June 16, 2013

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The Item wishes you a Happy Father’s Day Coming Tuesday: Teams from across the globe compete in Double Dutch invitational VOL. 118, NO. 204 WWW.THEITEM.COM

SUNDAY, JUNE 16, 2013 | SUMTER, SOUTH CAROLINA

FOUNDED OCTOBER 15, 1894

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Local church to celebrate 150 years Chancellor says Mount Pisgah Missionary Baptist looks to past, future for watershed online college is boon for local area BY JADE ANDERSON janderson@theitem.com

During its 150 years on a little hill in Rembert, Mount Pisgah Missionary Baptist Church has seen a number of changes. Starting Monday, church members will gather at Mount Pisgah for a week of anniversary celebration services. Many of the scheduled speakers are “sons of the church,” men who came through the church and

were ordained there. The theme this year is “Celebrating the past, and marching toward the future in Christian fellowship.” The public is invited. “Church anniTAYLOR versaries are fun,” said Martha Wright, church historian. “Furthermore, they provide excellent opportunities not only for reviewing and honoring the

SEE 150 YEARS, PAGE A6

SCHEDULED ACTIVITIES

The week of fellowship will kick off at 7 p.m. Monday night at the church, 7355 Camden Highway, Rembert, and will be held at that time all week. The culminating service will be at 9:30 a.m. Sunday. Monday: Welcome Reception, Mount Pisgah Praise Angels will perform, a slide show of church events will be presented, and light refreshments will be served. Tuesday: The Rev. Edward Sanders will preach and his churches, Mt. Joshua Baptist, Camden, and Calvary Baptist, Pinewood, are invited. Wednesday: The Rev. Willie Dennis will preach and his church, Union Baptist, is invited. Thursday: “An Appointment With History,” a dramatization of the church history, will be performed. Friday: The Rev. Eugene Dennis will preach and his church, Joshua Baptist, is invited. Sunday: The Rev. Frederick Crawford will preach and his church, Union Grove Baptist, Bronx, N.Y., is invited.

BY BRADEN BUNCH bbunch@theitem.com Recently appointed Palmetto College Chancellor Dr. Susan Elkins says she thinks the newly formed online branch of the University of South Carolina system will have a positive impact on both USC Sumter enrollment and local economic development. Beginning this fall, USC students will be able to obtain bachelor’s degrees in seven majors through online studies with Palmetto College. The new program will incorporate all of the USC locations, with the

university’s four two-year satellite campuses — Sumter, Lancaster, Salkehatchie and Union — hosting the freshman- and sophomorelevel courses, while the final two years of study will be offered by the faculty and staff at the four ELKINS four-year campuses — Aiken, Beaufort, Columbia and Upstate. Speaking in Sumter this past week, Elkins said this means students can enroll at USC Sumter without having to worry about SEE CHANCELLOR, PAGE A9

JADE ANDERSON / THE ITEM

The impact of a strong

father figure

Foster dads embody needed male role model for children BY JAMIE H. WILSON Special to The Item EDITOR’S NOTE: In an effort to protect the children currently placed in local foster homes, some of the names of the foster parents and children have been changed. Those that have been changed are marked with an asterisk. Area foster children — some taken from their homes because they have been proven an unhealthy or unsafe environment — are looking for a sense of normalcy and love, commodities not often found in the tumultuous situations from which they were taken.

This Father’s Day, a small percentage of fathers will celebrate knowing that some of the children they currently care for might not be in their care next year. Still many, if not all, give those kids something that child experts agree they need ALLRED — positive male attention. Of the 32 foster parent families in Sumter County, only 11 have fathers in the home, a ratio that is typical, said local social services authorities. SEE FATHERS, PAGE A7

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