Throughout Orangeburg, Calhoun and Bamberg Counties, the boy scouts have been doing their best to do their duties to God and their country and to obey the Scout law.

In order to do that, the scouts have needed the financial support of their respective communities and they have not failed them yet. A fundraiser hosted by Jim Roquemore brought over 100 people together to raise money to support the Boy Scouts of America Tuesday night at Roquemore’s home on US-301. The fundraising initiative, which had raised around $142,000 heading into Tuesday night’s event, has been an asset to the Indian Waters Council for over 15 years now.

Among those in attendance was former Atlanta Braves third baseman Terry Pendleton. The former National League All-Star and current Braves hitting coach was thrilled about the effort given by members of the communities to support the youth.

“Anytime you can raise money to help kids is just an awesome thing,” Pendleton said. “Anytime I can get out to do something, I try to make sure I get out and do something. To hear about the amount of money that’s been raised in this county for the size of this county is almost unheard of.”

Pendleton is among several famous figures that have made their way to Orangeburg through Elloree native and Road’s Innovations NASCAR Relations President Hank Jones for the fundraising dinner. In previous years, Jones has brought in NASCAR legend Rusty Wallace and country music artists Brooks and Dunn.

People from across the state made their way to the event to pledge money to support the Indian Waters Council. To Jones, helping the scouts financially now could go a long way later.

“Our first deal was just a couple thousand dollars,” Jones said. “and now it’s grown to almost $140-150,000. We couldn’t’ve imagined it. With people stepping up and being able to meet these celebrities, it’s a cheap price to pay to support your county and the United States as a whole for these scouts to get them up and get them going.”

T&D Sports Writer Emery Glover can be reached by e-mail at eglover@timesanddemocrat.com or by phone at 803-533-5532. Check out his blog, Cover 2, at www.TheTandD.com.

You must be logged in to comment.