Newspaper Page Text
THURSDAY. JANUARY 7. 2016 PICKENS COUNTY PROGRESS PAGE 5A
Boys & Girls Clubs spotlight youths
Connor Harrington - West End Payton House - Roper Park Cameron Keithley - PCMS
Twyman, Keithley, House and
Harrington are Youth of the
Month
“We are thrilled to serve 125
Pickens County youth in the
Boys & Girls Club after school
program encouraging education
and graduation with a plan for
the future,” stated Michelle
Brackin the Executive Director
in announcing the November
Youth of the Month. “Our staff
helps each young person develop
good character and citizenship,”
added the Director.
Troy Twyman is a 2015 club
member and the Youth of the
Month from Jasper Middle
School. The seventh grader’s ca
reer aspiration is to “protect our
country” by serving in the Navy
or being a Marine. He would also
like to attend college and study
foreign languages.
He was selected as YOM be
cause he overcame his shyness
and now participates in group
discussions, developed social
skills and is active in organized
games. Troy says “coming to the
club is fun, helps get my home
work finished and make new
friends.”
His family was excited to
learn about B&G because he
came home alone since they
worked. They observe Troy’s
self-confidence has grown and
he has made new friends and
came out of his shell. He has a
cat and a dog, loves playing
video games and swimming.
The Pickens County Middle
School Club’s Youth of the
Month is Cameron Keithley. He
was selected because he is a
great role model, helps everyone
at the club and has a great out
look on life.
Cameron states, “I love com
ing to B&G because I feel safe
and love meeting new people.”
He really enjoys working with
animals and would like to be a
Paleontologist. He has been in
the club for four months.
Payton House is the Roper
Park Club’s Youth of the Month.
He says, ”1 can have fun, do art
and show good character at the
B&G club.” The three-month
member enjoys video games and
wants to play in the NFL because
he likes football.
The third grader was selected
because “he is always excited
about all the activities and pro
grams.” Also, he helps others
with homework, is a team player
and shows great sportsmanship.
“The B&G is a place where
my son leams teamwork, sharing
and encouraging others,” states
mom Kerri House. She adds,
“Payton asked that we contribute
because he is learning to be gen
erous and caring by example. He
asks me to be picked up late
every day.”
The West End Club’s Youth of
the Month is Connor Harrington,
Troy Twyman - JMS
a fifth grade student at Hill City
Elementary. He was chosen “be
cause he is always respectful and
acts as a good friend to others”
Mom, Jessica Harrington ex
presses “I love that my child has
a safe and enjoyable place to go
afterschool.” Connor likes to
play football, hunt squirrels and
wants to be a mechanic. He says,
“it means a lot to me that I have
fun at the club.”
The new Boys & Girls Club
with a Teen Center is under con
struction at Roper Park and will
almost triple the number of chil
dren served. Also, the facility
will serve teens which is not
available today. To learn more
about the Pickens Boys & Girls
Club, donate to the 501(c)(3)
visit www.bgcng.org or contact
Executive Director Michelle
Brackin directly at 678-773-
1146.
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Harriette Edmonds / Photo
A member of the "stinkhom " group, which are related to more
familiar mushrooms and puffballs. All of the stinkhorns are char
acterized by producing a strong odor at the time their spores are
shed, and this one is no exception. They are appearing in some
places now due to all the moisture.
By John Nelson
University of South Carolina
Shocking, vile, outrageous,
repellent, bizarre, or just plain
"gross"~take your pick of any
number of adjectives for this
thing, known as Starfish
stinkhom. The scientific name
[Aseroe rubra] may be trans
lated as "disgusting" and "red".
Of course, it is not a plant at
all, but a fungus. (At one time, all
organisms on earth were pre
sumed to be either plant or ani
mal, but considerable scientific
research has modified this
scheme to include other groups.
Although they are not true plants,
the study of fungi remains a
component of botany.)
Our fungus is one of the fas
cinating members of the
"stinkhom" group, which are re
lated to more familiar mush
rooms and puffballs. All of the
stinkhorns are characterized by
producing a strong odor at the
time their spores are shed, and
this one is no exception.
The reason we are seeing this
unusual fungus is because of the
recent weather here in the South
east. It has been unseasonably
warm... and wet... and many
fungi respond to these conditions
by producing fruiting bodies and
shedding spores, even though it
seems the wrong time of the
year. In the last couple of weeks,
a number of people have sent me
pictures of this and other fungi,
recently popping up in their
yards, but once it finally does
start cooling off, that will be the
end of it.
This strange and harmless lit
tle monster is actually widely
distributed around the world, in
cluding the southeastern USA,
commonly showing up in forests
and in gardens on rotting vegeta
tion, including mulch. When the
conditions are right, they emerge
rapidly from an egg-like struc
ture at or just below the surface
of the ground. A soft, hollow,
columnar stalk will appear, and
at the top, 3-4 inches above the
ground, the reproductive portion
will split open into 5-10 elon
gated arms, each of which will
branch. The arms and "tentacles"
are generally bright red or or
ange, and they give this organism
the look of a starfish, or to my
way of thinking, a sea-anemone.
The center of the red surface
often shows an opening, and
eventually a dark, oozing, slimy,
messy, mass will appear. This
slime (it’s called the “gleba”) is
where the spores are produced,
and it can be really smelly. The
fetid vapors, along with the lurid
color, make the whole thing very
interesting to flies. Sure enough,
visiting flies will wade through
and eat the delicious goo, inad
vertently picking up spores. The
flies will spread these spores to
new areas, thus dispersing the
fungus.
How wonderful if you have
one or more appear in your yard!
Don’t worry; they aren’t poison
ous... although it’s hard to imag
ine anyone wanting to eat one of
these things. They actually pos
sess a strange, unearthly beauty.
True, they might smell sort of
funny, but they only last a day or
so before disappearing com
pletely. You'll be the envy of the
block when you invite your
neighbors to the backyard for
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show-and-tell.
John Nelson is the curator of
the A. C. Moore Herbarium at
the University of South Carolina,
in the Department of Biological
Sciences, Columbia SC 29208.
As a public service, the Herbar
ium offers free plant identifica
tions. For more information, visit
www.herbarium.org or call 803-
777-8196, or email
nelson@sc.edu.
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Mt. Zion Baptist Church
Friday, January 15,7:00 PM
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John Trammell, Pres/CEO-CBOPC
Pictured L to R:
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George Martin, 32” HDTV Winner
Pictured L to R:
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John Garner, Boy’s Bicycle Winner
Santa Claus
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Brenda Peret, Girl’s Bicycle Winner
Don King, Yeti Rambler Winner
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