Wedding & Event Venue Near Newberry, SC.

Multiple trees down and car wrecks were reported due to the severe weather

NEWBERRY, S.C. — Newberry county officials are still checking for any damage in that area from the storm. Earlier today that area was under severe thunderstorms warnings and was getting heavy rain and high winds.

“we have six operations channels on our fire rescue and ems system and all six of those radio channels were tied up at one time today during the height of the storm,” Newberry County Sheriff Lee Foster said.

Newberry county was one of the many in the midlands who was hit by today’s severe weather.

Sheriff Foster says the county started working on a plan earlier this week to prepare for the storm but says severe weather isn’t something new for Newberry county.

“We’re usually right in the midst of tornadic weather and bad thunderstorms. so we pretty much do this all the time throughout the year so we usually operate under the same conditions we just are now able to hone it in to certain areas of the county that we know might get hit worse than the others, ” Foster said.

Sheriff foster says the weather in Newberry county was not as bad as they expected but many community members were still impacted by the heavy storm.

“We’ve had numerous wrecks because when it rains like its rained people hydroplane, we’ve had some power outages throughout the county mostly in the Prosperity, Little Mountain area," Foster said. "We’ve had a couple houses that have had trees fall on them, damage assessment has not been done on that and we’ve had numerous trees in the road, but at present all of that has been cleared out and people are able to get around.”

Now that the storm has passed the sheriff says they will move to a more clean up focused process and will be checking in on communities member throughout the county.

“Our emergency service is almost entirely volunteers. volunteer firefighters, volunteer rescue squad members and they live in the communities they serve, wholly. So they know everybody in the community and they know who needs help so they will go check on them as well. that’s the beautiful part of living in Newberry county,” Foster said.

NEWBERRY – Applications are now available for the Newberry-PMPA Community Scholar Scholarship. The City of Newberry will accept applications through March 29. The annual scholarship awards up to four qualifying high school seniors $500 towards their tuition to any South Carolina accredited university/college or technical college.

The Piedmont Municipal Power Agency (PMPA) is a joint action agency formed by 10 municipal electric utilities, including Newberry, in the northwest section of South Carolina. The agency provides wholesale electric service to its members primarily through a 25% ownership interest in Unit 2 of the Catawba Nuclear Station in York County, SC.

This will be the 12th year that the City of Newberry has been able to provide this scholarship to students through PMPA. In the previous 10 years, a total of 33 students have received the scholarship.

City of Newberry Utility Director Tim Baker said this scholarship gives students the opportunity to learn more about public power in their community.

“I’m excited that PMPA can offer this scholarship each year for students in our community,” Baker said. “This is a great opportunity.”

Applicants must have attended at minimum, three years of high school or home-schooling within the city limits of Newberry, SC and obtained a high school degree. They must also have a legal guardian who is a current residential electric utility customer of the City of Newberry Utilities Department.

They must also demonstrate personal leadership as reflected in a leadership role related to academic, co-curricular organization and clubs, community or church service, athletics or other similar areas.

Interested applicants that meet the above qualifications need to submit their application along with a letter of recommendation from a non-relative to attest to their character. A copy of the student’s current high school transcript must also be included.

Full scholarship contest details have been sent to Newberry Academy, Newberry High School, Newberry College, Piedmont Technical College and the Newberry County Career Center. A scholarship form can also be completed and downloaded from the homepage of the City of Newberry’s website (www.cityofnewberry.com).

To receive the scholarship, applicants must attend a South Carolina accredited university, college or technical college and provide a letter of acceptance to that school.

The deadline for submissions to the City of Newberry is 5 p.m. March 29. A scholarship committee will select the winners of the scholarships. Each application will be assigned a “blind” designation, so the committee has no prior knowledge of who the applicant is for each submittal. As a result, city personnel and relatives are eligible to enter the contest.

In case of a tie, a personal interview may be requested of the finalists.

Winners of the scholarship will be announced in May. A first and second alternate may also be selected in the event a winner becomes ineligible. After winners have been chosen and a letter of acceptance from a South Carolina university, college or technical college has been provided, a check will be made payable to the school in the student’s name and credited to tuition.

Scholarship forms and more information are available on the City of Newberry’s website, www.cityofnewberry.com. A hard copy can also be picked up from Elyssa Haven at City Hall, 1330 College Street.

Applications can be submitted via email to ehaven@cityofnewberry.com, in person to Haven at City Hall, or mailed to Newberry – PMPA Community Scholar, City of Newberry, P.O. Box 538 and made attention to Elyssa Haven. As long as mailed applications are postmarked by the due date they will be accepted.

Those submitted will not be considered complete until all pieces of the form, including transcripts, letter of recommendation, and test scores have been turned in.

Questions may be directed to Haven at 803-321-1000.

Although it was dark outside, what a Midlands man saw nearly caused him to have a heart attack, he told to South Carolina Education Lottery officials.

Although he said the sight of his $1 million winning lottery ticket originally was almost too much for him to bear, now the Newberry man says he feels great after cashing in his prize, officials said Thursday in a news release.

“It’s a blessing,” the winner said in the release.

What turned out to be the seven-figure winning scratch-off game was sold for $10 at the Pops gas station/convenience store at 1190 Wilson Road in Newberry, officials said.

The man said it was so early when he stopped at the store and bought the $1,000,000 Riches game that the sun hadn’t come up yet, according to the release.

And what was his first reaction to seeing the result that lottery officials said “has changed his life?”

“I nearly had a heart attack,” he said.

The man didn’t reveal his plans for spending his newfound windfall, saying only “it’s going toward retirement.”

The winner will be allowed to retain some privacy, as South Carolina is one of 11 states — along with Arizona, Delaware, Georgia, Kansas, Maryland, New Jersey, North Dakota, Ohio, Texas and Virginia — that allow lottery winners to remain anonymous.

The odds of winning the $1 million top prize in the $1,000,000 Riches game were 1-in-1,350,000, according to the release. One of the game’s four top prize-winning tickets remains unclaimed, according to the lottery website.

The Pops store received a commission of $10,000 for selling the claimed ticket, according to the release.

In a breaking news situation, facts can be unclear and the situation may still be developing. The State is trying to get important information to the public as quickly and accurately as possible. This story will be updated as more information becomes available, and some information in this story may change as the facts become clearer. Refresh this page later for more updated information.

NEWBERRY – October is almost here which means it’s time for the City of Newberry’s annual Oktoberfest event in downtown Newberry! Indulge in authentic German cuisine, music and arts and crafts vendors right in the heart of downtown!

This year’s event will take place on Saturday, October 7 from 10 a.m. until 6 p.m. in the downtown historic district, approximately eight city blocks.

Bridget Carey, tourism and events manager for the City of Newberry, said the event will have 14 food vendors this year, with a good variety for all to enjoy.

Traveling from the upper end of Main Street, the event area begins with Community Corner which includes 13 different groups such as churches, non-profits, civic organizations and more.

In addition to Community Corner, Newberry County Animal Care and Control will house pet adoptions in the parking lot of Livingston’s Service Station. Pet adoptions are first come, first serve for those interested in potentially adopting a pet.

The Ritz Theater, 1511 Main Street, will be doing free children’s puppet shows again this year. The shows will be put on by the Columbia Marionette Theater. Carey said this year’s show is Cinderella. More information on the show can be found at www.cmtpuppet.org/traveling-show.

For fans of arts and crafts, there will be 32 different vendors lining Main Street during this year’s Oktoberfest, selling a variety of items, all handmade or homemade. Carey said items in this section range from wreaths, pottery, fine art, jewelry and more.

Headed towards Kindertown, located on Boyce Street will be the Artist Alley, reserved for the Newberry Made community. This section will feature local artisans and crafters that are members of Newberry Made and comprises of performers, potters, painters, woodworkers and more.

Kindertown

Carey said many familiar favorites of guests are returning to Kindertown this year, located in the Newberry County Courthouse parking lot. The carousel rides, rock climbing wall and bungee trampoline can be found in Kindertown for guests to enjoy. Another favorite this year will be the video game truck, also featured in this area.

The Lowe’s craft tent will be back this year with fun projects for children and the carnival band organ will be back as in years past.

Kindertown is sponsored by Newberry County Memorial Hospital and they will be in the area with children’s activities, Carey said. Vendors will also be in this area selling a variety of items geared toward children and children’s gifts.

Just outside of Kindertown, is where the first aid, fire safety, police and EMS will be located at the corner of Boyce and College Streets. For those that need assistance throughout the event, Carey said this is also where the first aid station, lost item or lost child area will be located.

Also, past Kindertown, visitors will enter the food court as well as two Biergartens to enjoy. This year’s food vendors will surround Community Hall with a Biergarten set up there and another in Memorial Park.

Carey encourages visitors to check out the Newberry Arts Center at 1200 Main Street to see artwork by local potters, photographers, painters, jewelry makers and more. The arts center will also display work by their students and have information related to their classes, paint parties and workshops.

At the corner of Harrington and McKibben Streets, the South Carolina Midlands Muscle and Classic Car Display will be set up for visitors to view and grab a few photos.

Heading back towards Memorial Park from the car display, the event ATM will be set up for those needing cash. While some of Oktoberfest’s vendors will be able to accept card payments, a lot will be cash only.

Entertainment and More

The free, live music stage, known as Rocktoberfest will have entertainment all day in Memorial Park starting at 10 a.m. with Army Band performing a variety of music.

Starting at 11:15 a.m., the Three Dot Polka Band will be returning with traditional Polka music.

At 12:30 p.m. the judging will occur for the traditional German dress contest in three categories – Women’s Traditional Dress, Men’s Traditional Dress and children (up to age 16). There will be no fee to enter, but Carey invites visitors to meet at the stage during this time and judging will be based on applause from the audience.

Following the contest, Tokyo Joe will perform a variety of musical hits, with the stage ending with a performance by Robbie Cockrell until 5:45 p.m.

Housekeeping Rules

A full map of the event area is available at newberryoktoberfest.com which includes areas for free parking available to visitors.

Those who live and frequent the downtown area should expect street closures beginning at 3 p.m. Friday, October 6 as the lower part of Main Street from Caldwell to Nance Streets will be closed for the city’s Shop and Dive event. Road closures will expand further up Main Street that evening to the full event area. A full list of road closures for the weekend can be found at newberryoktoberfest.com under the “Parking” tab.

There are many free parking areas surrounding the event area including Friend Street, Harrington Street and spots at the Newberry County Library.

Golf carts are subject to the exact same laws and regulations as regular vehicles, and they cannot drive through the event or be parked on sidewalks or side streets leading into the festival area. Barricades also must remain unblocked in the event of an emergency and vehicles, nor golf carts should be parked there.

There will be three portable restroom stations and a restroom trailer within the event area and those are marked on the map, Carey said.

While there will be pet adoptions ongoing throughout the event, patrons are asked to please leave their pets at home for the safety of event patrons and due to the high volume of foot traffic. However, service animals are allowed.

For more information on all things Newberry Oktoberfest, visit www.newberryoktoberfest.com.

NEWBERRY — On Saturday, January 13, Newberry’s annual weekend celebrations for the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, starting with a parade that starts at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday.

The full weekend celebration started around five years ago when Travis Reeder sought to find a way to extend and do more for the important holiday.

“I had talked to a lot of people and they basically said they wanted more than one day of events. So I’ve always wanted to do the parade, but I needed help,” Reeder said.

He reached out to a local group called the Champions, an organization that dedicated themselves to raising money for cancer research and Relay for Life, who helped organize and get people signed up for the parade. “They’ve been helping me out ever since with the parade,” Reeder added.

The parade hosts over 30 participants (with time and room to sign up for businesses still interested). Reeder and the Champions urge anyone interested in being in the parade to sign up before Friday, January 12.

“I want to get as many people as I can to be involved in the parade, whether you want to be in the parade or whether you want to come and watch the parade because the whole weekend is dynamic,” said Reeder.

Following the parade, on Monday, January 15, at 9:30 a.m., there will be a march from Bethlehem Baptist Church to Miller Chapel AME Church, with a program following at 10:00 a.m.

“With the program, we first march to signify the marches of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. With the program, we always had a person who comes in and talks about the time when Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was alive and the meaning of his marches and his speeches,” Reeder said.

The march also helps younger people get involved and active, as well as showing them what the marches looked and felt like during the Civil Rights Movement. This year’s speaker, who Reeder said he tries to get people from Newberry, includes Sharon Harmon, Rhode Island’s first African American to achieve the rank of Colonel in the National Guard. The program also sees a number of choirs and dance groups from across Newberry.

“We usually have well over 200 people,” Reeder said. “I’ve never had a program where the church wasn’t overfilled.”

Reeder and the Champions urge everyone in Newberry to go out to the parade on the 13 at 2:00 p.m. and take part in the march on the 15 at 9:30 a.m. with the 10:00 a.m. program following.

“It’s a day on, not a day off,” Reeder said.