***ONLINE EXCLUSIVE *** Blue Flame head to Columbia in quest for 17th State Championship
By Bru Nimmons Sports Editor bnimmons@thepccourier.com PICKENS — For the first time since 2021, the Pickens High School volleyball team More »
Prisma to build hospital in Easley
By Jason Evans Staff Reporter jevans@thepccourier.com EASLEY — Prisma Health plans to build a new $138 million inpatient behavioral health More »
Blue Flame roll past rival Daniel to advance in Class 4A playoffs
By Bru Nimmons Sports Editor bnimmons@thepccourier.com CENTRAL — After dropping two five set battles to rival Daniel in the regular More »
Swearing in
Members of the Pickens County’s Legislative Delegation take the oath of office on the Pickens County Courthouse steps in Pickens More »
This week in FOOTBALL FRENZY only in PICKENES COUNTY COURIER
LIONS OVERCOME SLOW START AGAINST SENECA TO WIN SIXTH STRAIGHT REGION TITLE; EASLEY DROPS FINALE TO GREENVILLE; RED DEVILS FALL More »
Selugadu set for this weekend at mill
PICKENS — Every November, the Hagood Mill Historic Site observes Native American Heritage Month by holding the Native American Celebration. More »
Community Calendar
• Huge yard sale set for Amazing Grace
Bargain hunters will get another chance to find a deal at the big indoor yard sale at Amazing Grace Fellowship Church, which has been held over for a second week and will be open this Saturday, Aug. 15.
The event will again be held in the the church’s fellowship building, and hundreds and hundreds of great items still available. Amazing Grace Fellowship is located at 228 Pearl St. in Pickens.
Everyone is asked to wear a mask at the sale.
• Pickens Lions plan meetings each month
The Pickens Lions Club is in need of new members. The club meets the first and third Thursday of
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On Easley’s recycling situation …
Greetings from the Barnett summer residence — which is actually the same place as the Barnett winter, spring and fall residence, but with more live music on the front porch and more outdoor 
cooking in the back.
Only it’s just me doing the live music and grilling; no crowds of people who may be carrying the coronavirus are allowed within 10 feet.
COVID-19 is real, and it hit close to home a few weeks ago when a member of our extended family who was living in a nursing home in Pickens was stricken with it and taken from us. She was a character, and she will be greatly missed.
So I’ve been pretty much taking it easy for the past few weeks. It’s the first stretch of time in more than 30 years that I have stepped back from deadlines and tried
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Clemson to test returning students for COVID
Tuition frozen at last year’s rate, fees credited
By Jason Evans
Staff Reporter
jevans@thepccourier.com
CLEMSON — Clemson University president Jim Clements says university officials remain committed to bringing students back to campus next month.
Clements announced last month that the fall semester would begin with online classes. Students could begin moving onto campus on Sept. 13, with in-person instruction beginning Sept. 21.
“The calendar has turned to August, and the entire university is pushing full steam ahead for the start of the fall semester in less than two weeks,” Clements said in an update issued Friday.
As a result of the delayed start to in-person classes, a number of student fees, including
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SC officials warn of contact tracer fraud
By Riley Morningstar
Courtesy The Journal
rmorningstar@upstatetoday.com
COLUMBIA — State health officials are warning South Carolinians about COVID-19 contact tracing scams and the urgency to respond to legitimate calls.
The S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control said more than 700 people have been trained to conduct case investigations and case monitoring, with 240 active contact monitors ready.
Contact tracing works to alert people who have been exposed to someone with the coronavirus and
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Freedom vs. responsibility
Note from Pickens Mayor Fletcher Perry: At our last city council meeting, it was a consensus from members of council and seven voices from the community who felt that mandatory mask wear should not be mandated by the city. From that discussion, a committee was formed that included members of the medical community. I have asked each member to share their perspective concerning these times of uncertainty and the subject of the mask.
As the medical scientists are trying to learn more about the coronavirus, including how to create a 
vaccine and better ways to treat those infected, we are faced with a community dilemma. I think of it as “freedom vs. responsibility.” On the one hand, we value our freedom and ability to decide for ourselves how to lead our lives. This allows us to determine what risks we want to take, like smoking, riding a motorcycle without a helmet or eating junk food. But on the other hand, with freedom comes responsibility. Our responsibility for each other means we obey traffic laws, we don’t endanger others with our choices and we care enough to bend our desire to keep others from being harmed.
Although there is still a lot we don’t know about this virus, there are many things that have been
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Taking everything one day at a time
Sunday morning, we experienced an earthquake. Well, some of us did, at least. I was oblivious.
Now, granted, the quake centered in Sparta, N.C., and, according to the weatherman on channel 4, 
we felt it because of the strong vibrations running through the rock in the Appalachian Mountains.
At our house, Fowler was drinking coffee and said it shook the head of the bed.
I was walking upstairs with my coffee and didn’t notice anything. I was thinking that we were out of Tide and needed to add it to the list.
Why didn’t I notice? Maybe because during the past year there have been so many disturbing things going
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Thoughts to get through the day
Some random thoughts for getting through the day …
Have you heard of custom puzzles? They’re available at a number of places online. (Read the 
reviews before you order and look for U.S. companies.) Select a favorite vacation or family photo, decide on the size of the puzzle and the number of pieces, send in your order and you’ll get back all the pieces to create a puzzle of that image. Call the company first to be sure of the details.
Buy stamps by mail and stay out of the post office. Ask the local post office to have your mail carrier bring out a stamp order form and envelope. Check off the
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Stand up, stand up for Jesus
We are living in perilous times, and now more than ever, I’m reminded of the old saying that if we do not stand for something, we will fall for anything. However, the call to step forward as a soldier 
for the Lord does not imply that God needs us to defend Him physically — the Creator is more than capable of exerting His authority over His creation.
Standing for Jesus is understanding that our warfare is spiritual, as the Bible declares in Ephesians 6:12, “For we wrestle NOT against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.”
The world wants to conquer through human strength, but the Christian communicates with God
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Courier Obituaries 8-12-20
JUANITA SCRUGGS
PICKENS — Juanita 
Cisson Scruggs, 85, wife of the late Edward Scruggs Sr., went home to be with her Lord on Tuesday, Aug. 4, 2020, at her home.
Born on May 26, 1935, in Easley, she was the daughter of the late Joe Ernest Cisson and Laura Jane Childress Cisson. Juanita was retired from the School District of Pickens County, serving meals to the children of the Upstate. She was a member of Gilead Independent Baptist Church and enjoyed cooking family meals, bird watching and shopping at Hamrick’s.
Surviving are her three children, Jimmy Scruggs (Marie), Joan Turner (Tony) and Kathy Sipe (Sonny); one sister, Grace Owens; three grandchildren, Kristi (Johnny), Lori and
A Rich History
Above: Pockoy Island was once home to a community of Native Americans who established shell rings hundreds of years ago. • Below left: Congaree Creek Heritage Preserve contains 12,000 years of history and prehistory tucked away in a pristine setting. •Below right: Oyster shell from an ancient shell ring complex litters the beach at low tide on SCDNR’s Botany Bay Heritage Preserve and WMA in 2017. Since then, archaeologists with the agency’s Heritage Trust program have waged a war against the clock to excavate the site and catalog thousands of artifacts before it is lost to sea-level rise. • Bottom: Green’s Shell Enclosure Heritage Preserve is a passive park focusing on archaeological features. • Bottom left: Photos courtesy SCDNR
Exploring South Carolina’s cultural heritage preserves
— Courtesy SC Department of Natural Resources
Aug. 9 was International Day of the World’s Indigenous People. In South Carolina today, there are eight state-recognized Native American Indian entities.
Over the years, archaeologists have unearthed the rich histories of the state’s Indigenous People, learning more about the First Peoples to live on South Carolina soil.
This includes the community who established the Pockoy Island Shell Rings located at Botany Bay Plantation Heritage Preserve, and others whose history is captivated in cultural preserves across the
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