Conifers’ Fragrant Pull On Memory
December 20, 2023
By Tom Poland I read that fragrances stimulate recall more so than any other sense. I knew from experience that it had to be true. You and I, we’re…
Read MorePosted in: lowcountrybizsc, midlandsbiz, upstatebizsc, laurenscountybuzz Category: life, on-the-move, the-arts
The main thing
December 14, 2023
By Jeff Becraft (Originally published on MidlandsBiz February 10, 2023) One of my mentors says, “Too many choices and too many voices.” He is right. Taking a shower is a…
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There’s Just Something About A Barn
December 8, 2023
By Tom Poland On Highway 378 between Lincolnton and Washington, Georgia, stands a barn. I say a barn. It’s a home built to look like a barn. Or maybe…
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Christmas card syndrome
December 7, 2023
By Jeff Becraft This was actually first put out there in 2020… but I have come across several people who are really down, discouraged and lonely… so I would like…
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Your Special Tree
December 6, 2023
By Tom Poland The Work Behind It When I was a boy, come Thanksgiving, we observed a tradition that’s decidedly different today. Dad would mix some two-cycle gas, sharpen…
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My Father’s Razor
November 29, 2023
By Tom Poland November 15 my father will have been gone twenty years. Twenty years. Seems like yesterday when he lay in a bed at MUSC in Charleston. Seems…
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The Morning Routine
November 21, 2023
By Tom Poland Come daybreak, my preferred time to get moving, I check on my neighbor’s flag. I check to see that his place is ok after another night…
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The Work Of Hands
November 16, 2023
By Tom Poland Folks say the future belongs to “Knowledge Workers.” A so-called knowledge worker is someone who manages information within a specific subject area. I suppose I’m a…
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Have Fireflies Left Us?
November 9, 2023
By Tom Poland Among sedges and along tree lines, across lawns and fields they’ll soon cease blinking. Maybe they’ve already ended their nights of miraculous lights. The experts say they…
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Coming Full Circle
November 2, 2023
By Tom Poland I felt like I’d been tied to the whipping post. I was as low as the proverbial snake’s belly. May 30 a tornado destroyed my Athens,…
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Braised & Glazed and House of Brews offer unique Romanian dinner and beer pairing for Charleston Beer Week
October 30, 2023
Braised & Glazed, a local food truck, and House of Brews, a local bar, beer garden and craft beer collective, are offering a unique and authentic Romanian dinner and beer…
Read MorePosted in: lowcountrybizsc Category: conversations, food, life, on-the-move, restaurant, social-scene
Catching Up With Lou Miller
October 26, 2023
By Tom Poland No. 87 lay on Buddy Bufford Field as still as a stone. Louis Miller, senior end, had broken ribs, but better days lay ahead. The undefeated…
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Learning Along The Estuary
October 18, 2023
By Tom Poland The children of Sandy Island board a school bus boat for an eight-minute journey across the Waccamaw River to the mainland. There, they ride a traditional bus…
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Charleston Wine + Food announces 2024 schedule
October 17, 2023
Tickets on Sale Beginning October 19th 100+ Events, March 6-10, 2024 The Charleston Wine + Food (CHSWF) has announced the 2024 Festival on-sale date as October 19, 2023 at 11…
Read MorePosted in: lowcountrybizsc Category: food, life, on-the-move
Waterfall Country
October 12, 2023
By Tom Poland Several hikes proved easy. One proved tougher than nails. By the time we made it to the third waterfall of the day, an idea had firmly…
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Residents of South Bay at Mount Pleasant senior living community walk, bike and swim for LOWVELO fundraiser
October 12, 2023
LOWVELO participants and staff from South Bay at Mount Pleasant left-right: Lynn Bagnal, Carol Pauken, Phyllis Ray, George and Rena Frasciello, Patricia Goodman, Eileen Smith, Robert Epley, Lou Ruch, Sean Davis (executive…
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Rivers Edge Golf Club named Myrtle Beach Area Golf Course Owners Association Course Of The Year
October 10, 2023
Rivers Edge Golf Club, an acclaimed Arnold Palmer design, has been named 2023 Golf Course of the Year by the Myrtle Beach Area Golf Course Owners Association (MBAGCOA). The dedication…
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The Miraculous Green Lizard
October 5, 2023
By Tom Poland We call it a lizard, except it’s not. It’s an anole, and it can re-grow its tail, “regenerate” in the words of scientists. Think about that.…
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From corn mazes to pumpkin patches, find Fall Agritourism in South Carolina
October 5, 2023
As the weather cools, farms across South Carolina are welcoming visitors onto their farms with a variety of fun and educational fall events. “Agritourism continues to grow in South Carolina,…
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Tour de Plantersville, Georgetown Wooden Boat Show headline loaded event lineup along South Carolina’s Hammock Coast
October 5, 2023
As autumn descends upon South Carolina’s Hammock Coast, it brings with it an array of exciting events that showcase the region’s vibrant offerings. From the arts to eco activities and…
Read MorePosted in: lowcountrybizsc Category: life, on-the-move
The Ruins Of Chappels
September 28, 2023
By Tom Poland Highway 34. It’s my route east to places like Ninety-Six, Abbeville, and Greenwood. When I drive Highway 34, I’m in my element—the back roads, but some…
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The Air Collision Time Forgot
September 21, 2023
By Tom Poland I visit forgotten churches more than the church I call my own. I feel a haunting at an unfrequented church, a poignant peaceful feeling. I see…
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Outdoor Men Of Letters
September 14, 2023
By Tom Poland Being a native Georgian, I didn’t grow up reading South Carolina writers. Nor do I recall reading Georgia writers, but I read a lot. Hemmed in…
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A Scrape In The Sand
September 7, 2023
By Tom Poland Sand washes away. Memories last forever. The year was 1982. That would have been South Carolina Wildlife magazines 28th anniversary. I worked in film then and…
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The Beach That Was
August 30, 2023
By Tom Poland From afar the skyline looks like that of a city, and it is. Myrtle Beach’s skyline of hotels seems to dwarf the skyline of all other…
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Lone Star, The Rambling Ghost
August 24, 2023
By Tom Poland I’ve long felt that two of South Carolina’s prettier community names are Silverstreet and Lone Star. Silverstreet I’ve seen many times. Those names, evocative and atmospheric,…
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A glorious journey
August 24, 2023
By Jeff Becraft One of the statements I utter the most these days is: “Well… you see what my wife lives with.” I mentioned a couple of weeks ago…
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You’ve Got to be a Friend to Have a Friend
August 16, 2023
By Reba Hull Campbell Every year, I dust off this “first day of first grade” photo taken in front of then-Crayton Elementary School. It makes me thankful for these…
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My Father’s Failed Quest
August 16, 2023
By Tom Poland Dad had a saying. “I won’t let it whip me.” He prevailed over stubborn bolts, obstinate lawn mowers, welding projects, and just about anything that crossed…
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My Good Friend, Steve Blackmon
August 10, 2023
By Tom Poland Writer’s Note: Steve Blackmon died July 3rd surrounded by loved ones. The writing life introduces me to some memorable people. Steve Blackmon found me when his…
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Huntington Beach State Park, Pawleys Island earn spots on prestigious list
August 7, 2023
Southern Living, one of the most respected names in lifestyle and travel journalism, has unveiled its list of “Our 25 Favorite Fall Beach Destinations,” and, according to the venerable publication,…
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Chasing The Ivorybill
August 2, 2023
By Tom Poland “Chasing the Swamp Ghost” caught my eye, and I read Garden & Gun’s feature about photographer Bobby Harrison’s quest to capture irrefutable evidence that the ivorybill…
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My SC Wildlife Dream Machine
July 27, 2023
By Tom Poland I grew up in a large hardwood forest in Georgia, and I rambled in woods every chance I got. I saw deer, wild turkey, ducks, and…
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The Day The Sky Fell
July 19, 2023
By Tom Poland A beautiful blue-sky afternoon it was. As I walked back from my mailbox a freshly killed squirrel with half its head missing fell right in front…
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The Ideal Foundation has opened its next nonprofit grant cycle application
July 17, 2023
The Ideal Foundation, a division of Into the Ideal, has opened up its summer “IGOT This” grant application, with a deadline of August 1. The Ideal Foundation’s “IGOT This” Grant…
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A Favorite Place
July 13, 2023
By Tom Poland Each spring I write of three places, three beautiful places where colonies of rocky shoals spider lilies bloom. One is quite accessible; one is perhaps the…
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Blink Book Review #6 – “Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine” by Gail Honeyman
July 13, 2023
By Reba Hull Campbell This book caught my eye at the library on a book display for Mental Health Awareness Month in May. The cover and the title drew me…
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When A Church Dies
July 6, 2023
By Tom Poland Some linger in woods. Some stand, for now, at the end or side of a dirt road. Some hide behind other buildings, and some haunt the…
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Blink Book Review #5: Newsroom Confidential – Lessons (and Worries) from an Ink-Stained Life
June 29, 2023
By Reba Hull Campbell As a lifelong news junky, I love reading about the machinations of a newsroom – How do news stories actually get to the front page? Who…
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Making The Sea Bountiful
June 29, 2023
By Tom Poland Artificial Reefs & Memorial Fishing Grounds Early 1980s, it was. We put out to sink a ship. Waves tossed us about as we headed seaward to…
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Moody Spring
June 22, 2023
By Tom Poland Rounding a curve on Highway 107, I saw water spurting from handsome stonework set in a mountain. Moody Spring, I knew we’d stop. I had no…
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Your Continental Divide
June 15, 2023
By Tom Poland Something trendy comes along that’s annoying and you resist. Some manager at work decides to implement a new work procedure. You don’t like it. “C’mon now,…
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Life’s Healing Elixir
June 8, 2023
By Tom Poland A Sunday sojourn found me at Healing Springs near Blackville, South Carolina. There I stood on Gods Acre, property deeded to God. Palm Sunday it was,…
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Drumming Up White Feathery Memories
June 2, 2023
By Tom Poland Long before I moved to South Carolina, family vacation trips took us over Charleston’s “New Cooper River Bridge.” To be accurate, we drove over the Silas…
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Highway 61 Revisited
May 25, 2023
By Tom Poland From 22,000 miles high, a satellite dropped an uncanny merging of highway and music into my path. XM Radio played the comedic ACME siren whistle that…
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CCLA to make a splash with Paddleboard race June 3rd
May 23, 2023
Paddle the Point Race Coincides with Aquatic Safety Week and Will Raise Awareness of Aquatic Lifesaving and Training Initiatives Charleston County Lifesaving Association will host its first annual paddleboard race, Paddle…
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Memories Of Zebco Reels & Red Wrigglers
May 17, 2023
By Tom Poland I drive west, Georgia bound, and pass it yet again, a place that pulls at my heart. My father had a worm farm, and my grandfather’s…
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Behind The Lens
May 10, 2023
By Tom Poland Thirty-seven years ago I wrote “Worth The Wait,” a feature on photographing wildlife. South Carolina Wildlife magazine photographers Ted Borg, Robert Clark, and Phillip Jones gave…
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We’re Sending You To …
May 3, 2023
By Tom Poland In the 1960s my father visited the Central State Hospital in Georgia. He may have gone to visit a relative. I recall a heated family gathering…
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Local advocates pursue “Mental Health For All” at NAMIWalks 2023
May 3, 2023
As the American public increasingly understands the critical nature of accessible, affordable mental health care, so have the demands on NAMI, the National Alliance on Mental Illness, known locally as…
Read MorePosted in: lowcountrybizsc Category: education, health-care, life, non-profit, on-the-move
