Your role is important
April 29, 2021
By Jeff Becraft My wife, my favorite mother-in-law (and I frequently tell her she is my favorite mother-in-law) and all my sisters-in-law like Hallmark movies… especially around Christmas time. I…
Read MorePosted in: lowcountrybizsc, midlandsbiz, upstatebizsc Category: life
William Bartram’s Wild Azaleas
April 28, 2021
By Tom Poland Blooms, blossoms, and bracts splash color everywhere you look this time of year. Daffodils and now dogwoods and azaleas add their voice to the spring…
Read MorePosted in: lowcountrybizsc, midlandsbiz, upstatebizsc, laurenscountybuzz Category: life, on-the-move, the-arts
By The Light Of The Silvery Moon
April 20, 2021
By Tom Poland Sunday night the moon hung full and bright over treetops. Like some silver dollar hurled into the night she floated full and beautiful, though pollen gave…
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A Seashell Tradition
April 14, 2021
By Tom Poland There it was. A grave covered in seashells. It’s as close to a burial at sea as an inland dweller will get. My sister, Deb, told…
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A Chapel and a School
April 8, 2021
By Tom Poland The Historic Sweet Easy Smith Chapel found me Sunday. Though it’s on Smith Chapel Road and sounds like a no brainer, directions for my first attempt…
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100% of local nonprofit staff recognized as Certified Dementia Practitioners
April 6, 2021
Respite Care Charleston (RCC) announced all regular staff have been recognized as Certified Dementia Practitioners (CDP) by the National Council of Certified Dementia Practitioners (NCCDP). Executive Director Sara Perry, Program…
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The Clothesline
April 1, 2021
By Tom Poland The Gentle Cycle A neighbor suggested I join a community website where people post about restaurant openings and closings, shady repairmen, and snakes. “What kind…
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The Flower World’s Beautiful Blonds
March 25, 2021
By Tom Poland Daffodils. They’re the beautiful blonds of the flower world and if it’s possible for a flower to smile, daffodils do. They bring to mind young women…
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Winter’s Lush Green Carpet
March 17, 2021
By Tom Poland It’s an unusual plant. No flowers. No roots, but what a green velvety plant. Green moss mystifies me. When I come across it I stare. Always.…
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A Natural Motown Mystery-Miracle
March 4, 2021
By Tom Poland If you think this story is about Berry Gordy’s 1960’s record label that gave us “Baby Love,” “My Girl,” and “Ain’t Too Proud To Beg,” you’re…
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Harbinger.
March 4, 2021By Cathy Monetti ABOUT MARCH, I HAVE ALWAYS felt ambivalent. This admission comes as a surprise, even to me, for March is the month that relieves us from the coldest…
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Dee Norton Child Advocacy Center shares summer safety tips for parents and caregivers
March 1, 2021
Dee Norton Child Advocacy Center, the region’s leading resource to prevent abuse, protect children and heal families, is sharing safety tips for parents and caregivers to consider as camps, childcare…
Read MorePosted in: lowcountrybizsc Category: life, non-profit, on-the-move
The Stoves Of My Life
February 26, 2021
By Tom Poland Early on, my grandmothers cooked on wood-burning stoves and, later, electric ranges. Cooking with electricity. That must have seemed a marvel to them. I never,…
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The Badwell Trilogy
February 17, 2021
By Tom Poland Faint, yet menacing, came the sound. I stood as still as the stones around me and listened. From woods northeast it came again. Coyotes. Well, it…
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Alzheimer’s Association selects South Carolinians for National Early-Stage Advisory Group
February 14, 2021
The Alzheimer’s Association has selected Greenville resident Maria Turner and Clover resident Laurie Waters to serve on its 2020-2021 National Early-Stage Advisory Group (ESAG). Turner and Waters were chosen from…
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Making Grammar Fun Again – A Book Review; “Woe is I” by Patricia T. O’Connor
February 11, 2021
By Reba Hull Campbell Woe is I. She is going with Margaret and I. Which one is grammatically correct? The first one might sound wrong to the ear but is…
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Tough Guy, Soft Heart
February 11, 2021
By Tom Poland Jack Palance—A City Slicker The book world brings interesting people my way. Some are nobodies. Some are famous. Jack Palance was famous, a Hollywood tough guy,…
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Creating a Budget: Empowerment Over Constraint
January 29, 2021
By Anne Marie E. Ashworth, CFP® For many, budgeting has a lot of negative connotations. Tracking where money comes from and where it goes leaves some feeling frustrated and guilty.…
Read MorePosted in: lowcountrybizsc, midlandsbiz, upstatebizsc, laurenscountybuzz Category: banking-and-finance, life, on-the-move
See Life In An Old Way
January 28, 2021
By Tom Poland Along A Back Road My sister, Brenda, gave me a cool shirt for Christmas, “Take The Back Roads,” one of those Life Is Good shirts. That…
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A Mess of Collards
January 21, 2021
By Tom Poland Last week an email from my friend, Pat Branning, known for her gorgeous Shrimp, Collards, & Grits cookbooks, sent me on a quest. Pat and I…
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Parades, programs and presentations: Citadel finds new ways to celebrate MLK Day despite pandemic
January 15, 2021
It may be the first Martin Luther King Jr. Day to be held in the COVID-19 environment, but that won’t stop communities across the country — including The Citadel —…
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The Illusion—Looking Young Forever
January 13, 2021
By Tom Poland Late, late afternoon it was. She walked into the restaurant and lit it up. A beautiful woman will do that, light up a place, but she…
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Insignificant Treasures
January 6, 2021
By Tom Poland The things we collect. When I am gone my daughters will think their dad was a bit touched. Just why did he hang onto a rusty…
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Winter Is Upon Us
December 21, 2020
By Tom Poland As I write it’s 38 degrees and rain is falling. We always seem to be just a few degrees away from snow. This winter a light…
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If Another Earth Exists
December 16, 2020
By Tom Poland There is perhaps no better demonstration of the folly of human conceits than this distant image of our tiny world. To me, it underscores our responsibility…
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Shifting Gears, End Of The Road
December 10, 2020
By Tom Poland Driving a straight means real driving. Need to pass a slowpoke? Down shift to third and hit it. By 5th gear he’s in the rearview mirror.…
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Two local businesses hosting socially distanced visits with Santa
December 7, 2020Sitting on Santa’s lap and sharing a Christmas wish list is just one of the many activities that has been impacted by the coronavirus this year. With a number of…
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Amazon announces 2020’s Best Books of the Year
December 3, 2020
On November 19, Amazon announced 2020’s Best Books of the Year, selecting Brittany K. Barnett’s “A Knock at Midnight” as the top pick. The inspiring true story is a brilliant…
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Nature’s Engineers
December 3, 2020
By Tom Poland Back when I worked in wildlife cinematography, I tried to film the beavers on an old woodland pond back home. I’d get up before dark and…
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Healthy Holiday Travel, Fun Starts With You (Literally)
November 23, 2020
By Dr. Cynthia Feldman, PharmD, MBA As fall blurs into a long holiday season, lots of things can make us feel pretty icky, and we pharmacists are trained to be…
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The Sad Ballad Of Moses Corley
November 23, 2020
By Tom Poland Each Thanksgiving, I Remember Moses We all cross paths with a person we can’t forget. And so, a man by the beautiful name of Moses Corley…
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Where Big Trees, History, and Preservation Live
November 19, 2020
By Tom Poland October 26 found me on a history adventure courtesy of Ralph Scurry. Ralph and I met at a book talk in Edgefield several years ago. Ralph…
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South Carolina’s Hammock Coast gears up for festive holiday season
November 17, 2020
The “Most Wonderful Time of Year” is nearly upon us and while Christmas celebrations in 2020 will be different, they will be no less special along South Carolina’s Hammock Coast.…
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When The Apothecary Worked Magic
November 10, 2020
By Tom Poland Remember the old drugstores? Most have faded into the night. They retreated to a place called “Obscurity” but I recall them with fondness and I feel…
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A Page Right Out Of Americana
November 4, 2020
By Tom Poland My excursions along backroads always reveal two nostalgic sights: the rusting tin and decaying wood of crumbling barns and old pickup trucks beneath sheds. They’re going…
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Things That Scare Us
October 29, 2020
By Tammy Davis Halloween has always been a stress-free holiday. Until 2020. To trick or treat or not? That is the question. Like most 2020 issues, there is no…
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Black Cats, Bad Luck, & Worse Luck
October 29, 2020
By Tom Poland Was it left to right, or right to left? When a black cat crossed the highway in front of Dad, he made a sweeping “X” movement…
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All Kinds of Heroes
October 22, 2020
By Tammy Davis Part Three of a Series on the Life of American Hero Major James Capers, Jr. Part Two here. He finally convinced the girl of his dreams…
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The Epitome Of Elegance
October 12, 2020
By Tom Poland Not that many years ago I wrote about Cape Romain Refuge in Aida Roger’s original trend-setting volume, State of the Heart South Carolina Writers on the…
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Down South – Sheltering Along The Back Roads
October 8, 2020
By Tom Poland March 13, 2020 seems an eternity ago. That day my niece, Benton, got an unwelcome big 4-O birthday gift—a national emergency courtesy of COVID-19. “How lucky…
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Shelter Rock, Rock of Ages
September 30, 2020
By Tom Poland DATELINE NORTHERN LINCOLN COUNTY—Boulders loom over land, gray and long like sperm whales. One, like some stallion’s back, seems ready for a colossal saddle. Massive rocks…
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Trident United Way working to inform Tri-County high cost of living
September 28, 2020Self Sufficiency Standard study highlights our region as one of the highest costs of living areas in S.C., further emphasizing the vital work Trident United Way does to improve…
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An Atlantis Of Our Own
September 10, 2020
By Tom Poland Atlantis sank into the sea around 380 B.C. So said Plato. Its founders were half god and half human. Its lush islands contained gold and silver…
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A Hero On and Off The Battlefields
September 2, 2020
By Tammy Davis Part Two of a Series About Bishopville, SC Native, Major James Capers, Jr. In the 1970s, he was the face of the Marines. Literally. The…
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Highway 79, A Historic Route
September 1, 2020
By Tom Poland Driving north on Highway 79 you see beautiful country in a region rich with history yet a tad poor looking. Don’t let the lack of development…
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Home Town Heroes
August 27, 2020
By Tom Poland Ware Shoals, SC Has One I wish every small town had a hero, someone who walks onto the national stage and stays untarnished by changing…
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Major James Capers, Jr. – An American Hero, Part One
August 24, 2020
By Tammy Davis He had no birth certificate. When he needed security clearance to join the Marines, the FBI made up a birth date for him – August 25,…
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Mr. Clifford’s Wild Turkey Heaven
August 19, 2020
By Tom Poland In a place called Childhood, Georgia, I worked for a country store grocer, Clifford M. Goolsby, who loved to hunt turkeys. Each spring the small town…
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The Roadside Stand
August 13, 2020
By Tom Poland Two words say it all. “Delicious simplicity.” No register. Cash and carry. Paper bags to hold jewels polished by the farmer’s hands. A friendly face. Produce…
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The Mystery of Huguenot, Georgia
August 6, 2020
By Tom Poland I grew up unlettered as Huguenots go. That changed much later after I moved to South Carolina. There I drove along Huger and Gervais Street and…
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