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The ADVANCE, March 22,2023/Page 10B
BEDINGFIELD BROTHERS — Walter Hilbert (Hibby) Bedingfleld, Jr., behind the coun
ter, and brother William Eli (Bill) Bedingfleld, stand inside the Vidalia Pharmacy which
Hibby owns. Hibby took over the pharmacy from his uncle, Herbert Bedingfleld. The
business is located in the old Vidalia hospital building which the Bedingfleld brothers'
father, Walter Hilbert Bedingfleld, Sr., and his colleague, H.l. Conner, founded after
World War II.
POKER ALICE REVISITED — Bill Bedingfleld takes to the stage once more for a perfor
mance of Poker Alice in more recent times. He left the band soon after graduating
from college, but it continued to entertain crowds for years afterward. Some of fhe
group members sfill perform today.
WEDDING DAY — Bill, second from right, takes time out on his wedding day of March
25,1979 for a phofo with his brothers, from left, Hibby, Sidney and David.
BEER BUSINESS — Bill Bedingfleld, left, is shown with Mose
Coleman, Jr„ at the Coleman Sales warehouse in Vida
lia. Bedingfleld and Coleman worked together for many
years selling wine, beer and paper products, Bill man
aged beer sales for 14 counties in South Georgia.
Chat
continued from page 13A
.still not particularly aware
he had any vocal chops,
decided to sing along as a
lark, and to his surprise, a
girl in the car said, “Man,
you can sing.” Wes must
have been impressed, too,
because soon thereafter
he approached Bill with
an offer to sing lead vocals
with his band. “He taught
me the ropes, and the next
thing I knew I was the lead
singer in a band called
Poker Alice.” The band,
which included musicians
Wes Wood, Steve Nobles,
Mitch Yarbrough, Mike
Mills, Mickey Tate, and
Scott Sisson, became re
gionally well known, was in
high demand, and played
all over the South. “I did
this for three years, play
ing weekends. I was still in
college and making some
extra money. I continued
to sing with the band after
I graduated, but soon real
ized I had to go to work in
the real world.”
When he was 20, Bill
met his future wife, Ann
Hopkins, who was 15 at the
time. Bill doesn’t quite re
member the meeting, but
Ann does. She went home
after seeing Bill and wrote
in her diary: “Met Bill Be-
dingfield. Love.” Bill insist
ed, “I can tell you I was not
dating a 15-year-old,” but
the two remained friends
and began dating after Ann
graduated and later began
a serious relationship. The
couple married in March
1979.
The first job for which
Bill utilized his degree was
with Mose Coleman, Jr.,
who owned a Vidalia-based
wholesale company selling
wine, beer, and paper prod
ucts. “I worked with Mose
at Coleman Sales about
four years selling wine. I
dealt with suppliers like
Gallo in California. They
introduced me to a com
pany out of Atlanta that
needed a manager at their
Brunswick operation, and
they offered me a job.” Bill
accepted and moved to the
Coastal Georgia commu
nity with his pregnant wife,
Ann, where they lived on
St. Simons Island. That was
in 1979, and the couple’s
only child, Leigh Ann, was
born in Brunswick in 1980.
The Bedingfields loved
living in Coastal Georgia,
and Bill and Mose Cole
man stayed friendly and
in touch. Sometimes they
shared a boxcar of wine
because they each needed
half a car for their whole
sale operations. In 1983,
Bill got a call from Mose,
who made him an offer he
could not refuse. He would
be managing the beer sales
for the company which
served 14 South and Mid
dle Georgia counties. Bill,
Ann, and Leigh Ann pulled
up stakes and moved back
home, and it turned out to
be a great decision.
“I worked for Cole
man Sales for 27 years and
it was a phenomenal run.
I got to travel, often with
my wife and daughter, all
over the country to beer
sales conventions. I went
to Sea World, St. Louis,
the Caribbean, California,”
Bill recalled. “We were in
LA one year for a black tie
event at the Shrine Audito
rium where the Academy
Awards ceremony was held
and we saw Frank Sinatra,
Liza Minnelli, Milton Ber-
le, Charlton Heston, Nata
lie Cole, Sammy Davis, Jr.,
and Lucille Ball.”
On most workday
mornings, Bill enjoyed
meeting friends for coffee.
Among these friends was
Chip Matheson, a Vidalia
City Councilman at the
time, who mentioned to
Bill that the City was in
need of a finance director.
That was in 2007. Bill ap
plied for and was offered
the job, and for the next
13 years enjoyed going to
work every day because he
was dealing with numbers
and all of the technology
that went with it. “I loved
that job. I was crazy about
working with the software;
this was a bug I got from
working with Mose Cole
man.”
The late Mayor Ron
nie Dixon was the person
who made a phone call
from a City Council meet
ing telling Bill he had been
hired with a unanimous
vote. “Ronnie was a life
long friend, a great mayor,
and he cared about and
loved this City. He was in
volved in every aspect of
its operation. We went to
lunch almost every day for
11 years.” Bill actually grew
up with Mayor Dixon’s
brother Wendell.
There were some
proud moments for Bill
in the 13 years he worked
with the City of Vidalia
and Mayor Dixon. Among
these were the U.S. High
way 280 conversion which
diverted traffic flow into
two oneway streets to re
solve downtown snags, and
buying the old Winn-Dixie
shopping center complex
and converting the space to
accommodate a new City
Police Department. “The
police had been squeezed
into 6,000 square feet of
space and had to move
the soft drink machine out
of the way to hold court.
They were on top of each
other,” Bill recalled. He
also worked with Mayor
Dixon and the Council to
convert the space where
the police department had
been located, on the cor
ner of Durden and High
way 280 (Main Street), to
build a park and city stage
that would later be named
in honor of Mayor Dixon
following his death. Sav
ing the Pal Theatre was
another project in which
Bill participated and that
he is most proud of. “We
travelled all over the area
looking at old theater res
torations,” Bill said of the
efforts he and others put
into the project. “It’s a tre
mendous asset. It was built
in 1926 and about to be
lost forever, but with the
vision of the past owners,
Karl and Ann Owens, the
Pal was meant to be saved.
With SPLOST funds, the
City could make capital
investments and this in
vestment has been well
worth the City’s effort. It
has provided meeting and
event space along with a
first class theatre bringing
much needed business ac
tivity to our downtown.”
Bill is excited for the
change that is taking place
in the City he loves. “They
are moving City Hall to the
Municipal Annex Com
plex. The Onion Museum
and Welcome Center will
be moved into the old City
Hall,” he enthused. With
the work that the City, the
Vidalia Convention and
Visitors Bureau, and the
Greater Vidalia Chamber
are doing, Bill expects the
positive growth to contin
ue. Recognizing that mo
rale in the city government
and police force are at a
low ebb, Bill said he wants
to see the City “get back on
an even keel and move for
ward with a solid focus.”
Bill has always been
heavily invested in his
hometown. He served nine
years on the Planning and
Zoning Board, nine years
on the Vidalia School
Board, and on the boards
of two local banks. Cur
rently, he is working with
the Pinecrest Cemetery
Committee, which has an
objective of restoring and
upgrading the city’s larg
est cemetery. Bill is ap
preciative of the commit
tee’s efforts since when he
was with the City, he was
the person who handled
Pinecrest affairs. “It was a
tough job. The cemetery
was a convoluted mess,” he
recalled. The historic cem
etery had been under sev
eral different ownerships
through the years and re
cords were kept haphaz
ardly, so when applications
were made for burials, a
great deal of effort had
to be expended in verify
ing burial plots. With the
Committee’s work, these
records are being updated
and put into order.
Commenting on his re
tirement goals, Bill empha
sized that he and Ann en
joy being with their family.
Their daughter, Leigh Ann,
attended the University of
Georgia and received her
RN/BSN from the Medi
cal College of Georgia.
She is formerly a labor and
Please see Chat page
1 IB
The Bedingfields and
England’s Oxburgh Hall
OXBURGH HALL— Bill Bedingfleld and his brothers can
trace their roots to a famous family in England and to
a historic, moated country house, Oxburgh Hall. The
Bedingfields acquired fhe manor through marriage in
the 15th century.
Bill Bedingfields family can trace its lineage to
Oxburgh Hall, a moated country house in Oxbor-
ough, Norfolk, England. The Bedingfelds acquired the
manor through marriage in the early 15 th century, and
the family has lived at the hall since its construction,
although ownership passed to the National Trust in
1952. The house underwent extensive refurbishments
in the mid 19 th century.
The hall is known for its “priest hole.” The Catho
lic Bedingfelds constructed a closet, accessed through
a lavatory, to conceal priests during the turbulent
days of King Henry VIII’s Reformation when Catho
lics were endangered. The hall is also notable for the
“Oxburgh Hangings,” needlework hangings by Mary,
Queen of Scots, and the famous Bess of Hardwick.
Mary worked on the needlework while imprisoned in
England during the reign of her cousin, Queen Eliza
beth I, and while in the custody of the Earl of Shrews
bury.
Oxburgh Hall and the remaining estate was auc
tioned in lots in 1950. The Hall and gardens faced
demolition in 1951, but were saved when Sybil, Lady
Bedingfeld, her daughter Mrs. Frances Playford, and
niece Mrs. Violet Hartcup, raised funds to buy the es
tate backbefore giving it to the National Trust in 1952.
In 2021, the Trust announced plans for the rever
sion of the 175 acres of land at Oxburgh from farm
land back to wildlife-friendly woods and pasture. The
project will use photographs taken during an RAF
aerial survey of the site in 1946 and will see the plant
ing of227 trees to recreate habitats for local wildlife.
The hall has been listed on the National Heritage
List for England since 1951.The landscaped and for
mal gardens of the hall have been listed on the Regis
ter of Historic Parks and Gardens since 1987.