Crenco Customers Donate$3,470 to St. Jude's

A check for $100 came in while I was there pushing the total to $3,470.

Halloween fund drive helps kids with cancer

By Mandy Catoe

Friday, December 2, 2016

Customers of the Lancaster-based Crenco stores donated $3,470 to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital during a six-week Halloween fundraising drive in the company’s five stores. 

Customers donated the money when paying for their purchases at the Crenco stores. In return for each gift, store employees wrote the customer’s name on a pumpkin-shaped card to hang in the store’s window. 

Crenco presented the check Wednesday morning to Maya Smith, regional St. Jude event marketing representative. 

“We are really grateful for all who made this possible,” Smith said. “All the money goes to St. Jude’s and it helps ensure that families never receive a bill.” 

Families of children being treated at the hospital never receive a bill for travel, treatment, housing or food, she said.

Hal Crenshaw, owner and president of Crenco Oil Co., credited his employees for the successful campaign. 

“It’s all due to their hard work,” Crenshaw said, pointing toward cashiers Chirsty Donahue and Crystal Russell. “It took participation of all our customers and employees dedicated to the cause.” 

Garrett Hammond, Crenco general manager, said the company’s “cashiers and customers really came through. Our windows were covered top to bottom with names.”

Hammond has managed the stores for about 18 months. He said he was a bit embarrassed by last year’s efforts when the company raised just $25. He rallied his employees this year, intent on making up for it.

Hammond drew inspiration from several kids in the community who are fighting cancer. 

“I didn’t realize that St. Jude doesn’t charge the patient or the parents. We are excited to help out,” he said. “I want to beat this total next year.”

Also on hand Wednesday was Kleber Dusenbury of Comer Distributing of Rock Hill. Crenco is part of a team of stores served by Comer, which recruits the stores to be part of a national fundraiser for the Memphis hospital sponsored by MillerCoors.  

The ramped up fundraising efforts paid off regionally, pushing Comer’s total to $13,000, more than double last year’s amount. 

MillerCoors has raised over $90 million for St. Jude since 1992.

Follow reporter Mandy Catoe on Twitter @MandyCatoeTLN or contact her at (803) 283-1152.

County Council Gives UDO Final Approval

Lancaster County Council approved the new Unified Development Ordinance Monday night by a vote of 5-1. Councilman Jack Estridge cast the vote of opposition.
“Lancaster County has changed, and this is an effort to try to manage that growth,” said Councilman Larry McCullough. “I fully support the UDO and applaud all who worked long and hard on this.”
The labor-intensive ordinance passed largely due to its built-in annual review process allowing changes and corrections in response to any unintended consequences. Its first such review will be next June.
Discussion about the height limitation on free-standing signs preceded the vote. Councilman Larry Honeycutt and Dean Faile, president of the Lancaster County Chamber of Commerce, said the restrictions might prohibit new businesses from locating here and might hinder the promotion of current businesses.
“This sign proposal is not new,” said county Planning Director Penelope Karagounis. “The current UDO has contradicting language. One section says it prohibits free-standing signs and another says it’s OK, but they can’t exceed 25 feet.”
Karagounis said 90 percent of the zoning department’s permits the past two years were for signs 10 feet or shorter. Signs taller than 10 feet require approval from the state in the form of an engineer seal, which costs more money, she said.
Council agreed the sign issue will be the first item tackled by the advisory council next June. Until that time, the 10-foot limitation stands. Businesses wanting a taller sign can appeal to the zoning board for a variance.
The new UDO’s passage automatically lifts the moratorium for rezoning north of S.C. 5, which has been in effect since July 13, 2015.
In other business, Avondale, the 189-acre mixed-use development located between Calvin Hall and Harrisburg roads, passed its final reading with a 4-2 vote. Council Chair Bob Bundy and Councilman Estridge cast the two no votes.
Resistance to the project has continued to fade over the past few months with the realization that the land will be developed. A single developer offering improvements to the county rather than a collection of neighborhoods with different developers seems the better option to those who had opposed the project.
“I’ve seen this developer work with those in favor and even those against this project,” said Indian Land resident Nick Kerzman.
He pointed out that traffic woes will continue with or without Avondale, but the developer’s proposed realignment of Calvin Hall and Harrisburg Roads should offer some relief.
He also said the financial contributions, $365,000 to schools and $730,000 to public safety, and the donation of land to the county offset the negative impact of the inevitable growth.
County council voted down the Avondale ordinance this past Jan. 11. Council member Charlene McGriff made a request after an executive session at the May 23 council meeting for a motion to rescind the five-month-old rezoning denial. The motion passed.
McGriff said at the time that this allowed the county some say in how the project would progress, and council member Brian Carnes described the developer’s offer to the county as “a much more robust and comprehensive package than prior developments.”

Haley Picked for UN Ambassador

Trump’s selection means McMaster ascends to governor’s job

President-elect Donald Trump on Wednesday nominated S.C. Gov. Nikki Haley to be U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.
“Gov. Haley has a proven track record of bringing people together regardless of background or party affiliation to move critical policies forward for the betterment of her state and our country,” Trump said. “She will be a great leader representing us on the world stage.”
Haley, 44, is the first woman and first minority appointed for a cabinet-level position in Trump’s administration.
Haley, in her second term as governor, said she has mixed feelings as she accepts the challenge.
“I always expected to finish the remaining two years of my second term as governor,” Haley said Wednesday. “Not doing so is difficult because I love serving South Carolina more than anything.”
Haley said she accepted the position out of a sense of duty and was satisfied with what her administration has accomplished for the state.
“When the president believes you have a major contribution to make to the welfare of our nation, and to our nation’s standing in the world, that is a calling that is important to heed.” Haley said.
Haley will remain governor until the U.S. Senate confirms her nomination.
“We still have much to do in South Carolina, and my commitment to the people of our state will always remain unbreakable, both while I continue to hold this office, and thereafter,” she said.
Haley was elected in 2010 as the first female and minority governor of the state. She is the daughter of Indian immigrants and grew up in Bamberg.
Haley served three terms in the S.C. House before being elected governor.
Praise came quickly Wednesday from fellow Republicans. State GOP Chairman Matt Moore, House Speaker Jay Lucas, U.S. Sen. Tim Scott and S.C. Sen. Greg Gregory all applauded the choice.
“Gov. Haley’s appointment as U.N. ambassador shows how far our state has come and how far our nation can go in the 21st century,” Moore said.
“I couldn’t be more proud that the whole world will get to see Nikki Haley’s strong, principled leadership in action. It’s a great day to be an American!”
Lucas said: “President-elect Trump has made a tremendous and most capable choice by selecting our governor to represent the United States in the international community.”
Gregory sees the appointment as a loss for the state, but a gain for the country. “Gov. Haley is the most authentic, optimistic and competitive person I know,” he said, “and she’ll need those qualities in what will be a very challenging job.”
He applauded her climb “as a second-generation immigrant from little Bamberg, S.C.” and called her rise “a great example of what is possible to those who apply themselves in America.”
The appointment of Haley is a departure from Trump’s recent appointments of loyal supporters. Haley’s support came slowly after a couple of contentious exchanges.
As a child of immigrants, Haley was in opposition to Trump banning Muslims from entering the country.
“No one who is willing to work hard, abide by our laws, and love our traditions should ever feel unwelcome in this country,” Haley said in her Republican State of the Union response last January.
Trump shot back with a nasty tweet, “The people of South Carolina are embarrassed by Nikki Haley.”
“This election has turned my stomach upside down,” she said in October. “It has been embarrassing for both parties. It’s not something that the country deserves, but it’s what we’ve got.”
Haley endorsed Florida Sen. Marco Rubio for president, but just before the election made her support of Trump public.
“This is no longer a choice for me on personalities, because I’m not a fan of either one. What it is about is policy.”
Haley’s lack of foreign-policy experience has already prompted criticism and will draw much attention during the Senate confirmation hearings. If confirmed by the Senate, she will be the first U.N. ambassador without previous foreign policy experience.
Haley has worked with other countries in her efforts to attract businesses to South Carolina. Under her leadership, the state’s jobless rate hit record lows, the state announced 58,000 jobs and more than 25,000 state residents moved from welfare to work.
Haley has been recognized for her calmness and confidence in several crises she handled during her terms as governor. She was praised for her handling of the mass shooting at Emanuel AME Church in Charleston in 2015 after a white gunman, Dylann Roof, killed nine black members during Bible study.
Less than a month later, Haley signed a bill to remove the divisive Confederate battle flag from the S.C. Capitol grounds.
Haley also led the state through the historic floods in October 2015.
Haley will be replaced by Lt. Gov. Henry McMaster.
Steve Willis, Lancaster County administrator, said McMaster’s position might have influenced Trump to pick Haley.
“An interesting set of circumstances will be set in motion,” he said, “because if she is approved by the Senate, she will vacate the governor’s office and the lieutenant governor will move up.
“That likely played into it, because Lt. Gov. McMaster was a huge Trump supporter, and that gives Trump another sitting governor to support him, whereas Haley was not.”
Follow Reporter Mandy Catoe on Twitter @MandyCatoeTLN or contact her at (803) 283-1152

Catawba Indians Celebrate - 6,000 Years of Culture

It’s the season of fall festivals, and the one last weekend had familiar sights, sounds and smells – tables full of art and crafts, the aroma of sweet potato pie and hot stew, a full parking lot on a sunny Saturday afternoon.
But upon entering the glass doors of the long house on the Catawba Indian Reservation, it was clear that something was different here.
Natives in traditional buckskin and feathers were walking among the jeans-and-sweatshirt crowd. Most visitors were headed for the food until they heard a woman’s voice wafting in through the open doors.
“Step high. Step high, we teach our little girls,” said a Catawba woman in a traditional buckskin dress. Captivated, people began entering the round room.
As they settled in, Kristine Carpenter repeated her words.
“Step high. Step high, we teach our little girls,” she said, then began the solemn, sacred march.
“We teach them to first respect themselves,” she said. “You can’t expect others to respect you if you don’t respect yourself.”
Catawba lineage is handed down through the women who have held the tribe together for centuries.
“The dance of the woman is a dance to honor all women,” she said.
Before the first drum beat, Carpenter asked the audience to not photograph or video the sacred dance.
“The only way to see this dance is in person,” she said.
A mixed crowd of more than 100 people sat spellbound and silent in a circle as she danced the Women’s Honor Song. Her son drummed and chanted a sacred soul-touching tribute.
People sat with their cell phones and cameras in their laps, mesmerized by a moment that had to be experienced rather than recorded for later. No one made a sound until the last drum beat and the dancer’s feet were still.
More dances followed. They celebrated life, healing and hunting.

Silver-haired Catawba women watched from their chairs as young Indians danced on the stage below. The youthful natives pranced and strutted with all their might, determined to keep the 6,000-year old Catawba heritage alive at this annual event on the banks of the Catawba River. 





Return of a craft
One of the tribe’s elders, Faye George Greiner, sat behind a display of handwoven baskets.
Greiner, 81, shared how she played a part in bringing basket weaving back to the Catawbas. Almost 70 years ago, her parents sent her to the Cherokee Indian boarding school to learn to weave baskets. No basket makers had been on the Catawba Indian Reservation for more than a century until she brought it back.
For a while, she lived away from the reservation, but returned in the early ‘90s to pass the craft on to the younger generation.
“I’m so happy to see so many baskets on the craft tables,” she said.
Greiner continues to teach basket weaving on the reservation and is teaching Beckee Garris, who works at the Native American Studies Center.
“I don’t want it to get lost again,” Greiner said.
People moved slowly from table to table in the round room gazing at the pottery, jewelry, baskets and artifacts.
Madison Fellows, 8, stopped at a table with a basket of arrowheads. She ran her fingers over the smooth stones.
 
“I enjoy looking at the different kinds of rocks that were used in making these arrowheads,” she said.

Travis Blue, 43, dressed in brown leather adorned with feathers, performed a  dance to honor hunting, showing how to track and catch the scent of an animal. Two large feathers rose high from his headdress while a large circular set of tail feathers fanned out like a strutting wild turkey. He squatted, stalked and searched for prey.


A healing dance
Cheyenne Beck, 19, danced the Jingle Dance, a healing jig, in a skirt with five circular rows of dangling metal cones about 2 inches long. They clanged as she moved to the beat of the drum.


The legend is the dance came in a dream to a heartbroken father of a sick young girl whose illness was worsening and not responding to traditional medicine. When he awoke, he gathered the women and described the dance to them. They performed it, and his daughter was made well.
Beck has been dancing since she could walk and feels it is a way to preserve the tribe’s culture.
“I want to give back because the heritage is dying out,” Beck said.
Chief Bill Harris, surveying the circular room, said the day was about sharing the culture and having a good time. Attendance was up by about 30 percent over last year, he said.
“Fall festivals are about progression from the beginning of the year through harvest and giving thanks as we get ready for the earth to go to sleep,” said Harris. “So we review our year and make plans for the coming year.”
Beckee Garris, seated next to a Christmas tree, greeted people as they entered the long house. The round hallway led to a long line of people holding empty paper plates and dollar bills.
People were trading their dollar for a small smorgasbord of native delights including Cherokee Brunswick stew, blackberry cobbler, and various breads made from sweet potatoes, black beans and carrots. A table of sweets included peach spice preserves, blackberry preserves, banana nut cake, pecan pie.
“One dollar and you can sample everything,” Garris said. “I did.”


Hoop Dance

 Finally, the show-stopping dance began. A young brave, Jonathan Thomas, dressed in bright yellow, took center stage to perform the athletic Hoop Dance.
Before he began, he spread 15 colorful hula-hoop-style rings on the floor in piles of three.
Historically, this dance was performed for members of the tribe who were unable to travel. Upon returning from his adventures, the young warrior danced to illustrate what he had seen. Using the hoops and his body, he created animal shapes including birds, butterflies, alligators, and snakes.
Thomas began with three hoops and ended with all 15, a task accomplished with four on each leg, two on each arm, a couple around his waist and one in his mouth. His dance celebrated youth, strength and gratitude. He ended the acrobatic display by kneeling with his head bowed and a single hoop raised in honor.
Thomas, 21, works at a nearby factory, but continues to pass his native heritage of archery, hoop dancing, beadwork and pottery to the kids on the reservation.
“I stay close to the roots of the Native American tradition,” Thomas said. “Anytime anyone requests me to perform, I will gladly take the time out of my day to do that.”


The festival ended with the Friendship Dance. With open arms and hands, the Catawbas called everyone down to the floor to dance with them.
Their message: We are one. We are connected.

Follow Reporter Mandy Catoe on Twitter @MandyCatoeTLN or contact her at (803) 283-1152

New UDO Limits Signs to 10 Feet Tall

The signs, they are a changin’.

Or they will be if the proposed Unified Development Ordinance passes its third and final reading at the next county council meeting Nov. 28.

The new UDO, which is finally almost finished after 20 months of reworking, limits most freestanding business signs to 10 feet in height and 40 square feet in area. It’s an effort to reduce visual clutter along the county’s roads.

That provision hasn’t gotten a lot of public attention during the UDO process. 

“They are trying to make us look like Hilton Head Island,” said an aggravated Mark Baker, owner of Rapid Signs in Lancaster.

Baker feels the UDO is geared more toward aesthetics than the needs of business owners. His customers tell him they fear they are losing their creative expression and the ability to identify their businesses.

Baker fears he will lose customers and that some businesses might decide to locate in places with fewer restrictions on their signs.

The biggest concerns to Baker are the height and square-footage restrictions that make signs less visible. The new UDO will limit the height of most signs to 10 feet. Some signs need to be taller than that to be seen, Baker said.

“Tourists traveling through might not see a restaurant sign, and they will keep right on driving,” Baker said. “The last thing a sign maker wants to hear from his customer is ‘I can’t read the sign or see it from the road.’”

The UDO will also prohibit the popular feather flags seen outside local businesses. The flags are long, narrow and colorful. 

“They swear by them and say it gets business in the door,” Baker said. 

Four such banners were flapping in the wind Friday afternoon at ArrowPointe Federal Credit Union at 100 Monroe Highway.

“Traffic is increased because of the high visibility of the flags that seem to say ‘there is help here!’” said Felicia Pope, ArrowPointe Vice President of Marketing and Business Development.

“I need those flags,” Pope said.

Baker recently installed a 15-foot-tall sign for South 200 Imports on Great Falls Highway, a sign he would not be able to put up after the UDO passes. 

Most signs on Great Falls Highway and the Highway 9 Bypass would not be allowed under the new UDO, according to Kenneth Cauthen, zoning director.

Those two roads have rows of multicolored signs of varying heights vying for attention. Most are well over 10 feet high. 

Existing signs will be grandfathered in. Any changes to current signs would have to conform to the new UDO, said Elaine Boone, county planner. 

Baker appealed to county council Nov. 14 and said several council members spoke to him since then. He feels he has their support, but added “time is running out.”

County officials are quick to point out that the UDO is a living document and will be shaped as time goes by.

“Every single year, the document will be reviewed and revised as times and technology change,” said Steve Willis, county administrator. “As Lancaster becomes more urban, it will be reviewed.”

Cauthen said the first UDO advisory committee meeting to consider changes will be next June.

“Sign ordinances are very hard to write to please everybody, and I am sure we will be changing it some at the first review meeting,” he said. 

Cauthen said the restrictions are more likely to be opposed south of the Panhandle because the county already has been limiting signs in Indian Land.

In September 2014, county council passed the 521 corridor overlay district, which places limits on signs. It runs along U.S. 521 from S.C. 75 north to the state line, and S.C. 160 from 521 west to the Lancaster/York county line. 

Nov 20, 2016

 

Follow Reporter Mandy Catoe on Twitter @MandyCatoeTLN or contact her at (803) 283-1152

Pulte Rejects County's Offer on Sun City Roads, Drains

Sun City Carolina Lakes’ developer has rejected Lancaster County’s demand that it secure a $3 million line of credit to handle storm-drain repairs before the county will take responsibility for all of the development’s roads.
In a Nov. 15 letter, Atlanta-based Pulte Group contends that under its 2005 development agreement, the county is clearly responsible for both the roads and the storm-water system at the massive Indian Land project.
The letter gives the county 10 days to accept the company’s position or face legal action.
Last month, County Attorney John Weaver sent a letter to Pulte Vice President Cisco Garcia, offering a five-year plan to resolve the decade-long dispute over the county taking on financial responsibility for the roads.
Under the development agreement, Pulte was required to construct the roads to meet county standards, after which the county would adopt them into its system. The county has already accepted more than two-thirds of the nearly 30 miles of roads.
The developer’s attorney, Daniel Ballou, responded in a letter dated Nov. 15. He said the remaining roads in Sun City have passed numerous inspections and Pulte “has gone to extra effort to demonstrate… that the roads meet applicable standards.”
“The county has not provided any evidence to support its concerns about the quality or condition of the existing roads, relying instead on speculation and unsupported accusations,” Ballou said.
He said the county has not informed Pulte of any repairs not made, nor has it indicated that the type and number of repairs has been excessive for a  residential community.
The county says otherwise. The debate over the roads started not long after construction began in 2005. As the 3,200-home development nears completion, county officials and Sun City residents want assurance that they won’t be left with unsatisfactory roads and without funds to repair them.
Each side interprets the development agreement differently.
“The agreement is what the agreement is,” said Steve Willis, county administrator. “If they say no, they say no.”
Willis said the roads are going to be the county’s responsibility, but if the underlying problem causing a road failure is a storm drain, the county is not going to fix the storm drain. That is up to Pulte or the homeowners’ association.
“That is someone else’s problems,” Willis said. “We are in a position to barricade the road, in effect saying when you get the storm drain fixed and repack the ground, let us know and we will come in and repave.”
But Ballou contends that the storm-water infrastructure is the county’s responsibility. His letter quotes the development agreement: “Public revenue bonds may be issued by the County to offset the cost of maintaining the storm water infrastructure that is publicly owned.”
“There would be no reason to allow the County to issue bonds for maintenance obligations the County does not have,” Ballou said.
Willis said the key words in that section are “may be issued.”
“The development agreement makes it absolutely clear that the county has no responsibility for storm-water whatsoever,” Willis said.
“The agreement was drawn up by the Pulte attorneys,” he said.
Willis pointed out this wording from Section 4.08 paragraph D, Storm water management: “Pulte will construct or cause to be constructed all storm water runoff and drainage improvements within the Property… and such infrastructure will be maintained by Pulte or a homeowners’ association.”
And further into the paragraph: “County is not responsible for any construction or maintenance costs associated with the storm water runoff and drainage for the property.”
Pulte agreed to stand by the terms and conditions of the development agreement as they understand them. That is, they will perform any outstanding repairs and qualifying future repairs during the one-year warranty.
Ballou gave the county 10 days from Nov. 15 to provide a list of required repairs and an official confirmation that the county will accept all roads.
If the county fails to do so, Pulte threatened to move forward with legal action, demanding also that its attorneys’ fees be paid by the county, a provision granted in the development agreement.
11-18-16

Follow reporter Mandy Catoe on Twitter @MandyCatoeTLN or contact her at (803) 283-1152

Leavin' on a Jet Plane - Animal Rescuers Saving Pets

Six cats and four dogs from the Lancaster County Animal Shelter got a private flight Nov. 9 to their new home in East Hampton, New York.
The trip was a coordinated effort by animal rescue groups, a charitable pilot, the shelter and two Lancaster County Council members.
Animal Rescue Fund of the Hamptons (ARF) rescues pets from shelters of Southern states that don’t have strict spay and neuter laws, which results in an overpopulation of animals.  Lancaster Area Shelter Supporters (LASS) coordinated the recent trip with ARF. LASS member Arlene McCarthy organized the effort and has already planned another one for early 2017.
Lancaster shelter director Alan Williams praised the groups’ work.
“I think anytime we can get animals rescued from this shelter is great,” Williams said. “We are so small with space that the lives of these animals depend on rescue groups to move them out quickly.”
Animals at the shelter go through a holding period and are evaluated before being considered for adoption. Animals that come into the shelter are checked for a microchip with a universal scanner, for a rabies tag or ID tag on a collar. If the animal has identification, the owner is contacted. If no identification is found, the animal is held at the shelter for five days. Once the shelter receives its maximum capacity of 30 dogs, it begins euthanizing animals. Thanks to animal rescue groups, about 75 percent of dogs leave the shelter for a new home.
ARF was started in 1974 in New York to deal with the overabundance of loose and unwanted pets. All pets are spayed or neutered before leaving ARF’s adoption center. As a result of strict laws requiring owners to sterilize their pets, the Northern states come south to rescue pets from states with no such laws.
LASS supporters loaded pets into their personal vans at the shelter early Wednesday morning and a convoy including Councilman Larry Honeycutt, Councilman-elect Terry Graham, the pilots and two ARF members headed west to the Lancaster County Airport.
“This is our third time pulling pets from the Lancaster shelter,” said Michele Forrester, ARF director of operations. “In October 2015, we emptied the shelter when we rescued 30 dogs in our transport van.”
Wednesday’s rescue included fewer pets, but for the 10 given a new lease on life it was just as big a deal. ARF, a no-kill shelter, took every available pet, saving them from possible euthanasia.
Shelter regulations require a five-day hold on pets before they can be released to the public. But that rule doesn’t apply to owner-surrendered pets.
Just before the convoy left the animal shelter parking lot, a woman drove up and surrendered her small brown dog. He turned out to be a crowd favorite and flew to New York in the arms of one of the ARF rescuers. He enjoyed a window seat, and there was talk he would be named Lanny in honor of his hometown.
The pilot, Bob Gordon, flies his own plane for two organizations, Angel Flight and Patient Air Lift, that provide free medical transportation to patients needing medical care.
Gordon provided the same free flight for the 10 pets on board his plane.
“I’m just glad to give back,” Gordon said.


Councilman Larry Honeycutt has been vocal in his support of the shelter this past year.
“We need to do better than we are doing. We need to make this a top priority, and we are going to do something about it,” Honeycutt said.
Honeycutt hopes to encourage council to hire another part-time staffer by the first of the year to ease the burden on current staff who are working many 10-hour days.

Nov 18, 2016

Follow Reporter Mandy Catoe on Twitter @MandyCatoeTLN or contact her at (803) 283-1152.