The Week in Review: July 21-Aug. 5
Greg Wilson/Anderson Observer
The past couple of weeks have been some of the busiest of the summer in Anderson with concerts, plays, tournaments and other events brining Christmas-like traffic to town.
Last weekend kicked off with the Darius Rucker concert at the civic center bringing 9,000 to the amphitheater. The weekend also featured the Bassmaster high school tournament bringing almost 1,500 student anglers and their families to the area, filling restaurants and stores. Palmetto High School’s Bryson Gurley and Ethan Evatt, finished second in the North American Championship.
Shoppers are also filling the stores as school gets back in full swing. There are a number of new faces in leadership, most notably Anderson School Dist. 5 Superintendent Brenda Kelley and the new Anderson Institute of Technology Director Tiffany Estes. The Anderson Observer has interviewed all of the superintendents, as well as Holley Harrell, director of the Anderson Career and Technology Center, so check the newspaper if you missed those.
West Pelzer has been particularly busy. The town was awarded the Municipal Association of South Carolina Achievement Award for superior and innovative efforts in local government.
The past week also featured the opening of a new Senior Center in West Pelzer. The new center, operated by Meals on Wheels-Anderson with a grant from the Appalachian Council of Governments, will feature meals, games and encourage social time for seniors in the West Pelzer area.
West Pelzer also was the recipient of other news this week as Mayor Blake Sanders announced he will not seek re-election in November. Sanders, who served as mayor for the past eight years, was the visionary behind the transformation of the town into a vibrant, walking community with most amenities just down the sidewalk. Sanders also tagged the town “The Upstate’s Front Porch,” due to its location and the growing traffic in the area. Sanders, whose “Studio Main” community-inspired landscape architecture firm has also had a hand in much of the progress in the rest of Anderson County, has made no announcements about other future public service.
Meanwhile Anderson’s Emergency Kitchen, which has served those in need since 1982, is scheduled to move into the old Roy’s Diner location on South Main in late September, allowing the ministry to nearly triple the indoor seating capacity. The organization now owns the building, and is asking the community to contribute to their work.
Blocks away from the new emergency kitchen, the South Main Chapel and Mercy Center is marking nine years of service. The church works with the community providing meals, medical assistance, and other services. Their work in cooperation with other churches and agencies in the county has become a model for urban ministry.
The Mill Town Players “Hello, Dolly,” (see review here) continues to draw crowds for the classic big-time musical, while the Market Theatre’s 24-Hour Musical Saturday performed “Peter Pan,” to benefit the Cleo Bailey Experiment. The Cleo Bailey project is building their work on East Whitner Street with a community garden and long-range plans to become a hub for the community.
Anderson County also postponed the race to find the county’s fastest men, women and children. The event will be rescheduled in the spring.
Finally, the week also featured some sad news. Tommy Seigler, the longtime security chief at the historic Anderson County Courthouse passed away. Seigler, a former championship professional wrestler, (and one of the people who named Crescent High School), was a kind, humble and gentle man, who was still lifting weights in his home gym well into his eighties. The tributes to him on social media, those who remembered his kindness to them as children especially, are myriad. He is missed.
These are just some of the stories featured in The Anderson Observer this past week.