IN SPORTS: Sumter baseball looks to punch ticket to lower state tournament B1 THE CLARENDON SUN
THURSDAY, MAY 7, 2015
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Manning brothers continue tradition of military service A8
How do you paint a giant water tower? One careful brush stroke at a time
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Judy Fennell said that she is lucky to be alive after being attacked by several pit bulls last year.
Dog attack survivor still faces medical costs, surgery BY KONSTANTIN VENGEROWSKY konstantin@theitem.com It has been a year since Judy Fennell was attacked by two pit bulls. The memory still is fresh in her mind, however. “I feel lucky to be alive,” she said. Fennell, 69, remembers getting out of her car in her yard outside of Manning on April 1, 2014, and then several pit bulls running up and knocking her down. She tried her best to fight the dogs off, but they were persistent attacking her arms and legs. “They were tearing me to pieces,” she said. Fennell managed to keep the dogs from attacking her face, but her arms and legs suffered as a result as the dogs ripped her flesh, she said.
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BY RICK CARPENTER rick@theitem.com A group of men have been dangling off the water tower near Sumter High School for more than two weeks in an unique and profitable job opportunities most people don’t want: painting the outside of a 127-foot circular structure that’s literally throwing curves at you every step. Not one of the workers on Tuesday said he ever wanted to paint water towers for a living. But, like foreman Antonio Morgan, who decided not to brush off the opportunity eight years ago, they have begun to paint a niche market that doesn’t have a lot of competition. The crew from Municipal Tank Coating and Sandblasting Inc. from Rockingham, North Carolina, travels around the county cleaning, painting the outsides and cleaning the insides of water tanks. They also do repairs while preparing the tanks for a fresh coat of paint. And, if you miss them today, you may not see them again for 15 years — unless they paint a PHOTOS BY RICK CARPENTER / THE SUMTER ITEM different tower in town. That’s Men with Municipal Tank Coating and Sandblasting Inc. paint because that’s how long this the water tower near Sumter High School on Saturday. How do $100,000 paint job lasts. you paint a water tower? Just like you do your home, with a Al Harris, assistant city ladder, paint rollers, and, in this case, a few climbing ropes manager of public services, threaded through the ladders. said there are eight elevated
Charles Morgan maneuvers down the base of the water tower using a “bird cage” with safety ropes. water towers in the city’s system with each tower holding 500,000 gallons of water. He said the new paints and finishing coats should extend the time to repaint a tower, but environmental variables — such as dust, wind, rain, hail and mildew — can extend or shorten the time frame. Morgan said when the team arrives, it rigs the tower with a series of ropes, ladders and bird cages — contraptions with wooden seats that allow them to sit rather than stand on what for lesser men might be wobbly legs. None of the workers had previous rock-climbing or
SEE TOWER, PAGE A12
Annual Commander’s Breakfast highlights community relationship BY JIM HILLEY jim@theitem.com Members of the Sumter area business community heard Shaw Air Force Base commander Col. Stephen Jost give a report on recent activities at the base at the annual Greater Sumter of Commerce Commander’s Breakfast at the Carolina Skies Club on Wednesday morning. Eddie Wilder, owner of ERZ Wilder Realty, an event sponsor, opened the meeting by expressing his thanks to chamber CEO and President Grier Blackwelder, who will be retiring this summer. “During our 10 years in Sumter, Blackwelder has been an amazing part for us,” Wilder said. He also expressed his appreciation to the service members present. “Thank you for what you do every day so my family can enjoy the freedoms that we have,” he said. “While you are here we build spiritual bonds
PHOTO BY JIM HILLEY
Shaw Air Force Base Commander Col. Stephen Jost speaks with Sumter Mayor Joe McElveen at the Commander’s Breakfast on Wednesday.
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retreat, many things have been going on at the base. “As you pass by on the highway, the base may look like Sleepy Hollow,” he
with you guys.” Wilder introduced Jost, who said that since he last addressed the chamber three months ago at their annual
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said. “It is not Sleepy Hollow. We have a very serious mission, and we take it very seriously.” He said the 77th Fighter Squadron had recently returned from a sixmonth deployment overseas. “They had a tough mission and they did it very well,” he said. Other units have participated in two “Red Flag” exercises out of Dulles AFB, he said. “That is the most realistic training you can get other than being shot at,” he said. Other missions have included a mishap response exercise with local responders and the 55th squadron participating in a close air support exercise at Barksdale AFB and two Phase I exercises. “The Phase I exercises are meant to test our readiness to deploy in 24 hours,” Jost said. The commander said the number of
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Not as warm with periods of rain during the day. Rain expected in the evening, too. HIGH 77, LOW 63
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