The Swamp Fox listens quietly as Mary Esther Videau Marion, played by Karen MacNutt, discusses life at Pond Bluff with a neighbor, played by Christine Swager. Forty history buffs from Columbia spent a full day last Saturday discovering the beauty and culture of the old Santee River society of Pineville. The bus left Dreher High School at 7:30 am and returned at 9:30 pm full of wonderful memories:

• The blessing of the marriage of Frances and Henry Porcher by Father Jeff Richardson at the St. Stephen Episcopal Church (1754), the same historic church where they were married 35 years ago.

• A tour through the historic village of Pineville (1793) led by Keith Gourdin included the Pineville Chapel (1810), the Robert Marion House (1905), the Clarence Gourdin House (1820), the J.K. Gourdin House (1925), and the Naomi Gourdine Martin House (1922).

• Lunch at Lifeland Plantation, home of Peter Sinkler in the early 1700s and now site of a hunt club owned by Saundra and Bill Dyson.

• A visit to Tower Hill Plantation that began as a Huguenot home on the Santee River, then became a home for Episcopal monks in the 1950s, then a hunting club for wealthy Northerners in the 1990s, and now a Southern estate for a Norwegian family.

Ida Berqvam of Bergen, Norway, explains why she and her husband, Guttorm, are planning to leave their homes in Norway and Spain for the 300- year- old Couturier/Marion plantation in Pineville. Paying close attention behind her are (l-r) Keith Gourdin, Charlie Hyman, and Betty Gourdin. • A brief stop at the Oakland Club (previously Bluford Plantation) owned by 21 men who hunt quail, dove, and deer 12 days a year in a luxury setting.

• A pilgrimage to the tomb of Gen. Francis Marion at Belle Isle Plantation cemetery.

• And finally, the Sixth Annual Francis Marion Symposium in Manning where Joe Stukes brilliantly portrayed John Rutledge and Warner M. Montgomery gave a talk on Revolutionary War Hero Col. Hezekiah Maham. The day was topped off with a dinner theater featuring Karen MacNutt and Christine Swager who presented Mary Esther Videau Marion (the general's wife) in conversation at their home, Pond Bluff Plantation.

The marriage of Francis and Henry Porcher is blessed by Father Jeff Richardson in the historic St. Stephen Episcopal Church.