Midlands STEM students pom-pomed the police station. | Darlene Embleton
RIDGEWAY – Brenda Lord-McGrew is an instigator and her friend, Carol Jones agrees. St. Stephen’s Art and Fiber Guild and friends have worked hard to create yarn art to display as part of the yarnbombing of Ridgeway in conjunction with the 12th Annual Arts on the Ridge Show & Sale on May 4th & 5th.
“There is lots of talent in Fairfield County,” said Guild Chair Brenda Lord-McGrew. “And art can be expressed in so many different ways.”
Yarnbombing is certainly one of them. You have to smile when you see the handmade work that brightens the static objects brought to life with color and imagination.
The first volunteer to participate in the effort was Emily Minor and the students from the Midland’s STEM Institute in Winnsboro. Each of the 200 students created a red, white or blue pom-pom to decorate the police stations in Ridgeway.
Other creation participants were Ralph and Harriot Brown, Dale Mann, Lu Marley, Dee Bennett, Jan Smith, Flo Renford and family, Shirley Smith, Belinda Peters, Debbie Day and Karen Siegling.
The yarnbombing will be on display through the month of May in downtown Ridgeway. For more information you can visit RidgewaySC.org.
WINNSBORO – When the new leader of the Fairfield County Chamber of Commerce failed to satisfy Council’s concerns last week, during a budget workshop, regarding the Chamber’s plans for the upcoming budget year, Council threatened to reduce the funding it provides for the Chamber from $87,500 to $25,000 unless the Chamber provided a financial roadmap for how it plans to spend that funding in the 2018-19 fiscal year.
“I’m not opposed to continuing our full funding for the Chamber,” Council Chairman Billy Smith said, “but we need a plan to know what they’re going to do with it.”
Chris Timmers, who was introduced by the Chamber Board as the Interim Director of the Chamber during a member breakfast on March 2, introduced himself as Executive Director of the Chamber when he came before Council during the April 17 workshop. Asked by The Voice following the meeting to clarify Timmers’ job title, Board Chairman Harper Shull said Timmers had not been hired to be the Executive Director.
“He is the Interim Director,” Shull said.
After announcing to Council that March 31 was the Chamber’s 73rd anniversary, informing Council that Providence Health was clearing ground to construct a new emergency facility in Fairfield County and that Lake Wateree is sold out and being developed to the max, Timmers said the Chamber had McMaster Enterprises, which is owned by Bill McMaster, Shull’s employer, to thank for having rent-free office space. Timmers said that was way the Chamber has saved Council money.
However, Council has never funded office space for the Chamber according to several Council members. Prior to moving into its current offices at 120 N. Congress Street, which were offered by McMaster, the Chamber occupied rent-free offices in the Town Clock tower which is owned by the Town of Winnsboro.
Timmers said the Chamber’s programs include the S.C. Railroad Museum, the Big Grab Yard Sale, Arts on the Ridge and Ag & Art. However, when asked about the Chamber’s involvement with the Railroad Museum and Arts on the Ridge, Susan Yenner, secretary of the Chamber, said those are not financially supported by the Chamber, but are included in the Chamber’s promotional material.
When Council Chairman Billy Smith inquired about the amount of funding provided to the Chamber by the Town of Winnsboro and what that funding is used for, Timmers looked to Chamber Board Chairman, Harper Shull, for answers and then sat down.
Shull said the Town provided the Chamber with about $35,000 last year, but that it was a one-time deal and was to be renegotiated each year. As for how that money was spent, Shull looked to Chamber Secretary Susan Yenner in the audience for guidance. Yenner, who has been managing the Chamber’s day to day business since former President/CEO Terry Vickers resigned last October, said the money went to such events as Pumpkin Fest and Spirit Fest, before Shull picked back up and continued.
Shull expressed a dim view of whether the Chamber should be taking any money from the town government for events in the town.
“We’re not exactly sure how we go forward with that just because there is a, I won’t say a conflict of interest, I mean, it’s the county seat of Fairfield County, and maybe previously we spent too much time in downtown Winnsboro versus the County as a whole,” Shull said.
“Well, I think if the Town is giving you the money, it’s appropriate you spend it there,” Smith said.
Shull also suggested changes that might be coming to the Rock Around the Clock festival, including an admission charge. He also announced that Sam Edenfield would not be able to run the car show aspect of the festival this year.
“We had some feedback last year about Rock Around the Clock. We had a lot of mayhem,” Shull said. “We like to keep law and order as much as possible.”
Chief John Seibles of the Winnsboro Department of Public Safety said he does not remember there were any problems at the festival last year.
“It was a lot larger than in past years and it ran rather smoothly as I recall,” Seibles said.
When Smith asked about the Chamber’s annual golf tournament fundraiser that he discontinued this year and questioned how the Chamber planned to make up for the $8,000 it would lose without the tournament, Shull said the tournament was solely on the back of Winnsboro Petroleum, which is owned by McMaster, and other corporate sponsors.
“It became a lot for me to ask Coca Cola and Budweiser [for sponsorships],” Shull said. He also said the tournament had to be held out of county because there is no golf course in Fairfield County. He said the Board is tossing around another event that could be held in the county.
At the end of the six-hour budget workshop, Council appeared satisfied with the administrative recommendations for allocations for all the agencies supported by the County, except for those recommended for the Chamber and for Fairfield County Disabilities and Special Needs. Council suggested omitting funding for a $19,000 vehicle for DSN, saying that some of DSN’s vehicles still had low mileage.
“I wasn’t too impressed with some of the answers we received from the Chamber of Commerce tonight,” Smith told Council. “If they are not even sure they’re going to continue doing the things that we all know they have been doing, I think that leaves a question for us. If they don’t know what they’re going to continue to be doing, then how do we know how to continue to fund them?”
“Are they going to be doing away with Rock Around the Clock?” Councilman Doug Pauley asked.
“It kind of sounds that way,” Smith said. “I understand the Chamber is in a transitional period, but it seems the boat is rather rocky at the current time. Before we pass along any taxpayers’ monies, I’m just concerned about what the Chamber is going to do in the future,” Smith said.
County Administrator Jason Taylor met with the Chamber Board the morning following the meeting, explaining what Council is looking for in the way of a spending plan for the coming fiscal year. The Chamber’s response is due to Taylor no later than May 9.
In another funding concern, Council questioned Fairfield County Sheriff Will Montgomery’s request for funds in excess of Taylor’s recommendation. Montgomery requested additional funds for raises for his department that exceeded administrative recommendations. Smith said he would like to hear more details from Montgomery about the additional funding request.
Council held a third budget workshop on April 24 and final reading on the budget will be held at the regular meeting on May 14.
May Vokaty shows off her growing herd of Alpacas. | Ashley Ghere
RIDGEWAY – The Voice’s Foods Editor, May Vokaty, isn’t just a recipe wizard – she’s also an alpaca farmer. She was first smitten with the idea of owning alpacas while on vacation in Coeur D’Alene, Idaho, and then spent a few years researching the logistics. Last October, she finally took the plunge and rented 2½ idyllic acres in Ridgeway for The Alpaca Experience, a pastured farmstead where she tends a herd of fluffy, sweet-natured alpacas, curly-horned angora goats, Heritage chickens and a wriggly litter of Great Pyranees puppies.
Vokaty said she’s delighted that the farm is coming together just like she envisioned – as a productive fiber farm, an educational venue for the public and a farmer’s market offering farm-raised meat and eggs, homemade nut butters and jellies, hand-dyed yarn and fiber-woven accessories like socks, gloves, hats and scarves.
The next Farm Day Farmer’s Market will be held on Saturday, May 5. Vendors’ wares will include handmade sawmill furniture, glass and ceramic mosaics, decorative felted animal figurines, hand-painted wooden home décor, a produce vendor, macramé jewelry, a food truck and more.
Vokaty’s daughter, Elli, 6, smooches a baby alpaca. | May Vokaty
And even the farm’s bumper crop of alpaca manure has become a surprisingly popular purchase at $5 a bag.
“Alpaca manure is low in nitrogen and turns into compost quickly, without having to age much. So you can take it straight from the pasture and put it in your garden. It’s a very practical resource,” she said. “I actually pay my farm rent in manure!”
Held on the first Saturday of every month, Farm Day Farmer’s Markets are open to the public and packed with informative tours, interaction with the animals and learning about farm life. Vokaty plans to continue developing the farm into an educational resource, perhaps as a destination for field trips and as a summer camp. She also hosts events for kids with special needs.
“The atmosphere here is peaceful, and kind of therapeutic in a way,” she said. “A friend of mine has an autistic son, and I noticed how much he enjoys spending time at the farm, just relaxing on a bench in the shade of a tree or spending a few moments petting a gentle, friendly animal. In March, we held an Easter egg hunt here for kids with special needs and their families, and it was a great experience. I’d like to do more events like that, such as harvest festivals in the fall and Christmas things.”
Vokaty said her daughter Elli, 6, is a big help around the farm.
“She’s very involved, and she can do just about anything,” Vokaty said. “We come out to feed the animals every day after she gets home from school, and if I said, Elli, you’ve got to take care of everybody today, she could do it! Of course, it might take her a while…she’s easily distracted by the puppies,” she added with a smile. “Elli especially likes caring for the chickens, and she’s told her classmates that she wants to be either a chicken farmer or a chicken scientist when she grows up,” she said. “I don’t think I could do all this without her.”
And building the alpaca herd, Vokaty said, has been an adventure.
The farm’s Great Pyranees caretaker keeps an eye on her pups. | May Vokaty
“I don’t know that I was ready for the first three,” she said. “I heard about them on Facebook, and went to see them at a farm upstate. They were living in bad conditions, and I knew I couldn’t just leave them, so I bought them and brought them home in a trailer. I had been studying alpacas for three or four years, so when I got the animals, it was like – oh, I know what to do! Although, I didn’t,” she adds with a laugh.
The next three hailed from an area with lots of red clay.
“I call them my orange girls,” she said. “But their color has calmed down considerably now.”
Four male alpacas from North Carolina have rounded out the herd, although the group will be growing again soon since all the females are currently pregnant.
“I’m really interested in fiber,” Vokaty said. “Alpaca fleece is comparable to cashmere – it’s lightweight, very warm, water-resistant, hypoallergenic and doesn’t make you sweat or itch.
But alpaca fiber is ‘greener’ and more environmentally sustainable. Cashmere goats tear up their pasture land and basically reduce it to desert, so the more demand there is for cashmere, the more it destroys the earth. Alpacas are different. Instead of hooves, they have soft pads with toenails, so they don’t tear up the earth. And they’re bigger, so you can get four-six sweaters from one alpaca in a year, while it takes four cashmere goats to make just one sweater. Plus, they eat less than cashmere goats.”
She sends the fleece to an alpaca fiber pool in New England for processing.
“Since there are so few alpaca farmers in the United States, it’s a way for us to pool our fiber together and make it workable for a large mill, like the Pendleton mill that my fiber pool uses,” she said. “If I send them, say, 10 pounds of fleece, then I receive 10 pounds of finished product.”
Any unusable bits and bobs of alpaca fleece are stuffed into “bird balls” that she hangs in trees around the farm to provide grab n’ go nesting material.
Vokaty said that every day on the farm brings something new, whether a big surprise – like a litter of puppies – or more fleeting, like witnessing the alpacas’ delight at being allowed to “clean up the garden” at the end of the season.
“The alpacas are just four-legged stress relievers,” she said. “When I’m out here, in the pasture with the animals and working with them, my stress just seems to go away. It’s a busy lifestyle – there’s always something to do, and you never get any time off – but they just seem to emotionally soothe me, in a way that makes what I’m doing worthwhile.”
More information about The Alpaca Experience is available on the farm’s Facebook page at facebook.com/thealpacaexperience1.
As rain pelted Blythewood on Monday, stormwater gushed into the streets and onto lots in the Cobblestone Park neighborhood in Blythewood, causing several lots to flood. It’s become a common theme after any heavy rainstorm, residents say.
Some homeowners think the root cause is traced to trees they say homebuilder D.R. Horton has been clearcutting in preparation for additional home construction.
“We really don’t want to see any more lots that are left with zero trees,” said Bob Zedosky, who addressed Blythewood Town Council during public input Monday evening. “What happens when you cut down all the trees is, if you’re brave enough, put on your hip boots and go on these lots,” Zedosky said. “Be prepared to sink in … with mud and stuff. It’ll be a nice, muddy mess.”
Zedosky and other Cobblestone Park residents want council members to reverse a section of the town’s landscape and tree preservation ordinance that, the town attorney says, can be interpreted to exempt developers from the town’s tree preservation requirements. Council members already have passed first reading on an ordinance repealing the exemption.
On Monday, Council voted 4-1 to postpone second reading until May 10, with Councilman Bryan Franklin dissenting.
Developers, however, oppose lifting the exemption. They sympathize with the flooding issues, which they characterize as temporary, but also insist lifting the exemption impedes their ability to do business.
Jesse Bray with D.R. Horton, the developer building out Cobblestone Park, said the proposed ordinance singles out the homebuilder.
“Developers and others will start looking elsewhere before doing business,” Bray said. “They want to know what the rules are from the start.”
Shane Alford with Essex Homes took things a step further, playing what he said were audio recordings of council members showing support for the original ordinance that allowed the exemptions.
Alford likened the effort to rescind the exemption to “finding soccer goals on the field at the end of a football game. We do not want rules to change halfway through the game. It may jeopardize the investment that we have,” he said. “It is our opinion that for the town to operate in a principled and thoughtful manner, repealing this covenant between it and the public would be wrong.”
Blythewood Mayor J. Michael Ross, who supported removing the exemption, responded with a sporting analogy of his own.
“So much water came from those lots because there’s no vegetation there. It ran into the drain on the opposite side of the street,” Ross said. “The fields have been torn up and there are no fields for anyone to watch any sport.”
Tensions have been simmering for years since the ordinance exempting developers was enacted in March 2015.
In 2017, two Cobblestone Park families sued D.R. Horton and the town, saying prior covenants were breached when D.R. Horton began subdividing lots near their homes for residential development.
The suit contends that their properties were supposed to border a nine-hole golf course or greenspace if a golf course wasn’t built.
The suit is still pending. On March 1, a circuit judge issued a temporary injunction barring development of the lots as the case proceeds.
As for the landscaping and buffer ordinance, council members said they plan to revisit the issue during the council’s budget work session May 10. An executive session for the receipt of legal advice concerning the proposed ordinance is likely to be added to the agenda, Ross said.
RIDGEWAY – At its March meeting, Town Council continued chipping away at the Pig on the Ridge (POR) festival steering committee’s longstanding level of involvement with the festival by introducing an ordinance that Interim administrator David Hudspeth said would establish financial procedures for the administration of POR funds.
While the steering committee – Tom Connor, Councilman Don Prioleau, Rufus Jones and Henry Dixon – has provided general oversight and management of the festival since its inception in 1999, Connor said the Town government has always collected, accounted for, deposited and written the checks for all POR moneys, and that POR expenditures always required Council approval, which was rarely if ever withheld. Council, not POR, had authority to sign POR checks and purchase and cash POR CDs, Connor said.
In turn, Connor said the steering committee enjoyed autonomy in making decisions regarding how the festival’s money was spent, how charitable donations were distributed, etc.
“It operated on a gentleman’s agreement between the committee and Town Hall,” Jones said. “There were no problems. Everything ran smoothly. There were no complaints that we mishandled money and no problems from yearly audits. Everything was reported properly and it added up,” Jones said. “We never touched POR cash. It went directly to town hall.”
Hudspeth’s proposed ordinance would impose strict procedures for all POR expenses and revenues, some of which, Prioleau said, will not work for POR.
Among those are the requirement that the committee seek Council approval before purchasing a big ticket item such as a town clock which the committee has contemplated purchasing. The committee must also procure goods and services for the operation of the festival in accordance with the Town’s purchasing policies. Prioleau said that won’t work.
“U.S. Foods works with us. The meat market is up and down, and we don’t lock in on a price ‘till two weeks out,” Prioleau said. “They deliver meat and donate $1,000 to POR. They provide us with quality meat. We can’t just take the lowest bid.”
“POR has been a community effort and brought the community together. We’ve brought love and commitment and we’ve been doing it for 19 years, so we must have been doing something right,” Prioleau said. “I beg you to review this. We need a better ordinance.”
After Prioleau’s emotional plea, Councilman Heath Cookendorfer made a motion to table the ordinance until the administrator and POR committee could agree.
Unlike recent rancorous meetings, there were no interruptions, and Council voted unanimously, 5-0 in favor of Cookendorf’s motion.
“We’re glad you all are coming to the table,” Mayor Charlene Herring said to Prioleau. “We just want to make sure that we’re all clear and clean. I wouldn’t want anything to stop any of our festivals.”
BLYTHEWOOD – After several public meetings were held last year about the Penny Tax traffic circle proposed at the entrance of Cobblestone Park, project engineers scooted the circle slightly south to minimize the impact on property owners whose property would be effected by the encroachment of the circle. During Council’s annual retreat on Saturday, Bethany Parler, a resident of Cobblestone Park, addressed the problem again.
“The traffic circle will not solve the traffic problem and may contribute to a bigger problem,” Parler said. “If you look at the plans, you will have to turn left out of Cobblestone, then shoot across two lanes of moving traffic, then merge to the right to get on to the interstate while cars are merging onto the circle from Community Road,” she said.
Councilman Malcolm Gordge, who moderated the discussion at the retreat, agreed that the traffic circle is the most contentious part of the proposed Blythewood Road widening project, pointing out that the circle would encroach on several entrances, including Cobblestone Park, Food Lion, Palmetto Citizens Bank, the former community center property and Community Road.
“Some people are still not very happy with it. The Penny folks are still open to comment,” Gordge said. “But they may not be able to accommodate those comments.”
“When residents asked the Richland County representatives last week why they were even installing a traffic circle at Cobblestone, we were told it was part of the referendum. It was not. It was submitted because it was part of the town plan,” Parler said. “I’m not sure [the County] will be able to afford the money it will take for the right of way you’ll have to buy for the traffic circle at Creech Road. I can’t see the wisdom of including these traffic circles [at Creech Road and Cobblestone.] I can’t see McDonalds giving up very important real estate for the Creech Road circle.”
Cobblestone resident Mike Switzer spoke in favor of the circle at Cobblestone and Community Road.
“A lot of the fear of a traffic circle is not knowing how to use it,” Switzer said. Councilman Brian Franklin said he lived in Europe for several years while he was in the Army and that traffic circles are common there and do improve traffic flow.
“You never have to stop,” Franklin said. “But I understand the complications involved. We really don’t know if it will ease traffic here.”
Beginning at 5 p.m., those attending the public meeting can review displays of the proposed project. At 6 p.m., the Richland Penny Program representatives will make a brief presentation. Citizens will then have the opportunity to make comments.
The school is located at 1031 Muller Road in Blythewood. For more information, call 844-727-3669 or go to www.richlandpenny.com
BLYTHEWOOD – A summer concert series is being planned for the Palmetto Citizen’s Amphitheater in Doko Park, with a total of nine family friendly concerts that will begin in June.
While the plans are still tentative, Martha Jones, president of Bravo Blythewood, said she is announcing the plans now so Bravo Blythewood will have time to survey the community to find out what kind of music and what bands residents want to hear.
“The concerts will be held on Thursday evenings, with four concerts in June, three in July and two in August,” Jones said. “We are thinking the Aug. 2 date might be a big back-to-school bash that would be free.”
Jones said Bravo Blythewood will be using a professional concert promoter to handle the bands, vendors, marketing, ticket sales and to oversee the concerts. The cost for the entire series, including the cost for the concert promotion company, will range from $80,000 – $150,000. That cost, she said, might be paid for upfront by the Town Hall, then ticket sales with maybe a $2 surcharge could be used to help pay back that cost to the Town. Jones said Bravo would also be looking to use A-tax money and sponsorship sources to help fund the series.
“We’ll be sending out the surveys soon,” Jones said, “and I hope everyone will respond and let us know what they want to hear.”
BLYTHEWOOD – Scottie Opolyn, owner of Scottie’s Café and Grill, presents a check for over $9,000 to Cindy Talbert to help fund her battle with cancer. Opolyn opened his doors with a free buffet for the community as a fundraiser for Cindy and her husband, Ricky, right. Pastor Ken Cole, left, is the Talbert’s pastor at Rockton Baptist Church in Winnsboro. Anyone wishing to make a donation to the Talberts can contact 1-980-329-1296.
BLYTHEWOOD – Clemson Extension’s 4-H Youth Development Program is starting a sporting clays team in Blythewood for youth, ages 9 to 18.
The team will begin statewide competition Fall 2018 in tournaments sponsored by the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources, Scholastic Clay Target Program, SC 4-H and the SC Youth Shooting Foundation. Youth members will be coached by 4-H Shooting Sports-certified shotgun instructors. The 4-H Shooting Sports Shotgun Discipline is a youth development program that uses the shotgun sports of trap, skeet, and sporting clays to instill life skills such as discipline, safety, teamwork, ethics, self-confidence and other life values.
If interested in participating or for additional information, contact Richland County 4-H Youth Development Agent, Weatherly Thomas, at (803)865-1216 marjort@clemson.edu.
WINNSBORO – The month of March was proclaimed Disability Awareness Month by the Fairfield County Disabilities and Special Needs Board members and Winnsboro and Fairfield County elected officials. Signing the proclamation are, seated: Randy Jones, resident and artist, Ridgeway Mayor Charlene Herring, Winnsboro Mayor Roger Gaddy, Carol Martig, and Etta Jennings. Standing, from left: Shirley Kennedy (Day Program Manager) and DSN Executive Director Laura Collins.
