University of South Carolina - Gamecock's 2014 Football Schedule

DATE	OPPONENT	RESULT/TIME
Thu, Aug 28	Texas A&M	Loss
Sat, Sept 6	East Carolina	Win
Sat, Sept 13	Georgia	Win
Sat, Sept 20	Vanderbilt	Win
Sat, Sept 27	Missouri	Loss
Sat, Oct 4	Kentucky	Loss
Sat, Oct 18	Furman	Win
Sat, Oct 25	Auburn	Loss
Sat, Nov 1	Tennessee	Loss
Sat, Nov 15	Florida	Win
Sat, Nov 22	South Alabama	Win
Sat, Nov 29	Clemson	TBD

Clemson University Football Schedule - 2014

Date Opponent Location Result Sat, Aug 30 Georgia at Athens, Ga. Loss Sat, Sep 06 South Carolina State Clemson, S.C. Win Sat, Sep 20 Florida State at Tallahassee, Fla. Loss Sat, Sep 27 North Carolina Clemson, S.C. Win Sat, Oct 04 NC State Clemson, S.C. Win Sat, Oct 11 Louisville Clemson, S.C. Win Sat, Oct 18 Boston College at Chestnut Hill, Mass. WIN Sat, Oct 25 Syracuse (Homecoming) Clemson, S.C. Win Thu, Nov 06 Wake Forest at Winston-Salem, N.C. Win Sat, Nov 15 Georgia Tech at Atlanta, Ga. Loss Sat, Nov 22 Georgia State Clemson, S.C. Win Sat, Nov 29 South Carolina Clemson, S.C. TBA

12th Francis Marion 'Swamp Fox' Symposium

Attention history buffs:  The 12^th Francis Marion / Swamp Fox Symposium is scheduled for October 24-25, 2014, in Manning, SC.  Explore the Revolutionary War Southern Campaign with General Francis Marion. Immerse yourself in Francis Marion's world. 

To register and find out more information about the upcoming events, go to www.FrancisMarionSymposium.com

*  Also, take the time to visit the Historic Clarendon County web site.

UFO Sightings Near Lake Marion and Summerton S.C.

Update 2015:  Over the years there have been a number of reported Unidentified Flying Object (UFO) sightings across South Carolina, including several in areas near the town of Summerton, Lake Marion, and Lake Moultrie. For example:

• There was a recent report of a UFO sighting in Marion, SC, on September 2, 2015 - See News Article 

• There was a report of a UFO sighting near Summerton on June 14, 2014 - see UFO Report.

• Another report previously filed in 2010 mentions a UFO sighting near Goat Island - see UFO Report.

Do you believe in UFOs? Have you ever seen one in the area, but never reported it? If you are interested in the topic, you are not alone.

You might want to check out some of the following key web sites:

• Center for the Study of Extraterrestrial Intelligence (CSETI) 
• Center for UFO Studies (CUFOS)
• Mutual UFO Network (MUFON)
• National UFO Reporting Center (NUFORC)
• Project Blue Book - National Archives
• OpenMinds UFO News
• SETI Institute
• UFO Hunters on the History Channel 

If you have seen a UFO in our area recently, let us know.

Local Footbal Scores - September 19, 2014

The following are some of the football scores for local Clarendon County schools:

• The Manning High School Monarchs beat C.E. Murray at home 34-12.
• The Florence Christian Eagles edged by Laurence Manning  Academy’s Swampcats 8-7.
• The Clarendon Hall Saints fell Friday night to Richard Winn 57-14.
• East Clarendon High beat Camden High at home in Turbeville 30-20.

'Smart' Fishing Rods

The other day as I was sitting on the shore looking at beautiful Lake Marion near Summerton, S.C., and a lightbulb went off. I had come up with a brilliant idea - a 'smart' fishing pole. A quick search of the Internet, however, found that someone else had beat me to the punch.

Apparently, Kansas-based inventor Ed Hope has already developed and is selling the computerized Tackobox Poletap Smartrod - see Tackobox.com. Basically, the SmartRod contains an accelerometer that detects the telltale jerk of a fish taking the lure. Using a single-button control, users can switch between high, medium and low sensitivity settings depending on fishing conditions.

When a fish strike is detected, the SmartRod responds with either an auditory alarm or a flashing red LED light. Once the user starts reeling the line in, the fish-detecting microprocessor temporarily shuts down. This keeps the rod from flashing, shrieking and generally carrying on while you land your fish. The SmartRod requires a lithium cell battery that is said to be good for at least one full season.

After reading about the SmartRod, I realized it represented the 1^st generation of 'smart' fishing poles. Looking ahead, I can just see the many new enhancements people are going to come up with in the coming years. For example -

• What if the SmartPole sent you a text message or called you on your phone while you were back in your home getting a drink or watching the big game?
• What if the the SmartPole told you the weight of the fish on your line?
• What if your SmartPole had a small camera that sent you a picture of the fish on the end of your line?
• What if the SmartPole started to reel in your fish automatically? What if it let out more line if it sensed your line was about to break?
• What if...

The possibilities are almost endless once you start thinking about everything future generations of a SmartPole could potentially do for you. Maybe you could add a current to the line and it would cook it while it was being reeled in?

By now it should be obvious I'm not a fisherman. But for those who are, think about what you would want your Smart Pole to do for you and share your thoughts with our readers.

For more information, watch the SmartRod YouTube Video.

* You might also want to read the latest on Smart Kayaks

Free & Open Source Software (FOSS) for Historical Research

For those individuals who are interested in history and want to research their family history or document the history of their  town, local church building, etc.  the following are links to selected low cost or free 'open source' software (FOSS) products or tools that you might want to check out:     Videos

History & Research Software Tools

• CHNM History Research Tools - The Center for History & New Media (CHNM) offers free tools and resources for historians to help collect, manage, cite, and manage research data and sources.
• ChronoZoom - An open source community project owned by the Outercurve Foundation and dedicated to visualizing the history of everything.
• Genealogy & History Software - List of open source genealogy & history software projects/products available from SourceForge.
• History Software @Amazon.Com - List of commercial History software products available from Amazon.
• History & Genealogy Open Source Software - A blog listing a series of open source software products for genealogy and family history research.
• iThinkEd - Microsoft's free software tools for helping researchers publish and share information.
• National Archives Genealogy Tools - Providing links to a range of open access web sites and open source software tools.
• Scholar's Aid - A popular shareware bibliographical data manager, notes and/or information information manager for students and scholars
• SmartPhones – History & Social Study Mobile Apps - A series of free or low cost mobile History apps available from MobileTopSoft.
• TimeLine Web Widget - A web widget that allows you can make beautiful interactive timelines to better visualize temporal data.
• Wandora - A general purpose information extraction, aggregation, management, and publishing application based on Topic Maps and Java.
• Zotero Research Tool - A free, easy-to-use tool to help you collect, organize, cite, and share your research sources.

Other General Purpose Software Tools

• Apache Software - Originally known for being an open-source web server solution, it has now grown into a large collaborative software community with a wide range of complementary projects and products.
• GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program) - A multi-platform photo & image manipulation tool.  It is an open source alternative to Photoshop.
• Java - A free, portable programming language and/or software development platform originally created by James Gosling at Sun Microsystems. 
• Libre Office - A comprehensive open source software suite of office applications (e.g. word processing, spreadsheet, etc.) that provide very similar capabilities as MS Office.
• Linux - A widely used open source operating system for small and large scale computer systems originally created by Linus Torvalds
• Mozilla & Firefox - A wide range of open source software products developed by the growing Mozilla 'open' development community. Products include the FireFox web browser, Thunderbird email, etc.
• MySQL - An open source database management system (DBMS) that offers the full functionality of similar commercial products such as MS SQL, DB2, Oracle, etc.
• Open Office - A comprehensive open source software suite of office applications (e.g. word processing, spreadsheet, etc.) that provide very similar capabilities as MS Office.
• OpenProject  - A free and open source project management software solution that can serve as a replacement for MS Project.
• SourceForge - The world's largest open source software development and software repository web site.
• VLC - A popular free and open source cross-platform multimedia player that plays most CD, DVD,  and many other files & streaming protocols.
• Wikipedia - A free web-based encyclopedia that anyone can access, edit, or use.

* Take a few minutes to look at the COSI 'Open' Education and COSI 'Open' History web sites.

 A number of these free and 'open source' software (FOSS) tools were used in gathering data and building the Historic Summerton S.C. and Historic Clarendon County web sites.

Scott's Branch High School Footbal

If you are an avid fan of the Scott's Branch High School football program in Summerton, S.C., be sure to go to the HUDL web site to see the schedule for the 2014-15 season. You can also check out their win-loss record and roster of players. You might also want to take a look at the MAXPREPS web site and the Facebook page for Scott's Branch Eagle Athletics.

The Scott's Branch Eagles football team won Friday's away non-conference game against Burke by a score of 18-13. The team has now improved its record to 1 win and 2 losses.  Go Eagles!

Looking for a Job Near Summerton, S.C.

October - December 2014: Summerton is a small town in rural South Carolina that has become known as a wonderful place to vacation, raise a family, run a business - or retire to, when all is said and done. The deep spiritual commitment and sound family values of its people are reflected in the many churches and close-knit residential communities in Summerton and the surrounding area.

Are you looking for a job in Summerton, S.C., or the surrounding area? There are currently quite a few jobs available nearby in Manning, Santee, Sumter, Orangeburg, etc.  Check out the following links: 

• Jobs.Net 
• Career Builder  
• Hospital Jobs 
• Monster.Com 
• USA Jobs

While Summerton retains the feel of a small rustic town, it has also benefited from the creation of numerous new residential and business communities that are continuing to grow up around beautiful Lake Marion.  Summerton and Lake Marion are well known across the South for offering a wide range of outdoor recreational activities like camping, hunting, fishing, hiking, kayaking, boating, and golfing to its many visitors.

Summerton Lions Present Check to Dogwood Garden Club

September 2014 - The Summerton Lions Club presented a check to the Pink Dogwood Garden Club of Summerton in appreciation for their support of the annual Lions Club golf tournament. Lillian Sconyers, president of the garden club accepted the check which was presented by Lion Club and Garden Club members Margaret Kirven (right) and Beverly  Moberg-Goldsmith (left). 

Summerton SC Lion's Club Meeting - September 8, 2014

The Lion's Club of Summerton, S.C., met this week at the Summerton Baptist Church. The meeting was called to order by the President of the local chapter, Mr. Preston Fout. The Lion's Club is gearing up for its annual drive to raise funds for the South Carolina Lions Foundation which provides medical assistance to those in need across the state, e.g. eye surgery, hearing aids, and mobile eye screening.

A presentation was made by Mr. Peter Groen about the need for local businesses and civic organizations in the Summerton area to create web sites and establish a presence on social media sites - a necessity in this 21st century 'Information Age'. He also demonstrated a new web site, the Summerton SC - Weekly News Roundup. Dinner was provided by David & Beverly Goldsmith. The next meeting of the Lion's Club will be on October 6, 2014.

Summerton S.C. - Weekly News Roundup

#LakeMarion #Santee #SouthCarolina

The latest version of the #Summerton S.C. Weekly News Roundup is now available at http://SummertonNews.COSITech.Net

This new and free online newspaper has been updated to now include video clips, pictures, and more.  

Read the latest local news from Summerton, nearby Lake Marion, and Clarendon County. Catch up on local and state sports news, politics, business, technology, and much more. 

Alligator Season

Whoa Nelly! Don't miss out on Alligator Season, September 13 thru October 11, 2014. Also, make plans to attend the 1st Annual 'Gator' Festival on September 13, 9am to 10pm, at Jack's Creek Campground and Marina on Lake Marion in Clarendon County, S.C.

Campground Heaven - Summerton S.C. on Lake Marion

One of my first impressions after moving to Summerton, S.C., and I started driving around the county and cruising Lake Marion, was the amazing number of campgrounds there are in the area. This must be the capitol of campgrounds in South Carolina.

Check out this link to Summerton Campgrounds and learn about places like - Taw Caw Campground & Marina, Santee Lakes Campground, Carolina King Retreat & Marina, Polly's Landing, Jack's Creek Marina, and many others in the surrounding area. Every one of them appears to have a boat ramp and marina.

It's Labor Day weekend and as I cruised Lake Marion in my new (used) boat, I was amazed at the number of people staying at these campgrounds. I'm talking thousands of people in tents and campers of all sizes, along with their boats.

Camping swimming, water skiing, fishing, cooking, cruising, playing... It was wonderful to see. It's like campground heaven.

An Introduction to Summerton, S.C.

Summerton is a small town in rural South Carolina that has become known as a wonderful place to vacation, raise a family, run a business - or retire to, when all is said and done. The deep spiritual commitment and sound family values of its people are reflected in the many churches and close-knit residential communities in Summerton and the surrounding area.

While Summerton retains the feel of a small rustic town, it also benefits from the creation of numerous new residential and business communities that are continuing to grow up around beautiful Lake Marion. Summerton is also well known across the South for its offering of a wide range of outdoor recreational activities like camping, hunting, fishing, hiking, kayaking, boating, and golfing to its many visitors.

Enjoying life is simply easier in Summerton. The residents of Summerton feel a great pride in their small town and would love to have more neighbors with whom to share it. Summerton looks forward to welcoming you as a friend and neighbor.

Summerton---where the fish are jumpin' and livin' is easy.

Take some time to learn more about the town of Summerton and Historic Clarendon County by beautiful Lake Marion in South Carolina.