LEDGER COLUMNIST

When you see change occurring everyday, it sometimes goes unnoticed.

But when you're away from a place for a period of time and come back, whatever changes have taken place are easily recognizable.

Here in Gaffney, for instance, those of us who have lived here for decades know there has been considerable growth, but because it has been gradual, we tend to take it for granted.

An old friend of mine, who hadn't been here in years, was in town recently and just couldn't believe the growth our city and county have experienced.

When I say he hadn't been here in years, I'm talking about since the early 1970s - the pre- McDonald's era.

It's easy to understand why he was amazed at the changes.

Just look at what's going on right now.

Two shopping centers are under construction on Baker Boulevard. Numerous restaurants - chain and local - line Gaffney's main artery and dot the landscape all around town.

It wasn't too long ago there wasn't much to choose from if you wanted to go out for dinner.

What's impressive about all these eateries is that every one of them seems to be filled almost every night.

We decided to eat out after last Saturday's GHS cheerleading competition (my daughter's on the team!) and drove over to Fatz. There must have been 30 people waiting OUTSIDE to get in. Amazing.

That's to be expected at Myrtle Beach, but in Gaffney? Folks around here love to eat, that's for sure.

Thing about it, though, we had a LOT of other options.

The Ledger recently published a Visitor's Guide that is being distributed in area hotels (another of our growth industries), restaurants and local businesses.

As my wife was thumbing through it, she commented on the number of restaurants advertised.

"I guess you don't realize it until you see all of them in one place," she said.

In a conversation the other day with a former resident who was considering moving back, he asked, "What's the population of the county now, about 38,000?"

He was dumfounded when I told him it was closer to 55,000.

Where are all of these people getting the money to eat at all of these restaurants?

Slowly, but surely, our industrial base is growing. In the past few weeks, two new industries have announced they will locate here. One will make grenades in a former textile plant and one will make plastic bottle caps in a facility that will be built at a new industrial park near Cowpens on the Spartanburg- Cherokee county line. It is the first of what almost surely will be many more to locate there.

Before those two, one or two industrial announcements per year have added up. It's a pretty impressive record when you put them all together.

Our Ledger staff has begun work on a Progress Edition that we will publish in February in which we will highlight the changes and accomplishments that have taken place in Cherokee County in the past decade or so.

Think back 10 years ago. What's different now, other than what I have just discussed?

Baker Boulevard is wider. Power lines are underground. Hwy. 105 is wider. We have a new Gaffney High School. We have a new community college.

We have a new city hall. We have new and renovated parks. Limestone College is growing with more students and new and renovated buildings. The YMCA has announced plans for a new facility. We have a wonderful new entertainment complex with movie theaters.

Duke Energy is moving forward with plans to build a nuclear power plant here.

Sunny Slope Farms just sold a large tract of land on I- 85 to Gramling Brothers, which plans to aggressively market it for development. A 300-acre tract nearby on the other side of the interstate could soon become a housing development.

I could go on and on. So much has happened it's hard to keep up with it all.

That's why we're going to put it all together for you in February.

It's a great time to live in Cherokee County!

Cody Sossamon (cody@gaffneyledger.com) is publisher of The Gaffney Ledger.