Monthly Archives: March 2022
Mother asks for Doodle Trail improvements after losing son
By Jason Evans
Staff Reporter
jevans@thepccourier.com
EASLEY — A mother is asking Easley officials to make safety improvements on the Doodle Trail following her son’s accidental death on the trail last year.
Sharon Hawkins spoke at the March 14 Easley City Council meeting.
“Our 21-year-old son, Bradley Hawkins, was killed in a skateboard accident on the Doodle Trail near the corner of Wilburn and North Fourth streets on Nov. 10, 2021,” she said.
Hawkins said she was speaking that night “for the young people who use the Doodle Trail.”
“I’m sharing safety concerns and recommendations about the patch of trail that runs through the
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Blue Flame win streak continues against Rams
By Bru Nimmons
Staff Reporter
bnimmons@thepccourier.com
PICKENS — After not managing a single hit through three innings, Pickens High School head baseball coach Matt Smith advised his team to be patient in the batter’s box against Region I-4A foe Westside on Monday night.
“We had to make them come to us and get a little bit wild,” Smith said. “When we get guys on base, we put pressure on the defense.”
That approach immediately paid off for the Blue Flame, picking up their first run on an RBI triple by Reid Smith in the fourth, and the pressure seemed to mount in the fifth when the Blue Flame stranded runners at second and third.
From there, it was a downward spiral for the Westside pitching staff as Pickens was able to score four more runs in the sixth on an error, a passed ball and two walks in a 5-2 win.
“That’s the way the last couple of games have gone for us, dogfights until the fourth or fifth,” Smith said. “We just find ways and our guys just keep battling. Some games that we may have lost in years past, we’re finding ways to win those games now.”
Despite the lack of offense early on, the Blue Flame were able to stay in the game behind the arm of left-handed junior Aidan Stewart, but the game did not start in the junior hurler’s favor.
A leadoff four-pitch walk gave the Rams a runner early, and two batters later, Westside’s Noah Robinson drove home the run on single shot between shortstop and third. According to Smith, he was prepared to start warming up his bullpen, but Stewart had other plans.
“I knew I had to work my fastball more and more and get my curveball going,” Stewart said.
Stewart was electric the rest of the way and finished the night pitching 5 2/3 innings with seven strikeouts, two hits and the lone walk on the leadoff batter.
“He’s been lights out for the last three or four outings,” Smith said. “He’s won two games in a row for us and then came out and started the first region game tonight. Wasn’t pretty to start, but as soon as he settled in, he was almost unhittable. You can’t say enough about that kid.”
When Stewart was done on the mound, Blue Flame senior Ryan Ford took over, delivering four strikeouts and the save despite some late hiccups to cap off the 5-2 Pickens win.
The win gave the Blue Flame their third straight win to start the regular season, and more importantly a 1-0 start in region play.
Pickens 5, Westside 2
WHS 100 000 1 2 2 1
PHS 000 104 X 5 3 1
WP: Stewart 5.2 IP, 2H, 2R, BB, 7K
LP: Barbee 5 IP, 3H, 4R, 4BB, 5K
PHS: Smith 1-3, 2 RBI, 3B; Martin 0-1, 3BB, R.
WHS: Robinson 1-2, RBI, R; Telley 1-3.
Pickens’ Lucas inks with Francis Marion
PICKENS — Coming off successful seasons in basketball, swimming and volleyball, Pickens High School senior Caroline Lucas signed with Francis Marion 
University on Friday to continue her academic and athletic career in volleyball.
Lucas is best known for her play with the Blue Flame volleyball team, twice earning all-state honors and helping to lead Pickens to its first state championship since 2014 this fall.
In addition to her play on the volleyball court, Lucas stayed busy this fall, competing on the inaugural Pickens swim team.
Following her successful fall, Lucas moved to the basketball court, providing a strong presence in the post as she helped to lead the Blue Flame girls to their first playoff win since 2010.
Lucas will finish her career at Pickens this spring competing with the Blue Flame track and field team in the hurdles, javelin and high jump.
County teams compete at Foothills Track Classic
By Bru Nimmons
Staff Reporter
bnimmons@thepccourier.com
TAYLORS — Over the weekend, athletes from Daniel, Easley and Liberty high schools took part in the Foothills Track Classic at Eastside High School, with 
athletes from each school managing to take first in their respective events.
Daniel High had a solid day on the track, finishing eighth in the boys’ competition and 15th in the girls’ competition.
Junior Jaylen Brown-Wallace had the strongest day of the Daniel athletes, taking first place in the triple jump with a jump of 41 feet, 7 inches, nearly half a foot ahead of his next closest competitor. Brown-Wallace also took fifth in the long jump.
Daniel also saw Nasir Geer (shot put), Morgan Pounds (javelin), Ashby Williams (1,600 meter run) and Emma Worley (400 meter hurdle) place in the top five of their respective events.
In the relays, the Lions saw top five finishes in the 4×100 and 4×800 meter relays for both boys’ and girls’ and a fourth-place finish for the boys’ 4×400 meter team.
Easley had a strong day in the field, with an 11th-place finish for the Green Wave girls and a 10th-place finish for the Easley boys.
Easley’s Dylan Arnold was the top performer for the Green Wave on Saturday, finishing first in the high jump with a jump of 5 feet, 10 inches. In addition to the high jump, Arnold also finished among the top 10 in the 110 meter hurdles and triple jump.
Among Easley’s other top finishers were Christopher Clemons (110 meter hurdles), Colin Craig (discus), Jorja Fox (pole vault), Lydia James (discus), Aamari Kelly (triple jump) and Meya McKinney (triple jump), who all finished in the top five of their respective events.
Easley also saw two relay teams finish among the top five, with the girls’ 4×100 and boys’ 4×800 both taking fifth place.
Finally, the Liberty Red Devils had arguably the best day despite a limited number of athletes competing, taking ninth in the girls’ competition.
Savannah Welborn continued to build on her championship resume, taking first in the shot put with a throw of 37 feet, 5.5 inches. Welborn also took second in the discus with a throw of 103 feet, 6 inches.
Fellow thrower Kendall Meinders also had a strong day, with top six finishes in the shot put, discus and javelin throws.
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Courier Obituaries 3-23-22
TED ARNOLD ‘PA’ GILLESPIE
EASLEY — Ted Arnold “Pa” Gillespie, 77, passed away on Wednesday, March 16, 2022, at Greenville Memorial Hospital.
A native of Pickens County, Ted was born on May 30, 1944, the only child of the late Joe Gillespie and Helen Adcox Gillespie. He enjoyed spending time with his family and watching the Atlanta Braves and Clemson football. Mr. Gillespie was of the Baptist faith and was a member of Blue Ridge View Baptist Church in Pickens.
Survivors include his children, Randy Gillespie (Heidi), Joey Gillespie (April) and Lori Chandler (Richard), all of Easley; stepsons, James Moore and John Moore, both of Liberty; grandchildren, Dena Gillespie, Allison Kiser
Paying tribute to the first ladies of the past
My book club meets monthly to review books. Each member picks one book a year, and every time we end up with an assortment of good books. This is good 
for all of us, as we can fall into a rut and stay with the same kinds of books we’d normally seek out.
This month, our book was “Upstairs at the White House; My Years with the First Ladies,” by J. B. West, who was a head honcho in the White House for 30 years. The book covered six administrations, from Franklin D. and Eleanor Roosevelt to Richard and Pat Nixon.
It isn’t a tell-all scandal-laden account of their private lives, but a record of their time in the White House, while
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Browsing the World Book
| When I was about 9 years old, one of my favorite things was flipping through the colorful and informative pages of the World Book Encyclopedia. Actually, I still love to do that. |
In fact, I have the complete 1963 edition of World Book, the same ones my dad bought for us when I was a student at Calhoun-Clemson Elementary School.
The thing that intrigues me is that whenever I go to look something up, I always come across a lot of other interesting stuff before I find what I was looking for. I usually end up reading two or three articles that I would
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The dangers of drugs and alcohol
We are in the middle of National Drug and Alcohol Week, an initiative launched by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) to stimulate educational events in communities so teens can learn what science has taught us about drug use and addiction.
Underage drinking can cause many negative consequences, both in the short and long term.
The following facts are from NIDA.
Research shows that young people’s brains keep developing well into their 20s. Alcohol can alter this
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In God we trust for every situation
Have you known someone who was even-tempered and composed even when circumstances seemed to be falling apart all around them? In times of a serious crisis, somehow these individuals have the type of personality to remain calm and collected. In fact, it’s not unusual to see them comforting the very ones who 
came to help them.
So, what is the secret to living in a peaceful and tranquil state of mind? For those who trust in God, I believe we come to a point in our spiritual journey where we simply begin to realize that Jesus is the Prince of Peace, and it
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Courier Letters to the Editor 3-23-22
On Lillian Boatwright
Dear Editor,
Lillian Boatwright was not reappointed by four of the six state legislators on the Pickens Election Board. She took the opportunity to whine profusely on social media and in the newspaper.
Lillian lost this position because her social media posts describe her perfectly: She is in favor of destruction of society — either through the anarchistic and anti-human BLM organization, woke ideologies of rampant racism, the breathtaking position that people should not think for themselves or erasing history by tearing down statues. She has promoted the lie that absentee voting is the same as vote by mail. Her posts are frequently filled with sickening wokeness and never retracted: whether she is promoting the mask policy, which has been well known since it was introduced to be almost completely ineffective, or, for the BLM. She may have been part of the roughly 75 percent of the people that polls show rooted for this organization as of July 2021. People were duped without ever checking the BLM website, which said they were trying to eliminate the nuclear family — the fundamental cornerstone to society on the planet. Within five months after witnessing the anarchy and destruction that BLM produced, it fell out of favor to less than 10 percent.
According to woke individuals, believing they are gods and in charge of truth, I am a hater, a bigot, deplorable, Islamophobic, homophobic, neanderthal and transphobic. While none of this has anything to do with reality, those pushing these divisive labels are in fact minions of evil — they are not “social justice warriors” or any other contrived name. America is not rife with racism — as all data shows. Media can find a racist and run that up the flagpole, or a bigot or a hater or a killer or a thief — but these headlines do not define America. America’s problems will end only when we get back to its roots — based in God — and recognize that absolute truth exists, and it comes only from God. I have and will continue to pray for Lillian — and others — that the Holy Spirit might infect them to change their ways.
While the facts and truth of this may seem harsh, they are far less harsh than the derisive, condescending, prideful and discriminatory words in print and social media by Lillian … and she should be a nonpartisan person on the elections board! No. Period.
Luke Campbell
Pickens
