Mobile Home Sales in Greeleyville, SC

Tommy Woods, Jr. went down in history on June 4, as the last ever graduate of C.E. Murray High.

With the school transitioning to an elementary/middle school and the high school students merging with Kingstree, the June 4, graduation ceremony was the last one for high schoolers at the school. Woods was the last of 52 students to walk across the stage.

The high school aged students are being transferred as a result the low and declining enrollment at both schools and many teacher vacancies. Additionally, the merger allows for a more rigorous academic program for a school that sees high grades, but low test scores. Another factor was the overcrowding at Greeleyville Elementary, which will send its grades third to fifth students to the C.E. Murray High building.

“The time went by so fast,” Woods said.

Woods and the rest of the 2022 class had their high school journey interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, but found a way through it.

“It was hard,” Woods said about learning during the pandemic. “But we worked through it.”

C.E. Murray Principal Gwendolyn Harris called the graduation ceremony a “bittersweet” moment.

“I knew [the merger] was going to happen and like the community I didn’t want to lose the history,” Harris said. “However, I thought about the total picture, and what the kids would probably gain, I can see the reason for it.”

Harris, who has been the principal at C.E. Murray for the last handful of years, thinks that while some of the students know and understand the history of C.E. Murray, some of the meaning has been lost as time moves on and memories start to fade.

“Over the years while they understand the history maybe the connection to history for some is not as strong as it needs to be,” Harris said.

The school is named after Charles Edward Murray, who was principal of the school for almost 25 years. The school was named after him while he was still principal. During his tenure, the school received state and national accolades. After Murray’s retirement, the school continued to raise expectations in both the classroom and on the athletics field.

While the makeup of the students will change for the school, the name will stay. Harris said that alumni have made a considerable effort to keep the name of the school, so that the legacy continues.

“This legacy will never die, it will never die,” Harris said. “The legacy of C.E. Murray is going to continue.”

As a Williamsburg County magistrate, Marty Easler sometimes sends people to jail.

He will double those possibilities on Nov. 17 when he is sworn in as Kingstree municipal judge. His appointment was approved unanimously on Oct. 17 at a Kingstree Town Council meeting. He is replacing Judge William Driggers, who is retiring.

“I’ve learned over the years that jail isn’t really a bad thing,” said Easler, who will remain a magistrate. “I’ll give you perfect example.”

Easler talked about raising a stepson from age 5 or 6 who went on to play college football for Coach Steve Spurrier at the University of South Carolina.

“He got to drinking and got wild, and he would get in trouble,” Easler said. “It started with little things like a DUI, and he’d get drinking and fighting. You know, some people drink and they get happy, and some drink and they get mean. Well, he wanted to straighten out the world. That wasn’t his job, you know?

“He finally got in a fight and was out on bond and got in another fight when he was out on bond, and they put him in jail. I left him in there, and my wife cried. …”

His stepson wasn’t happy at the time but learned to appreciate the tough love.

“He spent about eight or nine months in jail, just sitting there, not going to court, not anything,” Easler said. “He got saved in jail. A lot of people get saved in jail, but when they come out, they revert right back to their old ways. But he didn’t.”

Easler farms 4,500 acres in an around Williamsburg County. He gave his stepson a job.

“He was always smart, real smart. Real athletic ability,” Easler said. “When he came out, you couldn’t make him drink. He hasn’t had a drink in probably six or seven years. And you couldn’t make him fight. I mean, he had a bad anger problem. And he has his own business now. He’s doing well. He goes out and speaks to schools, starts prayer groups and he’s all man. But it saved his life, in my opinion.

“I’ve seen a lot of people saved by jail, especially young people on drugs. They’ve got to hit bottom sometimes.”

Easler was a municipal judge once upon a time in Kingstree.

“I got really busy, and I didn’t have time, so I gave it up,” he said.

Years ago, Easler and Driggers served together as Williamsburg County magistrates.

Kingstree Town Manager Richard Treme said he has seen Easler preside in magistrate court several times.

“He’s very level headed,” Treme said. “He’s going to do a good job for us. We’re glad to get him.”

What’s the difference between a magistrate and a municipal judge?

“It’s the same thing, just a different court,” Easler said. “A municipality is kind of its own little world. It’s a little bit more babysitting than a magistrate. A magistrate is a little more detached. When you’re in the town, you have to use a little more common sense.”

Citadel Brands, one of the newest industries in Williamsburg County has begun operations after having a soft opening.

The warehouse located on U.S. 52 has begun shipping product after supply chain issues and delays in shutting down operations in Charlotte extended the date of the grand opening.

“Anytime you’re starting, or you moving a business I’m finding out is really, you don’t have a hard stop, and a strong go,” Citadel Brands COO Greg Brown said.

The building that Citadel Brands is in is mostly being used as a distribution center. Brown has inventory coming in before it is loaded on to trucks to send out to customers. Brown said that they ship out about $1M worth of product, but that profits are nowhere near that figure.

Brown said that everyone, including the larger companies he competes against like Fruit of the Loom and Champion, have had costs rise. As a result, Brown decided to stock up on his inventory in hopes that during the busy season, he will not have to worry about more supply chain issues.

“We’re are we’re in a great position going into the busy season,” Brown said.

For Brown, every day is a reminder of what it is like to come home.

Brown, a Kingstree native and graduate of Williamsburg Academy, said that it brings a smile to his face knowing he is operating a business in his hometown.

“It’s amazing how many people reach out to you,” Brown said. “People that I haven’t seen in 30-40 years are reaching out to me to see what they can do.”

In addition to seeing how people can help out his business monetarily, people are also helping out Brown in ways that can’t be given a value.

“I’ve had people bring by lunches, barbecues, just be very welcoming,” Brown said. “That’s very much good for the heart. And I don’t mean just for my heart, it’s good for the heart of the company, because it has a wonderful appeal.”

Brown plans to have a formal grand opening in the fall.

The South Carolina Department of Education is expected to hand over control of the Williamsburg County School District back to the local board before the end of the calendar year.

State Superintendent Molly Spearman told The News while visiting the remodeled C.E. Murray Elementary/Middle School that the state will hand over control in the fall before she leaves office.

The state has been in control of the district since April 2018. In January, the state announced a transition plan back to local control. The state took over the district primarily to correct the mismanagement of federal funds related to special education. During a roundtable discussion at the school, Spearman said that all of the issues that were present when the state came in had been resolved.

A big part of the transition was the shuffling of students. High schoolers from C.E. Murray are being transferred to Kingstree High and students in grades 3 to 5 are being moved from Greeleyville Elementary into the C.E. Murray building.

The consolidating of high school students allows the district to be more efficient with its limited resources and allows the district to implement a stronger curriculum. Even with the influx of students, Kingstree High, which was built to hold 1,500 students, will still be at less than half capacity.

Spearman said that when the state reverts control back to the local board, the sitting board members will be the ones who take control and there will be no appointments to the board by the state. Five of the nine seats on the board are on the ballot in November.

“I remind them always the job of the board is to hire the superintendent, that’s the most important job. And then they are to support and evaluate that superintendent to make sure that they’re moving in the right direction,” Spearman said. “They are not to get involved with daily operations. They work through the superintendent.”

Alfred Darby and James Dukes are the only two board members who were also on the board in 2018. Darby, an outspoken member who opposed the merging of Kingstree and C.E. Murray high schools, was also board chair when the state took charge.

Spearman said that the merger can be undone by a new board, but that she hopes that won’t happen.

Spearman said that when the state pulls out, the board will be required to submit monthly reports back to the department of education until the end of the 2022-23 school year. While there is the possibility the state could come back, a decision Spearman said would be up to the new superintendent and that “Williamsburg would be under no different level of scrutiny than the other districts in the state.”

“We’re moving forward in a whole new united community,” Spearman said. “It’s so exciting, and I’m just thrilled that I’ve been able to be a part of it.”

Davon and Tavon Woods, twin brothers who have made it their life’s mission to be a voice for foster children, are returning to Greeleyville with an upcoming event for the Williamsburg County community where they grew up.

During the April 8 event — starting at 12 p.m. — the duo plans to walk from C.E. Murray Middle School to the Greeleyville Town Hall. Davon Woods said they encourage the whole community to come out, as they will be providing free food as well as doing some giveaways, such as shoes, for the kids.

Woods said a crew from Good Morning America is slated to be onsite filming and there will be vendors stationed at the event.

“We want to just able to bring the community together, because there is so much going on in today’s world,” Davon Woods said. “So, we just want to be able to do something positive, and we have plans to do it every year.”

The nearly one-mile walk on April 8 is not the first trek the two brothers have experienced recently, as they have previously walked in 23 states in under eight months as a way to be a voice for the foster care system, a system they both went through together.

“We were born into the foster care system,” Woods said. “We were originally from Sumter. Our mom was doing drugs while pregnant with us. We got placed into the system and that’s when we got adopted by a family here in Greeleyville.

“Growing up, it was extremely hard not hearing I love you, not being treated the way we should have been treated.”

Woods said that no one in Williamsburg County outside of their home knew what they were going through, including their teachers, classmates and others in the Greeleyville community.

“Everyone saw that we were smiling and always happy, so of course when you see someone who is always smiling and happy; in your mind, you’re thinking that child isn’t going through anything or that person isn’t going through anything,” Woods said. “Me and Tavon actually went 17 years not knowing anything like we didn’t know where we were from, we didn’t know why we were placed in the system.”

Not wanting other kids like them to experience what they did; Davon and Tavon came up with a plan last year that would give them an opportunity to be a voice for the foster care system.

“I just happened to scroll on Tik Tok and I noticed a guy walking around the country for mental health, so I told Tavon that we should do a walk from Georgia to Florida,” Woods said. “Be mindful, we didn’t train for this. It just kind of came out of the blue, so we started with Statesboro, Georgia to Jacksonville, Florida. I believe it was like 96 miles and we did that in four and a half days.”

Even though the two brothers mostly walked on rural roads, they said the support they received along the way was crazy.

“People were stopping on the side of the road giving us water, or helping us out whether it was donations or taking care of our food,” Woods said. “It was just the power of social media. We would post that we were coming up to this town, so what way it would people a head’s up and they would stop by and blow their horns and take pictures.”

With the first 96-mile trip out of the way, the brothers said why not make an effort to step inside all 50 states as they both quit their jobs to focus on spreading awareness for foster kids.

“Of course, we don’t get paid for walking across the country,” Woods said. “Everything is just based on God, faith and passion. We just took that leap of faith to be able to go out there and do something that nobody is doing.”

Woods said they are sponsored by Statesboro’s Best Running, who provides them with their shoes to allow them to walk long distances, but also for their giveaways for foster kids.

The duo said they not only plan in the future to not only open schools and facilities to give kids what they deserve in life, but step inside the existing public school system to share their story.

“We actually plan to go around to all of the schools and just give the kids hugs and say something encouraging to them so that they can know that they can keep pushing,” Woods said. Me and Tavon want these kids to have a voice. Allow them to be heard.”

To learn more about the duo or donate to their cause, visit their website at fkm.life.