Upstate Mediation Center announces 2020 Peacemaker Award
January 11, 2021
The Upstate Mediation Center (“UMC”) is pleased to announce the 2020 Peacemaker Award recipient is Meliah Bowers Jefferson. Ms. Jefferson was nominated for her work in organizing the Lawyers Standing…
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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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Greenville Venue Crawl promises a unique approach to event planning – February 28
January 5, 2021
On Sunday, February 28th, more than thirteen of Greenville’s most sought after venues will open their doors for the 2nd annual Grenville Venue Crawl presented by Woodford Reserve. Produced by…
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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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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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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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Country Mice and City Mice and A Little College Football History
November 10, 2020
By Tammy Davis Clemson’s star quarterback Trevor Lawrence tested positive for COVID. That was the headline for sports talk radio as we headed to the upstate, or God’s-country as…
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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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Just Say Something announces winners of the 4th Annual Red Ribbon 5K at Sugar Creek
October 15, 2020
Just Say Something, a community-based organization, kicked off Red Ribbon Week (October 23rd-31st) with the 4th Annual Red Ribbon 5K in Sugar Creek. The Sunrise Red Ribbon 5K at Sugar…
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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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Local organizations partner for community-wide Day of Action event, Sunday September 27th at 5pm, Barnet Park
September 24, 2020
On Sunday September 27th at 5pm United Way of the Piedmont, the Spartanburg County Public Library, the Spartanburg Clergy Initiative and The Purpose Place will host a community activation in…
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Kopis’ Dant named to Best and Brightest Under 35
September 15, 2020
Sarah Dant, an account manager with software developer Kopis, has been named to Greenville Business Magazine’s Best and Brightest Under 35 List. Dant joined Kopis as an Account Manager in…
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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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Renewable Water Resources among the first wastewater treatment agencies to launch program to track concentration of COVID-19 virus in area wastewater
August 13, 2020
Data analyzed by Clemson University and shared with health and governmental agencies shows significant level of COVID-19 infection in Greenville County residents Renewable Water Resources (ReWa), the non-profit entity responsible…
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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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2020 Tacos ‘n Tequila Fiesta to be held in late September
August 4, 2020
The Upstate’s popular festival dedicated to the love of tacos and tequila has a date for 2020, and with added health and safety measures. Tacos ‘n Tequila Fiesta will be…
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First-ever, free Drive-Through S.C. State Fair to be held Oct. 20-21, 2020
July 29, 2020
In an effort to give back to the community in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the nonprofit South Carolina State Fair will host its first-ever free, Drive-Through S.C. State Fair…
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Tallulah Point Outlook, Part One
July 23, 2020
By Tom Poland An Enduring Icon Endures No More In that precious time of boyhood summers, our family would drive from Lincoln County, Georgia, to the North Carolina…
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Ghost Stories
July 14, 2020
By Tom Poland Great Aunt Annie, long buried in some graveyard up Asheville way, told me ghost stories when I was a boy. I’d sit by a hissing wood…
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Saws, Maters, & Men Long Gone
July 8, 2020
By Tom Poland Growing up in eastern Georgia deep in pines, I wakened to the wail of chainsaws six days a week. Yellow McCullochs and red Poulans sliced through…
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Virtual Reedy River Duck Derby to be held in one week
July 2, 2020
The Reedy River Duck Derby will be held on July 11, but not in the way most Greenville residents are used to. There will be no rubber ducks going over…
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Fried Green Tomatoes
July 2, 2020
By Tom Poland My back-road explorations take me to little eateries tucked neatly in the middle of nowhere, whistle-stop places. Country folks run these deep-fried, lonely roadside stops so…
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The Outhouse Flower
June 25, 2020
By Tom Poland I remember Mom talked of a flower with a strange name, hollyhocks. She talked flowers a lot mentioning dahlias, Cape jasmines, which go by jasmines, gardenia,…
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High Spirits Hospitality’s Tammy Johnson wins GSA Woman of Influence
June 18, 2020
Tammy Johnson, CEO and owner of High Spirits Hospitality, was named a GSA Woman of Influence on Wednesday. Johnson was born in Houston, but moved to Greenville in 2009, where…
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Grace Will Lead Us Home: A Compelling Guide to Understanding the Emanuel Church shootings
June 17, 2020
By Reba Hull Campbell Rarely does a book appeal to all my “reading” senses – well written, important message, compelling story and human connections. “Grace Will Lead Us Home”…
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A Childhood, The Biography of a Place
June 17, 2020
By Tom Poland The book is 9.25 inches long, 6.5 inches wide, and less than an inch thick. Its 182 pages present a world well-fed folks can only guess…
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Just One Great Adventure
June 11, 2020
By Tom Poland On my way back I crossed Clarks Hill Lake twice. In soft early evening light, the water lay like a mirror. Smooth as glass as we…
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Woods, Waters, and Flowers
June 3, 2020
By Tom Poland A botanical superstar lives in the South. It’s exquisite, ephemeral, and periled, in that much of its habitat lies beneath lakes. I’m writing about the rocky…
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Reedy River Duck Derby to go virtual this summer
May 28, 2020
The Reedy River Duck derby will have a new twist this year – it will be virtual rubber ducks going over the falls this July 11. Rotary Club of the…
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2020 Tacos n’ Tequila Fiesta postponed for crowd safety
May 27, 2020
To protect the hungry, taco-loving crowd of Greenville and guarantee an unforgettable time for all, the annual Tacos ‘n Tequila Fiesta has been postponed until further notice. As one of…
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Quarantine Heartbreak
May 25, 2020
By Tammy Davis Part Ten of The Corona Chronicles Part Nine here Part Eight here Part Seven here Part Six here Part Five here Part Four here Part Three here Part Two here Part One here After…
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If At First You Don’t Succeed
May 25, 2020
By Tom Poland Among my father’s passions were birds and woodworking. He made bluebird boxes in his workshop and mounted them around home. He loved hummingbirds and looked for…
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Junkyard Beauty
May 18, 2020
By Tom Poland One man’s junk is another man’s treasure. It’s true. We live in a throwaway society and junkyard junkies seek bargains. Making use of discards is frugal.…
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The Pull Of Beauty
May 13, 2020
By Tom Poland Over the last five years, I’ve developed two traditions I plan to never break. Come March and come May, I drop everything and head to three…
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