Aurora Farms, Inc.
January 31, 2024
An indoor/outdoor elegant wedding and event venue for all occasions seating up to 250 in Taylors, SC
Read MorePosted in: upstatebizsc Category: life
Those who influence us
January 25, 2024
By Jeff Becraft It is interesting how we can influence one another. (Interesting is really not the word… it is deeper than that.) But someone who has greatly influenced…
Read MorePosted in: lowcountrybizsc, midlandsbiz, upstatebizsc Category: life, on-the-move, the-arts
Clawfoot Tubs Hold Memories
January 25, 2024
By Tom Poland When I see a clawfoot tub, which is rare, four memories surface. First, I go back to my grandfather’s old homeplace. Next I go back to…
Read MorePosted in: lowcountrybizsc, midlandsbiz, upstatebizsc, laurenscountybuzz Category: life, on-the-move, the-arts
The joy of the handwritten letter
January 24, 2024
By Reba Hull Campbell When I was growing up, the family mailbox was a magic chamber that delivered cards with good wishes, postcards from interesting places and an occasional…
Read MorePosted in: lowcountrybizsc, midlandsbiz, upstatebizsc Category: life, on-the-move
Ageratum, Wood, & Water
January 17, 2024
By Tom Poland On a Sunday walk I spotted a splash of blue. Blue wildflowers. They say blue flowers are sometimes difficult to grow in gardens. “They say.” That was…
Read MorePosted in: lowcountrybizsc, midlandsbiz, upstatebizsc, laurenscountybuzz Category: life, on-the-move, the-arts
Workplace Friends Best Come Naturally
January 10, 2024
By Tom Poland I stumbled across an old magazine feature of mine and it made me recall stops I’d made along that long, winding road called “Career.” Some memories…
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Like A Scene From An Old Western
January 3, 2024
By Tom Poland It was 1985 when I spent three days in Reno. I didn’t shoot a man just to watch him die, Johnny, but I conjured up images…
Read MorePosted in: lowcountrybizsc, midlandsbiz, upstatebizsc, laurenscountybuzz Category: life, on-the-move, the-arts
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…
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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…
Read MorePosted in: lowcountrybizsc, midlandsbiz, upstatebizsc, laurenscountybuzz Category: life, on-the-move
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…
Read MorePosted in: lowcountrybizsc, midlandsbiz, upstatebizsc, laurenscountybuzz Category: life, the-arts
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…
Read MorePosted in: lowcountrybizsc, midlandsbiz, upstatebizsc, laurenscountybuzz Category: life, non-profit, on-the-move, the-arts
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…
Read MorePosted in: lowcountrybizsc, midlandsbiz, upstatebizsc, laurenscountybuzz Category: life, on-the-move, the-arts
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…
Read MorePosted in: lowcountrybizsc, midlandsbiz, upstatebizsc, laurenscountybuzz Category: life, on-the-move
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…
Read MorePosted in: lowcountrybizsc, midlandsbiz, upstatebizsc, laurenscountybuzz Category: life, on-the-move
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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Upcountry History Museum showcases holiday classic with behind-the-scenes close-ups
October 31, 2023
It’s a holiday classic that almost didn’t make it from book to screen but for a friendship forged during World War II. In its Southeastern debut, “A Very Grinchy Christmas,”…
Read MorePosted in: upstatebizsc Category: chamber, churches, day-care, education, entertainment, food, hospitality, life, marketing-and-communications, media, music, non-profit, on-the-move, social-scene, the-arts, veterans
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…
Read MorePosted in: lowcountrybizsc, midlandsbiz, upstatebizsc, laurenscountybuzz Category: life, on-the-move, the-arts
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…
Read MorePosted in: lowcountrybizsc, midlandsbiz, upstatebizsc, laurenscountybuzz Category: life, on-the-move, the-arts
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.…
Read MorePosted in: lowcountrybizsc, midlandsbiz, upstatebizsc, laurenscountybuzz Category: life, on-the-move, the-arts
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,…
Read MorePosted in: lowcountrybizsc, midlandsbiz, upstatebizsc, laurenscountybuzz Category: agriculture, 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…
Read MorePosted in: lowcountrybizsc, midlandsbiz, upstatebizsc Category: life, on-the-move
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…
Read MorePosted in: lowcountrybizsc, midlandsbiz, upstatebizsc Category: life, on-the-move, the-arts
Upcountry History Museum dives in with ‘Splash and Bubbles’
September 19, 2023
Explorers of all ages will be able to dive into the incredible world of ocean exploration when “Splash and Bubbles: Dive In, Lend a Fin” makes its only South Carolina…
Read MorePosted in: upstatebizsc Category: churches, day-care, education, entertainment, environmental, hospitality, life, marketing-and-communications, media, non-profit, on-the-move, social-scene, the-arts
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…
Read MorePosted in: lowcountrybizsc, midlandsbiz, upstatebizsc Category: life, on-the-move
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…
Read MorePosted in: lowcountrybizsc, midlandsbiz, upstatebizsc Category: life, on-the-move, the-arts
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…
Read MorePosted in: lowcountrybizsc, midlandsbiz, upstatebizsc Category: life, on-the-move, the-arts
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…
Read MorePosted in: lowcountrybizsc, midlandsbiz, upstatebizsc Category: life, non-profit, on-the-move
Upcountry History Museum presents stories stitched in the seams
August 23, 2023
There’s an art to storytelling and in “We Didn’t Wait for Freedom – The Civil War Narrative Quilts of Vera P. Hall,” the stories are literally stitched in the seams…
Read MorePosted in: upstatebizsc Category: chamber, churches, education, entertainment, life, manufacturing, marketing-and-communications, media, non-profit, on-the-move, social-scene, the-arts, veterans
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…
Read MorePosted in: lowcountrybizsc, midlandsbiz, upstatebizsc Category: life, on-the-move, the-arts
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…
Read MorePosted in: lowcountrybizsc, midlandsbiz, upstatebizsc Category: life, on-the-move
Verizon turbo charges its Greenville 5G network with the addition of more spectrum
August 14, 2023Additional spectrum, available four months ahead of schedule, results in greater availability of 5G Ultra Wideband service, along with better performance and faster speeds. Verizon announced that it now has…
Read MorePosted in: upstatebizsc Category: it-services, life, on-the-move, technology
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…
Read MorePosted in: lowcountrybizsc, midlandsbiz, upstatebizsc Category: life, on-the-move
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…
Read MorePosted in: lowcountrybizsc, midlandsbiz, upstatebizsc Category: life, on-the-move, the-arts
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…
Read MorePosted in: lowcountrybizsc, midlandsbiz, upstatebizsc Category: life, on-the-move, the-arts
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…
Read MorePosted in: lowcountrybizsc, midlandsbiz, upstatebizsc Category: life, on-the-move, the-arts
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…
Read MorePosted in: lowcountrybizsc, midlandsbiz, upstatebizsc Category: life, on-the-move
Ted & Holly Rollins Scholarship Awards latest recipient
July 11, 2023
The Ted & Holly Rollins Scholarship Organization announced the recipient of its Fall 2023 scholarship, Audrey Smallwood. This scholarship— in honor of the late Ted Rollins and his wife, Holly—is…
Read MorePosted in: midlandsbiz, upstatebizsc Category: education, life, on-the-move
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…
Read MorePosted in: lowcountrybizsc, midlandsbiz, upstatebizsc Category: life, on-the-move, the-arts
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…
Read MorePosted in: lowcountrybizsc, midlandsbiz, upstatebizsc Category: life, on-the-move
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,…
Read MorePosted in: lowcountrybizsc, midlandsbiz, upstatebizsc Category: life, on-the-move
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…
Read MorePosted in: lowcountrybizsc, midlandsbiz, upstatebizsc Category: life, on-the-move, the-arts
