Dr. Carolyn Prince was sworn in as the first African-American mayor for the City of Bennettsville on Jan. 2.
The Nov. 5 city election was held for mayor and council districts 2, 4 and 6. Tyrone Davis and Gregory Scott also took the oath to begin four-year terms on the Bennettsville City Council. Jean Quick was unable to attend due to being hospitalized.
Prince, who had her oath of office administered by Judge Rob Stanton, said she was humbly overwhelmed by their confidence in her.
“I pledge my talents, skills, and experience to work for a better Bennettsville. I stand before you on the shoulders of my parents and my ancestors. It is because of them that I am here.” 

The fourth annual Winterfest was held on Jan. 4 at the Marlboro School Community Center.
The free event had adult and children games, food, giveaways, and free school supplies.
It was sponsored by Our Children-Their Future, Inc., Corrie H. Plato, and Carolyn A. Prince.  
Prince, chairman of Our Children-Their Future, said the event was to help give students school supplies as they go back to school for the spring semester.  
“In the past, we distributed school supplies in August along with other groups,” she said. “We knew Santa does not bring school supplies and children and youth would need more by January.”

The Marlboro County Bulldogs will kick off the region campaign Friday night as they host the Wilson Tigers.
Both the boys' and girls' teams enter the critical part of the schedule with optimism.  
The Lady Bulldogs (10-1) have been rolling, blasting opponents with an impressive offensive attack.  Junior Jasmine Norman and sophomore Tysonia Lowe have been lighting up the scoreboard, each averaging over 20 points per contest.
However, region play will raise the level of competition significantly.  Last year, the Lady Bulldogs were not able to win a Region 6-4A contest.  
All five of their region rivals have impressive records, led by North Myrtle Beach.
The Lady Chiefs are 12-1, with a championship in a Georgia holiday tournament.

 Dr. Carolyn Prince is humbled and overwhelmed by the people who came out to vote for her as mayor in November.
Prince was sworn in as the first African-American mayor for the City of Bennettsville at a noon ceremony on Jan. 2.
She admitted she wouldn’t have won without the support of people coming together.
“I don’t think they saw color,” she said. “They had trust and confidence in who I am, what I stand for and how I live my life. I didn’t ask people to contribute but I got contributions from people.” 
Recently,  one of her good friends died. But before that, he had called her to tell her that his 94-year-old sister in Washington, D.C. wanted to donate money to Prince’s campaign. 

Marlboro County rode a strong first quarter to a huge lead, enroute to blowing out Central of Pageland  Monday night at home.  The Bulldogs cruised to a 78-37 victory.
Ryan Dupree opened the game with a short jump shot, blocked an Eagle shot, then raced for a layup to get the Bulldogs off to a quick start.  Devonta Oliver nailed a three-pointer, then senior Wesley Brown scored on back-to-back possessions as the Bulldogs raced to a 13-4 advantage.
By the end of the first quarter, the Bulldogs led 20-5 and the reserves were on the court for Marlboro County.
The Bulldogs continued to pull away in the second period, led by a three-pointer from Shawn Lucas, a layup by Kieran Leviner and a jumper by Jameik McCoy.  
Marlboro led 40-14 at intermission.  After a sluggish third quarter, the Bulldogs reignited the offense in the fourth, outscoring their guests 25-11.