As you are reading this, it is probably at least Christmas Eve. For me, that means delivering gifts for Country Santa.

I’ve done it for years, sometimes with my brother or a niece or nephew, but last year I was by myself. My brother has now moved to Columbia, and my nephew and my nieces had other commitments. So rather than deliver alone, I just didn’t deliver.

“They have plenty of deliverers,” I reasoned to myself. “They’ll be just fine.”

Of course they were just fine. I, on the other hand, wasn’t. I first got involved with Country Santa for a story I was writing for another paper. It took me a while to realize it, but delivering gifts was not just to help strangers. It was to help myself. I enjoyed

A great deal of discussion has taken place throughout the School District of Pickens County over the last couple of months related to capital needs funding. When looking at the funding for the school district, one must understand that there’s two “pots” from which funding is pulled. Debt service (capital needs) funding is used to fund buildings, facility improvements, facility upkeep, and other needs such as technology that is used in our schools. Operational funding is what is used to pay

If you want to recapture the innocent joy of celebrating Christmas, go to the annual Christmas pageant at McKinney Chapel. It’s scheduled to be held Dec. 20 at 7 p.m. inside the historic Methodist church in the Eastatoee Valley.

It’s an experience not be missed. Although the chapel is located in Sunset, just past the gated entrance to The Cliffs on Cleo Chapman Road off S.C. Highway 11, all visitors need to do is tell the guard they’re going to McKinney Chapel, and there’s no problem with driving in.

This small Eastatoee country church is a

Never a poor investment

Dear Editor,

Education is never a poor investment.

As a parent, taxpayer, resident of Pickens County, teacher and advocate for our Pickens County students, I am concerned about the opposition toward the proposed tax increase to fund education. One tax increase proposal would require a homeowner to pay $22 more a year on a $100,000 home — an additional $1.83 a month. Some would say the district needs to cut waste — not raise taxes. I assure you, there is no waste to cut, and to make cuts cost our students opportunities.

A public school is meant to serve the community and prepare students to be the next members and leaders of the community. A public school is not the place to withhold funding to protect our pocketbooks. If the community makes the choice to withhold funds from our children, it’s made the choice to not ensure a prosperous future for this county.

The effects of our choices now will not be seen for years to come. Test scores currently reflect the

There have been some startling reports of late from friends who’ve had surprises when returning from the grocery store with food. The friends shall remain nameless to protect their identities from possible irate food mega-giants.

Incident number one was reported and witnessed by at least a dozen people at a Christmas celebration. It was witnessed by all but noticed by just a few as they were, as usual, busy talking and eating,

Here’s what happened. A can of peaches and a jar of mincemeat were brought into a kitchen in a bag from the grocery store. The peaches were labeled as peach halves. There was a picture on

Whether you’re aware of it or not, I’m certain you’ve heard Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov’s “Flight of the Bumblebee” at some point in your life. There are many days when it feels like my brain operates in perfect synchronicity with the orchestral interlude. My mother always jokes that I have “flight of ideas” but I don’t think it is much of a stretch some days.

I wish I could count the number of ideas that flutter through my mind in any given period of time. And I tell you this only because I have had about 10 different thoughts upon which to base my column this week, and I was thinking it would be neat if I could arrange them all into some type of cohesive, wordsmithed casserole. The busier and more overwhelmed I am, the more the ideas pour forth like a rush of

How is it possible to watch four different football games in one day? Believe me, it can be done with careful preparation and timing.

We were in Nashville for Thanksgiving and had a wonderful time with family and friends. Our son-in-law is a University of Wisconsin alum, and Wisconsin was scheduled to play Minnesota for a spot in the Big 10 finals, or whatever they call that.

So we knew going in we’d be watching that game, and we knew who to pull for.

Also, Clemson played South Carolina. Our daughter is a dyed-in-the-wool, bread-and-buttered Clemson fan, and of course we all knew

A shout out for Norris restaurant

Dear Editor,

Let’s give a shout out to Margaret’s Restaurant in Norris.

They made Thanksgiving dinner plates and delivered them to the shut-in people in the Norris community. Now, how cool is that?

Rebecca Wofford

Norris

Do you want more taxes?

Dear Editor,

If you don’t want higher taxes in Pickens County, you better speak up!

A group known as “Concerned Citizens of Pickens County” (CCPC) is trying to pull a fast one on

Tom O’Hanlan

Manufacturers Caring for Pickens County

The Manufacturers Caring for Pickens County would like to offer our support to the School District of Pickens County’s five-year maintenance plan. We have been working closely with the district and we are very enthusiastic about the quality of education and job skills that are attainable here.

While no one likes taxes and tax increases, sometimes they are necessary. We are blessed to have

Each year at this time, we focus for just a little while on all we have to be thankful for. It gets sandwiched in somewhere between the Thanksgiving sale of the year, the message to shop, buy, save, spend money and eat as much as you can.

Centuries ago, a group of people who came to this country ill-prepared and ignorant somehow survived. Many died before the first year was completed, and all suffered hunger and cold.

Now those phrases roll easily off the tongue and have lost meaning through endless repetition. But to any of us who have experienced bone-chilling cold — even briefly — we can imagine what that would have been like. Few of us have