Hartsville High Dedicates New Gymnasium

Caption -- Standing ovation for Coach T. B. Thomas and Coach Pat Hewitt





Caption -- Coach Pat Hewitt expressing appreciation for her having the new HHS gym named for her and Coach T. B. Thomas.








Caption -- Members of this year's HHS basketball teams.





The new Hartsville High Gym is named for Coach Pat Hewitt and Coach T. B. Thomas. Both of those coaches are long-time educators and extremely successful, you can say legendary, coaches on the basketball courts of Hartsville. Both Coaches spoke during the dedication and there was both a strong sense of history and a strong sense of personal, God-directed mission in their talks. Here is hoping that someone taped the presentations because when we hear the message of Hope coming from the National level in this country, both Coach Pat Hewitt and Coach T. B. Thomas gave life to that dream of hope in acknowledging how far they have seen this community move in their lifetime careers.

Coach Thomas, for example, was the athletic director, head basketball, football and baseball coach at the former Butler High School. I think he got to Hartsville in around 1951. He joined the Butler High School faculty where he stayed for until his retirement. Coach reminded the audience that his time was a different time. Butler, was one of two high schools in the small city of Hartsville. It was a time of segregation, which, truly, many of the people in the audience for the dedication, would not be able to imagine. But those were separate times. Butler, like Hartsville High, graduated students who have made significant contributions to Hartsville, to South Carolina and to the nation -- and Coach Thomas reminded the audience of that contribution. He also borrowed from Coach Pat Hewitt's talk, when he jokingly said, "Who would have thunk I would be in this position today?" Truly, a great deal has changed since 1967, the last time a new gym was dedicated in the Hartsville schools.

Coach Hewitt, who is possibly one of the most successful women's high school basketball coaches of the modern era, fought other battles. When she graduated from Coker College in the early 1970s women were not supposed to excel at athletics. When she took the job as women's physical education teacher and coach, she was not expected to craft strategies to build state champions. She was only supposed to give the girls a little bit of a physical outlet and maybe a small taste of competition. But, back then, no one want to spend any money on women's sports. In her talk at the dedication she mentioned that she lost a good bit in her early years. She had been bitten by the competition bug early and she did not like to lose. So she studied the game of basketball. Then, she worked with her peers to study more about how to develop girls into excellent athletes. She also did some study of what was called "Title IX" and lobbied hard to get more funds for girls' sports. The fact that her name is part of the new gym's name tells a great deal about her success. At one point in her coaching her girls had won 76 straight games at home. She challenged her team, which has a legitimate chance for State recognition this year, to build on the six wins they already have in their new gym and set an even more impressive record.

Truly, this dedication was an emotion-filled event. It is probably an event that can only be appreciated in a small city like Hartsville, where people do know and do care for each other and their histories and where two coaches can vocally, emotionally and faithfully give credit to their God for whatever success they have experienced in helping to develop the character of the students and players they have touched.

Coach Burry, who is also Dr. Charlie Burry, principal of Hartsville High and a native Hartsvillian, capped the event by dedicating the new gym to STUDENTS. He said this new gym is for the students of today because of what has been built by the students from Butler and the students from Hartsville High. In a very real sense he was dedicating this gym to tomorrow's students, who will most benefit by the character that today's students will build as their legacy.

Sometimes, a gym is much more than a gym, sometimes (and today was one of those times) a gym is a reflection of a community that is built as people join together in a team year, after year, after year.