Adventure of a lifetime

Local women to saddle up for horseback trip across the country

January 21, 2007

By MIKE ROSIER
Index-Journal staff writer

They already are a remarkable group.
All four are long-time horsewomen. One loves to hunt. Another runs her own set of businesses. A third has military experience, and the fourth is a truck driver, author and dog trainer.
Three of them are grandmothers, with 10 grandchildren between them.
They possess a wide array of talents many people could only fantasize of owning, such as welding, all aspects of construction and animal breeding.
And yes, all four of them can cook, too.
They could each — should they so desire — continue on with their lives and consider themselves to have accomplished much in their time on this Earth.
But it is what they plan to do collectively that will really matter.
They hope it will serve as inspiration for others, while raising awareness for stroke victims and additional funding for research along the way.
They are the Carolina Trekkers, made up of Abbeville residents Edie New, Andi Mills and Marla McKinney, along with Wanda Paradice, a resident of Greenwood County.
Together, they are four amazing women. And the journey they are about to undertake is the adventure of a lifetime.

The Dream
No great adventure ever begins without a dream.
Andi Mills had hers — to ride across the United States on horseback — at the age of 12.
“I’m 56 (now). If I was ever going to do it, it had to be now while I was still physically able to do it,” Mills said. “We knew that our time was running out.”
But in actuality, everything began with a simple talk between friends.
“It all started with a conversation between Andi and me,” Edie New said. “We both have sisters who have suffered with strokes. We were talking about lifelong dreams, and riding across the country on horseback was one of them. We just sort of decided we wanted to do the ride before we actually knew what we wanted to ride for.”
At last, the circle was complete. They have their dream, and their cause.
Now they can ride.

The Team
Three members of the team (New, Mills and Marla McKinney) live in Abbeville.
Paradice is a native of Charlotte but now calls the Palmetto State home while living in Greenwood County.
Thus, the team’s name — the Carolina Trekkers — makes tons of sense.
Mills and New will make the trip entirely on horseback. Mills will ride her horse “Jericho,” and New will sit astride a mount she has never even seen in person, a horse bred in the Southwest named “Whiskey.”
Paradice and McKinney will comprise the support team. Paradice will drive the team’s RV, while McKinney will serve as scout and team runner on motorcycle.
Each has made sacrifices to be on this team.
“The one thing I want to make sure that we say is how important it is to have a crew that we knew would be there for us the whole way,” New said. “We knew that we couldn’t make this ride without them.”
“It was the difference between being able to go and not go,” Mills said.
There are others who also are making the trip possible, albeit behind the scenes.
Dr. Melinda Gray, an Abbeville veterinarian, is putting together a first-aid kit for the team. Tommy Taylor will handle the day-to-day aspect of New’s welding -supply business, while New’s mom, Julia Petty, will oversee her trucking delivery business.
New has also arranged to monitor her business affairs along the way via laptop computer and cell phone.
“I had a lot of business things I’ve had to prepare to be able to manage by horseback,” New said. “That’s basically what I’ll be doing, managing a business on horseback with a laptop computer.”
Mills has had to find foster families for her beloved brood of animals. All, that is, except for a large, loving Shepherd-mix named “Amos Moses.” He will be making the arduous journey as well.
“He’ll be a lot of protection,” McKinney said.

The Journey
The team will attempt to travel 30 miles each day, with a weeklong break set up as each third of the journey is completed. The first third will be completed somewhere near Yeso, N.M., and the second third in the vicinity of Lake Village, Ark., near the wide waters of the mighty Mississippi River.
“There will be long stretches where we’ll have random stops where we won‘t be tied into anything,” Mills said. “I spent a year almost to the day trying to get the route set up, setting up escorts across dams, escorts across rivers, escorts through certain parts of towns and getting permission to ride in certain places.”
One of those places was Edisto Beach. Through much correspondence, the Edisto Beach Town Council has unanimously approved the Carolina Trekkers to traverse the sandy stretch, which will serve as the final stage of their long journey.
“Basically, the mayor (of Edisto Beach) said, ‘If you girls can ride over 3,000 miles, then I think it’ll be OK if you ride on our beach,’” Mills said. “It was quite a project just getting the road set up. There were bridges and dams and things we had to set up to cross, and we had to find crew members who could walk away from their lives for six months.”
The original plan had the team leaving from South Carolina and heading west, but the idea of crossing the Mojave Desert in the late spring altered the equation somewhat.
“We decided that we had to flip this thing around a bit,” New said.
“If we went that way we would have been crossing the desert in 100-degree-plus heat,” Mills said. “The average temperature for the Mojave when we’ll be crossing is 65 degrees. We can do that. As it starts getting hot we‘ll be back in a climate we’re used to.”
There also will be some characters to meet along the way.
“We’re going to meet some neat people for sure,” Mills said. “There’s one lady named Irma Custer. I was teasing her about her name, but she’s actually like a great-granddaughter of Gen. George Armstrong Custer. She’s like 82 or 83 years old and all that, and she’s a member of this thing called the Old Settlers Club. We’re looking forward to meeting her.
“But everyone I’ve talked to has been great. We’re also going to pass by the grave site of Billy the Kid. There are going to be some neat people and places. They’re excited for us, they can’t wait. I can‘t wait to meet all of them.”

The Dangers
The team will have to spend four days crossing some of the most arid, unforgiving terrain on the planet.
“The worse place we’ll face is when we cross the Mojave,” McKinney said. “From what we understand there is a stretch of about 125 miles where there is just nothing. So that gives us 62-and-a-half miles on either side where we’d have to go back if we needed anything. Hopefully, that RV will make it 125 miles on a tank of gas.”
Other dangers include dropping temperatures in Arizona and spring weather in Texas, where tornadoes can arrive on the scene at a moment’s notice.
New actually has dreamed of such an event.
“The other day she had a dream that she was outrunning a tornado on her horse,” McKinney said. “That brought up the question of how we would deal with things like that.”
These types of potential pitfalls are exactly why people don’t ordinarily try to do things of this nature and scope But then, these are no ordinary women.
“We’re not your average, run-of-the-mill women,” McKinney said.
“Don’t let the lipstick fool you,” Paradice added with a grin.
Theirs is a pioneering spirit, one that has mostly vanished from the American landscape.
“Most people cannot just walk out of their lives,” Mills said.
“And it’s not easy to leave their families,” New said. “We’re already going through some of that, as far as realizing that we’re going to be away from our families for that long. Some of our family members have said, ‘Are you sure that you want to do this?’ Some people have said that we‘re just plain crazy.”

The Cause
Strokes have paralyzed millions of Americans.
Mills and New found their common cause as they discussed the adverse effects and toll that strokes had taken on each of their sisters.
“It’s paramount when you have a stroke that you receive medical attention quickly,” New said. “A lot of the damage can be circumvented that way. What we want to try to do — besides being four women that are riding across the country and trying to accomplish this — is to bring attention to stroke awareness. We’re also going to be trying to raise money to fund additional research. At the end of the ride we‘re hoping to make a big donation.”

The Departure
The days of planning are now over.
All that remains are the small matters. That, of course, and the excitement.
“It’s exciting, knowing that all that are left now are the details — that, and the realization that we are in fact getting ready to do this thing,” McKinney said. “All that preparation is done. Now we just have to decide what we’re going to live on. You know, what kind of peanut butter we’re going to take along.”
The group is already cackling over the “indispensable” amenities that have to be taken along, like a 50-gallon drum of Texas Pete hot sauce and pounds upon pounds of grits.
“Out there there’ll be no Cheerwine, Goody powders or moon pies,” Mills said.
“Well, the only thing I can’t live without are the grits,” New joked.
They talk about playing checkers in their spare time out on the trail, just as the pioneers and Western settlers did hundreds of years ago.
They talk about their individual affairs, running businesses and writing — Mills is planning a book chronicling the trip. They speak as if they’ve already made it three-quarters of the way home to South Carolina.
There’s just one more potential problem.
Among the planning, there also is a gridiron timetable to be considered. New has to make sure she’s home in time to see her Gamecocks kick off the 2007 football season.
Anything taking longer than that will constitute a disaster.
“She bleeds garnet-and-black, that one” Mills said.
The team will depart for the California coast on Feb. 7, with a tentative start date of March 1 for the beginning of the greatest adventure of their lives.
Today they still dream, but on the other side of tomorrow they will ride.
“We knew that it was now or never,” Mills said.

Lost pet found ... 837 miles away

January 21, 2007

By CHRIS TRAINOR
Index-Journal staff writer

When a family loses a pet, it can be a heartbreaking situation.
In many households, pets become a part of the family, making their loss even more painful. So when the call comes that a lost pet has been found, it makes for a joyous situation.
Imagine then, the joy Johnny Long’s family felt when they got the call Jan. 13 regarding the whereabouts of their 8-month-old pet Shih Tzu dog “Buddy,” who had been missing since Dec. 3. However, the Greenwood family wasn’t able to immediately retrieve its beloved canine.
The reason? Buddy turned up in Waterbury, Conn., 837 miles from home.
Susan Long recounted the events surrounding the dog’s disappearance and his circuitous route back home.
On the morning of Dec. 3, she let Buddy and the family’s black Lab “Molly” outside for a few minutes while she did work around the house.
“After about 30 minutes, I went out and called for them, but no one came,” Susan said. “They go visit at our neighbors’ houses on either side, but they never stay much longer than that. After an hour or so, Molly came back, but Buddy was nowhere to be found.”
After Buddy never came back, the family tried to find him through several different avenues. They put up fliers, took out ads in The Index-Journal and posted information on the dog on Web sites dealing with lost or stolen pets.
Susan gave thanks for the community’s interest in Buddy’s whereabouts.
“We had many people call us and tell us they thought they saw him,” she said. “I really appreciate their efforts.”
Johnny and Susan Long’s daughter Taylor, 22, said her mother never gave up looking for the dog, even as the weeks began to pass.
“She never gave up one time,” Taylor said. “She never gave up hope. She was always looking for him and she followed every lead and call she got about him. She knew Buddy would be found.”
The dog was not wearing a collar. Shortly after his birth, however, the family had placed a microchip under his skin near his shoulder blades. The chip enabled Buddy to be tracked through a company called Home Again Pet Recovery. The chip has to be scanned by a veterinarian, and the information is then plugged into a database.
On Jan. 13, the Longs got the call they had desperately been hoping for, but from a location they could have never imagined.
“The pet recovery service called us and said Buddy had been found — in Connecticut,” Susan said. “She patched me through to Karen Smith, who had Buddy.”
Karen Smith’s husband is a truck driver who specializes in long hauls. Shortly before Christmas, he said he spotted a small, weathered dog walking along the side of the road as he was driving his truck. Seeing no collar, he picked up Buddy and carried him home to Connecticut.
Smith didn’t pick up Buddy on a road in the Lakelands area. He found the diminutive dog wandering down the interstate in Augusta, Ga.
“We know Buddy had to have been taken from our neighborhood,” Susan said. “That’s the only way to explain him turning up in Augusta.”
When Karen Smith took Buddy to the vet in Connecticut, she told him the dog had been found on the side of the road. As is customary in the case of a found pet, the vet checked for a microchip. Shortly afterward, a call to the Longs was placed.
On Jan. 14, Smith put Buddy on a Delta flight from Connecticut to Atlanta, where the Longs were waiting to pick him up. “Yep, he flew Delta,” Susan said, with a laugh. “When he saw us he was excited. He knew exactly who we were.”
Susan said the Smiths were gracious in returning the dog, though they had already begun to get attached to him. They had named him “Chewy,” after the popular “Star Wars” character Chewbacca.
Susan said Buddy has fallen right back into the routine of his life at the Longs’ home on Lake Greenwood.
“It’s like he never left,” she said. “He went right back to doing what he always does. Words can’t express how happy we are to have him at home.”

A successful athletic, star student, Greenwood High’s
Ixavier Higgins is a total package

January 21, 2007

By RENALDO STOVER
Index-Journal sports writer

Brains over brawn.
That’s a phrase that Ixavier Higgins hasn’t totally gone against. He’s figured out a way to master both attributes during his time at Greenwood High School. It seems clear, though, that his long-term success will come from his academic prowess.
“You want to be competitive as far as your playing psyche and all that,” Higgins said. “Like in football, even when you’re tired, you still have to give your best every play as long as the play is going on. It’s the same in the classroom. You’ve got to keep going and give it all you can.”
Higgins was one of many stars on the Eagles’ 2006 championship football team and served as team captain this season. He also participated in basketball during his first three years of high school.
He’s one of the school’s outstanding students in the classroom, attacking the books with as much energy as he would an opposing offensive lineman on Friday nights.
“You just have to pay attention in class, and, most of the time, I just catch on to stuff pretty easily. Mainly math most of the time,” Higgins said. “I want to graduate and then move on to college. Whether I go to Furman and then transfer over to Georgia Tech, I want to get a degree and maybe get a job at NASA or something like that.”
Higgins’ goals are not far-fetched if you ask those who have worked with him.
“Ixavier was a pleasure to coach. You could tell he was a good student in the classroom as well as out on the field,” said Eagles assistant football coach Tony Temple, who coaches bandit ends. “He dedicated himself out there on the field, worked hard in the weight room and did everything you asked him to do. I understand why he’s such a good student. It’s so good to see a kid that does it on the field and then takes just as much pride in the classroom. He’s a great role model for his classmates and everybody around him because you don’t see that as much today.”
Eagles coach Shell Dula was in agreement when it came to discussing Higgins accomplishments.
“Well certainly Ixavier Higgins is an outstanding young man who not only excels athletically, but academically, and that’s what we’re looking for,” Dula said. “You come to school to excel academically and he’s done that.”
Dula said that he thinks that Ixavier can excel as a college football player, but he also understands his potential as a college student.
“We feel like Ixavier’s an excellent football player but, in his case, it’s going to be academics first,” Dula said. “He’s going to go where he feels like he can get the best training from an academic point of view and if football is available, great. I’m sure if it doesn’t work out, then that’s fine too because he’s got his priorities in order.
There’s no doubt about that.”
Following the season, Higgins was named to the All-Lakelands defensive team for his play at defensive end. He was also selected as a Wendy’s High School Heisman finalist and as an FCA player of the week.
His academic stats are just as impressive.
Ranked third in the senior class, he earned the Lakelands academic award thanks to a 4.0 GPA and an impressive SAT score.
“It’s tough and you’ve got to keep yourself focused,” Higgins said. “You get home after practice, you might be tired or whatever, but you have to force yourself to work on it.”
The biggest key to Higgins success likely begins at home where he has been pushed to give 100 percent and not accept any excuses while maintaining his faith.
“I’ve always taught my children to believe in themselves,” said Higgins’ mother, Cheryl Ware. “Ixavier has a very strong mind, and I told him if he believed in himself, he could do whatever he wanted. We always drive the point home to believe in self and family.”
Higgins academic record, however, is not the product of a so-called athletic cupcake schedule.
His accomplishments have come while taking all College Prep, Honors or Advanced Placement classes for his entire high school career.
Higgins is a National Merit Scholar semifinalist and was chosen to be a Furman Scholar, Wofford Scholar, Erskine Fellow, Coca-Cola Scholar for Clemson University and Newberry Scholar because of his academic achievements.
He has been an active member of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes for four years, is a member of the Beta Club, National Honor Society and Junior Civitans, and has also been involved with Meals on Wheels.
He has also been elected to serve as an officer for the National Honor Society for the past two years and as an elected member of Greenwood High School’s Student Government Association.
Vicki Holliday has had a chance to teach Higgins in her Advanced Placement calculus courses while also advising him as a member of Greenwood High School’s yearbook staff, one of his many extracurricular activities.
“During the football season, they were in the playoffs when we (yearbook staff) had a workshop at the Isle of Palms, and we were afraid he would not get to go because of the playoffs, and we were leaving on Saturday and coming back on Monday,” Holliday said. “Coach Dula allowed him to go, and he was really excited about that. I learned some things that weekend about how artistic he is.”
Teacher Delaine Dimsdale, who taught Higgins in her Honors Biology class and has seen many types of students during her 24 years of teaching, said she puts Higgins in her top five of best students she’s ever taught.
“I don’t know if words can describe him. He is absolutely the total package. As a student, Ixavier is the type teachers dream about having. He is always conscientious about his work and always works to the best of his ability,” Dimsdale said. “His parents did something wonderful raising him. He’s also concerned about other people. He’s not selfish like a lot of teenagers are. In a lot of ways, he reminds me of Robert Brooks (former student and NFL star). If there was ten minutes to go in a class, while everybody else is talking, Robert was working. He was self-disciplined and motivated. Zae is like that.”
Honors English teacher Katie Bradley echoed those statements.
“Ixavier is one of the finest young men I have ever met during my teaching career. Few peers can match his rigorous academic work ethic and his strength of character,” Bradley said. “From the first moment in my class, he was a standout student. Ixavier will be a tremendous asset to any college to which he plans to attend.”
Higgins mother knows all these things better than anyone else.
“He’s been a walking success all through high school and I just ask God to continue watching him,” Ware said. “I’ve been Ixavier’s biggest fan his entire life and no matter whether he plays football or not, I will continue to be his biggest fan.”

Lander falls on referee’s ruling

January 21, 2007

By RON COX
Index-Journal sports editor

It was not the final result Bruce Evans wanted on his team’s first game back to Finis Horne Arena in more than two weeks.
In fact, it was terribly gut-wrenching for the Lander University men’s basketball coach.
Lander senior Emanuel Hodrea’s potential game-winning tip-in was waved off by the officials, preserving Armstrong Atlantic’s 55-54 victory in a Peach Belt Conference game.
Hodrea’s tip-in came after senior Michael Griffin drove in for a layup with just seconds remaining on the clock. Griffin’s shot went high off the glass and bounce up off the front of the rim.
A scrum broke out around the basket and the ball eventually found its way through the hoop. One referee ruled it good, but he was overruled. Replay of the play on the video monitor, which is situated in the arena’s top row, was not checked.
“We gave ourselves a chance to win the game,” an exasperated Evans said. “It’s just unfortunate we didn’t finish the play.”
After combining to score 26 of the team’s 32 first-half points, giving the Bearcats a six-point lead, Griffin and Jarred Jackson totaled eight in the final 20 minutes of play.
Jackson, the team’s leading scorer on the season, didn’t get his first and only points of the second half until there was 1:07 left on the clock.
Lander (9-8 overall, 4-2 PBC) managed only one field goal through the first 7:30 of the second half, which didn’t just allow the Pirates to erased a six-point deficit, but to take a six-point advantage of their own.
AASU’s Tory Harris, who finished with a game-high 24 points, broke a 34-all tie by scoring his team’s next eight to put the Pirates up for good at 42-36.
“We came out sluggish in the second half for some reason,” said Evans, whose Bearcats shot 29 percent from the field in the second half, including 1-of-6 on 3s. “That six-point lead evaporated really quickly, and then next thing you know, we’re down.”
The Pirates (13-4, 5-1) stretched their lead to nine (48-39) with 8:43 remaining, as backup point guard Kevin Parker capped the 22-7 run with a 3-pointer.
Five straight points from Lander’s Zach Evans cut the deficit to four, 48-44, with 7:03 remaining.
That would be as close as Lander would get until freshman Curtis Milner followed Jackson’s lone second-half field goal with a lay-in, making it 55-54 with 20 seconds to play, which set up the dramatic finish.

Obituaries

Bobby Andrews

Bobby Lewis Andrews, 71, of 129 Strong St., widower of Corine Robinson Andrews, died Friday, Jan. 19, 2007, at Savannah Heights Living Center, McCormick.
Born in Greenwood County, he was the son of the late Lewis Andrews and Rosa “Love” Mitchell Andrews. He was a member of Macedonia Baptist Church where he served as a trustee.
Survivors include two sons, Kenneth Lewis Andrews of Atlanta and Vernon Andrews of McCormick; two daughters, Mrs. Roy (Tracy) Freeman of Hodges and Kara Andrews of the home; two brothers, Rogers (Jessie) Andrews of Promised Land and Bernard Andrews of Augusta, Ga.; a sister, Viola Robertson of Greenwood; four grandchildren; two great-grandchildren.
Services are 12:30 p.m. Monday, Jan. 22, 2007, at Macedonia Baptist Church conducted by Dr. Willie S. Harrison. The body will be placed in the church at 11:30 a.m. Burial will be in Evening Star Cemetery.
The family will receive friends this evening at the home.
Robinson & Son Mortuary Inc. is assisting the Andrews family.
Online condolences may be sent to robson@nctv.com.

Jean Hall

Jean Fowler Hall, 87, former resident of Forest Hills, widow of Clement C. Hall Jr., died Jan. 19, 2007, at Woodruff Manor, Woodruff.
Born in Spartanburg County, Oct. 16, 1919, she was a daughter of the late Paul and Marguerite Johnson Fowler. She was a graduate of Woodruff High School and Waldrep’s Beauty Academy, Greenville. She formerly owned and operated Jean’s Beauty Salon. A member of Main Street United Methodist Church, she was also a member of the Greenwood Woman’s Club.
Surviving are a sister, Mary F. Alverson of Reidville and a brother, Paul Fowler Jr. of Switzer.
Graveside services will be conducted at 1 p.m. Sunday in Oakbrook Memorial Park with Rev. James D. Dennis Jr. officiating.
The body is at Blyth Funeral Home.
The family requests that flowers and memorials be omitted.
For online condolences, please visit www.blythfuneralhome.com.
Blyth Funeral Home & Cremation Services is assisting the Hall family.

Lamar ‘Gill’ Nickles Sr.

ABBEVILLE — Lamar Gilliam “Gill” Nickles Sr., 57, of 1007 N. Main St., husband of Yvonne Funderburk Nickles, died Thursday, Jan. 18, 2007, at Self Regional Medical Center.
He was the son of the late Charles Julius and Ovelle Gilliam Nickles Sr. Gill was a lifelong member of Main Street Methodist Church and attended Rice Memorial Baptist Church where he was a member of the Outreach Sunday School Class. He was owner of Nickles Construction Company and a member of the Clinton Masonic Lodge #3 and a Shriner.
He is survived by his wife of the home; a daughter, Heather Nickles Price and her husband Ronald V. “Ronnie” Price Sr. of Abbeville; a son, Lamar Gilliam “Nook” Nickles Jr., and his wife Amanda Horne Nickles of Abbeville; a brother, Charles Julius Nickles Jr. of Fort Mill; two sisters, Frances Nickles Ware and her husband W.J. “Billy” Ware Sr. of Appling, Ga., and Anne Nickles Allen of Fripp Island; two grandsons, Ronald V. “Ron” Price Jr., and Lohen Lamar Nickles both of Abbeville; also Mrs. Ruth Howland of Abbeville who helped raise Gill during his childhood.
Funeral services will be 3 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 21, 2007, at Rice Memorial Baptist Church conducted by the Rev. Alvin Hodges and Rev. Jimmy Tucker. Burial will follow in Long Cane Cemetery with Masonic Rites.
Gentlemen serving as active pallbearers will be, David “Pee-Wee” Smith, Rick Barnes, Ronnie Barnes, Tony Simpson, Tim Simpson, Laverne McConnell, and Darris Wiley. Honorary Pallbearers will be Samuel “Scurry” Horne Sr., Otis Wiley, William B. Sawyer, James A. McCarley, and members of the Outreach Sunday School Class of Rice Memorial Baptist Church.
Memorial contributions may be sent in memory of Gill to Rice Memorial Baptist Church Building Fund, 1975 Hwy 72 W. Greenwood, SC 29649 or to the American Lung Association, 1817 Gadsden St. Columbia, SC 29201.
The family is at the residence.
Online condolences may be sent to the Nickles family by visiting www.harrisfuneral.com.
Harris Funeral Home of Abbeville is assisting the Nickles family.

Willie R. Smith

ABBEVILLE — Willie R. Smith, 71, of 63 Rosedale Drive, husband of Martha S. Smith, entered into rest on Friday, Jan. 19, 2007, at his residence.
He was born in Pelzer, S.C. to the late R.S. and Ethel Hall Smith. Mr. Smith attended Stone of Bethel Holiness Church and he retired from GTE after 19 years. He served in the United States Air Force and the National Guard. He was very active in the Clinton Masonic Lodge#3, served as secretary for 29 years, he was Past Master, Past District Deputy, Past Illustreous Grand Master of S.C. York Rite, and was a Hejaz Shriner York Rite.
He is survived by his wife of 52 years of the home; four daughters, Marie Watt and her husband David of Anderson, Annette Walters and her husband Bill of Mocksville, N.C., Yvonne Landers, and her husband David of Pelzer, and Tonya Heaton and her husband Jeremy of Greenwood; a brother, Lecille Smith of Fountain Inn; a sister, Margaret Shaver of Ware Shoals; six grandchildren; two great-grandchildren.
The family will receive friends from 5-7 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 21, 2007 at Harris Funeral Home. Funeral services will be 11 a.m. Monday, Jan. 22, 2007 in the funeral home chapel. Burial will follow in Forest Lawn Memory Gardens with masonic rites and military honors.
The family is at the residence.
Memorial contributions may be sent in memory of Mr. Smith to the American Parkinson Association 135 Parkinson Ave Staten Island, NY 10305.
Online condolences may be sent to the Smith family at www.harrisfuneral.com.
Harris Funeral Home of Abbeville is assisting the Smith family.

Opinion

Kids face peer pressures that are relatively new

January 21, 2007

Kids in South Carolina today face peer pressures unlike the kind their parents and grandparents did. Peer pressures are a normal part of growing up, though. The degrees of difference may be severe in some cases but the experiences of feeling pressure don’t change.
Today, though, there are pressures young people encounter that neither their parents nor grandparents could ever imagine would ever exist. Nor could they believe, in their wildest dreams, they could be as sinister as they are.
We see and hear in and around Greenwood every day of disagreeable and sometimes dangerous things some youngsters get involved with and in. Sometimes they break the law and we wonder why.
The pressures to be accepted by peers and simply to belong are always present. Fortunately for many there are outlets ..... studies, athletics, music and other arts, and even work. The outlets, however, aren’t always positive and anything can and sometimes does happen.
Peer pressures have always been a factor in life. The difference, though, is that kids haven’t always had some of the “outlets” that turn peer pressures into something worrisome.