The medicine of laughter
December 4, 2025
By Jeff Becraft One of the things that we do at Our Place of Hope is… we laugh. It is a very important dynamic. Now, Our Place of Hope…
Read MorePosted in: midlandsbiz Category: life, on-the-move
My Fried Chicken History
December 3, 2025
By Tom Poland As evening shadows fell, I made my way home through woods. Overpowering the peppery smell of autumn leaves, the chicken frying in Mom’s cast iron skillet…
Read MorePosted in: lowcountrybizsc, midlandsbiz, georgetown-sc-gazette, upstatebizsc Category: life, on-the-move, the-arts
Early bird pricing for Greenville Convention Center’s Holiday Fair benefitting Rotary Club of Greenville ends soon
December 2, 2025
Ticket Prices Increase by $5 on December 4th Don’t miss your chance to save on tickets for Holiday Fair benefitting the Rotary Club of Greenville, Greenville’s largest winter festival, running…
Read MorePosted in: upstatebizsc Category: business-services, entertainment, entrepreneurship, festivals, hospitality, life, local-industry, on-the-move, retail, social-scene
How the night before Thanksgiving became one of the heaviest drinking nights of the year
November 25, 2025The night before Thanksgiving has become known for heavy drinking, crowded gathering spots and increased risky behavior among young adults returning home for the holiday. National traffic safety data consistently…
Read MorePosted in: lowcountrybizsc, midlandsbiz, upstatebizsc Category: education, government, health-care, life, on-the-move
Congaree Land Trust announces conservation of 221 acres in Kershaw County
November 25, 2025
Preserving Birthplace of South Carolina’s State Dog KERSHAW COUNTY, SC — The Congaree Land Trust (CLT) announced the conservation of an additional 221 acres of land in Kershaw County. Pine…
Read MorePosted in: midlandsbiz Category: agriculture, environmental, life, non-profit, on-the-move
Love involves sacrifice
November 25, 2025
By Jeff Becraft My best pair of jeans have a hole in each knee. Lest you think I am that hip, they are not skinny jeans. And I did…
Read MorePosted in: midlandsbiz Category: life, on-the-move
Highway Song, Part II
November 25, 2025
By Tom Poland A Sunday Drive Highways 321 and 301 meet my criteria for back roads. Little traffic. Lots of abandonment. Old stuff getting older. Those 1950 snowbirds heading…
Read MorePosted in: lowcountrybizsc, midlandsbiz, georgetown-sc-gazette, upstatebizsc Category: life, on-the-move, the-arts
Learn about German POWs in South Carolina
November 20, 2025
You’ve seen movies about Americans in German POW camps during World War II — “The Great Escape,” “Stalag 17,” and so forth. But did you know that more than 8,000…
Read MorePosted in: midlandsbiz Category: life, military, on-the-move, veterans
Highway Song, Part I
November 20, 2025
By Tom Poland A Sunday Drive I hadn’t seen him in 10 years. Him would be the preacher who buried Dad and Mom. He was preaching down South Georgia…
Read MorePosted in: lowcountrybizsc, midlandsbiz, georgetown-sc-gazette, upstatebizsc Category: life, on-the-move
Johnny
November 20, 2025
By Jeff Becraft We recently moved Hannah from Maryland down to Charlotte. As Hannah and I were heading to Charlotte, I said, “We need to get some help unloading…
Read MorePosted in: midlandsbiz Category: life, on-the-move
Finlay Park grand re-opening – Saturday & Sunday, November 15-16
November 14, 2025
As excitement builds for the Grand Re-Opening of Finlay Park, the City of Columbia has released important details on parking, shuttle transportation and safety guidelines for the celebration set for…
Read MorePosted in: midlandsbiz Category: entertainment, festivals, food, government, headlines, hospitality, life, music, on-the-move, social-scene, the-arts
Where The Dead Live On
November 12, 2025
By Tom Poland On a sultry August Sunday I drove up on Shady Grove Methodist Church. Seeing it resurrected James Agee’s “Shady Grove, Alabama, July 1936,” his description of…
Read MorePosted in: lowcountrybizsc, midlandsbiz, georgetown-sc-gazette, upstatebizsc Category: life, on-the-move, the-arts
Learn what soldiers ate during the American Revolution
November 11, 2025
Most of us are looking forward to a fine feast on the 27th of this month – turkey and all the trimmings. That’s our way of celebrating something that happened…
Read MorePosted in: midlandsbiz Category: life, military, on-the-move
The 34th Annual Toy Soldier Show is Saturday, Nov. 15
November 11, 2025
Heads up! The latest intelligence indicates that tiny armies are scheduled to invade Columbia on Saturday. They will establish a beachhead at S.C. Confederate Relic Room & Military Museum. There’s…
Read MorePosted in: midlandsbiz Category: life, military, on-the-move
Don’t Let the Tricycle Horns of Life Scare You
November 6, 2025
By Jeff Becraft I don’t know what kid the car manufacturer took the horn off his tricycle and stuck it in my car is, but I’m sure that kid…
Read MorePosted in: lowcountrybizsc, midlandsbiz, georgetown-sc-gazette, upstatebizsc Category: life, on-the-move
Winter’s Rainy Windows
November 5, 2025
By Tom Poland I have long admired the work of a fighter pilot turned writer. He wrote under the pen name James Salter. James Arnold Horowitz volunteered for combat duty…
Read MorePosted in: lowcountrybizsc, midlandsbiz, georgetown-sc-gazette, upstatebizsc Category: life, on-the-move, the-arts
🎨✍️ November is for Adults at the Georgetown Public Library!
November 3, 2025
There’s something for every interest at the Georgetown Public Library this November, with a wonderful lineup of programs designed just for adults. From creative arts and writing to wellness and…
Read MorePosted in: georgetown-sc-gazette Category: education, life, on-the-move
Learn more about the little-known Rohna tragedy of World War II
November 2, 2025
You’ve heard about Pearl Harbor, where 2,403 American servicemen – including 1,177 aboard the USS Arizona alone – perished on Dec. 7, 1941. You may even have heard of Exercise…
Read MorePosted in: midlandsbiz Category: life, military, on-the-move
Living out of vision
October 30, 2025
By Jeff Becraft As I mentioned last time, Adam and I at Our Place of Hope were working on the flowers (getting rid of the good to make room…
Read MorePosted in: midlandsbiz Category: life, on-the-move
Wingard’s Market releases details on Jingle Bell Bash and Christmastime festivities
October 30, 2025
Wingard’s Market, one of the top 100 Garden Center’s in the country that is located in the heart of Lexington, announced the details of their Jingle Bell Bash! The weekend-long…
Read MorePosted in: midlandsbiz Category: agriculture, entertainment, festivals, food, hospitality, life, local-industry, on-the-move
Storing the treasures of history – thousands of them
October 30, 2025
Most people have problems storing all the stuff they’ve collected over the years – unless they’re the types who are able to ruthlessly throw most of it away. But your…
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Purrs and Pages: Cat Adoption Event at Laurens Library Nov. 10
October 29, 2025
The Laurens County Humane Society and Laurens County Library are partnering for a “Purrs and Pages” Cat Adoption Event on Monday, November 10, from 12:00 to 4:00 PM at the…
Read MorePosted in: laurenscountybuzz Category: life, on-the-move
Return To Pawleys
October 28, 2025
By Tom Poland Sunday lunch at the Sea View Inn. Forty-five years it had been since my daughters and I were together at Pawleys. While eating I thought about our…
Read MorePosted in: lowcountrybizsc, midlandsbiz, georgetown-sc-gazette, upstatebizsc Category: life, on-the-move, the-arts
Faith, Humor, and the Power of Community: Susan Tallman’s Journey Through Breast Cancer
October 27, 2025
As Breast Cancer Awareness Month draws to a close, Clinton’s Susan Tallman hopes her story will remind others of the power of humor, community, and faith — and of the…
Read MorePosted in: laurenscountybuzz Category: headlines, life, on-the-move
Choosing the Best Over the Good
October 23, 2025
By Jeff Becraft The other week, one of the members of Our Place of Hope named Adam and myself were out pulling up flowers and planting new ones. (Adam…
Read MorePosted in: midlandsbiz Category: life, on-the-move
Notes From The Road
October 22, 2025
By Tom Poland June 29, 1956, President Dwight Eisenhower signed the Interstate Act. Nigh 70 years later a grid of steel, cement, and asphalt makes it impossible to see…
Read MorePosted in: lowcountrybizsc, midlandsbiz, upstatebizsc Category: life, on-the-move
Tim Burton’s ‘The Nightmare Before Christmas’ exhibition helps kick off holiday season at Upcountry History Museum
October 22, 2025
The doors of the Upcountry History Museum have now opened to the enchanting world of animation with “Beyond Halloween Land: Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas,” an exhibition dedicated to…
Read MorePosted in: upstatebizsc Category: chamber, education, entertainment, hospitality, life, marketing-and-communications, media, non-profit, on-the-move, technology, the-arts
Ghosts of the Relic Room go a-haunting
October 20, 2025
The ghosts of the South Carolina Confederate Relic Room and Military Museum are on the move. For years, Joe Long – curator of education at the museum – has presented…
Read MorePosted in: midlandsbiz Category: hospitality, life, military, on-the-move
The Dejected, Rejected Playwright
October 15, 2025
By Tom Poland May 2011. Jennifer’s email cut to the chase “We want you to write a play for Georgia’s Official Folk Life Play, Swamp Gravy.” “Me, write a…
Read MorePosted in: lowcountrybizsc, midlandsbiz, upstatebizsc Category: life, on-the-move
“Let’s Talk Feet”: Podiatrists Lead Engaging Discussion at Lander University
October 15, 2025
Proper footwear, toenails, bunions and calluses were all up for discussion Tuesday evening, October 14, as the Lakelands community gathered in Lander University’s Abney Cultural Center Auditorium for the most…
Read MorePosted in: laurenscountybuzz Category: education, health-care, life, on-the-move
Heart and soul
October 13, 2025
By Jeff Becraft I think I might want to be a smartphone when I grow up. That way I can say whatever I want, do whatever I want,…
Read MorePosted in: midlandsbiz Category: life, on-the-move
The Plague of Little Things
October 9, 2025
By Jeff Becraft There are many times I will run into what I call “the plague of little things.” Now this applies to a lot of different situations, but…
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Southern Exposure—The Fly Swatter
October 9, 2025
By Tom Poland Grandmothers’ Weapon Of Choice The New Oxford American Dictionary defines “fly swatter” as “an implement used for swatting insects, typically a square of plastic mesh attached…
Read MorePosted in: lowcountrybizsc, midlandsbiz, upstatebizsc Category: life, on-the-move, the-arts
What the old heads know
October 1, 2025
By Jeff Becraft From the ages of 13 to 16, I played on the same little league baseball team in the town baseball league. (I turned 16 before the…
Read MorePosted in: midlandsbiz Category: life, on-the-move
I watched if from afar (Reprise from 10.25.15 remembering the 1000-year flood)
October 1, 2025
By Reba Hull Campbell (Writer’s note: I wrote this in late October 2015 after reflecting on Columbia’s grace-filled response after the 1000-year flood. It seemed appropriate to revisit this grace…
Read MorePosted in: midlandsbiz Category: life, on-the-move
Primal Fear
September 30, 2025
By Tom Poland Stumbling Onto A Corpse Besides the solitary confinement of writing, I cut myself off from the world in two places. Hard-to-reach wilderness areas and forgotten churches where…
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Hear a ‘Redcoat’ tell about the Battle of Eutaw Springs
September 30, 2025
The Battle of Eutaw Springs was the last major battle of the Revolutionary War to be fought in South Carolina. Who won? It depends on whom you ask. The battle…
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The City of Columbia shares support resources in recognition of Suicide Prevention Month
September 30, 2025
The City of Columbia wants to remind everyone that you are not alone and YOU MATTER! As we wind down the month of September, which is Suicide Prevention Month, the Office of…
Read MorePosted in: midlandsbiz Category: government, health-care, life, on-the-move
The Maker’s Mark
September 25, 2025
By Tom Poland The Author’s Signature Is A Commodity I can’t remember who I signed the first book for but I’ll hazard a guess it was a woman. Not…
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The things we take for granted
September 24, 2025
By Jeff Becraft We are in the process of selling Mom and Dad’s house. It has been a long process to get the house ready and it has taken a…
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That others may live
September 18, 2025
By Jeff Becraft Last week was the anniversary of 9/11. My wife, Brenda, and I have lately been watching some documentaries on that fateful day. Even now, years later,…
Read MorePosted in: midlandsbiz Category: life, on-the-move
The Kerosene Lamp
September 17, 2025
By Tom Poland Readers Respond My September 10th post, “A Whale of a Lamp”, received reader comments that deserve sharing. Who in this era of ultra-dark-defying lighting would take…
Read MorePosted in: lowcountrybizsc, midlandsbiz, upstatebizsc Category: life, on-the-move
Dorchester County firefighters honor lives lost during the September 11th terrorist attacks
September 16, 2025
Dorchester County Fire Rescue firefighters joined to walk the Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge in their turnout gear, in commemoration of those who perished due to the terrorist attacks on September…
Read MorePosted in: lowcountrybizsc Category: life, military, on-the-move, veterans
Trident Medical recognizes life-saving efforts of Berkeley first responders
September 16, 2025
Trident Medical Center held a special challenge coin ceremony on Thursday, September 11, 2025, recognizing more than 60 first responders from agencies across Berkeley County. The group was honored for life-saving efforts…
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Richland Library observes Hispanic Heritage Month
September 16, 2025
Enjoy Live Entertainment, Storytelling and More! Richland Library is honoring the generations of Hispanic Americans who have positively influenced and enriched our nation and society. From September 15 to October…
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Columbia Chamber honors Sharon Bryant at annual gala
September 16, 2025
Sharon Bryant, First Citizens Bank, named Columbia Chamber’s 2025 Ambassador of the Year. The Columbia Chamber will honor Sharon Bryant at Uncorked, the Chamber’s 122nd Annual Gala, Thursday, October 2, 2025.…
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EPI Center’s Literacy Summit gathers educators to advance innovative teaching strategies
September 16, 2025
The Center of Excellence for Educator Preparation and Innovation (EPI Center) recently hosted its Literacy Summit and Convening, a premier event that brought together over 200 educators from across South…
Read MorePosted in: midlandsbiz Category: education, life, on-the-move, technology
Richland Two announces 2025–2026 District Teacher of the Year
September 16, 2025
Richland School District Two announced that Jelayne King, a Special Education Teacher at Pontiac Elementary School, has been named the 2025–2026 District Teacher of the Year. Superintendent Dr. Kim D.…
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Blythewood Middle School teacher selected as a Palmetto Citizens Teacher of the Game honoree
September 16, 2025
Blythewood Middle School teacher Jordan Atkinson has been selected as a 2025 Palmetto Citizens Teacher of the Game honoree. The program, presented by Palmetto Citizens Federal Credit Union in partnership…
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The South Carolina State Museum announces new exhibition titled “From the Vault: South Carolina Art From the Museum’s Collection”
September 16, 2025
New exhibition also marks the re-opening of the Lipscomb Art Gallery The South Carolina State Museum unveiled “From the Vault: South Caroline Art from the Museum’s Collection,” a new exhibition…
Read MorePosted in: midlandsbiz Category: education, entertainment, life, local-industry, media, on-the-move, the-arts
