The little things
April 27, 2022
By Jeff Becraft Hudson Taylor said, “A little thing is a little thing. But a little thing done faithfully is a big thing.” A recurring theme you will see…
Read MorePosted in: midlandsbiz Category: life
A life paid for
April 20, 2022
By Jeff Becraft Both of our dogs are rescues. Each has its own unique story. Moe is particularly interesting. It is a longer backstory of how we even came…
Read MorePosted in: midlandsbiz Category: life
Miss Emily’s Oak
April 20, 2022
By Tom Poland She planted the oak some sixty-eight years ago. Miss Emily was around twenty-six then. The years passed, the tree grew, and today it’s a setting Normal…
Read MorePosted in: lowcountrybizsc, midlandsbiz, upstatebizsc Category: life, on-the-move, the-arts
Veteran to tell the story of the Mobile Riverine Force in Vietnam
April 19, 2022
Tillman Abell, an ROTC-trained Army officer from Wofford College, took command of a platoon with the 9th Infantry Division in the Mekong Delta on March 28, 1968, when the Tet…
Read MorePosted in: midlandsbiz Category: life, on-the-move
Setting the atmosphere
April 14, 2022
By Jeff Becraft The following is a poem I wrote one Poetry Night with the students. The local artist, Eboni, had sown the vision with us about what poetry should…
Read MorePosted in: midlandsbiz Category: life, on-the-move
The Congaree Vista District celebrates 30 years of Artista Vista, April 22-24
April 11, 2022
This April marks 30 years of Artista Vista, the weekend-long celebration of the Congaree Vista district’s vibrant art scene, happening April 22-24. The event continues to highlight incredible artists in…
Read MorePosted in: midlandsbiz Category: life, non-profit, on-the-move
Masters Memories
April 11, 2022
By Tom Poland There comes a memory from long ago when Georgia had yet to win 1980 and 2021 national champions. No worries, Georgia was and is an annual…
Read MorePosted in: lowcountrybizsc, midlandsbiz, upstatebizsc Category: life, on-the-move, sports, the-arts
Nick to resume screenings next week
April 8, 2022
The Nickelodeon theatre will reopen next week, with two movies set for the weekend, April 15-17. Audiences will be able to enjoy “The Worst Person in the World,” a 2021…
Read MorePosted in: midlandsbiz Category: life, on-the-move
The Unumb Center for Neurodevelopment is hosting Happy Glampers, a fundraiser benefiting Camp U at Camp Cole
April 7, 2022
Come glamp with us! The Unumb Center for Neurodevelopment invites the community to join them at Stone River on Tuesday, May 17th from 5-9pm for Happy Glampers, a night of…
Read MorePosted in: midlandsbiz Category: education, entertainment, environmental, health-care, life, marketing-and-communications, non-profit, on-the-move, philanthropy, social-scene, the-arts
Regaining the wow in life
April 6, 2022
By Jeff Becraft One of our grandsons is named Levi. He is about 1 ½ years old. One of Levi’s favorite words is “Wow.” Except he doesn’t say it…
Read MorePosted in: midlandsbiz Category: life
Wingard’s Market summer produce baskets are back
April 6, 2022
Wingard’s Market is thrilled to announce the return of the summer produce baskets starting at the end of April. The Produce Baskets will have a mix of local and regional…
Read MorePosted in: midlandsbiz Category: environmental, food, life, local-industry, on-the-move
Lake Marion community celebrates grand opening of 1,000-home development
April 5, 2022
McCord’s Ferry at Lake Marion, a 700-acre master-planned lakefront community near Santee, SC, will host a two-day celebration to showcase the expansive residential development’s grand opening. The event will be…
Read MorePosted in: midlandsbiz Category: business-services, commercial-real-estate, life, on-the-move, residential-real-estate
Blind Spots
March 31, 2022
By Jeff Becraft We all have blind spots. Years ago, I started cutting my own hair. And I cut it much shorter now – I get better gas mileage that…
Read MorePosted in: midlandsbiz Category: life, on-the-move
From Savior to Survivor
March 31, 2022
By Tom Poland Four relics remind me of how things used to be: fire towers, windmills, chimneys, and silos. I’ve written about fire towers, windmills, and chimneys but never…
Read MorePosted in: lowcountrybizsc, midlandsbiz, upstatebizsc Category: education, life, non-profit, on-the-move
Creativity and Collaboration on Full Display in Clinton
March 28, 2022
Some of the best ideas come from collaboration. That’s exactly what happened recently when Berkshire Hathaway Home Services and the artists of T.A.G. collaborated to create the Uptown Window Project. Uptown…
Read MorePosted in: laurenscountybuzz Category: life, on-the-move, social-scene
Wild Horses
March 24, 2022
By Tom Poland When I hear some determined soul say “wild horses couldn’t pull me away” thoughts race through my mind. First, I think of Muscle Shoals, Alabama. You’d…
Read MorePosted in: lowcountrybizsc, midlandsbiz, upstatebizsc Category: life, on-the-move, the-arts
Tickets on sale for Nickelodeon Red Carpet Awards Party 2022
March 23, 2022
Dress your best and join The Nickelodeon on the red carpet Sunday for the ultimate Academy Awards watch-party! Together we’ll laugh, cry, and cheer over surprise winners, fashion triumphs, and…
Read MorePosted in: midlandsbiz Category: life, on-the-move
U.S. News ranks three Hammock Coast beaches among South Carolina’s top 10
March 22, 2022
U.S. News & World Report has ranked three beaches on South Carolina’s Hammock Coast among the best in the Palmetto State. In its ranking of the 12 best South Carolina…
Read MorePosted in: lowcountrybizsc Category: life, on-the-move
Just Say Something hosts 34TH Annual Red Ribbon Classic Golf Tournament
March 21, 2022
The 34th Annual Red Ribbon Classic Golf Tournament, presented by Reed Property Group, will be held on Monday, March 28th at the Thornblade Club, 1275 Thornblade Blvd, Greer, SC 29650-4515.…
Read MorePosted in: upstatebizsc Category: education, life, non-profit, on-the-move, sports
Spokes in a wheel
March 17, 2022
By Jeff Becraft I was reviewing one of my old journals yesterday and I came across a page from Leadership Weekend from way back in 2012. We were having…
Read MorePosted in: midlandsbiz Category: life
40th Annual St. Pat’s in Five Points returns this Saturday
March 16, 2022
All Roads Lead to Five Points for Columbia’s Favorite Irish Fest on March 19th! After a two-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Five Points Association is pleased to…
Read MorePosted in: midlandsbiz Category: entertainment, life, on-the-move
The Best Drink Of Water
March 16, 2022
By Tom Poland Seems to me, as the old folks would say, an aluminum dipper delivered the best drink of water. You’d sink that dipper into a wooden bucket. And…
Read MorePosted in: lowcountrybizsc, midlandsbiz, upstatebizsc Category: life, on-the-move, the-arts
Veterans to tell about surviving one of the fiercest battles of the Vietnam War
March 14, 2022
Craig Van Hout and his comrades in the 506th Regiment, 101st Airborne Division, fought the very last major battle Americans experienced during the Vietnam War. It’s regarded as one of…
Read MorePosted in: midlandsbiz Category: life, military, on-the-move
Read The Fine Print
March 10, 2022
By Tom Poland Note: For Non-Offended Eyes Only Some say we are what we eat and that what we eat these days is killing us. Down in Australia, some…
Read MorePosted in: lowcountrybizsc, midlandsbiz, upstatebizsc Category: life, on-the-move, the-arts
You have to start somewhere
March 9, 2022
By Jeff Becraft I am deeply grieved on what we are seeing on the world stage. I don’t watch the news on a regular basis but lately, every night we…
Read MorePosted in: midlandsbiz Category: life, on-the-move
Soiree on State returns to Cayce’s River Arts District
March 8, 2022The City of Cayce is thrilled to announce the return of the Soiree on State, to be held on Saturday, April 23, 2022. The City has partnered with the Avenues…
Read MorePosted in: midlandsbiz Category: entertainment, hospitality, life, music, on-the-move
Lecture to cover Westmoreland role in Vietnam, Civil Rights, and the Great Society
March 8, 2022
The 1960s was a time of tremendous economic expansion. It was also a time of ambitious social change, from the Civil Rights Movement to President Lyndon B. Johnson’s Great Society…
Read MorePosted in: midlandsbiz Category: life, military, on-the-move
Putting courage in someone
March 3, 2022
By Jeff Becraft Leadership really it is not about me… it has to do with lifting up others around me. As I learned from a friend named Jermaine, if you…
Read MorePosted in: midlandsbiz Category: life
Winter In Wambaw Bay
March 3, 2022
By Tom Poland The orchestra is quiet, as winter holds the conductor’s baton. Still, a song comes to mind. “California Dreamin” where much is brown and gray—every shade of…
Read MorePosted in: lowcountrybizsc, midlandsbiz, upstatebizsc Category: life, the-arts
Memorial Service Scheduled for Legendary Presbyterian College Professor
March 2, 2022
As Covid declines, the family of Dr. K. Nolon Carter, Charles A. Dana Professor Emeritus of Chemistry at Presbyterian College will celebrate his life at a memorial service to be…
Read MorePosted in: laurenscountybuzz Category: education, life, on-the-move
Nickelodeon suspends screenings
February 28, 2022
In an effort to fulfill its long-term mission more effectively, the Nickelodeon will be temporarily suspending public screenings as of March 1, 2022. Theatre operations will resume as soon as…
Read MorePosted in: midlandsbiz Category: life, on-the-move
The Art of Communication
February 23, 2022
By Jeff Becraft This week I had to go to the doctor to get my left ear checked out. After I had signed in, the nurse walks me to…
Read MorePosted in: midlandsbiz Category: life, on-the-move
The Emperor’s Hem
February 23, 2022
By Tom Poland In the late 1990s, a time that seems ancient, I touched the emperor’s hem. That is I corresponded with a writer whose words revealed a style…
Read MorePosted in: lowcountrybizsc, midlandsbiz, upstatebizsc Category: life, on-the-move, the-arts
Noble Ruin of the South
February 17, 2022
By Tom Poland When man abandoned it, the traffic diverted west, and the forest began to claim it. Today, sycamores, cedars, and oaks console it, and wind and water…
Read MorePosted in: lowcountrybizsc, midlandsbiz, upstatebizsc Category: life, on-the-move, the-arts
Living out of who we are
February 16, 2022
By Jeff Becraft I am a professional athlete who has yet to be discovered. And I have enjoyed catching the winter Olympics at 8:00 p.m. each evening with my…
Read MorePosted in: midlandsbiz Category: life, on-the-move
From Italy to South Carolina – Dog Tags Lost in World War II Coming Home
February 14, 2022
There is a lot of abuse and misuse of social media but the power of it can also be use for great good. Here is one such story. Recently, a…
Read MorePosted in: laurenscountybuzz Category: life, military, on-the-move
‘Rosie the Riveter’ had a lot to say in her letters to a boy in uniform
February 14, 2022
Catherine Ladnier says her mother never threw anything away. So when she died on Mother’s Day, 2001, there were a lot of things to go through in her house in…
Read MorePosted in: lowcountrybizsc, midlandsbiz, upstatebizsc Category: life, on-the-move
Miss Lucy, Childhood Legend
February 10, 2022
By Tom Poland “Perhaps you recall a person from childhood whom everyone kept their distance from. Enjoy this glimpse of small-town life in the 1960s.” Small towns have that one…
Read MorePosted in: lowcountrybizsc, midlandsbiz, upstatebizsc Category: life, the-arts
When you can’t find all the pieces
February 10, 2022
By Jeff Becraft Back in late November, my wife and I had swung by Charlotte to see our daughter, Hannah, for her birthday. We went out to one of…
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Bitters, A History In Life And Literature
February 2, 2022
By Tom Poland Among the dusty bottles and vase stand three alcoholic potions. I bought the matador-like bottle in Madrid when I traveled by train through hard, brown Spain. Next…
Read MorePosted in: lowcountrybizsc, midlandsbiz, upstatebizsc Category: life, the-arts
Many runners but one team
February 1, 2022
By Jeff Becraft About 5 years ago, I stopped riding the bus down for our Leadership Weekend. One of our top alumni, Daisy, even said to me, “Becraft not…
Read MorePosted in: midlandsbiz Category: life, on-the-move
With weapons drawn, SwordFest makes its dramatic return to the Relic Room
January 31, 2022
What’s all that clanging? Why do you hear the sound of deadly steel slicing through the winter air? Are you dreaming? Have you been transported back into the middle of…
Read MorePosted in: midlandsbiz Category: life, on-the-move
Go with what the defense gives you
January 27, 2022
By Jeff Becraft I learned a valuable lesson last Saturday. In football terminology, you have to go with what the defense gives you. I was just coming off an illness…
Read MorePosted in: midlandsbiz Category: life, on-the-move
Crow Tastes Pretty Good In Snow
January 27, 2022
By Tom Poland My last column criticized I-20 as a barrier to snow in the classic South. “Winter after winter, radar reveals blue, pink, and white blotches rolling north…
Read MorePosted in: lowcountrybizsc, midlandsbiz, upstatebizsc Category: life, on-the-move, the-arts
MarineMax co-hosts a Scout Factory Day Sales Event at the Scout Factory
January 26, 2022
MarineMax recently announced the Scout Factory Day Sales Event on Saturday, February 5, from 11 am to 4 pm, at the Scout Factory. This exclusive event features many vendors and a unique…
Read MorePosted in: lowcountrybizsc Category: life, on-the-move
St. Pat’s in Five Points announces artist line up
January 26, 2022
Five Points Association Announces the Music for Columbia’s Favorite Irish Event! The Five Points Association (FPA) announces the 2022 artist line up for the 40th Annual St. Pat’s in Five…
Read MorePosted in: midlandsbiz Category: life, music, on-the-move
The Great Dividing Line
January 21, 2022
By Tom Poland Yet another dud weather storm forecast teaches me something. When the next Ice Age arrives, its frozen sheet will grind to a halt where I-20 crosses…
Read MorePosted in: lowcountrybizsc, midlandsbiz, upstatebizsc Category: life, the-arts
Remembering Smokehouses
January 20, 2022
By Tom Poland I wrote about old hand-dug wells not long ago. Many old wells had a companion nearby, smokehouses. I’ve written about these farm icons before, but a…
Read MorePosted in: lowcountrybizsc, midlandsbiz, upstatebizsc Category: life, on-the-move, the-arts
Take the next step
January 19, 2022
By Jeff Becraft Someone once asked Ben Hogan what the most important shot in golf was. He responded, “The next one.” It is true for any step in life. We…
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The Richland County Recreation Commission (RCRC) and the Richland County Sheriff’s Department announce the Gang Awareness Hoop Fest
January 19, 2022
The Richland County Recreation Commission (RCRC) and the Richland County Sheriff’s Department announce the Gang Awareness Hoop Fest starting January 22 at 4 pm at Eastover Park. This free event,…
Read MorePosted in: midlandsbiz Category: conversations, education, entertainment, fitness-centers, government, hospitality, life, on-the-move
