Home Care In Carlisle, SC

COLUMBIA, S.C. — Pollution leaking at a closed textile plant in Union County may threaten Columbia's drinking water.

Thousands of Columbia residents rely on the Broad River for their drinking water. But a concerning issue lies 60 miles upstream: the Carlisle Finishing Textile Plant.

The plant was shut down a couple of years ago, but Congaree Riverkeeper Bill Stangler has concerns about what remains.

"What they left behind was several waste lagoons that are filled with PFAS pollution," he said.

PFAS, also known as "Forever Chemicals," are becoming increasingly common in our waterways, according to Stangler. The chemicals can be found in several products, including food packaging, firefighting foam, and textiles.

According to state data, the pollution on the site is 7,200 times higher in groundwater than the proposed federal standard of four parts per trillion.

"The concern is that stuff will make its way into the river and eventually make its way to our drinking water here in Columbia," said Stangler.

The South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) sent a letter to factory representatives calling the environmental problems at the plant an "urgent legal matter."

According to Assistant City Manager Clint Shealy, meeting the federal drinking water limit for PFAS could cost Columbia $150 million.

"We believe that it is by far the best economical approach to keep these compounds out of the environment," said Shealy.

Javar Juarez has lived along the Broad River for 15 years. He's hoping for swift action from officials.

"This river moves fast," said Juarez. "So not tomorrow, not next month. Today."

In April, consultants submitted a clean-up plan to DHEC.

"The reality is some of the damage has already been done here," said Stangler.

According to Shealy and Stangler, the water is still safe to drink through intense filtration.

Stangler said the company ran a treatment plant for wastewater generated at the textile factory. Still, wastewater systems are not required to filter out Forever Chemicals before releasing wastewater into a river.

Elevate Textiles said in a statement to News19:

"Carlisle Finishing has continued to operate the wastewater treatment facility for the town of Carlisle, SC after selling its manufacturing facility in 2020. Carlisle Finishing strives to meet all regulatory compliance requirements and operates the wastewater facility in accordance with all state and federal regulations and best industry practices. Carlisle Finishing is working with the site's current owner and DHEC to more fully understand and address any outstanding issues regarding wastewater processing at the site."

Three of the top high school athletic programs in South Carolina are located in the Charleston area.

The S.C. Athletic Administrators Association recently announced the winners of the Carlisle Cup in each of the state’s five High School League classifications. The Carlisle Cup recognizes the top athletic programs each year, based on state championships and playoff success.

Prep Zone

Wando is the Class AAAAA winner for the 2020-21 school year. The athletic program captured state titles in volleyball, girls swimming and girls soccer, and was the state runner-up in boys swimming, boys tennis and girls lacrosse. Wando also was Lower State runner-up in girls basketball and girls tennis, third in girls track and fourth in boys track.

Bishop England was the top program in Class AAA this year. The Bishops won state titles in girls tennis, boys cross country, girls lacrosse and boys lacrosse, and were state runners-up in girls basketball, boys golf and boys swimming. The girls cross country team finished third in the state meet, and the girls golf team was third in the AAA state tournament.

Philip Simmons earned the award for Class AA. The four-year-old Berkeley County school won state titles in boys tennis, boys track and girls track, while finishing second in boys cross country and girls cross country. The girls tennis team was AA state runner-up as well. The volleyball and girls basketball teams reached the AA Lower State finals.

High school coaches on the move

Summer is often the time for movement among the prep coaching ranks, and this summer is no different.

Oceanside Collegiate recently announced the hiring of two new varsity head coaches, while an assistant at Berkeley has landed his first head coaching gig.

OCA filled openings in baseball and softball in recent days. Alecia Robinson will assume duties as the head softball coach next spring. Robinson comes to Oceanside Collegiate from Blue Ridge High School in Greer. Robinson served at Blue Ridge for the last three seasons, guiding the Tigers to an undefeated region record and a Lower State appearance in Class AAAA.

Robinson is a former two-time all-state performer at Tuscola High School in Waynesville, North Carolina, where she holds the school’s career home run record.

Richie McCullough will take the reins of the successful baseball program. McCullough replaces Jerry Stoots, who was not retained after the 2021 season. McCullough has been an assistant on the varsity team for the last two seasons. Oceanside played for the Class AA state title in 2019 and won 20 games this spring but failed to make the state playoffs.

McCullough is a native of Columbia and a 1990 graduate of Columbia High. He was a four-year all-region selection who was also was named all-state and played in the North-South all-star game.

Prior to his move to Charleston, McCullough spent 11 years as an assistant coach in Lexington.

“I am very appreciative for the opportunity here at Oceanside and would like to thank Mrs. (Brenda) Corley and Coach (Mark) Meyer for putting their trust in me,” McCullough said. “I love everything about this school.”

Zach Jacobs, who was Berkeley’s junior varsity baseball coach and an assistant coach for the varsity team, was hired as the varsity head coach at Beaufort High School. Jacobs is a graduate of Berkeley and was an All-Lowcountry selection as a player. He inherits a program that played for the Class AAAA Lower State championship this past spring. The Eagles lost to James Island in the best-of-three Lower State series.

It’s gone by many different names based off of the organizations who host them and the sponsors who attach their name to them, but most of the participants know it by one moniker.

The Carlisle Tour.

That’s the informal name for Aiken’s local junior golf tour, also known as the Aiken Chapter of the South Carolina Junior Golf Association’s Hootie and the Blowfish Summer Chapter Series.

“It has gotten that name, and it stuck. I keep saying, no now, we’re the Aiken chapter of the South Carolina Junior Golf Association,” USC Aiken golf coach Michael Carlisle joked. “They’ve got Hootie and the Blowfish sponsoring it, but I guess it’s easier to just say the Carlisle Tour. I guess there’s worse things that could happen. ... Either that, or I’m just the one they’re stuck with running the thing, so they better get my name right if they want to play.”

Carlisle is the director of the tournament series, and he estimated his involvement has lasted for around 35 years. Needless to say, he knows better than anyone how being involved with this local tour can benefit a junior golfer.

“It’s what we refer to as kind of a grassroots start in competitive golf,” he explained. “Golf can be a very expensive game if you’re traveling to tournaments and paying entry fees and staying in hotels and things like that. Here, you can stay at home and travel to these tournaments and get some good, competitive experience.

“Even the better players, when they don’t have anything really good to travel to, they can stay here and play some local golf courses and play with their friends, guys they’ve played and grew up with all along. It is just a good grassroots start into competitive golf where you can get out there and find out if you like competitive golf, if you enjoy doing it, and maybe go on to bigger and better things from there.”

This year’s series has 13 summer dates and between five and eight around Christmas, and he credited the help of the area’s golf courses for making that happen despite the challenges caused by the changing school calendar. Still, they were able to squeeze in the schedule and accommodate everybody.

Per the SCJGA’s website, dues for the Aiken chapter are $150 for the 7-12 age group and $200 for the 13-18 group, and the contact number is (803) 641-3528.

The series has turned benefited players of all ability levels, and Carlisle has seen some good ones pass through - most notably pros like Kevin Kisner, Scott Brown and Charles Howell III.

“And then there’s just been a pile of kids who have gone on to college and played collegiately that have played in that, also. It’s turned out some good players, and it’s turned out a lot of good people who are still in the game.”

Some of those are second-generation players who are keeping it in the family while also reminding Carlisle just how long he’s been running the tour.

“It always amazes me, I’ll run across somebody who calls me up and says, ‘Hey, I’ve got an 8-year-old and I want to get him involved in competitive golf. I played in those tournaments when I was in their age,’” he said. “I’m thinking, good Lord, I’m getting the kids of former players who are playing now, so that kind of dates me a little bit also.”

School of Music alum returns to perform in beloved American opera

In the 65 years since its premiere, South Carolina-born composer Carlisle Floyd’s Susannah stands as one of the most beloved American operas. Floyd, dubbed “a master of creating mood in the orchestra” by The Los Angeles Times, is a South Carolina Hall of Fame inductee, 2004 National Medal of Arts awardee and recipient of the 2008 National Endowment for the Arts Opera Honoree for lifetime work.

Under the direction of Ellen Douglas Schlaefer, the School of Music presents Floyd’s Susannah at the university’s Drayton Hall Theatre Nov. 1-3.

Opera alumnus Daniel Gainey returns to the university to perform the role of Little Bat McClean, a troubled boy and admirer of title character Susannah.

“It is an honor for me to return to South Carolina professionally to help bring Mr. Floyd's music to life in Schlaefer's production,” Gainey says.

Schlaefer, director of opera studies at the University of South Carolina, gives graduate and undergraduate students the opportunity to learn from a comprehensive program covering every facet of opera production, both on stage and behind the scenes.

“Ellen's commitment to creating a working theater company for her students, by her students, instilled a great sense of ownership for my opportunities,” Gainey says. “I create my chances as an artist instead of waiting for someone to offer me one.”

Gainey came to UofSC on a full scholarship and he credits that opportunity for opening doors he never expected. Since he graduated in 2007, he has performed as a singer and instrumentalist and directed shows. Gainey is the pastoral musician for St. Mary’s Episcopal Church in Asheville, North Carolina. He credits his success in part to opera at South Carolina.

“While I was at USC, I was amazed at how many resources and connections I made,” Gainey says. “I was in a leading role by my sophomore year. I was getting one-on-one time with coaches, professors and audiences. It was an amazing experience.”

The music of Susannah is characterized by Appalachian folk melodies and includes some Protestant hymns and traditional classical music. A prominent part of the opera is Susannah’s soaring aria in Act II, "The Trees on the Mountain," similar to Appalachian folk tunes, but is Floyd's own composition.

The libretto, also written by the composer, has as its basis the apocryphal story of Susannah and the Elders, updated to the recent past and relocated to a fictional rural community. The drama centers on the unjust ostracizing and abuse of Susannah by her community and the powerful leaders who are simultaneously repulsed and captivated by her beauty.

“The opera explores themes of hypocrisy, fear and the malleability of crowds, all of which are extremely relevant to our society today,” says Melissa Starkweather, a second-year master’s student in opera theater and one of two students performing the title role. “It is an exciting thing to be a part of a show which carries such a powerful message. Both the story and the music are absolutely gripping and will leave audiences with a new perspective on the power of fear.”

I hope this work can inspire the next generation of South Carolina operatic talent.

Daniel Gainey, opera alumnus

Senior choral music education and honors student Catherine Howland also plays Susannah.

“Discovering the slow, harrowing transformation and internal struggle that Susannah experiences has been a challenge, but it has also been captivating,” Howland says. “I have loved the opportunity to grow as a performer through this wonderful opera. Susannah warns us of the power of a community to do evil but encourages us to consider how we can instead do good in our own community.”

“People are ostracized and isolated every day, both for things they have done and things they haven’t,” says T.J. Turner, a master's in voice performance student who plays Sam, Susannah’s brother. “This show emphasizes the destruction and emotional turmoil it can cause for not only those who are accused, but also those who are doing the accusing, despite the reason. I think we can all identify with Susannah, but it’s important to take a step back and learn from what the other characters are doing to her and her brother, Sam, throughout this masterpiece.”

Despite its serious topic, Susannah was received well and hailed as an instant classic at its world premiere in Tallahassee, Florida, and later at the New York City Opera in 1956. The appeal of the opera has endured for more than six decades, a rare feat in operas composed in the 20th century. It attests to the composer’s uncommon ability to wed tuneful music with astute dramatic insights to create an opera of complex characters, emotional immediacy and thrilling narrative pace.

“South Carolina has given generously of its talents to the operatic world,” Gainey says. “Carlisle Floyd and Ellen Schlaefer are two such gifts. I hope this work can inspire the next generation of South Carolina operatic talent."

The opera, sung in English, will be performed at Drayton Hall Theatre, 1214 College St., at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 1 and 2 and at 3 p.m. Nov. 3. Tickets are $25 for adults; $20 for seniors, UofSC faculty and staff and military; $10 for students with ID. Tickets are available online through the USC Marketplace or at the door. Please note that online and phone sales end at 3 p.m. on opening day. After that you may purchase at the door one hour before showtime.

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MAULDIN – Elijah Carlisle anxiously steps to the plate, baseball bat in hand and hopes of a hit twinkling in his eyes.

Much to his delight, there is no shortage of vocal support from the crowd gathered at Mauldin’s Sunset Park on a Saturday morning in May.

“Next up is Elijah, from the baseball powerhouse of Carlisle Farms,” announces Jeff Powers, prompting a smattering of chuckles.

Indeed, the Carlisle family of Simpsonville has produced many a player for the Mauldin Miracle League in recent years – nine players overall, including six players during the current spring season.

Five-year-old Elijah is the youngest; 20-year-old Tonesha, or Tia, the eldest.

In between, one will find four other Carlisles wearing the shirts of the “Red Sox” squad – Skyler, 7; Serenity, 8; Journey, 11, and David, 19.

Elijah makes contact, which is the goal of the Mauldin Miracle League, both literally and figuratively.

“When you’re out there with them for two seasons a year for this many years, you become close and really build relationships,” said Tammy Carlisle, mom to Elijah and seven other special needs children. “In a typical league, they would age out. But my 19- and 20-year-olds play on the same team as my 5-year-old.”

The Mauldin Miracle League has been affording this opportunity for special needs young people since its founding 15 years ago by Dennis Raines. The league is a volunteer-driven, nonprofit organization with a simple mission – namely, to give every child a chance to play baseball.

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“The part that I enjoy is seeing children with physical or developmental challenges go out and play the game,” said Powers, who serves as the league’s director. “It’s great because we don’t have to worry whether the ball is hit or how many strikes you’re going to get. The goal of the league is to have fun. We’re trying to teach the fundamentals of baseball, but we’re not worried about churning out baseball players.

“It’s also important for the parents and families, who sit in the stands and develop camaraderie and have the ability to share with other parents.”

The league, which draws players from a five-county area in the Upstate, also conducts a fall season in September and October and serves approximately 140 young people between its two seasons each year.

“They’re learning from each other, and you get to see the progress from one season to the next,” said Carlisle, who has had kids playing in the league for each of the past eight years. “It’s more of a family-, community-type situation than just a ball team.

“We’re building relationships with people who are like-minded. They all have some special thing about them, to the point that it makes my kids not feel different. They feel included. They feel a part of it. I love that they feel normal. I can’t even tell you how important it has been for us to be part of this.”

Originally from Winter Haven, Florida, the Carlisles visited Greenville while on vacation in 2010 and left duly impressed.

“We just fell in love with the area,” said Jerry Carlisle, the patriarch of the family who works as a hospice nurse. “We decided that if we could find a house and I could get a job, we’d move here. We moved two months later.”

They also wasted little time in finding the Mauldin Miracle League, and like the countless families who have participated in the league have gained much appreciation for organizations such as Greenville Civitan Charities and the Rotary Club of the Reedy River, as well as the many other businesses, volunteers and private contributions that have kept the group thriving.

Local college and high school baseball teams and other groups regularly serve as “buddies,” assisting the players with batting, running and fielding. The minor league Greenville Drive baseball team of the Class A South Atlantic League hosts the players at downtown Greenville’s Fluor Field once each year while also providing uniform shirts for each of the league's eight teams, six of which play each Saturday and two that play every Tuesday.

All games are held at Mauldin's Sunset Park, a facility that also includes a fully accessible playground to accommodate all-comers, including special needs children.

Despite the frenetic pace around the Carlisle home on Saturday mornings, each game is special and highly anticipated.

Alarm clocks blare early, followed by breakfast and uniforms and caps and excitement.

“It’s chaotic,” Tammy says. “And wonderful.”

By 9:30, the Carlisle’s 15-passenger van is filled.

By 10 a.m., the game is under way, and the fun is contagious.

“We cheer for everything,” Tammy says.

Anything goes. In his first few games, Elijah would hit the ball, drop his bat and immediately retrieve his own ball before running the bases.

No problem.

When she hits the ball, Tia always focuses her stare behind the fence to confirm that her parents are watching. Later, when she crosses home plate, she makes a beeline to Tammy for a high-five, as does each member of the Carlisle contingent.

No score is kept.

Everyone’s happy.

All the players get to bat and get a hit.

Some players run to first base; others run wherever their legs or wheels will carry them.

There’s cheering and clapping and smiling and words of encouragement for each player.

“I love the fact that the kids are accepted for who they are,” Tammy said. “I don’t think my kids know that this is a special league. They just know that they put on their uniforms and they go play ball. And that means everything.”

The Saturday gets even better if Jerry Carlisle decides to make a pit stop on the way home for slushees.

When the crowd piles out of the van, many observers ask Jerry and Tammy if they run a day care.

“No,” they reply. “They’re all ours.”

Even at home, the fun and games are never ending.

“People come into our home, and it’s loud,” Tammy said. “It can be overwhelming.”

And, more often than not, wonderful.

“When you open your heart,” Tammy says, “and invite people in, family happens.”

For more information on the Mauldin Miracle League, visit www.mauldinmiracleleague.com or contact Jeff Powers at (864) 303-2362 or [email protected]