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Monthly Archives: January 2017

Woman hit, killed crossing highway

By Jason Evans
Staff Reporter

jevans@thepccourier.com

EASLEY — A 36 year-old Easley woman died after being hit by a vehicle Friday evening.You must be logged in to view this content. 

Plans for closed school upset former trustee

Alex Saitta: ‘Why isn’t anyone pointing out this bait-and-switch?’

By Greg Oliver
Courtesy The Journal

goliver@upstatetoday.com

Felony DUI trial begins in Pickens

By Greg Oliver
Courtesy The Journal

goliver@upstatetoday.com

PICKENS — The trial of a Liberty man charged in a wreck that claimed the life of a Pickens woman nearly two years ago began late Monday afternoon.

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Students display talents at Winter Bluegrass Jubilee

Left Lane performs at the 2017 Winter Bluegrass Jubilee on Saturday at Pickens High School. The band is made up of former members of the Sweet Potato Pie Kids who are now in high school, according to Betty McDaniel. Photo by Mark Harvell Photography

By Jason Evans
Staff Reporter

jevans@thepccourier.com

PICKENS — Pickens High School hosted a day of bluegrass music Saturday in support of a program that fosters a love of that music in the hearts of students.

Teens charged in vehicle break-ins

CLEMSON — Police have arrested two teenagers in connection with a series of vehicle break-ins in Clemson last week.

Nyshaun Londarius Holland-Martin, 17, and Honrie Rashun Martin, 18, both of Anderson, were each charged with four counts of petit larceny, in addition to 10 counts of breaking into a motor vehicle.

The two were still being held at the Pickens County Detention Center on Tuesday — Martin on a combined $54,000 surety bond and Holland-Martin on a combined $50,000 surety bond.

Clemson Police Chief Jimmy Dixon said officers were patrolling Tiger Towne Village, an apartment complex on the east side of the city, during the early morning hours last Wednesday when an officer saw a a person run between two vehicles.

After a short foot pursuit, the suspect was caught and questioned. Officers also found a second suspect lying in a vehicle the two had driven to the complex, police said. Dixon said officers learned the two had broken into 10 vehicles.

 

Body found near Detention Center

PICKENS — The Pickens County Sheriff’s Office is investigating after the remains of a man were discovered Thursday morning in a wooded area less than a mile from the county law enforcement center.

Chief Deputy Creed Hashe said the man, whose identity had not been released at press time Thursday, was found near a campsite off J and D Drive in Pickens. Hashe said evidence at the scene indicated the man had been dead for several days, but there were no obvious signs of foul play.

An autopsy has been requested by Pickens County Coroner Kandy Kelley to confirm the manner and cause of death.

The chief deputy said detectives from the sheriff’s office were searching the area with assistance from a South Carolina Law Enforcement Division helicopter when the body was found.

Hashe said a Pickens County man reported missing in mid-November was believed to have been living on the property in a makeshift campsite. Hashe also added detectives are waiting on autopsy results to confirm the man’s identity.

 

Play on Manse Jolly’s life planned in Pickens

By Jason Evans

Staff Reporter

jevans@thepccourier.com

PICKENS — When Manson “Manse” Jolly returned home from war, his time on the battlefields was over.

His personal war, however, had just begun.

“He didn’t come back unchanged,” said Olivia Fowler. “None of them did. For four years, he killed people. That’s what he did.”

Fowler’s play “The Reconstruction of Manse Jolly” will be presented this weekend at the newly renovated Hagood Community Center Auditorium, located at 129 Schoolhouse St. in Pickens.

Performances will be at 7 p.m. Saturday and 2:30 p.m. Sunday.

Fowler says Jolly’s story speaks to the struggles that today’s military men and women have with post-traumatic stress disorder.

“None of them were ever the same,” Fowler said of Civil War veterans. “None of them.”

The play takes place in the Old Anderson District between 1865 and 1867, soon after Jolly returns from the war.

The district — which includes Anderson, Pickens and Oconee counties — is under military rule and occupied by federal troops.

The play sprang from Fowler’s interest in the history of that period.

“Infrastructure throughout the South was destroyed,” Fowler said. “It’s the first time in modern history that war was waged against civilians. Sherman sought vengeance on the South. He wanted to punish and destroy. He wrote in a report that when they left, they left a wasteland behind — and they did. They were instructed to capture or kill every animal that they could eat. They even dug up the sweet potatoes from the field and took them with them when they marched through.

“People just about starved to death.”

Her play includes stirring details about that struggle to survive.

The Jolly family lost five sons to the war.

“It’s a rich man’s war, but a poor man’s fight,” Jolly’s mother, Anne, says.

“The Reconstruction of Manse Jolly” will be presented this weekend at the Hagood Community Center in Pickens.

“One-third of the men of fighting age in South Carolina were killed,” Fowler said. “They left widows, they left children.”

When Jolly returns and finds his homeland occupied by Yankees, he takes action.

“Why was I the one who was spared?” he asks at one point.

Jolly vows to kill five Union soldiers for every Jolly son lost on the battlefields.

His private war begins to take a toll on his family.

All proceeds from the play will benefit the Birchwood Center for Arts and Folklife. Fowler chairs the Birchwood Center board.

“We’re getting to close to finishing the Sutherland-Masters House,” Fowler said. “We will get it done. The focus at the house will be workshops and classes for writers and other related disciplines.”

If the Holly Springs Community Center becomes a reality, Birchwood will work closely with it, Fowler said.

“We will help get teachers for the folklife school,” she said.

This is the second time Fowler’s play has been performed. A performance last year raised $2,400 for the Birchwood Center.

The entire cast from the first performance has returned for this engagement, Fowler said.

Robye Morris appears as Manse Jolly, Tina LaFoy as his mother, Anne, Kay Rentz as his sister, Mary, and Rob Shelton plays the part of John Jolly’s ghost.

Quint Brown plays Lt. Chase, Teresa Owens is Miss Mary Margaret, Fowler is storekeeper Sarah Earle, and Debbie Hendricks, Debbie Teeple and Cyndi Banks are both singers and townspeople. Some cast members appear in dual roles.

The two-act play includes original music. Musicians onstage include Robert Wood, O.D. Hendricks, Carla Padgett and Wesley Bolding. The songs are a mixture of old favorites and songs written by Fowler to help tell Jolly’s story.

Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for children 12 and under. Tickets will be available at the door the day of each performance. For additional information, call (864) 414-2465.

 

New director brings upgrades for Animal Control department

Pickens County’s new director of Animal Control Robert Kelley and his staff show off their new uniforms.

COUNTY — Pickens County has recently hired Robert Kelley as its new director of Animal Control. With this new leadership, many positive procedural changes are being implemented.

Foothills Retirement Community breaks ground on new apartments

A groundbreaking was held recently at the Foothills Retirement Community. Pictured, from left, are director of sales and marketing Donna Owens, executive director Karen Nichols, PCSC foundation and church relations director Franklin Fant, Boyer Construction president Brian Boyer, PCSC president and CEO Kathy Ligon and PCSC COO Tony Fountain.

Pickens Savings and Loan challenges employees to get fit

PICKENS — Pickens Savings and Loan has started a fitness challenge between the employees, to begin the new year with a healthy start.

The challenge all started to promote the positive benefits staying active can have on the mental health and attitudes of employees in the workplace.

In the challenge, Pickens Savings and Loan has two categories — one for the most miles and one for the most minutes of exercise each week.

Winners for the first week of the challenge were Kim Masters and Briana Stargel.

Masters won the miles category, with 10.6 miles walked. Stargel won the minutes category, with 90 minutes exercised. Each winner received prizes for their accomplishments.

Pickens Savings and Loan hopes the challenge encourages employees to strive for a healthier lifestyle.