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Monthly Archives: August 2022

City of Liberty gears up for quaint shops

LIBERTY — The city of Liberty has all the makings of a classic Hallmark film. It’s a sentimental, sweet and safe small town with a feast of traditions where everything feels familiar.

Only this isn’t a tale about how the heroine who returns home falls in love and just so happens to save the town. This is a story about opportunity and some of the people behind revitalizing and enhancing the quality of life in

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Member of the month

The Greater Pickens Chamber of Commerce recently named the Pickens Bargain Exchange Flea Market as the August Chamber Member of the Month. The Pickens Bargain Exchange Flea Market is located at 1449 Walhalla Highway just west of Pickens. The market is a great antique market sitting on more than 60 acres, with 2,000 spots for vendors. The market is open every Wednesday from 5 a.m.-1 p.m., with the market’s office opening each Tuesday for reservations and information. Pictured above are chamber executive director Bryan Owens, Bargain Exchange owners Elease Ellege, Haley and Trey Boggs, along with Pickens Mayor Fletcher Perry. To find out more about the Pickens Bargain Exchange Flea Market, visit bargainexchangefleamarket.com or call (864) 878-4762.

Courier Community Calendar 8-24-22

• Anderson reunion set for this Sunday

The family of Joseph Rugless and Nancy “Nealy” Anderson will hold its annual reunion on Sunday, Aug. 28, at Mountain Grove Baptist Church. The church is located at 644 E. Preston McDaniel Road in Pickens. Lunch will be served at 1 p.m.

• Upstate Parkinson’s group hosts meetings

The Upstate Parkinson’s Society will host a Parkinson’s challenged/caregiver discussion group to be held monthly at the Kimberly Hampton Memorial Library, located at 304 Biltmore Road in Easley. Meeting time is every third Thursday of August through December from 10:30-11:30 a.m.
Refreshments provided. For more information, contact Chuck Dooley at (864) 507-3034.

• Veterans invited to American Legion

Veterans in the Liberty area are invited to the next meeting of American Legion Post 67 in Liberty.
The Legion meets on the third Monday of the month at 7 p.m. at the Scout Hut, circle off North Palmetto Street. All veterans are invited.

• Gilstrap reunion planned September 5

The annual Gilstrap reunion will be held on Sept. 5 at the Antioch Baptist Church fellowship building. Lunch will be around 1 p.m.

Courier Obituaries 8-24-22

ANNIE NELL ‘ANNE’ MEDLIN

SOUTHPORT, N.C. — Annie Nell “Anne” Medlin, 79, of Southport, N.C., passed away on Thursday, Aug. 18, 2022.

Anne was born on July 5, 1943, in Greenville, to the late Grady Franklin Cartee and Mildred Gertrude Waldrop Cartee.

As a young woman, Anne answered the call to be a public school teacher and never looked back. For more than 40 years, she touched countless lives and exemplified the role and responsibility of teaching. She loved her students, colleagues and the overall institution of learning. Anne was passionate about her calling and was held in high esteem by students and staff alike. Anne instinctively understood that every student learns differently and that

Pickens pulls out thrilling win at Crescent

By Cheri Anthony
Special to The Courier
news@thepccourier.com

IVA — The Pickens High School football team’s seniors waited 287 days to lead this year’s team onto the field, and they did not squander the opportunity.

Late in the fourth quarter of Friday night’s season-opening matchup at Crescent, the Pickens defense didn’t break, allowing the team to secure a 31-28 win.

“I was proud of our team’s resolve in the midst of a hostile environment tonight and couldn’t be more proud of their efforts,” Pickens coach Chad Smith said. “It would have been very easy for them to hang their heads tonight, but they didn’t, and that’s a good thing.”

Captains for Friday’s contest were Jaden Jackson, Samuel Maw, Jeremy Burgess and

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Gavin Martin. Pickens won the toss and elected to receive.

Crescent’s opening kickoff went out of bounds, so Pickens started the game from its own 35-yard line. Jackson ran back-to-back plays for three and 46 yards, behind solid blocking, to get Pickens down to Crescent’s 16-yard line. After a stalled series, with 9:55 left in the first quarter, Hunter Smith kicked a 26-yard field goal to get Pickens on the board first with a 3-0 lead.

Following a pattern that Pickens used all night, Smith’s squib kick was not returned, and the Tigers downed the ball on their 40-yard line. On Crescent’s first play from scrimmage, a 60-yard touchdown run was flagged and called back for holding. After a 10-play series that started at their 33-yard line, the Tigers scored on a 13-yard Darius Latimer run at the 4:55 mark. A successful extra point by Bowen Garrett made the score 7-3.

Crescent’s lead didn’t last long, however, as Pickens’ Brett Batson took the ensuing kickoff to the house after two quick moves for an impressive 65-yard touchdown. Smith’s successful point after following Batson’s explosive return gave Pickens a 10-7 advantage with 4:44 left in the first quarter.

After Smith’s kickoff was spotted at Crescent’s 44-yard line, the Tigers put together an eight-play, 56-yard scoring drive capped off by a 30-yard touchdown run by Elijah Walton, but the missed Garrett PAT left the score at 13-10with 1:55 remaining in the opening period.

At that point in the game, the Blue Flame had run seven plays to the Tigers’ 19, but the roles reversed and the Pickens offense took over. From the 1:55 mark of the first quarter to the end of the third quarter, Pickens ran 42plays to Crescent’s 15, dominating the ball possession game.

Heading into the second quarter, the Flame found themselves at the midfield stripe in the midst of an eight-minute drive that saw Maw and Jackson carry the ball a combined 10 times. The Tigers put themselves in deeper trouble when they were called for a penalty for roughing the Pickens punter, Devon Hogan. An outstanding eight-yard Jackson touchdown run and PAT by Smith put the Flame back on top 17-13 at the 6:59 mark of the second quarter, a score that held until halftime.

The second half started with Crescent downing a kickoff at its own 35-yard line. The Tigers were bitten by thepenalty bug once again, and after four plays and two penalties, they were forced to punt to Pickens.

After a short punt return by Jackson, the Flame started their next drive on their own 34-yard line at the 9:35 mark. Jackson found the end zone again to cap an impressive 13-play drive that featured Maw carrying the ball nine times and Jackson getting four touches, including the nine-yard touchdown. Another true PAT by Smith gave the Flame their largest lead of the game at 24-13 with 3:29 remaining in the third quarter.

Crescent applied the pressure to Pickens with a quick 59-second drive that ended with a 65-yard touchdown pass, and with 2:30 remaining in the third quarter, the Tigers had pulled to within four at 24-20.

The Blue Flame were forced to punt after three plays and a delay of game call on their next possession, but the three-and-out ended up leading to a positive momentum shift for the visitors.

A Crescent returner fumbled after a towering punt by Hogan, and Pickens’ Jacob Lewis was there and waiting on the mistake to pounce on the ball at the Tigers’ 36-yard line.

Pickens kept its mojo going and scored seven plays later with the help of two penalties — an offside flag and facemask by the Tigers. Maw rumbled in for the touchdown from two yards out. After another successful PAT by Smith, who finished the game perfect on all kicks, with 9:40 to go in the game, Pickens led 31-20.

A short four-and-out series by the Tigers gave Pickens the ball back on its own 25 at the seven-minute mark. On the second play from scrimmage, Pickens fumbled to hand possession to Crescent at the 25-yard line with 6:09 remaining in the game.

The Tigers weren’t quite ready to give up yet, and three plays later scored on a 13-yard quarterback keeper by Dylan Dale. After a controversial two-point conversion, which cost Pickens a 15-yard penalty on the ensuing kickoff, the Flame were on top 31-28 with 5:06 to play.

The next five minutes saw a series of miscues by the Pickens offense, but tremendous plays by the tenacious Blue Flame defense. Just two plays into the next drive, Pickens fumbled on its own 26-yard line with 3:39 to go. The defense was ready to seal the deal and stepped up to force two incomplete passes and two rushes for no gains. Pickens got the ball back on downs with 2:57 left in the game.

On the first play from Pickens’ 25-yard line, Maw hit a crease up the middle for an incredible 40-yard gain, but officials ruled that the senior fumbled on a tackle from behind, with the Tigers recovering. Maw was injured on the play and did not return to the game.

Starting from its own 35-yard line, Crescent had just more than two minutes to try to take the lead from Pickens. After three ground plays, which saw a net gain of nine yards, the Tigers were left with a fourth and one. Once again, the Pickens defense rose to the occasion, forcing an incomplete pass.

Pickens took over on downs at the 1:36 mark on Crescent’s 48-yard line. Jackson scampered for a 10-yard gain, and with a facemask penalty tacked on, the Flame had the ball for a first and 10 on the Tigers’ 30-yard line. With 1:20 left, Crescent again recovered a fumble, but the Pickens defense was ready for its final challenge of the night.

Crescent’s first play went for nine yards to the 30, and the Tigers stopped the clock with a QB spike for their second down. On third down, Crescent’s pass attempt was broken up by a host of Blue Flame defensive backs. On fourth down, as the Pickens crowd encouraged the defense to stand tall, Dale was forced out of the pocket, chased down and sacked at the 30-yard line by Landon McKinney to dissolve any hopes of a Tiger score. Pickens knelt on the ball three times to pick up the 31-28 season-opening victory.

“I’m pleased with my team’s discipline and lack of penalties tonight and think they were the keys in the difference of the game,” Smith said. “Our special teams also played an important role in the win.”

In the special teams department, the Flame gave up no return yards on kickoffs, finished perfect on extra points and the lone field goal attempt, recovered a fumble on a punt and returned a kickoff for an exciting touchdown.

“This type of win will pay big dividends down the road, because the kids didn’t allow the adversities to keep them from playing hard until the very end of the game,” Smith said.

As the Blue Flame look ahead to a matchup this week with Franklin County (N.C.), Smith said the Lions will be a similar team to Pickens — a big and physical team of athletes. Franklin County is coming off a 35-6 loss to Madison County (N.C.).

The game will be the home opener for the Blue Flame, with kickoff set for 7:30 p.m. at Bill Isaacs Field.

Red Devils take down Carolina to open season

By Matthew Kannarney
Special to The Courier
news@thepccourier.com

GREENVILLE — After much anticipation for Paul Sutherland’s second year as Liberty High School head coach, football has finally returned, with the Red Devils getting a win in their first game of the season.

The Red Devils showcased a run-heavy offense and a hardnosed defense that led them to a 17-6 victory and a 1-0 start to the season against the Carolina Trojans on the road last Friday.

The Trojans received the opening kickoff to get the season underway. Carolina’s first drive began on its own 40-yard line with a couple of quick completions by quarterback Drake Laws and a first-down run from running back Kimoray Holland on a short fourth down. Shortly thereafter though, the Liberty defense forced a couple of incompletions and came away with an apparent pick-six by Seth Terry,

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Easley on collision course with Daniel after succesful preseason

By Eugene Jolley
Courier Sports
news@thepccourier.com

EASLEY — Easley will try to stop Daniel’s program-record 25-game winning streak Friday night at Bill Carr Stadium in the season opener for the Green Wave.

Daniel, back-to-back Class 3A state champion, beat Greer 51-21 Friday night to open the season.

Easley has had two weeks to prepare for the Lions after beating Liberty 35-0 in the Easley Jamboree on Aug. 12.

The Green Wave will not have an open date in the season and will play for 10 consecutive weeks in the

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Simons stands out in Lions’ record-breaking win over Greer

By Bru Nimmons
Staff Reporter
bnimmons@thepccourier.com

CENTRAL — Since taking over the Daniel High School football program in 2016, Jeff Fruster has had a lot of big wins, including State championship game victories each of the last two seasons.

Ranking near the top with those wins may well be the Lions’ 51-21 season-opening triumph over Greer on Friday night at Singleton Field — Daniel’s school-record 25th straight win.

Despite surpassing the previous record held by Allen Sitterle — Fruster’s coach

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Easley High School announces HOF class

EASLEY — With high school football season now here, Pickens County high schools have begun releasing their 2022 athletic Hall of Fame classes.

At Easley, three former athletes have been selected to join the Easley High Athletic Hall of Fame — Kelly Bossert, Bert Owens and Joey Pankake.

The ceremony for their induction will be held during halftime of the Green Wave’s football game against J.L. Mann

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Comics, Puzzles and Games 8-24-22