Super Green brightens east end of county
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Gospel music meets Motown Valentinos, Purpose Driven bring new sound in town C1 SERVING SOUTH CAROLINA SINCE OCTOBER 15, 1894
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SUNDAY, MAY 31, 2015
IN SPORTS: Lakewood’s Chapman resigns baseball post B1
PENNY FOR PROGRESS
Going for extra bases Penny tax projects underway Retired dentist Wallie Jones still coaching, giving heart to baseball BY JIM HILLEY jim@theitem.com
BY ADRIENNE SARVIS adrienne@theitem.com Ten of the 16 project categories have been completed from the first passage of the Penny for Progress in 2008 and the other six are in the works. Passage of that referendum authorized Sumter County Council to levy a temporary sales tax to fund 16 capital projects. The sales tax was implemented in May of 2009 and will be removed when $75 million is collected or by May 2016, whichever comes first, according to the county’s website. The 10 completed projects include the construction of the county judicial center, additions to the Patriot Park SportsPlex, renovations to the county’s nine community centers and the Sumter County Civic Center, sidewalk improvements near several schools, improvements to North Wise Drive, infrastructure improvements to Sumter Airport, infrastructure improvements to Pocotaligo Industrial Park and the acquisition of several properties located on Manning Avenue, Liberty Street, Main Street, Broad Street and near Shaw Air Force Base. Sumter County Purchasing Director Bobby Galloway said most of the projects have been completed and many of the projects that are still in progress are in the inspection and approval stages: • all but one of the rural fire stations have been renovated; as of May 18, improvements to the Dalzell station were still in progress; • City Assistant Manager Al Harris said the city has opened a bid for the construction of a sixth water plant in the area and will present proposed bids to Sumter City Council in the coming weeks. During a
SEE PENNY, PAGE A9
One of Sumter’s most prominent dentists won’t be filling cavities or pulling teeth for the next generation of Sumterites. Dr. Wallie Jones has retired from practicing dentistry at the West Liberty office after four decades. Because of his deep religious faith and love of baseball, however, he won’t be sitting in a rocking chair looking back on his glory days. Jones was born in Richmond, Virginia, but grew up in Pinewood where his grandparents lived, from the time he was 6 years old. “It was a great childhood in Pinewood,” he said. “It was right in the town of Pinewood, and there were scads of kids my age, and we always had plenty to do. We were outside climbing, playing; there was always some kind of open field with a ball game going on. “We would hunt and fish, so it was a great time,” he recalled. “I cherish my memories from those days.” It was in Pinewood that he began learning to play baseball. “I started playing when I was about 7 years old,” he said. “My dad (Bernie Jones) loved playing ball, and he worked with us in the yard.” Jones said as he got older, he started playing in Sumter, as there wasn’t a youth league in Pinewood. From there it was on to high school ball at Furman, five years of American Legion ball (playing for his father) and four years with the University of South Carolina, finishing his career as an all-Atlantic Coast Conference second baseman.
KEITH GEDAMKE / THE SUMTER ITEM
Jackson Brown, a short stop and pitcher, listens as Wallie Jones teaches him how to field a double play ball at Jones’ training facility. Eventually, Jones put away his ball and bat but hit a home run when he learned a career. “I went to dental school in 1972 at Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston and came back to Sumter and opened my dental practice,” he said. He practiced at the same location on West Liberty Street for his entire career, he said. “I rented the building with Burke Watson Sr. We struck a deal on the rent and became great friends,” he said. With a wife, Marcia, and children to feed, he said he worked 5 1/2 days a week, which was unusual
for a dentist. “I went around town and told all the dentists if they had an emergency on Saturday and they were on the golf course and didn’t want to see them, to call me up and I’ll be glad to help with that,” Jones said. “The dental community was real gracious and helped me along with developing my practice.” He said the thing he enjoyed about dentistry was his patients. “They became more my friends than my patients,” he said. “In 40 years, I would see three generations of the same family.”
SEE JONES, PAGE A9
Community rallies to raise money for basketball standout’s funeral BY COLLYN TAYLOR intern@theitem.com
COLLYN TAYLOR/ THE SUMTER ITEM
Members of Sumter High School’s basketball team washed cars and collecting donations on Saturday to raise money for Erick White’s funeral.
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Just days after their world was rocked as they found out about Erick White’s death, the community is rallying to try and reduce his family’s burden in hard times. White, who played basketball for and graduated from Sumter High School in 2014,
DEATHS, A11 Minnie L.T. Johnson Joseph C. Wheeler Ezekiel Gates Denver G. Williams Troy D. Wells Anthony Mitchell
Carrie M. Sinkler Satara D. Sharper Annie B. Oaks Daisy Simon Norman J. Shumaker Sr. Bruce Y. Jackson
was found dead off the coast of Myrtle Beach Tuesday after what the Horry County Coroner’s Office called an accidental drowning. Even after his death, he impacted the people he played with, and those people he touched have sprung into action to raise money for his funeral. “We’re just out here for our
brother Erick,” said Brandon Parker, a senior at Sumter High School who played with White. “He supported us during basketball season so we wanted to give back to him.” There have been numerous community fundraisers including a GoFundMe page, started by his former
SEE WHITE, PAGE A8
WEATHER, A12
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5 SECTIONS, 38 PAGES VOL. 120, NO. 192
Mostly cloudy today with 40 percent of late afternoon storms; clearing and humid tonight with chance of rain.
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