Game has winners who don’t even play

December 24, 2005

By JOANIE BAKER
Index-Journal staff writer

While kids everywhere listen for the sound of Santa’s sleigh bells to bring them Christmas joy, Linda Gould listens for something else:
N 33.
Gould said her husband gave her a $100 check for Christmas to spend at Northside Bingo, a place she visits about twice a week in hopes of hearing someone call her lucky number, 33.
She joined more than 60 other determined players Friday to pull in a little extra spending money for Christmas. “He knows I like Bingo, and I really don’t need anything,” Gould said. “Some people think it’s just gambling, but it’s not. It’s an out for working and retired people. You meet a lot of really nice people when you play Bingo, and I’ve made a lot of friends since I’ve been coming here.”
Since it opened in 1980, Northside Bingo, near Blyth Funeral Home, has provided people such as nursing assistant Judy Wiggins the opportunity to win some extra holiday money while donating a large percentage of the proceeds monthly to the South Carolina Association for Blind Athletes.
“If I win tonight, I’ll go pick my clients up some Christmas gifts that I can give to them Monday,” said Wiggins, who has also won $1,500, a television, an air conditioner and a gas card in the past during the four to five days a week that she plays.
Robbie Nguyen said she used her $1,000 Bingo winnings last year to buy Christmas presents, too. Nguyen said she plays about three times a week and brings her grandchildren, Cole and Destiny, with her sometimes on the weekends.
“It looks like we’re moving in up here because we have dolls, diaper bags with doll clothes, coloring books and games,” Nguyen said. “I wouldn’t bring them but, sometimes, they stay at my house on the weekends, but now they’ve gotten to where they like it.”
Sandra Hudson and mother Nora Pope have family members here from Georgia and also brought them to Bingo for good luck.
Pope said she started coming to play Bingo after her husband died, and Hudson was trying to make her get out of the house.
“It’s a way to relax and have fun,” said Hudson, who has been playing Bingo for more than 25 years. “I think more people would come if they realized it was good, clean fun.”
“I’m 85 years old and am still playing,” Pope said.
She said the electronic laptops that Northside has been using for about three years make it easier for her to play because her arm does not get tired from daubing the paper sheets, and the numbers are easier to see.
Northside Manager Kacie Gentry said the electronic “laptop” Bingo, which requires the player to type in the called numbers, is easier to use for customers who range in age from 12 to 95.
“I think it helps elderly learn about computers because they aren’t out at work,” Gould said. “It gives them a chance to see what it’s all about.”
Gentry had a candlelight Christmas dinner last week and cooked all of the food for about 60 customers. She said Northside has a family appeal to it, and even mailed out 62 handwritten Christmas cards to some of her regular customers.
“I love all of my customers like they were my own family,” Gentry said. “Many of them want to be a part of my family, and I am a part of theirs.”
Because Northside became a “beach Bingo” in September, it no longer offers the “big money” payouts it used to. Gentry explained that during their hours, 4 p.m. to 2 a.m. Tuesday through Sunday, the hall is only allowed to pay out a maximum of $150 during six games a night while paying out several smaller prizes in between. However, she said Northside also has been offering prizes as an alternative to cash, some of which have included a flat screen television and stereos.
But from across the room, Gentry is interrupted by N 33.
“BINGO!” Gould shouted.
And across town the unsuspecting Mr. Gould will be receiving a little extra Christmas cheer tomorrow.

12 facing charges following local police roundup

December 24, 2005

By MEGAN VARNER
Index-Journal senior staff writer

Greenwood Police made a number of drug-related arrests Friday, as detectives and officers served warrants on eight people under investigation by the department.
Officers began the day with 30 warrants to be served on 14 people, according to information from the department. Of those warrants, 17 warrants were served among the eight people arrested.
The arrests were part of a continuous investigation by the department to find “street-level drug dealers” and others involved with drugs in the city and to remove them from the streets, said Greenwood Assistant Police Chief Mike Butler.
“We were trying to get these warrants served to give the communities a sense of peace during the holidays,” Butler said.
The eight people arrested Friday were charged with a variety of crack cocaine and marijuana-related offenses, including possession, distribution, conspiracy to distribute and distribution within one-half mile of a school or playground.
Some of the eight people had been under investigation for months, and detectives and officers used confidential informants to find suspected dealers and purchase the drugs. It’s a process that can take time, Butler said.
“It may take months (for police) to work their way in,” Butler said. “All officers on the street are always looking for places where we feel like drug sells are going on.”
The charges listed on the warrants deal with amounts of crack cocaine and marijuana of often less than one gram, and Butler said that is typical of most drug deals in the city.
“These are street-level drug deals, and that’s what we have around the city. These are deals where cars pull up and make a quick exchange and then they’re gone, or they go up into a home and make a quick exchange,” Butler said. “That’s where neighborhood watch groups and others come in handy. They are our eyes and ears, and they assist us to know where we need to put our efforts.”
Butler said the department’s war on drugs in Greenwood is a “continuous” investigation with no beginning or end.
“We know there are plenty of others out there…It’s not over,” Butler said. “Our detective division and unit patrol division will continue to work on this problem.”

Warrants from the Greenwood Police Department state:
Chance Raymond Burton, 25, of 229 Kitson St., Greenwood, was arrested and charged with distribution of crack cocaine and distribution of crack cocaine within ½ mile of a playground.
Demarcus Jerome Carroll, of 607 Hall St., Greenwood, was arrested and charged with distribution of crack cocaine and distribution of crack cocaine within ½ mile of a playground.
Pierre Cardin Edwards, 20, of 1401 Phoenix St., Apt. 10 C, Greenwood, was arrested and charged with distribution of crack cocaine.
Antonio Glenn, 33, of 210 New Market St., Greenwood, was arrested and charged with distribution of crack cocaine and distribution of crack cocaine within ½ mile of a school.
Torie Lee Harrison, 29, of 806 Gage St., Greenwood, was arrested and charged with distribution of crack cocaine and distribution of crack cocaine within ½ mile of a playground.
Michael Frazier, 17, of 1520 Shirley Rd., Hodges, was arrested and charged with conspiracy to distribution of crack cocaine and possession of marijuana with intent to distribute.
Tracy Lee Timpson, 31, of 109 Columbia Ave., Greenwood, was arrested and charged with two counts of distribution of marijuana and two counts of distribution of marijuana within ½ mile of a playground.
Sherard Antonio Williams, 21, of 624 Grier St., Greenwood, was arrested and charged with distribution of crack cocaine within proximity of a school and distribution of crack cocaine.

Friday bookings reports from the Greenwood Police Department state:
Freddrick Lee Dansby, 25, of 205 Vintage Ct., Greenwood, was arrested and charged with failure to stop on lawful command and resisting arrest.
Tony Bernard Jackson, 35, of 209 Lourvenia Ave., Greenwood, was arrested and charged with failure to stop, resisting arresting, trafficking crack cocaine and possession of crack cocaine with intent to distribute within ½ mile of a playground.
Corey Lavell Jones, 30, of 617 Magnolia Dr., Greenwood, was arrested and charged with failure to stop on lawful command, resisting arrest and simple possession of marijuana.
Jeffry Vaughn Williams, 23, of 420 Jordan Ave., Greenwood, was arrested and charged with failure to stop on lawful command and resisting arrest.

No place like practice for the holidays

December 24, 2005

By CHRIS TRAINOR
Index-Journal sports writer

When most people think of Christmas, they think of time with family and a snowy backdrop for holiday cheer.
For the Clemson football team and Greenwood natives Jad Dean and Gaines Adams, Christmas 2005 will be spent in sunny Orlando, Fla.
Dean, Adams and the Tigers are spending the holiday season getting set to take on Colorado in Tuesday’s Champs Sports Bowl.
“This will be the first Christmas in my life I’ve been away from home,” said Dean, a Greenwood High School graduate. “When we went to the Peach Bowl a couple years ago, it was on January 2. But I don’t mind being away for the bowl game, because we worked hard to get there.”
According to Dean, the Tigers will have chapel on Christmas morning, then enjoy a luncheon together.
That afternoon, the team will have practice.
“It certainly will feel weird having practice on Christmas,” Dean said. “Our team is close, though. We really are like a big family.”
Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without gifts, and the Tigers will be getting a little extra this year, courtesy of the Champs Sports Bowl gift package.
Those bundles the players have received for their participation have become more and more lavish in recent years.
For example, this year’s Peach Bowl participants will receive Xbox 360’s.
For their bowl appearance, Dean and Adams will get video camcorders, Champs Sports Bowl rings and a litany of apparel from the bowl’s namesake.
“More clothes than you can imagine,” Dean said. “The bowls are very generous to the players.
“It’s cool.”
Dean and Adams, juniors at Clemson, have had stellar seasons for the Tigers.
Adams, a Cambridge Academy graduate, has been a terror to opposing offenses from his defensive end position.
He has tallied 49 tackles, including 12.5 for loss and 7.5 sacks. He has started every game this season.
Dean had a breakout year. The kicker connected on 22 of 29 field goals. He booted the game-winner on national TV as time expired against Texas A&M in Clemson’s season opener.
He set a personal best with a 49-yard field goal in the win against South Carolina.
Dean was a finalist for the Lou Groza Award, which is awarded to the nation’s top collegiate kicker. Dean was present for ESPN’s College Awards Show, which took place earlier this month in Orlando.
“It was an awesome experience,” said Dean of the award show. “I was sitting just to the left of (Texas quarterback and Heisman finalist) Vince Young. It truly was an honor to be considered for the Groza Award.”
A year ago, the Tigers (7-4) were home for the holidays despite being qualified for a bowl, a result of their much-publicized brawl with South Carolina. Dean said the return to postseason play has been a relief to him and his teammates.
“It was kind of a lonely feeling last season, when we didn’t get to go,” Dean said. “This year, we feel a lot better about playing and not having to sit home and watch everybody else play.”
The Tigers will be facing a team in Colorado that is going through a period of turmoil.
The Buffaloes (7-5) have lost their last two games by a combined score of 100-6. Included, in that was a 70-3 loss to Texas in the Big 12 Championship game Dec. 3. Shortly after that loss, Gary Barnett resigned as Colorado’s coach. The team has hired former Boise State coach Dan Hawkins, though Hawkins will not coach the team in the Champs Sports Bowl.
However, Dean said the Tigers would be remiss to take Colorado lightly.
“They are a really good team,” Dean said. “They were 7-3 heading into those last two games. Heck, they are Big 12 North champions. We’re expecting a really tough ball game.”
Dean said he and the Tigers are looking forward to playing a team that is unfamiliar.
“It’s actually kind of exciting,” Dean said. “You don’t often get the chance to play a team from the other side of the country. I’m sure they don’t play many teams from around here. I’d actually like to play teams from the Big 12 and the Pac-10 more often.”

A Beloved Dog’s Christmas

December 24, 2005

‘Twas the day before Christmas when all through our house
every creature was stirring, including Pet Mouse.
The stockings were hung by the chimney – my lair –
next to my Master’s favorite stuffed chair.
My family was signing and still decorating:
Three dogs and three cats were anticipating.
A glorious Christmas of new gifts, great treats;
The cats wanted catnip, the dogs wished for meats.
Excitement was building throughout the day,
Our people were happy; we all got to play.
Gift wrapping, baking, smells of turkey and ham
I felt grateful to be “Home” as the loved dog I am.
As night came and our warm beds awaited,
The excitement had built to a pitch unabated.
But we all went to bed for a short night of rest,
Knowing Christmas would bring us only the Best.
I thought of my “brothers” and “sisters” outside.
Some starving and freezing with no place to hide;
No families to love them, no food, some in pain,
I knew that many would die in the cold and the rain.
I said a dog prayer for each unwanted stray,
And asked Santa Paws to give them one Special Day.
To let each of them know of real love and sharing,
A kind human touch and sweet, gentle sharing.
A light filled the sky and glowed everywhere;
Someone from above had heard my prayer!
An angelic Presence came into my view
And said, “For one day, your wish will come true.”
When I awoke, I heard sounds of great glee,
My folks were all laughing over a stocking for me;
Kong toys and rawhides, squeak toys and more
With presents for everyone spread over the floor.
The ferret, the hamster, the bird and the fish
Got new toys and food, a cage or a dish;
We got lots of attention and every need met
And gift certificates for our favorite vet.
In fact, we had so much, we wanted to share,
So my folks called a Rescue to check with them there.
They learned to the shelter’s surprise and delight,
Every animal’s lack had been made all right.
New beds, bowls of food, and toys everywhere
Someone must have come and spent the night there;
The infirm seemed younger, the sick were now well
And, whatever had happened, no one could tell.
Without making a sound, with no one in sight
A miracle had happened during the night!
Oh, why can’t it be like that every day
With every pet wanted and no such thing as a stray?
The Spirit of Christmas is alive in each heart
Through loving and giving we can all impart
The Christmas Spirit every day of the year,
And make miracles happen, like the one told of here.
— Submitted by a reader
Author unknown

Obituaries

Lillie Mae Aiken

ABBEVILLE — Lillie Mae Aiken, 72, of 1978 Old Douglas Mill Road, widow of Clarence Aiken, died Wednesday, Dec. 21, 2005 at Greenville Memorial Hospital.
Born in McCormick, she was a daughter of the late Jessie and Bessie Anderson. She was a textile worker, and a member of Mt. Zion AME Church in Hodges. She was a member of the Stewardess Board and the V.P. Society.
Survivors include a son, Jerry Aiken of Greenville; four daughters, Eathel M. Aiken of the home, Joann A Harris of Lexington, N.C., Tracey Naomi Graham of Greenville, and Mary E. Aiken of Orlando, Fla.; three sisters, Dora M. Reed, Jessie Bell Williams and Elizabeth Patterson, all of Greenwood; nine grandchildren; and one great-grandchild.
Services are at 2 Tuesday at Mt. Zion AME Church in Hodges, conducted by the Rev. Clinton J. Hall II. Burial is in the church cemetery. The body will be placed in the church at 1.
Viewing is from noon-7 p.m. Monday at Richie Funeral Home in Abbeville.
The family is at the home.
Richie Funeral Home Inc. is in charge.

Mattie Brown

WARE SHOALS — Mattie Davenport Brown, 91, of 36 Circle St., widow of Edgar D. “Bill” Brown, died Thursday, Dec. 22, 2006 at Self Regional Medical Center.
The family is at the home of a son, John D. Brown, 11 Pineview Drive, Ware Shoals.
Services will be announced by Parker-White Funeral Home.

John A. Davis, Jr.

Johnston, SC — Funeral services for Mr. John Asa Davis, Jr., 82, will be held Saturday, December 24, 2005 at 1 pm at Johnston First Baptist Church with burial to follow in Poplar Springs Baptist Church Cemetery, Ware Shoals, at 3:30p.m. Memorials may be made to the American Cancer Society/ 128 Stonemark Lane/Columbia, SC 29210.
Mr. Davis, a native of Ware Shoals, died Thursday, December 22, 2005 at his residence. He was a son of the late John Asa, Sr. and Lillie Henderson Davis. He retired from Riegel as a Divisional Engineer for Consumer Products, was a veteran of WWII having served in the US Air Force. Mr. Davis was a member of Johnston First Baptist Church.
Survivors include his wife: Mary Calvert Davis, 3 daughters: Rebecca Lamb (Jim), Gilbert; Lynn Carlson (Eric), Johnston; Bonnie Snead (Michael), Matthews, NC; sister: Ida Dalziel, Savannah, Ga; grandchildren: Amy Hall, William Lamb, Nicholas Carlson, Adrian Carlson, Scott, Jessie, Matt and Davis Snead and 5 great grandchildren. He was predeceased by sisters: Patsy Gray, Betty Vaughn, and brother, Bailey Davis.
Bland Funeral Home, Johnston, is in charge.
PAID OBITUARY

Bennie L. Jordan

HYATTSVILLE, Md. — Bennie L. Jordan, 46, of 6719 Stanton Road, died Thursday, Dec. 22, 2005 at Washington Hospital Center in Washington, D.C.
The family is at the home of his mother, Sarah Jordan, 101 Horton Lane, Abbeville, S.C.
Services will be announced by Abbeville & White Mortuary in Abbeville.

Moody Newsome

HODGES, SC – Moody Newsome, 70, of 218 Townsend Road East, loving husband of forty-nine years to Margie Coursey Newsome passed away December 22, 2005, at McCormick Health Care Center.
Born in Gibson, Georgia on January 8, 1935, he was a son of the late Kate Newsome and Johnny Reese. Most of his life was spent as a farmer and was retired from the Greenwood County Landfill and Godfrey’s Farm. He was predeceased by a son, Timothy Dean Newsome, a daughter, Laura Jean Newsome, and a brother, Billy Chalker.
Surviving in addition to his wife of the home are two daughters, Barbara Newsome Ellerbe of Hodges and Carole Newsome Brock of Due West; two grandchildren, Matthew Ethan and Rebecca Louise Brock; two sisters, Doris Baker of Warrenton, GA and Catherine Toulson of Mitchell, GA.
Services will be 11:00 a.m. Tuesday at Harley Funeral Home Chapel with the Rev. Fred Smith, Rev. David Cobb, and Rev. Benny Ridlehoover. Burial will follow in Greenwood Memorial Gardens.
Pallbearers will be Jimmy Purvis, Jamie Purvis, Donald Ouzts, James Barbee, Tommy Mitchell, Bryan Timms, and Faron Timms.
The body is at Harley Funeral Home where the family will receive friends Monday night from 6:00 until 8:00 p.m.
The family is at the home.
Online condolences may be made to the family by visiting www.harleyfuneralhome.com
PAID OBITUARY

Louise R. Salter

JOANNA — Louise R. Salter, age 82, of 404 Browning Ave. and widow of Curtis H. Salter died Thursday, December 22nd in the Palmetto Baptist Medical Center in Columbia.
She was born in Joanna and was a daughter of the late Wilbur and Delia Wehunt Russell.
Mrs. Salter was retired from Greenwood Mills, Joanna Plant; member of Westminster Presbyterian Church and the Elderberries.
Surviving are her son, Don R. Salter of Greenwood; daughters, Kathy S. Goss of Clinton, Sandra S. Coleman of Saluda; two sisters, Lucille Russell Bedenbaugh of Joanna, Jean R. Nelson of Clinton and ten grandchildren, Mat A. Coleman, Jr. and Jack C. Coleman both of Saluda, David E. Coleman of Fort Mill, Mark R. Coleman of Raleigh, NC, Gary B. Goss, Jr. of Athens, GA, Amy G. Rhodes of Wichita, KS, Marty C. Goss of Gray Court, Ashley D. Salter of Irmo, Russell D. Salter and Caroline Maithai Salter both of Greenwood and thirteen great-grandchildren.
Funeral services will be conducted 2:00 P.M. Monday, December 26th in Westminster Presbyterian Church with interment in Pinelawn Memory Gardens.
The family will receive friends at the cemetery following the committal service.
Memorials may be made to Deacon’s Fund of Westminster Presbyterian Church, 1387 Highway 56 S, Clinton, SC 29325.
Condolences may be expressed to the family at www.grayfuneralhome.com
Gray Funeral Home of Clinton
PAID OBITUARY

CORRECTION

In the obituary for Lois Rouse Gray of 1851 Secession Ext., Abbeville, which was published Friday, Dec. 23, 2005, some incorrect information was provided to The Index-Journal.
The family is at the home, the body is at Brown and Walker Funeral Home.