Just plane awesome

Greenwood man wins $300,000 airplane in contest

February 12, 2005

By WALLACE McBRIDE
Index-Journal senior staff writer

Roy Wilbanks left Greenwood for Myrtle Beach Thursday, returning the following day as co-pilot of a 1965 Piper Twin Comanche.
Wilbanks is the grand-prize winner of the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association’s 2004 Win-A-Twin Sweepstakes, beating out more than 400,000 national members for the prize.
The Greenwood businessman was invited to the S.C. Aviation Association’s annual Hall of Fame banquet in Myrtle Beach under the pretense that he was the winner of a pair of Bose headphones for his airplane.
During the presentation, though, the evening’s real prize was announced — a fully restored Piper Twin Comanche valued at $300,000.
“It’s a classic,” said Tom Horne, editor-at-large of AOPA Pilot Magazine. “The first ones came out in ’63, so this is an early model.”
“I didn’t sleep a wink last night,” Wilbanks said Friday, just minutes after landing in Greenwood. “I kept thinking about how lucky and fortunate that I am, and thought about the people in the tsunami disaster in Southeast Asia — I can’t see how I deserve this.”
Wilbanks is retired from CSX, and is the former owner of Wilbanks Paint and Body Shop.
“I recently turned that over to my son,” he said. “I was ready to settle down and take on some new things in my life.”
He is currently the co-owner of a single-seat airplane, and will need additional training before he is qualified to fly the Piper Twin.
“I was planning on getting my commercial rating, and it shouldn’t take much time to get it,” he said. “Probably 15 more hours. But all of the electronic equipment inside, I’ll have to go to school on that.”
The plane was purchased in Carmel, Calif., and brought to the East Coast for remodeling. New engines and propellers were installed, new paint was applied and the aircraft interior was replaced.
Inside are new avionics, a moving map, a state-of-the-art global positioning system, and a television and DVD player.
“There was a lot of labor, and a lot of dollar cost involved,” Horne said. “We bought it for $67,500 and it’s got about $250,000 worth of stuff in it.”
“I still can’t believe it,” said wife Lee Wilbanks. “When they called last night and said he had won, I said ‘You’re kidding me.’ This is one of his passions. Things like this happen to other people.”

Local, area residents glad to see pro wrestling back in Greenwood

February 12, 2005

By WALLACE McBRIDE
Index-Journal senior staff writer

There’s an art to hitting a man with a folding chair. Timing is important and can mean the difference between entertainment and tragedy.
Parts of Friday night’s match at the Greenwood Civic Center got very real for some fans, as a bout between the Shooter, Desperado and the Barbarian tumbled out of the ring and into the stands. It was all part of the show, and those “in the know” ate it up.
“You’re like a kid when you watch it,” said Jason Ritter, 30.
“It’s something this town’s been missing. I’m glad it’s back.”
Ritter wanted to meet veteran wrestler Jimmy Valiant, also known as “The Boogie Woogie Man,” who greeted fans at the civic center door.
“I’m old school,” Ritter said. “I got his autograph and a T-shirt. He’s awesome ... one of the best.”
Old school is the motto of the Universal Championship Wrestling (UCW) federation, which wants to recreate the atmosphere of professional wrestling before the sensationalism-accompanied modern shows.
The UCW lineup features veteran performers such as the Midnight Express, the Rock & Roll Express, Buff Bagwell and others.
There is also a roster of younger rookies mixed into the show, such as female performers Amber O’Neal and Krissy Vaine.
It was the veterans that brought out most of the crowd, though.
“My favorites are Lex Luger, Sting and Goldberg,” said Ricky Haynes, 18, of Calhoun Falls. “I’ve been following them since 1992.”
Luger and Sting were among the performers at Friday’s show, and Haynes said he hoped for autographs.
“I’m here to see Lex Luger, the Barbarian, the Rock and Roll Express and the Midnight Express — some of the old wrestlers I haven’t seen in a while,” said Ricky Kennedy of Greenwood. “It’s been a while since they’ve had a wrestling match out here.”
Kennedy brought his four-year-old son to the Friday show. It was the boy’s first wrestling match. Some of the wrestlers spent some time around Greenwood Thursday and Friday morning. Lex Luger took advantage of a local tanning bed, while some of the other performers spent time at Greenwood Mall signing autographs.
“I just came here to get something, and saw the signs up,” said Roger Sherman, who met some of the wrestlers participating in a signing session Friday.
One of those was Ricky Morton, half of the Rock and Roll Express tag team.
“He’s a lot nicer, and on stage he’s all business — ready to go,” Sherman said.
UCW is scheduled to return to the Greenwood Civic Center March 18. Friday’s show was filmed form television broadcast at an unspecified date.

Blues sounds fill gym at Ninety Six High

February 12, 2005

By TASHA STEIMER
Index-Journal staff writer

NINETY SIX – Staff and students tapped their feet and clapped their hands Friday as the sounds of rhythm and blues filled the Ninety Six High School gymnasium.
Musicians John Dee Holeman and Billy Stevens, both from North Carolina, performed a selection of songs and spoke to the audience about the importance of African culture on the history of American music during a Black History Month program.
Stevens said the men have known each other a long time – playing in Durham, N.C., together in the late 1970s and several other times through the years – before touring in the past year.
“The most important message we want to show (people) is that without the interaction between white and black musicians, we wouldn’t have the music we had,” he said. “I hope that was a clear message (today), and we hoped we showed that.”
Stevens told students that many characteristics in music can be traced back to Africa.
“Blues always speaks to personal experience,” he said. “There is something sad about the music, but playing blues is also about getting the sadness out of you. It’s also about having a good time.”
Stevens explained that many instruments are a part of the music – from fiddles and harmonicas to guitars and pianos. When the U.S. Postal Service started delivering mail to rural locations at the turn of the century, people could order new instruments through catalogs that they couldn’t get access to before.
The men demonstrated several styles of music including blues songs from the Mississippi Delta area at the turn of the century and ragtime tunes played in Chicago dance halls in the 1940s.
“By the time electric blues came out in the 1940s and 50s, more white teenagers were listening to blues and other black music,” Stevens said. “Just like what Eminem is doing now, there were always white musicians who played African-American music, and that’s why the music is so important.”
Stevens and Holeman, who have performed all over the world including in Africa, also performed at Edgewood Middle School Friday. Stevens, who has toured as a “Modern-Day, One-Man Band,” recreates the sound of five musicians – keyboards, bass, harp, drums and vocals. He completed his thesis exploring the roots of African music in Durham, N.C., in 2002 from the University of Mississippi.
Holeman, 75, is a recipient of the National Endowment for the Arts National Heritage fellowship and a North Carolina Folk Heritage award. Besides being a vocalist and guitarist, he performed as a buck and tap dancer on tours around the world.

Eagles end strong

Greenwood defeats Laurens in season finale

February 12, 2005

By CHRIS TRAINOR
Special to The Index-Journal

The Greenwood High School Eagles ended their season on a high note, defeating the Laurens High School Raiders 64-58 at Greenwood High School Friday.”
Armanti Edwards led the way for the Eagles with 20 points while teammate John Phelps added 16 points.”
“It felt good to get in the win column again,” Greenwood coach Hob Chandler said. “It’s been a tough year. Some of these guys have been with us for two or three years now, so I was glad to see them go out with a win.””
The game was a defensive struggle that at times resembled a WWE pay-per-view event more than it did a high school basketball game.”
Both teams denied the other fast breaks repeatedly in the first quarter. Late in the quarter, Greenwood’s John Phelps hit a running jumper while getting fouled. The subsequent free throw put the Eagles on top 16-8 heading into the second quarter.”
Greenwood employed a full-court press to create several turnovers and transition hoops in the the second quarter, as the Eagles opened a 20-9 lead. ”
However, Laurens mounted a 10-0 run late in the half, sparked by a 3-pointer from Dan Davenport. The Eagles headed into halftime holding a 29-23 lead.”
The Raiders cut even further into the Eagles’ lead in the third period. The Raiders’ Glannis Todd popped in 10 of his team-high 18 points in the period. Laurens gained its first lead midway through the quarter, going up 33-31 on a Todd jumper. ”
The Eagles would get the lead back as time expired in the period. Edwards sank an NBA-range 3-pointer to put the Eagles ahead 43-40 heading to the final period.”
The two squads exchanged hoops throughout much of the physical last period. Laurens was able to regain the lead at the 4:33 mark in the period, courtesy of two free throws from Treze Foggie.”
Phelps dialed up a 3-pointer to put the Eagles ahead for good at 58-55 at the 1:37 mark. Greenwood made key free throws in the closing moments to seal the victory.”
“I’m happy about this win,” Chandler said. “Laurens is an athletic team, and they can do some interesting things on offense and defense. After the year we have had, I was thrilled to see my guys respond the way they did.”
The Eagles finished the year with an 8-14 record overall and a 2-9 mark in Region I-AAAA play.

Final quarter devils Panthers

February 12, 2005

By RON COX
Index-Journal sports writer

IVA — Aramus Smith scored 16 of his game-high 30 points in the fourth quarter to lead Liberty High School to back-to-back Region I-AA titles.
The Red Devils led by a single point to start the final quarter, but scored 35 points — 19 from the foul line — to knock off Abbeville, 86-69, Friday night at Crescent High School in the region championship tiebreaker.
“We played a really hard schedule in non-region play to prepare us for this time of the year, and we went through some bumps-and-bruises, but it’s paid off,” Liberty coach Steve Dunlap said. “This is what it’s all about and this is what we came here to do.
“Aramus has had two great games for us in the last two games. He’s been connecting lately.”
Liberty (14-9 overall, 9-2 region), which won its first region title in 49 years last season, will play host to the loser of the Palmetto-Woodruff tiebreaker game, which was also played Friday.
Abbeville, which finished the season as region runner-up in its return to Region I-AA, will await the winner of that Region II-AA matchup. The result of that game was not know at press time.
Elon Deveaux led the Panthers (16-8, 8-3) with 20 points. Fellow-senior Donald Hill had 14 point, 10 in the second half, while Courtney Tate added 10.
Smith’s backcourt mate Byron Wimphrie finished with 21 points, with 15 coming in the second half. Andrew Herman had 12 points, eight from the foul line, while Cal Dunlap chipped in 10.
As a team, the Red Devils were 34 of 51 from the free-throw line, including 19-of-27 in the decisive fourth quarter.
But perhaps the most critical free throw for Liberty completed a play that changed momentum the Red Devils’ way.
Leading by only three with 5 minutes remaining in the game, Wimphrie was fouled knocking down a 3-pointer by Abbeville’s Jamar Washington. Wimphrie completed the rare four-point play.
Smith, who scored 29 points Thursday against Pendleton, followed with a layup off a steal, setting a momentum-swinging run in motion.
Liberty outscored the Panthers 28-11 over the final five minutes of play.
“Jamar took a gamble and (Wimphrie) he got free enough to get the shot off,” Abbeville coach Jamie Herman said. “That was it right there. That was when the momentum swung.”
Washington dropped in a layin off a pass from Deveaux to make it 68-61 with 3:41 left to play. But Wimprhie quickly pushed the Liberty lead back to double digits with his third 3-pointer, for a 71-61 advantage with 3:11 to go.
The Red Devils went almost three minutes before getting their next field goal. But Jon Gibson’s breakaway two-handed dunk with 20 seconds remaining came after the team sank 11 of 18 free throws. The Panthers managed eight points through that stretch.
The game remained tight throughout the first three quarters. There were eight lead changes and 14 ties through the first 24 minutes of play.

Opinion

Incident at U. N. shows why violence never ends

February 12, 2005

If school children in South Carolina need a lesson in history to help them understand their world a little better, it’s on the front pages of newspapers just about every day.
People in the Middle East have been fighting each other since biblical days. And, if anyone has somehow not been keeping up, they are still doing it. Only today the weapons of war are much more destructive and the conflicts threaten to spread more than they already have.
Why is the Middle East always at war? Why does a single day not go by without some form of violence filling the streets and the countryside with blood? It’s not all that difficult to figure out, really.
A recent incident at the United Nations building in New York is so convincing it’s all the explanation that should be needed.

AN OBSERVANCE WAS scheduled at the U. N. to remember the Holocaust, the name given to the horrible fate of millions of European Jews at the hands of Adolf Hitler’s Nazis.
When the time came for the observance, delegates of all Muslim/Arab nations walked out.
Israel and the Palestinians are presently talking in an effort to settle their dispute over the Gaza strip and to create a homeland for the Palestinians. Can they succeed? Maybe, maybe not.
History argues that it’s not likely to be successful ….. at least for very long.
The boycott of the Holocaust ceremony at the U. N. shows the animosity that Muslims/Arabs have for the Jews continues. They believe Israel should not even exist ….. that it indeed has no right to exist.

IT’S LIKELY THAT Israel could not exist, of course, without the support of the United States. This nation, under President Harry Truman, was instrumental in the founding of modern Israel. Since it became a nation in 1948, and a homeland for Jews scattered around the world, it has been beset by violence from inside and outside its borders.
That should tell us something about the violence perpetrated against us today. We befriend the Jewish nation and because of that, we automatically become an enemy to many of its enemies.
If anyone really needs a reason why this country has so many problems in that part of the world, that incident at the U. N. tells it all. How much more convincing could anything be?

Editorial expression in this feature represents our own views.
Opinions are limited to this page.

Obituaries

Bernest Bailey

CLINTON — Bernest Lark Bailey, 72, of 23265 Highway 76 E., widow of William J. Bailey, died Thursday, Feb. 10, 2005 at her home.
Born in Greenville County, she was a daughter of the late Calvin L. and Ardena Mae Belk Lark. She was a former employee of Anderson Hosiery Mill and Laurens Mill and attended New Hope Baptist Church.
Survivors include a son, William Bailey of Clinton; a daughter, Carol B. McBride of Inman; a brother, Ernest Lark of Clinton; three sisters, Merita Fay Lawson, Marie Franklin and Annette Patterson, all of Clinton; and four grandchildren.
Services are 4 p.m. Sunday at Gray Funeral Home. Burial is in Pinelawn Memory Gardens.
Visitation is 2-3:30 Sunday at the funeral home.
Memorials may be made to the S.C. Lung Association, 1817 Gasden St., Columbia, SC 29201.
Family members are at their respective homes.
Gray Funeral Home is in charge.

Bertha K. Bryson

Bertha Kelley Bryson, 92, of 2901 Highway 25 S., wife of Leslie S. Bryson, died Thursday, Feb. 10, 2005 at Self Regional Medical Center.
Born in Oconee County, she was a daughter of the late Paul F. and Emma Owens Kelley. She was a member of First Damascus Baptist Church.
Survivors include her husband of the home; a daughter, Ellen Martin of Greenwood; two sons, Leslie Ray Bryson of Murrells Inlet and Edward Carlton Bryson of Bradley; two sisters, Nellie Fisher of Ninety Six and Dolly Bryson of Brevard, N.C.; a brother, Ben E. Kelley of Greenwood; seven grandchildren; and a great-grandchild.
Services are 2 p.m. Sunday at Harley Funeral Home, conducted by the Rev. James F. Kelley. Burial is in Greenwood Memorial Gardens.
Pallbearers are grandsons.
Visitation is 6-8 tonight at the funeral home.
The family is at the home of her daughter, Ellen Martin, 110 Pembroke Road.
Memorials may be made to the American Heart Association, Memorials & Tributes Processing Center, P.O. Box 5216, Glen Allen, VA 23058-5216.
Harley Funeral Home is in charge.
Online condolences may be sent to the family at www.harleyfuneralhome.com

Carlethian Butler

TRENTON — Carlethian “Carl” Butler, 63, of 61 Lloyd Road, husband of Barbara Jean Coleman Butler, died Thursday, Feb. 10, 2005 at his home.
Born in Edgefield County, he was a son of the late Henry and Rocelia Simpkins Butler. He was a member of Pleasant Grove Baptist Church and Sons of Aide and a retired logger.
Survivors include his wife of the home; a son, Zacharias Butler of Trenton; two daughters, Karlene L. Butler of Trenton and Loretta Butler of St. Petersburg, Fla.; a brother, Raymond Butler of Charlotte, N.C.; four sisters, Alma Oliphant of Charlotte, Rosetta Ray of Scott Plains, N.J., Henrietta Tyler of Greenville and Catherine Butler of Ocean, N.J.; and two grandchildren.
Services are 2 p.m. Sunday at Pleasant Grove Baptist Church, Edgefield, conducted by the Revs. Eldwin Griffin and J.R. Hooper. The body will be placed in the church at 1. Burial is in the church cemetery.
Pallbearers are nephews, and flower bearers are nieces.
The family is at the home.
Butler & Sons Funeral Home, Saluda, is in charge.

Margaret E. Fleming

ABBEVILLE – Margaret E. Fleming, 73, the wife of the late Clarence Fleming of 789 Hwy. 201 died Thursday, February 10, 2005 at the National Health Care Center. She was born in Abbeville to the late Charles W. and Mattie Uldrick Ellis.
Mrs. Fleming was an avid helper. She was a special mother, grandmother, great-grandmother and great friend to all that knew her.
She was preceded in death by her daughter, Linda Lee Fleming, two sisters, Martha Baldwin, and Lois Timms.
Surviving Mrs. Fleming is her son, Doug Fleming of Abbeville, three daughters, Sara Stevens of Greenwood, Judy Scott of Abbeville, and Pat Skidmore of Greenwood; three sisters, Nancy Peeler of Abbeville, Ola Mae Lingerfelt and Grace Outlaw, both of Charlotte, NC; ten grandchildren and thirteen great-grandchildren.
The family will receive friends from 2:00PM to 3:00PM (today) Saturday, February 12, 2005 at Harris Funeral Home. Funeral services will follow at 3:00 in the funeral home chapel. Interment will be in Long Cane Cemetery.
The family is at the home of Mrs. Judy Scott, 171 Cochran Rd., Abbeville. Online condolences may be sent to the Fleming family by visiting www.harrisfuneral.com. HARRIS FUNERAL HOME, of Abbeville is assisting the Fleming family.
PAID OBITUARY

Marie Mathis

Marie Mathis, 83, of 336 New Market St., died Thursday, Feb. 10, 2005 at Trinity Mission Health & Rehab of Edgefield.
Born in Greenwood County, she was a daughter of the late P.C. and Anica Chiles Mathis. She retired from Connie Maxwell Children’s Home. She was a member of Beulah Baptist Church, the senior choir, missionary society and Electa Chapter 310 Order of the Eastern Star.
Survivors include four brothers, B.J. Mathis of Greenville and Bennie Mathis Sr., Howard Mathis and Charles Mathis, all of Greenwood; four sisters, Susie Mathis, Nannie Fisher, Dorothy Mathis and Virginia Watson, all of Greenwood.
Services are 2 p.m. Sunday at Beulah Baptist Church, conducted by the Rev. Warren J. Gist, pastor. The body will be placed in the church at 1. Burial is in the church cemetery.
Pallbearers are nephews and great-nephews.
Flower bearers are nieces and great-nieces.
Honorary escorts are Ascension Hospice of West Columbia, Electa Chapter 301 Order of the Eastern Star and Trinity Mission Health & Rehab of Edgefield.
Visitation is this evening at the home.
Robinson & Son Mortuary Inc., Greenwood, is in charge.
Online condolences may be sent to the family at robson@emeraldis.com

Joyce Burton Robards

Joyce Burton Robards, 67, of 213 Shrine Club Road, wife of John Robards, died Friday, Feb. 11, 2005.
Visitation is 7-9 Sunday at Harley Funeral Home.
The family is at the home of a daughter, Tammie Mullinax, 111 Cruger Court, Ninety Six.
Services will be announced by Harley Funeral Home.

Ada ‘Tootsie’ Smith

Ada Evelyn “Tootsie” Smith, 74, of 134 Sylvan Road, died Friday, Feb. 11, 2005 at Self Regional Medical Center.
Services will be announced by Blyth Funeral Home.