Festival tours offer the curious a look into local churches

June 20, 2005

By SHAVONNE POTTS
Index-Journal staff writer

In some form or another, Joyce and David Hyde have been inside many of the churches in Greenwood, except St. Mark United Methodist Church.
“It’s one of the ones we wanted to see,” David said as he was taken on a tour of the newest addition to the church.
“We thought we’ve got to come here,” Joyce said.
St. Mark was one of the tours of five Greenwood churches during the 2005 Festival of Flowers.
For Judy Perrin and her husband Wayne, of Greenwood, the symbols and adornments of the churches are what they most looked forward to seeing.
“We wanted to know what everything stood for. What symbolized their beliefs,” Wayne said of the various churches they toured.
Judy also wanted to see the similarities and differences between her church and the churches she toured. “I’ve been looking at the hymnals and the different literature,” she said.
Many of the people who come to tour the church inquire about the church’s youth programs and children’s ministry, member Dale Campbell said.
In 1965, the St. Mark’s first church service was in the basement of the American Legion building. Two years after that first service, the church broke ground for its current building.
Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, additional classrooms, bathrooms and scout building were built.
In 2000, a new education wing was completed and, last year, the church began planning for a new sanctuary.
The Rev. Father Richard Harris said the weekend tours of Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church have been a tremendous success with an average of about 200 people stopping by on Saturday alone.
“People are very positive and very complimentary of the beauty of the church and architecture,” Harris said. Brenda Womack and her mother Donna Greenway visited the church out of curiosity.
“I’m fascinated by the stained glass window,” Womack said.
The crucifixion window that sits over the chapel altar and the main altar is the focal point for the chapel and the nave.
The glass image of Christ emerges out of a teak wood cross. It is the first production of a wooden cross inserted into a window for the stained glass company that created it.
“It’s very beautiful, open, airy and light. Every thing is so symbolic,” Greenway said.
Cliff and Rose Fagan, of Greenwood, visited many of the churches on the Sunday churches of Greenwood tour and were in awe of Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church.
“It’s beautiful,” the couple said.
Cliff said the church was one everyone in Greenwood should see.
“This is something they’ve done years ago and we’re glad they started back,” Cliff said of the church tours. “The festival this year has really been all inclusive.”
Episcopal Church of the Resurrection, First Baptist Church of Greenwood and First Presbyterian Church of Greenwood were also on tour this weekend.

Shavonne Potts covers general assignments in Greenwood and the Lakelands. She can be reached at 223-1811, ext. 3306, or: spotts@indexjournal.com.

Weather clears, allowing visitors to explore Greenwood gardens

June 20, 2005

By SHAVONNE POTTS
Index-Journal staff writer

Fearful that the rain clouds might appear, many garden owners thought the second day of the Festival of Flowers garden tours would not happen.
The rain and the clouds, however, stayed at bay long enough for hundreds of people to tour the eight gardens throughout Greenwood.
Bill and Shelley Gilchrist created “rooms” throughout their garden where the family has dinners or just sits and reads.
“We wanted it to be an area of entertaining and also relaxing,” Shelley said.
Once the azaleas grow a little more, the couple hope to add another room.
“It’s gorgeous,” said Bill Ramseur, while touring the Gilchrist garden with wife Candace.
Each year, the Ramseurs attend the garden tour, getting ideas here and there for their own garden.
“I saw this garden when it started and it’s matured,” Candace said.
About 500 people visited the Gilchrist garden Saturday alone.
Once inside the entrance of Magnolia Park, often it isn’t the playground equipment that one notices first, it’s the colorful flowerbeds.
This is the first year the garden has been a part of the Festival of Flowers garden tour.
“We planned last year that we wanted to be in the festival,” Carnation Garden Club President Phyllis Sanders said.
The garden has been at the park a little more than nine years and Doris Wilson continues to help maintain the garden with constant watering and replanting.
“We’ve had people from New Jersey, Texas and New York,” Wilson said of the two-day tour.
Laporsha Wiggins, 7, one of the youngest gardeners helping with the tour, helped plant and water many of the flowers in the children’s garden.
The children’s garden is a new addition to the gardens.
“We learned how to take care of the plants,” she said.
Before helping with the garden, Wiggins said she had never gardened.
The Carnation Garden Club, Magnolia Park Neighborhood Association and the Greenwood Parks Foundation also help maintain the garden.
Five years ago, Bubba and Jo Ann Fennell built their house and soon after began planning their garden.
“Because we’re on the lake we wanted to look good from all angles,” Jo Ann said.
Jo Ann said she and her husband find it peaceful being on their covered back porch, looking at the lake and enjoying the outdoors.
Sandra Farmer, of Ware Shoals, and her friend Kathy Hall, of Greenwood, toured many of the gardens, including the Fennells.
“I love to get good ideas for my own yard. I’ve enjoyed all of them,” Farmer said.
Hall said she also enjoyed the garden at Pinecrest Elementary and the Gilchrist’s pond in the midst of their garden.
The Fennells saw more than 500 people touring their garden Saturday and Sunday, including a bus of 53 people from Atlanta.

Shavonne Potts covers general assignments in Greenwood and the Lakelands. She can be reached at 223-1811, ext. 3306, or: spotts@indexjournal.com.

New LU coach ready to get started

June 20, 2005

By CHRIS TRAINOR
Index-Journal sports writer

Optimism is one of the most important traits any coach can have, particularly a young coach looking to rejuvenate a program that is somewhat treading water.
It is a trait that new Lander University softball coach Lee Dobbins has in spades.
Dobbins, 26, arrives at Lander after a stint as an assistant coach at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. Dobbins has also served as an assistant at the University of Tennessee, Tusculum College and Chattanooga State Community College. He also served as a consultant to the national softball team of Spain in preparing them for the 2004 summer Olympics.
“I’m extremely excited to be at Lander,” Dobbins said. “The team won thirty games last season, so this is in no way a total rebuilding type of situation. I am confident that we will one day compete for conference and national titles.”
Dobbins is anxious to take over the reins of the Lady Bearcats program, which will be his first head coaching job.
“I felt my calling as an assistant coach had run its course,” Dobbins said. “When the Lander job came open it really piqued my interest. After talking to coach (Lander athletic director Jeff) May I realized he was dedicated to making this softball program a consistent winner. There are a lot of non-dedicated programs out there. That is not the case at Lander.”
The new coach said that it was a little bit of southern hospitality that helped sway him into coming to Lander.
“Everyone was just extremely polite to me,” Dobbins said. “It’s not at all like a place such as Tennessee in Knoxville, where there’s thousands of faculty and tens of thousands of students. I like that everyone here knows your name and is interested in what’s going on with you.
“I was apartment hunting the other day and I mentioned to some people that I was going to be the new softball coach at Lander. They immediately told me that they were fans of the program and that they come out to the games and everything.
“That type of community interest really appeals to me.”
Dobbins has a plan to increase the Lady Bearcats’ recruiting base significantly, a move he feels is necessary in order for them to be amongst the elite in the ultra competitive Peach Belt Conference.
“We want to recruit in state and in the area because it’s important to keep the top talent at home,” Dobbins said. “But at the same time we have to increase our national recruiting base. I have recruiting ties all over the Southeast, out in Texas, Louisiana, Arizona, Oregon, all over the country. If we want to win a national title, we have to bring in nationally renowned talent.”
Dobbins made no mystery about what his ultimate goal at Lander University will be.
“I want to be conference champions here,” Dobbins said. “But my main goal is simple: I want to win a NCAA Division II national championship at Lander University.”
Dobbins does not feel that his long-term expectations are too lofty.
“The building blocks for success in this conference are there,” he said. “Now, we’re getting in here kind of late in this recruiting class. I don’t want to sign players that we don’t need. I expect the recruiting class of 2006 will be top notch.”
But Dobbins does believe his inaugural team would be competitive right away.
“Next season is by no means a throw away season,” Dobbins said. “We will work hard and play lights out softball next season. If they play hard and do what I tell them then we will be successful.”
Dobbins said his experiences with the Spanish national team were invaluable in honing his coaching skills.
“I was back and forth going down there for about three months,” he said. “They are really just coming into prominence in softball down there, so it was really a great time to get involved. I actually produced an instructional video for the team that is used to help young players down there. It was an unbelievable experience.”
Dobbins plans to stress the ‘student’ aspect of the term student-athlete when the school year begins.
“A lot of coaches throw that term around and they don’t mean it,” Dobbins said. “I mean it. I want to help these young ladies get a degree and make a better life for themselves. I want them to have a good time in college, but I also want them to be serious about their academics and our softball program.
“There’s really not much call for professional softball players. That makes getting a degree and being prepared for the future all the more important. That’s what I’m here to help with.”

Opinion

Joint effort could help manufacturing industry

June 20, 2005

A lot of South Carolinians, including many in Greenwood, recently have been less than enamored with the actions of U. S. Senator Lindsey Graham. There have been several times, for example, when they questioned his commitment to conservative and even Republican principles.
One thing that has disturbed them has been a growing association by the Republican Graham with liberal Democrat, U. S. Senator Hillary Clinton of New York. In one particular area, though, there should be support. That’s an attempt to find answers to problems faced by America’s manufacturing industries, including textiles.
Graham and Clinton formed the bipartisan Senate Manufacturing Caucus, with the purpose of identifying strategies to address manufacturing’s troubles and finding ways Congress can help create and preserve jobs in those industries.

“SOUTH CAROLINA’S ECONOMY is heavily based on manufacturing and over the last decade this sector has taken one hit after another,” Graham said. He said the ultimate goal of the new caucus is to restore “this vital part of our economy.”
Clinton said manufacturing jobs “built our great Middle Class” and “we cannot afford to sit back while our manufacturing capabilities slip away.”
She’s right, of course. Look at the numbers of manufacturing jobs that have been lost in Greenwood, with textile jobs leading the loss column. Nothing thus far has offered any real hope, so any attempt to find solutions and reversals of the process should be welcomed by all, regardless of political affiliations.
Graham made another point that ought to draw praise instead of criticism. Furthermore, it address a situation that has become a problem as big as any, including loss of jobs. That’s working together.

“TO IMPROVE THE MANUFACTURING climate in our state and nation, we’ll have to work together,” Graham said. “The creation of the Manufacturing Caucus is another step in the right direction.”
It is indeed. One of the most troubling aspects of political bickering in recent times has been the bickering.
Harsh rhetoric and finger-pointing have become the rule instead of the exception, and people, in general, seem to have had their fill of the pettiness that has all but made cooperation for the good of the people impossible. If one thing has come through, it’s that.
Maybe this new caucus can help turn the tide and create a positive atmosphere that has to be better for everyone. As Graham said, it’s a step.

Editorial expression in this feature represents our own views.
Opinions are limited to this page.

Obituaries

Clotell Anderson

ABBEVILLE — Clotell Anderson, 59, of 200 Hampton Court, died Saturday, June 18, 2005 at Self Regional Medical Center in Greenwood.
The family is at the home.
Services will be announced by Abbeville & White Mortuary.

Alice Louise Harris

HODGES — Alice Louise Williams Harris, 71, of 112 N. Hodges School Road, wife of Grant Harris Sr., died Sunday, June 19, 2005 at Self Regional Medical Center.
Born in Hodges, she was a daughter of the late Claude Elum and Elease Williams. She was a dietician at Hodges Elementary School and a member of Pine Grove A.M.E. Church and Missionary Society of the church.
Survivors include her husband of the home; three sons, Freddie A. Elum and Grant Harris Jr., both of the home and Tyrone Lemont Harris of Cokesbury; two daughters, Diana Anty of Hodges and Mrs. Robert (Peggy) Fisher of Ninety Six; 12 grandchildren, one reared in the home, Shandra Lanae Harris; and a great-grandchild.
The family is at the home and the home of a son Tyrone Harris, 910 Miller Road, Cokesbury.
Services will be announced by Robinson & Son Mortuary Inc.
Online condolences may be sent to the family at robson@emeraldis.com

Mary C. Hilley

CALHOUN FALLS — Mary Cann Hilley, age 86, of 402 Pecan Street, died Saturday, June 18, 2005 at Greenville Nursing Center in Greenville, SC.
Mrs. Hilley was a native of Abbeville County and the loving wife of the late James E. Hilley who preceded her in death just three weeks ago. She was of the Pentecostal faith.
Survivors include her sons, Sandy Hilley of Greer, SC and T.O. Hilley of Altus, Oklahoma; four grandchildren; nine great-grandchildren; and sister, Mrs. W.F. Waits of Augusta, GA.
The family will receive friends Monday, June 20, 2005 from 1:00 to 2:00 PM at Calhoun Falls Funeral Home and go in procession to Forest Lawn Memory Gardens in Abbeville for a graveside service. Reverend Virgil Manning will officiate. Flowers are accepted or memorials may be made to VistaCare Hospice, 4006 E. North Street, Greenville, SC 29615.
Calhoun Falls Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.
PAID OBITUARY

Myrtle Matthews

SALUDA — Myrtle Gantt Matthews, 74, of 2192 Columbia Highway, widow of William R. Matthews, died Saturday, June 18, 2005 at Providence Hospital.
Born in Lexington County, she was a daughter of the late Levi and Minnie Lee Quattlebaum Gantt. She was a former textile employee and a homemaker. She was a member of Nazareth United Methodist Church and the Sunshine Circle and Mannie Black Sunday School Class of the church.
Survivors include three sons, James Matthews and Roger Matthews, both of Saluda and Keith Matthews of Salley; four brothers, Carlisle Gantt, C.L. Gantt, Callie Gantt and Walter Gantt, all of Batesburg; and a grandson.
Services are 1 p.m. Tuesday at Nazareth United Methodist Church, conducted by the Rev. Joyce Murphy. Burial is in the church cemetery.
Visitation is 7-9 tonight at Ramey Funeral Home.
The family is at the home of a son Roger Matthews.
Ramey Funeral Home is in charge.

Lewis Morgan

Lewis Memory Morgan, 54, of 403 Willowbrook Road, husband of Delores Hayes “Dee” Morgan, died Sunday, June 19, 2005 at his home.
The family is at the home.
Services will be announced by Blyth Funeral Home.