Domestic Violence Remembrance

Service Remembers the 41 South Carolinians
Murdered In Domestic Violence In 2018

  In honor of Domestic Violence Awareness Month, the Town of Saluda partnered with The Safe Home to remember the 41 South Carolinians who were murdered by their intimate partner in 2018.  This was done during the monthly Saluda Service Network meeting on Thursday, October 24th. 
  The name of each victim was read aloud as candles were lit in their honor, followed by a moment of silence.  The service was concluded by releasing a paper lantern in memory of Annie Rowe, a member of the Saluda County community who lost her life in a domestic violence event in 2013.  Present on Mrs. Rowe’s behalf was her daughter, Melissa Proctor.
  If you or someone you know is being abuse, you are not alone!!  There is help here waiting on you when you are ready!  Reach out to your local victim advocate or to The Safe Home www.thesafehome.org,  or The Cumbee Center for Abused Person www.cumbeecenter.org.

Josh Price, Brandi Hallman and Jesse Quattlebaum

Dale HallmanScholarship
Established By Ducks Unlimited

  Recently, the Saluda County Ducks Unlimited Chapter held its annual fall banquet at Tin Roof Farms in Saluda.
  Through the generosity of the attendees, Saluda County Ducks Unlimited was able to raise $2,000 for the Dale Hallman Memorial Scholarship. Dale was an avid outdoorsman and a member of the Saluda County Ducks Unlimited Chapter at the time of his line of duty death while he was employed as a deputy sheriff for the Saluda County Sheriff’s Office.
  This scholarship was created by Dale’s wife, Brandi, in an effort to give back to the community of Saluda that Dale loved. As a result of this scholarship, one student from Saluda High School and one student from King Academy will each receive a $1,000 scholarship for college.
  If you would be interested in helping this cause, Brandi can be contacted at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
  To date, Ducks Unlimited has conserved over 200,000 acres in South Carolina and over 14 million acres across North America. Ducks Unlimited also offers scholarships up to $10,000. You can apply for the Ducks Unlimited scholarship at Ducks.org.
   If you would be interested in joining the Saluda County Ducks Unlimited Chapter, they can be reached on Facebook.

CHRISTMAS CRAFT SHOW

    Here is a great idea, lets buy Christmas presents from small local crafters and self- employed people from our neighborhood.
     Join us  at the Annual Christmas Craft Show at the Saluda National Guard Armory on Saturday, November 16th, and Sunday, November 17th.
     We have local crafters who make jewelry, clothes, dish cloths, pocketbooks, little girls bows, hair clips, floral arrangements, cakes, candies, pillows, wreaths, wood crafts and many other items for Christmas gifts.
     Let’s make sure our money goes to individual people in our town and not multinational companies. That way our local people will have a better Christmas and so will we. Support our neighbors and friends.
     We will also have the best hot dogs and homemade chili in town.
     Join us Saturday, November 16th, from 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM and Sunday, November 16th, from 1:00 PM to 5:00 PM at the Christmas Craft Show.

100 Years

JOHN HARMON

  100 Years Of Stories Told

BY WILL HARMON

  On Wednesday, September 25, 2019, John Daniel Harmon reached the youthful age of one-hundred.
  John Harmon is a lifelong resident of Saluda County, a World War Two veteran, and local legend. To me he is simply Granddaddy.
  In his lifetime my grandad has been through every major historical event of the last one hundred years from the Great Depression to the Cold War and beyond. John Daniel Harmon was born in the early year of 1919 to Amos and Ethel. My grandad had six siblings, one of whom did not make it to adulthood. Childhood was rough in the early 1900s.
  As soon as he was old enough to walk, he would find himself carrying out chores around their small home. My grandad once told me of an experience he remembers when he was around eight years old. His dad sat him on the back of an old mule and sent him trotting into town. Amos Harmon gave my grandad only a quarter to buy as much seed as he could to plant their field. His father, Amos Harmon, then told him that he could buy some candy with what was left.
  John Harmon went to school through the tenth grade, mostly in one room school houses. He finished at Hollywood School in 1937 which is now known as Hollywood Elementary. After suffering through the Great Depression, John Harmon left home to fight in World War Two as a medic. To this very day, he is extremely modest about his involvement in the war. When someone makes a comment about him being a hero, he is quick to say that he is no hero.
  Some of my best times with my grandparents were listening to my grandad reminisce about the war with a twinkle in his eye. I have always enjoyed spending time with him and listening as he tells about his experience overseas.
  In one such war story, my grandad was almost court martialed. My grandad, a private first class, was cleaning under his bunk when he discovered a shell which he took to be fake. He was infuriated knowing that if it was found under his bunk during inspection, he would be disciplined for it.
  He demanded “Who’s this damn thing belong to?”
  A corporal and superior officer said, “pitch it here!”
  Not wanting the shell found under his bunk he tossed it. Upon tossing it, the shell exploded with a loud boom. It blasted a hole in the floor and injured several people. The first thing my grandad was told by a commanding officer was, “We aren’t going to take responsibility for this mess, so they are going to drag you through it.”
  They didn’t arrest my grandad, John Harmon, because the army knew they still needed him. Soon the corporal that he pitched the shell to testified that he had ordered P.F.C Harmon to toss it. Thus, my grandad’s name was cleared, and to this day he can still say he has never been arrested. 
  Today, my grandad still enjoys spending time learning what he can about the people and places of World War Two. Almost two years after the nightmare had begun my grandad boarded a ship in Marcel, France headed for New York City. Soon after returning home, he married my grandmother Grace Gentry Harmon and together they had five children.
  John Harmon worked many jobs from running a small store, to working for the railroad, then to building roads as a superintendent with Eagle Construction. Throughout his life he has enjoyed hunting and fishing as well as raising his children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren.
  In his later years my grandad and grandmother traveled to many of the countries that he served in during the war. Sadly, my grandmother and John Harmon’s wife of seventy years passed away in April 2019. 
     He now enjoys sitting in his recliner and visiting with family and friends while recollecting one hundred years of his life. When asked what the key is to live one hundred years, he simply stated, “Don’t worry too much. Just don’t worry, because it won’t do no good anyway.”

Saluda Car In
Hot Wheels Finals

  Saluda, SC, resident Chad Martin and his custom 1936 Chevy “One-Off” Truck, Brutally Sexy, will be among the 18 regional Hot Wheels Legends Tour winners flexing their muscle for the grand prize at the SEMA Show in Las Vegas on Nov. 5.
  The winner will have his life-size custom vehicle immortalized as an iconic Hot Wheels 1:64 die-cast toy car!
  The 2019 Hot Wheels Legends Tour has crossed the country, searching for a custom vehicle with the authenticity, creativity and garage spirit worthy of being inducted into the Hot Wheels Garage of Legends. And, what better stage to crown a champion than at SEMA — the premier annual automotive specialty products trade event in the world?
About Chad and his vehicle
Chad is the definition of designer, fabricator and pure artist. This car started as a concept drawing in 1999 that Chad dreamed up. After a few rounds of renderings and concepts, he found an old 1936 Chevy Sedan and got to work. Everything on this truck is made of metal, no fiberglass. It’s all welded and shaped by Chad. The only original pieces are the glove box and the head light buckets. It took him two years of consistent work to produce this beautiful car. Chad’s artistry shines with the detailed paint job with a paint color that he made himself — he calls it Green Dream. The truck has six 24” semi-truck wheels. Brutally Sexy, as he calls it, wowed all of the judges at the Hot Wheels Legends Tour event in Charlotte, NC earlier this year to earn a spot in the championship showdown at the upcoming SEMA Show.

New Voting Machines

Ruth Padgett and Jack Atkinson of the Registration and Election Office pose by the vote tabulating machine, which will count the votes cast on the first machine. (Standard-Sentinel photos)

County Gets New
Voting Machines

Saluda County has joined he rest of the state in getting new voting machines, and the public is invited to come by the Registration & Elections office to try them out.
  Voters can come by the office, located at 111 Law Range across from the Courthouse,  weekdays from 8:30-5, Oct. 21-31. There will one Saturday available, Oct. 26, from 9-12.
  The new machines are paper-based, meaning each voter will cast a paper ballot, but the ballots are marked by the machine. Voting will require using two different machines.
  At the first machine, the voter will insert a blank piece of paper, then follow the on screen instructions. Once voting is complete, the voter will get a printed ballot, then move to another machine where the ballot will be counted and stored.
  Ruth F. Padgett from the Registration & Elections office said voters can review their ballot before it is tabulated. If they notice a mistake, they can tell the poll worker, then vote again.
  The counting machine keeps the paper ballots, and also has the totals on a thumb drive. The machine also has a separate drawer for uncounted paper ballots in the event of a power outage.
  There is only one election  in Saluda County the remainder of the year, and that is in Monetta. Some Monetta residents have already cast absentee ballots.
  The first countywide use of the machines will be for the Democratic Presidential Primary in Feb. 2020.
  Registration & Elections Commission Chairman Jack Atkinson said the machines are safe from hacking.
  “We will not turn on the internet in the office on election night until we send the returns to the state, and those returns are encrypted,”  he said.
  Saluda County’s last voting machines were purchased in 2004, and they were used.
  The new machines will require county personnel to place the equipment at the polling places, because the counting machines weigh close to 100 lbs. each.
  Voters can see a video of the new voting machines on the county webpage or SCVOTES.org.

Noah Bell “SC
Mr. Football” Finalist

  Saluda High senior quarterback is one of seven players in the state named finalists for  “South Carolina Mr. Football.”
  On Wednesday, Oct. 9, the South Carolina Athletic Coaches Association selected the finalists for the 2019 Mr. Football award.
  All seven players will be recognized during halftime of the Touchstone Energy Cooperatives Bowl on Saturday, December 14, at Doug Shaw Memorial Stadium in Myrtle Beach, followed by the introduction of this year’s award recipient.
  Bell has been a four year starter for the Tigers and owns all the passing and total offense records.
  So far in his career he has passed for 7564 yards and 87 touchdowns,and rushed for 1283 yards and scored 30 touchdowns.
  In his first two years, the Tiger advanced to the Upper state Championship game, and last year they made to the third round of the playoffs. The year’s Tiger team is 6-1.
  Bell is the first Saluda High football player to be nominated for the award that began in 1995.
  Other finalist are:
  •Mikele Colasurdo, Chapman High School
  •Luke Doty, Myrtle Beach High School
  •Rahjai Harris, Byrnes High School
  •Jalin Hyatt, Dutch Fork High School
  •Duane Martin, Laurens District 55 High School
  •Tyler Venables, Daniel High School
  The 2019 Touchstone Energy Cooperatives Bowl will be played at Noon on Saturday, December 14, at Doug Shaw Memorial Stadium in Myrtle Beach. Players chosen to compete in this year’s contest will be announced on Monday, October 21. Tickets can be purchased at www. TouchstoneEnergyBowl.com.

EXTRAVAGANZA EXPO - Whether you are hunting junk or treasure, be sure to visit at the Extravaganza Expo in Saluda on October 18-19. Friday 8:00 - 6:00, Saturday 8:00 - 3:00. Early bird is on Thursday beginning at 3:00 from any vendors who are already set up.(Accepting vendors: 864 992-2899.) The Expo will be held at the Saluda Pickers site on the Johnston Hwy.