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PICKENS - As soon as they heard their senior center might close, a group of Pickens senior citizens banded together and began to fight to save what had become a special place to them.
Sunday afternoon, the Senior Citizens of Pickens County group got a tangible reminder that hard work and faith pays off, as the School District of Pickens and the City of Pickens presented them with the deed to the Hagood Center.
The deed was presented during a special ceremony held at the Senior Center.
"This did not come easy," said former Pickens mayor and SCPC board chairman Ted Shehan. "But with everyone cooperating together ..., they all worked, pulling together to save this center and keep it in Pickens. Today is the day."
The Hagood Center has always been an important part of the Pickens community and will continue to be, said Frances Wannamaker.
The building, the former Pickens Mill School, was constructed in 1929 and was named after Ben Hagood in 1963. Hagood's family donated the land for the school and the playground.
"It served as a community center, a meeting place for the Scouts and the site of an annual community fair," Wannamaker said.
In 1980, after the new Ben Hagood Elementary School was built in its current location, the building continued to be used.
"It now houses the Senior Citizens of Pickens," Wannamaker said.
Members of Hagood's family were on-hand for the presentation.
"I thank you from the bottom of my heart for the strength that you all have had and the determination that you have had to keep this building going," said Gary Hagood Brightwell.
Superintendent Lee D'Andrea called giving the building for the seniors' use "a win-win situation."
"It can continue to be used in the community," D'Andrea said. "It's a circle that's being completed from the days when it was filled with children and activities and excitement, the center of the community, to a point where it's going to be restored to that use."
Pickens Mayor David Owens accepted the deed on behalf on the seniors.
"I want to thank the ones we came to recognize, the senior citizens," he said. "We can look around our town and our community and it's largely because of you. We can't be more proud of our senior adults. I accept this from the school district, not on behalf of the City of Pickens, but on behalf of the Hagood family, the ones who worked here, the ones who went to school here, and especially on behalf of the senior citizens.
The seniors who are working so hard to save the building and the community that will enjoy it are linked together by more than geography, said U.S. Rep. Gresham Barrett.
"There's love," he said. "Love for a community, love for a town, love for a particular group, love for a school. That's why you are here today. It's not for the accolades, it's not for the money, it's not for the glory. It's because you love somebody."
Now that they have possession of the building, the real work begins for the Pickens seniors and their friends, said Pickens Councilman Fletcher Perry.
"We need windows, we need a new roof, it's getting to be cold outside, we need to look at our heating system," Perry said. "So I'm asking everyone: tell a friend, tell a relative, tell somebody that's got deep pockets that we need some help. We have some work to do."
Donations to The Hagood Center can be mailed to Senior Citizens of Pickens, Inc., P.O.Box 1574, Pickens, SC, 29671.
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