Fall for Reading

Volunteers share favorite books with Greenwood-area children

November 11, 2005

By JACKIE R. BROACH
Index-Journal staff writer

In an effort to hook children on books, area AmeriCorps volunteers shared some of their favorite children’s books Thursday at the Greenwood County Public Library.
The library played host to Fall for Reading, in which eight volunteers from Lander University each shared a story they had enjoyed in their own childhood.
“We just want to get kids into the library to see what it has to offer and to have fun,” said Caroline Zimmermann, who organized the event along with Sandy Shelton.
Zimmermann read “Miss Nelson is Missing” by Harry Allard, about a teacher who mysteriously disappears and is replaced by a “witch,” Miss Viola Swamp. Shelton read a book from the Franklin the Turtle series.
The two organizers said they wanted to teach children to appreciate the library and its many resources.
Zimmermann and Shelton are “full-time” volunteers with Habitat for Humanity and volunteer through AmeriCorps, a national government program that encourages community service.
Zimmerman said Thursday was the first time the group had arranged a volunteer program such as Fall for Reading, which was attended by about a dozen children.
“We’re very grateful for their help in raising awareness about the library,” said Marf Shopmyer, the children’s room manager at the library. “We always need publicity and we’re thankful for any project that that brings people into the library, particularly if it targets children.”
Shopmyer said it’s important for children to be exposed to books at a young age, because they are more likely to become lifelong readers. The library is especially in need of exposure right now because of the efforts to build a new library, she said.
“That’s a good way down the road, but we need to raise awareness and, hopefully, that will help with fundraising,” Shopmyer said.
The program was sponsored by McCaslan’s Bookstore, School Tools and Wal-Mart.

Edna Martin

ABBEVILLE — Edna Blair Wilson Martin, 95, of 203 Hunter St., wife of Leroy E. Martin, died Thursday, Nov. 10, 2005 at Abbeville Nursing Home.
Born in Abbeville County, she was a daughter of the late Joseph Brown and Clara Knox Wilson. She was a retired lunch room attendant at Greenville Street Elementary School, a homemaker and a member of Grace United Methodist Church.
Survivors include her husband of the home; two sons, Fred Martin and Joe Martin, both of Abbeville; three grandchildren; a great-granddaughter.
Graveside services are 11 a.m. today at Sharon United Methodist Church Cemetery, conducted by the Rev. Darren Hook.
Visitation is at the cemetery after the services.
The family is at the home.
Memorials may be made to Grace United Methodist Church, Building Fund, 100 E. Greenwood St., PO Box 1007, Abbeville, SC 29620.
The Chandler-Jackson Funeral Home is in charge.
Online condolences may be sent to the family at www.chandlerjacksonfh.com

Isaac ‘Ike’ Parks

AIKEN — Services for Isaac “Ike” Parks, of 268 Locke Lane, are 1 p.m. Saturday at Family Life Worship Center, conducted by Bishop Gehazel Williams. Burial is in St. Noah Church of God in Christ Cemetery.
G.L. Brightharp & Sons Mortuary, Aiken, is in charge.

Larry Peterson

Services for Larry Peterson, of 101 Stonehaven, Apt. 29, Raintree Apartments, are 3 p.m. Saturday at Dunham Temple CME Church, conducted by Pastor James McKee. Burial is in the Springfield Baptist Church Cemetery. The body will be placed in the church at 2.
Pallbearers are Everett Smith, Kerrick Simmonds, Rabbit Culbreath, Willie Culbreath, Keith Peterson, Jay Blocker, Patron Smith and Benny Burton.
Flower bearers are nieces.
Visitation is at the home of a brother, Johnnie Peterson, 941 Reynolds Ave. and the home of Mr. and Mrs. Delaney Smith, 533 Pelzer St.
Robinson and Son Mortuary Inc. is in charge.
Online condolences may be sent to the family at robson@nctv.com.

Myrtle Wells

Myrtle Beaty Walker Wells, 75, of 305 Crescent Drive, wife of Charles S. Wells, died Thursday, Nov. 10, 2005 at National Health Care Center.
The family is at the home of a daughter Delores Bruce, 150 Shearbrook Drive.
Services will be announced by Harley Funeral Home.
Online condolences may be sent to the family at www.harleyfuneralhome.com

ADDITION

For the obituary of Annie Ruth Rush in Thursday’s paper, memorials may be made to Hospice House, HospiceCare of the Piedmont, 408 W. Alexander Ave., Greenwood, SC 29646.

CORRECTION

For the obituary of Emily Mims Rappley in Thursday’s paper, a survivor was listed incorrectly in the information given to The Index-Journal. Survivors include a sister Lizzie Mercier.

Best of the best

Greenwood’s Rashad Morgan helps SCSDB squad
win the national championship in goalball

November 11, 2005

By CHRIS TRAINOR
Index-Journal sports writer

SPARTANBURG — Every once in a while, an activity a person does seemingly on a whim becomes a passion.
That is the case with Greenwood resident Rashad Morgan. Morgan was a major contributor on a team from the South Carolina School for the Deaf and Blind that won the United States Association of Blind Athletes Youth Goalball National Championship. The championship tournament was Oct. 20-22 at the Florida School for the Deaf and Blind.
Goalball is an extremely popular game among visually impaired people.
Teams of three set up on opposite ends of a volleyball court, and each team member is blindfolded so that vision is completely removed from play.
The object is to roll a ball, which has bells in it so that the players can hear it, past the opposing team and across the opposite goal line. Players can roll the ball as hard as they wish.
Morgan, 17, is visually impaired. He has 20/100 vision in one eye, and can only see light in the other. He had problems with his retinas when he was a toddler that got progressively worse over the years.
He spends weekdays at the SCSDB, attending Spartanburg High School during school hours. He comes home to Greenwood on the weekend and during summer and Christmas holidays, where he lives with his parents, Deborah and Joe Morgan.
Morgan recalls when he started playing goalball.
“I got involved when I was 13, just playing around with friends,” said Morgan.
“I wasn’t old enough to play on the team yet, but it was a lot of fun just playing.”
The high school senior said he began to get more serious about the sport about a year later when SCSDB coach Lou Thomson told him about all the opportunities goalball could offer. Among those was the chance to travel, something that appealed to Morgan.
“She told us if we were good enough, we could travel to different places to play,” Morgan said. “A couple years later we were able to do it.”
Besides the national tournament in Florida, the team also traveled to Colorado during the summer and competed in an international goalball tournament. The tournament featured teams from Africa, Lithuania, Brazil, Russia and Canada, among others. Fittingly, SCDSB won the event.
Things weren’t going as well when Morgan first joined the team several years ago.
“When I first started, we would lose every game,” Morgan said. “But we just kept working. The guys started coming together. We added some new players to the team that really helped us out. We knew we could win a gold medal some day.”
The national title is something the SCDSB team has been building towards for several years.
The team finished third in 2003 and second in 2004.
Morgan said the squad was confident it would bring home the gold this year.
“We went there knowing we would win,” Morgan said. “The final match with Florida was close, but we did it.”
Morgan said he thinks goalball is an extremely positive activity for visually impaired young people to become involved with. The physical activity and opportunity to meet new people have been important to Morgan, and he would like to see more people involved with the sport. He said he believes he may never have been able to meet some of the individuals from foreign lands that he met in Colorado if it weren’t for the game of goalball.
Morgan said he plans to attend Spartanburg Technical College next year, with the intention of transferring to USC-Upstate after two years. He said he has found his experiences at Spartanburg High, as well as at the SCDSB, to be very rewarding.
Morgan, who was also named to the goalball All-American team following the national tournament, said he intends to continue to play the sport after graduating high school. He hopes to join an upstate men’s league, and also wants to play in the Paralympics in Beijing in 2008.
“I love the sport, and I will continue to play,” Morgan said.

Special day to say thanks to all American veterans

November 11, 2005

Today is Veterans Day in the United States. It’s a day set aside to honor the services and sacrifices of those who stand and have stood on the bulwarks of freedom throughout our history. It’s a time to simply say thanks ….. in a very public way.
Veterans who have served in every branch of the military services have earned our thanks, many times, and we should never let a day go by without showing our undying appreciation in some way. We may very often find ourselves overwhelmed by the demands and labors of workaday life.
Sometimes we may fail to let all veterans know they have not been taken for granted, or dishonored by the few who belittle what they have done ….. even though that few can assume the right to say what they think only because of the very people they sneer at.

THERE IS, HOWEVER, NO getting away from the facts of life and time. Many of us remember and had great respect for the veterans of World War I. They fought what they believed to be the war to end all wars. They are gone now, but they should not be forgotten.
It only took a couple of decades for us to learn what ought to be a lasting lesson. That is, as long as there are people who want to control the minds and lives of other people we’ll likely always have to stand up for what we believe and embrace the responsibility that demands.
World War II, Korea, Vietnam, Panama, Grenada, the Balkans, the Gulf War, Afghanistan, Iraq and everything in between have left scars. Conflict always does.
Still, veterans in Greenwood and all over the Lakelands deserve our thanks.

IGNORE THE NAYSAYERS. Let them talk their trash. That’s what freedom is all about, and this special time is set aside because of those who earned this day and more. And, they earned it the hard way, by giving their blood, sweat, tears and, sadly, too many lives. The harsh reality of it all is that white crosses, crescents and stars of David cover acres of foreign soil, marking the graves of Americans who fought and died for people they didn’t even know. Yet, the thanks were fleeting. If those brave souls could see how some of those people treat Americans today, they just might wonder what it was all for.
So, leave no doubt about what today is for. Remember, and honor. Just say thanks, American veterans. You’ve earned it.