Note: This is the first of a two-part series.
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Patricia McClelland West celebrated her 100th birthday on Jan. 11, 2026, with family and friends at Murphy Rehab & Nursing in Peachtree.
She was born Jan. 10, 1926, to Robert Lee and Nora Crisp McClelland, and was one of seven children. Her siblings were born in this order: Buster, Leon, Anna Winfrey Whitaker, Mary Stiles, Vera Conley, Ross and Patricia, who was the youngest.
She has had a remarkable life that represents growing up in the mountains, in a small town where everyone knew you, then marrying the man she loved and having children. Many years ago, I interviewed Pat in her home, a place that was filled with memorabilia, family photos and Native American collectables.
Her parents moved the family from McClelland Creek to “Long Town,” which was an area going toward the Bristol Farm, where Bill and Nancy Bristol live today.
Pat said, “I remember walking to school about a mile and a half with my friend, Erma Chambers, and as we walked out the dirt road we would gather up Doris Best, Jack Lunsford, Jean Palmer, Gwinn Pierce and Lucy Long, who all lived in that area.
“There used to be a syrup mill on that road, before you got to Bob Bristol’s house, and it had a horse that went around and around in a sweep,” said Pat.
The horse drawn sorghum syrup mills were said to have been brought over from Scotland by those who settled here in Western North Carolina.
The horse mills usually had three vertical rollers that were fixed on the drive pole for the purpose of crushing the sorghum cane that was fed into the mill to extract the juice. “It was very interesting to watch and the horse’s job was to keep the rollers moving. The man that owned the mill used to let us swipe a handful of the lather, or foam that was collected where the juice was squeezed, because it was so sweet, but you had to watch out for the yellowjackets!”
“We could always find something to do and in the summer we would graze around looking for “Chinky Pins” (commonly called chinkapin and a relative of the American Chestnut). And we picked gooseberries, blackberries, and wild grapes for mother to make jelly, but you don’t see many of those anymore,” said Pat.
Mother canned about 500 jars of food every summer so we would have plenty to eat through the winter. She also had barrels of pickle beans and corn, and stored barrels of fruit that she dried with sulfur. Something that I have not seen since I was a kid is “grass nips,” it was like a little nut that grew wild around the garden and we would pick them to eat.”
Pat remembered many things about growing up in Andrews and the childhood memories of her siblings and friends. I loved to dance, and me and my brother Ross, were always in the dance contests in school. I was a cheerleader at Andrews High School and went to school with Ann Jefferies, who became a movie star.
Part Two next column.
Kandy Barnard is a columnist for the Cherokee Scout. To talk about the Andrews Valley, call her at 828-361-3268 or email kandybarnard@gmail.com.