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  • Tee Off on a Great Cause

    Jonathan Meincke on the Wildwood Country Club course.

    There’s a golf tournament coming up in Blythewood next Friday that celebrates the legacy, passions and patriotism of a pretty special guy. It’s the fourth annual Jonathon E. Meincke Memorial Golf Tournament at Crickentree Golf Club.

    “Dr. Jon,” a well-known and well-loved veterinarian and entrepreneur, passed away in 2010. His story begins in New Jersey where, an avid golfer, Meincke wanted to move to a climate where he could play golf year-round. His daughter Jean Meincke Rutkowski remembers that the family left for South Carolina in the early 1970s.

    The move was not met with universal approval by the family, however. They had just gotten an in-ground swimming pool in their New Jersey back yard, so daughters Jean, Dinah and Alison weren’t happy until their father promised to get a pool at their new home. But when the family arrived in Irmo, Meincke couldn’t find the pool equipment he had been so happy with in New Jersey. So he became a distributor for the equipment brand he left behind and started his own pool company, Crystal Pools, which is now run by daughter Alison Meincke Felschow.

    Meincke also opened the Coldstream Animal Hospital in Irmo. But his passion for the game eventually brought Meincke and his wife Elaine, by then empty nesters, to Blythewood in the late 1980s. Meincke had always wanted to live on a golf course. When he learned the Crickentree neighborhood was being laid out around a golf course, Meincke staked his claim to the lot on the 15th tee. A couple of years later he opened Companion Animal Hospital in Dr. Roger Gaddy’s former office on Blythewood Road. Today, Rutkowski manages the practice. Third daughter Dinah Meincke Garvin lives in Charleston.

    Besides golf, Meincke’s other passion was helping out military veterans of all sorts. A childhood deformity kept Meincke out of military service, so he always wanted to do his part by honoring and supporting those who could serve, Rutkowski said.

    “After he passed away, we decided to honor him with both his passions – by raising money from a golf tournament in his name to benefit the Wounded Warrior Project,” Rutkowski said. The Project raises awareness and enlists the public’s aid in providing for the needs of severely injured service men and women and their families.

    To that end, the fourth JEM Memorial Golf Tournament will be held on Friday, Oct. 25, at Crickentree Golf Club in Blythewood. The tournament will be Captain’s Choice, Best Ball. Tee off is at 1 p.m.

    Several different prizes will be awarded during the tournament, such as getaways, fuel tickets and chances on door prizes. One of the door prizes is an American flag that was flown over the battlefield in Afghanistan in an American fighter plane.

    Tickets are $60 per player, or $240 for a team of four and includes cocktails and a barbecue lunch, a golf towel and two complimentary chances at the door prizes.

    For more details or to sign up for the tournament, contact Rutkowski at Companion Animal Hospital in Blythewood, 803-786-2412.

    “My dad played in these types of tournaments all the time. It’s something he loved to do for our wounded heroes,” Rutkowski said.

    For those interested in playing golf for a good cause, tee up next Friday to honor this man, his commitment to his country and community and his legacy.

  • Meet Us at The Farm

    George King (right), pit master of Can’t Quit Smokin’ BBQ, and his partner, Gary Freeman, will be serving up the goods at this weekend’s benefit.

    RIDGEWAY — A special event combining the casual style of jeans, the sound of bluegrass music and the taste of barbecue will help supply some vital needs in the Fairfield Memorial Hospital ER. The BBQ, Bluegrass and Bluejeans Benefit will be held at The Farm at Ridgeway (north of Blythewood), on Saturday, Oct. 12 from 6-9 p.m.

    Dawn Catalano, Executive Director of the Fairfield Memorial Hospital Foundation, said the event is being held for the second year at The Farm, an elegant barn designed as a working stable, but renovated by Larry and Eileen Sharpe of Blythewood who purchased it with an event venue in mind.

    “It’s the perfect venue for us,” said Catalano. “Larry and Eileen have renovated it beautifully. It’s spacious and comfortable. We’ll have tables both inside and on the veranda at the back side of the barn which has a beautiful view of the paddocks, woods and pond. The feel is both casual and elegant at the same time. The event was so successful here last year that we wanted to come back.”

    The barbecue will be provided by the official S.C. State Barbecue Champion for the past two years, the “Can’t Quit Smokin” team of George King and Gary Freeman of Ridgeway. Live music for the event will be provided by “Total Denial,” a homegrown S.C. bluegrass band. And there will be ample room on the newly bricked stable floor for dancing, Catalano promises.

    Additional entertainment for the night will be live and silent auctions. Dr. Mack Hughes will emcee the live auction, assisted by WIS-TV anchor Dawndy Mercer Plank , that will include signed footballs from Clemson & USC, hotel and Bed & Breakfast stays, an Edisto Beach condo weekend, a new BMW for a weekend, many art objects, jewelry, restaurant certificates, golf rounds and baked goods. There is even a miniature horse for auction. It will be stabled outside during the evening.

    Proceeds from ticket sales and the auction will fill a number of important needs in the hospital’s emergency room, such as a portable vital-signs monitor. Tickets are $30 each or $50 per couple (kids under 10, $10; kids under 6, free). Tickets may be purchased at First Citizen branches in Winnsboro, Ridgeway, Blythewood and the Village at Sandhills, Summer Day Gifts in Winnsboro, Blythewood Visitor’s Center, and the hospital lobby. Or mail a check for tickets to FMH Foundation, PO Box 1156, Winnsboro, S.C. 29180. Tickets will also be available at the barn door on the evening of the event.

    So buy a ticket, pull on your jeans and add a little bling for a great evening of bluegrass music, dancing on the barn floor and some of the best barbecue you’ve ever eaten . . . and you’ll be helping others at the same time.

    For additional information, contact Catalano at 803-608-5510. The Farm is located just north of Blythewood at 3248 US Highway 21 South in Ridgeway.

  • Blythewood Women Running Like Royalty

    Blythewood’s Running Princesses – Front row: Meredith Newman, Stacy Rotluff, Susan Davis, Marilyn Buckmaster, Fairy Godmother Lourdes Villwock, Tammy Carter. Back row: May Vokaty, Pam Schexnider, Laura Urtz, Jessica Stack, Jennifer Coleman, Mary Fleetwood and Malarie Schexnider.

    BLYTHEWOOD – Several Blythewood women have recently been transformed into princesses – but instead of waltzing in glass slippers, they are pounding the pavement in sneakers. Organized by May Vokaty, a resident of LongCreek Plantation and Food Editor for The Voice, the Running Princesses is a group of women who are focused on running and fitness, but who were inspired in their quest by the lighthearted theme of the Princess Half Marathon at Disney World.

    The group started in January 2013, after Vokaty returned from Disney World where she cheered her husband Chris at the Disney Marathon.

    “That’s when I learned about the Disney Princess Half-Marathon, which takes place every February. It’s a princess-themed race for women – many of the women wore tutus and tiaras during the race! It seemed really fun,” Vokaty said, “and I thought it would be great to organize a girls’ group back here in Blythewood and train for it.”

    Still new to running herself at the time, Vokaty shared her excitement with a few friends.

    “At first there were about five or six of us interested in forming a group,” Vokaty said, “so I put together a newsletter about our goals of fitness, fun and fellowship – all with a princess theme, of course! That newsletter was forwarded to friends of friends, and then Brenda Pepin, our pastor’s wife, suggested extending an invitation at the ladies’ luncheon at church. Before long we had about 60 women in our group.”

    Most of the women live in Blythewood, but some are from elsewhere in South Carolina. There are even members as far away as Minnesota and Mississippi.

    “It’s sort of a virtual group,” Vokaty explains. “We check in with each other, provide encouragement and support. We’re focused on running, but the group has a wide variety of fitness levels, from people who are just starting to run to veteran half-marathoners.”

    The group meets for training runs in Lake Carolina and they also volunteer in support roles at local races.

    “For instance, we worked at the water station during the Blythewood Labor Day run,” Vokaty said, “and we all dressed as princesses. It adds a fun element to the race.”

    Eleven of the women, including Vokaty, are training for the Disney Princess Half Marathon in February 2014, but everyone in the group participates in the daily challenges posted by Princess Tammy Carter.

    “For instance,” Vokaty said, “this month we’re focusing on abs, so today’s challenge was to do 35 sit-ups, 15 crunches, 15 leg raises and 25 seconds of a plank. You don’t have to do everything at once – just fit it in wherever you have a few minutes. During the day we all check in on Facebook to keep ourselves accountable.”

    Princess Laura Urtz said the group encourages her.

    “I know I’m not alone in this,” she said, “even if I happen to be running alone! My goal is to lose weight and to feel good and be fit.”

    Vokaty said the group’s vision extends beyond the annual Disney race. Their big goal is to eventually host a 5K or 10K race in Blythewood, with all proceeds going toward a women’s charity. She emphasized that the group is focused on community rather than competition.

    “Sometimes people are intimidated and think, ‘Oh, I can’t be a Running Princess because I can’t run’,” she said. “But it’s perfectly fine to walk or do a combination of walking and jogging.”

    Of course, there is one qualifying feat required to join the group.

    “It is very hard to run wearing a tiara,” Vokaty said, “but a princess can do it.”

    For more information on how to become a Running Princess, contact therunningprincesses@live.com.

  • That Old Time Religion

    The Cypress Methodist Camp Ground tabernacle near Ridgeville.

    Two hours’ drive will take you back to 1794 and some old-time religion. Drive south 113 miles to the Ridgeville vicinity and you’ll find the soul of the South, The Cypress Methodist Camp Ground where old time religion is alive and well. Such camps were once common throughout the South and to see one is to step back into history. Cypress Methodist Camp Ground continues to host annual weeklong camp meetings, a carryover from the Great Awakening in American religious life that swept through the American colonies in the 1730s and 1740s.

    This daytrip is a good place to find peace and quiet, a time to reflect. Cypress Camp Ground has a beauty all its own and it’s no flash in the pan. Folks have been gathering here to sing, pray and hear the Gospel for 219 years. Families own the tents and specific guidelines determine how they are passed down. It’s an heirloom, a heritage.

    I went and parked beneath a big oak dripping Spanish moss and walked the grounds, trying to imagine what a meeting must have been like in the old days. It had to be full of sounds, sights and sensations, Gospel songs ringing out, maybe an old foot-pedal organ too. Greens and sweet potatoes cooking. Lots of good food and conversation. For sure, far-flung families looked forward to a bit of a reunion. Kids played and laughed while old folks caught up.

    Across the lane running along side the campground stands a row of around a dozen privies. Lined up, they look like an old-fashioned version of the plastic portalets we see at festivals today. The old wooden outhouses possess more class by far. Some were padlocked and two had wildflowers blooming yellow in front.

    The campground takes the general shape of a rectangle bordered by “tents.” Calling the rough-hewn wood cabins “tents” is a carryover from the days when people slept in canvas tents. These cabins, roughly rectangular, are generally 1.5 stories with earthen floors. In the center of the rectangle stands the tabernacle, an open-sided wooden structure. Its pews, washed by rains blowing in, are weathered and worn smooth by many a rear end.

    Other campgrounds are out there off the beaten path but you seldom hear of these throwbacks to the days when folks would live and pray together a week at a time. That old-time religion was rustic and it was passionate and it carries on. It was a time for the Lord and a time for family. More often than not it was hot, and now and then cold. The winds cut right through the walls. Sleep did not come many nights but each morning broke with hope in the air.

    “We’re going to camp.” Those words carry the weight of well over 200 years. People carry on the tradition, living in a rustic religious way for a week once a year. They don’t need plumbing, televisions or air conditioning. Just give them that old time religion. It’s good enough for them. Go see for yourself.

     If You Go …

     • Highway 182 in the Ridgeville vicinity. For more information and photos visit www.nationalregister.sc.gov/dorchester/S10817718003/

    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.

  • S.C. Commerce Head Speaks to Chamber

    S.C. Commerce Secretary Robert Hitt, second from left, spoke at the Blythewood Chamber breakfast meeting Tuesday. Shown with him are Mayor J. Michael Ross, left, Chamber Chairman Mike Switzer and Richland County Director of Economic Development Nelson Lindsey. (Photo/Barbara Ball)

    BLYTHEWOOD – A large crowd of Blythewood Chamber of Commerce members and their guests attended the Chamber’s regular monthly breakfast meeting Tuesday to hear Robert Hitt, Director of the S.C. Department of Commerce, talk about economic development in the state. He also touched on Fairfield County and Blythewood.

    Hitt told the group his department is focused on bringing jobs to all areas of South Carolina and upgrading its workforce from what was necessary for textile manufacturing jobs to what is now necessary for complex manufacturing jobs.

    “We’re working in a unified fashion to do this,” Hitt said. “South Carolina is now the leading manufacturing state in the Southeast and we’re about to become the tire manufacturing capital of the world.”

    Hitt said the state is also thriving in the aerospace arena with Boeing at the center of that growth.

    “You need to watch what’s going to happen in the next few months,” he said, adding that, “South Carolina is positioned to become an aerospace hub because of what is going on in North Carolina and Georgia in aerospace. I expect South Carolina to grow as much in aerospace in the next 20 years as it grew in automotive in the last 20 years.”

    Hitt told the group that he is particularly focused on rural areas for manufacturing growth, citing the potential for manufacturing growth in Blythewood.

    “There are some folks here in Blythewood who are taking inventory (buildings ready to move into) seriously,” he said. He pointed to a recently landed TV-manufacturing plant in Fairfield County that he said was well suited to a rural area like Fairfield. He said the company was looking for a building that they could quickly upfit and move into. “We looked everywhere in the state,” Hitt said. “There were only two suitable buildings in South Carolina and one of them was in Fairfield County. But we’re running out of old buildings suitable to be updated.

    “The keys to South Carolina’s future success,” Hitt said, “are logistics, an upgraded workforce and (building) inventory.”

    He said infrastructure has to be improved to be able to move supplies and products quickly from plants to markets, and that the state needs to graduate more IT students to fill an increasing number of jobs requiring computer engineers. He said Boeing will probably need 500-600 computer engineers in the next five to six years.

    But Hitt said two-year technical college degrees are not going to be enough going forward.

    “If you graduate from Midlands Tech with a two-year degree and go to work for Boeing, they will send you to an additional 23-week training program,” Hitt said. “New hires in these jobs are going to have to have at least a three-year degree.”

    The third need is for more building inventory ready to move into, like the building in Fairfield County. That building, he said, had been vacant for eight years. “They were looking for a building that was finished,” Hitt said. “Now we have only one left (in S.C.) like that.”

    Hitt emphasized that cities and counties are going to have to work better together if they want to accomplish these goals.

  • Style on Four Wheels

    Sam Edenfield, who organizes the annual car show at Fairfield County’s Rock Around the Clock festival, brings top classic cars to town such as ‘Root Beer Float,’ a 1953 custom Caddy that will be on display Friday and Saturday during the festival. (Photo/Barbara Ball)

    There are lots of things to see and do at the annual Rock Around the Clock festival in Fairfield County, but for many, the reason to turn their wheels toward Winnsboro this weekend is the annual RATC classic car show. And the main reason for the popularity of the show is Sam Edenfield.

    Edenfield has been the “go-to-guy” of the car show since the festival started about 15 years ago. In fact, while he was being interviewed for this column, he got a phone call from someone in another state wanting to know how to put on a car show. When it comes to car shows, Edenfield is known throughout the Southwest as “the man.” He doesn’t call up a car club. He calls up the top car owners and builders in the country.

    The Rock Around the Clock car show has become well-known because of Edenfield’s ability to attract these stellar car owners and builders. This year, he snagged Chris Ryan’s custom 1953 Cadillac convertible, ‘Root Beer Float’. The Caddy placed second in its class in the Ridler Award Show, the most prestigious car show in the Hot Rod and Custom car world. Ryan, based in Ninety Six, S.C., is the owner of Ryan’s Rod and Kustom. The Caddy will be featured later in the month on a two-hour special episode of Powerblock on SPIKE TV. This is a chance to see the car up close before that program airs on Oct. 19 and 20. It’s not unusual for Edenfield to reel in this level of prestigious custom cars.

    Over the years the show has become increasingly popular, drawing classic car enthusiasts from several states. Edenfield remembers when Rock Around the Clock started (then called Festival in the Park.)

    “We didn’t have enough space for people coming to the festival to park, let alone space to show off the cars,” Edenfield said. When the Town Clock became the main fixture of the festival, Edenfield suggested closing off Congress Street for the car show. That’s where it remains today.

    Edenfield works on the show all year long, spending hundreds of hours attending car shows across the South, finding out what’s out there on four wheels and inviting owners and builders to participate in the show.

    But Edenfield said he has a long list of people in the community who make the show successful – “my kinfolk and friends – I couldn’t do it without them,” Edenfield said.

    He also gets a lot of support from local businesses that contribute items for “goody bags” that Edenfield distributes as prizes.

    This year, Edenfield’s efforts have pulled in cars from Georgia, West Virginia, Virginia, Tennessee, South Carolina and elsewhere for festival goers to ooh and ahh over.

    Edenfield said he loves his ‘job’ managing the car show at Rock Around the Clock.

    “I can talk cars better than I can talk anything else,” Edenfield said with a smile. And you’ll know why when you see the parade of top custom cars cruising down Congress Street during the Rock Around the Clock parade Friday evening. They will also be on display all day Saturday.

    “Bring your cameras and snap some pictures,” Edenfield said. “And the car owners welcome questions and comments about their cars. That’s what they came for.”

    Make plans to attend Rock Around the Clock this weekend and take a spin around the car show. You’ll see some classic examples of style on four wheels.

  • The Upstate Renaissance

    Mmmm . . . Beer! Made in Spartanburg. Drive up and have a pint. (Photo/Tom Poland)

    Make the 90-mile journey to West Main Street in Spartanburg and you’ll find an engaging art collection, a savory restaurant, unique bookstore and exceptional microbrewery.

    A tree-lined thoroughfare spirits you into the city’s downtown district. Parking is free. And the aforementioned attractions line the same side of the street. Here’s a great opportunity to appreciate the Johnson Collection at 154 West Main. Lynne Blackman, Public Relations coordinator, describes the gallery as “a presence, not a place.” The collection consists of more than 1,000 pieces. “The collection is all fine art of the American South,” said Blackman. You can see the work of native southerners, itinerant artists, Charleston Renaissance artists and others here. “Looking back, it was always the sense of place that drew George and me to beautiful pictures — pictures that capture not only the glorious landscape of the South, but that also enliven its unique culture and dynamic history,” said Susu Johnson. TJC, as it’s known, focuses on African-American and female artists.

    At 186 West Main you’ll find the Hub City Bookshop, a revolutionary independent bookstore. Each book purchased nourishes new writers and helps launch authors into the literary world. The store shares the ground floor of the landmark Masonic Temple with Little River Coffee Bar and Cakehead Bakeshop. Executive Director Betsy Teter oversees this vital literary center. She considers the store “an indie store for serious readers,” specializing in literary fiction and nonfiction. The shop does not carry romance, how-to, or travel, but along with Hub City Press titles, stocks a sampling of everything else, including children’s/YA, sports, humor, poetry, mystery, food and sci-fi. It also has sections for used books and “the best of independent presses.”

    Enjoy lunch at 226 B West Main Street. That’s where Cribbs Kitchen serves up great burgers, salads, wraps, pesto crusted trout and more. Appetizers include tempura shrimp skewers, pork and collard green egg rolls, and buttermilk fried calamari. The Classic Burger is as good as you’ll get. The menu has entrees sure to please all.

    At 226 A West Main Street you’ll smell the sweet fragrance of beer brewing. Solar-powered R.J. Rockers Brewing Company became Spartanburg’s first brewery in 1997. Owner and brewer Mark Johnsen set out on a mission to provide the Upstate with the best micro-brewed beer people ever tasted. Following his service in the 1991 Gulf War, Mark was stationed in Germany, where he learned as much as possible about brewing from the experts. The good folks at R.J. Rockers believe their beer makes the world a better place. They invite people to the brewery Thursdays and Fridays from 5 to 7 p.m. and Saturdays from noon to 4 p.m. Join them for a pint.

    Stroll Spartanburg’s West Main and you can satisfy your soul’s craving for art and good books and good food and beer. Just a 90-mile drive and well worth it.

    If You Go …

    • The Johnson Collection, 154 West Main, Tuesdays and Thursdays, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Always open third Thursdays from 5 to 9 p.m. for Spartanburg’s Art Walk. No fee. www.thejohnsoncollection.org/tjc-gallery

     • Hub City Bookshop 864-577-9349, www.hubcity.org/bookshop/about/

     • Cribbs Kitchen, 864-699-9669: Closed Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., Tuesday through Sunday from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. www.cribbsonmain.com

     • R.J. Rockers, 864-585-BEER (2337), www.rjrockers.com

    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.

  • A Bridge Not Too Far

    Campbell’s Covered Bridge in Landrum: vintage Americana.

    I never saw an authentic covered bridge until Clint Eastwood directed and starred with Meryl Streep in “The Bridges of Madison County.” Genuine covered bridges in these parts are as rare as hens’ teeth. Several years ago, though, I came across the real deal: a covered bridge up in northern Greenville. It was late afternoon when sunlight comes in so low everything is gold and lustrous, and driving into it is hard. A bit blinded as I rounded a curve, I got a treat as my eyes adjusted — Campbell’s Covered Bridge.

    You can see it too. Just make a two-hour, 112-mile drive to Landrum. You’ll find the covered bridge near the small town of Gowensville. It’s South Carolina’s last remaining covered bridge and it crosses Beaverdam Creek. Greenville County owns the bridge and closed it to traffic in the early 1980s. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places on July 1, 2009. Major renovations have kept the bridge in good shape.

    In 1909, Charles Irwin Willis built the 38-foot long, 12-foot wide pine structure. The bridge was named for Lafayette Campbell, who at the time of the bridge’s construction owned 194 acres in the immediate area. Campbell owned a nearby gristmill and he let his property to be used for the bridge’s construction. Willis was no dummy. He knew area farmers could better bring their corn to his mill across the creek.

    The Greenville County Recreation District has transformed the surrounding acreage into a park where visitors can picnic, explore the foundations of the old gristmill and home site, wet their feet in Beaverdam Creek and learn about the area through interpretive signage.

    I loved the old bridge. I got out and walked inside the bridge, struck by its narrow width, just right for horse-drawn buggies. Through cracks in the wooden flooring, I saw and heard Beaverdam Creek running cold and swift over rocks below. Everything was peaceful, the air a bit chilled. I stayed there a while trying to envision the many years long ago when old cars and carts rolled through and no one gave a second thought to the bridge’s uniqueness. I’m sure it made for a nice spot for couples, once the busy day settled down, a “Bridges of Madison County” spot, so to speak, for lovers. I walked out from the bridge as darkness settled in, and just then a young couple drove up. They looked at me, a stranger, as if I didn’t belong there, and I didn’t.

    I was glad to see the old bridge still had allure, still had its pull on romantic souls. It will pull on yours too. It’s there. The bridge and surrounding area are quiet, peaceful and beautiful. Pack a picnic come fall when the leaves burst with color and visit this rare bit of Americana. Be sure you take photos of this rare covered bridge. Once you’re ready to move on you’re not far from SC Highway 11, the Cherokee Foothills Scenic Highway. Look for mountain vistas, handmade quilts, apples, apple jelly and honey for sale. Return home with great moments to remember.

     

    If You Go …

    • Campbell’s Covered Bridge

    171 Campbell Covered Bridge Road

    Landrum, S.C. 29356

    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.

  • A Real Homecoming

    A halftime ceremony during Friday night’s Blythewood High School football game will honor the athletes who attended Blythewood’s former Bethel High School, which closed after the 1970 school year. Show above are the members of the last Bethel Tiger football team. Front row: Bobby Cunningham (80), Dale Bell (21), Anthony Chavis (11), Larry Gilyard (51.) Second row: Olin Kelly (70), James Bright (33), James Cunningham (66), Timothy Blanding (22), Willie Belton (45) Lawrence Bolar (52), Ray Jacobs (30.) Third row: Ezell Wright (55), Larry Griffin (10), John Hagler (65), Larry Green (44), Alonzo Gilyard (63), Colzell Williams (62.) Top row: Doug Watts (82) and Franklin Fogle (79.)

    A special event will be held during halftime at Blythewood High School’s football game on Friday night. The school and Richland District 2 will honor the former athletes of Blythewood’s historic Bethel High School.

    It seems hard to believe now, but in the early 1950s and 1960s, school integration had not yet taken place and segregation was the order of the day. In Blythewood there was both a high school attended by white students, the original Blythewood High School, and a high school attended by black students, Bethel High School. Both schools had football teams, though they never played each other. Both schools were closed as high schools in the 1970s, and the students from both Bethel High School and Blythewood High School were integrated into Spring Valley High School as one unit.

    Now the District, as well as members of the Bethel-Hanberry Athletic Alumni Association (B-HAAS,) are seeking to honor those former athletes from Bethel High School.
    B-HAAS president Larry Griffin played on the Bethel High School football team in 1969 and 1970, and he was quarterback in 1970. But he graduated from the integrated Spring Valley High School. Griffin explained that the idea to honor Bethel High School came out of a movement last year to honor several closed historic schools — Bethel, Richtex, Lexington-Rosewald and Lakeview.

    “This is what you’d call a football legacy,” Griffin said. “Bethel was chosen as one of the four schools to be honored because we already had a viable and evolving athletic alumni association.”

    After Bethel High School was closed, it became a middle school, then a junior high and then Bethel-Hanberry Elementary School, which it still is today. The original Blythewood High School is now Blythewood Academy.

    Griffin has been working with his fellow B-HAAS members to locate former Bethel High School athletes. According to the B-HAAS flyer, the former athletes are invited to a pre-game tailgate Friday night from 4-7 p.m. sponsored by the Association. Bethel players will be introduced to the current Blythewood Bengals football team prior to the game and will accompany them onto the field for the pre-game warm-ups.

    This celebration is not a case of an old wound being healed, but of former players returning to their roots and showing their kids and grandkids where they came from, said Griffin.

    “The biggest thing I want to stress is that some of these guys haven’t been back (in the community), some have not been on the new BHS football field and some of these guys have never had any accolades since they left school,” he said.

    Part of the reason why the players haven’t receive the accolades they deserved was because a lot of the history of Bethel High School was lost in the transition to Spring Valley High School, and a lot of those former Bethel athletes lost touch with the community and the school that was no longer there. To them, it was a closed chapter of their lives. Griffin has worked diligently to find any and all school memorabilia, but many of the artifacts are missing and presumed thrown away.

    He has also been trying to get the word out to those Bethel athletes that are still around, he said.

    But the B-HAAS isn’t about just strolling down memory lane. The Association works to be a force for good in the Blythewood community in the here and now.

    Writes Griffin, “The Bethel-Hanberry Athletic Alumni Association has already been instrumental in providing financial assistance to both school and community. The group’s commitment toward securing the Bethel High School legacy is . . . demonstrated by their . . . annual scholarships to Richland District Two students.”

    “My hope for this weekend event is that the alumni of the school will come out to see their athletes honored,” Griffin said. “We are going to tour the former high school at noon on Friday – sort of a ‘whence you came’ thing, to where the school is right now. Then we’re going to visit Town Hall where there will be a proclamation by the Mayor. Then we’ll tour at the new high school, which is a ‘whence your kids and grandkids came’ thing.

    “About all the alumni athletes have remaining from their high school days, now, are their memories,” Griffin said. “B-HAAS plans to give them one more memory — that of standing together on the field at Blythewood Stadium as they are honored for the days when they were high school athletes.”

    Friday’s Schedule of Events for Bethel High School Athletes

    12 p.m. – Tour Bethel-Hanberry Elementary

    1 p.m. – Proclamation by Mayor at Town Hall

    2 p.m. – Presentation to Town at Doko Manor

    3 p.m. – Tour Blythewood High School

    4-7 p.m. – Tailgate at BHS Stadium

    7:30 p.m. – Game Time

    Halftime – Bethel High School Athletes honored

  • Board Paves the Way for Bank

    A rendering of the First Community Bank building that is proposed for construction in downtown Blythewood.

    BLYTHEWOOD – The Town’s Architectural Review Board voted on Monday evening for conditional approval for a Certificate of Appropriateness (COA) for a building the First Community Bank plans to construct at the corner of Blythewood Road and Main Street (Highway 21) in downtown Blythewood. B & D Auto Sales currently operates on the property. The final COA is subject to approval of a landscape plan by the Town’s landscape consultant, Rick McMackin.

    Michael Crapps, President and CEO of the bank said construction on the bank should begin in about a year and should be completed around the first of 2015. Crapps told members of the BAR that Community Bank started in 1995 with two offices in Lexington and Forest Acres and is the largest community bank in the Midlands. Community Bank currently has 11 branches in a four-county area.

    “We expand into the type of communities that value local businesses and that value input and participation by citizens,” Crapps told the Board. “Our goal is to enhance the prosperity of the communities that we’re involved in. We look forward to serving the businesses and individuals in Blythewood.”

    The Board members had only positive comments to make regarding the architecture of the building as presented by Architect Cling Burdette representing Jenkins, Hancock and Sides Architects who designed the building.

    The 3,000-square-foot building will sit close to the street with parking in the rear and side according to requirements of the Town’s Master Plan. However, the building will not have to meet the height requirements of a recently passed ordinance that would require all new buildings on specific corner lots in the Town to include a simulated second story. Perry said the bank building would be 3-feet short of that requirement.

    Perry explained the exception as an improvement but not the quantum leap forward that the Town’s ordinance called for. While he stood by the Town’s aggressive plan for new construction in certain areas of the downtown, Perry blamed the economy, saying it made this a difficult time to move forward with the plan.

    “It’s better to take a half step forward and achieve an acceptable compromise,” Perry said. It [the requirement] might not be worth it for the development not to happen at all.”