Simpsonville Holding Another Upstate Family Reunion Is A Really Bad Idea
The Tribune-Times ran an article in yesterday’s edition titled “Reunion’s return eyed warily” (re-titled “Family Reunion returns to Simpsonville, some residents worry about crowds” on their website for some reason) which downplayed the damage and concerns about the annual Upstate Family Reunion festival. Last year attendees to the event damaged property, trespassed, destroyed residents yards and left Simpsonville’s Heritage Park looking like a war zone.
Residents are said to “have concerns” about this year.
35,000 people showed up last year and more may be coming this year. City officials are coordinating with event organizers and promoters to try to make things more orderly, including having 50 police on hand and the city many of which will be state troopers moonlighting and paid by Simpsonville.
It’s unclear who will be handling the massive clean up. Let me venture a guess – you. As in taxpayers who are footing the bill for a event too large to be handled by the meager resources Simpsonville has at it’s disposal anyway. It’s a waste of money, pure and simple.
There comes a point when whatever imaginary gains a city has for hosting an event is outweighed by the hundreds of thousands of real dollars it takes to hold it. And having witnessed the garbage strewn wasteland Heritage Park was transformed into last year first hand I think hundreds of thousands of dollars is a conservative estimate. How many businesses really benefited from the Family Reunion last year? How many of the vendors and bands were Simpsonville locals? Simpsonville is spending money so that people who don’t contribute to the city can make a quick buck and stick taxpayers with the mess.
I’m not the one running the cost benefit analysis but frankly, this just seems like a bad idea. Simpsonville residents got burned last year, and now the people who run the town are asking you to stick your hand back in the fire, because they’ve thrown more of your money into it so it’ll feel different.
This was a bad idea, and holding it again after the disaster of last year is a really bad idea. Simpsonville City Administrator Russell Hawes claims that if there’s problems similar to last year the event won’t be asked back. Let’s hope that’s true.
But since they didn’t learn their lesson last time I doubt it.
Simpsonville Makes Family Circle Top Ten Places to Raise a Family
Hell’s Angels be damned! From The Tribune-Times:
Family Circle Magazine has named Simpsonville to its annual list of “10 Best Towns for Families: 2010.”
The magazine picked Simpsonville as one of its “perfect places to raise kids” and ranked the city among the top in the country for its affordable home prices, parks and recreation, schools and giving spirit.
The article in the issue that launched July 7 lauds Simpsonville’s family friendly atmosphere, its Freedom Weekend Aloft festival and local parks and recreation facilities, such as the Golden Strip YMCA and the Discovery Island Water Park.
“We have focused for many years now in building a family friendly community and trying to provide places and opportunities for families to spend quality time together,” Mayor Dennis Waldrop said. “This in my mind confirms what we have tried to accomplish.”
Residents feel safe with a low crime rate and can enjoy a small-town atmosphere downtown or numerous parks and recreational facilities, Waldrop said.
“I think if you look at the entire community and look at the atmosphere around here, how could they not choose us?” he asked.
Living in Mauldin I often find myself in Simpsonville and thinking I should have just moved there. It’s got some great restaurants, nice parks and a 24-hour Bi-Lo. If you’re looking to move down here you could do worse than Simpsonville.
Good News! 5,000-10,000 Bikers May Show Up to Simpsonville Bike Rally in June
Organizer Beth Brown (also known as Throttle Fox) decided to hold the first annual Southern Throttle Motorcycle Rally in Heritage Park because of Myrtle Beach’s new ordinances targeting bikers. From the Tribune-Times:
When Beth Brown rides her Harley Davidson motorcycle through Simpsonville or Greenville or the nearby mountains, she envisions the Upstate as a destination for motorcycle riders from across the Southeast.
Now she wants to bring those riders here.
She expects more than 3,000 bikers to cruise into Simpsonville June 4-5 for a new two-day rally at Heritage Park. Others have told her to expect 5,000-10,000 bikers, she said.
The Southern Throttle Motorcycle Rally is being organized by Greenville event-management company Epic Events. Brown, the event’s organizer, hopes the rally will become an annual draw.
Which may be good news for the city of Simpsonville and Greenville County, specially since the the Simpsonville City Council recently expanded the alcohol ordinance to allow sales at public events. Like biker rallies.
The bad news? Over the years several 1%er clubs have been active in South Carolina including The Hell’s Angels, The Pagans, and The Warlocks but as far as I know there is no one gang whose territory is Greenville. So out of the few thousand that show up to this rally we can expect some gangs who are rivals. Despite assurances to the contrary, the outlaw biker culture is still very active, very dangerous and very attracted to rallies like this.
Strippers and other “adult workers” should be especially careful during this rally as many gangs make money through the extortion and abuse of these women. The Breed were caught doing this in 2000 and that case is typical of how 1%er gangs operate.
Awful: Simpsonville Teen Raped 15-Year-Old … When he was 13!
Another reason you should probably be homeschooling. What’s going on in our society when 13-year-olds are already brutal rapists? We blogged about this before, but now an arrest has been made and the case is just shocking.
From Fox Carolina:
GREENVILLE, S.C. — A Simpsonville teen was arrested on Wednesday after a 15-year-old girl said he raped her last month.
Greenville County deputies said that the sexual assault was reported on April 1 to Simpsonville police, when the suspect, who will not be identified because of his age, was 13 years old.
Deputies said that during the initial investigation by police, it was discovered that the suspect was the son of a Simpsonville city employee. They said the case was then turned over to the Sheriff’s Office to avoid a conflict of interest.
Investigators from the county’s sex crimes unit said that the suspect, now 14 years old, forced himself on the girl and had non-consensual sex with her. They said that the pair were acquaintances.
I hope that city employee is also under investigation. Normal, decent people don’t raise rapists.
Close Call for Mauldin Middle School Kids
Yesterday students from the Mauldin Middle School (located in Simpsonville for some reason) were saved by a good Samaritan who alerted the driver of the bus the children were on to a fire that was breaking out around one of the rear tires. The driver evacuated the bus and no one was hurt in the incident.
From The Charlotte Observer:
A bus fire that briefly closed Interstate 85 this morning in Gastonia also destroyed the musical instruments of members of an S.C. middle school orchestra.
There were no injuries among the 23 children, who are students at Mauldin Middle School in Simpsonville, S.C., according to police and emergency officials. The children and their five chaperones were on their way to Carowinds amusement park to perform today. They were in one of at least six buses headed to the park.
Shortly before 8 a.m., a motorist passing the bus signaled to the driver that something was wrong. The driver pulled over and got everybody out and moved away from the bus. A fire appeared to have started around a rear tire and quickly engulfed the back of the bus.
The students’ instruments were destroyed in the fire. We’ll let you know if there is a way to donate to the school to help replace them.