Dan Wideman stepping into historic role

Incoming Greenwood sheriff only seventh to ever have job

December 26, 2004

By SHAVONNE POTTS
Index-Journal staff writer

As Greenwood County’s seventh sheriff, Dan Wideman says he has some big shoes to fill, but he’s not going to try to fill them.
“I’m just going to do my best,” he said. “It’s an honor to be the seventh sheriff. It speaks highly of the community that we’ve only had seven.”
To help him take on his new responsibilities, Wideman attended a weeklong workshop in Columbia that all new sheriffs are required to attend. “I’m excited about the future,” Wideman said.
Wideman has made some personnel changes to the command staff.
“Coming into this position, I feel like I’ve got to continue with Sheriff (Sam) Riley’s leadership,” he said. “I feel like I need the best staff that we can get to do that.”
Not yet ready to comment much on who would be part of his new command staff, Wideman did say that Phillip Anderson, his opponent in the general election, would be on the staff. Drugs, Wideman said, will be an issue on which he will place his focus, as it was his principal priority during his campaign.
“I will increase the staff in the narcotics unit,” he said. “I’m looking for a definite impact — and very quickly.”
Wideman said the next priority he would deal with in upcoming months is changing the shifts the deputies work from 10 to 12 hours.
The change would also mean that instead of five deputies working per shift, there would be seven.
He also said there would be some personnel changes at the detention center.
“I’m looking at changing the hours they work. They are on the same cycle as the uniform patrol,” he said.
“I plan to coordinate with the school resource officers in investigations at the schools to gather information about gangs,” Wideman said.
As to the additional training the deputies will receive, Wideman said that would happen pretty quickly.
“We want our officers well trained,” he said.
He has scheduled law enforcement officers from other agencies to come to Greenwood to help with training.
“I want every one of our officers to be out community policing. I want them to know their community, not just ride around in their car,” Wideman said. “Community policing is having every officer involved in the community.”
He said he would also add a public information officer who would operate as a way to provide information about cases to the media and residents.
Another of Wideman’s goals is to receive state accreditation for the detention center and the sheriff’s office.
“I look for the first year to work on our policy and procedure manual — where we can prepare for accreditation,” he said.
“I’m looking at updating the computers in our cars for our investigators. We have received partial money from homeland security grants for our radio system.”
The office has already received a grant for a mobile command post vehicle. The command vehicle will be equipped with things that officers would need such as radio, telephone and fax.
“I’m looking into Taser or stun guns for officers and purchasing a drug dog,” he said.
The department’s drug dog will retire this year.
Wideman said his eventual objective is to have a drug dog on each shift. The department has a bloodhound unit, but it is used to search for people only.
“I plan to have an open door policy for the citizens,” the sheriff-elect said. “If they have a problem they can come see me or call me.”
Wideman said he welcomes any invitations to speak at churches and civic organizations, or have any other officer from his department speak.
Within the first year, Wideman wants to establish a citizens/business academy where residents can learn more about what the Sheriff’s Office does, while business owners and managers can learn about issues that affect them such as shoplifting or credit card fraud.
Wideman wants the business academy to be a six-week program in which officers would meet with participants a couple of nights a week.

Mildred Carlay

GREENWOOD — Mildred Dukes Carlay, 86, resident of 210 Sylvan Rd., widow of Horace C. Carlay, died December 24, 2004 at Morningside Assisted Living.
Born in Greenwood County, October 31, 1918, she was a daughter of the late Thomas F. and Janie Rush Dukes. She was a graduate of Ninety Six High School. Mrs. Carlay retired from Civil Service-Department of Health, Education and Welfare in Denver, CO.
A member of Bethlehem United Methodist Church, she was also a member of the National Association of Retired Federal Employees and was a member of AARP.
Surviving are three sisters, Mary D. Rambo of Summerville, Daisy D. Rodgers and Frances D. Sprouse, both of Greenwood; a number of nieces and nephews.
Mrs. Carlay was predeceased by four brothers, J.T. Dukes, James W. Dukes, William F. Dukes and Allen E. Dukes; and a sister, Evelyn D. Latham.
Funeral services will be conducted at 2:00 PM Monday from the Blyth Funeral Home Chapel with Rev. Tommy Tucker and Rev. James Rodgers officiating.
Burial will be in Greenwood Memorial Gardens.
Pallbearers will be Tom Dukes, Jimmy Sprouse, Roger Hembree, Johnny Ballentine, Calvin Coursey, Terry Latham, Garnet Latham, Joshua Rodgers and Kevin Hembree. Honorary escort will be nieces and nephews. The family is at the home of Kim and Roger Hembree, 126 Clifton St. in Hyde Park and will receive friends at the funeral home from 6:00 to 8:00 Sunday evening.
Memorials may be made to Bethlehem United Methodist Church, 122 Fuller St., Greenwood, SC 29649.
For additional information please visit www.blythfuneralhome.com Blyth Funeral Home is assisting the Carlay family.
PAID OBITUARY

The Rev. Archie R. Evans

BRADLEY — The Rev. Archie Rufus Evans, 80, of 503 Markham Road, husband of Lee Highsmith Evans, died Friday, Dec. 24, 2004 at his home.
Born in Darlington, he was a son of the late Lewis Wesley and Lot Stroud Evans. He was a graduate of Wofford College, where he holds the football record for the longest punt. A World War II Army veteran, he was a retired Advent Christian Minister and a member of Bold Springs Baptist Church and the Men’s Bible Class of the church.
Survivors include his wife of the home; two daughters, Cindy Evans Stanley of the home and Charlotte Evans Blackwell of Greenwood; two sons, Archie Warren Evans of Walterboro and Curtis Wesley Evans of Goose Creek; eight grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.
Services are 2 p.m. Monday at Bold Springs Baptist Church, conducted by the Rev. Chris Garrison. The body will be placed in the church at 1. A private family burial is after the service.
Pallbearers are Andrew Spell, Archie James Evans, Curtis John Hodges, Justin Stanley, Matthew Sparrow, Patrick Evans and Glen Coker.
Honorary escorts are members of the Men’s Bible Class of the church.
Visitation is 6-8 tonight at Harley Funeral Home.
Memorials may be made to Bold Springs Baptist Church, 1321 Reedy Creek Road, Bradley, SC 29819.
The family is at the home.
Harley Funeral Home, Greenwood, is in charge.
Online condolences may be sent to the family at www.harleyfuneralhome.com

Josephine Hall

PANAMA CITY, Fla. — Nina Josephine Anderson “Mama Jo” Hall, 90, widow of Lealand Odell “L.O.” Hall, died Thursday, Dec. 23, 2004 in a Panama City nursing home.
A native of Greenwood, S.C., she was a 1932 graduate of Greenwood High School. She was a member of South Main Street Baptist Church, where she was a choir member, taught Sunday school and joined the Gideon Society. She retired from United Telephone Co. after 20 years of service. In 1989, she moved to Panama City and joined First Baptist Church of Parker, Florida.
Survivors include a daughter, Mrs. Bob (Carolyn Hall) Kitchings of Panama City; two grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.
Graveside services are 10 a.m. Tuesday at Greenwood Memorial Gardens in Greenwood.
Memorials may be made to Covenant Hospice, 107 W. 19th St., Panama City, FL 32405 in memory of Josephine Hall.
Wilson Funeral Home is in charge.

Robert Allen Hamby

ABBEVILLE — Robert Allen Hamby, 62, of 265 Old Douglas Mill Road, husband of Faye Perry Hamby, died Saturday, Dec. 25, 2004 at Self Regional Medical Center in Greenwood.
Born in Greenwood, he was a son of the late Jimmy and Wilma Wilson Brown. He was a truck mechanic at Greenwood Packing. He was a member of Lebanon Presbyterian Church and Masonic Lodge Clinton No. 3, where he was a past Worshipful Master.
Survivors include his wife of the home; a son, Bobby Hamby of Abbeville; a brother, Bill Hamby of Greenwood; and two sisters, Rebecca Jane Brown and Jeannie B. Wells of Greenwood. Graveside services are 3 p.m. today at Long Cane Cemetery with full Masonic rites.
Visitation is after the services at the cemetery.
The family is at the home.
Harris Funeral Home is in charge.
Online condolences may be sent to the family at www.harrisfuneral.com

Lafayette Logan

Lafayette Logan, 84, of 122 Sims Road, died Saturday, Dec. 25, 2004 at the home of his sister.
Born in Greenwood County, he was a son of the late Timothy and Pearl Sims Logan. He was a construction worker and a member of Friendship Baptist Church, where he was a deacon. He was a former Farmer’s Market vender through Clemson Extension.
Survivors include a son, David Logan of Temple Hills, Md.; a brother, Russell Logan of Greenwood; a sister, Alice A. Logan of Greenwood; two grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.
The family is at the home of his sister, Alice Logan, 120 Sims Road.
Services will be announced by Robinson & Son Mortuary Inc.
Online condolences may be sent to the family at robson@emeraldis.com

Powell McCall

HODGES — Robert Powell McCall, 75, of 4317 Main St., husband of Nancy Henderson McCall, died Saturday, Dec. 25, 2004 at Self Regional Medical Center in Greenwood.
The family is at the home.
Services will be announced by Blyth Funeral Home, Greenwood.

Leaving mark on 2 generations

Coaches, former students reflect on Frank Hill’s career at Emerald

December 26, 2004

By MICHAEL STONE
Index-Journal sports editor

Thirty-five years ago, Frank Hill came to Greenwood looking for a job.
In June, when he serves his last day as athletic director at Emerald High School, he will have left his mark upon two generations of area residents.
Hill, who has worked at Southside and Emerald junior high schools and Emerald High School, announced a little more than a week ago that he would be stepping down as the Vikings’ football coach and athletic director.
And while his 10-year record at Emerald — 14 state championships, including one in football in 1998 — is difficult to match, Hill’s impact as a person is even greater.
“I don’t think they come any better,” girls basketball coach Anarie Duckett said. “We’re very lucky to have him as our AD.”
David Scott knows about Hill as a coach and a mentor.
Scott played for Hill for three seasons, going from bench-warmer to starting quarterback on a state championship team.
But for the last three years, Scott has been an assistant football coach, helping Hill take three teams to the Class AA playoffs.
“Playing for him, I thought he was a good man and had a lot of character; he taught you about the game of football and the game of life,” Scott said. “As a coach, it was a little different.
“I learned about how much work you have to put into it, all the work he does behind the scenes that you don’t see as a player.
“Watching film, spending Sunday afternoons (at Emerald), not leaving school until 7:30, 8 o’clock, washing the players’ uniforms. The time he puts in is unbelievable.”
Hill started putting in that time in January 1970, teaching physical education and coaching basketball at Southside.
When Emerald Junior High was opened that fall, at the site of the old Greenwood High School, Hill was hired as basketball coach and assistant football coach.
He took over the football program in 1972 and in 22 seasons has created a lifetime of memories.
Some teams stand out. Hill’s 1976 squad at Emerald Junior High won the school’s first city championship, beating both Southside and Northside in the same season.
“Junior high football was a big thing back then,” Hill said.
The ’76 squad started a three-year championship streak for Emerald, which was able to retire the city championship trophy after 1978.
Another team that will stick with Hill is his 1995 squad from Emerald High School.
It was the Vikings’ first varsity season, and Emerald had taken over the schedule for Mayo High School, a school outside of Darlington that had closed.
Instead of games against Abbeville, Greenwood or Ninety Six, the Vikings were playing games in Kershaw, Bishopsville and Florence.
Emerald’s closest road game was at Andrew Jackson High School, 145 miles from Greenwood, Hill said.
“We only won one game, but I had 28 young men at the start of the season and 28 at the end,” he said.
Three years later, the freshmen that were a part of Hill’s first varsity team would raise a state championship trophy.
That championship team is not typical of most state title-holders.
The Vikings finished the regular season 7-3, including region losses to Abbeville and Ninety Six which dropped Emerald to third place in the region.
EHS played five straight playoff games on the road and wasn’t ranked among the state’s Top 10 in Class AA until after beating Batesburg-Leesville, 9-7 in the championship game.
“We had no dominate players in ’98; we didn’t have any (seniors) get (football) scholarships,” Hill said. “We just had a group of young men who shared a dream of going to Columbia.”
Emerald has had its share of standout players. Three – Quintin Irvin, Joe Woolridge and Christopher Tommie – to represent South Carolina in the Shrine Bowl, and several more to play in the North-South game and for college programs.
Travis Mosley, a running back now at North Greenville College who stood out for the Vikings during the 1999-2001 seasons, said Hill helped get him into college football.
“Coach Hill is an old-school coach,” Mosley said. “He had me play defense as well as offense, and that helped me understand the game.”
Mosley also pointed out that Hill and several of his assistant coaches come watch him play at least one game every year.
Hill has taken a vow to see at least one game of each former Viking playing college football every year, a vow he takes seriously.
“I had to stop when Quintin (Irvin) went to Murray State,” Hill laughed.
But Hill is quick to point out he’s more than just a football coach, and takes great pride in what Emerald’s other athletic teams have been able to accomplish.
While the ’98 team won a football title, it was not the first state championship the school would own.
Duckett, who started at the high school with Hill, took care of that as coach of the 1994 girls tennis team.
The Lady Vikings defeating Bishop England in the state finals “put the school on the map,” Hill said.
Since then, Emerald has collected state titles in cross country, golf, soccer and track as well.
“He makes it real easy for all the coaches,” Duckett said. “He takes care of everything, and comes to the matches. He’s a big supporter of all the programs.”
And before he was a football coach, Hill made a name for himself in baseball and basketball.
He played high school and college baseball, and as a basketball official for nearly 20 years before stopping when he took the job at the high school.
Hill was such a good official, he refereed in the NAIA national tournament several times, including the title game in 1986, the first year it was televised.
Officiating is something Hill return to after retiring.
He might also continue another passion he discovered later in life - cooking.
When his wife Wanda wanted to return to school to advance her education a few years ago, Hill was forced to cook his own meals.
Now he enjoys cooking for large groups, and has even joked about opening a restaurant in Greenwood.
“It would have to be a breakfast restaurant,” Hill said. “I’m the early bird, out of bed between 4 and 4:30 every morning.”
Hill does plan to keep coming to Emerald athletic events, even if he wouldn’t be running them.
Duckett said she’ll miss Hill’s speeches at Emerald’s annual athletics banquet.
Scott said he’ll miss spending afternoon lining the field at Viking Stadium with Hill during football season.
Hill said he’ll miss the closeness with the athletes and other Emerald coaches.
“Head coaches get too much credit,” Hill said. “If you have good athletes and good assistants, the head coach can look really good.
“It’s a good time to move on. There are some good athletes here so the cupboard isn’t bare, and we have some great coaches. I just plan on being the biggest Emerald fan there is.”

Language of Constitution clear ... is misunderstood

December 26, 2004

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press, or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.”
The foregoing is, of course, the First Amendment to the U. S. Constitution, the first article in the Bill of Rights. What it means to the freedom of the American people has been discussed and debated many times. It should be clear. The language is simple and to the point.
Nevertheless, what the First Amendment means to us as individuals has been misunderstood as often as it has been understood ….. if not more. In recent years it has been used as a basis for arguments that it provides for separation of church and state.

HOW CAN THAT BE? THE words can’t possibly be construed to mean any such thing. Repeat them: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof …..” No law.
As far as anyone can tell, no law has been enacted respecting the establishment of religion … or prohibiting the free exercise thereof. Yet, how many times has someone or some group raised the issue when a Christmas tree or scene or some other symbol is displayed on public property? The fact that something is displayed or recited doesn’t make a law.
Despite the plain language, though, those opposed go beyond that. They interpret the words of the First Amendment to mean what they want them to mean. But, they don’t have a monopoly on how to interpret the Constitution or anything else. So, when one side interprets it to suit its purpose, it resents how the other side interprets the First Amendment.

THROUGHOUT HISTORY, from the Founding Fathers to the leaders of today, there have been supplications to God in a Christian context. There has never been, in fact, any doubt that this was a Christian nation. But, because of the First Amendment, every person has the right to believe or not believe and to worship or not worship his own way. Every religion has a constitutional right to exist. The fact that a Christmas tree is put up in a town square does not change that.
The First Amendment is indeed plain and clear. No law shall be made. Nowhere, though, does anything say that public officials cannot display Christian symbols, on walls, trees, streets or poles. If the official happens to be Jewish, there’s nothing to prevent him from displaying symbols of Judaism. The same applies to Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, or any other religion. Even paganism is included.
There are those who disagree. They have that right. But, they don’t have a right to take away someone else’s rights.