Field One.
Truman Owens — 39 years a member of Clinton City Council, a Clinton Mills icon, and a Hall of Fame caliber umpire — now has the singular honor of having the first field in the City’s new recreation complex named for him.
The City of Clinton on April 30 fulfilled its earlier commitment to honor Owens as the recreation center about 20 years in the making is nearing its completion at 512 Belle Acres Road.
Already it is proving to be a popular place as subdivisions are springing up around it on Hwy 56, which connects Clinton to I-26. City officials envision that thousands of baseball, softball and soccer players will travel that interstate to play at tournaments here, alongside a splash pad, picnic shelters, and walking trails; long-range plans have, some day, envisioned an amphitheater.
“I am thrilled that we had such a crowd to come out and show up on a day that started a little dreary for us, but the sun’s coming out and we’re going to have a good day,” Clinton City Manager Joey Meadors said. An early morning gully-washer made the four baseball/softball fields around a central press box and restrooms area muddy, but the dedication went off as scheduled under a tent.
Clinton First Baptist Pastor Blake Harwell remembered being on a 2007 committee with Owens when a rec complex for Clinton was just an idea - without money. His invocation cited “the powerful influence (Truman’s) had on so many people, and I just pray Lord that you bless this field and you bless this family in days to come and, Lord, bless this whole project.”
Mayor Randy Randall expressed his personal appreciation of Owens’ friendship and mentorship on the Clinton City Council. Through a succession of mayors and city managers, Randall said he always talked to Owens to tell him, “It’s going to happen,” and Owens would always say, “I know, I have faith in you.”
“It’s such an honor for us, everybody who’s been involved with this, to be able to honor you in this way,” Randall said.
Clinton City Council member Gary Kuykendall and retired executive Ted Davenport praised Truman and his wife Pat for their many years of service to Clinton Mills, which once employed 5,800 people over 4 weaving plants. “You were a person that people could rely on for honest answers and that meant a lot to people who worked at Clinton Cotton Mill,” Kuykendall said. “ I worked there 23 years and you were a staple for all those years that I was there.”
“I worked at Clinton Mills with Truman and Pat for more than 30 years,” Davenport said, “and they both were instrumental in keeping personnel and many other things going — Truman knowing the people and people knowing Truman, and whenever I needed to know something about somebody and I could call Truman and he would enlighten me on what I needed to know, and Pat was one of the most efficient people that we have had working there.”
Voice of the Clinton Red Devils, Buddy Bridges said, “I know of no human being that loves the game of baseball more than Truman Owens does. … How you treat people tells everything about you, and that is called character, and that is you, Mr. Truman Owens.”
It was announced in January, 2018, that Truman Owens would be part of the 2nd Induction Class of the Laurens County Sports Hall of Fame in March. The induction announcement says, “Truman Owens officiated high school basketball for 57 years, high school football for 50 years, high school baseball for 46 years and high school softball for 26 years. He’s worked 57 state championship games and over 8,000 games in four sports. Owens officiated the Shrine Bowl in 1967 and the North-South All-Star game in 1968. He joins his brother Sam as the first brothers inducted into the National Federation High School Hall of Fame.” Then, in December, 2018, a Clinton City Council resolution said the rec complex’s first field would be named in Owens’ honor.
The plaque at Field #1 will say, in part, “Your decades of service and devotion have made a lasting impact in generations of citizens and young athletes alike.”
