Veteran ‘Tunnel Rat’ will tell his story at Lexington County Library branch – May 2
April 24, 2025
On May 2, the South Carolina Confederate Relic Room and Military Museum’s Noon Debrief series of free lectures will debut in a new location. And it will be a particularly…
Read MorePosted in: midlandsbiz Category: life, military, on-the-move, veterans
He took my place
April 24, 2025
By Jeff Becraft (Another story involving Black Mountain for Children… names have been changed for privacy sake.) Last year, I was speaking at a weekend camp with Black Mountain…
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Learn about the struggles of a Montagnard soldier who settled in South Carolina
April 24, 2025
We all remember – if we’re old enough – the fall of Saigon on April 30, 1975, particularly the image of that helicopter trying to evacuate people from a rooftop.…
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Nature’s Fierce Defiance
April 23, 2025
By Tom Poland For seven years I only read Russian writers, Boris Pasternak, Fyodor Dostoevsky, Leo Tolstoy, and my favorite, Alexander Ilyich Solzhenitsyn. Solzhenitsyn wrote of life under Stalin.…
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South Carolinians to shine “Two Lights for Tomorrow” on April 18
April 18, 2025
South Carolina will participate in “Two Lights for Tomorrow” on the night of Friday, April 18, a nationwide commemoration of the 250th anniversary of Paul Revere’s legendary midnight ride and…
Read MorePosted in: lowcountrybizsc, midlandsbiz, upstatebizsc, laurenscountybuzz Category: life, on-the-move
Pictures don’t even capture it
April 17, 2025
By Jeff Becraft This past weekend, I went with a group of guys to Black Mountain Home for Children in Black Mountain, North Carolina. On the west campus of…
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A Southern Rock Connection
April 16, 2025
By Tom Poland Back roads took me past pecan groves and cotton fields and eventually to Charlane Woodlands, Chuck and Rose Lane Leavell’s home/tree farm. That evening Chuck and…
Read MorePosted in: lowcountrybizsc, midlandsbiz, upstatebizsc Category: life, on-the-move, the-arts
HOLY WEEK: Being always mindful of life’s blessings
April 14, 2025
God literally saved me physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually By W. Thomas Smith Jr. As we begin HOLY WEEK – Palm Sunday through Holy Wednesday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, then…
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We Never Met
April 10, 2025
By Tom Poland I wish we had. I traded letters with a writer who lived alone in the remote reaches of Alaska, the Land of the Midnight Sun. Poet…
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Sistercare x Jamie Scott Fitness EmpoweRun 5k on Saturday, April 5
April 7, 2025
Sistercare’s 3rd Annual EmpoweRun 5k Walk and Run Sistercare and Jamie Scott Fitness are joining together to host the 3rd annual EmpoweRun 5k walk and run to benefit Sistercare’s ongoing…
Read MorePosted in: midlandsbiz Category: life, non-profit, on-the-move, philanthropy
Hear the full, true story of the Doolittle Raid, and the Midlands’ role in it
April 7, 2025
You know about the Doolittle Raid – or at least, you should. On April 18, 1942 – just over four months after the Pearl Harbor attack – sixteen B-25B Mitchell…
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Responding to life
April 4, 2025
By Jeff Becraft I am building a storage shed in my backyard. I am being trained by this guy in a blue shirt off of YouTube University. I watched…
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Gnarly voicemails
April 2, 2025
By Jeff Becraft I’m on my second illness in six weeks. What kind of shenanigans is this? I guess all the running around over the last month and eating…
Read MorePosted in: lowcountrybizsc, midlandsbiz, upstatebizsc Category: life, the-arts
A Day in the Life of a Garbage Man
April 2, 2025
By Tom Poland Let this harrowing tale serve as a warning. Be careful of what you wrap in aluminum foil. A British judge stopped a man’s 12-year legal battle…
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M16, which generations of American soldiers have carried into battle, discussed at next Noon Debrief
April 1, 2025
The eight-shot, semiautomatic M1 Garand rifle got the American infantryman through both the Second World War and Korea. General George S. Patton called it “the greatest battle implement ever devised.”…
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Saying goodbye to Dad
March 27, 2025
By Jeff Becraft I know my last article talked about my Dad moving on to Higher Ground, but while it is still fresh on my mind, I’m going to…
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Lessons From The Great Snakeman
March 26, 2025
By Tom Poland Come the cold, dormant months, few snakes, if any, are out and about. Perhaps winter makes a good time to read about the critters many fear.…
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Power: Ed awards $95,000 grant to A Father’s Place to prepare young men for fatherhood and life
March 26, 2025
A Father’s Place (AFP), has been awarded a $95,000 grant from Power:Ed, the philanthropy of SC Student Loan Corporation, to support AFP’s Reality Check Program, which actively engaging both current…
Read MorePosted in: lowcountrybizsc, midlandsbiz Category: education, life, non-profit, on-the-move, philanthropy
Come out for a special Saturday at the Relic Room. It will be revolutionary! March 29
March 25, 2025
When did our country make itself independent from British rule? Was it when the “shot heard ’round the world” was fired at Lexington? Was it when John Hancock and 55…
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New report highlights factors influencing the health of South Carolinians
March 25, 2025
New data explores the population health of South Carolinians and the impact of physical, mental, and social well-being on life expectancy, among other factors. The annual report released by County…
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Hidden by Woods; Revealed by Wind
March 20, 2025
By Tom Poland I was cruising a familiar Georgia road looking for the past. A gut feeling told me to strike out for a place Hurricane Helene devastated—the busy…
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During the Revolution, South Carolina had its very own Navy
March 20, 2025
You’ve heard of John Paul Jones, the first great hero of the United States Navy. But remember that in his heyday, there was no “U.S. Navy” as we think of…
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Higher Ground
March 13, 2025
By Jeff Becraft Years ago, at a camp called SOTO out in the Ozarks of Arkansas, our kids and I were part of that week’s camp and we were…
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Like Being in a Liberace Movie
March 13, 2025
By Tom Poland For thirteen years I jogged a trail running within 60 feet of stolen art hidden in the home of acquaintance Roger Streeter. I had no clue…
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Silent Voices Can Live On
March 6, 2025
By Tom Poland It’s Up to You The passing of another year is close at hand, and I find myself thinking of people I lost in 2024. Each…
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Windows of refreshment
March 6, 2025
By Jeff Becraft There are windows in life. Sometimes circumstances can become overwhelming in life. It can be severe things… or maybe even little things that all start to…
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Battle over teaching history in SC rages on: A report from the front
March 5, 2025
“A primary object should be the education of our youth in the science of government,” said George Washington. And how well do you think we’re doing with that right now?…
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Return To Monkey Island
February 27, 2025
By Tom Poland Rated PG-13. When the news broke that forty-three monkeys were on the loose in Yemassee, South Carolina, people reacted big time. They double locked their doors and…
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Making the choice
February 26, 2025
By Jeff Becraft The number one thing you can do to keep your car running is to change the oil. Now, I am not a mechanic by any stretch…
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True romance
February 21, 2025
By Jeff Becraft It has been a while since I’ve talked about my prowess on the ski slopes… so I figured it’s about time. I am a person when…
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Remembering John Culler
February 20, 2025
By Tom Poland I was on the phone with Joey Frazier, South Carolina Wildlife magazine’s editor. “Tom, did you know John Culler died last week?” I did not. Just…
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The Forgotten Rain Porch
February 14, 2025
By Tom Poland A reader and friend, Zilphy DuRant of Florence, South Carolina mailed me a letter and clipping from The Post and Courier about an architectural feature I’d…
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A great day to reach out
February 13, 2025
By Jeff Becraft Last Saturday, I got up and I just didn’t feel that great. Something was off. I thought maybe it was my sugar levels were off or…
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Just Passing Through
February 12, 2025
By Tom Poland Tabernacle Baptist Church sits near an intersection where collisions seem to occur for no reason. Daylight, midnight, rain, drought, people keep wrecking. It got so bad…
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Thomas Sumter Interpretative Center to launch at Sumter Museum
February 11, 2025
The Sumter Museum invites the public to the grand opening of the Thomas Sumter Interpretative Center on Saturday, Feb. 22, from 2 to 5 p.m. The center, dedicated to the…
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Welcoming the new person
February 5, 2025
By Jeff Becraft My wife’s birthday is around the time of Thanksgiving. This was an especially significant Thanksgiving this past year because we got to see all four grandkids.…
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Free lecture to address Air Force intelligence analysis in Vietnam
February 5, 2025
Few of us are experts on the Vietnam War, but most of us have heard that perhaps the greatest flaw in the way the United States conducted it was that…
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The Woods Back Home
February 4, 2025
By Tom Poland Heart Pine Heartbreak I grew up in a simple house. My parents built it in 1947. In the early 50s we kids had chores and among…
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Learning perseverance
January 30, 2025
By Jeff Becraft Well… I finally figured out what DIY stands for – Destroy It Yourself. I have said before that someday I’m going to start my own YouTube…
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Karl the Kool-Smoking, Chain-Smoking Kat
January 30, 2025
By Tom Poland Can Your Imagination Turn Real? Summer 2022, St. Simons Island, I was sitting around the pool when my niece, Harper, and her friend, Stella, asked me…
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University of South Carolina Dance Marathon
January 23, 2025
University of South Carolina Students Stand Together to Make Endless Miracles University of South Carolina Dance Marathon celebrates a yearlong fundraising initiative on Feb. 22, revealing the number of miracles…
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The Lost Art of Letter Writing
January 23, 2025
By Tom Poland When you write about earlier times as I often do, you hear from people who lived the very days you describe. Over the course of summer…
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Learn about World War I aviators from South Carolina
January 22, 2025
If you’re of a certain age, you may recall a silly comedy film from 1965 called “Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines.” It made slapstick fun of man’s often…
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Living above our feelings
January 20, 2025
By Jeff Becraft Over the years, when our kids were younger, they would go with me on most of the camps and retreats, and one of those camps was…
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Parris Balazs of Eventfully Chic by Parris named winner of The Knot Best of Weddings 2025 and WeddingWire Couples Choice Award 2025
January 17, 2025
19th Annual Best of Weddings Awards Recognizes Top Wedding Professionals Across the U.S. Parris Balazs, owner of Eventfully Chic by Parris, announced that her company has been selected as a…
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South Carolina sledding
January 16, 2025
By Jeff Becraft Years ago, one Sunday morning, there were some snow flurries. A member of our church called us up and said, “We’re not going to be meeting…
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Georgialina—A Southland As We Knew It
January 15, 2025
By Tom Poland In 2015, the University of South Carolina Press released my collection of memories on how things used to be. Here, then, is a trip down memory lane…
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SwordFest 2025 comes early to the Relic Room, on Jan. 25
January 13, 2025
Folks who are not historians tend to think of warfare in terms of things that go bang – rifles, machine guns and bombs. But for most of human history, certainly…
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The ladder
January 9, 2025
By Jeff Becraft Recently on New Year’s Day, I got to use the ladder. Now this is the ladder. This is the ladder I got the Friday after Thanksgiving on a…
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Fluffy overused words are the drunk party crashers of writing
January 9, 2025
By Reba Hull Campbell It’s National Word Nerd Day, the perfect excuse to call out fluffy, pet peeve words that are a writer’s equivalent of drunk party crashers. These drunk…
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