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RIDGELAND, S.C. —

A World War II veteran reached a milestone few will ever see, celebrating his 100th birthday surrounded by family, friends and fellow veterans at Operation Patriots FOB in Ridgeland, South Carolina.

Sam Hollis, drafted into the Army at 17, served in the European Theater in Normandy, France, as part of a Replacement and Supply Command, supporting frontline troops.

The celebration drew a crowd of well-wishers who lined the property with flags and cheers, including Hollis’ daughter, Kathryn Hollis Peters.

“The perseverance that he had, the dedication that he had, the love that he had for his country, for his family…he just didn’t know any other way than to make it happen,” Peters said.

Hollis, who has been married to his wife Mary for 69 years, said his greatest pride comes from his family. Asked for the secret to a long life, he said,

“Keep trucking along. Don’t give up. And live the best life you can, and with God’s help, you know that everybody gets through it in one way or the other.” said Hollis

JR Brown, founder and CEO of Operation Patriots FOB, a nonprofit supporting veterans, said Hollis represents a vanishing generation.

“There’s not a lot of World War II veterans left. He is representing all of those men and women that served in that war,” Brown said.

Operation Patriots FOB, which celebrates its fifth anniversary this month, has welcomed more than 40,000 visitors to its property and has reported zero suicides among the veterans it serves.

Hollis is scheduled to be the guest of honor at the nonprofit’s “Dinner for the Heroes” in Hilton Head on Nov. 8.

Tickets to support the event are available here.

RIDGELAND, SC (WTOC) - For over a decade, Hardeeville and Ridgeland were united as one. That changed last year when the two schools split. But this year will be the first time their football teams face off since that split. And as this week’s Game of the Week, WTOC will have all of the action from it on The End Zone Friday night.

Hardeeville enters the matchup on a four-game losing skid, but while the wins have been tough to find, the team feels they continue to improve week after week.

A new twist to the lineup this Friday features freshman quarterback Kyrin Jamison starting under center, a move his teammates and coaching staff have full confidence in, as they head into this crosstown rivalry in search of a much-needed win.

“A win Friday night would be huge, not simply because of the rivalry, but it’s also a region game, and that’s the most important thing that we are striving for, is to do well in the region because that’s a big implication on playoff seedings,” said Hardeeville head coach Arthur Gardner. “But of course, you can’t undermine the rivalry.”

“It’s the big talk around town this week,” said Hardeeville senior receiver and cornerback Camari Brown. “It’s been the big talk since the summer, so I feel like it will mean a lot to all of us. Every time (we’re) in school, we’re always saying we’re waiting for Ridgeland, and we’re ready for the game. Everybody is just ready for Friday.”

Over on the home sideline, Ridgeland is just as amped up for the first installment of this rivalry game, but they’re doing their best to keep a level head and approach it as any other region game.

The Jaguars got their first win of the season in dominant fashion last week (a 70-20 win over Burke) and will be hoping to ride that momentum into Friday’s matchup.

Head coach Reginald Alexander said he was happy to see his team’s run game come alive last week, but he still needs his guys to fine-tune other aspects of the game.

“(We need to be) a little bit more disciplined,” said Alexander. “We’re still making little mistakes -- missing a block here, pick up a penalty here. I’d really like to see that cleaned up. We’ve been telling them all week, we understand you have friends over there, we understand you guys hang out together, but at the end of the say, we do have a game to play, so keep it level, just follow the rules, and play the game.”

“There’s always work to be done,” said Ridgeland senior linebacker Michael Rodriguez. “Like Coach says, stay disciplined, stay level-headed, put the work in day in and day out, and we should be fine.”

Kickoff between Hardeeville and Ridgeland is set for 7:30 p.m. at Jaguar Stadium.

RIDGELAND — Town Manager Dennis Averkin sounded like he was ready to bring the issue to a close, one way or the other.

He opened the Sept. 18 town council meeting noting that it had been two years, 11 months and 12 days since the first public hearing on a proposed annexation of the Tickton Hall property. But who’s counting?

“We’re gathered here tonight to consider this,” Averkin said.

The “this” he was referring to was a trio of requests related to the annexation and development of the 1,400-acre Tickton Hall property in Jasper County. Despite nearly three years of consideration, the matter never made it as far as an up-or-down vote by council.

After a contentious meeting on the project in late July, Averkin told The Post and Courier that he was ready for a decision.

The plan for Tickton Hall, which was spearheaded by Hilton Head-based developer Robert Graves, called for about 2,000 homes and 250,000 square feet of commercial space on the parcel bordered to the west by S.C. Highway 462, to the south by Bolan Hall Road and limited on the north and east sides by Euhaw Creek.

It’s a verdant, wooded property in a mostly rural corner of Jasper County that’s notable as the home of South Carolina’s newest state forest. Following The Nature Conservancy’s acquisition of 2,700 acres of the Chelsea Plantation just to the south of Tickton Hall, the S.C. Forestry Commission will take ownership of the property and eventually open it to public recreation.

Like Tickton, Chelsea also was targeted by a years-long development effort until the purchase by the conservancy took the property off the chopping block.

Tickton’s location was a source of concern for opponents of the plan. Located more than nine miles from downtown Ridgeland, there were unanswered questions about how services would be provided to the community should it get built.

“How do you make this leap of faith that all of this will be done, or we’ll deal with it later,” Averkin said. “I don’t have a good comfort level with that.”

According to Jasper County Administrator Andy Fulgham, County Council declined to even consider providing fire service for the community. Yet going into the vote, that question remained unresolved.

As council debated, first-term Councilmember Libby Malphrus took the position that approving the annexation without answers on key topics would violate South Carolina law.

“We would not be following state statute to annex a property if we cannot provide all the details. The details matter,” Malphrus said.

Mayor Joey Malphrus expressed a similar sentiment, saying that three years ago he had an open mind on the project, but the number of remaining uncertainties was troubling.

Councilmember Bill Fishburne had less of an issue with the plan’s uncertainties, arguing that the expense incurred in figuring out all of those details was prohibitive, particularly if the developer was undertaking that expense with no guarantee that the project would be approved.

“I don’t think anybody would spend that money to get to that point,” Fishburne said.

Two hours into the meeting, Joey Malphrus restated his motion to deny the annexation. Two years, 11 months and 12 days after the first public meeting, it was finally time for a vote.

By a show of hands, the council denied the annexation 4-1. Fishburne cast the lone dissenting vote.

“Given the strong community opposition and many holes in the development agreement, we commend Ridgeland leaders and staff for rejecting this potentially devastating proposal,” wrote Grant McClure, senior project manager for the Coastal Conservation League.

At this point, it’s unclear what the future holds for Tickton Hall. Neither Graves nor his attorney, Barry Johnson, responded to a request for comment before publication. Graves must wait a year before he can again approach the town with a request for annexation.

Speaking after the meeting, Libby Malphrus called the vote a victory for many in the community.

“We often hear with development that there’s no stopping it. You might as well just give up. The vote shows the power of the community coming together in a grassroots effort to stop overdevelopment. It was powerful,” she said.

Keep Chelsea Rural, a grassroots organization, led the opposition to the project, putting up billboards and running social media campaigns to raise awareness of the vote.

In an email to The Post and Courier, Keep Chelsea Rural Steering Committee member Ashley Rhodes wrote, “Tickton Hall is more than acreage. It is a vital thread in the historical and natural fabric of our community. Its unique character, its ecological significance, and its role in defining the beauty of our region are irreplaceable.”