Tega Cay plans for croquet venue

From staff reports

TEGA CAY -- Editor's note: The York County Roundup is a weekly look at highlights from The Herald's sister weekly newspapers, the Lake Wylie Pilot, Fort Mill Times and Enquirer-Herald. The publications come out Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, respectively, and are available across the county.

Tega Cay plans for croquet venue

Leaders in Tega Cay have landed a new amenity to the city known for its signature golf greens and towering trees.

The Tega Cay City Council has given initial approval to make the Tree City home to a croquet venue. An arrangement between the city and the nonprofit Tega Cay Croquet Club means the responsibility of funding croquet facility improvements rests with the club, city leaders said.

“The whole deal is unbelievable for Tega Cay,” Councilman John Dervay said. “Have we ever done a deal like this before? I am really, really happy to see this. This is the kind of cooperation that we need in Tega Cay.”

The next step is for city leaders to take bids on the project. The bid procedure can take 90 days, Dervay said. Constructing the venue will take approximately 60 days, Duffield said. It would take an additional 30 days for the grass to grow, he said.

The croquet facility will be constructed near the city's pavilion. A draft of a croquet facility license agreement notes that the arrangement will begin on Jan. 1 and could end Dec. 31, 2016. That document states that the city will be the sole and exclusive operator of the facility, make improvements as needed and establish and collect the fees.

Fort Mill Times, www.fortmilltimes.com

Party-goers bring gifts to help needy children

Alex Quinn decided to do something a little out of the ordinary for her ninth birthday.

Instead of gifts, Alex asked her friends to bring $10 to help her buy toys and toiletries for Operation Christmas Child, which delivers gift-filled shoe boxes to children around the world who might otherwise go without.

Alex and her mother, Angela Quinn, loaded the party-goers into cars and took them to a discount store, where they spent their $10 on small toys, toothbrushes and soap to fill the shoe boxes. When they returned to the Quinn home, the girls wrote letters to the children who would receive the boxes, and included a photo of themselves.

“It was so much fun,” Alex said. “And they thought it was really cool.”

The idea was born after Alex saw a video at home about Operation Christmas Child, a ministry of Samaritan's Purse. Operation Christmas Child collected more than 8 million shoe boxes in 2008 to send to countries around the world. A total for this year is not yet available.

Already, Alex's idea has sparked similar parties among her circle of friends. And that's just the effect Alex said she hoped to have. “She wants to inspire people to do the same,” Angela Quinn said.

Fort Mill Times, www.fortmilltimes.com