Daily Archives: 04/03/2013
Getting ready for Azalea Festival
Jack Roper and Kimberly Kelly of WSPA’s “Your Carolina with Jack and Kimberly” were in Pickens on Friday to shoot promos for their upcoming coverage of the Pickens Azalea Festival, which is set for April 20 in downtown Pickens. Roper and Kelly are pictured above at Legacy Square, one of several stops they made on Friday.
Are teaching positions on the chopping block?
Are teaching positions on the chopping block?
By Nicole Daughhetee
Courier Staff
COUNTY — Amid the large group of local citizens who signed up to speak at the March 25 School District of Pickens County board of trustees meeting — most against the new non-sectarian prayer policy — one resident expressed concern about a possible item in the fiscal year 2013-14 budget that would eliminate 20 teaching positions.
“It has come to my attention that the district is considering eliminating up to 20 teacher positions in an effort to raise the average teacher pay on paper,” Christy Galloway said. “It concerns me that this board is willing to cause the already overcrowded classrooms to become moreso and to put further burden on our teachers, who are already among the lower paid of the state.
Folkman leaving school district
By Nicole Daughhetee
Courier Staff
COUNTY — On Nov. 27, 2006, the School District of Pickens County’s board of trustees approved a $315 million building plan that provided for the construction of four new high schools and a state-of-the-art technology center.
Now that the building program is in its final stages, the man who was hired to direct it is moving on, to a new program in Dorchester County.
Bob Folkman has successfully led the building program through many ups, downs, twists and turns that have resulted in the construction of brand-new, state-of-the-art high schools in Central, Easley, Liberty and Pickens, as well as a new Career and Technology Center, new elementary school and various design and renovations projects.
State officials declare county drug ‘red zone’
COUNTY — Pickens County has caught the attention of South Carolina’s Inspector General in relation to its number of deaths caused by prescription drug overdoses and the number of prescriptions written for opiates.
In a recent report, South Carolina Inspector Patrick J. Maley noted that Pickens County has an unusually high number of deaths associated with prescription drug overdoses.
In 2011, South Carolina had a total of 225 deaths as a result of prescription drug overdoses, and Pickens County accounted for 18 percent of that total, making the county a “red zone.”
Courier reporter earns 2 awards
Nicole Daughhetee
GREENVILLE — For the second year in a row, Pickens County Courier Staff Reporter Nicole Daughhetee was honored recently with two awards at the South Carolina Press Association awards banquet in Greenville.
Daughhetee, who covers a wide variety of topics ranging from human interest feature stories to meetings of the School District of Pickens County’s board of trustees, received a third-place plaque in the Beat Reporting category for coverage of the Pickens County school board and a third-place plaque in the Faith Reporting category across all divisions of weekly newspapers in the state.
POSAM garners 1st ‘We Fan The Flame’ award
PICKENS — After a year of individual honors, the Pickens Fan the Flame program changed in March to recognize groups for their contributions toward making Pickens what it is today.
The first to receive the honor is Preserving Our Southern Appalachian Music — better known as POSAM.
One of several submissions received in March, the POSAM entry reads “the purpose of the POSAM organization is to assure the perpetuation of our Appalachian music and dance heritage in the upstate of South Carolina. Through the Young Appalachian Musicians (YAM) program, the primary subsidiary of POSAM, music instruction and instrument rental are provided in after-school and evening programs as the root effort to assure continuance of our Appalachian heritage.”
Member of the Month
Pickens Dental Associates is this month’s Pickens Chamber of Commerce Member of the Month for April. Pickens Dental Associates’ commitment is to serve their patients with care and compassion and work tirelessly to ensure that your experience with Pickens Dental is second to none. From digital radiography to cutting-edge technology and time-proven methods, Pickens Dental works to keep your smile healthy and beautiful. Pickens Dental is located at 504 Hampton Avenue in Pickens. You can contact them by phone at Telephone 864-878-7915 or visit them at www.pickensdental.com. Pictured above are Jena Edwards, Pam Peace, Teresa Perry, Chalma Drake, Candace Bryant, Zasu Willingham, Tracy Weaver, Candi Noblitt, Kelly Layton, Carolyn Stancell, Lee Boggs, Karen Doty. Dr. J. Daniel Hinton, Dr. Donald L. Marler and Dr. Elizabeth M. Armstrong.
Boy Scouts hold annual district awards banquet
COUNTY — The Blue Ridge Council of the Boy Scouts of America recently held its annual district awards banquet. At the banquet, Cub Scouts were recognized for earning their Webelos “Arrow of Light” award and Boy Scouts for earning the much-sought-after Eagle badge.
Scouts who took an extensive church-based program were applauded for earning their Religious Awards.
Blue Ridge Council President, Philip Kilgore, encouraged the 180 in attendance to do all they could to make scouting great for the scouts.
How appropriate is it to wear pajamas in grocery stores?
Olivia Fowler
On The Way
By Olivia Fowler
Recently we were surprised to see someone shopping in the grocery store wearing flannel pajamas. They were also wearing socks with flip flops. It was apparent, after asking Google if pajamas are now daytime attire, that we’ve been out of the fashion loop.
People appear to be wearing pajamas to school and to shop across the nation.
Most people we’ve seen wearing pajamas out in public are in their teens, and so far, flannel or fleece pajamas are the PJs of choice.
Thank goodness, winter is finished
Ben Robinson
All About Ben
By Ben Robinson
April is finally here, and as usual it took its time getting here.
I always feel a little relieved when we are past the first three months of the year. One reason is because of family history. A few years ago I started visiting local cemeteries to put together my family history. I found many interesting things, but most interesting was that the date of death on each gravesite was pretty much in January, February or March of the year.
