connally's hopes to regain the path to the White House will go unfulfilled.
- February 8: Dean Walter T. Cox meets with the University Union in talks on how to cut down on vandalism and arrests at Clemson rock concerts. Cox had summarily cancelled concerts in December after minor incidents at the Kansas performance on November 3.
- February 10: Clemson football player William Gary Adkins collapses of a heart attack during an intramural basketball game, suffers cardiac arrest en route to hospital. Autopsy reveals a previously undetected congenital heart condition. Adkins, 22, had lettered in 1977, 1978 and 1979 at the wide receiver position.
- February 11: Student Senate proposes that a fall break be established.
- February 14: Melissa Pryor, representing Mu Beta Psi, the campus music honor fraternity, is crowned the new Miss Clemson University.
- February 15: Campus student media sponsor a "Tie a Yellow Ribbon" event on Bowman Field in front of Tillman Hall with a ribbon tied to one of the oak trees in honor of the 50 American hostages held in Tehran, Iran since November 5. WSBF-FM Office Manager Patricia "Trish" Coleman (Bridges) (1982) was the driving force organizing this event. This is the deadline for applications for need-related scholarships and the Supplemental Grant Program. "Thomas Gentry of the Financial Aid Office, strongly encourages students to submit applications by Feb. 1, 1980, to be assured of consideration. Gentry suggests this because of the two-week period for processing the financial need forms that are submitted with applications." (News Briefs, The Tiger, January 18, 1980, Volume 73, Number 14, page 7.)
- Mid-February: Renovation of Tillman Hall begins.
- February 19: New Orleans Philharmonic concert in Littlejohn Coliseum.
- February 22: "Do you believe in miracles?" asked ABC sportscaster Al Michaels, at the Lake Placid Winter Olympics, as the unlikely seventh-seeded American hockey team who had defeated five squads to move into the medal round, faced the Soviet Union team, who had a tournament record of 5-0, outscoring the opposition, 51-11. The U.S. team stunned the Russians with a 4-3 win, whereupon Michaels answered his own question: "YES!", as the buzzer sounded. One of the greatest upsets in Olympic history, and this writer watched it in The Tiger lounge on the ninth level above the Loggia. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2NmdFgFyhnk
- February 24: Molly Hatchet concert at Greenville Memorial Auditorium.
- February 25: A cooperative effort of the student government and the Inter-fraternity Council, new cross-campus shuttle service begins, using white university vans. Clemson University Concert Series presents Opera Highlights with Boris Goldovsky in Littlejohn Coliseum.
- February 29: Jazz trumpeter Tom Browne performs in the Clemson House Ballroom.
- March: Automatic teller machines are installed on campus for the first time. The initial location is at the underpass at Johnstone B and C-sections and two ATMs are in service, for C&S Bank and First National Bank. (Cartee, Vickie, staff writer, "Teller machines to be in service by March", The Tiger, January 18, 1980, Volume 73, Number 14, page 1.)
- March: Rare documents from John C. Calhoun's career are discovered in a vault in Tillman Hall prior to its renovation. From The Tiger, March 28, 1980, (Vol. 73, No. 22), page two, by Tiger Staff Writer Beth Reese:
- "Bill Thompson and Steve Lee, of the university's accounting office, discovered the papers while sifting through old student and financial records that had been stored in a forgotten vault in Tillman. The building was about to be turned over to contractors for the beginning of the $4.2 million renovation, and the storage areas needed to be cleared. 'We put on our coveralls and crawled back into the vault, which had been originally used by the university's treasurer. The vault is about 10 feet by 14 feet with a seven foot ceiling and is at the front of the building where the sociology department was located,' said Thompson.
- "Expecting only to find student and financial records, the two men looked through a trap door in the steel ciling (sic) and found framed items and handwritten Calhoun letters. Among the papers were two documents appointing Calhoun as Secretary of War during the administrations of James Monroe and John Tyler. Affixed to the documents were the signatures of Monroe and Tyler, as well as John Quincy Adams (in the position of Secretary of State under Monroe)."
- March 7: Kappa Alpha Order dance-a-thon raises $8,250 for the Muscular Dystrophy Association.
- March 9: The funeral for Herman McGee, a 46-year employee of the university, serving as an athletic trainer from 1934 until his death, is held this date. Fred Cone and Jeff Davis are two of his pall-bearers.
- March 9: The Tiger holds Senior Staff elections for the 1980-1981 academic year. Richard Brooks is elected new editor-in-chief. WSBF holds a second Senior Staff election to resolve a question of parliamentary procedure. Douglas Welton is named the new programming director. ("Tiger and WSBF elect new senior staffers", The Tiger, 4 April 1980, Volume 73, Number 23, page 2.)
- March 11: Violinist Won Mo Kim and pianist Despy Karlas perform in Littlejohn Coliseum.
- March 12: Edgar's hosts a dinner theatre with mime Tim Settimi.
- March 14: Spring break begins after classes. The Buzzard is published. Front page storiesĀ : "Day 2 - Atchley held hostage" and "Lustless wins elections, sought for murder" (referring to Oscar Lovelace, the presidential candidate that spent over the allowable limit on his campaign and was, thus, disqualified).
- March 20-March 23: Four members of the Forensic Union win honors at the National Student Congress held in Denver, Colorado. Tina Ellenburg, Cathy Gordon, Andy Halliday and John Spratling represent Clemson. Gordon is chosen as the speaker of the Congress, and is also given the superior performance award for a delegate to the body. Ellenburg is chosen as the chairman of the Curriculum and Standards Committee, while Halliday is selected as the head of the Human Rights and Education Committee. ("Forensic Union wins honors", The Tiger, 4 April 1980, Volume 73, Number 23, page 3.)
- March 24: Classes resume. Governor Richard "Dick" Riley speaks in Daniel Auditorium during the afternoon as first of three lectures in a Liberal Arts and Technological Education series commemorating the tenth anniversary of the College of Liberal Arts. Sir Hugh, a regius professor of modern history at Oxford University, speaks in the evening. Faculty Senate officers elected for 1980-1981 academic year.
- March 25: President Bill Atchley speaks in Daniel Auditorium as third speaker in Liberals Arts series.
- March 26: Male intruder in the showers of female dormitory Young Hall for second time in two months causes residents to vote for tighter security in the building, keeping the rear door locked 24 hours a day. (Pitts, Helen, assistant news editor, "Shower intruders prompt extra security measures", The Tiger, 4 April 1980, Volume 73, Number 23, page 2.)
- March 28: Union sponsors Post Break Blowout Beer Garden at the East Bank Beach with music by local band Azure. National Theatre of the Deaf presents adult adaptation of "Pinocchio" entitled "The Secret Life of Gepetto's Dummy" in Daniel Auditorium. Oak Ridge Boys perform at Greenville Memorial Auditorium. A crate containing four research chickens is stolen from the rear of the Plant and Animal Science Building about 9:30 p.m. Friday night - recovered abandoned at the Duke Power Clemson office on North Clemson Avenue on an anonymous tip on Sunday, March 30. The chickens ultimately would not survive their role in the science project, however. (Sublette, Mark, assistant news editor, "Stolen research chickens recovered early Sunday", The Tiger, 4 April 1980, Volume 73, Number 23, page 1.)
- March 29: 14th Annual Dixie Day held on the soccer field near Death Valley after being summarily evicted from Riggs Field.
- Last week of March: Without informing anyone, the Athletic Department begins grading on historic Riggs Field in preparation for moving the soccer field from its current location north of Death Valley to the former football stadium. IPTAY parking will be added in the former soccer field location. (Ingram, David, staff writer, "Soccer field relocated; IPTAY parking expands", The Tiger, 4 April 1980, Volume 73, Number 23, pages 1, 3.) In the mid-1970s, there were a pair of corporately-owned Hughes 500 helicopters that would fly in for Clemson home games, landing on the south edge of the soccer field. The Tiger prints an editorial titled "Who's Boss?" on 4 April 1980.
- Spring: Dean Wallace Trevillian of the College of Industrial Management and Textile Science steps down to take a teaching position.
- April 1: New WSBF senior staff takes office. Jazz guitarist Larry Coryell appears in the Clemson House Ballroom.
- April 3: The Union hosts the "Post Break Blowout" beerbust at East Bank Beach in the afternoon. WSBF broadcasts live by remote from the site.
- April 4: The Clemson Players sponsor a benefit performance for the Cancer Fund.
- April 5: The Clemson Sailing Club hosts a regatta at the club area at Y Beach, 10 a.m.-3 p.m., followed by a party in the evening.
- April 5-6: Pendleton holds Third Annual Spring Jubilee.
- April 7: The Aero Club meets at 8 p.m. in Room 104, Sirrine Hall.
- April 9: Honors and Awards Day. Four-year Tiger football letterman Tracy Perry is killed in a motorcycle-tractor trailer accident near Sumter. He was 23.
- April 11-13: Alpha Delta Pi sorority sponsors Second Annual Teeter-Totter marathon on the Union Plaza to raise money for the Clemson Child Development Center.
- April 12: Gamma Sigma Sigma service sorority sponsors a March of Dimes walk-a-thon.
- April 14-19: Clemson Players present play "The Night Thoreau Spent in Jail" in Daniel Auditorium.
- April 16: Speakers Bureau presents a lecture by former U.S. Senator Eugene McCarthy in Brackett Hall Auditorium.
- April 18: President Bill Atchley inaugurated.
- April 19: Orange and White football game; Eighth Annual Bengal Ball held at Y Beach. Rock Mountain and Marshall Chapman perform.
- April 24: TAPS arrives from printer.
- April 25: Weird Party held off-campus.
- April 28: Exams begin. Tommy Caldwell, bassist for Spartanburg-based Marshall Tucker Band succumbs to injuries sustained almost a week earlier when his Jeep hit an improperly parked vehicle. Clemson Tucker fans mourn.
- May 9: Commencement held in Littlejohn Coliseum.
- May 20: First summer session classes begin.
- Summer: Tiger Town Tavern acquires lease to two-story building next door and expands through the wall. Jay Jones and "Dobber" Mann do the dirty work. Partners William Pridemore and B.R. Skelton redevelop the former Winn-Dixie building on College Avenue into the College Place Mall, with the interior remodelled and subdivided to resemble a winding street lined with small shops, as in a European town. Kay's Shop, a women's fashion store at 118-A College Avenue, owned by Jean Lewis, moves from its location of 25 years into the new mall. "The main reason we're moving is because of the parking situation," explained Lewis. "There is just so little downtown. We feel that the mall is a better location for us." The closed Winn-Dixie had previously operated as a bar, The Grocery, and then as the Corporate Teen Center, an offshoot of the Corporation disco nightclub near Central.
- Summer: The Student League for Black Identity is reorganized into Pamoja, a black cultural organization. "Pamoja" is Swahili and means togetherness. (The Tiger, "Pamoja recruiting members, plans presentation", Friday 7 November 1980, via Series 37 Folder, Special Collections, Strom Thurmond Institute, Clemson University.)
- June 25-June 26: First summer session exams.
- June 30: Geraldine Labecki, the dean of the College of Nursing, retires, having served since 1968.
- July 1: Dean H. Morris Cox, the only head of the College of Liberal Arts since its inception in 1970, resigns at President Bill Atchley's request. The change stirs up a furor among the university faculty when it is announced in late March.
- July 2: Second summer session classes begin. President Jimmy Carter signs Proclamation 4771, Registration Under the Military Selective Service Act, retroactively re-establishing the Selective Service registration requirement for all 18-26 year old male citizens born on or after January 1, 1960. Only men born between March 29, 1957, and December 31, 1959, were completely exempt from Selective Service registration. President Gerald Ford had signed Proclamation 4360, Terminating Registration Procedures Under Military Selective Service Act, eliminating the registration requirement for all 18-25 year old male citizens on March 29, 1975, eliminating registration in the wake of the conclusion of the war in Southeast Asia.
- August 6-August 7: Second summer session exams.
- August 9: Summer commencement.
- August 15-August 17: The Foothills Festival held at Old Market Square, Easley.
- August 17: Dormitories open.
- August 18: Tri-County Tech board meeting at the Tech conference room, number 47, Pickens Hall, 5:30 p.m.
- August 19: First meeting of the season for Tiger Band, Holtzendorff YMCA, 7-9 p.m.
- August 20-August 21: Tiger Band holds music rehearsal, 4-5:30 p.m., field drills, 7-9 p.m.
- August 22: Classes begin. Tiger Band holds rehearsal, 5:30-8 p.m.
- August 23: Outdoor concert and beer garden at Y Beach East Bank. Tiger Band holds field and music rehearsal, 8-11:30 a.m., music only at 12:30-3 p.m., field and music rehearsal, 5-7 p.m., with picnic following at 7:15 p.m.
- August 24: Tiger Band music rehearsal, 2-4:30 p.m.
- August 26: Mu Beta Psi drop-in held at the Psi lounge.
- August 27: The Clemson Area Railroad Club meets in the P&A Building, room A-102, 7:30 p.m.
- September 12: "Hammer the Hooters" First Friday Parade, in recognition of first game opponents, the Rice University Owls. This was one of the early ultimate debauched parades that would lead to the parade route being moved off of College Avenue a very few years later. Remember, eighteen year olds could drink legally at this time...
- September 13: The Tigers defeat the Rice Owls, 19-3, in Death Valley.
- September 20: Clemson travels to number ten-ranked Georgia, loses, 16-20. The Dawgs will go 11-0 for the national championship. ESPN televises the game and the two schools split the $3000 offered by the fledgling cable network.
- September 26: The Union Concert Committee presents Vassar Clements, the Dixie Dregs, and Mother's Finest in Littlejohn Coliseum.
- September 27: Clemson defeats the Western Carolina Catamounts, 17-10, in Memorial Stadium.
- October 1: The Clemson Fire Department extinguishes a small brush fire near the Southern Railway tracks behind the Winn-Dixie at 8:15 p.m. (The Messenger, Wednesday 15 October 1980, Volume 27, Number 10, page 3-A.)
- October 2: Benetta Dorrity Johnstone, wife of Alan McCrary Johnstone, dies.
- October 4: Clemson defeats Virginia Tech, 13-10, in Death Valley.
- October 9: The Holiday Inn of Clemson suffers a fire when a gas dryer in the hotel's laundry room catches fire at approximately 7:30 p.m. The dryer and its load of clothes are destroyed. The Clemson Fire Department responds to the call. Damage to the building is estimated at $2,000. (The Messenger, Wednesday 15 October 1980, Volume 27, Number 10, page 3-A.)
- October 11: A 64-member strong Tiger Band pep band is sent to Virginia game in Charlottesville for the first-ever overnight pep trip. All previous pep bands have been daytrips only. The Tigers pull out a squeaker against the Cavaliers, 27-24, on an Obed Ariri 59-yard field goal! IPTAY funded this long-haul pep band trip, wanting "portable crowd noise" in Charlottesville!
- October 13: The Textile banquet held in the Clemson House ballroom, 7 p.m.
- October 18: Duke comes to Clemson, defeats the Tigers, 17-34.
- October 22: The Clemson Area Railroad Club meets in room A-102 of the Plant and Animal Science Building at 7:30 p.m.
- October 23: The Alabama Shakespeare Theatre presents "Two Gentlemen of Verona" in Daniel Auditorium at 8 p.m. The Gutter Coffeehouse presents The Hired Hands, a bluegrass band from Chapin, at 8 p.m. The band's banjo player, "Snuffy" Jenkins, is the man responsible for showing renowned musician Earl Scruggs the three-finger banjo picking style. (The Messenger, Wednesday 22 October 1980, Volume 27, Number 11, page 1-B.)
- October 24: The Wesley International Ladies' Social held, 9:30-11 a.m.
- October 25: The Tigers road trip to N.C. State, lose in the rain, 20-24. Dr. Ernest M. Lander, of the Clemson University History Department, is the keynote speaker for the meeting of the South Carolina Genealogical Society meeting, held the Holiday Inn of Clemson. Hosted by the Pendleton District Genealogical Society, the meeting begins with registration at 10 a.m. Dr. Lander speaks at the noon luncheon, and discusses the Calhoun and Clemson connection and the local area. (The Messenger, Wednesday 22 October 1980, Volume 27, Number 11, page 3-B.)
- October 27: Clemson City Planning Commission meeting held at the Police Place location.
- October 29: Clemson University students host Science Day for high school students from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. According to Dean Henry Vogel of the College of Sciences, Clemson students conceived and devised the event "to interest and enthuse high school students in the sciences - as majors in college and eventually as careers." Students are treated to displays, tours, "chemical magic" shows and planetarium visits. No reservations are required, but to aid planning, interested high school teachers are asked to call the College of Sciences at 656-3472 or write 119 Kinard Laboratory of Physics, Clemson University, Clemson, S.C., 29631. (The Messenger, Wednesday 22 October 1980, Volume 27, Number 11, page 7-B.)
- November 1: Clemson's defeat of the Wake Forest Demon Deacons, 35-33, in Winston-Salem is the Tigers' 100th ACC win.
- November 3: Coach Danny Ford instructs equipment manager Len Gough to order orange pants, to be worn for the first time while playing South Carolina in Death Valley.
- November 4: Campus election day, classes suspended. Union sponsors November Nonsense on Bowman Field.
- November 8: Clemson faces number fourteen-ranked North Carolina in Memorial Stadium, but lose, 19-24.
- November 13: Mime Trent Arterberry appears in Daniel Auditorium, 8 p.m.
- November 15: The Tigers play Maryland in College Park, losing, 7-34. Pamoja sponsors a performance by the Spirit of Life, a group of singer/actors, and solo actor Terry Benjamin, in Daniel Hall Auditorium. (The Tiger, "Pamoja recruiting members, plans presentation", Friday 7 November 1980, via Series 37 Folder, Special Collections, Strom Thurmond Institute, Clemson University.)
- November 18: The Genealogical Society meets at Home Savings & Loan, 7:30 p.m.
- November 19: The Clemson Area Railroad Club meets in the P&A Building, room A-102, 7:30 p.m.
- November 20: The Tiger Band Pig Roast held beginning at 7 p.m. at the Y Barn. (The pig had been cooking considerably before this...)
- November 21: Miss Universe and former Clemson coed, Shawn Weatherly returns to campus, Press conference held at the Alumni Center, 1:30 p.m. Press interviews begin in the Clemson House penthouse beginning at 4:30 p.m.
- November 22: Clemson wears orange pants for the first time in a game as they trounce the fourteenth-ranked Gamecocks 27-6, in Death Valley.
- November 25: A Piper Cherokee D single-engine low-wing cabin monoplane, N6618J, crashlands at 12:15 p.m. on US 123 within the Clemson city limits near the Thunderbird Motel after running out of fuel. The pilot, Frederick D. Parker, and his 15-year-old daughter Pamela, of Fredericksburg, Virginia, are cut out of the wrecked cabin and transported to Greenville General Hospital. ("Belly Landing", The Tri-City Sentinel, Pickens, South Carolina, Tuesday 2 December 1980, Volume 1, Number 20, page 1.)
- November 27-November 28: Thanksgiving holidays.
- December 1: A combination siren-tone alert radio system will be implemented around the Oconee Nuclear Station to warn residents of a nuclear accident, Duke Power spokespersons announce this date. As local, state and federal officials work to compare an effective evacuation plan for the area surrounding the three-reactor plant, Duke now realizes that the early warning system will not be as expensive as expected, although final costs are pending a court case into the issue. Although details - such as exact cost and the number of warning devices needed - are still pending, the utility has settled on a two-fold system, according to Duke spokesman Ira Kaplan. Duke has "generally approved" a proposed plan submitted by Federal Signal Corp., of Atlanta, and the utility is making "modifications," he said from headquarters in Charlotte. Although Duke is laboring under a July 1, 1981 deadline imposed by the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), no apparent time schedule has been fixed for installing the sirens and tone-alert radios, Kaplan said. (Shealey, Tom, Journal Editor, "Court action pending - Early warning system selected", The Seneca Journal and Tugaloo Tribune, Wednesday 3 December 1980, Volume 77, Number 73, page 1-A.)
- December 4: The Clemson University Chorus and Choral Organization presents a program of concert and seasonal music at the Clemson United Methodist Church at 8 p.m., free admission. A special free performance of Guys and Dolls for senior citizens is presented by the Oconee Community Theatre at 8 p.m. ("Happenings", The Seneca Journal and Tugaloo Tribune, Wednesday 3 December 1980, Volume 77, Number 73, page 1-C.)
- December 5-December 6: The Oconee Community Theatre presents Guys and Dolls at 8 p.m. Call 882-7700 or 654-1478 for information. ("Happenings", The Seneca Journal and Tugaloo Tribune, Wednesday 3 December 1980, Volume 77, Number 73, page 1-C.)
- December 7: The Seneca Presbyterian Church Sacred Concert Series presents the 95 voice Clemson University Chorus in concert at the church, Oak and South First Streets, Seneca, at 4 p.m. The chorus will perform two works by English composer Benjamin Britten; the Festival Te Deum and Rejoice in the Lamb. Also included in the program will be traditional seasonal selections. The chorus is under the direction of William W. Campbell. The Oconee Community Theatre presents a matinee of Guys and Dolls at 3 p.m. Call 882-7700 or 654-1478 for information. ("Happenings", The Seneca Journal and Tugaloo Tribune, Wednesday 3 December 1980, Volume 77, Number 73, page 1-C.)
- December 8: Exams begin. Former Beatle John Ono Lennon is assassinated in New York City in front of his apartment building, The Dakota, by a deranged "fan". He was forty. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5gcdz1IRVoM&feature=related In Tiger Town Tavern, the music is cut off, the lights are turned on, and the shocking news is announced to the patrons.
- December 11-December 13: The Oconee Community Theatre presents Guys and Dolls at 8 p.m. Call 882-7700 or 654-1478 for information. ("Happenings", The Seneca Journal and Tugaloo Tribune, Wednesday 3 December 1980, Volume 77, Number 73, page 1-C.)
- December 14: At the request of John Lennon's widow, Yoko Ono, millions of people around the world pause for ten minutes of silence to remember Lennon. Many radio radio stations go dark for the interval.
- December 16: Thirty-six foster children in Pickens County are hosted at a Christmas party at Chanelo's Pizza by owner Herb Chanell and the Pickens County Department of Social Services, the only holiday treat coordinated by DSS for the children. During the celebration, Santa visits and hands out presents that were donated by Dot and Lloyd Johnson of Liberty. Many of the gifts were made by Mrs. Johnson. A DSS trio leads the children in singing Christmas carols. Members of the trio were Mrs. Brigitte Scott of Six Mile, Ms. Jane Price of Clemson, and Mrs. Rosie Jordan of Easley. "It was a heartwarming occasion, one that pointed to the real meaning of Christmas for all of us," said Mrs. Cindy Patterson of the DSS who coordinated the event. This was the second year that Herb Chanell has provided the holiday treat for Pickens County children who cannot be with their natural parents. ("Chanelo's holds party for foster children", The Messenger, Wednesday 7 January 1981, page 8-A.)
- December 18: Mid-year graduation.
- December 27: Dan Fogelberg's song "Same Old Lang Syne" enters Billboard song charts, will peak at number 9 during its 13-week run. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2NmdFgFyhnk
1979 | The 1980's | 1981 |
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- The 1980's
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