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  • Windows of Opportunity

    Kimberly Richardson conducts a monthly Widows of Opportunity meeting in the sanctuary of LongCreek Church of Christ on Longtown Road. (Photo/Barbara Ball)

    COLUMBIA – Kimberly Richardson was 24 years old and the mother of a young son when her husband was killed in a car accident on Oct. 17, 2003. While she had a large, loving family and lots of friends to comfort her during the weeks following the accident, Richardson said she felt overwhelmingly alone.

    After the funeral was over and everyone went back to their lives, Richardson said she was not only still broken hearted over the loss of her husband, but the magnitude of what was before her settled in.

    “I had to become both mother and father. I had to start earning a living for me and my son, and I missed my husband terribly,” said the New York native who moved to Camden with her family when she was young. “It was a very traumatic time for me.”

    Since then, Richardson has not only picked up the pieces but has bravely forged ahead, organizing a support group that sustains and enhances life after loss for herself as well as for other widows in South Carolina and around the world. She launched Widows of Opportunity, a 501 (c) (3), locally in 2011. That group meets on the last Tuesday of each month at the LongCreek Church of Christ, located at 720 Longtown Road near Blythewood where Richardson is a member. In 2013, she expanded, organizing a group in Atlanta. Word of the organization has spread through social media, with groups forming as far away as Lusaka, Zambia.

    “Our core services include one-on-one meetings and partnering with agencies to provide members with real support including emergency financial assistance and workshops that provide professional advice in areas such as legal, insurance and how to make the most of a new, unexpected, unwanted independence. Plus, the group frequently goes out to dinner and movies together,” Richardson said. “We are there to help each other through a unique loss that might be hard for others to fully appreciate.”

    As a result of her work with Widows of Opportunity, Richardson has become a popular motivational speaker and her organization has been featured in many Midland’s publications and on local TV and radio programs as far away as Texas. The exposure has resulted not only in getting the word out to widows about the group’s existence, but it has brought growing support from agencies willing to provide assistance to widows, Richardson said.

    For information about joining Widows of Opportunity or to lend support, call 803-238-5301 or go to widowsofopportunity.com.

  • Diggin’ Ditch Pond

    Ditch Pond Heritage Preserve, near Williston, S.C. (Photo/Tom Poland)

    Drive south-southwest about 85 miles to Williston, S.C., and on Highway 78 near SC 781, you’ll see a small lane that leads to Ditch Pond Heritage Preserve. Ditch Pond, as it’s called, is a Carolina bay that takes its name from ditches that attempted to drain the bay. Despite the ditches, Ditch Pond is relatively undisturbed, a rarity as Carolina bays go. And as many Carolina bays go, it’s a rich repository of wildlife and vegetation.

    I went there back in late April. Though I was closer to the Piedmont than the Lowcountry, Ditch Pond gave me the feeling I was down near Beaufort or Charleston. A short walk from the entrance, I found myself in an alleyway of large oaks and Spanish moss. The skeins of Spanish moss hung long and majestically and late afternoon light lit up as if on fire.

    I made my way to the boardwalk that extend into the bay’s open area and here the sunlight slanted low against a distant edge of trees with light bark and willowy canopies. Between that and far away edge and me, gallinules hopscotched across lily pads and herons stalked the shallows as braces of ducks jetted overhead. To the far left of the end of the boardwalk a patch of blooms the color of margarine broke the greenery. Must have been blooming bladderworts. The sunlight, fading from its all-day travels, yielded a soft incandescent glow to everything and the cumulative effect seduced me into thinking, “Beautiful and wild like Africa, just like Africa.” I half expected to see a herd of wild beasts thunder down to the water edge only to blunder into an ambush by big crocs.

    Ditch pond sits in Aiken and Barnwell counties. The S.C. Department of Natural Resources owns and maintains Ditch Pond Heritage Preserve, some 296 acres. Ditch Pond, about 25 acres, was first documented in 1973 as a Carolina bay. Eight rare plant species of concern inhabit the property, including blue maidencane, Robbin’s spikerush, creeping St. John’s wort, piedmont water milfoil, awned meadow beauty, slender arrowhead, Florida bladderwort and piedmont bladderwort.

    Be sure to take a camera. Find a good spot to sit and be still and wait to see what creatures venture forth. If you go, I hope your luck is as good as mine. Just before leaving — it was getting dark — I walked over to photograph the DNR signs. Glancing across the sandy parking lot I spotted a crumpled green wad of paper — a $5 bill. You see, it pays to take day trips to places off the beaten path.

    If You Go …

    No fee

    No facilities

    Do not disturb any plants.

    Stay on the trail.

    Ditch Pond Heritage Preserve/Wildlife Management Area

    Latitude 33.41542, Longitude -81.47137 [PK367]

    Williston, S.C. 29853

    Directions: From Williston, drive west on US 78 for approximately 3.0 miles and the parking area is on the right.

    www.dnr.sc.gov/mlands/managedland?p_id=103

    Learn more about Tom Poland, a Southern writer, and his work at www.tompoland.net. Email day-trip ideas to him at tompol@earthlink.net.

  • Crews Race to Beat Clock on Rimer Pond Road

    With time running out before heavy school traffic begins to flow, crews make haste on Rimer Pond Road. (Photo/Barbara Ball)

    BLYTHEWOOD – The deadline is looming for construction crews on Rimer Pond Road to finish straightening and widening the road’s curve and have it paved and ready to go by Aug. 31. With schools in Richland District 2 starting on Wednesday, Aug. 20, and the Rimer Pond Road detour still in place, traffic along Langford Road, Highway 21 and Blythewood Road is expected to be backed up during heavy traffic hours. The S.C. Department of Transportation (SCDOT) closed Rimer Pond Road to thru traffic on April 14.

    Jason Fulmer, Project Manager for the construction, told The Voice last week that he thinks the work will be finished and paved on time.

    “To accommodate moving the road over as much as 50 feet from center line in some places, we had to move utility lines, cable lines, gas and sewer lines. We also installed storm water pipes, but there are no water lines in that area,” Fulmer said. “I think everything is looking good to open the road on time.”

    The curve that wraps around Felix Rimer’s Pond has long been a high accident area and is being re-aligned for safer travel starting between the entrance to Eagles Glen and Perfecting Faith Church and continuing to a point near where the road intersects with Adams Road, according to Fulmer.

    Besides moving the road in some areas, Fulmer said the crews are also widening it about 2 feet on each side and paving the shoulders for safety. He said the road will still be two lanes, but will have guardrails and rumble strips installed at the low point in the curve where there are a couple of creeks alongside the road.

    When a statistical comparison was made a few years ago with other one-half mile sections of roads around the state with high crash incidents, the curve on Rimer Pond Road easily met the qualifications for improvement – 20 crashes in four years with 12 of those being injury crashes, according to Joey Riddle, Safety Program Engineer for SCDOT. But during construction, traffic has been detoured though downtown Blythewood causing an increase in traffic congestion in downtown Blythewood and on main roads leading into and out of the town, especially at times when school traffic on Langford and Rimer Pond roads is heavy.

    Libby Roof, Executive Director of Communications for Richland School District 2, told The Voice that the District has notified parents in the area about the detour and advised them to take it into consideration when dropping off or picking up their children.

    “We have posted updated bus schedules on our District website and some may be different than last year,” Roof said, “so parents need to check those.”

    She also reminded parents that traffic is always worse the first couple of days of the new school year and could be expected to be very congested with the detour still in place.

  • Manor Has Banner Month

    Booth Chilcutt, Events and Cultural Director for the Manor (left), delivered a pleasant surprise at Monday evening’s Blythewood Town Council meeting, reporting that the Manor’s revenue and expenses finally broke even during the month of June.

    BLYTHEWOOD – With a new Events and Conference Center Director and stricter rental policies, the Manor appears to be pulling out of the financial nose dive it has been in since opening day in March 2013. In a report to Town Council on Monday evening, the facility’s new Director, Booth Chilcutt, said June was the most active and profitable month for the Manor to date, bringing in gross receipts of $9,866, almost breaking even for the first time.

    Of the 20 events held at the Manor during June, all but three were rentals. The three non-rentals were town government meetings. Praising his assistant, Pat Connolly, and their staff, Chilcutt reported event frequency for June was one event per every day-and-a-half.

    The Town’s CPA, Kem Smith, said expenses and lack of oversight and control of finances were problems during the first year of operation. In her budget report on Monday evening, Smith praised Chilcutt, who took over as Director in January, for the Manor’s improved revenue, attributing the upturn to new policies, higher rental fees and new events.

    “I can see it’s turning around,” Smith said.

    Explaining the turnaround to The Voice, Chilcutt said, “There are no more freebies at the Manor,” referring to the large number of free usage of the building and equipment by the Richland 2 School District and others during the first year of operation.

    “The school district now pays the same rental rates as the general public. Community and civic organizations now pay basic hourly rates ranging from $30-60 depending on the size of the room,” Chilcutt said. “We treat the Manor like the business it is. It’s a wonderful amenity for the community and it’s less expensive than anything comparable in the area, which makes it attractive for all sizes of social and business events.”

    Chilcutt said he doesn’t think June is a fluke.

    “We only have five open Saturdays from July 2014 through June 2015,” he said. “The rest are already rented.”

  • Padgett Named Interim Sheriff

    Circuit Judge Knox McMahon (right) swears in Capt. Dunstan Padgett last week as interim Sheriff while Padgett’s wife, Janice, looks on.

    WINNSBORO – Gov. Nikki Haley appointed Capt. Dunstan Padgett on July 16 to the position of interim Fairfield County Sheriff. The appointment came a little more than 24 hours after Herman Young announced his retirement from the office after 22 years of service, citing declining health issues.

    Padgett, 48, has been with the Fairfield County Sheriff’s Office since 1988. He has served in the narcotics division where he rose to the rank of Lieutenant, later becoming a Lieutenant and eventually Captain over Patrol. Padgett is also retired from the S.C. National Guard, having served in Kosovo in 2004 and Afghanistan in 2007 and 2008.

    Filing for the special election to fill out the remaining two years of Young’s term opens Aug. 8 at noon and closes Aug. 18 at noon. A primary will be held Sept. 30, with a runoff, if necessary, to be held Oct. 4. The special election for Sheriff will be held Nov. 18.

    “I’m going to miss being there,” Young, 72, told The Voice last week. “I had every intention of completing my term, but as things got worse I felt I should hang it up.”

  • Murder Suspect Captured

    LaTroy Sampson

    ROCHESTER, N.Y. – A Winnsboro man wanted for the July 4 murder of 34-year-old Jennifer Monique Stone was captured last week in upstate New York, near the shores of Lake Ontario.

    Freddie Lorick, Chief of Public Safety, said LaTroy Dante Sampson, 36, was arrested in Rochester, N.Y. just before 3 a.m. on July 25. Rochester police officers were responding to a report of a suspicious person in a local neighborhood that morning when they came upon Sampson, whom they noticed was carrying a handgun tucked into the waistband of his pants. Upon questioning, Sampson reportedly told officers he was wanted in S.C. for murder and officers detained him without incident. Lorick said his department is currently going through the extradition process to have Sampson returned to Fairfield County, which may take several weeks. It was not known how Sampson came to be in Rochester, Lorick said, or what Sampson’s connections to the area are. Lorick said Sampson had been in the area for about a week before his arrest.

    Back on July 4, Stone’s son, 18-year-old Matthew Stone, was awakened in the early morning hours by the sounds of an altercation taking place outside his home at 417 S. Garden St. Matthew came out of the house and was met by Sampson coming from around the side of the home. Sampson reportedly grabbed Matthew by the hair and tried to physically pull him back around to the side of the house, but Matthew slipped away and Sampson fled on foot. A short time later, Matthew ventured around to the south side of the house and discovered the body of his mother. Officers responded to the disturbance at around 3:50 a.m. An EMS crew arrived a short time later, but was unable to revive Stone, who had been strangled to death. Sampson was an acquaintance of the victim and had been living at the home at least part-time, Lorick said.

  • Young Says Farewell

    Herman Young

    Gov. Haley to Name Interim

    Filing for Special Election Opens Aug. 8

    WINNSBORO – An era in law enforcement that has straddled two centuries came to an end this week as Fairfield County Sheriff Herman Young announced his resignation from office. The announcement came Tuesday morning and puts the future of the Sheriff’s Office, temporarily at least, in the hands of S.C. Gov. Nikki Haley, who will appoint an interim Sheriff.

    Young, 72, was in the middle of what he said was to be his final four-year term. Filing will open next month, with a primary and runoff, if necessary, to follow. A special election to fill out the remainder of Young’s term will be held after the Nov. 4 general election.

    Young said he has been struggling with non-specific health-related issues in recent months, which influenced his decision to retire.

    “I’m going to miss being there,” Young told The Voice Tuesday. “I had every intention of completing my term, but as things got worse I felt I should hang it up.”

    Young was sworn in as Fairfield County’s first African-American Sheriff in 1992. Prior to that, he had served as Administrator for the Fairfield County Detention Center since 1973. Born and raised in Blair, he began his career in law enforcement in 1962 as a New York City Police Officer. Young returned to Fairfield County in 1965 and became the first black police officer with the Winnsboro Police Department. In 1972, he became the first African-American EMT with Fairfield Memorial Hospital.

    Young had only been Sheriff a short time when his office made national news, reopening a 20-year-old case that had been originally filed away as a suicide.

    In 1967, Frances Beasley told police that her bed-ridden husband, Ronald “Little Red” Beasley had taken a .22 caliber rifle, fired it once at her and then put the barrel of the gun in his mouth and shot himself to death. Although then Coroner Earl Bower ruled the death a suicide, neither Little Red’s family nor Young believed it. Little Red had suffered a stroke a few months before his death. He could neither walk nor feed himself and required around the clock care.

    In 1992, Frances Beasley – by then Frances Beasley Truesdale – was convicted of murdering her second husband, Jerry Truesdale, in Virginia. Although Virginia State Police handed their files over to the Fairfield County Sheriff’s Office in 1989, it wasn’t until Young took office that Little Red’s death was reopened. A Fairfield County grand jury indicted Frances Truesdale in January of 1996, and that November, while still serving her 20-year term for the murder of Jerry Truesdale, she was convicted for the murder of Little Red. Frances Beasley Truesdale died two weeks ago in a Virginia state penitentiary.

    Young was recognized by his colleagues as Sheriff of the Year in 1996 and served as President of the S.C. Sheriff’s Association from 2011 to 2012. Young implemented the Summer Kids Camp and the Home Alone Program, a nationally recognized program that provides assistance to the elderly.

    Gov. Haley’s office said the governor was “doing her due diligence” leading up to the announcement of a temporary successor, but added that an announcement would come quickly.

    “Not only has Sheriff Young been an amazing public servant for 22 years but he is also a dear friend,” Haley said in a statement released Tuesday. “We are proud to celebrate his wonderful years of service. He is moving on from this post the same way he led the community of Fairfield County, with strength and grace. Michael and I, along with everyone in South Carolina, owe him a debt of gratitude.”

    Young’s resignation was effective July 21. Filing for the election to fill the remainder of Young’s term will open Aug. 8 at noon and will close on Aug. 18 at noon. A primary will be held on Sept. 30 and any necessary runoff will be held on Oct. 14.

    The special election for Sheriff will be held Nov. 18.

  • Another Great Church Cookbook!

    Putting the finishing touches on their new cookbook before it went to press the next day are six members of the Cedar Creek Baptist Church Fruitbearers, front row from left, Sylvia Beckham, Sandra Jones and Donna Wright. Standing, from left, Nancy Taylor, Janet Girard and Audrey Swygert.

    From Cedar Creek Baptist Church

    BLYTHEWOOD – To celebrate their church’s 30th anniversary this fall, the Fruitbearers’ women’s group of Cedar Creek Baptist Church are publishing a cookbook titled, ‘From Our House to Yours.’ The 400-page hardbound tome of recipes has been compiled from family, friends, church members and other good cooks in the community and will be available for purchase on Oct. 1.

    “All of the proceeds will go toward two church projects, our missions work and a new sanctuary,” explained Donna Wright, one of several members of the Fruitbearers who packaged the book earlier this week to send to the printer.

    Besides the collection of delicious recipes, the cookbook also details the history of the Cedar Creek congregation from October 1979, when 12 families held the inaugural service at the Cedar Creek Grange Hall. In 1983, the congregation built the current Cedar Creek Baptist Church facility on Cedar Creek Road and has since added an educational wing and fellowship hall.

    The women published a previous cookbook in 2004 and it’s success prompted them to put out another one.

    “We think everyone will like it,” Wright said enthusiastically as she thumbed through the colorful indexed, three-ring bound book. “It has so many good recipes from some of the best cooks around here.”

    The cookbook costs $20 and will be available just in time for holiday gift giving. To order, mail a check to the church at 1920 Cedar Creek Road, Blythewood 29016 or call Wright at 735-8019 or Sandra Jones at 754-2571. Contact the church at 754-6230 or go to www.ccbcworship.org.

  • Vacation Bible School

    Children’s Director Helen Edwards and Norma Branham, in charge of the kitchen, served eyeball jello and popcorn hands to VBS students Savannah Causey, Makayla Parker and the Branham sisters Bailey, Alexis and Cailyn. (Photo/Barbara Ball)

    Summer School that Kids Look Forward To . . .

    WINNSBORO – With summer at the half-way point, Vacation Bible School (VBS) is in full swing in churches across Fairfield County and the Blythewood community. The programs are usually a week long and take place in churches from the first week of summer until school starts in August. Staged around increasingly elaborate themes, the programs usually include not only Bible stories but singing, dancing, crafts, snacks, adventure activities and games. It is the summer school kids and their families look forward to.

    Last week, the Church of the Nazarene in Winnsboro held their week-long VBS with the theme of Weird Animals complete with a daily Sing and Play Stampede stage production, a Critter Cafe where kids were served snacks relevant to the theme, an Imagination Station, Untamed Games, KidVid Cinema and various Bible adventures.

    Like the VBS programs in other area churches, the Church of the Nazarene depends on a large staff of dedicated volunteers to make their big week happen. While VBS was traditionally held during the daytime, more churches, including the Church of the Nazarene, are holding them in the evening when working parents and church members are available for the many volunteer positions. And many offer classes for the whole family, including the adults.

    “It’s lots of fun,” said Norma Branham, who was in charge of the Church of the Nazarene’s Critter Cafe where her all-volunteer staff created cookies with animal faces, popcorn people paws, jello eyes and even a bucket of green slime.

    “And it’s a lot of work,” Children’s Director Helen Edwards added. “The kids really enjoy it and we enjoy making it happen. We spend months getting ready for it.”

    While the intent of VBS is a fun way to connect with families in the community, it’s underlying goal is mission oriented. VBS began in the late 1890s in New York City when a woman rented a large beer hall as a place to keep kids off the street in the summer. Today, churches spend hundreds, sometimes thousands of dollars on props and supplies for the week’s program that frequently includes elaborate stage productions.

    Branham said her church was able to borrow a complete set of professionally made stage props from a church in Columbia that had used it for their VBS with the same theme earlier this year.

    “We all work very hard to make our VBS relevant and fun for the kids,” said Branham. “Now it’s time to start planning for next summer!”

  • Mastering Augusta

    Augusta’s Riverwalk, from the back door of The Morris Museum. (Photo/Tom Poland)

    Drive southwest 95.5 miles to the city famous for the Masters and you’ll discover it has other attractions. The city that’s known for the renowned James Brown has the Morris Museum of Art, which overlooks Augusta’s Riverwalk, a beautiful place to walk along the Savannah River.

    If you like the South, you’ll like the Morris Museum of Art, located on the Riverwalk in downtown Augusta, Ga. It’s the first museum dedicated to the art and artists of the American South. Its collection includes close to 5,000 paintings, works on paper, photographs and sculptures dating from the late-eighteenth century to today. Each year the museum hosts eight to 10 temporary special exhibitions. Good things are always going on.

    “The Morris,” as it’s called, also houses the Center for the Study of Southern Art, a reference and research library that includes archives pertaining to artists working in the South. The museum’s permanent collection houses art in nine categories: Antebellum Portraiture, Civil War, Genre, Still Life, Impressionism in the South, Landscape Painting, Early to Mid-20th Century Art, Late 20th-Century/Contemporary Art and Self-Taught Artists.

    I was there on a beautiful spring afternoon. Outside, a large canvas was being covered with paint. Kayakers paddled down river as folks strolled along Riverwalk’s red brick walkway and its green iron railings. Once a river capable of raging, the Savannah today purls peacefully toward the Atlantic, glad to be shed of the three dams that tame her. Nearby a wedding party was underway, and proud family members snapped photos of the memorable day.

    Riverwalk evolved from the need to protect an early 1900s Augusta from flooding. In 1908, the city built a levee, but even it was no use against one of the mighty Savannah River’s more severe floods. It kept on raining and the levee proved to be too low. In 1936, the Army Corps of Engineers came to the rescue, building a taller levee. For over 50 years this levee protected downtown Augusta, but it was a detriment to commerce and served as a psychological barrier between the people and the river. Industry moved out but left a pristine shoreline. When the mall era of the 1970s arrived, downtown suffered a mass exodus as merchants began leaving downtown.

    In the early 1980s a renaissance began along that pristine shoreline. Visionaries transformed Augusta’s Riverfront into a thriving business and tourist center with a focus on establishing a cultural corridor. Today you can enjoy fine art, performances, and a stunning walk along the Savannah River. Across from the museum is the Marriott should you want to tarry in the home of the Masters.

    Sundays at the Morris are always free and a complimentary tour begins at 3 p.m. Check the Morris’s calendar and put this day trip on your calendar: many good things are planned and when you go; listen closely along Riverwalk: you just may hear the ghost of James Brown singing across the river in nearby Beech Island.

    If You Go …

    The Morris Museum

    1 Tenth Street

    Augusta, Ga. 30901

    706-724-7501

    Tuesday–Saturday:

    10 a.m.–5 p.m.
    Sunday: noon–5 p.m.
    Closed Mondays and major holidays

     Adults $5

    Youth 13–17, $3

    Children 12 & under, Free

    Student with ID, $3

    Military with ID, $3

    Senior, 65 & older, $3

    www.themorris.org

    Riverwalk

    Augusta, Ga. 30901

    706-821-1754

    www.augustaga.gov/292/Riverwalk

    Learn more about Tom Poland, a Southern writer, and his work at www.tompoland.net. Email day-trip ideas to him at tompol@earthlink.net.