Fall has arrived and ushered in many activities we hold dear — attending weekly football games near and far, hunting in our Georgia pines, and gathering with family and friends while enjoying great Southern food.
The Board of Hospice Satilla looks forward to bringing family and friends together once again as we stage the 12th Annual Silver Bowl Gala.
This year’s event will be from 6 to 8:30 p.m., Thursday, November 14 at the home of Dr. William Clark, 501 Hill Street, Waycross.
The community at large is invited to enjoy the evening. Tickets are not sold for this event; however, your support in the form of a contribution placed in the Silver Bowl at the entry is appreciated.
We are very grateful to Dr. Clark for allowing us to host the gala at his home. Every home has a story, and the dwelling at 501 Hill Street began its tale in the late 19th Century.
It was built by Sevier Clark Houk as a woodframe Victorian-style home with 13 rooms, 13foot ceilings, 13 chimneys, and a Georgian wraparound porch. The home stood atop a hill in the area known as Williams Heights, which had originally been owned by Dr. Benjamin Williams, one of the founders of Waycross.
Over time, Mr. Houk had three children and acquired much of the land in Williams Heights and what became Cherokee Heights.
He deeded the side yard facing Ava Street to his younger daughter, Sarah Houk, and built her a house there where she lived until her death at which time she deeded the property to First Presbyterian Church.
That lot is still used today by First Presbyterian Church as additional parking on Sunday for its members.
In 1936, the house was purchased by Mr. Mack Wayne Jordan, who founded the Jordan Furniture Company, which prospered in the region for decades.
In the mid-1960s, Mack’s son, Bobby, redesigned and reoriented the house by turning the front entrance from Clifton Grove to Hill Street.
The new orientation featured a front entrance under a colonial arch with white columns. All the wood was covered by red bricks including the front and back verandahs.
Many other interior renovation improvements were made as a result of Bobby’s high school mechanical engineering project — completing his dream of how to remodel the house “to be better.”
Dr. Warren Bickerstaff, a colorful and accomplished orthopedic surgeon in Waycross, purchased the house not long after.
The Bickerstaff home became a lighthouse for social activities in the area during the 1960s and ’70s.
In the early 1980s, “Cadillac Joe” Fulcher purchased the house and lived there until he sold it to Dr. Clark in 1984.
Built around massive heart pine posts, the house was redecorated by Jill Clark in consultation with Frank McCall, an interior decorator from Moultrie, and features many family antiques. The Clarks spent their years on Hill Street raising daughters as evidenced by the portraits of Victoria, Evelyn, and Alora.
As many already know, it’s a treat to drive by Dr. Clark’s home during the Christmas season with all its festive holiday lighting displays. Dr. Clark shared that in 1986 after a drive of seeing houses all lit up and decorated for Christmas, 9-month-old Victoria fell silent when coming into their driveway.
Since that Christmas, thanks to young Victoria, the house on Hill Street has been increasingly lit with festive Christmas displays and effects bringing joy and cheer to all who drive by. In 1992, the carport was rebuilt to feature an expanded covered parking area, a grilling area, and the Executive Dog House.
For those new to the area, the Silver Bowl Gala is not only a time to gather with family and friends but also an opportunity to raise much-needed funds to support the needs of the Hospice Satilla Agency.
The organization was formed in 1986 out of concern for the terminally ill in the community, offering them dignity and quality of days at the end of life.
Since that date, it has grown from its base of inhome hospice care to include a free-standing hospice house with five beds.
The most recent addition has been a bereavement center, The Carl Jones, Jr. Family Counseling Center. Originally built for hospice families, care has become so much more as it extends beyond hospice walls to the community at large serving as a designated counseling space.
Recently, Hospice Satilla launched the Satilla Palliative Care Program. This service is for those who have chronic illnesses and need daily support with pain, symptom management, and stress relief. This is not hospice care, but a great support to individuals in the community and to the hospital.
As a non-profit organization, Hospice Satilla relies on the generosity of individual donors and the business community to fund its efforts to provide the care and services members of the community desperately need.
The help of others ensures those in their greatest time of need have access to exemplary physical, emotional, and spiritual care, regardless of the ability to pay. Hospice Satilla offers care to the eight surrounding counties of Atkinson, Bacon, Brantley, Charlton, Clinch, Coffee, Pierce, and Ware.
The Board of Hospice Satilla hopes to see all on November 14. For more information, call (912) 614-1504.
The home of Dr. William Clark at 501 Hill Street will be the site of the 12th annual Hospice Satilla Silver Bowl Gala, Thursday, November 14. SPECIAL PHOTO
