Focus, Interrupted
July 24, 2025
By Tammy Davis What a Former Mobster Taught Me About Going After What You Want Chaos tends to follow me around. I like to blame my unmedicated ADHD brain, but…
Read MorePosted in: midlandsbiz Category: life, on-the-move
What’s Vital Is Often Missed
July 24, 2025
So I needed to get a new driver’s license. This is one of the REAL ID driver’s license… because without it, I couldn’t fly. Now we don’t fly very often.…
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My Love Affair With Miss Zebco
July 24, 2025
By Tom Poland I fished many a farm pond as a boy. When I left my red-varnished cane pole for Miss Zebco, I fell in love. I filled my…
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Blink Book Review: “Careless People: A Cautionary Tale of Power, Greed, and Lost Idealism” by Sarah Wynn-Williams
July 17, 2025
By Reba Hull Campbell For anyone who hates social media – and Facebook in particular – you’ll get a real satisfaction from reading this book and all the awfulness surrounding…
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My Southland, Maybe Yours
July 16, 2025
By Tom Poland April, along a back road to Athens, G-A, I saw ghosts. Amid new homes a shed and barn cast blue shadows across brilliant-green grass. Then I…
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Sequins at 3 AM and My First Night Alone in Vegas
July 16, 2025
By Tammy Davis Departure For years—maybe even decades—my college roommate invited me to join her family’s annual Vegas getaway, but I always had an excuse: too broke, too single,…
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Something to be glad about
July 16, 2025
By Jeff Becraft I have no micro-motor skills. Or if I have any, it’s very little. It takes me forever to get the key into a keyhole and to…
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Hanging together
July 10, 2025
By Jeff Becraft We just celebrated the 4th of July, Independence Day, in our country. Way back when the Declaration of Independence was signed, Benjamin Franklin said, “We must…
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Nailing Down A Mystery
July 9, 2025
By Tom Poland Old doors rife with nails. Rows and rows of nails. Studs. Like handsome lads, all in a row. All in precise order. I’ve come across two…
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Summer Blink Book Review: “A Bit Much” by Lyndsay Rush
July 3, 2025
By Reba Hull Campbell Each summer during my personal reading challenge, I try to include at least one book of poetry. This isn’t my usual reading genre, but I like…
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Bathroom renovation update
July 3, 2025
By Jeff Becraft There are two bathrooms in our house. There’s one in the hallway, and there’s one in our bedroom. As the kids were growing up, they used…
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Give Blood, Save Lives: The Big Red Bus Returns to Laurens Library July 8
July 1, 2025
The Big Red Bus is rolling into town, offering Laurens County residents the chance to make a life-saving difference. OneBlood will host a community blood drive at the Laurens Library…
Read MorePosted in: laurenscountybuzz Category: health-care, life, non-profit, on-the-move
Mekong Memoirs: Come hear the story of a Vietnam veteran from South Carolina
July 1, 2025
Glen Inabinet was a bit farther along in life, a bit more mature, than the average draftee who went to Vietnam. He was an old married man of 25, and…
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Ren Faire Trivia Night at the Clinton Library Promises Medieval Fun for All Ages
July 1, 2025
Dust off your chainmail and sharpen your wits! The Clinton Library invites history buffs, trivia lovers, and brave knights of all ages to take part in Ren Faire Trivia Night…
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The Songs Of Summer
June 30, 2025
By Tom Poland Nature blessed my boyhood summers with music. Cicadas’ rising-falling singsong gave days rhythm. Katydids chimed in evenings with a nightshift song backed by cricket twitter. The…
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Summer Blink Book Review: “That Which Binds Us” by Cathy Rigg
June 26, 2025By Reba Hull Campbell When traveling light, I still indulge in the luxury of carrying a hard copy book with me. For a recent vacation trip, I chose Cathy Rigg’s…
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Granddad’s Fiddle
June 25, 2025
By Tom Poland Long did Grandad’s fiddle hang on my mother’s living room wall. I could never walk by it without wondering … “What’s its story?” Best I recall,…
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A seat at the table
June 25, 2025
By Jeff Becraft Last week I was at a week-long retreat with a children’s home. As part of this retreat, we all have meals together. We wait until everyone is seated…
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DIY Dragon’s Eggs Workshop at Laurens Library Offers Hands-On Fun for Teens
June 22, 2025
Young adventurers are invited to the Laurens Library for a magical crafting experience on Monday, June 30 at 4:00 p.m. during the library’s upcoming “Crafternoon” event. As part of the…
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Defy Expectations with Gravity Check! Juggling Duo to Perform at Laurens and Clinton Libraries
June 22, 2025
Prepare to be amazed as the Laurens County Library System welcomes the high-energy juggling duo Gravity Check on Thursday, June 26. This dynamic performance is part of the Knights of…
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Identifying what’s most important
June 19, 2025
By Jeff Becraft I finally got another car. The car I was driving, which has been a fantastic car, was fifteen years old and had over 316,000 miles on…
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Lowcountry Land Trust invites public to help name entrance road at Angel Oak Preserve
June 19, 2025
Lowcountry Land Trust, a nonprofit committed to preserving Lowcountry landscapes and waterways for current and future generations, invites the community to help name the new entryway road leading into the…
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Blink Book Review: “Uncommon Favor: North Philly, My Mother, and the Life Lessons I Learned from All Three” by Dawn Staley
June 18, 2025
By Reba Hull Campbell I’m not usually one to pick memoirs by sports icons. Musicians, journalists, writers or politicians, yes. But not often sports heroes. I admit, I just…
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They Just Upped And Left
June 18, 2025
By Tom Poland Late 1950s. May 1. Riding with Dad by a cement block house. White. A few clothes out back on the clothesline. Diapers mainly. A tricycle with…
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Miss South Carolina Scholarship Organization announces 2025 judges’ panels
June 17, 2025
The Miss South Carolina Scholarship Organization has announced the panelists tasked with selecting the next Miss South Carolina and Miss South Carolina’s Teen. The 2025 competition, taking place in Columbia…
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Laurens County Public Libraries to Close for Juneteenth Holiday
June 16, 2025
The Laurens County Public Library System has announced that the Laurens and Clinton locations will be closed on Thursday, June 19, in observance of Juneteenth, the federal holiday commemorating the…
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My Perfumed Nights
June 12, 2025
By Tom Poland Squall lines, thunder and lighting, and tornadoes signify the changing of the guard. Winter’s heavy air gives way to lighter air, and soon air conditioning will…
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Four guys and 10 minutes
June 12, 2025
By Jeff Becraft Since I recently talked about Wallaby, and also Mr. Mert, I am going to tell another story that happened at Mr. Mert’s wedding. There were four…
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Blink Book Review: “Grace Will Lead Us Home” (reprise in memory of the 10th anniversary of the shootings)
June 11, 2025
By Reba Hull Campbell If it’s summer, that means it’s time to gear up for summer reading. (Writer’s note: I wrote this review in 2019 shortly after the book…
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Fences Say A Lot About Folks
June 5, 2025
By Tom Poland A fence has become more than a way to mark property—delineate—as a five-dollar word goes. “I put that fence up to delineate precisely where my line…
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Summer Blink Book Reviews are back for 2025
June 5, 2025
By Reba Hull Campbell If it’s summer, that means it’s time to gear up for summer reading. Remember those summer reading clubs from childhood? In my family, we would…
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Saying thank you
June 5, 2025
By Jeff Becraft As I’ve said before, my Dad was a great man and my Mom was a great woman. They were two incredible parents. And so, as time…
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Newest exhibition at Upcountry History Museum assembles display of Avengers originals
June 4, 2025
Traverse the Marvel Universe through a unique experience that explores the fourth installment of the Avengers saga in “Avengers: Endgame – The Exhibition,” a first-of-its-kind showcase opening at the Upcountry…
Read MorePosted in: upstatebizsc Category: chamber, day-care, education, entertainment, life, marketing-and-communications, media, military, non-profit, on-the-move, the-arts, veterans
Shrek Hits the Big Screen at Clinton Library’s Crafters Cinema Night
June 3, 2025
Free Family Movie Event with Crafts and Refreshments – June 12 Families are invited to head to the Clinton Library on Wednesday, June 12, for an evening of laughs, crafts,…
Read MorePosted in: laurenscountybuzz Category: education, entertainment, life, media, on-the-move, the-arts
Laurens County Libraries Kick Off “Knights of the Reading Round Table” Summer Program June 9
June 1, 2025
Let the reading quests begin! The 2025 Summer Reading Program at the Laurens County Public Library System is launching with a festive, medieval-themed celebration on Monday, June 9, and families…
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Wallaby, the Soldier We Never Expected
May 29, 2025
By Jeff Becraft Years ago, I was at a friend’s wedding in Virginia Beach and one of the friends who was also at the wedding was telling me about…
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Man Will Always Wage War
May 29, 2025
By Tom Poland Cynicism Sometimes Is Backed By Reality I remember the Vietnam anti-war protests at the University of Georgia. Some group firebombed the Army ROTC building and I…
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Free lecture on the Battle of Bunker Hill, 250 years later
May 29, 2025
There were more Revolutionary War battles fought in South Carolina than anywhere else, but we have to admit that there were SOME significant fights elsewhere. And the 250th anniversary of…
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‘Tis the season for graduations … and this year’s update of “20 life lessons”
May 22, 2025
By 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…
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Sometimes I Hallucinate
May 22, 2025
By Tom Poland Fate lays its hand on me. While driving the Fall Lines Freeway to Dry Branch, Georgia, the time to medicate arrived, 9 a.m. I had a…
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Our mistakes do not define us
May 20, 2025
I may have talked about this before, and to be honest, I really can’t remember. Some of the early Friday emails got lost when we changed servers years ago… but…
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Pizza and fried chicken
May 15, 2025
A couple of Friday nights ago I needed to work late, which meant I had to eat late. Brenda was not feeling well. as she was fighting off a cold,…
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Juke Joints & Dive Bars
May 14, 2025
By Tom Poland Mom never darkened the door of a juke joint, but that didn’t stop her from rendering a harsh judgment. “The only people who go to juke…
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The Battle of Camden, as explained by a ‘redcoat’
May 13, 2025
Books have been written about war since writing was invented. In the 1890s, Stephen Crane’s The Red Badge of Courage initiated a new way to tell such stories. Rather than…
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South Carolina Association of Technical College Commissioners announces 2025 award winners
May 9, 2025
The South Carolina Association of Technical College Commissioners (SCATCC) announces the selection of its 2025 award winners. Commissioner Leadership Award, George Piersol, Piedmont Technical College Honors an individual who has…
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A cure for FOMO (or also entitled 48 hours in the company of hooting, cackling and snorting friends*)
May 7, 2025
By Reba Hull Campbell At my age, there’s not much that can gin up a full-blown case of FOMO anymore. But when I recently realized I was the only one…
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The Birds of Death
May 7, 2025
By Tom Poland Forever Fly, You Black Riders Roads tell stories. I’ve come across the “Mule Kick That Killed Eight People” in Edgefield County. I’ve seen stores fall to…
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Brighten up someone’s life
May 5, 2025
By Jeff Becraft (Someone once told me they end their week and start their weekend with the Friday email. Well… maybe on this one, you can end your weekend…
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West Columbia Police Department hosts Lexington County Law Enforcement Memorial Service
May 1, 2025The West Columbia Police Department will host the Lexington County Law Enforcement Memorial Service on May 6, 2025, at 9:30 a.m. at the Marc Westbrook Judicial Center at 205 E.…
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Capt. Mose Rogers & The S.S. Savannah
May 1, 2025
By Tom Poland I visit cemeteries never knowing what I’ll find. February 10, a cemetery gave me a story that has the elements of a great movie—risk, bravery, tragedy, the…
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