Andrew Wigger | The Newberry Observer
Rep. Joe White (right) gives Rep. Walt McLeod (left) a duplicate of the “Representative Walton J. McLeod Bridge” sign.
Andrew Wigger | The Newberry Observer
Rep. Joe White (right) gives Rep. Walt McLeod (left) a duplicate of the “Representative Walton J. McLeod Bridge” sign.
Andrew Wigger | The Newberry Observer
By Andrew Wigger
awigger@www.newberryobserver.com
NEWBERRY COUNTY — Rep. Walton J. McLeod has forever been honored in Newberry County following the renaming of the College Street Bridge in his honor. The bridge will now be known as the Representative Walton J. McLeod Bridge.
State Senator Ronnie Cromer said he previously called Representative Joe White and explained they needed to do something for McLeod due to all he has done for the county in the last 20 years. According to Cromer, White replied that they needed to do something to honor of McLeod now, rather than memorialized later.
“It is only fitting that this bridge be named for Walt because when they replaced the old bridge, the plans were to go right in front of the church entrance. The church members were upset because they wouldn’t have good access, Walt and I got ahold of DOT and they came back with the design you see now,” Cromer said.
White spoke of details many may not have known about McLeod. For example, he was a graduate of Yale University, he served as the mayor of Little Mountain twice and he is a veteran of the United States Navy.
“When I met Walt McLeod, he welcomed me graciously and gave me great advice,” he said.
White then spoke of a story involving a mutual friend who helped with McLeod’s with his campaign in 1996. The friend felt it in her heart to pray with McLeod, White said she felt the Holy Spirit urging her to do so.
“One night, she was heading home after a long day of campaigning, as she approached Walt’s house, her heart was pounding, the Holy Spirit was telling her to stop and pray for Walt,” White said.
The friend ended up knocking on McLeod’s door at 9 p.m. and asked if she could pray for him. He agreed, and they did so, when she looked up, White said that she saw McLeod crying.
“Walt looked at her and said thank you, no one has every prayed like that for me before,” White said. “I believe Walt’s success as a public servant was because people like her take seriously the first two versus of 1 Timothy: Chapter Two. Those versus (ask) Christians to pray for their leaders, for God to guide and strengthen elected officials.”
Those prayers, White said, is why officials like McLeod have been able to serve Newberry County so well.
McLeod spoke during the ceremony, first thanking everyone for attending and then said it was a high honor to have a bridge named for him.
“Senator Cromer didn’t tell me he introduced legislation to have a concurrent resolution, I found out about it from someone else. I looked it up and the original plan was to name US 76 from Little Mountain to Chapin the Walton J. McLeod Highway,” he said.
McLeod said that he knew a lot of people on that bridge and joked that he would never hear the end of it. McLeod then said he went to the State House and and gave Cromer his appreciation of what he was doing, but could he find a bridge because no one lives on a bridge.
McLeod then said that 20 years is a long time and that it has been a high honor to be a representative for Newberry County.
Also during the ceremony, Mayor Foster Senn (City of Newberry), Chairperson Todd Johnson (Newberry County Council), Kevin McLaughlin, P.E. (SCDOT), Chairperson Tim Carroll (Newberry County Transport Committee) spoke during the event.