AdvertiseHereH

Daily Archives: 08/09/2016

Doodle Trail extension gets early OK

Move would take trail

into downtown Easley

By Jason Evans
Staff Reporter

jevans@thepccourier.com

EASLEY — Easley officials have always wanted to extend the Doodle Trail to the city’s downtown — a goal shared by downtown business owners.

One of the biggest obstacles in the way of that goal is figuring out how to get walkers and riders across the railroad tracks safely.

Monday night, council members heard about — and gave preliminary approval to — an option that avoids crossing the railroad altogether by funneling walkers down Wilbur Street.

Blake Sanders of Alta Planning and Design gave the presentation.

“How do I get people into downtown the safest way possible?” he asked. “How do you cross the railroad tracks (and) do that in a safe fashion? This is one of the only ways to not have to cross the railroad tracks to be into downtown.”

A number of options were considered and rejected, Sanders said. Fleetwood Drive is too steep to be used as an option. Building a bridge over the tracks appears cost-prohibitive.

A crosswalk has already been approved by DOT, and Doodle Park is already out for bid, Sanders said.

“We know those two things are a given,” he said. “So we know we have to build off of those two.”

The solution would see 1,600 of asphalt greenway coming off of Doodle Park, following the rail line, dipping behind Booker T Circle to Wilbur Street.

“Currently it’s a two-way street,” Sanders said. “The solution is to convert that to a one-way street so you’ll have the remaining width of asphalt for bicycle-pedestrian travel only.”

Pylons would separate walkers and riders from the one-way traffic. The portion of the street adjacent to the railroad tracks would get the same split-railing fencing that runs along the trail.

Councilman Kent Dykes asked if Wilbur Street residents had been asked their opinion of the proposed solution.

Councilman Chris Mann said one resident had been at a recent committee meeting.

“He can only speak for one person, but he said he liked the idea, that it would be a safer road, that it would slow down traffic,” Mann said.

City administrator Stephen Steese said after acquiring properties on the street, the city is actually the majority landholder.

“I’d like to believe, if I had an owner-occupied home on that street and I was told it would go one direction, cut the amount of traffic that’s traveling down, it would please me, especially if I had kids,” Steese said.

The trail would lead through West View Cemetery to the Easley Law Enforcement Center, Sanders said.

“Downtown would be a trailhead, not one specific location,” he said.

The Doodle Trail through the cemetery would be closed during funerals, Mann said. Funeral directors would continue to be responsible for opening and closing the gates during services.

“Funerals would take precedence,” Mann said.

The existing sidewalk in front of the LEC would be widened to accommodate walkers and bicyclists.

The creation of Doodle Park on Fleetwood Drive could easily lead to more development in the area, including “pocket parks” and affordable housing, Sanders said.

“Creating a sense of community in these individual pockets of development,” he said.

Before council signs off on the plan, a public input meeting will be held to garner opinions on turning Wilbur Street into a one-way street.

“We’re ready to go through a public input process,” Sanders said.

If the project is approved, Sanders estimates it could be completed in three months.

The project is estimated to cost $400,000 and will be funded from a $1.5 million bond issue.

Sanders anticipates funds will be left over for additional projects. Part of a larger three-to-five-year plan would be figuring out a way to extend the trail out of downtown, ideally connecting to the Brushy Creek Greenway.

 

Six Mile man killed in collision Monday

By Jason Evans
Staff Reporter

jevans@thepccourier.com

SIX MILE — A Six Mile man was killed in a single-car accident near his home Monday night.

Pickens County coroner Kandy Kelley identified the victim as Jan Zwolinski, 62, of Gap Hill Road.

The accident occurred at 7 p.m. Monday on Gap Hill Road near Walhalla Highway, three miles south of Pickens, according to Lance Cpl. Gary Miller with the South Carolina Highway Patrol.

Zwolinski was traveling east on Gap Hill Road in a 2001 Lexus SUV when the vehicle went off the left side of the roadway and struck a utility pole before overturning, Miller said.

There were no passengers in the vehicle and no other vehicles involved, Miller said.

Miller said Zwolinski was entrapped in the SUV while Kelley said he was pronounced dead at the scene of blunt-force trauma.

Zwolinski was wearing a seatbelt, Kelley said.

The South Carolina Highway Patrol is still investigating the accident.

 

back on the gridiron –

Local teams prep for season

COUNTY — After local teams kicked off preseason high school football action last week, the fun will continue this week as jamborees are planned at both Easley and Daniel.

The Easley High School Football Jamboree, which is the longest running jamboree in the state of South Carolina, will be held on Thursday at Green Wave Stadium.

The event will kick off with Carolina taking on Liberty at 6 p.m., followed by Southside playing Clover at 7:15 p.m. and the host Green Wave battling powerhouse Dorman at 8:30 p.m. in the nightcap.

Daniel will host its annual Daniel Day Jamboree at Singleton Field in Central on Thursday. The jamboree will start at 6 p.m., with Greenville battling West-Oak for a half. Pickens will face Greer starting at 7 p.m, and Daniel will take on J.L. Mann at 8 p.m. to round out the action.

The regular season will get underway for all four Pickens County high schools next Friday night. Check back next week for the Courier’s annual Football Frenzy season preview edition.

 

School board races taking shape

By Jason Evans
Staff Reporter

jevans@thepccourier.com

COUNTY — Races for November’s school board elections are shaping up.

This year, seats in District 1, District 3 and District 5 are up for re-election.

Filing opened Aug. 1 and will close at noon on Aug. 15. School board elections are non-partisan.

The only race with a surefire showdown at the polls is District 3, as Shannon Haskett has filed for the seat, while incumbent Alex Saitta has said he plans to run again, although he had not filed by press time Tuesday.

Betty Bagley has filed to run for the District 1 seat long occupied by Dr. Herb Cooper, who passed away last week after a lengthy battle with cancer.

Betty Garrison has filed for the District 5 seat currently held by Judy Edwards, who does not plan to run again.

Those wishing to run for school board may file at the Board of Voter Registration and Elections of Pickens County, located at 222 McDaniel Ave. in Pickens.

At the time of filing, each candidate must complete a Statement of Candidacy Form and pay the filing fee. The filing fee for school board races is $120. Checks must be made payable to the Pickens County Treasurer.

The Statement of Candidacy form can be found at the county elections office website, pickenselections.org.

Candidates are also required to file a Statement of Economic Interests and a Campaign Disclosure online with the State Ethics Commission at http://ethics.sc.gov. However, candidates are no longer required to present a copy of this to their local voter registrations and elections office when they file for office.

Failure to file the State Ethics Commission documents may result in a fine to the candidate but will not disqualify them from the election. Contact the State Ethics Commission for more information.

 

Community comes together for prayer breakfast in honor of first responders

Courtesy photo

More than 100 people showed up at a prayer breakfast for local first responders last week at Café Connections in Pickens.

PICKENS — The morning began bright and early, with the smell of hash brown casserole and sausage biscuits wafting through the Café Connections, but this was no regular morning at the café.

About 50 Pickens County first responders attended an appreciation breakfast hosted by the café last Thursday, Aug. 4, and funded entirely through public donations.

“In light of all the tragedies in Dallas and Baton Rouge, we at the café wanted to do something to honor those in law enforcement, as well as the fire department and EMS,” owner Ann Corbin said. “Goodness knows that if anyone needs to be encouraged these days, it is those who lay their lives on the line for us day in and day out.”

While enjoying breakfast, each first responder received a pocket token, with “act justly, love mercy, walk humbly” inscribed, taken from Micah 6:8.

“We hope this gift will serve as a reminder to our first responders that we appreciate and support them and that God is with them,” Corbin said.

The breakfast for first responders ran from 7:30-8:30 a.m., then the café opened for the public to come together to pray for first responders, the community and the nation.

“We were so thrilled that so many of our local heroes took the time to join us for breakfast, but the real thrill was the over 100 folks who showed up at 8:30 a.m. to pray over our first responders,” Corbin said. “I was speechless seeing the sea of people flooding into the café solely to pray.”

In addition to advertising the event on social media, flyers and an ad in the Pickens Courier, all elected officials received an email invitation.

Rep. Davey Hiott was among the elected officials who attended.

“I believe that showing support for the law enforcement officials, firefighters and first responders and thanking them for what they do is extremely important, Hiott said. “They put their lives on the line every time they respond to a call, and we should always keep them in our thoughts and prayers. They do it because they love their jobs and want to make sure we are safe citizens.”

The prayer rally began just after 8:30 a.m., with Corbin telling a little about the café and its purpose.

“Café Connections is a hospitality ministry to Pickens, offering free coffee and baked goods in a calming atmosphere,” she told those in attendance. “Café Connections is entirely funded by donations and is truly a place for the community of Pickens by the people of Pickens. The café welcomes everyone, from politicians to the homeless. We are all about showing the love of Jesus Christ to everyone who comes in.”

Co-owner Steve Corbin then shared posters that were created with hundreds of signatures, many with personal notes expressing gratitude for each of Pickens County’s four first responder departments — sheriff’s office, police, fire and EMS.

Kathleen Campbell, a volunteer prayer partner of Café Connections shared a passage of scripture, Matthew 26:41, “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

“You know, this is the last instruction that Jesus gave to His disciples before He went to the cross — a word of instruction that is as important today as it was 2,000 years ago,” she said. “What is outstanding to me is that Jesus gave this instruction to his disciples, his friends, as a result of their inability to stay awake. The flesh will tell us every time that prayer doesn’t matter, that we are too busy. Apathy and busyness is a form of ‘staying asleep.’ I pray that this prayer rally will help us remember that we are invited every day to partner with God to change our world. If we do what we can do, ‘watch’ meaning ‘be alert, be active,’ and we ask God to do what He can do through prayer, we will see amazing things happen in our families, in our communities and in our nation.”

Campbell then gave the invitation for those citizens who were comfortable to “lay hands,” asking God’s power to fall on the first responders.

“And that is when the floodwalls broke,” attendee Luke Campbell said. “It was like, Katie bar the door. People were scurrying everywhere to bless and connect with our law enforcement, fire and EMS. It was so obvious that the public wanted to stand in the gap for these first responders and their families. It was amazing.”

Then, as Kathleen Campbell led in prayer, the voices of others praying for one another overtook the room.

“I watched as friends and strangers laid hands on these men and women who serve us selflessly on a daily basis,” Ann Corbin said. “They prayed for them, their marriages and families, the community and county of Pickens and then they prayed for their spiritual relationship with their heavenly Father. I saw tears fall, law enforcement officers embracing their children and their wives and I saw a community brought together through prayer. I was overwhelmed with emotion.”

The prayer portion of the event lasted just more than 20 minutes, respecting the schedules of those headed to work, but it seemed that no one was really in a hurry to leave.

“It was almost surreal, watching police officers kneeling down shaking hands with little children, families getting pictures with firefighters (and) elected officials, our representatives, visiting with the public,” Campbell said. “It was like the perfect picture of community.”

Wes Hendricks, who was recently elected to Pickens County Council in the Republican primary, thanked the café for hosting the prayer breakfast.

“The jobs our first responders do aren’t easy,” he said. “They need God’s protective hand. The prayer breakfast was well organized and attended. Also, I am thankful our citizens of Pickens County respect our first responders.”

With the excitement for the event and a desire to show committed support for local police, fire, sheriff’s deputies and EMS, someone in attendance mentioned that the first week of every August should be proclaimed as Pickens County First Responder Prayer and Appreciation Week.

When asked if there was such a day, Hiott said, “Pickens does not have a day set aside for this but hopefully this event will be the beginning.”

 

Shannon Haskett seeks District 3 Pickens County School Board seat

Pickens — Pickens-area businessman and community leader Shannon Haskett has filed to run for the District 3 seat on the Pickens County Board of Education. Haskett is a lifelong resident of Pickens County and a 1990 graduate of Pickens High School. He is married to Maria Baldwin Haskett, a graduate of Liberty High School and Erskine College.

He graduated from The Citadel in 1994 with a degree in mathematics, and today he is the father of two and an involved parent and member of the Parent Teacher Association at Ambler Elementary school. His daughter is a rising third grader at Ambler and his son will attend Pickens Middle School as a sixth grader this coming school year. He and his family attend East Pickens Baptist Church.

8-10 Page 2A.inddHaskett is sales manager of Graceland Portable Buildings. In his work life and his personal life, he is proud to have earned a reputation for being a team player and a bridge builder.

“I plan to devote my time and talents to work on behalf of the people of Pickens,” said Haskett. “There is an opportunity for the District 3 school board member to truly collaborate with our appointed and elected officials throughout Pickens County so that working together, we can make the School District of Pickens County the most financially stable and educationally advanced school district in South Carolina.”

Haskett’s five-point plan for schools is:

People before politics: Putting children first starts with individual accountability, not government intervention.

Fiscal responsibility: Long-term budgeting is good practice in our school district, just as it is in our personal and professional lives.

Private/Public Partnerships: Industry and non-profits can provide additional education dollars to offset our property tax burden, while supporting technology in our classrooms.

Investing in students: Keeping class sizes small while recruiting and retaining the best and brightest teachers will net the biggest returns on our educational investments.

Transparency in government: We should employ technology to make school board deliberations more widely available to the public.

When the School District of Pickens County was faced with closing several of Pickens-area schools this past spring, Haskett served as chairman of a committee of stakeholders concerned about closing valued community schools.

“I invested time and energy to understand the issues facing our school district and then I worked on behalf of our teachers and parents on ways to invest in our schools while reducing our property tax burden on businesses and homeowners,” Haskett said. “There is now an opportunity to work on solutions like these and others in a more formal capacity with the benefit of longer-term planning as a member of the school board. So at the urging of friends, family, and members of the education and business community in Pickens, I am seeking the District 3 seat.”

To learn more about Haskett, visit ShannonHaskett.com or facebook.com/Shannon4Schools.

 

Betty Garrison to run for District 5 seat on Pickens County School Board

Pickens — Retired Easley High School principal Betty Garrison has filed for the District 5 seat on the Pickens County Board of Education after announcing her plans to run last month.

Current District 5 Trustee Judy Edwards has decided not to seek re-election.

“A retired educator and tireless public servant, Edwards has served our community with integrity, and I am grateful for the work she has done,” Garrison said. “I share that experience of serving as an educator to our young people, and I believe it has prepared me to contribute and lead at the school board level.”

Garrison is a lifelong educator and longtime resident of Easley. She received her undergraduate degree from Mississippi College and she has two masters degrees: a masters of education from Clemson University and an M.A. in secondary school administration from Furman. She also attended the South Carolina School Leadership Executive Institute.

8-10 Page 2A.inddGarrison is active in many civic- and service-oriented organizations. She attends Easley First Baptist where she currently serves on the Stewardship Committee. She also serves on the Pickens County Foster Care Review Board, an appointment that ends in 2018. She is active as a Juvenile Arbitrator with the 13th Judicial Circuit, she sits on the Baptist Easley Hospital Foundation Board, and is active in the Rotary Club of Easley (she is past president) and the United Way of Pickens County Women’s Leadership Council.

Garrison is married to Jim, a graduate of Easley High School and a retired Carpentry Instructor at Pickens County Career and Technology Center. Her sons Brad and Brian (married to Crystal) are also graduates of Easley High, and she and Jim have two grandsons.

“The School District of Pickens County has quality facilities, outstanding teachers and administrators, and high-achieving students,” Garrison said. “But there is work to be done to improve the image of the School District of Pickens County so that its reputation is consistent with our high-caliber educators and offerings.”

Garrison’s education career began as a home economics teacher at Easley High School in 1976, and since then, she has worked in many classroom and administrative roles, including as a guidance counselor, curriculum assistant, assistant principal, and finally as principal of Easley High from 2002-09. She has also worked as a GED instructor at the SDPC Adult Learning Center.

“I have sought the prayers, wisdom, and advice of family and friends regarding the decision to run for the District 5 seat on the Board of Trustees for the School District of Pickens County,” Garrison said. “There are so many reasons to serve our school district, approximately 18,560 — the 16,560 students and 2,000 employees.”

 

Betty Bagley to run for District 1 Pickens County School Board seat

Pickens — Retired Anderson District 5 Superintendent Betty Bagley filed to run for the District 1 seat on the School District of Pickens County’s Board of Trustees.

Bagley, who retired from District 5 in 2013,hasan extensive professional background in education, and she looks forward to the opportunity to use that experience and enthusiasm to move Pickens County ahead in all aspects of learning and professional advancement. She is a staunch advocate of Transform SC, having served as a field director for the program that promotes “world-class knowledge” and “world-class skills” for all children in South Carolina. The program supports rigorous standards in language, math, and STEM as well as the arts and social sciences and it champions efforts to incorporate innovation, critical thinking skills, collaboration,and access to cutting-edge media, technology, and communication platforms into every public school classroom.

“Throughout my career, I have always paid very close attention to what surrounding school districts were doing—I’ve observed their challenges and successes. Pickens County has so many opportunities, but it’s been 8-10 Page 2A.inddunable to seize them,” Bagley said. “I look forward to working with our elected and appointed officials so that we can make public education in Pickens County the most progressive, outstanding education in South Carolina.”

Bagley now works for the South Carolina State Department of Education as a personalized learning consultant, and she is an adjunct professor at Anderson University. She and her husband, longtime Clemson athletics statistician Sack Bagley, live in the Patrick Square community. Bagley grew up in the small town of Norris, where she attended Norris Elementary and eventually graduated from Liberty High School.

Bagley is currently a PhD candidate in educational leadership at Clemson University, and she holds numerous degrees including her B.A. from Southern Wesleyan in Central, a master’s of education from Clemson University and two education-related degrees from The Citadel.

Bagley’s notable appointments include the Performance, Accountability and Standards for Schools (PASS) Commission by Governor Beasley (1997) and the First Steps Readiness Board by Governor Hodges (1999). She was appointed by two state superintendents of education to serve on the Palmetto Unified School District Board of Trustees and she currently serves as Governor Nikki Haley’s appointment to the South Carolina Public Charter School Board.

She was the recipient of the William B. Harley Lifetime Achievement Award, presented by the South Carolina Association of School Administrators and the R.L. Bryan Co. to education leaders as exemplars of education leadership.

Bagley serves on multiple task forces and nonprofits boards around the state.

 

Worth 1,000 words

8-10 Page 2A.inddJudy Aiken Young is an artist. She has never taken any art lessons. She did not need to. She has an extraordinary talent to paint.

She began to draw and paint at a very early age. She said she remembers when she was just about 4 years old, she used her crayons and drew on one of the walls of her parents’ house. Even though she was punished for that, it did not stop her desire to create paintings.

She smiled and said, “That was my first mural.”

Her artistic career has been a lifetime experience that she has thoroughly enjoyed.

Judy was born June 9, 1950, at Greenville Memorial Hospital. She grew up in Easley in the Woodside Mill Village. She attended West End Elementary School and graduated from Easley High School in 1968.

She and her husband, David, have been married for 39 years. They have three sons, four grandsons and three granddaughters.

One of Judy’s first jobs in Easley was at Swirl Incorporated. She was manager of the print shop. She said that it was while she worked there that she first used her artistic talent professionally.

She worked as a bookkeeper at Young’s Incorporated, a television and appliance store in Easley owned by her brother-in-law, Joe Young. After she left there, she worked at Easley Housing Authority as an administer assistant.

Judy’s paintings have been on display and for sale at the Greenville Textile Heritage Festival. She has painted murals on the walls at Baptist Easley Hospital, Palmetto Health Columbia, Piedmont Baptist Association and Buck’s Restaurant in Easley, which is now the Smoking Pig.

At Safe Federal Credit Union, which is in Sumter, she painted murals on the lobby walls, from ceiling to the floor, with faux windows containing scenes of local landmarks.

Her last public place of employment was at Palmetto Medical Research, located on South B Street in Easley. She was an administrative assistant there. While employed there, she painted murals on the lobby walls.

Judy said all her life she had called herself an artist on the side, but now she is a full-time working artist. However, she does not paint murals anymore. She now has a studio in the backyard of her home. She thoroughly enjoys spending countless hours there painting.

Her style is folk art, and she uses acrylic paint. Many of her paintings are mill village houses, which are among her best-known works. As she sits in front of a blank canvas, her mind forms a picture of the house and yard before her paint brush makes the first stroke. The completed work captures the essence of how the mill village looked in the 1950s and ‘60s when she lived there. She has been told that her paintings speak from her heart.

Judy is a heart-warming, kind person with a soft voice and a warm smile and is always willing to help others.She said David is proud of what she has accomplished, and he has always been supportive and helped her whenever he could.

They own a camper and enjoy spending time at nearby lakes. Sometimes, Judy takes her paint supplies with her and sits outside by the lake, painting.

Easley resident Carol Baker highlights interesting local residents and helps us get to know more about the fascinating people who call Pickens County home. If you have someone somewhere who you think people should know about, contact us at news@thepccourier.com.

8-10 Page 2A.indd

 

Tinsley Chevrolet items to be auctioned Saturday

By Jason Evans
Staff Reporter

jevans@thepccourier.com

PICKENS — An auction on Saturday will offer a glimpse of Pickens’ past — and a chance for buyers to pick up some cool rides.

The contents of the former Tinsley Chevrolet building will be auctioned off on Saturday, according to Pree Hamilton, whose parents founded Tinsley Chevrolet in 1953.

“It’s kind of the end of an era,” Hamilton said. “Tinsley Chevrolet, after 54 years of service, are auctioning off the contents (of their building). We’re not auctioning off the property or the building.”

The auction will be held at 10 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 13, at 319 Ann St. in Pickens. A preview will be held at 8 a.m. the day of the sale.

A partial listing of the items up for auction includes a 1957 Chevy Bel Air coupe, a 1954 Chevrolet 150 two-door sedan, a 1962 Corvair Monza, a 1960 Corvair Monza, a 1916 Chevy Touring Car, a 1940 Chevy Master Deluxe, a 1960 dump truck, a visible gravity gas pump, signs, jacks, a manual tire machine, floor safe, shelving, parts manuals, old and new stock parts, an office telephone system and computer cabinets.

Hamilton expects a lot of interest in the Corvairs.

“There are Corvair collectors out there,” she said.

The cars are in good condition, Hamilton said. In fact, the 1916 Touring Car was driven to the location.

“I just had the starter on the 1916 fixed,” she said. “I was amazed that you could fix a 1916 starter.”

What became known as Tinsley-Crane Chevrolet Co. began in November 1953, when Jack and Carla Tinsley bought a dealership from a man Hamilton can only remember as Mr. Bigby. That dealership had been located on Main Street in Pickens. The Tinsleys borrowed money and started the business with Carla’s father, William Carl Crane Sr, who had started Crane Chevrolet in Easley in 1923.

With that money, they built a new sales and service building on Ann Street, which opened on “Show Day” in October 1954.

Hamilton and her sister, Jeannie Gilstrap, spent a lot of time at their parents’ dealership growing up. Hamilton was born in 1956.

“I took my naps in the back of a ’56 Chevrolet,” she said.

During the bicentennial, Hamilton’s father drove the 1916 Touring Car from Liberty to the First Baptist Church in Easley, she recalled.

“It took us about 45 minutes to get from Liberty to Easley,” Hamilton said.

She said she and her sister were wearing hoop skirts, and her father wore a top hat. Like many men, he’d grown a beard in honor of the bicentennial.

“It was a sight,” she said. “It really was.”

In June 2007, an ad in the first-ever issue of the Pickens County Courier announced that the dealership had been sold. In July 2007, it became Jay Chevrolet.

In the ad, Jeannie Gilstrap wrote about the many customers and employees who had come through the doors of the dealership over the years.

“These are a part of our family,” she wrote. “We appreciate and treasure them.”

All items will be sold as is where is. All sales are final and must be made with cash, pre-approved check or credit cards (with a 3 percent fee).

Holbert Auction Services is overseeing the auction.

Photos of some of the items can be viewed by visiting auctionzip.com and clicking on South Carolina.