THE MIGHTY WINDS OF NATURE (Narrating)
             July 23, 1979 was a hot summer afternoon in Mullins SC that many town folk will remember forever. Many remember it as the day the mighty winds of nature came calling. This afternoon began no different from any other afternoon. Families were doing their everyday yard work and kids were playing in the streets. This was just another perfect day in this small South Carolina town. What happened that afternoon will remain with some the rest of their lives. Every year when July 23 rolls around, it not only brings another day, but it also brings the tears of the town with it. The reason is that on that day a category 5 tornado almost demolished this small South Carolina town. Fifteen hundred lives were lost because of that tornado. That was a quarter of the population in a town of 6,000 residents prior to the tornado. Many others lost their homes, farms, and some even lost their pets.
             I 'm reminded on several occasions while talking with some of the people in this town of a man they call, Mr. Shag. "They say he has a heart larger than the Grand Canyon." I decided to give Mr. Shag a visit to see why the town thought so highly of him. I am amazed at what I learned and saw from the visit. Come to find out he risked his own life and did it while in the face of that tornado to save a child, nine dogs, seven cats, and even one of his neighbors' prize Rooster.
             As we walked and talked about that summer afternoon, I found my self under ground. Without realizing it, I was under his house in a basement the size of a football field.
             Come to find out, Mr. Shag decided to build a basement that could hold at least fifteen hundred people if necessary. Ironically that is the number of people that lost there lives that tragic afternoon in July of 1979.
             The town has since returned to its daily life and a memorial now stands in the middle of town wi...