Little Mountain Reunion a hit despite storms

LITTLE MOUNTAIN — While rain may have put a damper on other festivities during the Little Mountain Reunion Saturday afternoon, members of the community still showed up in droves for the Little Mountain Reunion Parade earlier that morning.

To help beat the heat, some parade participants were handing out fans, bottles of water and popsicles for kids and adults to enjoy. As part of the festivities, the town welcomes a lineup of speakers after the parade and this year was no different.

“I’ve been here now for over 21 years and I want to thank you for giving me the opportunity to serve you here in Newberry County and District 18. We’ve got elections coming up in November. I have been very, very fortunate this year – this is my first time in 20 years that I’ve not had oppositions and a lot of it had to do with you out there,” said Senator Ronnie Cromer.

State Representative Joe White also extended his thanks to the community for allowing him to serve and during his time of undergoing cancer treatments.

“Many of you know that on April 22 I was diagnosed with cancer and I’ve spent most of the last eight weeks in Houston, Texas being treated for that cancer and right now I feel great. I’m believing that the prayers you all have offered up for me and the grace of God is going to make sure that I no longer have cancer when I go back to the doctor in September for my examination. Do remember that November is a critical time in the history of our country and state. We need to get out and vote and we need to vote for people who believe we the people can continue to rule as self governed people so pay close attention to who you vote for,” White said.

The annual reunion is also special for Newberry County Sheriff Lee Foster. A number of years ago, Little Mountain Mayor Jana Jayroe’s father-in-law swore in Foster as Chief of Police in Little Mountain.

“That was my first job as police officer here in Little Mountain. It’s been a blast for the last 40-something years. I appreciate the opportunity to serve and look forward to serving four more and who knows after that because I never say never,” he said.

Newberry County Auditor Donna Lominack and Treasurer Karen Lindler-Smith, both on the ballot in November, encouraged members of the community to continue to show their support as they head to the polls in November.

Laura, Kneece, Newberry County coroner, will also be running unopposed in November and ready to serve the people of Newberry County for the next four years and hopefully, Kneece said, four years after that.

“I greatly appreciate everything that the County puts in for our support, not only for my office, but all the other offices that we have. We are an open door so if you ever need our services – which I hope nobody ever really needs – we’re there for you and we’re there to provide community-wide support attending community functions and being school supportive,” she said.

Newberry County Councilmen Karl Sease and Leon Fulmer, also on the November ballot, highlighted some of the challenges the county is facing right now, particularly with first responders and the fire service.

“Volunteers are the backbone of Newberry County, especially when it comes to our emergency services. We recognize that on County Council and I think most folks in the community recognize that, but we owe a huge debt and gratitude to them for their service. My door is always open. I get phone calls from folks outside my district and that’s not a problem. I want to know if you have problems or concerns – let us know,” Fulmer said.

Like Fulmer, Sease, who is part of District 3, encouraged those with questions to reach out.

“I’m part of District 3, but I work for everyone in the county so if you have a question, I’ll try to get an answer. If you have a problem, we’ll try to solve it,” he said.

Michael Bedenbaugh and Jaclyn Sease, who are running for South Carolina’s Third Congressional District and Newberry County School Board District 4 respectively.

“I have lived my life in service to this community and after I realized I wasn’t ready for college, I realized I needed to serve my country and I joined the Navy. Every since I got out of the Navy and I left here and lived in New York for a while, one of the proudest moments was for me to come back home and build my life around the home I grew up in. Now I’m ready to serve again. The time is now for us to have a sense of independence because if we keep doing the same thing we’re going to keep having the same problems we’ve been having,” Bedenbaugh said.

For her part, Sease said she’s running because she wants to see a new generation of leadership on the Newberry County School Board.

“Our parents are currently under-represented and in a post-COVID world education looks very different than it did just a few years ago. Day-to-day activities have changed and we’re driven by technology in education and it continues to push forward. I think parents need to be at the forefront of the decision making process as these changes are made. I’ve attended nearly every school board meeting this past year and have been vocal and an advocate for in-person learning a call for focus on teacher recruitment and retention,” she said.

With teaching positions filled up for the year, Sease added that she wants to continue putting on the pressure of recruiting and retaining teachers to help meet the needs of students and teachers.