The following story was originally printed on May 25, 2023. Town of Summerton Mayor Tony Junious died in a car wreck on Saturday, January 27, 2024. Junious was a graduate of Scott’s Branch High School, a long time employee of Summerton Drugs, and served on the board of Clarendon County School District. Junious made history as Summerton’s first African American mayor when he was elected in 2022. The Manning Times is publishing this story again in honor and memory of Mayor Tony Junious.
“Junious’s first year in office”
Newly elected Mayor Tony Junious of Summerton celebrated a year in office recently.
Mayor Junious immediately got to work after his swearing in. Over the last year, Mayor Junious has celebrated championships with the local school teams, celebrated birthdays with citizens, spoken at several schools, and he spoke at History Month programs that were host to United States Representative Jim Clyburn.
Summerton has received several grants since Mayor Junious’s time in office, In 2022, the town received a $25,000 Hometown Grant, followed by $12 million in infrastructure grants, as well as receiving $50,000 for a flood zone study as flooding in Summerton has posed problems for the community and its residents. Several new businesses have opened in Summerton in the last year. Among those are Blue Lily Cafe, EPC Oasism abd a Caring Hand Home Care. A new Dollar General market and Speedway Express 711 are also scheduled to open this year.
Summerton is a participant in the Broadband Internet Access Survey this summer through Santee Lynches in hopes of providing more access as well as better and faster internet service to many of Summerton’s residents.
Mayor Junious, along with many residents from Summerton, have started a Community Clean Up groupand they have donated their time on Saturdays to pick up trash and clean the town, The Summerton Town Council, along with Mayor Junious, passed an ordinance on firearms after a rise in gun violene last year. Residents in Summerton are only allowed to fire weapons for safety reasons, such as protecting their lives or the lives of their loved ones.
Junious has celebrated a SCISA softball champioship win with Clarendon Hall and a Lower School Varsity Basketball Championship with Scott’s Branch High School.
Summerton hosted the Duckfest Festival in October and unveiled (Summerton Community Action Group) the Briggs vs. Elliott Park. A new park was also opened to the public at Larry King Highway and Church Street in Summerton.
On Summerton’s upcoming projects, Mayor Junious said, “The Town of Summerton has begun working with South Carolina Office of Resilience to begin the application process in applying for funding to address the flooding issues in the Town of Summerton, in which it had a huge impact on the West Summerton community. These funds, if approved, will serve the communities of Summerton significantly, with possible street lights, sidewalks, and new and clean drain lines to eliminate the ongoing flood issues. The grant application is scheduled to be submitted by May 30 and we’ll probably know sometime in the fall if we’re awarded anything and how much we will receive.”
