COLUMBIA — One person has been referred to their health care provider for consultation after being potentially exposed to rabies in an area of Pickens County between Six Mile [cointent_lockedcontent]and Pickens by a skunk that tested positive for the disease, the Department of Health and Environmental Control reported Monday.

The person was potentially exposed to rabies while handling the skunk’s carcass with bare hands on Oct. 28. The skunk tested positive for rabies on Oct. 30.

“The threat of rabies is still present after an animal is deceased,” said Sandra Craig of DHEC’s Bureau of Environmental Health Services. “Please keep this in mind and be extremely cautious if you find yourself in a situation where you have the potential to be exposed to the saliva or neural tissue (for example: brain or spinal cord) from an animal — dead or alive. Never handle a wild or stray animal, dead or alive, with your bare hands.”

According to Craig, once symptoms of rabies are present in an animal, it is impossible to tell by appearance if an animal has rabies or some other condition that causes similar signs of illness, such as distemper or lead poisoning. The only way to determine if the animal has rabies is to have the brain tested in a laboratory. Animal decapitation for testing, however, should only be performed by a professional. Professionals are trained to utilize the proper personal protective equipment, such as face shields and gloves.

“About 275 South Carolinians must undergo preventive treatment for rabies every year, with most, but not all, exposures coming from bites or scratches by a rabid or suspected rabid animal,” Craig said. “The virus is known to be transmitted from mammal to mammal through exposure to saliva or neural tissue. To reduce the risk of getting rabies, we recommend that people avoid wild animals acting tame and tame animals acting wild. Please play it safe and give animals, particularly wild and stray animals, their space.”

The best way to protect your pet and your family from the disease is to keep your pets up-to-date on their vaccinations.

During 2014, there were 139 confirmed cases of animal rabies in South Carolina. Statewide this year, there have been 111 laboratory-confirmed cases of rabies in animals. The skunk from Pickens County is the tenth animal from that county to test positive in 2015. There were eight that tested positive in Pickens County last year.

For additional information on rabies, visit http://www.scdhec.gov/rabies, or contact your local DHEC BEHS office at http://www.scdhec.gov/HomeAndEnvironment/DHECLocations/. CDC’s rabies webpages can be found at http://www.cdc.gov/rabies.

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By Ben Robinson
Staff Reporter

brobinson@thepccourier.com

PICKENS — The city of Pickens passed a resolution Monday night establishing a joint committee with the city of Easley for the Doodle Trail.

[cointent_lockedcontent]Mayor David Owens had little to say about the committee, except that councilmen Patrick Lark and Carlton Holley would represent Pickens City Council on the committee.

“But I don’t have the other names yet,” Owens said. “It was going to be the mayor and one council member, but we decided to go with two. (Easley mayor Larry Bagwell) is going to do two. I haven’t talked to anybody about being on the committee.

“Bagwell, he’s probably already got his people. Also, it’s rotating, and one council member and one citizen will be a one-year term starting probably this month. Then each council member and citizen will serve a two-year term. We’ll have them rotating. That way everybody will have a chance if they want to be on it.”

Holley reported on a problem for the city’s recreation program.

“On a sad note, everybody knows that we use the Pumpkintown Festival as a fundraiser to help kids who can’t afford to play,” Holley said. “But because of all the rain, Pumpkintown was canceled early this year, so we need to come up with another fundraiser.”

The city’s Trick or Treat on Main event was a success despite poor weather.

“It was a great success,” reported new Pickens police chief Travis Riggs, who was sworn in at the meeting. “We had the kids lined up, and I can’t tell you how many were in the line, but we were able to get them all through. We still could use more booths. We had about the same as last year, but I’d like to see a few more businesses with booths.”

Holley said a friend who was present estimated 2,000 children attended the event.

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By Greg Oliver
Courtesy The Journal

goliver@upstatetoday.com

EASLEY — A 22-year-old Easley man is dead after he was struck by a vehicle early Saturday morning on S.C. Highway 8.

The accident remains under investigation by the South Carolina Highway Patrol.

Pickens County deputy coroner Gary Duncan said Anthony Lemont Bowser, of Bowen Road, was lying in the eastbound lane at the time of the accident. Duncan added Bowser was pronounced dead at the scene at 2:15 a.m. and transported to Greenville Memorial Hospital for an autopsy.

South Carolina Highway Patrol Lance Cpl. Tony Keller said the accident occurred at 1:45 a.m. four miles north of Easley, when a 1998 Jeep struck the pedestrian.

Keller said the driver of the Jeep and two passengers were all wearing seatbelts, sustained no injuries, were not ejected from the vehicle and experienced no entrapment.

The accident remains under investigation by the South Carolina Highway Patrol.

In addition to Bowser, the South Carolina Department of Public Safety reported last week that 90 pedestrians had died on state highways through Oct. 25, compared to 83 during the same period a year ago.

PICKENS — On Monday, Nov. 16, from 10 a.m.-2:30 p.m., Audrey Medrick will lead a holiday wreath make and take workshop in the Granger Fiber Room at the Pickens Community Center at 129 School House St. in Pickens.

The hands-on workshop will be an opportunity for participants to make and decorate their own wreath.

Wreaths have been a symbol of victory and celebration since the early days of Ancient Greece and Rome. During the original Olympic Games, laurel wreaths were presented as crowns to the victorious athletes. Continuing this tradition, the medals placed around the necks of the most outstanding athletes in each competition of current Olympic games are emblazoned with a celebratory wreath.

Dating back to the Persian Empire, many religious groups have included wreaths as symbols when celebrating special holidays or seasons. Today, holiday wreaths are used to decorate homes, community streets, and businesses, particularly at Christmas time. Christians see the circle and the sphere of the wreath as symbols of immortality. Modern decorations use a wide variety of colors and design, but the traditional colors for Christmas are green and red. The green represents the continuance of life through the winter and the Christian belief in eternal life. Red symbolizes the blood Christ shed at his crucifixion.

Today, wreaths are not only used to celebrate athlete victory and religious ceremonies; they are also used as decorations throughout the year. Wreaths may be made by twisting or bending evergreen branches or artificial material into circles, ovals, or swags then decorated with fruit, plants, toys or other objects the creator wishes to use to carry out a celebration theme.

To participate in the workshop, participants will need to bring needed supplies. These include a wreath form (wire, grape vine or Christmas wreath to be decorated, etc.), hot glue gun and glue sticks, wire-cutters, scissors, wire or pipe cleaners (for attaching items to wreath), roll of nylon or burlap 21-inch mesh, ribbons and decorative items of choice. These items may be bought at Wal-Mart, Sam’s, Hobby Lobby, Michael’s, etc.

The workshop will be limited to the first 10 pre-registered participants due to limited work space. Additional people who pre-register will be placed on a waiting list should there be a cancellation.

Those interested may stop by the Granger Fiber Room from 9-11:30 a.m. any Monday through Thursday prior to the workshop to view four wreaths which are on display. They may pre-register at that time or by contacting Lucy Harward at (864) 419-1794 or by email at daleandlucy@gmail.com.

Below is a list of the regular weekly activities at the in the Granger Fiber Room of the Pickens Community Center. The room is open from 9-11:30 a.m. Mondays through Thursdays and at other times by appointment.

On Monday from 10-11:30 a.m. is cathedral window quilts with Jacquie. Tuesdays from 10-11:30 a.m. feature yo-yos with Irene and prayer shawls and cancer caps with Sharon (in the library).

On Wednesdays, two activities are available. From 9 a.m.-3:30 p.m. is weaving with Pat in the Heritage Room and from 10-11:30 a.m. will be knit-around with Tally.

On Thursdays, there is quilting with Sara from 10-11:30 a.m. and rug hooking with Cheryl from 1:30-3:30 p.m.

The Pickens High School marching band went up against the top 13 bands in the State AAA Marching Band Competition at Batesburg-Leesville High School on Saturday, [cointent_lockedcontent] and the band, under the direction of Chaz Paxton, placed third and received the program’s first bronze medal and the highest finish in the program’s history. This season due to inclement weather only allowed the band one competition before they went to AAA Upper State, where they finished an impressive second place out of 20 bands.[/cointent_lockedcontent]

UPSTATE — Former Pickens High School art teacher Debbie R. Cooke will be recognized as this year’s “Honored Educator of the Year” at the Society for Photographic Education Southeast Regional Conference,

Debbie R. Cooke

being held at the Fine Arts Center in Greenville.

The Honored Educator is awarded to a recipient who has made a significant contribution to the field of photographic education through classroom teaching, writing, publishing, museum education or other areas of professional practice in the field of photography.

Cooke grew up in Florence, where she visited a museum on Spruce Street as a child, and from there sparked an interest in photography that blossomed into a passion for art. After she graduated from McClenaghan High School, she went on to receive her undergraduate degree from Winthrop University in 1973 and her M.F.A. from Clemson University in 1989.

She taught art at Pickens High School for more than 20 years, and in 1993 she was named Teacher of the Year by the School District of Pickens County. Cooke also served as a former consultant for the Polaroid Education Program and as an Artist in Residence with the University of Georgia’s International Studies Program in Cortona, Italy, and as Co-Chair of the Visual Arts department for the South Carolina Governor’s School for the Arts and Humanities Summer Program. She taught photography at the Fine Arts Center in Greenville before retiring in 2011.

Cooke received awards and grants from The National Endowment for the Humanities, The Robert Rauschenberg Foundation, The South Carolina Arts Commission, The South Carolina State Department of Education, and the South Carolina Art Education Association. She was selected to be a fellow for The Fulbright Memorial Fund in Tokyo, and her artwork has been featured in magazines and publications and showcased in local, state and regional art shows.

The Sheffield Wood Gallery of the Fine Arts Center in Greenville plans to host an exhibit, “Debbie R. Cooke: A Retrospective” to honor her art until Nov. 21. It will feature a selection of her work from the 1990s through 2013. The first series includes works produced using the “Polacollage” technique. These provocative images produced from 1992-2001 combine past art historical images and ideals with present values and icons. Cooke’s next series of work, the installation Shams of Comfort (2004), was a reaction to the Iraq war and a statement about American values and our consumer culture. The most recent work from 2013 explores the evolution of culture regarding food and the development of agribusiness, which was inspired by her involvement with the Slo Foods Movement.

Cooke was more than just a resident of Pickens County, and though she received many awards, she will be remembered for her ability to make a lasting impression on countless people throughout her 50-year career as an artist and an educator, all which stemmed from a passion for art that began on Spruce Street, in Florence.

For further information about the exhibition or the Fine Arts Center’s Permanent Collection, contact gallery coordinator Kimberly Clark at kdclark@greenville.k12.sc.us or leave a message with the front office at (864) 355-2550.