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FRIDAY, AUGUST 23, 2013 | SUMTER, SOUTH CAROLINA
BY JAMIE H. WILSON Special to The Item
BY JADE ANDERSON janderson@theitem.com
PHOTOS BY JADE ANDERSON / THE ITEM
ABOVE AND BELOW LEFT: Windows that were once ready for paint and trim now have to be replaced. The town of Mayesville is offering a $1,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of the individual or individuals responsible for the vandalism.
ABOVE: A sign posted outside the damaged building encourages anyone who knows anything to come forward.
SEE FAITH GROUP, PAGE A10
Vandalism of a historic location has led one Sumter County town to offer a $1,000 reward. On Thursday morning, residents of Mayesville woke up to find the new windows in the old J.F. Bland Stables busted out. “They were doing a good job repairing it, and then out of the blue, somebody came through and knocked windows out,” said Mayor Randolph Anderson. “I just don’t understand it. They had no regard for property. In my town of Mayesville, we look out for one another. It bothers me that someone who lives in our town would do this. I’m hoping it was no one in town that did it.” The building is undergoing renovations to become the Mary McLeod Bethune Learning Center, a community event and education location. The work is being funded by a $349,000 grant from a local private organization, the Mayesville Education Industrial Institute, said Bill Rhodes, town administrator. “This is terrible,” he said. “We were trying to do something nice. It was pure vandalism.” Insurance will pay for the replacement and repairs, he said.
“There is nothing to do but to keep going,” Rhodes said. The cost of the windows is estimated at $600, and a piece of sheet rock sustained an additional $80 in damage, according to reports from the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office. Both the Sheriff’s Office and the Mayesville Police Department are investigating. The following other buildings also sustained damage: • Two windows and the front door of The World End Time Harvest Ministries Church, $400; • The front door of the Hamp’s Soul Café, $200; and • Two windows and two glass screen doors of the Mayesville Laundromat, $400. The town is offering a $1,000 reward for information leading to an arrest. “Hopefully we’ll get some information and do what we have to do to get these people off the street,” Anderson said. “They don’t need to be on the streets if they go around doing that sort of stuff.” Anyone with information on the incident is asked to call Anderson at (803) 453-5358 or the Mayesville Police Department at (803) 720-6228. Reach Jade Anderson at (803) 774-1250.
6th annual Kid’s Day reaching out to faith-based community
Students and volunteers with the Clarendon Christian Learning Center have been annual participants in Kid’s Day of Clarendon County since the event’s beginning in 2008. The center typically features a wooden cross, asking children and their parents to nail a concern, worry or something else on their hearts to the object.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Item Senior Staff Writer Robert J. Baker has been a member of the Kid’s Day of Clarendon County Committee since its inception in 2007. BY ROBERT J. BAKER bbaker@theitem.com MANNING — Kid’s Day of Clarendon
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County has always had as its main goal to be a fun-filled family day where “parents can leave their wallets at home and let the kids have a good time,” according to its founder, Todd Heldreth. First held in 2008, the free event has provided entertainment from just about anything a kid
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Mayesville buildings vandalized
Local firefighters use faith group to encourage, pray Sumter firefighters have a new outlet for spiritual encouragement in the recently founded local chapter of the Fellowship of Christian Firefighters. Founded by local firefighters Richie Brogdon, president, and Doc Jolly, vice president, the club held its second official meeting on Tuesday with roughly 40 people in attendance. “We are praising God for this group right here,” Brogdon said. The group is a mixture of current volunteer and paid ‘God allows firefighters from the city us to do this. and county, as well as retired Sometimes you firefighters. “They come are there in the to worship,” Brogdon said, last seconds of pointing out the job of a firea person’s life. fighter is high stress, so it The door to helps to have an outlet for the eternity is open.’ firefighters to gather and discuss issues in their lives. The Rev. David Attendees of the monthly Bagwell, Sumter meeting can also pay a small Fire Department fee to partake in a prepared chaplain meal. Engineer Terrance Dupree said the camaraderie eases the pressures associated with the job. “Sometimes people are uncomfortable in churches, but when you have your brothers around you, you open up more,” he said. The monthly meetings help participants open up to one another about spiritual matters and, in turn, Dupree said, encourage others to be more active in their spiritual lives. On Tuesday night, the group shared prayer requests with one another before the Rev. David Bagwell, a chaplain for the fire department, prayed. Later,
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could desire, from Air National Guard helicopter tours and a rockclimbing wall to welding and shooting range demonstrations. This year, however, the board behind the massive event is reaching out to the faithbased community for SEE KID’S DAY, PAGE A5
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