July 14, 2024 marks my 25th year as a journalist covering Pickens County, including as the Editor of The Pickens Sentinel for five years and as a newspaper and magazine Publisher for the past 20 years, having written thousands of stories and having taken thousands of photographs, covering events and interviewing citizens across our county, sharing their stories.

When I worked for Clemson University from age 18 to 21, while an undergraduate student, I was on the other side — writing Clemson University press releases sent to the news media — yet I also wrote about the university for The Clemson Messenger newspaper and was a staff writer for the university’s weekly student newspaper, The Tiger, when I was a student at Clemson.

As far as being a full-time journalist, however, July 14 is the date that marks my 25th anniversary, as that is the day I was hired in 1999 as the Editor of The Pickens Sentinel. I have fond memories from my time there, working with some good people and getting to know many good people in our communities in Pickens County. Sadly, many have passed away, as have The Sentinel’s former General Manager, Don Hunt, and former owner, Jerry Alexander, and former receptionist, Everette Curl, and former employee June Hunter. They are missed.

This year also marks the 25th anniversary of my column, “Reflections”, as I began writing it weekly in November of 1999, alongside Jerry Alexander’s column, “Well, I’ll Declare”, in The Sentinel. Jerry inspired me to begin writing my column, and I continue it here.

In The Pickens County Chronicle, I look forward to sharing more local stories in the future, as well as sharing memories from the past 25 years.