By LELAND BURCH
To the amazement of many, I am still on the right side of the grass. But I have so much more to be grateful for this Thanksgiving that it cannot be crammed into a single Tweet. I am especially thankful for my wonderful wife who devoted 20 years of her life to serving the children of the Greenville County on the School Board, and for our four sons and four grandchildren.
I am truly blessed to live in Greer because it is the Center of the Universe. Not only is Greer a caring community, but we harbor a well-kept secret: Greer is the cutting edge for good in the eternal war against evil. That cutting edge is the Greer Christian Learning Center (GCLC), which annually equips more than 500 Greer Middle and High School students for living lives based on Biblical teachings.
The GCLC has recently expanded to include Blue Ridge and Riverside. Students attending the Released Time classes are growing in the faith so that they can cope with worldly temptations and adversities.
Although the GCLC was founded 17 years ago, it has remained so obscure that it receives little financial support – even from many area churches that have students who participate in the classes. I would be especially thankful if more individuals, businesses, churches, etc. supported the Christian Learning Center.
I am very thankful that our community established Greer Relief and Resources more than 75 years ago. In that tradition, Greer Community Ministries was founded to serve Meals on Wheels (now delivering over 300 each day) and the Greer Soup Kitchen was created to provide daily meals for the hungry. Few communities have undertaken these and so many other truly worthwhile causes.
I am thankful for Greer’s location that gives us convenient access to the mountains and the beach. I am grateful for Greer’s other great assets, including BMW Manufacturing that provides over 7,000 jobs, the new SC Inland Port and the GSP International Airport that is one of the most attractive and convenient in the world.
We Greer residents are blessed with outstanding city services: police, fire, sanitation, public utilities, parks and recreation, plus wonderful facilities like the new city hall and municipal court. Not only is Greer beautiful, it is also growing because the city government, Chamber of Commerce and Commission of Public Works work together through the Partnership for Tomorrow.
Greer’s health care facilities are the best of any community of its size: the new Village Hospital with its adjoining Gibbs Cancer Treatment Center, and the new Greer Memorial Hospital and adjoining Cottages at Brushy long term care facility.
One more thing – Greer has outstanding public school facilities plus a Greenville Technical College campus. And very few communities have a Heritage Museum.
I am thankful to be a lifelong resident of this great community. And I’m thankful for golf on Thursdays, Greer High football on Friday nights, Wednesday night Bible studies and Sunday nights at Mr. Salsa.