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BUTLER LAKE

WATERSHED

DAM

The Chester Soil and Water Conservation District, a subdivision of state government,

was organized on March 4, 1938, in accordance with Conservation District Law Num-

ber 182 of the 1937 South Carolina General Assembly. It was originally organized as

a part of the Catawba Conservation District, which included Chester, Fairfield, Lan-

caster, and York Counties. Chester became a single district in July 1950. The Dis-

trict is governed

by a Board of

Commissioners

pictured below:

Left to right:

Rodger McDaniel,

Commissioner

Jeff Wilson,

Vice Chairman

Mac Turner,

Sec-Treasurer

Joey Gaston,

Commissioner

Allen Beer,

Chairman The Chester Soil and Water

Conservation District meets

at 9:30 A.M. on the third

Tuesday of each month in

the Conference Room of the

USDA Building at 744 Wil-

son Street in Chester. All

programs and services of

the district are offered on

a nondiscriminatory basis

without regard to race,

color, age, gender, national

origin, religion, handicap. or

marital status.

ADMINISTRATION STAFF

The Chester Soil and Water Conservation District programs are administered by a

board of commissioners consisting of three members elected in the general election and

two members appointed by the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources and

the USDA Natural Resources. The District is assisted by District Coordinator Carol

Shockley, NRCS Acting Soil Conservationist Antron Williams, NRCS Engineer Scott

Glenn, and NRCS Soil Conservation Technician Jackie Heuermann.

We can be reached at 803.581.1908x101. Our fax number is 855.563.9300. Our website

is http://chesterswcd.yolasite.com. Email address is carol.shockley@sc.nacdnet.net.

Affiliate Members 2

Stewardship Week 2

Watershed Direc-

tors

2

Awards Banquet 3

Arbor Day 3

Contest Winners 4

No-Till Farming 6

Inside this issue:

The mission of the Chester Soil and Water Conservation District is to

promote the wise use and care of our natural resources of soil, water,

air, plants and animals for the benefit of the citizens of Chester County.

SUMMER 2016

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CORPORATE

AMERICAN FOREST MANAGEMENT

CHESTER HEALTHCARE FOUNDATION

OMNOVA SOLUTIONS, INC.

SPRATT SAVINGS AND LOAN

PATRON

AME, INC.

BARRON FUNERAL HOME

CHESTER COUNTY NATURAL GAS

CHESTER METROPOLITAN DISTRICT

DUKE ENERGY

ROBERT L. HOLCOMBE, JR.

RANDY HOPE-ANGEL INSURANCE

JOHN W. PARRIS

SAM AND BEVERLY STONE

SUSTAINING

AgSOUTH FARM CREDIT, ACA

BETTY B. ANDERSON

NANCY C. ANDERSON

JOANNA ANGLE/DR. BILL ALTMAN

CAROLINA EASTERN, INC.

CARTER’S LANDSCAPE & DESIGN

FAIRFIELD ELECTRIC COOPERATIVE

MARGARET M. HAUSMAN

ANN STRINGFELLOW MCNERNEY

DR. ROBERT E. SHANNON, JR.

JACK AND ANN SZOKE

JOEY AND SANNA WILSON

ROBERT AND CHERYL WYLIE

SUPPORTING

NORMA J. ALT

CITY TRUE VALUE HARDWARE

EZELL HARDWARE

AFFILIATE MEMBERS ARE A VITAL

PART OF OUR CONSERVATION TEAM!

WITHOUT MONETARY SUPPORT GIV-

EN FROM AFFILIATE MEMBERS, WE

WOULD NOT BE ABLE TO CARRY OUT

THE MANY PROGRAMS NEEDED TO

PROMOTE CONSERVATION WITHIN

CHESTER COUNTY.

MANY THANKS TO OUR LOYAL 2016

AFFILIATE MEMBERS!!!

TINKER’S CREEK WATERSHED

DAVID WILSON, CHAIRMAN

HENRY T. WESTBROOK

MIKE W. ALLEN

TRAVIS M. ALLEN

CHARLIE O. BARBER, JR.

Responsibilities of the watershed di-

rectors include overseeing mainte-

ROCKY CREEK WATERSHED

KEITH MCDONALD, CHAIRMAN

CLAUDIA DEAN

OSCAR L. “BUDDY” PEAY

WILLIAM F. WISHERT

CALVIN C. CLARK

nance and repairs to the dams and

drainage canals, addressing soil and

water issues in the watershed and

preventing structures from being lo-

cated in the flood pool. The purpose of

watershed districts is to promote con-

centrated efforts within the water-

shed to establish conservation practic-

es, including stabilization of critically

eroding areas, drainage measures and

flood control.

2016 AFFILIATE MEMBERS

WATERSHED DIRECTORS

resources, therefore, I do hereby pro-

claim April 24 to May 1, 2016, Soil

and Water Stewardship Week.”

This year’s motto was “WE ALL

NEED TREES”. The proclamation

reads, “Whereas fertile soil and clean

water provide us with our daily suste-

nance, and whereas effective conser-

vation practices have helped provide

us a rich standard of living, and

whereas our security depends upon

healthy soil and clean water, and

whereas stewardship calls for each

person to help conserve these precious

STEWARDSHIP WEEK-APRIL 24 TO MAY 1, 2016

Page 2 CHESTER SOIL AND WATER CONSERVATION DISTRICT

District Chairman Allen L. Beer with

Chester County Supervisor Shane

Stuart signing Proclamation

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The Chester Soil and Water Conserva-

tion District held its annual Awards

and Recognition Banquet on Thurs-

day, March 24, 2016, at the Chester

First Baptist Church social hall.

Chairman Allen L. Beer presided and

gave the invocation. A large crowd

enjoyed a buffet dinner. The Robbie

Banks Conservationist of the Year

Award was presented to Danny L.

Archie by Chairman Beer. Vice

Chairman Jeff Wilson presented the

Conservation Teacher of the Year

Award to Gwyn T. Cloninger, a third-

grade teacher at Great Falls Elemen-

tary School. Also recognized was

Thomas Henry Glenn, a sixth-grader

at the Glenn School, who read his

first place essay, “Every Tree Has A

Job.” Miss Ren Beam, a senior at

Chester High School, gave a brief

report on her experiences at the S. C.

Commissioner’s School of Agricul-

ture, which she attended last sum-

mer. The guest speaker for the even-

ing was Tom Patton, deputy state

forester with the S. C. Forestry Com-

mission, who gave an informative

and interesting presentation on the

importance of trees on the S.C. econ-

omy and lifestyle.

In 2011 Chester SWCD gave

away 50 free trees to Chester Coun-

ty citizens for the first time. This

Arbor Day project was so successful

that the Board decided to continue

it in the following years. The trees

were grown by J. B. Greenhouses

and Nursery at 2082 Great Falls

Road and were distributed one per

Chester County household on a first

come, first serve basis from Novem-

Arbor Day began in the

state of Nebraska in 1872 as the

brainchild of Julius Sterling Mor-

ton, a Nebraska journalist and poli-

tician. The movement has grown

over the past 140 years throughout

the United States and the world. In

South Carolina, Arbor Day is cele-

brated the first Friday in December

of each year.

ber 30-December 4, 2015. The free

trees were four-to five-foot Chinese

chestnut trees and six-foot Red Ma-

ples in three-gallon containers.

December is an excellent

time to take stock of the trees on

your property by inspecting them

and taking note of any broken

branches or evidence of disease or

insect infestation.

2016 AWARDS BANQUET

ARBOR DAY PROJECT

PHOTOS FROM AWARDS BANQUET

Above, Chairman Beer with the 2016 Robbie Banks Conservationist of the Year, Danny L.

Archie. Left is Vice Chairman Jeff Wilson with the 2016 Conservation Teacher of the Year,

Gwyn T. Cloninger. Below is Thomas Henry Glenn, first place essay winner. On the right is Ren

Beam, S. C. Commissioner’s School of Agriculture attendee.

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2016 CONTEST AWARD WINNERS

Each year the Chester Soil and Water Conservation District sponsors four edu-

cational contests for students who attend school in Chester County or who live

in Chester County. They are the Bulletin Board Contest, the Essay Contest,

the Photography Contest, and the Poster Contest. The theme for the 2016 con-

tests was “WE ALL NEED TREES”.

BULLETIN BOARD CONTEST WINNERS:

ACADEMY OF TEACHING AND LEARNING

JESSICA DARBY, KINDERGARTEN

CHESTER PARK SCHOOL OF INQUIRY

AMANDA OLIVER, GRADE THREE

LEFT: CHESTER PARK

CENTER OF LITERACY

THROUGH TECHNOLO-

GY, GRADE FIVE, CAN-

DICE DELLINGER.

RIGHT: GREAT FALLS

ELEMENTARY, GRADE

THREE, GWYN CLON-

INGER

LEFT: LEWISVILLE

ELEMENTARY SCHOOL,

GRADE ONE

MARILYN PRESSLEY

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SHOWN ABOVE ARE THE WINNERS IN THE 2016 ESSAY CONTEST: ON THE LEFT ARE THE WINNERS

FROM LEWISVILLE MIDDLE SCHOOL (LEFT TO RIGHT: EMILY PAGE CARPENTER, CHRISTIAN JAMES

COCHRAN, WILLIAM BLAIR MCBRAYER, SAVANNAH CHEYENNE BROOME, ASHLEY ELIZABETH WOOD

AND ABIGAYLE ELIZABETH THOMAS). CENTER IS BROOKE DRAFFIN PAQUIN, THE ACADEMY. RIGHT

IS THOMAS HENRY GLENN, THE GLENN SCHOOL.

2016 POSTER CONTEST WINNERS

LEFT PICTURE INCLUDES GREAT FALLS ELEMENTARY SCHOOL WINNERS (LEFT TO RIGHT)

NAQUISHA REID, REBECCA BRYAN, AND VALERIE HARRISON. MIDDLE PICTURE INCLUDES LEWIS-

VILLE ELEMENTARY WINNERS GLEN BEER, HAILEE LOFTIN AND REBECCA PRUETTE. PICTURED

AT RIGHT IS CHESTER PARK OF INQUIRY WINNER JANAYA KEENER.

2016 PHOTOGRAPHY CONTEST FIRST PLACE WINNERS

THOMAS HENRY GLENN EVAN RODDEY LA’TERRICA SPRINGS

THE GLENN SCHOOL CHESTER HIGH SCHOOL CHESTER HIGH SCHOOL

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able effects. Advantages of conserva-

tion tillage as listed by the South Car-

olina Department of Natural Re-

sources are:

REDUCED LABOR AND FUEL

NEEDS

CONSERVATION TILLAGE,

also known as no-till farming, is a way

of growing crops from year-to-year

without disturbing the soil through

conventional tillage.

CONVENTIONAL TILLING

agitates the soil in various ways, usu-

ally with tractor drawn implements.

This will lead to unfavorable effects,

like soil compaction, loss of organic

matter, degradation of soil aggregates

(loss of soil moisture), death or disrup-

tion of soil microbes, arthropods, and

earthworms, and soil erosion where

topsoil is blown or washed away.

In no-till farming, the soil is

left intact and crop residue is left on

the field, thus avoiding those unfavor-

TIME SAVINGS

EASIER PLANTING

MORE SOIL MOISTURE

BETTER SOIL TILTH

LESS EROSION

The Chester Soil and Water

conservation district invites everyone

to participate in the effort to conserve

natural resources and aid in the pre-

vention of soil loss here in Chester

County by renting a no-till drill for

their planting needs. The District has

two no-till drills available to rent for

$9 per acre. Last year our drills were

used for no-till farming on over 300

acres in Chester County.

NO-TILL FARMING

SUNFLOWER NO-TILL DRILL

Each year the Chester Soil and Water Conservation District and its board of commissioners sponsor the Allen

L. Beer Scholarship for a Chester County high school senior who plans to enter college majoring in an agricultural or

environmental-related field. Due to a generous grant from OMNOVA Solutions, Inc., this year the board was able to

award two scholarships.

One $500 scholarship was presented by Allen L. Beer to Liza Wilson, a senior at Westminster Catawba

Christian School. Wilson is the daughter of Joey and Sanna Wilson and plans to enter Clemson University in the fall

as an agribusiness major with a minor in marketing or communications.

A second $500 scholarship was presented by Beer to Jonathan Lewis, a senior at Richard Winn Academy.

Lewis is the son of John and Rhonda Lewis and plans to enter Clemson University in the fall as an agribusiness ma-

jor with a minor in history. The board extends its best wishes and congratulations to Liza and Jonathan.