Pastor Clay Smith helps build future leaders
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Hattie Moore
Sumter native Charles Rowland remembers community legend C1 SERVING SOUTH CAROLINA SINCE OCTOBER 15, 1894
SUNDAY, AUGUST 14, 2016
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2016 freshmen move in at Morris College
IN SPORTS: Sumter High prevails 28-12 in ugly Jamboree
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Catching them all
BY KONSTANTIN VENGEROWSKY konstantin@theitem.com More than 300 first-year college students at Morris College moved into their dorm rooms during freshman move-in day on Saturday. Deborah Calhoun, director of admissions and records, said the event served as a one-stop shop for students and parents as they checked in at the Garrick-Boykin Human Development Center. Students had the opportunity to meet with representatives of the financial aid, student affairs and business offices as well as receive assistance with voter registration. About 90 percent of the school’s 800 students live in the dorms located on campus, Calhoun said. Morris, a historically black college, was established in Sumter in 1908. This year’s incoming class includes students from all over the Midlands and at least seven states, she said. Erianna Salmon, of Camden, was moving into her dorm room on Saturday with the help of her mother, Jacqueline Wallace, a 1977 alumna, and her grandmother, the Rev. Marie Major Young, a 1967 alumna. Young said she is excited that her granddaughter is attending the same college, 49 years later. “I had a really wonderful educational experience here,” she said. “The professors treat you like family.” Salmon is planning on majoring in business administration and wants to start her own business someday. William Moore Jr., of Arkansas, was checking in with his father, William Moore
KEITH GEDAMKE / THE SUMTER ITEM
Pokémon Go players fill the sidewalks of Main Street on Saturday morning hoping to catch their favorite characters during the City of Sumter’s “lure-a-thon.”
Pokémon Go lure-a-thon brings more than 2,000 downtown BY KONSTANTIN VENGEROWSKY konstantin@theitem.com
SEE MORRIS, PAGE A5
City to recognize 9/11 with moment of silence City of Sumter will host its annual Sept. 11 memorial for the public at 8:45 a.m. in the parking lot behind Sumter Opera House on the 15th anniversary of the most tragic terrorist attack on American soil in the country’s history. Sumter’s police and fire departments have had an outpouring of interest by churches and civic organizations to recognize local first responders, but because this year’s anniversary falls on a Sunday and a limited number of police officers and firefighters will be available to participate, city officials are inviting the public to unite for a moment of silence before church services that day. Many of the offduty first responders will then attend a church service of their choice, according to a news release. Anyone interested in viewing the 9/11 memorial site on the grounds of Sumter Fire Department’s headquarters on East Hampton Avenue is welcome. For more information, contact Sumter Police Department at (803) 436-2700 or Sumter Fire Department at (803) 436-2600.
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City of Sumter’s Pokémon Go lure-a-thon attracted more than 2,000 people to the downtown area on Saturday. Leigh Newman, Sumter downtown development coordinator, said the purpose of the event was to
bring people downtown and to get the community together. Downtown businesses also saw a boost in customers because of the crowd size. “We were looking at what other cities have done with the growing popularity of Pokémon Go and thought why not try it in Sumter?” Newman said. Pokémon Go is an app that can
be downloaded on most smartphones, a game that blends the real and virtual worlds. In the game, players use a mobile device’s GPS capability to locate, capture, battle and train virtual creatures, called Pokémon. The creatures appear on the screen as if they were in the
SEE POKÉMON, PAGE A7
Sisters thankful after transplant surgeries BY KONSTANTIN VENGEROWSKY konstantin@theitem.com TURBEVILLE — Sisters Carrie McFadden and Thelma Harvin said they are living proof that organ donations save lives, after the women underwent successful transplant surgeries just months apart in 2011 and 2012. About five years later, the Turbeville natives said they are lucky to be alive and are encouraging more people to consider becoming organ donors. Twenty-two people die each day in the United States waiting for a life-saving organ transplant, according to LifePoint Inc. Organ and
SEE SISTERS, PAGE A5
KONSTANTIN VENGEROWSKY / THE SUMTER ITEM
Sisters Carrie McFadden, left, and Thelma Harvin said they are living proof that organ donations save lives, after the women underwent successful transplant surgeries just months apart in 2011 and 2012. They are seen with their grandson, Caidyn Sheriod, 3.
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ANOTHER NICE DAY
5 SECTIONS, 34 PAGES VOL. 121, NO. 254
Mostly sunny and hot today with a chance of rain; tonight, clear and humid. HIGH 95, LOW 74
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