Special Greenwood Thanksgiving

Hurricane evacuees served

November 25, 2005

By MEGAN VARNER
Index-Journal senior staff writer

This year, perhaps no one understands the true meaning of Thanksgiving better than those who lost their homes, belongings and even loved ones in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.
Though the hurricane’s damage was centered along the Gulf Coast region, the effects of the storm were felt much farther away, as evacuees spread out across the nation in search of relief from the devastation.
On Thursday, some of the evacuees who settled in the Greenwood area were celebrating the holiday with others in the community.
Some were receiving meals from volunteers and some were giving their time to help others, but all said that, even after losing everything, they were full of thanks.
Through her tears, Gulfport, Miss., resident Shirley Keeno told volunteers and guests Thursday at the R.L. Stevens Center in Greenwood about her harrowing ordeal following Hurricane Katrina’s landfall.
A former Greenwood resident, Keeno moved to Gulfport three years ago. She and husband Donald Dixon were trapped inside a house when the waters from the storm burst in and knocked out the home’s electricity.
Dixon, 32, did not survive. For three days, Keeno remained in the house with her husband’s body, praying that rescuers would find her.
“The only thing I did was keep praying,” she said. “I kept hearing a voice telling me it would be alright.”
As hundreds of people gathered at the center for the annual free Thanksgiving dinner, co-sponsored by Greenwood County Councilwoman Edith Childs and the Brotherhood from the Little River Baptist Association, Keeno said she was thankful for her family, for her children and for God.
“I’m just thankful to be here today. I’m just thankful that I got out alive,” she said.
With a plate full of food prepared by volunteers from area churches, R.L. Stevens Center visitor Charles Watts said he has come to the event each year since his mother passed away.
“It’s nice food and nice people. I’m thankful to be here, to have something to eat and to have shelter over my head,” he said.
Volunteer William McLean, with Mt. Moriah Baptist Church, said he enjoyed helping others on the holiday.
“Lord knows I could be at home with my family, but I’ve been with them for 50 years,” he said, chuckling. “The fellowship with these guys (the cooks) is more than you can imagine.”
Childs said the event gets more rewarding for the volunteers and sponsors each year.
“When these folks come to eat, the first thing they say is, ‘I appreciate you having this meal because if not for you, I might be by myself today and not have a meal,’” she said. “We enjoy every minute of it. It’s so rewarding to know you made a difference in somebody’s life.”
At the Greenwood Soup Kitchen, more than 140 visitors were served a turkey-and-dressing dinner.
Young and old, friends and strangers alike gathered at the large tables at the soup kitchen, gobbling up food donated by area residents, companies and organizations, said George Rush, chairman of the Greenwood Soup Kitchen Ministries board of directors.
Volunteers from across the Carolinas and the Southeast worked to prepare and serve the meals to the crowd. Bank of America and Anderson’s Gas Service also donated checks to the soup kitchen.
As she handed out food to the hungry, Kimberly Cotton said she was thankful to have found a community like Greenwood after her home was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina.
Just months ago, Cotton and her two children, Steven, 6, and Dustin, 5, were in the process of moving from Texarkana, on the border of Texas and Arkansas, to Pass Christian in Mississippi when the hurricane struck. She is currently staying in Greenwood with her fiancé’s mother and family.
“I’m thankful for being alive and for having our family together,” she said.
For volunteer Scott Osborne, a resident of The Lighthouse of the Carolinas, a Christian alcoholic and drug rehabilitation center, the chance to give back to the community was his blessing for the day.
“Most of my life, I’ve been selfish. I’m learning it’s better to be a giver than a receiver,” said Scott, who was one of about six Lighthouse residents volunteering Thursday. “I’m learning that’s how I get true peace, happiness and joy. That is something an addict doesn’t experience until they surrender.”
There were smiles and laughs at Greenwood resident Beatrice Callaham’s table at the soup kitchen, as she and her grandchildren enjoyed a dinner with their friends.
Callaham also knows the pain of losing her belongings to disaster. About five years ago, her house burned.
“It took a lot out of me because I had never seen anything like that,” she said. “It made me more thankful to be living. I could have been in there and couldn’t have gotten out of the house.”
At the Piedmont Agency on Aging’s Nutrition Center, volunteers and staff members with Meals on Wheels showed up early to package and deliver more than 150 meals to elderly and homebound residents throughout Greenwood, Ware Shoals and Ninety Six.
The turkey, cornbread stuffing, string beans and cranberry sauce came with colorful paper turkeys and Thanksgiving cards made by church members and afterschool children.
Meals on Wheels Director Diane Clifton said the program is especially vital for recipients on holidays.
“It’s a cheery face on a special day,” she said. “(The volunteer) is probably the only person they will see today.”
Greenwood High School Student Government Association members were among those filling trays in the agency’s kitchen, and sophomore Nicole Vone said she didn’t mind waking up early on the holiday to help others.
“It makes you feel good inside and it makes you feel like you’re doing something that makes a difference,” she said.

Edward Balentine

Edward H. Balentine, 79, of 111 Overbrook Drive, husband of Betty Campbell Balentine, died Thursday, Nov. 24, 2005 at his residence.
Services will be announced by Blyth Funeral Home & Cremation Services.

Frank Coursey

Charlie Frank Coursey, 72, of 101 Lakewood Drive, husband of Sue Duncan Coursey, died Thursday, Nov. 24, 2005 at Self Regional Medical Center.
The family is at the home in Lakewood Heights.
Services will be announced by Blyth Funeral Home & Cremation Services.

Gladys Coleman Dorn

EDGEFIELD — Gladys Coleman Dorn, 83, of 507 Brooks St., wife of Wilbert Dorn, died Wednesday, Nov. 23, 2005 at Trinity Mission Health Care.
Born in Saluda County, she was a daughter of the late Will and Beatrice Minick Coleman. She was a member of the Pleasant Hill Baptist Church, Saluda, S.C., the Young Men and Young Women of Honor, Edgefield and was a retired textile worker.
Survivors include her husband of the home.
Services are 11 a.m. Saturday at the Pleasant Hill Baptist Church, conducted by the Rev. Clarence Kenner, assisted by the Rev. Dr. Jaspher Lloyd and Minister Kevin Jerry.
Burial is in the church cemetery.
Pallbearers are nephews.
Flower bearers are nieces.
The family is at the home.
Butler & Sons Funeral Home, Saluda, S.C., is in charge.

Judge Duncan

Judge Duncan, of 363 Joe Louis Blvd., husband of Thelma Jones Duncan, died Thursday, Nov. 24, 2005 at Greenville Memorial Hospital.
The family is at the home.
Services will be announced by Parks Funeral Home.

Gerald Jennings

WARE SHOALS — Gerald M. Jennings, 58, husband of Sherry Campbell Jennings, of 14 S. Greenwood Ave. died Wednesday, Nov. 23, 2005 at Self Regional Medical Center in Greenwood.
Born in Abbeville County he was a son of Katherine Owens Jennings and the late Robert Jennings, Sr. He was a member of Mt. Gallagher Baptist Church. He was currently serving as a Town Councilman of Ware Shoals and was a Master Mason.
Surviving are his mother of Ware Shoals, his wife of the home, two daughters, Meg Jennings of Columbia and Toni Dickey and husband Kevin of Greenwood, one brother, Robert “Bob” Jennings, Jr. of Ware Shoals, two sisters, Kathy Browning of Anderson and Jan Jennings of Ware Shoals, and three grandchildren, Neil Jennings Bixler of Columbia, Blake Dickey of Greenwood, and Britanna Dickey of Greenwood.
Funeral Services will be held at 3 P.M. Friday at Mt. Gallagher Baptist Church with Rev. Dr. Marcus Bishop officiating. Burial will follow in the church cemetery.
Active Pallbearers will be Kevin Dickey, Bennett Medlin, Carl Owens, Jim Manley, Phil O’Dell, and Ronnie O’Dell.
The family will receive friends from 1 to 3 P.M. Friday at Mt. Gallagher Baptist Church prior to the service. The family is at the home of his Mother, Katherine O. Jennings, 12694 Indian Mound Rd., Ware Shoals. Memorials may be made to Mt. Gallagher Baptist Church, 11828 Indian Mound Rd. Ware Shoals, S.C. 29692.
PAID OBITUARY

Frances Seliner

Commie Frances Butler Seliner, 77, of 325 Lanham St., widow of Arthur Seliner, died Thursday, Nov. 24, 2005 at Self Regional Medical Center.
Born in Ninety Six, she was a daughter of the late James A. Butler and Aeria Seabolt Butler Reynolds. She retired from Greenwood County 911 Dispatch and was a member of North Side Baptist Church.
Survivors include a son, Milton “Ted” Grant of Greenwood; a grandchild and a great-grandchild.
Services are 2 p.m. Saturday at Greenwood Memorial Gardens Chapel Mausoleum, conducted by the Rev. Jeff Lethco. Burial is in Greenwood Memorial Gardens.
Visitation is 7-9 tonight at Harley Funeral Home.
The family is at the home.
Memorials may be made to the American Cancer Society, P.O. Box 1741, Greenwood, S.C. 29648.
Online condolences may be sent to the family at www.harleyfuneralhome.com

Walter Smith

ABBEVILLE — Walter Smith, 75, of 1101 Secession Ave., husband of Mary A. Crawford Smith, died Wednesday, Nov. 23, 2005 at Self Regional Medical Center.
Born in Abbeville County, he was a son of the late John G. and Chanie Williams Smith. He was a member of St. Paul A.M.E. Church in Abbeville and a retired employee of CSX Railroad Company.
Survivors include his wife of the home; four sons, Elder Robert E. Crawford of Raleigh, N.C., Rev. Danny N. Woods Sr. of Mableton, Ga., Dr. Michael D. Woods of Stone Mountain, Ga. and Minister J. Cedric Smith of Greenwood; a brother, Elijah Smith of Abbeville; two sisters, Rebecca Davis and Janie Chiles, both of Abbeville; nine grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.
The family is at the home.
Services will be announced by Brown and Walker Funeral Home.

Margaret Wallace

SALUDA, S.C. — Margaret Duffie Wallace, 84, of 1642 Denny Highway, died Tuesday, November 22, 2005 at her residence.
Born in Saluda County and a daughter of the late Henry Zed, Sr. and Ruth Duffie, she was the wife of the late Leonard Wallace. Mrs. Wallace was a retired textiles supervisor and was a member of Butler United Methodist Church.
Surviving is a son and daughter-in-law, Timothy K. and Judy G. Wallace of McLean, VA, three sisters, Mildred Grant and Peggy Black, both of Prosperity and Doshia Smith of Saluda; one brother, H.Z. Duffie of Saluda and a special caregiver, Lenora Springs of Saluda.
A daughter, Ruth Lynn Wallace Sanders, preceded Mrs. Wallace in death.
Funeral services will be 2:00 PM Saturday, November 26, 2005, at Butler United Methodist Church with Rev. Lee Cothran officiating. Interment will follow in the church cemetery.
The family will receive friends from 6 until 8 PM Friday evening at Ramey Funeral Home.
Memorials may be made to Butler United Methodist Church, c/o Sandra M. Collard, 791 Long Rd., Saluda, SC 29138.
PAID OBITUARY

Lakelands’ three of a kind

Bishop, Doolittle and Edwards finalists for state awards

November 25, 2005

By CHRIS TRAINOR
Index-Journal sports writer

To be regarded as one of the best among your peers gives oneself a certain sense of pride and feeling of accomplishment.
It’s something that three high school seniors have recently experienced for themselves.
Greenwood High School’s Armanti Edwards and Ninety Six’s Stan Doolittle were chosen from all of the state’s high school football players as two of the top 11 finalists for South Carolina’s Mr. Football.
Emerald’s Erica Bishop was selected as one of 10 finalists for the state’s Wendy’s Heisman out of all of the female seniors from across South Carolina.
Despite the fact that it is an individual accomplishment, the two Mr. Football finalists think the efforts of those around them helped earn the honors.
“It’s exciting, but I don’t think it’s as much on me as it is for the school and the team,” said Doolittle, who passed for 2,900 yards for the Wildcats this season. “If we were 1-9 or 0-10, I’d just be another guy at the this school. But because of my dad’s past success, my brother’s success and the success of the team, my name is out there.
“I’m excited, but I’m more thankful and appreciative of my teammates.”
Edwards agrees.
“It feels good that I’m being noticed, but I have to give a lot of credit to my team for it,” said the QB, who had more than 3,000 yards of offense for the Eagles. “This is one of the top things to have happen to me in football.”
The achievements for Edwards and Doolittle, who were also named to the state’s Shrine Bowl team, were based primarily on their ability and success on the football field.
Bishop’s honor combined her athletic accomplishments with what she’s done in the classroom and through community service.
“This, to me, is one of the highest awards I’ve received because it’s not only soccer or community service or school, it’s everything,” Bishop said. “I’ve always wanted to be well-rounded and not get too caught up in just one thing.
“So, this is a big honor because it encompasses everything in my life that I work for. I think it’s great.”
But the Emerald All-State soccer player didn’t fully grasp the entirety of the honor when she was completing the on-line application for the award after being nominated by the school earlier this year.
“The application was three pages long,” she said. “And I had to list every community activity I’ve done throughout my whole high school career, what all I’ve done in high school and club soccer and then I had to write two different essays.
“It was pretty long. It took me a while to get it all done.”
After submitting the application, she didn’t think too much about hearing back from it, especially since it was around the same time she was visiting colleges to decide where she wanted to continue her soccer career. Not long after verbally committing to Wofford College, Bishop got the news about being named a finalist.
However, it still didn’t register to her that it was anything more than what’s she’s received before. That is until she went to the Heisman banquet dinner at the Hyatt in Greenville where she was one of several nominees from the Upstate alone, and though she didn’t end up being the state’s female winner, what she had received was something special.
“I had heard about it before but didn’t really think too much about it, but once I got to the dinner, I realized that it was a big deal,” Bishop said. “All of the other people there were congratulating me and that’s when I understood the magnitude of it all.
“Even when I went to the Wofford Scholars event this weekend, some people I saw there and the dinner were saying how awesome it was to be a finalist.
“I now understand how much of an honor it was.”
For Edwards, being a Mr. Football finalist was equally as unexpected, especially at the start of the season.
Edwards started his junior season slated to play wide receiver for the first time in his career. But when preseason starter Zearrick Matthews went down with an injury in the season opener, Edwards was put in place to fill in for Greenwood’s only quarterback to throw and pass for more than 1,000 yards in the same season.
So, when Edwards opened his senior season, the only thing on his mind was to improve.
“At the beginning of the season, I was just thinking about how I could get better and what I could do to help the team,” he said. “I wasn’t thinking about going to the Shrine Bowl or being a Mr. Football finalist.”
But what Edwards did this year was accomplish something no other Greenwood quarterback had done, upping Matthews’ totals to become the first quarterback with 2,000 yards passing and 1,000 rushing.
While Edwards has enjoyed a two years of varsity play, Doolittle has spent the better part of his four-year career being the man behind center for the Wildcats. Like Edwards, Doolittle got his start as an injury quarterback, taking over for his brother Mitch, a junior on the Presbyterian football team, midway through his freshman year.
Stan, who took over the starting position as a sophomore, has thrown for more than 8,000 yards over the past four seasons, including 3,200 yards last season.
“I think what I’ve done over the past four years has played a big part,” Doolittle said. “All I was trying to do was fill Mitch’s shoes and all the other great quarterbacks that have been here.”
But filling his brother’s shoes wasn’t the only thing he had to do over his Wildcat tenure. And as if following his older brother wasn’t enough, he also had the task of being Ninety Six coach Mike Doolittle’s son.
So, the main thing the 6-4 senior wanted to do was make a name for himself.
“You don’t want to be known as ‘Mitch’s little brother’ or ‘daddy boy’ or ‘coach’s son’ and let that be your title,” Stan said. “You want to have your own name. The only real advice Mitch gave me was ‘be yourself.’ It’s the only thing you really can do. Just go out there and do your best.
“I think I’ve proven myself.”
But the less-than-flattering comments were but a mere blip on Doolittle’s experiences at Ninety Six, which is something that was almost taken away from him when Mike Doolittle contemplated taking over at Seneca two years ago.
“I’ve had a great time here,” Stan Doolittle said. “Being with my dad, I thought he’d be a pain to work with him, but it’s been great.
“In a town like this, it’s football everyday of the year, but especially during the season. You get people coming up to you saying, ‘You all ready this week.’ I like that.
“I’m going to miss it. The unity of the team and how close everybody is around town, just that small-town atmosphere. I never thought I would miss it, but I know I’m going to.”
Like Doolittle, Edwards felt like he had something to live up to when he put on his Greenwood jersey.
“It’s meant a lot for me to be the quarterback at Greenwood High,” said Edwards, whose cousin, Renaldo Gray, quarterbacked the Eagles before heading to Furman University. “A lot of little kids do look up to me and that means a lot to me. Everybody’s looking at you and you have to go out and perform.”
Bishop has also noticed another effect sports has. It doesn’t just bring communities together, it also strengthens something inside ones self.
“Playing a sport not only makes you a better athlete, but it puts you in a place in life to go out and perform other tasks better,” Bishop said. “For me, having to go to Greenville for club practice for the last three years, it really helps you manage your time better.
“I’ve always been involved in school and I think that being in sports has made me appreciate my time and to use it wisely.”
And because of the many years of experience, her time is used quite wisely, what with participating in a half dozen clubs at school, volunteering (geared primarily to work with special needs children), high school soccer in the spring and club soccer the rest of the year.
“It’s made me realize that you have to manage your time,” Bishop said. “When you do have time, you have to appreciate it and, if you can, give something back.”

Eminent domain situation is a good lesson in ‘civics’

November 25, 2005

Several weeks ago the U. S. Supreme Court threw a curve at property owners in America. It ruled that local governments could use the power of imminent domain to condemn private property for private development by someone else.
Historically, of course, that power has been used only in cases where private property was condemned for public use ….. like highways, for example. It has been used for public projects in South Carolina.
Needless to say, that court decision upset a lot of people, and it should have. Those people obviously were heard where it counts, in South Carolina and in Washington.

THE STATE LEGISLATURE took action to protect state property owners from being adversely effected by the Supreme Court decision. Then Congress approved a measure for the same purpose.
This whole experience should be a good lesson for students studying American history and the Constitution. It represents very well the system of checks and balances endorsed by our Founding Fathers. That system, of course, allows the three branches of government to challenge each other and is a safeguard for the benefit of the people. In short, it keeps the executive, legislative and courts branches of government from overstepping their bounds.