DELBERT MCCALL COUNTRY LIFE, A LIFE WORTH LIVING

In places, the Coffee Road that connects Walhalla and Westminster is a curvy highway and home to many Oconeeans who live the country life and, if you talk to them, many likely will tell you they’d prefer no other life-style. One such individual is Delbert McCall who, in 73 years, has stayed true to his country roots. Knowing that rural Oconee more and more is seeing development and the disappearance of trees and wide-open spaces, it’s instructive to listen to someone who can vividly remember an early life that had none of the conveniences we take for granted these days. Delbert McCall was born in Cashiers, North Carolina and spent his earliest years in a home so far off the beaten path that you had to walk practically everywhere, even to reach a paved road. Among the tenets of country life then and today are faith and singing, and McCall embraces both. He pastors Ole Country Church on Old Hurricane Road near Westminster. He officiates at funerals and weddings—one time both the same day. With guitar in hand, McCall is a familiar visitor to nursing homes in Oconee County, South Carolina and his native Jackson County, North Carolina. At times, he requires no instrumental accompaniment. McCall is a learned acapella singer.