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Jesup, Georgia 31545

Wednesday, September 25, 2013

75

Claude McBrides call to preach

My Opinion
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First-timeaway-fromhome college students are awash in freedom to make choicessome good, some not so good. When I came to The University of Georgia, I DINK brought a histoNeSMITH ry of attending Chairman church since diaper days, but getting out of my dorm bed on Sunday mornings slipped down on my list of priorities. Then one Sunday, my roommate grabbed my foot and shook it. Get up, he said, were going to church. Theres a great preacher, and we need to hear him. Thats the day the Rev. Claude McBride came into my life at Milledge Avenue Baptist Church. Sitting in metal folding chairs in a concrete-block room, I listened and knew: Heres a special man. And he was. Claude was for meas he was for thousands morea friend who radiated optimism. With an elastic grin that stretched from ear to ear, he was always glad to see you. His animation was genuine, and he could have been a celebrity clown or a dress-up Santa Claus. He had the mirth to match his girth, and I loved to watch his belly-bouncing laughs. I see and hear him nowClaude placing his hands on his tummy, leaning back, curling his lips and saying, Yes, yes heh heh heh. Claude was a celebrity, especially with his family. His wife, Gayle, and their children, Walt and Wynter, along with five grandchildren Gracie, Susannah, Harrison, Claudia and Abigayleshared him with everyone in Claudes enormous circle of influence. Walt proclaimed that his dad knew only one sermon but a thousand ways to preach it. It was a sermon of love. When Claude exited the church

Hundreds of times, the Rev. Claude McBride transformed himself into Happy Calhoun from Possum Gap. As a gap-toothed hillbilly comic/philosopher, Happy entertained and energized audiences for several decades. at Milledge Avenue, following its phenomenal growth, the metal chairs and concrete-block sanctuary had long since been replaced by a soaring edifice. His new congregation became the legions of the Bulldog Nation. Coach Vince Dooley claimed Claude, as chaplain of the Georgia Bulldogs, could find a speck of light even in the darkest spots on the gridiron. When I was president of UGAs Alumni Association, Claude often answered the phone in that office. Through the receiver, I could feel the sunshine he was sending my way. He was a celebrity to those of us who wear the Red and Black. And when he pulled on tattered overalls that had spent too many Saturdays in the wash pot, Claude became a celebrity as Happy Calhoun from Possum Gap. Several times, I invited the gap-toothed hillbilly comic/philosopher to entertain and energize our companys associates. Claude was a celebrity in my professions world, too. In 1955, The University of Georgia journalism graduate helped his hometown newspaper win the most coveted prize of allthe Pulitzer.

As a student at UGA, Claude McBride was a cheerleader and a member of the Red Coat Marching Band. Here, circa 1952, Claude poses with Neva Jane Langley of Macon. She was the only Georgian to have been crowned Miss America. Claude, along with three others, chronicled the corruption that had sullied the reputation of the Alabama town across the Chattahoochee River. After I read Margaret Anne Barnes book, The Tragedy and the Triumph of Phenix City, Alabama, I was reminded of Claudes newspaper career. Thats when I asked him when he got the call into the ministry. Heres what he told me: One night I walked out the back door of the Columbus Ledger and someone put a gun in my back. The thug said, You write one more story about Phenix City, and youre dead. Looking at me with that Happy Calhoun grin, Claude put his hands on his stomach, leaned back and laughed before saying, And thats when I heard the Lord calling me to preach. Not long ago, I asked Claude, Hows Happy? When he didnt smile and said, Happys retired, I knew my friend was not feeling well. His overflow memorial service was Sunday at Milledge Avenue Baptist Church. The metal folding chairs were put into action, again. dnesmith@cninewspapers.com