07/17/2012
As many of you know the Editor-in-chief, Betsy Mattingly Seale, of the Hamburger Square Post passed away suddenly on July 5. We will all miss her dearly. I am posting a couple of tributes from Bonnie McAlister and John Schmidt. They captured Betsy's spirit perfectly.
Here is the tribute from Bonnie:
Good afternoon
I’m Bonnie McAlister, on behalf of the Seale Family, Kathryn asked me to celebrate the life of Betsy Lou Mattingly Seale by sharing some remembrances with you all. How very improbable that this gentile Southern lady and a slightly rough around the edges Italian from New Jersey (me) would end up together and connect so easily and completely. Odder still that we each would raise five kids on Medford Lane, 10 of the 26 on this dead end street.
In the 40 plus years I knew Betsy Seale, I never heard her raise her voice, speak ill of someone else, or lose her cool. She might have been pedaling like the dickens under the surface, but what we saw was her poised, statuesque, laid back, Persona. Her dimpled smiles were always at the ready.
Betsy had a laugh that was infectious. It was a hearty laugh from the belly which ended up with intake of air and an “oh me!” Every child felt that Betsy was interested in them. She gave them time and attention and they always felt that even if they did something wrong, Betsy would be there and would understand.
Betsy was passionate about the Crimson Tide. I wasn’t clued in about SEC football. I thought a Crimson Tide had something to do with an influx of kelp on the Jersey shore. But I learned quickly that when BAMA was playing, the Seales would be watching or listening.
The truth is, though, that Betsy herself was a little bit like a tide. She would ebb and flow into the lives of many of us. She could be steady and relaxed, or focused or even fierce, if the situation demanded ferocity.
Betsy was a person with incredible talents. She was versatile, bright, creative, imaginative, and well read. She was also a prolific writer. All of this in addition to her having a delightful, droll sense of humor. I guess it was this sense of humor about life, kids, laundry, etc. that endeared her to me most.
Betsy was the spark plug for some of the zaniness on Medford Lane. The Fourth of July was of particular note. It was on that day (well actually it was on the 3rd) that John would be sent down to the end of the street where he and neighbors dug a hole and built a barbecue pit. All the Kids were witness to this amazing feat of roasting a pig. John would watch his pig roast through the night and into the next day. Meanwhile, Betsy tried to assemble appropriate costuming for the children. By late in the afternoon on the Fourth, all the neighborhood children climbed into a truck in random patriotic dress and motored to the Kirkwood Parade where they’d throw candy and probably Hamburger Square Posts to the crowd.
The Hamburger Square post was Betsy’s delight. After acquiring the Post, Betsy and John were committed to publishing and editing a downtown newspaper that would actually become a part of the drive to revitalize Downtown Greensboro. It was no easy task to get a newspaper out
each month, but with John’s continued help, and the sports offerings from Johnny and Joe, she persevered. Betsy was well ahead of the times. She was posting in the Hamburger Square Post long before there was a Facebook, or Twitter. Her classifieds were cryptic and pithy, but you knew you’d been thought of by Betsy when your name was in the classifieds; and it felt good. Over 34 years, we learned of births, milestones, celebrations, and forecasts from the Post’s classifieds.
Even while professionally managing the Hamburger Square Post, Betsy was employed by UNCG in organizing programs for a life long learning series, entitled CALL. Betsy would dream up programming that would enhance life long learning throughout the community. Betsy devised a slew of programs for CALL,from salsa dancing, to pottery making, and for each program she lined up the instructors, managed the registrations, arranged for the venues, arrived at the site with equipment, set up the equipment, waited for the attendees and teachers, and then locked up the buildings after the program. With all these variables, you can imagine how many opportunities there were for screw ups, but even if there had been a glitch, you would never have known it. That smile and that graciousness made it always appear that things were under control. The woman was unflappable!!!!
Betsy was the biggest supporter of the Sherwood Swim Team. Betsy herself had been a competitive swimmer, and this was fortunate, as she learned at an early age how to swim upstream, which prepared her for the later life she would lead. Betsy’s children followed her talent in that category. In fact, I think that Carolyn’s time in one meet is a record that has yet to be broken. Betsy loved the whole swim team thing: going to a movie on the afternoon of a swim meet, coming home and fixing the kids spaghetti, and then even standing in the sweltering heat as a timer or stroke judge. Betsy loved every minute of it; but mostly she loved cheering on not only her own kids but everyone else’s as well.
You can imagine that raising five kids is no picnic. On one particular day, I recall, that I’d had it up to my eyeballs in unmatched socks, misplaced book bags, forgotten lunch bags, irritating whining, crying babies, and I called Betsy up and said. “I’ve had it! I need a Bible verse!” She, probably up to her own eyeballs across the street with the same mess, said “hold it Bonz, I’ll call you back”. A little while later the phone rang. It was Betsy. I said “what have you got?” She paused, breathed and said “Jesus Wept.”
When Betsy’s Little Betsy and Joe, and my Katie and J.D. were finally finished with babyhood, Betsy and I dreamed up a “going out of Babies Sale” We actually sent out notices. With a four baby baby sale, we knew we’d have a crowd. Betsy actually did most of the work. She managed the food, the marking, the money and the pleasantries with our clients. I can’t remember if we made any money on that sale, but we got rid of a lot of clutter and we continued for years to see our clothes walking around on some child. I actually know of a winter coat that has made it now to the third generation.
And speaking of removing clutter- Clutter was the bane of our existence. There was always stuff everywhere. Occasionally, however, one of us might be in a real twit having to quickly make our home presentable. We had a pact, though, if one of us suddenly had to clean up, the other would come over to help. On one such day, I had to have a meeting at my house, and after the kids left for school, I called Betsy in a panic. She came right over and we went to work. Clothes were thrown randomly into closets, a quickie dusting and vacuuming was performed, greenery from an acuba bush outside was hastily stuck in a vase, the kitchen counters were cleared off and whatever had been on them was swiped into a laundry basket and hidden in the pantry or garage. When Betsy left, I was getting ready to iron a blouse for the meeting and I couldn’t find the spray starch. I called Betsy, she thought for a moment and then said “look in the clothes dryer!” Ever after, we had a standing joke about “do you know where your spray starch is?”
I am sure that every one of you here today has a Betsy story. It would be wonderful if you would write it down and send it to John and the family. Those stories would be treasures for Betsy’s grandchildren.
Betsy Seale stood head and shoulders above the crowd…literally and figuratively. At some point she probably fretted abou her height because everyone had to look up to her. But truth is, she gave us all something to look up to. Betsy was a person of character and integrity and served as a model for us all. YOU GO GIRL!!!!!
