Adonis Hill has announced he is seeking election for the Newberry City Council, District Three seat.
Courtesy photo
NEWBERRY — Adonis Hill has announced he is seeking election for the Newberry City Council, District Three seat.
Hill is a fourth-generation resident of Newberry, he began his education at the family-owned Triangle Day Care Center nearly 50 years ago.
Hill learned to play basketball and to be a team player at Gallman Park, nestled in the district he hopes to represent. His skills allowed him to be a lettered three-year starter for his high school alma mater, Newberry High School. Hill transferred to Lander University after attending Georgia Southern University where the Eagles won the TAAC (Trans America Athletic Conference) Championship and advanced to the NCAA Southeast Regional Field of 64.
After college, Hill was a professional baseball umpire for eight years, some of his accomplishments included: Single-A Championship Series, Single-A All-Star Game, and Double-A All-Star Game. Upon retiring from umpiring, he was named supervisor of officials for baseball and softball for the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC).
While Hill enjoyed exploring the country, home was always where his heart was, so he returned to Newberry and got involved in the community, becoming a sports official and field manager for the City of Newberry’s Parks Recreation and Tourism Department. Hill also served on the Clemson Focus Strategic Planning Committee and Decade of Coaches Planning Committee.
He is currently employed by UPS and is serving his second term on the County Airport Commission. Hill is also an assistant basketball coach at Newberry High School and a member of the coaching staff who led the team to a State Championship.
On July 6, 2016, Hill was rushed to the hospital because he passed out. After weeks of tests, doctors discovered a massive tumor in his throat – it was cancer. The location of the tumor was highly risky for surgery, but if it remained death was certain. His fellow church members at Miller Chapel AME Church prayed for his healing and for his family’s strength to guide him. Fortunately, God heard their prayers and kept Hill — delivering him through surgery on August 10, 2016.
Adonis Hill is the youngest son of Clyde Hill, who has represented Area VII on the Newberry School Board for over 30 years. Jessie Hill is his mother and for whom the family restaurant is affectionately named – Tiny’s Fish & Wings. Adonis Hill has noticed District Three is a “food desert” and would like to be the public servant who changes that by instituting what he calls “District Three Point Shot” which focuses on:
1) Economic Development – more restaurants and grocery stores and/or produce stands;
2) Parks, Recreation, and Tourism – build a complex to attract tournaments to generate revenue;
3) Education – Work with the school district to elevate students to the next level in the classroom.
Hill believes these three areas are what Newberry needs to encourage many of the people who work in Newberry to also live in Newberry to reduce their commute to Columbia and other nearby cities.