Good morning. So, I don’t think any of you would be reading here, if you weren’t sports fans. I’ve been a sports fan since I was a kid. Always loved the competition. One of the ways I followed my favorite players as a kid was collecting cards. Football, baseball, NASCAR, etc. I collected a lot. As I got older, like most, I began to shed my collection, selling off a lot of it. But, I kept some of my collection. Some of my favorite teams, players, things like that. Anyone got any heartbreaking stories about their mom throwing away their collection?
So, the other day, I decided I wanted the full 200 card set of Georgia’s Finest football cards. This set was released in 1989. Not having followed card collecting for a long time, I thought, sheesh, no telling what this will cost. My worry was misplaced. They are plentiful on eBay. I bought an unopened set, still in its original clear plastic box. Little over $20 total.
Well, I didn’t buy them to get rich, I actually wanted to look at the cards and read the info on the backs. So, I opened the box last night, put all 200 cards in 8.5×11 clear plastic pocket sheets and added therm to my binder with my other UGA football cards. Well, I get to card #2 and I see this:
I may or may not have mentioned that I am “from” Sylvester. Technically, I grew up in the county but, our address was Sylvester, that’s where I attended school, worked, hung out, it’s my hometown. Two of my closest friends, they’re brothers, their mom was a Shiver. I have them checking into this. Haven’t been many pro athletes from Sylvester and I’d never heard of Mr. Shiver. So, my curiosity was piqued. Thought I’d throw this up and see if any of you knew anything about this gentleman.
Go Dawgs!
GTP Refugees 
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Yeah, we looked at that. Didn’t have any info about his family.
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You might try calling the Worth County Courthouse and telling them what you’re looking for. Maybe someone there could help or refer you to a county historian. Had a guy call me a while back looking for pictures of my parents old restaurant and marina. I suggested the same to him and within a couple of hours he texted me the pictures he found. Worth a shot.
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Well, they have an aunt who has done Shiver genealogy so, they’re going to reach out to her first. We’ll see what that turns up.
Do you remember Shiver Tractor Company in Sylvester?
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Not really.
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Not sure but glad to know you’re a fellow South Georgian, Otis. My brother in law is from Sylvester and his grandaddy owned a filling station there in town.
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Interesting. chances are I’d know those names.
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My brother in law is Bryce Johnson. His grandaddy was Earl Raines.
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Yessir. I know Bryce, not well, but, we attended high school at the same time, I was a little older than him.
And, yes, Raines Service Station is definitely a memory in my past.
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Hey that’s cool. He’ll get a kick out of this. I’ve talked about GTP over the years when talking to him. He’ll think it’s cool that a Sylvester native is keeping it going.
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I’m not going to out him, I will let him do it himself but, we have another Sylvester native involved in this blog as well. How crazy is that?
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That’s awesome. South Georgia is representing well here among the Refugees.
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I once had Sunday lunch at Jackson’s Soul Food Kitchen in Sylvester. The tea was so sweet it hurt my pancreas.
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We’re having lunch there tomorrow with my Dad and Sis! Pretty much our Thursday routine these days.
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Off to UGA I go in 1981. Mother immediately holds a garage sale that somehow includes clearing out the lower shelf of my nightstand that held my catalogue and shoebox of baseball cards that my brother and I had collected from the 60’s & 70’s. She got $10 bucks for about 300 cards…some real gems including a Mickey Mantel and all the stars of the Big Red Machine era. Years later I would often point out the “stuff” she hoarded over her lifetime but the cards had to go(!?). My Stra-To-Matic baseball game from that era went too. Bought an old-timers set years ago for the memories, but it’s not the same without having my original and cards together. Can still smell the bubblegum in my mind though. Seaver vs Stargell…4-8 on the dice…strikeout! Yes….
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as an 9 yr old and having recently moved to Clayton, GA, that summer, when the “cry went out” that a baseball was needed to play ‘hot box’ and in hopes to gain favor with my new friends i used a Hank Aaron autographed baseball. what an idiot.
thank goodness that i didn’t use the V. Dooley autographed football to play ‘smeer the queer’ on the banks of Lake Rabun.
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My mother’s cousin used a Ty Cobb autographed baseball for play back in the 50s.
BTW, Spud Chandler was another Major Leaguer on the 1927 football team. Also, he was an AGR.
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I lived in Falls Church, VA from 1970 to 1973. The guest at our church’s athletic banquet in 1972 was Len Hauss, the center for the Washington Redskins and a former UGA player from Jesup, GA. I won a football autographed by the 1972 NFC champions – Sonny Jurgensen, Charley Taylor, Billy Kilmer, Chris Hanburger, Pat Fischer – and guess what my dumbass 9 year old self did? I put that ball in play in the neighborhood.
I fully expected to grow up in the metro DC area, but my father got orders for Fort McPherson, GA in 1973 and I ended up going to college at UGA.
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“Chick” Shriver was the father of Tate Shiver who was a friend of mine in Savannah. I believe Tate also played with the bulldogs. They were not from Sylvester but from North Ga somewhere, Perhaps if I remember correctly Tate ,Ga. Their family owned a marble mine among other things. Hope this helps!
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Haven’t heard back from my friend yet. What I could find online, “Chick” was born in Sylvester. Attended UGA, played MLB for a few years and then settled in Savannah where he became a coach.
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We’ve got family that lives off of County Line Rd in Worth County and work in Sly town. My brothers worked at the Fred’s in downtown Sylvester in the late 90’s/early 00’s.
We grew up in Ocilla about an hour east and had some Shivers in our school that had/have a peanut farm.
I found an old set of baseball cards from my mothers house a few years back and just gifted my nephew the entire 92 Braves team collection along with a few others such as the Big Hurt, Andres Gallaraga and Curt Schilling. Got a few Griffey Jr’s that I kept for myself.
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The SOWEGA connection is strong in this blog.
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Update, Chicks wife and Tates mother were from Tate, Ga. Tate was born here in Savannah. Her family owned the marble mine in north Ga and her home house is not the famous “Tate” house, a pink marble mansion in Tate, Ga.
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Now not not!
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