They built them and the players have come.

Now, the Town of Whitmire has to decide on a play price and time limit for teams who use the town’s two fields on Highway 66 that were built about a decade ago.

Beth Broom, the town’s former recreation director, said someone recently requested the fields for a tournament. Broom said she wished she’d had a price in writing for him.

Mayor Tim Carroll said that a few years ago, Woodruff charged $150 to use a field during a tournament.

Council members Cassie Fowler and Dwight Lane suggested charging more for the price of lights.

“I don’t want to price ourselves out of business, but at the same time, I don’t want to give it away,” said Carroll.

Carroll asked that one of the council members call Union, the City of Newberry, Prosperity and Woodruff to see what the areas charge for tournaments.

“I’ll be glad to,” said Councilwoman Chrystal Harsha.

In the meantime, council proposed a one-day fee of $125 per field and a $200 fee to use a field for an entire weekend.

But some teams have used the fields and lights for games that lasted until 3 a.m., Broom said.

“They do have tournaments that last that long,” said Carroll.

Council also decided that games must end by midnight on Saturdays and be limited on Sundays from noon to midnight.

Friday games may be played until 4 a.m. at the latest.

Those who rent the fields may also sell snacks, said Carroll.

In other recreation news:

Named

The town’s $480,000 park, next to the community center and funded by the county’s penny sales tax levy, now has a name.

Harsha said she liked Councilman Jimmy Brock’s recommendation of “Heritage Park” for a park name.

Brock suggested that the playground, gazebo, stage and other park-funded areas also have names within the Heritage Park title.

For instance, the playground could have a sign that read, “Park Street School Memorial Park,” and another area could be named “The Strand.”

Staged right

Though it awaits its name, the new park’s stage construction is nearly complete.

The 20 ft. x 30 ft. roofed area needs electricity, landscaping and handrails, said Carroll.

The stage, located by the playground, also has an additional 20 ft. x 30 ft. area for dancing.

Carroll said the Christian drama team “The Watchgroup” will perform on the stage for area senior citizens July 24 at 11 a.m. and that anyone can attend.

Gazebo coming

Brock said he recently ordered the gazebo that will stand beside the community center. Delivery for the 20 ft. x 12 ft. structure takes about seven weeks, he said.

Spending explained

Fowler said some citizens asked her why the town was spending money on park items in hard financial times and Carroll said the park is funded by penny sales tax collections.

“If we don’t spend it on the park, it goes back to Newberry County,” said Carroll. “We lose the money.”

Beach day

The city’s annual senior citizen beach trip is still on, set for Oct. 5-8. Six have shown interest. Registration must be sent by July 31, said Broom.

Church league softball

Down in participants from last year and now defunct, the town’s church softball league had comparatively few signed up this year.

“I was going to have to combine like five churches to make one team,” said Broom.

At one time there were as many as 11 churches signed up, she said.

Broom says she hated to cancel the league “because it was such a good community thing.”

“Hopefully, next year things will pick back up and everybody will miss it and get back out there,” she said.

Finding the one

The town council narrowed down applications for a new full-time recreation director. After Monday’s meeting, council selected eight applications. Carroll said they will begin calling people to set up interviews.

Broom vacated the recreation director position by moving into the town’s bookkeeper position for the Commission of Public Works.

At one time, the town was unsure if it have enough funds to pay for a full-time recreation director, said Carroll.

Going global

Last Wednesday, a representative from the handheld golfer’s Global Positioning System company, GolfBuddy, walked the Whitmire Golf Course for measurements.

The man measured the distance to course holes with his own handheld device.

“It’s really fascinating,” said Ron Harsha, treasurer of the Whitmire Golf Association.

GolfBuddy lets you measure shot distance from your current position, gives you an accurate measurement of how far you hit your shot and lets you view course information.



Party peace

Sue Hollingsworth, who coordinated the town’s Party in the Pines festival on behalf of the Whitmire Jaycees, said thank you to the town and police for a successful event.

The biggest disturbance at the weekend event was fights among youth, “little girls scrapping over a little boy,” she said.

Coming to town

Council also briefly discussed plans with Hollingsworth for this year’s Christmas parade to be held Dec. 12 at 1 p.m.

This year’s parade follows the route of last year’s parade revival.

“People said that was the best parade they’d seen in 50 years,” said Carroll.