Monthly Archives: March 2022
Azalea Festival continues to grow
By Jason Evans
Staff Reporter
jevans@thepccourier.com
PICKENS — The 2022 Pickens Azalea Festival is set for Mother’s Day weekend.
Festival director Roy Costner IV spoke about the festival and requested $6,500 from hospitality taxes at a special called Pickens City Council meeting on March 21.
“We are extremely excited for the 2022 Pickens Azalea Festival,” Costner said. “We have moved
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‘For the Better of the World’ Upstate Conference April 1-3
GREENVILLE — As one of thousands of global conferences, the Baha’is of the Upstate of South Carolina, including Anderson, Oconee, Pickens, Greenville and Spartanburg counties, will host their local area conference the weekend of April 1-3 in Greenville.
The global conferences are bringing a hopeful direction to the world by inviting local action so together all “well-wishers of humanity” can help build vibrant communities that are a “haven of peace” and “may work for the betterment of the world and live together in concord and harmony.”
Attendees will examine Baha’u’llah’s vision for humanity and reflect on how that vision has, during the past century, inspired communities to work on building unity among the peoples of the world.
For more information about the conference and to register, call (864) 855-2072 or visit the Pickens County Baha’is and Friends Facebook page at facebook.com/pcbahaifriends.
Baptist Easley hosts diaper distribution
During a Prisma Health Children’s Hospital Diaper Bank distribution event in Easley on March 22, volunteers provided more than 16,500 diapers and pull-ups, totaling around 220 children served. Families also received giveaway bags from Healthy Blue South Carolina and Pampers, as well as information on where to get their car seat checked locally. Of those families, officials were also able to provide brand new car seats to two families who did not have children in car seats when they arrived. “We heard from the many families that we served how appreciative they were of our services,” said Candi Forester-Smith, manager of the Prisma Health Baptist Easley Foundation. Pictured, from left, are Prisma Health employees who volunteered their time to participate in last week’s diaper bank event at Baptist Easley — Forester-Smith, Lloyd Sarbacker, Dana Rutland, Mary Fields, Renee Hunter, Nancy Kendall and Andrea Stegall.
Courier Obituaries 3-30-22
FREDDY DODSON
CENTRAL — Mr. Freddy Dodson, 64, passed away on Monday, March 28, 2022, at Greenville Memorial Hospital.
Freddy was born on Oct. 4, 1957, to Fred Dodson and the late Phala McKnight Dodson. Freddy was a loving father, devoted husband and a friend to many. He enjoyed riding his motorcycle, could answer any trivia question asked and always had an entertaining story to tell. He touched the lives of countless coworkers and strangers throughout his life. He is truly missed.
In addition to his father, Freddy is survived by his loving wife of 19 years, Pamela Dodson; five sons, Curtis Dodson of Tennessee, Ben Cherami of Seneca, Elijah Dodson of Central, Israel Dodson of Central and Malachi Dodson of Central; two daughters, Zoe Dodson of Central and Rebekah Dodson of Central; and one sister, Sue Wood (Mark) of Pickens.
In addition to his mother, Freddy was preceded in death by one sister, Mary Gayle Dodson; and his stepmother, Vivanee “Boots” Dodson.
A graveside service will be held at Hillcrest Memorial Park at 11 a.m. on Saturday, April 2, 2022.
Online condolences may be expressed by visiting dillardfunearls.com. Dillard Funeral Home is assisting the family with arrangements.
JAMES RAY ALLEN
PICKENS — Dr. James Ray Allen, 87, passed away peacefully with his family by his side on Wednesday, March 23, 2022.
He was born on March 19, 1935, in Ellaville, Ga., to the late Mr. and Mrs. Benjamin Franklin Allen. He was married to his devoted wife, Marilyn Scott Allen,
for 65 years.
He and his wife served as a ministry team touching untold numbers of lives in their 20 churches in the Carolinas and Georgia. He also invested his life in his students as a professor at Berry Academy in Rome, Ga., and Tri-County Technical College in Pendleton. He truly exemplified the greatest commandment, “You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength and all your mind. Love your neighbor as yourself.” (Matthew 22:37-39). His life was one of loving and serving God and the many people he came in contact with, whether it was a church member, a student or a bag boy at the grocery store.
He received his associate’s degree from Norman Park Junior College, bachelor’s degree from Lagrange College, master’s
Pickens team wins Palmetto Region championship
PICKENS — The Pickens Carolina One 18 Elite volleyball team won the USAVolleyball Palmetto Region 2022 Championship on Sunday at the Rock Hill Sports and Event Center.
The Pickens Carolina One club volleyball team, which goes by the name “Pride,” won seven matches during the March 25-27 tournament. In the championship final, Pride defeated the Sumter Juniors Volleyball Club in two sets, 25-16, 25-17. The Pickens team did not drop a set during the Rock Hill tournament.
With the win comes a bid for Pride to play in the USAVolleyball Girls 18s Junior National Championship April 22-24 in Phoenix, Ariz.
“This group of young women continues to amaze and impress me,” Pride coach Nikki Anthony said. “They were fierce competitors on the court and a class act off the court this weekend. This team handedly won the Palmetto Region Tournament, as no team scored more than 17 points against us all weekend. The work they have put in all season prepared them for this final Palmetto Region Tournament, and all players contributed in the championship match.”
Pride also recently captured the tournament championship at the Shamrock Scuffle March 12-13 in Suwannee, Ga.
Pride features 11 upper-level players from five area high schools: Pickens, Belton-Honea Path, Easley, Walhalla and Wren. Players from Pickens High are Calie Covey, Alaina Craigo, Lauren Dow, Macie Gentry, Caroline Lucas and Emma Van Daele. Emmie Williams plays at Belton-Honea Path High, and Polly McCollum comes from Easley High. Payton Burkett is from Walhalla High, and Karson Haley and Ashley Stein play for Wren High.
Carolina One Volleyball is a locally owned nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting volleyball in Upstate South Carolina. Carolina One is now in its 15th season and is the longest-running volleyball club in the state of South Carolina.
Blue Flame take region series over Westside
By Bru Nimmons
Staff Reporter
bnimmons@thepccourier.com
PICKENS — A dominant day on the mound gave the Pickens Blue Flame their first region series win on the season on Friday as they took down Westside, 5-0.
Senior pitcher and Coker University commit Ryan Ford got the start for the Blue Flame and took down the Rams with ease, surrendering just two hits and adding eight strikeouts in five innings.
Even when Ford was taken out of the game after hurling a gem, the Blue Flame didn’t miss a step as Aidan Stewart closed out the rest of the game without surrendering a hit to the Rams.
Stewart proved to be too hard to handle for the Rams all week, with a win on Monday and the savc
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on Friday.
While getting a great day on the mound was essential to the Blue Flame effort, the win was made possible by the Pickens bats getting hot early.
C.J. Martin led the Flame off with a walk, and an error by the Rams shortstop allowed Kase Lewis to reach first base. With those two on base, Cooper O’Sullivan wasted no time bringing them home on a double to give Pickens a 2-0 lead.
Westside pitcher Elijah Grant settled down from there, striking out three straight Blue Flame batters to escape the inning.
A quick three-up, three-down inning by Ford put the Blue Flame right back in the batter’s box, and once again they were able to get on the scoreboard.
Tanner Tinsley picked up his first hit of the night and was quickly moved to second base on a sacrifice bunt by Brody Miller. Then, a Westside error not only allowed Tinsley to score, but also gave Martin a trip home as he rounded the bases in his second at-bat to bump the Pickens lead to 4-0.
Both offenses stalled out the rest of the way, with the lone exception coming in the sixth inning as Tinsley came to bat for the third time. For the second time on the night, Tinsley was able to get ahold of one of Grant’s pitches, picking up a hit and allowing eighth-grader Ayden Beeco to come home and score to give the Blue Flame the 5-0 advantage.
With the win over Westside, the Blue Flame turned their sights to region foe Walhalla. In game 1 of the series on Monday night, the Blue Flame fell 7-3 to drop to 4-2 on the season.
Pickens 5, Westside 0
WHS 000 000 0 0 2 4
PHS 220 001 X 5 5 0
WP: Ford 5 IP, 2H, 3BB, 8K
LP: Grant 6 IP, 5H, 5R, 2BB, 8K
PHS: O’Sullivan 3-3, 2 RBI, 2B; Tinsley 2-3, RBI, R.
WHS: Clark 1-3, 2B; Brownell 1-2, BB.
Lions survive Liberty on windy afternoon
By Bru Nimmons
Staff Reporter
bnimmons@thepccourier.com
CENTRAL — With winds reaching nearly 20 mph during Saturday afternoon’s Daniel-Liberty baseball game, nothing was made easy for either team.
Multiple times, time was called as infield dirt was scattered through the air and errors and wild pitches added up as wind altered the path of the baseball.
Despite the conditions, Daniel was able to withstand a late Liberty comeback for a 7-6 win behind a complete game from Luke McIntosh.
“We were in a bind,” Daniel head coach David Weathers said. “We didn’t have a ton of pitching left after the two games with Seneca, so Luke McIntosh came
out and competed his tail off and gave us a chance to win.”
While posting modest numbers on the mound, McIntosh excelled at controlling the damage for the Lions from atop the mound on a day where mistakes came in
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Green Wave outlast TR on diamond
By Bru Nimmons
Staff Reporter
bnimmons@thepccourier.com
EASLEY — After a controversial balk call in the fifth inning of Easley’s Monday night matchup with Travelers Rest allowed the Devildogs to pull within one run, Green Wave head coach Gill Payne challenged his team to fight to the finish.
The Green Wave did just that, working through two late-inning jams to get back on track in region play and win 4-3 to hand Travelers Rest its first region loss.
“I believe our guys got up and said ‘Enough is enough.’” Payne said. “They’re young and they make a lot of young mistakes, but they don’t give up.”
That lack of quit showed up twice in late innings, as starter Kaleb Owens delivered the Green Wave
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How to put a chicken in every pot
I always thought chickens were not very bright. And I still think that, based on personal experience.
I’ve seen chickens escape from a chicken pen, then run frantically around the outside perimeter clearly wanting to go back inside while I stand with the open door calling, “Here, chick, chick, chick,” to no avail.
I’ve seen hens choose to lay eggs in some other hen’s nest and then look befuddled when evening comes and another hen has settled down in the nest where the invader lay her eggs.
It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to determine that chickens are their own worst enemies.
However, there are exceptions to every rule. I have no idea what the average chicken’s IQ is. It has to be more
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