“ALL ABOUT YOUR FAMILY AND FRIENDS” myflorencetoday.com • 843-667-9656
INSIDE THIS WEEK Symphony Guild prepares for
CHRISTMAS HOME TOUR
NOVEMBER 15, 2017
VOL. 37, NO. 48
Adoption completes this family November is National Adoption Month – a time to bring attention and awareness of the need for permanent families for children and youth. Following is Part I in a series of local families who have opened their homes and hearts by adopting a child. BY BRENDA HARRISON Editor of The News Journal Florence, S.C.
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Deaths..................page 2A Opinion ................page 4A Good Life .............page 1B Classifieds ............page 4B Sports...................page 7A
NEIGHBORS NAME: Jane Poole FAMILY: Husband Bucky, a daughter, stepdaughter, stepson BORN: Florence, lives in Florence OCCUPATION: Retired first grade teacher FSD1 Greenwood HOBBIES OR SPECIAL INTERESTS: Decorating, shopping and traveling WHAT DO YOU LIKE ABOUT FLORENCE: Quiet, good place to live and good location. WHO OR WHAT HAS MOST INFLUENCED YOU? “My dad who was kind, understanding and loved his church, St. Anthony, where he played the organ.”
Keith and Coleman Buckhouse were blessed with two beautiful little girls, but Coleman had a desire for a son to complete their family. She had not thought much about adoption, until one of her sorority sisters adopted a young boy from Russia. The idea of adoption took root in her heart. She began checking into the international adoption process with the request for a boy over a year old. Her husband was a little unsure about this process, she said, until they received a photo of this cute little Russian boy, 13 months old. They immediately knew he was the son they were missing. Eventually, the Buckhouses flew to St. Petersburg, Russia, to meet this little blonde-headed boy. Warned that the children in the orphanage had little contact with men, they were prepared that he may be afraid of Keith. Not so with Eddie – he immediately crawled in Keith’s lap and his new dad was smitten. They have
THE BUCKHOUSE FAMILY – From left, Keith, Emery, Daisy, Eddie and Coleman been close buddies every since. The couple spent two weeks with the boy who would become their son before bringing him to his new home in Florence. At that time he was 18 months old. They named him Edward Joseph Buckhouse. “I knew this was in God’s hands. This was so right,” Cole-
man remembers feeling. His official adoption date is March 28, 2001, a date celebrated by the family each year as his Got Cha Day. Before traveling to Russia, Coleman purchased a heavy coat to prepare for the cold weather. She hasn’t needed it since returning to our mild climate, but friends
who also adopted Russian children have borrowed her coat. “It has become my traveling coat,” Coleman quipped, noting that it kept three of her friends warm in Russia. These include Courtney Sullivan and Michelle Jones, who also adopted children. SEE
ADOPTION PAGE 2A
Superintendent Dr. Randy Bridges resigns Florence One Superintendent Dr. Randy Bridges submitted his letter of resignation effective Dec. 31, 2017, to the Florence School District One Board of Trustees on Thursday evening during executive session of the board meeting. Dr. Bridges became the superintendent of Florence School District One schools on Jan. 5, 2015. During Dr. Bridges’ tenure as superintend-
ent, over 15 new initiatives were implemented in Florence One schools. Specifically, the number of choice options have increased from four to eight, including STEM Magnet, Language Immersion, Early College, Elementary Montessori, and the district’s first full-time, Year Round Calendar School. Planning is currently underway for an elementary International Baccalaureate Program as well. In addition, three schools
implemented one-to-one initiatives over the past three years. Under Dr. Bridges’ leadership, Florence One continued its commitment to Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM). It now has five schools that have received AdvancED STEM Certification.
SEE
BRIDGES RESIGNS PAGE 2A
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