Happening Now
Sumter School District's Board of Trustees discusses an agenda item at its Nov. 14 meeting at Hillcrest Middle School in Dalzell.
Trustees pass perk for Sumter district employees on school choice provision
Nominations now open for Best of Sumter 2023 contest
Sumter woman in custody after kidnapping warrant issued; 8-year-old returned to custodial parent
PHOTO PROVIDED
Sumter Community Concert Band ends year with Christmas concert on Sunday
Singer and worship leader Kim Walker-Smith will be performing at Alice Drive Baptist Church on Thursday, Dec. 8.
Contemporary Christian singer to perform Thursday at Alice Drive Baptist Church in Sumter

Making Sumterites' spirits bright with the Fantasy of Lights

PHOTOS BY CAL CARY / THE SUMTER ITEM The Sumter Fantasy of Lights officially opened on Thursday night with the annual lighting ceremony and will run through Dec. 31 at Swan Lake Iris Gardens. The display includes more than one million lights. The …
Members of the Gamma Iota Chapter of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity Inc. donate turkeys to Jean Williams for her Thanksgiving dinner giveaway.
Sumter fraternity honors community member, donates items during Thanksgiving
Allen Edwards, representing the Williams-Brice-Edwards Charitable Trust, left, pushes the online lottery start button in December 2021 for Liberty STEAM's lottery as the school's Trevor Ivey looks on.
Liberty STEAM Charter to hold its annual lottery on Monday
221129-N-YS413-1088 SPRATLEY ISLANDS, South China Sea (Nov. 29, 2022) Sonar Technician 3rd Class Stephen Meyer, from Rembert, South Carolina, conducts watch standing procedures in the sonar control room as the Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS Chancellorsville (CG 62) conducts routine operations in the South China Sea, Nov. 29. Chancellorsville is forward-deployed to the U.S. 7th Fleet area of operations in support of a free and open Indo-Pacific. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communicatio
Rembert native serves in U.S. Navy in South China Sea

Saturday-Monday, Dec. 3-5, 2022

View this issue

Browse other issues

Studio Sumter

Sumter Today: The Sounds of Grace and a Homegrown Christmas

The Sounds of Grace is a local non-profit organization that provides peace and healing through music. To support its efforts, the organization has been hosting benefit concerts entitled "Homegrown" …

More Video from Studio Sumter

Friends to Follow
SPORTS
Manning's Justin Daniels (5) is their top returning player, but he's battling a shoulder injury early in the season.
Manning boys basketball team aims for greatness under Britt
Thomas Sumter's Malayia English (2) drives against Lee Academy on Thursd
Lee Academy and Thomas Sumter basketball teams split early season contests
Former Sumter High star Tylee Craft will receiver the Disney Spirit Award on Dec. 8 as he continues his cancer battle.
Former Sumter High star Craft to receive Disney Spirit Award as he battles cancer at North Carolina
Lee Academy's Carsyn Hall, center, is surrounded by family as she signs to continue her softball career at USC Sumter on Friday.
Lee Academy's Hall signs to play softball at USC Sumter
Clemson running back Will Shipley (1) and the Tigers will face North Carolina for the ACC title on Saturday.
Clemson, North Carolina square off in ACC title game
National Data Trends
Holiday gift crazes and fads of the past century
How gas prices have changed in South Carolina in the last week
Most popular baby names for boys in South Carolina
Richest current Democratic politicians in Congress
Richest current Republican politicians in Congress

Read More

More local news
Charlie Dubose decorates Gaddy Court for the Seasons Greetings Christmas Light Show on Oct. 26.
Enjoy free Christmas light shows throughout Sumter
The Morris College Chorale will host is annual Christmas concert "Festival of Carols" at the Neal-Jones Auditorium on Dec. 4. PHOTO SUBMITTED
Morris College to host annual 'Festival of Carols' on Sunday, Dec. 4
Sumter Police Department to collect children's letters to Santa
Henry Dubose
UPDATE: Sumter man, 80, with dementia found
Morris College's new Innovation Technology Laboratory drew a crowd on Wednesday, Nov. 30, to check out the new room. It will be used for students majoring in Esports and Video Game Design in the future and as a hangout spot.
Morris College unveils its new Esports lab; school plans to expand majors in coming months to raise student enrollment

More News

More Sports
CAL CARY / THE SUMTER ITEM
PHOTOS; Sumter High sweeps Crestwood in first rivalry matchup of season
PHOTOS: Manning sweeps East Clarendon on the court
PHOTOS: Lee Academy, Thomas Sumter split rivalry basketball matchup
Former Crestwood standout Terrance McClain dreamed of playing Division I football. He finally reached that dream at Memphis this fall, but the path there wasn't perfectly straight.
Former Crestwood standout McClain proving patience pays off at Memphis
Wilson Hall's Ellie Stone signs to play softball at William Peace on Thursday.
Wilson Hall's Stone signs to play softball at William Peace

More Sports

Arts & Entertainment
From left, Nicholas Hoult, Anya Taylor-Joy and Ralph Fiennes attend the New York premiere of "The Menu" at AMC Lincoln Square Theater on Nov. 14 in New York City.

Movies with Isaiah: 'The Menu' is intense, morbidly humorous tale

After finding some much-needed decompressing and recharging of the batteries, I found the time to watch another film that sparked my interest from the onset. Last Sunday, I watched the horror-comedy film "The Menu." Upon watching the trailer a few …

More Arts & Entertainment

Nation & World
Retired U.S. Army veteran and teacher Christopher Simmons guides seventh-grader Elijah Williams through a math problem at Meadowlark Middle School in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
N.C. veteran finds true calling as a teacher

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - During the last eight years, Christopher Simmons has turned his classroom at Meadowlark Middle School into a safe space for students with special needs. "If they need anything," he said one afternoon after the last of his …

Then-Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden talks to Rep. James Clyburn, D-S.C., at a primary night election rally in Columbia, S.C., Feb. 29, 2020, after winning the South Carolina primary. President Biden has frequently referenced the critical role South Carolina played in his nomination.
Dems move to make S.C. , not Iowa, 1st voting state WASHINGTON (AP) - Democrats voted Friday to remove Iowa as the leadoff state on the presidential nominating calendar and replace it with South Carolina starting in 2024, a dramatic shakeup championed by President Joe Biden to better reflect the …
An oil tanker is moored at the Sheskharis complex, part of Chernomortransneft JSC, a subsidiary of Transneft PJSC, in Novorossiysk, Russia, Tuesday, Oct. 11, 2022, one of the largest facilities for oil and petroleum products in southern Russia. The European Union reached a deal Friday for a $60-per-barrel price cap on Russian oil, a key step as Western sanctions aim to reorder the global oil market to prevent price spikes and starve President Vladimir Putin of funding for his war in Ukraine.
EU reaches deal for $60-per-barrel price cap on Russian oil BRUSSELS - The European Union reached a deal Friday for a $60-per-barrel price cap on Russian oil, a key step as Western sanctions aim to reorder the global oil market to prevent price spikes and starve President Vladimir Putin of funding for his …
This undated artist rendering provided by the U.S. Air Force shows a U.S. Air Force graphic of the Long Range Strike Bomber, designated the B-21 Raider.
Pentagon debuts new stealth bomber, the B-21 Raider WASHINGTON - America's newest nuclear stealth bomber mades its public debut after years of secret development and as part of the Pentagon's answer to rising concerns over a future conflict with China. The B-21 Raider is the first new American …
President Joe Biden answers questions with Education Secretary Miguel Cardona as they leave an event about the student debt relief portal beta test in the South Court Auditorium on the White House complex in Washington on Oct. 17.
Supreme Court will rule on president's student loan cancellation plan WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court agreed Thursday to decide whether the Biden administration can broadly cancel student loans, keeping the program blocked for now but signaling a final answer by early summer. That's about two months before the newly …

More Nation & World News

State News
Former U.N. Ambassador and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley speaks during an event sponsored by Turning Point USA at Clemson University on Tuesday, Nov. 29, in Clemson.
Haley signals openness to 2024 bid despite her pledge to back Trump

CLEMSON (AP) - Nikki Haley, U.N. ambassador under President Donald Trump, said Tuesday that she would take the Christmas holiday to mull a possible 2024 presidential bid, contradicting her statement last year that she wouldn't enter the race if …

Follow these tips for a scam-free holiday season Last year, Americans donated an estimated $484 billion to charity, according to Indiana University's Lily Family School of Philanthropy and the Giving USA Institute. In South Carolina, taxpayers used …
South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster
Gov. McMaster picks experienced friend to run inauguration COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster is turning to an experienced friend to lead January's inauguration ceremonies for his second term.Bill Stern and his wife, Linda, will …
State Sen. Dick Harpootlian, D-Columbia, compares his proposed map of U.S. House districts drawn with 2020 U.S. Census data to a plan supported by Republicans on Jan. 20 in Columbia. Federal judges are deciding whether South Carolina's new congressional maps are legal in a lawsuit by the NAACP which says the districts dilute Black voting power.
S.C.'s U.S. House maps under scrutiny because of race; ruling expected later A trial to determine whether South Carolina's congressional maps are legal closed Tuesday with arguments about whether the state Legislature diluted Black voting power by remaking the boundaries of the only U.S. House district Democrats have flipped …
Tyler Wright congratulates one of his fourth-grade students with a fist bump at Stono Park Elementary School in Charleston on Nov. 18. America's teacher workforce has long been whiter than its student body in South Carolina. Charleston County aims to increase the number of Black male teachers in the classroom - 60 more in the next three years.
Charleston program aims to boost ranks of Black teachers CHARLESTON - After a student in his classroom had yet another outburst, Tyler Wright couldn't bear to see him get written up again. Wright, then a student teacher at a Charleston elementary school, led the child out to the hallway for a …

More State News

Obituaries
DIANE A. SIEGEL

WEDGEFIELD - Diane A. Siegel, 80, widow of Paul Allan Siegel, died Wednesday, Nov. 30, 2022, at her home. Online condolences may be made at www.sumterfunerals.com. Elmore Hill McCreight Funeral Home & Crematory, 221 Broad St., Sumter, is in …

HORTON BAXTER JR.

MANNING - Horton "Bubba" Baxter Jr., 75, husband of Mamie Lee Smoot, died Thursday, Dec. 1, 2022, at McLeod Health Clarendon. He was born March 25, 1947, in Manning, a son of the late Horton Baxter Sr. and Pauline Cantey Baxter. The family is …

WILLIAM ABURN

William Sylvan Aburn, 77, widower of Patricia Ann Watts Aburn, entered his eternal rest on Thursday, Dec. 1, 2022, at his residence surrounded by his loving family. Born Sept. 18, 1945, in Fort Wayne, Indiana, he was a son of the late Don W. …

MARJORIE JEAN GARAUX

Marjorie Jean Garaux passed away in Sumter on Thursday, Nov. 24, 2022. Born on Sept. 10, 1920, in Uhrichsville, Ohio, to Ruth and Raymond A. Brown, she moved with her parents and brother, William, to Canton, Ohio, where she graduated from …

EVA MAE WINDHAM JOHNSON

Eva Mae Windham Johnson, 87, wife of James Edward Johnson, died on Thursday, Dec. 1, 2022, at Prisma Health Tuomey Hospital, Sumter. Born June 20, 1933, in Sumter, she was the daughter of the late Charlie Windham Sr. and Carrie Durant …

More Obituaries

Faith
Church News: Friday, Dec. 2, 2022 First Baptist Missionary Church, 219 S. Washington St., announces: - Saturday, Dec. 10 - Winter wonderland community toy giveaway from 4 to 7 p.m. featuring a live nativity, food, bike raffle, game truck and photos with Santa. Hopewell …
SMITH
Sumter Pastor Clay Smith: Stuck? Help is on the way. Our tradition, after the big Thanksgiving lunch, is to take a quick nap and then go for a ride in the pasture to look at the cows. This year we got a late start but made our way out about 30 minutes before sundown. My niece, her husband, her …
DURHAM
Sumter Pastor Joey Durham: God is forming church with no prejudices The thought on my heart for today is, "Biblical Race Facts, not Theory," and my text is Acts 17:29-31, where we see, "Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, …
Church News: Friday, Nov. 25, 2022 First Baptist Missionary Church, 219 S. Washington St., announces: * Saturday, Dec. 10 - Winter wonderland community toy giveaway from 4 to 7 p.m. featuring a live nativity, food, bike raffle, game truck and photos with Santa. Orangehill AME …
Celebrations
MISS KILPATRICK
The Sumter Assembly The Sumter Assembly will present three debutantes on Tuesday, Dec. 20, 2022, at Quixote Club in Sumter. Margaret Pinckney Kilpatrick, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Robert McCord Kilpatrick, will be presented by her father and escorted by Kyle Brown …
MISS ELLOISE BETHEA
The Lord Clarendon Cotillion MANNING - The Lord Clarendon Cotillion will present three debutantes at its annual ball on Friday, Dec. 16, 2022, at The Matrix Center in Manning. Elloise Troup Bethea, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Robert Partridge Bethea Jr., will be presented by …
MISS BOYCE
The Carolinian Camellia Ball The Carolinian Camellia Ball of Sumter will present five debutantes on Wednesday, Dec. 28, 2022, at Quixote Club in Sumter. Mary Kaitlynn Boyce, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. David Player Boyce Jr., will be presented by her father and escorted by …
MISS PARKER
The Sumter Cotillion The Sumter Cotillion will present one debutante on Monday, Dec. 19, 2022, at Quixote Club in Sumter. Kathryn Lemmon Parker, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Denny Wayne Parker, will be presented by her father and escorted by Preston Blake Richardson and …

More Celebrations

Dear Abby
Pets for adoption
Sumter Animal Control's Elvis is a fun-loving firecracker

BELOW Elvis is a firecracker. He is a fun-loving fella who enjoys playing outside and going on long walks. This precious guy is 1-3 years old and weighs 46 pounds. Elvis is hoping to join a new family for the holidays. He has been patiently waiting …

Weddings
MRS. ETHAN LANE
Hubbard-Lane CHARLESTON - Kristen Ashleigh Hubbard and Ethan Foster Lane, both of Mount Pleasant, were united in marriage at 6 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 6, 2022, at St. Luke's Chapel on the campus of the Medical University of South Carolina. The Rev. Joseph …

More Weddings

Engagements
MISS SMITH, MR. HORTON
Smith-Horton Mr. and Mrs. Eric Gant Smith announce the engagement of their daughter, Taylor Danielle Smith, to Joseph Samuel Horton, son of Mr. and Mrs. Anthony Lawrence Horton, all of Sumter. The bride-elect is the granddaughter of Mr. and Mrs. C.J. "Buddy" …
MISS MANN, MR. YOUNG
Young-Mann Mr. and Mrs. William Jeffrey Young of Sumter announce the engagement of their son, Greyson Steele Young of Sumter, to Baylin Elise Mann of Pensacola, Florida, daughter of Mr. Tyler Waite Mann and Mrs. Allison Bailey Tarrant, both of …
MR. ROBINSON, MISS HURST
Hurst-Robinson Dr. and Mrs. Russell Charles Hurst Jr. of Sumter announce the engagement of their daughter, Lori Lynne Hurst of Moore to Jeffery Neil Robinson of Moore, son of Mr. and Mrs. Ronnie Houston Robinson of York. The bride-elect is the granddaughter of …
MR. COX, MISS SATZGER
Satzger-Cox Retired Lt. Col. and Mrs. Mark L. Cox of Sumter announce the engagement of their son, Ian Madison Cox of Greenville, to Sasha Satzger of Greenville, daughter of Mr. Douglas A. Satzger and Deanna Ramey, both of Pendleton. The bride-elect is the …
Reflections
An oil painting of the late Dr. S.H. Edmunds, superintendent of the Sumter schools for many years, was presented to the schools in September 1940 by the artist, Charles M. Crowson. Crowson, a native of Sumter whose work attracted enthusiastic comments wherever shown, is pictured above at left. At right is Hugh T. Stoddard, principal of Edmunds High School, who accepted the painting for the schools.

Reflections by Sammy Way: Charles Mason Crowson: Renowned Sumter artist

Reflections recalls one of Sumter's most creative artisans and his impact on the world of art. He was noted for his prolific career as a painter, which garnered him both local and national acclaim. The Sumter Item archives, the writings of Portia …

More

Yesteryear
Lori Atkinson, left, and Carolyn Lukens sing at the 18th-annual Swan Lake Fantasy of Lights on Dec. 3, 1997. They were members of the Sumter High School Show Choir.
Yesteryear by Sammy Way: Laurel Festival held at Poinsett State Park; Majic Bus teaches about Civil Rights Movement 75 YEARS AGO - 1948 May 11 - May 17 - Five recent additions have been made to the staff of station WFIG, Manager Douglas Youngblood announced. They include Ed Tacy, program-farm director; Eddie Allen, announcer; Lee (Corky) Sheridan, …
Dalton Ward, left, and Devin Barton, both first-graders at Millwood Elementary School, enjoy their burgers and chocolate milk during the school's Thanksgiving Day celebration on Nov. 25, 1997.
Yesteryear by Sammy Way: Society takes over care of cemetery; author writes 'Facing Your Fears' series 75 YEARS AGO - 1948 May 4 - May 10 - Bill Clark, new assistant coach at Presbyterian College and former Sumter High mentor, is moving to Orangeburg next fall where he will become head coach at the high school there, The Item has learned from …
Hugh Black, left, and Dr. W.C. McManus, two of Sumter's many expert fishermen, grin happily over their catch of 16 largemouth black bass April 27, 1948. The fish were caught in less than two hours early in the morning in the Santee-Cooper reservoir. About half the fish on the string weighed about five pounds each.
Yesteryear by Sammy Way: Finney participates in Rap With Reality; museum hosts encampment 75 YEARS AGO - 1948 April 27 - May 3 - C. Blease Shorter announced in the Item that he is a candidate for the office of sheriff of Sumter County, opposing Sheriff W. J. Seale. Shorter was born in Clarendon County 37 years ago and has been …

More

From the opinion pages
Columnists
 Editorial cartoon: Saturday, Dec. 3, 2022
Editorial cartoon: Friday, Dec. 2, 2022
Editorial cartoon: Thursday, Dec. 1, 2022
Your view
© Copyright 2022 The Sumter Item | Terms of Use / Privacy Policy | Cancellation / Refund Policy
Powered by Creative Circle Media Solutions