A tale of 3 cities Wilson Hall takes on fellow postseason veteran Hammond as Sumter High faces playoff newcomer Hillcrest VOL. 119, NO. 31 WWW.THEITEM.COM
Rivalry tradition enters 20th year
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 2013 | SUMTER, SOUTH CAROLINA
B1 FOUNDED OCTOBER 15, 1894
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CODE RED
BY TYLER SIMPSON tyler@theitem.com It’s getting close to that time of year when Clemson fans serve their chicken dinners and Gamecock fans hang their stuffed tigers by the tail. But both have the opportunity to get in on the tailgating action a week before the biggest college football rivalry in South Carolina takes the field. The USC Sumter Nettles Building will be covered with garnet and black and orange and purple as it holds Sumter’s 20th Annual Big Wednesday Tailgating Party this Wednesday. Diehard Gamecock and Clemson fans can PHOTOS BY MATT WALSH / THE ITEM
SEE BIG WEDNESDAY, PAGE A8
Nurses tend to a mock patient during a code red drill at Tuomey Regional Medical Center that tested the hospital’s response to a fire in the operating room.
Tuomey, first responders run emergency drills BY MATT WALSH matt@theitem.com
Sumter firefighters look for patients left behind during a code red drill at Tuomey on Monday morning.
Tuomey Regional Medical Center’s Cheryl Martin got to do what one nurse called, “every child’s dream.” She pulled the hospital’s fire alarm. The alarm sounded the annual internal Code Red emergency drill conducted on Monday, testing the hospital’s ability to evacuate an operating room of 20 patients in the event that it goes up in flames. The hospital’s staff,
See video of the drills online.
theitem.com SEE CODE RED, PAGE A10
Heartbreaking stories commonplace for Fireside Fund suitors BY JACK OSTEEN jack@theitem.com Each week gets busier and busier at the Salvation Army, according to social worker Pamela Lassiter. “We helped a lady who has cancer and she
told me that would do to Local Ministries the only heat offer other ways stay warm,” she has is the Lassiter said. to stay warm. kerosene heatStories A8 ers, and if it such as these weren’t for the are heard kindness of people like every day according to you (Salvation Army) and Lassiter. “I see firsthand the Fireside Fund she SEE FIRESIDE, PAGE A8 doesn’t know what she
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2013-14 Dedicated to the memory of Glen Sharp
DEATHS Harmon O. Monroe Betty G. Andrews Raymond J. Mathis Jimmie L. Epps Julia M. Benjamin John H. Choice Jr.
Mary R. Moore Sierra C. Johnson Eli Green Alton Richburg Edwin K. Lathan Jr. Ernest Welch
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Free Photos with Santa Santa will be coming to FTC business offices again this year! Bring your little ones from 2:30-5:30 p.m. and receive a free 4x6 photo with Santa courtesy of FTC. No purchase is necessary; additional photos may be ordered. Mark your calendar today!
Nov. 18 - Shaw Business Office Nov. 19 - Bishopville Business Office Nov. 20 - Johnsonville Business Office Nov. 21 - Kingstree Business Office Nov. 22 - Lake City Business Office Nov. 25 - N. Sumter Business Office - N. Pike W. Nov. 26 - Manning Business Office Nov. 27 - Wesmark Business Office - Sumter
888-218-5050 www.ftc-i.net