Category Archives: Opinions
City administrator talks infrastructure
A common inquiry that the city of Pickens receives from our community members often revolves around city projects and 
our direction as a city. These project inquiries and questions of city direction tend to revolve around those Pickens landmarks that are most visible, such as Bruce Field, the Doodle Trail and the Legacy Square Fountain. Will Bruce Field be renovated? Will the Doodle Trail be extended into downtown? When will the fountain be running again?
Your questions are valid, and we hear you. Behind the scenes, many of these
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Myths, legends and superstars
Maybe it’s in the water.
Bishopville, S.C., is home to the Lizard Man, a giant boll weevil, the Button King and the topiary artistry of Pearl Fryar. Bishopville is also home to an artesian well with alleged healing powers.
The mystery of the Lizard Man began on a hot and humid night in June 1988.
Christopher Davis had a flat tire on a lonely stretch of road near Scape Ore Swamp and not far from the artesian well. Just as he finished replacing the tire and was putting his tools away, he heard tree limbs snapping and loud noises coming from the nearby woods. Suddenly, a green, scaly-skinned monster with blazing red eyes and long black claws burst from the woods. It
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Endless night of the possum
There are nights when you go to bed and fall immediately into a deep sleep, not waking til morning. And then there are those other nights we dread — nights that follow a long day’s work, when we are bone weary and longing for sleep.
Such was the night of the possum invasion.
Innocently, we went to bed to sleep the sleep of the weary. And we probably had been deeply asleep for about 20 minutes when it began.
It seemed as though the high-pitched barking came from far away, but as I
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The lizard that sleeps in the fern
I had a dear friend who used to talk about the pet lizard she shared her home with. She called him Mr. Green, and he was what I think of as free-range lizard.
He came and went as he pleased. She was very careful where she stepped and alert for him when she vacuumed.
We, too, have a green tenant who enjoys lounging on the front porch. I suppose it would be appropriate to refer to him as a lounge lizard, but that
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The asparagus trait
I spit in the little test tube, sealed it up and sent my DNA off to be processed at one of those ancestry labs. I wanted to find out if all those family stories were true.
My father claimed he was of noble French ancestry. That’s why I’ve always felt a strong kinship to Marie Antoinette, the queen of France, who wasn’t really French since she was born in Austria. My father also claimed Native American lineage — Cherokee, to be exact. It’s possible I got my love of writing from Sequoyah, a Cherokee brave. He created the Cherokee writing system, but was accused of witchcraft for using magic to communicate
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Courier Letters to the Editor 6-9-21
Councilman responds to PCLS official
Dear Editor,
I want to respond to the comments by the Pickens County library board chairman, Dennis Latham, in the article last week titled “Library official urges county council to reconsider budget cut.” He said the county council is cutting library spending and hoisting the museum upon the library. Both claims are untrue.
Library spending is not being cut. State law forbids the county council from cutting the funds used to pay for library
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Who do you think is out there?
There have been a number of documented sightings by U.S. pilots of unidentified objects flying in the sky unlike anything known on Earth at this time. I saw it on “60 Minutes” last week.
It’s raised national security concerns, but in my opinion we on Earth have absolutely nothing to be concerned about.
Maybe somebody is making a new Star Wars series, but taking a different
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Knit one, purl two
Restless COVID hostages have abandoned their sourdough starters for knitting needles.
Knitting can be done alone or with a group and doesn’t require a lot of supplies. All you need is a pair of knitting needles and some yarn. Your skill level doesn’t matter. Classes are available everywhere — in stores, libraries and online. One advantage to knitting is that it is portable — you can take it with you.
Knitting is believed to have originated in the Middle East around the fifth
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An attitude of gratitude leads to contentment
Over a 12-year span at UCLA, American college basketball coach John Wooden won 10 national championships, and their total of 11 remains a record today.
Wooden is regarded as one of the most successful coaches in sports history, and more importantly an even greater person. He was a man of integrity and character and was highly respected on and off the court. He believed in discipline and felt strongly about teamwork and demonstrating appreciation
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Courier Letters to the Editor 6-2-21
More from our libraries, not less
Dear Editor,
Our excellent Pickens County libraries have been important to our family ever since we moved to Pickens County. Our children have learned to read, we have all borrowed books regularly, our children have attended events and we have used the online subscriptions.
During the pandemic, when we could not enter the library, we used the drive-through to keep reading. (Yet Councilman Alex Saitta suggested in the last Pickens County Council meeting that foot traffic was down last year — DURING THE PANDEMIC — as a support for the budget cuts.)
I strongly oppose the movement in county council to slash the library’s budget, both directly and by assigning responsibility for the museum without providing funds. This county and its citizens need even more from our libraries, not less.
Cary Berkeley Kaye
Clemson
