Crew Member Feature: Don Blackmon

If you’ve stayed with us before you may have met Park Patrolman, Don Blackmon. Hopefully it was when you were on your way through the front gate and not because you were running late at check-out time (oops!). Don has worked at PirateLand for about seven years, and he also spends a lot of free time here because he is an annual site resident.  

  

Don Blackmon started camping in Myrtle Beach in the 1960’s. Hailing from Lancaster, SC he remembers camping at PirateLand before we took reservations; seeing campers along the access road of Kings Highway “waiting in line, double file.” One thing hasn’t changed- during the 4th of July, camping at the beach was the place to be! He has stayed at all the Myrtle Beach campgrounds, and liked PirateLand because of the shelters. Once retired, he leased a permanent site at Springmaid for a while, then the Myrtle Beach KOA. 

Don (center) with Stan (right) and Melba (left)

After a spending few years in a campground in the Maggie Valley area of the mountains, the beach was calling him back. Don’s daughter, knowing he wanted to return, picked out his place at PirateLand. They put the deposit down for him, called him up, and told him to sell his place at the mountains. Don hadn’t even seen the place here yet.  His daughter, Rhonda, knew he would like it and she sure was right!

“I don’t mean to brag, but I got the best view over there because I’m looking down that big lake,” Don said. “I like to sit on the deck and listened to music.”

In addition to being a “fool for music,” Don also enjoys the company of his neighbors. He especially enjoys our Sunday Morning Church Service with resident and friend, Stan Kliemann and Pastor Darryl Brummett. He’s thought about selling his place here, but says the grand kids won’t let him! He has three, all girls, he calls “my heart” and they love the beach!     

One of Don’s hobbies is participating in civil war reenactments. About five times a year, Don joins his son, and their company members to reenactment events in Cheraw, Aiken, Florence, Columbia, and North Charleston, South Carolina. Just like our current Army, the South Carolina Palmetto Battalion members have titles and ranks including First and Second Corporals, Sergeants, Lieutenants and Generals. Members come from various professions; lawyers, business men, doctors, retired veterans, teachers, farmers, even a local congressman.  

They share strong patriotic spirit and interest in history, developing the “realness” of the reenactments.  Event sizes vary, ranging from several hundred to several thousand. Don also goes to a national event in Chickamauga, Georgia, with an attendance ranging from 10,000 to 15,000 people.  

 

“You wouldn’t believe it, when we go to a national event, it actually looks like the real thing,” Don said. “It’s nothing to have 400 to 500 Calvary, now I’m talking horses.”

The men furnish everything themselves; canons (some with barrels dating back to the Civil War), muskets, handmade costumes, and basic supplies. The company “roughs it” with sheet like tents for shelter, and yes, they sleep on the ground. 

“We do it as authentic as we possibly can, drink out of tin cups, cook over the open fire, and somewhere, somebody down the line will have a jar of moonshine,” Don laughs. “[Sitting around the campfire] is a lot of fun; we have a great bunch of guys in our company.”

Don’s son, Donny Ray, First Sergeant over the C-Company, recently found out that one of their ancestors, a great, great, grandfather served with General Lee when he surrendered to General Grant at Appomattox.  He’s excited about the memorial service they’ve planned for him over Memorial Day Weekend to replace his headstone. Don speaks very proudly of Donny Ray, who just got his Masters Degree in History.  

Don has his home in Lancaster, where his wife is close to the children, but stays here as much as possible. He considers his co-workers and neighbors his friends. His motto - “treat others like you want to be treated.” 

Don, thank you for all you do! It sure is a pleasure having you on board!