OPINION: Thumbs up to Copeland for being elected treasurer

Thumbs up to Darlington County Treasurer Belinda D. Copeland for being elected treasurer of the S.C. Association of Counties for 2009-10 during the organization’s 42nd Annual Conference. Seven Pee Dee county officials also graduated from the Institute of Government for County Officials during the conference. Level I graduates are Clarendon County Budget Analyst Tammy L. Rodvansky, Dillon County Councilman Robert Archie Scott, Marion County Administrator G. Timothy Harper and Williamsburg County County Supervisor/Chairman Stanley S. Pasley. Level II graduates are Chesterfield County Councilman W. Crawford Moore, Clarendon County Attorney David W. Epperson and Darlington County Councilman Le Flowers. The SCAC, chartered June 22, 1967, is a nonprofit and nonpartisan organization whose membership includes all 46 counties in South Carolina and is governed by a 29-member board of directors selected each year by county officials at the association’s annual conference. Its Web site is http://www.sccounties.
org.

Thumbs up to Thurmond L. Becote, vice chairman of the Florence School District 1 Board of Trustees, who has reached Level Four in the 2008-09 Boardmanship Institute of the S.C. School Boards Association (SCSBA). To qualify for Level Six recognition, the highest level of achievement, recipients must earn at least 300 points for participation in training sessions during the past five years or less and pass a written exam. The SCSBA Boardmanship Institute, established in 1982, offers a year-round training curriculum to help board members develop skills and stay abreast of state and national educational issues. Workshops focus on school law, school finance, legislation, improving board operations, leadership for improving student achievement and other timely topics.

Thumbs up to Home Depot and Evans Concrete Co. for their donations to help Clifford Gade, a local disabled veteran. Ken Curran said American Legion Post No. 1 and Rolling Thunder of Florence presented certificates of appreciation to the two businesses Sept. 23. Both veterans’ associations came to Gade’s aid when they found out his recently-installed handicapped ramp wasn’t put in correctly. He couldn’t exit the ramp without slipping off the concrete pad, as it was too small. The ramp also had been installed over his driveway, rather than beside, making his driveway too narrow for vehicles. American Legion Post No. 1 Commander Michael McIntire and Rolling Thunder of Florence President C.W. Anderson went out to local businesses to get materials donated, or sold at a reduced cost, to help them correct the problems. “Evans Concrete Co. and Home Depot stepped right up and donated everything,” Curran wrote. Certificates from both veterans’ groups were presented to Evans Concrete Co. Vice President Reamer Evans and Sales Department Head Trip Maxwell, son of legion member Ted Maxwell. Presentations also were done at Home Depot to Merilee Damico, operations manager, on behalf of Jason Howell, specialty manager, Curran said.