Daily Archives: 04/07/2026
Azalea Fest set for April 24-25
PICKENS — One of the Southeast’s most anticipated spring events is back. The 42nd annual Pickens Azalea Festival, presented by Quality Granite Cabinets and Flooring, 
returns to downtown Pickens on April 24-25, 2026, bringing two days of live music, hometown traditions, artisan vendors and family-friendly experiences to the heart of the Upstate. Timed with the peak bloom of azaleas across the foothills, the festival draws thousands each year
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Daniel sweeps county track meet
By Bru Nimmons
Sports Editor
bnimmons@thepccourier.com
CENTRAL — Heading into the home stretch of their seasons, Pickens County’s four public high schools took to the track at Daniel High School on April 2 for the Pickens County Track and Field Championships.
For the second year in a row, it was a clean sweep for Daniel High School with its boys’ and girls’ teams both taking first place at the meet.
While the Lions controlled the final standings, the Easley girls had the best day on the track winning nine events.
Aamari Kelly was the biggest winner for the Green Wave, proving to be one of the county’s finest athletes with first place finishes in the 100-meter dash as well as the
Red Devils, Lions boast meet MVPs
By Bru Nimmons
Sports Editor
bnimmons@thepccourier.com
LIBERTY — Out of the more than 100 athletes who traveled to Daniel High School for the Pickens County Track and Field Championships, six were lauded for their achievements and presented with awards following the completion of the meet.
Liberty’s Reid Finley and Ciairra Hester, Easley’s Aamari Kelly and Daniel’s Dodson Broussard, Christian Chancellor Jr. and Lizah Williams and Trey Wimbley were named
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Scholarship recipients named
Above: Easley’s Aamari Kelly was awarded the inaugural King of the Pit Scholarship by the King family at the Pickens County track meet last week. The scholarship is awarded to an outstanding jumper from Pickens County. Below: Easley’s Acie Vincent, Liberty’s Reid Finley and Liberty’s Brayden Bagwell were each awarded the Abraham Balawi Memorial Scholarship by Shannon Balawi. The scholarship, named in honor of Liberty great Abraham Balawi, is awarded to standout track and field athletes in Pickens County each spring.
Courier Obituaries 4-8-26
HAROLD GRAHAM
EASLEY — Mr. Harold Ernest Graham, 80, husband of Teri Ann Ayers Graham, passed away Monday, March 30, 2026.
Born in Wayland, N.Y., the son of the late Lewis Elwin Graham and the late Dorothy Hills Graham, Mr. Graham owned and operated his own construction business for many years and attended Abiding Peace Lutheran Church.
He was a U.S. Marine Corps Veteran having served during the Vietnam War.
Surviving, in addition to his wife of 31 years; are his sons, Chad Graham (Christina) of Denton, N.C., Timothy Graham (Erin) of Nassau, N.Y., Shannon Brown (Stephanie) of Charlotte and Stephen Brown (Kathy) of Pickens; his daughter, Terri Yerkes (Kyle) of Canandaigua, N.Y.; 14 grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren.
A Celebration of Life service was held April 3, in the chapel of Robinson Funeral
Home-Downtown.
Visit robinsonfuneralhomes.com or Robinson Funeral Home and Crematory-Downtown, Easley.
MARY JOE ‘JODY’ MORGAN
PICKENS — Mary Joe “Jody” Morgan, 72, beloved wife of 51 years to Marion “Frank” Morgan, passed away on Tuesday, Dec. 30, 2025, at her home.
Born on Dec. 30, 1953, in Greenville County, Jody was the cherished daughter of the late Thomas Joe Hudson and Carolyn Grace Lark Hudson. A devoted wife, mother, and
Lineworkers are ready when it matters most
As the Vice President of Operations at Blue Ridge Electric Co-op, I have the unique privilege of seeing firsthand what it takes to keep the lights on for our members. It’s 
something I think about daily.
When you see forecasts of storms across our part of South Carolina, our linemen see a call to action. They are always ready to respond when outages occur. They are ready to leave family dinners and miss Little League games so they can work in challenging conditions through the night to get your power restored as safely and quickly as possible.
That readiness is not accidental. It comes from our rigorous training, deep experience and a shared commitment to serving others.
What makes linemen especially remarkable is that they are restoring power to their own communities. They raise their families here. Their children go to our schools. They shop at our grocery stores. They understand that the service they provide is essential to our daily lives — to our local businesses, farms and our neighbors, who depend on power for medical equipment or to simply keep food from spoiling.
Powering home is deeply personal to them.
Electric cooperatives were built on the principle
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What’s the big deal about evangelism?
Within the Christian worldview, some might ask, “What’s the big deal about evangelism?” We would think this response would come from non-believers, but sadly, 
there are also church members who have the same calloused attitude. When we consider the idea behind sharing the good news, we begin with comprehending that it’s the announcement and proclamation of the
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Connecting the dots
Exodus 5:1 “And afterward Moses and Aaron went in, and told Pharaoh, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Let my people go, that they may hold a feast unto me in the 
wilderness.”
“Interesting” is not adequate to describe the connections we find throughout the Old Testament to the New Testament in God’s Word, the Holy Bible.
The creation in Genesis 1 connected to John 1: 3 in the
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