|
TODAY'S
FOCUS
Food
drive, more added to Fourth of July Blast at Patriots
By ELIZABETH BENDER
Patriots Point Naval & Maritime Museum
Special to CharlestonCurrents.com
Bender |
JUNE
15, 2009 -- Patriots Point Naval & Maritime Museum and the Town
of Mount Pleasant will host their 13th Annual Fourth of July Blast
this Independence Day, and it's an event I would recommend not missing.
Put on to generate patriotism and pride in the community, the festival
will feature not only traditional fireworks but also activities
geared towards celebrating liberty and freedom.
The
festival will be held landside at Patriots Point from 4 p.m. to
midnight. Attendees will experience an action-packed evening with
live music on two stages featuring the East Coast Party Band and
Threshold, as well as a "Kidz Zone" play area featuring
eight attractions, including an 83-foot inflatable replica of an
aircraft carrier and a 40-foot giant Ferris wheel. In between activities,
guests can indulge themselves in the tasty food village and beverage
garden featuring all their favorite festival treats.
|
Folks of all ages visited Patriots Point and the Yorktown
last year for the Fourth of July Blast, which The New York
Times named one of the nation's "Top 5 Independence
Day Celebrations." (Photo provided by Patriots Point.)
|
In
addition to the landside festival, I would recommend climbing aboard
the USS Yorktown to see and hear heroic stories of patriotism, honor
and valor. Special admission to the Naval & Maritime Museum
will be only $5 after 5 p.m. (for those over the age of 5). Speak
with the volunteers who are veterans of World War II, Korea, Vietnam
and Iraq, and who excite in sharing their tales of honor and triumph.
To
cap off your night of fun, at 10 p.m. you can ooh-and-ahh at the
spectacular fireworks show that will be blasted from the deck of
the USS Yorktown out over Charleston Harbor. Set to songs of liberty,
the show promises to live up to its reputation as one of the nation's
Top 5 Independence Day Celebrations, as recognized by The New York
Times.
The
best part of the festival is that it is offered to the public free
of charge and with free parking. Leave your personal coolers and
pets at home, but bring the kids, strollers, tailgate chairs, blankets
and cameras. Parking is always a challenge, so arrive early. You
can park along Patriots Point Road and the new Harry Hallman Boulevard.
I would recommend parking in the new Memorial Waterfront Park, as
there will be a complimentary parking shuttle that runs over to
Patriots Point Road all night long.
As a neat new feature this year, Patriots Point is asking attendees
to help give back to the community by participating in the Piggly
Wiggly canned food drive. Everyone is asked to bring a Pig-brand
canned good to help benefit local charities such as the Lowcountry
Food Bank, East Cooper Community Outreach and the Good Neighbor
Center.
 |
Additionally
new, this year's Fourth of July Blast will honor a very special
unit stationed in Taji, Iraq. Three of Charleston's own belong to
the unit, which is scheduled to stay in Iraq until September. Festival
attendees will have the opportunity to record personal messages
that will be sent over to the 856th Engineer Company in a special
Independence Day care package.
At
Patriots Point, Independence Day is considered a time to look beyond
the everyday and consider the incredible hardships and courage that
American men and women have endured in order for this country to
be free. Freedom is not free, and Patriots Point lives and breathes
the stories of the glory and triumph that have made this country
great.
There
is no better way to spend the Fourth this year then with your family
at a truly patriotic place like Patriots Point. It's guaranteed
to be a memorable night.
Elizabeth
Bender works in marketing and communications at Patriots Point Naval
& Maritime Museum.
CURRENTS
From mosquitoes
to water parks to Good Samaritans
By
ANDY BRACK, publisher
JUNE
15, 2009 - If going outside for you is like it is around our house,
you again find yourself in a war with mosquitoes.
Brack |
After
all of the rain of the recent days, mosquitoes seem to be scurrying
around looking for flesh in more new ways than folks in the skin
trade. So the question I've got is: What do you do to deter or kill
mosquitoes in your yard? (We know the county sprays and does a pretty
good job with its mosquito eradication program, but it can't kill
all of the little buggers.)
Some
folks say propane-fueled mosquito killers work pretty well, but
they're pretty expensive. And they're not the best thing in the
world for the environment because they use a lot of propane over
the course of a summer - just to kill mosquitoes.
Others
claim CO2-based mosquito machines are pretty good too, but again,
they've got a problem with the high cost.
I've
been reading some about something called "Mosquito Barrier,"
which apparently is a concentrated garlic solution that is sprayed
on foliage and plants around a yard. It purportedly works well for
about three weeks before re-application is needed. It doesn't cost
nearly as dearly - about $23 per quart.
Over
the years, I've also heard from people who say not to worry about
treating their yards - that you should treat your insides by eating
garlic and drinking a teaspoon of vinegar a day (to make your blood
less sweet?). But I don't know if these are much more than old wives'
tales.
So
what's your recommendation
for getting rid of mosquitoes after you've done the expected things
like getting rid of standing water in the yard, etc.?
*
* *
Last
week while on vacation at St. Simons Island on the Georgia coast,
we thrilled at the new Neptune Park Fun Zone, a renovated pool/water
park near the village pier. The $2 million project, which replaced
the old Casino racing pool that I competed in as a boy in the Golden
Isles swim meet, just opened three weeks ago.
Neptune
Park Fun Zone |
According
to Assistant County Administrator Paul Christian, who happened to
be at the pool Friday, business is going gangbusters. Already, the
pool has generated $100,000 in gate receipts ($7 per person admission)
and the county has sold about 3,000 annual family passes ($110 a
year). It won't be long before the new park has paid for itself.
What
we liked about the park was the special one-foot pool filled with
neat things for the kids to do - water cannons, two kinds of slides,
lots of water spraying devices and much more. Next to this area
was an L-shaped pool that included some racing lanes, but had a
larger area that was kind of a ceramic beach - you could walk into
it and get up to your chin in water. Our children were thrilled
to splash and play - and it wore them out so that they slept well
at night.
More
than anything, the obvious success of this great water park made
me appreciate the three parks run by Charleston County - Splash
Island in Mount Pleasant, Splash Zone on James Island and Whirlin'
Waters in North Charleston. But it made me wonder why the City of
Charleston hasn't done anything like this downtown or in West Ashley.
*
* *
A
tip of the hat finishes today's thoughts. It was heartening on Saturday
to find three different folks stop to help after we shredded a tire
on U.S. Highway 17 South near the Edisto Island turnoff. Thanks
to our good Samaritans - and thanks also for defying conventional
wisdom about how people don't stop to help strangers any more.
Andy
Brack, publisher of CharlestonCurrents.com, can be reached at: publisher@charlestoncurrents.com.
FEEDBACK
Vent:
Send us your thoughts on community issues
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
Maybank
Industries
The
public spiritedness of our underwriters allows us to bring CharlestonCurrents
to you at no cost. This issue's featured underwriter is Maybank
Industries, LLC of Charleston, SC. With broad experience in
commercial and government operations, Maybank Industries applies
deep-rooted commitment to teamwork, reliability and personal service
to provide innovative business solutions for project development,
information technology, logistics, vessel design, shipping agency
services and marine terminal operations, both locally and internationally.
Maybank Industries applies a powerful blend of professional expertise
to research, analyze and develop tailored solutions with thorough
plans of action, combining a heavy dose of common sense to solve
today's needs that can adapt to changing or evolving requirements.
More: Maybank
Industries and Maybank
Systems.
- To learn
more about all of our underwriters and nonprofit partners, click
here.
GOOD
NEWS
County
to begin posting spending details online
Charleston
County officials have begun posting the county's monthly accounts
payable transactions online for the public to view. The report includes
payments of more than $100, and it will be updated monthly.
The
report lists the vendor name; invoice date; description of the transaction;
the department or office responsible for the transaction; the budgetary
account used to pay for the transaction; the check amount; and the
date the check was issued. It does not include information protected
by the S.C. Freedom of Information Act and the federal Health Insurance
Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).
To
view the May 2009 expenditure report online, go to the county's
Financial Reports page, which also includes the county's approved
budgets, Comprehensive Annual Financial Reports, and millage info
by fiscal year.
State,
national agencies to offer free grants workshop
A
handful of state and national agencies are combining forces to offer
a free grants-writing workshop for staff and volunteers of all cultural
and nonprofit groups in South Carolina. The workshop will take place
form 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. July 14 at the I.P. Stanback Museum and
Planetarium at S.C. State University in Orangeburg.
The
Humanities CouncilSC, in partnership with SCSU, the S.C. Federation
of Museums, the McKissick Museum, the S.C. Arts Commission, the
S.C. Department of Archives and History, and the National Trust
for Historic Preservation, are sponsoring the program. Staff members,
officers and board members of those agencies will lead participants
in a general overview of writing grants and will also highlight
local and federal funding opportunities for cultural projects. Participants
are encouraged to bring their drafts of grant applications so the
experts can offer feedback.
Although
the workshop is free, registration in advance is required. To sign
up, go
here online or contact T.J. Wallace at 803-771-2477 or tjwallace@schumanities.org.
'Stone's
Throw' dinner to benefit Ronald McDonald House
There's
a lot of wonderful seafood and produce within a stone's throw of
Kiawah Island, and those foods will be celebrated at a special "Stone's
Throw Dinner" June 18 to benefit the Ronald McDonald House.
The dinner will be held June 18 at the Jasmine Porch restaurant
in The Sanctuary at Kiawah Island and is the first in a new quarterly
series of Stone's Throw dinners, part of the seasonal Taste of the
Lowcountry dinners at the resort.
The
four-course meal will feature ingredients procured within 100 miles
of Kiawah Island, including producers such as Joe Fields Farm, Rosebank
Farms and Jeremiah Goat Farms, all on Johns Island; Cherry Point
Seafood and the Tea Plantation on Wadmalaw Island; Captain Hatts
Shrimp in McClellanville; MiBek Beef in Barnwell; Caw Caw Creek
in St. Matthews; Anson Mills in Columbia; and the restaurant's own
garden at Kiawah. A Greenville brewery, Thomas Creek, will provide
beer to pair with each course.
The reception and dinner, including beer and live music, is $70
per person (not including taxes and gratuity). The reception begins
at 6:30 p.m. and dinner follows at 7 in the Jasmine Porch garden.
For menu specifics or reservations, call 768-6253.
Old
televisions can be recycled; county offers details
Television
networks have thoroughly covered the big switch to digital television,
but very little attention has been given to how to recycle old TVs
that can't or won't be upgraded. Charleston County officials answered
the call late last week by providing the following advice to consumers:
"Residents
are encouraged to properly dispose of old or used electronics by
taking them to one of Charleston County's eight Convenience Centers
for recycling. It is important to recycle electronics rather than
throwing them away because they often contain valuable resources
such as precious metals (gold or silver), more common metals (aluminum
and copper) and engineered plastics. Recycling electronics helps
to recover the materials (although they are valuable, they can be
harmful to the environment) and also conserve landfill space."
Drop-off
locations for electronics recycling in Charleston County are:
- Adams
Run: 8326 Old Jacksonboro Road.
- Awendaw:
6380 Maxville Road.
- Bees
Ferry (West Ashley): 1344 Bees Ferry Road.
- Downtown
Charleston: Recycling Center, 13 Romney Street.
- Edisto
Island: 2844 Highway 174.
- Hollywood:
5305 Highway 165.
- McClellanville:
1775 River Road.
- Wadmalaw
Island: 1558 Liberia Road.
For
more information or operation hours, which vary by facility, call
720-7111 or visit http://recycle.charlestoncounty.org.
REVIEW
Send
us your recommendations
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
M.C.
Mordecai (1804-1888)
Merchant,
shipowner, legislator and civic leader Moses Cohen Mordecai was
Charleston's most prominent Jewish citizen in the decades before
the Civil War. Born on February 19, 1804, in Charleston, he was
the son of David Mordecai and Reinah Cohen. Although he possessed
little formal education, Mordecai became a leading business and
civic figure in antebellum Charleston. His firm, Mordecai &
Company, was among the city's most prominent importers and shipowners,
conducting an extensive trade in fruit, sugar, coffee, and tobacco
from the West Indies. He later operated a steamship line between
Charleston and Havana, Cuba.
His
influence and leadership carried into a wide variety of political
and civic activities as well. He represented Charleston in the General
Assembly in the state House (1844-1845) and state Senate (1854-1857);
was a director of the Southwestern Railroad Bank (1840-1852), the
Charleston Gas Light Company (1848-1856), the South Carolina Insurance
Company (1849-1857), and the Farmers' and Exchange Bank of Charleston
(1854-1859); and sat on numerous additional boards and committees.
…
Mordecai's
house on Meeting Street in Charleston |
Mordecai
lived in a mansion on Meeting Street near St. Michael's Church with
his wife, Isabel Lyons, whom he had married on February 20, 1828.
They had eight children. Active in the affairs of Beth Elohim Synagogue,
Mordecai favored the installation of an organ in the building's
new sanctuary, thus siding with the reform faction of the congregation.
He served as president of Beth Elohim from 1857 to 1861.
Together
with Ker Boyce and B.C. Pressley, in 1851 Mordecai helped launch
the Southern Standard (later the Charleston Standard), a Unionist
newspaper that rejected separate state secession and promoted cooperation
in political affairs among the southern states. Once South Carolina
seceded from the Union, however, Mordecai supported the Confederate
cause. His steamer, the Isabel, transferred U.S. Army Major Robert
Anderson and his command from Fort Sumter to the Union fleet following
the opening bombardment of the Civil War. Named for Mordecai's wife,
the Isabel became a famous blockade-runner during the war.
In
February 1865 the Columbia City Council appointed Mordecai "food
administrator" to furnish sustenance to its starving citizens.
Later that year he and twenty other community leaders were authorized
to discuss South Carolina's return to the Union with President Andrew
Johnson. Broken by the war, Mordecai moved to Baltimore, where he
re-established Mordecai & Company and operated a steamship line
between Baltimore and Charleston. Although he lived the remainder
of his years in Maryland, Mordecai nevertheless remained a benefactor
to his native state. In 1870 he arranged for his company to bring
home the bodies of eighty-four South Carolinians killed at the Battle
of Gettysburg, at no cost to their families. Blind for the last
eighteen years of his life, Mordecai died in Baltimore on December
30, 1888.
-- Excerpted
from the entry by Dale Rosengarten. 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.)
SISTER
PUBLICATIONS
We
encourage you to check out our sister publications:
|
SC
Statehouse Report --
a weekly legislative forecast that keeps you a step ahead
of what happens at the Statehouse. It's free.
SC
Clips -- a
daily news compilation of South Carolina news from media sources
across the state. Delivered by email about the time you get
to work every business day. Saves you a lot of money and time.
Sign up for a free
trial subscription today.
|
Georgia
Clips offers a similar daily news compilation for
the scores of newspapers in Georgia's 159 counties.
GwinnettForum
-- an online community commentary for exploring pragmatic
and sensible social, political and economic approaches to
improve life in Gwinnett County, Ga. USA.
|
CREDITS
CharlestonCurrents.com
is provided to you twice a week by:
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
Last look
at Spoleto
Five post-fest
facts about the 2009 Spoleto Festival:
- Audience
members hailed from all 50 states and 22 countries.
- The May
2009 issue of Smithsonian magazine, in its "Highlights and
Hotspots," ranked the festival No. 1 in America.
- Ticket sales
came in at $2.245 million, exceeding the festival's goal and helping
the organization finish the season with a "modest" financial
surplus.
- The festival
featured 125 performances.
- Stories
about Charleston and the festival appeared in such far-flung locales
as Cartagena, Colombia; London; and Reykjavik, Iceland.
QUOTE
Advice
for managers
Stengel |
"The key
to being a good manager is keeping the people who hate me away from
those who are still undecided."
-- Major
League Baseball manager Casey Stengel (1890-1975)
CALENDAR:
THIS WEEK
CYP
Leaders Breakfast: 7:30 a.m. to 9 a.m. June 18, Charleston
Marriott, 170 Lockwood Blvd. The Charleston Young Professionals
group (CYP) is sponsoring the breakfast give young professionals
the opportunity to meet with key leaders in the community who are
making an impact. The breakfast allows access and networking with
local business leaders that young professionals might not otherwise
have the chance to meet. CYP is open to ages 22 to 39. The cost
to attend the breakfast is $15 for CYP members, $25 for nonmembers.
Register
online.
(NEW)
Dress for Success Benefit: 5:30 p.m. June 18,
Rooftop Bar at the Vendue Inn. A "Little Black Dress Party"
will be held to benefit Dress for Success, a nonprofit that provides
women with the professional attire needed to thrive in the workplace.
Women who arrive wearing a black dress will receive a free martini,
and those who donate an item of clothing will be entered into a
raffle to win a new dress from Utopia, courtesy of The Rooftop Bar
and Vendue Inn. Live music by Meeting Reid. Full bar menu available.
All donations benefit Dress for Success.
Scouts
Day at Whirlin’ Waters: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. June 20,
Whirlin’ Waters Adventure Waterpark at Wannamaker County Park,
8888 University Blvd., North Charleston. Special admission of $12.99
for all Scouts (Girl, Boy, Cub and Brownie) and their family members. Take
part in the Playing It Safe program with the Leave No Trace Center
for Outdoor Ethics to learn the seven principles of the Leave No
Trace approach. Training begins at 11 a.m. and each paid participant
will be able to earn the Playing It Safe patch (patches are $2 each
and must be ordered in advance). Lunch on your own in the park,
or reserve a place by June 12 for a catered lunch ($6 for a hamburger
or hot dog, chips, brownie and lemonade). Registration for Scouts
Day must be made in advance by June 19. Go online
for more or call Beth Kempton at 762-8042.
CALENDAR:
ONGOING AND SOON
(NEW)
Managing Health Care Costs: 7:30 a.m. to 9 a.m. June
24, Charleston Metro Chamber of Commerce, 2750 Speissegger Drive,
Suite 100, North Charleston. Sponsored by the chamber's Charleston
Area Business Council, the workshop will show employers how to ensure
that they are not paying more than they need to in order to cover
their employees. Topics will cover what to do when you can't afford
to provide health care coverage and tips from small business on
how to manage costs. Cost: $15 chamber members, $30 nonmembers.
Register
online.
Charleston
Harbor Fest: June 26-28, Maritime Center complex, downtown
Charleston. Free festival featuring tall ships open for touring,
maritime arts and crafts, an "Old Charlestowne" living
history camp, wooden boat displays, free sailing, air shows, live
music, food and, at Patriots Point in Mount Pleasant, a "Harborpalooza."
Schedules/more
info.
Farm
to Plate Picnic: 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. June 28, Thackeray
Farms, 1364 Harts Bluff Road, Wadmalaw Island. Picnic is a fundraiser
for Slow Food Charleston's Organic Garden Project at Sanders-Clyde
Elementary School. Guests should bring their own picnic dinner,
beverages and a blanket. Slow Food will host an "American Pie
Auction" featuring homemade pies that will be sold to the highest
bidder. Farm tours, live bluegrass and a book signing by local author
Holly Herrick are also planned, with a portion of book sales benefitting
Slow Food Charleston. Tickets: $10 for Slow Food members, $20 for
nonmembers. More info: 225-4307 or by
email.
Archaeology
of Charleston's Colonial Fortifications: 6:30 p.m. June 30,
Charleston County Main Library, 68 Calhoun St. Members of the Mayor's
Walled City Task Force will review the findings from the recent
dig on East Bay Street. See images and artifacts and hear about
the latest discoveries of Charleston's early waterfront fortifications.
More info: 805-6930.
Fourth
of July Blast: 4 p.m. to midnight July 4, Patriots Point
Naval & Maritime Museum. Hosted by Patriots Point and the Town
of Mount Pleasant, the 13th Annual Fourth of July Blast is a free
event with live music, a play area for kids, a 40-foot Ferris wheel,
food, drinks and more. Fireworks show over the harbor begins at
10:05 p.m. and will be set to patriotic music. Admission to the
Yorktown will be reduced to $5 after 5 p.m. Festival-goers are asked
to bring a canned food item to benefit local charities.
People
of the Land Exhibit: Through July 15, Charleston County
Main Library, 68 Calhoun St. The work of Lowcountry native and documentary
photographer Vennie Deas Moore will be featured. Moore has devoted
much of her career to exploring the vanishing traditions along the
S.C. coast, and her photographs show the connections between cultures,
the value of work and the symbiotic relationship between the black
and white communities. On June 28 from 2:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m., Moore
will discuss her photographs and her new book, "Home: Portraits
from the Carolina Coast." More info: 805-6930.
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
- The
Book of Marie, Terry Kay
- Charleston
Jazz, Jack McCray
- 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
9/3:
Deaton:
Thrive Prize
8/31: Rawl:
Charting courses
8/27: Jurcova-Spencer:
Creatives
8/24: Brooks:
Rural Mission
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
THRASH
ARCHIVES
9/3:
Cold
comfort, more
8/27: Being
a fan
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
BRACK
ARCHIVES
8/31:
This
and that
8/24: SC's
treasures
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?
LIST
ARCHIVES
9/3:
Free
legal clinics
8/31: CofC
Class of 2013
8/27: Citadel
Class of 2013
8/24: 7
stores, 7 days
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
|
