Pinehurst to have community yard sale to raise money for entrance sign

July 10, 2005

By JACKIE R. BROACH
Index-Journal staff writer

Nearly a year after its formation, the Pinehurst Neighborhood Association is still working to improve every aspect of life for the subdivision’s residents.
Developed this past September as a crime-watch group, the organization’s latest endeavors are replacing the entrance sign along Emerald Road and creating a playground in the subdivision where children can play safely.
Group officials say they have hopes that at least one of the projects can be completed through the aid of a fundraiser.
The group has planned a community yard sale to take place at 7 a.m. Saturday, behind the sign. Donations of “anything and everything” are being accepted from residents through the Greenwood area for the fundraiser, said Alice Lecroy, the association’s secretary and treasurer.
The money raised most likely will go toward replacing the sign. Though the playground is desperately needed in the subdivision, it likely isn’t something that can be achieved anytime soon because of cost, said Jim Jester, president of the association.
“It’ll probably take a lot of fundraisers before we can manage that,” Jester said of the playground’s construction.
Currently, children play in the streets and that needs to stop, both said.
“It’s a wonder somebody hasn’t already been hit,” Jester said, adding that there have been some close calls. “It’s just not safe for them to be playing out there and something needs to be done.”
Though the posted speed limit in the subdivision is 25 miles per hour, Jester said cars regularly go down the streets at 50-60 miles per hour.
The playground is to be located on a now-vacant lot on Pinehurst Drive. The property is already owned by Pinehurst, so there would be no cost to use the property. There will, however, be a hefty price tag associated with clearing and developing the land, and with purchasing playground equipment to be placed there.
Jester and Lecroy said they don’t have an estimate of the cost of the project, but are certain it is more than the group will be able come up with in the near future. For that reason, the playground will be a long-term goal, which will hopefully come to fruition in the next few years.
The replacement of the sign is a more immediate project, which Jester said he hopes to see completed by the end of the year. That action will cost the group $750. Jester said the existing sign was erected in 1960, when Pinehurst was developed, and has not been repaired or maintained since.
“We try to keep the area clean, but that’s about all we’ve been able to do,” Jester said.
Jester and Lecroy said they would appreciate help in any form and would be happy to pick up donations for the yard sale. To arrange a pick-up or for information about the yard sale, call Jester, 229-7139, or Lecroy, 229-6026.

Lone Star shootout

11 area soccer players competed in Southern Regionals

July 9, 2005

By CHRIS TRAINOR
Index-Journal sports writer

Eleven soccer players from Greenwood and the Lakelands area had a unique opportunity recently when they traveled June 23-29 to Plano, Texas for the 2005 U.S. Youth Soccer Southern Regionals.
All eleven players – Patrick Hobson, Kasie Sears, Erika Bishop, Lauren Reynolds, Caroline Clarke, C.K. Kirkland, Tyler Davis, Brock Scott, Katy Hoover, Laura Armstrong and Joy Cain – are members of the Carolina Elite Soccer Academy in Greenville.
Every member of the group is also an alumnus of the Greenwood Toros soccer program.
The players, who range in age from 14-19, were able to participate in the Southern Regionals on the strength of their individual team’s performances at the South Carolina level challenge tournament, where a team must win the state championship in order to compete in the regional event.
The CESA is wrapping up its first year in competitive play. The academy is actually a merger of two previous premier league soccer clubs: Greenville Futbol Club and St. Giles United Soccer Club.
The regional event was a first for some of the players, while others had participated in years past.
“This was my first time in a big tournament like this one,” said Katy Hoover, who will be a freshman at Greenwood High School, played in the girl’s under-14 age group.
“We played against teams from North Carolina, Georgia, and Texas. The level of competition at the tournament was unbelievable.”
Greenwood High School sophomore Patrick Hobson, who participated in the boy’s under-15, concurred on the exemplary nature of the level of competition at the Southern Regionals.
“We definitely faced off with some premier competition,” said Hosbon, whose team highlight for the event was a 1-0 victory over the highly regarded South Texas squad.
“It helps me a lot to face that kind of competition, because I’m a smaller player. It forces me to use my quickness and my technical abilities. Playing in the CESA has helped me to get better, definitely.”
For Kasie Sears, who played in the girl’s under-17, this year marked her third trip to the Southern Regionals.
“This year was the best by far,” said the Emerald High School senior. “Because the clubs have combined, we are all a lot more united. We all stayed in the same hotel, and we really bonded with each other and became better teammates.”
Sears was a member of Greenwood’s most populous squad. The CESA 87 Premier U-17 squad included four other girls from the Emerald City: Clarke, Sears, Reynolds, Bishop and Cain, who has spent the past few weeks on a mission trip in Honduras.
“It’s been a lot of fun being on the road with them,” Bishop said of her local teammates. “We’ve grown up together, and we all know each other really well. All of us except Caroline will be playing in under-18s together next year.”
Clarke, who will return to the under-17 squad next year, said the whole team, not just the Greenwood players, meshed really well together.
“After a while you kind of forget who comes from where when you’re out there playing,” said the Greenwood Christian junior. “Everybody on our team got along really well. We truly are a team.”
Reynolds, a senior at Greenwood High School, said she felt that the squad’s hard work throughout the year paid off in qualifying for the Regionals.
“The whole trip was awesome,” Reynolds said. “We worked really hard and trained really hard to get there. We played our hardest out there.”
The Greenwood contingent had varying opinions on Plano, which is near Dallas. One aspect they nearly all agreed on, however, was the ominous dry heat.
“It was crazy hot,” Clarke said. “One afternoon the thermometer in the car said in was 105 degrees. Another day it was 103. People say it’s a dry heat, but it was plenty hot enough to make you drenched with sweat.”
Greenwood High School graduate Tyler Davis, who played for the boy’s under-18, agreed that the heat was oppressive, but he enjoyed his stay nevertheless.
“Oh man, it was 98, 99, 100 degrees every day,” said Davis, who signed to play soccer at Lander University. “But the area was beautiful. It was really, really clean and the people were so nice, just like home.”
Emerald High School graduate C.K. Kirkland, who played with Davis in the under-18 boys group and will join Davis at Lander, was able to debunk a common myth about the Lone-Star state.
“A lot of people seem to think of a desert when they think of Texas,” Kirkland said. “This wasn’t like that at all. It is flat, but the area is very developed. And the soccer fields were perfect.”
Former Greenwood High School standout Laura Armstrong, who played for the girl’s under-19, credits getting an early start in the Greenwood Toros program with helping her as a member of CESA and the University of South Carolina women’s soccer team.
“The talent pool is getting bigger in Greenwood,” said Armstrong, who drove 15 hours to get to Plano. “Having the quality coaches that they have, the Van Taylors and the Sam Nasharollahis, it really helps players develop at a younger age.”
Brock Scott, a participant on the under-19 boys team which made it to the regional finals, attributed his squad’s success to the tight knit nature of the group.
“We’re like a family,” said Scott, who was an all-state player at Emerald. “There were other teams here that were more talented. But we were more of a team and we had heart.”
Scott said that he and his team enjoyed some extra-curricular activities in the Plano area as well.
“Well, since we are 19, they would let us take the van out,” Scott said. “We went out to eat at some local restaurants and hit on some waitresses. I’ll say this: We don’t get into trouble when we’re together, but we do live life to the fullest.”
Emerald High School boys coach Brad Nickles, who is the director of coaching for the Toros, said he was proud of the group and their accomplishments.
“It’s really a testimony to these players, and all of their hard work,” Nickles said. “For them to be able to travel like this and play in these high caliber tournaments is a reminder of the kind of start you can get with a program like the Toros.
“We want to promote the game and develop players. With 11 players from a small town participating in a big time event like this, I’d say we did a pretty good job in this instance.”

Opinion

Many churches struggling to find same-sex answers

July 10, 2005

What to do about same-sex marriage has members of many churches struggling. It’s not something happening somewhere else and, thus, not a problem for churches in Greenwood and all over South Carolina. It has church members here debating with themselves over what is the right thing to do.
For many, or so it appears, there’s no middle ground. It’s a right or wrong situation.
The latest to endorse same-sex marriage is the United Church of Christ, the largest Christian denomination yet to do so. About 80 percent of the representatives on that church’s 884-member General Synod voted Monday to approve a resolution endorsing marriage between men and men and women and women.

THE VOTE IS NOT BINDING on individual churches, but some members and clergy say it could cause some congregations to leave the church.
There were, in fact, eight congregations in the liberal denomination of 1.3 million members who thought the proposal was a bad idea.
One minister in the denomination described the situation in terms that probably strike a responsive chord with many others in other Christian denominations.
The Rev. Brett Becker, pastor of St. Paul United Church of Christ in Cibolo, Texas, a spokesman for the conservative congregations opposed to same-sex marriage, had no doubts about what would happen if the proposal won approval. He went so far as to predict the collapse of the church if the measure passed. “If we’re going to call ourselves Christian and be followers of Christ, we need to follow His teachings on marriage,” Becker said.

SAME-SEX UNIONS IS A question that many mainline Christian denominations have debated for a number of years. That’s not likely to change, either. If experience is indicative of what to expect, same-sex advocates in various churches apparently have no intention of letting the issue die, and will keep trying to get their way.
As the struggle goes on, though, Rev. Becker’s words – or some to the same effect – become more pertinent to every Christian denomination. And, they are likely to be heard again and again ….. “If we’re going to call ourselves Christian and be followers of Christ, we need to follow his teachings on marriage.”
That’s pretty simple. It’s astounding, though, how simplicity can sometimes be so complicated.

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

Obituaries

Charlotte A. DeLong

Charlotte Ann DeLong, wife of Paul DeLong, of 135 Barkwood Lane, died Thursday, July 7, 2005 at Self Regional Medical Center.
Survivors include her husband; two sons, Steven DeLong of Florida and the Rev. William “Bill” DeLong of Clinton; and six grandchildren.
The family is at the home.
Memorial services are 8 p.m. Tuesday at Coronaca Baptist Church.
Palmetto Cremation Service is in charge.

Paul Downey

Paul Salis Downey, 71, of 305 Willowbrook Road, husband of Nina Mobley Downey, died Saturday, July 9, 2005 at Hospice House of Greenwood.
Born in Chattanooga, Tenn., he was a son of the late James Jasper and Mary Dickert Downey. He retired from Capsugel and was formerly employed by Greenwood Mills, Plant No. 5 and Mathews Plant, and Independent Life Insurance Co. He was a member of Emerald Baptist Church.
Survivors include his wife of the home; two daughters, Nancy Wolfe and Pam Young, both of Greenwood; five sons, Paul L. Downey, Dennis Downey, Owen Downey and Jeff Downey, all of Greenwood and David Downey of Germany; a sister, Amy D. Boren of Panama City, Fla.; 17 grandchildren; and five great-grandchildren.
Services are 3 p.m. Monday at Harley Funeral Home, conducted by the Revs. Rich Lancaster, Herman Bradley and Curt Eidson. Burial is in Greenwood Memorial Gardens.
Pallbearers are Jamie Hanson, Brandon Downey, Jason Downey, Tim Scarborough, Matt Young, Marc Young, Andrew Taylor and Matthew Downey.
Visitation is 1-3 Monday at the funeral home.
The family is at the home.
Memorials may be made to Hospice Care of the Piedmont, 408 W. Alexander Ave., Greenwood, SC 29646.
Harley Funeral Home is in charge.
Online condolences may be sent to the family at www.harleyfuneralhome.com

Rev. Gil Harper Sr.

McCORMICK — Services for the Rev. Gil Harper Sr. are 1 p.m. Monday at Little Mill Baptist Church, Willington, conducted by the Rev. Paul Saunders, pastor. Assisting are Elder Oscar A. Klugh and the Revs. Johnnie Waller, Roy Andrews, Isaac Booker III and Milton Wells. The body will be placed in the church at 12. Burial is in the church cemetery.
Pallbearers are grandsons, and flower bearers are granddaughters.
An additional survivor is a brother, George Harper of McCormick.
The family is at the home, Pine Street Extension.
Walker Funeral Home is in charge.

Loretta Harrison

SPARTANBURG — Loretta Harrison, 46, of 738 Idlewood Circle, died Saturday, July 9, 2005 at Spartanburg Regional Medical Center.
A daughter of Jessie Harrison and the late Willimena Harrison, she was a member of Springfield Baptist Church, Edgefield.
Survivors include her father; two daughters, Leatrice Harrison of Greenwood and Jametta Harrison of Spartanburg; two brothers, Gregory Harrison of Toledo, Ohio and Keith Harrison of Greenwood; four sisters, Loran Cannon, Teresa Dones and Tammy Leverette of Greenwood and Debra Rucker of Killeen, Texas; and two grandchildren.
The family is at the home of her daughter, Leatrice Harrison, at 42 Stockman St., Greenwood.
Services will be announced by Percival-Tompkins Funeral Home, Greenwood.

Etta B. Holloway

TEMPLE HILLS, Md. — Etta B. Holloway, 61, of 4115 Shell St., wife of Robert Holloway Sr., died Wednesday, July 6, 2005 at Woodside Nursing Home in Silver Spring.
Born in Callison, S.C., she was a daughter of Isabell Mosley-Williams and the late Thomas Caroline “T.C.” Williams. She was a member of Flint Hill Baptist Church, Troy, S.C.
Survivors include her husband; her mother of Greenwood, S.C.; two daughters, Veronica Holloway of the home and Antoinette Holloway of Hardeesville, Ga.; two sons, Russell Holloway of Washington, D.C., and Robert Holloway Sr. of Accokeek; four sisters, Betty Beaty and Jeanette Price, both of Greenwood, Fannie Mae Williams of Bradley, S.C., Marjorie Gray of Hodges, S.C.; five brothers, Robert J. Williams and Thomas C. “Peon” Williams, both of Greenwood, Larry “L.D.” Williams of McCormick, S.C., and Charles Williams of Colorado; 11 grandchildren, two of the home, Daivon Davis and Kayona Sawyer.
Services are Wednesday at Freeman Funeral Home in Riverdale.
Announcement courtesy of Parks Funeral Home, Greenwood.

Mr. David A. Ward

NORTH AUGUSTA — The Mass of Christian Burial for Mr. David A. Ward, 74, of Shoreline Drive East, North Augusta, SC, who died July 8, 2005, will be conducted Tuesday morning at 10 o’clock from Our Lady of Peace Catholic Church. Father C. Alexander McDonald celebrant. Final Prayers and Commendation in Pineview Memorial Gardens.
Mr. Ward was a native of Joliet, Illinois having made North Augusta his home for 52 years. He was a communicant of Our Lady of Peace Catholic Church and retired from E. I. DuPont Company at Savannah River Plant.
Survivors include his wife of 52 years, Diana Ward; five sons and daughters-in-law, David Ward, Jr., North Augusta, Tom and Lavetta Ward, Columbia, SC, Chris and Janice Ward, Charlotte, NC, Jon and Trish Ward, Arlington, VA, Matt and Amita Ward, Greenville, SC; four daughters and sons-in-law, Becky and Joey Brown, Greenwood, SC, Kathleen Taylor, Peachtree City, GA, Eileen and Steve Smith, Arnoldsville, GA and Mary and Herb Collins, West Columbia, SC; a sister and brother-in-law, Esther and William Castle, Speedway, IN; 18 grandchildren.
The Vigil Service for the Deceased will be conducted at the funeral home Monday evening at 7 o’clock followed by visitation until 9.
Memorials may be made to the National Association for Mental Illness, PO Box 3904, Augusta, Georgia 30904.
Stephen D. Posey Funeral Home of North Augusta in charge of arrangements (803-278-1181).
PAID OBITUARY