For 17 years, Barbara Haigler has been leading a Thursday Bible study group. She doesn’t hold her sessions in a church or a temple or even a classroom. Her sessions are with the women detainees at the Orangeburg-Calhoun Regional Detention Center.

A soft-spoken woman with a steady gaze and a quiet strength, she said she is divinely assured of the work she is doing.

“I taught at Southern Methodist College for 28 years and was in administration,” Haigler said. “I taught music and then became dean of students. I started the Bible studies group with the ladies here because I feel that this is what God wants me to do. I bring them hope in Christ, because without him there is no way that they’ll get their lives straightened out.”

Strong in her own faith, Haigler sets an example for others to follow. She said, along with the Bible studies, she tells the women what God and her faith has meant in her life.

Willie Bamberg, director of the detention center, has only praise for Haigler. He said she is one of the bright spots of the center.

“I can put is very simply,” Bamberg said. “I’ve been here for 13 years, and when I came in and talked with her, I saw a difference in myself. And I see a difference in the inmates that she has in her Bible study group. When I run into them on the street, they always ask about Mrs. Barbara; even the ones that might have tried to give her a hard time. She’s a very special person and brings the best out in people around her. Everybody likes her.”

Bamberg testified to the Haigler’s determination and dedication to her mission. He said she is always there when she says she will be, whether administration and staff are ready for her or not.

“Sometimes, Mrs. Haigler will come in and we tell her we don’t have the manpower to let her go into the block,” he said. “She is unmoved. She’ll just say, ’I’ll wait here until you get it.’ And miraculously, somehow, somebody will show up who can escort her back to the block. She’s just a very special person. There’s no other way of describing her.”

To show Haigler what esteem he holds her in, Bamberg nominated her for the volunteer of the year of South Carolina for 2006. At a ceremony held during the Jail Association Conference in Myrtle Beach in April, she won the title over two other nominees.

“I was busy with doing other things at the ceremony, so I put her at a table with several other people that she didn’t know at the time. By the end of the ceremony, everybody loved her,” Bamberg said. “I’m telling you, she is special. She is anointed and appointed.”

Haigler was pleased with the nomination and winning the designation, but she keeps uppermost in her mind her reason for conducting the Bible study sessions.

“Christ is why I’m here,” she said. “He is the one who will make a difference in their lives. I’m not doing this for me and I’ll continue to do it as long as he gives me the strength. ”

At the same ceremony, another of Orangeburg’s own was honored. James Gordon, former director of the Orangeburg-Calhoun Regional Detention Center, was awarded a lifetime membership in the South Carolina Jail Administrators Association.

Gordon served as director of the Orangeburg-Calhoun Regional Detention Center from 1984 until 1997. He said he had no inkling of joining law enforcement at the time.

“I was retired from the army and one of my friends suggested that I should come by and speak to the administrator, who was looking for an assistant,” Gordon said. “By the end of my interview, the administrator told me my office would right next to his. Two years later, he retired and I became interim director and then director.”

For Gordon, his greatest achievement during his tenure at the detention center was something of a humanitarian effort.

“While I was here, I got the inmates off the floor,” Gordon said. “We had seven inmates to a four-man cell. I was motivated to get some decent housing for the inmates.”

As a consequence of Gordon’s actions, a new wing was built at the detention center to house inmates in a less-crowded facility.

“I’ve been fortunate in my life,” Gordon said. “And I’ve been able to give something back to the community by donating computers to schools and sometimes offering monetary support.”

After 14 years in law enforcement, Gordon is currently a private investigator working primarily for the public defender’s office.

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