Local man honored

Ware Shoals bridge dedicated to state Sen. Billy O’Dell

October 23, 2006

By BOBBY HARRELL
Index-Journal staff writer

WARE SHOALS — The Saluda River Bridge has stood for as long as state Sen. Billy O’Dell, District 4, has been alive.
With the bridge’s reopening on Sunday afternoon, it looks to stand even longer.
The bridge, now renamed the William H. “Billy” O’Dell bridge, was dedicated at the Burton Center amid a crowd of family, friends and community members.
Senators, representatives and South Carolina Department of Transportation officials praised O’Dell for his work in the state and the honor of his friendship.
Ware Shoals Mayor George Rush presided over the ceremony.
O’Dell’s friends also arranged a surprise that shocked the senator — a flag detail and bagpiper from The Citadel, his alma mater.
O’Dell said the bagpiper shook him up a little bit as he asked for one to play at his funeral. “I had to pinch myself,” he said at the dedication.
O’Dell thanked many during his acceptance of the dedication, including his late mother and father. He said he was humbled by his friends and proud of the bridge.
SCDOT commissioner Marion P. Carnell said he has know O’Dell his entire life, but doesn’t know everything about him.
“I didn’t know his (middle) name was Hamilton until I got this program,” Carnell said about the dedication’s program.
O’Dell has spent most of his life dedicated to public service.
He also helped place the bridge on the Federal Replacement program and get the money together to build it, Carnell said.
SCDOT executive director Elizabeth S. Mabry said she thinks very highly of O’Dell.
“He is kind and a gentleman to everyone,” she said.
State Sen. Danny Verdin, District 9, said that O’Dell’s reputation as a humble person wasn’t going to get in the way of his friends saluting him and his accomplishments.
“We’re not going to let your modesty get in the way of us today,” Verdin said.
U.S. Rep. Gresham Barrett, R, third congressional district, who was scheduled to attend the dedication, couldn’t make the event because of his ailing mother.
Barrett sent field representative Jackie McCord to let O’Dell know the bridge-naming was well-deserved.
State Rep. Michael Pitts said that O’Dell is a good person because he never asks for praise.
Pitts also congratulated everyone who worked on completing the bridge.
“It takes a lot of people to pull together something like this,” he said.

Teams preparing for playoff runs

October 23, 2006

By RON COX
Index-Journal sports editor

Expectation is generally all the motivation the Ninety Six High School volleyball team usually needs for winning a region title.
But this year, the Lady Wildcats had a couple of motivational factors far more effective than the standard expectations that pushed the team to its third consecutive Region III-AA championship and sixth straight overall region title.
With the region title comes the No. 1 seed in the Class AA playoffs, which opens today with the Lady Wildcats hosting Pelion at 6:30 p.m.
Dixie, like Ninety Six, is also a region champion and hosts Lockhart at 6 p.m., while Ware Shoals has former Region I-A rival Greenville Tech in town for a first-round matchup.
Calhoun Falls and Saluda, neither of which made the playoffs last season, hit the road in the opening round.
The Lady Flashes travel to Christ Church, while the Lady Tigers are at Keenan.
One of the key inspirations for the Lady Wildcats came from within.
The team wanted to win one more region title for coach Beth Miller, who plans to retire after winning two state and six region titles in six seasons at Ninety Six.
But perhaps a key factor came from outside the community, when Newberry High School coach Amy Scott was quoted in the Newberry Observer at the start of the season stating that her Lady Bulldogs were going to win the region championship.
That statement lit a small fire in Miller, a former Newberry coach who helped bring in Scott to coach the Lady Bulldogs. Miller cut out the article and posted it in the Ninety Six locker room.
“That was one of the things that really got us going,” Miller said. “Here we were coming in with five straight region titles and we’re still getting no respect. Of course, they didn’t want to lose the region in my last year, but that was all the motivation the girls needed.”
The Lady Wildcats went on to a perfect 8-0 run in region play, including a pair of wins over Scott’s Lady Bulldogs.
Miller said each member of her Lady Wildcats signed the article with the intention of sending it to Newberry High School. But Miller, a 22-year coaching veteran, thought better of the decision.
But don’t think Ninety Six doesn’t have anything else to play for now that the postseason is set to begin. The Lady Wildcats are anxious to make up for last year’s first-round loss to No. 4-seeded Gilbert.
“We don’t want it to be like last year where we got beat not playing to our potential,” Miller said. “We have to go out there and leave it all on the court. We are peaking at the right time.”
Dixie claimed its third straight Region I-A title after defeating Ware Shoals, 3-0, in a tiebreaker Thursday at Wright Middle School in Abbeville.
“It was very important for us (to win the tiebreaker) because we lost to them about a week ago,” Dixie coach Mickie Ellis said. “I think that the loss to them earlier was good for us because it really got us focused. We maybe started to take things for granted and we realized we had to become a team again.
Dixie returned six players from last season’s region championship team, including one, senior co-captain Felicia Porter, who was a part of all three title squads.
Like Ninety Six, Dixie also suffered a humbling first-round playoffs loss last season, and even with the Class A tournament doubling in size to include the top four finishers from each region, Ellis doesn’t believe her girls will look past any opponent.
“We all realize we can lose at any time,” Ellis said. “We know we have to work hard. We can’t take anybody for granted.”
Despite falling to Dixie in the tiebreaker match, Ware Shoals will open the first round at home, earning its second straight second-place region finish.
But instead of facing a region champion like the team did last season when it lost to eventual state champion Southside Christian, this season Ware Shoals opens with Region II-A third-place squad Greenville Tech.
The expansion of the Class A playoffs opened the door for Calhoun Falls to make its first postseason appearance in more than seven years.
The Lady Flashes, going 4-5 after only playing region opponents, needed a tiebreaker win over Thornwell to earn the No. 3 seed.
“The girls are very excited about reaching the playoffs, especially my seniors,” Calhoun Falls coach Renee Newton said. “They knew before we played (Thornwell) the second time that in order to get a good seed we were not only going to have to beat them once but also in a tiebreaker. So, my seniors were ready to play them in the tiebreaker.”
The Lady Flashes have been keyed by the play of senior leaders, Cherelle Bridges, Demetria Carter and Shanta Walton, and freshman Shaquilla Young, who has only played varsity for a week after moving up from jayvee.
Saldua is making their first trip to the playoffs since 2003 when the team finished fourth in region play.
This time, the Lady Tigers, led by their five seniors who have all rotated as captains this season, grabbed the No. 3 seed from the region.
“We’re really glad to be back in the playoffs, that’s for sure,” Saldua first-year coach Jessie Long said. “Over the last few practices, there’s been more hustle, more talking to each other, generally more excitement about playing a team like Keenan in the playoffs.”

Opinion

Too many blame troubles of the world on the U.S.

October 23, 2006

We are lucky to still have around some veterans in Greenwood and the Lakelands area who remember all too well how demonical some of the madmen of history have been. They are not surprised at some of the international threats that are today becoming more problematic for all of us. For example, the extent of savagery perpetrated by Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin and others has been well documented, of course, and many South Carolina veterans saw firsthand how utterly inhuman it can be. It helps, though, in providing them a frame of reference that allows them to put that barbaric behavior in the perspective of the madmen of 2006.

HITLER TRIED TO KILL ALL Jews and did slaughter millions of them, as well as Gypsies and others. Stalin, too, made wholesale murders of his own people a chilling part of his ruthless reign. Others in history - Pol Pot, Caligula and a host of others - demonstrated how inhumane man can be to his fellow man.
Now we have madmen in several African nations that kill and starve so many it’s hard to keep count. North Korea’s dictator, and others who worship power and maintain it through the use of terror, are no different. Their cruelty is obvious.
Perhaps the most certifiably mad of all the despots around the world today is Iran’s President Armadinijad. His rantings, ravings and threats mark him as another who is capable of the same kinds of tyranny and atrocities that the world has always known. There have always been purveyors of evil who gave the worst of humanity a face and a name.

HISTORY TEACHES US MANY things, to be sure. The lesson here, it seems, is that no matter what we do, whether in the Middle East or anywhere else, some megalomaniac or some tyrant will always come along to put others at risk. Unless we - and the world - are prepared to eliminate such threats, the consequences are too horrible to even contemplate.
It’s now in Iran, North Korea and other nations that would love to see the U. S. falter and fail. At the very least some of the others would maneuver to see us embarrassed.
Still, they are the ones we can see. The growing problem in this country, or so it seems, is that too many “sunshine patriots” and haters from within care so little they have no hesitation in undermining everything that has built and sustained the one nation that will put itself on the line for the benefit of others. How many do we see blaming their own country for the ills of the world? That’s inexcusable.

Obituaries

Sarah Lee ‘Sate’ Calhoun

TROY — Miss Sarah Lee “Sate” Calhoun, 77, of 112 McWood Ct, Troy, S.C., died October 21, 2006 at Self Regional Healthcare.
She was born in Abbeville County on April 4, 1929 to the late Mrs. Josie Moore Calhoun and the late Mr. Major Calhoun. She was a member of New China Baptist Church in Troy.
Survivors include four daughters, Mrs. Josephine (Benjamin) Glenn of Mitchellville, Md., Mrs. Sarah Lee (Robert) Klugh of Abbeville, Ms. LaRhonda Renae Calhoun, and Ms. Angela Michelle Calhoun of the home. Two daughters, Mrs. Christine Drennon Morgan and Ms. Leola Drennon, preceded her in death. Also surviving are six sons, Mr. James A. Devlin and Mr. David Calhoun, both of Greenwood, Mr. Thomas (Dianne) Calhoun of McCormick, Mr. Jesse (Janice) Calhoun of Troy, Mr. Jeffery B. Calhoun of the home, and Mr. Sammy L. Drennon of Greenwood; one sister, Frances Tolbert of Greenwood; 21 grandchildren, including three reared in the home, Mr. Samuel (Peggy) Calhoun of Beltsville, Md., Mr. Rodney Drennon of North Augusta, and Mrs. Livia (Edward) Watson of Greenwood; 48 great-grandchildren, including one great-grandchild reared in the home, Ms. Tomiko L. Drennon of Greenwood; and 8 great-great grandchildren.
The family is at the home and funeral arrangements are entrusted to Robinson and Son Mortuary.
Online condolences may be sent to robson@nctv.com.

Anne Beaudrot Holfeld

GASTONIA, N.C. — Anne Beaudrot Holfeld, 94, died on October 21, 2006 at her residence at 1351 Robinwood Road, Gastonia, North Carolina.
She was born in Abbeville, SC as the daughter of the late Thomas Clayton and Mabel Pratt Beaudrot and grew up in Greenwood, SC. She was the wife of the late Franz Werner Holfeld.
Mrs. Holfeld graduated in 1933 from Lander College in Greenwood, S.C and then came to Gastonia in 1934 with her husband and sister, Mabel, to establish the Carolina Florist and Gift. She was a nationally acclaimed floral designer, often presenting her work at floral workshops and design schools throughout Southeastern United States. She was a member of the NC Retail Florist Association. She was a member First Baptist Church, and more recently, Covenant Baptist Church. She traveled extensively in Europe, Africa, Asia and Latin America. She loved her family and was a beloved wife, mother, “Granny,” sister and aunt.
Memorial services are 2:00 p.m. Tuesday, at Covenant Baptist Church, Gastonia, NC.
Family Interment at Gastonia Memorial Park. Survivors include a daughter and son-in-Law, Doris and Grayson Kellar of Gastonia; daughter, Joyce Holfeld of Washington, DC.; sister, Mary Amelia Beaudrot Herndon, of Greenwood, SC.; grandchildren: Elizabeth (Lisa) Turner of Clemmons, SC, Franz Kellar of Gastonia, Andrew Kellar of Brentwood, TN; Louis Kellar of Panama City, Panama, and David Kellar of North Africa; 10 great-grandchildren; and nieces and nephews.
She was preceded in death by her parents, her husband, and her daughter, Barbara Anne Holfeld; her sister, Mabel B. Dilling; her brother, Charles L. Beaudrot.
McLean Funeral Directors of Gastonia is in charge.

Pauline Mitchell

SALUDA — Pauline Griffin Mitchell, 78, of 110 E. Wheeler Circle, died Sunday October 22, 2006, at Habersham County Medical Center in Demorest, Ga after an extended illness.
Born in Gastonia, N.C. and a daughter of the late Joe E. and Eula Mae Taylor Griffin, she was the wife of the late William Henry “Bill” Mitchell. Mrs. Mitchell was retired from Monsanto and the Saluda County School District 1 and was a member of St. Paul United Methodist Church.
Surviving is a son, Randy Lee Mitchell of Saluda, a daughter, Diane M. Holcomb of Baldwin, Ga, 11 grandchildren and 9 great-grandchildren.
Two sons, Kenneth Walker and Ricky Walker preceded Mrs. Mitchell in death.
A memorial service will be held 3:00 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 24, 2006, at Ramey Funeral Home Chapel.
The family will receive friends from 6 until 8 p.m. Monday evening at Ramey Funeral Home.
Memorials may be made to St. Paul United Methodist Church, 102 E. Butler Ave., Saluda, SC 29138 or to Good Hope Baptist Church, 1738 Greenwood Highway, Saluda, SC 29138.

Violet Smith

ABBEVILLE — Violet Smith, 82, of 201 Hodge St., died Sunday October 22, 2006, at Hospice Care of the Piedmont.
The family is at the home.
Brown and Walker Funeral Home is in charge.

CORRECTION

For the obituary of Jessie Dove in Sunday’s paper, there was an an omission in the information provided to The Index-Journal. Joseph Brooks, Scottie Robinson and Larry Kreps are pallbearers.