10.20.05

Margie Everett Barnes '80, was inducted into the Flying Fleet Hall of Fame in 2002.

Flying Fleet Hall of Famer reflects on Erskine experiences

Margie Everett Barnes '80 loves her life.

The former three-sport standout, inducted into the Flying Fleet Hall of Fame in 2002, came back to Erskine recently for the induction of her basketball coach, John Neiswender, into the Flying Fleet Hall of Fame.

"Coach N came back for mine," she said. "He thought enough of me to come back — I think he was living in New Jersey at the time — so I wanted to be there for his. It's not always easy (to make plans) because of the way I work."

Barnes is an operations shift manager for Duke Power at the Oconee Nuclear Power Plant and works swing shifts.

Besides being back and seeing Neiswender's induction, Barnes said it meant a lot to see her teammates, Tammie Hardy and Grace Lyle. "It's always good to see old friends," she  said.

She remembers Neiswender and a couple of his players coming to one of her high school games. "Nobody in my family had ever been to college," Barnes said. "My mindset was not to go to college — I had no real desire."

She said Neiswender refers to her as "the recruit that he never recruited."

Barnes talked to some other colleges, but she also talked to Erskine admissions counselors, liked the small-college atmosphere and wound up "just showing up" on campus.

Although she played basketball, volleyball and softball while it Erskine, Barnes said her fondest memories of college are not related to athletics.

"I loved the competition, but it was more the people that I got to know," she said. "I still have several friends from Erskine and I learned a number of life lessons."

Barnes said she and her roommate had some trouble getting along. "We didn't know how to resolve issues," she said.

They wound up sitting down and discussing what they didn't like about each other and started to understand their differences. "To this day, we're like sisters," Barnes said. "I remember that sort of stuff."

She said she has fond memories of her exploits for the athletic teams at Erskine.

"I remember playing with people with the same caliber of talent if not better than mine," Barnes said. "It was more about forming those interpersonal relationships."

Neiswender had a big impact on her, she said, not just in athletics, but in academics, since he was a math professor and she was a math major.

Although she didn't play for legendary men's basketball coach Red Myers, he also made an impact on Barnes. "Even though I didn't interact with him much, I looked at the way he disciplined his team and handled himself," she said.

Barnes said all her coaches affected her in some way.

She said she learned how to study at Erskine and that has benefited her beyond college. "I had to put that time management piece together," Barnes said. "It has helped me be successful at Duke Power. I've never stopped going to school."

She said there is a lot of training associated with her work.  Barnes was hired at the plant in July 1980 after graduating in May from Erskine with a degree in mathematics.

Twenty-five years later, she has moved up the ranks and is now the only female among five shift supervisors. She takes that position seriously. "People look at you as a pioneer," Barnes said. "I don't take that responsibility lightly."

Working a nuclear power plant comes with a lot of responsibility, but Barnes loves her work. "Particularly the job that I'm in now," she said. "There's a strong technical component, but Duke Power trains all of us to be successful. The thing that you're never sure about is the people part of it.

"It's a challenge every day," Barnes said. "The job we do always has the interest and health and safety of the public at heart."

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