By Rachel HaynieThe award

Betty McGregor The five children of Betty and Sam McGregor were surprised at a package under the tree at the family gathering.

The package was the book that had led to their mother’s selection for SC Family and Community Leaders (SCFCL) Leadership Award.

Inside the cover of the special edition made for the McGregor family were documents about their mother’s years of volunteering as a farm wife, mother, church woman, devoted alumna, and much more.

The volunteer organization that honored McGregor extends the resources of the land grant universities to the people of SC. Formed in 1921 at Winthrop University, SCFCL is advised now by the Clemson University Cooperative Extension Service. The McGregors are among more than 3,500 members involved in SCFCL representing all 46 SC counties.

All five children had returned to Columbia for the award ceremony at which Betty Ulmer McGregor was honored, but during the presentation they heard only the Cliff Notes version of their mother’s quiet, unassuming endeavors.

In accordance with the judges’ criteria, McGregor was limited to submitting only information about her volunteer activities and achievements over the past year, otherwise the book would have been far thicker.

Her children did not realize their mother still arose at 5 am daily. When the family’s dairy farm had been at its most active and productive, 5 am was the standard time for a day to begin.

Early morning has become McGregor’s quiet time to work on the books for the numerous organizations that count her as a volunteer. She has treasury or other fiscal responsibilities with Trinity Presbyterian Church, book and garden clubs, Columbia College Alumnae, Columbia Council for Internationals, as well as the Richland County Farm–City organizations.

Her experience in communities in which she is involved, from Hopkins to Columbia, has earned her board seats and advisorships in numerous organizations to which she has lent her wisdom. “A vision without action is a daydream,” she believes. “And action without vision is a disaster,” she said, her Cameron accent softening the r a bit.

The farm

Near the front of the book is the personal narrative McGregor wrote about her life with her Clemson man, Sam McGregor, on 600–acre Laurinton, the farm operation begun in 1911 by Sam’s grandfather.

The farm has survived three major evolutions. “First we retailed milk, butter, cream, chocolate milk, buttermilk, and cottage cheese,” McGregor recounted. “Then we closed the retail operation and became producers for Pet Dairy. Today we have a dairy heifer replacement operation.”

McGregor said the farm also produces wheat, corn, oats, hay, sorghum, and soybeans. “My primary responsibility is to keep the books and pay the bills, but there are times when I have chased cows that thought the grass was greener on the other side of the fence.”

Farm life was a good life for the McGregors, according to the narrative in her book. “I feel our farm life enabled our children to have family responsibilities thereby helping them to be dependable and self assured. We loved them by giving them room to be themselves.”

The inlaws

For 28 years McGregor’s next–door neighbors were also her in–laws. “They were wonderful and our children were so fortunate to grow up knowing such loving grandparents.

The couple cared for the aging McGregors and Betty’s mother who came from Cameron to live with them the last year of her life. “Although she was blind, Mother published two genealogy books (Huffman–Bair and Ulmer). I was her eyes.”

The McGregor Children

McGregor’s personal narrative waxes eloquently about her five children. “They surprised me, as Sam did, by giving me roses, by showing up for the award ceremony, even though one family was going to have to turn around and come back in just a few weeks for my grandson’s Clemson graduation.”

The McGregor’s daughter Lib Simmons, is minister of the University Presbyterian Church in San Antonio, TX. Their other daughter, Jean Trice, is a medical technologist with a surgeon group in Donalsonville, GA.

Jimmy is a civil engineer with Exxon Chemical in Houston, TX, and Johnny is a professor who heads Clemson University’s Food Science department. Sam, Jr. is a minister at Allison Creek Presbyterian Church in York.

“They have five wonderful spouses and have given us eight smart grandchildren,” McGregor said. “Since they are such a large part of the inspiration for the work I have done over the years, I thought they should have a copy of the book for themselves.”

The future

After the McGregor clan gathers on New Year’s for its Christmas celebration, the book will take its place among the other family archives. It’s likely the book will be among the treasures moved and re–shelved sometime during 2005 when Betty and Sam McGregor leave Laurinton in the hands of new owners and start a new chapter in their lives. The farm is on the market, and the couple plans to continue their honeymoon at the Presbyterian Home.