On behalf of the entire Sentinel staff, I would like to thank everyone who made the debate last Thursday night between the candidates for Pickens City Council such a tremendous success.

Both the election process and newspapers are a very important part of democracy, and we decided to host the debate as a way of giving back to our community that we’ve been a part of almost from its beginnings.

The Pickens Sentinel has been around since 1871, making it the oldest business in the county, but we couldn’t do it without the community’s support.

And that support shined through Thursday night.

Thanks to the gracious folks at the Farm Bureau, we had comfortable place to hold the debate, and without their generosity, the event couldn’t have happened.

And of course, we thank the candidates for taking the time to come out and address the questions asked of them. After all, hearing how they stand on issues facing Pickens was the whole reason for us being there in the first place.

It was obvious that all five – Preston Bruce, Jason Cassell, Joe Durham, Carlton Holley and Patrick Lark – love the town of Pickens. The pride each one has for their town was apparent in all their answers.

To our panel that asked questions – Mark Barrett, Michael Keith, Wayne Kelley and Dan Winchester - we can’t thank you enough for taking the time to think of constructive issues to quiz the candidates on and for coming out and helping us make the debate so successful.

And we certainly don’t want to forget the audience. Before the event, we had no idea how turnout would be – but we were certainly pleased to see folks come out to see what the candidates had to say. It showed that they realize the importance of the upcoming election.

We encourage them, as well as those who couldn’t attend, to hit the polls Nov. 3 and cast their vote, not just for the Pickens race, but for all the municipal races in Pickens County.