Governor Haley makes visit to Bamberg

Jerry E. Halmon, Staff Reporter

Bamberg native and South Carolina Governor Nikki R. Haley paid a visit to her hometown on Friday. Governor Haley’s first stop was the Bamberg City Hall, where she sat down with USA Today Washington Bureau Chief Columnist Susan Page and a film crew, who accompanied her to Bamberg to do a video and conduct interview and story about the Governor, who was born and raised in Bamberg. While in Bamberg, the Governor spent time on the old railroad berm, spent time at her old high school, Bamberg-Ehrhardt High School and visited the homes she grew up in Bamberg.

Governor Haley, who will have her first book coming out in two weeks on April 3, titled “Can’t is not an option,” according to Mayor Alton McCollum will have “a lot of things” in it about Bamberg.

Jones named Troop 9 Trooper of The Year

The South Carolina Highway Patrol named Lance Corporal Judd Jones the South Carolina Troop Nine Trooper of the Year at a March 15th ceremony. Troop Nine includes the Multidisciplinary Accident Investigation Team (MAIT) and the Community Relations Office.

L/Cpl. Jones has been with the Highway Patrol since 1998 assigned to Troop 4, Lancaster County. He then transferred to Troop 7, Bamberg County, in 2001. In October 2009, he was chosen as the Community Relations Officer for the Troop Seven area which covers Aiken, Allendale, Bamberg, Barnwell, Calhoun, Hampton and Orangeburg counties.

“The media in Troop Seven have often commented that L/Cpl. Jones is a dependable, reliable and dedicated Public Information Officer”, said Col. Mike Oliver, Highway Patrol commander. “He always conducts himself in a professional and exemplary manner.”

In 2011, when Troop One did not have a CRO for several months, L/Cpl. Jones stepped in and worked closely with Troop One to ensure that the outreach efforts of the Troop were still accomplished while maintaining his own assigned Troop and duties. He was also asked to perform escort and security duties for the University of South Carolina football team.

In addition to his commendable work, L/Cpl. Jones created a special citizen awareness program for the youth of his Troop. Certificates and plaques are presented to students who show initiative in the classroom, demonstrate respect for teachers and fellow classmates and have proved to be of high moral character. L/Cpl. Jones uses his own money to purchase these awards.

L/Cpl. Jones is a native of Newark, NJ. He is the son of Mary and the late Johnie Jones of Bamberg.

He is a church musician for Bushy Pond Baptist Church in Norway. He and his wife, Del, have four children, Genesis, Noah, Micah and Faith. They reside in Bamberg and attend Kingdom Life Ministries in Orangeburg.

Structure Fire

The Bamberg Fire Department responded to a structure fire Monday afternoon at the home of Jack Price located at 150 Azalea Street in Bamberg. There was smoke coming from the roof and when firefighters entered the front door there was no smoke inside the house. Smoke and fire was found when they entered the attic. The fire appeared to have been caused by the attic fan which either shorted out or over heated. The Bamberg Rescue Squad, the Bamberg Police Department and the Bamberg Fire Department responded to the scene.

Bingo March 30th

Jerry Durgan, Contributing Writer

Scheduled for Friday, March 30, Bingo volunteers finalize plans for the 2012 Bingo games at the Bamberg Civic Center. The event, as a part of March as Red Cross Month, is the chapter’s only fundraiser event of the year.

Starting at 7 p.m., the games cost only 50 cents per game and you can play as many cards as you want.

Jr. Red Cross students will have a concession stand offering home made sandwiches, cookies, and soft drinks. Cakes, too, will be raffled off and “children only” bingo with $25 cash prizes.

At each game, winners will win prizes totaling worth “at least $75” and a final “cover-all” game with a $100 cash prize. Prizes are donated from area businesses and individuals. “We are very proud of the businesses and people that donate to the Bingo fund raiser,” said Bamberg chapter Director Harvey Kling.

B-E Varsity Baseball team blanks Allendale-Fairfax

Jerry E. Halmon, Sports Editor

The Bamberg-Ehrhardt High School Red Raider Varsity Baseball team improved its record to (2-0, 2-0) on the season with a 25-0 win over the Allendale-Fairfax Tigers, Friday in Allendale. The winning pitcher for the Red Raiders was Sumner Cooler, who allowed no runs, on one hit, and recorded seven strike outs in three innings of work.

On Monday, the Red Raider Varsity Baseball team improved to 4-0 on the season with a doubleheader win over the Estill Gators in the team’s season opener at David Horton Field. In the first game the Red Raiders shutout the Gators 12-0. Will Medlin picked up the win on the mound for the Red Raiders. In the second game B-E defeated Estill 15-1. Kodi Jamison picked up the win on the mound for B-E.

In JV Baseball action on Thursday, the Red Raider JV improved to 2-1 on the season with a (11-5) win over the Lake Marion JV team in Santee. Hayden Brown was the winning pitcher for the B-E JV team.

On Saturday, the B-E JV team would improve to 4-1 on the season after taking a doubleheader over the Branchville Yellow Jackets JV in Branchville. In the first game B-E blanked Branchville 2-0. Perry Fleming was the winning pitcher in the first game for B-E, allowing only one hit and recording seven strike outs. In the second game the B-E JV recorded an 8-6 win over Branchville. The winning pitcher for B-E was Garris Schwarting.