Category Archives: Opinions
Courier Letters to the Editor 2-1-23
The bottom lines on the YAM jubilee
Dear Editor,
Last Saturday, Jan. 28, our Young Appalachian Musicians held their Winter Bluegrass Jubilee at Pickens High School. It was a wonderful day! I’d like to write about our Bottom Line for our Jubilee. Here’s a list of what I consider to be our bottom line(s) for Jubilee:
- To say “THANK YOU” to our supporters — This year we especially thank those who have supported our efforts to get instruments in the hands of our 400-plus YAM kids — the majority of them beginners.
- To spread the word about our program — We also hired a new person to help with PR/grant writing, getting sponsors, etc. We want to show others what we’re all about.
- To collaborate — We use the committee approach with our Jubilee team and enlist lots of volunteers. This year we had to fill more than 140 two-hour positions, and we did so with 80-plus volunteers. Lots of “buy in,” but a little complicated at times!
- To serve our constituents — provide quality entertainment, teach new skills, etc.
- To make Jubilee (and the YAM program) affordable for all, especially our parents.
- To give a chance for our Yammers to shine — thus the Big YAM Jam!
- To show off our fabulous staff, including instructors, program directors, homework center coordinators, tutors and our admin people!
- To bring our community together to celebrate music and kids — things which are unifying.
- To make music part of our lives — as learners, teachers and “appreciators.”
- To make Jubilee fun and a learning experience for all — thanks to our wonderful performers!
But I’ve left two very important ones till the end. In my opinion, the “bottom” of the “bottom liners” of our event is to raise funds for our YAM program. Please don’t get me wrong, in order for YAM to be a program, we must have funds! We — especially our board members — all know that and spend much of our time being creative with raising income and working hard to stay within our budget. (I call them our “Dream Board” … which, by the way, every board member who lives within 50 miles was at the Jubilee working in full support of this project.) Between our sponsorships (which we doubled the money and tripled the number of sponsors) and grants, we paid for everything before we opened the doors! But we’ve also found that we just have to take a leap of faith sometimes. We’re so fortunate that our supporters have always come through when they know what we want to do is serve our community, especially our children.
I’ve saved the best till last. To me, the most important “bottom liner” and at the top of my list, is the Grand Finale with the Big YAM Jam! This year we had more than 150 kids playing music on stage, along with our Dream Board, our dedicated and treasured staff and our performers — all to thank our sponsors, funders, partners, local government officials, volunteers and supporters, but mostly our parents. I hope this rolled all of the above bottom liners into one! What a grand finale it was!
Thank you, all, more than you’ll ever know!
Betty McDaniel
Pickens
Deliberating details amid the drama
What kind of person would steal a multimillion-dollar wrongful death settlement from the grieving family of one of his own longtime employees?
The same kind of person who would shoot and kill his own wife and son and stage it to look like a random attack, prosecutors are likely to argue in a murder trial starting this week in Colleton County.
Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you probably know that I’m talking about Alex Murdaugh, whose trial will likely produce the most intensely watched courtroom drama in South Carolina since 1994, when Susan Smith rolled her car into a lake with her two young sons strapped inside.
My only connection to this twisted tale, other than knowing some of the reporters who’ve been covering it, is a certain lawyer who’s involved. He happens to be the one who “broke the dam” that spilled forth numerous other cases of fraud and embezzlement, setting in motion the downfall of the prominent attorney whose family name had been esteemed for more than a century in that neck of the Lowcountry.
My source is a lawyer named Eric Bland. I became acquainted with him when I covered the story of Zachary Hammond, a teenager who was shot and killed in 2015 by a Seneca police officer who claimed he believed the young man was trying
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Courier Letters to the Editor 1-25-23
Sugar-sweetened beverage tax
Dear Editor,
South Carolina ranks 42nd in the country when it comes to health outcomes. However, affording healthier options can be a barrier to one’s longevity since eating a healthier diet is more expensive and inconvenient.
A possible solution is reducing the cost of whole foods and broadening sin taxes from alcohol and cigarettes to include some junk foods. For example, in 2014, San Francisco taxed sugar-sweetened beverages an average of 47 percent. Soon, San Francisco saw a 21 percent reduction in the consumption of sodas.
As for various junk foods, Hungary imposed a 4 cent tax on packaged foods and drinks high in sugar, fat or salt, such as fruit jams and candies. According to WHO,
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Maybe we should let someone hold our mule
“Hold my mule” is a figurative expression from the American South that means when a person is leading a mule and they need to go somewhere or do something 
very important, they will ask someone to hold their mule.
Sometimes it meant they were going to enter into a confrontation, be it a verbal or physical one, but in church settings where the members were not embarrassed to express their emotions, the phrase meant they were getting happy and praising the Lord or spending time at the altar crying out to God. Do churches still use altars? Do people still get happy?
When it comes to people expressing their worship, I’ve been in a lot of assemblies over the years and witnessed several
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Not in fear, just thinking rationally
No fear.
It’s not just a brand of clothing or a statement of bravado.
It’s the normal way to live.
There are so many things we could be afraid of — being in a car crash, living to see a nuclear apocalypse, getting smashed by a meteor or coming down with one of a thousand different diseases — such as COVID-19.
The likelihood of most of these things happening within the next 24 hours is reasonably low — except for the latter.
Now, I’m just like everybody else: I’d prefer to not worry about COVID.
And I don’t.
I ain’t afraid of it.
So if you see me wearing a mask, it’s not because I’m scared.
It’s because I love my wife.
I’m thinking about putting a sign on my KN95 that says that.
Most people pretty much ignore me when they see me, the only person in the
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Courier Letters to the Editors 1-18-23
Fighting for our republic
Dear Editor,
Recently we watched as 20 courageous members of the House stood up and fought the leadership of the establishment Republicans. They used the slim Republican House majority as a lever to wrest concessions and bring them back to the floor — and so to the people. It was a fight worth having, and finally we had fighters!
However, prominent media conservatives supported the establishment and were relentless in their attack of these 20 patriots. The real issue here is not the 20, but
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They hear His voice and follow Him
Life is changing all around us. With technology providing an opportunity for every person on the planet to speak and listen, we are surrounded by so many opinions about everything, it’s becoming more difficult to discern what is right and wrong.
Not only is this massive amount of information chaotic and much of the time unnecessary, but it has reached a point where many people no longer think for themselves. It’s concerning when individuals become so addicted to the lives of
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Helping veterans in 2023
Recently retired or unemployed, at loose ends and wondering what your next steps should be? If you’re looking for ways to help other veterans in your area, this year 
could be your most meaningful.
- Is anyone building homes for veterans in your area? Are any organizations ready to break ground and start building in the spring? Do you have construction, plumbing or electrical skills? Even if you don’t, there are
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The spiritual serenity of simplicity and stillness
I was peeling a turnip the other day — it was New Year’s Day, actually — when thoughts began to occur to me.
Not that this is a rare occurrence, me having thoughts. Peeling turnips is a rarity, though.
But as I contemplated the purplish, globe-shaped vegetable in my hand, here at the beginning of a new year, it seemed as though I began to be enveloped by a serene, golden glow.
There I was, standing over the kitchen sink in front of a window that looked out upon a wintry scene of bare trees. Gray on gray.
And in the tactile sensation of slicing away with rapid but cautious strokes at the chilled root’s northern hemisphere, I thought of my grandma.
I’m not sure if I actually have a memory of her peeling turnips. But I thought of her — Grandma Porter, my mother’s mama, born in 1889. And I felt somehow connected to a time when the world was less technologically busy.
Electricity hadn’t even come to the Ozarks yet when my mom was growing up. They cooked on a wood stove and got their water from a bucket in a well, like pioneers.
Grandma was a hard worker, but kind and gentle — and never in a hurry. I don’t think she ever got mad, or stressed. She lived well into her 80s.
My mom is much like her. Except for using a walker to get around, she is exactly the same as she’s always been,
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Accomplishing His will is our purpose
It’s disappointing to God that most people are usually more concerned about what they want in life than asking Him what He requires of them. Since our eyes were opened in the garden, our fleshly nature specializes in the skills of compromising and justifying. Self-deception is common.
Only a few will take the responsibility to obey Him and get serious about dedicating their lives to being a living sacrifice for Him. Yes, included with the blessings of this life is being accountable.
You might have heard the unpopular verse found in Revelation 3:16 where John relays what Jesus thinks about the
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