4A Monday, August 31, 2015 beaufortgazette.com Islandpacket.com LOCAL GUNS Continued from 3A that number jumped to 62,490 and jumped again in 2013 to 84,494. But last year, according to SLED, the agency issued 64,412 permits, including 27,705 new permits and 36,707 renewals. This year, through Aug. 21, the agency has issued 39,519 permits. "A lot of folks who are willing to go through it have gone through it," Sen.
Lee Bright, a Spartanburg County Republican and ardent supporter of gun rights, said of the permit process. "I think most of the folks who wanted them have gone out and gotten them, and the other folks just aren't willing to go through the hassle." The permits are valid for five years. To get one, a person must undergo training, including at a firearms range, not be prohibited under the law from possessing a firearm, submit their fingerprints, proof of residence or ownership of real property, a valid driver's license, a $50 fee and a completed application. The state has 263,557 active concealed weapons permits, according to SLED, more than double the 103,868 on hand in 2009. The state's population from 2010 to 2014 grew 4.5 percent, according to the U.S.
Census Bureau. During that same time period, the total number of active concealed weapons permits jumped by almost 100 percent. One factor that may have influenced some in permit decisions was a belief that lawmakers were about to change the law, Baddorf said. "People were under the misunderstanding that they were not going to have to have a permit," he said. "There was some legislation that people were thinking was going to do away with the concealed weapons permit program or make South Carolina a state where you could carry concealed without a permit.
And that obviously did not make it through." Several vears ago, when the state was still in a frenzy of gun and ammunition purchases, classes were filled for every concealed weapons class he knew, Baddorf said. "It was insane," he said. "Right before I became a CWP instructor (two years ago) it started to drop off a little bit, and it's sort of been on a slow and steady decline since then, at least for me." But not everyone has seen a decline in students. Jim Braziel, manager of Sharpshooters Indoor Range and Gun Club in Greenville, said he has had 300 students classes in his store so far this year. "And that's more than we did all of last year combined," he said.
"On our end, it's on the rise. But that's just one of how many hundreds of instructors across the state?" Byrd said he doesn't think interest is falling off. In fact, he said, a lot more women are taking classes now than a decade ago. "Some of that probably comes down to women are being more active in protecting themselves," he said. "We're not talking about women whose husband signed them up for the class.
They are doing it because they want to do it." Not all permits are granted, and SLED last year denied 948 permits, down from 1,185 the year before. The percentage of denials to total permits issued, however, has remained steady, at about 1.4 percent. SLED revoked 895 permits last year, up from 335 the year before. SLED spokesman Thom Berry said he was not sure why more permits were revoked. TRIBUTE MORE ONLINE Watch a video of an interContinued from 3A view with the family, go to http://bit.ly/1EubALk.
markers and the bridge over Jarvis Creek now bear his for years and is hopeful the name, 10 years after Sim- park will serve his memory mons died at the age of 99 as well as or better than the and a group of native island- shortened street name. ers began a push to rename Rosa G. Simmons, the elSpanish Wells Road after the der Simmons' daughter-inferry captain. law, said she hopes the new The elder Simmons not park will not be one more only ferried people, mail, pay thing open only to those bechecks and groceries on and hind a community's gates. off the island, but he oper- Her son, however, said he's ated a country store and later hopeful another road will trucked residents to and from someday be called "Captain Savannah.
Despite his busi- Sim Drive." ness acumen, he never cared "Things have a way of workabout getting rich off his ven- ing themselves out," Palmer tures, Simmons Jr. said. Simmons said. "I think there'll "If he could do you a favor, be more good than bad out of that was his satisfaction," he this whole thing." said. Brown says he's been famil- Follow reporter Rebecca Lurye iar with Simmons legacy at twitter.com/IPBG_Rebecca.
OBITUARIES Clayola Jones fort National Cemetery with Air Force honors. Clayola Jones, 91, of Beau- Arrangements by Anderfort, died Saturday, Aug. 29, son Funeral Home and Cre2015, at Richland Memorial matory, Hospital in Columbia. Arrangements by Marshel's Donald Rogers Wright-Donaldson Home Donald Wayne Rogers, 74, for Funerals. of Hardeeville and husband Mattie Mitchell of Joyce Rogers, died Saturday, Aug.
29, 2015, at. NaMattie C. Mitchell, 90, of tional Healthcare Center in St. Helena Island, died Satur-, Bluffton. day, Aug.
29, 2015, at Beaufort Funeral services are at Memorial Hospital. 11 a.m. today at Vaigneur FuArrangements by Marshel's neral Chapel in Ridgeland, Wright-Donaldson Home with burial in Purrysburg for Funerals. Cemetery in Hardeeville. Larance Parks The family will receive friends beginning 10 a.m.
at Larance Edward Parks, 88, the funeral home. of Beaufort and widower of Memorial donations may Bernice Parks, died Sunday, be made in his honor to Aug. 0,2015, at his home. Gideon's International, P.O, Graveside services are at Box 140800, Nashville, TN 11 a.m. Wednesday at Beau- 37214-0800.
BOEING Continued from 3A The Associated Press World War II veteran Francis "Dick" Varone poses with a portrait of himself that was taken in a Mechanicville, N.Y., tavern during the war. Town's WWII photo collection endures By CHRIS CAROLA The Associated Press MECHANICVILLE, N.Y. During World War II, hundreds of servicemen in uniform had their photographs taken at a popular tavern near the Hudson River in upstate New York. Seventy years after the war officially ended with Japan's surrender on Sept. 2, 1945, Siciliano's Restaurant is long gone, but the black-andwhite portraits endure.
Only a few of the people photographed by Mechanicville restaurant owner Charlie Siciliano are still living. Public displays of photographs of local servicemen and women were common in many U.S communities during the war, but few have survived. The quality, size and longevity of the Siciliano collection make it "completely unique" among known WWII collections, according to Kimberly Guise, a curator at the National World War II Museum in New Orleans. THE COLLECTION Starting in 1942 and continuing through the war's duration, Siciliano snapped more than 700 black-andwhite portraits. The 3-by-3-inch photos, framed in groups of 25, covered the walls of his bar for 30 years.
Siciliano died in 1980, a few years after selling the restaurant. The new owner had the photos arranged alphabetically in eight large frames, which eventually were donated to the Mechanicville Public Library, Siciliano photographed servicemen during the Ko- OBITUARIES, which are published free of charge, are about 40 words long. For next-day publication, obituaries should be sent by 3 p.m. to com or beaufortgazette.com. DEATH NOTICES are paid items that are more detailed.
Funeral homes should email death notices to the same address by 3 p.m. Monday through Friday, For questions, contact 843-706- 8100 or email com or beaufortgazette.com. MORE ONLINE The entire collection has been digitized on the Mechanicville Public Library's website: http://meclib.sals.edu rean War, but most of the portraits are from WWII. More than 600 of them are on display in the library's local history room. HOW IT HAPPENED After the U.S.
entered the war, word spread around town that Siciliano was taking photos of anyone who showed up at his restaurant in uniform. It became a ritual for local servicemen home on leave or recently returned from overseas to head to the hangout, known for its Saturday night dance bands and clams at 25 cents a dozen. "If Charlie saw you there in uniform, he'd say, 'Go sit in the Then he'd snap your picture," said Mechanicville native Christopher Sgambati, 90, a Navy veteran who served in the Pacific. Each sailor, soldier, airman or Marine sat in the same well-lit corner at the end of the curved wooden bar. Many are holding a drink in their hands.
The interior white tile walls and a shaded window served as a backdrop. The same vase with flowers, and occasionally a bottle of wine, appears in nearly every photo. Siciliano, a photography buff, gave each person he photographed: copy for free. Each framed photo had a name typewritten under it. A star placed on a photo indicated that person was killed during the war.
THE SERVICEMEN Most of the men photographed at Siciliano's were from Mechanicville, which during the war had a population of about 7,500 and now has just over 5,000. At least three women in uniform are in the collection. It's unknown how many of the veterans in the photos are still living. Seven were recently contacted for an informal gathering at the library, and four showed up, including Sgambati and Army veterans Anthony Luciano, 90, and Felix Farina, 91, and Marine Corps veteran Francis "Dick" Varone, 89. Varone, an Iwo Jima veteran, was fresh out of boot camp when he had his picture taken at Siciliano's in 1943.
When he finally returned home in 1946, he went to Siciliano's and met Mary Lou, the woman he would be married to until her death in 1994. WHY IT'S IMPORTANT Guise, the National WWII Museum curator, called the Siciliano collection "a local history treasure trove." The photographs are one small town's lasting tribute to the local men and women who fought in history's biggest war. "We considered them all part of our family," said Charles Siciliano who was 9 when his father started taking the photos. "That collection will last long after all the guys are gone, including me." sector aerospace revenue growth increased by 15.5 percent. That exceeded North Carolina, which increased by 8.1 percent; Georgia, which increased by 6.9 percent; and Alabama, which declined by 1.8 percent.
In private sector aerospace firm growth, South Carolina experienced an 18.7 percent increase, ranking third behind North Carolina (25.3 percent) and Alabama (21.3 percent) and ahead of Georgia (14.1 percent), The study was prepared by USC economist Joey Von Nessen, a research economist with the Darla Moore School of Business, in partnership with the South Carolina Council on Competitiveness and the Harvard Business School. The conference was headlined by Gov. Nikki Haley, who was joined by USC President Harris Pastides, Columbia Mayor Steve Benjamin and Zafer Gurdal, director of the McNair Center for Aerospace Innovation and Research at USC. Haley said "the reason the state's aerospace industry is growing is because Boeing is growing." Boeing has three major South Carolina facilities in Charleston, including a final assembly facility for the 787 Dreamliner and a plant that fabricates, assembles and installs systems for rear fuselage sections of the Boeing 787. Haley also noted that the state has four very active military aviation bases: McEntire Joint National Guard Base in Eastover, Shaw Air Force Base in Sumter, Joint Base Charleston and Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort.
All of them leverage the state's aviation suppliers. These companies "know our military bases aren't going anywhere and Boeing isn't going anywhere," she said. Gurdal said that attendance at the conference was exceeding expectations, another indicator of the industry's growth in the state. "They are from different parts of the state, different parts of the country and different parts of the world," he said. The keynote speaker was Mike Bunker, director of aftbody, or fuselage, operations for Boeing, which was the conference's major sponsor.
He said the North Charleston plant has grown from 240 acres when i it opened in 2011 to 468 acres today. It has the ability to grow to 884 acres. DEATH ELSEWHERE 'Awakenings' author Sacks dies By MALCOLM RITTER minally ill with a rare eye who had trouble with ordiThe Associated Press cancer that had spread to nary math but who could NEW YORK There his liver. perform other amazing calwas the blind man who had As a prac- culations. the disastrous experience ticing neu- Discover magazine of regaining his sight.
The rologist, Sacks ranked it among the 25 surgeon who developed a looked at some greatest science books of sudden passion for music of his patients all time in 2006, declaring, after being struck by light-, with a writer's "Legions of neuroscientists ning. And most famously, eye and found now probing the mysteries the man who mistook his Sacks publishing of the human brain cite this wife for a hat. gold. book as their greatest inspiThose stories and many In his best-selling 1985 ration." more, taking the reader to book, "The Man Who Mis- Sacks' 1973 book, "Awakthe distant ranges of human took His Wife for a Hat," he enings," about hospital paexperience, came from the described a man who really tients who'd spent decades pen of Dr. Oliver Sacks.
did mistake his wife's face in a kind of frozen state unSacks, 82, died Sunday at for his hat while visiting til Sacks tried a new treathis home in New York City, Sacks' office, because his ment, led to a 1990 movie in his assistant, Kate Edgar, brain had difficulty inter- which Sacks was portrayed said. preting what he saw. by Robin Williams. It was In February, he had an- Another story in the book nominated for three Acadnounced that he was ter- featured twins with autism emy Awards..
