Column: Recalling Winter Storm Pax, Edgefield earthquake

John Boyette, Aiken Standard, S.C.
·3 min read

Feb. 10—There's a thin line between love and hate.

Take the great snowstorm of 1973, for example. Many Aikenites who lived through it recall it with nostalgia and fondness.

Then take the great ice storm of 2014, better known as Winter Storm Pax. It was a dark period, literally, for many in our area.

Snow is fluffy and fun. Ice is slippery and dangerous. One you can play in, and one you try to avoid.

This coming week marks the 10-year anniversary of that infamous storm. Reporter Bill Bengtson went in-depth with his reporting on today's front page story, and talked to numerous folks to get their perspective.

My wife and I lived in a subdivision off Whiskey Road at the time, and it was fairly new. The utilities were underground, and much of the development had been thinned out so we didn't have many giant pine or oak trees in our neighborhood.

That turned out to be a blessing because, as I recall, our power stayed on for pretty much the duration of the event. Our home turned out to be a haven for folks who needed some heat or a hot shower. Like some of my family members and their canine companions.

Looking back in our historical archives was a treat. The headlines on the front page assessed the situation each day: "Aiken braces for ice," "Weather brings county to halt," "FROZEN" and "Pax Packs Punch."

Two days later, the lead headline was "Shake, rattle and roll" after an earthquake added insult to injury. The epicenter was 7 miles northwest of Edgefield.

I know exactly where I was when I felt the tremor on the evening of Valentine's Day. I was in my easy chair watching the Winter Olympics that Friday night.

I was working in Augusta at the time, and I thought The Chronicle's headline on the earthquake was a classic: "First the shivers, now the shakes."

As a sports guy, I didn't have a lot to do in the early days of the storm. I did pitch in and help my news brethren from the comfort of my home, or what I liked to call the "Boyette Bureau."

However, I got word on Saturday that one of the iconic trees at Augusta National Golf Club had gone down. Yep, the Eisenhower Tree.

The loblolly pine on the left side of the 17th hole fairway was famous because former president Dwight D. Eisenhower, an Augusta National member, frequently hit into it.

He once asked at a club meeting to have it removed, but Augusta National and Masters Chairman Clifford Roberts famously ruled him out of order and adjourned the meeting.

But the loss of the tree was big news in golf circles.

I wound up spending a good bit of my Saturday and Sunday tracking that story down, and we were able to break the news late Sunday afternoon.

I also recall spending a good portion of that weekend cleaning up debris in my parents' yard. Unlike my neighborhood, it was an older subdivision full of pine trees. Fortunately, none of the branches inflicted any damage on their home.

After Pax was done and power restored, Aiken was besieged for weeks with tree removal trucks. I remember the massive debris piles located around town.

Like we did a generation before us when Hurricane Hugo inflicted major damage on South Carolina, our folks pulled together. We cleaned up and got back to normalcy in short order.

But, given the choice, give me snow over ice. Every single time.

Thanks for reading.