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  • Switzer requests $7,643 for Visitors

    BLYTHEWOOD – After receiving $18,500 earlier this year to operate the town’s Visitor Center, the Greater Blythewood Chamber of Commerce says it needs nearly $7,700 more.

    In April, the chamber asked the Town of Blythewood for $7,643 in additional funding to cover expenses associated with the Visitor Center which opened a year ago.

    Blythewood Town Council approved the appropriation at the April 23 meeting, designated state accommodations tax revenue as the funding source.

    The funding request comes on the heels of the chamber claiming a deficit of $4,885 months after reporting a $5,755 surplus, according to federal tax records obtained by The Voice.

    Mike Switzer, executive director of the Blythewood chamber, told council members last week that the deficit is due to additional costs incurred in running the visitors center.

    Switzer, however, characterized the $5,755 surplus and $4,885 deficit as “apples and oranges” in a subsequent email exchange with The Voice.

    “The numbers from last night were strictly visitor center numbers, not total chamber numbers,” Switzer said.

    On April 23, Switzer told council members the $4,885 deficit has accumulated over the past six months. He anticipates an additional shortfall of $2,758 in the next six months, accounting for the $7,643 request.

    “A lot of this deficit is startup costs of putting the extra hours into getting it (the center) up and running,” Switzer said. “The situation we have is the doors are open from 9-5. Before we signed the lease, we were already in there a year and our hours were 10-2. That’s what we could afford.

    “When we were asked to take over the Visitor Center, we were asked to operate it 9-5,” Switzer continued. “We’re just three part-time people rotating it. We’re trying to keep it open.”

    Council members approved the full funding request by a 4-1 vote. Mayor J. Michael Ross dissented.

    Ross said he supported funding the chamber, but only enough to cover the existing deficit of $4,885.

    “I support you, I just don’t support the total number here,” he said. “I’ve always been on the conservative side.”

    Other council members were generally supportive of granting the chamber’s full request, though some expressed a desire for the chamber to be more self-sustaining.

    “You can’t get bailed out every year,” said Councilman Eddie Baughman. “That money, I’d like you to stay within that working frame.”

    From surplus to deficit

    No visitors center expenses are listed on the chamber’s 2016 federal tax return obtained by The Voice. The reporting period is from July 30, 2016 to July 1, 2017, prior to the chamber taking over the center.

    But tax records also show a surplus of $5,755 in 2016, with total annual revenues of $75,477 and expenses of $70,381. Net assets carried over from 2015 accounted for the remaining $689, tax records state.

    Although Switzer characterized chamber and visitors center finances as separate, council documents do not make that distinction.

    A memo included in the April 23 agenda packet states the Town of Blythewood already provides $18,500 to the chamber “for the purpose of operating a Visitor Center.”

    The $18,500 in funding also comes from a-tax revenues collected within the city limits. South Carolina charges a 2 percent accommodation tax on hotel rooms and vacation rentals.

  • Greiner makes major league debut

    Greiner singled in his first Major League appearance at the plate. | John Sleezer – The Kansas City Star

    KANSAS CITY – Grayson Greiner, former Blythewood Bengal standout who went on to be a third round draft pick by the Detroit Tigers organization, received his call up to the majors last week and made his major league debut on Sunday.

    Greiner, who was called up as a replacement for injured perennial all-star Miguel Cabrera, singled in his first at bat of his Major League career and finished the day 1-for-4. He also tied the Major League Baseball record for the tallest person to play catcher. Greiner and two others are the only players to play behind the plate at 6’6”.

    Prior to the season, The Detroit News ranked Greiner as the Tigers’ 23 best prospect. So far this season he has hit .259 with one home run in 17 games for the Toledo Mudhens.

  • Vickers returns to shore up Chamber

    WINNSBORO – Terry Vickers, who retired last October from her post after 20 years as President and CEO of the Fairfield County Chamber of Commerce, is back in the saddle, but only long enough, she says, to help get the Chamber up and running after it foundered recently under new leadership.

    Alarmed after learning last week that the Chamber’s board had voted to become ‘inactive,’ Vickers sprang into action.

    “I contacted Harper (Shull, Chairman of the Chamber board) and asked what I could do. He was receptive to my offer to help and suggested I talk with County Administrator Jason Taylor as well as contact each of the Chamber’s board members,” Vickers said. “I did that and I had a 100 percent positive response from both Jason and the board members.”

    Two weeks earlier, when the Chamber’s new leadership failed to satisfy Council’s concerns during a budget workshop regarding the Chamber’s plans for the upcoming budget year, Council, which has no oversight over the Chamber other than funding, threatened to reduce the annual funding it provides for the Chamber from $87,500 to $25,000 unless the Chamber provided a financial roadmap by May 9, for how it plans to spend that funding in the 2018-19 fiscal year.

    The Chamber board responded by voting, in a meeting not announced or open to the public, that it would become inactive as of June 30, the day before the beginning of the new budget year. It also announced piecemeal on Facebook and via email to The Voice and others that the newly hired Interim Director was no longer employed, and that all Chamber employees, which consisted of Susan Yenner at that time, would be let go on June 30. Yenner has been managing the Chamber since Vicker’s retirement in October.

    “I explained to Harper and Jason that I would be happy to do what I can to help the Chamber get back on its feet and remain a viable organization,” Vickers said.

    Without meeting, the Chamber board reportedly voted electronically to approve Vickers as the new Interim Director for an unspecified period of time. Vickers said she has asked for the Board to ratify that vote during a public meeting. That meeting is to be held in the Chamber on Thursday, May 10, at 9:30 a.m., which is the board’s regularly scheduled monthly meeting date. That meeting, Vickers said, is open to the public.

    While her tenure at the Chamber is open-ended, Vickers said she doesn’t expect it to last longer than about six months.

    “I’ll stay as long as I need to for things to smooth out,” Vickers said.

    Vickers said she has been tasked with two primary duties in her new role: write a proposal for the Chamber’s funding for 2018-19 and submit it to Council by May 9 and conduct a search for a new director who Vickers will spend an as yet undetermined amount of time training. Vickers said she would also like to work on updating the Chamber’s website.

    Vickers said the work before her is more than a job. It’s a passion she says she has always had for the well-being of the County.

    “Since 1945, when the Chamber was chartered, too many people have put too much effort into making it successful for it to suddenly end. My goal in getting the Chamber back on its feet, is simply to stick to the purpose in the Chamber’s bylaws, to advance the commercial, industrial, educational, civic and general interest of Fairfield County,” Vickers said. “The Chamber’s mission will be what it has always been, to promote and improve the business environment so that our local economy is stimulated. What we all want is a wonderful quality of life in Fairfield County.

    “The County needs a Chamber,” Vickers said. “And the Chamber events need support from the merchants, the local governments and the residents if they are to thrive. I have a lot of faith that everything will work out so long as we are all working toward the same goal.”

    Related: Chamber Board meets secretly; votes to become ‘inactive’, FC Chamber Board votes to become inactive, Council gives Chamber notice

  • PruittHealth remembers loved ones

    RIDGEWAY – Friends and family gathered for a memorial service at PruittHealth in Ridgeway last week.  A candle was lit to honor each of the residents and to celebrate the memory of those in Hospice care who passed away in 2017-2018.

    Social Worker Myrtis White shared a prayer and music was provided by staff member Shanae Johnson.  The service was officiated by the Reverend Tammy Sowell.

    Certified Nursing Assistant Shanae Johnson and Rev. Tammy Sowell. | Darlene Embleton

    A long stemmed red rose was given to each of the friends and family in attendance by Carolyn Jessee, RN, Senior Care Partner with PruittHealth-Ridgeway.

    “Raise that rose high,” shouted Reverend Sowell to the crowd.  “Raise it in celebration and remember the good times.”

    “Amen,” the crowd shouted in return.

    Those in the audience were encouraged to share memories when the name of their loved one was read.  Jannita Gaston, with tears on her cheeks, stood and declared that her mother, Clara Creswell, “is where she wanted to be…for she really loved the Lord.”

    “Amen”, chimed the crowd.

    “Don’t leave this room sad today,” Sowell entreated, “be happy, because they are in a better place.”

    Songs were sung and tears were shed as those in attendance honored: Lucy Goodman, Joann Felder, Elizabeth Canty, Curtis Ferguson, Robert Eliasen, Martha Cook, Albert Belton, Virginia Shull, Eldred Pearson, James Knorr, David Sligh, Marcia Campbell, Ruby Galloway, Wardell Willingham, Helen Giovinazzi, Rockie Williams, Margie Gayden, Bobby Gause, Carrie Titus, James Peterson, Versena Dean, Julia Brunson, Linda Lewis, Willis Brown, Gladys Mickle, Rufus Woodard, Joyce Pethel, Arthur Beach, Thomas Easter, Fred Johnson, Pear Desilet, Bryan Crosby, Marjorie Johnson, William Manning, Sam Davis, Docia Mcgriff, Clara Creswell, John Byrd, Florine Brooks, Lula Bell, Thomas Castle, Rudolph Hardie, Martha Small, Debra Hingleton, David Bell, Dan Harrison, Jessie Foster, Leland Odom, Lillie Thompson, Jessie Jackson, Arthur Belton, Pauline Corba, Ben Skinner, Roy McWaters, Elbert Estes and Coleman Johnson.

  • Local Lions receive awards

    Lion Ran Foster was one of only 13 to be inducted in the 2018 SC Lions Club Hall of Fame class.

    COLUMBIA – At the S. C. Lions State Convention in Columbia, Blythewood and Winnsboro Lions were honored with International and State Awards.

    Blythewood Lions Sam & Susan Titus and Lion Kimberlee Keener received Presidential Certificates of Appreciation, the 4th highest award given by Lions Club International. The awards were presented by Past International President Sid L. Scruggs of North Carolina.

    Also, one of the newest Blythewood Lions, Lion Jennifer Gooden received a Certificate of Appreciation from District Governor Rhett Hair, a Blythewood Lion, for her support and service with Lions in the local club and district during Lion Rhett’s governor’s year.

    Winnsboro Lion Randall Foster was inducted into the South Carolina Lions Hall of Fame for his 61 years of service in the Winnsboro Lions Club.  Foster, who chaired the Pancake Supper fundraiser for almost 50 years, was named SC Lion of the Year in 2012 and one of only 13 to be inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2018.

    Lion Robert E. Patrick, Jr. was named a Franklin Mason Fellow for his 41 years of service to the Winnsboro Lions Club. A few ways Patrick has served as a Lion are inducting new members, installing officers, hosting the club’s annual family picnic and serving with the Lions Club in vision screenings.

  • Sanders promotes new CD

    Sanders performs at Ocean Drive Beach.

    OCEAN DRIVE BEACH, S.C. – Winnsboro Town Councilman Clyde Sanders and his Reunion Bande recently released a new CD titled ‘Tranquil Bay,’ produced for Patman and Robin Records. To promote the CD, Sanders and the band’s bass player, Tim Boulware, were invited to Ocean Drive Beach to perform a song from the CD titled, ‘I Wanna Dance,’ written by Sanders.

    “This is our first release. It’s been out for about 19 months, and it’s doing very well,” Sanders said. “We recorded seven songs – six originals and one cover song that was recorded by another artist.”

    After the beach performance, the duo headed for Clinton, S.C. to do a radio spot with Pat Patterson. There, they released ‘Ready for the Beach,’ and ‘You are My Lady,’ which Sanders also wrote and says is his favorite.

    “Tim and Gary Bass and I have been playing in bands together since 1965,” Sanders said. “I took a short break for 45 years, and when I moved back home to Winnsboro, I, along with Bob Curlee, formed The Reunion Bande,” Sanders said. “We had some of the original members from our first band including Tim and Henry Dixon from Ridgeway.”

    ‘Tranquil Bay is sold at Judy’s House of Oldies at Ocean Drive, as well as online at www.Largetime.net. The Reunion Bande will next perform in Winnsboro at the annual Shagging in the Street event in front of the Town Clock on Friday, June 22.

  • Cedar Creek bids farewell to church

    Margaret Gardner, center the church’s longest regular member, sits between Lynn Oswald, left, and her daughter Sara Oswald who attended the church in the 1990’s. | Photos/Barbara Ball

    CEDAR CREEK – It was the last Sunday service of the Cedar Creek Methodist Church.

    Margaret Gardner, 98, the last remaining active member of the church on Cedar Creek Road, grew up worshiping with her family in the tiny white one-room building that looks very nearly the same, inside and out, on Sunday as it did when she was a child.

    Those who know Gardner, know that the Cedar Creek Methodist Church was her heart.

    Lifelong Cedar Creek community residents Kelley Lannigan, Jim Chappell and Sandra Jones search through the church memorabilia.

    But on May 6, the church was closed with a final service, a ceremony held outside, next to the building, under a canopy. And Gardner was there to bravely bid farewell.

    The building, itself, is a treasure, simply furnished as if it was 100 years ago, except with lights.  However, there is no electricity today. There was never any indoor plumbing, and the air conditioning unit was vandalized for its copper piping years ago.

    Before the ceremony began, Gardner asked to see inside the church one last time. As a friend pushed her wheelchair up the ramp and into the side door, Gardner took in the room. Touching her hand to her face, she gazed at the pews, the ceiling, the pulpit and the piano. Her mother had played the piano in that room every Sunday morning and had taught her to play.

    Finally, Gardner wiped her eye with a crumpled tissue and lowered her head, then looked toward the door. Her friend turned her wheelchair around and wheeled her slowly down the ramp, around the front of the church to a seat next to her sister, Julianna Hendrix, under the canopy, and the service began. It was the last service Gardner would attend on these grounds where generations of Cedar Creek families, her family, had worshiped and were laid to rest in the picturesque rock walled cemetery behind the church.

    It had been a vibrant church when Gardner was growing up, but by 2011, the membership had dwindled to a handful as most of the church’s members had died or moved away.

    “It was about then that we became aware that our church and the property it sat on was not ours, but belonged to the S.C. United Methodist Conference,” lifelong Cedar Creek resident Sandra Jones said. Still, the few remaining members, including Gardner, fought to keep the doors open, paying the apportionments and maintaining the building and cemetery as best they could.

    In June of 2017, the Conference voted to close the church for good. Rev. Kathy Jamieson, a former pastor at Trinity United Methodist Church in Blythewood and the current Columbia District Superintendent and Secretary to the Cabinet of the S.C. United Methodist Conference, opened the ceremony on May 6, calling it a celebration of the Ministry of Fairfield’s Cedar Creek Methodist Church.

    Historian and former church member, Ben Hornsby, Jr. led those assembled in singing “The Church’s One Foundation” and “O God, Our Help in Ages Past” before sharing the colorful history of both the church and its member families.  He recited tales of the family who lie in the cemetery as well as families who still live in Cedar Creek today.

    Former pastors shared past remembrances of their days at the church, as did the current Fairfield Circuit Pastor Rev. Alice Deal.

    Lifetime Cedar Creek resident and state champion fiddle player, Jim Graddick, let his fiddle fly with “Glory in the Meeting House.”

    After the ceremony, there were cookies and lemonade. Jamieson answered The Voice’s questions about who owns Methodist Church properties.  She said all Methodist churches are owned by the Annual Conference.

    “Whether or not they have a trust clause in their deed, every Methodist church holds their property in trust for the Methodist Church,” Jamieson said. There are other relationships that cause the church property to belong to the Conference – paying their apportionment, accepting the preacher that the Bishop sends them. I can’t give you the exact date when that went in to effect, but every Methodist Church property is held in trust for the Annual Conference. It’s part of our polity and our legal system,” Jamieson said. “Legal cases have gone to court when a church tries to break away and even if they don’t have the trust clause, the judge has ruled in favor of the Conference because the church has other ways than the trust clause is connective, such as paying apportionment,” Jamieson explained.

    While Gardner and others in the community are not comfortable with the closing, they accept it.

    Looking to the future and the preservation of the property, longtime Cedar Creek residents, Bill and Margaret DuBard, are spearheading an effort to repurpose the church.

    “We are hopeful,” explained Margaret DuBard, “to make it available for perhaps weddings and musical events or a meeting place for civic organizations.”

    Jamieson said the United Methodist Church Conference would also like to see the church and grounds be maintained perhaps as a Cemetery or Historical Association.

    But Jamieson insists she doesn’t have power over the property.

    “The plan for the future of the property is evolving,” Jamieson said. “Preservation of the building will have to be a community effort.”

    Those interested in the preservation of the church property can call Bill DuBard at 750-0710.

    Barbara Ball contributed to this article.

  • Preserving History

    Photo: Joe Seibles

    WINNSBORO – Members of the Fairfield High School and Alumni Association were awarded the William Banks Patrick Award for Historic Preservation by the Fairfield County Historical Society for their work in restoring the Fairfield High School building. The award was received by, from left: Willie J. Milton, Betty G. Milton, Sharon W. Byrd, Carolyn Richmond, Mac A. Richmond, Donald Prioleau (holding award), Alvin Richmond, Bydester Hall, Robert Davis, Nancy McClurkin, Robert Pinkney and Sharon A. Thompson.

  • Hoof & Paw spotlights community pets

    Susie Carlson poses her two Golden Doodles for photographer Harold Dodson. | Barbara Ball

    BLYTHEWOOD – Four top Blythewood and Winnsboro Photographers as well as two newcomers have been donating their time and talents to help the Hoof & Paw Benevolent Society raise what the group hopes will be about $50,000.

    The photographers are shooting high end photos of pets (dogs, cats, horses, etc.) that will appear in an upmarket Coffee Table book titled ‘Friends of Hoof & Paw,’ The cost for pets to be in the book, with or without their people, ranges from $200 to $1,000. The money raised will be used by Hoof & Paw to make lives better for those pets who do not have owners who love and care for them. The owners who include their pets in the book will receive a copy of the book at no charge. Book will be available to the general public at cost which the group estimates will be about $60.

    Hoof & Paw Board member, Minge Wiseman, who is heading up the book project, said the cost to produce the book will be about $20,000 has been underwritten by Blythewood philanthropist Joyce Martin Hill, who owns Farewell Farm. Wiseman said proceeds from the sale of the photo pages will go to fund spay/neuter surgeries, heartworm treatment and other needs at both large and small animal shelters and rescue organizations throughout South Carolina.

    The project began the first of the year and, for the last two months, Wiseman has been scheduling photographers for the pets’ close ups.

    Photographers Robert Buchanan, Harold Dodson, Janice Haynes, Kristy Campbell Massey, Kelly Garin, a pet photographer new to Blythewood, and  Morgan Ald, a recent graduate from the University of South Carolina with a degree in photography, shoot several settings each week. Some of the photos are taken in the pet owners’ homes, at The Farm at Ridgeway, at Doko Manner and other scenic venues.

    Buchanan frequently posts the resulting photos on his Facebook page.

    “Hoof & Paw is creating a book of these beautiful creatures as a means to fund those organizations that rescue animals. it is quite an undertaking,” Buchanan said, “and I feel privileged to be asked to participate.”

    Another, less expensive way for pet owners to participate in the book project is the cover lottery.

    “People can submit photos of their pets to be considered for the cover. Cell phone photos are acceptable. One image will be selected and it will then be painted and that painting will be be used for the cover of this year’s book. The best part is that the owner gets to keep the painting…at no charge.

    To submit a photo for consideration, go to www.hoofandpawsc.org. The cost is $25 per submission and that money will be used to help Hoof and Paw produce and design the book. Submission deadline for the cover contest is May 31.

    “Our goal for the book is 130 pages,” Wiseman said. “So far, we have 106 pages, so we are doing well and have had a wonderful response from the community.”

    As the deadline is drawing near for inclusion in the book, pet owners who would like their pets to be included should call 960-9770 as soon as possible.

  • Skimming device on Blythewood ATM

    Ionita, 17, is suspected of placing the device on the bank’s ATM.

    BLYTHEWOOD – When Blythewood resident Brandy Dunaway visited a Blythewood drive-thru ATM last Saturday, the card reader on the machine looked different. Dunaway, who was a victim of a skimming device at the same ATM a year earlier, was skeptical.

    The device was darker in color than the normal card reader and protruding from the ATM. When she tried to move it, it was loose.

    Dunaway called the Richland County Sheriff’s office, and, sure enough, it an object that steals credit card information had been placed over the ATM’s card reader.

    The suspect was captured on the ATM’s surveillance camera. Suraj Ionita, 17, was identified by the Richland County Sheriff’s Office as the alleged suspect in Dunaway’s case.

    Anyone who has information concerning the case or Ionita is asked to call Crimestoppers at 1-888-CRIME-SC.