By Betsy Finklea
At the December meeting of the Dillon County Council, outgoing councilmen were recognized for their years of service as well as the family of the late Christopher Miller.
Councilman Stevie Grice presented the plaque to the family of the late Christopher Miller in recognition of his dedicated service to the Dillon County Council (January 21-April 22) and County Council District Two and his lasting impact on Dillon County. Miller’s wife and children accepted the plaque.
Chairman Buzzy Finklea asked him to do this because he and Chris were best buddies and that Grice talked about Chris all the time.
Grice said not only was Chris a good councilman, he was his best friend.
Gerome “Gee” McLeod was presented a plaque by Finklea for his dedicated service to the Dillon County Council and County Council District Six from February 2018 to December 2022. Finklea said that McLeod was a good fellow and they worked together well. He said McLeod is a good Christian man. He said when there was a good Christian man on council that it means a lot, and that McLeod was going to be missed.
Finklea also presented a plaque to Harold Moody for his 28 years distinguished service, vision, commitment, and leadership. Moody served on council from January 1995 until December 2022. Finklea said when he came on council that Moody had 20 years experience, took him under his wing, and got him in the right direction “I hope.” He said Moody let him know about some grants and some money for the Town of Latta that helped him get the Town of Latta over one million dollars with Moody helping him. He thanked Moody.
The councilmen were then asked if they would like to say anything. McLeod said it was a “good run.” He said he has enjoyed it and the most rewarding part was being able to help people. He said he will miss everyone and thanked the public for allowing him to serve.
Moody said that there were too many words to say over 28 years. “We’ve come a long way. The foundation has been laid to change our county’s trajectory, and it is changing. It’s up to the people and the council to keep it going.”
Moody said when he first came on Dixiana Mills and the textile industries had just closed. “We were in trouble,” Moody said. Then they eliminated the tobacco program and that was “a blow to Dillon County.”
“So we started looking around and said we need to build an industrial park. The County Council established an industrial park on Highway 34 with help. This replaced soybean, tobacco, and cotton fields,” Moody said.
“Now in Dillon County, we are making jet parts. We have the largest distributorship on I-95 for Harbor Freight Tools. We have Bitcoin mining operations going on here now. So I think the county is moving in a very positive direction. It’s up to the citizens and the politicians to keep moving the county forward.”