JAMES ISLAND
Buffalo South: 1409 Folly Road. 406-0888. Thursdays, team trivia, 8 p.m.; Tuesdays, team trivia tournament, 7:15 p.m., open mike with Everette, 9:30 p.m.
Frankie Biggs: 1175 Folly Road. 225-4030. Thursdays, trivia; Friday, live music; Monday, Dave Seitz and King Street Band; Tuesdays, karaoke, 9 p.m.
Kickin' Chicken: 1171 Folly Road. 795-7125. Wednesday, live trivia.
Necter Bar and Grille: 951 Folly Road. 762-9333. Thursdays, team trivia, 8-10 p.m., karaoke, 10 p.m.-1 a.m.; Friday, Pet Helpers fundraiser, 7 p.m.-midnight, live music by Hodson; Saturday, Electric Wildlife, 9 p.m.-midnight; Tuesday, team trivia, 8-10 p.m.; Wednesday, open mike with Mike Thompson, 9 p.m.
The Pour House: 1977 Maybank Highway. 571-4343. Tonight, Trevor Hall with Domino Effect, 8 p.m., Old Union Original Coal Fired Southern Rock and Roll, from Nashville, 11 p.m., free show, 5 p.m.: Steven Sandifer and Friends; Friday, Cary Ann Hearst's Special Favorite Band, with the Inlaws and Ponderosa; Saturday, Emmitt Nershi Band, free show: Molly and Eleanor from the Barrel House Mamas, Moses Atwood, Tennessee Jed, 5 p.m.; Sunday, free show: Weigh Station, acoustic, 5 p.m.; Tuesday, HeadStache with Pericles; Wednesday, Sasquatch Music Presents: Manchild of Mars, Ill., Deepspace 5 of Atlanta, Lyrical BUddah, Metro Mics of Atlanta, Sintax The Terrific, Deepspace 5, Kurfu of Sasquatch, Basik Lee & Zone D, Dope Sandwich of Savannah, U.F.O. vs. Bubblegut Bros.
FOLLY BEACH
Blu Restaurant & Bar: Holiday Inn, 1 Center St. 588-6464. Friday, Larry David Project, 9 p.m.-midnight; Saturday, Calvin Taylor, 2-5 p.m., Emekris Trio, 9 p.m.-midnight; Sunday, Island Duo, 2-5 p.m.; Doug and Rik, 8-11 p.m.
The Porch on Folly: Above 11 Center St. 588-2736. Fridays, reggae, 8-11 p.m.; Sundays, reggae with Rasta Dave, 5-8 p.m.; Tuesdays, Matt Wink, 8-11 p.m.
The Crab Shack: 24 Center St. 588-3080. Thursdays, the Island Duo steel drums band, 7-10 p.m.; Friday, Folly Dogs, 9 p.m.-midnight; Saturday, Sarah Smile, 10 p.m.-1 a.m.; Monday, live local music; Tuesday, trivia.
Planet Follywood: 32-A Center St. 588-7380. Tonight, John Brackett, 8 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, Dan Clamp, 9 p.m.; Sunday, live music.
Road House Cafe: 123 Ashley Ave. 588-2365. Tonight, Jamie Twang and the Folly Beach Bluegrass Society bluegrass jam session, 8-11 p.m.; Friday, Stained Glass Wall, 10 p.m.
The Sand Dollar: 3 Center St. 588-9498. Friday and Saturday, Johnny Mac and the Booty Ranch, 10 p.m.
Surf Bar: 103 West Cooper St. 588-2009. Sundays, Danger Muffin acoustic music.
Woody's Pizza: 39 Center St. 588-0088. Thursdays, trivia, 9 p.m.
The Charleston County Public Library will offer the following free programs.
SYSTEM WIDE
Be Creative: Children's Summer Reading Program (ages 11 and younger): Through July 31. All Charleston County Library branches. Children are awarded prizes for reading or being read to at levels of 5, 15 and 30 hours. Prizes include the SC reading medal, passes to community events, T-shirts and branch grand prizes.
S.C. Teens Read: Teen Summer Reading Program (students entering grades 6-12). Through July 31. All Charleston County Library branches. Read whatever you want and win prizes. The more you read, the more you can win. Weekly prize drawings, Grand Prize drawings and rewards. Fill out an S.C. Teens Speak Out survey and get a treat.
Reading Wave: Adult Summer Reading Program (ages 18 and up). Through July 31. All Charleston County Library branches. Reading Wave rewards adults for reading with weekly prizes and a grand prize package. Read alongside Charleston County's youth and cash in.
CHARLESTON AND THE ISLANDS
--Main Library, 68 Calhoun St., downtown: 805-6930.
Saul Alexander Gallery Art Exhibit: Through July 31. Margaret Wood Atwood, a Charleston photographer, will be exhibiting her black and white photographs in the Saul Alexander Gallery. The exhibit called "The Past is Present," includes images of icons no longer in Charleston, such as The Cavallaro in its original form and the expanse of the old Cooper River bridges, and those that give the impression that they will be here long after we are gone, such as the Sheldon church and the Angel Oak.
The newly renovated upscale home in the former slave quarters behind 8 Vanderhorst St. shows how a modern design approach can nestle well into the old city.
But architect Robert "Buz" Morris knows the "modern" approach can make some here in Charleston uncomfortable.
"I hate to use the word 'modern' because people don't like that word," he says, "but this is a very simple, straightforward plan."
The two-story brick slave quarters were built around 1855, the same time as the main home on Vanderhorst Street. After a later stint as a bed and breakfast and who knows what else, the building had fallen on hard times.
"When we got it, it was basically a college flop house," Morris says. "The building was in dire need of structural work."
Morris, working with Mitchell Construction of Walterboro, repointed all the brick to shore up the building's 16-inch-thick walls, even recreating the bird's beak pointing — a way the mortar comes to a point between the bricks — found in its best-preserved joints.
Former slave quarters
Former slave quarters off Vanderhorst Street have been renovated in a dramatically modern way, but one that lets the building's simple brick structure shine through.
They also added bracing to the eastern wall and built new three new interior partitions to increase its stability. On both floors, the circulation is a hallway that runs along the western wall, and the new arched openings at the partitions help obscure the wall's noticeable eastward tilt.
"You still see a lot of lean, but it's not as pronounced," Morris says.
Morris emphasized saving all the original fabric, including the bricks, ceiling trusses and heart pine floors, even a handsome marble mantel installed later.
These original parts remain the building's highlight because Morris didn't add much molding or other ornaments inside and because he subtly incorporated the modern necessities.
This minimalist approach helps hide the types of things that never were in the building originally. After all, the slaves here never had bathrooms, closets, cabinets, electrical lighting or a heating and air conditioning system.
"A lot of care has been taken for this building to make it look as simple as it does," Morris says.
The piazza, which was added later, was rebuilt using the same columns. But the pickets are now simple quarter-inch metal, and the rail is topped with teak.
"You can now sit on the porch and see through that little screen to see the garden."
Some might think of modern design as pure white or metal surfaces, but the feel inside this 2,000-square-foot home is dominated by its exposed wood and brick.
"The whole building is warm," Morris says. "When people think of modern, they think of stark white, and it doesn't have to be."
The modern details, such as the half-inch reveals around the windows and around the cloth surface between the ceiling beams, help highlight the old rather than draw attention to the new.
The two upstairs bathrooms are cleverly partitioned off from the neighboring bedrooms by glass sections in the trusses, glass that hardly can be seen but that keeps the bathroom fully separate.
Only one of the new details echoes the city's tradition: The bolt washers on the northern facade, which resemble the circular metal washers placed extensively around the city after the 1886 earthquake, simply are there to anchor a bathroom vanity.
Robert Behre may be reached at 937-5771 or by fax at 937-5579. His e-mail address is rbehre@postandcourier.com, and his mailing address is 134 Columbus St., Charleston, SC 29403.
| Issued by the National Weather Service at 8:43 am EDT on July 20, 2009 Through 10 am...scattered showers will move northeast through portions of southeast Georgia and southeast South Carolina. Most of the activity will be along and to the east of Interstate 95. Were rain falls...amounts will be from a trace to a few hundredths of an inch. |
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The Charleston County Public Library will offer the following free programs.
SYSTEMWIDE
Be Creative: Children's Summer Reading Program (ages 11 and younger): Through July 31. All Charleston County Library branches. Children are awarded prizes for reading or being read to at levels of 5, 15 and 30 hours. Prizes include the S.C. reading medal, passes to community events, T-shirts and branch grand prizes.
S.C. Teens Read: Teen Summer Reading Program (students entering grades 6-12). Through July 31. All Charleston County Library branches. Read whatever you want and win prizes. The more you read, the more you can win. Weekly prize drawings, Grand Prize drawings and rewards. Fill out an S.C. Teens Speak Out survey and get a treat.
Reading Wave: Adult Summer Reading Program (ages 18 and up). Through July 31. All Charleston County Library branches. Reading Wave rewards adults for reading with weekly prizes and a grand prize package. Read alongside Charleston County's youth and cash in.
CHARLESTON AND THE ISLANDS
-- Main Library, 68 Calhoun St., downtown: 805-6930.
Saul Alexander Gallery Art Exhibit: Through July 31. Margaret Wood Atwood, a Charleston photographer, will be exhibiting her black and white photographs in the Saul Alexander Gallery. The exhibit called "The Past is Present," includes images of icons no longer in Charleston, such as The Cavallaro in its original form and the expanse of the old Cooper River bridges, and those that give the impression that they will be here long after we are gone, such as the Sheldon church.
Small Business Counseling with SCORE (adults): 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Wednesday. Get free, confidential counseling for your start-up idea or existing business from the Charleston Coastal chapter of SCORE.
Preparing Your Nonprofit for a Crisis: 10 a.m.-1 p.m. today. A crisis can happen anytime and impact any organization, even nonprofits. Learn from experts how to prepare your organization for a crisis and the potential of a media and public firestorm.
Networking Night for Entrepreneurs (adults): 6-7 p.m. today. Need to grow your network? Bring your business cards and practice the art of networking at this monthly event.
The Magic of Houdini II: 10 a.m. Tuesday. This crowd favorite returns to entertain.
Lives of Famous Composers in Cinema Series: "The Strauss Family." 1 p.m. Tuesday. The Strauss family is as famous for scandal as it is for music. Their saga spans more than 85 years. This week view Part One: Anna and Part Two: Emilie.
Contemporary Fiction Book Discussion: 7 p.m. Tuesday. "Fieldwork" by Mischa Berlinski.
Creative Cinema: 10 a.m. Wednesday. "Pinocchio" (rated G; 88 minutes).
S.C. Teens Watch & Play: 2-4:30 p.m. Wednesday. Escape the heat and come watch a movie on the big screen. Bring a lunch or snack; free popcorn and soda will be provided. Watch "Knowing" (rated PG-13) then play "Guitar Hero" with friends after the film.
Read-A-Thon: 7-8 p.m. Wednesday. Meet your neighbors and bring the family for the Trident Literacy Association's Read-A-Thon, designed to bring the community together and reinforce the importance of reading. Special guests Chief Chris Seabolt of the James Island Fire Department and Trident Literacy Association Board member Kristal Hudson-Randall will share their love for the written word, and read aloud from their favorite books.
Lives of Famous Composers in Cinema Series: "The Strauss Family." July 28 at 1 p.m. The Strauss family is as famous for scandal as it is for music. Their saga spans more than 85 years. This week view Part Three: Schanni and Part Four: Revolution.
"Guitar Hero" Tournament (ages 10-18 only): July 29 at 3 p.m. Test your skills and rock out on the monster screen. Prizes include a $50 Best Buy gift card for the top player. Player registration starts at 2:30 p.m.; tournament begins at 3 p.m.
-- John L. Dart Branch Library, 1067 King St.: 722-7550
Win, Lose and Draw: Library Style (ages 12-17): 10:30 a.m. today. Can you draw? Well enough that someone can guess the title of popular books? Come to the Dart Library and show off your drawing skills and maybe you can lead your team to victory.
The Magic of Houdini II: 10:30 a.m. Wednesday. This crowd favorite returns to entertain.
Early Bird Theatre: "Inkheart" (ages 12-17): July 23 at 10 a.m. Meggie's father, Mo, has the power to bring characters from books to life just by reading those books aloud. When he sets free some nasty characters from a medieval story, it is up to Meggie to join a group of friends to set things right. Rated PG; 106 minutes.
Date Night Cinema: "Nights in Rodanthe" (adults): July 24 at 6 p.m. Adrienne is trying to decide whether to stay in her unhappy marriage. Paul is a doctor who is traveling to reconcile with his estranged son and checks into an inn in a North Carolina beach town, where she is staying. Rated PG-13; 97 minutes.
-- Folly Beach Library, 55 Center St.: 588-2001
Summer Reading Finale: July 31 at 4 p.m. Grand prize drawings, games and pizza. Registration is requested by July 24.
-- James Island Branch Library, 1248 Camp Road: 795-6679
The Magic of Houdini II: Noon Tuesday. This crowd favorite returns to entertain.
-- Johns Island Regional Library, 3531 Maybank Highway: 559-1945
Quilted Wall Hanging Display: Through July 31. A quilted wall hanging titled "Three Generations" was designed and quilted by Master Quilter Nora R. Williams. She used an African-inspired fabric titled "Shield," designed by Kaye England.
Lowcountry Dolls: Through July 31. Sculptured Lowcountry dolls with faces made of pecan shells and other handmade dolls created by Master Quilter Nora R. Williams will be on display.
Photography Exhibit: Through July 31. Kiawah Island Photography Club will display photographs covering a range of subjects.
Wired (rising sixth- through 12th-graders): 2:30-4:30 p.m. Wednesday. Teens get wired-up for fun and games at the library. Enjoy board games, card games, video games, movies and more on Wednesdays.
Knitting Group (adults): July 23 from 6-7:30 p.m. Enjoy the company of other adult knitters. Meet to exchange ideas. Bring your projects and knit with friends. Open to knitters of all skill levels.
Club Anime! (ages 12-19): 3-4:30 p.m. Saturday. It's viewers' choice on Saturday. Club members will have a choice of enjoying three episodes of "The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya," "Ouran High School Host Club," "Chobits," "Mushi-shi" or "xxxHolic."
The Magic of Houdini II: 2 p.m. Monday. This crowd favorite returns to entertain.
Sea Islands Book Club (adults): 2 p.m. Tuesday. Group will be discussing "Water for Elephants" by Sara Gruen. Enter the world of 90-something-year-old Jacob Jankowski, who recalls life in the circus as a young man during the Great Depression, his friendship with Marlena, the equestrian act star, and Rosie the elephant, who gave them hope. Copies of the book may be obtained from the reference desk for check out while supplies last.
Read-A-Thon: July 25 at 11 a.m. Meet your neighbors and bring the family for the Trident Literacy Association's Read-a-Thon, designed to bring the community together and reinforce the importance of reading. Special guest Connie Walpole Haynie, author of "Images of America: Johns Island," will read her favorite book for story time for families.
Summer Reading Finale: July 27 at 2 p.m. Say "so long" to Summer Reading with ice cream, games and the unveiling of the new Children's Quilt with squares decorated by patrons and sewn together by Nora Williams.
Edward Fennell
The Post and Courier
A family holds a picnic at a table in the small Charleston city park that features the Angel Oak. The Coastal Conservation League is hoping planners for the Gullah/Geechee Heritage Corridor will use their influence to keep proposed development from coming any closer to the tree.
Edward Fennell
The Post and Courier
The remains of the Progressive Club, a former school building in which a locally organized adult education program in the 1960s helped rural blacks get voter registration cards, sit beside River Road on Johns Island. The club was mentioned as a site that should be preserved by the Gullah/Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor now being organized.
Edward Fennell
The Post and Courier
Protection for heirs' properties was mentioned by several speakers at a Johns Island meeting to gather input on the planned Gullah/Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor. Benjamin Dennis of West Ashley mesmerized the crowd with stories of his ancestors, including how his great-grandfather paid 50 cents an acre for Daniel Island land. Behind Dennis (from left) are attorney Willie Heyward, National Park Service liaison Michael Allen and corridor Commissioner Herman Blake.
Brad Nettles
The Post and Courier
In this 2006 photo, Bill Saunders, Abraham Jenkins and State Rep. Robert Brown look through the ruins of the Progressive Club. Saunders and Jenkins would like to see it preserve and perhaps restore River Road building.
Edward Fennell
The Post and Courier
Willie B. Heyward, an attorney for the Gullah/Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor Commission, told a July 7 forum that as a younger man he was embarrassed to let outsiders know of his family link to the Gullah culture on Wadmalaw Island. He's proud of the culture today and wants to help preserve it.
Edward Fennell
The Post and Courier
With a map behind her showing the location of the four-state proposed Gullah/Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor, Katie Zimmerman, project manager for the Coastal Conservation League, asks that the planned corridor offer protection for Johns Island's Angel Oak.
As a young man, Willie B. Heyward cringed when his college classmates in California became aware of his ties to the Gullah culture on Wadmalaw Island.
But these days, the 63-year-old attorney in North Charleston is proud of that heritage. Heyward is a legal representative for the Gullah/Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor, created by federal law in 2006 with the goal of identifying and preserving tangible and intangible artifacts of the culture that grew from the merging of European and African cultures beginning in Colonial southeastern America.
The corridor stretches along the coast, 10 miles inland, from the Jacksonville area through Georgia and South Carolina and to the Wilmington area in North Carolina. A July 7 forum on Johns Island was one of about 20 held in the corridor but among the last scheduled before officials begin work on a corridor management plan.
A Burke High School grad who went on to earn college and law degrees in California, Heyward was among the speakers, some of whom came from as far away as Edisto, Colleton County and Beaufort, at the Johns Island forum.
Several speakers asked that the corridor provide legal protection to heirs' properties, and also include protection for the Angel Oak and the remains of the Progressive Club on Johns Island and McLeod Plantation on James Island. In the 1960s, locals organized an adult education program at the Progressive Club to help blacks earn voter registration cards, Abraham Jenkins said.
"The roof fell in and there are just brick walls there now," he told the forum.
Heyward said a real philosophical change has come about concerning the Gullah culture, which was once largely looked down upon by outsiders.
"Gullah was not something to be proud of," Heyward said, remembering how he was embarrassed about it as a youth. "But we didn't know what we had," he added, pointing out that the culture has now gained respect and is revered.
He said tourists come to the Lowcountry to soak up the culture and take home arts and crafts and sweetgrass baskets that owe their existence to it. Heyward and others noted that they have been in faraway states when strangers complimented them on their Gullah roots. But Heyward said the culture is in extreme danger.
"We have to preserve our heritage or it's going to get wiped away," he warned. He and others cited pressures from development, convenient forms of travel and proliferation of a national media as among the threats to the culture.
In the time of his youth, Heyward said Gullah "was a rich culture but very insular," and kept that way by a lack of infrastructure, such as roads and water and sewer services.
"Charleston is slowly but surely becoming cosmopolitan. I see young people on the islands with no connection to the culture, which has a very difficult time thriving in places like James Island and Mount Pleasant," he said.
Heyward said Gullah is a land-based culture, and that makes preserving the land where the culture was born, and in places it still thrives, important.
Heirs' properties are lands on which descendants of perhaps the original purchaser are living. Several generations sometimes occupy a large heir's property tracts, with no one having a clear title to the land. Developers sometimes chip away at the tracts, persuading individuals to sell off what they see as their portion.
Benjamin Dennis IV of West Ashley described how, more than 100 year ago, his great-grandfather paid 50 cents per acre for a 22-acre farm on Daniel Island. He said only half an acre is left, "and every other week someone offers $900,000 for it," he said. "I'm proud to be a 'Geechee boy' and told my grandfather I would never sell it," he insisted.
Heyward said the preservation of lands vital to the Sea Island culture often comes down to "heritage vs. money, and guess who is going to win," he added.
Michael Allen, National Park Service Gullah/Geechee coordinator, said coming up with a management plan will be a real challenge for the corridor coordinators. The plan will be tailored to residents' needs, and the amount and quality of input has been tremendous, he said.
Allen said corridor officials already have been contacting local and state officials regarding the many goals set by residents, and issues with heirs' properties certainly will be among matters discussed.
For more information, contact Allen at the Charles Pinckney National Historic Site, 881-5516, ext. 12, or visit www.nps.gov/guge.
Reach Edward C. Fennell at efennell@postandcourier.com or 937-5560.
| Issued by the National Weather Service at 2:08 PM EDT on July 16, 2009 Showers and thunderstorms will continue to develop over and move into southeast South Carolina and southeast Georgia through 330 PM. The strongest storms through around 245 PM will affect Tattnall...Candler and Evans counties in southeast Georgia...including locations in and near Cobbtown...Collins... reidsvillle...and Claxton. Gusty winds to 40 mph and frequent cloud to ground lightning are expected with the stronger storms. |
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Charleston County may expand dramatically the number of lifeguards stationed on its beaches next summer after a recent rash of drownings and surf rescues.
County Park and Recreation Commission Director Tom O'Rourke said Wednesday he hopes to spend about $300,000 more next summer to increase the number of lifeguards and to patrol areas beyond the county's three beach parks.
Brad Nettles
The Post and Courier
Folly Beach County Park lifeguard Michael Reynolds keeps a close eye on beachgoers as they swim Wednesday. Charleston County parks chief Tom O'Rourke plans to ask the County Council for help in hiring more lifeguards.
O'Rourke said his frustration over these preventable deaths has been building for years, and he plans to appear before Charleston County Council next week to discuss what to do. He wants to expand the lifeguard areas by about 50 percent next year and by similar amounts in the next two years.
"I'm personally tired of sitting here saying, 'At least it didn't happen in our park,' " he said. "It's still a deceased person. It's still our larger responsibility."
O'Rourke said the commission has some money available to begin hiring and training more lifeguards next spring so they can hit the beaches.
He plans to ask County Council if it would consider providing additional support, possibly in the form of a small property tax increase or a chunk of hotel tax revenue.
There is precedent for PRC lifeguards working areas beyond a county park.
Three years ago, O'Rourke and Folly Beach Mayor Carl Beckmann Jr. hatched a plan to station about a half-dozen lifeguards a few blocks on either side of the Folly Beach Fishing Pier.
"As far as the city is concerned, it's a big plus. It's not costing the city a dime," Beckmann said, adding that a growing number of visitors congregate on this stretch of beach because it is guarded.
Veteran has eye for rip currents, published 7/16/2009
"Based on what I've seen and what I've heard," he said, "I know they're doing a lot of good being there."
Currently, central Folly and the three county parks on Folly Beach, Isle of Palms and Kiawah Island are the only areas on the county's coast with regular lifeguards.
But the spate of drownings is not limited to local beaches. Last month, an 18-month-old toddler drowned in a backyard pool in Ladson, a 6-year-old drowned in North Charleston and a 40-year-old Cross man succumbed to the currents of the Ashley River while crabbing beneath the North Bridge.
O'Rourke said he wants the new effort to include swimming lessons and water safety. He said he would like to start using the county's three water parks, Whirlin' Waters, Splash Zone and Splash Island, for swimming classes.
Three teens rescued near Sullivan's Island, published 07/13/09
Beachgoers still on edge, published 07/12/09
Another death, three more rescued, published 07/11/09
"We want to do the work beforehand so we don't have to make that rescue," he said, likening it to firefighters who try to prevent fires instead of simply putting them out.
The beach safety crisis appeared to peak last week, as the body of Tara Lynn McAlister of Goose Creek was found on Folly Beach, Anna Finkelstein of New York disappeared after fighting a powerful current near Breach Inlet on Sullivan's Island, and three other swimmers were rescued from Sullivan's.
O'Rourke said he would be interested in putting lifeguards on Sullivan's as well as expanding their current territory on other islands. He said he would be willing to work with each area on the specifics such as hours, locations and other details.
Ultimately, if the Park and Recreation Commission gets the support it needs, O'Rourke said the expanded patrols and education efforts could cost about $1 million more per year. The exact nature of the program will depend on what kind of support the commission can get.
Charleston County Council Chairman Teddie Pryor said council's ultimate decision on whether to help would be made only after all the facts and figures are known. "Anything that's going to improve public safety, we would be glad to take a look at it."
O'Rourke said he would like it if there eventually were lifeguards on every stretch of the county's beaches, "but we have to bite off the amount we can chew and then take the next step and the next step."
"It's our problem," he said, "and we're going to solve it."
Reach Robert Behre at 937-5771 or at rbehre@postandcourier.com.
I received an e-mail from a reader who owns the local franchise of DoodyCalls. (Who knew there was a business out there that will come by and pick up your pet's waste? But more on that later.) He suggested that I discuss the topic of pet waste from the perspective of human health and environmental protection.
Then I received a letter from the Keep Charleston Beautiful initiative requesting help from local veterinarians and businesses to help spread the word that picking up your pet's waste is not only the right thing to do, it's the law.
The Charleston Environmental Control Ordinance, Article 2, Sec. 26-2(f) states that it is unlawful for anyone to allow their dog or cat to "discharge its excreta" on the pet owner's property or anywhere else unless that person immediately removes the waste from the public or private property. Violation of this ordinance could carry a fine of up to $1,092.
So now that I have been prompted and am supported by city law, I will get on my soap box about pet waste. I used to live where I shared parking and dog-walking space with my neighbors. It drove me crazy that my neighbors would leave their dog's waste in the parking lot, where inevitably, at least once a week, I would step in it on my way to the car. Grrrrr. Even after I learned that, in some countries, it is considered good luck to step in dog poop, I did not appreciate the experience one iota.
If you aren't at risk of stepping in dog poop, why should you care? Aside from the law, there are both health and environmental reasons to pick up dog or cat waste and place it in a specific type of composting container or a garbage can, where it will be taken away to a dump where runoff is controlled.
Pet waste is carried into the storm drains, which flow, untreated, into our fragile rivers and marshes. The federal Environmental Protection Agency explains that this waste provides nutrients for weeds and algae that limit the amount of light that can penetrate the water's surface and choke off oxygen supplies for fish and other marine life. Consider that dogs and cats in the Charleston area produce more than 10,000 pounds of waste daily.
Pet excreta also can carry bacteria, viruses and parasites that could infect other domestic pets as well as wildlife and humans. Roundworms are deposited in infected animal's feces, where they become infective to children who play in the sand or dirt. If a child ingests an infective egg, the larvae could migrate to their eyes and cause blindness. This is why we deworm puppies and kittens every two to three weeks when they are young, as young animals are the No. 1 carrier of this parasite.
Toxoplasmosis results from a parasite carried in cat waste. If a woman in her first trimester of pregnancy ingests an infective organism, it could cause birth defects in the baby. Most woman are infected from their gardens or from food that has been contaminated on the farm.
Contrary to what you might think, pet feces does not make good fertilizer. It actually burns and discolors your lawn, so don't use that excuse to leave your pet's waste lying around. So what can you do to help?
First, when you are walking your dog, take along a plastic baggie to pick up the feces immediately. Deposit it in a public waste receptacle or in your own garbage can. Second, pick up waste from your yard. This is where DoodyCalls comes in. It supplies technicians who come out to your house to do this for you. If you live in an apartment or condo, talk to your renter's or homeowner's association and have it hire a company such as DoodyCalls that will help keep the grounds free of pet waste.
Check out doodycalls.com for information, but you don't need a professional to do the right thing. Just realize that pet waste is dangerous to you and the environment, and clean it up.
Dr. Katherine A. Saenger owns Bees Ferry Veterinary Hospital and Boarding Kennel and is a former board member of the John Ancrum SPCA. Send questions to her at vetsaenger@bellsouth.net, or visit www.beesferry.com.
Josh Rosenthal
The Post and Courier
Rob Jones sorts through new rugby jerseys while attaching price tags at Cambria Sports, his recently opened rugby and soccer equipment store.
If you're lucky, you find work that marries your passions and your paycheck.
Rob Jones is one of the lucky ones.
Three months ago, the former police officer and car salesman opened Cambria Sports, a rugby and soccer equipment store on Sam Rittenberg in West Ashley. As someone born outside the United States, Jones can properly be called an authority on both sports.
Jones, 36, is a fan first and a businessman second. Growing up in the small town of Llanelli, Wales, he was a devoted player and fan of rugby and soccer. Too often he couldn't find the equipment he needed, so he puts himself in the fan or player's position when choosing which items to stock.
"It helps (to have) the perspective from the other side of the counter," he said. "Because I play both sports and I follow both sports, I can say, 'OK, would I buy this?' "
He carries a consistent supply of popular team jerseys, but much of his time is spent hunting down unique items. If he can't find what a customer wants, Jones said, he'll find it or wear himself out looking.
Cambria Sports also serves as a sort of United Nations of local sports fans. A fair number of international expatriates walk through the door, including Irish, Scottish, South African and South American fans, Jones said. They may come in to shop, or they'll watch one of the soccer or rugby games that are always playing on the shop's TVs. Jones will even open the store to host parties for important games that fans can't get on their televisions at home.
Jones's work is a lot like diplomacy: He acts as the area's rugby representative. He plays on the Charleston Outlaws men's rugby team and you can often find him in the stands at The Citadel or College of Charleston rugby games.
It's clear that soccer is huge in the area, but Jones is confident that rugby is gaining popularity as well. "It's such a contact sport that Americans, once they see it, love it," he said. For customers who want to learn the game, Jones often has a copy of "Rugby for Dummies" handy and invites them to the Outlaws' practices.
In time, Jones hopes to establish himself as an outfitter of local athletes. He is working with Charleston United, a youth soccer organization, on plans to supply team uniforms. The satisfaction he gets from helping youngsters play the games he loves is obvious.
"I was watching (a West Ashley soccer team) doing their training the other day," he said, "and there was a little girl like this high, and she was wearing a little Welsh soccer jersey I knew she bought from here. It was pretty cool seeing that."
Contact Josh Rosenthal at 937-5502.
Posted 12:57 p.m., July 6, 2009
Skimming through the July 6 issue of GolfWorld Magazine, I came across an article by John Huggan on former Charleston resident and longtime Carolinas PGA pro Bob Boyd – “A North Carolinian in Europe, Boyd enjoys life’s second chance.” Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to find a link on the magazine’s website, but to catch you up on Boyd I’ll include some of what I know and some of what’s in the article.
Boyd, 54 and a native of the Wilmington, N.C., area, was the head pro at the Country Club of Charleston, later spent a couple of years on the PGA Tour, worked at Melrose on Daufuskie Island before eventually returning to Wilmington. He's been one of the most successful players in the Carolinas PGA Section.
Boyd won the 2004 European Seniors Tour Qualifying School and went on the win the 2005 Castellon Costa Azahar Spanish Open. But at the end of the 2005 season, Boyd was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia. He underwent chemo, lost 60 pounds and in June 2006 received a bone marrow transplant. That December, Boyd won a Carolinas Senior PGA title at Crowfield.
According to the magazine, Boyd played one European Seniors Tour event in 2007, and learned in May of that year that the cancer had returned. He received a new procedure called a Donor Lymphocyte Infusion in which cells were infused into his arm with those cells going out and killing the cancerous cells.He's doing well since the procedure.
Boyd finished 23rd on the 2008 Order of merit with $91,312 European to earn exempt status for 2009 and this year $49,614 European in six events, including a playoff loss to Ian Woosnam in the Irish Open.
The Golf World article concluded with the following quote after Boyd finished T-21 in the DeVere Collection PGA Seniors Championship, one of the biggest events on the European Seniors circuit: "Truly, I am lucky to be alive. I was close to death more than once, and feel humbled to be playing golf at all. I'm still competitive though. But I have changed; in spiritual, physical and emotional ways I am different I appreciate everything so much more. I certainly get over a bad shot or a bad round a whole lot easier. For me, every day is precious."
-- Tommy
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Events for July 10-16Friday, July 10, 2009 Join Lowcountry Local First and celebrate your independents at the 10 Percent Shift Launch Party. This is a grass-roots movement of residents, businesses, government agencies and nonprofits working to shift 10 percent or more of their annual budgets to locally owned and independent businesses. Food from Taco Boy, Monza, the BBQ Joint and Street Food will be available along with Firefly Vodka, beer and music with Part-Time Heroes. 7-10 p.m. today at 10 Storehouse Row, The Navy Yard at Noisette. Admission is 10 cents. For info: www.lowcountrylocalfirst.org. Peace Rising!, a free presentation on creating peace and bringing social change with nonviolent communication, will be held 3-5 p.m. Sunday at the Charleston County Public Library, 68 Calhoun St. Catherine Cadden, a nonviolent communication certified trainer, and Jesse Wiens, the founder of ZENVC, will be sharing stories, video and photos from recent experiences in Afghanistan, Australia, U.S. high schools, and in the Alaskan and Canadian wilderness. The duo also will be offering "An Introduction to Nonviolent Communication: Making Peace With Ourselves and Others" from 6-8 p.m. Tuesday at the same location. For info: 805-6930. Cool off at the Baked Ice Cream Social, complete with a make-your-own sundae bar. The event is to launch Baked's new line of ice creams made in Ravenel at Wholly Cow. It takes place from 4 to 6 p.m. Sunday at 160 East Bay St. Cost is $5 per person, free for children under 18, and includes the sundae bar, brownies a la mode, coffee and other drinks. For more info: 577-2180 or www.bakedcharleston.com. | |
FOLLY BEACH — Many of the volunteers who turned out Thursday to help clean up the beach felt a duty to make amends for the way it was treated over the Fourth of July weekend.
"We enjoy the beach all year long, and this is a good way to give something back," Pastor Tom Brown of James Island Baptist Church said as he picked up cigarette butts, cellophane wrappers and other small bits of refuse from the sand.
Wade Spees
The Post and Courier
South Carolina Aquarium staffers Kelly Thorvalson (from front to back), Megan Westmeyer and Emily Preston, pushing 11-month old daughter Maleah, did their monthly cleanup along Folly Beach on Thursday. For the first time, volunteers from the community (background) helped.
Mayor Carl Beckmann Jr. said more than 90 percent of the litter picked up by the city earlier this week was alcohol-related, but he's no longer considering asking City Council to ban alcohol consumption on the beach. He said such a ban wouldn't solve the problem but would hurt the people who live here.
Stricter enforcement of litter and underage drinking laws might be what the city must do, he said.
Folly is the area's only beach that allows alcohol drinking — from cups but not cans or bottles — on the sand. The council meets July 28 but may also hold a council workshop before then to discuss the litter issue, Beckmann said.
Brown was among about 30 people who turned out for the regularly scheduled beach cleanup organized by the South Carolina Aquarium. The aquarium staff mounts a cleanup all year from the 6th Street West beach access. The cleanup was the first in which volunteers from outside the organization were invited to take part, and comes on the heels of an excessive amount of littering on the beach during the holiday weekend.
Chad Kuhar of Folly Beach was among island residents who turned out. "Living here, I want to be part of the solution," he said.
Brown said a church visitor from Indiana, Marsha Kline, inspired him to enlist youths from the church and to come out himself after learning about the litter the city and other volunteers cleaned up early this week.
Beckmann said the beach Sunday was awash in beer cans and bottles, cups, beer packaging, whisky bottles, broken coolers, food wrappers and other debris. So much debris was gathered that trash trucks making their regularly scheduled rounds could not handle it, he said.
Beckmann said the city is grateful for the aquarium's cleanups, adding the city is trying to organize a volunteer brigade of its own to clean and "be the eyes and ears of the city" regarding littering and other problems.
Folly weighs ban in wake of beer litter cleanup, published 07/07/09
Among items netted in the cleanup were a discarded skim board, shoes, beer bottles and hundreds of cigarette butts. Aquarium Sustainable Seafood Coordinator Megan Westmeyer said the butts are not biodegradable and can be fatal to fish.
Cleanup organizer Rosanne Runyeon, education programs instructor for the aquarium, said Thursday's turnout "is a dream come true." Keeping the beach clean not only helps people to enjoy the beach but also benefits wildlife, including sea turtles that are nesting this time of year, she said.
Aquarium Marketing and Public Relations Coordinator Elizabeth Bender said the cleanup illustrates that the aquarium not only teaches wildlife protection and conservation, but practices it.
Reach Edward C. Fennell at efennell@postandcourier.com or 937-5560.
