Remembering a good man, Roy Collins, on the 14^th anniversary of his passing, on January 6, 2011. He will never be forgotten. I’m thankful that Roy was a Christian and that we’ll see him again one day.

I first met Roy in 1999, when I was the Editor of The Pickens Sentinel and he was the Chair of the Pickens County Water Authority, whose meetings I attended for the newspaper. And, while I was Editor of The Sentinel, he was elected to the Pickens County Council, whose meetings I also attended for the newspaper.

In 1999, Roy told me about Collins Ole Towne, a 1930’s-era town he had built at his home in Central, complete with a general store, schoolhouse, barbershop, sawmill, and hotel/inn. (Lastly, he would build a chapel before his passing.)

I first wrote about Ole Towne, for The Sentinel, in 1999, and I wrote about it several times afterward, including at Christmastime and also when Roy made molasses in autumn, and children from nearby Central Elementary School would come for a visit. I also wrote about Ole Towne for Sandlapper magazine.

Roy and his wife, Pat, became good friends through the years, such a kind Christian couple, always supportive and encouraging, and I always enjoyed my visits there with them.

When I began a Christian publication in 2004, Roy put ads for Collins Ole Towne in the issues, and, when I would deliver to them copies of each issue, he and Pat would take a stack of copies to give to their fellow church members.

During one of my visits to Ole Towne, Roy told me of his longtime plan to one day build a church on the property. I had just started going to church myself, and, on my subsequent visits to Ole Towne, I would ask Roy if he was going to start building the church soon. He and his workers did build the Collins Ole Towne Chapel, a dream 40 years in the making, and it would be the final building he would complete, for, on January 6, 2011, just a short time after the chapel was finished, Roy had a massive heart attack while at Ole Towne and passed away. The receiving of friends was held in the Ole Towne Chapel.

At Christmastime a few years after Roy passed, a Christmas service was held inside the Ole Towne Chapel, which was decorated for Christmas, as was the inn, where folks fellowshipped after the service. I remembered previously having taken photos of Roy and Pat inside the inn, by the fireplace, and their showing me around the building.

Then, that Christmas, I took a walk around Ole Towne and inside each and every building, and I reminisced with each step, flooded with memories.….As I stopped at the location where Roy and his brother-in-law, Bob Shirley, made molasses each autumn, years ago, I could still see Bob stripping cane stalks, and I remembered the time that students at nearby Central Elementary School walked from their school to Ole Towne to watch the molasses being made and taste it, and I remembered Roy and Pat giving me a jar of molasses to take home. I could still see those small children, even though they are no longer children, and I remembered the excitement on their faces….As I walked into the little schoolhouse, I remembered visiting, through the years all of those years ago, at Christmastime, when Roy’s and Pat’s then small grandchildren held Christmas plays inside. Those grandchildren are grown now, but, in my mind’s eye, I could still see them, as small children, on the stage inside the schoolhouse, in their Christmas play, while we adults sat in the school desks and clapped for them….As I walked into the general store, I could still, in my memory, see Roy standing there, as I had been in there several times as he showed me so many things he had collected through the years.

The buildings look exactly the same now as they did when Roy was there. It’s almost as if he just stepped away for awhile and will return. It’s hard to believe that he has been gone for 14 years. It’s hard to believe that it has been a little over 25 years since my first visit to Collins Ole Towne. To me, it seems like just yesterday.