North Myrtle Beach Times Serving our Community and the Grand Strand for over 50 years

Dr. Thomas Jackson “Jack” Babb, of Little River, left his earthly home on Saturday, Feb. 29, 2020.  He entered his heavenly home and now resides with the Lord and is in the presence of all who have made the journey before him.  He was born in Hertford, N.C. to Everette Duke Babb and Irene Layden Babb on July 26, 1930.  In addition to his parents, he was predeceased by two sisters, Helen Virginia Babb Bowen and Alice Lee Babb.  He is survived by his niece, Mary Gordon Bowen Strickland and her husband Frank of Little River.  He also leaves behind …

John Hartford Smith, 79, died peacefully at home following a long illness on Thursday, Feb. 20, 2020, in Little River. He was born on Oct. 13, 1940, in Columbia and spent his early childhood in Athens, Ga., and Marietta, Ga., while his father Hallum taught at the University of Georgia and his mother Eatofel pursued a master’s degree in home economics. He was preceded in death by his parents, Richard Hallum Smith of Smoaks and Eatofel Vereen Arehart of Little River; stepfather, Marcus Alton Thompson of North Myrtle Beach; and sister, Jeanne Sowell of North Myrtle Beach. Circumstances brought him …

James “Jim” W. McLean, 80, of North Myrtle Beach passed away on Tuesday,  Feb. 25, 2020, surrounded by his family. Jim is survived by his life partner Betty Ann Sharpe;  two children, Amy Elizabeth McLean McNally and James “Jamy” Wellington McLean II; stepchildren, Neal Sharpe, Meg Fosnock and Emily Sharpe; grandchildren, Charles Bryce McNally (Holly), AlexZandra McNally Passmore (Paul), Haylee Elizabeth McNally and Sage Fosnock; and great grandchildren, Brooke, Zachary, Domenik and Tessa McNally. He was born on Sept. 13, 1939, the son of Hugh Bryce McLean and Rada Cox McLean. Through the early years in life he was married …

Thomas Francis “Tommy” Long, 74, of Little River died on Friday, Feb. 28, 2020, at McLeod Seacoast Medical Center in Little River. Born on June 26, 1945, in Little River, he was the son of the late Lawrence and Sarah Henry Long. Mr. Long was a second generation commercial fisherman who spent his life on the docks of Little River. He loved his family and friends and never met a stranger. Survivors include his family, Ann Harris, Wade Long (Lindsey), Angie Green (John), Joe Harris (Mary), Debbie Harris, Stephanie Harris, Billy Long, Ricky Long, Sharon Edwards, Betty Biddle, Nancy Horton, …

The North Myrtle Beach High School Lady Chiefs third round lower state playoff game with North Augusta last Monday may have ended their season, as the Lady Yellow Jackets advanced by a 75-60 score, but it certainly won’t diminish the accomplishments and memories of the 2019-2020 season. The Lady Chiefs opened their season with a 38-35 loss to Goose Creek in the FTC Lady Gamecock Tip Off Classic. They then won eleven straight games, mostly non-region and tournament games before losing in a holiday tournament to Sumter. They began their region play with a win over Myrtle Beach on Jan. …

The buzzer sounded last Tuesday night at the Myrtle Beach High School gym and a disappointed North Myrtle Beach Chiefs team slowly collected themselves and formed a line to go through the usual handshakes and “good game” with the Seahawks.  Coach Ryan Walker had paced and watched the scoreboard the last minutes of the game trying to will free throws to go in and looking at Chiefs shots bounce off the rim. Each miss and Seahawks basket meant the Chiefs chances for a trip to the Lower State Championship in Florence were further from reality. The Chiefs had gotten to …

The North Myrtle Beach High School varsity soccer programs have already begun play with the Nash Tournament but now both coaches turn to local teams. The girls and boys had scheduled games against Socastee on Tuesday. The girls team played at home and the boys travelled to Socastee for 7:30 p.m. matches. Boys coach Aaron Wheeler spoke about the changes to his program. “There has been a massive overhaul of the program since I took over last June and the boys worked incredibly hard to win the Nash tournament for the first time since 2009. I believe that is just …

Following the 6AAAA individual wrestling tournament at Bluffton, eight Chiefs qualified for the state championships last weekend in Anderson. First place finishers Blake Jenkins(145), Chase Simmons(182) and Malachi Black(285), second place finishers Naszeir Bellamy(126) and Jackie Gore(152),  third place finishers Jackson Smith(106) and Andre Giddens(160) and fourth place finisher Rashad Dawud(170) all wrestled last Friday and Saturday and five eventually placed after two days of wrestling. Each wrestler faced competitors from teams in the upper state, with number one finishers wrestling number four finishers and twos meeting threes. Winners advanced to wrestle other winners. Losers advanced to consolation rounds. To …

The city of North Myrtle Beach welcomes over 300 collegiate sports teams from 35 states and the District of Columbia in March. The teams will participate in a series of spring training events held at the North Myrtle Beach Park & Sports Complex and other city facilities. These sports tourism events will have a direct impact of $5.5 million on the local economy. Of the 300 teams, 101 are collegiate softball teams participating in the Fastpitch Dreams Spring Classic event. Held here for the seventh consecutive year, teams from 25 different states representing NCAA – DII and DIII, NAIA, NJCAA …

At the Monday, March 2, North Myrtle Beach City Council meeting, Council members recognized the North Myrtle Beach 12-Under, 15-Under and 17-Under youth soccer teams for their excellent performance during the 2019 season. The 12-Under team emerged as District Champions and made it to the State tournament. The 15-Under team fought to become District Champions and went on to become State Champions. The 17-Under Team took District Champion and State Champion honors, feats they have repeated for at least five successive years.