Category Archives: Lifestyles
Spring Happenings
Local residents have been taking advantage of the beautiful spring weather, with hundreds flocking to the annual Blue Ridge 
Electric Cooperative members meeting in Pickens and the opening day of the Six Mile Farmers Market on Thursday, as well as the Central Railroad Festival and the ninth annual Wings and Wheels for Meals at the Pickens County Airport on Saturday. The activities will continue this weekend with the 2018 Blue Ridge Fest, set for 5:30-10:30 p.m. Friday at the Blue Ridge Electric Co-op headquarters in Pickens. To see more photos, visit Facebook.com/PickensCountyCourier.
Photos by Rocky Nimmons and courtesy Pickens County Meals on Wheels
All Aboard For Fun
Railroad Festival to roll into Central April 28
By Jason Evans
Staff Reporter
jevans@thepccourier.com
CENTRAL — This year’s Central Railroad Festival will offer something fun for everyone.
“We are gearing up for a day full of family fun,” festival committee 
member Ed Welch said. “The railroad festival has something for all ages.”
The 2018 Central Railroad Festival will officially kick off at 10 a.m. April 28 and run until 5 p.m.
Admission to the festival is free.
The festival has existed in its current incarnation for more than a decade, Welch said.
This year, the festival is partnering with Pickens County as part of the
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Preparing garden beds for spring and beyond
Gardening enthusiasts may have been thinking about their landscape plans throughout the winter, eager to once again get their hands dirty with soil. Whether a home gardener is making preparations for edible 
crops or beautiful flowers, he or she must take time to make the soil amenable to planting. To establish hearty, durable plants, gardeners can focus on three main areas: addressing soil composition, cultivating and adding nutrients.
Soil composition
Many gardeners prefer growing a variety of plants in their gardens. Such an approach requires taking inventory of the type of soil in one’s
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Ergonomic techniques can make gardening less taxing
Gardening is a popular activity that seems to be gaining even more supporters. Statistica reports that the number of people who gardened 
within the last 12 months in the United States rose from around 105 million in 2008 to 118 million in 2017.
Gardening can be relaxing yet physically demanding work. Gardeners who find themselves battling aches and pains after spending time in the garden may need to make a greater effort to reduce injuries and
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Annual Clemson Experimental Forest celebration Saturday
CLEMSON — The Clemson Experimental Forest will hold its annual Forest Fest from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. this Saturday, April 7, in the Lake Issaqueena area.
Above: Saturday’s third annual Clemson Experimental Forest Forest Fest will be held from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. in the Lake Issaqueena area.
Courtesy Clemson University
There will be activities for adults and children, including guided hikes, nature walks, scavenger hunts, air rifle demonstrations, waterfall views, canoeing and kayaking, forestry activities and outdoor games.
This is the third year for the event. South Carolina Botanical Garden education and resource coordinator James Wilkins and Experimental Forest manager Russell Hardee coordinated the event and said it is for anyone who wants to spend a day connecting with nature.
“This is a wonderful event for people to spend a day in our Experimental Forest,” Wilkins said.
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Symbols of Easter
Icons complement most sacred holiday
Tradition plays an important role in Easter celebrations for many families. Cherished traditions and symbols of Easter may include anything from egg hunts to lilies to lambs. Understanding 
the importance behind these symbols can make sharing the miracle of Easter that much more special.
Crucifix
The crucifix is one of the central symbols of Easter and Christianity. The cross is a symbol of Christ’s crucifixion and sacrifice. The crucifix also highlights the ability of God to give people new life after death.
In addition to wearing and displaying the cross during Easter, some people bake “hot cross buns” as another symbol of the season.
Eggs
Eggs are one of the more recognizable symbols of Easter. For Easter egg hunts, eggs are hard-boiled and decorated in bright hues. It’s believed that the origins of Easter eggs are both secular and religious. From the secular (once pagan) perspective, the egg is an ancient symbol of new life, according to The History Channel, and has been associated with pagan festivals that celebrate spring. Some
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Create and hide unbreakable Easter eggs
Easter is one of the most important days of the year for Christians. Easter Sunday is filled with symbolism and tradition, some of which harken back to early Christianity, while others trace 
their origins to paganism.
The Easter Bunny and Easter eggs are two Easter traditions with less extensive histories. The Easter Bunny, according to sources including History.com, first arrived in America in the 1700s via German settlers who brought with them their tradition of an egg-laying hare called “Osterhase.” Children would make nests where the rabbit could lay its colored eggs. Eventually, the custom spread from Pennsylvania, where many German immigrants settled, to other areas around the country.
Eggs are symbolic of new life and rebirth in many cultures. To Christians, eggs represent the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Another theory suggests that Christians were once forbidden to eat during the Lenten season
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Yards of Yarn
Local residents had a chance to reminisce about the area’s textile heritage with Yards of Yarn at the Hagood Community 
Center in Pickens. The community center was the perfect site for the show about the history of textile mills in the Upstate, as it was once a mill school in the heart of the Pickens textile mill village. Those in attendance had a chance to hear stories and look at old photos and other artifacts and mementos from the textile mill communities of the early 1900s. Upstate musicians Hunter Holmes and Steve McGaha also performed songs of the era and gave historical perspectives of the songs.
Kerry Gilstrap/Courier
Beloved children’s classic coming to Liberty High stage this weekend
By Jason Evans
Staff Reporter
jevans@thepccourier.com
LIBERTY —
he story of a pig in danger and the smart, resourceful spider trying to save him may be geared toward children, but Liberty 
High School theater teacher Jean Scales Toole says it has a message for everyone.
“I love this story,” Toole said. “I love what it has to say. It is not just a children’s book. If you really listen, there are some true life lessons in this play.”
One of her favorite scenes is one where Wilbur the pig asks Charlotte the spider “Why did you do this for me? I haven’t done anything for you,” Toole said.
“And she says ‘By helping you, perhaps I lifted my own life a
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From slavery to the White House Part 2
Keckley joins the
Lincoln family
By Dr. Thomas Cloer, Jr.
Special to The Courier
In part one of our story last week, Elizabeth Keckley, a talented seamstress and slave, had been told by her master that she 
could buy her and her son’s freedom for $1,200. She managed to raise the money, buy their freedom and amazingly work for ladies of the upper class. This included the family of Sen. Jefferson Davis, future president of the Confederate States of America.
A daughter of Union Maj. Gen. Edwin Vose Sumner was one of Elizabeth’s patrons. “Bull Head” Sumner inspired a legend that a musket ball once bounced off his head. He also had a great booming voice. His daughter asked Elizabeth to make a dress
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