Personal Injury Attorneyin St. Matthews, SC.

ST. MATTHEWS – An Orangeburg-based seed production company announced Tuesday it is expanding its services in Calhoun County.

Mixon Seed Service, Inc. has purchased St. Matthews-based L.B. Wannamaker Seed Company.

“We are excited,” Mixon Seed Service Inc. President Robert Etheridge said during a Tuesday ceremony celebrating the purchase. “It is a neat honor to be able to carry on two stored companies that have been in the state over 150 years.

“We are happy to be able to carry that forward.”

As part of the transaction, Mixon Seed will invest about $750,000 over the next five years and create 10 new jobs at its new St. Matthews operation on Mill Street.

The investment will be in facility and equipment upgrades with an eye to increasing capacity.

The St. Matthews plant will focus on cover crop seed production, as well as wildlife blend retail and sales.

The Mixon Seed Service name will continue to be used, although the wildlife seed retail and sales office will be named the Southland Wildlife.

Mixon Seed currently has three employees in Calhoun County and 32 total. The company’s headquarters are in Orangeburg. It also has a facility in Newton, Georgia.

Regional business, government and agriculture officials were in attendance Tuesday to celebrate the expansion.

The S.C. Department of Agriculture is providing a $150,000 grant to help with the expansion.

“It is exciting and satisfying to have this business continue under the guidance of Robert Etheridge and Mixon Seed,” Wannamaker Seed Co. owner Luther Wannamaker said.

Etheridge said both businesses have been, “high touch, high service, high trust.”

“What we are going to do in Mixon Seed going forward is we are going to take that spirit of innovation and best practices and build it into a regional company that is a regional player across the South going forward,” he said.

Etheridge said Mixon will focus on a few areas going forward such as climate smart agriculture and sequestering carbon.

“Cover crops are a key tool in doing that,” Etheridge said. “We are making an investment here and in some other places where we are investing in infrastructure, in the people and the know-how to really bring those cover crops to the state and to the region at a scale that will take it.”

Etheridge said the company will also focus on wildlife space.

“We see the investment in recreational properties continuing,” Etheridge said. “We think that is a viable space. Certainly land preservation and particularly farm land preservation is going to be an ever-increasing focus for us in the state. We are excited about the growth prospects we’ve got.”

Etheridge thanked Clemson and South Carolina State universities as resources for new innovations and technology.

S.C. Agriculture Commissioner Hugh Weathers noted agribusiness is the largest contributor to the state’s economy.

Agribusiness contributes about $51 billion to the state’s economy and employs nearly 260,000 people, he said.

Weathers praised Wannamaker’s forethought and innovation, saying it’s helped local farmers through the years.

“That is really a foundation of the great agriculture that goes on here and now. Mixon Seed will continue that,” Weathers said. “Congratulations to Mixon Seed. Mr. Luther, congratulations. I know you are excited to see your lifelong work continue.”

Rep. Russell Ott, D-St. Matthews, said, “This is truly what South Carolina is.

“This is the essence of who we are in South Carolina. As far as I am concerned, that is the way we always need to keep it. We are an agricultural state.”

Mixon Seed’s expansion is, “sustaining the legacy of South Carolina,” Ott said.

Ott said Tuesday’s announcement is based on trust.

“We are transitioning today,” Ott said.

Wannamaker is trusting that his family seed company will continue to live on under Mixon Seed, Ott said. “It requires trust to know that those names, those legacies have been built and carried on in a manner in which they can continue to be proud.”

Calhoun County Administrator John McLauchlin thanked Etheridge and the Mixon family for investing in the county, and the Wannamaker family for its role in the county over the years.

“Keeping it in the agribusiness community and keeping the community happy with products nearby is great,” McLauchlin said.

Mixon Seed was founded in 1973 by Danny Mixon.

During the early days of Mixon Seed, Mixon would visit 15 to 20 customers daily, covering 300 miles.

The company provides seed varieties for wildlife and cover crop blends.

The company has distribution centers in Orangeburg and Newton, Georgia.

The company produces over 1.1 million bags of seed annually.

The Wannamaker family’s roots go all the way back to the year 1732 in what’s now Calhoun County.

After the Civil War, a group of men from Orangeburg and what is now Calhoun County were leaders in advocating for the creation of Clemson College and a more scientific approach to agriculture.

John Wannamaker from St. Matthews was especially prominent in this group. He was the first chairman of the board of Clemson and the first lifetime trustee, serving from 1888 to 1935.

The development of better varieties of farm crops, especially cotton, through seed breeding and research into fertilizers were Wannamaker’s two major concerns as a member of the Clemson board.

John’s son, John E. Wannamaker, was a pioneer in soybeans and is credited with bringing harvestable soybeans to the South.

St. Matthews-area farmer W.W. Wannamaker admired his cousin John and wanted to keep the business going.

Whit Wannamaker, W.W. Wannamaker’s oldest son, studied at Clemson and returned home to concentrate on growing cotton, cotton seed breeding and selling cotton seed. This gave birth to the Wannamaker seed enterprises in about 1916.

After World War I, Whit was joined by his two brothers, Treutlin and Banks, in a family partnership. In the 1930s, the business became two separate entities: W.W. Wannamaker Seed and L.B. Wannamaker Seed.

Banks Wannamaker founded the L.B. Wannamaker Seed Company in 1936. The production and marketing of cotton seed was his principal business.

In 1966, his son, Luther, joined his father and concentrated on soybean seed.

Luther contacted all the various Southern soybean breeders and selected, produced and marketed a stream of soybean varieties to Southern farmers.

In 1988, L.B. Wannamaker Seed expanded to Japan where it sold many varieties of soybean including the large Black Tamba, the so-called “King of Soybeans” that is a popular dish for Japanese New Year’s celebrations.

In 2005, the business was changed to focus on wildlife enhancement. The company serves both large plantations interested in quail, wild turkeys and ducks and deer hunters who want to provide high-protein food plots year-round.

BAMBERG, S.C. —

UPDATE - Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2024:

The National Weather Service confirmed that an EF-2 tornado with 125 mph winds is responsible for the major damage left behind in Bamberg, South Carolina, after Tuesday's storms.

The NWS also confirmed an EF-1 tornado hit Catawba County, North Carolina.

PREVIOUS STORY

What South Carolina Highway Patrol troopers are calling a tornado brought down buildings and powerlines and caused other significant damage Tuesday in Bamberg.

Watch video above taken Tuesday night.

More news: Father, stepmother charged in Upstate 34 years after child found dead in cabinet, officials say

The National Weather Service issued a tornado warning before 3 p.m. for Orangeburg, Bamberg and St. Matthews until 3:15 p.m.

This content is imported from Twitter. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site.

Tornado Warning including Orangeburg SC, Bamberg SC and Saint Matthews SC until 3:15 PM EST pic.twitter.com/dMWwffBUSN

— NWS Columbia (@NWSColumbia) January 9, 2024

Lance Cpl. Brittney Glover posted photos of the damage on social media after the storm blew through Bamberg. That's about 60 miles north of Beaufort and 45 miles east of Aiken.

One showed tons of debris under a water tower.

SCHP

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Another showed a warehouse near what appeared to be the same water tower severely damaged.

SCHP

A photo Glover said was taken on the city's Main Street showed bricks and rubble in the road from damaged buildings.

SCHP

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Another photo showed a tree snapped and downed trees and power lines around it.

SCHP

"If you’re out on the roadways today, please stay safe," Glover said. "A tornado just landed in Bamberg County."

SCHP

The National Weather Service will dispatch a team to the area to evaluate the damage and issue a report on the likely tornado.

To stay update on all breaking news and more, download the WYFF News 4 app. Apple | Google Play

The historic building has been standing on the corner of Mill Street and F.R. Huff Drive for over ninety years.

ST MATTHEWS, S.C. — A historic building in St. Matthews is no more as crews brought it down today as a measure of safety.

Angela Wannamaker lives in the Calhoun County, Town of St. Matthews. Her name matches the one on the building that used to house a seed company although she has no relation to it.

“Oh my goodness it’s a sad sad moment,” said Wannamaker. “It’s just sometimes things have to happen… so it had to come down sooner or later for our great community.”

The historic building has been standing on the corner of Mill Street and F.R. Huff Drive for over ninety years.

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Luther Wannamaker is the owner of the Wannamaker Seed building, which used to house cotton and seed crops. Wannamaker says the decision to demolish the structure was for safety reasons.

“Well the building was structurally unsound and it was a danger falling in the railroad track and creating a major problem,” said Wannamaker. “I’ve been taking care of the building for about forty years with not using it for anything except miscellaneous storage of family things and so as it deteriorated, we realized we had to take it down. Because it served no purpose for us expect for a wonderful sign for the family and the family business.”

Wannamaker says the building is important to many and he is delighted with the attention it has gotten since the announcement of plans to tear it down.

“I’m really excited about the attention, and I feel sad at the same time… I’m relieved of the burden. But it is really sad. I’m fascinated with history myself. ”

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Marilyn Jones is a resident and says she will miss seeing the building while driving around town.

“Really it was like a landmark, if I come up that street,” said Jones. “I’m looking for that building because it’s always there. So now it’s tearing down, they’re tearing it down so it’s not a landmark anymore and that’s one less building in Calhoun County that we won’t see.”

The Wannamaker Seed Company was sold to an Orangeburg base company, Mixon Seed Service Inc. last summer. The land the building sat on was owned by the railroad and the Wannamaker’s owned the now demolished building.

The new department building will have all eight bays attached to bunk rooms, offices, training rooms, and storage.

ST MATTHEWS, S.C. — The town of St. Matthews will have a new fire department before the end of the year.

State Representative Russell L. Ott secured $750,000 in funding for the towns new fire station which will be located at the old National Guard armory in town.

Greg Sandlin is the fire chief and says the new facility provides ample space for training exercises.

“Mainly the newer stuff that we’re going to be able to have over there is because the facility sits on two and a half acres,” said Chief Sandlin. “We’ll be able to implement our own training props where we don’t have to go to other counties to do it we’’ have it right there on site and we’ll be able to train a lot better.”

Assistant chief John Sandifer says he was shocked at the layout of the current department complex.

“When I joined here I was like man this is like the only department I’ve ever seen that is so separated,” said Sandifer. “Usually you have buildings and then the bays and then I was like wow this is different.”

The new department building will have all eight bays attached to bunk rooms, offices, training rooms, and storage.

One of the big issues the fire department is facing at the current facility is the uneven state of the driveway. Potholes and dirt prevent the trucks from leaving the department at top speed. Chief Sandlin says if they pull out to quick there could be damages to the trucks.

“Once we get into that truck, if you see that driveway right there, and this parking lot,” said Chief Sandlin. “You can’t get out of here very quick you gotta take your time otherwise you tear up the trucks.”

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Fire captain Ross Binsley says having a leveled lot for the fire trucks will keep them in good condition.

“Obviously the station is going to be great,” said Binsley. “Having our own dorm rooms and having a place to congregate together but having pads out front that are leveled and grated properly that we can pull these trucks out on and shine them up and keep them looking good so that way we can represent the town while we’re out and about and people don’t think that we’re not taking care of our equipment.”

RELATED: Owners of the Wannamaker Seed Company building tear down structure for safety

Deborah Bonaparte lives in town and says this new department building will be a big help to the town.

“I think it’s a great added attraction to our county,” said Bonaparte. “It’s very small its time for a change and I’m sure that services will be much much greater than it was before.”

The fire department expects their new building to be completed before the end of the summer. When they do move out, their old building will be repurposed for the town’s maintenance department.

Senior wide receiver commit

Christian Zachary

of St. Matthews (S.C.) Calhoun County had a busy last week.

Zachary, who was a Virginia commit, officially visited NC State from Friday-through-Sunday, and then he followed with a decommitment. Zachary finished off his recruitment by verbally committing to the Wolfpack on Thursday, becoming the fourth wide receiver in the class.

Zachary committed to Virginia on June 6, 2023, but has been open to NC State overtures since then.

“NC State has always been a school that I’ve looked at and I’m a big fan,” said Zachary, 17, last week. “It’s almost like a dream school, up there with Clemson. It’s close to home and it’s always a school that I’ve looked up to.”

The. 6-foot-3, 190-pound Zachary watched the “condensed” game of NC State at Virginia from last month on YouTube, with the Wolfpack winning 24-21.

Zachary and Anderson (S.C.) Westside High senior wide receiver commit

Jimmar Boston

don’t really know each other at this point, but they will be teammates at the Carolinas Shrine Bowl, playing for the South Carolina squad. NC State commit

Jonathan Paylor

of Burlington (N.C.) Cummings will be on the North Carolina team. The fourth wide receiver commit is

Terrell Anderson

of Greensboro (N.C.) Grimsley.

Zachary plans to early enroll at NC State and get to work. Wide receiver coach Joker Phillips has been the point man on Zachary.

Zachary hopes to major in sports management.

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