The way things work
July 23, 2026By Jeff Becraft There was no Friday email last Friday because the two NC grandkids came into town. If there’s no Friday email, it usually means I’m out of…
Read MorePosted in: midlandsbiz Category: life, on-the-move
Dirty Laundry
July 22, 2026By Tom Poland A Personal History My first time home from college I took a bag of dirty laundry to Mom. She tossed it out the door. “You’re education…
Read MorePosted in: beaufortcurrent, lowcountrybizsc, midlandsbiz, georgetown-sc-gazette, golden-strip-news, upstatebizsc Category: life, on-the-move, the-arts
James Smith to talk about Patriots Point, and about his grandfather’s heroism – Aug. 7
July 22, 2026On 16 April 1945, during the Battle of Okinawa, USS Laffey – a Sumner-class destroyer – was attacked by a record total of 22 kamikazes. She shot down nine of…
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Blink Book Review: Kathryn Stockett’s “The Calamity Club”
July 22, 2026By Reba Hull Campbell It’s hard to know where to start with what I loved most about “The Calamity Club.” I’m finally becoming a historical fiction fan. Books like “The…
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Be ready for the little moments
July 16, 2026By Jeff Becraft Life is made up of moments. The thing is, there are many moments you really can’t orchestrate. As Aslan says to Lucy in the movie Prince Caspian (and…
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Museum offers chance to see, and experience, what it was like to be a Civil War soldier
July 15, 2026Have you ever wondered what it was like to be a Civil War soldier? At the South Carolina Confederate Relic Room and Military Museum on Saturday, July 25, from 10…
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Shiloh Waits for Help
July 15, 2026By Tom Poland I call it the Roll Call of The Waiting. Inactive churches in need of friends. Friendship, Dothan Methodist, St. Simon’s Episcopal Church, Halfway Creek, Workman Methodist,…
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Blink Book Review: Allen Levi’s “Theo of Golden”
July 14, 2026By Reba Hull Campbell Theo of Golden was high on my TBR list for summer this year. From what I’d heard, it needed to be a summer book –…
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Rights and freedom
July 9, 2026By Jeff Becraft It is an incredible privilege to be able to live in the United States and have all the freedoms that we have. Millions of people around…
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Bookhardt Cemetery
July 8, 2026By Tom Poland On a cool, windy day I drove Old Number 6 through farm country. You’d a thought wild horses had kicked up the pollen-yellow dust drifting over…
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The remarkable life of William Rose topic of next Noon Debrief
July 8, 2026Maxcy Gregg stood out among South Carolinians as one of the fiercest defenders of slavery and advocates of secession. He wrote an influential manifesto advocating his views, signed the South…
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Blink Book Review: Terry Szuplat’s “Say It Well”
July 8, 2026By Reba Hull Campbell I like to mix fiction with “good for you” nonfiction on my summer reading list. My first nonfiction pick is Say It Well by Terry Szuplat,…
Read MorePosted in: lowcountrybizsc, midlandsbiz, georgetown-sc-gazette, golden-strip-news, upstatebizsc, laurenscountybuzz Category: life, on-the-move
The importance of team
July 2, 2026By Jeff Becraft Whatever happened to “team?” I have been corrupted by several people lately, and I am staying up way too late watching soccer games in the World…
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Summer Blink Book Review: “Remarkably Bright Creatures” by Shelby Van Pelt
July 1, 2026By Reba Hull Campbell I avoided this book because of the octopus. I loved the cover. So many friends raved over the story. But, I’d not been inclined to read…
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Struggle
June 29, 2026By Tom Poland Title my photo Struggle. Caption it: Dreams die along the back roads. First two sentences: Can’t even sit in a chair and look forward to better…
Read MorePosted in: lowcountrybizsc, midlandsbiz, georgetown-sc-gazette, golden-strip-news, upstatebizsc, laurenscountybuzz Category: life, on-the-move, the-arts
Fatherhood
June 24, 2026By Jeff Becraft Years ago, a chaplain in a prison made an offer to those incarcerated that anyone who wanted to send a Mother’s Day card to their mom,…
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A Body Of Work
June 24, 2026By Tom Poland A woman asked what made me the proudest of all I had written. It isn’t books. Maybe one. It’s not the films. It’s not the magazine…
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Summer Blink Book Reviews Return
June 22, 2026By Reba Hull Campbell If it’s summer, that means I’m back to my annual effort to get off the screens and back to the page by reading more. In recent…
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Second Chances and Sea Creatures
June 20, 2026By Tammy Davis I’ve never said these words before: the movie was as good as the book—maybe better. But with Remarkably Bright Creatures, now streaming on Netflix, I think it’s…
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Live out your true identity
June 18, 2026By Jeff Becraft Every morning at Our Place of Hope, we throw out a question of the day to start off the morning meeting. We allow the members to…
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Museum celebrates the nation’s 250th birthday with a Declaration of Independence program
June 18, 2026John Adams was, at the time, certain that July 2 – the day the Second Continental Congress officially voted to sever ties with Great Britain – would always be celebrated…
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A Curious Battle For Independence
June 17, 2026By Tom Poland It’s a battle Britain claimed to have won, and yet it sent the Redcoats to Charleston and back to Britain ending their presence in the Carolina…
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A Rare Sighting
June 10, 2026By Tom Poland I have seen outhouses, smokehouses, henhouses, doghouses, and all manner of birdhouses. Mankind has its jailhouses, cathouses, flophouses, and roadhouses. A first for me, I saw…
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‘Tis the season for graduations and my 2026 “20 lessons” list
June 3, 2026By Reba Hull Campbell ‘Tis the season for graduations, new jobs and life transitions. It’s also the season for my annual updated “20 lessons” list. A number of years ago,…
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Hear about veterans’ experiences during and after the Vietnam War
June 3, 2026C.W. Bowman has often fascinated Midlands audiences with chilling stories of his service as a Tunnel Rat in Vietnam. Now, he’s ready to share an equally compelling human-interest account of…
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My City Of Dust Calendar
June 3, 2026By Tom Poland Passport To Preservation John Mulhouse sent me his 2026 Abandoned New Mexico City of Dust calendar, and it’s a keeper. John’s beat is why. “The lost…
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The process of growing
June 3, 2026By Jeff Becraft Two weeks ago, I talked about the plants at work and the variety of plants and how them blending together really brought out a great sense…
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Man, The Intruder
May 27, 2026By Tom Poland The rains of late and spring’s approach set my mind on the Carolina bays, those coastal plain wetlands of mystery and life. The elliptical depressions are…
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There is a price that is paid
May 25, 2026By Jeff Becraft On my way in today, I passed a guy who lives in our community. I often see him walking through our neighborhood. He is a Marine.…
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The World Book
May 20, 2026By Tom Poland A lulu of a lady sold my parents a set of the World Book Encyclopedia. Miss Lulu Goolsby to be exact. It changed my life living…
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The beauty of togetherness
May 20, 2026By Jeff Becraft At Our Place of Hope, we have a front entrance and a back entrance. We rent space from Mill City Church (an older fellowship hall building) and…
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Central Carolina Community Foundation launches resident survey to inform regional community assessment
May 18, 2026Central Carolina Community Foundation has launched a region-wide survey to hear directly from Midlands residents about the issues, opportunities, and challenges shaping their communities. The survey is part of a…
Read MorePosted in: midlandsbiz Category: conversations, economic-development, education, food, health-care, life, local-industry, music, non-profit, on-the-move, philanthropy, the-arts, transportation
Out there for the right reasons
May 14, 2026By Jeff Becraft The other week, I was down with some other people on the State House grounds and we were passing out some information about Our Place of…
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A Striped Bass & An Oak
May 13, 2026By Tom Poland Though my hair was chestnut brown, I was green, a young writer hoping to create something memorable. I needed inspiration and I found it in a…
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Military can visit Relic Room free again this summer, thanks to Blue Star
May 13, 2026Once again, the South Carolina Confederate Relic Room and Military Museum is proud to participate in the Blue Star Museums initiative, which provides free admission to current military personnel and…
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ScanSource’s Impact 360 Community Program receives national Halo Award
May 8, 2026ScanSource, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCSC), a leading technology distributor uniquely positioned to address complex, converging technologies, announced the Company has been recognized with a Silver Halo Award for Best Education Initiative…
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What archaeologists have learned about the Siege of Fort Motte
May 6, 2026Francis Marion – the Swamp Fox – was at the Siege of Fort Motte in 1781. He and “Light-Horse Harry” Lee were the Patriot commanders in that encounter with the…
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Buried Alive
May 6, 2026By Tom Poland A road down Edisto Island way will take you past green swamps and oaks dripping with Spanish moss and shanties with bright, sky-blue doors. Churches white…
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Laughing can be great medicine
May 6, 2026By Jeff Becraft I had surgery on my left eye last week. My right eye is 100% healed now… and I am really thankful for that. Now, after the…
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Real Lizard Earrings
April 29, 2026By Tom Poland I called it a green lizard. I couldn’t pronounce Anolis carolinensis back then. Heck, I hadn’t even heard of the term. But now something catches me…
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The Transistor Made History
April 21, 2026By Tom Poland Cell phones are a big deal but to some of us the transistor was an even bigger deal. I was disobeying my parents staying up late…
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Learn all about the legendary ‘Flying Tigers’
April 20, 2026What do you know about the Flying Tigers? If you’re like many people, your answer is likely, “Not much.” Here’s a chance to do something about that. The Flying Tigers…
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Showing compassion
April 16, 2026By Jeff Becraft Two weeks ago, I had eye surgery… and most would consider it minor. Well, I think minor is a key you play on a piano. If…
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Peach Blossom Lit
April 15, 2026By Tom Poland Come March, my thoughts turn to peach blossoms and memories of family fruit trees. One tree from youth stands above others. From my deep well of…
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The One who gives life
April 9, 2026By Jeff Becraft Yesterday I went to a funeral. The place was jam packed, the music was beautiful. As I sat there, I thought about how it is good…
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Art in the Garden returns to Wales Garden for an afternoon of local art and community connection
April 8, 2026The Wales Garden neighborhood will once again come alive with creativity during the annual Art in the Garden event, taking place on Saturday April 11, from 2:00 PM to 6:00…
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The straight scoop on the Doolittle Raid – Friday, April 17
April 6, 2026Sometimes, when a nation’s outlook seems darkest, men put their lives in critical danger to boost the spirits of the folks back home. Not that the pilots and crews who…
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Masters Memories
April 5, 2026By Tom Poland I never had time for golf, but I love the Masters. I never miss the Sunday round on TV. It almost always provides high drama. I…
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They don’t make them like they used to
April 2, 2026By Jeff Becraft A few years ago, I needed to replace my lawnmower. This was more of a task than I had ever imagined. It just didn’t seem like…
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A Man Named Twiggs
April 1, 2026By Tom Poland He was charismatic and a lightning rod for trouble. He was a roadie for the Allman Brothers Band. What little I know of his life tells…
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