Scenes from the Sumter Iris Festival
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REFLECTIONS
Remembering our fallen heroes A Memorial Day Tribute C3 SERVING SOUTH CAROLINA SINCE OCTOBER 15, 1894
$1.50
SUNDAY, MAY 29, 2016
A worthy tribute
IN SPORTS: Tigers rally past Deacons, earn ACC title berth
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‘Proud of the man he has become’ Lee County mother and son named Teacher of the Year 3 years apart BY KONSTANTIN VENGEROWSKY konstantin@theitem.com BISHOPVILLE — A mother and son have been named Lee County School District teachers of the year three years apart. Veronica Jenkins, a third-grade teacher at Bishopville Primary School, was named the 2012-2013 district Teacher of the Year, and her son, James Price, a sixth-grade
math teacher at Lee Central Middle School, now serves as the district’s 2015-2016 Teacher of the Year. Ironically, the duo did not always plan to become educators. They were inspired to follow in the footsteps of Jenkins’ motherin-law, the late Ethel N. Price, an educator in Sumter County for 44 years. “She instilled in us the value of
an education,” said Jenkins. For 25 years, Jenkins worked in various fields, including a beauty supply shop and a grocery store. In 1995, in her 40s, she decided to go back to college, after being encouraged to go into education by her late friend and teacher Doris Hastie Fulwood. Fulwood, who taught in Sumter County for 25 years,
SEE TEACHERS, PAGE A9
Scouts mark veterans’ graves for Memorial Day Wesley Castleberry, 11, watches as Jamie Bass, 10, plants a flag on Bass’ greatgrandfather’s grave in the Sumter Cemetery on Saturday morning as part of a county-wide effort to mark veterans’ graves for Memorial Day.
RICK CARPENTER / THE SUMTER ITEM
James A. Brown, of Sumter, stands beside the uniform he wore in the Navy during the Vietnam War in 1967 and 1968. The uniform is part of the collection at Sumter Military Museum, 129 S. Harvin St. The museum hosted a reception after the 50th Anniversary Commemoration of the Vietnam War in 2015.
Former Sumter High history teacher Way curates collection of military memorabilia
KEITH GEDAMKE / THE SUMTER ITEM
BY JIM HILLEY jim@theitem.com “Imagine you are a soldier put down in a landing craft off Normandy on June 6, 1944. How do you face the reality that your chances of survival don’t exist — how do you prepare yourself ?” That is a question Sammy Way sometimes asks groups of people who tour the Sumter Military Museum or attend one of his many lectures on military history, he said. “How do you explain that?” he asks. The question of how such brave and committed soldiers can face almost certain death is an appropriate one to ask as the nation observes Memorial Day. Trying to honor those brave men and women who gave it all is one reason for Way’s extraordinary commitment to the Sumter Military Museum. It’s not a job; it’s a joy of his life, Way says.
SEE TRIBUTE, PAGE A5
MEMORIAL DAY EVENTS At 11 a.m. Monday at Mabry Park next to the Sumter gate (Army gate) at Shaw, Sumter County Veterans Association will hold its annual Memorial Day ceremony. All Sumter veterans will be honored Monday during the 8th Annual Memorial Day Celebration and Fish Fry at South Sumter Park. The 2 to 4 p.m. celebration at the park on the corner of South Sumter Street and Atlantic Avenue. For more information, see brief on page A2. The Sumter Military Museum, 129 S. Harvin St. Suite 2, on the campus of Jim E. Clyburn Intermodal Transportation Center, is open from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. Memorial Day.
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Iris Festival attracts estimated 60,000 BY KONSTANTIN VENGEROWSKY konstantin@theitem.com An estimated 60,000 attendees from across the nation and six countries came out to the 76th Annual Iris Festival held at the Swan Lake-Iris Gardens on Friday and Saturday, according to Shelley Kile, communications and tourism director for City of Sumter. Kile, who serves on the festival’s planning committee, said events will continue today, rain or shine, unless there is lightning or other severe weather.
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The event is Sumter’s oldest and largest festival and named after the Japanese Iris that grow in the gardens, according to Betty Reese, who serves on the festival’s board of directors. The fun commenced on Thursday with The Taste of The Gardens offering food prepared by local restaurants and residents. All day Friday and Saturday more than 230 craft, food, game and flower vendors were set up across the gardens, Kile said. Events included Art in the Gardens, arts and crafts, food court, a children’s area filled with games, chil-
DEATHS, A11 Christine Moss Carolyn P. Grant Julia Perry Caroline J. Singleton David Holloman Jr.
dren’s art and two car shows. Saturday’s nighttime parade was canceled because of inclement weather. “The Iris Festival goes back to the roots of the founding of Swan Lake-Iris Gardens, celebrating the gardens and bringing the community together,” said Kile. Kile said the festival has been named in the top 20 events of the year by the Southeast Tourism Society and in the top 100 events by the American Bus Association.
SEE FESTIVAL, PAGE A11
WEATHER, A12
INSIDE
TROPICAL UPDATE
5 SECTIONS, 36 PAGES VOL. 121, NO. 189
Wind and rain today from tropical storm Bonnie; rain lingers into evening. HIGH 76, LOW 67
Business D1 Classifieds D4 Comics E1 Opinion A10
Outdoors D3 Panorama C1 Stocks D2 Television E3
We Go Where You Go. Bank Local. Sumter: 803.469.0156 Manning: 803.433.4451 bankofclarendon.com ."//*/( t 46.5&3 t 4"/5&& t 46..&350/ t 8:#00