Tuesday, the City of Bennettsville hosted its annual Christmas parade.  Over 90 entries rolled down Broad Street, around the courthouse square and on to East Main Street.  Above, Santa wraps up the parade, riding on a fire truck.  Right, parade marshals Rebecca McArthur and Beth Chavis wave to the crowd.  Below, kids of all ages enjoyed watching or riding in the parade.  More parade photos will appear in the “Christmas Greetings” special on December 20.  The Town of McColl Christmas parade was held on Wednesday afternoon.  See next weeks edition for pictures from that event.
Photos by Dan McNiel

Arkansas State senior and former Marlboro County Bulldog Ronheen Bingham has been named the Sun Belt Conference Defensive Player of the Year.
Bingham helped lead the Red Wolves to an 8-4 overall record and a berth in the Arizona Bowl, where they will play The University of Nevada.
This season Bingham, a defensive end, finished the regular season with 65 total tackles and nine quarterback sacks.  He also had 19 tackles for lost yardage.
His sacks and tackles for loss lead the conference.

Marlboro County Board of Education members learned Monday that Clio Elementary Middle School was one of 19 schools in the state to receive an excellent rating on the recently released school report cards.
Teachers, staff and administrators were recognized at Monday's meeting for receiving a score of 63 on the report card.
Recently, the South Carolina Department of Education and Education Oversight Committee released school and district report cards as part of the state's merged state and federal accountability system. The report cards reflected school and district performance during the 2017-2018 school year and contained overall school ratings for the first time since 2014.

The Lake Paul Wallace Authority and all of Marlboro County received an early Christmas present on Tuesday.
State Senator Gerald Malloy presented Lake Paul Wallace Authority Chairman Sully Blair with a check for $250,000 from the state of South Carolina at the weekly meeting of the Bennettsville Rotary Club.
"I'm very proud of the Lake Wallace Authority and all they have been doing to preserve and beautify the lake," said Malloy, whose  District 29 encompasses most of Marlboro County.
The money comes from the current state budget in a line item proposed by Malloy and supported by the rest of the Marlboro County delegation, Senator Kent Williams, Representative Pat Henegan and Representative Jackie Hayes.
Blair thanked Malloy for his assistance and support for the Lake Authority.  He pointed out that Malloy was instrumental in the establishment of the Lake Paul Wallace Authority. 

Beginning next week, Santa Claus comes to Marlboro County as parades roll through Bennettsville and McColl.
The city of Bennettsville Christmas parade will kick off the holiday season with “A Musical Christmas” at 4:30 p.m. December 4.
The grand marshals will be Rebecca McArthur of McArthur Farms and Beth Chavis of Healing Hands Massage Therapy. Both were local winners in the WMBF “The Pee Dee’s Best” contest.