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Daily Archives: 01/17/2017

Man killed in driveway accident

By Jason Evans
Staff Reporter

jevans@thepccourier.com

PICKENS — A Pickens man died after a motorcycle accident that took place in his driveway Saturday.

Easley council addresses Sunday alcohol

By Jason Evans
Staff Reporter

jevans@thepccourier.com

EASLEY — The voters have spoken and the Sunday alcohol referendum on the ballot in Easley in November passed.

ECU officials tackle business’ concerns

By Jason Evans
Staff Reporter

jevans@thepccourier.com

EASLEY — Last month, several downtown business owners spoke before Easley Combined Utilities Commissioners, sharing their concerns that rising rates and other issues were making the cost of doing business too difficult.

Annual March

Rocky Nimmons/Courier

Members of Pickens Presbyterian Church and Griffin Ebenezer Baptist Church joined together Monday for their 11th annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday celebration, marching from Pickens Presbyterian Church to the Pickens County Courthouse steps, where they heard from speakers such as Pickens mayor David Owens, below left, and Nehemiah Baptist Church Rev. Randall Wright, below right.

The event also featured musical selections from a combined community choir, as well as prayers and inspirational messages from a variety of community leaders.

 

Thousands gather to celebrate Tigers’ title

Pamela Dodson/Courier
Clemson football players, from left, Deshaun Watson, Jay Guillermo, Ben Boulware, Carlos Watkins, Jordan Leggett and Jadar Johnson clap during Saturday’s celebration of the Tigers’ national championship at Memorial Stadium.

By Justin Lee Campbell
Courtesy The Journal

justin@upstatetoday.com

CLEMSON — For those on the outside looking in, Saturday could have passed for just another college football game day in Clemson.

Getting to know Gwynne Chastain

Gwynne Chastain was born in San Diego, Calif., in 1942. She lived there for one year before her parents returned to her mother’s home in Dona Ana, N.M. Her father received his teaching degree there and later enlisted into the Army Air Corp. They moved to Alamogordo, N.M., where Gwynne attended primary school. From there, the family moved to Albuquerque, N.M., and lived there for a few years before her father was recalled into the Army Air Corp. to serve during the Korean conflict.

Gwynne and her family moved around the country to several states and to Germany, where she lived for four years before returning to Eglin Air Force Base in Florida. She graduated from Choctawhatchee High School, located in Ft. Walton, Fla.

Shortly after graduation, she met her future husband, Walter Evan Chastain from Pickens. He was stationed at Eglin Air Base. They dated for a short time before marrying in 1960. They have two daughters, two sons, 17 grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.

Gwynne and Evan moved to Laramie, Wyo., in 1964, where Evan studied electrical engineering at the University of Wyoming.

neighborThey enjoyed camping at Yellowstone National Park during school breaks and snow-skiing on weekends. Upon receiving his master’s degree in 1968, Evan and Gwynne moved to Warner Robins, Ga., where Evan continued his Air Force career.

Carol Baker/Courier After stints living in places all over the map with her father and husband’s military careers, Gwynne Chastain now calls Pickens home.

In 1972, Evan was transferred to Panama City, Fla., and four years later he was transferred to Eglin Air Force Base. While they lived there, Gwynne entered Okaloosa Walton Junior College, where she studied business and creative writing. She was the editor of her college newspaper while a student. She was suggested for “Who’s Who in America Junior College” before graduating in 1978 with an associate’s degree. The following year, they were living in Orlando, Fla., where Evan was stationed at McCoy Air Force Base.

Gwynne enrolled in the University of Central Florida. She wrote for the college paper there as she studied creative writing and journalism. Their next move was back to Eglin Air Force Base. From there, they moved to Dayton, Ohio. Her husband served in the Air Force for 25 years before retiring in 1986. After his retirement, they moved to Atlanta, Ga., where Evan worked at the Georgia Tech Research Institute. After his retirement in 2000, they moved to Pickens and built a home near Table Rock off Highway 11.

Gwynne is multi-talented. She renewed her artistic abilities and took classes in watercolor at the Pickens County Museum. She paints in acrylic, oil and watercolor. She also plays the dulcimer, but after suffering a stroke she was unable to play it. She is striving to regain her ability to play again.

Gwynne and Evan are members of Holly Springs Baptist Church. Evan sings in the choir. Gwynne wrote for the church newspaper until the church discontinued having the news printed.

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.

 

MCPC presents Batchelor with annual service award

Pictured, from left, are MCPC chairman Tom O’Hanlan of Sealevel Systems, St. Jude Medical director of research and development Tom Strange, former Baptist Easley Hospital CEO Michael Bachelor and Palmetto Plating Company president John Cutchin.

SIX MILE — On Jan. 9, the Pickens County Legislative Delegation held its 2017 annual public meeting at the Six Mile Town Hall.

Delegation members attending were Sens. Thomas Alexander, District 1, and Rex Rice, District 2; and House Reps. Neal Collins, District 5, Davey Hiott, District 4, and Gary Clary, District 3. The public meeting provides a chance for the delegation to receive input from organizations and the public through presentations and comments.

At the meeting, Manufacturers Caring for Pickens County announced that the Distinguished Service Award for 2016 was awarded to former Baptist Easley CEO Michael Batchelor for his leadership role in partnering to launch the Cancer Association of Pickens County.

Tom Strange, director of research and development at St. Jude Medical, explained that by acting on an opportunity that was brought before the board by the Greenville Cancer Society to find a way to bring equivalent services to Pickens County, Batchelor was instrumental in leveraging the purchasing opportunities and space at the Palmetto Baptist Easley Hospital.

Now the Cancer Association of Pickens County exists to enable Pickens County residents to obtain the goods and services previously available only to Greenville County residents. Batchelor’s suggestions were taken up by the Greenville Cancer Society as well to save their organization more than $100,000 per year on goods when purchased through the Greenville Health System. For his tireless efforts to connect the critical parties together and help make the Cancer Association of Pickens County a reality, MCPC will donate $1,000 to the charity of his choosing in his honor.

As the presentation concluded, Batchelor thanked MCPC and the delegation and noted the award has significant meaning to him, because the town of Six Mile was the site of the first hospital in Pickens County, established in 1925 by Dr. David E. Peek.

The new Cancer Association of Pickens County will offer direct services to cancer patients and their families, including help with paying for prescriptions, transportation to medical appointments, wigs and medical supplies, nutritional supplements like Ensure and PediaSure, medical equipment, lymphedema supplies and ostomy products, respite care and emergency assistance with paying a house payment or utility bill and free support groups and one-on-one counseling.

Tom O’Hanlan, chairman of the board of directors at Baptist Easley Hospital and CEO of Sealevel Systems, Inc. said,

“Working as a team, Baptist Easley, Pickens industrial leaders, local donors and companies contributed to make the Cancer Association of Pickens County a reality,” Baptist Easley board chairman and Sealevel Systems CEO Tom O’Hanlan said.

Manufacturers Caring for Pickens County was formed by a group of business leaders to advocate STEM education, economic development and social benefits impacting quality of life and growth in Pickens County, South Carolina. The group’s mission is to reach out to the Pickens County community and to enhance, develop and enrich the county’s socioeconomic values and conditions. Visit www.manufacturerscaringforpickens.com for more information.

 

Duke Energy employees volunteer for MLK Day

Duke Energy employees volunteered Monday for the national Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service.

SENECA — Martin Luther King Jr. once said that life’s most persistent and urgent question is “What are you doing to serve others?”

With this question in mind, Americans from coast to coast offer their time and energy on King’s birthday to serve their neighbors and their communities.

On Monday, nearly 30 Duke Energy Oconee Nuclear Station employees participated in the national Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service. Volunteers assembled literacy kits in partnership with the United Way of Pickens County. The kits will be provided to second- and sixth-grade students who are on free or reduced lunch, or who are below reading level.

“The kits try to give the students a better understanding of managing money,” Oconee Nuclear Station project manager Alfred Mitchell said. “Parents are often more adept at talking about sex education than financial literacy with their kids.”

The kits come equipped with materials so the kids can build their own piggy banks. The kits also contain little challenges and mental exercises for how to best manage money.

“They may make money raking leaves, but then lose their notebook and have to buy another,” Oconee Nuclear Station chemistry manager Sheila Dalton said. “So the exercise makes them manage a set amount of money.”

Although Duke Energy employees haven’t helped out with a financial literacy project before, they were on board with the effort.

“It’s good to get this ingrained in them at an early age,” Oconee Nuclear Station technical procedure writer Jill Johnson said. “That’s something they need to consider and think about.”

The Duke Energy Foundation held four volunteer events for Martin Luther King Jr. Day for its employees throughout South Carolina. At Oconee Nuclear Station, 100 financial literacy kits were assembled, containing age-appropriate books with activities that reinforced the book’s focus.

“As part of a company-wide initiative in observance of the Martin Luther King Day of Service, Duke Energy organized volunteer projects for its employees across the state,” Duke Energy Foundation community affairs manager for South Carolina Amanda Dow said. “Because of our longstanding relationship with the United Way, we were able to partner with them on this particular project and thought that it was a really good fit for our employees and the company because of its focus on literacy and its impact to the community.”

Oconee Nuclear Station chemistry admin Lesley Smith said the issue of financial literacy concerns her.

“Schools don’t teach a whole lot of life skills these days,” she said. “That’s why I was interested in helping out today, because this is a life skill that kids can learn at an early age.”

 

State treasurer set to speak at GOP meeting

EASLEY — South Carolina State Treasurer Curtis Loftis will be the guest speaker at the January Pickens County Republican Party monthly meeting.

County GOP vice chairman Rick Tate invited Loftis to speak Thursday night, Jan. 19, at Easley First Wesleyan Church. The meeting will start at 7 p.m. As with all Pickens County Republican Party meetings, the public is invited to attend.

Since being elected as state treasurer in 2010, Loftis has worked to build awareness of problems affecting South Carolina’s pension program. His exposure of mismanagement within the system has put him at odds with lawmakers and the Retirement System Investment Commission. The South Carolina State Treasurer’s Office has made information available for all people interested in the future funding of the State’s retirement program.

 

It started with words

Hitler had a plan. He started small. In 1938, he’d been running things in Nazi Germany for five years. He spouted a dialogue of hatred, and the citizens of Nazi Germany lapped it up. Hitler blamed members of the Jewish religion for the loss of World War I and the financial hardships Germany was facing. Even though 10,000 German Jews fought and died for their country during that war, Hitler spun a fantasy for the public, and they chose to believe it.