Lakeside February-March 2021

LAKESIDE LAKE SIDE L I F E O U T D O O R S F R O M WAT E R E E T O S A N T E E

Breaking barriers Jackie Blackwell's unexpected journey to becoming Clarendon's first Black female coroner and the history she made along the way

FEBRUARY-MARCH 2021

Why planting certain flowers will help your vegetable garden Birds and bees.

Literally.

How you can help the wood duck nest

PLUS:

Seafood restaurants are delivering good eats, no road trip necessary

BERKELEY • CLARENDON • KERSHAW • ORANGEBURG • SUMTER

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Same & Next Day Appointments Dr. Carmen Roberts of Eagerton Family Practice welcomes new patients and offers convenient access to high-quality healthcare for adults and children. Dr. Roberts joins Dr. Robert Eagerton and Family Nurse Practitioner Renee Ward in providing the expert care and compassion you deserve. Board Certified in Family Medicine, Dr. Roberts treats a broad spectrum of health conditions ranging from preventative care and minor illnesses to chronic conditions.

Specializing in: • Well visits, physicals, immunizations • Minor injuries and illnesses • Chronic conditions, such as diabetes, asthma, high cholesterol, heart disease • Eye, ear, nose and throat care • Bone and joint care • Women’s health • Pediatrics

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2 FEBRUARY - MARCH 2021 | LAKESIDE

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A PUBLICATION OF THE SUMTER ITEM 3

about from the lake us PUBLISHER Vince Johnson EDITOR Kayla Green COPY EDITORS Rhonda Barrick Melanie Smith WRITERS Dan Geddings Shelbie Goulding Kayla Green Sharron Haley Bruce Mills Melanie Smith Kareem Wilson PHOTOGRAPHY Micah Green

ADVERTISING / GRAPHIC DESIGN Ryan Galloway Janel Strieter ADVERTISING CONSULTANTS Karen Cave karen@theitem.com Devin McDonald devin@theitem.com Mark Pekuri mark@theitem.com

on the cover

Jackie Blackwell, Clarendon County's new coroner, at the office.

Photo by Micah Green 36 W. Liberty Street • Sumter, SC 29150 www.theitem.com 4 FEBRUARY - MARCH 2021 | LAKESIDE

KAYLA GREEN EDITOR OF LAKESIDE

1

8 Spring blooms

Janel Strieter

Camden's Carolina Cup is set to race back to town.

Also in this issue are the birds and the bees. Literally. We take a look at flowers you can plant in your vegetable garden to attract pollinators, we tag along as Nat Bradford captures and relocates a surprise swarm of bees, and we learn about one of the South's most beautiful birds, the drake wood duck, and how you can promote its conservation.

Our cover story is a tale of taking the helm no matter how difficult the external situation. Jackie Blackwell is Clarendon County's new coroner and the county's first Black female coroner, and now, amid a pandemic, is a vital moment when we need to know our loved ones are in caring hands when they pass.

I'm excited for you to read about Coroner Blackwell and all our other people, places and things inside these pages. Thank you for continuing to support Lakeside by picking up this magazine and sharing it with your friends and family. I hope you enjoy this issue.

Learn about what flowers you can plant to attract pollinators to your vegetable garden.

PUBLICATION DESIGN Micah Green

The days don't stop coming, do they?

Last year around this time, we were seeing the first cases of a novel coronavirus reach the United States.

It would soon be in South Carolina.

By the end of this issue's shelflife, we will have passed the one-year mark of when restaurants and businesses went into complete lockdown.

A year later, we're still in it. People are still getting sick, and people are still dying from this virus, but as a community, we will get through it.

Through it all, we have local businesses that are adapting to survive this historical moment in our lives. One example you'll find in these pages is Black River Tools Inc., a 40-year family business in Manning that offers tools and accessories for your socially distanced fishing and gardening needs.

Through it all, we have local restaurants that know we need good food, especially in a time of strife.

We tap the surface of seafood in the Midlands, highlighting a few eateries, both new and iconic, that are bringing the coast to us.

Through it all, we have events we want to see and attend trying to make a comeback. After a yearlong postponement and after becoming one of the first events to be canceled last year at the onset of COVID-19,

38 30 27 22 20 12

The Carolina summer duck

Two surprise swarms of bees stump Sumter farmer Nat Bradford.

What the buzz?

Restaurateurs in Sumter and Clarendon counties bring the coast closer to home.

Seafood in the Midlands

WR Simpson Farms becomes Clarendon County's 1st century farm.

A century of family farming

After a yearlong postponement, the races are raring to return to Camden.

Carolina Cup coming back

Clarendon County's new coroner takes the helm amid a deadly pandemic.

Coroner Blackwell

Drake wood ducks stick around to nest, and you can help them.

what’s inside

FEATURE STORIES

A PUBLICATION OF THE SUMTER ITEM 5

What to do & Where to go BERKELEY • CLARENDON KERSHAW • FLORENCE • RICHLAND ORANGEBURG • SUMTER

LEXINGTON & RICHLAND COUNTIES 2021 Cupid's Chase Run, walk or roll your way through the 2021 Cupid’s Chase on Saturday, Feb. 13. Registration will begin at 8 a.m. with the race beginning at 10 a.m. at Maxcy Gregg Park, 1806 Blossom St., Columbia.

Held each February, this 5k race benefits Community Options’ mission of providing residential and employment services to individuals with disabilities. Visit http://imatter.comop.org/site/TR?fr_ id=1923&pg=entry .

10th-Annual Tartan Day South Highland The 10th-Annual Tartan Day South Highland Games & Celtic Festival will be held March 25-28. This four-day festival honoring Celtic heritage will offer music, dancing, athletic competitions, pipe bands, food, demonstrations and exhibitions at diffeent venues in the Columbia area. Visit https:// tartandaysouth.com/ or https://www. facebook.com/TartanDaySouth .

FLORENCE COUNTY American Heritage Festival The festival is a two-day Revolutionary War reenactment event with 18th-century demonstrations, guest speakers, Colonial dance and more will be held Saturday and Sunday, Feb. 20-21, at Graham’s Historic 6 FEBRUARY - MARCH 2021 | LAKESIDE

Farm, 843 McCutcheon Road, Lake City.

Masks are required for entrance, and all COVID restrictions will apply. Visit www. theamericanheritagefestival.com.

TobyMac Hits Deep Tour The TobyMac Hits Deep Tour is scheduled for 7 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 21, at Florence Center, 3300 W. Radio Drive, Florence.

This year’s lineup features TobyMac & the DiverseCity Band together with special guests Tauren Wells, We Are Messengers, Unspoken, Cochren & Co. and Terrian. Visit www.florencecenter.com or www.tobymac. com.

Florence Little Theatre The theater will present “Murder on the Orient Express” March 5-13 at 417 S. Dargan St., Florence. Due to adult themes and violence such as simulated smoking, gunshots and murder, the recommended minimum age is 12 and up. Ticket prices: $25 adults, $20 for seniors age 62 and up and $15 for student/child. Visit http://www. florencelittletheatre.org.

KERSHAW COUNTY 5th-Annual Irish Fest Camden A four-day and six-event celebration of Irish and Celtic heritage will be held March 2-6. Festivities will include a paint night, Celtic art gallery opening, open mic night, “ShamROCK the Block” free block party in the downtown district and Lucky Leprechaun 5k. The Saturday, March 6, main event will be held at Historic Camden Revolutionary War Park, 222 Broad St., Camden, and will feature live Celtic music from seven different bands and musicians, Irish dancing, bagpipes and drums, arts and crafts vendors, food trucks, an Irish whiskey tasting tent and beer garden and more.

There will also be plenty of entertainment for the children in the Kidz Zone. Visit https://www.irishfestcamden.com.

Power ComiCon The Florence Center will host Power ComiCon on Saturday, March 6, in the center’s ballroom, 3300 W. Radio Drive, Florence. It will feature vendors and artists from across the East Coast and attendees can shop new comics, back issues, toys, collectibles and more at this event. There will also be a cosplay contest with cash prizes. Tickets are $10 and children under 12 admitted free. Visit www.powercomicon. com or www.florencecenter.com.

Rotary Wild Game Dinner and Auction 2021 The event will be held from 6 to 10 p.m. on Saturday, March 20, at The City Arena, 420 Broad St., Camden. The event will feature a pluck-a-duck drawing, a silent auction of more than 100 items, live auction, wild game entrees by Lilfred’s of Rembert and

more. Contact Brian Spilker at drspike89@ yahoo.com. Tickets are $50 per person or $90 per couple.

SUMTER COUNTY Sumter Original Brewery trivia Test your random knowledge of facts weekly at Sumter Original Brewery's trivia nights. Held each Wednesday night on the first floor of Sumter’s first-ever brewery and tap room, 2 S. Main St. in downtown Sumter, play starts at 7 p.m. and goes through 9 p.m. Beer, wings and other bites are available. Up to four people per team.

No phones allowed during play. Prizes are awarded for first, second and third place.

Admission is free and is first come, first served.

Sumter Farmers Market The Market will open its 2021 season on Saturday, March 20. Shop for fresh and local produce, ready-to-eat food and handmade items, including honey, specialty coffee, jams and jellies, fresh baked sweet treats, handmade soaps, wild caught S.C. shrimp, freshly milled grains, handcrafted artisan products, lemonade, kettle corns, sauces and relishes, food trucks and more. The market is outdoors and socially distanced at USC Sumter, 200 Miller Road, between noon and 6 p.m. Admission is free.

Saturday-Sunday, Feb. 27-28, Piedmont Interstate Fairgrounds, 575 Fairgrounds Road, Spartanburg. Show hours: 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m.4 p.m. Sunday. Admission is $8 per person and children age 12 and under admitted free with paid adult. Visit www. greatamericanpromotionsllc.com, call (865) 453-0074 or email mwxmarketing@ aol.com.

Saturday-Sunday, March 6-7, Western Carolina Fairgrounds, 1566 Columbia Highway North, Aiken. Show hours: 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Sunday.

Admission is $8 per person and children age 12 and under admitted free with paid adult. Visit Great American Promotions LLC at www.greatamericanpromotionsllc. com, call (865) 453-0074 or email mwxmarketing@aol.com.

Wine Wednesday Learn more about wine in a hands-on fashion. Hamptons, 33 N. Main St., recently started a new Wine Wednesday series that features new house manager and level-two sommelier Michele Gargiulo as she takes you through the history and details of a themed selection of wines and even walks you through how to best taste the wine to get the optimal experience from it. Events start at 5:15 p.m. Find tickets at https:// www.facebook.com/Hamptonsfoods/.

S.C. GUN AND KNIFE SHOWS Saturday-Sunday, Feb. 6-7, Myrtle Beach Convention Center, 2101 N. Oaks St., Myrtle Beach. Show hours: 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Sunday. Admission is $10 per person and children under 12 years of age admitted free. Visit www.mkshows. com. Contact Mike Kent at (770) 630-7296 or email mike@mkshows.com.

“The Tuskegee Airmen” The Sumter County Museum has a new exhibit on display through March 27. “The Tuskegee Airmen” explores the history and heroism of the first African-American pilots to fly in combat during World War II. Between 1941 and 1946, more than 1,000 pilots were trained. The traveling exhibit is provided by Kennesaw State University Museum of History and Holocaust Education. The exhibit is open at 112 N. Washington St., 10 a.m.-5 p.m. ThursdaySunday and is free to enter.

$10 per person and children under 12 years of age admitted free. Visit www.mkshows. com. Contact Mike Kent at (770) 630-7296 or email mike@mkshows.com.

Saturday-Sunday, Feb. 13-14, Greenville Convention Center, 1 Exposition Drive, Greenville. Show hours: 9 a.m.-5 p.m.

Saturday and 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Sunday.

Admission is $10 per person or $8 with military identification, children ages 12 and under admitted free with an adult. Visit the South Carolina Arms Collectors Association at https://www.scgunshows.com. Call (803) 463-9377 or email showdirector@ scgunshows.com.

Saturday-Sunday, Feb. 20-21, Exchange Park Fairgrounds, 9850 Highway 78, Ladson. Show hours: 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Sunday. Admission is

Saturday-Sunday, March 13-14, Greenwood Civic Center/Farmer’s Market, 1610 Laurens Highway, Greenwood. Show hours: 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Sunday.

Admission is $8 per person and children age 12 and under admitted free with paid adult. Visit Great American Promotions LLC at www.greatamericanpromotionsllc. com, call (865) 453-0074 or email mwxmarketing@aol.com.

Saturday-Sunday, March 20-21, South Carolina State Fairgrounds, 1200 Rosewood Drive, Columbia. Show hours: 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Sunday.

Admission is $10 per person and children age 12 and under admitted free with paid adult. Parking is $5. Visit www.mkshows. com. Contact Mike Kent at (770) 630-7296 or email mike@mkshows.com.

Saturday-Sunday, March 27-28, American Legion, 34 S. Artillery Drive. Show hours: 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m.4 p.m. Sunday. Admission is $8 per person and children age 12 and under admitted free with paid adult. Visit Great American Promotions LLC at www. greatamericanpromotionsllc.com, call (865) 453-0074 or email mwxmarketing@ aol.com.

*Events are subject to change due to COVID-19.

A PUBLICATION OF THE SUMTER ITEM 7

Spring blooms Add perennial flowering plants to your garden for pollinators and our future.

Words and photographs by Melanie Smith

L

ast year as we all went into lockdown because of the coronavirus pandemic, many of us retreated into our gardens for a bit of beauty as the news became more and more bleak. Many started vegetable gardens for the first time as a way to fill more time at home with family and to put more food on the table during a difficult time. Gardening supplies were hard to come by in late spring and early summer as we stocked up on tomato seedlings, fertilizer and seed packets.

This year as we hopefully are emerging from this pandemic thanks to the vaccines in production around the globe, maybe the next logical step in expanding these gardens is to add flowering plants nearby to attract pollinators such as bees, butterflies and moths. We can have no juicy, red-ripe

8 FEBRUARY - MARCH 2021 | LAKESIDE

These packets represented everything I grew last year in my yard, including several pollinatorattracting flowers.

Purple coneflowers grow next to my vegetable garden last fall, attracting pollinators to the garden.

Left, Eastern tiger swallowtail butterfly visits a zinnia last summer. summer tomatoes, after all, without these insects doing the crucial work of pollination for us, and we are losing pollinators at alarming rates worldwide because of habitat loss and pesticides.

The good news is each of us can help, starting with a single plant or two in our own yards and vegetable gardens. I encourage you to help the pollinators (and ourselves in the long run) this year by planting something they will visit throughout the warm months. The plants don't have to take up considerable vegetable-growing space; you can use something as simple as a few tall sunflowers in a corner of the garden or a sunny patch of your yard. These are quick and easy to start as seeds, which you can buy at any gardening center or hardware store. Kids

will enjoy watching the seedlings take off and become taller than they are during the summer.

This will be my first year growing sunflowers, and one of the seed packets I found promises they will be 7 to 12 feet tall!

Coneflowers are a native flower bees and butterflies love, and they will bloom for months if they're in a very sunny location. They are available in purple, white and "hot" colors known to attract bees and butterflies, such as orange and red. Coneflower plants can be bought as seedlings from local hardware stores, or you can buy packets of seeds to try growing your own. If you already have one of these plants or know a friend with one, the seeds are simple to collect from the old, withered flowers from last season — if the birds haven't beaten you to them. Just

put the brown or black flower heads in a closed plastic container and shake them, and all the seeds will fall out. Scatter these around your soil, cover with a bit of dirt and water them every day. In some areas of the country, coneflowers will not bloom the first year, but here, experience has shown me they will.

A night-blooming flower will attract moths, too, which are also pollinators — for this, I've enjoyed growing moonflowers in my yard on a trellis. They are vining plants easily grown from seed that won't take over your yard like their cousins the morning glories, important here in the South, and they begin to open as the sun goes down each day. The flowers are the size of dessert plates, and their scent is one of my favorites in my yard next to gardenia. If you have

Moonflowers open as the sun goes down and have a fantastic scent, which helps to attract moths, another pollinator.

A PUBLICATION OF THE SUMTER ITEM 9

a porch that gets bright sun several hours during the day and a trellis of moonflowers growing nearby, you and the moths can enjoy the scent as each summer day ends.

By far the best bee and butterfly magnet in my yard last summer was the Benarys giant zinnias I grew. Zinnias will sprout easily in just days, even direct sown, and will bloom reliably from spring until a fall frost. They are susceptible to powdery mildew, and although the variety I grew was advertised as resistant to this disease, it did infect mine in late summer. This year, I did more research and landed on the Zahara series of zinnias, which are supposed to be highly disease resistant and shorter. If you'd like to give zinnias a try, most hardware stores carry several varieties of them.

Whatever you decide to try growing this season, I hope your garden is an oasis for you and the pollinators in your area to enjoy for months to come.

10 FEBRUARY - MARCH 2021 | LAKESIDE

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A PUBLICATION OF THE SUMTER ITEM 11

12 FEBRUARY - MARCH 2021 | LAKESIDE

A swarm in winter?

Local farmer, beekeeper stumped Words by Bruce Mills Photographs by Micah Green

I

n an oddity of nature, two bee colonies maintained by Nat Bradford and Ralph Baker on Bradford Family Farm on DuBose Siding Road sent out reproductive swarms on Jan. 18 about noon.

That's right. In mid-January; not in the spring, as would be normal behavior.

The bee colonies didn't abscond and leave because of disease/pest

pressure, according to Bradford, because many remained in the original colonies.

The bees eventually clustered in two big masses on different tree branches near the parent colonies.

There was also a minor earthquake (2.1 magnitude) on Jan. 18 at 5:52 a.m. nearby in the Dalzell area, according to the United States Geological Survey.

Could that have been the cause?

Bradford called state bee expert Ben Powell with Clemson University, but Powell said a colony doesn't just suddenly send out a swarm and thinks there was no association.

Powell said if a parent colony is originally caught in the wild, like a wild beehive, it may have a propensity to swarm genetically.

Bradford said that was the case with one colony he caught under a friend's porch deck last summer in Lee County.

A wild hive is different from

other bees that are bred, more docile and better for large production.

"But," he said, "you don't know what you are going to get when you get a wild one."

Bradford and Baker caught the bees and returned them to the colonies.

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A PUBLICATION OF THE SUMTER ITEM 17

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Close coastal

Photo provided

Seafood restaurants that don’t require a trip to Charleston are trending up

CAROLINA CRAB HOUSE 1121 Broad St. in Sumter

Sumter’s new seafood addition is a Louisiana Cajun-style eatery serving anything from shrimp gumbo and fried baskets to the famous Lowcountry boil that’s served on a platter in a large buttery-garlic bag.

Carolina Crab House opened its first restaurant in North Charleston in 2019 and its second in Sumter in 2020.

Since then, two more restaurants were constructed in Wilmington, North Carolina, and Summerville in Dorchester County, said Jerri Allen, operations manager for Carolina Crab House.

20 FEBRUARY - MARCH 2021 | LAKESIDE

“We’ve seen a need in the market,” Allen said.

Throughout the past couple years, people have wanted to travel less for their coastal cuisine, Allen said. Several seafood restaurants in the industry recognized this and decided to bring the grub to them.

Carolina Crab House’s most popular dishes include the Lowcountry boil: a combo of shrimp and snow crab with sausage, corn, potatoes, and boiled egg. The combo marinates and boils in the sauce until it’s cooked to perfection, similar to a sauté. Other fan favorites are blue crab, the fried shrimp basket and the fried fish basket.

The Sumter location is open 11 a.m.-10 p.m.

Monday-Saturday and noon-10 p.m. Sunday. Once seated, customers will be greeted with gloves and a bib.

For more information, call (803) 757-1345 or visit www.carolinacrabhouse.com.

GULLAH GULLAH FISH 23 W. Boyce St. in Manning

Since opening its restaurant in 2016, the Levy family has brought excitement to the Manning community and its travelers with seafood that has a mix of Gullah cuisine and New York-style

Words and photographs

by Shelbie Goulding cooking.

Born and raised in New York, Owner Craig Levy experienced seafood differently from his mother, Barbara, who cooked traditional Gullah dishes.

The restaurant itself got the name from the Gullah Geechee, descendants of Africans who were enslaved on isolated island and coastal plantations in the lower Atlantic. Though confined to mainly Georgia and South Carolina now as opposed to the Carolinas through Florida, their lineage and culture lives on today, including in the Levy family.

“Under the history of Gullah people in Charleston, the food dates back to like our

ancestors. Some of the food that we do, my mother got from her grandmother,” Levy said.

“We put our little New York food twist on it because I’m from New York.”

Levy moved back to South Carolina with his family in Manning and realized there weren't many options for seafood. The family decided to open Gullah Gullah Fish three days a week for its customers.

Being a family owned business has its perks.

Levy said it makes the environment and the food more fun and enjoyable. His brother Kevin and he even make their own dishes and adjust the daily specials frequently to provide something different to their customers who come back each week.

“We can make our own creations. It’s not like we’re locked in on our menu,” Levy said.

“And just to see what the customers like, they like that also because we can bring something different.”

Levy said any new customers looking to venture to Gullah Gullah Fish can expect freshness with the seafood and the promised good vibes. If the kitchen wasn’t fun and friendly, the food wouldn’t taste great.

“When you taste your food, you’ll have no complaints,” Levy said. “If you do have a complaint, the food is on us. That’s how good the food is.”

Gullah Gullah Fish is open 1-10 p.m.

Thursday, 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Friday and noon-10 p.m. Saturday.

For more information, call (803) 825-9004 or visit www.facebook.com/GullahGullahFish/.

MANNING HOUSE OF CRAB AND MORE

222 S. Boundary St. in Manning

PALMETTO OYSTER HOUSE 415 W. Wesmark Blvd. in Sumter

One of Sumter’s fan favorites got ahead of the game and opened a restaurant in 2011.

For years, it’s been known as a low-key seafood restaurant that pairs lobster, oysters, crab cakes, po’ boys and fish tacos with beer. However, it also throws Southern fixings into the mix with chicken, steaks and burgers for the non-fish lovers.

Co-owner Scott Estep, who co-owns the PO’ House with Mickey Brewer, Kevin Collins and Wayne Lowder, said serving seafood with a mix of American is what has kept them thriving for almost 10 years.

“You have to be more diverse,” Estep said. “We don’t just do seafood. It’s primarily seafood, but we have steaks, burgers, chicken dishes, pasta dishes … If you’re not diversified, if you just invest in seafood, I feel for you for the long haul.”

Estep knows the key to succeeding in the food industry is about providing more than great food.

“The restaurant industry is a lot of things. It’s service. It’s the atmosphere,” Estep said. “We offer a good product at a great price.”

The PO’ House is open 11:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. and 5-9 p.m. Monday-Friday and 5-9 p.m. on Saturday.

It is closed on Sunday.

For more information, call (803) 607-9498 or find them on www.sumtermenus.com.

Manning’s new seafood joint opened just last year with hopes to bring something back to the community.

Owner Michael Bearson saw the demand for a new seafood restaurant in his hometown and knew his family could provide one.

“A lot of people like seafood. It’s kind of like the thing now,” Bearson said. “We actually like seafood a lot ourselves, so it’s something we started doing at home with seafood nights and family gatherings.”

Offering a variety of crab legs, snow crab, crab cakes, baskets and seafood boils as well as a seafood-free menu with Philly cheesesteaks, burgers, chicken tenders, wings and more, Manning House of Crab can satisfy any customer’s craving.

“It’s a pleasure of good food and Southern hospitality,” Bearson said.

Bearson noticed the seafood side of the industry was growing in the Midlands in recent years, and he knew Manning deserved a place of its own to save gas money.

“People usually felt like they had to travel down to Charleston or Myrtle Beach,” Bearson said. “They can get it without having to travel so far.”

For more information, call (803) 435-3765 or visit www.facebook.com/ manninghouseofcrab/.

2538 Players Course Drive , Manning, SC 29102

The Journey Home begins with Trust Joe Davis Realtor®

Marcy Cutchall Realtor®

443-286-1576

570-423-2723

JoeD.LitchfieldByTheLake.com

Marcy.LitchfieldByTheLake.com A PUBLICATION OF THE SUMTER ITEM 21

22 FEBRUARY - MARCH 2021 | LAKESIDE

A century in full circle WR Simpson Farms LLC is Clarendon County's only farm recognized by the state for staying in the same family for 100 years.

Words by Kayla Green | Photographs by Micah Green

A

s the setting sun casts an orange glow on the skin of the seventh generation of Simpson farmers, more than 100 years of memories, tractor skeletons and soil make up Clarendon County’s first Century Farm.

Agribusiness, the state’s top industry that considers farming and forestry, is responsible for nearly 247,000 jobs and more than $46 billion in annual economic impact. There are nearly 25,000 farms and 4.7 million acres of farmland in South Carolina. More than 350 of those farms have been recognized by the Century Farms Program since its creation in 1974 for remaining under the same family’s ownership for at least 100 years. None have been in Clarendon County until now.

“When Granddaddy married Minnie, my grandma, her family had the farm since 1904. So, he kind of married into it,” said W. R. “Billy” Simpson Sr., the sixth generation to run WR Simpson Farms LLC in Manning.

Billy has been farming in some form or another almost his whole life, from taking what tobacco leaves he could siphon to his mother to dabbling in corn and cotton to eventually taking over the family farm, growing it, surviving economic downturns and weather catastrophes and adapting to technology.

It wasn’t always his intention.

He went to work at a gas station in Sumter, washing and servicing cars, and he eventually became a part-owner. It was no work compared to the physical demand of

From left, W.R. Billy Simpson, Bill Simpson and Cody Simpson sit in front of the farm's original tobacco barn, one of the oldest buildings on their property.

A PUBLICATION OF THE SUMTER ITEM 23

farming.

When the early ‘70s brought a gas shortage and the passing of his father, Billy took to farming full time. Farms had always been a way of survival, a way to live off the land in the days before Piggly Wiggly and commercial town centers. When taking the family car into town could only mean going to church. Now, Billy had to figure out how to turn that survival into a living.

He had saved up from his time at the gas station, but there were still obstacles.

The Simpson family can be traced back to North Carolina around the 1700s before they moved to Mayesville then Manning. The family’s 89 acres were reduced by 50 during the Great Depression.

It was now Billy’s job to keep the farm in the family, and he had made a promise to his father he intends to never break.

He remembers listening through the keyhole of the same house that stands off Home Branch Road today to his parents worry about the government repossessing their land in 30 days if they couldn’t come up with their overdue payments. They knew they didn’t have the money.

"Our grain goes from our farm to a truck to Charleston, and it’s put on shipping containers that are sent across the world.”

-Cody Simpson, Bill Simpson's son 24 FEBRUARY - MARCH 2021 | LAKESIDE

Before time would bring this story full circle, two local farmers, Scott and Ralph Jackson, offered to rent the Simpson farm for 10 years and paid $250 a year in cash up front. The agreement was “nothing but a handshake.” The arrangement was everything needed to keep the 39 acres in the family’s name.

KEEPING IT IN THE FAMILY

Losing the ability to farm their own land did mean that Billy’s son, Bill, grew up unable to step foot on the ground 15 feet from his house other than to work. As a child, Bill picked cotton for the renters and would try to sneak a stem or two to make a Christmas tree in the barn only to be told to stay away.

When Billy took over full operations in 1971, he still had to physically work to build trust with the farmers who had rented and taken care of his family’s farm for so many years. But, as the Simpson family knows now, “they always like to come home.”

Billy learned to put crops out “like someone else is paying for it” and to trust the land that’s there.

“All the land that’s been cleared has already been cleared. If the original people on this land kept those forests, you’re not going to get nothing out of that land other than forest,” he said.

The acquisition of his wisdom of the land came how it did for every generation before him.

He learned what his father and father’s father learned. The house built in 1904 isn’t there by chance. Before computer mapping and batterypowered technology, windows were built based on wind patterns to optimize air flow without the convenience of air conditioning. You figured out what worked and what didn’t, and you passed that experience down, farming like it’s a family cookbook that has been scribbled with adjustments.

“If you’re good to the land, it’ll be good to you,” Billy said.

He remembers his father taking him to two big trees that are still on the property. That was when Billy learned about his stillborn older brother who is buried under the trees. His father made him

Windell Evans, known as "Bull", has worked on the Simpson farm for 10 years. Billy said without Bull, there would not be a farm.

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promise never to mortgage the family land.

“It’s been the hardest thing I’ve ever done,” he said. “I’ve left the bank and ripped up the papers.”

Billy bought the 39 acres back in 1981. So far, promise kept.

A NATURAL PROGRESSION

Now, the sibling to eight whose only childhood toys were a nail with a stick and a tomato can on a string farms upward of 1,900 acres in the larger Manning area.

“I wish Daddy and Granddaddy were there to see it happen,” he said of the day the 39 acres were officially back in Simpson hands.

Today, when Billy and Bill are not out in the fields during planting or harvest seasons or working on equipment during the winter, Billy works out of his office, a barn converted into a small kitchen space with two office rooms on either side. Filling every available space on the walls, support beams and garage are toy and antique trucks, tractors, farm animals, signs, maps, equipment and photos. American Pickers would probably find it to be Heaven on Earth. That is if he had anything he’d sell.

“I don’t golf. I don’t fish. So, I had to do something,” he said of his collectibles.

Outside the family’s historic tobacco barn, which sits between the house and his office and used to serve as his old office, rests something Billy has only ever seen one of: a two-eared corn husker.

You see the one-ear, but never two holes.

Evidence of the industry’s evolving technology is scattered everywhere. While there are no remnants of Granddaddy’s mule and buggy, a 1952 tractor, a little red thing, pales in the shadow of their current ride, a 400-horsepower, 35-foot-wide beast than can cover

200 acres a day.

Bill said the computerized equipment makes farming more convenient and accessible at a larger scale, but “nothing I’ve seen has put extra money in the bank.”

And if the computer goes on the fritz, “you can’t do anything all day until you get it fixed.”

Not interested at first in working from daylight to sundown every day, growing up pulling weeds from fields so thick you couldn’t see the crop, Bill tried his hand in crop insurance and some other jobs and went to college for nine weeks before taking his place at the farm. They always like to come home.

“I’ve never been disappointed in that decision,” he said.

The family, once at the mercy of a verbal contract and the trust of those farmers who kept the farm going while they could not afford to, now gives back from the other side.

They have their land, but much of what they farm today used to be 17 different families’ property.

They preserve the farms, keep them fertile. They keep the family’s name and don’t tear down barns. They’re now the renters.

“I’ve been to weddings where people would say, ‘I loved working on that farm,’” said Cody Simpson, Bill’s son who works in Gov. Henry McMaster’s office. “It’s so cool to think about how much of an impact we have. Our grain goes from our farm to a truck to Charleston, and it’s put on shipping containers that are sent across the world.”

Bill said people come back to learn where their family is from.

They want to visit their recent family and long-ago ancestral land, and Bill shows them where the house used to be or where the barn still is.

“We had someone come the other day from Florida,” he said. “His dad and uncle had a farm in Paxville that we now run, and we were friends.”

They always like to come home.

Think you might be related?

If you are researching family history related to Simpson, Boykin, Hodge, Holiday or McLeod from Sumter, Darlington or Clarendon counties or Wilson, North Carolina, please contact Joanne Parker at farmerjo2000@ec.rr.com 26 FEBRUARY - MARCH 2021 | LAKESIDE

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Back to the races

H

ooves will trot, stride and jump once again at the Springdale Race Course this May, following more than a yearlong postponement of the 86th running of the Carolina Cup Races.

In November of last year, the Carolina Cup Racing Association announced the race will officially take place on Saturday, May 22, after being put on pause since March 2020. The original date was canceled just weeks before the event due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We had to cancel so close to the event,” said the association’s executive director, Toby Edwards. “We already invested a substantial amount of money in the event."

The 86th Carolina Cup is planned for May after a yearlong postponement during COVID-19.

Words by Shelbie Goulding | Photographs by Micah Green

The event’s cancellation not only had a negative economic impact on the association, the city and Kershaw County, but it affected the state, as well, according to Edwards. He could not put a figure on how much money was lost last year, but he said it was a “substantial” amount of revenue.

The loss of revenue is expected to set the Carolina Cup Racing Association back financially a couple of years, but its main focus is on its supporters and providing them with the race they've long waited.

The association created a cushion for this year’s race and its patrons by allowing those who purchased tickets for the 2020 races to roll over their

A PUBLICATION OF THE SUMTER ITEM 27

packages for this year’s race.

“A lot of our patrons were very generous in rolling over their ticket package and not asking for a refund,” Edwards said. Those individuals will automatically be renewed for the race in May. These ticket holders can breathe with ease as the Carolina Cup Racing Association does not plan to cancel or postpone the race a second time unless it is deemed necessary,

Edwards said. He even thinks this year's race will be the state's first major event to happen since the pandemic began.

“That’s my guess," Edwards said. "I think that by the May date, the vaccination will be in full swing and enable us to have the event as we would have done pre-COVID-19 with improved sanitation.

“We will follow any COVID-19 guidelines that we get from the governor’s office

and local government here in Kershaw County. We are already planning to improve and increase sanitation. There won’t be interactive things in the infield for kids, for instance, because of there being touch points.”

According to Edwards, there will be no activities like a bouncy house or rock wall.

Though the association wants to provide entertainment for all ages, its focus is on

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creating a safe and healthy environment.

Hospitality tents will be also be turned into canopies to provide open space, and masks will be required under certain circumstances.

Edwards said they have already practiced such guidelines at various races that were held in New York, Virginia, Georgia and Charleston last fall.

“There have been races, just not as many,” Edwards said. “It was challenging, but it went very well.”

With races ongoing across the eastern

region, the year-long pause didn’t affect the horses racing in the Carolina Cup, Edwards said. The hot weather in May versus the cool weather in March will not affect the horses either.

“The horses run all through the summer, and May 22 is not as hot as it is in Delaware or Virginia in August or July,” Edwards said.

“If I have any worry about the heat, it is more about my patrons and people having problems getting dehydrated.”

He said the association has protocols in

place to cool the horses if they do become overheated.

The Carolina Cup Racing Association is continuing its efforts in working with state and public health authorities to create a safe environment for a physical event in 2021.

“It’s very important that we keep it as a prestigious race and keep it moving forward for future generations,” Edwards said.

For more information or to purchase tickets, call (803) 432-6513 or visit www.carolinacup.org.

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History made Jackie Blackwell’s unexpected journey to the Clarendon County Coroner’s Office and the barrier she broke along the way Words by Kareem Wilson Photographs by Micah Green

hetRange.com

O

n the morning of Jan. 4, Jackie Blackwell stood in unison with five other elected officials as they were sworn into office by Clarendon County officials.

Blackwell, 66, wore a smile under her jet-black mask as she raised her right hand to take the oath with her three adult children, daughter Ka’Tasha Blackwell-Smith and sons Charles Brown and Terrain Blackwell, by her side. She didn’t simply become Clarendon County’s new coroner upon taking the oath, but she also broke a major barrier in her hometown by becoming the first AfricanAmerican woman to be elected coroner in Clarendon County.

A PUBLICATION OF THE SUMTER ITEM 31

“Overwhelming” was how she described the day. “It was something I dreamed of for a long time, and when it actually came to the day of, I was overwhelmed with joy.”

However, in the beginning, Jacqueline Blackwell followed a different path in her youth.

FIRST OF MANY

Blackwell never imagined going into a career of law enforcement, much less becoming a coroner.

“I didn’t set out to do these things. It just happened,” she said.

Growing up in Alcolu, a community outside Manning, Blackwell, the third of seven children, was someone many called a “prim and proper” person. When South Carolina schools integrated in 1971, she became senior class president at Manning High School, becoming the first AfricanAmerican woman to hold the title. She also was the first African-American woman to win an American Legion Girl’s Leadership Award at the high school.

After graduating, she went to South Carolina State University, majoring in French and hoping to become a translator. She had this same goal even after graduating, but life decided to take her on a different path.

Four years after graduating from college, in 1978, she received a call about an open position as a dispatcher in Clarendon County. Though she had reservations, she took the job.

She worked as a dispatcher for the next eight years while also furthering her education at Morris College and graduating in 1986. After leaving, she worked as a remedial teacher’s assistant and computer technician at Manning High for three years before another phone call changed her life.

In late 1989, Blackwell was contacted by Carter Jones – the 22-year Manning fire chief during Blackwell’s tenure as a dispatcher. He was recommending her for a new job.

“He called and said, ‘The state of South Carolina has mandated every sheriff’s department in the state has to have a female,’” she said.

She became the next deputy sheriff for the Clarendon County Sheriff’s Office – the first African-American woman to be certified in this position.

“He had a lot of faith in me,” she said of Jones and his recommendation. “He helped me to develop and pushed me to become what I am today.”

BARRIERS ENCOUNTERED

As a woman of color in a leadership position, there were often obstacles she faced both inside and outside her office.

“Most of my employees didn’t know what to do with a female. I was in an all-white-male occupation. Every call they had for women or children, I became the juvenile officer and worked all the rape cases,” she said. “I had to fight the system. The way they looked at it, not just here in Clarendon County, but they felt that law enforcement was not made for a female.”

32 FEBRUARY - MARCH 2021 | LAKESIDE

Being an officer meant not only protecting her community, but she also had to demonstrate strength to her co-workers. There were many in her own community who doubted her ability as a single mother of three to do her job effectively.

“We had to prove ourselves to them and the state,” she said.

She didn’t let her adversities stop her. Instead, she met these challenges head on.

She acquired computers – everybody was still using index cards and boxes – for the sheriff’s office, providing a quicker database for deputies. She left in 2001 after serving for 12 years as deputy sheriff. Afterward, she taught at Phoenix Charter High School in Alcolu for four years while also serving as a victim advocate for the Manning Police Department from 2001 to 2007.

She moved to Orangeburg to work at South Carolina State University for four years but eventually returned home.

Six weeks after returning, in early 2012, Third Judicial Circuit Solicitor Ernest "Chip" Finney III learned about Blackwell’s immense experience and asked her to become a victim/witness advocate in Sumter.

She said yes.

She spent her time organizing cases, sitting in on interviews, preparing victims for their court hearings and assisting them with outside resources.

Finney remembers her drive and personality as reasons he

“She’s always been dedicated to the community ... She brings a lot of life and professional experiences to make a great coroner. I think that’s the secret … I think she knows this is not about herself but about helping the community.”

— Solicitor Ernest "Chip" Finney III, Third Judicial Circuit

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wanted her to join the solicitor’s office.

He was impressed with her engagement in the community and her extensive law enforcement background, making her the perfect candidate for the job.

In his eyes, she was a “people person” capable of handling the work. As an active member in her community, she was a tremendous asset to the solicitor’s office.

“She really likes people. She shows genuine concern for people,” Finney said.

After working in the Sumter office, he transferred her to Manning so she could better care for her mother.

She became the victim advocate for Manning until July 2020 when she decided to run for coroner. Finney was sad to see her go but was ultimately proud of her for stepping up in her career.

“She’s always been dedicated to the community,” he said. “She brings a lot of life and professional experiences to make a great coroner. I think that’s the secret … I think she knows this is not about herself but about helping the community.”

34 FEBRUARY - MARCH 2021 | LAKESIDE

CONTINUING ON HER PATH, WHEREVER IT MIGHT TAKE HER

Blackwell planned to retire after leaving her Manning job but said God must have had a different path for her.

“I ran for office because the people said they needed a change, and I needed to bring compassion back to families at a time where families are really hurting,” she said.

“I didn’t set out to become the first. I set out to do the job.”

Adjusting to a new job can be a daunting challenge. With encouragement from her mentors and God’s grace, Blackwell is set to take the helm of responsibilities in her role as coroner.

She received a call early on the day after her swearing-in ceremony about a deceased woman from the hospital. The woman’s family wanted to say goodbye, but because of the pandemic, the hospital couldn’t allow them inside. They suggested for the family to see the body in the funeral home’s hearse, but Blackwell had a better option for the grieving family.

“I thought that was so impersonal, so I had them meet me here and the funeral home director brought

the deceased here,” she said. “I just wanted to let them know that we care.”

She gave the family private time to grieve and say their final goodbye.

She wants to develop that same empathy with other families who come through her office.

Working in homicide for 12 years, she is no stranger to death. She has seen everything from suicides to elder and child abuse, assaults and other major crimes. She has been to crime scenes with dead bodies and had to console the family afterward.

It is her faith that pushes her through her job.

She lives by the Scripture verse from Jeremiah 29:11: “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

“I figured everything that happened to me was because it was the plan he had for me,” she said.

She wants the coroner’s office to be involved more in the community.

A future project for her is to have an internship program for Morris College students who want to go into forensics or law enforcement careers.

She is getting acquainted in her new role and partaking in several

Life is busy...

training sessions all while keeping busy in the morgue.

Blackwell may not have chosen this path to begin with but is glad she has followed it. She realizes that others will look toward her as an example in the community to break through their own barriers.

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A family of fixers

Words and photograph

by Sharron Haley

Black River Tools Inc. has grown from a shed to worldwide business

F

orty years ago, a Clarendon County man and his son used tin and lumber from a demolished chicken pen to build a business that has endured and thrived for the past four decades with sales not only across the United States but worldwide.

“It all started with a shed that Daddy and I built from a chicken pen that was being bulldozed,” said David Baynard, who now runs the family owned business that his mother and father, Melva and Calvin Baynard, started right next door to their home. “We picked out the best boards and tin and built a shed, and we’re still using parts of that building today.”

Black River Tools Inc. at 6509 S.C 260 started out manufacturing gardening tools under the name Weed Ox, a company that is still flourishing today.

It wasn't too long before the Baynards expanded their gardening tool manufacturing business into the design and production of a product that developed into the largest part of the business.

The Baynards lived and worked less than 3.5 miles from the shores of Lake Marion, the largest manmade lake in South Carolina that is renowned for its excellent fishing including record-setting

36 FEBRUARY - MARCH 2021 | LAKESIDE

catches of catfish and bass.

“We began making fishing rod holders for people who were catfishing,” David Baynard said. “Now, that is the largest part of our business.”

Marketed nationally under the name Driftmaster, Black River Tools’ industry-leading steel rod holders feature several designs so anglers can match a Driftmaster rod holder to their specific boat and their particular fishing needs.

Baynard said Driftmaster is marketed locally through Simpson Hardware and Sporting Goods in Manning and Sumter and Schofield’s in Florence as well as Bass Pro Shops and Cabela’s.

“We distribute to mom-and-pop stores, too,” he added.

With Driftmaster well on its way to setting industry standards, the Baynards returned their attention to their gardening tools, but they were always open to additional diversification.

Weed Ox, Black River Tools’ gardening tool line, features hoes that are “designed to work, built to last.” Weed Ox hoes’ unique three-sided cuttingedge design allows a gardener to not only till the soil but at the same time sever unwanted weed stems and roots. The hoes’ blade design also allows

gardeners to work closer to their plants without harming them.

The Cultivator was the first gardening tool they developed. It features a two-blade head and is the heaviest of the Weed Ox products to take care of larger projects where weeds and roots are a problem.

The smallest Weed Ox tool is the Critter. It’s a hand-held device developed for use in flower boxes and small gardening needs.

The Bossy is a long-handled version of the Critter and has a four-foot handle that helps prevent a lot of back bending. It’s also designed for light edging and weeding delicate plants.

The Bully is a heavy-duty, robust version of the Bossy with a longer handle and designed for use in heavy weeding.

Black River Tools also had a third line under its manufacturing umbrella, Father Nature Bird Feeders.

Baynard said when they began considering the manufacturing of bird feeders that they had a demographic study conducted by the University of Wisconsin that revealed 80 million Americans were bird enthusiasts.

To develop a bird feeder that would last, the Baynards researched the various problems with current feeders.

“Bird feeders need to address four problems,” Baynard said. “Squirrels, longevity, moisture and seed waste.”

Father Nature Bird Feeders feature all-metal construction including a steel roof. The construction prevents big birds from raking unwanted seeds out of the feeder. The design also prevents moisture from developing and ruining the seeds.

The newest product designed and manufactured at Black River Tools is the Golf Cart Lok. “We added the Golf Cart Lok to help prevent golf cart theft,” Baynard said. “Most of the theft is by breaking into the ignition, but our product locks the

pedals.”

By locking the pedals, the golf cart cannot be driven nor pushed onto a trailer, even if the key is switched on. It is also a great safety measure for parents with small children. It prevents a small child from operating the cart unattended.

Baynard said the Golf Cart Lok does not need to be removed to use the cart. The Lok can easily be pivoted out of the way within seconds for the cart to be used.

“What a lot of people don’t realize is that all of our products have a lifetime warranty,” he said. “All of our products are made with quality products that we stand behind. When you’re making products that your friends and neighbors are using, you want to make sure that the quality is the very best, and

that’s what we’re doing.”

While his parents have retired, Baynard said many of the business’ 10 employees have been with them for the entire 40 years.

“Everyone here wants to contribute,” he said. “It’s a great bunch.

“Daddy used to sit on a stool in the middle of the shop while everyone worked around him. We miss him. It’s a family business, and everyone here is like family.”

Find out more More information on Black River Tools Inc. www.blackrivertools.com or info@blackrivertools.com

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The wood duck:

A conservation project you can easily take on

Words by Dan Geddings

T

he wood duck or Carolina “summer duck” is the only species of waterfowl that nests in any significant numbers in our state. They are called summer ducks because they are seen here during the summer. A few hooded mergansers nest here, as do some domestic mallards and Canada geese, but most ducks and geese fly back to the north country to mate and rear their young.

Wood ducks evolved in a forested environment of swamps, creeks and bottomland rivers. They have adapted to the many predators that share their habitat and managed to thrive in South Carolina. They are the No. 1 duck harvested by hunters here.

The drake wood duck is one of the most vividly colored of all the ducks. Some say the most beautiful duck on Earth. Only its close relative, the Mandarin duck of Asia, can compare to its beauty. The woodie’s head and crest are metallic green and purple with white stripes above a red eye and white throat and cheek patches. The breast is chestnut with white flecks. The back and wings are iridescent blue and green. The flanks are buff with black-and-white markings. Even the more draby-colored hens are beautiful, with an overall brown and olive body and white eye and

38 FEBRUARY - MARCH 2021 | LAKESIDE

throat patches. Any person who has ever held one in their hand can only marvel at its beauty.

The nesting season for wood ducks starts in late winter when drakes and hens pair off, or select mates. The drake will follow the hen around and stand watch as she searches for a suitable nest site. Hollow trees above water are the preferred location, but sometimes the nest is located up to a mile or more from water.

Wood ducks are perching ducks and will land in trees during the nesting season while looking for the right hollow or nesting cavity. They rarely perch in trees any other time of the year.

Most hens start egg laying in late February or early March before snakes and other predators are active. If a nest is destroyed by predators, hens will re-nest readily. The hen will pull some down feathers from her breast to line the nest hidden in a natural tree cavity or manmade nest box. A clutch of 12 to 15 cream-colored eggs is laid. One egg is laid every day until the clutch is complete. Incubation takes about 32 days and is performed by the female only. The drake usually abandons the hen shortly after incubation begins.

Young wood ducks usually leave the nest early in the morning,

two days after hatching, by jumping from the nesting cavity. The hen will fly out to the ground or water below and begin calling. The ducklings have very sharp claws on their webbed feet and will easily climb to the entrance hole. The jump, often from high up in a tree, does not injure them. When the hen has collected her brood, she will lead them to a nearby shallow water area with suitable brood-rearing habitat. Beaver ponds and bottomland swamps offer an excellent mix of cover and open water for young ducklings.

In areas where natural nesting cavities are lacking, wood ducks will use artificial nesting boxes. Placing nest boxes over or near water that has good brood habitat can produce great results.

The S.C. Department of Natural Resources website has plans on building and installing wood duck nest boxes. The South Carolina Waterfowl Association will also provide information and assistance if

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you have an area suitable for nest boxes. A nest box project can be a rewarding and enjoyable experience for someone interested in a handson conservation project.

I have 16 nest boxes on 12 acres of ponds and seasonal wetlands that I own in Clarendon County. Most years, every box is used by wood ducks. Hooded mergansers and screech owls will also use some of the boxes for nesting. It is a tremendous personal satisfaction to see firsthand the results of the project. I enjoy checking and maintaining the boxes, cleaning out the occasional squirrel nest or trimming back the nearby brush.

The wood ducks that are raised on my property disperse to the surrounding beaver ponds, swamps and lakes. They are truly the summer ducks of South Carolina.

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