It’s easy for us Americans to make fun of royalty and all the flummery that props it up, but it does make me sad to mark the passing of Queen Elizabeth II.

So what does that have to do with Pickens County, and why should you care?

Well, for one thing, I’m pretty sure that the majority of residents of Pickens County, myself included, can trace their ancestry back to Great Britain. So it’s our heritage.

Of course, many Pickens Countians, myself included, can also count among their forefathers some who fought the redcoats sent over by Elizabeth’s fourth great-grandfather, George III.

But we’ve been friends with the Brits for quite a while since then, so I say best wishes to the new monarch, King Charles

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