BLYTHEWOOD – Several members of Blythewood’s St. Mark’s Lutheran Church attended the Planning Commission meeting Monday evening, and two of them addressed the Commission expressing concern about a road that has been proposed by Doko Village developers behind the IGA. Mike Gibson, the first speaker for the group, told the Commission that the road, as drawn on a site map that was published in The Voice on Dec. 20, would cut through the church property and the church’s cemetery. Gibson said the developers had approached the church some time ago asking for construction of a new road to be allowed across the church’s property to serve the proposed Doko Village.
“We considered that request,” said Gibson, “and we rejected it. Now we see in The Voice a map with the proposal for the development with the road on the north side of St. Mark’s. My point tonight is to let the Town of Blythewood know that the new road cannot be constructed on the church’s property.”
Dan Jorgansen, one of the church’s pastors, told the Commission that the church was blindsided by the story.
“I had spoken with the developer more than nine months ago,” he said. “I told him that the location of the road was not a good idea and that we would not support it.”
Jorgansen said that since the developer has requested water for the development (from Winnsboro), that he (the developer) appears to be prepared to go forward with it. Commission Chairman Mike Switzer told the group that, while the developer had requested water from Winnsboro for the development, the plan had not yet come before the Commission. Switzer told the group that Town Clerk Martie Weaver would notify them if and when the proposed development should be scheduled to come before the Commission.
Approval was given for the final plat as submitted for Abney Hill Estates, Phase 1. Representatives of Hurricane Construction made presentations to the Commission, saying 90 homes are planned for the 50 acres that make up Phase I. Town Planner Michael Criss told the Commission that Essex Homes is looking at building homes on Phase II of the plan, which would include 172 acres.
Final revisions to the Tree/Landscape ordinance were discussed and deferred. Criss and Interim Administrator Jim Meggs were directed to finalize it into ordinance form and bring it back to the Commission at the February meeting for final approval to forward to Council.
Meggs reported that his limited time on the job in his new position had not allowed him to prepare a report, but that he would have one prepared next month.
Fort Freemont, still America’s first line of defense against the marauding Spanish Navy.
Three hours and some change south, some 176 miles, you’ll come across the ruins of an old fort and chapel on St. Helena Island. Both picturesque. Both historic. This excursion into ruins and history may require an overnight stay, but if you do you will be glad you did. Beaufort has fine restaurants and hotels and is itself a worthy destination. This day trip could easily turn into a two-day trip when you consider all this region harbors.
The drive from Beaufort down Highway 21 itself is picturesque, with splendid views of marsh. Avenues of live oaks give the drive a classic Lowcountry atmosphere. You’ll find Fort Fremont Park at the southwestern tip of St. Helena Island. When you arrive at the old fort, a Port Royal panorama awaits back of the fort. See the wide expanse of water European explorers sailed into.
The Fort Fremont Park site fronts 900 feet of Port Royal, an historic site itself. Frenchman Jean Ribault sailed in here in 1562 and founded the short-lived settlement of Charlesfort on Parris Island. Port Royal was the site of the Naval Battle of Port Royal during the Civil War.
Beaufort County owns the old fort and its grounds. It’s typically quiet with few visitors. Built because of the Spanish-American War in 1899 the fort’s purpose was to defend the region from the Spanish. The fort’s “Endicott Batteries” accommodated disappearing guns of 8-, 10-, 12-, and 16-inch diameters, and 10- and 12-inch mortars. Fort Fremont also bristled with 10-inch disappearing guns and a rapid-fire battery. Climbing over the old fort you can see the turrets and bolts where guns sat.
At its peak, the fort covered 70 acres and included a hospital, barracks, stables, guardhouses, commissary and other support buildings. Only two batteries and the hospital building remain.
The fort takes its name from Gen. Charles C. Fremont, a Savannah native. Gen. Fremont had played an enormous role in capturing California from Mexico years before. Fort Fremont was deactivated as a military installation in 1921. Now, if you listen to legends, only ghosts dwell here. The ‘Lands End Light’ is well known by locals. One tale recounts that the light is the lantern of a Confederate soldier patrolling Land’s End Road in 1861. A Yankee soldier, or soldiers, caught him off guard and cut off his head. All these years later he walks the road with his old iron lantern seeking his head.
On your way back be sure to stop and visit the Chapel of Ease. Destroyed by an 1886 forest fire, St. Helena’s Chapel of Ease, built in the mid 1700s, is a shell today. Tabby walls and old brick are all that remain. With Beaufort’s main parish church a bit too far, this chapel made it more convenient for planters and their families to worship.
If You Go …
• To get to Fort Fremont from Beaufort follow U.S. 21 east to Frogmore. Turn right at Martin Luther King Boulevard and drive 7.7 miles. The entrance to Fort Fremont Preserve will be on the right.
• To get to the St. Helena Parish Chapel of Ease Ruins take S.C. Secondary Road 45 in St. Helena.
• No admission for either.
• Fort Fremont: www.fortfremont.org/index.html
• Chapel of Ease: www.nationalregister.sc.gov/beaufort/S10817707045/
Learn more about Tom Poland, a Southern writer, and his work at twww.tompoland.net. Email day-trip ideas to him at tompol@earthlink.net.
WINNSBORO – A man who suffered serious self-inflicted injuries in a murder-suicide attempt Sunday died at Palmetto Richland Memorial Hospital Monday afternoon. Fairfield County Coroner Barkley Ramsey said 25-year-old Avery Markey Caldwell was pronounced legally dead at 2:13 p.m. Monday, 24 hours after shooting himself in the head at his home on 688 Old Chester Road.
Caldwell and his girlfriend, 25-year-old Brittany Scott, also of 688 Old Chester Road, were transported together to Palmetto Richland following Sunday’s domestic dispute that turned gruesome and deadly. Scott underwent emergency surgery Sunday to repair a ruptured artery in her arm as a result of the incident. Although her injuries were reported as being non life threatening, Scott remained at Palmetto Richland at press time.
Fairfield County Sheriff’s deputies initially responded to the gunshot call at 716 Old Chester Road Sunday afternoon. There, they were met by the homeowner, a 66-year-old woman who said she had received a knock on her front door just after 2 p.m. When she answered the door, she found her neighbor, Scott, bleeding from wounds to her arms. Scott told her neighbor she had been shot and asked her to call for help. Scott then collapsed on the front porch, where deputies found her semi-conscious and covered with blood.
Chief Deputy Keith Lewis said Monday that Scott had been shot twice, once in each arm. The gunshot to her right arm, Lewis said, struck her on the inside of her right elbow, severing a main artery and causing significant blood loss. The shot to her left arm was through-and-through, Lewis said, causing only minor damage.
Investigators called for an ambulance, then went next door to Scott’s home, seeking a possibly active shooter. After conducting a tactical sweep of 688 Old Chester Road, investigators found Caldwell lying face-up in a pool of blood in a back bedroom. Caldwell held a .38 caliber revolver in his right hand and was suffering from an apparent gunshot wound to the head. Caldwell was still breathing and was transported along with Scott to Palmetto Richland Memorial Hospital.
Lewis said Caldwell actually fired at Scott three times, striking her twice. Scott collapsed on the floor of the home before struggling next door for help. After shooting at Scott, Caldwell went into the bedroom, reloaded the gun and shot himself. Lewis said Scott and Caldwell were boyfriend and girlfriend and had been together three to four years. The shooting stemmed from a domestic dispute after Scott attempted to leave Caldwell. Lewis said the Sheriff’s Office had never been called to the home for any prior disputes, but interviews with witnesses indicate that the couple had recently been having serious problems. The couple had no children, Lewis said, and no one else was in the home at the time of the shooting.
WINNSBORO – An assistant coach with the Fairfield Central High School football staff who was arrested and charged with simple possession of marijuana while on his way to the state championship game on Dec. 6 had a history of similar convictions, according to documents acquired recently by The Voice. In addition to two prior convictions for simple possession, David Nathaniel Toney, 36, also had two incidents of passing fraudulent checks and numerous driving-related offenses, including driving under suspension, attempting to use someone else’s driver’s license and failure to pay traffic tickets – all of which the School District said its previous administration was aware at the time of Toney’s hire in August of 2008.
Beth Reid (District 7), Chairwoman of the Fairfield County School Board, said the Board was made aware of Toney’s priors during a briefing by Superintendent J.R. Green at the Dec. 17 Board meeting. Reid said it is District policy to run background checks on all prospective employees through the S.C. State Law Enforcement Division (SLED), but it was not clear to her if one had been run on Toney – or if it had been, why it was apparently ignored.
“(Background checks) are supposed to be done,” Reid said. “It certainly is distressing that, if in fact one was done, (the convictions were) not discovered.”
Green, while he could not confirm if such a check was run on Toney, said the information regarding his criminal history was in Toney’s file. Green said he did not look into Toney’s file until after Toney’s arrest on Dec. 6.
“My guess is it was done,” Green said.
Green said Toney would likely have been tapped for his position on the coaching staff under then head coach Reggie Kennedy, but the interviewing process would have been conducted at the school level. In Toney’s case, this would have meant Fairfield Middle School, with the initial recommendation for hire made by the principal. Following the principal’s recommendation, the District’s Human Resources department, at that time headed by Dr. Jeffrey Long, would have conducted the necessary background checks. The final recommendation for hire would then have been made to the Board by then superintendent Samantha Ingram.
Long was hired by the District in July 2008. Phone calls to the District Office to determine when Long left the District were not returned at press time. The Voice was also unable to reach Long, who now serves as Director of Operation for the Lee County School District. Ingram served as Superintendent from June 2007 to 2009.
Green, who was hired in July 2012, said a bad SLED report, while a factor in the vetting process, would not necessarily eliminate someone from employment. References, he said, play a large part in the hiring process.
“It’s a judgment call,” Green said. “I’m never going to tell someone who has had a brush with the law that I would not hire that person. You have to make an evaluation. That doesn’t mean you don’t take those other things into consideration – you do – but references are a big influence on your decision.”
In fact, Green said, Toney’s references from his previous employment in Orangeburg County were outstanding, and his performance as a math teacher earned him Teacher of the Year honors for the District in 2012-2013.
“In terms of his performance as a teacher, he’s one of the best I’ve ever seen,” Green said. “That’s not to say what he did doesn’t matter, but an evaluation of him at the professional level was excellent.”
And while Toney’s criminal history was on file with the District, Green said records of any conversations that might have taken place between Long and Ingram about that history – and their decision to hire him in spite of that history – are not.
A SLED background check on Toney, obtained by The Voice through the S.C. Press Association, lists three prior misdemeanors – a marijuana charge on Dec. 21, 2006 and two counts of issuing fraudulent checks, one on Aug. 3, 2000 and another on June 1, 2005.
According to an incident report from the Richland County Sheriff’s Department, Toney was pulled over in Columbia at Read and Harden streets at 1 p.m. on Dec. 21, 2006 after a deputy noticed a faulty brake light on Toney’s 2003 Dodge. The deputy noted a strong odor of marijuana coming from inside the car and Toney directed the deputy to a partially burned marijuana cigarette tucked inside the driver’s side door handle. Toney then consented to a search of the vehicle, and a K-9 Unit discovered a small bag (approximately .5 grams) of marijuana hidden inside a shoe behind the passenger seat, as well as another marijuana cigarette on the passenger seat. Toney was arrested and charged with simple possession of marijuana. According to court documents, Toney was convicted on Jan. 23, 2007, receiving 30 days and a fine of $581.95. The documents also indicate that Toney has only paid $377 of that fine.
Toney received a 30-day suspended sentence and a $60 fine on June 13, 2001 for his fraudulent check charges.
A second marijuana charge, which does not appear on Toney’s SLED check, was revealed by an examination of Toney’s 10-year driving record, obtained by The Voice through a Freedom of Information Act request last week. That record indicates Toney was pulled over in Calhoun County on May 17, 2007 and found to be in possession of less than 1 ounce of marijuana. Toney was also charged with driving under suspension at the time. The Calhoun County Magistrate’s Court confirmed that Toney was found guilty of both charges on June 25, 2007 and issued a fine of $647 for driving under suspension and a fine of $300 for simple possession. Toney did not pay those fines until October 10, 2012, the Magistrate’s Court said, and until that time was without a legal S.C. driver’s license.
The Magistrate’s Court said that since Toney was only issued a citation for the offenses, and not arrested and fingerprinted, those convictions would not have appeared on a SLED background check.
On July 18, 2007, Toney was convicted in an Orangeburg court for attempting to use someone else’s driver’s license during a May 28, 2007 traffic stop. He was fined $250.
Toney’s latest encounter with the law, when he was pulled over by the S.C. Highway Patrol for driving 67 in a 55 on Highway 34 near I-77 on Dec. 6, and which turned up a bag of marijuana and several marijuana cigarettes, earned him a suspension from his duties as a coach and a math teacher at Fairfield Middle School, with pay, until his case has been heard. Toney was scheduled to appear before a Fairfield County Magistrate’s Court judge Thursday, after The Voice went to press.
Toney’s arrest on Dec. 6 caused him to miss the Griffins’ state title game against Dillon High School, a game the Griffins lost 41-3.
While Toney’s hire by the previous administration has raised question about the District’s vetting process – specifically, who else may also have slipped through the cracks and what may be in the background of other employees hired during the Ingram administration – Green said he was confident Toney’s situation was unique.
“I would guess that this is an isolated incident,” Green said, “an exceptional situation, that doesn’t lead us to look into anyone’s past to see if they had this kind of thing when we hired them.”
WINNSBORO – As the weather has turned bitter in recent days, the Fairfield County farmers market is heading indoors for the rest of the winter. Following a request by Terry Vickers, Chairwoman of the Fairfield County Chamber of Commerce, Town Council Tuesday night approved the use of the first floor of the Town Clock for the market, which Vickers said vendors would use through the month of March.
Vickers said the weather kept the market closed last Saturday, and the Chamber and the market committee were wary of losing vendors and customers.
“Once you stop having something people are used to having, it’s hard to draw them back in,” Vickers said.
Ernest Manning, the market’s manager, said the market has drawn a weekly average of 46 customers to its outdoor venue in the vacant lot in the 100 block of N. Congress Street, next door to the NAPA auto parts store, with eight to 12 vendors setting up shop each week. Manning said the committee is in the process of recruiting more vendors, including artisans and bakers, and there are plans for music and children’s programs in the future.
“We see the market as a meeting place,” Manning said, “a community event.”
Councilman Clyde Sanders, however, said he was concerned with liability for the Town, but John Fantry, an attorney for the Town, said liability would be handled for the market as it would for any other event held on Town property – that it would be the responsibility of the market. Vickers assured Sanders that the liability insurance currently held by the market for its location on Congress Street could easily be transferred to the Town Clock. Vickers added that she, Manning and Mack Russell, the committee’s chairman, would be responsible for clean-up after each Saturday’s market.
“Make sure they take care of it,” Sanders said after the 3-0 voice vote. “We just spent $300,000 on that place.”
Council also passed first reading of an ordinance transferring the property at the old Mt. Zion Institute school to the Friends of Mt. Zion Institute (FOMZI) for $5 and considerations (see the Dec. 27 edition of The Voice). A second reading of an ordinance to lease a portion of the water tank on Cook Road to the County for $5 a year also passed Tuesday night. The County is seeking to place a radio antenna on the tank to boost their emergency services signal.
The cypress and tupelo gum swamp keep watch over the Francis Beidler Forest. So be on your best behavior.
You can be sure birdwatchers know all about this daytrip destination. Two hours south, a 109-mile drive, will take you to two natural areas well worth the drive. Down near Harleyville, you’ll find the Francis Beidler Forest and within that forest runs Four Holes Swamp. Despite the name “swamp,” Four Holes is a river that runs in a series of interlaced streams that braid themselves into a river that feeds into the Edisto River, the world’s largest free-flowing blackwater river.
Four Holes Swamp rises in Calhoun County and runs just 62 miles. It’s in the Francis Beidler Forest, one of the largest wetland reserves on the East Coast. More than 16,000 acres of bald cypress and tupelo gum swamp — the world’s largest stand — and 1,700 acres of old-growth forest remain here, some trees more than 1,000 years old. Within the forest is an Audubon wildlife sanctuary, the aforementioned Four Holes Swamp, a blackwater creek system. Visit the Audubon Center and Sanctuary at Francis Beidler Forest for educational information on this vital natural area. Audubon has managed this natural area for more than 40 years and it is a great place to see how much of our valuable wetlands once looked before man altered them. When it’s not hunting season, the area is used for natural history education courses conducted by the Audubon Society.
Whether you are an amateur or a veteran birdwatcher, you’ll love the sanctuary, an Important Bird Area. Approximately 140 bird species nest or migrate through Beidler Forest. One of the feathered stars is the gold and rare prothonotary warbler that sweetens the sanctuary’s swamp music with its chirpy birdsong. If you see a brilliant flash of yellow-orange among the trees you’ve witnessed a prothonotary warbler. Were you to really get lucky you might catch a glimpse of the majestic painted bunting. Overhead and through the swamp canopy you may see bald eagles. Other wildlife residents include otters, owls and rare plants such as the dwarf trillium, a flower found in South Carolina only at Four Holes Swamp in Beidler Forest.
Keep an eye on the weather and when a few warm days arrive plan a trip to Francis Beidler Forest and Four Holes Swamp. Take your binoculars, a good camera and a bird guide and strike out. Work on a boardwalk has been under way and you may be able to walk into the swamp where you can see and photograph wildlife species such as the anhinga. When complete the boardwalk will stretch two miles. If it’s warm enough you may see alligators cruising through the water. The good thing about the boardwalk is it lets you see 1,000-year-old cypress without getting your feet wet.
In this age of urban sprawl, over development and adverse land use practices, it’s good to see that important natural areas are being kept just that, natural. In the words of naturalists you’ll find a rich biodiversity here and it’s not far away.
Bethel-Hanberry’s Sashay Sisters Club (back row): Ta’y Brown, Jordan Goings, Arianna Abraham, Ayden Stevens, Sydney Woodrow; (front row): Chloe Narboni, McKenna Brown, Ryan Shull, Dani Goings, Carla Finkel.
BLYTHEWOOD — When a Voice photographer arrived recently at Sheryl McHugh’s after-school program at Bethel-Hanberry Elementary School to snap pictures of a girls’ crochet group, she was surprised to discover, instead, The Sashay Sisters Club – an irrepressibly crafty group of girls more than ready for their close up. Flinging colorful hand-crocheted scarves over their shoulders and striking poses, they proudly showed off their fashionable creations.
“It started as a craft class – making homemade potpourri and painting pine cones,” McHugh said. “Then, one day, McKenna Brown, one of my third-graders, spotted my new crocheted Sashay scarf, and she immediately asked me how she could make one for herself.”
McHugh had recently learned how to make the scarf from one of the other teachers, and she showed McKenna the single-stitch technique.
“She learned it in 15 minutes,” McHugh said with a laugh, “and then crocheted herself a whole scarf. When the girls in our craft class saw it, they wanted to make one too.”
By the next day, 10 girls were clamoring to learn how to make the scarves, so McHugh went to Michaels that evening to buy materials.
“The girls are so smart – they learned how to do it in a matter of minutes,” she said. “They take the scarves home and work on them, and the next day after school we go over any mistakes or errors and work on technique.”
Just a week later, some of the girls had already made two or three scarves.
“The scarves are generally about 3-feet long,” McHugh said, “but the girls love that they can make them as long as they want! They like to wrap them around their necks, throw them over their shoulders or tie them in a neat little loop.”
The scarves are decorative and colorful, and McHugh said some of the girls even made them for Christmas gifts.
“They were excited about it, trying to hide them from their moms,” she said. “One of the girls said her grandmother was thrilled that she was learning to crochet.”
It wasn’t long before the girls decided that their group needed a name.
“They call themselves The Sashay Sisters Club because the brand of the crochet thread they use is Sashay,” McHugh said. “They have such fun together, laughing and talking even while they focus on their crochet. The whole project has been driven by the girls’ interest – they kept saying, ‘I want to learn, I want to learn to crochet!’”
McHugh said she doesn’t see the girls slowing down any time soon.
“They want to crochet every day,” she said, fawning exasperation. “I’m going to have to teach myself more so I can teach them more!”
After Christmas break, the girls plan to make more scarves and donate them to women at local nursing homes and shelters, McHugh said.
“I’m so proud of them,” McHugh said. “I cannot believe how quickly they learned this, and how much they enjoy it.”
BLYTHEWOOD – Filing opened at noon on Thursday, Jan. 9, for candidates in the March 11 Blythewood special election, which is being held to fill the Town Council seat recently vacated by Roger Hovis who resigned. Two years remain of Hovis’ four-year term. Candidates interested in running for the seat can file at the Blythewood Town Hall, 171 Langford Road in Blythewood. The filing fee is $4. The filing period ends Jan. 23.
Those residents of the Town who wish to register to vote in the special election must register no later than Feb. 11. For questions about the special election, call Martie Weaver at Blythewood Town Hall, 754-0501.
BLYTHEWOOD – Town Council voted unanimously after a very short executive meeting at a special called meeting on Monday night to hire the Town’s attorney, Jim Meggs, to replace former Town Administrator John Perry on an interim basis. Meggs will now serve the Town as both the Town Attorney and as a part-time Interim Town Administrator until a permanent replacement is hired, which Mayor J. Michael Ross said could take up to six months.
Meggs will earn almost $11,000 per month for the two part time positions. He currently earns approximately $4,500 per month or $54,000 annually as a part-time attorney for the Town. He will earn an additional $6,450 per month for 20 hours per week in his new capacity as Interim Town Administrator. Perry was paid $115,000 annually as Town Administrator. Ross said Meggs, in his Interim Administrator position, will keep morning office hours Monday, Wednesday and Friday at the Town Hall unless he has a conflict with his work at Callison Tighe, the law firm in Columbia where he practices law.
Although The Voice reported in December that Meggs would likely be hired by Council as the interim replacement for Perry, no one on Council nor the Mayor has spoken publicly regarding Meggs’ hiring nor has there been any explanation to the public as to Meggs’ qualifications or how (and whether) he plans to move forward with Perry’s agenda for the Town. A town government official told The Voice prior to Monday night’s meeting that Council had not seriously sought other candidates for the position. The mayor confirmed this on Tuesday morning following the Council meeting.
After Council hired Meggs as the Interim Administrator, Councilman Bob Mangone asked Meggs, “In the chance there might be a legal opinion required to clarify a point that you make while Interim Town Administrator, how would that be handled?”
Without answering that question directly, Meggs said, “If there were some indication that legal advice that I had rendered in some way conflicted with or invoked some conflict with the administration’s function or goal, keep in mind that in Blythewood, the chief executive officer is the mayor and in this temporary arrangement, with the two hats I’m wearing, I would be the mayor’s helper in his executive capacity. But if there were any semblance of conflict then we would send that question out to another attorney, not in my law firm, but a seasoned municipal attorney that would give the council a second opinion.”
Meggs, who has a Master’s Degree in Public Administration, was reported to have expressed an interest in working as a public administrator prior to the departure of Perry. Meggs has been a member of Callison Tighe law firm since 2007. According to the firm’s website, Meggs previously practiced municipal law in the public sector, including 17 years as the city attorney for the City of Columbia.
Following the Dec. 16 Town Council meeting, when the Mayor and Town Council voted unanimously to accept John Perry’s resignation, Ross was asked by The Voice if Meggs was being considered for the Interim Administrator’s position, and Ross confirmed that he was. While the Town government has not offered any public explanation as to why Perry resigned or was asked to resign, sources in the government told The Voice that Perry’s resignation was forced, stemming from an ongoing employment related conflict between Perry and a Town Hall employee. Perry’s separation agreement with the Town, prepared by an attorney in Meggs’ law firm who specializes in labor and employment, restricts Perry from making any comment as to why he left the Town’s employ. Perry, who was hired in January 2008 by former Mayor Keith Bailey, did not have an employment contract with the Town.
Ross told The Voice in an earlier interview that Council will appoint a seven- to eight-member search committee at the Jan. 27 Council meeting to find a permanent replacement for Perry. Asked if Meggs will become the permanent replacement for Perry, Ross said that would be up to the search committee.
Because of the extremely cold weather this winter, the Fairfield County Animal Shelter is asking for donations of blankets and mattress pads for the dog kennels. They are needed both for soft warm beds and to tuck around the outdoor runs to keep out the cold air. The shelter is also in need of dry kitten food.
Take all donations to the Center at 1768 U.S. Highway 321 Business N. For information call Janice Emerson at 803-815-0805.
