Olivia Fowler

On The Way

by Olivia Fowler

This summer’s garden is coming to an end. The cucumbers and squash were first to begin and first to end. Tomatoes suffered from excess rain, but our corn loved it. All the different kinds of peppers thrived. We had a good crop of blueberries and enough blackberries for pies. Green beans were late but finally arrived. And we’ll have okra until frost.

But now the bounty of summer is fast fading. Soon we’ll have turnip greens, Swiss chard and maybe kale.

Of all the vegetables, I’ll miss fresh tomatoes the most. I’ll also miss the

Nicole Guttermuth

A New Day

by Nicole Guttermuth

Em loves America’s Got Talent and recorded it religiously on the DVR this summer so she could watch it at her leisure.

Early on in the competition there was a female contestant who held bowls in each hand and flipped them into the air, catching the bowls in perfect balance atop her head, while riding a unicycle.

I can’t imagine being able to ride a unicycle or catch anything with my hands

Editor’s Note: This is the final installment of a multi-part series from Nicole recounting a commencement speech by writer George Saunders. The first two parts were published in the last two issues.

Nicole Guttermuth

A New Day

By Nicole Guttermuth

When young, we’re anxious — understandably — to find out if we’ve got what it takes. Can we succeed? Can we build a viable life for ourselves? But you — in particular you, of this generation — may have noticed a certain cyclical quality to ambition. You do well in high-school, in hopes of getting into a good college, so you can do well in the good college, in the hopes of getting a good job, so you can do well in the good job so you can….

“And this is actually OK. If we’re going to become kinder, that process has to include taking ourselves seriously — as doers, as accomplishers, as dreamers. We have to do that, to be our best selves.

“Still, accomplishment is unreliable. ‘Succeeding,’ whatever that might mean to

Olivia Fowler

Olivia Fowler

On The Way

By Olivia Fowler

Our English teacher in high school, Lil Buie, was the most inspiring teacher I ever had.

Our school was small, with only 200 students enrolled in 12 grades. Mrs. Buie taught English, World History and American History. We learned to love these subjects because she did. She taught us how to express ourselves on paper.

No student fortunate enough to be taught by Mrs. Buie emerged from her classroom without a better understanding and command of the English language. She hated the hackneyed phrases we littered our creative writing assignments with and was always

Olivia Fowler

On The Way

By Olivia Fowler

Remember how we first became involved in Vietnam? First we sent “advisors.” Then “boots on the ground.” Just a few in the beginning. Then we saw the war escalate. The draft was in place, and anyone 18 and older could be sent. And we sent them and sent them and sent them.

Many were killed. Many more were damaged. Some were held prisoner and were tortured for information. We watched these events unfold on the nightly news. And in the end we saw our helicopters lifting off while those aboard dislodged South Vietnamese from the landing gear.

Young men came home maimed, addicted and destroyed. Some died later from

Editor’s Note: This is the second of a multi-part series from Nicole recounting a commencement speech by writer George Saunders. The first part was published in last week’s issue.

Nicole Guttermuth

A New Day

by Nicole Guttermuth

That I regret most in my life are failures of kindness.”

This is the statement that really drew me into Saunders’ commencement address. In our culture we so often define success in terms of job status and material possessions. I appreciate his position. Here is the second part of his speech:

“Those moments when another human being was there, in front of me, suffering, and I responded…sensibly. Reservedly. Mildly.

“Or, to look at it from the other end of the telescope: Who, in your life, do you remember most fondly, with the most

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.