Members of Winnsboro’s Cultus Club gather around the table at Fairfield County Museum waiting for Winnsboro native Nelle Smith to autograph her newly released book, Paradise: Memories of Hilton Head in the Early Days. From left, Margaret DuBard of Blythewood, Museum Director Pelham Lyles, Trev Sherrod and club president Mary Lynne Zeno.
WINNSBORO – Nelle and John Gettys Smith and their children Gettys, Spenser, and Ora, moved to Hilton Head Island in 1963 to take over the work of Charles Frazier who was developing the Sea Pines community.
These many years later, Nelle, 86, and now a widow, and her daughter Ora have collected their memories of life on the island into a book titled Paradise: Memories of Hilton Head in the Early Days. And since it was published by the Chapel Hill Press last March, the book has been selling briskly as the two women promote it across the low country and the state.
Their tour most recently brought the pair to Winnsboro where Nelle grew up. She spoke about her book to a gathering at Christ Central on Sunday, then signed autographs at a reception at the Fairfield County Museum.
“What was Hilton Head like in the early days?” Nelle writes in her book, “It was a quiet, simpler time with mostly dirt roads, surrounded by incredible natural beauty.
“Being a part of the growing Island was a chance of a lifetime…witnessing the first Heritage Golf Tournament…feeling the joy as people began to discover this oceanfront treasure nestled in the tall pines. Our family was there to help plant the seeds that have grown Hilton Head into the beloved destination it is today.”
Friends and members of the Cultus Club munch on appetizers and fruit punch at book signing. From left: Barbara Martin, Sarah McMaster, Michelle Taylor, organizer Phyllis Gutierrz (chairwoman of the Fairfield Arts Council) and Janet Brakefield. | Photos: Barbara ball
Growing up on Bratton Street in Winnsboro, the daughter of the beloved town physician, Dr. Charles Spencer McCants and Isabelle Gooding McCants, Nelle left home in the early 1950’s to attend two years at Mary Baldwin College in Staunton, VA., before returning home to finish her schooling at The University of South Carolina.
“At that time,” Smith said, “people, at least in Winnsboro, thought Carolina was so wild that the girls should go to another school first so we would not be so wild right away.”
In the book, Nelle recounts how she met her husband-to-be, from York County, on a blind date. After they were married, they moved their young family to Hilton Head where they immersed themselves into the Island community. Besides his work with Sea Pines, John Smith was one of the founders of the Heritage Golf Tournament. Nelle spent her years on the Island managing Nell’s Harbor Shop and working on community projects.
Today Nelle Smith lives in Beaufort with Ora and is basking in the limelight of her new book which, she proudly announced, has almost sold out the first printing. The paperback sells for $19.95.
Greenbrier/Bethel Fire Chief Sammy Castles joined the Ridgeway firefighters in the dedication of the new engine. | Photos: Barbara BallFollowing tradition, firefighters and friends push the new engine into the station.
RIDGEWAY – Jason Pope, Director of the Fairfield County Fire Service, welcomed members of the Ridgeway community to the dedication of the county’s newest fire engine, Engine 71, at the Ridgeway Fire Station last week.
After remarks from Ridgeway Fire Chief Jamie Webb and several county officials, those officials as well as county firefighters participated in the traditional ‘pushing’ of the truck into the station. The new engine brings the station’s trucks to five, including another pumper, a tanker, a squad truck and a brush truck.
The fire station was constructed and dedicated in 2017.
Assistant County Administrator Davis Anderson, Ridgeway Town Councilman Don Prioleau, Ridgeway Fire Chief Jamie Webb, County Councilman for Ridgeway Dan Ruff, County Administrator Jason Taylor, Ridgeway Town Councilman Dan Martin and Director of Fairfield County Fire Services Jason Pope.
The employees and friends of Blythewood Physical Therapy celebrated the office’s expansion with a ribbon cutting on Friday. Manning the shears are Physical Therapist Joye Mizell and Supervisor Brian Gray. | Photos: Barbara Ball
BLYTHEWOOD – When Bruce Filler opened Blythewood Physical Therapy in McNulty Plaza in July, 2011, he was the only physical therapist on duty to treat the location’s first patients. Serving the community is how he grew his business.
Today, Filler has nine employees at his Blythewood office who treat 40-50 patients per day, but in a new McNulty Plaza space that is double the size of the first one.
”It was a much needed move,” Dr. Bryan Gray, the new facilities’ physical therapist supervisor, said during a re-open house and ribbon cutting last Friday that celebrated the expansion with food, door prizes, corn hole competitions and free shoulder and back massages given by massage therapist Jeff Cullen.
“The additional space allows us more floor room for agility and balance training, things we couldn’t do in the previous office,” Gray said. “Plus we have a break room now that allows us to see patients during the lunch hour, which is a real patient convenience.”
With the new space and a variety of therapy specialists, including two therapists certified in the McKensie technique for back pain, Gray said his staff can handle just about every physical therapy need.
“With our capabilities, there’s no reason for folks out here in Blythewood and Fairfield County to go downtown to Columbia for physical therapy,” Gray said. “We encourage folks in the community to tell their doctors that they want to come here for their therapy, and their doctors will write them referrals. Patients don’t always know they have that right.
“The different with us is that, unlike large clinics that have patient quotas to fill each day, we have one goal – to make our patients better. Filling quotas can interfere with the quality of care,” Gray said. “Here, patients find less of a corporate type environment and more of a community feel. We have a lot of patients in the community that we become friends with. After their experience here, they frequently refer their friends and family members,” Gray said.
“When our patients come here, we want them to have an overall good feeling about their care,” Gray said. “I think they do.”
Blythewood Physical Therapy offers a work reconditioning program, does functional capacity evaluations and impairment ratings, pelvic floor rehab as well as therapy for orthopedic, neurological, arthritis, TMJ, vestibular/balance problems, auto accident injuries, sports injuries and work related injuries.
For more information about Blythewood Physical Therapy, go to www.crcrehab.com or call 803-728-0421. The office is located at 428-3 McNulty Road in Blythewood. Hours are Monday – Friday from 8 a.m. – 6 p.m.
BLYTHEWOOD – Three palm trees planted at the entrance to Doko Meadows Park last week were donated by Glenn Cooper, left, in memory of his father, Ralph Cooper, Jr. (1930 – 2017); Harold Branham in memory of his mother, Pauline Branham (1920 – 2018) and Jim and Tom Mclean in memory of their brother, Hudnalle (Hud) McLean, Jr. (1934 – 2018). A dedication ceremony will be held later this fall.
Opening the Mainstay Senior Living barbecue festival are President and CEO Tod Petty, left; Frances Mattox, Admissions and Activity Director; Ridgeway Town Councilman Dan Martin and Ridgeway Mayor Heath Cookendorfer. | Photos: Darlene Embleton
RIDGEWAY – Tod Petty, President and CEO for Mainstay Senior Living, says his company is all about southern hospitality. As the new owner of Ridgeway’s former Fairfield Manor Assisted Living location at 117 Belfield Road, he showed that he knew what he was talking about when he feted his staff and the residence’s seniors with a barbeque festival last Saturday.
Frances Mattox, Admissions and Activity director for Mainstay introduced Ridgeway’s Mayor Heath Cookendorfer and Council member Dan Martin, and the Mayor welcomed Mainstay officials on behalf of the Town.
The day was filled with entertainment that included the Freedom Dancers, antique and classic cars and barbecue cooked by Dwight Robinson and served by his seven assistants.
Site renderings were on display of an expansion planned for the facility.
“We have an amazing group of contractors who work with us on improving existing locations. They allow us to create an affordable venue. Here, we have already reworked the asphalt in the front and upgraded the landscaping. We are in the process of repainting the building, fixing the roof and bringing in a full time therapist and 26 fully electric beds for our residents.
“It will be a great venue for long term care”, Petty said.
The new expansion will bring Mainstay up to 112 beds.
Barbecue pit master Dwight Robinson and his cook crew, all classmates who graduated high school in 1971, served up barbecue to the residents and guests. From left: Robinson, Delores Squirewell, Larry Bell, Nadine Boyd, Elijah Squirewell, Linda Gaither, Melvin Peay and Larry Young.
The above home is one of many abandoned on Cemetery Street. | Barbara Ball
WINNSBORO – Distressed properties have Winnsboro resident Yvette Howard feeling well, distressed.
For more than a year, Howard has been voicing her concerns about abandoned and dilapidated housing in the vicinity of Cemetery Street and Davis Circle. She again voiced those concerns at the Sept. 4 council meeting.
“Four years ago, letters went out to property owners to comply with the town codes,” she said. “Some of the absentee property owners are local people who can be easily located.
“However, the codes are not being enforced equally to all citizens down on Cemetery Street,” Howard continued. “We have to get people to clean up their lots, whether they have the money or not, somehow get them to abide by the town codes.”
A Google Street View tour of the neighborhood shows some homes with clean facades and freshly cut grass.
Other properties, however, are boarded up or have weeds overgrowing the fence line. Several cars can be seen parallel parked along the narrow streets.
Council members didn’t specifically have any conversation about dilapidated houses after the public comments, and in a telephone interview Tuesday, Councilman Clyde Sanders said he sympathizes with Howard’s plight.
But Sanders said addressing the issue is a slow process, noting that sometimes after one home is brought into compliance, another falls into non-compliance.
He also said state law has very specific rules on the books governing how nuisance properties can be handled.
“The thing that makes it stand out in Winnsboro is that it’s concentrated in a small area, so it stands out more than it would in Columbia or Myrtle Beach,” Sanders said. “Every town or city has dilapidated houses. We’re doing everything we can, we’ve identified a lot of them, or a majority of them, and we’re doing everything we can to get them taken care of.”
Public Safety Director John Seibles couldn’t be reached by telephone Tuesday.
At the Sept. 4 meeting, Seibles delivered a report that said the town received 21 complaints in August.
No citations or building demolition permits were issued, though the report said many of the violations involved abandoned homes and vehicles.
The report listed several bullet items referencing various property owners with whom the town is working.
One item noted that an illegal scrap metal business was found operating on Columbia Road. The town issued the business a warning to cease doing business in a residential area.
“There had been several complaints from residents about the noise and visual appearance of a gas tank machine and scrap metal,” town documents state.
Abandoned and distressed homes have become a statewide issue.
Greenville, Rock Hill and Clemson in recent years have enacted strict laws addressing dilapidated structures.
Clemson, for example, requires owners choosing to rent their properties to live within a 75-mile radius of the home to more closely monitor it. The City of Aiken recently considered a 45-mile radius requirement in a proposed rental registration ordinance, according to city documents.
Sanders said the issue in Winnsboro mainly involves local residents who, after passing away, bequeath their homes to relatives. Tracking heirs is tricky.
“The ones that are local are more willing to work with us,” Sanders said.
Other homes are tied up in legal proceedings.
Manpower is another issue.
At the council meeting, Howard quizzed members about whether a full-time code enforcement officer will be hired soon. She noted the current code enforcement officer works part time.
“I would like to know if any progress has been made on this,” she said.
Rock Hill employs five code enforcement officers. The city also dedicates $100,000 to a fund dedicated to demolishing boarded buildings.
Sanders said demolishing buildings is costly, estimating the cost at between $10,000 and $20,000 per home.
These ‘Fighting Stallions’ designed and created by Thomas Humphries, who grew up in Blythewood, brought bigger-than-life art to the World Equestrian Games. | Maria Ott
TRYON, NC – Blythewood sculptor Thomas Humphries, 45, is enjoying the international limelight after receiving a last-minute request from the World Equestrian Games in Tryon, North Carolina to display one of his recent works of art. The shimmering metal sculpture – a ten-foot-tall depiction of clashing stallions – was, until Saturday, Sept. 8, sitting in Humphries’ backyard. Two days later, the sculpture was prominently displayed at an entry point of the Games, attracting the attention of equestrian sports spectators from all around the world. And Humphries, a longtime hobbyist sculptor, said he couldn’t be more thrilled by the twist of fate.
Humphries
“When I started this piece in 2014, I’d been looking for a new idea, something that would challenge me and really push my abilities,” he said in an interview with The Voice. “I was thinking of the wonderful ‘Fighting Stallions’ piece by Anna Hyatt Huntington at the entrance to Brookgreen Gardens in Murrells Inlet, and I thought, wow, something like that would be exciting to do. That’s where this piece came from. It’s a tribute to Huntington’s sculpture.”
Humphries, who also owns and manages a roofing and home maintenance business, has other sculptures on display at locations closer to home, including a giraffe, lions and zebra at Riverbanks Zoo and a dancing couple at the Blue Room Ballroom in West Columbia. He creates his often larger-than-life art from discarded odds and ends of metal that he regularly finds and collects.
“It’s like an Easter egg hunt every day,” he said with a laugh. “I’ve got a certain eye, and I can spot metal in a pile of leaves. I’m always scanning and looking for it. I average about one to three pieces a day. I find them in parking lots or wherever I happen to be doing roofing or maintenance jobs. Old barbell pieces, old caulk guns, stuff that people consider trash. I know I can weld it together, so I add it to my big pile of stuff.”
Humphries said the 1500-pound equestrian sculpture consists of about 500 pieces of stainless steel and carbon steel. He used a stick welder to bind it all together before spraying the whole thing with shiny silver paint.
His fiancé, Maria Ott, spent time reaching out to a number of people about the possibility of displaying Humphries’ work, and one of the people she connected with was Annette Compson-Goyette, the Director of Vendors at the Tryon Equestrian Center.
A group of Blythewood residents attending the World Equestrian Games in Tryon, NC last week, had their photo snapped with Thomas Humphries’ ‘Fighting Stallions’ sculpture. From left: Carroll Ann Bowers, Jan Reynolds, Diane Smith, Paula Spinale, Kit Turner and Joyce Hill. | Submitted by Joyce Hill
“It was really exciting to get that call from Annette, asking us to bring it on up,” he said. “But getting it up there was a big ordeal.”
At a cost of $2500, Humphries hired a team of professionals who came with the necessary heavy-duty equipment to place the sculpture onto a flatbed and transport it safely. He also spent about 10 hours welding a cage around the outer sides of the horses to secure them for travel.
“That was made from some old bedframes that I’d picked up along the side of the road,” he said. “It made a really strong frame.”
It had rained before they arrived, and Humphries said it was nerve-wracking to watch the huge flatbed truck navigate a steep, wet clay hill at the event grounds.
“The truck started to slide, almost into a jackknife,” he said. “It was pretty scary, but luckily the driver was able to stop it completely before the truck flipped over with the sculpture. It was a really close call. But those guys did a great job.”
The sculpture was on site by Monday, though he still had to stabilize it against the threat of heavy winds from the approaching Hurricane Florence, remove the shipping supports and touch up the paint.
“By the early afternoon on Tuesday, it was ready for action,” he said. “And I’ll be up there again this week. They’re going to set up a tent where I can talk to folks [about the artwork] and hold a silent auction for the piece.”
Compson-Goyette has also invited him to display the horse sculpture at the 2019 Winter Equestrian Festival in Wellington, Florida, unless it ends up being purchased in Tryon. Humphries said that he’s delighted to be able to reach more people with his art.
“The enjoyment that people get out of what I make is one of the biggest things that I enjoy about it,” he said. “I was down at the zoo, refurbishing a lion sculpture I’ve got there, and a gentleman said to me, ‘man, I’ve never really cared about art, but I like that.’ It makes me feel good, to take art and put a twist on it that people enjoy.”
Humphries said his goal is to work full-time as an artist.
“Until now it’s strictly been a hobby,” he said, “but I’m hoping that will change here in the near future, to become something that I can share regularly with people and maybe make an income from.”
Spectators will be able to view Humphries’ sculpture in Tryon until the World Equestrian Games wrap up on Sept. 23.
Blythewood outdoor writer Pat Robertson, center, displays the final of three volumes of State of the Heart that includes contributions from him and fellow Blythewoodians Jane Zenger, left, and Chris Horn. | Barbara Ball
Book Signing Set for Nord House, Sept 20
BLYTHEWOOD – When Blythewood outdoor writer Pat Robertson, 80, was asked to contribute a piece about one of his favorite places in South Carolina for inclusion in the third volume of the State of the Heart book series published by The University of South Carolina Press, he didn’t hesitate.
“When I saw who some of the writers were who had been asked to contribute to the previous two volumes, I jumped at the chance,” Robertson said.
Indeed, that list was formidable, including the state’s best playwrights, sportswriters, historians and more.
Novelist Pat Conroy had been so impressed after a sneak preview of the first volume while it was still in the works, that he wrote the forward. His widow, Cassandra King, wrote the afterward for the recently published third and final volume.
Upon Conroy’s death, The State newspaper chose that forward from the first volume to memorialize him.
The series has been described by New York Times bestselling author Mary Alice Monroe (Beach House Memories) as “a rich collection of personal stories, reflections, historical facts and front porch yarns as colorful, timeless and inspiring as the people and landscape of the Palmetto State.”
Sometime prior to 2013, South Carolina writer and former publisher of The Sandlapper magazine, Aida Rogers, came up with the idea for a book about some of the special places in South Carolina – some of them well known, others known well only to the people who cherished them. Those stories eventually became the acclaimed State of the Heart book series.
The third volume contains the writings of Robertson and two other Blythewood writers: Chris Horn and Jane Zenger.
The places these three write about are not necessarily famous nor frequented by tourists. They are just places that are special to these writers, places that, for one reason or another, became places in their hearts.
Robertson, a longtime South Carolina award-winning newspaper writer and photographer, may be best known for his outdoor sports columns that appeared in the Columbia Record and The State for over 30 years.
“Summers on Stevens Creek,” Robertson’s contribution to the third volume of State of the Heart, is rooted in what he says are fond memories of fishing Stevens Creek with his Grandaddy Bridges. But the story is not just about fishing. It is a summation of his youth and the outdoor life that became him. There, just upstream from Stevens Creek, Robertson, as a teenager, took mental note of the mundane details of a fishing day – of his grandfather’s nearby logging crew who felled and trimmed trees by hand, their bulging biceps, shiny with coal oil used to repel mosquitoes, the cool shade on the riverbank where Robertson and his grandfather shared fresh tomato sandwiches as they kept one eye on their fishing lines.
Robertson’s story is testimony to his deep connection with the out-of -doors, his appreciation of “a rare plant community like no other,” common rock formations, lazy streams, trees, directions, weather and sloping banks – the landscape of his world.
“If Stevens Creek is itself a near-hidden scenic wonder, then the bluff just above the bridge on County Road 88 near where my Granddaddy Bridges cut pine trees is the crown jewel in the setting,” Robertson wrote.
Chris Horn, a writer who has spent his career at The University of South Carolina, the author of two books and now a podcaster, wrote a short piece called “Once More to Campbell’s Pond.”
While the story on the surface is little more than a nostalgic fishing story of a teenager’s simple dreams of catching the big one, Horn’s anecdotes about his favorite minnow-mimicking lure – a red-and-white Cisco Kid – are threaded through the story, leading the reader effortlessly to the end.
“I clipped the line to tie on a different bait, but absentmindedly didn’t notice that the tip of the rod was hanging over the water, not the boat. Gravity did its work, and the Kid hit the pond. I watched as the untethered lure faded into the murk in slow motion. Only when it vanished did it dawn on me that my favorite lure, the same one I had rescued time and again that day, was now irretrievably gone,” Horn wrote.
In just two and a half pages, Horn grows into adulthood and finds himself once again on the dam overlooking and appreciating all the more the pond of his youth and all it meant to him.
If Jane Zenger’s story, “My Wild Life in Cedar Creek” tells you anything, it’s that she is besotted with where she lives “on the edge of a magical forest” in the Cedar Creek community.
“We knew this property from our college days, having fallen in love with it when three friends purchased the original 80 acres. We were all students or faculty members at USC then. During those years we hiked the property and enjoyed peaceful parties at their 100-year-old farm house,” Zenger wrote.
Her story is about everything Cedar Creek – her neighbors, the land her family finally came to live on, the house that she and her husband built and the glorious history of Cedar Creek and the people who lived there over the last few hundred years. It is about the rare flora and fauna, the trees, the undergrowth, mushrooms, ferns, birds, river bamboo, fireflies, the seasons and ring-necked snakes who warm themselves on flat rocks in Cedar Creek.
The three books are each thematic. The stories in the third volume, like those of the Blythewood writers, revolve around a love of the easy, natural worlds they live in – fishing, fresh air markets, island people, land, water, mornings, animals and birds, homes and gardens.
A wine and pound cake book release party for the third volume of State of the Heart will be held Thursday, Sept. 20, from 6-8 p.m. at the Blythewood Historical Society, 100 McNulty Street in Blythewood. Moderator Aida Rogers will lead a lively discussion about the stories in the book, and there will be readings by Robertson, Horn and Zenger.
The book has just been released and is available currently in hardback at Uptown Gifts in Columbia for $39.99. Rogers said copies will be available at the Blythewood release party.
Candice Bray, Christina Kyzer and Lisa Bray show off their finds – two stuffed squirrels from Blythewood Consignment and an orange artificial Christmas tree. | Photos: Barbara Ball
BLYTHEWOOD – “It was a great weekend for us, one of the best Big Grab yard sales ever,” Liz Humphries, owner of Blythewood Consignment said about the annual 50-mile curb crawl.
After a seemingly slow start Friday morning, the Big Grab blossomed later in the day with both shoppers and vendors descending on the town. And Saturday didn’t disappoint. While the giant yard sale officially ended at 3 p.m. on Saturday, some stores in town were still doing a brisk business at 7 p.m.
Candice Bray, Christina Kyzer and Lisa Bray show off their finds – two stuffed squirrels from Blythewood Consignment and an orange artificial Christmas tree.
“We had lots of locals shopping and vending as well as dealers from Texas, Georgia, New York, California and other states,” Humphries said. “We couldn’t have had a better day. Plus we had about 10 vendors in our parking lot who did very well.”
One of those vendors sold more than 800 tacos from his stand, and Harold Boney’s lot across the street was packed with vendors.
While the traffic was heavy, sheriff’s deputies kept it and the pedestrians moving. The sidewalks along Main Street were filled with a brisk stream of pedestrians carrying small cupboards, paintings, artificial plants, chairs and more.
Two women from Pennsylvania showed up driving a U-Haul truck that they had filled by the end of the day on Saturday.
Bits and Pieces Consignment store owner Kristen Benini said both Friday and Saturday were good sale days for her store.
“It was three times what we saw last year when many of the vendors were set up in the park. Plus our parking lot was full of vendors which helped our store sales,” Benini said. “And I can’t say enough good things about the officer directing traffic in front of our store on Saturday. He
Marie Burkins, left, and her sister Victoria, right, thumbed through books while Cherry Jackson checked out the jewelry.
was fun, talking with the people who were driving and walking and added to the great atmosphere we had in town this year.”
In Winnsboro, the Director of the Fairfield County Chamber of Commerce Terry Vickers said it was the best Big Grab yet.
“We had lots more vendors and shoppers than in past years. The bypass from the hospital all the way to the intersection of Highway 34 had vendors and there were a number of vendors downtown and outlying areas,” Vickers said. “Some of our churches did well and, of course, the biggest success story came, again, from First United Methodist Church which brought in thousands of dollars. And First Baptist on Highway 34 did very well too. It was just a lot of fun and a lot of our residents made some money.”
“We were crazy busy here in Ridgeway but everyone, shoppers and vendors, were kind and sweet through it all,” Carol Allen, owner of Laura’s Tea Room, said. “We came close to being overwhelmed by the crowd in our café, but everyone was patient with us. I think everyone had a good time buying and bargaining. Our Cotton Yard was full and I know my store and restaurant were full. It was a great day.”
WINNSBORO – Even though ‘Recovery Month’ has just begun this week for Fairfield County’s Behavioral Health Services, it’s already time to sign up for the month-end Drop-In to be held Friday, Sept. 28, from 12 – 1:30 p.m. at the agency’s new building, 178 Hwy 321 Bypass N. in Winnsboro.
“We hope everyone will participate in our several programs this month including the Church of the Year and My Recovery Story contests,” BHS Director Vernon Kennedy said.
To register, call 635-2335 or go to fairfieldbhs.org.
