In honor and in gratitude of one of its most beloved graduates, Furman University\u2019s Board of Trustees has proclaimed April 17, 2021, as \u201cTommy Stevenson Day.\u201d<\/p>\n
Stevenson \u201865, the long-time proprietor of Greenville\u2019s famed Country Ham House, recently announced his plan to retire later this spring following 36 years in the restaurant business \u2014 a span that has seen him provide Friday evening meals to Furman football teams, as well as numerous other Paladin squads, groups, fans, and, yes, even opponents.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhether he was feeding our teams or hosting dignitaries from around the world, Tommy Stevenson is the epitome of the Furman graduate, someone who cares deeply about his community and gives back in every way possible,\u201d said Furman University President Elizabeth Davis. \u201cWe are honored to have Tommy as an alumnus and a friend.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI am so happy we are able to honor Tommy Stevenson for his incredible service and commitment to Furman University and the entire Greenville community,\u201d said Paladin head football coach Clay Hendrix \u201886, who as a player, assistant coach, and head coach has experienced first-hand Stevenson\u2019s dedication to his alma mater.\u00a0 \u201cHe has done so much for so many people. His generosity, friendship and support of Furman Football has been instrumental in our football tradition and in the development of so many great young men. He has earned some much needed rest, and we wish him great health and enjoyment as he begins this new chapter in his life.\u201d<\/p>\n
A Winnsboro, S.C., native, Stevenson fell in love with Furman early on and realized his dream to attend the university.<\/p>\n
\u201cI always wanted to go to Furman. I spent my first year at North Greenville (then a junior college) and transferred over my sophomore year. I went to all the football practices and games, and developed friendships with the players, guys like Sam Wyche \u201866, Billy Turner \u201866, Doug Stacks \u201964, and many others \u2014 great football players and even better people.\u201d<\/p>\n
Stacks didn\u2019t miss the opportunity to shine the light on his longtime friend, who he called \u201cone of the greatest people I\u2019ve had the pleasure to know and a great friend of Furman University.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was like a brother to me in school, and I\u2019m just sorry he didn\u2019t play football, because he was big enough, strong enough, and mean enough to do it. Everybody who meets Tommy and has been fortunate enough to know him thinks of him as a friend, and he\u2019s never let any success go to his head and never abandoned any friend or anybody in need. I love the guy. He\u2019s meant a lot to Furman and to me over the years.\u201d<\/p>\n
Following graduation Stevenson, who credits his mother, Mildred, in developing his love of cooking, opened a restaurant equipment business, which served a client list covering all of Greenville and beyond.<\/p>\n
\u201cI started catering when I was in the equipment business, and in 1985 I bought the Country Ham House,\u201d at the time located at the corner of present day Pete Hollis Boulevard and Mulberry Street.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I acquired the Country Ham House, Vince Perone \u201854 was providing meals for the football team, but soon after that he closed up and I stepped in and have done it ever since.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were there for 12 years (at our first location), but after the landlord increased my rent and everybody else in the shopping center left, I bought two acres, developed the plans and built this (current location on Rutherford Street).\u00a0 We moved in on Jan. 3, 1997.\u201d<\/p>\n
Over 36 years of continuous operation, Stevenson\u2019s Country Ham House became an institution and daily stop for many Greenvillians looking for a home-cooked meal that nearly always included a personal visit by Stevenson inquiring on his valued customers\u2019 satisfaction.<\/p>\n
The many autographed pictures of sports greats, representatives, senators, governors, congressmen, judges, and former presidents, and proclamations that adorn the walls of the Country Ham House, including Stevenson\u2019s own South Carolina Order of the Palmetto, the highest civilian honor accorded by the state, clearly attest to the wide ranging clientele that has enjoyed its experience at the establishment over the years. Also evident are autographed Furman jerseys and pictures of many former Paladins \u2014 players, coaches, staff, and administrators \u2014 who have never forgotten how much Stevenson and the Country Ham House have meant to them over the years.<\/p>\n
\u201cA number of former players have stayed in contact with me, and when they come back to Greenville and Furman this is the first stop for many of them and their families. I\u2019ve always appreciated that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Among the favorite stories Stevenson enjoys relaying from his three-plus decades of operation is the visit to the Country Ham House in 2000 by presidential candidate George W. Bush during his first run for the White House.<\/p>\n
\u201cGeorge was probably here three hours, which was made possible by David Wilkins. I really enjoyed that. When he got ready to leave, the PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) folks dumped a load of manure in front of his bus, and they had to call the City of Greenville to bring over a backhoe to remove it to get his bus out. That hit the newspapers all of the world \u2014 the London Times, everywhere.\u201d<\/p>\n
While the keep-sake pictures and memorabilia will soon come down, for Stevenson the time is ripe to make new memories with family, specifically his four children and now 13 grandchildren.<\/p>\n
Son Tommy, Jr., and his family live in Greenville. Another son, Hunter, resides in Macon, Ga. There are two daughters \u2014 Molly, who lives in Birmingham, Ala., and Mary Elizabeth in Chicago, Ill.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m looking forward to spending time with them fishing and playing golf. I\u2019m ready to do some things,\u201d said Stevenson.<\/p>\n
The draw of family and the recent COVID pandemic contributed to the decision to shed his apron.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe last year has been really tough. COVID has taken toll on all restaurants, on all businesses. The way you get up in the morning and dress, to the way you live your life…it has disrupted everything.\u201d<\/p>\n
Stevenson can personally attest to the veracity of the virus after contracting it in November and spending five days in the hospital.<\/p>\n
\u201cI had COVID and pneumonia, and I\u2019m still on oxygen at night.\u201d<\/p>\n
The ordeal with COVID was the latest in a number of physical challenges Stevenson has faced and overcome.<\/p>\n
\u201cA few years ago I was fainting a lot and underwent an operation to install a pacemaker. That was on a Thursday because I remember two days later I went to a Furman football game. I know we were leading at halftime, but I had to leave because I was so tired.\u201d<\/p>\n
For a man who made rising at 4 a.m. a priority for over three decades to begin food preparation for his loyal customers, the need for a slower pace has been well earned and will no doubt include plenty of helpings of Furman Football at Paladin Stadium.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In honor and in gratitude of one of its most beloved graduates, Furman University\u2019s Board of Trustees has proclaimed April 17, 2021, as \u201cTommy Stevenson Day.\u201d Stevenson \u201865, the long-time […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":389,"featured_media":9236,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,7],"tags":[270,752,221,753,754],"class_list":["post-9235","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alumni","category-top-four-news-2nd-story","tag-alumni","tag-country-ham-house","tag-football","tag-paladins","tag-tommy-stevenson"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9235","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/389"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9235"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9235\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9236"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9235"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9235"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9235"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}