Daily Archives: 09/01/2015
No clowning around
Local bull fighter Clay Constance will be in action when the Double B Arena Championship Rodeo kicks off this weekend.
Kerry Gilstrap/Courier
By Rocky Nimmons
Publisher
rnimmons@thepccourier.com
DACUSVILLE — Are you ready for some heart-stopping rodeo action? If the answer is yes, then this weekend is the perfect time to get out and see the Double B Arena Championship Rodeo in Dacusville.
The event, scheduled for Friday and Saturday, will feature some great local talent and present seven championship rodeo events, including bull riding.
As dangerous as that sounds, what may be even be more precarious at the event will be the job that is done by the people who keep the riders safe after the bull throws them to the arena floor. They are known as the bull fighters.
These bull fighters are not like the typical Spanish matadors, but more like the traditional rodeo clowns of old — just without the jokes, according to Pickens-area bull fighter Clay Constance.
Constance, a 2003 graduate of Pickens High School, is proud of the work he and others like him do to save the cowboys from further harm once the bull ride is over.
Constance is not like most men. Most would run the other direction if a 2,000-pound snorting mass of muscle with long, sharp horns came charging toward them at full speed on four hooves.
It is just another day at the office for Constance and his buddy and mentor, Dusty Smith. Constance gives Smith the credit for getting him into the business of battling the behemoths.
According to the former Blue Flame, fighting the beasts is much like his gridiron days on Bruce Field under the tutelage of then-Pickens High football coach Andy Tweito.
“Dusty told me since I was pretty good at playing football that bull fighting was not much different,” Constance said. “(He told me) ‘You are going to go after them just like you would a running back that is breaking through the middle. You will take a beating, but you would be good at bouncing off of him.’
“He said it was the same. ‘You will take a beating to get the bull away from a fallen cowboy, but it is a thrill, and you should try it.’ So I did.”
Now it’s in his blood, Constance said.
“The way I played football was no different than how I look at that bull,” he said. “I see the bull just like a running back — neither one of them, the ball player nor the bull, is going to whip me. If he beats me this time, he dang sure ain’t gonna get me twice.”
Constance, who has been fighting the creatures for a little more than a year, said he does not do it for the money, he does it for the thrill and the ability to save the cowboys who are in harm’s way and helpless from being hooked by the horns of the beast they were just riding when they hit the dirt.
“It is not always the money part of it or anything about it,” he said. “If I take a beating for somebody and save them and they come back and say ‘thank you,’ that is more payment for me than anything. That means more to me than anything.
“It eats me up more to see somebody get hooked than anything. It breaks my heart to see someone taking a hooking from a bull when I could have taken it in their place.”
But Constance has not always fought; he was once a rider, like the people he now protects. He met his wife while riding and says she always knew he was a daredevil. The couple now has a 4-year-old son who is ready to help dad if he ever gets in a pinch.
“It really don’t bother my wife to watch me — the funnier thing is to watch my son,” Constance said. ” He is 4 years old, and he once came up to Ernie Treadway, the promoter, and said to him ‘if my daddy needs me to fight tonight, I will be in there with him’. He has always supported and loved it.”
Constance knows his gifts are God-given.
“The thing that I always think about when I get in there is what is written in the Bible,” he said. “It says, ‘Greater is the man that lays down his life for his friend,’ and I love knowing that I can help save people from getting hurt. God gave me that ability.”
Constance has never been seriously injured but understands that any given night the worst is possible in what he does.
“If wasn’t for the Lord I wouldn’t be doing what I am doing. The Bible says if you don’t use your talents in his glory, he will take them from you,” he said.
But the small stage is just the start for Constance and his partner and mentor Smith, as the duo have dreams of competing all over the United States.
“Dusty goes to the IFR Stock Show and Sale every year,” Constance said. “The sale is for the international finals for the International Pro Rodeo Association, and they have a cowboy protection finals out there, and they have cowboys from all over the world. We are going try to go to it this year and hopefully win it.
“At the shows, you will have stock traders come from all over the United States. As they are bucking the bulls, they are having their auction. A bull does not leave the arena until it is sold, and the whole time out there you have to play with him or fight him. That is how you are scored. Everybody is going to be watching you, and you could get a job from how good you perform. You could get called out to California for a few weeks or Texas or anywhere.”
Constance said he is going to be doing this as long as he can, adding, “I don’t see myself stopping anytime soon.”
Constance will be saving riders at the Double B Championship Rodeo this Friday and Saturday night and wants all of his friends and former classmates to come out and see the excitement.
“I want all my friends from school to come out and watch me. They need to come see it, because a lot of them told me I would never make it,” he said.
Constance wants to prove them wrong.
The rodeo will begin nightly at 8 p.m. Tickets are available in advance at Ivey’s Furniture in Pickens and Easley. Ticket prices are $12 for adults in advance or $15 at the gate. Kids ages 5 to 10 are $8 in advance or $10 the night of the rodeo. Kids under 5 get in free.
The Double B Arena Championship Rodeo will be held at the Double B Arena at 494 Hamburg Road in Dacusville, and is sponsored by Brown’s Feed and Seed, S. H. Carter, The Boot Barn, Blanchard’s and Farm Bureau Insurance. For more information, call Cory Brown at (864) 246-9426.
Officers say man molested child for 9 years
PICKENS — A Central man was arrested last week after police claim he molested a young girl numerous times over a nine-year period.
David Allen Marchbanks, 54, of 119A Eloise Drive in Central, was charged with first-degree criminal sexual conduct with a minor. Marchbanks is being held without bond at the Pickens County Detention Center, according to officials.
Pickens County Sheriff’s Office chief deputy Creed Hashe said an investigation was launched on Aug. 18 about a child who had been molested on numerous occasions dating back to 2000.
According to Hashe, the investigation revealed Marchbanks allegedly molested the girl — who was 4 years old at the time the incidents began — at multiple homes in Pickens County between January 2000 and January 2009.
A warrant claims the incidents lasted until the girl was 12 years old.
Police investigate late-night shooting
Teen shot in Clemson fast-food restaurant parking lot
CLEMSON — Clemson police are asking the public for information after a teen was injured in an early-morning shooting at a popular fast-food restaurant on Sunday.
Chief Jimmy Dixon said the 16-year-old victim’s name won’t be released. However, Dixon said the victim’s gunshot wound was non-life-threatening.
Dixon said the incident occurred at approximately 2 a.m. as the victim and friends were leaving the Cook Out in Clemson. As they were leaving, shots were fired in the parking lot area of either the Cook Out or Hibachi Grill China Buffet next door.
The chief said one bullet entered the rear passenger door of the vehicle where the victim was sitting, striking the victim in the leg. The victim was taken to the hospital by a personal vehicle and later released.
Clemson police say they do not feel the shooting poses any threat to the city, and the victim is not affiliated with Clemson University. Dixon said late Monday afternoon there was no new information to report.
Anyone with information about the shooting is being asked by Clemson police to call CrimeStoppers at 1-888-CRIME-SC.
Farm Show tradition continues
By Ben Robinson
Staff Reporter
brobinson@thepccourier.com
DACUSVILLE — Tragedy seemed to have struck the annual Farm Days celebration in Dacusville just a few years ago.
The festival had become a showcase for the family of Jimmy Robinson.
Robinson, a longtime farmer in the Dacusville community, knew about the classic tractors spotlighted in the show, and his family land seemed to be the ideal place for the festival featuring traditional farm values.
But Robinson’s oldest son, Randy, who was the heart of the festival, died unexpectedly three years ago. His middle son, Frankie, was involved in a career in the banking industry. And his youngest son, Danny, while active on the farm, was not interested in taking the responsibility for the festival.
Those factors and health problems Jim and his wife Jane were facing convinced him to give up the festival.
But several of those who displayed farm equipment at the festival came to the rescue. Tom and Jackie Turner, who had just moved into the Dacusville community into the former residence of Buck and Jean Rich, found that their new home had plenty of room to host the festival.
“I’ll be honest with you,” Robinson said. “With this festival, it doesn’t matter how hard you work, the success depends upon how much you care.
“And Tom has put his heart into the celebration, and it shows. He’s taken this farther than my family could have hoped to. It’s nice that he’s kind of kept Randy’s dream alive. Hat’s off to him for all his hard work.”
The Dacusville Farm Show is now held on Turner’s estate. This is Turner’s third show, which is still loved by the surrounding community.
Antique tools and tractors will be featured, along with a hay ride.
Vendors will be stationed across the festival grounds, selling food items such as hot dogs and cotton candy. And plenty of iced tea will be available.
Kids will enjoy the hay rides across festival grounds.
Turner was excited about a new stage for music, where he promises plenty of picking and singing from local artists will be featured.
The event will open this Satuday and Sunday at 9 a.m. each day and close at 10 p.m. each day.
Parking is free, and children 12 and under are admitted free. Adult admission is $5, and those with a military ID are also admitted free.
Reward offered in vandalism at historic church
SENECA — A reward is being offered for information about vandalism at the Old Pickens Presbyterian Church just across the Oconee County line near Duke Energy.
According to Historic Old Pickens Foundation vice president Martha Parris, vandals in a vehicle with high ground clearance were responsible for damage to the historic church sometime between July 22 and July 26.
Parris said gravestones were crushed or moved from foundations in the church’s cemetery, a tree was damaged and a window was broken in the historic building.
The church is the only remaining building on the original site of the town of Pickens Courthouse. After the Civil War, Pickens District was divided into Pickens and Oconee counties and new county seats were established at Walhalla and the new town of Pickens, where most of the buildings from the old town were moved.
The church is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, but it no longer serves a congregation.
Parris said the damage to the cemetery and church represents a setback to the Historic Old Pickens Foundation’s plans to add a kiosk for display of historical information and documents pertaining to the cemetery so they will be available every day year-round. The foundation currently welcomes visitors on Sunday afternoons during the summer, tour groups on arrangement and presents appropriate events several times each year in an ongoing effort to maintain the church and the cemetery and promote the history of the region.
The site is open to visitors from 2:30-5 p.m. Sundays from May to October, with docents present to tell the story and answer questions. The grounds are open each day from sunrise to sunset all year.
To become a member of the “Friends of Old Pickens” and receive a quarterly newsletter, send monetary donations to Historic Old Pickens Foundation, P.O. Box 149, Salem, SC 29676. Donations are welcomed and appreciated.
Anyone with information about the vandalism is asked to call the Oconee County Sheriff’s Office at (864) 638-4111.
SME celebrates 25th anniversary
Rex Brown/Courtesy The Journal
A large crowd of community members was on hand in addition to school faculty, staff, students and other dignitaries at Six Mile Elementary School’s 25th anniversary celebration Monday morning.
By Greg Oliver
Courtesy The Journal
goliver@upstatetoday.com
SIX MILE — Six Mile Elementary welcomed back former students, faculty and staff, as well as local elected officials, on Monday to mark the 25th anniversary of the school’s opening at its current North Main Street site. “Time flies when you’re having fun,” said principal Clif Alexander, who is in his 31st year at the school after starting as a teacher and eventually moving up to assistant principal prior to becoming principal. “I can’t believe it’s been 25 years. I’ve been blessed to be a part of these 25 years, and even five more.” Alexander said the Six Mile community has always had a school since Six Mile Academy opened in 1910. He said that “opened the doors of public education” for students. The current school moved to its fourth and current site in 1990, and Alexander said it enjoys a special relationship with the community. “We take pride in this community, we take pride in this school and we continue to teach the values of pride and responsibility,” he said. “It’s the people that make up this special place — Six Mile Elementary School is a community, and it takes a team.” Looking at the students seated with their teachers on the lawn for the ceremony held outside the school’s office, Alexander called them “superheroes who are going to be future leaders.” “We know you’re going to make the world a much, much better place in the years to come,” Alexander said. School District of Pickens County superintendent Danny Merck called Six Mile Elementary “a model school for public education.” Merck said students have achieved at a high level, evidenced on their school report cards each year, and thanked the school and its teachers for their role in student achievement — including teamwork and character development of students. “Six Mile Elementary School is one of the leading schools in Pickens County and the state for learning,” Merck said, adding, “Good job.” State Rep. Gary Clary, who represents the Clemson, Central, Norris and Six Mile areas, read a letter from Gov. Nikki Haley — who was unable to attend — praising the school for its milestone. Clary added he believes education “is the key to everything we do.” “I’m pleased to be part of a community that not only expects a quality education, but demands it,” Clary said. State Sen. Larry Martin of Pickens was a member of the State House of Representatives when Six Mile Elementary opened its current school 25 years ago. On Monday, Martin congratulated the educators who are part of the school’s past, present and even the future. “Education doesn’t just happen — it’s a building block,” Martin said. “Some of you will be here 25 years from now — either as adults or as teachers leading the next generation.” Martin also read a list of items stored in a time capsule that was buried at the school’s 1990 dedication and unearthed for the 25th anniversary ceremony. They included a tennis ball from the PE department, spiral notebook and pencil, Six Mile Elementary annual, school map and invitation to the first open house, as well as items of the day, including a New Kids on the Block button and book, a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles figurine, a “Just Say No” button, friendship bracelet and a children’s book titled “Frederick” by Leo Lionni. After the crowd in attendance sang “Happy Birthday,” 25 balloons were released into the air to conclude the celebration.
Clemson joins county partnership to protect water quality in area
CLEMSON — Clemson University has joined Anderson and Pickens Counties Stormwater Partners, a regional collaborative invested in the protection of South Carolina’s valuable water resources.
As part of joining the partnership, Clemson has applied to become the first university in the state permitted as a small Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System by the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control. By joining approximately 120 South Carolina communities permitted under the program, Clemson will continue to closely monitor its stormwater discharges and will commit to conduct public education and outreach efforts aimed at reducing water pollution.
“This is a major improvement for Clemson University and will allow us to ensure water quality, proper resource stewardship and to better manage costs going forward,” said Brett Dalton, Clemson vice president for finance and operations.
Formed in 2009 through a partnership between Upstate municipalities and counties and Clemson Extension’s Carolina Clear program, Anderson & Pickens Counties Stormwater Partners aims to reduce the pollution transmitted to local waterways by rainfall, snowmelt and excess irrigation. Doing so is a matter of public health and safety as much of the region’s drinking water comes from surface water.
The collaborative educates the general public, youth, builders, developers, homeowners and government officials about how to keep water in the state’s streams, rivers and basins as clean as possible. The university has hired Charly McConnell as an Extension agent to serve as the partnership’s outreach coordinator on campus. Extension agent Cathy Reas Foster is the outreach coordinator in Pickens County, and Rachel Davis is the outreach coordinator for Anderson County.
Anderson and Pickens Counties Stormwater Partners is just one of the regional partnerships Carolina Clear has established to protect South Carolina’s water quality. Five similar partnerships are protecting water resources in the Lowcountry, Grand Strand, Pee Dee, Midlands and Upstate.
In the Upstate, Clemson University joins Anderson and Pickens counties; the cities of Pickens, Easley, Liberty, Anderson and Clemson; and the towns of Belton, Central and Norris in the collaborative.
County elementary schools adopt new STEM program
COUNTY — This school year, seven Pickens County Elementary schools will begin offering hands-on, project-based science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) curriculum to students in grades K-5 as part of its implementation of the Project Lead The Way’s (PLTW) elementary school program PLTW launch.
Clemson Elementary, Croswell Elementary, East End Elementary, Forest Acres Elementary, Holly Springs Elementary, Pickens Elementary and West End Elementary are joining more than 6,500 schools across the U.S. in offering PLTW programs to their students.
Studies show that students decide as early as elementary school whether they like, and think they are good at, math and science. Engaging them at a young age builds confidence, grows interest, and puts them on course for strong accomplishments in middle school, high school, and beyond. Through PLTW Launch, students become problem solvers. They engage in design problems that encourage collaboration and use touch technology, robotics, and everyday materials to explore topics such as energy, light, and sound, motion and stability, and gravity. PLTW Launch inspires in students a passion for STEM subjects, encouraging them to continue their learning in middle school, high school, and beyond.
“PLTW has a long history of successfully engaging students in STEM subjects,” said Dr. Brian Richard, coordinator of career and technology education for the School District of Pickens County. “We are excited to offer PLTW Launch to our students, giving them a chance to get excited about math, science, and STEM concepts and pursue these subjects as they continue their educational careers”
PLTW programs have been expanding in SDPC’s middle schools for several years, so the next step for students participating in PLTW at elementary schools is already in place.
“Project Lead The Way is proud to partner with the School District of Pickens County to excite and engage students in math and science from the earliest ages,” PLTW president and CEO Dr. Vince Bertram said. “Together, we’re helping students make connections, understand how the world works, and develop a strong foundation that will prepare them for success in their education, and ultimately, their careers.”
In addition to providing world-class K-12 STEM programs, PLTW provides high-quality professional development training that equips teachers with the content, skills, and pedagogy required to teach each PLTW course. PLTW schools also benefit from the organization’s engaged network of Fortune 500 companies, educators, and partners. School-based PLTW Partnership Teams complement the curriculum by recruiting local business and industry professionals to serve as mentors and share their real-world experiences with students.
Satterfield to speak at TD Club luncheon
PICKENS — The Pickens Touchdown Club will host a former national championship-winning college football coach at a community luncheon this Friday.
The luncheon, scheduled to coincide with the Blue Flame’s visit from county rival Liberty on Friday, will run from noon-1 p.m. at the GateHouse Restaurant at 116 Ann St. Cost will be $12 per person.
The guest speaker for the event will be former Furman University coach Jimmy Satterfield, who led the Paladins to the 1988 NCAA Division I-AA national championship.
Attendees will be able to watch highlights from last week’s Pickens game, and players of the week will also be recognized.
Luncheons will also be held on Sept. 25 and Oct. 9 and 30, the days of Pickens’ home games with West-Oak, Seneca and Belton-Honea Path, respectively.
Proceeds from the luncheons will go to support all levels of Blue Flame football.
PCSO: Burglaries on the decline in Dacusville area
DACUSVILLE — The Pickens County Sheriff’s Office worked quickly to ease fears after an Upstate TV station aired a news story about crimes in the Dacusville community last week.
The station “led citizens to believe that there has been an increase in residential burglaries of epidemic proportions,” chief deputy Creed Hashe said in a statement to the media. “Sheriff’s office stats do not support this notion.”
Hashe said sheriff’s office officials were not interviewed or asked for input prior to the story being aired early last week. Instead, he said, officials had only received a request for copies of incident reports from two home break-ins last month in the Dacusville area, which the sheriff’s office defines as within the Dacusville fire district.
A more detailed snapshot of the activity within the area showed that during the months of June, July and August last year, the sheriff’s office investigated 12 burglaries within the county typically referred to by locals as the Dacusville community, Hashe said.
“In comparison to the same time period for this year, there have been nine burglaries reported to the sheriff’s office in the Dacusville community, which reflects a 25 percent reduction or decline in the number of reported incidents of this type,” Hashe said. “Currently, sheriff’s detectives are following several leads in an attempt to identify the individuals involved in these thefts.”
Numbers provided by the sheriff’s office showed 646 burglaries county-wide in 2013, with 223 cases solves for a clearance rate of 34 percent. In 2014, 190 of 594 county burglary cases were solved — a clearance rate of 32 percent. So far in 2015, officers have cleared 31 percent of burglary cases, with 117 solved out of 372 reported.
According to the latest data from the FBI’s Uniform Crime Report, Hashe said, the clearance rate for burglaries was at 13.1 percent as a national average in 2013.
“The sheriff’s office is quick to point out that a single incident of crime is one too many, but realistically looking at crime across the Southeast region and more specifically the Upstate, we see that Pickens County has not been forced to reckon with the crime levels plaguing surrounding jurisdictions,” Hashe said. “Pickens County residents have become stakeholders in the vision to eradicate crime at all levels from our county, and it is through the partnership between the sheriff’s office, city municipalities, businesses, the media and most importantly our citizens who live here that we continue to see positive efforts in the quest to reduce crime.”
Hashe pointed to the recent arrest of a convicted sex offender accused by police of sexually assaulting a 16-year-old girl as an example of the partnership between the sheriff’s office and Pickens County residents. Deputies received numerous leads and information after local media outlets spread the word that the sheriff’s office was looking for the man, and he was arrested several days later at a home in Anderson County.
The sheriff’s office encourages Pickens County residents to attend local crime watch meetings and to contact the sheriff’s office with questions concerning issues within their respective neighborhoods, Hashe said. The chief deputy said social media is “a great tool” for connecting with friends, family members and daily entertainment, but residents should not depend on postings online being the absolute truth.
“The sheriff’s office has received numerous calls this week from area residents who have read or seen false and embellished information stemming from social media,” he said.
Pickens County sheriff Rick Clark, a lifelong resident of Pickens County said he has “faith and trust that our citizens will not be lured into the pitfalls of misinformation.”
“Our local media outlets work very closely with law enforcement, and I truly believe that they want to keep viewers informed; however, technology such as social media has oftentimes been the pathway to spread unverified information, leading to panic and paranoia which ultimately leads our communities to develop the wrong perception,” he said. “It is no secret that all counties have burglaries, thefts and drug problems, but together through a strong partnership with our citizens and small business owners, we will continue to keep the criminals in Pickens County on the run.”
