Why I love the gym
March 27, 2023One man’s reflections on his penultimate past-time By W. Thomas Smith Jr. I LOVE THE GYM, which is why it baffles me when people regularly work-out at the gym yet…
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Interconnected reflections of mainland Ecuador, the Galapagos, the Amazon Jungle, and South Carolina
March 26, 2023
A whirlwind tour across one of the world’s greatest natural incubators By Dr. Tom Mullikin PLEASE FORGIVE THE INTERRUPTION WITH THIS IN-FLIGHT HOME UPDATE, but as I push deeper into…
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We Need Tree Scholars
March 23, 2023
By Tom Poland The January-February 2023 issue of South Carolina Wildlife magazine ran my story on Edgefield County’s Curryton Magnolia. The old tree’s close to being a state record magnolia…
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Making adjustments
March 22, 2023
By Jeff Becraft Years ago, I was coaching an 11-13 year old basketball team in an inner-city neighborhood. We were a .500 team during the regular season… but that is…
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The magic and mess of a blank page
March 21, 2023
By Reba Campbell I started the year trying to resume the discipline of keeping a handwritten journal. This process of deliberately writing by hand has reminded me how it so…
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A grand adventure
March 16, 2023
By Jeff Becraft A couple of weeks ago, we moved our daughter’s furniture to a temporary residence that allows her to go visit her Grandad every single day. I…
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A Writer’s Moon Tide Memories
March 16, 2023
By Tom Poland It seems like yesterday though it was forty-five years. I took a job as a scriptwriter-cinematographer with the South Carolina Wildlife and Marine Resources Department. I…
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Vietnam Veterans Day: Those who have served get in free to museum on March 29
March 15, 2023
Admission will be free for all military veterans and active duty personnel on Wednesday, March 29, at the South Confederate Relic Room and Military Museum, in observance of National Vietnam…
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Learn about South Carolina lighthouses in free lecture at Relic Room
March 14, 2023
Debbie Mollycheck’s father was born in a lighthouse – technically, in the keeper’s house attached to the lighthouse in St. Simons, Ga., where her grandfather was the assistant keeper. After…
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Are we too focused on outcomes?
March 9, 2023
By Jeff Becraft I was thinking earlier today about outcomes… and in particular, how much we focus on outcomes. Certainly outcomes are important. Who is going to say something…
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A Story Of Music, Trees, And Family
March 8, 2023
By Two Sons Of The American South On a January day in 2019 I met Chuck Leavell in Georgia’s geographic center. We met to write a magazine cover story.…
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Standing on a solid foundation
March 2, 2023
By Jeff Becraft A friend of mine named Lennox recently lost his wife to alzheimer’s. I have only met Lennox twice in person. We are part of a Monday night…
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Devotion At An Abandoned Home Place
February 28, 2023
By Tom Poland No matter how long, no matter how often you travel a road, it’ll surprise you. I’ve driven Highway 378 into Georgia for not quite fifty years.…
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Practice over Perfect
February 28, 2023
By Reba Campbell “Practice makes perfect.” Surely a mantra we all heard as children…whether it was in sports, spelling, music or math. This was a standard line repeated by grown-ups…
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Relic Room again celebrates South Carolina’s role in the American Revolution
February 27, 2023
For eight long years, the young United States – which at the start of the conflict wasn’t even formed yet, and had no army, navy, or national government – was…
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The way it really is
February 24, 2023
By Jeff Becraft A few weeks ago, I had to put some deadbolts in some doors. So I looked it up on YouTube just to see what advice I…
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Rivers I Cross
February 24, 2023
By Tom Poland Rivers make me say things out loud. As I drive alone over a river I often say its name. In fact, some rivers’ names beg to…
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The Word Merchant Highway
February 16, 2023
By Tom Poland Upon taking a writing position long ago, the boss of bosses shot me a sideways look, “So, you’re a word merchant.” Clever, I thought, but as…
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The sacrifice of love
February 16, 2023
By Jeff Becraft Last weekend, our 3-year-old granddaughter came into town to spend the weekend with us. This was a big deal for all of us. After a full…
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The Forsaken Land
February 10, 2023
By Tom Poland Kudzu covered its outbuildings. The farm was lonesome so I turned around and stopped to visit it. Right off I saw a dusty mule collar hanging…
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At the Relic Room, hear about what the battle of Firebase Ripcord was like
February 10, 2023
As visitors approach the entrance of the South Carolina Confederate Relic Room and Military Museum, the first thing they see is a huge diorama of Fire Support Base Ripcord, depicting…
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The Main Thing
February 10, 2023
By Jeff Becraft One of my mentors says, “Too many choices and too many voices.” He is right. Taking a shower is a great example. It used to be…
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Everything is somehow connected in South Carolina
February 6, 2023The story of Camden’s Joshua Reynolds House and its colorful tenant Dr. George Rogers Clark Todd, brother-in-law of Pres. Abraham Lincoln By W. Thomas Smith Jr. HISTORY IS ALL AROUND…
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Cayce’s Soiree on State is back!
February 2, 2023
The Soiree on State will return to Cayce’s State Street on Saturday, March 25th from 2 – 8 PM! Once again, the city has partnered with the Avenues Neighborhood Association…
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The Colors Of Childhood
February 2, 2023
By Tom Poland I haven’t seen the old homeplace in a while. Not my homeplace, mind you, my childhood friend’s. That would be Sweetie Boy, he of the sweet…
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South Carolina State Fair Opens Applications for 2023 College Scholarships
February 1, 2023
The South Carolina State Fair, a self-supporting 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, is now accepting applications for its 26th annual Ride of Your Life Scholarship program, which awards $300,000 in college scholarships…
Read MorePosted in: lowcountrybizsc, midlandsbiz, upstatebizsc, laurenscountybuzz Category: agriculture, education, life, on-the-move
Darnall W. and Susan F. Boyd Aquarium & Reptile Conservation Center set to open March 2, 2023 at Riverbanks Zoo and Garden
January 30, 2023
Riverbanks Zoo and Garden, a world-class recreational and educational attraction in Columbia, S.C., will open the much anticipated Darnall W. and Susan F. Boyd Aquarium & Reptile Conservation Center on…
Read MorePosted in: midlandsbiz Category: environmental, headlines, life, non-profit, on-the-move, social-scene
Life, Dogs, Work, Adventure: Love the Process
January 30, 2023
By Sarah Hey “I’m not sure what that is,” I called back to my flanker as we stumbled through the woods around midnight. “Maybe a log? A pile of…
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SwordFest returns to the Relic Room Feb. 11
January 30, 2023
Just when you thought it was safe to go out without your sword and shield, SwordFest is back, yet again, at the South Carolina Confederate Relic Room and Military Museum.…
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The Bygone Era Of Refinement
January 27, 2023
By Tom Poland Previous eras impress me. When I tour historic homes, for instance, the refined lifestyle their owners enjoyed stands in marked contrast to lifestyles today. The presence…
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See what the Tet Offensive was like for South Carolinians, 55 years ago
January 26, 2023
These next few days on the calendar are fateful ones for anyone who contemplates the history of America’s involvement in Southeast Asia. At the end of January, 55 years ago,…
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The person next door
January 26, 2023
By Jeff Becraft As I have probably mentioned before, my Dad now has to live at a skilled nursing facility that gives more acute care. It is in a…
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Outnumbered 20-to1: A Vietnam War Biography by Col. William P. Collier Jr.
January 23, 2023
BOOK REVIEW by W. Thomas Smith Jr. THERE ARE MEN WHO ARE SAID TO BE GREAT, though most of those “said to be great” are only penultimately exceptional. Then there…
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St. Pat’s in Five Points announces band line up
January 19, 2023
St. Pat’s in Five Points, one the Southeast’s largest St. Patrick’s Day festivals, announces its 2023 band lineup for the 41st annual event, which returns on Saturday, March 18 in…
Read MorePosted in: lowcountrybizsc, midlandsbiz, upstatebizsc Category: conversations, entertainment, life, music, on-the-move, social-scene
Fear Of Flying
January 19, 2023
By Tom Poland It’s a good thing titles cannot be copyrighted. With apologies to Erica Jong, I title this self-confessional column, “Far of Flying.” I cannot say I fear…
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Two old dogs in the dark
January 19, 2023
By Jeff Becraft Last Friday, I got home from work and my wife, Brenda, was packing and getting ready to head out of town to go to a conference…
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A dozen ideas to get reading more in 2023
January 17, 2023
By Reba Hull Campbell Reading has always been a delight for me. I loved the library’s summer reading clubs when I was a kid. Browsing bookstores is a favorite pastime…
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Connecting Across the Miles
January 16, 2023
By Amy Coward Every morning, right after breakfast, my mother goes for a walk. She is 97 years of age, but you would never know it by looking at…
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Greatness comes from a great foundation
January 12, 2023
By Jeff Becraft During the summers of my college years, I worked as a laborer for Glen Construction company. Glen was a commercial general contractor. For two summers, I was…
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The Dignified Mule
January 12, 2023
By Tom Poland Like Halley’s Comet, I’m predictable. I come around to the same subject matter every so often. When I do, it’s because something triggered memories. A few…
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Lecture to confront the myths and realities concerning Banastre Tarleton
January 9, 2023
There’s an important principle to remember when considering historical figures: People are complicated. So it helps to avoid, when possible, thinking of anyone as a pure hero, or a complete…
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The Lost Art Of Making Do
January 5, 2023
By Tom Poland He was twenty-six when the Great Depression arrived, thirty-six when it ended. A decade of doing without taught him something about survival. “Keep something seven years…
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Looking forward
January 4, 2023
By Jeff Becraft I was talking to a friend the other day and I commented, “There were so many things I wanted to accomplish in 2022 and here it…
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Father knows best
December 19, 2022
By W. Thomas Smith Jr. This is not a story of “I told you so.” Rather, it is a stirring – or so I think – tale of a man’s…
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Lincoln Street
December 19, 2022
By Tom Poland One word. That’s all it takes, and the brain’s mystifying chemistry swirls past and present into an amalgam we call life. Phases pass before us in…
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The Gift of Christmas “Presence”
December 19, 2022
By Reba Campbell We’ve just returned from a glorious two-week adventure in Germany, Austria and Hungary – most of it spent traveling with friends we’ve known since our young…
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Things I Have Left Undone
December 12, 2022
By Tom Poland Each Christmas my mind goes back to a June day in Valdosta, Georgia. I was driving through slash pines to interview Robert “Bob” Clyatt. A defense…
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An Effigy Of Rock
December 8, 2022
By Tom Poland Something like sixty years had passed since I saw it. This time, however, I saw it from above. The WPA built a beautiful tower of stone…
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Tell your story
December 8, 2022
By Jeff Becraft Back when I was in my early 20’s, I heard a guy speak at a camp and he gave a message that he called “The 7…
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Lecture to relate the largely untold story of the men lost on HMT Rohna in 1943
December 6, 2022
On Nov. 26, 1943, HMT Rohna – HMT for His Majesty’s Transport – was attacked by German aircraft in the Mediterranean off North Africa. She was hit by a Henschel…
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