Termite Lawyer in Reidville, SC

Staff Writer

Herald-Journal

Today the Herald-Journal continues profiles on mayors of Spartanburg County's small towns.

Staff Writer

REIDVILLE -- Gene Snow's main goal is to make decisions that will protect Reidville's history, heritage and identity.

"No more than 16 or 17 years ago, I could sit out on the porch in the late afternoon, hear a car coming and know who it was by the time of day it was," Snow, 47, said. "We know there are going to be changes, but you try to plan for the changes."

Drive any direction from the heart of Reidville and you'll see subdivisions, a golf course and widened roads that have turned Highway 296 through the sleepy, former farm village into a bustling road.

Since the late 1990s, Snow and Reidville residents have worried about how growth in Greer, Duncan and even Spartanburg might wipe out the historic village.

"That's the reason we reincorporated in 1997," Snow said. "If they annex, they're blocked at our town line. They can't overtake us. We wanted Reidville to survive and always be Reidville."

Snow was first elected mayor in 1997 and re-elected in 2001. Both times, he ran unopposed.

His office is in a small frame house the town purchased a few years ago, a stone's throw from the caution light that slows traffic for Reidville's busiest intersection.

"Come on, I'll give you the grand tour," Snow

said as he walked through the living room, bedrooms and kitchen that were converted to office space. "It won't take but a second."

Snow heads a Town Council of five members, who meet once a month. He said it's difficult when decisions are unpopular with some of the town's residents.

"Every decision council makes, we try to make it based on what is best for the town," Snow said. "Hardest thing is dealing with people you've known all your life who disagree. You have to be certain every decision improves the town a little bit."

Monetary gain is not the motivator that drives Snow. His annual salary is $599. A dollar more, and the town would have to file W-2 forms with the Internal Revenue Service.

"I usually come by every day after work for a couple of hours," said Snow, a dye technician for Tyco. "It takes more time than I imagined."

Yet Snow wouldn't change anything about the responsibilities that come with the mayoral job.

"I really enjoy it," Snow said. "It's been a great learning experience."

Reidville was founded in the 1850s as the headquarters of academies to educate young men and young women. Local newspaper writers of the period called Reidville one of the most beautiful towns in the South. It was said the people who lived in Reidville did so because it was like a "fairy tale village in the woods."

The Rev. Robert Harden Reid was the founder of the academies and the pastor of Nazareth Presbyterian Church from 1858 to 1905. The valedictorian of his graduating college class, Reid believed and preached education.

The town of Reidville was founded in reaction to a New Year's Day sermon Reid preached in 1853. Almost immediately after the sermon, people began to look for land to build the academies.

The schools opened in 1857.

Snow says that if he is to keep Reidville's heritage intact, he must convince the U.S. Postal Service to think of his town as a single unit.

Currently, people who live in the small town can have addresses that read Reidville, Moore, Duncan or Greer. No mail is delivered from the tiny Reidville post office.

"Town Hall is 7304 Reidville Road," Snow said. "The house behind us has a Duncan address. Go down the road a little ways, and you're in Moore. The other direction, Greer."

Snow said he has tried to get the postal situation straightened out since he took office. He said he sent letters to every elected official who represents this part of South Carolina but has not been able to get one mailing address for all of Reidville's residents.

"I want it all to be Reidville," Snow said. "That's been my mission since day one."

Sandra Gowan, Reidville's town clerk, has known Snow all her life.

"He's very pleasant to work for," Gowan said. "Sometimes he can be a little overbearing, especially on business licenses. I'm the enforcement officer. If somebody's doing business in Reidville, (Snow) wants them to have a license."

Gowan said Snow works well with people who live in the town.

"He's great," Gowan said. "He really goes the long haul for the residents."

Snow won't say if he plans to run for a third term, but he hasn't ruled it out.

"I've got awhile to think about it, since I have until December 2004 to file," Snow said. "I guess it depends on how things are going."