Wedding & Event Venue Near Winnsboro, SC.

WINNSBORO – Audience members who attend any of The Pine Tree Playhouse performances or musical revues are used to seeing spellbinding drama or lyrical music. On March 5, the PTP audience will have a chance to see a different kind of art that is no less spellbinding or lyrical.

On that day, the playhouse will feature a one-night-only art gallery. The gallery will showcase the works of West Columbia area artist and actress Ashley Bevensee, last seen on the PTP stage as Grandmama in the Addams Family Musical. Bevensee was also the creative mind behind the set for that musical and the creative arm behind most of the set decorations (including the creepy wall paintings.)

Guests can peruse the art beginning at 3:30 p.m. and the art auction will take place at 4 p.m. Proceeds will benefit the theater activities. Donations are also accepted if patrons do not care to purchase artwork.

Currently living in West Columbia, Bevensee was born in Syracuse, NY where she was raised by her grandparents. She is married and the mother of two boys, ages 7 and 11

Bevensee dabbles in many different media, but she says her best pieces are acrylic or charcoal.

‘I’ve been a creator for as long as I can remember,”.

She says it all began with finger painting and coloring books, she quickly developed a passion for the release of emotion onto a canvas. She said she remembers when she was younger, thriving on learning about Vincent Van Gogh.

“He suffered so much and created such beauty that the world still views today,” she said. ‘Art is complex. It is feeling, it is emotion, it is ever adapting, changing, evolving. I aim to take such emotion, no matter the emotion it may be, and express it through my art.”

‘I also want to spread happiness with my art, the awe and wonder of what someone can do with a pencil or a paint brush,” she said. “And although my work pales in comparison to the work of the fine artists out there, I still have joy in the moment someone sees a piece I have done and relishes in the beauty they may find.”

“There has never been much of a theme in my work, typically always evolving, flowing, and ebbing with the wave of emotions that continuously shift from day to day. The world is a crazy place and my mind is a much crazier place. I express that through my work.

“I currently create in the free time that I have in my work schedule and my two boys’ schedules,” she said.

After submitting paintings into the South Carolina State Fair fine art competition each year Bevensee recently won a merit award for her painting of the Union Pacific steam locomotive #4014.

“The painting, called ‘The Big One,’ took three months to complete. I used three acrylic paint colors: white, black, and a light blue.

“Inspired by a dear friend and train enthusiast, the painting was my pride and joy, and to this day it resides in my friend’s home. His smile and love for the painting was more than any award I could win.”

The one-night art show and sale showcasing Bevensee’s works on March 5 will feature a different – but still special – kind of art on stage.

The Pine Tree Playhouse is located at 230 S. Congress Street, Winnsboro, S.C.

By Mike London mike.london@salisburypost.com

SPENCER — North Rowan is in the market for a new football coach.

Rumors swirled for a few days before Nygel Pearson made the official announcement that he is leaving North Rowan to head the program at Spring Valley High, a 5A school in Columbia, S.C.

“It’s an opportunity for me and my family that I couldn’t pass up,” Pearson said. “And getting back home to South Carolina is a plus.”

Pearson’s hire was approved at a school board meeting on Tuesday. Pearson plans to meet with his new team — the Spring Valley Vikings — today. The 36-year-old Darlington native plans to be moved back to South Carolina in time for the spring drills that take place in May.

He’ll be taking over a program that won four games last fall and lost in the first round of the playoffs, but it’s a program known for quality athletes and top-notch facilities.

South Carolina newspapers reported that Pearson was Spring Valley’s choice out of 45 applicants for the job. He’s got some impressive credentials.

In his high school playing days at Darlington High, Pearson made all-star teams. He was a good enough player to be offered by Central Florida and a sharp enough student to be offered by Princeton. He wanted to stick close to his family, so he headed 90 minutes south to Orangeburg to play football for South Carolina State.

A 6-foot-6, 305-pound bulldozer of an offensive lineman, he made second team All-Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference as a senior in 2008. As a scholar, he was a semifinalist for the Draddy Award that goes to college football’s top student-athlete.

He was an assistant coach for two years at Fairfield Central High School in Winnsboro, S.C., north of Columbia.

In 2010, he he returned to South Carolina State. He coached tight ends, then fullbacks, then the offensive line. Then he had a stint as offensive coordinator.

He got married. He earned a masters degree.

His time at South Carolina State, ironically, intersected with the arrival of one of the best players in South Carolina State history — North Rowan graduate Javon Hargrave — who became a two-time FCS defensive player of the year.

“What I remember about Hargrave is that sometimes we’d have to take him out of scrimmages, so our offense could get some work in,” Pearson said with a laugh. “Big hips and big butt, but he was so quick. He was not blockable.”

In 2017, Brian Hinson left his job as the Catawba College offensive line coach to take charge of the program at Salisbury High.

It’s a small world. Curtis Walker was Catawba’s head coach and Walker, had tried as a Coastal Carolina assistant to recruit Pearson out of high school.

So they knew each other and trusted each other. Pearson got the Catawba job as o-line coach and running game coordinator. That brought him to Rowan County.

By 2020, Pearson was ready for a new challenge. He applied for the North Rowan head coaching job that was vacated when Ben Hampton headed to South Carolina’s Socastee High, near Myrtle Beach.

Pearson’s three seasons of leading the Cavaliers weren’t fantastic, but they were solid — 5-3, 8-4 and 7-5.

Those 20 wins included four that came in the 1A state playoffs.

“The year I was hired was the pandemic year (2020) and I was just trying to hold the program together,” Pearson said. “That was a baptism by fire, but we had some good leaders on that team, guys like Zay Davis and Tsion Delaney. They bought in and once we got to play the games, we had a pretty good season.”

Pearson’s fondest memories of North will be from his second season. The 2021 Cavaliers were a cardiac bunch. They played three overtime games and won all three. They beat North Stanly 36-32 in a truly amazing game during which North receiver Amari McArthur broke the county record for receiving yards in a game.

“North Stanly was one of those crazy games, you’re just trying to figure out some way to win, and the last thing you’re thinking about is stats,” Pearson said. “I was amazed when we saw Amari’s numbers (273 receiving yards) after that game. Then there was the game at Thomas Jefferson in the second round of the playoffs. Winning a second-round road playoff game in overtime. That’s always going to be a great memory. We were blessed with some really special offensive players during my time at North in Amari, (quarterback) Jeremiah Alford and (running back) Jaemias Morrow.”

The most memorable loss? That was 50-47 at Robbinsville in the third round of the state playoffs.

“One more stop in that game, and it’s not just a good season for us, it’s a great one,” Pearson said.

Pearson shared coach of the year honors with Hinson for that 2021 season.

Last fall, the Cavaliers lost in the second round of the playoffs to the Mount Airy team that won the state title.

As things turned out, that game was Pearson’s final one with the green and gold.

Beyond what happened on the field, Pearson and his wife Majoria, who have two young children, have been praised by many as good role models and active community members.

“North Rowan was my first head coaching experience, and it was a really positive one,” Pearson said. “I was proud to coach North Rowan. I’m grateful that Meredith Williams and Mark Woody gave me that chance. I was a college coach who hadn’t been a high school head coach.”

Williams was the principal and Woody was the AD when Pearson was hired.

Pearson had the distinction of being North’s first Black head football coach, and the first in Rowan County since 1997.

North has been a very stout football school — 425-294-10 all-time.

Pearson added to a winning tradition that got its biggest boosts from the successful tenures of Larry Thomason (125-69-3 in 19 seasons) and Roger Secreast (108-59 in 14 seasons).

Under the leadership of Joe Nixon, Hampton and Pearson, North is 93-41 over the last 11 seasons.

“The goal always is to leave a place better than you found it,” Pearson said. “With the help of my wife and staff, we accomplished that.”

FAIRFIELD – A $2 billion electric vehicle plant that’s coming to Blythewood’s industrial park has been hailed as a ’once-in-a-lifetime’ economic development coup for Richland County. The plant is expected to bring in 4,000 high paying jobs and eventually turn out as many as 200,000 electric vehicles a year.

By not having a wastewater treatment plant, Fairfield may have missed out on that ‘once-in-a-lifetime’ coup. Fairfield officials say they hope to have a second chance at snagging the brass ring when suppliers for the plant start looking for sites near the mother plant in Blythewood.

“Suppliers for the Blythewood plant could bring tremendous investment to Fairfield,” County Council Vice Chair Clarence Gilbert said. “And, this time, we need to be ready for it. Being ready means having our wastewater treatment plant up and running in close to two years. Much later than that and Fairfield could miss out on its own chance of a lifetime. We need all hands on deck to secure that and other investment for our county,” he said.

During a recent meeting of the Fairfield Joint Water and Sewer Authority, Chairman John McMeekin, mayor of Winnsboro, agreed.

“Without the wastewater sewer plant, Fairfield County will die,” McMeekin said. “We will be left behind surrounding counties. We’ve got to be very serious about this project. More businesses will bring jobs and tax dollars from both workers and the business themselves,” he said.

To the county’s advantage, a little over two years ago, much of the preliminary work had been completed for a wastewater treatment plant to be built on county land near the intersection of Peach and Cook Roads and for the effluent to discharge into nearby Cedar Creek.

Gilbert said the county would have used the state-of-the-art MBR (membrane reactor) wastewater treatment system to produce near potable effluent.

By October, 2020, former County Administrator Jason Taylor and the council at that time had hired Thomas and Hutton engineering firm to complete a PER (preliminary engineering report) for the plant. Environmental studies had been completed and rights of way secured.

The estimated completion date for the plant was as early as the spring of this year.

“Basically,” said one former county official, “all we had to do was build the plant and extend a sewer line to the site, a two-year project.”

Financing the Project

The county needed $40 million dollars to make the plant happen. According to Taylor at the time, the SC Department of Commerce had committed substantial financial backing for the plant, and county leaders hoped to bring in $10 million with a penny sales tax and another $10 million from other sources.

The November, 2020 election ushered in a new majority of council members who had campaigned against the penny tax. Newly elected Fairfield County Councilwoman Shirley Greene said in an interview with The Voice shortly before the election that while she supported building a wastewater treatment plant for Fairfield County, she didn’t feel the time was right.

In addition to turnovers on council, the penny tax referendum failed, and the new council majority was focused more on other projects rather than on the urgency of completing the wastewater treatment plant.

New County Council Chairman Moses Bell saw the Broad River as the more viable site for the plant to discharge its effluent. While he was correct that the Broad would provide more capacity than Cedar Creek, unofficial estimates for going to the Broad included cost estimates upwards of $70 million and a completion schedule of five to six years.

A Second Chance

Almost two years ago, the county received $99 million from the Dominion Energy settlement, $45 million of which was earmarked for the wastewater treatment plant, enough to pay for the Cedar Creek plan.

Then, last November, the council majority turned over again. The new majority has refocused on the urgency to complete the wastewater treatment plant.

There is also urgency for the megasite to be ready to accommodate the new industry the proposed wastewater treatment plant could bring.

Zachariah Willoughby, project manager for the Fairfield County Department of Economic Development, says the 1,500-acre megasite that sits on I-77 at the intersection of Highway 32, is well on the way to being ready.

“With $6,475,000 from the Dominion settlement for grading the megasite, we’ve graded between 30 and 40 acres so far. We’re currently working through the utility extensions that are under design with our engineering firm, and we’re in the process of upgrading some of the roadways,” Willoughby said. “We have a grant for completing work on the IJR (Interstate Justification Report) so that we will have much of our work completed with the Army Corps of Engineers and the Department of Transportation when the new interchange for the megasite is built. And we’ve completed the preliminary environmental studies. I think we’ll be ready,” he said.

Still, the question haunts, ‘Could the $2 billon Scout plant have come to Fairfield instead of Blythewood?’

“At this point, the question is moot,” County Councilman Dan Ruff said. “No one will ever know.”

But Ruff agreed that the Blythewood plant’s suppliers could be Fairfield’s second chance.

“This time, we want to be ready.”

A new outdoor music venue is opening on Friday at Carolina Adventure World in Winnsboro, SC.

WINNSBORO, S.C. — The Arrowhead Pavilion at the Carolina Adventure World (CAW) opens on Friday. The venue is expected to bring thousands of tourist to Northeast Winnsboro, near Lake Wateree.

"I would hope that it puts Winnsboro back on the map again," said Connor Little, who lives in Fairfield County. "I feel like the bigger names, that go to the concerts, are definitely going to bring more people, which could bring more people here."

The CAW have remodeled the existing facility into the outdoor facility where performers will come entertain thousands of people.

Rodney Atkins will be the first performer, on April 1 at the CAW Country Concert Series breaking in the new stage.

With more people coming to Fairfield County, that could mean more revenue.

“Hopefully what it’ll do is change people’s perception in their minds that there’s so much to do in Fairfield County, if you know where it is," said Gene Stephens, President, Fairfield County Chamber of Commerce. "Having them come to our county, they see how special it is, our ultimate goal is to have them move to Fairfield County. We want to grow."

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Stephens explains the music pavilion will have a big economic impact for the County and is a kickstart to years of development.

"You will start to see us expand in the next 5 to 10 years with accommodations, with hospitality, with all kind of different venues to support people and tourism," Stephens said. "So yes, that will have a big economic impact, almost like a jump start to that process."

The owner of Southern Entertainment, Bob Durkin said the Arrowhead Pavilion is one of many projects to bring more tourists.

"There's a ton of renovations going on out here," Durkin said. "Making more camping spots, making the trails obviously better to ride with UTVs and you'll be able to rent the guided tours in May and June. But on top of that, we've also added a new restaurant called arrowhead tavern right outside but just everything you see right here. So I mean this is a gorgeous part of South Carolina."

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He told News 19, their first goal is to get more exposure for the venue.

"Eventually the revenue will come," Durkin said. "Right now, if we could just add 500 or a thousand more people and eyes to expose them to this place and they’ll see what the beauty is all about, see how great they are."

Traveling from North Carolina, Garrett Smith and Chris Frampton are visiting CAW for the weekend.

"We definitely like the family atmosphere," Smith said.

"Yeah the family atmosphere is really nice," Frampton added.

They hope the Pavilion will bring in more excitement to the area and more tourists like them.

Some Winnsboro residents say their electric bill for last month is nearly double what they normally pay. We found out why.

WINNSBORO, S.C. — Some Winnsboro residents say they have noticed their utility bill is much higher than normal and can't figure out why.

"It's outrageous," said Winnsboro resident Clarence Pauling. "It's way too high."

Pauling, who has lived in Winnsboro for more than 20 years, says his electric bill is normally between $350 to $400 a month.

"Nobody is in my house all day long and pretty much half the night. And my electric bill cost $600," Pauling said. "Fairfield County is a retirement county. There’s a lot of elderly people right here, living on a budget, fixed income, whatever you want to call it–they can’t afford to pay it."

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Thomas Armstrong is another resident who has noticed a surge in his bill.

"I just last month had a utility bill that was for $900, and that was for a 54-day cycle," Armstrong said. "My issue is, why are we sending out 54-day cycles?"

Town manager Jason Taylor says while it may seem like it, no one is being charged extra. He explained the billing period was extended because of a staffing shortage.

"Some of our meter readers who were out reading those meters saw that they may not have a job in the near future because they were going electronic, and so we started losing meter readers," Taylor said. "They (council) made the decision to invest $4 million in a new system."

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Taylor says one reader, out of the six they normally have, was left to record meters for thousands of residents in Winnsboro and Blythewood, causing a delay in sending out monthly bills. With six readers, he said they each would collect data for around 200 meters a day.

"It’s not that the bills have gone up," Taylor said. "We are waiving any and all fees associated with late bills or anything such as that."

With the shortage and delays, Taylor says residents are paying for two month's worth of utilities. He added that communication to residents about the delays should have been made more clear.

"If you pay towards your bill, we are not turning anyone off," Taylor said.

According to Taylor, officials hope to get the new systems for electric and water installed by 2024.