A Southern Writer
September 2, 2021
By Tom Poland Mississippi’s Willie Morris Several years back, I attended Edgefield’s Camellia Tea. As I was leaving, a lady in a red blazer walked up. “You’re that fellow…
Read MorePosted in: lowcountrybizsc, midlandsbiz, upstatebizsc Category: life, the-arts
Long Lost Treasures, Heirloom Seeds
August 26, 2021
By Tom Poland Metal detectives seek old coins and treasure, and many folks look for arrowheads. A rare breed seeks long-lost seeds. Old coins and arrowheads won’t make you…
Read MorePosted in: lowcountrybizsc, midlandsbiz, upstatebizsc Category: food, life, the-arts
A Haunting Postscript
August 19, 2021
By Tom Poland Missing Caskets Recently I wrote about finding my great granddad’s old farmhouse, but I left out an eerie aspect that would be suitable for a Halloween…
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For The Birds
August 5, 2021
By Tom Poland This makes the second time I’ve used “For The Birds” as a title. “Contacting the dead through a Ouija board? That’s for the birds.” No flippancy…
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What’s The Big Rush?
July 28, 2021
By Tom Poland My back-road trips of late have been good but not as pleasant they usually are. Too many people. They drive like madmen. They pass on hills.…
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The Parking Lot Of The Dead
July 21, 2021
By Tom Poland Even in death they cling to dignity. Left to rust, they bless the rare visitor with awe and mystery. Just how did old trucks and cars…
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Just Say Something teams up with St. Mark United Methodist, Sans Souci Neighborhood Alliance; and Reedy Property Group for the first annual National Night Out
July 15, 2021
This year, Just Say Something (JSS) will join St. Mark United Methodist Church; the Sans Souci Neighborhood Alliance; and Reedy Property Group in hosting the first annual National Night Out…
Read MorePosted in: upstatebizsc Category: churches, education, food, life, music, non-profit, on-the-move, philanthropy
Inaugural Hog & Barrel Festival bringing three days of bourbon, BBQ, and bacon to Greenville this November
July 15, 2021
A three-day festival dedicated to those Southern staples of bourbon, BBQ, and bacon aims to join the pantheon of can’t miss Upstate events. Everything from exclusive bourbon tastings to live…
Read MorePosted in: upstatebizsc Category: food, life, on-the-move, social-scene
My Mother’s Bible
July 15, 2021
By Tom Poland After Mom died, my sisters and I began to go through her and Dad’s belongings. Quite a task that surprised, amused, and puzzled us. Lots of…
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Ospreys—Nature Never Quits
July 8, 2021
By Tom Poland Noon sharp, a hot, humid Monday. Just twenty yards away a tremendous crash like a rock hitting water got my attention. There sat an osprey with…
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Hemp & Kudzu, A Good Summer Combo
June 30, 2021
By Tom Poland It was like stepping back into the 1960s, sitting in that cool, refreshing gazebo up North Carolina way. Its vines and emerald green leaves, translucent and…
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Years Lost To Time, The Silent Thief
June 24, 2021
By Tom Poland Growing up I could hear the tick of my church’s old Regulator wall clock. I can’t hear it today, but my hearing’s good. All that keeping…
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Let’s Go Somewhere
June 21, 2021
By Amy Coward Events are back! Every day I get an email or see a post that a theatre is reopening, ball parks are welcoming fans and restaurants and stores…
Read MorePosted in: lowcountrybizsc, midlandsbiz, upstatebizsc Category: life, on-the-move
Love Lived Out
June 20, 2021
By Jeff Becraft I have mentioned my parents (now 95 and 92) before and I have also mentioned some of the things below… but it is worth reiterating. My…
Read MorePosted in: lowcountrybizsc, midlandsbiz, upstatebizsc Category: life
Flee Civilization For A Preserve
June 17, 2021
By Tom Poland Needing adventure, I took back roads and made my way to a tract belonging to nature. It’s a place where man is a guest, Stevens Creek…
Read MorePosted in: lowcountrybizsc, midlandsbiz, upstatebizsc Category: life, on-the-move
History Surrounds You
June 10, 2021
By Tom Poland History really does surround you. You just have to slow down a tad and open your eyes. It will help if you turn off the TV…
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Every State Needs A John Mulhouse
June 3, 2021
By Tom Poland Every state needs someone to record what it’s lost. Every state needs a John Mulhouse. I’ve never met John but we’re in touch and we share…
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Regal resumes theatre operations at Regal Westgate Mall Cinema
June 2, 2021
WHAT: Regal is proud to announce Regal Westgate Mall Cinema will open in your coverage area on May 21. Lionsgate’s Spiral will headline our new movies including Those Who Wish Me…
Read MorePosted in: upstatebizsc Category: life, on-the-move
Proud Mary Theatre Company seeks contestants for live reality competition show
June 2, 2021
Proud Mary Theatre Company is seeking contestants for the first Proud Mary Drag Race Extravaganza Wednesday, June 30 @7 pm at the Artists Collective Spartanburg (RAIN or SHINE). This live outdoor reality competition…
Read MorePosted in: upstatebizsc Category: life, on-the-move
Trail Life USA National Backyard Concert & Campout experienced by thousands
June 2, 2021Families Across the U.S. Joined the Live Event Celebrating Outdoor Adventure, Character, Leadership, and Faith On Friday, May 21, Trail Life USA (TrailLifeUSA.com) saw thousands of families join the National Backyard Concert…
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Glorious yes
May 27, 2021
By Jeff Becraft When I was in middle school (although we called it junior high), my friends and I would have scrounges. If you don’t know what a scrounge…
Read MorePosted in: lowcountrybizsc, midlandsbiz, upstatebizsc Category: advice, life
Compelled To Pick Up Rocks
May 26, 2021
By Tom Poland Do you pick up rocks? I do. I feel compelled to pick up rocks. And so do others. Many people take rocks home and create a…
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Keeping the Main Thing the Main Thing
May 13, 2021
By Jeff Becraft One of my mentors says, “Too many choices and too many voices.” He is right. Taking a shower is a great example. It used to be that…
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The Allure Of Copper
May 13, 2021
By Tom Poland The hills were red. Barren, like some alien landscape. Nothing green. Could have been Mars. I was just ten or so when Dad drove us through…
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Just Say Something holds Mother’s Day Honey Baked Ham Fundraiser!
May 7, 2021
Just Say Something is holding an online, Honey Baked Ham Fundraiser in honor of Mother’s Day on Sunday, May 9, 2021, a day that usually involves families sitting down together…
Read MorePosted in: upstatebizsc Category: education, food, life, non-profit, on-the-move
Breaking The Cult of Difficulty
May 6, 2021
By Tom Poland Many tell me how difficult they find writing to be. Well, they speak the truth. It’s difficult to write at a high level, and that’s why…
Read MorePosted in: lowcountrybizsc, midlandsbiz, upstatebizsc, laurenscountybuzz Category: life, on-the-move, the-arts
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
Scottish Games offering two events this May
April 20, 2021
The Greenville Scottish Games will be offering two smaller events this year in lieu of the traditional May festival. The 2021 Special Invitational Heavy Athletics Event will be held on…
Read MorePosted in: upstatebizsc Category: life, on-the-move, social-scene
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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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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Just Say Something hosts 33rd Annual Red Ribbon Classic Golf Tournament – March 29th
March 24, 2021
Just Say Something will be hosting their 33rd Annual Red Ribbon Classic Golf Tournament on Monday, March 29th at the Thornblade Club, 1275 Thornblade Blvd, Greer, SC 29650-4515. Located in…
Read MorePosted in: upstatebizsc Category: education, life, non-profit, on-the-move, philanthropy, sports
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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National Smithsonian traveling exhibition now open in City of Westminster
March 12, 2021The City of Westminster has been selected as the only upstate stop for displaying the SC Humanities “Water/Ways” Exhibit. The Exhibit is now open at the Historic Westminster Train Depot,…
Read MorePosted in: upstatebizsc Category: agriculture, economic-development, energy, environmental, government, hospitality, life, local-industry, media, non-profit, on-the-move, the-arts, utilities
BASF donates more than 2,000 bottles of water to Texas
March 12, 2021
CONVERSE, SC – BASF’s site in Converse, South Carolina donated 2,016 bottles of water (84 cases) to Texans impacted by recent weather events. A week of freezing temperatures in late…
Read MorePosted in: upstatebizsc Category: life, on-the-move
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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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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Just Say Something hosts 33rd Annual Red Ribbon Classic Golf Tournament
February 21, 2021
Just Say Something will be hosting their 33rd Annual Red Ribbon Classic Golf Tournament on Monday, March 29th at the Thornblade Club, 1275 Thornblade Blvd, Greer, SC 29650-4515. Located in…
Read MorePosted in: upstatebizsc Category: education, life, media, non-profit, on-the-move, philanthropy, sports
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…
Read MorePosted in: lowcountrybizsc, midlandsbiz, upstatebizsc Category: life, non-profit, on-the-move
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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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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