loren thomas... shows us... the community stepped in to make sure they got a nice home cooked meal. 3 "i can't do what they do, so this i feel like i can give back."tony hogue, this is the season of giving. so on they decided to from fort jackson to a dinner. "it's a homemade grandmother. she passed away a couple year's ago, but the legacy die. it's been growing ever since. we're be able to come out here and provide for those soldiers to go out there and defend our country for more than 200 soldiers filled the gym at the hills catholic church in columbia. it's an unexplainable feeling." timonashia watkins decided not to go home to see abilene, texas. "i didn't want to go home for the holidays to save leave time and to not get out of the routine in basic to come back and suffer all over again."bosco's home is in germany and also decided to stay back for holidays....but both she and watkins are thankful for volunteers. "we're just really everything that everyone has done for us. we just feel done much yet, but whe

loren thomas, news 19. >> this is the 6th year for the event. >>> if you are enjoying a real christmas tree this year, and you want to do that until the new year, experts warn against letting it dry out and becoming a fire hazard. a dry tree can burn very well. according to the national fire protection association, a dry tree can burn faster than newspaper. it's a good idea to recycle a tree when it starts dropping its needles. when you're ready to recycle, keep the midlands beautiful is sponsoring the grinding of the greens. you can drop your tree off from now through january 7th and then you can pick up free mulch while it lasts on saturday, january 9th. >> make sure you take off your lights, ornaments, tinsel, that kind of thing, remove it from the stand and you can drop it off at the location closest to you. we don't take wreaths or garland, just the christmas trees. >> for locations and times for dropoff and the mulch pickup, click on this story at wltx.com. >>> today is the last day to see the elgin lights christmas show. paul towns the founder has cancer and has not let this sto

news 19's loren thomas has more on what led up to that decison.3 3 nat: siren soundsyou may have heard sirens along the saluda river as south carolina electric and gas conducted tests. "we did that today just to make sure that they're working properly."ginny jones with sce&g says there has been a lot of interest in the river and the water levels following the october flood. lake murray sits above the saluda river...meaning water released from the dam goes there. "so when we operate at saluda hydro we release water into the lower saluda river and so the sirens are designed to let someone who might be boating or swimming on the river so they'll know that there will be a change in the water level."those sirens are something john derrick and his friends appreciate. on wednesday they were out on the saluda river and took notice to the higher water levels. "in the back of our minds we're always taking precautions. we never boat alone, we're always wearing our life jacket and helmet and we take as many safety precautions as possible."in a statement from sce&g they said that they will be openi

loren thomas... shows us what hundreds of people from around the nation are doing... to help rebuild damaged homes. 3 thank you so much."johana martinez and her children were in their home when the roof collapsed from flood damage. nat: hammeringnow volunteers from all over the nation are rebuilding together...helping to put back the peices so that homeowners can find their new normal."i'm a single mother. there's a lot of damage so i'm thinking i can't do it by myself so i want to say thank you." "there's a lot of families and homeowners who didn't realize that their home was damaged. "jim powell with home works along with 400 volunteers came together for a three-day home blitz."we brought a community task force together comprised of the united way of the midlands, the city, county officials, other organizations that we partner with and we said hey do you know where there are needs that are not being met. for this three day event we want to serve those who haven't received help in other ways."12 homes are being repaired. "once i get my new house, i won't know how to