UNION, S.C. (7/30/95) -- Umbrellas, Styrofoam cups and empty soft drink bottles littered the grounds of the Union County Courthouse.

The scaffolding that held more than a dozen news crews just the day before was motionless and empty Saturday morning.

One man in a Hawaiian shirt snapped photos of the remains as a dim reminder of the hordes of tourists and reporters who had invaded this town for nearly nine months.

Main Street took on the atmosphere of a carnival in the void between the last ride and the cleanup.

It will take days to set this town right. But it will take years to remove the Susan Smith trial from residents' thoughts.

"People will remember this," said Modest Keenan, while cutting hair at his barber shop on North Pinckney Street. "You don't forget stories like this."

Gene Gregory said the customers at his restaurant appear more than happy to put Smith's story behind them.

"After so long, you get tired of hearing about it," he said from across his counter at Gene's Fine Foods, a Union landmark. "It's over with."

Few here were sad to see the Susan Smith trial end. The constant media attention and the influx of curious strangers were daily reminders of the tragedy that took place this past fall.

Nevertheless, many in Union agree the trial didn't turn out to be the nightmare they were prepared for.

"They haven't bothered us at all," said Jean Smith, manager of Hometown Finance of Union, just a few doors down from the courthouse. "I thought it was going to be a mess of a trial."

Jane Crocker, who owns nearby Economy Office Supply, expected to see picketers and protesters spill over in front of her store on Main Street.

"It's not nearly as much activity as I thought," said Crocker, adding that business remained steady, although more and more customers were doing their shopping by phone to avoid the congestion downtown.

Residents in the homes surrounding the courthouse were also surprised by the relatively calm atmosphere outside.

"I thought I would come home from work and not have a place to park," said Kerry Woods, a color mixer who lives just behind the courthouse. "I expected reporters to be knocking on my door and asking questions. We haven't had any of that."

His neighbor, Wesley Koon, agreed. "It's better than I expected it to be."

Amy Birnbaum, a CBS producer from New York, has been impressed with the courteousness of Union since the fall but began to feel that people's generosity was growing thin.

"I think we just overstayed our welcome," she said. "I think we've tried their patience."

Birnbaum will always remember the Smith story because her crew had covered it since the young woman's children were declared missing.

"We were here to see the whole thing unfold, from the hoax... to the trial," she said. "It's just a really tragic story and tragic on a small scale. It's different from what we usually cover."

Wade Ricks, of CNN, thought the Smith drama was unusual because of the last-minute courtroom camera ban and the rapid pace with which the justice system handled the case.

But the Atlanta-based producer said, despite all of the coverage, the story's key player will remain a mystery to him and the rest of the world.

"I still don't know what Susan Smith is all about as a person," Ricks said. "She's inscrutable."

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