Marine returns

Family celebrates leatherneck’s homecoming

May 14, 2007

By LARRY SINGER
Index-Journal staff writer

Shortly before the traditional Mother’s Day dinner was served, Marine Lance Cpl. Charles Falls, 19, stretched out on a white plastic lawn chair on the front yard of his home in Greenwood and examined a massive red banner placed there by his family to let him know how much they love him and how thankful they are that Falls made it back safely from the war in Iraq.
When Falls’ mother, Vicki Richard, first discovered her son had received orders to go to Iraq, her reaction was predictable.
“I said, ‘Oh my God,’” Richard said. “I was nervous. I was upset. I was proud, but I was scared, too.”
Fortunately, her son was able to maintain contact with his mother while he was maintaining helicopters at an airfield in Baghdad.
“He kept in contact with me as much as possible through telephone calls,” Richard said. “He got to call about once a week. I stayed by the phone every chance I had.”
When Richard heard her son was coming home, she said she let out a sigh of relief.
“I was overjoyed,” she said. “Having him home for Mother’s Day is the best Mother’s Day present ever.”
The biggest thrill came, however, when Falls’ family met him at the Greenville airport.
Ironically, his mother said, it was Falls’ 12-year old sister, Kristin, who won the race to get to her brother and welcome him home.
“I couldn’t get to him before his sister,” Richard said. “She got to him first.”
Unlike many of the reservist who are currently doing their second or third tour of duty in Iraq, Falls has an active-duty Marine since August of 2005.
“This was my first trip to Iraq,” Falls said. “But I’ll probably be sent back.”
One of the reasons he joined the Marines, Falls said, was for the training and the job he knew he’d be doing during his enlistment.
“I’m an aircraft hydraulics mechanic,” Falls said, “I work on helicopters. I’ve always been interested in aircraft, and stuff like that.”
The experiences of his peers, he explained, also played a role in his decision to join up.
“A couple of my friends had joined different branches of the military, and I talked to them about it,” he said. “I actually went and talked to an Air Force recruiter first, but eventually I decided if you’re going to be a bear, you might as well be a grizzly and be a Marine.”
Even though he was all-too-aware of the situation in the middle east,and new Iraq would one day probably be in his future, Falls said that when he learned he was going to the desert, it was still somewhat disquieting.
“I knew it was going to happen, so it wasn’t that much of a shock,” Falls said. “I just didn’t know when. Even though I knew it was coming, when I first got the news and someone tells you you’re going to Iraq, you think wow, I don’t believe this.”
When asked by one of the guests at his home how he felt being home with his family for Mother’s Day, the emotions Fall’s expressed were almost identical to his mother’s about having him here.
“It’s wonderful,” he said. “Especially on Mother’s Day. Just being home from a place like that would make anyone ecstatic. If they’re not happy, they’re crazy.”

Getting the most out of your gallon

May 14, 2007

By LARRY SINGER
Index-Journal staff writer

On May 8, a U.S. Senate committee approved a bill that would raise Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards, forcing automobile manufacturers to increase the fuel efficiency of their vehicles to curb American dependence on imported oil by the end of the next decade.
CAFE, which is expressed in miles per gallon, is the average fuel economy of a manufacturer’s fleet of passenger cars or light trucks manufactured for sale in the United States for any given model year. Fuel economy is the average mileage traveled by an automobile per gallon of gasoline consumed, as measured in accordance with the testing and evaluation methods set forth by the Environmental Protection Agency.
Beginning in 2011, if the Senate bill becomes law, the government would require the nation’s fleet of passenger cars, sport utility vehicles, minivans and pickup trucks to improve fuel efficiency by 4 percent annually. By 2020 the average mileage would have to be 35 miles per gallon.
Four percent gains in mileage after 2020 also would be required annually.
Mileage formulas for vehicle classes, based on weight and size of each vehicle, would be set by the Transportation Department. If Transportation determines the standards are placing an undue financial strain on the automobile industry, it could reduce the target mileage standards.
Since 1990, the passenger car government standard has remained at an average of 27.5 miles per gallon.
The Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, an industry trade group that represents General Motors, Toyota Motor, Ford Motor and Daimler Chrysler, spent more than $13 million in 2006 on lobbying expenditures. The group calls the proposed standards “unattainable.”
“It’s unattainable, period,” said Gloria Bergquist, a spokeswoman for the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers. “We want to support higher fuel economy standards, but this is just too high of a proposed hike.”
Formed in 1999, the Alliance serves as an advocacy group for the automobile industry on a range of public policy issues and legislation affecting the auto industry.
The Alliance maintains the United States needs multi-faceted approaches to enhancing energy security (relying less on imported oil) and cannot achieve energy security through CAFE alone.
Currently, the United States imports three-fifths of its oil.
Gasoline demand accounts for nearly half of the average daily U.S. consumption of 20.9 million barrels of oil.
According to the Department of Energy, about 400 million gallons of gasoline are consumed in the United States every day — or about about 146 billion gallons of gasoline annually. Soem 90 billion gallons of that total are imported.
If CAFE rises to 35 mpg by 2020, and must rise 4 percent annually, fuel economy would hit 42.5 mpg by the time of the next product cycle, 2025.
Locally, Craig Wiley, sales manager at the Nissan branch of C. Thompson Automotive, said he doesn’t know, or care to speculate, how the proposed government regulations will affect Nissan because he has not had a chance to fully examine a thick stack of paperwork Nissan has sent him concerning how the company will deal with the new CAFE standards.
“I want to make sure I get all of this read,” Wiley said As gas prices inch near $3 a gallon, however, he has seen an increase in sales of his higher mileage vehicles such as the Versa and the Altima.
“The sales of these vehicles has gone up,” Wiley said. “The Altima will be coming out somewhere around September with a hybrid engine, and I’m sure people will go for them.
“When gas hits $3 a gallon, people will be wanting higher mileage cars.”
Steve Bailey, sales manager for Buick, Pontiac and GMC branch of C. Thompson Automotive for the past two years, said he thinks the effect government-mandated increases in auto mileage will have on auto sales will ultimately depend upon gas prices and family budgets.
“We’re in our third gasoline spike in the 20 months since the hurricanes,” Bailey said. “When gas is $2.50 a gallon or below, and the stock market is moving up, our business is OK. “If either of those two variables change, our business goes down.”
The price of gas, he said, also has a strong impact on what type of vehicles he sells.
“The closer gas prices get to $3 a gallon, the closer I come to selling small cars only or used cars only,” Bailey said. “What it boils down to in this economy in Greenwood, South Carolina, is how much money does a person have to dedicate to automotive expense in their family budget?”

Local organizations seek people for volunteer work

May 14, 2007

By JESSICA SMOAKE
Index-Journal intern

Many students in Greenwood will soon be out of school for the summer and looking for something to occupy their time.
Why not spend time volunteering at an organization that needs your help? Numerous organizations in Greenwood need help from volunteers.
Homemade Genius, a non-profit organization that encourages the musical and artistic abilities of individuals, is among them.
“We need volunteers to do everything from setting up and taking down shows to working ticket tables and being chaperones for children at our shows,” said Ian Morris, executive director of Homemade Genius.
“Also, volunteers would pass out flyers and basically spread the word about Homemade Genius.”
In addition to volunteer opportunities, Homemade Genius is offering private and group lessons in violin, cello, guitar, and piano. Contact Morris at 341-2911 or visit www.homemadegenius.com for information.
The Greenwood Soup Kitchen is looking for volunteers to help serve lunch Monday through Friday.
A different church is responsible for each day. One or two volunteers are needed per day.
Volunteers should arrive around 9:15 a.m., and will assist in the preparation of the meal. The meal usually consists of soup and a sandwich, along with donations of food that have been made. Lunch is served from 11 a.m. until noon. After the meal is served, volunteers help with cleaning up and should be done by 12:30 p.m.
For information, contact Doris or Evan Clay at 223-1105.
Donating blood is not the only thing you can do for The Blood Connection in Greenwood.
Volunteers are needed to do small office activities such as filing, organizing and cleaning.
For information, call The Blood Connection at 227-8333.
Greenwood Family YMCA offers many opportunities for volunteering. At the Greenwood YMCA, you can volunteer to read to a child, teach sports or games, organize events, help with senior programs or hand out keys and greet members as a receptionist.
If you are interested in volunteering at the YMCA, a form is available at www.greenwoodymca.org. The office can be contacted by phone at 223-9622.

Obituaries

George Elrod

George Raymond Elrod, 83, widower of Mary Henderson Elrod, died May 12, 2007, at Self Regional Medical Center.
Born in Anderson County May 3, 1923, he was a son of the late Claude C. and Ida Bailey Elrod. He served in the U.S. Navy during WWII and retired from the Monsanto Corporation. He was a member of Coronaca Baptist Church.
Graveside services will be 2 p.m. Tuesday at Greenwood Memorial Gardens with Reverend Carol Peppers-Wray officiating.
Memorials may be made to Connie Maxwell Children’s Home, P.O. Box 1178, Greenwood, SC 29648.
For additional information and online condolences please visit www.blythfuneralhome.com.
Blyth Funeral Home & Cremation Services is in charge.

Anita Gunter

WATERLOO — Anita Viola Holbrooks Gunter, 36, wife of Bradley Gunter, of 358 Arnold Lane died Saturday, May 12, 2007, at Greenville Memorial Hospital.
Born in Greenville County, she was a daughter of Frankie Smith and Solomon Youmans and the late Willie Joel Holbrooks. She was a 1988 graduate of Ware Shoals High and was a member of Calvary Baptist Church.
Surviving besides her husband of the home, are three daughters, Beth, Leigh and Hope Gunter all of the home; one brother, Joel Holbrooks, Ware Shoals; one sister, Janice Whitted, Donalds; and her maternal grandmother, Viola Smith, Ware Shoals.
She was pre-deceased by a son Bradley A. Gunter, Jr.
Funeral services will be conducted Tuesday, 2 p.m. at Calvary Baptist Church with Rev. Hans Wunch and Rev. Lamar Babb officiating. Burial will follow in Mt. Olive Baptist Church Cemetery with Rev. Mike Smith and Rev. Jimmy Watt officiating.
Active pallbearers will be David Hicks, Frank Moore Cooper, Dale Keasler, Eddie Roach, John Oxner and Bruce Chapman.
The family will receive friends from 7-9 p.m. Monday at Parker-White Funeral Home.
The family is at the home of her grandmother, 5379 Hwy 252, Ware Shoals. Memorials may be made to Youth Ministries, Calvary Baptist Church, P.O. Box 420, Ware Shoals, S.C. 29692.
Parker-White Funeral Home, Ware Shoals, is in charge.

Rev. Floyd D. Lumpkin

ABBEVILLE — Rev. Floyd D. Lumpkin, 88, of Abbeville, husband of the late Hazel Chapman Lumpkin, died Saturday, May 12, 2007, at Wesley Commons in Greenwood. He was born on June 13, 1918 in Pendleton, SC to the late Lester L. and Georgia Stone Lumpkin. Rev. Lumpkin was a retired Church of God minister after serving his Lord for forty-eight years. He was a member of the Abbeville Church of God.
Rev. Lumpkin is survived by a daughter, Harriet Stone of Abbeville; three sons, Rudolph “Rudy” D. Lumpkin of Winder, GA, Ronald “Ron” E. Lumpkin of Madison, GA, and Truman Lumpkin of Abbeville; eight grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.
The family will receive friends from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Monday, May 14, 2007 at Harris Funeral Home. Funeral services will be conducted by the Rev. Ray Timmerman on Tuesday, May 15, 2007 at 11 a.m. in the funeral home chapel. Burial will follow in Forest Lawn Memory Gardens.
The family is at the residence of Harriet Stone 34 Hardwood Rd. Abbeville.
Online condolences may be sent to the Lumpkin family by visiting www.harrisfuneral.com.
Harris Funeral Home, of Abbeville is assisting the Lumpkin family.

Opinion

New d-i-v-o-r-c-e data: There’s good, bad news

May 14, 2007

The family unit, including parents, grandparents, siblings, aunts, uncles and cousins, has been the backbone of a civilized society through the years. That’s particularly true in the South, and it has been a positive influence on black and white South Carolinians.
In recent times, however, the extended family has been eroded by a variety of pressures.
Mobility, no doubt, has been one of the reasons family members are scattered to the four winds.
Numerous social overloads also have contributed to a trend that has impacted our lives in many respects. That, in turn, has taken a toll on the value system that historically has helped sustain the graciousness and respect that have been hallmarks of social intercourse.

THERE IS ANOTHER FACTOR that has had a negative effect on families and family life. That’s divorce. For years it kept occurring in almost epidemic proportions. Now, though, there is good news and bad news about that social phenomenon ..... something for the optimists and pessimists among us.
First the good news. The divorce rate has declined steadily since it peaked in 1981. It is now at its lowest level in 37 years. On the surface that’s a positive sign. But ..... there’s always a but.
As Paul Harvey would say, now comes the rest of the story: the bad news is that more people are living and raising families together without getting married. Never mind that when they split, and they often do, the children still are affected and that usually is a negative.

STILL, WITHOUT MARRIAGE there’s no divorce and that impacts the numbers.
There are other factors, of course. Many people wait longer to get married and have children.
The degree of maturity represented obviously is a positive influence on keeping more married couples together. Overall, that’s good news, perhaps, but it still gives the impression that the divorce numbers are down. In the long run, comparatively speaking, does that distort the total numbers ..... the divorce rate?
Be that as it may, it’s encouraging to see reports that the divorce rate is declining. However, when looking at the “big picture” it puts the whole divorce issue in better perspective and that gives reality a different slant. We have changed, for sure. However, we may not be improving as much as it seems.