JANUARY

  •County Council’s first meeting of 2008 featured a discussion on placing a moratorium on new mobile home parks until a mobile home ordinance could be passed.

  •A $1.5 million federal grant from the U.S. Department of Commerce paved the way for construction of the Saluda County campus of Piedmont Technical College. The grant was presented by Congressman Gresham Bar-rett.

  •Barrett also presented a $389,000 grant to the Saluda Fire Department to purchase 74 self contained breathing apparatuses for the county’s fire departments,

  •Saluda was featured in a Los Angeles Times’ story entitled "Immigration through S.C. Voters’ Eyes."

  •Retired Saluda High Coach Patsy Rhodes was inducted into the S.C. Coaches Association of Women’s Sports Hall of Fame.

  •The Saluda County Chamber of Commerce opened its new office in the County Annex Building on South Main Street.

  •Tim Taylor was named the Saluda County Fireman of the Year by State Farm Insurance.

  •Before a standing room only audience, County Council passed the new mobile home park moratorium.

  •Anissa Turner was sworn-in as Saluda Town Council’s Ward Three member. Mrs. Turner succeeds Greg Mack, who moved to Spartanburg County on a new job.

  •Deputy Sheriff Marty Fulmer was cleared of any criminal charges in a Greenwood County case involving the purchase of a large amount of Sudafed at a Ninety Six convenience store, but was terminated by Sheriff Jason Booth for violation of county and Sheriff’s Office policies.

  

    We said "good-bye" to....

  •Dr. Richard A. Steadman, Jr., Ridge Spring native, CSRA physician, and humorous book author on Jan. 14 at the age of 77.

FEBRUARY

  •Dialysis Clinics Inc. announced it would open a center in Saluda.

  •Chris Spradley was named Saluda County attorney.

  •Saluda County was chosen as the testing ground for the new program of the Lt. Governor’s Office on Aging designed to offer more personalized assistance to seniors.

  •County Council passed the Manufactured Home Ordinance. The ordinance came about when the Planning Commission heard the Louis Rich Company in Newberry was planning to add 1000 employees and Saluda County was seen as a prime location to house the workers.

  We said "good-bye" to....

  •Anthony Graham, Saluda native, principal of Alcorn Middle School in Columbia, on Feb. 5 at the age of 45

  •Col. Hugh W. Webb, Saluda native, member of the 1939 Clemson Cotton Bowl football team, and retired Clemson professor on Feb. 4 at the age of 87.

MARCH

  •Saluda Police Chief David Farmer announced his retirement.

  •Ward’s gazebo was toppled by wind storm.

  •A teen after school center opened at the Riverside Community Development center.

  •County Council told a minister the county, because of no zoning ordinances, could do nothing about a gentlemen’s club that opened near Batesburg-Leesville. Rev. Greg Williams of Clydes Chapel Southern Methodist Church presented a petition, asking the county to shut down the club.

  •Dr. David Mathis was named Saluda School District One’s new superintendent. He had been associate superintendent for administration with Aiken County schools.

  •Storms did some damage in Saluda County on Mar. 15. The storms struck while Saluda Middle School was hosting a rodeo at the Tractor Pull site. Many of the attendees rushed to the Saluda County Emergency Operations Center nearby.

  •Books closed on Saluda County’s primaries. Only three contested races were scheduled for the primaries - Carey Bedenbaugh versus incumbent County Councilman Jacob Schumpert in the Republican Primary; Sheila Myers against County Councilman William Pugh in the Democratic Primary; and Hardee Horne against Steve Cain in the Democratic Primary for House 39. Scheduled for the Nov. General Election were the meeting of Sheriff Jason Booth and Democratic challenger John Perry, the winner of the Myers-Pugh race against Glenn Corley; and the winner of the Horne-Cain race against Rep. Marion Frye.

  •Ribbon cutting was held for the Ridge Spring Library, Welcome Center and Cultural Arts Center.

We said "good-bye" to....

  •Roy Stone, manager of Saluda’s B.C. Moore & Sons store for nearly 40 years, in a two car accident on Mar. 7 at the age of 81.

  •Dorothy A. Grigsby, retired teacher, on Mar. 16 at the age of 89.

  •Roy Brown, former manager of Saluda’s FCX for 28 years, on Mar. 18 at the age of 79.

  •Mary Elizabeth Shealy "Tiz" Watson, retired music educator from Monetta, on Mar. 22 at the age of 85.

APRIL

  •Juveniles were charged with the vandalism of Clydes Chapel Southern Methodist Church. Estimates for damages were $30,000.

  •Saluda County jailer Lt. Fred Rude was named the S.C. Correctional Officer of the Year.

  •Dr. Frank Page, president of the Southern Baptist Convention, brought the message at the Ridge Baptist Association at Ridge Spring Baptist Church.

  •County Council began the budget reading process.

  •The Sheriff’s Office arrested 15 on drug related charges during a five-day period.

  •A Saluda man, Willie Etheredge, 69, died when he was struck by a falling tree during a logging operation.

  •A Saluda High senior, who worked as a camp counselor in March, was arrested by the Clarendon County Sheriff’s office for allegedly teaching campers a "choking game."

  •Dr. Robert Rollings rhododen dron garden at Persimmon Hill was featured in Southern Living.

We said "good-bye" to....

  •George Nicholson, retired mail carrier after 42 years, cattleman, and community leader on April 3 at the age of 90.

  •Lula Coleman, retired educator and wife of Saluda attorney Billy Coleman, on April 23 at the age of 92.

MAY

  •The 3rd annual Ridge Spring Fire Department benefit in memory of Michael Adamick was held in the hangar of South Wood Manor in Ridge Spring.

  •Ridge Spring Fire Department broke ground on their new building.

  •The search for Saluda’s new police chief was narrowed to three candidates.

  •Saluda County Council began the process of purchasing the vacant Milliken Plant as a speculation building for economic development. The cost of the building and surrounding 28 acres was $2,680,000. Council Chairman Hardee Horne opposed the purchase.

  •A scholarship honoring Dr. Bela Herlong was established at her alma mater, Winthrop University, by her children. The scholarship will be presented to a Saluda County student desiring to attend Winthrop.

  •Retired College Station, Texas, Police Chief Michael J. Clancey was chosen as Saluda’s new police chief. Clancey has 30-years experience in law enforcement.

  •Saluda County Treasurer Judy Miller announced her resignation.

JUNE

  •A Saluda County man, Christopher Shawn Smith, died in a one-car accident on West Creek Road near Batesburg on June 1.

  •After many citizens protested the idea, Saluda County Council dropped the idea of purchasing the Milliken Plant.

  •Tina Shealy was sworn in as Saluda County’s interim treasurer, and announced she would run for the office in the General Election in November.

  •Incumbent County Councilmen Jacob Schumpert and William Pugh won their respective primary elections. Schumpert defeated Carey Bedenbaugh 267-236 in the Republican Primary, and Pugh defeated Sheila Myers, 173-156, in the Democratic Primary. County Council Chairman Hardee Horne lost his bid to challenge Marion Frye for the House 39 seat, when he fell to Batesbrug-Leesville Town Councilman Steve Cain, 387-282.

  •A story that spread nationwide about a mountain lion being killed in Saluda County was a hoax.

  •A Saluda County man, Jerry Maroney, 58, died in a house fire on June 28. The house was located on Prater Road.

  •Saluda High School Agriculture teacher Amanda Nichols was selected as the S.C. winner of the Outstanding Young Member Award by the National Association of Agriculture Educators.

  •Congressman Gresham Bar-rett selected a piece of art drawn by Lauren Jones, a graduating senior at Saluda High School, as the 2008 Third District Congressional Art Competition winner.

  •School District One honored retiring superintendent Dr. Pete Stone.

JULY

  •Clerk of Court Doris Holmes was sworn-in as interim Probate Judge, pursuant to state law. Judge of Probate Margaret Upchurch retired before the end of her term, and Deputy Judge of Probate Brenda Griffith was the only candidate to file to replace her, but, unlike the Treasurer’s office where Deputy Treasurer Tina Shealy was sworn-in to replace Judy Miller, the law dictates the Clerk of Court serve in that position.

  •A Saluda couple died in a July 20, one-truck accident on Mine Creek Road. Jerry Ronald Richardson, 36, and Melissa Darby, 33, were pronounced dead of the scene.

  •A forest fire burned 35-acres of land on the Denny Hwy. Ironically, most of the land belonged to Forestry Commission Firefighter Timmy Temples, who joined fellow firemen in battling the blaze.

  •A man who pled guilty to criminal sexual conduct in the first degree was sentenced to 20-years in prison. Vernon Lee Jamieson was sentenced by Judge D.L. Jefferson.

  •After being inducted into the SCCAWS Hall of Fame earlier in the year, retired Saluda High coach and educator Patsy Rhodes was inducted into the S.C. Athletic Coaches Association Hall of Fame, joining the late Bettis Herlong and Mac Quattlebaum as Hall of Fame inductees from School District One.

  •Kevin and Lydia Yon of Yon Family Farm in Ridge Spring were named the regional winners of the Environmental Stewardship Award.

  •Martha Freeman of Saluda was crowned Woman of the Year by the S.C. State Conference of the NAACP from among 26 candidates.

We said "good-bye" to....

  •Annie Bell Stevens, Saluda County’s oldest citizen, died on July 24 at the age of 108.

AUGUST

  •Cheryl Maffett of Saluda was presented the S.C. Career and Technology Education Writer’s Award by the S.C. Department of Education. Mrs. Maffett is employed by Piedmont Tech.

  •Richard Evans, an employee with the Saluda County Water and Sewer Authority, died when the motorcycle he was riding, stuck a SUV that turned into his path. Evans, 53, died on the scene of the Greenwood Hwy. accident that occurred on Aug. 10.

  •Brad Forrest of Saluda was named the S.C. Purebred Cattleman of the Year by the S.C. Cattlemen’s Association.

  •L.C. Reynolds of Saluda County was named the Beekeeper of the Year by the S.C. Beekeepers Association and the Mid-State Beekeepers Association.

  •The Young Farmer Truck and Tractor Pull, the Saluda Festival, the Ward Festival, and the Little River Festival were all held during the month.

  •With the county in a drought situation, Saluda’s CPW issued water conservation suggestions.

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