Monthly Archives: October 2013
Pumpkintown Festival set this weekend
By Ben Robinson
The annual Pumkintown Festival is set for Saturday at the festival grounds surrounding the Oolenoy Community building. Organizers are expecting thousands of visitors to come and see a record number of display tables presented by the county’s non-profit organizations.
Business, industry showcase introduces students to careers
CLEMSON — For two days, more than 5,000 8th and 9th graders from Pickens, Anderson and Oconee counties had an opportunity to visit with representatives from local companies with the goal of learning more about how to prepare for their future careers.
The Anderson – Oconee – Pickens Business and Industry Showcase, held at Littlejohn Coliseum on the campus of Clemson University, exposed students to careers and companies that they may have previously been unaware of; with a focus on the highly technical positions available at modern
12th annual storytelling festival planned at mill
JOHN FOWLER
PICKENS — The Hagood Mill Historic Site & Folklife Center will host its 12th annual storytelling festival on Saturday, Oct. 19, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
The celebration will be held as part of the museum’s “Music in the Mountains” series.
The hills around the old mill will echo with the whispers, howls ‘n hollers of some of the Southeast’s best storytellers sharing bits about all sorts of folks, funnies, cultures and places.
Returning to again host what has become one of Hagood Mill’s favorite annual events is storyteller, musician, radio personality and 2013 State Heritage Award recipient, John T. Fowler. From the rolling hills of upstate South
Big Lots coming to Easley
New Easley Big Lots
The former location of Wal-Mart in Easley is now sporting a new sign for Big Lots, set to open in the store space Oct. 24. The store will face bargain hunters soon.
Landess to speak at taxpayers’ meeting
PICKENS — Ashley Landess, President of the South Carolina Policy Council, Columbia, will be the featured speaker at the Pickens County Taxpayers Association meeting, Tuesday, Oct. 15 at 7 p.m. at the Farm Bureau Building, two and a half miles south of Pickens on U.S. 178.
The Policy Council is a privately funded organization watchful of the South Carolina Legislature and state government’s shortcomings and excesses. Their main audience is the citizens of South Carolina. The Policy Council believes that it is only when the citizens have a grasp of what their government is doing can they have an impact on its direction. According to their web site they believe state government should be more transparent.
Going pink
Tom Ray
Employees of Oconee Nuclear Station celebrated Breast Cancer Awareness Month with a site wide educational presentation and “pink parade” lead by plant manager Tom Ray. Pictured is Tom Ray in his customized Breast Cancer Awareness hard hat that he will wear on site during the month of October.
Upcountry Quilters Guild to host quilt show October 11-12
Jeanette Moody with Upcountry Quilters Guild displays “Stars on Parade” in her period costume at Hagood Mill where she demonstrates quilting. The guild’s quilt show will be Oct. 11 and 12.
PICKENS — The Upcountry Quilters Guild in Pickens is presenting its biennial quilt show “Quilts on Parade” from 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Oct. 11 and 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Oct. 12 in the fellowship hall at Pickens View Wesleyan Church, 744 Bethlehem Ridge Rd., Pickens.
The show will feature more than 100 quilts made by guild members. Madeline K. Hawley from Athens, Ga., a nationally certified judge from the National Quilters Assn., will select the award winning quilts. Attendees will also be asked to select their favorite quilt for the Viewer’s Choice Award.
The show will have a silent auction of items made by guild members. Other
Literacy group to hold used book sale October 18 and 19
PICKENS — Books at bargain prices will soon be available during the Pickens County Literacy Association’s semi-annual Used Book Sale.
The two-day event will be held in the All Saints Hall of Pickens Presbyterian Church, located at 311 West Main Street. The sale will be open from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 18, and from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 19.
Proceeds from this event help the PCLA continue its program of volunteer tutors helping adults improve their reading skills.
Liberty votes to combine Clerk/Treasurer positions
LIBERTY — Monday night, Liberty City council passed with a 4-2 vote in favor of combining the clerk and treasurer positions for the city of Liberty.
“The position has been combined in past history and had not been split until recent years,” Council Member Lisa Hunter said. “The combined clerk/treasurer position is the way the vast majority of municipalities with similar populations operate in South Carolina.”
“Council acted only after researching how other cities of the same relative size handled the positions along with input from our accounting firm, Appalachian Council of Government and the Municipal Association of South Carolina,” Councilman Brian Petersen said.
Back to the real world
Ben Robinson
All About Ben
By Ben Robinson
I’m so excited. Monday was my first day working part-time for the Courier. I will be working Mondays and Tuesdays, then running my usual route on Wednesdays, and filling in when needed the rest of the week. We will work out exactly what I will be covering, but I imagine it will be like most other weekly newspapers — you cover what you need to, then worry about if anybody else is covering something later before the paper goes to press.
It’s exciting because I will be doing what I love to do. The next part in my recovery is to put ill feelings that may be lingering behind me.
I just need to concentrate on doing this new job to the best of my ability. Putting the past behind me is the sign that I can be a well-adjusted adult. The future is what I need to concentrate on.
It took a little bit of getting used to. Getting up early Monday morning was an adventure. Getting ready and making sure my injured knee was not going to give me problems was another.
We haven’t written about the injured knee much yet. At home I tripped over a metal box and cut my knee badly. I should be thankful that I did not cut any muscles or tendons, or do any serious damage. But my shallow self keeps concentrating on the fact that I did injure myself.
The doctors took care of my injury well, but for a few days I had to carry a bag with me that essentially caught the blood coming out my leg. Not a good conversation starter: “Hi, I am Ben, and this is the bag I bleed into.” It doesn’t really attract females.
So when the doctors took away my “blood bag” last week, I was happy. I really did not care if I had a job. I no longer had to keep my blood, so I was ahead of the world.
So now I just keep the leg bandaged and I hope soon that too will be a thing of the past. There’s no excuse for me to not be able to cover any story, and I look forward to the challenge.
Of course part of this process involves you. A newspaper does not prosper by covering what a reporter is interested in. It needs to concentrate on what the readers want. So if you have any story ideas, no matter how silly you may think they are, please give me a call. I believe that there are no bad story ideas, just bad writers who do not think well enough to make something interesting.
So the Ben Robinson era at the Pickens County Courier has officially begun. From what I know about weekly newspapers, if it’s a success, the credit will need to go to these wonderful people I am working with. But if it’s a failure, you can blame me.
