Blythewood Online 691

Tag: slider

Two Gals and a Garden

Sisters-in-law Katherine Bass and Valerie Clowney Bass have turned their passion for gardening into a business that is thriving during the holiday season. Standing in front of the family farm, the two prepare to pack up their garden produce and products and head out for another holiday market.

WINNSBORO (Nov. 26, 2015) – “I’ve had a vegetable garden for as long as I can remember,” Valerie Clowney said, pleasantly nostalgic, as she perused the 1-acre garden that was planted, tended and harvested by her and her sister-in-law Katherine Bass last summer. “I think everyone should have a garden.”

To that end, Clowney’s and Bass’s garden has bloomed into a family business they call Two Gals and a Garden which provides other families with the same garden produce their own families enjoy.

The women sell the produce from their garden as seasonal fruits and vegetables ‘picked-this-morning’ as well as preserved in jars topped with ruffled country-gingham lid covers. They also stir pumpkin, zucchini, tomatoes, pears, pecans and apples produced on the farm in to delicious home baked breads, pies, cakes and cookies – all of which they sell at their increasingly popular stand at local farmers’ markets and fall festivals. An added bonus for their customers is the Two Gals’ emphasis on chemical-free gardening and reasonable prices for their products.

It all started last December, when Clowney and her husband, Benny, inherited, a 78-acre Winnsboro farm that has been in Benny’s family for generations. The couple call it Meadow Lou Farm after Meadow Lou Lane where the farm sits just off Newberry Road.

“The farmhouse is 150 years old,” Clowney said, “and the property, which originally covered 480 acres, hadn’t been worked for 30 or 40 years. But the farm has some apple, pear and plum trees, Muscatine grape vines and pecan trees that are probably as old as the farm. We really wanted to do something with all of it.”

The Clowneys, who lived in Rock Hill at the time, put their house up for sale and moved to the farm in June with their 9-year-old son, Brice. Two adult children stayed behind in York County. That’s when she and Bass, who lives on the other side of Winnsboro with her husband Johnny and their three children, hatched the idea of starting a garden-based family business.

“We’ve both always enjoyed gardening,” Clowney said, “and we wanted to get started with the business. So I put off taking a job until September so that Katherine, who is a stay-at-home mom, and I could get the garden going over the summer.” The Gals were soon harvesting produce to sell at festivals and farmers’ markets, with bounty enough for canned and baked goods, too.

“We worked every day, from sun up ‘til sun down, all summer,” Clowney said. “After picking the corn and beans, we’d sit under the pecan tree and shuck the corn and pop the beans, talking and having a good time.”

The summer’s produce included several kinds of squash including yellow crookneck, straight neck, spaghetti, zucchini and pumpkins, Clowney said. They also grew several varieties of tomatoes, habanero and jalapeño peppers and watermelons…it’s a big garden!

The canned and baked goods are just as diverse, ranging from crowd-favorite squash pickles to pear-cinnamon jam, fig-pepper jelly, pear-pecan bread, salsa, pumpkin bread, pumpkin butter and pecan pies. And they are currently experimenting with Muscadine grape juice.

“The grape juice is still in progress,” Clowney said with a smile. “After canning, it has to sit a couple of months before it can be opened. A friend from church, Joeili Monteith, passed along the recipe from her grandmother, and I couldn’t wait to try it.”

Bass’s 14-year-old daughter, Deanna, helps with the garden and also at the markets.

“She has pretty much taken over the zucchini bread which is very popular,” Clowney said. “Some people come to the farmer’s market just for that.”

As for their baked goods, Clowney said she and Bass have greatly benefited from advice offered by Benny’s uncle, Eddie Clowney, a professional chef who lives in Kingstree where he hosts a popular local television show, “Cooking on the Wild Side.”

“He is very supportive and shares some of his recipes with us,” Clowney said. In return, the Gals offer his popular seasoning mix at their stand.

In addition to festival and market weekends, Clowney and Bass occasionally set up a little produce stand at Meadow Lou, and they hope to eventually convert the farm’s old dairy barn into a market space. In the meantime, they’ve been asked about supplying vegetables to The Filling Station, the Monteith family’s soon-to-open produce market at Salem’s Crossroads.

Although growing a garden business has its challenges – most of this year’s brussels sprouts, broccoli, okra and cantaloupe were unhelpfully harvested by the deer – Clowney said she loves the work.

“Gardening is self-sustaining,” Clowney said. “It’s really satisfying to be able to provide good, healthy food for your family by your own labor.”

It’s also satisfying for the folks in the community who are lining up to buy it. Look for Two Gals and a Garden, listed on the certified S.C. Grown website, at upcoming holiday festivals and markets in Fairfield and Richland Counties. To purchase fresh or preserved garden items and home-baked goods, contact Clowney at 803-627-0489 or Katherine Bass at 803-420-1694.

November 26, 2015
Griffin, Gordge Join Council

Larry Griffin, Eddie Baughman and Malcolm Gordge came out on top in Tuesday’s municipal elections in Blythewood. (Barbara Ball)

BLYTHEWOOD (Nov. 3, 2015) – Even though the balance of power was at stake in the Blythewood municipal elections Tuesday evening, not much change in policy or vision is expected on the five-member Town Council. During a candidate forum, the candidates generally agreed that problems resulting from growth – traffic, rezoning and the need for better infrastructure – are the hot button issues facing the town.

Incumbent Eddie Baughman and the Town’s Planning Commission Chairman, Malcolm Gordge, came away with victories over newcomers to Blythewood politics, Bryan Franklin and Robert Rue, for the two four-year terms. Blythewood native Larry D. ‘Griff’ Griffin, in his first run for office, was the clear winner over Blythewood newcomer Michelle Kiedrowski for the two-year, unfinished term of Bob Massa who moved out of the area last June.

Griffin’s election held historical significance as he followed in the footsteps of his late aunt, Elizabeth Hagler, who served two terms on Council from 1996-2004 as the first African-American elected to public office in Blythewood.

With a low turnout of approximately 16 percent, the winning candidates had their home precincts to thank for putting them over the top. Baughman, who lives in the Lake Ashley area, drew 84 votes or almost half his total 178 votes from Blythewood Precinct 2 where residents of the Lake Ashley area vote. Griffin, who lives on Langford Road, but whose family roots run deep in the Boney Road/Lake Ashley area, took 87 votes in Blythewood Precinct 2. Gordge, who is secretary of the Ashley Oaks neighborhood, received 85 votes, the lion’s share of the 193 votes cast in that area’s Blythewood Precinct 3.

While 304 voters signed in to vote, only 302 votes registered. Election officials said the discrepancy will be accounted for before Thursday when the election is certified.

Baughman, Griffin and Gordge will be sworn into office at the regular Nov. 30 Town Council meeting that will be held at The Manor.

Final Vote Tally

4-year term

Eddie Baughman: 178

Malcolm Gordge: 147

Bryan Franklin: 119

Robert Rue: 53

2-year term

Larry Griffin: 164

Michelle Kiedrowski: 111

November 4, 2015
Pellet Plant Sparks Opposition

Aerial shot of Enviva wood pelleting plant in Ahoskie, N.C., a facility similar, according to Emily Zucchino of Dogwood Alliance, to the plant proposed in Winnsboro. (Photo/Dogwood Alliance)

WINNSBORO (Oct. 30, 2015) – A proposed wood pelleting facility ran into its second snag Monday night in its bid to construct a plant on more than 180 acres it plans to purchase on Cason Road, and this time it wasn’t because of the weather.

Record rains and flooding scrubbed County Council’s slated first reading on Oct. 5 of an ordinance to rezone two parcels for AEC Pellet 1 USA from RD (Rural Resource District) to I-1 (Industrial District). Although Council finally got first reading in during their Oct. 12 meeting, Monday night a different kind of storm disrupted the process.

“This company is going to get tax breaks out the ying-yang,” Darryl Harbour told Council during Monday’s public hearing on the rezoning proposal. “We, however, are probably not going to get any tax breaks, even though our home values are fixing to plummet, our land values are fixing to plummet.”

Harbour was one of 10 neighboring landowners who signed up to speak out against the ordinance that would rezone 2.01 acres owned by Rosezenna Cason White at 137 Cason Road, and 180 acres owned by Wateree Holdings LLC c/o Forest Investment Associates also on Cason Road.

“For them to say they’re coming in here and investing $125 million, that is false,” Harbour said. “They are going to build a building. They are going to buy land. They’re going to buy a huge investment in equipment and that equipment is going to be made overseas. That’s where the millions of dollars of money is going to be going. And then it will be transported over here, put into effect and we get to live with the results of it.”

According to documents on file with the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC), the facility would have an annual production rate of 530,000 tons, with a minimum hourly production rate of 71 tons.

“Breaking that down in sheer weight alone,” Harbour said, “that would be 26,500 truckloads up and down the highways in Winnsboro a year.”

Rail traffic also presents a problem, he said, in a community accessed by one-way streets.

“They plan to unload 22 cars,” Harbour said. “Twenty-two railcars at 60-feet long is about 1,300-feet long. We’re used to that railroad car zooming through; it’s going to be a whole different ballgame when they come to a screeching stop and start transferring 22 cars at a time. If you happen to be someone back in the neighborhood trying to get physical help, having a heart attack, that ambulance comes and you ask that train that’s at least 3,000-feet long to hurry up and move out of your way – it’s not going to happen.”

Council announced the tentative arrival of AEC Pellet 1 during their Aug. 24 meeting, when they also passed third reading and disclosed the details of the company’s incentives package.

Interim County Administrator Milton Pope said during the Aug. 24 meeting that the terms of the Fee-in-Lieu-of-Taxes (FILOT) agreement included a $125 million investment by the company, as well as the creation of 75 new full-time jobs. AEC Pellet will be assessed at a ratio of 6 percent, Pope said, and will pay a fixed millage rate of 423.3 mills for their first 30 years. They will also receive a special source revenue credit of 60 percent per year for the first 10 years.

But in 10 years, there may be no market for what AEC Pellet 1 produces, according to Emily Zucchino, a campaign organizer with the Asheville, N.C. environmental advocacy firm Dogwood Alliance.

“This market is based on European policies, which we know with working with policy makers in Europe will change in the next 10 years,” Zucchino told Council. “The wood pellet industry is an extractive export market to feed power plants in Europe, and is in a transitional market until these power plants switch to wind and solar. So my question for you is what happens to Winnsboro in 10 years when there are no longer subsidies in the market for these wood pellet facilities?”

Pollution is also a concern with wood pelleting plants, Zucchino said, with facilities generating fine particulate matter into the atmosphere. In N.C., she said, communities living near similar facilities have seen increases in respiratory illnesses, bronchitis and asthma.

According to DHEC documents, and as first reported in The Voice on Aug. 29, emissions generated by the facility would include particulate matter (less than 10 micrometers in diameter and less than 2.5 micrometers in diameter), nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC) and Hazardous Air Pollutants (HAP). The notice states, “a federally enforceable facility-wide limit of less than 250 tons per year” of the particulate matters, the carbon monoxide and VOC “would be established, thereby enabling the facility to be below Prevention of Significant Deterioration (PSD) major source thresholds.”

Federally enforceable limits of 10 tons per year would also be established “of any single HAP, or less than 25 (tons per year) of total HAPs,” the documents state.

An air quality permit (permit number 1000-0039-CA) was issued to AEC Pellet on March 16, DHEC said.

“I have asthma,” area resident Sylvia Beaver told Council. “I have all kinds of health problems. If they block the railroad, I can’t get out if I’m having an asthma attack or any other kind of health issues.”

Kerry Matthews, who lives near the proposed plant site in White Oak, said the factory would destroy the rural residential character of the community.

“We have set up zoning regulations particularly for this reason, to protect the rural areas and communities,” Matthews said, “and it is unconscionable to me that anyone would consider putting a plant with this magnitude impact on a community in an area like White Oak. Fairfield County has industrial parks.”

Toatley Road resident Robert W. Davis said Fairfield County can afford to be more selective about what kind of industry it brings into the county.

“Don’t get me wrong; we are for economic development,” Davis said, “but Fairfield County is in a position whereby we don’t have to accept anything and everything that comes along just because they say they’re going to bring economic development to Fairfield County.

“Over the next year and a half to two years, we are going to have funds coming into this county from the western side of Fairfield County,” Davis continued. “Those funds will be more than enough to sustain Fairfield County for years to come. What this will do is hurt our community. Hurt is greatly.”

When second reading finally came to the floor, Council gave it a unanimous approval – but not without strings attached.

“The citizenry that has talked to me, some are for it some are against it,” District 3 Councilman Walter Larry Stewart said. “But we need more detailed information concerning the air quality and all the other issues citizens from District 3 have raised tonight. I think we need to delay the process, collect the rest of the data and allow the citizens to give any additional input and then move forward.”

Pope recommended that Council pass second reading, but delay third and final reading until additional information could be collected from Zucchino and area residents. Pope also suggested another public hearing on the matter.

While Stewart and Mary Lynn Kinley (District 6) also suggested the possibility of a work session, District 7 Councilman Billy Smith’s motion to officially include a work session into the process failed to garner a second.

October 30, 2015
Candidates Politely Make Their Cases

Blythewood, on Tuesday you vote here: Blythewood Recreation Center, 126 Boney Road.

BLYTHEWOOD (Oct. 29, 2015) – Last week’s Town Council candidate forum, sponsored by the Blythewood Chamber of Commerce at The Manor, was a low-key exercise in polite comments when compared to the heated debates in past years that featured unretouched questions from the audience and candidates who took out after each other as well as the non-candidate members of Town Council and Council members from past years who were no longer even in office. At the end of those two hours, there were no misunderstandings.

Leading up to the Oct. 20 forum, questions were submitted by citizens online to the Chamber whose members first narrowed them to six, then, according to one chamber member, massaged the six queries before posing them to the candidates.

Chamber board chairman Ed Garrison, a former member of the Town Council, momentarily upstaged the candidates as he opened the forum by lobbying for the establishment of a millage in the town and expressing frustration that state law (Act 388) has virtually precluded the Town from being able to levy a property tax since a previous Town Council abolished the Town’s millage more than 10 years ago. The resulting formula, Garrison said, amounts to ‘new millage x 0 = 0 millage’.

Once the introductions and lobbying ended, the questioning began, moderated by Blythewood High School students Ansley Hagenbarger and K.J. Mack. Patrick Kelly, BHS AP government teacher, served as official time keeper.

Candidates for the single two-year vacancy are Larry D. Griffin, a native Blythewoodian, and Michelle Kiedrowski, a newcomer. Candidates for the two four-year seats are incumbent Eddie Baughman; longtime Blythewood resident Bryan Franklin who is retired from the Army; Malcolm Gordge, a 12-year Blythewood resident who serves as the Chairman of the Town’s Planning Commission and Robert Rue, an Army veteran who moved to Blythewood about a year ago.

Asked what they considered to be the two or three key issues facing Town Council, each candidate offered some combination of problems caused by increased traffic, increased growth and the critical need for infrastructure prior to any further increase in traffic and growth.

Two-year candidates

Griffin said growth and the lack of infrastructure are key. “I’m proactive, not reactive. I look at situations before they happen and try to make sure we have a solution to the problem. Our government has a plan in place but COG (Central Midlands Council of Government) issued a report that said we are going to have 1,500 houses built in the next couple of years. Growth has to be structured. Blythewood is looking to the Penny Tax to provide funds to restructure the roads. Whatever our plan looks like, we need to be looking at that situation right now and see where we’re going and structure those funds that are going to be coming to us to make it happen.”

Kiedrowski agreed that growth is the number one issue. “My concern is that we need to grow with the future in mind. It’s important to respect history and the historical society, but we also need to grow and create a history for those yet to come and create a place for them to thrive. People can grow and find their place. We need to build a community. If I’m going to be on Town Council I want to know what you are all thinking. I want to know how to hear back from the constituents. How do you feel? I feel there’s not a whole diversified population that’s always expressing their opinions. I think it’s super important that communication between everyone in the town needs to be considered.”

Four-year candidates

Baughman named infrastructure or the lack of it and the lack of storm water management in the town as prime concerns. “The state and SCDOT are working on this, but we have to address it. We also need to look to the economic development of the town. We’re sitting on some of the best property in the county. We need to use it to attract more businesses that will fund improvements to our town. But as growth and more homes and businesses come, we need to look at how we can protect our town’s investment and how to protect your investment as a home owner. Right now we’re dependent on Richland County for our services, so it’s important that we be a better partner with Richland County. We need to make this happen for you.”

Franklin emphasized the importance of cautious growth and preserving the rural character of Blythewood, calling traffic, rezoning and annexation the top three issues for the town. “Traffic. We don’t control road funds here in the town. The state allocates those to the county. So it’s all about collaboration, speaking with the voice of Blythewood to our officials at the county and state level. We need to improve our roads and utilize such things as traffic circles at places like the Food Lion, Community Road and on Blythewood Road. We must work closely with our representatives to make this happen. Rezoning. We all moved out here to have a farm and a garden and now a new subdivision moves in your back door. We need to listen to the people who are affected by the rezoning before we allow it. Annexation. Absolutely no more annexation unless the property owners say they want it.”

Gordge said the top three issues are: 1) the needs of the town, 2 the needs of the town and 3) the needs of the town. “There is a raft of things to take care of and we need to find a way of prioritizing them. There are the immediate issues of the day that need to be addressed. The next level of issues are those you can plan and address in meetings, committees, etc. The third level is long term projects where you’re planning for the major objectives that might take several years to complete. The Council needs to be agile so it can make decisions quickly as well as be sure the long term goals are achieved. Growth is unavoidable. Because Richland County owns the surrounding land, that growth will come whether we like it or not.”

Rue said he sees expansion, fiscal responsibility and education as the three top issues in Blythewood. “This is a great place, but there are a lot of homes going up. You can’t have it both ways. We need an infrastructure plan to manage the growth. We need to be fiscally responsible. We need to look at how we’re spending the Town’s money, watch what we take in and what we do with it once we take it in. Myself (if elected) and other council members will make the decisions on how that’s handled. And we must place a priority on education, how we’re assisting with the education of our children and how we as a council can influence the powers that be who educate our children.”

The election for three new Town Council members is 7 a.m. – 7 p.m., Tuesday, Nov. 3 at the Blythewood Recreation Center, 126 Boney Road, Blythewood.

October 29, 2015
FEMA Office Boosts Business in Town

FEMA employees temporarily headquartered at Blythewood’s CSC building order lunch from Scottie’s Café food truck, one of several Blythewood businesses enjoying a boost in business while FEMA is in town. FEMA employees Paul Peterson of Connecticut, left, and Marcie Roth of Washington, D.C., purchase lunch from Scottie’s server Melissa Letrick. (Photo/Barbara Ball)

BLYTHEWOOD (Oct. 29, 2015) – While severe flooding in South Carolina brought death and devastation to many parts of the state, the aftermath of recovery and rebuilding is bringing business to Blythewood. That business is the result of FEMA setting up its temporary joint field office for the entire state in Blythewood’s CSC building on Oct. 12.

After searching the state for a location with proximity to the state government offices and enough space to house 700 employees and access to major transportation arteries, nearby hotels, restaurants and other services, the mega emergency management agency settled on Blythewood.

Marcie Roth of Washington, D.C., and a member of the team scouting potential locations for FEMA, said Blythewood offered everything it was looking for.

“We work through the General Services Administration to find appropriate locations and sometimes have to set up in shopping malls, vacant Wal-Mart stores and even in tents. This is the perfect location and we have this great facility,” she said, motioning toward the CSC building and its surrounding landscaped campus. “It has ample parking and plenty of space inside for internal training. It doesn’t have a cafeteria, but that’s OK. We have Scotties.”

Scotties’ Café food truck and a number of others pull up to the building six days a week serving breakfast, lunch and snacks.

“It’s been big business for us,” said Scott Opolyn, owner of Scotties’ Cafe whose staff serves breakfast, lunch and about 20 gallons of coffee a day to FEMA employees at the CSC location.

And he’s not the only one benefiting from the new businesses in town. The hotels and other restaurants in town are also seeing an uptick in business from the FEMA presence. Blythewood Mayor J. Michael Ross said the town is happy that FEMA chose Blythewood for its temporary headquarters.

“We love having them here, and we want to accommodate them in any way we can. It’s our goal that they enjoy their stay here in town while they do this very important work to help our state and citizens put their lives back in order,” Ross said.

The FEMA field office is a state and federally coordinated operation that supports the recovery effort throughout the state in the counties where the president has declared disaster areas.

“FEMA is a funding organization,” Harry Skinner, an external affairs employee at the CSC location explained. “But this location is not where people can come to get individual help,” he emphasized. “We do not work directly with flood survivors. We have 22 different locations in the state where flood survivors can go for individual assistance. Our employees, at this location, provide overall management of FEMA’s disaster recovery efforts for the whole state.

“Our Operation here at CSC,” Skinner said, “is pretty much self-sufficient. We’ve brought with us all the usual departments a large company has such as IT, logistics, human resources, planning, finance and administration, accounting and staffing, all in one location. Plus,” he added, “we provide program support staff for individual assistance, public assistance and mitigation efforts out in the field.”

Skinner said FEMA’s field office has no timeline for how long it will be in operation in Blythewood. Asked if it could be months, he said, “As long as it takes. As we move ahead our footprint here will be reduced based on the needs of the state. We are very happy to be here in Blythewood. This location seems to be handling our needs very well,” Skinner said. “Our employees have felt warmly welcomed by Blythewood and by all of South Carolina.”

October 29, 2015
First of Large Signs Coming Downs

Larry Sharpe’s BP sign will soon conform to new rules. (Photo/Barbara Ball)

BLYTHEWOOD – The big signs are coming down. In response to a town ordinance passed in 2009 to require all signs in the town to conform to new standards by the year 2016 (high-rise interstate signs by 2020), Larry Sharpe Jr. presented plans to the Board of Architecture Review (BAR) Monday night for replacing nonconforming signs at his family’s businesses – the 25-foot BP sign at the Doko Express service station on Main Street and the 15-foot sign at the Exxon service station at Blythewood Road and the McNulty Road extension, across from the Waffle House.

Sharpe told the BAR members that the signs would be replaced with 8-foot conforming monument style signs. Because each sign advertises for two businesses on the respective sites, Sharpe is allowed 64 square inches of signage space per side for each sign instead of the 32 inches allowed for one business.

“We want to go ahead and get this out of the way,” Sharpe told members of the Board. “We’re ready to bring the sign down and conform with the ordinance.”

Robert Tobias, who owns the building where Blythewood Consignment is located, voluntarily removed a 25-foot sign from in front of that shop earlier this year.

The new ordinance goes into effect in January, at which time businesses whose signs do not conformed will be notified by Town Hall that they are in violation of the Town’s zoning code.

Last December, Mayor J. Michael Ross had expressed concern that the 2009 ordinance was too restrictive and might need to be tweaked to exempt existing nonconforming signs. Letters were sent out to businesses notifying them of the pending compliance requirement. The majority on Council, however, led by Councilman Bob Massa who has since retired from his Council seat, quashed the movement to relax the sign ordinance. There were no ensuing objections to the 2009 ordinance from business owners and only two churches sent representatives to the Town Council meeting with objections.

Michael Criss, the Town’s Planning Consultant, told The Voice that while many of the town’s signs are nonconforming, most are minor nonconformities. Among the most egregious offenders of the new ordinance are the large signs at Wendy’s, Waffle House, IGA, Pope Tire Company and the two signs Sharpe is replacing.

Because the BAR did not have a quorum on Monday, Sharpe’s sign application was discussed by those BAR members present but will not be voted on until Thursday when a special called meeting was scheduled.

October 22, 2015
Fairfield Responds to Disaster

Packed up and ready to head for Clarendon County with relief supplies for flood victims, these Fairfield County volunteers are, standing: Kim and Randy Wilkes; from left: Ash Wilson, John Combs, Ashley Wilson, Erin Holmes, Angie Kelly, Rebekah Coleman, David Hendon, Russell Wilkes and (not pictured) Todd Mattox. (Photo/Barbara Ball)

WINNSBORO – A Fairfield County caravan bearing food, water and other supplies grew as it traveled last Friday, even gathering volunteers to help alleviate the suffering of families who lost their homes and other possessions in the recent statewide flooding.

It all started when Randy Wilkes and his wife Kim of Ridgeway remembered what Randy and his family had gone through in 1984 when a tornado blew through Winnsboro, leveling their home and destroying their possessions.

“It was bad,” Randy recalls, “and so we knew how these people felt, losing their homes. We decided we’d try to do something to help.”

That something was posting a note on Facebook asking their friends to help fill up their 20-foot trailer with supplies and take them to those affected by the flooding,

“I thought I’d be lucky if we got the trailer half full,” Randy Wilkes later told The Voice.

But responses to the post immediately began pouring in from family, friends and strangers.

“Richard Winn Academy was one of the first to call to say they wanted to make a big donation of water and other supplies, then some guys I know from Rock Hill with a big flatbed truck called to say they were going to join us,” Wilkes said. “Pretty soon we were taking calls and pulling in to Ben Arnold and other donor sites loading up. The 20-foot trailer filled up quickly, and we had to ask Jimmy Ray Douglas to loan us his big yellow box truck. We filled that up and were on our way only 48 hours after the initial Facebook post.”

The caravan not only gathered supplies, but gained volunteers along the way as well. By the time they reached the Wilkes’ home in Ridgeway to regroup and head out, the caravan included two pickup trucks, the yellow box truck, the flatbed filled with cases of water and two packed SUV’s.

“I loaded my front loader on a trailer so we’d have something to unload the pallets with when we got to our destination,” Wilkes said.

That destination, the group decided, would be the hard hit Clarendon County. The caravan pulled out about noon Saturday with 10 or so volunteers, the load of supplies and an American flag blowing in the wind aboard the lead pickup.

But the adventure didn’t end there.

A trip that should have taken about an hour and forty-five minutes turned into almost three hours. The caravan was detoured frequently by road closings and collapsed bridges. After unloading their supplies at a gym in Summerton, the group stayed on another hour using the front loader to help others unload their supplies.

“It was a humbling experience,” Wilkes said, “seeing all that devastation. We were just glad we could help them. We are really thankful to the schools, businesses and all the individuals in Fairfield County who made the donations possible. They helped a lot of people.”

October 18, 2015
Always the Optimist

At work in their ‘office’ at Lizard’s Thicket in Blythewood, Optimists Lola Cumbo, Keri Boyce and Sierra Kelly plan their club’s first banquet set for Saturday night at Round Top Baptist Church. (Photo/Barbara Ball)

BLYTHEWOOD – Keri Boyce of LongCreek Plantation has long been passionate about promoting youth service projects. So when the opportunity to organize an Optimist Club presented itself last year, she saw it as a natural extension of what she had already been doing. To that end, she joined fellow Blythewoodians Lola Cumbo and Sierra Kelly to make the Club happen. Round Top Baptist Church agreed to serve as their meeting place, and by June the Club was chartered as the Hope Optimist Club.

This weekend, the 22-member club will host its first membership banquet, inviting others in the community to join them for an evening of food, entertainment and great conversations about good works they are planning.

“That’s what we’re all about,” said Cumbo, the club’s president. “As Optimists, our work is focused on young people. We promote contests that help them develop writing and speaking skills and we promote communication to aid youth who are deaf and hard of hearing. We look for ways to help all young people achieve their dreams.”

And they didn’t waste any time doing just that. In September the club bought paint and plywood to refurbish the Round Top Community playground equipment. Next month they plan to pack and donate eight Thanksgiving baskets for families in need. In December they will organize a group of young people to make and take holiday cards to residents in a local senior care center.

In January, the group will sponsor an essay contest for students in local schools and in March an oratorical contest. Both scholarships and medals will be awarded to winners.

Cumbo said the banquet will serve two purposes.

“We will recognize those volunteers who have been instrumental in helping to get the club up and running,” she said, “and I think the banquet will provide others in the community the opportunity to learn more about us and, hopefully, decide to join us.”

The banquet will be held from 5-7 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 17 at Round Top Baptist Church, 120 Round Top Court in Blythewood. Tickets are $15. The Club meets on the third Tuesday of the month, alternately between Round Top Baptist Church and Lizard’s Thicket restaurant. For more information, call 864-978-8277.

October 15, 2015
CAB Offers Storm Aid

These National Guardsmen showed up Tuesday morning at the Christian Assistance Bridge to help load cases of water for families in the community picking up food and water from the CAB office on Blythewood Road. At right is CAB board member Ken Trogden. (Photo/Barbara Ball)

BLYTHEWOOD – Shortly after 10:30 Tuesday morning, the board members of Christian Assistance Bridge (CAB) in Blythewood posted a sign in front of the building at 126 Blythewood Road offering free food and water to residents in the community who have been affected by rising water, loss of power or other problems resulting from the torrential rains in recent days.

“Not only did people start coming in for assistance, just about as many stopped by to see what they could do to help,” said Bill Sullivan a CAB board member. “It was unbelievable! One woman stopped by to find out what we needed and I told her that we could use tuna, chicken, peanut butter, pasta and sauce. She left and in a few minutes came back with her car packed with these things.”

Several truckloads of bottled water soon arrived, then more water and more food. Later that morning, 10 or so National Guardsmen showed up in Humvees to help load the water into vehicles of those families picking up supplies.

“It was heartwarming to see such a community effort,” Sullivan said.

While Blythewood homes were not subjected to widespread flooding, a number of homes in the community use Columbia water, which will have to be boiled for some time. But Sullivan said CAB does not need clothing at this time, only food and water. He suggested those needing clothing should contact Sandy Level Baptist Church’s clothes closet at 803-754-1299.

A number of churches in the community have been checking on their members in the aftermath of the flooding, trying to find out who needs assistance.

Sullivan said CAB will be open 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. this week at least through Thursday and possibly until the end of the week. For more information, call CAB at 803-786-1903.

October 8, 2015
Disaster Hits Close to Home

A pair of vehicles plunged into the raging waters Sunday as a 20-foot section of Highway 21 near Lake Elizabeth collapsed under their wheels. The occupants were rescued as the record breaking storm changed the landscape of the Midlands. (Photo/Barbara Ball)

BLYTHEWOOD/FAIRFIELD – By now, no one needs to tell you how bad it was. “Catastrophic” just doesn’t quite measure up. Residents of Blythewood and Fairfield County also need no reminder by now of exactly how fortunate they were, as the brunt of the storm described last weekend by Gov. Nikki Haley as a “One thousand year event” struck largely to their southern flank.

By Sunday afternoon, downtown Columbia had accumulated 11.65 inches of rain. Gills Creek amassed 18.39 inches. Fort Jackson nearly 15 inches. Further south, Mt. Pleasant was looking at 24.23 inches. Kingstree, 17.53 inches.

The list goes on and on. And so did the rain.

While homes in the Blythewood area were spared the kind of damage seen just down I-77, flooding caused damage to many local roads. According to the Blythewood Fire Department, Russ Brown Road was washed out in the 1200 block; part of the bridge on Lorick Road near Folk Road was washed out; Fulmer Road near Blythewood Road was washed out; and Langford Road at Trading Post Road was washed out. The bridge on Langford Road at EJW Road is also out.

Just outside of Blythewood, Highway 21 at Lake Elizabeth simply caved in.

As of Monday, torrents of water from Lake Columbia in LongCreek Plantation were still gushing through the spillway under Longtown Road and into the LongCreek Equestrian Center. Roads into the Center as well as the pastures there were inundated with water.

The Rimer Pond dam breached, washing out a portion of Rimer Pond Road.

And while there is, as the saying goes, water everywhere, drinking water is another matter. City of Columbia water customers – those who were fortunate enough to actually have running water – remained under a boil advisory as of Tuesday.

Fairfield County experienced much less damage, although some roads in the county are out.

“We were very lucky,” Fairfield County Sheriff Will Montgomery said Tuesday. “We have a couple of roads down, but we dodged a bullet for the most part.”

All lanes are blocked on Cow Horn Road from West Peach Road to Highway 321 S. River Road from Westshore Drive to Kingfisher Drive is also out. Highway 213 between the Broad River Bridge and Jenkinsville Road, meanwhile, was open to traffic again as of Tuesday evening, but expect temporary daytime lane closures.

Approximately 800 Winnsboro electric customers were without power during the height of the storm, according to department director William Medlin, but all power has been restored.

Yes, it was bad. And for a great many, it could have been worse. Those wishing to volunteer to assist Richland County victims may contact the County’s hotline at 803-929-6000.

Barbara Ball contributed to this story.

October 8, 2015