Smiling Faces....Beautiful Places

Right before coming to school, the Advertiser sent me out to take pictures of Ford Elementary School's first day. The following pictures were not used, but I love them. The kids were so excited and happy, oh childhood.


The actual picture that the paper used can be found on the front of The Laurens County Advertiser August 19th Edition.

Anyway enjoy.

love the eyes. :).



The bus looks so huge and daunting to these little guys.



The quintessential little lonely girl. A little out of focus.

First day of school...

Wednesday, First Day of Sophomore Year:
It is currently 9:30, and I have finished checking and double checking emails and syllabus. I guess I am ready, but I am not looking forward to my CRTW, (Critical Reading Thinking and Writing).

This whole summer I have been used to writing brief, to-the-point news stories, which is completely different from what I have heard this class will be like.

A lot of essays...therefore straining to squeeze two more pages out of something that could be summed up in less than five columns.

I want to know why there is a white teddy bear sitting sentry outside of Thomson above the walkway. And everyone should listen to this in the morning. (Lille- Lisa Hannigan.)

Organic gardener puts a little green in "Blue Hose"

Local gardener to put a little green in the blue hose

by Kathleen Brown

For The Advertiser


It’s been said that gifted gardeners are blessed with a certain green appendage that enables them to grow things, while others beg and poke at a little lump in the dirt, which may or may not be photosynthesizing its last breath.

But 34-year-old Daniel Parson, a Clinton agriculturist, seems to be spreading his “green thumb” wherever he can sink a spade.

Parson’s Produce, located on the Bush River Farm in Clinton, contains one acre of various crops that he cultivates and sells to a number of Laurens County residents in a subscription-type membership.




Every Wednesday, his “subscribers” can come by the farm and pick up the vegetables, from okra to Swiss chard, that Parson has harvested that week.

“I have all kinds of stuff, diversity is my thing.” Parson said.

At least half of his members are in some way associated with Presbyterian College, due to his wife’s position as an English professor. This close relationship with the college enabled Parson to hear about a grant that the college’s environmental group, “Green Hose,” received that would apply and fund any sustainability programs. The specific program refers to the method of farming that produces large amounts of crop without causing environmental damage.


Eager to share his passion and talents, Parson asked, and was granted his own assignment under the grant that will be funded by the school for two years.

“I think it’s going to be a fun project,” Parson said

P.C. has given Parson a 7,500 sq. foot plot of land on campus to hold a student-run organic garden under his management. He plans to work closely with the students, which will include the P.C. garden club, freelance volunteers, and several freshman seminar classes.

“We chose to start this fall because everyone will be back in school,” Parson said, “and we’ll be able to harvest before they go home.”

Parson plans for students to be able to grow their own crops using his distinct organic methods, and then sell them back to the P.C. dining hall when they are harvested.

“Young people nowadays don’t get that much exposure to it (farming),” Parson said. “The actual cycle of taking food from where it’s produced and having it on the table for dinner – you don’t see that.”

Several P.C. students, like senior Hunter Barnhardt, have already put in their time at Parson’s Produce plot.

“I know that Daniel really believes in what he’s doing,” Barnhardt said. “It’s great when we can get produce from our own property, especially organically.”


Barnhardt is excited to see the growth of the P.C. plot and hopes that he can continue to help out where he is needed with the garden.

“It (the success) is really going to depend on how involved people get with the garden from the beginning,” Barnhardt said.

Parson plans to use his own method of farming that he has developed since graduating from Clemson University with a Masters in Sustainable Agriculture.


“I first got into agriculture because I wanted to grow my own food.” Parson said. “Now this is my living.”

Since Clemson, Parson has worked on several organic farms and has owned his own, most recently, a one-and-a-half acre plot in Atlanta.

Although Parson has farmed strictly organically on his plot in Clinton, due to the plot’s previous occupation, as alpaca grazing fields, he cannot legally call his produce organic.



“Right now it’s been three years since the last prohibited substance was on this land.” According to Parson, an organically prohibited item could be the hay that was used or pesticides.

“People always ask me, ‘if you’re organic how do you deal with the pests and crop fertility,’ and my answer is ‘crop rotation,’” Parson said.


Parson explained that his method of crop rotation is derived from a modern practice used in Japan involving sustainable agriculture.

"Crop rotation, deals with each plant’s specific (scientific) family,” Parson said. “For example I would never plant potatoes after tomatoes.”


Parson’s passion for agriculture goes hand in hand with his efforts to be eco-friendly.

“The organic movement is really a relationship with the environment, and food is place where I do that.” Parson said.

P.C. students will get their hands dirty in the campus plot this Saturday during the school’s Freshman Service Day, when Parson hopes he can share the passion he has for agriculture.


“Until I fall over in the field one day, this is what I’ll be doing.” Parson said with a smile.

Budget cuts hit all walks of life

Story I wrote for the Advertiser about the local Federation for The Blind that will soon have to close its doors unless it receives funds. This was a really heartbreaking story to work on. These people will have no where else to turn if the center closes its doors.

What I could not put in the story was that the United Way cut their funds from $15,000 per year to $1,000.

Bell Federation for The Blind Serving County Over 30 years

by Kathleen Brown

For The Advertiser



“I shall not be moved, like a tree planted by the water I shall not be moved,” these were the words sung by the twenty men and women gathered at the Bell Federation for the Blind banquet room for their annual picnic on Tuesday.

The hymn, “I Shall Not Be Moved,” seemed to echo the hope and resilience that has kept this organization optimistic even in the direst of financial situations.

Founder and president of the Bell Federation for the Blind on Harper Street, Robert Bell invited mayor Sharon Brownlee to the meeting to thank her for the gift of $1000 that the city recently donated.

“We know that you’re always on our side,” said Bell as he thanked Brownlee.

Brownlee apologized that the sum was not more, but alluded that she was making great efforts to speak on their behalf to several public and private sources.

“There is no question about it,” Brownlee said after the event. “Their budget is very small.”

The organization is especially in crisis due to recent cuts in their United Way donations, which continues to be the Federation’s main source of funds. The economic downturn resulted in the United Way not fully reaching it's goal during last year's campaign.


Brownlee was first acquainted with the Bell Federation, coincidentally, when she worked on the United Way board.

Mayor Sharon Brownlee sits with founder and president of the Bell Federation for The Blind, Robert Bell.

“I was so impressed with Bob Bell and his entire presentation,” said Brownlee. “They were so organized and I was just taken aback by what they did,” she said, referring to the work of the Federation in the county. She added that the meeting has forever impacted her life.


“It has instilled a compass and a heart in me for those who have to live life with no or very poor sight.” Brownlee said.


Bell himself was born legally blind, but he has never let his lack of sight keep him from helping others.

“Being blind, we live in a different world,” Bell said. “It’s not like yours.”


Bell felt it was his mission to provide an oasis for those in Laurens County who are visually impaired, and so in the fall of 1975, the Bell Federation for the Blind opened its doors. The non-profit organization is an affiliate of the National Federation of the Blind of South Carolina and the only center for the visually impaired in the county.


“This building belongs to the blind of Laurens County,” Bell said.

Through the center, visually impaired individuals can receive tools such as canes, scooters, Braille machines, training classes, and most importantly, says Bell, a support group of empathetic people.

Local musician and blues historian, Hunter Holmes played for the Bell Federation for the Blind's annual picnic.

Aside from enabling the visually impaired to have access to the Federation, membership also provides transportation.

"We have several people who could be called ‘shut ins’,” Bell said, “and when we pick them up, that is often the only time they leave their houses.”


The organization has often gone to great lengths to provide the persons in need with the tools and education to live in a sightless world. Calvin Davis from Clinton is just one of the people grateful for the Federation.


Davis began coming to the Bell Federation for the Blind in 1997 after he lost his vision in his forties.

“Being born blind,” Bell said, “is impossible to explain, but when someone suddenly loses their vision they have to relearn everything.”


The group helped Davis learn to function in his abruptly darkened world. Because of the organization, he has been able to attend a number of National Federation for the Blind Conventions with the group.

Several members of the Bell Federation For the Blind listens intently to Hunter Holmes. "He can keep playing forever if it's up to me," the women in the middle remarked later.

The conventions offers lectures on advancements in technology, hands-on classes and association with other visually impaired South Carolinians. It was at one of these conventions that Davis was taught how to use a unique computer system called The Guide, made especially for the visually impaired.


“People don’t even know the center is here,” Davis said. “We need to recruit people and let them know we’re here.”


Brownlee gave praise to the Laurens City Fire Station that routinely assists the center with fire code preparations as well as grounds maintenance, but says still more people must help.


“We cannot ignore or overlook those who need our help,” Brownlee said. “Right now they are just trying to survive, I want them to thrive.”

Sweet like peaches....

The most touching story I have ever had the pleasure of working on so far.

Wonderful people and peaches warm my heart.


Coggins Retraces Old Roots and Replants Peach Orchard
By Kathleen Brown
For The Advertiser


Tommy Coggins can’t talk about peaches without smiling. While standing in his 400-tree orchard on Lisbon Road last week, he reached a tanned arm into a tree that is brimming with the sunset-colored peaches.

While he explained the type and exact differences in this species he pulled a pocketknife from his pocket and took a slice out of the very fruit of his labor.

Tommy Coggins shows off one of his sun-kissed peaches that he
grows at his orchard in Laurens.

“A peach only grows on new growth,” Coggins said, explaining that a peach tree has to be pruned every year.

Another type of “new growth” is exactly what has brought Coggins to the orchard he is standing in.

Coggins’ father, the late E.B. Coggins, was the first of the family to catch the peach fever.

“My father, he could make a peach tree look just picture perfect,” Coggins said as he looked out into his orchard. “He’d always be out here pruning them and picking at them, getting them just right.”

Tommy’s peach orchard is located on the very road where the Coggins’ family once held their farming dynasty. Not to discount the successful Coggins’ Poultry Farm, owned and operated by Tommy’s brother, 57 year-old David Coggins, but the entire family once was able to live completely off the land.

David Coggins, who owns the Coggins Poultry on Lisbon Road three driveways down from his brother's peach orchard has planted an entire field of sunflowers.
He plans to use the field for dove hunting.

Tommy Coggins’ 80 year-old mother, Carolynn Coggins, remembers the sprawling farm that boasted cotton, grain, a dairy farm, and peaches - lots of them.

During WWII Carolynn Coggins was a young woman when she met E.B. Coggins while he was stationed in her South Dakota town. The southern charm must have made an impression because after the war, the two wed and Carolynn was brought to her new home in distant, Laurens, SC.

Laurens in 1946 must have seemed a strange place to the city-dwelling bride when she first arrived.

Carolynn Coggins leans on the rail of her porch outside of her home in Laurens

“I had never been South in my life,” Carolynn said, “and I knew nothing about farming.”

The family hired help to manage the large variety of crops, but Carolynn remembers countless times when she helped with the farm, especially with the peaches.

“We had this shed around back for packing, and I’d sit in there and pack peaches all day.”

At the time the Coggins’ Peach Orchard was shipping peaches all over the state, and the peaches became their primary income.

Tommy Coggins remembered the excitement of packaging peaches even at an early age.

“When I wasn’t big as nothing…they’d (the workers) bring peaches into the shed to pack and the chickens would be running around trying to peck at them,” he said. “It was my job to keep them away.”

But in 1976, after five years of failing peach crops killed by heavy freezes, the Coggins abandoned the peach business.

“I can remember I was a junior in high school when we brought down all the trees,” David recalled.

The itch to revive the empty peach orchards caught up to Tommy and his father in 2003, and they began to fill the empty rows up again.

“I just missed having them around,” Tommy said.

Carrying the fruits of his labor

Together the father and son team cultivated the new trees and tried to get the trees ready to grow fruit. But last year, before the duo could enjoy the success of the first good crop, E.B. passed away.

This year, only a year and a half after his father’s death the peach season brought trees that were full and healthy, but the memories left in these fields can be bittersweet to Tommy Coggins.

Coggins sells his peaches to the occasional customer,
but he considers it mostly an "expensive hobby."

Today, he grows 14 different types of peaches on his orchard, and knows which variety is best for canning, which one is best for pies and which ones you can eat right off the tree. Tommy can rattle off facts about peaches all day, but he readily assures that there is a lot he doesn’t know.

Like his father told him all his life, Tommy said, “You always learn.”