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Claridge House Bed and Breakfast Opens Again

Courtesy Wagener Monthly

The Claridge House Bed & Breakfast owned by Stan and Gloria Collum and its restaurant, Virginia’s Back Porch, is being redecorated and will reopen soon under the management of Kellie Patterson.  Also, Patterson and her husband Jim will bring their “Smok’n Guns” Food Truck to the Claridge House lawn adjacent to the town parking and town clock.

Virginia’s Back Porch will open again for lunch on M, T, Th and Fr serving a variety of salads, chicken salad, smoked roast beef sandwiches, Jim’s special smoked meatloaf and things like that, maybe some different things to start with to see what people prefer.  Patterson plans to have some specials like shrimp and grits, lasagna, and fish tacos. 

Virginia’s Back Porch will also offer special events and dinners by reservation, such as an oyster roast and holiday dinners with limited capacity and a quiet environment.  Patterson is thinking about a dinner club, too.  Gloria Collum wants to do something nice for the community, something fun and different.  Ideas tossed around include bringing in a guest chef and maybe having some chef duels.

Book rooms now at ClaridgeHousebb.com.  Virginia’s Back Porch will open soon upon completion.

Kellie and Jim Patterson’s Smok’n Guns BBQ food truck will serve Texas style BBQ and smoked meats using Jim’s combination of rubs and smoking.  The couple plans to serve good quality hamburgers, hot dogs, smoked meat specials and hand dipped ice-cream.  In addition to their own tables and seating, customers can also use the park benches.  They may try to do breakfast with biscuits or croissants. 

WSHS Track & Field Excel at Upper State

By COL Maxie Joye, courtesy ACPSD website

Congratulations to the boys and girls track teams for their performance at the Class A Upper-State Track and Field Championship Meet held on Saturday, May 6th at Eastside High School.  As a team the boys team finished 4th and the girls finished 9th out of 20 schools eligible to participate in the meet. Wagener-Salley qualified three relay teams for the Class A State Track and Field Championship Meet to be held at Spring Valley High School in Columbia on Saturday, May 13th. 

The boys 4 x 800 meter relay team finished 1st and 4 x 400 meter relay team finished 3rd to earn a spot in the state championship meet.  The girls 4 x 800 relay team qualified for the State meet by finishing 4th.  This will be the first time in more than 12 years that Wagener-Salley will have a relay team competing for a state championship. 

In addition to the relay teams, several athletes from Wagener-Salley earned a spot in the state championship.  These athletes include: Henry Peterson, triple jump; Lance Adams, 800 meter run; Ja’lasyiana Williams, 400 meter dash; and Key’Asia Dunbar, shot-put. 

Members of the relay teams are as follows:

Boys 4 x 800M Relay Team (Class A Upper State Champions) (See Headline Photo!)

Lance Adams

Reginald Gleaton

Balam Gunter

Phillip Stroble

 

Boys 4 x 400M Relay Team

Ar’uan Edwards

Michael Mitchell

Henry Peterson

Kyrique Vance

 

Girls 4 x 800M Relay Team

Trinity Ables

Maliah Harris

La Java Williams

Ja’lasyiana Williams

 

Wagons to Wagener Festival 2017 Fun For All

Our annual Wagons to Wagener festival from Thursday, May 18 - Saturday May 20, 2017 was another wonderful time of community fun.  This year kicked off with some karaoke and dancing at the pavilion.  Rides and food vendors opened and local people sold handmade items - soaps, lotions, baked goodies, and more - including some home-made "slime" for the kids.

We have a permanent logo T-Shirt as well as a 2017 T-Shirt and we have a few 2016 and older T-Shirts still available in limited quantities.  Purchase one of each logo each year!

Friday included a free concert from New Holland Road at night while Saturday's free evening concert was Anybody's Guess.  Both concerts had a dance floor provided and big crowds gathered around in lawn chairs.

This year's parade on Saturday morning awarded cash prizes for 3 categories, something new for us.  Be sure to check out all the photos on the Wagons to Wagener Festival Facebook page.

Be sure to thank all the sponsors and volunteers who worked hard to make this a success.

Soaring Society's 2017 Region 5 North Contest

 
By Valerie Sliker

Around the third week of April each year, 65 pilots spend a week soaring 5,000 feet above town with no engine and very little navigational tools.  Pilots and their families from almost every state in our nation visit our beautiful edge of Aiken County, SC for seven or more days.  That’s 200 visitors patronizing our local businesses and entertaining our kids, encouraging them to pursue their dreams.

The Soaring Society of America’s Region 5 hosts the Region 5 North contest in Perry, SC each year, maxing out with 65 pilots & a long waiting list of hopefuls primarily due to the excellence of Al and Rhonda Tyler's air-strip, the high level of expertise Tyler demands, & the social camaraderie of any sport's seasonal kick-off event.  The Perry event is the only contest in the United States that has the maximum of 65 pilots and a waiting list.  It’s the best attended regional competition in the entire country and it’s right here in our little slice of Aiken County. 

In this area, 4,000 – 6,000 feet altitude is expected for a glider.  In this contest, 4 – 5 hours in the air is typical.  Everything depends on the weather, the thermals.  The pilots have an estimated start-time each day, but it all depends on the weather.  

The Region 5 North contest has four different classes for competition, mostly based upon wing size.  The Open Class has the biggest wing span, 20 meters.  Then there’s the 18-meter class, the 15-meter class and the Sports class.  Each class has a daily winner.  Add up the daily points and the cumulative points for the week is the winner in each class.  The Soaring Society keeps the records and a pilot’s ranking helps them get into the busy contests, like Perry’s.  

Rev. Monroe Danley Retires from Wagener Salley High School

Photo and Article by Valerie Sliker, courtesy Wagener Monthly

Like most married men approaching retirement, Rev. Monroe Danley already has a honey-do list from his wife.  This building and construction teacher of 20 years will retire from Wagener Salley High School in June, 2017 to resume working on his farm and to build projects for folks around town.  That is, after he builds a new kitchen for his wife.

Danley was born and raised in the Hollow Creek area, the center child with eight siblings raised on a farm with not much more than a “whole lot of love.”  He earned a Masters in Building Technology from South Carolina State University and became a licensed contractor in 1986.  He went on to build several houses around South Carolina, including the one he lives in today, before accepting a position teaching at WSHS in 1996. 

“I love working with children,” Danley told me recently while we talked in his dusty classroom with that wonderful scent of woodworking around us.  “The paperwork and taxes in my 1980s construction business got to be more than I could afford.  When the opportunity came for me to get into the school system, I grabbed it.  Children aren’t as respectful as they used to be and that hurts me.  I was raised that if you gave respect, you would earn it in return.  Doesn’t happen that way today and it hurts me to my heart.

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