August 24, 2015

Ridge Spring News

Harriet Householder

It was my fault for the mix up about the emails that I mentioned last week.  I did not mean to insinuate that it was the carrier’s fault.  All is straightened out and emails are working just fine.  Sorry for the mix-up.

The Farmers’ Market was full of crowder peas, purple hull, pink eye and just crowder peas. Of course there were other fruits and vegetables.  Come check us out this Saturday.  Some get there earlier than others but 8:00 AM or after will be great.  Pictures are up on facebook, too, Town of Ridge Spring.

Pat Asbill: Come and help the Trojans start the year off right with a pep rally in the town square on Thursday evening August 27th at 7:00. Meet your football team, new coach, new principal, cheerleaders, and band members. Support the home team, go Trojans. 

 Many, many thanks go to the Ridge Spring Library volunteers, without whose help, we could not keep the library in operation. Our volunteers are: Rosemary Broom, Shelby Yonce, Jean Gregory, Judi Taylor, Phil Yon, Preston Winkler, Susan Carvahlo, Jeannie Boatwright, and Pat Asbill. We keep the library open according to volunteer's availability.

THE HARVEST FESTIVAL IS GETTING NEAR.

Several of us are working on getting the Country Store set up on Saturday September 19.  It will be at The Fire Station on Green Street.  We will open around 8:00 and have fresh produce form local farmers.

At the same time we will be selling the cakes and pies that competed in the Cake and Pie Contest that was held Friday evening.  I hope you entered one of the categories.  These four categories: the layer cake, pound cake,  pie and children’s brownie.  Have them at the Fire Station by 5:45 or at the Sponsor’s store Bank’s Drugs by 5:30.

Primitives at the Ridge Invites you to their Annual FALL Gathering on  August 28th and 29th from 10 am ‘til 4:30 pm.   The shop will be full of pumpkins, gourds, pilgrims, turkeys, fall foliage and lots of other things!  We will be closed Thursday, August 27th to get ready. Check out facebook.com/primitivesattheridge for a sneak preview!  Our address is 502 E. Main St., Ridge Spring, SC 803-685-7399/803-645-5443.

Come celebrate the harvest at Ridge Springs 34th Annual Harvest Festival. Ridge Spring is a small town located in the heart of what locals call The Ridge Region of South Carolina. This region is known for its agricultural history and we look forward to celebrating and thanking our farmers each and every year. Come and join us as we celebrate and enjoy the parade, arts and craft, music, food, and a whole lot more at the 2015 Ridge Spring Harvest Festival.

I have learned why there has been a misunderstanding about how many years the Harvest Festival has been happening.  The first Harvest Festival was actually the Bicentennial Celebration.  When community leaders decided to do it again they named it the Harvest Festival.  Again they decided to change the first one which was actually the centennial celebration changing it to be the first Harvest Festival.  So it is really the 34^th not the 33^rd. 

Guess who will have Harvest Festival T-Shirts at the Farmers' Market this Saturday-ME?  Come by and get your T-Shirt if  you cannot get by Town Hall, Ridge Antiques and Dry Goods, Cumbee Place, or Off the Beaten path.   Children’s shirts are $10 in (med & large).  Adult short sleeves are $12 &  long sleeves are $15 (small to XXlarge).

Saturday September 12 will be the Ridge Spring Sidewalk sale for the businesses in town.  Come check out the bargains you will find on the sidewalks of Main Street.

Mr. Clamp and the RS-M Band Booster Club would like to thank the Harvest Festival Committee for their generous contribution of $1,500 to our band program.  The donation will go a long way toward replacing the band's helmets that were stolen along with the trailer and other items a few years ago.  The True Blue Band should be sporting their new helmets at the first competition on September 19th.

JOANNE CROUCH: Don’t miss a chance to play in the mud this Saturday, August 29th from 9-1.  Donna Minor will be leading a workshop, “What a Hoot”.  Participants will make and underglaze a coil pot with owl features.  The studio will bisque fire, clear glaze and fire finished works to be picked up the following week.  Cost is $35.   To register, call (803)685-5783 or email rmdm287@comporium.net. The Art Center of Ridge Spring is open on Fridays and Saturdays from 10-4.  Check out the website for fall classes being scheduled at this time.  Our address is http://sites.google.com/site/artassnridgespring.

From Ridge Spring Police Chief Michael J. Raffield’s Desk:

 Citizens beware, there is an additional scam that has recently been reported to law enforcement. The scam works like this, a person calls on the telephone targeting the elderly and advises that the “yellow card” that you completed for medical financial assistance was accepted or approved. The caller will then try and set up a physical meeting at the home.

            Please remember that the United States government and the majority of reputable businesses will not call you soliciting personal information over the telephone, nor will they ask for your financial credit card or bank routing number over the phone. Please do not give out information over the telephone either. The government and professional businesses will send their communications through the mail, and if you are ever in doubt please ask a family member or ask your local police department.

            If you would rather check on the situation yourself, look up the business telephone number and call them directly, and see whether or not they are participating in any telephone programs. Recent scammers have also called people stating they had outstanding balances and identified themselves as the power company, the county tax department, the water department, and etc...

Please also be careful while conducting any computer financial transactions and before you remit payment make sure the web address bar has the https://, the (s) indicates that the web payment is being made on a secure network, and is following the best practices for internet security.

Kyle D. Blankenship, Ed.S., Principal, RSM  Middle/High School

Welcome Back to School @ RSM M/H: The first week back at school for RSM Middle/High was a wonderful experience. We welcomed new and returning students as well as celebrated our new teachers and support staff. Pastor Vollie Gibbs and those from Mt. Pleasant Baptist Church were so kind to raffle off some welcome back teaching supplies such as tissues, pens, paper and other teacher-necessities, as a thank you and a welcome back gesture to the talented teaching staff at RSM Middle/High.

Our football team is ready to start the season against rival Saluda HS this upcoming Friday, August 28th @ 7:30 pm at RSM High. To share our excitement about our Fall sports teams (football, volleyball, cheerleading and the band) with the community, we will be coming together to have a Fall Sports Rally at the town square in town on Thursdy, August 27thstarting at around 6:30 pm. There is no cost to attend and we hope to see many community members there to enjoy themselves and support the school. We also hope to see everyone at the HS football stadium on Friday night. The game starts at 7:30 pm and is only $7 to get in and you are guaranteed to see a great matchup.

Speaking of athletics, the RSM Booster club generously provided the athletic program with a gift of a new sound system for our stadium so all of our football fans can enjoy our games even more each Friday night we play home. We were very thankful.

For those I have not been fortunate enough to meet yet, or those who may not know, my name is Mr. Kyle Blankenship, and I am honored to be the new principal of Ridge Spring-Monetta Middle/High School. I had the fortune of working in this community a few years ago and am truly thankful to be back again. Please feel free to contact me at any time or to visit our schools and see the excellent teaching that occurs daily.

Josie Rodgers:

 The grind is on! The beginning of school brings us back to reality with schedules and sports and days filled with activities and work.  Gone (for a while) are the days of sleeping in, staying in our pjs, lounging by the pool, and staying up late to watch movies and snuggle.  Now it’s up before the sun, running all day, sports and practices, homework, late suppers, and early bedtimes.  However, we are thankful to be allowed to attend great schools, awesome teachers, knowledgeable coaches, and the opportunity to grow and learn and change. 

The return to school also means that colleagues I haven’t seen are wrapping their arms around me with Leagrace’s passing being so fresh and sharp.  I am so very blessed to work at two schools with such wonderful people:  RSM Middle/High and Aiken High have lavished me and my family with positive words, comforting messages, warm hugs, and offerings to help.  Our Wardlaw Academy family has done the same for my family.  I still cannot express how deeply we have been affected by the outpouring of love and support.  This is what keeps us going, keeps us striving to focus on making the most of each and every day while we have our loved ones with us.  I can assure you that we don’t take a moment for granted. 

Book Review by David Marshall James: 

In “X,” her 24^th Kinsey Millhone mystery, Sue Grafton crosses her “X’s,” dots her “i’s,” and makes all her letters clean and clear enough to please a school marm of yore.  Sure enough, she includes an admonishment about today’s dearth of good penmanship in this mystery novel, which finds the Santa Teresa, California, P.I. tying up the strands of a literal puzzle left by the late Pete Wolinsky, a gumshoe with whom she worked when she was earning the required hours for a California P.I.’s license.

     Seems Ms. Millhone judged Pete hyper-harshly.  Moreover, her quality of mercy shines in the case of a feuding, uber-wealthy divorced couple.  Yet sometimes a cigar is just a cigar:  case in point, Kinsey’s and landlord Henry Pitts’s latest neighbors.  They make Gladys Kravitz look like Mr. Rogers in cardigan and tennies.

     At this late date and letter, Kinsey has learned that justice is more a matter of gray—of pragmatically employing one’s gray matter—than black and white.  What, indeed, is the big picture in which each of her cases finds context?  Grafton could have cheated a smidge and titled this novel “X Is for ’Xpert” as a well-deserved authorial self-homage.  As for Kinsey, she’s still a work in progress, which makes her all the more endearing.

Reminders:

Aug. 27: Sports Rally on Town Square

Aug. 29: Back to school Carnival

Aug. 29: AARS Pottery Class

Sept. 17: Harvest Festival BINGO

Sept. 18: Cake and Pie Contest sponsored by Bank’s Drugs

Sept. 18: Gospel Night

Sept. 19: Ridge Spring Harvest Festival

Sept. 19: AARS: silk scarf painting class with Libby Bussinah

Oct. 3: WMU of Mt. Pleasant Baptist Church is sponsoring a Spaghetti Dinner

Ridge Spring Library hours: Mon/Tues 8:30 am - 12 pm; Wed., 12:30 – 4:30; Thurs 8:30 am - 12:00 pm; Fri 8:30 am -4:30 pm, Saturday from 9:00 until noon,

Every 2^nd & 4^th Monday:  Kids' Corner Story Time 10:30-11:30 a.m., at the Ridge Spring Library. 

Every 2^nd Monday:  RSM Elem PTO meets at 6:30 pm in the media center. 

Every Friday & Saturday:  AARS hours 10 – 4 or by appt, free admission