Chimney Sweep in Pinopolis, SC

BERKELEY COUNTY, S.C. (WCBD) – Members of the South Carolina United Methodist Church voted this week in favor of allowing 113 churches in the state – including 11 in the Lowcountry – to leave the denomination.

The churches that are leaving had concerns about the Book of Discipline not being enforced like prohibiting performing same-gender weddings and the ordination of “self-avowed practicing homosexuals.”

The conference said these churches would be “closing” by the end of the month; rather the churches would be transferred to independent church entities and essentially leaving the United Methodist Church affiliation.

Pinopolis United Methodist Church is among that group – they are set to become Pinopolis Community Church beginning July 1.

“I’ve been a member of this church since 1994,” said Gene Kodama, a member of Pinopolis United Methodist Church. “I’ve been participating on what we call an organizational task force which was created to take a look at what was going on with the Methodist Church.”

Kodama said they became concerned about several issues including people in the LGBTQ community being ordained to serve in leadership roles at some United Methodist Churches – primarily on the west coast.

“The United Methodist Church in South Carolina and the South Carolina Conference, they have a book of discipline,” Kodama explained. “Who can be a minister, who cannot be a minister, and the way you conduct your affairs. There were some deviations from that.”

But the churches that are leaving had concerns about the Book of Discipline not being enforced.

“How do you achieve salvation? It’s a relationship with Jesus Christ that you are saved, and then you have salvation. And there were writings out there that said there were other ways to achieve salvation. And our church and others don’t agree with that,” he said.

Pinopolis United Methodist Church and 112 other churches out of more than 900 churches in South Carolina went through the process to leave the denomination. That includes paying a fee to purchase their church land from the denomination.

During the conference held in Florence on Tuesday, members voted to allow those churches to leave the denomination.

“We picked a new name for our church. We’re gonna call it Pinopolis community church,” said Kodama.

Despite the change, Kodama said they still welcome members of the LGBTQ community to their church.

“As far as those with alternative lifestyles, I think that’s one of the terms, we would love to have them here. We’d love to have you here. Everybody’s welcome here. The book of discipline specifically calls that out, that you can’t have leadership roles because of what scripture says about that lifestyle,” he explained.

Those 113 churches will officially separate from the United Methodist Church as of June 30.

Aldersgate in North Charleston will also continue serving its congregation and the community. Church leaders provided the following statement after Tuesday’s decision:

“Aldersgate will be continuing operation and associating with the Global Methodist Church. The operations of Holy City Missions and the Warming Shelter will not be affected. Nothing has changed in serving our community. All programs will be continuing as normal.”

Two longtime friends and fishing partners who were also beloved sports coaches were found dead floating near a boat on a South Carolina lake, according to friends and officials.

Jerry Stoots, 75, and Lee Watkins, 68, were found on Lake Moultrie in Pinopolis just before 2 p.m. on Jan. 24, according to the Berkeley County Coroner’s Office.

A person who lives nearby reported seeing one body floating in the lake, and rescuers found the second body in the same area, a news release from the coroner’s office says.

The fishermen were likely in the water for a “short period of time,” the release says. An autopsy has been scheduled for Jan. 26.

Stoots was the “winningest high school baseball coach in South Carolina history” and was inducted into the state’s Athletic Coaches Association Hall of Fame, according to the Post and Courier. He had more than 925 career wins at three South Carolina schools over 48 seasons, the outlet reported.

He also coached football and worked for several seasons as the head football coach at R.B. Stall High School in North Charleston, the outlet reported.

After leaving Stall High School, he went on to start a football program at Northwood Academy in Summerville, Ryan Leaver, the academy’s assistant principal told McClatchy News. Watkins also worked at Stall High School and Northwood Academy as a football coach with Stoots, Leaver said.

“Their bond and friendship was admirable,” Leaver said of the two coaches.

Leaver said Stoots was generally a quiet person, but he commanded a lot of respect among his players and fellow coaches.

“When he talked, you just wanted to listen,” Leaver said.

Stoots was “from a different generation” and carried a notebook with him to keep track of plays, Leaver said. He enjoyed getting together with friends at fish fries and talking about life and family.

Watkins was “probably one of the most genuine people I’ve ever known,” Leaver said. He would often call Leaver just to check in on him and his wife and kids.

Kenny Wilkinson, a 1976 graduate of Stall High School who played both football and baseball under Stoots, told the Post and Courier that he was a “great coach but an even better man.”

“A lot of people don’t realize the impact he had on so many young guys who later got into coaching, helping him coach,” Wilkinson told the outlet. “He was always giving guys opportunities and he took care of his players all through life.”

Lake Moultrie is 60,400 acres and the third-largest lake in South Carolina. It’s about 40 miles north of Charleston.

PINOPOLIS, S.C. (AP) — The board that runs Santee Cooper has agreed to ask two executives hired to overhaul and stabilize the state-owned utility to stay in their jobs for six more months.

The board also voted Monday to reward Santee Cooper CEO Mark Bonsall and deputy CEO Charles Duckworth with more than $400,000 in bonuses after the utility met nearly all the goals listed in the company’s strategic plan, The Post and Courier of Charleston reported.

Bonsall and Duckworth’s current contract ended July 7. The new deals run six more months at their same salaries. Bonsall is paid $1.1 million a year and Duckworth makes $560,000 annually.

Santee Cooper has reached 97% of its performance goals, so the board agreed Monday to stick to its agreement and pay Bonsall a $242,500 bonus and Duckworth $160,050.

“No question in my mind that every penny’s been earned,” said David Singleton of Horry County, who chairs the utility’s human resource committee.

Under a law passed by the South Carolina General Assembly that overhauled Santee Cooper, the State Fiscal Accountability Authority must approve the six-month contract extensions and bonuses.

Bonsall and Duckworth came to Santee Cooper from a utility in Arizona after the South Carolina utility became a minority partner in a pair of nuclear reactors that never produced a watt of power. The utility ended up billions of dollars in debt and the governor and some lawmakers wanted to sell Santee Cooper.

But there was never enough support to sell the utility, and Santee Cooper executives worked with the Legislature to pass an overhaul bill that includes replacing all board members who served when the nuclear project failed and giving regulators more oversight.

Bonsall said he will spend his extra time leading Santee Cooper on several goals: protecting the utility against rising natural gas costs, refinancing debt, and figuring out where to build and how to fuel the company’s next power plant and how the company can follow the new regulations in the reform bill.

Bonsall also thanked Santee Cooper employees and the board for helping him deal with the utility’s problems.

“A great opportunity and I most deeply appreciate your support,” Bonsall said. “We’ve been partners in this progress.”

On June 8 at the Wampee Center in Pinopolis, Keith Gourdin, surrounded by friends, family and colleagues, was honored by S.C. Gov. Henry McMaster with the Order of the Palmetto, presented by state Sen. Larry Grooms.

The Order of the Palmetto is the state’s highest civilian honor, presented in recognition of a lifetime of significant achievements, service and contributions on a national or statewide scale. In order to receive the Order of the Palmetto, a citizen must be nominated. This once-in-a-lifetime award may only be presented to living natives or residents of South Carolina.

Gourdin was born in Berkeley County Hospital in Moncks Corner in 1939 and has lived in Pineville ever since, with the exception of his time spent in military school and college at Clemson and Auburn.

Through several occupational changes during his working life, Gourdin considers himself blessed to have had several close friends who helped train and shape him towards his successes. He believes that God put him in these various positions for a meaningful purpose, and his goal has always been to make the best of each opportunity.

In his professional life, Gourdin has worked for C.R. Bard Inc., Charleston County Emergency Preparedness and Gates Rubber Co.

Additionally, Gourdin has been a part of the American Society of Safety Engineers, Sons of the American Revolution and the Berkeley County Soil and Water Conservation District.

Other organizations and memberships Gourdin supports include the Huguenot Society of South Carolina, Historical Society of South Carolina, Lord Berkeley Conservation Trust, the Berkeley County Library System, Berkeley County Museum, Col. Hezekiah Maham Chapter, Berkeley County Historical Society, Williamsburg Historical Society and Museum in Kingstree, The Village Museum at McClellanville, First Families of South Carolina, Changed Life Ministries of Moncks Corner and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

Most recently, Gourdin has turned much of his work to honoring and preserving local history. He contributes a weekly history column to The Berkeley Independent.

“I don’t know how I had time to work,” said Gourin. “There is just too much to do, too much to learn about my ancestry and lands.”

To help shine a light on history in the northern parts of Berkeley County, Gourdin and his wife formed a non-profit called Berkeley North Historical and Cultural Association. Berkeley North’s mission is the preservation and perpetuation of the county’s history, culture and heritage.

Several years ago, Gourdin struck out on his own to identify and map the American Revolution action sites in Berkeley County. He created the American Revolution in Present-Day Berkeley County Map, showing more than 30 action sites. Gourdin also compiled a book consisting of over 110 historical markers in and around Berkeley County that the government has made available to the public and prints as needed.

Outside of his professional, volunteer and historical endeavors, past hobbies of Gourdin’s include photography, learning how to fly, building and racing stock cars, motorcycles, go-karts, planting research tree plots as well as hunting and fishing.

When asked about his receiving such a revered award, Gourdin responded just as expected, with grace and humility.

“Helping people learn where they came from and how they got here (has been the most rewarding thing about working in Berkeley County and South Carolina),” said Gourdin. “We live in the greatest place in the world. Berkeley County history ... there’s much to tell, and so much yet to do ... today! Remember, God didn’t promise us tomorrow.”

“I don’t know exactly what they saw or heard that I was recognized with this award,” added Gourdin. “But they better not try to take it back! Before I go to bed tonight, it’ll be hanging, conspicuously, on the wall in my home.”

PINOPOLIS, S.C. (WCBD) – Legend has it that inside of the Old Nazareth Cemetery in Pinopolis, SC, there is a ghost roaming the field.

According to the story, a woman named Annie was married to an abusive man who, in a fit of rage, decided to cut off her head one day.

Annie was buried in the cemetery and is said to be walking the grounds searching for her missing head.

I decided to reach out to people in the community to see what they know about this story. Many said they were familiar with the story as it was told amongst their friends years ago.

Donna Reed, a longtime Berkeley County resident, was the only one who would do an interview as she shared her “Headless Annie” experience.

She said the story was told to her by her grandma who would always tell her “don’t be going out there.”

However, Donna said, one night, she and her friends decided to take a visit to the cemetery and test out the legend for themselves.

She says it was told if you walk around the graves and say the name “Headless Annie” three times then she would appear.

The group took part in the challenge but never actually saw the spirit, but they did witness something strange.

“[It] was like a storm inside…Everybody was like ‘it’s not blowing out there like it was in there and everybody was looking at me and we walked out and…you could see the trees inside that were blowing around that and I just said ‘nope, no more.’

Donna Reed

Donna said once they said Annie’s name the winds started to pick up and blow inside of the cemetery, but right outside of the gates, she said there was no wind blowing at all.

Ever since that incident, Donna has never returned to the cemetery.

Although she had a weird experience, she said she sees no issue with kids today calling out to “Headless Annie” for themselves if they go for the right reason.

“If they go out there and did it like we did, just for fun…and see if anything happens then that’s one thing, but if they go out there with spite and destroy stuff then no stay out of there and let them rest,” said Reed.

When looking back on her one visit to the Old Nazareth Cemetery, Donna did share her opinion on just how true the legend really is.

“It’s definitely a possibility. I’m not going to rule it out. I don’t know where her head went, [but] I’m not going to stay there and help her find it.”

Donna Reed

Although, no on has reported seeing “Headless Annie”, she may still be out there searching for her missing head.