Home Care In Hickory Grove, SC

There is usually not much noise in tiny Hickory Grove. In the tiny western York County town of 467 people, not including the horses and goats and cows and chickens, quiet rules the day and the night 364 days a year.

There are just a couple of street lights. No stoplights. The darkness in Hickory Grove is the darkest, deepest dark. It is what people call “The Country.”

Except July 4.

Then Hickory Grove is simply The Big Boom.

July 4 in Hickory Grove is the biggest light display in the darkest country sky anybody ever saw. People come from all over, they park on rural S.C. 211 and Church Street and at the little town park across the highway.

They “ooooooh” and ‘ahhhhhhh.”

And one man, not an office holder or politician but just a guy, spends $3,000 of his own money earned working in a warehouse to buy and set off all these fireworks for The Big Boom. His name is Wesley White and he stands about 5 feet 4 inches tall.

But in tiny Hickory Grove, he is a giant on July 4.

“I just love fireworks, but more, I love people,” said White, 29. “In this world we have so much division, so many things that keep people apart, I just always wanted to find a way to bring all kinds of people together in America. What better way than fireworks on July 4?”

In South Carolina, fireworks are not just legal, but so legal that people come from other states to buy truckloads of them. White buys some of the biggest and best, saving all year to splurge for July 4. He already has towers of boxes ready to go.

“I want the show to be the best so that people can have a great time and know that somebody out here loves them,” White said. “I have had strangers stop and cry and say it was so great. We have had people come up here and hug us all and thank us for giving them a little bit of togetherness in this world.”

White, a proud Christian who has started a clothing line – and a motto for his life – called “Prayed Up,” started humbly six years ago with his show. He wanted the kids in his family to see fireworks out in the country and not have to travel 30 miles to Rock Hill or 40 miles to Charlotte. The show has gotten bigger and better, and louder and brighter, every year.

“He always loved the things that went boom, the fireworks, so it just seemed natural that he would do this,” said Harriet White, Wesley’s mother. “He has this giving spirit.”

Wesley’s father, sisters, daughter, nieces, aunts all get in on the event, with a free community cookout, even swimming in their family pool for anyone who shows up. There is a mountain of food, fellowship and fun.

And it is all free.

There are black people and white people and Hispanics who watch the fireworks and meet new people. People start showing up around 4 p.m. and stay until way past dark. The food is shared and the sweet tea is shared and then the fireworks are shared. Because on July 4, White said, America’s greatness shows through by the sharing of patriotism.

“Everybody on July 4 loves America,” White said. “We all wave the same flag. We all should love each other. Maybe this is one way I can help change the country so that more days we can all love each other a little bit more.”

The Big Boom over six years has boomed, as word spreads on social media and at church and just plain old-fashioned word of mouth.

And it all happens in a tiny town where the summer darkness changes on July 4 every year to an afternoon of togetherness and fun and a night of explosions.

“Hickory Grove is a small place,” White said. “Real small. But I want to show the world that on July 4 we have the biggest heart.”

Andrew Dys: 803-329-4065, @AndrewDysHerald

This story was originally published July 3, 2016, 8:40 AM.

HICKORY GROVE, S.C. (CN2 NEWS) – More than 60 years ago a group of Hickory Grove students would be surprised to know they would soon become a part of history. This Saturday, September 18^th the Hickory Grove Rosenwald School will get a South Carolina Historic Marker.

The Hickory Grove Community Preservation Committee meeting at the St. James Rosenwald school, on this Thursday, remembering what their education there meant.

Former student and now Hickory Grove Community Preservation Committee Treasurer, Eva Byrd says, “You know everybody was family here, and our teachers were family.”

Built by area farmers between 1929 and 1930, this two classroom school house was one of many built for mostly rural communities African-American students. This school system created by Booker T. Washington and Julius Rosenwald, president of Sears, Roebuck and Company helped establish nearly 5,000 schools for black students, between 1912 and 1932.

Hickory Grove Community Preservation Committee President and former student, Robert Good, says, “I learned that it was something special I guess about 1996, I was living in Raleigh and I found out that Rosenwald schools – two room schools — were special. I said, ‘Oh, there’s one of those in my hometown’.”

Now, more than 60 years after the school closed its doors, those same doors are re-opening to be honored as a South Carolina historical marker.

“This marker that’s going to be put out there, is something that’s going to be written down and that’s something we in the black community don’t really have. We kind of pass things down verbally, but this marker will be here hopefully forever,” says Good.

After the school’s closing in 1957, a family came together to remodel the building, making it a church, St. Paul’s.

Hickory Grove Community Preservation Committee Vice Chair, Carl Bankhead, says, “My dad and uncles they took an interest in it. They had a smaller church down in the country so they came in somehow acquired the permission to use the school.”

With such a long history in the community this committee’s leaders reflect on what they hope black youth take away from this moment.

“When I was coming up, you didn’t get an education like you can today, you weren’t privileged to have an education. So I’m hoping they realize the importance of today and having an education,” says Byrd.

“It was just a fun place to be and I think it got me interested in academics and so it started me thinking about things other than down on the farm,” says Good.

This is the second Rosenwald school in the area to get this honor and CN2’s Rachel Richardson is speaking with the Hickory Grove former students about what this dedication means.

A century-old tradition of hash and fellowship appears to be over in York County -- and it’s passing might be forever.

The annual Hopewell Day celebration in western York County, which celebrated 101 years in 2018, has been canceled for 2019. A lack of volunteers, conflict with school calendars and dwindling attendance all contributed to the decision to cancel the event this year, organizers said.

The event was always celebrated on the third Wednesday in August after rural farmers in the countryside and towns of Hickory Grove, Smyrna and Sharon had finished putting crops away. A whole cow would be butchered and made into hash, then folks would gather for fellowship and Gospel singing.

“It hurts not to do it, but it got to be just too much for a few people to be able to do it,” said Melvin Howell, a longtime organizer who has missed just one Hopewell Day in more than seven decades.

For decades politicians would stump for votes and people would line up for the beef hash made of nothing but meat, onions, butter and salt. But politicians now can reach voters through the Internet and social media, and few people farm anymore.

The future of one of South Carolina’s longest-running rural traditions is uncertain.

“The number of people out here who can be a part of volunteering for it has dwindled,” Howell said. “It was not an easy decision. It hurts, to tell you the truth.”

Not even the fact that Dolly Parton’s family lived nearby at one time decades ago was able to stir interest.

The event was put on by the Tr-Cities Club at the old elementary school that served the area. The building was saved and refurnished by volunteers. The “Tri-Cities” are the tiny towns of Hickory Grover, Sharon and Smyrna. Smyrna is the smallest incorporated town in South Carolina with about 50 residents.

Chris Revels, another organizer, said he and others will talk in the coming year about possibly moving the event to the weekend.

“We just can’t muster enough help and crowds have dwindled,” Revels said. “But we are going to talk about what we can do. This is a great tradition.”

(TNS) — Some parts of York County, S.C., that haven't had high speed internet are about to go online.

Fiber optic based internet at speeds up to 1 Gbps will extend to Smyrna, Hickory Grove and western York County. Full upgrades could take two or three years, but some western York County residents could have new service by mid-2021.

The change comes through a partnership with Comporium and York Electric Cooperative. It impacts about 5,000 York Electric members in York and parts of Cherokee counties. Some details are still to be determined, per a joint release from Comporium and York Electric, after a year of discussion already on the project.

Other Comporium services like streaming video, voice, security and home automation will be available along with the improved internet access.

In the release, Comporium executive vice president and COO Matthew Dosch praised the partnership.

" Comporium is delighted to work hand-in-hand with the staff at York Electric to extend state-of-the-art broadband service to residents of western York and parts of Cherokee County who have long been overlooked by the larger providers," Dosch said.

High speed internet has become increasingly useful in recent years as everything from shopping and banking to entertainment and communication have gone online. The COVID-19 pandemic that began last spring also sent school virtual, as grocery deliveries and more did the same as many people stayed home.

York Electric CEO Paul Basha , in the release, said his group always wants to look out for its members.

"We are excited to partner with Comporium to bring broadband to many who have suffered from insufficient access for several years, holding true to our promise of improving the quality of life for those living in our communities," Basha said. "After recognizing the growing need for high speed Internet, especially during the pandemic, YEC's board of directors and management team responded with a plan to help."

York Electric is a nonprofit electric utility based in York with more than 63,000 customers in York, Lancaster, Chester and Cherokee counties. It's one of 20 electric cooperatives in South Carolina. Comporium, based in Rock Hill, has more than 134,000 customers in a more than 4,000-square-mile service area.

(c)2021 The Herald (Rock Hill, S.C.). Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Of the few access points on the Broad River, the one at the Irene Bridge on S.C. 211 in western York County has always been for the adventurous.

The bank was washed out, logs were lying around and it was "pretty snaky," said Tom Jackson, who spent much of his time growing up in York and floating down the Broad River awaiting whatever sight nature had to offer around each bend.

He would pull his canoe out of the water and carry it up a steep embankment to his vehicle parked in the grass on the side of the road. But he didn't always feel safe pulling out onto S.C. 211.

Soon river goers will have a safer, public place to launch their boats near the bridge.

The state Department of Natural Resources, with help from York County, plans to build a 2.5-acre public boat ramp about 5 miles southwest of Hickory Grove at the S.C. 211 bridge over the Broad River in York County.

The facility will include a gravel parking area and a concrete ramp to accommodate trailer launching, said County Engineer Mark Kettlewell.

Federal grants and money allocated for York and Cherokee counties through the state Department of Natural Resources will pay for the project, which is expected to cost about $280,000.

Assisting DNR, York County will purchase the property up front and be reimbursed later. The county will also handle the process of bidding out construction.

The county's primary responsibility after the ramp is built will be to maintain it.

York County Council won't have to appropriate any local funds for the project, said County Manager Jim Baker.

A lack of public access along the river has deterred most people from using the river, said Chad Chandler, who owns the property slated for the ramp.

Mostly only folks who know people living along the river use it.

The ramp, which will be named in honor of his grandfather, Marion Cecil Chandler, will open up the river to more people, he said.

Chandler has already received a call from a kayak rental company interested in setting up an operation nearby.

The ramp at the S.C. 211 bridge will be "wonderful" and ideal, Jackson said.

Not only will the facility provide a safer way to get in and out of water, a better place to park, and eliminate the risk of getting stuck, it will also open up the river to adventurers who aren't quite willing to risk the more primitive boat launches and "throw-ins," he said.

And there's always the added benefit of the outdoors, he said.

"It gets people off the couch and away from work," Jackson said.

Wanted: More recreation

The discussion about the boat ramp has been ongoing among state and local officials in York and Cherokee counties, Baker said.

They considered sites for a public river access in Cherokee County and around York County-owned Worth Mountain near Hickory Grove, but none worked out.

Worth Mountain, which DNR leases from the county, is primarily used for hunting. There are gravel roads and good fishing locations there, but not much parking, Baker said.

Shallow water at the only location for a possible boat ramp would have ruled out power boats. There also were significant flooding issues, Baker said.

The boat ramp comes at a time when officials are assessing York County's need for more open space, public parks and recreation opportunities.

York lacks recreation facilities compared to some other counties in South Carolina, according to a recent study by the York County Convention and Visitors Bureau.

Bennish Brown, executive director of the CVB, shared the study with the York County Council last week.

Aiken County staffs five parks and has 14 unstaffed parks and eight boat landings, the study showed. Aiken has a population of 160,000.

Charleston County, with about 350,000 residents, maintains 19 boat landings and 25 parks, which include water parks, dog parks, meeting and event rental spaces, a marina, equestrian center, and climbing wall, campgrounds and fishing piers, among others.

York County, by comparison, owns and manages four parks: Ebenezer Park, Allison Creek landing, Nanny's Mountain and Worth Mountain.

The study shows that parks and open space opportunities are high priorities for York County residents.

Whether York County has adequate park space has come up in relation to other controversies.

Earlier this year campers at Ebenezer Park complained when the county raised the rates at the only county-run campground.

Residents living along Dave Lyle Boulevard said they wanted to see more park and recreation facilities as priorities in the county's vision for how the corridor, which will extend east of Rock Hill toward the Catawba River, will be developed.

More parks planned

The county has several plans in the works for additional parks and recreation opportunities, Baker said last week.

There has been some talk about transforming the boat landing at Allison Creek into a "bigger and better Ebenezer Park," Baker said.

Duke Energy owns the land but can qualify for grant money aimed at encouraging the company to create more recreation opportunities on water ways where its facilities are located.

The county was granted land as part of the Crowder's Creek and Allison Creek planned developments, and since then, there has been discussion about putting ball fields there, Baker said.

A master plan for that site is in the works, Brown said.

The county has also been exploring properties that might be good sites for agritourism activities and officials are assessing what it would take to see the project through.

York County Council Chairman Britt Blackwell said after Brown's presentation that parks and recreation - like tourism - are important to providing residents with better quality of life.

After talking with his daughter about how many young people enjoy having pets, he asked the county to see whether a dog park would be feasible on county property.

However the county moves forward with exploring its options for parks and recreation opportunities, it should consider what municipalities already offer, Brown and Baker have said.

The City of Rock Hill, for example, maintains 31 parks and four recreation centers, according to its website.

Baker said it's unclear how the county's plans will pan out.

The challenge, he said, will be to find "a package that everybody supports. ...We're going to have to figure out where the council is as a whole and put together a program that has pieces of what everyone is enamored with."

That still leaves the question of who will pay for them.

"These are all wonderful amenities, but they all cost money," Baker said.

This story was originally published December 27, 2011, 12:00 AM.