By Mayor David Owens, City of Pickens

PIckens Mayor David Owens

On Sept. 9, Greene, Finney and Horton, LLP, the city’s external auditors, presented their summary of the audit for the 2013 financial statements.

As you may know, all city and county governments in South Carolina must be audited annually by an independent, qualified third party. This provides a reasonable assurance to the council and citizens of Pickens of the city’s current financial status. As the mayor of our great city, I wanted to share some of the highlights and take a moment to thank our current city council, finance director, city administrator, and staff for all of their hard work this year which resulted in a clean audit with the best opinion a city can be given by its auditors — an “unmodified opinion.” We all work as a team daily to ensure we get a healthy financial report each year while delivering quality services to the citizens of Pickens. To read the full audit and

Olivia Fowler

On The Way

By Olivia Fowler

We’ve grown accustomed to the rain. And that’s a good thing, as it’s inevitable. The pattern has grown so predictable that it is more remarkable to see a patch of blue sky than thick black clouds. No matter the weather in other parts of the county, we can safely say that the stretch of Rice’s Creek Road where Fowler Farm is located will get rainfall every afternoon without fail.

Pickens lies north of us. Six Mile is to the west, Liberty is east and Atlanta is south.

The storm clouds begin gathering around 4 p.m. From our front porch distant thunder can be heard. It sounds as though someone’s bowling with a mighty

Nicole Guttermuth

A New Day

by Nicole Guttermuth

I came across this commencement speech given by George Saunders, a New York Times Best Selling American writer, and I was inspired by his words. Understanding that my column isn’t long enough to reprint his speech in its entirety, I am going to break this into one of my “series” — with commentary (of course). I, obviously, believe Saunders’ words are worthy of being read.

Without further ado, part one….

“Down through the ages, a traditional form has evolved for this type of speech, which is: Some old fart, his best years behind him, who, over the course of his life, has made a series of dreadful mistakes (that would be me), gives heartfelt advice to a group of shining, energetic young people, with all of their best

Olivia Fowler

On The Way

By Olivia Fowler

The new Southern Living just arrived, and a story in it took me straight back to the front porch of Grandmama’s house in summer, where we often sat after supper.

The kitchen would be cleaned up, and Mama and Grandmama would be sitting in porch rockers with glasses of iced tea. They’d talk and rock. We’d be savoring the last moments outside before bedtime. In summer we seldom took baths at night. We’d usually been swimming in the river before supper. The only thing Mama did before we went to bed was make sure we’d brushed our teeth. We’d put on our pajamas, and then she’d wipe the bottom of our feet off with a damp washcloth before tucking us in for the night.

Nicole Guttermuth

A New Day

By Nicole Gittermuth

You know how when you are first falling in love with someone, little else seems to matter?

You go through each day and make certain you attend to your responsibilities, but your head feels a bit like a helium balloon that might set aloft at any moment.

You attempt to focus on something, anything, but your mind becomes so easily distracted by the recollection of a piece of conversation or the remembrance of feeling your fingers interlaced with another’s as you strolled through the park surrounded by a dusky twilight.

Nicole Guttermuth

A New Day

By Nicole Guttermuth

The optimist in me loves the saying “when one door closes, another one opens.”

While it might be entirely cliché — it is a saying after all — in my experience as a faithful follower of God, I have found this statement to be true. Always.

I could write a dissertation about plans I’ve made that have fallen through. Heck! I could write a series of advice columns tracing back the initial string that began to unravel my marriage until it all came apart despite my best efforts to repair the holes and stich up the weaknesses.

When I got married eight years ago, I took those vows seriously. I had no intention of ever considering the “D” word; however, at a certain point, the matter was out of my hands. I worked tirelessly at damage control.

Ultimately, as with any type of partnership or team, people have to be working together toward the same goal if they are going to accomplish whatever it is on which they’ve set their sights. Because there is no “I” in team, one person cannot carry the entire load 100 percent of the time.

Eventually it became apparent that this particular door was closing, and no matter what efforts I made to prop it open, some gust of wind would whip by and slam it shut.

As a woman of faith, I knew in my heart that my journey was by no means ending. I knew, without a doubt (maybe some fearful apprehension, but never a doubt) that God has had a plan for me all along.

When one door closes, another opens.

Alexander Graham Bell took this idiom a step further, and I love the caveat he tacked onto the end: “when one door closes, another opens; but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door that we do not see the one which has opened for us.”

I cringe when thinking about how many times I’ve done this: wallowed so long and so deeply in feelings of failure, guilt and regret that I have been blind to new opportunities for positive growth and forward motion.

It is easy, when things don’t work out the way we wanted or planned, to focus on the could’ves, would’ves and should’ves. But what purpose does this really serve?

Don’t misunderstand, we all need time to grieve and process losses and changes in our lives, but once we’ve given ample time to this period, life is about moving forward and tucking the lessons we’ve learned into our bag of tools, so we are not doomed to repeat the same behaviors that didn’t work out well for us the first go-round.

At some point, it is time to move forward, to step through the new door that has opened before our very eyes, leading us in a different direction.

Is there anything holding you back, causing you to look regretfully behind, instead of walking through the endless possibilities of the newly opened door in your life?

Olivia Fowler

On The Way

By Olivia Fowler

The Doodle Trail is actually going to become a reality, and I’m thrilled. Also, I am grateful to the mayors, city administrators and city councils of Pickens and Easley for making this happen.

It can be difficult and sometimes almost impossible for a group of people to agree on a project of this scope. Especially if there is a vocal and hostile minority actively spreading rumors and cultivating a crop of fear and distrust.

I think repurposing a spent railway for the good of the entire community is an ingenious way to turn something useless back into a vital part of the future.

It’s an exciting step forward.

Nicole Guttermuth

A New Day

By Nicole Guttermuth

During my tenure as an English lecturer at Clemson, each semester we were required to collect student evaluations of our performances.

Distribution of evaluation forms always took place at the tail end of the semester, so it made for a good half-class kind of day leading into exam week, which worked out perfectly — especially during spring semesters when my students started wearing less and less clothing in preparation for sunbathing or Frisbee games on Bowman Field.

Olivia Fowler

On The Way

By Olivia Fowler

It’s August and our grass is green. Not the pale new shoots of spring, but the emerald green seen in the Land of Oz and Ireland. I don’t believe we’ve ever seen that before at this time of year.

We hardly know how to act. In the early morning we go out onto the front porch with coffee. The lantana bush is covered with zebra swallowtails and hummingbirds.

An inspection of the pots of herbs shows water is standing about half an inch deep on top of the soil. In order to keep the roots from rotting, the excess water must be drained off. The drained water sits in a puddle on top of the ground.

Olivia Fowler

On The Way

By Olivia Fowler

My great niece and nephew, Brooke Olivia and Andrew O’Neal, ages 7 and 6 respectively, live in Fayetteville, Ark., with their parents, Laura and Neal. I just returned from visiting them and have seldom been so entertained.

Andrew, who just celebrated his birthday, has acquired a hamster, who bears the name of Sam Sayonara Simmons. Sam is a source of neverending entertainment for both children and resides in an attractive cage in the bonus room. He spends little time there.

Now hamsters are tiny creatures and can fit into the palm of your hand. Their fur is soft and silky, and holding Sam is like holding a very active cottonball.