Category Archives: Opinions
CU, United Way studying hunger in Pickens County
Are people going hungry in Pickens County? Based on requests for United Way funding, calls from neighbors in need and anecdotal stories about hungry children, we would conclude, yes, hunger or “food insecurity” is an important issue in Pickens County. How do 
we really know?
In July 2018, Clemson University named Dr. Leslie Hossfeld as dean of the College of Behavioral, Social and Health Sciences. Her field of expertise? Food insecurity! As a new resident of the Upstate, Dr. Hossfeld also wanted to understand the needs of her community.
It was only logical that Clemson University and United Way of Pickens County would join forces to conduct an extensive community-wide food insecurity study in Pickens County. Under the leadership of Dr. Catherine Mobley, a leading professor in the Department of Sociology, Anthropology and Criminal Justice, a
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On hamburgers and helium
Now that I have finished downing a delicious Mexican Burger from Serendipity Cafe in downtown Easley — which, by the way, was recently voted the Best Lunch in Pickens County by the readers of the Courier — I will sit back and purport to write a column for you.
Speaking of burgers, here’s some more news from across the pond that you may not have heard about. McDonald’s UK has just 
introduced the South Carolina Stack: “Two 100 percent British and Irish beef burgers with bacon, smoky cheese, a Carolina Gold BBQ sauce, onions and lettuce in a cornbread-style bun.”
Now if that doesn’t start your lips to smacking, I don’t know what to do for you.
What I’m wondering, though, is why McDonald’s is selling the South Carolina Stack in the United Kingdom but not in the United States — not even in the sandwich’s namesake state.
And I’m wondering if we South Carolinians ought to be getting some royalties or something out of the use of our state’s name and sauce to sell hamburgers overseas. Perhaps this is something our burger-loving commander-in-chief ought to look into. Forget tariffs — give us royalties.
While we’re at it, I think the Brits still owe us a lot for the grief they gave us back in the Revolution and the War of 1812, not to mention how we saved their royal hind ends in World War I and World War II.
But, blimey, all they want to talk about is breaking away from the European Union. Meanwhile, they’re gobbling up a variety of wonderful burgers from McDonald’s “Great Tastes of America” specialty line.
We’ve already missed out on the New York Stack, which was available from May 1-14. It was two beef burgers, bacon and chunky coleslaw on a sesame seed bagel. The Mississippi Stack, which featured bacon, onion relish and a “rich and sticky BBQ sauce,” and
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How the Doodle got its name
I think most folks know that the Pickens Doodle was named for some insect known as a “Doodlebug,” but I can find no record of anyone having ever specified just exactly which insect that was and why it would be associated with the train.
Well, I have done a fair amount of research on the subject, and I can say with some confidence that in the 1890s, when the Pickens Doodle made its historic maiden voyage down the tracks, it came to be known for its similarity to the larval stage of the antlion.
The larva of the antlion, known to generations of children, is a little bug that feeds on ants and captures them by making a conical tunnel in sandy soils. The tunnel is rimmed with a mound of loose sand, and when an ant approaches, the doodlebug waits in the bottom of the hole for the ant to lose its footing on the edge of the sand trap. The antlion, with its wicked-looking mandible claws, clamps down and then pulls the hapless ant into its lair.
Children (including myself) have for time immemorial obtained some amusement by taking a blade of grass, a small twig or a pine needle, and sticking it down in the doodlebug’s tunnel, which the bug grabs and holds on tight. The child then pulls out his catch and
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Who do we stand up for?
Americans fought, died, were wounded and were captured in the Korean War from 1950 to 1953.
The North Korean ruler, Kim Il Sung, the grandfather of the current dictator, secured supplies and training from the Soviet Union and a steady supply of soldiers from communist China. Grandpa had been a major in the Soviet army during World War II and 
joined the Communist Party.
Korea had been ruled by the Japanese since 1910. After the war ended, America and the Soviet Union agreed to divide the country at the 38th parallel, forming North and South Korea.
Kim Il Sung, an ambitious dictator, wanted to unite the country under his dictatorship.
With help from the Soviet Union and China, he fought against the United States and other United Nations forces for three years. At the end, more than 1 million people were killed, and the country was still divided.
Approximately 36,000 American soldiers died in Korea during the war, and about 100,000 were wounded. As of April of last year, according to data from the Pentagon,
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Never shoot a skunk in a barrel
One blustery and cold November day, I headed to the barn to milk the cow. I had to stop first at the corn crib to get the sweet feed. Sweet feed was used to get the cow occupied with eating so she would hold steady while being milked.
Just as I opened the corn crib door, I heard something in the sweet feed barrel. Ever so carefully, I peered over the top of the barrel and saw a striped kitty or pole cat — some call it a skunk — in the bottom of the barrel helping himself to sweet feed. Well, the furry intruder didn’t know who he was messing with.
I promptly headed to the house and came running back with my old .22 rifle. In those days, you shot varmints with no questions asked. Well, I did just that, and he did it right back.
Actually, he may have shot first, because I was covered with his skunk perfume. I didn’t realize to what extent until I went back into the house.
Mamma was in the kitchen preparing supper, and there was no need to announce my presence. She promptly ordered me to get back outside and strip to my undies. As I recall, she brought me a jar of canned tomatoes and instructed me to clean my entire skinny little body with tomato juice.
It was quite cold there on the back porch mostly naked covered with tomato juice. A valuable lesson in life was learned that evening — never shoot a skunk in a barrel.
Paul O’Shield is a local native who enjoys writing about his time as a youngster growing up in Pickens County.
Courier Letters to the Editor 6-5-19
Suggesting a Hagood Mill solution
Dear Editor,
I am very upset, like a lot of people, that the director of Hagood Mill was fired! He obviously needs to be rehired.
I trust Betty McDaniel’s judgment, and when she resigned, I knew this shouldn’t have happened. I trust Danielle Yother and Dean Watson’s judgment as well.
That being said, I have an obvious single solution to this financial problem. They should charge a fee of admission of $5-$10 to the mill on their Saturday events, with children 12 and under being free. This way the people benefitting from the events will be paying for it.
As Olivia Fowler said, a nonprofit group is not expected to be profitable. If all else fails, add a 1 cent sales tax in Pickens County to pay for it. Also, groups like Blue Ridge Electric that raise money for charity can pay for the mill as well.
Diane Finley
Easley
Ungrateful school board?
Dear Editor,
As a retired first grade teacher with a master’s degree in early childhood education and 29 years under my belt teaching, as well as
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Memories of homemade ice cream
As Grandpa slowly finished cranking the old wooden ice cream churn, the grandkids, drooling in their cups and bowls, eagerly awaited to devour the frozen contents much like lion cubs waiting to get at the entrails of their mom’s fresh zebra kill.
This was often the scene on many summer afternoons on our back porch when I was growing up on Shady Grove Road in Pickens.
One of my sisters, after marrying in the 1960s, moved with her new husband to the high mountains of North Carolina. After having two boys of her own, she would bring them down to visit their grandparents. Living in the relative coolness of the mountains, they found the Palmetto State a might hotter than expected. They delighted, however, in our summertime tradition of making homemade ice cream. It helped them cool off, as one of them said.
Sometimes on Saturday, but usually on Sunday after church and the big Sunday dinner, it was time for some ice cream.
There were always an abundance of grandkids around to help make the ice cream. “Help,” in this case, was a synonym for “get in the way.” Momma was the one who usually mixed the ingredients for the ice cream. She always used whole milk with three inches of cream on top, along with real sugar
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McCartney connections
With Sir Paul McCartney coming to our neck of the woods this week, I couldn’t help but call to mind my second-hand connection to him from my starving musician days, and so I thought to share it with you.
I don’t think anybody younger than about 65 can hardly appreciate how big of a deal The Beatles were. Watch some video of their performance at Shea Stadium and you’ll get some idea.
But it wasn’t just the temporary insanity of their screaming fans that made The Beatles so huge. They changed pop/rock music at a seminal point of its evolution in such a way that I don’t think another band will ever be so influential. Just listen to music prior to 1963 compared to 1965 and you’ll see that the whole structure and style is different.
I was 10 years old when the Fab Four first appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show, and, although we laughed at their funny mop-top haircuts at first, it wasn’t long before my brother and I were strumming on guitars and combing our hair down on our foreheads.
So, even though I never met Paul, I consider one of my biggest claims to fame to be the fact that I played played in a band with Tony “Bone” Dorsey, who played trombone and
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Video chat is best for mental health
For any number of reasons, many seniors are socially isolated. Whether it’s an illness that keeps us at home, living in a rural area or having no one living with us, some of us just don’t have as much social interaction as we need. Feeling alone can, unfortunately, lead 
to depression and increase the risk of dementia.
Oregon Health & Science University conducted a study to determine which of four methods of online communication worked best to protect against loneliness and depression: social messaging, email, video chat or instant messaging. Researchers used information from 1,400 participants over age 60 and followed up with them two years later.
Email, social media, instant messaging and not using online communication all had the same result: They didn’t do anything to fight
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Birds of a feather flock together
The recent county attack on the Hagood Mill operation is just one more blow to the county’s reputation. Whatever the motive behind this ill-judged action, some things are clear.
Several statements from the county administrator are misleading at best.
First, an organization classified as a nonprofit is not operating as a for-profit. By law, making a profit isn’t what nonprofits operate for.
Second, since the county’s fiscal year runs from July 1 through June 30 of the following year, the statement that Hagood Mill’s funds would soon be depleted is correct, although not complete in itself. But as each county department is funded a year at a time and each department’s budget is projected annually, it is true to say that every department in the county will be out of money at the end of the year.
Other nonprofits have been targets also — not just the Hagood Mill. For example, the same logic was applied when there was a recent attempt to close the Sarlin Community
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