Mobile Home Sales in McColl, SC

McCOLL — On the outskirts of McColl, SC, a village from the past is coming to the future. On 15 acres of tribal land, the Pee Dee Indian Tribe (PDIT) is seeking to preserve and rejuvenate their cultural heritage.

The land was donated to the tribe in 2014 by the late Dr. and Mrs. C.W. Love of McColl. That’s when the work started, and it continues to this day. Using mostly small grants from a variety of agencies, the tribe is steadily making improvements to the property. Their first act was to clear the land. Chief Pete Parr says the Lutheran Ministry in Columbia, SC, volunteered to help and sent equipment and people to get the job done.

Since then, various structures have been added. There is a Cultural Center where classes on tribal traditions are held. Further back, a new administrative building is mid-construction. When complete, this building will house a tribal meeting area, a kitchen, a nurse’s office, and other office space. Towards the back of the property, a dock abuts the wetlands. In the future, a grant from the conservation group Dogwood Alliance in Asheville will allow them to build board walks as part of a nature trail through the swamp. There is the beginnings of a replica ceremonial mound which were a vital part of Pee Dee religious and social ceremonies and feasts. Several brush arbors, which are covered open-air shelters, ring the dance area. There will be a space for pow-wows and for a garden.

The tribe also plans to construct traditional huts from different time periods. According to John Lentz, a member of the cultural committee who will oversee the building of the huts, they’ll start with wattle and daub structures. He said, “ These will be rectangular structures made of woven sticks and mud with a broom straw roof. In the past, we had some wigwams, which are circular or oval shaped, made entirely of broom straw. We’ll do some of those too.”

The end goal of all this, Chief Parr says, is to bring our culture back to our people. The younger generations need to learn and practice their heritage.

“That’s why we’re out here today having classes,” Chief Parr said. “The women are learning to make hair ribbons worn with their regalia to social dances. The men are learning how to make a blowgun, which is how our ancestors hunted. Our tribe used to be a farming society, but a lot of people don’t know how to grow their own food anymore. Our garden will help them learn to live off the land as our people used to. We are going to have monthly sessions.”

Other traditional practices the tribe intends to engage in are language classes to keep the Pee Dee Mvskoke dialect in circulation, making dugout canoes, and beading classes.

MCCOLL, SC (WMBF) – Two brothers have been arrested for allegedly offering crack cocaine, beer, and cash to citizens in April to vote for McColl mayoral candidate Bobby Odom in the May 12 election, according to documents from the State Law Enforcement Division.

William White and Bobby Ray White were arrested by SLED and charged with conspiracy and procuring or offering to procure votes by bribery, according to arrest warrants.

An affidavit from Marlboro County alleges that the Whites conspired to pay voters in the Town of McColl to vote for mayoral candidate Bobby Odom and several Town Council seats.

Another affidavit states that on April 13, William White offered to pay $20 and one 12-ounce Bud Light to a registered voter in exchange for a vote for Odom. The vote was tendered at the Marlboro County Election Commission, and witnessed by Bobby Ray White.

Bobby Ray White is also accused of transporting a voter from McColl to the Marlboro County Election Commission for absentee voting on April 25. He then gave the voter a piece of crack cocaine in return for a vote for Odom, the affidavit states.

According to the Marlboro County Election Commission, Odom won the mayoral election for the Town of McColl on May 12 with 348 votes, a total of 45.2 percent of the votes cast. Robert Outlaw received 293 votes, or 37.9 percent, and Rick Peterkin received 16.95 percent of vote – 131 votes total.

Laurie Moses, the Director of the Marlboro County Election Commission, said she was not sure if these allegations would change the results of the May election, or prompt a new election, adding, "It's an ongoing investigation, we're just waiting to hear what SLED had to say."

Moses said that she did meet the White brothers when they brought voters in to the election commission for absentee voting, adding that giving voters rides is not an uncommon practice.

"We don't like for this to happen, but it's out of our control," Moses said. "We want to make sure everyone has a fair election, that's what we work for."

Seven candidates were in the running for six McColl Town Council seats – those seats went to the six candidates with the most votes: Van Carlisle, R.C. Cummings, Willie Goins, Ray Grier, Michelle Odom, and Lisa Dawn Price.

Copyright 2015 WMBF News. All rights reserved.

The anti-corruption commissioner overseeing the inquiry that prompted former NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian's resignation has been given more time to finish her report.

Commissioner Ruth McColl SC has been given more time to finish her inquiry report into Ms Berejiklian. The NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption insisted she stay on to complete the report despite the fact her tenure was due to end at the end of October.

Ms McColl was appointed ICAC Assistant Commissioner last year to preside over the inquiry into disgraced former MP Daryl Maguire.

'Ms McColl's services are required for the purpose of her finalising the Operation Keppel report, including participating in the review and editing process of that report,' ICAC said in a statement on Friday.

ICAC Assistant Commissioner Ruth McColl (pictured) famously gave the former premier a grilling during the inquiry in November last year

Ms McColl was appointed in July 2020 to oversee Operation Keppel, which began as an investigation into Ms Berejiklian's former partner, Wagga Wagga MP Daryl Maguire, over his use of public office for private gain.

But when the then-premier sensationally revealed their clandestine relationship, it sparked a further investigation into her conduct. Ms Berejiklian resigned as premier in October 2021.

The formidable silk starred on the front cover of the Sydney Morning Herald's Good Weekend magazine in 1984 for an article about women in law

Ms McColl gave the former premier a spectacular grilling in November last year.

The corruption commissioner demanded straight answers during the early stages of Ms Berejiklian's hearing, as the then-premier had seemed to have perfected the art of longwinded responses during her daily lockdown press conferences.

'Could I ask you to answer the question and not make speeches,' Ms McColl said.

The former premier continued to give long answers during the hearing and Ms McColl again interrupted to say: 'Ms Berejiklian, I do not think you are heeding the message I just communicated to you.'

She then continued to stay on top of the ex-premier throughout the hearing.

Since leaving politics, Ms Berejiklian has taken up a senior executive position at Optus.

Just months after taking on the role with the telco, it revealed it had been the subject of one of the largest data breaches in Australian history.

Ms McColl (bottom right during the ICAC hearing) gave the former premier a series of grillings as Ms Berejiklian tried to talk her way around pointed questions

The communications giant was hit by the hack in September, before being sent a ransom note demanding $1.5million for the safe return of data related to 11.2 million customers.

The 52-year-old was spotted during an outing on Tuesday to Double Bay, one of Sydney's ritziest suburbs.

She was casually dressed for the rare outing, wearing blue jeans, a stylish black jacket, a black and white patterned top and black shoes with a slight heel.

Former NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian (pictured right) was spotted with a mystery friend for the first time since a cyber-hack brought weeks of unwanted publicity to her employer, Optus

It's not suggested Ms Berejiklian was responsible for any of the issues involved in the security breach, but she faces a mountain to climb in helping rebuild Optus's tarnished reputation.

She has yet to discuss the hack in public, despite being the best known person in Optus's corporate division – she became a national name for her leadership during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Her Optus salary has not been revealed, but her Telstra equivalent – David Burns, group executive enterprise – takes home $1.1million a year.

Optus CEO Kelly Bayer Rosmarin said in February that Ms Berejiklian would be a 'game-changer' for their department in charge of business customers.

'Gladys is a proven leader,' said Ms Rosmarin.

Eight months later, those skills hailed by her CEO will be tested to the limit as the company tries to restore confidence after the cataclysmic data breach.

Former NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian (front) is seen after her appearance at ICAC concluded

MCCOLL, S.C (WPDE) — The Marlboro County Town of McColl is remembering 72-year-old Charles Love, Jr. for his community support to see the town grow.

Love suddenly passed away this week.

He and the Love Foundation are credited with contributing millions to the Town of McColl in recent years.

The Town of McColl released the following statement on Love's support of the town:

"The Town of McColl would like to extend our sincere condolences to the family of Mr. Charles Love. Mr. Love was a devoted dear friend to the Town of McColl, it’s employees and citizens. The Love family has been loved by McColl for many years. The loss will be felt for many years to come."

Mr. Charles gave his time, talents and resources to the town as well as others throughout the community. He continued the annual Christmas party tradition, complete with food and gifts, for the children of the town employees. Mr. Charles purchased vehicles and equipment for the town of McColl so it’s employees could better serve the town. He loved McColl and always wanted to make sure the employees have the necessary equipment to serve the citizens.

The Love Foundation bought and paid for the property and the Town Hall building and the new CareSouth Medical Building, located on Highway 15-401 in McColl. The Love family is responsible for the free dental clinic truck that provides quality dental care for the citizens. Mr. Love also sponsors the band for the MayFest and has made donations for several church events in the community.

"Mr. Love had a smile and a kind word for everyone he came in contact with. He loved McColl as much as McColl loved Mr. Charles. He will be missed by all."

CareSouth Carolina said on its website " A light has gone out in South Carolina" with Love's death.

CareSouth Carolina's CEO Ann Lewis posted the following statement on the organization's website about Love.

"The generosity, compassion and love that Charles had for the Pee Dee, Marlboro county and his beloved McColl will be a far-reaching legacy. His genuine love for those in our communities whose needs he met in so many way will always be in our hearts. For CareSouth Carolina, the beautiful building he gifted, as President of the Love Family Foundation, to us in McColl will stand as a lasting memorial to that love. The dream that he and the Foundation had for medical services, rehabilitative care and wellness in a state of the art facility came to fruition in this new building.

His compassion didn’t stop there.

Through the work of the Love Foundation and his leadership, with projects and charities to numerous to count, McColl and Marlboro county have felt his commitment and love as he, so often, wrapped his generosity around us all. For years and even decades to come, we will remember and will be inspired to fulfill his dreams and live up to his legacies. A light has gone out indeed. At the CareSouth Carolina McColl building, we will extinguish the light in the tower for the next week as we grieve his passing."

Love's wife Cathy Evans said affectionately "Charles had such genuine love and affection for his hometown of McColl. His sudden death is such a shock but more so a great loss for McColl and everyone who knew him! "

He will be laid to rest Saturday in McColl.

MCCOLL, S.C. (WPDE) — History is all around us in the Carolinas, and one couple in Marlboro County is helping preserve it.

We often think of history as dates and names, a record of times gone by, wars fought, laws passed. Perhaps though, the true measure of history is found in the things we take for granted even now, the everyday people, the mundane.

For Tabitha and John Belt, merging history, community and family quickly transformed from a simple idea to a house they hope to share for generations.

"We decided we were going to slow down and move to the South," said John Belt.

It was a dream they've always had.

"We both quit our good jobs and sold our nice house and found this old house," he said.

They found a house in Laurinburg, just across the states line, dating past the time of the Civil War. They were unsure how to get it to their land in McColl, so they did what our ancestors did: they improvised.

"We literally disassembled it and put it back together the way it was," John Belt said. "Every day we would get up, drive down, put pieces on the trailer, drive it a mile and a half down here, unload it, and then start over the next day," Tabitha added.

Piece by piece the house came down, each piece labeled and carefully taken back to the Belt's land in McColl. They rebuilt the home over a year and a half, a simple blink in the scheme of history.

"100 years of fireplaces in the house, there was a lot of soot in the attic," John said of the project. "The disassembly was definitely the most challenging."

Of course, there were the naysayers.

"We started this project, and everyone told us we were absolutely crazy," Belt recalled.

Not anymore though, instead the couple said people young and old often stop to talk and share a glass of sweet tea in a rocking chair on the porch.

Maybe our history is best understood in our humanity, in the ways we lived and loved together, then and now. For Tabitha and John, the mundane, the historic, and their future is all there under one roof.

"That was one of our dreams to have the rocking chairs on the porch," Tabitha said.

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The couple said they went to Raleigh to learn more about the home and were amazed to discover that Union General Sherman marched right by the house and may have even stayed there during one of his famous marches near the end of the Civil War.