By Leon G. Russ
HOMETOWN NEWS

The smell of baked goods will once again fill the cabins of vehicles flying down I- 85 and those looping around Hearon Circle in Spartanburg.
Last Wednesday the company that County Councilman David Britt, Chairman of the Spartanburg County Economic Recruitment and Development Committee, codenamed Project Rise was revealed to be Highland Baking Co. of Chicago, Ill.
Highland purchased the 240,000-square-foot bakery at 7001 Asheville Highway and adjacent 8,000-square-foot retail building at 7101 Asheville Highway from Cornerstone GSP LLC for $4 million.
Highland will use the facility as a baked goods distribution center and Britt expects Highland to invest upwards of $11 million into the facility in the way of capital investment.
Britt noted the deal has been in the works for the past four months and he expects Highland to employ about 200 people at the former Mrs. Smith’s bakery in Hearon Circle.
He explained the family-owned business is still working with the Department of Commerce on a few issues so he wasn’t able to give an exact date the company will start hiring or operating.

For the rest of the story, read this week’s Boiling Springs Sentry.

For the rest of the story, read this week’s Boiling Springs Sentry.

Photo by David Stephens
GINGRICH VISITS THE GRAPEVINE
2012 Republican Presidential candidate Newt Gingrich greets diners at the Grapevine Restaurant during a campaign stop in Boiling Springs last Saturday. A few hours later Gingrich would capture a convincing victory in the S.C. Republican Presidential Primary.

Seeing an average of 80 to 90 students a day used to be a balancing act for Boiling Springs High School nurse Christy Lockhart because she was working in a two-room station totaling only 210 square feet, an office area that was 10×10 and a 5×3 restroom that was not completely American Disabilities Act (ADA) compliant.
Lockhart was only able to see one student at a time and those in a wheelchair or on crutches had to be physically assisted into the station or to the tiny bathroom.
After renovations were recently completed, all that has gone away.
“One of the challenges we encountered at the start of the 2010-2011 school year was how to prioritize the spending of federal stimulus money for our children with disabilities, which was awarded to Spartanburg School District Two,” Dr. Nancy Turner, District Two Director of Special Services, wrote in an email. “There were strict stipulations and requirements for spending the money on and for the benefit of students with special needs. 
“Equity, throughout the district for students with special needs, was one of the requirements for distribution of expenditures for the stimulus monies. As we began to survey the needs of staff in District Two that serve children with special needs, one school stood out and that was in the nurse’s station at Boiling Springs High School.”

For the rest of the story, read this week’s Boiling Springs Sentry.

JANUARY
On Jan. 8, 2011, the Boiling Springs Fire Department held a grand opening ceremony for their new firehouse on Rainbow Lake Road. The  spacious facility has eight equipment bays, a separate communications room, sizeable offices and storage rooms, a training room that is also available to groups from the community, a full kitchen and day room, and important to the firefighters, divided sleeping quarters and roomy bathroom and shower facilities.

FEBRUARY
Boiling Springs Lions Club members John Owens Jr., Ray Zern, Dalton Minard, Robert Lyda, James Solesbee, Niel Strange, Joe Scherer and Harold Rakes constructed a handicap ramp at the home of 90-year-old Jack Petty. Petty is a lifelong resident and past Lions President in 1982-83.
 
MARCH
On March 15, 2011, at the home of Bluegrass instructor and veteran musician Gilbert Nelson, 13 members of the first Bluegrass Jamming Class graduated after six sessions over a six-week period.

APRIL
During a lifesaving demonstration by the Boiling Springs Fire Department and an address by Spartanburg County Coroner Rusty Clevenger, Boiling Springs High school juniors and seniors were urged to make good decisions about drugs and drinking and signed a Prom Promise to not drink/drug and drive.

MAY
Eleven-year-old Boiling Springs Intermediate school fifth-grader Brendyn Hyslop saved his mother’s life using the Heimlich Manuver he had learned just days earlier from nurses at the school.

For the rest of the story, read this week’s Boiling Springs Sentry.

For the rest of the story, read this week’s Boiling Springs Sentry.

For local news and sports, read this week’s Boiling Springs Sentry.

For the rest of the story, read this week’s Boiling Springs Sentry.

Photo by Jed Blackwell
FAREWELL TO A FINE SEASON: Boiling Springs players and cheerleaders sing the Alma Mater for the final time during the 2011 football season.
The Bulldogs completed the school’s first 10-win season, compiling a 10-4 record and advancing to the 4A Division I state semifinals.

For the rest of the story, read this week’s Boiling Springs Sentry.

For the rest of the story, read this week’s Boiling Springs Sentry.

By Leon G. Russ

HOMETOWN NEWS

A single tear forced it’s way from Marine vet Gregory Keaton’s right eye.  It slowly ran down his right check as he struggled to recount his time spent living in the woods before being referred to Welcome Home by his sponsor, Spartanburg County Sheriff’s Deputy Roosevelt Young.

His story isn’t much different from many military veterans who call Spartanburg home.
His housemates, Bruce Allen, an Army veteran of Desert Storm, and Mark Porter recounted similar stories.
Allen lost his job and his family and has had serious medical problems while Porter also lost his job and ended up living in his car.
It is for them, and many like them, that Operation Restoration, a faith based non-profit, established Welcome Home.

For the rest of the story, see this weeks Boiling Springs Sentry