NEW KITCHEN SHOWROOM: SieMatic, a top name in luxury kitchens, is opening a new King Street showroom March 23, with a grand opening April 16. Pictured here is the BeauxArts collection in Magnolia White. See Good News for details. (Photo provided.)

TODAY'S FOCUS
:: Gardening tips to save some green

ANN THRASH
:: Unsigned poem is provocative

FEEDBACK
:: Send us your comments

THE LIST
:: Food + Wine Festival facts

GOOD NEWS
:: From kitchens to Wayne Newton

ALSO INSIDE

___:: CALENDAR: Coming events
___:: REVIEW: What are you reading?
___:: HISTORY: John M. Rivers
___:: QUOTE: Wooden on benevolence
___:: BOOKSHELF: Interesting reading

UNDERWRITERS AND PARTNERS

ABOUT US

CharlestonCurrents.com is a new online twice-weekly publication that offers insightful community comment and good news on events. It cuts through the information clutter to offer insight and news on the best of what's happening locally. More.

TODAY'S FOCUS
Save some "green" in the garden with these $$-saving tips
By BOB POLOMSKI
Clemson Extension Service
Special to CharlestonCurrents.com

MARCH 5, 2009 -- Even before this global economic downturn, I'd learned to become a frugal gardener. With spring just ahead and stores beginning to display gardening items, here are a few money-saving tips that will help you garden inexpensively:

• Polomski

  Conserve energy and lower your utility bills with your landscape plantings. Deciduous trees planted on the east, west and south sides of your home can lower your cooling and heating bills. In the summer, the trees will shade your home from the broiling sun. In the winter, their leafless canopies will allow the sun's rays to warm your home. Alternatively, erect a vine-covered trellis or arbor on the south-facing side of your house to provide relief from the hot summer sun. Depending on which study you consult, the savings in heating and cooling costs for a home may be as much as 25 percent to 50 percent.
  
  
• Apply a shallow, 2- to 4-inch layer of organic mulch to conserve moisture, suppress weeds and supply nutrients as it decomposes. Covering bare soil with mulch reduces erosion. Mulch individual trees out to their outermost branches or drip lines, if at all possible. To avoid "slalom mowing" in and around individual plantings of trees, unite them with a single bed of mulch. Fallen leaves make an attractive fine-textured mulch when they're shredded with a lawn mower or leaf shredder.
  
  
• Reuse foam coffee cups, paper cups, cottage cheese tubs, yogurt containers, margarine containers and cut-off milk cartons by poking holes in the bottom for drainage and using them as seed-starting "pots." You can also make pots out of newspapers. The clam shells with clear lids at salad bars make ready-to-use mini-greenhouses for seed-starting or rooting cuttings.
  
  
• Plastic milk jugs can also be used to "seep-irrigate" your plantings. Punch holes in the sides of a jug with a large nail, spacing them about 2 inches. Bury the jug, leaving the neck above the soil. Fill the jug with water (solutions of liquid fertilizer may be used to water and fertilize at the same time) and screw the cap on firmly. The water will gradually seep out, providing a slow, deep irrigation for nearby plants.
  
  
• Create an edible landscape that tastes as good as it looks. Plant fruiting shrubs and trees that offer the dual benefits of aesthetics and nutrition. These include pawpaw, persimmon, pineapple guava, pomegranate, jujube, blueberry and banana (look for 'Veinte Cohol,' a "short cycle" compact banana with black-mottled stems and tasty clusters of 3-inch-long bananas). Look for boldly-colored and -shaped vegetables that offer sustenance and beauty. Plant breeders have given us purple cauliflower ('Graffiti'), burgundy asparagus ('Purple Passion'), red mustard greens ('Ruby Streaks'), purplish-red Brussels sprouts ('Falstaff'), and lemon-yellow cucumbers ('Lemon'). New in 2009 is a dwarf basil that looks like a boxwood ('Boxwood') and a tomato that produces inch-long strawberry-shaped fruit ('Tomatoberry').
  
  
• Grow your own plants from seeds, divisions or cuttings. Share or trade open-pollinated heirloom plants with friends and acquaintances. Layering is a simple, foolproof way of propagating these "pass-along" plants.
  
  
• Sow what you'll grow. Instead of sowing entire packets of vegetable or flower seeds in pots, trays or flats, use the sealed-lid seed-starting technique to sow only what you need. I have used it for germinating large-seeded vegetables such as tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, squash and melons. Basically, it involves starting seeds on the lids of leftover margarine or whipped cream containers.
  
  
• When shopping for perennials, look for potted plants that contain several divisions or offsets that can be easily teased apart at planting. For the price of one pot, you can acquire several plants.
  
  
• Harvest rainwater to irrigate your landscape and garden this spring and summer. Attractive rain barrels, clay urns with spigots at the bottom, or makeshift pickle barrels make excellent vessels for capturing and using rainwater.
  
  
• Compost. Recycle organic yard trimmings and kitchen wastes and return them back into the landscape or vegetable garden as a soil conditioner or mulch.

These are just a few frugal "green" techniques that will also save you some "green" this gardening season.

Bob Polomski is the author of "Month-by-Month Gardening in the Carolinas" (Cool Springs Press) and a consumer horticulturist for Clemson Extension Service.

CURRENTS
Unsigned poem in classified ad is provocative
By ANN THRASH, editor

MARCH 5, 2009 -- Slightly used exercise equipment, lost-and-found pets and job ads are what you expect to find in The Post and Courier's Sunday Classifieds. But a poem pleading with Charleston not to lose its charm?

That doesn't happen every day, but such a poem appeared Sunday in the P&C's Classifieds under the "Happy Ads" banner, usually the home of birthday greetings and assorted well-wishes. (A Web link to the ad no longer works.)

Check this out (by the way, "loose" - rather than "lose" - in line 3 is the way it appeared in print):

"Darling City"

Don't grow so fast,
my darling city,
Don't loose your charm
and grace.
Slow down, my darling city,
What you're losing
can't be replaced.
Remember, my darling city,
what we all love and embrace
Your history and your
people, my darling city,
They're disappearing
without a trace.
I know, my darling city,
The world has become
a rat race.
But we're not like them,
my darling city,
We're born of culture
and good taste.
Look around, my darling city,
We're losing ourselves
in the haste.
Slow down, my darling city,
Beautiful Charleston,
my birthplace.

Not exactly "Ain't it nifty, Marvin's 50."

As a native Charlestonian, like the poet, I read the poem a couple of times, trying to put my finger on exactly how I felt about the sentiments it expressed, and my thoughts turned to conversations I've had with older friends and family members about how much has changed in Charleston since they were young. I'm only 46 -- I say "only" because that's a good bit younger than the "older" people I'm talking about -- and even in the years since I was a kid, the Lowcountry has changed tremendously.

The first thing that struck me was that the kinds of changes that make the "Darling City" poet sad are happening all over the country, without a doubt. Somehow, though, I don't think people in Topeka or Seattle or Fort Lauderdale are writing poems to their local newspaper bemoaning that fact.

Then I started thinking about the poet's view that although the world's become a rat race, "we're not like them … we're born of culture and good taste" here in Charleston.

That's the kind of sentiment about the city that I really don't like to hear. I think it plays into all the stereotypes about this being a snobby community full of arrogant people, particularly natives, with a superiority complex. Sure, there are some folks here with a holier-than-thou attitude - just as there have been in other places I've lived. We all know a few people like that. Some of them like to casually throw around a couple of good Gullah phrases: "bin-yah" (people who've "been here") and "come-yah" (people who've "come here"). I'm as proud of being a Charlestonian as anybody, but I'm tired of the "remember when" types who draw a line in the beach sand and say, "Natives on one side, everybody else on the other."

The more I thought about the poem, the more I realized that it made me feel sad- - not for what the poet fears is being lost, but for his or her sentiment that "then" was better than "now." Sorry, but I don't buy that. I think the greater Charleston area has grown in an overall positive way that's made this a more vibrant place to live, with more interesting people, a more dynamic culture, more diverse businesses and more good things going for it than at any point in my lifetime. Yes, traffic's worse. So is crime. And yes, we've lost too many wetlands and marsh vistas to development. But on balance, we choose to live here for a reason: There's just no place better.

Finally, I noticed that the person who wrote the poem didn't sign it. I don't know why he or she made that choice, but 25 years in the newspaper business taught me that sometimes people who don't sign what they write don't want to be challenged in their opinions. Their minds are already closed.

If that's the case here, then I think that's the saddest thing of all.

Ann Thrash is editor of CharlestonCurrents.com. She can be reached at: editor@charlestoncurrents.com

FEEDBACK
Send us your comments

Our policy: We encourage readers to submit feedback or letters to the editor. Send your thoughts to editor Ann Thrash. We reserve the right to edit for length and clarity. One submission allowed per month. Make sure to include your name and phone number. Submission of a comment grants permission to us to reprint. Please keep your comment to 200 words or less.

SPOTLIGHT

The public spiritedness of our underwriters allows us to bring CharlestonCurrents to you at no cost. We're happy and honored today to welcome a new underwriter, the Charleston RiverDogs. The Lowcountry’s leader in sports entertainment, Charleston RiverDogs baseball is an attractive, affordable medium for your group or business. The RiverDogs develop the next major league stars for the 26-time World Champion New York Yankees at one of the finest ballparks in Minor League Baseball -- Joseph P. Riley, Jr. Park. Three short words sum up the every day approach taken by the Charleston RiverDogs front office. The brainchild of club President Mike Veeck, the nine-letter phrase “Fun Is Good” is meant to be a guideline and daily reminder of how employees should approach their jobs and in turn capture the imagination of the fans to turn them into repeat customers. Call them today at (843) 723-7241 or visit online at: www.RiverDogs.com.

• To learn more about all of our underwriters and nonprofit partners, click here.

GOOD NEWS
New kitchen showroom to open soon on Upper King Street

SieMatic, a top name in the business of luxury kitchens, will open a new 2,500-square-foot showroom at 444 King St. on March 23, with a more elaborate grand opening scheduled for April 16 during the Upper King Design District's Spring Design Walk. The official grand opening follows the soft opening scheduled a month prior on March 23.

"SieMatic is continuing to expand into markets that have growth potential, like Charleston," said Rolf Willers, president and CEO of SieMatic Möbelwerke, USA, in a press release. "Breaking into new marketplaces and finding new avenues for opportunities not only helps accentuate the kind of design innovations that make SieMatic a leader in the luxury kitchen segment, but also a leader in innovative marketing."

Erica Slowik, CKD, a highly regarded designer in SieMatic's New York City showroom will manage the new Charleston showroom. Her experience includes interior design study in Denmark and years of kitchen design in New York City. "Charleston is a unique market for SieMatic," Slowik said. "It's a modern city dressed in rich history. The challenge is to merge the two so clients can experience the quality and convenience of SieMatic products while retaining the traditional Southern charm."

The press release said displays at the showroom would "combine modern and classic SieMatic kitchen collections that speak to Charleston's contrasting historical and cosmopolitan moods." For example, one collection, BeauxArts, comes in "Magnolia White" and "Flannel Grey" and features a combination of traditional elements, including sliding stone doors, pilasters and other details, together with contemporary elements, such as modern countertops and steel detail.

SieMatic is currently available in more than 60 countries on five continents.

Brazile to speak March 20 at local women's history lunch

Democratic strategist and political commentator Donna Brazile will be in the Lowcountry March 20 to serve as the guest speaker at the Women's Resource Project's Third Annual Women's History Month Program and Luncheon.

Brazile

Brazile, who was campaign manager for Al Gore's 2000 presidential bid, is the first black woman to lead a major U.S. presidential campaign. She has worked on numerous national and state campaigns and is chairperson of the Democratic National Committee's Voting Rights Institute. She makes regular appearances on CNN as a political commentator and on ABC News as a political consultant. She is also the author of a political memoir, "Cooking with Grease: Stirring the Pots in American Politics," and is co-author of "What We Do Now."

The program and lunch will be held from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. in the Embassy Suites Convention Center Ballroom, 5055 International Blvd., North Charleston. Tickets are $35 and can be purchased by mailing a check payable to the Women's Resource Project to P.O. Box 30535, Charleston, SC, 29417. Requests must be received no later than March 10. Once purchased, tickets will be reserved at the door. For additional information, contact Barbara Gaithers at 722-6217.

The event is co-sponsored by the Center for Women, a nonprofit partner of CharlestonCurrents.com.

Three local authors nominated for SIBA Book Awards

Three Lowcountry writers have been nominated for book awards from the Southern Independent Booksellers Association (SIBA). The nominees are John Thompson for "Armageddon Conspiracy," Beth Webb Hart for "The Wedding Machine - A Southern Charmer" and Mary Alice Monroe for "Time is A River."

"This amazing showing by area authors exhibits the wealth of Lowcountry literary talent," said Marjory Wentworth, a Mount Pleasant resident and the state's poet laureate. Wentworth worked on the publicity for all three authors.

The local authors join an impressive slate of nominees that includes New York Times best sellers and Pulitzer Prize winners. Among the other nominees are Clyde Edgerton, Ron Rash, Rick Bragg and Maya Angelou.

Wayne Newton to appear at Fashion Week fundraiser for kids

Las Vegas entertainer Wayne Newton will be a special guest at Cat Walk for Kids, an MUSC Children's Hospital fundraiser to be held from 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. March 27 during Charleston Fashion Week. Celebrity designer Mary Norton and Saks Fifth Avenue are sponsoring the event, which also includes a luncheon prepared by Brett McKee of Oak Steakhouse.

Cat Walk for Kids will be held under the main runway tent at Marion Square. Mimosa cocktails will be available in the VIP Shopping Lounge, which will also feature experts from Saks Fifth Avenue showing off the latest makeup and fashion trends as well as new Mary Norton exclusive bag and shoe designs. Guests will have a chance to shop before and after lunch.

Tickets are $125 per person and are available at http://www.catwalkforkids.com.

Local SCE&G workers helping in Upstate after winter storms

More than 200 S.C. Electric & Gas employees and contract workers, including 80 from the Lowcountry, have spent this week in Upstate South Carolina helping Duke Energy crews restore power in the wake of last weekend's winter storms.

SCE&G said 209 linemen and support crew members left their home quarters on Monday and will stay in the Greenville/Spartanburg area until power is restored, which is expected to be by the end of this week.

In addition to the 80 Lowcountry employees helping out, approximately 52 crew members came from the Columbia area, while the rest were from other sections of the state.

REVIEW
Tell us what you're reading, eating, seeing

• HAVE A REVIEW? If you have a review of a book, movie, restaurant or local arts endeavor, please send no more than 150 words to editor Ann Thrash. Make sure to include your name and full contact information.

HISTORY SPOTLIGHT
John Minott Rivers

Born in Charleston on July 22, 1903, Rivers was the son of Moultrie Rutledge Rivers and Eliza Ingraham Buist. He graduated from the public and private schools of Charleston and attended the College of Charleston for two years. In 1924 he received an economics degree from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. On December 7, 1929, Rivers married Martha Robinson of Gastonia, North Carolina. They had three children.

After graduation Rivers was employed as a runner by the Bank of Charleston (later South Carolina National Bank). Later he became manager of SCNB's Greenville branch and then assistant vice president of SCNB. In 1936 he became vice president of the Charleston office of McAlister, Smith & Pate, a securities firm based in Greenville.

Rivers entered the broadcasting business two years later at the urging of W. Frank Hipp, president of Liberty Life Insurance Company, which operated radio stations in Columbia and Charleston. On January 1, 1938, Rivers became president of South Carolina Broadcasting Company, which operated WCSC radio at Charleston. In 1939 he was named president and manager. When Hipp died, his successors - two sons and their uncle - honored Hipp's unsigned memorandum allowing Rivers to buy the station if he made it successful. Rivers purchased the property for $144,000.

In 1948 Rivers began operation of an FM radio station. In June 1953 he put WCSC-TV, South Carolina's first VHF television station, on the air. He served as president and manager of the AM/FM radio stations and the TV property. Rivers's company, WCSC, Inc., eventually became involved in background music, long distance and cellular telephones, security systems, and other enterprises. In 1972 Rivers became chairman of the board of WCSC and turned over his other titles and the responsibilities of running the stations to his son, John M. Rivers Jr.

The elder Rivers served as president of the South Carolina Association of Broadcasters, which he helped found in 1952. In 1974 he became the second person to be inducted into the Broadcasters Hall of Fame. Rivers was inducted into the South Carolina Business Hall of Fame in 1997. One of Rivers's daughters, Martha R. Ingram, was also in the South Carolina and National Business Halls of Fame.

At thirty-three, Rivers was the youngest person ever to be elected president of the Charleston Chamber of Commerce. He served as chairman of the South Carolina Chamber of Commerce in 1969 and was named Businessman of the Year for 1966. Rivers was on the South Carolina Educational Television Commission from 1966 to 1982. In 1989 the College of Charleston's John M. Rivers Communications Museum was established through an endowment from the Rivers family. Rivers was active in the community through the St. Andrews Society, St. Philip's Church, and Ashley Hall School. He died on January 24, 1988, in Charleston.

-- Excerpted entry by Robert A. Pierce. To read more about this or 2,000 other entries about South Carolina, check out The South Carolina Encyclopedia by USC Press. (Information used by permission.)

CREDITS

CharlestonCurrents.com is provided to you twice a week by:

• Editor: Ann Thrash, 843.494.4468
  
• Publisher: Andy Brack, 843.670.3996
  
• Address: P.O. Box. 22261 | Charleston, SC 29413

© 2008-2009, Statehouse Report LLC. All rights reserved. CharlestonCurrents.com is published every Monday and Thursday by Statehouse Report LLC, PO Box 22261, Charleston, SC 29413.

THE LIST
Food + Wine Festival facts

The BB&T Charleston Food + Wine Festival will draw thousands of visitors to the Lowcountry this weekend. Here are five facts about visitors to last year's festival, according to an economic impact study conducted by the Office of Tourism Analysis at the College of Charleston.

• The festival's total economic impact was $2.21 million.
  
  
• Two out of every three guests reported making at least $100,000, with 25 percent having household income above $200,000.
  
  
• The festival generated $817,000 in local wages.
  
  
• The median age of visitors was 47.3 years.
  
  
• 15.2 percent of those surveyed had never been to Charleston before.

  Source: http://www.charlestonfoodandwine.com

QUOTE
On being late

Wooden

"You cannot live a perfect day without doing something for someone who will never be able to repay you."

-- Retired UCLA basketball coach John Wooden (1910 - )

CALENDAR: THIS WEEK

Kids and Global Education: Noon to 1 p.m. March 5, Memminger Media Center, 20 Beaufain St., Charleston. "What Can A Global Education Do For Your Child?" is a brown-bag lunch and open house at Memminger Global Studies, a University Partnership School, focusing on global education and how it prepares students for the future. Speaker: Amanda Weingarten, College of Charleston School of Languages, Culture and World Affairs. Tour of the school and overview of its plans for the 2009-10 school year will follow the discussion. More info: Principal Anthony Dixon, 724-7778.

BB&T Charleston Food + Wine Festival: March 5-8, various venues. The fourth annual festival highlights Charleston's distinctive restaurants, culinary history and cuisine while allowing guests to meet stars of the food world from around the nation, including chefs, authors, wine makers and pitmasters. Events include dinners, a gospel brunch, tastings of food and wine, cooking demonstrations (including a burger demonstration with Food Network star Bobby Flay) and more. MUSC's Children's Hospital is the signature charity for the festival. Details, tickets and more info: click here.

Local Food Block Party: 6 p.m. March 7, Ted's Butcherblock, 334 East Bay St., Charleston. Sponsored by Ted's and Lowcountry Local First, a Charleston nonprofit that promotes shopping local, the event features food, beer and wine from local and regional purveyors, along with live local music. Cost: $25 (includes a plate of food, beverage and samplings). A portion of the proceeds will benefit Lowcountry Local First's Sustainable Agriculture Initiative, which works to strengthen local farms and producers by creating partnerships with local restaurants, institutions and the community.

CALENDAR: ONGOING AND SOON

National Anthem Tryouts: 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. March 10, behind home plate at Joseph P. Riley Jr. Park. Charleston RiverDogs will hold tryouts for vocalists and instrumentalists who want to perform the "Star Spangled Banner" during the upcoming baseball season. More info: Lavon Alls, 723-7241.

Film Series on Jim Crow: 2 p.m. Tuesdays and Saturdays, March 10-April 4, Charleston Museum, 360 Meeting St. In conjunction with the exhibit "From Slave to Sharecropper: African Americans in the Lowcountry after the Civil War," the museum will host a four-part documentary film series, "The Rise and Fall of Jim Crow." The Peabody Award-winning documentary, offers a comprehensive look at race relations in America between the Civil War and the civil rights movement. Cost: Free with general museum admission of $10 for adults, $5 for children 3-12. For details on specific shows and schedules, call 722-2996 or go here online.

RiverDogs Job Fair: 9 a.m. to noon March 14, Joseph P. Riley Jr. Park. Apply for game-day working positions, including ushers, ticket-takers and Kidz Zone staff, with the RiverDogs, the Class-A affiliate of the New York Yankees. More info: Jake Terrell, 723-7241.

(NEW) Gibbes Community Day: 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. March 14, Gibbes Museum of Art, 135 Meeting St. Free admission and family activities, including art projects, music and beverages. Sponsored by the Junior League of Charleston. More info.

Gospel Choir Fundraising Concert: 5 p.m. March 14, Ashley River Baptist Church, 1101 Savannah Highway. The Charleston Symphony Orchestra's Gospel Choir, featuring new music director Sandra Barnhardt, will present African-American sacred songs. Tickets: $10 per person. Available at the Gaillard Auditorium Box Office (cash only), 77 Calhoun St., from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday, or at the church beginning one hour before the performance.

Photographing Your Baby: 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. March 15, Charleston Center for Photography, 654 King St., Suite D, Charleston. Portrait photographer Julia Lynn will lead this workshop, giving demonstrations and teaching students how to choose the right location for shooting, properly position the baby and get a great exposure every time. Aperture, shutter speed, ISO and lens selections will be discussed as well. Cost: $125. Register here.

Nature Photography Workshop: March 18-March 21. Through the Charleston Center for Photography, nature photographer Kenny McKeithan will lead a workshop called "Nature of the Lowcountry." Participants will travel around the greater Charleston area photographing various sites. Sessions include hands-on instruction for each student along with critiques. Cost: $300. Details/registration: http://www.ccforp.org or 577-0647.

Human-Resources Workshop: 7:30 a.m. to noon March 19, Charleston Metro Chamber of Commerce, 2750 Speissegger Drive, Suite 100, North Charleston. "Tough Economic Times Never Last, Resilient Companies Do!" is a human-resources workshop to teach businesses about organization design, proper and legal employment practices, new labor-related legislation and the impact of changes in government leadership. Cost: $95 for chamber members, $125 for nonmembers. Details/registration.

(NEW) Small Business Fair: 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. March 19, Charleston County Main Library, 68 Calhoun St. For owners of small businesses or those thinking of starting a business, the fair offers free workshops, an exhibition hall with vendors, tours of the library's business resource center, and professional counseling that focuses on low-cost ideas to help businesses run more efficiently and attract more income. More info: http://www.ccpl.org or send an e-mail to askaquestion@ccpl.org.

Penguins 'n' Pajamas Family Sleepover: 8 p.m. to 8 a.m. March 20, S.C. Aquarium, 100 Aquarium Wharf, Charleston. Sleep with the penguins at the aquarium on the night that the new Penguin Planet exhibit opens. Family sleepover will offer special chances to watch the penguins dive underwater, learn about penguin colonies and discover what makes them march. One adult required per two children attending the event. Reservations and advance payment required. Cost: $30 per member child, $40 per member adult; $40 and $50 for nonmember child and adult, respectively. Reservations: 577-3474. More info.

Mom to Mom Sale: 7 a.m. to 11 a.m. March 21, National Guard Armory, 245 Mathis Ferry Road, Mount Pleasant. Sponsored by three Mount Pleasant MOMS clubs (Moms Offering Moms Support), the sale will offer new and gently used children's, baby and maternity items from 80 different consigners. Ten percent of proceeds will go to Windwood Farms, a local group home for boys ages 5 to 16 who have been removed from their homes because of unstable family situations. Cost: $1 entry fee for sale. Details.

Walk for Water: 9 a.m. March 21, Cannon Park, downtown Charleston. Join Water Missions International for an educational, 3.5-mile walk inspired by the experience of women and children who are responsible for fetching water for their families every day. Walkers are encouraged to form teams and recruit as many supporters as possible. After the walk, enjoy refreshments and family-oriented activities and entertainment. More info.

Mount Pleasant Arts Festival: Noon to 4 p.m. March 21, Mount Pleasant Towne Centre. Festival is sponsored jointly by the town and Towne Centre to celebrate the arts in Mount Pleasant. Features live entertainment, performing arts, a juried art exhibit, Mount Pleasant Artists Guild entries, roving entertainment, games and activities for kids. Free admission and parking. More info: 884-8517.

Economic Outlook Conference: 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. March 26, Charleston Place Hotel. The Charleston Metro Chamber's Annual Economic Outlook Conference and Luncheon includes the 18- to 24-month forecast for the key economic sectors of the region. Keynote speaker Jeffrey M. Lacker, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, will present the views of the Federal Reserve on the state of the national recovery and the outlook for future economic conditions. Also speaking will be College of Charleston President P. George Benson, who will speak about the challenges facing South Carolina and our ability to compete in the global economy. Cost: $95 for Chamber members, $125 for nonmembers. Details/registration.

Pet Fest: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. March 28 and noon to 4 p.m. March 29, Palmetto Islands County Park, Mount Pleasant. Charleston County Parks and Recreation Commission's annual pet event expands to two days this year. Dock diving will be featured for the first time, along with past fest favorites such as Lowcountry Dog magazine's "cover model contest," a dog show, Frisbee dogs, a microchipping clinic and several dog contests. Cost: $5 or three Greenbax for adults, per day; free for kids age 12 or younger, leashed pets and Gold Passholders. More info or 795-4FUN.

(NEW) "Run Forrest Run 5K": 4:15 p.m. April 11, beginning at Joseph P. Riley Jr. Park. Sponsored by the Charleston RiverDogs, Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. and Coburg Dairy, the race is a fundraiser for the Storm Eye Institute at MUSC. The race finishes at home plate, where runners are greeted by the RiverDogs' players before the start of that evening's game against the Rome Braves. Registration: $25 if received by March 27 (includes T-shirt, one ticket to baseball game and post-race party with dinner from Bubba Gump's); $30 after March 27. Registration forms available at the RiverDogs Box Office at Riley Park, Bubba Gump Shrimp Co., The Extra Mile Running Shop and online at www.riverdogs.com or www.active.com.

ON THE BOOKSHELF

In this section, we offer a list of good reads that you might want to consider reading:

• A Short History of a Small Place, T.R. Pearson
• A Turn in the South, V.S. Naipaul
• The Book of Marie, Terry Kay
• Charleston Jazz, Jack McCray
• Going Deep: 20 Classic Sports Stories, Gary Smith (review)
• I'll Be Sober in the Morning: Great Comebacks, Putdowns, and Ripostes, Chris Lamb (List)
• Plain Speaking: An Oral Biography of Harry S. Truman, Merle Miller
  
  
• Suggest a book to us

FOCUS ARCHIVES

8/20: Yarian: New local music CD
8/17: Fisher: Uses of social media
8/13: Hall: Time for renovations
8/10: Morris: Dog days at Drayton
8/6: Lindbergh: Gifted school
8/3: Jackson: Insurance tips
7/30: VanBogart: Singles
7/27: Stewart: Get it clean
7/23: Rosenberg: Elect women
7/20: Nathan: Turtle release
7/16: Johnson: Online school
7/13: Thiers: Protect skin
7/9: Lee: Scoring supplies
7/2: Shockley: Company wellness
6/29: McKenzie: Park opening
6/25: Jones: Cheer on US rugby
6/22: McGahey: Young pros
6/18: Ridder: Dress for Success
6/15: Bender: Patriots Point
6/11: Gerardi: Furry Affair
6/8: Arnoldi: Reducing stress
6/4: Mathos: Field to Families
6/1: Moniz: Book burning event

• More of Focus in the archives

THRASH ARCHIVES

8/20: Good, bad, spineless
8/13: Locals on Runway
8/6: Cookie contest
7/30: Vote on car tags
7/23: True confessions
7/16: New way of tithing?
7/9: Lookout for manatees
6/29: Big green bus here
6/18: New Mt. P. promo
6/11: WDAV at Spoleto
6/4: Protecting your computer
5/28: Thoughts on hurricanes
5/21: Special weekend at home
5/14: Zucchini pie
5/7: Charleston cookie contest
4/30: Age spots
4/23: Mt. P. Farmers Market
4/16: Charleston library honored
4/9: First vegetable garden
4/2: Markets, mushrooms
3/26: Feeding the need
3/19: Waddling in
3/12: Great Food + Wine Festival
3/5: Provocative poem
2/26: Seeking colorful birds
2/19: Grab-bag of thoughts
2/12: The candy map
2/5: Shem Creek park input
1/29: Controversy over fireworks
1/22: Talking about oysters
1/15: Help bald eagles thrive
1/8/09: Local man moves up in contest

• More Thrash in the archives

BRACK ARCHIVES

8/17: RIP to old clunker
8/10: Lots to squeeze in
8/3: On flying Delta
7/27: Conspiracy theories
7/20: Protect carriage animals
7/13: Economic thaw here?
6/25: Sanford shouldn't resign
6/22: Lots of questions
6/15: Mosquitoes, water park
6/8: Think big
6/1: On public television
5/25: Shorten the session
5/18: A last supper
5/11: Legislature: do something
5/4: Spring is in the air
4/27: Mortgage discrimination
4/20: Carriage regs
4/6: Fun at the ballpark
3/30: Southern tour
3/23: Cultural appreciation
3/16: Hodges leaves great legacy
3/9: Being positive about economy
3/2: Remember rural areas
2/23: Looks at three books
2/16: What tourists see
2/9: PDAs, Phelps, layoffs
2/2: Whales vs. Dolphins
1/26: Dear Ellie ...
1/19: Lift hood on "reform" efforts
1/12: Truman book is great pleasure
1/5/09: Manning band is inspiring

• More Brack in the archives

LIST ARCHIVES

8/20: You know you're from...
8/17: On the school menu
8/13: Wines for grilling
8/10: First Day Fest facts
8/6: Sales tax holiday
8/3: Twittering tips
7/30: Fall planting
7/27: 5 for teens
7/23: Consignments
7/20: Beach reads
7/16: Save the books
7/13: Hot plants
7/9: Staying cool
7/2: Old Exchange 5
6/29: Historic house
6/25: Mosquito list
6/22: Hot stuff
6/18: Five to bid on
6/15: Last of Spoleto
6/11: Fun in the sun
6/8: Enviro-minded
6/4: Out go the lights
6/1: 5 on duck race

• More Lists in the archives

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