PROTERRA CHARGES ON: The Upstate electric bus maker may be over the roughest part of their road to profitability. PAGE 11 GOV. HALEY’S VETO PUTS ARTS FUNDING IN PERIL — AGAIN.
SPARTANBURGJOURNAL SPARTANBURG
PAGE 16
Susan Tekulve’s debut novel spans generations. PAGE 16
Spartanburg, S.C. • Friday, July 13, 2012 • Vol.8, No.28
Early crop means good news for the state’s peach growers. PAGE 14
thrive while Upstate officials look for ways to shut them down. PAGE 8
PHOTOS BY GREG BECKNER / STAFF
VIDEO POKER REBOOTED Internet gambling cafes
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Racing Legends of Spartanburg They started out running moonshine. They ended up making history. And it all started right here in Spartanburg. Car racing is one of America’s favorite sports. Discover its roots in this extensive historical exhibit… Spartanburg Regional History Museum Chapman Cultural Center 200 East Saint John Street Spartanburg
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Tues.-Sat., 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Ends Aug. 31 Free public reception: Fri., July 13, 6-8 p.m. Real race car drivers will be telling their stories. Community Event: “A Drive Through History” Sat., July 14, 10-5, free, featuring cars, drivers, food, and fun stuff for the whole family. 542-ARTS
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2 SPARTANBURG JOURNAL | JULY 13, 2012
Scattered evening storms
Isolated evening storms
journal community
Worth Repeating They Said It
“Our position is these machines are illegal, per se. You can put lipstick on a pig, but it’s still a pig.”
Cohen’s
Mark Plowden, spokesman for state Attorney General Alan Wilson, on the resurgence of gaming machines 12 years after a statewide video poker ban. Lobbyists for gambling interests argue that the machines are no different from other business promotions offering prizes and cash.
Quote of the week
“Determination and endurance – you’ve got to have it. It was the longest and hardest job I ever had.”
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“It’s strange but true. I look back and say we made champagne out of lemons.” Jack McFarland, Proterra’s chief financial officer, on the electric bus maker’s unlikely path toward profitability in the 18 months since a chief investor pled guilty to fraud.
“We’re unfortunately quite used to getting vetoed, and we have a good track record of overriding it.” Ken May, executive director of the South Carolina Arts Commission, on Gov. Haley’s elimination of the agency’s entire budget for the third year in a row.
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Anderson physician Needham Long, author of “Escape from Panic,” on his struggle to overcome a crippling panic disorder.
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Robert J. Haas, M.D. Michael W. Holmes, M.D. Billy J. Haguewood, Jr., M.D. David W. Nicholson, M.D. K. Leanne Wickliffe, M.D. Brice B. Dille, M.D.
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JULY 13, 2012 | SPARTANBURG Journal 3
journal community
Summer is Sizzlin’ at the Peace Center
Upstate doctor maps out his ‘Escape from Panic’ Author hopes his new book will help other sufferers By april a. morris | staff
Tuesday July 17 For special benefit seating, please visit www.guacfund.org www.jacksonbrowne.com
An effort by an Anderson physician to document his experience with a crippling panic disorder has become a book that he hopes will offer help to other sufferers. Dr. Needham Long began simply to write down his story as a personal record, but soon discovered potential value for others, he said. In 1962, just when he was beginning his practice, the then-31-year-old Long was gripped by unexplainable fear in the middle of a surgical procedure. He had to turn over the work to an assistant and quickly leave the room. Anxiety in the operating room forced him to turn to a “less exposed” specialty, pathology. “I couldn’t do night or weekend calls. And the laboratory was troublesome, too – it was full of people,” he said. This episode began 18 months of debilitating anxiety and fear for Long, all of which is recorded in his 2012 memoir, “Escape from Panic: Ending an Odyssey of Fear.” The book follows the strict religious upbringing of a timid child on an isolated Alabama farm and recounts the series of negative defining moments leading to years of anxiety. “Those defining moments govern how you relate to the world from now on,” he said. As in most cases, Long’s panic had no discernible cause. Anxiety disorder
symptoms can include difficulty breathing, chest pain, dizziness, trembling and nausea. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, 2.7 percent of the country’s adult population suffers from panic disorder. Long’s symptoms were triggered by certain situations like encountering pretty women, attending church or any formal gatherings, going to the grocery store, driving in traffic and getting his hair cut. It was especially difficult if he encountered a beautiful clerk in the grocery store checkout, he quipped. Following his first experience with panic, Long saw a series of psychiatrists, finally encountering success after several sessions with a fourth, John B. Reckless at Duke University. But even though his debilitating fear was alleviated, there was lingering anxiety for 30 more years, said Long. The lower-level anxiety continued until he began writing his story in 2006. Long edited the manuscript over the course of several years. “The lesser surges of anxiety slowly reduced as I edited the book,” he said. “When I finished it and saw the benefit, I thought other people might be helped by reading it.” Long is not embarrassed to share his very personal story. “The stakes were so high that I lost all modesty searching for a cure,” he said. Battling the illness on an ongoing basis was vital, he said. “Determination and endurance – you’ve got to have it. It was the longest and hardest job I ever had.” Contact April A. Morris at amorris@thespartanburgjournal.com.
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4 SPARTANBURG Journal | JULY 13, 2012
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JOURNAL COMMUNITY
SCC Cherokee facility OK’d
CITY COUNCIL
FROM THE JULY 9 MEETING
The Spartanburg Housing Authority is nearly out of the financial hole they dug for themselves in 2010 when the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development ordered the agency to repay $1.8 million in Section 8 funds designated for payments to landlords, the agency’s executive director told City Council on Monday. The agency still owes $200,000 on that debt, Spartanburg Housing Authority Executive Director Harry Byrd said, and is working to pay that off. Over the course of the past two years SHA has improved its HUD rating from 68 (failing) to 85 (standard) and hopes to improve to 90 in the next rating, which would give the agency a high performing rating. “That would makes us qualified for more money and programs we currently don’t qualify for,” Byrd said. The agency is the third largest in the state with a $21.5 million budget and 1,133 housing units. Currently the agency has about $2.9 million in reserves and each public housing development has cash reserves for about four months of funds for maintenance and salaries in the case HUD funds are cut. SHA also has about $2 million in a fund for capital projects. Every housing manager is responsible for maintenance now, he said, which saves SHA money. In other business, Councilwoman Linda Dogan called for an independent study or investigation into city hiring and firing practices Spartanburg City Council next meets at 5:30 p.m. on July 23 in council chambers at City Hall, 145 W. Broad St. Contact Charles Sowell at csowell@thespartanburgjournal.com.
July 13
By CHARLES SOWELL | staff
Spartanburg Community College’s $4.2 million training facility planned for the school’s Cherokee County Campus made it through the state budget wars and escaped Gov. Nikki Haley’s veto pen this week. SCC will receive $3.5 million for the new Cherokee County training facility as part of the state’s 2012-2013 appropriations bill. The school will have to match 20 percent ($700,000) from local funds for the facility. Equipment and furnishings will be sought through grants and fundraising. “This funding means great things for the residents of Cherokee County and Spartanburg Community College,” said Henry C. Giles Jr., SCC’s interim president. “Building this new facility will allow us to expand our offerings at the Cherokee County Campus to educate and train skilled employees for well-paying jobs with local manufacturing companies who currently have unfilled jobs, jobs that local residents desperately need.” The new Cherokee building will be approximately 30,000 square feet and will be a shop/lab facility to support the skills need-
ed for workers in manufacturing. The location will be determined by an architect and engineering study that will begin soon. “Traveling to attend college or moving away for a job will no longer be a barrier for our students,” said Daryl Smith, executive director of the SCC Cherokee County Campus. “Staying in their hometown to attend school, live and work is now a viable option.” “It’s important that students receive the training they need without having to drive to our central campus,” said Giles. A traditional academic building projected to cost roughly $10 million has been on the college’s long-range capital improvement plan for about three years, Giles said, but the college decided to shift its focus to a training facility following recommendations from the Cherokee County 20/20 study that showed a need for a more skilled workforce. In reaction to the study, Cherokee County Council is offering scholarship funds to high school students and veterans enrolled in high-tech programs. Contact Charles Sowell at csowell@thespartanburgjournal.com.
PH YSICIAN UPDATE
GHS welcomes these new physicians and office sites!
Pediatrics
Urology
Geriatrics
Diane Eugenio, M.D. Daniel Smith, M.D. Cypress IM–Greer 325 Medical Pkwy., Ste. 200 Greer, 797-9550
Beverly Ellington, M.D. Pediatric Associates–Easley 800 N. A St. Easley, 855-0001
Neerja Arya, M.D. Laurie Theriot Roley, M.D. Center for Success in Aging 255 Enterprise Drive, Ste. 101 Greenville, 454-8120
S. Meg Carter, M.D. Cypress IM–Maxwell Pointe 3907 S. Highway 14 Greenville, 675-1491
Manisha Patel, M.D. Pediatric Cardiology 200 Patewood Dr., Ste. A200 Greenville, 454-5120
Hand Surgery
Joint Replacement
New Office Location! The Children’s Clinic 890 S. Pleasantburg Dr. Greenville, 271-1450
Kelly Maloney, M.D. Charles Marguet, M.D. UMG Regional Urology– Cross Creek 11 Park Creek Dr. Greenville, 797-7450 Note: This new office combines the Memorial Court and Medical Ridge practices, which are now closed; the Easley and Parkway offices remain open.
Timothy Allen, M.D. Steadman Hawkins Clinic of the Carolinas 105 Doctors Drive Greenville, 797-7060
Brandon Broome, M.D. Steadman Hawkins Clinic of the Carolinas 200 Patewood Dr., Ste. C100 Greenville, 454-SHCC (7422)
Internal Medicine
Neurology
Luke Dolan, M.D. Cross Creek Internal Medicine 50 Cross Park Court Greenville, 797-7035
Kathleen McConnell, M.D. Neuroscience Associates 200 Patewood Dr., Ste. B350 Greenville, 454-4500
ghs.org
Physical Medicine Leland Berkwits, M.D. Upstate Medical Rehabilitation 109 Doctors Drive Greenville, 797-7100
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JOURNAL COMMUNITY
OPINION
VOICES FROM YOUR COMMUNITY, HEARD HERE
FROM THE EDITORIAL DESK
An indefensible arts veto One of the surest signs of a vital community is a vigorous commitment to the arts – not just to creating art, but to a communitywide understanding of what art does for the hearts, minds and souls of all those blessed to live in such places. And these places don’t just happen. They’re the deliberate creation of the communities themselves – a conscious decision of the people who live there to make art a central element of daily life, available to everyone. This has been so true for so long in Greenville and Spartanburg that the locals may need a reminder to look around and enjoy the creative energy of the places they are lucky enough to call home. But it’s not true everywhere in South Carolina – which is why Gov. Nikki Haley’s war on the arts is so distressing. The governor did taxpayers a service in using her veto pen to warn legislators that surplus tax revenues are no license for a return to pork-barrel spending. Larding the state budget with grants for local projects with no statewide purpose is as irresponsible in fat years as it is in lean. Equally noteworthy was her veto of $10 million slated for the Commerce Department that rightfully belongs in a fund to help homeowners avoid foreclosure. Commerce is Haley’s baby, and her willingness to say “No” on principle is impressive. But Haley’s decision to once again zero out funding for the state Arts Commission reveals a blind spot vividly emphasized in her defense of that Commerce veto. “We don’t win projects based on throwing money at companies,” she told The State newspaper. “We win projects based on a good business environment of tax relief, a trained workforce and being a low-unionized state.” Notice anything missing? Our governor cannot seem to grasp that the kind of high-paying industries she is so eager to attract hire educated and creative workers. Educated and creative workers, in turn, flock to communities with a flourishing cultural life. The arts revitalize downtowns, promote civic engagement, build bridges across cultures and contribute billions to the state economy. Yes, billions. An April 2011 report from the USC Moore School of Business found that creative industries contribute more than $9.2 billion annually to the state economy and more than 78,000 jobs – for a full economic impact of $13.3 billion and 108,000 jobs. Even so, the biggest reason to fund the state Arts Commission was voiced by executive director Kenneth May last spring when Haley failed to kill state arts funding for fiscal year 2012 – arguing then, as now, that funding the arts is the job of the private sector. Not so, May warned. Private investment in the arts is almost exclusively local, he said. In zeroing out the arts commission, Haley effectively zeroed out art in many parts of our state. “The reason to have a state arts agency,” May said, “is so there’s someone working to make sure every citizen has the arts in their lives, not just the people who are wealthy, not just the people living in cities.” Because state lawmakers had a wider vision last spring, the commission was able to distribute $1.2 million in grants this year to support 212 projects in 36 counties, of which $202,858 went to 43 school districts to provide arts education statewide. So, please, legislators: Make this year’s veto override as whopping as last spring’s. For all of us.
Loaning life jackets, saving lives When people ask why my family helped start a life-jacket loaner program that’s now spreading statewide, the answer is simple: We know the pain of loss firsthand and don’t want other families to go through it. My son and grandson always wore life jackets when out in the water or boating – until the day they didn’t. On that March 2010 day, Brian and 8-year-old Nathan died when a sudden storm hit their small boat while they were out fishing on Lake Stockton, Mo. Their life jackets were found in the capsized boat later that day. Their bodies weren’t recovered until more than a month later. Through my family’s heartache, we pledged to find ways to help other families avoid that same pain and to bring meaningful honor to Brian and Nathan’s brief lives. The S.C. program, which began in Lake Keowee’s South Cove County Park this spring, has proved so popular that we’re already expanding it throughout the Upstate, Midlands and coastal areas of S.C. We expect the first three additional sites to open as soon as September. Through the program, life jackets in a variety of sizes are available from lakeside or waterway kiosks for temporary use while swimming or boating. Partners on the initial project on Lake Keowee included Duke Energy, the Brian and Nathan Keese Water Safety Organization, the Friends of Lake Keowee Society, the S.C. Department of Natural Resources and Safe Kids Upstate, a childhood-injury-prevention coalition that includes Greenville Hospital System’s Children’s Hospital and the Oconee Medical Center. We expect to see more partners come on board as they grow the program in their own areas of the state. In the Missouri project, partners include the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Safe Kids chapters there. As many as 10 people die each day from unintentional drowning in the U.S. Of those who die in recreational boating accidents, more than 90 percent weren’t wearing life jackets. A study published by the U.S. Coast Guard last year found
IN MY OWN WORDS by CRAIG KEESE
that, even if people have life jackets on their boats, more than 96 percent don’t choose to wear them. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is in the process of revising its life jacket policy to possibly incorporate a mandatory use policy. According to the Corps, 70 percent of drowning deaths occur while the boaters were on craft less than 21 feet long. Pools can also be incredibly dangerous, with more children typically hurt there than in boating accidents. Drowning ranks fifth among the leading causes of unintentional injury death in the U.S. – but it’s the leading cause of injury death for young children aged 1 to 4. And for every child who dies from drowning, another five receive emergency department care for nonfatal submersion injuries such as severe brain damage. I miss Brian and Nathan more than I can say. I think of them every day, and dealing with the grief is always a struggle. But, through this program, I hope that we can help others look forward to spending many more safe years with their own families. If you don’t wear a life jacket because you don’t have one, then perhaps this program can help save your life or that of someone you love. Craig Keese, a native of Oconee County, is president of the Brian and Nathan Keese Water Safety Organization, which operates here and Missouri where Brian and Nathan died while fishing on Lake Stockton. The number of life-jacket loaner programs is growing in S.C.; to find out if your area has one, contact the state department of natural resources or your local Safe Kids chapter. For more information about Safe Kids Upstate, go to www.safekidsupstate.org. For information on the water safety organization named for Brian and Nathan, go to www.bnkwso.com.
IN MY OWN WORDS FEATURES ESSAYS BY RESIDENTS WITH PARTICULAR EXPERTISE WHO WANT TO TELL READERS ABOUT ISSUES IMPORTANT TO THEM. THE JOURNAL ALSO WELCOMES LETTERS TO THE EDITOR (MAXIMUM LENGTH OF 200 WORDS). PLEASE INCLUDE ADDRESS AND DAYTIME PHONE NUMBER. ALL LETTERS WILL BE CONFIRMED BEFORE PUBLICATION. WE RESERVE THE RIGHT TO EDIT ALL LETTERS FOR LENGTH. PLEASE CONTACT SUSAN SIMMONS AT SSIMMONS@THESPARTANBURGJOURNAL.COM.
6 SPARTANBURG JOURNAL | JULY 13, 2012
JOURNAL COMMUNITY
July 13
N E W S T H AT Y O U C A N U S E
GHS Family Centennial Celebration Sat., July 28 • 11 a.m.-3 p.m. • Upcountry History Museum In honor of GHS’ centennial, admission is free. Enjoy arts and crafts for kids, an oral history presentation from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and a living history performance at 1:30 p.m.
MD360® Ribbon Cutting and Open House Mon., July 30 • 10:30 a.m.-1 p.m. • 1305 S. Suber Road (Greer) Tour the new MD360 in Greer and learn how GHS is providing high-quality walk-in care, urgent care and physical therapy when it’s convenient for you.
Splash & Dash Sat., Aug. 11 • 8 a.m. • Westside Aquatics Center Kids ages 3-16 will get a taste of a multi-sport competition without the pressure of a full triathlon. Fee: $15 ($25 after Aug. 1). Register at ghs.org/splashndash.
Considering Hip Replacement? GHS Drs. Brandon Broome, Brayton Shirley, Brian Burnikel and Philip Wessinger are the region’s first surgeons to perform the anterior approach to hip replacement, which means less pain and faster recovery. Find out more at steadmanhawkinscc.com/joint.
Cancer Centers of the Carolinas (CCC) CCC and GHS officially joined forces July 1. This acquisition combines the largest cancer care provider in the Upstate with the area’s premier academic medical center. Learn more at ghs.org/cancer.
ghs.org
Go.Hunt.Scan at Greenville Drive This community digital scavenger hunt takes place over 100 days at 100 sites and ends at the Aug. 13 Greenville Drive game. Sign up to play at gohuntscan.com and get free tickets to the Drive game (while supplies last). Plus, throw out a ceremonial pitch before the game with a donation to cancer research! 120535
JULY 13, 2012 | SPARTANBURG JOURNAL 7
journal community
Internet gambling cafes, sweepstakes machines thrive as crackdowns continue Web Fusion 2.0:
Finding Your Web Future
JULY 25, 2012 at the Kroc Center A Special Presentation by the Authors of 101 Social Media Tactics for Nonprofits
Session Presented By:
Melanie Mathos & Chad Norman
The first 50 sign-ups will receive a FREE copy of the book Thank you to our community partners:
Register at dnacc.com or call 864-235-0959 ext.0
100 Years of Listening 100 Years of Caring 100 Years of Service
1912 – 2012
This year marks Fluor’s Centennial anniversary. The first 100 years were remarkable…the next 100 start now. In Greenville, year after year, employees volunteer time to work with community groups supporting Fluor’s corporate vision of having a positive impact on the quality of life in all communities. We are proud of our past in Greenville and focused on our future of continued giving. Visit us at www.fluor100.com ©2012 Fluor Corporation. ADGV081812
8 SPARTANBURG Journal | JULY 13, 2012
Big money, legislative confusion hinder Upstate officials’ efforts to thwart return of video poker By CHarles Sowell | staff
The Internet gambling wars are being fought in the trenches, for now, on battlegrounds as diverse as lowly magistrate’s offices, city halls and the halls of the state Legislature. Gambling is an issue that most thought settled about a dozen years ago when the state Supreme Court ruled video poker an illegal form of gambling. It’s back now, with a vengeance, by operators who use legal loopholes like sweepstakes machines to stymie law enforcement action. Former Columbia Mayor Bob Coble, a lobbyist for gambling interests, said the sweepstakes machines are no different than any other business promotion, like McDonald’s, which use prizes and cash to promote their business. Where the final battle will occur is anyone’s guess, said officials familiar with the situation. The controversy is likely to land on the state Supreme Court’s docket eventually, if state lawmakers don’t act first to settle on the legality of the newest form of gambling. Local governments, like the city of Spartanburg, have already acted to make Internet gaming cafes and sweepstakes machines illegal with emergency ordinances – a stopgap measure with a limited lifespan. “City council passed the first emergency ordinance in early spring,” said
Will Rothschild, spokesman for the city of Spartanburg. “It was extended in May. Council wanted to act proactively to keep these machines from becoming entrenched.” Continuing to extend the emergency ordinance will ultimately be up to city council, he said. Greenville County is holding hearings at the committee level on the issue. Spartanburg County Councilman David Britt said that body will act quickly to enact an emergency measure if Sheriff Chuck Wright finds there is a problem. The issue, said Greenville Sheriff Steve Loftis, is money – a great deal of it – that can sway nearly every level of government, aggravated by the complexity of the Internet itself. “We got a $700,000 grant from the Secret Service to help us track these sweepstakes machines a while back,” Loftis said. “We found that these people operate from overseas” – which makes it difficult to track them and virtually impossible to prosecute – “and when we tracked down some of their bank accounts, it was very difficult to determine if they were being used to make (illegal) payouts to users.” The issue on the legislative side is a tactic of delay by the gambling lobby, said Rep. Phyllis Henderson of Greer, who sponsored legislation making sweepstakes machines illegal. “The longer they delay this, the greater their profits and the more money
July 13
JOURNAL COMMUNITY Some Things Are Meant to Last Forever GREG BECKNER / STAFF
they have at their disposal to fight change,” she said. Henderson’s bill cleared the House with bipartisan support, she said, and then died in the Senate due to opposition from Sen. Robert Ford, a longtime proponent of gambling interests, and Sen. Jake Knotts. “We didn’t take on the far more complex issue of Internet gaming cafes,” she said. “We do plan to try for legislation in the next session that deals with that issue. “The problem for law enforcement is there have been contradictory rulings by judges around the state on the machines’ legality,” Henderson said. “SLED says they need a clear legal basis to seize the machines and prosecute.” The problem with getting a law through the legislature isn’t so much in the law itself, but in the arcane rules of the state Senate, which allow a single senator to delay any bill by simply objecting, Henderson said. The inaction by lawmakers has left state Attorney General Alan Wilson to carry the ball, virtually alone, in prosecuting the cases that have been made, said spokesman Mark Plowden. “Our position is these machines are illegal, per se,” simply by their existence as gambling devices, Plowden said. “You can put lipstick on a pig, but it’s still a pig.”
Roadside advertising for an internet cafe.
So far this year the attorney general’s office has an impressive record on gaming machine seizures, according to data from the office. Out of 11 cases adjudicated so far this year, the attorney general hasn’t lost one, the data shows. In the case of a machine seized from a Spartanburg business under the emergency ordinance, there has been no ruling as of press time. Joe Dill, chairman of the Greenville County Public Safety Committee, said he hopes to call Sheriff Loftis before the panel in August to get
his take on the gambling issue. “We’d thought this issue was taken care of years ago,” he said. “Obviously, we were wrong. What we decide to do will largely depend on what the sheriff says.” Loftis said he was researching the issue for his discussion with county officials. “The first I heard of this was one day at lunch when Butch (council chairman H.G. “Butch” Kirven) came by my table and asked me about the issue,” Loftis said.
Wedding Gown • Cleaning • Restoration • Preservation 864-583-8668
Free pick up & delivery
Contact Charles Sowell at csowell@thespartanburgjournal.com.
360 º H e a lt H e d u c at i o n
Convenient Care vs. the Emergency Room
Lymphedema Information Session
Wed., July 18 • Noon-1 p.m. • Thornblade Club Discover which ailments and injuries can be treated at GHS’ MD360® convenient care and which ones require a trip to the ER. Lunch provided. Free; registration required.
Thurs., July 26 • 4-4:45 p.m. • GHS Cancer Center Cancer survivors and their caregivers are invited to a free session on how to prevent and control lymphedema. For more information, call 455-6233.
Your Colon and You
Stroke Forum
Thurs., July 19 • 6:30-8 p.m. • W. Jack Greer Library Branch (Mauldin) Learn fact from fiction regarding your colon health from GHS colorectal surgeon Jay Crockett, M.D. Free; registration required.
Sat., Aug. 25 • Noon-2 p.m. • Hilton Greenville Clinicians will discuss signs and risk factors for stroke, as well as getting treated quickly to reduce disability. Lunch provided. Free; registration required.
Diabetes Type 2: The Avoidable Epidemic Fri., July 20 • Noon-1 p.m. • Green Valley Country Club Join GHS family medicine doctor Antoinette Rhynes, M.D., to find out how to prevent or reduce your risk of developing type 2 diabetes. Lunch provided. Free; registration required.
To register, for more information or to see a full schedule of events, visit ghs.org/360healthed or call 1-877-GHS-INFO (447-4636).
Girlology July 24, 26, 31 • 2:30-4:30 p.m. • Patewood Medical Campus These sessions help ease the transition into puberty through open discussion. Fee: $50/mom and daughter. For topics or to register, visit the events page at girlology.com.
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journal community
our community
community news, events and happenings
Taking Flight Exhibit Local artists Jane Frost and Susan Hopps exhibit their work July 2-27 in the Artists’ Guild of Spartanburg’s gallery at the Chapman Cultural Center. Open daily 10 a.m.-5 p.m., but closed on Sundays. Free! Auto Racing Exhibit Spartanburg was once at the hub of auto racing. The Spartanburg Regional History Museum presents an exhibit featuring artifacts, trophies, and the development of the auto racing industry, June 19Sept. 1, Tues.-Sat., 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Fine Furniture Exhibit Master woodcraftsman Michael McDunn presents Function & Awe, a large sampling of his handmade fine furniture in the Spartanburg Art Museum. It is both heirloom and contemporary. Tues.-Sat., May 22-Aug. 4, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Printmakers Exhibit 15 printmakers from the Upstate have come together to create a unique and vastly diverse exhibit of handmade prints in Shifting Plates. The exhibit is in support of a project that collected works for the true “art collector.” Presented by the Spartanburg Art Museum, Tues.-Sat., 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Ends: Aug. 25.
More than 7,200 people found jobs through Goodwill Industries of Upstate/Midlands in the organization’s last fiscal year, according to Goodwill officials. The jobs program and training are funded through South Carolinians’ discarded clothing, unneeded household items, and outdated computers. In the 2011-2012 fiscal year 38,892 people took advantage of Goodwill’s services in the Upstate and Midlands of South Carolina, with at least 7,282 people obtaining employment during that period. Greer’s two candidates for the Commission of Public Works will appear at a candidate forum on Monday at Grace Hall in downtown Greer from 5:30 until 6:15 p.m. The event is free, but the Greer Chamber of Commerce asks that attendees register at www.greerchamber.com. If you have questions for the candidates, contact Allen Smithy, president/CEO of the Greer Chamber, at allen@ greerchamber.com. The Upstate Chapter of Wildlife Action, Inc. will be holding a fundraiser to build a pavilion to present programs during inclement weather. The event is a pancake breakfast on Saturday, July 21, 8 a.m.-10 a.m. at Fatz, 6750 Pottery Road, Spartanburg. Cost is $7 and children under 6 eat free. Con-
tact Ron Rutledge at 864-576-6035 or rrtech@bellsouth.net to purchase advance tickets. Doyle Boggs, author of “Historic Spartanburg County: 225 Years of History,” will discuss and sign his book at the Hub City Bookshop July 18 from 5 to 6 p.m. The book follows the history of Spartanburg County from before the Revolutionary War to the present, and includes dozens of photographs. Boggs is the associate vice president for communications and marketing for Wofford College. Race drivers and historians will discuss the history of racing in the Spartanburg area at a reception on July 13 from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Spartanburg Regional History Museum. The discussion is being held in conjunction with the summer-long auto racing exhibit, “Racing Legends of Spartanburg.” On Saturday, July 14 from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m., “A Drive Through History” will feature race cars, drivers, ESPN Radio, food and activities on the plaza of Chapman Cultural Center. Both events are free, but donations are welcome.
If you are sponsoring a community event, we want to share your news. Submit entries to: Spartanburg Journal, Community Briefs, 148 River St., Suite 120, Greenville, SC 29601 or e-mail: spartanburgcommunity@thespartanburgjournal.com
Call for Artists The Artists’ Guild of Spartanburg is now accepting submissions for its 2012 39th annual juried show, which will be Sept. 20-Nov. 3. More than $4,000 will be awarded in various categories. Deadline: Aug. 1. Foster Child Photo Exhibit The Chapman Cultural Center is the only museum in South Carolina to host the acclaimed National Heart Gallery Exhibit: a large collection of oversized photos of children in foster care and in need of permanent homes. Mon.-Sat., 10 a.m.-5 p.m., free. July 9-Aug. 24. Campfire at the Price House Sit around the campfire, listen to tall (but true) tales, and have another s’more. For this authentic experience, visit the Historic Price House, Fri., July 13, 7:30 p.m. Presented by the Spartanburg County Historical Association. $5. Don’t forget to bring a blanket to sit on and the bug spray.
Crossword puzzle: page 22
Racing Legends Reception & Gallery Talk Get the true and historical stories about car racing in Spartanburg Fri., July 13, 6-8 p.m. at the Spartanburg County History Museum. Drivers and historians will be on hand. Free. A shot of moonshine? A Drive Thru History A full and free day of race car enthusiasm at the Chapman Cultural Center, Sat., July 14, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. See real race cars. Meet the drivers. Visit the extensive exhibit. Learn all about Spartanburg’s role in race car driving.
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10 SPARTANBURG Journal | JULY 13, 2012
Sudoku puzzle: page 22
JOURNAL BUSINESS
Upstate inland port revived
Proterra charges ahead
By DICK HUGHES | contributor
GREG BECKNER / STAFF
After some rough spots in the road, things are looking up for the electric bus maker By DICK HUGHES | contributor
When Proterra’s main investor was busted for fraud, it was the best thing that could have happened to the company with the nation’s only commercially viable electric bus but no money to build or sell it. “It’s strange but true,” said Jack McFarland, Proterra’s chief financial officer. “I look back and say we made champagne out of lemons.” The lemons landed 18 months ago when the SEC charged Francisco Illarramendi with fraud to fund his companies, including MK Energy, which had put $20.4 million into Proterra. Illarramendi pleaded guilty. With MK forced into bankruptcy receivership, Proterra’s source of money vanished, and it teetered on insolvency. To make matters worse, defrauded investors in MK wanted their money back. In the end, to Proterra’s benefit, the court receiver
A Proterra Ecoliner being built in the company’s Greenville manufacturing facility.
awarded the MK investors “a small portion of that,” McFarland said. “From a very rough spot in the road,” said McFarland, “the company has come a very long way. The future is bright.” A “blue chip” consortium, including the Silicon Valley venture firm of Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, General Motors and Mitsui of Japan, distilled the champagne with a $30-million investment. New leadership was hired, the board was reconstituted, top-flight engineers were brought in, R&D was strengthened, a marketing team was assembled, the assembly line made more efficient and expectations were brought into check with
marketplace reality. While the company’s finances were stabilized with the initial investment of the Kleiner Perkins group, both the company and the investor group knew “it was not enough to get us to profitability,” McFarland said. “If I said to them tomorrow, ‘We need more capital,’ we would have it. But we don’t need it. We still are on plan, and they are still on plan to make an additional investment at the end of the year.” A third round is scheduled when the company approaches breakeven to help push it to profitability. “Our investors are patient and believe the solution we are bringing to PROTERRA continued on PAGE 12
The South Carolina Ports Authority has taken steps to create an inland port on a100-acre site it owns in Greer to more efficiently move international containers to and from the Port of Charleston by rail. The proposal puts new life into a long-dormant plan for an inland port at Greer. On Monday, the SCPA board authorized negotiation of a contract with Patrick Engineering to determine the “land footprint required to support the facility, the final cost and the key operational aspects” for putting the project on a fast track. The SCPA included $23.5 million in its capital budget for a public-private partnership to create the facility and intends to seek a federal grant based on reducing largetruck traffic between the Upstate and Charleston. The SCPA acquired the 100-acre Greer site in 1982 for building an inland port, “but it never gained significant traction and has been largely dormant over the last 25 years,” said the SCPA. Jim Newsome, president and chief executive officer of the SCPA, said a state-of-the-art inland distribution hub connected to the Port of Charleston by the efficiencies of rail potentially is a “gamechanger” for the port and the state. “The I-85 corridor, centered on the Greenville/Spartanburg area, is projected to be the fastest-growing part of the Southeast over the next 20 years,” he said. “This facility will be a further catalyst to the development of an enhanced distribution hub in this area.” Newsome said the inland port has the potential to improve the movement of freight along I-26 by “converting 50,000 all-truck container moves” to a more efficient combination of rail and truck. The model for a hinterland port connected to and operated by the Port of Charleston is “not dissimilar” to the Virginia Inland Port at Front Royal, he said. The Front Royal facility is a designated U.S. Customs port of entry. Contact Dick Hughes at dhughes@thespartanburgjournal.com.
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JOURNAL BUSINESS
PROTERRA continued from PAGE 11
the market is going to be very attractive to a large number of people. It will take a while before they will see a return on their investment,” McFarland said. That cycle typically takes three to five years, he said. “Our real accomplishment over the last 12 months was building a world-class management team,” McFarland said. Management, which had been divided between Golden, Colo., where Dale Hill founded the company, and Greenville, which had the manufacturing arm, was consolidated in Greenville. David Bennett, who headed Eaton Corp.’s Asian vehicle division and was a vice president for industrial development, was hired as chief executive officer in October. Since then, the workforce has grown from around 90 to 120, largely as a consequence of building up the R&D staff with engineers, which now number around 40. “We do our designs from the ground up, so we have to have that investment in an outstanding engineering group. We’ve brought quite a bit of engineering talent into Greenville,” McFarland said. Hill, who founded the company and brought it to Greenville, stepped aside as chairman and board member when the Kleiner Perkins group acquired 70 percent ownership
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12 SPARTANBURG JOURNAL | JULY 13, 2012
with its investment. “Dale is our evangelist,” said McFarland. “Our founder has a lot of knowledge in the industry of people and players, so he opens a lot of doors for the sales guys.” Even with money tight, he said, transit agencies are taking notice of the operating cost and environmental advantages Proterra’s fastcharging buses offer for urban markets with short, defined routes, a market niche Proterra holds exclusively.
lion, but needs to get it much lower through volume and efficiencies to match the price of diesels, McFarland said. “We will get there. That is what the engineers are working on – to get the cost down now that we have the basic technology figured out.” The potential market is huge. Buses provide 80 percent of all public transportation in Proterra’s targeted urban market, and McLaughlin believes that within 10 years “batterydriven buses are going to be a
“In the process of generating this next generation of fuel cells for a bus, Dale discovered it was possible to recharge the bus very quickly, and in actuality the fuel cell then became purely an alternative, as opposed to being fundamentally the core,” McFarland explained. Further, Hill had identified the market with the most potential as being transit agencies that run short, defined routes that lend themselves to Proterra’s battery range of
Five buses are on the assembly line, and orders from transit agencies for “as many as 10” are awaiting Department of Transportation funding to subsidize 80 percent of their purchase. (All modes of public mass transit are subsidized.) Price is an obstacle, and Proterra is focused on reducing costs to be competitive with diesels, the workhorse in mass bus transit but a major contributor to greenhouse gases and, especially with older fleets, a noise and odor nuisance. A base diesel can be had for $300,000, but transit agencies pay more in the range of $500,000 to $700,000 for fully equipped models. Proterra has squeezed out more than $200,000 to bring its price to just under $1 mil-
mainstream product.” Looking to the future when ecologically sustainable and cost-effective buses are in demand for long-distance transit, Proterra is working with the DOT-funded Center for Transportation and the Environment and DOT’s National Fuel Cell Bus Program to develop hydrogen and electrichydrogen cell hybrids. It has prototypes in operation in Austin, Texas, Burbank, Calif., and Fort Lewis, Wash., and has been asked to develop a fourth to take the technology to the “next generation.” The Austin bus was first put in operation in Columbia in 2010. Ironically, Hill’s original plan was to use hydrogen fuel cells to provide continuous battery charging.
30-40 miles and fast recharging during driver breaks. “That’s when Dale said, ‘Wow, since fuel cells are expensive and we are years away from them becoming mainstream, there’s an opportunity to bring our fast-charge technology front and center at much greater economic benefit in the short run.’” Still, McLaughlin said, Proterra is devoting resources to hydrogen technology to be able “to put that technology into our product line at the right time, but we do not see that as being a commercially feasible high-volume product within the next several years.” Contact Dick Hughes at dhughes@ thespartanburgjournal.com.
Seneca hops aboard EcoRide bus By DICK HUGHES | contributor
Seneca is on the road to having the nation’s first all-electric public bus system. And rides will be free. The town has signed an agreement with Proterra to buy four of the company’s EcoRide buses and two charging stations to serve residents of the city and students of Clemson University. The battery-charged buses will replace the city’s diesel fleet. “We could not be more proud to be at the forefront of clean, emissions-free
transit,” said Al Babinicz, general manager of Clemson Area Transit. “It is rare that a community of our size gets to play as important a role in advancing clean transit, and we hope to expand on our efforts by helping make the entire CATbus system emissionsfree in the future.” David Bennett, chief executive officer of Proterra, said the electric buses also will have a “positive effect” on the bottom line. It costs Seneca $1.05 per mile for diesel fuel; the electric bus cost is estimated at 18 cents per mile. When the buses are in operation, Sen-
eca will be the “first in the nation to operate a fully electric bus system and to do so on a fare-free basis,” the city said. The purchase of the buses and charging stations is being funded by a grant of $4.1 million from the Federal Transit Administration to reduce emission of greenhouse gases and by local matching funds. The buses cost Seneca a little less than $1 million apiece. The grant was announced in November, the contract signing on Monday. Contact Dick Hughes at dhughes@thespartanburgjournal.com.
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journal business
Peachy profits
Early crop good news for state’s peach producers By Givens Parr | contributor
14 SPARTANBURG Journal | JULY 13, 2012
California in peach production, and the delicious fruit is one of South Carolina’s most valuable exports. A good peach season totals about $90 million in crop value, according to the Clemson report. In addition, peach growers and allied industries “employ more than a thousand people in the summer,” Layne said. “And there are local businesses selling fuel, fertilizer and boxes to support the industry, so peaches have an important economic impact on local communities as well.” After the Easter weekend freeze of 2007 and numerous seasons of hailstorms and droughts, state peach farmers are grateful for favorable weather and a stupendous crop. About 30 percent of the state’s peaches are grown in the Upstate. The state’s largest peachproducing territory extends
Greg Beckner / Staff
South Carolina is riding high on peach pride. According to Clemson University professor and tree fruit specialist Desmond Layne, Mother Nature tweaked the dials this year with a mild winter and an early spring, and the peach crop is thanking her for it. “Peaches are producing not only an early crop, but also high quality and good volume. Consumers are getting a real treat this year,” said Layne in a report from the Clemson University Newsroom. Layne noted that popular freestone varieties, which usually ripen around the fourth of July, were ready to enjoy two weeks early this year. Freestones are named for their fall-off-the-pit quality and include the Red Globe, Harvest-
er and what Layne describes as “the perfect peach,” the Winblo. “Most horticultural crops are ahead of schedule,” said Layne. Typically, a freeze occurs during bloom time, but the warm weather fended off unfriendly temperatures this season. As a result, peaches (and strawberries, too) were ripe and ready before their normal seasonal due dates. As usual, a peach market beyond state borders is enjoying the South Carolina peacha-palooza. “Our fruit is being shipped to all the major cities up the East Coast, and we also ship some into Mexico,” Layne said. In fact, pre-July, S.C. farmers had already shipped almost 40 million pounds of peaches – “more than double that of Georgia,” he said. As “the tastier peach state,” South Carolina is second only to
About 30 percent of the state’s peaches are grown in the Upstate.
from North Augusta to Columbia and is responsible for about 50 percent of the annual crop. Growers on the coastal plain produce the remaining 20 percent of the state’s peaches. “We have a single grower who produces more peaches than the whole state of Georgia,” Layne said. Known as “the Peach Doctor,” Layne is a professor of horticulture at Clemson
University. During South Carolina’s 18-week growing season, Layne posts informative videos on Clemson’s Cooperative Extension website. To become part of an edified peach public, visit Clemson’s “Everything About Peaches” page at www.clemson.edu/ extension/peach/. Contact Givens Parr at gparr@ thespartanburgjournal.com.
JOURNAL BUSINESS
THE FINE PRINT BY DICK HUGHES
Charter Extends Phone Service
Charter has entered residential and telephone competition with AT&T and Windstream in the Inman, Campobello and Landrum area of Spartanburg County. Anthony Pope, vice president and general manager, said the addition of phone service to existing TV and Internet will provide value and convenience “in having one provider, and only one bill for all three services.” Charter said adding phone service to this area is part of its “ongoing investment to extend technology in South Carolina.” AT&T and Windstream provide telephone, TV and
Internet services in portions of the Inman, Campobello and Landrum region.
Greer Advisor Makes Top 100
Lynn Faust of Greer has been named to Barron’s list of top 100 women financial advisors for the second time. Faust, senior vice president for investments for the FaustBoyer Group of Raymond James, was 88th on the 2012 list. According to Barron’s, she handles $322 million in investments. Barron’s ranks advisors based on assets overseen, revenues generated and the publication’s judgment of the quality of practices, the Faust-Boyer Group said.
Denny’s to open 50 diners in China By DICK HUGHES | contributor
Denny’s, a latecomer to the international restaurant market, plans to open its first restaurants in China starting next year. The Spartanburg-based restaurant chain said it signed a franchise agreement with Great China International Group (GCIG) to open 50 restaurants in six southern provinces over the next 15 years. John Miller, president and chief executive officer, said the agreement is Denny’s largest international development to date. “This agreement builds upon the success the company has had in expanding the brand internationally with franchise openings in Honduras, Canada, Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic,” he said. Just last month, Denny’s opened its first airport restaurant, a franchise at Los Americas International Airport in Santo Domingo. In its 60 years, Denny’s has been pretty much a no-show in the international market with the exception of Canada, where it had 58 restaurants. Becoming a world player is one of the company’s goals as it reinvents itself after several years of lackluster performance. In a presentation for investors in January, Denny’s said restaurants outside North America comprised less than 2 percent of its total. It opened sites in Honduras, Costa Rica and New Zealand last year, bringing its total outside North America to 32. It has about 1,600 in the United States. Miller told another investor group the company was convinced “the Denny’s
brand can do very well outside the United States” and was “working diligently” to find experienced and well-capitalized international partners for franchises. In announcing plans to enter the China market, Miller said GCIG, its China franchisee, was such a partner with “expertise and resources.” GCIG has diversified business holdings in finance, real estate, commercial development, hotels, food service, television, energy and port logistics, Denny’s said. Steven Dunn, senior vice president for global development, optimistically predicted that “Denny’s will be the most recognized family dining brand to enter China.” It will be far from the most ubiquitous American food brand in China, and it is late coming to the table. Kentucky Fried Chicken was the first U.S. fast-food restaurant to open in China in 1987 and today dominates the market with 3,200 restaurants. China is the biggest profit center for its parent, Yum! Brands, according to Bloomberg Markets Magazine. McDonald’s is the second largest American player with more than 1,000 restaurants. It plans to have twice that number by next year, according to Reuters. The likes of KFC and McDonald’s are considered fast-food restaurants, and Denny’s sees itself in a different niche as a full-service “family” restaurant. In 2010, it rebranded itself as “America’s Diner.” Contact Dick Hughes at dhughes@thespartanburgjournal.com.
ReWa Honors Good Sewer Stewards
Renewable Water Resources has recognized 44 Greenville industries for complete compliance with sewer-use regulations that help “achieve a cleaner environment in the Upstate.” General Electric’s gas turbine plant in Greenville has received the special recognition for 19 consecutive years. Mitsubishi Polyester Films of Greer has been recognized for 14 consecutive years. ReWa serves 400,000 industrial, commercial and residential customers in Greenville County and parts of Anderson, Spartanburg, Pickens and Laurens counties.
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For more information, visit spartanburgregional.com/physicians. JULY 13, 2012 | SPARTANBURG JOURNAL 15
Journal Sketchbook
Supporters rally against arts veto – again
Multi-generational tale begins with search for lost love letters Spartanburg’s Susan Tekulve wins South Carolina First Novel Competition
‘Rally for the Arts’ set for State House lawn next Monday
By Cindy Landrum | staff
16 SPARTANBURG Journal | JULY 13, 2012
By Cindy Landrum | staff
Greg Beckner / Staff
When Susan Tekulve’s father-in-law showed her a stack of love letters his mother had kept for years but put them away before she could read more than a couple of lines, she was intrigued. She searched the house in which her husband’s grandmother had lived – the house where she and her husband, Converse College’s MFA in Creative Writing program director Rick Mulkey, stayed while Mulkey researched and wrote poems on bluegrass music – to no avail. The experience turned into the first scene of Tekulve’s first novel, “The Stranger Room.” The novel is the winner of the 2012 South Carolina First Novel Competition. Hub City Press of Spartanburg will publish the novel in May 2013. It will debut at the South Carolina Book Festival. “The Stranger Room” didn’t start out as a novel at all, said Tekulve, an associate professor of English at Converse whose nonfiction, short stories and travel essays have been published in numerous journals and in three books. Tekulve started writing a series of poems about her experience that summer in Virginia. It evolved into a novel after North Carolina poet Katherine Stripling Byer told her she had the makings of a book. Tekulve dropped her idea of writing “the great Italian novel.” “A lot of times the story comes to you when you’re not thinking about it,” she said. “The biggest impulse was living in this woman’s house crowded with her life.” “The Stranger Room” is a multi-generational tale about power and pride, love and loss and how one family endures estrangement from their land and each other in order to unearth the rich seams of forgiveness, Tekulve said. “I knew the story. I knew where it began and where it ended,” she said. Competition judge and novelist Josephine Humphreys called the novel “a
Spartanburg author Susan Tekulve.
beautifully written saga telling the story of successive generations of a West Virginia family living out their lives in one particular spot on Earth.” “There’s a remarkable sensitivity to the mystery of how place affects human souls, and descriptions of the land are masterful, always interesting and never overdone, integrated seamlessly into the narrative,” Humphreys said. It took Tekulve five years to write the first two-thirds of the novel. “I didn’t think, ‘I’m writing a novel,’ because that’s the first thing that will kill you. I would think, ‘This is my chap today. This is what I want my characters to do.’ ” She took a leave of absence from her job and retreated for a month to the North Carolina mountains to finish it. “I let the mountains work on me,” she said. “They were different mountains, but it was the same feeling. It was peaceful. My biggest worry was which trail I would take that day.” Two other Upstate writers were finalists in the South Carolina First Novel
Competition – Kam Neely of Spartanburg and Mark Sibley-Jones of Greer. The last finalist was Alexis L. Stratton of Columbia. Fifty-five unpublished manuscripts were submitted. “The First Novel Competition gives our state the distinction of awarding one of the few novel prizes in the country and brings national attention to South Carolina as a place with wonderful literary opportunities,” said Sara June Goldstein, literary arts director at the South Carolina Arts Commission. “It is a unique way to appreciate the depth and breadth of the work of our remarkable writers, and then to get the best of that writing into the hands of readers.” Partnering with Hub City Press and the South Carolina Arts Commission for the competition are The Humanities Council of South Carolina and the South Carolina State Library. Contact Cindy Landrum at clandrum@thespartanburgjournal.com.
Seeing the entire budget of the South Carolina Arts Commission eliminated in a gubernatorial veto and having to rally support among state legislators is nothing new for the state’s artists and arts organizations. They’ve organized a “Rally for the Arts” on the State House grounds on Monday evening, July 16, the night before the state legis- Gov. Nikki Haley lators will convene to consider the 81 budget vetoes Gov. Nikki Haley issued late last week. They’ve mounted an email and letter-writing campaign. And they’ve even gotten Tony Award-winning actress Kristin Chenoweth to re-tweet a staged photo by Frank Kiraly showing bodies on the State House steps with the caption, “It’s a grim day in South Carolina. Horrific scene as Gov. Haley slashes the arts.” It’s the third year in a row South Carolina’s governor has tried to eliminate the agency that provides grants for arts organizations statewide, helps fund arts education programs and provides professional development training for artists. But this year is different. Because the state legislature took so long to pass a budget, Haley didn’t issue her vetoes until after the start of the state’s new fiscal year, eliminating the Arts Commission’s current operating budget. That means Arts Commission employees couldn’t report to work this week and grant funding used to support theatres, dance troupes and
JOURNAL SKETCHBOOK musicians across the state is in limbo. “We’re unfortunately quite used to getting vetoed, and we have a good track record of overriding it,” said Ken May, executive director of the agency. “But this is unprecedented.” The groundswell of support for the arts is not. A Facebook post by Shannon Robert, the production manager and resident scene designer for Greenville’s Warehouse Theatre, said she wanted to see more of her tax dollars used to support education and arts education. “The 12 states that are least supportive of arts education (and education in general) are the lowest ranked in economic development, among the highest ranked in teen pregnancy, have the highest overall drop-out rates, and some of the highest violence and hate crime rates.” she wrote, “Plus, communities that are cultural destinations have more tourism traffic and attract businesses interested in a higher quality of life for their employees (who, in turn, will make better salaries and pay more in taxes).” The South Carolina Arts Commission was established in 1967. The Arts Commission provided $1.2 million in grants in 2012 for artists and arts organizations in 37 of the state’s 46 counties, May said. More than $95,000 went to Spartanburg County while Greenville County artists and arts organizations received $164,371. May said the Arts Commission expects to provide grants in 40 counties in 2013. But May said the impact of eliminating the Arts Commission on the state’s artists and art organizations would be more than the $1.2 million in grants awarded. “If there’s no state investment in the arts, there will be no federal funds, either,” said May, who said many federal grants require matching funds. He said the $2 million the state provided the agency in 2011 generated $80 million in matching grants for the state’s arts agencies. According to a study by the University of South Carolina, the arts mean $9.2 billion to the state’s economy and 78,000 jobs. “It doesn’t make good sense to lose this value for a political stance,” May said. “This is not a partisan issue. This is a public value issue.”
Less than an inch. The difference between off and on. For you, there is no in-between. Just today’s errands to run and cookies to bake. You don’t think about all that goes on behind that switch. Because we do.
Contact Cindy Landrum at clandrum@thespartanburgjournal.com.
JULY 13, 2012 | SPARTANBURG JOURNAL 17
journal sketchbook
scene. here.
the week in the local arts world
The July exhibit in the Artists’ Guild of Spartanburg’s gallery features two women who retired from Spartanburg School District 7 and now have second careers as artists: Susan M. Hopps, a watercolorist who produces representational canvases of people, places, plants and animals; and Jane Frost, who works in several media and experiments with representational, non-representational and three-dimensional projects. The “Taking Flight” exhibit is free Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m. at the Chapman Cultural Center. The West Main Artists Co-op will host Pottery Palooza, a ceramics show and sale featuring Co-op artists Bryan Davis, Tracie Easler, Jason Galloway, Al Hofmann, Anges Martin, Terry Murdock, Teresa Prater, Katherine Rausch, Rebecca Savage, Garry Turpin, Holly Wil-
liamson, Nancy Williamson and Kathy Wofford. The exhibit will feature functional stoneware and earthenware pottery, decorative wall art and sculptural work. The exhibit runs from July 19 through Aug. 11. Opening reception will be held on July 19 during Spartanburg’s Art Walk. The Co-op’s regular hours will be extended for this show to include July 20 from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. and July 21 from 10 a.m. until 6 p.m. The Co-op’s regular hours are Thursdays from 3 to 6 p.m. and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. or by appointment. The Artists’ Guild of Spartanburg is now accepting submissions for its 2012 39th annual juried show, which will be in the Spartanburg Art Museum at the Chapman Cultural Center, Sept. 20-Nov. 3. The show is open to all artists in South and North Carolina and Georgia. Submission deadline is Aug. 1 for consideration. For more details, please visit www.artistsguildofspartanburg.com, contact director Robin Els at 864-764-9568 or email artistsguildofspartanburg@gmail.com. Send us your arts announcement. E-mail: spartanburgarts@thespartanburgjournal.com.
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JOURNAL HOMES F E AT U R E D H O M E S & N E I G H B O R H O O D S | O P E N H O U S E S | P R O P E R T Y T R A N S F E R S
THIS WEEK’S FEATURED HOME
17 James Street, Downtown Greenville Grand home on one of Downtown Greenville’s most historic landmark streets. This is one of 133 homes attributed to renowned architect, Willie Ward, built in 1922. Grand foyer area leads to a formal living room, dining room, music room, den (or fifth bedroom), kitchen, breakfast area. The grand stairwell leads to four large bedrooms and two full baths upstairs. This home is full of natural light. The tiled porch opens from the music room and living room for great outdoor space. The large (0.82 acre) yard includes a
pool area (non-functioning) and plenty of trees. The home backs up to property owned by the next door neighbor. This is a great opportunity to own a piece of Greenville history within walking distance to our incredible downtown. Due to a recent water leak, the entire roof was replaced with a 100 year slate roof, copper flashing and associated repairs ($75,000). This home sits on the National Register of Historic Places – Col Elias Earle Historic District.
More photos, info and over 1,900 neighborhoods online at
HOME INFO Price: $580,000 | 4BR, 3BA | Approx. 4000 SF
Tom Marchant 864.449.1658
Joey Beeson 864.660.9689
Send us your Featured Home for consideration: homes@greenvillejournal.com
BEFORE YOU BUY OR SELL, DO YOUR
HOMEWORK
over 2,500 Upstate neighborhoods, listings, and area information
SPECIAL TO THE JOURNAL
JULY 13, 2012 | S P A R T A N B U R G J O U R N A L 19
N E I G H B O R H O O D EAGLE
P R O F I L E
R EA L E STAT E T R A N SAC T I O N S FEBRUARY
POINTE SUBD.
Eagle Pointe, Boiling Springs, SC: The streets of Eagle Pointe are lined with well-kept homes and beautifully landscaped lawns, creating an environment that you and your family are sure to enjoy. Eagle Pointe is located in the growing Boiling Springs community
and provides easy access to great schools, shopping, dining, and more. Take advantage of the common areas and swimming pool that Eagle Pointe offers for growing families!
NEIGHBORHOOD INFO
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Over 1,900 neighborhoods online at 20 S P A R T A N B U R G J O U R N A L | JULY 13, 2012
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$136,500
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$128,692
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Boiling Springs Elementary Boiling Springs Junior High Boiling Springs High School
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$132,709
Amenities: Common Areas, Swimming Pool
HISTORIC HOME SALES
$139,900
12 Month Average Home Price: $132,000
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PRICE
$630,000 WATKINS FARM $484,900 WOODRIDGE $464,500 WOODRIDGE $400,000 $390,000 DILLARD CREEK CROSSING $305,820 $284,105 DILLARD CREEK $232,061 CONVERSE HEIGHTS $205,000 BELESHERE ACRES $188,200 GLENLAKE $186,800 CEDAR BLUFF $180,600 BAY HILL COVE $179,900 ROBERTS MEADOW $169,000 BELL OAKS $150,000 HOLY SPRINGS CROSSING $150,000 BRADFORD CROSSING $149,900 LAUREL SPRINGS $149,000 AUTUMN BROOKE $138,000 REIDVILLE CROSSING $138,000 PLANTERS WALK $129,500 VILLAGE AT BENT CREEK $126,000 SPRINGFIELD $125,000 CONVERSE HEIGHTS $125,000 EAGLE POINTE $124,975 ROGERS MILL $122,900 TERRACE CREEK $120,000 CONNECTICUT HEIGHTS $120,000 PLEASANT GREEN $118,000 PLEASANT GREEN $114,000 TWIN BROOKS ESTATES $113,000 CLEVELAND HEIGHTS $111,529 STILLPOINTE $101,000 PEACH VALLEY WOODLAND ESTATES $100,000 EVANWOOD $99,000 TIMBERWOOD ACRES $95,900 LYMAN FARMS $93,650 EASTWAY PARK $92,000 $85,000 DILLARD CREEK CROSSING $85,000 $78,000 EAGLE POINTE $77,500 PLUM RIDGE $77,000 AUTUMNWOOD $75,750 HILLBROOK FOREST $75,000 $70,000 $70,000 HEATHEROOD EAST $70,000 BROOKWOOD $65,000 MASON ESTATES $63,500 CANYON RIDGE $56,000 PLEASANT GREEN $55,000 $52,000 PACIFIC MILLS $52,000 $50,000 $48,500 LINVILLE $44,900 DILLARD CREEK CROSSING $42,500 LINVILLE $39,000 VANDERBILT HILLS $38,500 GEMSTONE ACRES $38,000 CROWFIELDS $38,000 DELANO HILLS $37,200 $35,800 SUMMER MEADOW $35,600 $35,000 WOODFIN RIDGE $30,000 WATSON HILLS $27,000 CARLTON CREEK $25,000 PARK HILLS $25,000 $24,000 LYMAN FARMS AT SHILOH $22,500 $20,000 TIZIAN PLACE $20,000 SWITZER GROVE $19,000 MEADOWBROOK $19,000 $18,000 CRESTVIEW $15,000 WHITE SPRINGS $14,000 MAYFAIR MILLS $13,000 $13,000 $13,000 ISLAND CREEK $10,000 $10,000 $10,000 DIXIE HEIGHTS $9,600 EAGLE RIDGE $8,000
SELLER
15-21, BUYER
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MILKS, SCOTT P CHONG, YON HAN 161 JOE LEONARD RD THE NORTON DEVELOPMENT LLC LEWIS, DOROTA C 118 STILL LN RIEMENSHIER, ROBERT H TURNER, RYAN MACKENZIE 540 VERDAE DR ALLEN, BRUCE F NIGH, BARRY E 880 OAKCREST RD BRANTLEY, CLAUDIA P MARLER, JOHN C 264 OLIVER DR S C PILON HOMES INC ORARA, DENI B LOT NUMBER: 114 S C PILLON HOMES INC SOURI, RAMY M 553 HORTON GROVE RD S C PILLON HOMES INC MESSICK, DONNA M LOT NUMBER: 113 DOXEY III, SANFORD PACK, BRYAN A 331 MILLS AVE RICE, TIMOTHY M HARRISON, WILLIAM 202 OVERLAKE DR ENCHANTED CONSTRUCTION LLC PEARSON, JAMIE 152 DEWFIELD LN FEDERAL HOME LOAN MORTGAGE FROHNER, DONALD J 705 MOONRIDGE DR MCKENNA, DOROTHY E PITT, ANDREW B 241 BAY HILL DR WATERS III, RAYMOND F GAMBRELL, SAM P 369 SAVANNAH PLAINS DR PITTS, RICKY J FEDERAL NATIONAL MORTGAGE 113 BIRDSCROSS LN CITIZENS BUILDING & LOAN ASSOC TAYLOR, CHRISTY C SHOCKLEY 180 BRASHEARS RD EQUITY TRUST COMPANY GREEN, TIMOTHY C 139 BRADFORD XING SCHMIDT, STEPHEN F GURAL, BRIAN J 936 BREEZEWOOD CT GUIMONT, MARK ANDREW OAKES, CASSIE L 425 JENNIFER LEE CT RELIANT SC LLC VAZQUEZ, ALEXANDRA 638 W FARRELL DR FOUR K INVESTORS LLC LIGHTNER, DORIS 460 SHORESBROOK RD MCCLEER CONSTRUCTION CO EASTWOOD CONSTRUCTION LLC LOT NUMBER: 5,16&47 LOCKART JR, JOHN L ORICK, KENNETH J 2052 EVERGREEN DR WILLIS, JASON M KONDAUR CAPITAL CORPORATION 660 MAPLE ST JACKSON, LEMAR R HOLZHEIMER, JOSHUA MARK 832 THORNBIRD CIR ROCHESTER, DAVID CHADWICK BAILEY, JOSHUA D 826 N MORNINGWOOD LN WELLS FARGO BANK NA IRELAND, JEREMY 729 TERRACE CREEK DR MARAIS, COLETTE RICE, COLLEEN N 707 HOLLYWOOD ST YOUNG, PAUL K JOHNSON, LAKEISHA M 407 PLEASANT GREEN DR REDUS SOUTH CAROLINA LLC GARY, KESHA DEBREL 438 PLEASANT GREEN DR MCGRAW, DAVID EVATT, ELISABETH P 280 OAK ST JAAZ ENTERPRISES LLC CBNA SC LLC 102 PENARTH RD FEDERAL HOME LOAN MORTGAGE MORGAN, ANGELA DAIGLE 426 SEA BREEZE WAY BEASLEY, MARVIN JAMES JPMORGAN CHASE BANK 129 FLATWOOD RD LITTLEJOHN, MAURIE A WELLS FARGO BANK NA 260 RACHEL EVANS DR 189 OLD TIMBER LAND TRUST IMHOF, DONNA M 189 OLD TIMBER RD AHO HOMES LLC THOMPSON, NATALIE D 407 FAIRBANKS CT R & D INVESTMENTS SNAPP, TONYA K 134 SHANNON ST FOWLER, GEORGE RANDALL SECRETARY OF VETERANS AFFAIRS 1130 FOSTERS GROVE RD BRAASCH BUILDING GROUP LLC S C PILLON HOMES INC 406 JAMESWOOD CT TURNER, RONALD A KDA INVESTMENTS LLC 208 WHISPERING PINES DR WELLS FARGO BANK NA KISER, STEVA G 742 THORNBIRD CIR IRVING, ROBERT MONK, BRANDY L 623 WICKSON CT IMPERIAL DEVELOPERS INC PATTON, HAROLD Y 242 AUTUMNVALE DR MOON, FRED W HERITAGE INVESTORS LLC 124 HENSON ST MASSEY, RONALD E EVANS JR, JOHN MICHAEL 1275 CHRISTOPHER RD LANGSTON PROPERTIES LLC RAINER, BILLY J 1581 SJ WOKRMAN HWY BAC HOME LOANS SERVICING LP YONCE, RUBIE H 285 HEATHWOOD DR WILKINS, POLLY P EMORY, WILLIAM C 214 W BROOKWOOD LN FIRST CITIZENS BANK & TRUST I & I PROPERTIES LLC 806 MCMILLIN BLVD HOUSING & URBAN DEVELOPMENT NELSON, MICHAEL D 107 FLINT LN DUNCAN JR, GOINS SECRETARY OF VETERANS AFFAIRS 403 PLEASANT GREEN DR EUBANKS III, JAMES L PARTON, JOHN EDWARD 610 ETHEL RD SHAMROCK HOMES & MORE LLC HARPER, KAREN 92 LAWRENCE ST CAMPBELL, SUSAN SCRUGGS, KEVIN OAK GROVE RD COCHRAN, BRANDON SCOTT VANDERBILT MORTGAGE & FINANCE 881 MOUNT OLIVE RD EQUIVEST FINANCIAL LLC ROMAN, STEPHANIE 303 WINTERGREEN TER BRAASCH BUILDING GROUP LLC S C PILLON HOMES INC 408 JAMESWOOD CT FEDERAL HOME LOAN MORTGAGE SANCHEZ, SARA MARIA CALLEJAS 214 CHELSEA ST FANNIE MAE ALMOND, ROBERT D 104 VANDERBILT RD BLUE RIDGE TIMBER INC WARLICK, HAL G 510 GEMSTONE LN U S BANK NA WARLICK JR, HAL G 268 STONES THROW DR GRIER, ROBERT B FIRST CITIZENS BANK & TRUST 159 LINCOLN DR JOHNSON, JOSEPH G HARRIS, BRANDON M 2384 BROCKMAN MCCLIMON RD PNC BANK NATIONAL ASSOCIATION REED, NICHOLAS R 321 SUMMER MEADOW TRL HARDIN, RUSH D EQUITY TRUST COMPANY 7144 MAPLELEAF DR B & B INVESTMENTS OF SC LLC RICKY CAMP CONSTRUCTION LLC 608 BELLE TERRE CT FEDERAL HOME LOAN MORTGAGE BROWN, CHRISTOPHER DAVID 950 WATSON RD SOUTH TYGER PROPERTIES LLC D R HORTON INC 507 HUNTING BOW LN COCKRELL JR, JAMES E TURNER, WAYNE A 114 ROSEMARY RD LEITH, SHEILA EVON VANDERBILT MORTGAGE & FINANCE 140 GIBSON RD CLASSIC COUNTY HOMES INC JUSSILA, ROBYN 255 PYRENEES DR GILREATH, SHIRLEY VANDERBILT MORTGAGE & FINANCE 160 LONGVIEW DR MERIDETH, LELIA VANDERBILT MORTGAGE & FINANCE 430 CINNAMON CT KAPASI PROPERTIES INC MUNDRAWALLA, HABIL 159 N FOREST ST WELLS FARGO BANK NA AMERICAN IRA LL 126 BROAD ST FRADY, CINDY M RHYMER, CRYSTAL 161 GLENDALE ST FALCREST LLC SCRUGGS, HAROLD 391 CRESTVIEW DR T & G PROPERTIES INC WAGNER BUILDERS INC 130 WHITE SPRINGS DR MARTIN, HAROLD K MCCLELLAN, KATHERINE P 321 HENDERSON ST RICE, REGINALE JOHNSON, TULORIA 236 EDWARDS AVE SPARTAN CORPS LLC HUB CITY INVESTMENTS LLC 211 N WALKER ST EPLEY II, ROBIN WAYNE FANNIE MAE 215 MAIN ST HUMPHREY, ROY L HICKS, VICKY S 178 BROCK ST SIMMONS, ANTHONY L TULLIS, KITTIE C 1007 JOHN DODD RD FANNIE MAE ALMOND, ROBERT D 190 SOUTH CAROLINA AVE SOTUHERN DEVELOPMENT INC LOLEX LLC EAGLE RIDGE DR
SPECIAL TO THE JOURNAL
LOVE LIFE! Go the d ista n JOURNAL SKETCHBOOK
THE WEEK IN PHOTOS
LOVE LIFE!
LOOK WHO’S IN THE JOURNAL THIS WEEK
PHOTOS BY GREG BECKNER / STAFF
Children find a way to beat the heat by taking advantage of the Fountain Plaza at Barnet Park. The fountain plaza is in operation until Labor Day.
Luke Wiley, 2, of Boiling Springs, reaches for his grandmother’s face after being told it’s time to go. Joy Jordan brought her grandson to the fountain plaza for a chance to play outdoors and cool off.
Wiley gets soaked by one of the fountains at Fountain Plaza at Barnet Park.
EXPLORE. You love to go on adventures, to see new places, to try new experiences, whether it’s across town or across the country. That’s why it’s important to make your health – and prevention – a priority. Learn about keeping your colon healthy – and you living longer – with Jay A. Crockett, M.D., a colorectal surgeon with Greenville Hospital System: Your Colon and You! Thurs., July 19 • 6:30-8 p.m. W. Jack Greer Library, Mauldin This event is free, but registration is required. Visit ghs.org/360healthed or call 1-877-GHS-INFO (447-4636). Take care of your health today, so you can explore tomorrow.
Surrounded by waterfowl, Jean Spearman throws bread into one of the ponds at Milliken Research Park in Spartanburg. The heat didn’t seem to hurt the birds’ appetite.
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Lilah Powell, 5, visits with her grandmother’s friend Dwain Faulkner under the shade of a tree at Milliken Research Park during an outing to feed the birds in one of the ponds.
JULY 13, 2012 | SPARTANBURG JOURNAL 21
journal sketchbook
figure. this. out. “SAY WHAT?”
By GARETH BAIN
U P S T A T E
DINING
See what you’ve been missing
HEADING OUT TO EAT THIS WEEKEND? NEED SOME suggestions? Adams Bistro American Grocery Arizona’s Blockhouse Blue Ridge Brewing Company The Bohemian Brick Street Café The Brown Street Club Cafe at Williams Hardware Chophouse ‘47 CityRange Davani’s Devereaux’s Fonda Rosalinda’s Ford’s Oyster House The Galley Restaurant The Green Room Handi Indian Cuisine Hans & Franz Biergarten Harry & Jean’s John Paul Armadillo Oil Company The Lazy Goat Liberty Tap Room & Grill Mary Beth’s The Mellow Mushroom Midtown Deli Nami Asian Bistro Nantucket Seafood Grill Northampton Wine Café Nose Dive On The Border Open Hearth Steak House P. Simpson’s The Plaid Pelican Portofino’s Italian Restaurant Rick Erwin’s West End Grille Ristorante Bergamo Roman’s Macaroni Grill Runway Café Ruth’s Chris Steak House Saffron’s West End Café Sassafras Southern Bistro Smoke on the Water Soby’s New South Cuisine Stax Billy D’s Stax Omega Diner Stella’s Southern Bistro Stellar Restaurant & Wine Bar Thaicoon Ricefire &Sushi Bar The Trappe Door Travinia Italian Kitchen Trio A Brick Oven Café Yia Yia’s
Upstate UpstateFoodie .com Feed Your Inner Food Enthusiast
22 SPARTANBURG Journal | JULY 13, 2012
Across
1 Old West gunslinger Jack 6 Converse 10 Sound off 15 Wall St. hedgers 19 “Enough of that!” 20 Like gossamer 21 Nobelist Curie 22 Joint malady 23 Area for religious zeal 25 Actress turned princess 27 Contemptible 28 __ voce: softly 29 “Told you!” 30 “Who’d’ve thought?!” 31 Political handout 33 Suffix with Zola 36 Rapper __ Dogg 38 Shade of gray 40 Dragon slayer’s destination 42 Jackie Coogan’s “Addams Family” role 47 A Bible, to many 51 Rummage event 52 Big dos 53 Personal account, briefly 54 Roughly 55 Big weight 56 Et __ 57 Quaint graphic, for short 59 Ferdinand II, por ejemplo 60 Dropped off 62 Chef’s measure 65 “The Raven” opener 67 Hobbits’ home, with
“The” 68 1961 Marvelettes #1 hit 72 “... all snug in __ beds” 74 Organ parts 75 Volcanic depressions 79 Longest river in France 80 Club date 82 Eventually become 84 Human plant? 85 Bruins legend 86 Superior at work 87 Pussycat’s partner 88 Deceive 90 Queen who bankrolled Columbus 93 O’Neill play 96 “I’m full!” 98 Round-of-four game 99 Sugar suffix 100 Starts to doze 101 Derby setting 104 Like volcanoes 106 King of Judea 109 Realm from 8001806: Abbr. 111 2001-’08 White House Deputy Chief of Staff whose middle name is Whitehouse 113 Whipped cream amount 116 Start of an opinion 119 Everly Brothers classic 121 “Farewell, Luigi!” 122 Sea eagles 123 English horn relative 124 Crockett contem-
porary 125 Mfg. guidelines 126 India’s first one took place in 1974 127 Cheer 128 They generate interest
Down
1 Sign of healing 2 Very high priest? 3 It can knock you out 4 Eatery with its own lingo 5 “Yadda yadda yadda”: Abbr. 6 Major artery 7 Insinuate 8 Rugged ridge 9 They’re hardly old hands 10 Texter’s “Heavens to Betsy!” 11 Interstellar unit 12 “Dies __”: hymn 13 Clairol hair-coloring brand 14 Width designation 15 Forever young, seemingly 16 Kaiser __ 17 Filament container 18 Eyelid problem 24 Annual black-tie affair, with “the” 26 Cashed, as a forged check 32 Skin irritation soother 34 Status __ 35 Sturm __ Drang
37 High style 38 Swinging time? 39 Rock often containing quartz 41 Kilmer’s nestful 43 Ancient strings 44 Certain tuber, slangily 45 Skip church, in a way?
Very Easy
46 Musical with the song “Seasons of Love” 48 A secret may be told in one 49 Be the right size 50 Call it a night 54 Nabisco trademark 57 Mauna __
58 Ham __ 60 River herring 61 Guy with wires 63 Ballet bend 64 Anthem contraction 66 “Strangers and Brothers” novelist 67 Tee buyer’s options, briefly 69 ER readouts 70 Racing craft with an anatomical-sounding name 71 Exploit 72 Common statue 73 Distiller Walker 76 Bull rider’s protector 77 Posted __: didn’t break even 78 Have a feeling 79 Filet mignon cut 80 Pro shop purchase 81 World Golf Hall of Famer Aoki 83 “One for the road” offense, briefly 86 Wasn’t colorfast 88 Snicket of children’s books 89 St. Patrick’s land 91 Rare great apes 92 Lose ground? 93 Roadie’s load 94 Cock and bull 95 93-Down measurement unit 97 ‘50s Superman player George 102 “This will be awesome!” 103 Equivocator’s word 105 Block house 106 Sounds from a wino 107 Work on one’s work 108 “The __ Not Taken”: Frost 110 Artist Magritte 112 Rock sci. 114 Banished Roman poet 115 Waggle-dancing insects 117 Deighton of thrillers 118 Superlative finish 120 Go back
Crossword answers: page 10
Sudoku answers: page 10
JOURNAL SKETCHBOOK
WHERE I’VE BEEN By BILL KOON
Unfit for ‘fitted’ sheets I spent Saturday afternoon folding a couple of fitted sheets. There’s no logical way, and it may be best just to wad them into a laundry bag and then let them spring out when it’s time to make a bed. A mind of their own is what they have. I’m not an inexperienced laundry man. I have been doing it most of my life – and about 80 percent of that has been devoted to folding fitted sheets. No telling what I might have accomplished were it not for them. The White House and/or the Vatican are not out of the question. My mother went to work when my brother and I were old enough to stay at home alone after school – and to do the wash. She had been sending some of the stuff out and then doing the rest at the sink with a washboard. But, for our purposes and in honor of the new income, she bought a used wringer washer that we kept on the back porch. We’d roll it into the kitchen, hook it up to the faucet, put the drain in the sink and let the contraption roll. It churned away like a concrete truck as it got our clothes really clean or destroyed them altogether. When they were spun, we stationed ourselves on either side of the wringer. My brother would poke the clothes into the squeezing cylinders and I would pull them out and throw them into a white porcelain tub. Then we’d haul the stuff out and pin it to the clothesline, hoping against rain and birds. As a student, I used laundromats. These were often social places. A girl there on Saturday night could probably use a date. Asking for change was not a bad come-on. And once in a while a young woman was impressed that I changed my sheets and underwear occasionally. People have actually fallen in love over plastic laundry baskets and detergent. Eventually, I picked up a used washer. It was loud and clumsy, lifting its legs alternately off the floor during the spin cycle. It was progress, but I still had to head for the clothesline for drying. Later on, I bought a huge and ancient dryer. It was a struggle to get it to my place, and I had to remove the door
frame to get it into the house. The heavens were warning me that I was getting lazy. I left it there for the next tenant who probably figured that the house had been built around it. When I finally started earning a decent check, I got a great little apartment with a washer and dryer in it. Plus, the helpful landlord introduced me to spray starch. I had been mixing the powder in the washer, not a problem except that I did not always get the clothes properly sorted. I’d have some nicely starched shirts and a bit of underwear that left me standing up like a sunflower. Now, with spray starch, a washer and a dryer, I was finally getting some traction in my laundry life. When my wife and I threw in together, we had a little condo in Austria. It had a washer that looked like a cross between a mini refrigerator and an atom bomb. But it made up for its size by churning away for hours, heating its own water along the way. It was fierce and effective. We had neither yard nor dryer, so we hung our clothes in the attic as did nearly everyone else in the building. It was fun to see what the neighbors were sleeping in or wearing under their dirndls and lederhosen, but the high times diminished in the winter when the stuff froze on the line. We’d dash up the steps into the dim cold and then hustle down with our laundry over our arms like some kind of stiff offering. I have to say, though, that once thawed, the laundry ironed like a dream, especially with those good, heavy, 220-volt European irons. Now we have a nice washer and dryer, a matched set, full size – in a tidy little laundry room – some spray starch in the cabinet with bottled detergent and softener and some special stuff that will almost lift gravy and wine stains. It’s all pretty decadent. But the challenge of fitted sheets still lies before us. Bill Koon lives in Greenville. He can be contacted at badk@ clemson.edu.
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JULY 13, 2012 | SPARTANBURG JOURNAL 23
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