Young Life fundraiser helps youths see ‘fun side’ of Gospel

October 11, 2005

By JOANIE BAKER
Index-Journal staff writer

There isn’t much Damon Bone has to say about how Young Life changed his life.
All the former area director of the Greenwood program has to do is look down. Standing right up to Bone’s knees in the back of the Greenwood Family YMCA gym during the 11th annual Young Life banquet Monday was his 1-year-old son, Jackson.
Bone met his wife of seven years at a Young Life camp. Because of the program, the two now share not only a marriage, but a son and 4-year-old daughter.
Bone had something in common with the farm-clad folks who walked beneath the rainbow of balloons and bales of hay for the program’s biggest fundraiser of the year, featuring musician and motivational speaker Alan Levi. For them, Young Life means a lot more than just a non-denominational Christian outreach program — it means a change.
“It’s about loving kids where they are,” said Bone, who now lives in Asheville, N.C. “For me, I was a volunteer first and got involved and worked with the kids one-on-one. I got to see their need for Jesus Christ.”
For Joe Prothro, a Young Life committee member of four years who worked to help raise the program’s estimated $100,000 annual budget, the program has changed his quiet and reserved sons’ into confident leaders.
He said he never expected them to stand before a crowd and profess their faith as they did when they came back from camp. Prothro said Young Life’s strongest attribute is its outreach to kids appealing to them outside of church, through their own language.
“Young Life fills a void,” Prothro said. “Churches do a good job, but there’s kids that don’t want to be in that environment, but once they make that breakthrough, are more apt to get involved in their church or a church.”
For Will Milks, a senior at Erskine College, Young Life has meant a career change.
Originally wanting to be an architect, Milks decided to go to Erskine for a Christian Education degree, so that he might continue sharing the Gospel with middle and high school students as he has as a Young Life leader. He said he likes how the program attracts all types of children whether they are the party type, the athletic type or the reserved type.
“Young Life helped me not to see the Christian faith as being legalistic,” Milks said. “It let me see a fun side to the Gospel, not an irresponsible side but a fun side.”
The fun is what Ryan D’Alessandro said he likes most about Young Life. The eight-year leader said one of the best programs is the giant food fight at the end of the year. Groups throw sweet feed and dog food at each other to signify how, even though a person can be dirty with sin, it is easy to clean off and be with God again. He said Young Life changed him into a leader.
“I was the type of high school kid that did some experimenting with drinking and some marijuana,” D’Alessandro said. “I had this void and I was searching. Young Life fixed that void that a youth group was not giving me. They took me in and loved on me and I became a leader out of it.”

PC’s Spangler speaks to TD Club

October 11, 2005

By CHRIS TRAINOR
Index-Journal sports writer

The college football coach with the best record in South Carolina so far in 2005 made an appearance in Greenwood Monday night.
Presbyterian College coach Tommy Spangler, whose Blue Hose are 6-1, spoke to the Greenwood Touchdown Club at Greenwood Country Club.
The club used the meeting to honor several local football players for recent accomplishments.
Dixie High School’s Paco Pruitt and Ninety Six’s Chris White each received the Fellowship of Christian Athletes Heart of a Champion award, which is given to the players for their prowess on the field and character and civic activities off of it.
Offensive and defensive players of the week for Weeks 5 and 6 of the high school season were also honored.
Ware Shoals wingback Lance Richardson was honored as the offensive player for Week 5 against Blacksburg.
Emerald defensive lineman Eric Coates was chosen for his performance against Calhoun Falls that same week.
Emerald quarterback Dan Wideman was honored for the second time this year, as the senior received offensive player of the week for his game against Batesburg-Leesville in Week 6.
Ninety Six defensive tackle Quin McGraw garnered defensive honors for his play in the Wildcats’ win over Mid-Carolina.
When Spangler came to the podium, he praised the Lakelands area for the quality of play in the region.
Before Spangler took over as head coach of the Blue Hose in 2001, he served as an assistant and recruiting coordinator at Presbyterian from 1997-2000. His assigned area of focus was this region of the state.
“The Lakelands is the finest area for football in the state of South Carolina, and I sincerely mean that,” said Spangler, sending the contingent at the country club into spirited applause. “I always enjoyed watching the coaches and athletes around here.”
Spangler lettered as a defensive back at the University of Georgia in 1980, the year the Bulldogs went 12-0 and won the national championship.
While his playing career is remembered fondly by Georgia fans, there is a place where it is even more legendary: in the mind of his two young sons, Pierce, 12, and Peyton, 8.
“Oh, I don’t tell them how bad there dad really was,” said Spangler, sending the crowd into fits of laughter. “I’m a star in our house, and I get better every year.”
Spangler recalled a story from his days as an assistant at Georgia Southern under coach Irk Russell. It was from an instance when Russell was teaching his team about the dangers of drugs.
Russell gathered the team into a tight huddle in the locker room. A Drug Enforcement Agency officer entered the room and laid several items out in the middle of the floor, including a bag of marijuana, a bag of cocaine, pills and whiskey bottles. The players gathered in very close, curious about the substances.
About that time, a snake wrangler from Claxton, Ga. entered the room and dumped a six-foot rattlesnake into the huddle. The players scattered like ants at a picnic.
“Coach Russell got everybody calmed down and explained that the snake was actually a pet of the wrangler,” Spangler said. “He used that as an example to the players that the drugs in that circle were more dangerous than that snake. They should be running from the drugs.”
Spangler attributed to the success the Blue Hose have had- besides this year’s mark they are 33-19 in his time as head coach- to what he calls “heart speed.”
He said the term came to fruition because the Blue Hose are not necessarily the biggest or fastest group of players. In fact the defense has an average size of 5-feet, 10-inches tall and 199 pounds.
“And we’ve never timed anyone in the 40-yard dash at Presbyterian College,” Spangler said. But our guys have heart speed. We ask them to give every ounce of their heart on every play. So far it’s getting the job done.”
During the question and answer segment of the program, Spangler fielded queries about Presbyterian’s proposed move from NCAA Division II to Division I-AA.
Spangler said that, if the Blue Hose were to move up, it would occur in 2007 and they would be members of the Big South. He said it would be a major undertaking for the football team, as the squad would go from 36 scholarships to 63, a big move considering that yearly tuition at Presbyterian is $31,000.
Spangler also answered quaestions pertaining to for mer Ninety Six starts and current Presbyterian players Mike Doolittle and Chris Pope.
“Mitch is doing a great job for our team at receiver,” Spangler said. “And Chris is either number one or two on our team in catches. They both mean a lot to our team.”

Opinion

Compared to some nations American education drops

October 11, 2005

Write your own editorial!
News item: “WASHINGTON (AP) – The United States is losing ground in education, as peers across the globe zoom by with bigger gains in student achievement and school graduations, a study shows.
“Among adults age 25 to 34, the U. S. is ninth among industrialized nations in the share of its population that has at least a high school diploma. In the same age group, the United States ranks seventh, with Belgium, in the share of people who hold a college degree.
“By both measures, the United States was first in the world as recently as 20 years ago,” said Barry McGaw, director of education for the Paris-based Organization for Cooperation and Development.

THAT 30-NATION ORGANIZATION develops the yearly rankings as a way for countries to evaluate their education systems and determine whether to change their policies.
It’s not all bad news, although there doesn’t appear to be that much good. McGaw said that “the United States remains atop the ‘knowledge economy,’ one that uses information to produce economic benefits. But,” he said, “education’s contributions to that economy is weakening, and you ought to be worrying.”
The slippage in the standings is hard to accept or even imagine when all the money and effort that goes into education nationally and state-by-state are factored in. In fact, it wouldn’t be all that difficult to find any number of South Carolinians who are convinced that too much money is spent.
THEIR STANDARD RESPONSE is that you can’t solve education problems by throwing money at them.
Be that as it may, there are other considerations that stem from a variety of economic, environmental and social influences that have negative impacts on the bottom line in education, in the Palmetto State and nationally.
Nevertheless, with the apparent decline in worldwide standings in a number of educational categories, one thing McGaw said should ring our collective bell: We ought to be worrying.
We appear to be working hard at all levels to improve. What are we doing wrong? Write your own editorial!

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

Obituaries

Dr. William Robert Ameen, Sr.

GREAT FALLS, SC — Dr. William Robert Ameen, Sr., 72, of 129 Francis Avenue, Great Falls, SC, widower of Mrs. Harriet Dantzler Ameen, died Sunday, October 9, 2005.
Born December 17, 1932 in Fairfield County, SC, he was a son of the late John Ameen and Maggie Sanders Ameen.
After an honorable discharge from the U.S. Navy as a Lieutenant Commander, he earned a Doctor of Medicine degree from the Medical University of Charleston.
Dr. Ameen was the Greenwood County physician, where he established and directed the first emergency room in the state of South Carolina. He directed the Ameen Clinic as a family practitioner for over 20 years. Dr. Ameen excelled in the area of diagnostic medicine and blessed the lives of many people with his remarkable gift.
He was an accomplished pilot and an esteemed contributor to the design of the Greenwood County Airport.
Dr. Ameen most recently practiced at The Walker Medical Clinic in Lancaster and The National Men’s Health Clinic in Columbia. He was a member of the American Academy of Family Practice and received numerous recognitions for his diagnostic abilities.
Dr. Ameen was a member of the Grand Lodge of Ancient Free Masons of South Carolina and a member of the Great Falls Presbyterian Church.
Surviving are a daughter and son-in-law, Mr. and Mrs. James Ray (Donna) Douglas and 2 grandchildren, Hannah Rey and William Robert Douglas, all of Camden. Surviving also are one brother, Dr. Saied Ameen of Camden and two sisters, Mrs. Margaret Cooper of Columbia, SC and Mrs. Mary Monson of Chicago.
In addition to his wife Harriet Jayne Dantzler, he is preceded in death by a son, William Robert Ameen, Jr. He is also predeceased by a brother, John U. Ameen and Sister, Helen Cleaver.
A graveside service will be 11:00 AM Wednesday, October 12, 2005 at Greenlawn Cemetery, Great Falls, SC, officiated by the Reverend Chip Summers and Mr. Townes Jones.
Memorials may be sent to Greenlawn Cemetery Fund, P.O. Box 191, Great Falls, SC 29055.
The family will receive friends Tuesday from 6 to 8 at Dantzler-Baker Funeral Home.
PAID OBITUARY

Dorothy E. Cahoon

ANDERSON — Dorothy Elizabeth Cahoon, 79, of 212 Howard McGee Road, widow of James Milton Cahoon Sr., died Sunday, Oct. 9, 2005 at Anderson Area Medical Center.
Born in Raleigh, N.C., she was a daughter of the late James A. and Nellie Baggett Blackwell. She was a homemaker and of the Baptist faith.
Survivors include four sons, Sammie D. Poston of Anderson, H. Paul Poston of Belton, James W. Poston of Greenwood, John E. Poston of Myrtle Beach; two daughters, Barbara A. Coe of Phoenix, Ariz., Mary Poston Merck of Anderson; a brother, James Blackwell of North Carolina; a sister, Zona Holland of North Carolina; seven grandchildren; two great-grandchildren.
Graveside services are 2 p.m. Wednesday at South Lawn Memorial Gardens, conducted by the Rev. John Daniel.
Visitation is 6-8 tonight at Woodlawn Funeral Home.
The family is at the home of a daughter Mary Merck, 704 Concord Road.
Woodlawn Funeral Home is in charge.

Hannah Pearl Cheatham

WASHINGTON — Hannah Pearl Cheatham, 87, widow of John W. Cheatham, died Saturday, Oct. 8, 2005 in Washington.
Born in Edgefield County, S.C., she was a daughter of the late Elijah and Dora McKie Brown and a member of Mount Moriah Baptist Church, Plum Branch, S.C.
Survivors include three daughters, Rose Hampton, Lillie C. Roberts, Bernadette Cheatham, and two sons, John Cheatham, Nathaniel Cheatham, all of Washington, D.C.; a brother, Whit Lee Brown of Plum Branch; five sisters, Effie Lee Talbert of Edgefield, Verdell Williams and Carolyn Webb, both of Greenwood, S.C., Mary Cobin of New York City, Inez Parks of Ninety Six, S.C.
The family is at the home of a sister Effie Talbert, 67 Bartley Road, Edgefield.
Services will be announced by Walker Funeral Home, McCormick, S.C.

Robert Lewis Cockrell

GILBERT — Robert Lewis Cockrell, 68, died Sunday, Oct. 9, 2005.
Born in Los Angeles, he was a son of the late Benjamin M. and Frances R. Young Cockrell. He attended First Baptist Church of Lexington, was a Navy veteran and had worked for J.D. Hollingsworth Co.
Survivors include his wife, Barbara Duffie Cockrell; two sons, the Rev. Timothy Louis Cockrell of Honea Path, Dennis Gordon Cockrell of Anderson; two daughters, Lauren Elizabeth Spragens of Williston, Melinda Ann Reeves of Six Mile; three sisters, Peggy Buzhardt of Leesville, Marlene Gunter of Lexington, Brenda Burch of Greenwood; three stepsons, Chris Bryson and Andy Bryson of Lexington, Dana Bryson of Columbia; 10 grandchildren; a step-granddaughter.
Services are 2 p.m. Wednesday at First Baptist Church of Lexington, conducted by the Revs. Tony Long, Ralph Schnetk, Tim Cockrell. Burial is in Celestial Memorial Gardens, West Columbia.
Visitation is 1-2 Wednesday at the church.
Memorials may be made to First Baptist Church of Lexington, 415 Barr Road, Lexington, SC 29072.
Milton Shealy Funeral Home, Batesburg-Leesville, is in charge.

Bill Digby

ANDERSON — William M. Digby, 77, of 108 Fisherman Club Drive, husband of Patricia Johnson Digby, died Saturday, Oct. 8, 2005 at Anderson Area Medical Center.
Born in College Park, Ga., he was a son of the late Emory H. and Vera Ellington Digby. He received a degree in chemical engineering from Georgia Tech, retired as sales manager for Foxboro Co., and was a World War II Army veteran.
Survivors include his wife of the home.
A memorial service is 2 p.m. Friday at Harley Funeral Home, Greenwood, conducted by the Rev. Robert Thompson.
Visitation is 1-2 Friday at the funeral home, and the family will gather at South Greenwood Pentecostal Holiness Church after the service.
Memorials may be made to Unity Church, PO Box 212, Pendleton, SC 29670.
Harley Funeral Home is in charge.
Online condolences may be sent to the family at www.harleyfuneralhome.com

Raymond Gilchrist

EDGEFIELD — Raymond Gilchrist, 69, husband of Mamie B. Freeman Gilchrist, died Sunday, Oct. 9, 2005 at Palmetto Richland Health Center.
Born in Edgefield County, he was a son of the late Rev. Mack and Ella Jones Gilchrist. He was a member of Liberty Spring Baptist Church, Edgefield County, and Mount Moriah Baptist Church, Washington, D.C.
Survivors include his wife of the home; a son, Bobby Gilchrist of Augusta, Ga.; three daughters, Mrs. Walter (Tereta) Thomas of Abbeville, Judy Jordan and Paula Williams, both of Washington, D.C.; a brother, Jasper Gilchrist Sr. of Washington, D.C.; a sister, Mrs. John (Melrose) Garner of Hyattsville, Md.; 12 grandchildren; seven great-grandchildren.
Services are at noon Wednesday at New Hope Baptist Church, conducted by the Rev. Michael Butler, pastor. Memorial services and burial are Friday at Fort Lincoln Cemetery, Brentwood, Md.
Fort Lincoln Funeral Home, Brentwood, is in charge of Maryland services.
Walker Funeral Home is in charge of local arrangements.

Charles R. Lowe

Charles Robert Lowe, 73, of 218 Mulberry Ave., widower of Gladys Cockrell Lowe, died Monday, Oct. 10, 2005 at his home.
Born in Laurens County, he was a son of Charlie Simpson and Selma Reid Lowe. He retired from Greenwood Mills, Chalmers Plant, where he was a member of the Quarter Century Club. He served in the S.C. National Guard and was a member of Faith Temple Holiness Church.
Survivors include a daughter, Barbara Mayo of Greenwood; a son, Jerry Wayne Lowe of Greenwood; two sisters, Mildred Paysinger of Greenwood, Sara Shirley of Hodges; two brothers, Herman Lowe, L.T. Lowe, both of Greenwood; six grandchildren; a great-grandson.
Services are 11 a.m. Wednesday at Faith Temple Holiness Church, conducted by the Rev. Danny Swinnea. The body will be placed in the church at 10. Burial is in the church cemetery.
Pallbearers are Ernie Ouzts, Edward Metts, Austin Adams, Justin Adams, Tim Fleming, Lee Fleming, Bobby Parker and Al Duncan.
Honorary escorts are the men of the church.
Visitation is 7-9 tonight at Harley Funeral Home.
The family is at the home of a brother Herman Lowe, 2521 McCormick Highway.
Harley Funeral Home is in charge.
Online condolences may be sent to the family at www.harleyfuneralhome.com

Jeff McClain

DONALDS — Samuel Jeffrey McClain, 33, husband of Vanessa Colavolpe McClain, formerly of Donalds, died Saturday, October 8, 2005 in Houston, Texas.
Born in Anderson County he was a son of Samuel C. McClain of Honea Path and Nancy Henderson Phillips of Ware Shoals. He was employed by L.E. Meyers Co. He was of the Holiness Faith.
Surviving are his wife of Cape Coral, Fl., his father of Honea Path, his mother of Ware Shoals, one son, Kaden McClain of Danville, Va., one daughter, Rosalyn Faith McClain of Cape Coral, Fl., four brothers, Donnie Wayne McClain of Ware Shoals, Danny Mitchell of Donalds, Kelly Mitchell of Donalds, and Nathan McClain of Honea Path, a niece, Stasha Burton of Donalds, Paternal Grandparents, Charlie and Martha B. McClain of Belton, and Maternal Grandmother, Lois Murial Alewine of Ware Shoals.
Funeral services will be held at 2 P.M. Wednesday at the Honea Path Pentecostal Holiness Church with Rev. Barry Bryan, Rev. Gene Brown, Rev. Paul Cooper, and Rev. Justin Phillips officiating. Burial will follow in the Garden of Memories.
The body is at Pruitt Funeral Home and will be placed in the church at 1 P.M. Wednesday. The family will receive friends from 7 to 9 P.M. Tuesday at Pruitt Funeral Home. The family is at the home of his father, Sammy McClain, 216 Wash-ington Cr., Honea Path.
PAID OBITUARY