Biggs Love (left) stands with his son-in-law Brent Mozley and the 1936 Chevy.
Rockingham Rocket still tinkering with cars
by Dwight Dana/Florence Morning News
FLORENCE, S.C. — Biggs Love is a Rockingham Rocket who has piddled with cars all his life.
He is a Rockingham Rocket because he grew up in Rockingham and graduated from high school there in 1959. The school’s teams were known as the Rockingham Rockets.
And he does more than piddle with cars — he restores them.
His latest endeavor is a 1936 Chevrolet pickup. He was assisted by his son-in-law, Brent Mozley.
The frame-off restoration was two years in the making. The end result is a ‘36 Chevy with all the modern amenities.
Little could those who drove Chevrolet trucks in 1936 have ever realized what comforts like air conditioning, automatic transmission, BMW 325 seats and power steering, windows and brakes could add to the ride.
And it is painted in a Cadillac raven black that glistens in the sun.
The truck roars to a start with its dual exhausts rumbling because it’s powered by a 350 cubic-inch Chevy engine.
Love said he may put the truck in the showroom at King Cadillac Buick GMC for the public to see it. But then he will probably sell it on down the line.
Why put that much time and energy into a restoration to sell it?
“I get my fun out of building things right,” he said. “I’m happy with the Chevy. It’s fun to drive, but it’s time to move on.”
Move on?
That’s exactly what he plans to do.
He purchased the remains of a 1937 GMC pickup from a farmer in Connecticut. The farmer had it for a long time and stored it in a hay barn.
The truck is powered by a Pontiac straight-6 engine
Love said the first GMC trucks were built in 1936.
“It’s in rough shape,” he said. “It will take me at least a year to get it in half-way decent shape.”
Love’s “tinkering” began with his first car, a 1954 Chevrolet. He put a floor shift in it along with a 265 cubic-inch engine with six Stromberg carburetors. The Chevy would do everything but fly.
Love has seen cars come and go over the years. The only one he misses is a 1967 Chevrolet Corvette that he bought for $1,800.
“It had both tops and it was in mint condition,” he said. “I would love to have it back.”
And then there was the 1980 MG that his son-in-law reminded him of. Love bought it for his daughter to drive in high school.
But, again, he had to piddle with the MG.
“I put a Ford six cylinder engine in it,” he said. “I converted it to an automatic transmission. She had a fun time driving it.”
Love has a 1976 Cadillac convertible that has been restored. The Caddy lived for almost a year at Patrick’s Domestics and Imports along West Evans Street because it was so hard to find parts for it.
“That Cadillac is about the size of the Titanic,” Love said. “I drive it every now and then.”
Although he says he is retired, Biggs makes daily appearances at Biggs’ Casework. The company makes cabinets for schools and other outlets. Its territory includes the Carolinas and Georgia.
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1958 CLASS REUNION
The Class of 1958 is having their 50th reunion on October 3 and 4 at The Rotary Lodge-Hinson Lake, Rockingham from 6 until 10 both nights. If you need additional information please contact Martha Ussery Brigman at rbrigman@carolina.rr.com
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A Hall-of-Fame Tradition
May 10, 2008
By Dennis Burton
Richmond County Daily Journal
Some stand in small groups. Others sit across from one another finishing a plate of barbecue or a piece of cake. Some still live near by, whereas some have traveled from as far away as Florida and California.
Whatever the case, all are there for the same purpose, doing the same thing — celebrating a time and a man who means so much to each of them.
Down a long dirt road tucked back in the woods in Cheraw, S.C. stands a small cabin, with a covered picnic area adjacent to it. Forty-three former Rockingham High School football players and assistant coaches, separated by nearly two decades from youngest to oldest, have gathered to honor former Rockets coach Bill Eutsler’s 90th birthday. The mood is noticeably jovial.
“This is at least two reunions in one,” John, or “Buddy” as he’s known in this crowd, Wester says. “One is of teammates. And one is of devotion to a gentleman whose influence is lasting in a positive way.”
It all began 10 years ago.
Ron Tuthill, a former high school all-American who starred on the football field at Rockingham and went to play at the University of North Carolina, had died and many of his old teammates gathered at the funeral in Charlotte.
Two players from the early 60s, Keith Mclester and Leland Cox, offered to drive their old coach —Eutsler — who was nearing his 80th birthday, to the funeral. For many, the event, however a gloom occasion, was a chance to catch up with people they hadn’t seen in years.
According to Mclester, it sparked an idea and a tradition was born.
Since that day, twice a year — once on the Saturday nearest Eutsler’s birthday (May 6) and once in October — players, coaches and, of course Eutsler, have gotten together for some food and a trip down memory lane.
“It’s something every year you put on your calendar,” Jerry Goodman, who played halfback for the Rockets in the mid-50s, said.
To see Saturday’s turnout though, it’s hard to imagine the humble beginnings of the gathering. The first year, there were only four players and the coach.
McClester, Cox, Wester and Settle Dockery (fullback - class of ‘64) make up the original group from 1998. Since then it has gradually grown each year, but still the focus has remained constant.
Eutsler’s impact on the field is obvious in the statistics, which read like a list of honors for a war hero — fitting for someone who was in the Navy for six years and fought in World War II.
He began his career at Rockingham in 1940, but just a year later was called into military service. He returned from the war in 1946 and resumed coaching until 1971, the same year the high schools consolidated and Richmond Senior High was formed.
During that stretch, his teams posted a 225-75-14 record, won 13 conference championships, six Eastern regional titles and four state and co-state championships.
He is in both the N.C. Sports Hall of Fame, Wake Forest University’s Sports Hall of Fame, where he was a standout for the Demon Deacons, and was named the first athletic director at RSHS in 1972.
Dockery remembered the coach’s revolutionary style.
“He had a more advanced knowledge of how to play,” Dockery, who played football in college at N.C. State, said. “He had better techniques than anybody else.”
Jerry Long, who played halfback alongside Dockery, recalled marathon film sessions on Sundays just to get ready for the following Friday night’s game — something unheard of at the time.
“Coach would run the film back and forth until every player got graded,” he said. “If it was a good block, coach might give you a four. If you messed up, he might give you a one, and he’d let you know about it. Those meetings might last three or four hours.”
“We knew what kind of toothpaste the other team used,” Charlie Yow, another teammate of Long’s and Dockery’s, joked. “We were so well prepared.”
In 1963, Eutsler’s team posted a perfect 12-0 season, beating rival Hamlet High on the same day President John F. Kennedy was assassinated. In those days though, the Eastern champs didn’t play the Western champs, instead they shared the state title. Long was quick to point though, that the Rockets did beat the Western champs in the regular season that year.
“We had some kind of tradition,” Yow said.
Eutsler’s success was not just limited to the gridiron. When he started, he coached baseball and basketball as well — for $20 a month with no assistants.
Admittedly though, he wasn’t the most knowledgeable basketball guy.
“I must have had some good talent in those days,” Eutsler said of his first few basketball teams, “because we actually played in the state playoffs a few times. I used to hate when the other coach would call timeout, because I didn’t know enough to tell the boys what to do. I would just tell them to pass the ball to the person in front of them.”
On the baseball field he was much more sure of himself, eventually leading a team to a state championship and sending players to higher levels of competition.
“I probably wouldn’t have graduated from Wake Forest or played college ball,” Goodman, who played baseball for Deacs, said. “Coach has meant a lot to me.”
Eutsler’s impact could be seen not only in his players, but also in the coaches who worked under him at Rockingham. At least four of his assistants would go on to win football state championships of their own.
“I came primarily to work for him,” Ron Krall, who started at Rockingham as an assistant football coach and eventually became the first head coach at Richmond Senior in 1972, said. “He had a great reputation in the state at the time. I owe a lot of my success to coach.”
Similar stories of how much the old coach meant to their athletic careers, poured from all those at Eutsler’s cabin Saturday. But perhaps even more telling about Eutsler’s true influence can be seen in the professional lives of his former players and assistant coaches outside of sports.
That list is impressive in its own right. A lawyer, a real estate developer, the head master of a prestigious school in South Carolina, a producer of a Broadway play and a variety of successful business leaders mark the occupation roster of those who played for the man.
Harry West (fullback - class of ‘57), who works as a commercial artist, remembered one time when the coach’s sports success impacted his professional career.
“When coach won his first championship, he sent me the football and I lettered it for him,” West said. “And I told coach every time he won a championship to send me a ball and I would letter it for him. I didn’t know I was going to make a career out of it.”
Story after story, Eutsler’s reach grows wider and his touch becomes more evident. But the impact goes both ways.
When asked about what the gatherings mean to him, Eutsler, who still gets around easily and pumps out 100 sit-ups a day, struggles to put it into words.
“I can’t really express my feelings,” he said, fighting through tears. “To be a former coach and see how much they appreciate you is ... it’s overwhelming.
“I hope I live 10 more years.”
Despite the coach’s good health, those in attendance Saturday know he won’t live forever. No one discusses such things during the reunion.
But when asked whether or not the biannual event will continue after Eutsler is gone, no one was ready to rule out the possibility.
“We may still do it,” McClester said. “We might even do it at my cabin if I’m still around. But coach might outlive me.”
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