Daily Archives: 05/17/2016
Tech welders win awards
Tri-County Technical College’s welding students garnered six awards — including three first-place recognitions — at the 34th annual South Carolina Technical College State-wide Welding Competition hosted by Greenville Technical College April 22. Pictured from left, are Dakota Phillips of Walhalla, third place, Category 4; Brandon Patterson, dual enrollment student from Easley, first place, Category 2; Charles Orr of Simpsonville, second place, Category 1; Bryson “Ty” Nettles of Easley, first place, Category 5; Andrew Abstance of Aiken, first place, Category 3; and David “Clarke” Richey of Belton, second place, Category 6.
Festival of Arts set for Saturday
CLEMSON — The sixth annual Clemson Festival of Arts is scheduled for this Saturday from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. in downtown Clemson at Catherine Smith Plaza and Jaycee and Abernathy Parks.
There is no charge for admission.
This year will introduce the first-ever “Parade of Characters” for all ages featuring princesses, superheroes and other popular costumes. The parade kicks off the festival at 10 a.m., and judging of costumes will take place around 10:45-11 a.m.
The Clemson Festival of Arts is different from other area festivals. Children, family and friends will be able to enjoy an “art full” Saturday. There is a Kids Art Park with lots of creative, fun hands on projects going on all day. In addition to fine, handcrafted art for sale, there will also be artists’ demonstrations in woodturning, glass bead making, fiber art, clay and book art sculptures. There is also an Art in Action tent to make and take art projects such as painting, fiber art, mixed media, clay and jewelry making throughout the day.
Visit explorearts.org for festival activity details, project and demonstration times.
Culbreath announces his bid for Liberty-area county council seat
LIBERTY — Keith Culbreath has announced his bid for Pickens County Council for the Liberty district.
According to Culbreath, council needs to focus on economic growth in Pickens County in order to bring much-needed jobs to the area.
“We also need to repair relationships with the municipalities in our county and to make sure things like the coal ash dump are put to rest for good,” Culbreath said.
“My platform is simple — I will work for the citizens of Pickens County and of the Liberty district for the good of the people that I represent,” Culbreath added.
Culbreath said he will work with anyone on anything as long as it is for the citizens and not that of a chosen few.
“I will be accessible, and above all I will be honest,” he said. “Thank you for your support.”
Culbreath retired from the Pickens County Sheriff’s Office in 2011. He is a board member of the Liberty Area Fire District. He and his wife attend Norris First Baptist Church.
Fulcher wins SWU Provost’s Award
CENTRAL — A Southern Wesleyan University student was honored for making a difference in the lives of residents in an area recovering from plant closures and a tragic chemical spill.
Anne Fulcher of Warrenville was enrolled at Southern Wesleyan’s North Augusta learning center and graduated May 6 with her master of science in management and leadership.
Anne Fulcher, above, received the Provost’s Community Leadership Award April 28 at Southern Wesleyan University in Central. Dr. Tonya Strickland, Southern Wesleyan’s provost, presented Fulcher with the award.
Fulcher is the editor of the GVW Report, a community activism newspaper that was started last year as a way to help redevelop the towns of Graniteville, Vaucluse and Warrenville following a devastating chlorine spill from a 2005 tanker derailment. She also volunteers as the Graniteville Community Coordinator for the Graniteville Brownfield Project, in which she works with local businesses, churches, and nonprofits to help make the area a better place to live.
Fulcher also serves on the board of directors for several organizations, including Area Churches Together Serving, Christ Central/Hope Center Graniteville, Masterworks Chorale, Aiken County Family Y, Midland Valley Area Chamber of Commerce and the GRACE Study. She has written multiple funded grants for the area.
Dr. Tonya Strickland, Southern Wesleyan University provost, shared comments about Fulcher, describing her as an individual of “strong moral fiber,” character, leadership ability, enthusiasm and a willingness to help others.
Fulcher was selected out of three finalists.
One of the finalists, Lindsay Blair, is enrolled in the bachelor of science in human services program at Southern Wesleyan’s Greenville learning center and is the founder of Switch, an Upstate-based non-profit organization aimed at fighting human trafficking. As its Survivor Services Director, Blair focuses her efforts on fighting human trafficking and sexual exploitation on a local level through awareness, prevention, demand, intervention, and restoration.
Another finalist is Tim Prendergast, who attended Southern Wesleyan’s North Augusta learning center and graduated May 6 with his master of science in management and leadership degree. Prendergast served in the military for 26 years and is currently veterans outreach coordinator at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs’ Augusta Vet Center. Prendergast serves veterans who are institutionalized in nursing homes and is spearheading an effort to visit veterans in local nursing facilities to ensure that they are aware of their earned benefits.
EHS world language students score well
EASLEY — Nearly two dozen Easley High School students earned national recognition for excellent performance on the 2016 National Spanish Examinations.
Ashley Lynch earned gold placement, Ashton Downs and Prajwal Patel earned silver placement, and Leanna Gibson, Levi Wilson, Katelyn Dailey and Olivia Roach earned bronze placement, along with 15 honorable mentions.
Attaining any placement is very prestigious because the exams are the largest of their kind in the United States, with well over 160,000 students participating in 2016.
Students from Easley High School have a long history of high achievement on these exams and were taught by Spanish teachers Shannon Wood, Brad Seabrook, Juan Ubeda, Sara Abarca and Monika Santiago.
Courier Obituaries 5-18-16
Sara Crowe
Liberty — Sara Mae Powell Crowe, 82, of 120 Roanoke Road, passed away peacefully Monday, May 9, 2016, at her residence.
Pickens County to celebrate EMS Week
PICKENS — From May 15-21, Pickens County will celebrate the 42nd National EMS Week.
All EMS workers deserve recognition for the work they do within the community. They are a critical component of emergency medicine and the public health safety net. While they remain behind the scenes most times, paramedics save lives on a daily basis — a service that should not be taken lightly. They are well-trained and skilled individuals. On any given day, EMS responds to any and all medical emergencies, whether it is cardiac arrest, car accidents, difficulty breathing, drowning, stroke, drug overdose, etc.
EMS is able to provide both basic and advanced medical care to patients at the scene and en route to a hospital. Their abilities and response time to emergencies is quite impressive. It is safe to say they are the difference between life and death.
The Pickens County community recognizes and thanks all EMS personnel for their service and willingness to work within our great community. To show a small token of appreciation, lunch will be provided to all EMS employees throughout the week by local businesses including Ingles, Papa John’s, Lowe’s, Applebee’s, Fatz, and Meineke Car Care.
Although EMS is being honored this week, they will also be giving out helmets to first-grade students in remembrance of Emma Boughman, a little girl struck by a car while riding her scooter without a helmet. EMS is able to purchase more helmets each year with donations given by the community. Donations can be made to the Emma Kapps (Kids Are Precious People) account at the First Citizens Bank in Liberty. Helmets will be presented to students, as well as education on protecting the vital organs when riding scooters or bikes.
EMS week will close Saturday, May 21, with a Health Fair at the United Methodist Church in Liberty. This a chance for the public and EMS to interact with one another, and a chance for the community to be educated in health related issues and procedures.
Community celebrates AR Lewis Elementary
Jason Evans/Courier
Former A.R. Lewis Elementary School principal Kathy Brazinski explained the significance of the red butterflies on the school’s murals. Her aunt once told her “Wherever you see a red butterfly, there I am.” Brazinski told the crowd during A.R. Lewis Day that she hopes they think of her when they see a red butterfly, too.
By Jason Evans
Staff Reporter
jevans@thepccourier.com
PICKENS —Members of a close-knit community recently gathered to say goodbye to A.R. Lewis Elementary School.
The school hosted a celebration, A.R. Lewis Day, on Saturday, May 7. A large crowd gathered to share memories of the school and walk its halls — for many, for the last time.
Members of the Pickens County School Board voted on March 14 to close the school, along with Holly Springs Elementary School, at the end of this school year.
Jason Evans/Courier
A.R. Lewis principal Melissa Terry shared the early history of her school with the crowd. She said the school’s first 8 teachers strove to make the school “one of the best elementary schools in Pickens County.”
Principal Melissa Terry welcomed the crowd on “this very special day” and shared the school’s early history.
The school is located on “some of the most beautiful land in Pickens County,” she said.
A.R. Lewis opened for its first term in September 1959.
The school was built to consolidate smaller schools — even one-room schools — including Martin School, Shady Grove School and Mile Creek School.
The school was formally dedicated on March 20, 1960. The school is named for former Pickens Centralized Schools trustee Albert R. Lewis. Lewis served as the trustee of the newly-formed Pickens County School District A until his death in 1957.
“Pickens County honored his memory by naming our school after him,” Terry said.
When it was built, the school had eight classrooms and 258 students, she said.
The approximate cost of the building at that time was $199,000, Terry said.
“At that time, the eight teachers said they intended to make this one of the best elementary schools in the county,” she said. “And I would say that they did.”
The school was extensively renovated and added on to in 1991 and again in 2009.
“A.R. Lewis has had a rich history,” Terry said. “It has won numerous awards and it has been recognized for many accomplishments in education. That is wonderful.”
Terry said her two years as principal had been “the best years of my professional career.”
Jason Evans/Courier
Mayor David Owens reads a proclamation declaring May 7 “A.R. Lewis Elementary School Day” in the city of Pickens.
“I fell in love with this school upon arrival, and I will always have a special place in my heart for it, for the students and for the families,” she said. “The families of this community are to be commended for the love and support that they have shown this school over the many years. Thank you so much.”
Pickens mayor David Owens read a proclamation declaring May 7 to be “A.R. Lewis Day.”
“A.R. Lewis has nurtured and educated some of Pickens County’s finest citizens for more than half a century,” Owens said. “A lot of them, if you look around, are here today.”
Dr. Henry Hunt, a former principal at A.R. Lewis, shared his
Jason Evans/Courier
Dr. Henry Hunt was once the principal at A.R. Lewis Elementary School. He remembered parents and teachers working together to make the school even better.
memories of the school.
“That tree was a lot smaller when I was here before,” Hunt said with a laugh.
“I remember fondly the students,” he said. “It’s good to see former students, our present and former teachers that are here. It’s been a real pleasant experience for me to come back and walk around and talk to folks, to look at the facility.”
He praised the parents and the school’s Parent Teacher Association.
“The PTA when I was here was very supportive, and I know they still are,” Hunt said. “In fact, in the spring of 1982, the parents, through the PTA, raised funds and air-conditioned the classrooms. That was a major milestone for us.”
Before that, open windows and loud fans were commonplace in every classroom in warm weather.
Hunt remembered the “big, long lines” at the water fountains after recesses before the rooms were air conditioned.
A.R. Lewis Elementary School was a family, he said.
“The students, they know the teachers,” Hunt said. “The principals know the students — it certainly was that way when I was here. We know the community, we know the parents. Parents were very supportive when I was here, and I’m sure they still are. If there are issues and problems, we could call on them. They would help us out, help us out with individual children or help us with funds.”
The very ground the stage was sitting upon was graded thanks to the PTA so students would have a level playing area, he said.
Hunt said he hoped the students and others would be comforted by their own fond memories of the school in the days ahead.
“We had a great school, and it will live in our memories,” he said.
Jason Evans/Courier
Former A.R. Lewis principal Kathy Brazinski said the teachers, staff and parents at the school “were a family.”
Former principal Kathy Brazinski said the tradition embodied by the school began in 1890, “when community residents saw a need to properly educate its children while providing the closeness and individualized supervision a small school can provide.”
“So for over 100 years, this community has provided that,” she said.
She said the PTA provided school funds for “whatever the district budget didn’t cover.”
“People in the community were always willing to provide special learning experiences, and it has continued through to today,” Brazinski said.
She spent 12 years at A.R. Lewis. Her dealings with the school first began with teaching gifted and talented students, a program students from A.R. Lewis took part in.
“They came to me on Tuesdays, and I was always especially excited on Tuesdays because I was getting the students from A.R. Lewis,” Brazinski said.
“What a close-knit school A.R. Lewis was when I was first introduced to this wonderful school and community,” she said. “Little did I know that I would have the privilege of being the principal here and being a part of this family.”
Jason Evans/Courier
Teachers and staff line up to receive a special memento from the PTA — framed pictures of the school.
Teachers and staff went the extra mile for their students by securing grants for innovative programs for A.R. Lewis, she said.
One such program was Project Success, a writing program to teach teachers how to teach writing skills to their students. The program was part of the National Diffusion Network.
“Because the teachers did just an excellent job, and the students did just an excellent job, it was the only school in this nation that was a Model National Diffusion Network Writing School,” Brazinski said. “The only one in the country.”
While she was heading up Simpson Academy, Brazinski said she was “still wishing for an elementary school.” That wish was granted in 1998, when she became principal at A.R. Lewis.
“What a beautiful and fun ride,” she said.
She remembered the work that went into providing affordable afterschool childcare for the community.
The school isn’t near any childcare facilities, “so we made our own,” Brazinski said.
“That’s what families do when they need something,” she said.
She listed some of the school team’s many accomplishments, achieved, she said, because teachers, staff, parents and students banded together to accomplish them.
A.R. Lewis was the first Red Carpet School in Pickens County, first in 2001 and again in 2009.
It was a South Carolina School of Promise. It was named a USDA Healthier School in 2009.
Other achievements include Palmetto Silver and Gold Awards, Safe Kids programs, proving fresh fruit and vegetables to the students, Nickelodeon coming and building the school’s water garden, the nature trail and the garden, which was available to the larger community during the summer months- and “11 straight years of closing the achievement gap.”
Jason Evans/Courier
Albert and Louise Lewis live on as the namesakes for these eagles behind A.R. Lewis Elementary School. Students created the eagles, their eggs and their nest.
She drew many laughs as she recalled times when she fulfilled some outlandish promises made to students and teachers for certain achievements they made and milestones they reached.
During the Freezing for Reading program, Brazinski sat on a block of ice. She remembered taking quick trips to the cafeteria, where pan warmers awaited “so I could run in and warm my buns and then go sit on the ice again.”
“I got my hair dyed red, I got my hair dyed rainbow,” Brazinski said. “I was taped to a wall. My skin could not breathe, and my feet turned purple. I had whipped cream in my ears and my face and my nose.”
She remembered snakes appearing not only on the playground but in trash cans inside the building. That wasn’t the only wildlife — many times horses, pigs and goats had to be lured from school grounds and reunited with their owners.
She recalled a near miss from a tornado.
Brazinski remembered the motto on the school’s pens, “Never Stop Caring.”
“I sincerely want to thank every teacher and staff member and parent,” she said. “Thank you for taking care of your children, our children here at A.R. Lewis.
“I’ll never stop caring, and I hope that each of you will not stop sharing with me your hopes, your dreams, your successes and your failures,” Brazinski said. “I love you all.”
During the celebration, the PTA presented framed photos of the school to all the staff present during the special celebration.
Some of the school’s youngest students, in K4-K5, sang “You’ve Got a Friend in Me” for the audience.
“It’s because they want to honor the friendships they have made over their little time here at A.R. Lewis and they’ll continue to have throughout their future in Pickens County schools,” Terry said.
Jason Evans/Courier
The youngest students at A.R. Lewis sang a special song, “You’ve Got a Friend in Me,” during the celebration day program.
A.R. Lewis students taking part in the Young Appalachian Musicians program then played several songs.
Following the YAM performance, the band Left Lane Bluegrass performed for the crowd.
A.R. Lewis Elementary School’s last day of instruction for students will be June 1.
CMH Auxiliary announces 2016 Dr. John Harden Scholarship recipient
PICKENS — Cannon Memorial Hospital Auxiliary presented the 2016 John Harden Scholarship to hospital employee health and wellness RN Renee Turner at its May meeting.
In addition to working at Cannon for the past 10 years, Turner is also an adjunct nursing instructor at Tri-County Technical College. She graduated in 2003 from the University of South Carolina-Spartanburg with a Bachelor of Science in nursing, and has a total of 13 years of experience as an RN. She recently began working on a Master of Science in nursing-family nurse practioner degree. Turner’s plans are to complete the program in two years and practice in the Pickens area. Turner is married to Matt Turner and has one son, Braxton.
Pictured, from left, are Amanda Cooper, Diana Hancock, Renee Turner and Barbara Woolsey.
The Cannon Memorial Hospital Auxiliary established the Dr. John Harden Scholarship in 1996 as a way of honoring the memory of Dr. John Harden, a physician and surgeon who devoted his life to serving Cannon Memorial Hospital and the people of Pickens County. A $30,000 donation from the late William G. Acker, a trustee emeritus of Cannon Memorial Hospital, helps fund the scholarship program.
The annual $1,000 scholarship is awarded each year to a student planning a career in a health care field. The scholarship is open to students from Pickens High School, Liberty High School, Prince Avenue Prep School and Lakeview Christian Academy. Employees of Cannon Memorial Hospital, their spouses, and children, Cannon volunteers and their children age 25 and under are also eligible, as well as employees of Pickens and Liberty physician practices or dental and eye care practices. Applications are due each spring, and interested students can contact their prospective schools. Applications can also be found at cannonhospital.org.
Clemson Farmers Market kicks off season with Healthy Living Expo
CLEMSON — The Clemson Farmers Market hosted an opening day celebration and Healthy Living Expo on Friday, May 13, at Patrick Square’s Village Green at 578 Issaqueena Trail in Clemson.
The market featured more than 25 vendors offering fresh, locally grown produce, farm products, specialty food items and handmade arts and crafts. More than 20 local businesses and organizations whose mission is to promote a healthy lifestyle participated in the second annual Healthy Living Expo. In addition to the vendors, a variety of family-friendly activities were scheduled.
Market partners are the City of Clemson, Patrick Square and the Clemson Area Chamber of Commerce. Market sponsors are AgSouth Farm Credit, Baptist Easley Hospital, Clemson Area Transit (CAT), Clemson Downs, the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute – Clemson (OLLI) and Rick Erwin›s – Clemson.
For a complete 2016 market schedule or vendor guidelines, application and forms, visit clemsonfarmersmarket.org.
The market is also looking for musical entertainers and groups, guest chefs for cooking demonstrations, and individuals and groups to host family-friendly workshops and hands-on activities. To find out how you can participate, contact market manager Kathi Dimmock at kathi.dimmock@att.net.
