EDEN - Clyde Crews Carter, 86, formerly of Hwy 770 died early Saturday morning, March 14, 1998, at Morehead Nursing Center.

Funeral will be 2 p.m. Monday at Fair Funeral Home Chapel, with burial in Lawson Cemetery.

Born in Rockingham County, he was a member of Providence Baptist Church, a former member of the NC National Guard and was active in the Eden Red Cross as a volunteer. He worked in the Wilmington Ship Yard during World War II and later retired from Fieldcrest Mills.

He was preceded in death by his wife, Elsie Carter.

He is survived by five sisters, Janie Smith of Graham, Hattie Smith, Annie Fuller Davis, Daisy Cooke, all of Eden and Lillian Soots of Kernersville; several nieces and nephews.

The family will receive friends 7-9 p.m. at Fair Funeral Home and other times at the home of niece, Barbara Cooke Saul, 1301 Hillside Dr., Eden.
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GATHER AND GIVE
GARDENERS FIND WAYS TO SHARE THEIR BOUNTY
Greensboro News & Record
July 7, 1991
Author: BONNIE LAWRENCE Staff Writer

When tomatoes hang ripe and heavy on the stalk and pea pods grow plump and
full, Clyde Carter and Everett Nance gather up the fruits of their gardens.

Then they give them away. Each summer the two Eden-area residents serve as
the Robin Hoods of produce, taking from their own vast stock of fresh
vegetables and giving to those in need.

Carter, who's had a garden for years, says he's always given away his excess
crops.

``I give them to my sisters, my neighbors, anybody who comes along,'' he
said. ``I just like to do it.''

Carter's late wife, Elsie Mae, used to can and freeze many of the vegetables
he raised. But since she died in 1988, Carter has given away everything he
can't eat himself.

``I just get it up and carry it to the neighbors,'' he said.

Nance's two-acre garden, in which he grows a slew of vegetables, likewise
yields far more produce than he and his wife, Desser, can eat. Like Carter,
the Nances give away much of what they raise.

``We give mostly to neighbors,'' said Everett Nance, 76, who has maintained
a garden for more than 40 years. ``We have plenty for ourselves and we share
it with other people.''

The Nances have even found a way to share their bounty year-round. When the
weather turns cool in the fall, Desser Nance gathers up excess vegetables,
throws them in a pot and cooks up savory stews and soups, which she
distributes to those in need of a good meal.

``When I have extra carrots, potatoes, peas and beans, I put them in the
freezer,'' said Desser Nance, 67. ``Then when they accumulate right much,
I'll make a pot of stew.''

``She likes to get in the kitchen cooking,'' said her husband. ``She gets up
a whole bunch of stuff and cooks a big pot of stew. She puts it in quart
jars and I carry it around and give it to people, mostly shut-ins in the
neighborhood.''

Carter and the Nances are members of Providence Baptist Church near Eden.
Many of the recipients of their generosity are members of the church family.

``We have a number of elderly people, one or two with Alzheimer's,'' said
Desser Nance. ``They're not able to do for themselves. I enjoy doing for
them.''

Carter also lends a hand to friends and neighbors with special needs. For
example, there was an elderly woman, now in a nursing home, who could eat
only a limited diet. Since green peas and squash were two foods the woman
could tolerate, Carter supplied her with them whenever he could.

Tending his 3/4-acre garden is no easy task for the 80-year-old Carter. But
the Fieldcrest retiree finds that keeping busy helps push away the
loneliness he has felt since his wife died. Thus he's out in his yard nearly
every day, pulling weeds and watering crops. Even high temperatures don't
keep him inside, he says.

``It never gets too hot to work out there,'' Carter said. ``My wife's mother
used to say, 'He's going to fall dead out in that garden one day.' I'd say,
'That'd be all right. Just shovel dirt on me and go on.' ''

The most difficult part of gardening, Carter says, is driving the stakes
used to prop up tomatoes and cucumbers. He has to stand on a ladder in order
to pound them into the ground.

``The preacher's wife asked me, 'What you got those tall stakes for?' ''
said Carter. ``I said, 'Come back in July and August and I'll show you.' ''

Everett Nance, a semi-retired auto repairman, sometimes gets a little help
tending his 2-acre garden from his grandchildren, but usually he's the
principal gardener. He admits that sometimes the heat gets to be too much
for him.

``I don't get out there in the heat of day unless I've got something really
pushing,'' Everett Nance said.

Both gardeners keep a careful watch on the sky, hoping for the ideal balance
between sunshine and rain. Some years the rain doesn't come and the crops
fail.

``Last year the garden just dried up,'' said Carter. ``It's a good thing I
don't depend on it for a living.''

This year mother nature hasn't exactly been cooperative either. The rainy
spring delayed planting; then the rain stopped and the soil dried out.
Carter has begun watering his garden, and Nance may soon set out his hose
and oscillating sprinkler.

But however large or small this year's crop yield, Carter and the Nances
will continue their tradition of sharing the bounty. They all admit that
when they give, they get.

``It gives you a feeling of helping someone else,'' said Carter, who also
raises and gives away flowers. ``It takes other things off your mind. You've
got to have something to keep you going.''
Caption:
COLOR PHOTO: Lynn Hey / The Ledger ROBIN HOODS OF PRODUCE: Clyde Carter,
above, leaves his garden with a bucket of vegetables, many of which he will
give away. At right, Desser and Everett Nance inspect the tomato seedlings
that will go into their late garden.
Edition: ROCKINGHAM
Section: LEDGER
Page: 1

Copyright 1991, 2001 Greensboro News & Record
Record Number: 9107050362
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