Yates Bostic, Jr.

I‘m a former resident of Cliffside (from birth until approximately 1988). My parents, Yates and Rosa Lee Thrift Bostic, still live in Cliffside, on Highway 221-A across from the Country Plaza. I’m almost 40 now, but still, I have memories of the “Old Cliffside.” When I was small, the theater was still open and the cafe across the street was still there. The barber shop and pool hall were in the basement alley way on the side street. Dances and skating took place in a large room in the basement with the entrance at the rear of the building. Unfortunately, I remember much about the demolition of the town, too. At the age of 15, I worked for my great uncle, Dan Bostic, helping to tear down the Memorial Building and salvage the wood beams and flooring. I know that some of the beams were used in the construction of some homes close by and the flooring was put to use somewhere near. Even the bricks were cleaned and reused; at least the ones that didn’t break during cleaning.

I remember spending the night with my best friend, Terry Weathers (son of Buddy and Elsie Weathers) when they lived just below where the clock tower is now located. We would walk to the Baptist Church on Wednesdays after school at Cliffside Elementary.

I moved to Gaffney, SC in 1988, then moved to Lexington, SC in 1998. I miss the days of my childhood in Cliffside. I know the town and it’s people molded me into the adult that I am today.