Category Archives: News
$40K starting pay for teachers in SDPC budget
LIBERTY — The School District of Pickens County’s board of trustees has approved the first reading of a proposed budget that includes starting teacher pay at $40,000 a year.
The proposed $135.5 million general fund budget passed the first of three readings based on the S.C. House Ways and Means Committee’s information, which is expected to increase the amount of funding to school districts.
“We’re early in the budget process and expect these numbers to change after this first reading,” district chief financial officer Clark Webb
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‘The Outsiders’ to open Thursday at PCPAC
By Jason Evans
Staff Reporter
jevans@thepccourier.com
LIBERTY — The director of the play opening Thursday at the Pickens County Performing Arts Center said the theater program there will be a draw for the community.
“The Outsiders” will be performed at 7:30 p.m. Thursday and Friday and at 4 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Saturday.
Tickets are $10.
The play is an adaptation of the classic novel by S.E. Hinton about “The Greasers” and “The Socs,” two rival gangs.
Directing the play at the center is a return to Breann Griffin-Nicholson’s theatrical roots.
“I actually student directed ‘The Outsiders’ my senior year of high school,” she said. “It was the first play I directed. So when I
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Pickens’ Cloer recalls hunts
By Dr. Thomas Cloer, Jr.
Special to The Courier
fter several weeks of action, spring turkey season is winding down in South Carolina. I can vividly remember my Grandpa W.T. Cloer working on his turkey calls.
My family’s sawmill home and Grandpa’s home were next to each other in the little sawmill village 
in the mountains of Northern Georgia in the 1950s.
Grandpa made his calls from cedar, walnut and poplar wood as he and I spent precious time together in his woodworking shop. He always made
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Forestry association honors Hiott
Representative receives first Guardian of Forestry award
COLUMBIA — Forestry Association of South Carolina president and CEO Cam Crawford presented Rep. Davey Hiott of Pickens with the first-ever Guardian of Forestry award during a House Ag Committee reception hosted by the association last week.
Several FASC board members and former chairmen were among the attendees.
The new FASC award was established to be given to a public official or forestry advocate with an
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Market at the Mill to hold festival
By Jason Evans
Staff Reporter
jevans@thepccourier.com
PICKENS — The Market at the Mill is throwing a party this weekend.
Carnival rides will be available following regular hours at the market, located at 225 Pumpkintown Highway, on Thursday, and two-day Spring Fest 2021 will officially kick off Friday at the market.
The market will have its regular lineup of hundreds of stores and vendors from 8 a.m.-4 p.m. both Friday and Saturday.
Parking for the evening events will begin at 5 p.m. each evening.
Carnival rides will run all day and evening Friday and Saturday.
A classic car cruise-in will be held Friday evening. Those planning on showing off their cars should enter at the market’s main entrance on Highway 8. Do not follow the event parking signs if you are participating
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Lions one win away from perfect region slate after defeating BHP
By Bru Nimmons
Staff Reporter
bnimmons@thepccourier.com
CENTRAL — The Daniel High School boys’ soccer team has been among the best in the state this season, and the Lions showed no sign of slowing down during a 14-0 victory against Belton-Honea Path on senior night Monday.
“It was a great night for our seniors to get out and play,” Daniel coach Phillip Boyer said. “I told them before the game that senior night is great, but if you don’t play well, that’s what you’ll end up remembering.”
Luckily for the Daniel seniors, it was a night to remember, as seven different seniors managed to score on the Bears, including a particularly impressive day from Xander Smiley, who had a hat trick 20 minutes into the game.
After a few missed opportunities in the early minutes, the floodgates opened for the Lions in the ninth minute on a goal by Luis Lezama. The Lions scored nine more goals in the next 28 minutes to build a 10-0 halftime lead.
In the second half, it was more of the same for Daniel even after some subbing, as the Lions added four more goals to pick up the 14-0 win.
For the Lions (13-4, 9-0 Western 3A), the big win was the latest in a line of destruction in region play, in which Daniel has outscored opponents 70-2.
However, the Lions still have one more test in a trip Thursday to second-place Wren to secure a region championship and a perfect region record.
Daniel handed Wren its worst loss of the season, an 8-0 thrashing, in the first contest between the teams, but Boyer knows that the 12-3 Hurricanes still present a challenge.
“I expect it to be a dog fight,” Boyer said. “I’ve been telling the guys for the last couple of weeks that the first score doesn’t matter, because this is going to be a different game. It’s at Wren this time, and for whatever reason sometimes we don’t play well there, so we’re going to have to work harder because they have nothing to lose.”
Daniel 14, BHP 0
WHS 0 0 — 0
DWD 10 4 — 14
Goals
First half
DWD — Lezama, 9’
DWD — Smiley, 13’
DWD — Smiley, 17’
DWD — Lezama, 19’
DWD — Smiley, 20’
DWD — Tapper, 21’
DWD — J. Lizardi, 28’
DWD — Medina, 31’
DWD — Turner, 34’
DWD — R. Lizardi, 37’
Second half
DWD — Purkerson, 54’
DWD — Kome, 59’
DWD — Daniel, 72’
DWD — Patti, 77’
Harvey leads Easley to win over Pickens
By Bru Nimmons
Staff Reporter
bnimmons@thepccourier.com
PICKENS — Entering the 2021 season, Easley head baseball coach Gill Payne knew he had two talented arms at the front of his rotation in seniors Josh Woody and Zach McAlister, but he was unsure of who his third man on the mound should be.
Fellow senior Kasten Harvey felt like he was the guy, and despite some early misgivings from Payne, he has more than proven to be capable, with the latest example coming during his fourth start in the fourth-ranked Green Wave’s 11-0 win over rival Pickens last Wednesday.
Harvey, who allowed just two hits and struck out nine Blue Flame batters in a five-
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Habitat gets $50K for anniversary home
PICKENS — Pickens County Habitat for Humanity will build a 40th anniversary home for a family in need thanks to the generosity of Michael Nieri of Great Southern Homes and the Nieri Family.
Nieri pledged $50,000 toward the 40th anniversary home, which is planned for 2022 to commemorate the organization’s four decades of building affordable homes in Pickens County. This gift is the largest individual donation the organization has ever received.
Jill Evans, executive director of Pickens County Habitat for Humanity, said Nieri’s donation will cover half the cost of materials for a new Habitat home and help change the trajectory of a family’s
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Celery IS a key ingredient
By Olivia Fowler
For the Courier
ofowler@thepccourier.com
Celery is a vegetable that is overlooked and often taken for granted. We’re used to seeing it in salads and paired with carrots as a vegetable to dip in various and sundry substances, but it’s time to regroup.
Don’t neglect celery as more than just a tired old snack food.
It has the advantage of being nutritious and a real plus as far as diets go, and it’s considered a negative-rated source of calories.
String it before eating, a task easily done with a vegetable peeler. Whether you enjoy it as soup, salad, a side dish or part of your Thanksgiving dinner, there should be a least one recipe featured that you’ll enjoy. All you have to do is try it.
