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Sandlapper Enduro Fundraiser Keeps Hollow Creek Fire Department Open

Photo:  Some of the volunteers from the Columbia Enduro Riders Club

By: Valerie Sliker

Chief Glenn Poole and the Hollow Creek Volunteer Fire Department would like to thank all who volunteered and all who came out to purchase food and support the Sandlapper Enduro fundraiser. Poole is confident that without this fundraiser, the fire department would have to shut down. Having loud motorcycles and heavy traffic on two days a year keeps your fire station open and serving you.  Coundilwoman Kathy Rawls and Senator Nikki Setzler work very hard for this fire department as well and Poole thanks them for their service.  Read an in-depth article in next month's Wagener Monthly.

GriefShare Class to Begin March 15 at Seivern Baptist

Seivern Baptist Church is holding a GriefShare class beginning on March 15, 2016 at 6:00 pm in the Fellowship Hall.  GriefShare is a grief recovery seminar and support group.  This 14-wek program features nationally recognized experts on grief recovery topics.  The church welcomes the public to join this class; church membership is not required.  Call the church for more information.

Wagener Fire Fighters Awarded

Chief Mark Redd with Captain Richard Sullivan

In February of 2016, Wagener Fire Department Chief Mark Redd proudly presented the following awards to two of Wagener's Fire Fighters.
Casey Berry was recognized as Firefighter of the Year for 2015
Richard Sullivan was recognized as Officer of the Year for 2015
Captain Sullivan was also recognized for a previous designation as a Life Member of Wagener Fire Department.

The Town of Wagener would like to thank these men and all of the Wagener Fire Fighters for their dedicated service.

Chief Redd with Casey Berry

Wagons to Wagener 2016

Wagons to Wagener 2016 will be held on May 20 and 21.  The committee has been working hard and the sponsors have made a lot of new things possible.  Here is a first look at the schedule.  This is very tentative and subject to change a little.

Saturday, May 14, 2016 - Wagons to Wagener Pageant
More details TBA

Friday, May 20, 2016 - Wagons to Wagener Festival
5pm - 8pm......... Interactive Inflatables (Mechanical Bull, Gladiator Joust, Large Obstacle Course, Combo Moonwalk, Bungee Run, Basketball or Football Similar Inflatable Game), Crafts & Food Vendors
6pm - 11:30pm.. Beer Wagon, DJ & Dancing in the Street
7pm - 11:30pm.. Live Music by New Holland Road

Saturday, May 21, 2016 - Wagons to Wagener Festival
10:00am........... Parade
11:00am............. Ping Pong Drop Sponsored By Wagener Drug (Behind the Petal Shoppe - Ping pong balls dropped from the air. Select balls will be winners you can redeem for a prize)
11:00am - 8pm.. Games & Inflatables (Dunking Booth, Mechanical Bull, Gladiator Joust, Large Obstacle Course, Combo Moonwalk, Bungee Run, Basketball or Football Similar Inflatable Game), Cake Walk, Pie Eating Contest, Craft & Food Vendors & More!
11:00am - 2pm..... Wing Cook Off (turn in time is 1:00pm. Winners announced around 1:30 or 2:00pm)
1pm..................... Antique Tractor & Car Show Sponsored By Midland Truss Begins with "Parade of Power" (Time subject to change)
2pm...................... Mayor & other town "celebrities" in the dunking booth (Time subject to change)
5pm - 12:00am.. Beer Wagon, DJ & Dancing in the Street
7pm................... Shag Contest by the Music Stage with live music by Anybody's Guess
7pm - 12:00am.. Live Music by Anybody's Guess

Parade Registration

Councilwoman Widener's Roots Lie Deep in Wagener

By Valerie Sliker
Courtesy Wagener Monthly

Wagener native Ann Widener was re-elected to the town council in November of 2015 and began her second term this past January.  Ann comes from a family of civil service as a daughter of former mayor and councilman Lawrence McLaurin and former town clerk Iris McLaurin.  Ann is married to Philip Widener and has 2 sons and 4 grandchildren.  She works in town at the Wagener Vision Clinic.

Ann's maternal roots lie deep in Wagener.  Ann's grandmother grew up on the 300-acre Cofer Plantation just west of town on Highway 39.  Family legend has it that Sherman's troops stopped at the Cofer Plantation on Sherman's March to the Sea in 1864 and that Sherman himself held Ann's grandmother's sister Dora "Dodie" on his lap.  He asked her where they hid the silverware and food, but the family had coached her not to reveal the hidden treasures.  This became a famous family story about the "first time Aunt Dodie told a lie."

The Cofer girls moved into Wagener.  Dodie moved into what is now the home of Orine Casey while Ann's grandmother moved into a home her husband, Oscar Jones, built for her in 1912.  Long-time Wagener residents might remember Oscar Jones, a painter and employee at Tyler Brothers, who created a buzz in town when he constructed a Sears and Roebuck house on Louie Street in which Ann's son, Chris, currently resides over 100 years after construction.  

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