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Grant for Parks from Aiken County Council

The Aiken County Council has awarded $20,000 to the Town of Wagener for a tourism development project, namely restoration of the former Kitchings Mill library building currently housed adjacent to the Wagener Volunteer Fire Department.  The restoration of this historic building is intended to provide a park visitor center for Wagener and to contribute to tourism in the unincorporated areas of Aiken County. 

Mayor Mike Miller applied for this grant to secure funds for a new roof and other improvements to the historic Kitchings Mill library building.  Aiken County Councilwoman Kathy Rawls brought the grant to Miller’s attention.  The town of Wagener appreciates all Ms. Rawls does for the area and the citizens she represents here in Northeast Aiken County.  She works tirelessly on our behalf.

Restoration and revitalization of the Kitchings Mill library and the John’s Town general store buildings comprise the first phase development of the 17-acre Eunice & Dr. Henry Ponder Municipal Park located beside and behind the fire department.  Plans have been proposed to establish an Aiken County EMS and Sheriff’s substation in this area as well.  The EMS ambulance service previously located in Wagener was forced to relocate due to the lack of a sprinkler system in their building of occupancy.  According to Aiken County fire officials, a sprinkler system is required in any building wherein a person sleeps.  Miller has fought to keep the EMS in Wagener under a grandfather clause to no avail.  This matter is currently under contention.

Senator Nikki Setzler recently presented the town with a $35,000 Grant for a playground at the new park as well.  Read more about it in this month's Wagener Monthly.

Park improvements have begun at the Aiken County Roy Warner Park as well.  An update was presented in the June issue of the Wagener Monthly.

Help Needed to Control Feral Cats in Wagener

By Valerie Sliker, courtesy Wagener Monthly

Wagener’s Trap, Neuter & Return (TNR) volunteer program, a part of Aiken County’s and the nationwide TNR program, is seeking long-term volunteers to assist a couple of days per month with trapping and transporting feral cats in and around Wagener.  The cats, with the feeder’s or owner’s permission, are generally unapproachable and have to be humanely trapped before being transported to and from a facility that will spay or neuter the cats.  After recovery, the cats are released at the same location where they were trapped.

TNR aims to humanely control feral cat overpopulation and shelter overpopulation.  Trap and Remove programs have been unsuccessful because the vacant space with some type of food and shelter for feral cats remains and more unsterilized cats quickly repopulate the area.  Trap, Neuter and Return has been proven successful by preventing cat reproduction.

If you are feeding outdoor cats, you need to have them spayed or neutered or you will soon have many more outdoor cats.  Outdoor cats tend to become feral and unapproachable.  This overpopulation has become a problem for the town of Wagener and Aiken County.  Kathy Rawls has been working with TNR and community volunteers to address this problem in a humane way.

Dottie Gantt and Vicki Wright began this program in the Wagener area a few years ago.  Health problems prevent them for working as much as they have in the past.  Connie Jeffcoat has also helped a lot.  Dr. Kathy Bissell and Dr. Charlie Timmerman have also donated time or transportation.

CE Tyler's Red & White Comes Down

By Valerie Sliker, courtesy Wagener Monthly

Feb. 8, 2018

The building that housed CE Tyler’s Red & White grocery, one of South Carolina’s first and last Red & White stores, is in the process of being repurposed.  Closed in the Summer of 2001, the store located next to Blizzard’s Funeral Home on Main Street, has remained empty and under the ownership of Charlie Tyler and LeMyra (Tyler) Young for fifteen years. 

“We never felt good about selling the store until now,” Charlie Tyler, son of the building’s proprietor, told me recently as he and his wife Ann talked with me in their home in the room that formerly was a covered porch where his grandmother would sit and collect greetings from Wagener residents as they did their weekly grocery shopping across the yard.

“The store was like our living room and this house was like our living room; didn’t matter, you were home either place.”  Charlie’s grandparents spent much of their time on the sun porch.  They could sit and watch the people come and go and wave to the people who were calling out, “Hey Ms. Myra!”

“We live so close to the building and we will have to live closely with whatever goes on over there,” Tyler explained.  After fifteen years standing empty, the sixty-year-old building that housed a ninety-seven-year-old store has been sold to its neighbor, Blizzard’s Funeral Home.  “Wilson’s (Blizzard) daddy was in the store every day.  He would either sit with my mother in the office or go back in the meat department with daddy and talk.  We have a long standing relationship with the Blizzards.  We’re like family.  When Wilson called about purchasing the building, I didn’t have to hesitate.  I feel like this is a perfect thing to happen to this piece of property.  It’s been a blessing and an answer to prayer.”

Update on Park Improvements

By Valerie Sliker, courtesy Wagener Monthly

Roy Warner Park, under the supervision of Carolyn Rushton, Recreation Supervisor, and Willie Stroman, Park Supervisor, and under the leadership of Aiken County Parks, Recreation and Tourism (PRT), is undergoing Phase I of an extensive park improvement plan.  Upon the completion of Phase I, in the Spring of 2017, Roy Warner Park will gain additional parking, a new concession stand and maintenance shed, and a new football field built in the former Wagener Salley Mud Run arena. 

According to Rushton and Stroman, the current Wagener volunteer youth football league will merge with Aiken County PRT by becoming a part of Roy Warner Park.  The Wagener youth football team, originated in the mid-1990s by Eric Gleaton, Steve Carver, Curtis Schofield and Tom Sliker, has been completely run by volunteers and has grown large enough to achieve county park status and its own football field.  Congratulations to the many volunteers that have continued this youth sport for over twenty years.

Phase I of the Roy Warner Park expansion project is under the cooperative efforts of Mark van der Linden, Director, and Jim Buckalew, Coordinator Special Projects, Aiken County PRT, Jarwin Sadsad and Joe Berry with Aiken County Engineering, Gene Herron, Buildings and Grounds with Aiken County Public Works, Daryl Larrymore with SCE&G, Zack Davis, Landscape Architect with Johnson, Laschober & Associates, P.C. (JLA) out of Augusta, and George Raborn, John Henderson and Roger Williams with J. E. Stewart Builders, Inc. out of Aiken.

Future Phases of Roy Warner Park’s expansion will include a soccer field, new basketball courts and a gymnasium.  Volleyball courts are also under consideration.  Recreation Supervisor Carolyn Rushton hopes to offer athletic youth programs that will prepare our youth for high school athletics and will make our schools more competitive. 

Blackwater Festival at Aiken State Park

By Valerie Sliker, courtesy Wagener Monthly
Photo:  Palmetto Blue Band, warming up

The Friends of the Edisto (FRED) held their third annual Blackwater Festival at Aiken State Park on Saturday, June 18, 2016.  The festival was designed to educate the public about endangered rivers, specifically the Edisto, upon which the Aiken State Park sits.  The festival is also designed to celebrate the recreational activities the river provides and finally, the festival is a FRED fundraiser that benefits the Edisto River.

The Edisto River was named the 5th Most Endangered River in the Nation by American Rivers (AmericanRivers.org) in 2014 and 2015 due to excessive and unregulated water withdrawals.  It is the longest free-flowing blackwater river in the U.S, running a beautiful 250 miles from its spring-fed headwaters in Central SC, through the Coastal Plain and down into the Ashepoo/Combahee/Edisto (ACE) Basin.  Migratory fish rely on this river to flow freely from the ocean to the headwaters.

During the festival, many people enjoyed the canoe and kayak trail on the river as well as some fishing.  Music included Tom Coolidge and Leftovers, Palmetto Blue, and Don Merckle & The Blacksmiths.  Educational activities included wildlife demonstrations from Carolina Wildlife Care and updates on the status of our rivers from SCDNR.  There were plenty of kids about enjoying the bounce house and face painting and everyone enjoyed the BBQ lunch.

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