Daily Archives: 01/29/2014
Courier Letters to the Editor
Organization ashamed of school board
Dear Editor,
This letter is addressed to the School District of Pickens County’s board of trustees.
It is a shame to have to write this letter. We are aware that your action, inaction, and inability to function as a board has resulted in the accreditation report you recently received from AdvancEd. We are the manufacturers who started here, stayed here or relocated in Pickens County due to the qualities of life here, not the least of which is the School District. We are also the companies that employ the graduates of our schools, pay taxes and support the educational
Enough with the cold already
Ben Robinson
All About Ben
By Ben Robinson
Please let me know if you catch the first sign of spring. I am pretty sure it’s not these frigid temperatures we’ve had for the past few weeks.
I have gotten up and shivered as a good substitute for exercising these past few days. It’s been so cold I have not received any benefits from my advanced weight this winter. Usually people look at me, and say “He’s fat, but that weight probably keeps him warm on a cold day.” Now they just say, “Must be terrible to be cold and fat too.”
The weather has cut out one of my hobbies. Often I will drive through communities and look to
Polar bears are coming
Olivia Fowler
On The Way
By Olivia Fowler
o you think the polar bears are as uncomfortable in warm weather as we are in cold? Although polar bear sightings are allegedly rare in South Carolina, or nonexistent as some claim, we are waiting to spot one in the woods.
The dogs apparently are convinced there’s something strange out there. At least that’s what they have told us three nights in a row.
If the polar bears follow the path of the Arctic blast we’ve enjoyed, they’re probably out there right now looking for seals and other things with a high fat content.
Don’t be surprised to see one going through the drive
Former Pickens residents get degrees from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary
PICKENS — Three former Pickens County residents recently
Three former Pickens-area residents recently received degrees from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. Pictured above are MacKenzie Allen Johnson, Dr. Merrie Allen Johnson and Christopher Ray Allen with Dr. Daniel Akin, President of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary.
earned degrees from the Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary.
Dr. Merrie Allen Johnson, daughter of Dr. and Mrs. Allen and a 1977 graduate of Pickens High School, received the Doctorate of Education degree. Her dissertation was entitled “The Faith and Practice of Adolescents in North Carolina.” Johnson lives in Garner, N.C., where she is employed by the North Carolina Baptist Convention as the Senior Consultant in Youth Ministry.
MacKenzie Allen Johnson, grandson of Dr. Ray and Marilyn Allen of Pickens, received the Bachelor of Arts in Christian Studies with a minor in History. He now lives in Washington, D.C., where he works on the staff of Oklahoma
IHOPE’s MLK Day of Service a success
Natalie Putman took part in IHOPE day of service to honor Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
PICKENS — What happens when you bring people with needs together with people who are willing help? The answer for some in Pickens is a tremendously successful IHOPE Day of Service.
In celebration and recognition of Martin Luther King Day, volunteers from the Pickens community and area churches came together on Monday, Jan. 20, with the sole purpose of helping homebound citizens, most of whom were elderly, with chores they were unable to complete on their own.
Meta Bowers, executive director of Pickens County Meals on Wheels, matched the volunteers with the residents.
The diverse group of 43 volunteers represented residents from the Vineyards Community, United Way of Pickens County, Pickens congregations, youth groups and other caring people who cleaned homes, raked yards, installed weather stripping around doors and windows, replaced light bulbs and a myriad of other tasks that really needed to be done. Most importantly, the volunteers demonstrated by their actions that they truly cared about the people they served.
IHOPE (I Help Out Pickens Everyday) coordinated the project, the third successful community service event since its inception in the spring of 2013.
“As the community celebrated Dr. King’s commitment to bring equality to all people, IHOPE wanted to combine our efforts to serve others,” said the Rev. Beverly Kelly, founder of IHOPE. “There will be other IHOPE Day of Service events in the near future, and we invite everyone to join us. It was gloriously exhausting and unbelievably rewarding to know that we made a difference in someone’s life.”
Duke Energy provided the funding to purchase materials to weatherproof the homes.
For more information about how to join IHOPE, contact Kelly at (864) 364-0649 or Pickens County United Way president Julie Capaldi at (864) 850-7094 x101.
Looking for the ‘Roots of Literacy’
The Tap Root
Answering the Biblical question
Editor’s Note: This is the second half of a two-part analysis of the roots of literacy by Courier contributor Dr. Thomas Cloer Jr. Last week, Dr. Cloer discussed the influence of family and surroundings on literacy.
The quintessential influence for me, however, came from a goddess of affirmation and pedagogy called Miss Hipp, my first teacher in “town school.” I, as every student in Pickens County schools in 2014, was asking my first teacher the ancient Biblical question, “Who do you say that I am?”
I remember vividly my first day in this big town school. With fear and trepidation, I had boarded
Honoring Dr. King’s dream at SWU
CENTRAL — Motivational performer Stephon Ferguson gave an impassioned presentation of the
Motivational performer Stephon Ferguson was the speaker for a special chapel service honoring Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Jan. 22 on the university’s campus in Central.
historic “I Have a Dream” speech of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. during a chapel service honoring the slain civil rights leader Jan. 22 at Southern Wesleyan University.
He also presented highlights of the Civil Rights movement while recounting many tragedies encountered by the King family, including Dr. King’s 1968 assassination.
‘Sketching from Nature’ class scheduled at county museum
PICKENS — The Pickens County Museum of Art and History recently announced that new art classes with instructor Jo Johnston are starting up for the new year.
Johnston worked as a commercial artist for 30 years. A graduate of Orangeburg-Calhoun Tech, she has also taught drawing, watercolor, and acrylic painting at Johnston County Community Technical College.
The class, entitled “Sketching from Nature, Part 1,” is set for six weekly sessions on Tuesdays, Feb. 11, 18 and 25, March 4, 11 and 18 from 10 a.m. to noon. Participants will learn to sketch,
Courier Legals 1-29-14
Notice of Sale
C/A No: 2013-CP-39-00520
BY VIRTUE OF A DECREE of the Court of Common Pleas for Pickens County, South Carolina, heretofore issued in the case of JPMorgan Chase Bank, National Association against, Sharrie G Gilstrap, Thomas J. Burns, Miriam D. Burns, South Carolina Department of Motor Vehicles, Nationstar Mortgage, LLC, and Gale C. Galloway of the Estate of Ralph Carl Galloway, Jr. (Estate #1997-ES-39-00028)., I the undersigned as Special Referee for Pickens County, will sell on February 3, 2014, at 11:00 am , at the Pickens County Courthouse in Pickens, South Carolina,
Courier Notice of Creditors 1-29-14
The publisher shall only be liable for an amount less than or equal to the charge for the space of the item in error in the case of errors in or omissions from any advertisement, and only for the first incorrect insertion.
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NOTICE TO CREDITORS OF ESTATES
All persons having claims against the following estates MUST file their claims on Form #371ES with the Probate Court of PICKENS COUNTY, the address of which is 222 MCDANIEL AVE., B-16 PICKENS, SC 29671, within eight (8) months after the date of the first publication of this Notice to Creditors or within one (1) year from date of death, whichever is earlier (SCPC 62-3-801, et seq.), or such persons shall be forever barred as to their claims. All claims are required to
