PUNK TREE. Just look at the bad haircut suffered by this formerly majestic oak along St. Andrews Boulevard near Sheldon Road. Crews backed by SCE&G have been butchering trees to protect power lines. While the company maintains the work has to be done and claims its crews follow national standards, it seems like the tree crews are a little overzealous in the way they scar local landscapes. If you want to learn more or how to complain, click here. (Photo by Cynthia Bledsoe, West Ashley.)

Issue 4.27 | Monday, May 7, 2012
Stop the tree butchery

TODAY'S FOCUS
:: Why Madagascar?

CURRENTS
:: Clinton, others' advice to grads

THE LIST
:: Buzz about B foods

FOOD & DRINK
:: Helping your "mom" cook anew

GOOD NEWS
:: Rotary scholars, Garden day, worms

HISTORY
:: Old Sheldon Church

ALSO INSIDE

:: FEEDBACK: About cutting cable

:: SPOTLIGHT: SCRA

:: CALENDAR: This week ... and next

:: QUOTE: Big difference

:: BROADUS: Honor guard

UNDERWRITERS/PARTNERS

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Why Madagascar?
By KEVIN MILLS
President/CEO of the S.C. Aquarium
Exclusive to Charleston Currents

MAY 7, 2012 -- That's a question posed to me in one form or another since the Aquarium announced a year ago that it's next changing exhibit would be focused on this remote, exotic island off the southeast coast of Africa. Madagascar Journey opened to the public on Saturday.

Mills

For 12 years, the Aquarium's central storyline has adhered to the rich habitats and species of South Carolina, literally "from the mountains to the sea." The astonishing diversity of wildlife found in our own backyard, our rivers and streams and salt marshes, and just off our coast, is almost unparalleled. It's a place we're proud to call home.

So why Madagascar -- about as far away as you can get from Charleston before heading back again?

The short answer is simple. Madagascar is also a remarkably diverse place, and the environmental pressures found there are remarkably similar to those once found here. Deforestation, unabated agriculture, and industrial pollution are all factors that threaten wildlife. The good news is that increased awareness of sound conservation practices and policies in South Carolina has resulted in a more promising future here. Madagascar is not so fortunate.

Unequalled in biodiversity, Madagascar is one of the world's top conservation priorities. Nearly 70 percent of the 250,000 species found there exist nowhere else on the planet. Madagascar is the world's fourth largest island, carved away from the African mainland millions of years ago. Humans did not arrive until 1,500 to perhaps 2,000 years ago, resulting in an astonishingly diverse and pristine environment.

Thanks to the popularity of the DreamWorks animated Madagascar films, lemurs are probably the best known animals from Madagascar. Lemurs are a type of "pre-primate" separate from the better-known anthropoid primates like monkeys, apes and humans. There are more than 100 species of lemurs, ranging in size from a little more than one ounce to 20 pounds (although a gorilla-sized lemur roamed Madagascar once upon a time, until humans arrived).

Four ring-tailed lemurs are at the heart of the Madagascar Journey exhibit. A father and three sons, these lemurs are well adapted to humans and intensely social and curious. When not clambering on a series of rope vines, they are often found grooming each other with detailed care and affection. They also are not shy about coming to the glass and extending an outstretched hand. Visiting children (and as it proves, some adults) will enjoy crawling through a tunnel into a pop-up acrylic bubble in the middle of the exhibit for a closer look.

This family of lemurs comes to us not direct from Madagascar but by way of the Duke Lemur Center at Duke University. Duke has been on the ground in Madagascar for more than four decades, helping to conserve and catalog its endangered species. The Duke Lemur Center provides non-invasive research on a diverse range of topics including genomics, behavior and ecology.

The ring-tailed lemur's tail is longer than its body.

The South Carolina Aquarium is proud to partner with Duke on an exciting new initiative in the SAVA region of northeastern Madagascar. This is the last remaining unspoiled frontier on this impoverished island, but it too is in dire danger of immediate destruction from illegal logging interests. Working with Duke, we will be crafting compelling educational messages and teaching aids to help Malagasy teachers - the most highly respected members of the local villages -- teach and engage children on the importance of their environment and the animals that dwell there.

We hope our schoolchildren, families and tourists will walk away from Madagascar Journey with a similar sense of appreciation for wildlife and wild places. Madagascar Journey is the single largest new exhibit since the Aquarium opened, and it is rich with fun experiences like an interactive jeep, and teeming with exotic species from hissing cockroaches to a Nile crocodile.

In the end, the question "Why Madagascar?" is perhaps best answered: Because Madagascar needs us.

Kevin Mills is president and CEO of the S.C. Aquarium.

Clinton, speakers to grads: Don't be afraid to fail
By ANDY BRACK, publisher

MAY 7, 2012 -- It's the season for graduation speeches and former President Bill Clinton gave a good one Saturday to the 235 graduates of Columbia College in our capital city. (Watch the speech.)

Brack

He started, in typical engaging Clinton style, with a story. He bet the graduates that they wouldn't remember much about the speaker because of so many other things that were going on that day. But he added that he remembered the whole commencement address of the Washington, D.C., mayor who spoke at his graduation from Georgetown in 1968 as a huge storm cloud threatened to deluge the ceremony.

"He said, 'If we don't get out of here right now, we're going to drown. If you want to get a copy of my prepared remarks, you write me and I'll send them to you. Good luck.'"

And that was the mayor's speech. "I'd give anything if you could remember my talk that well," Clinton added as the audience chuckled.

Clinton told the audience that they already had been given good advice throughout their education.

"Thomas Jefferson, when he was helping to pen our founding documents, said that we are all endowed by our creator with inalienable rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness -- not with the right of happiness, but the pursuit of happiness. Turns out the joy is in the pursuit. And the real personal value of a university diploma is that it gives you more choices and more power to follow your heart as well as your mind.

"It's been my experience in life that most people are happiest when they do what they're best at. But the importance is to do what you wish most deeply to do, because then it doesn't feel like work. People tell me all of the time that I'm working too hard, but I don't work but an hour a day because I like what I'm doing."

Clinton voiced serious topics, such as encouraging graduates to engage in "creative cooperation" in our modern society in which we often overlook others. He said graduates should understand they're not right -- or wrong -- all of the time and that they can learn from others by listening and paying attention.

"Even a broken clock is right two times a day," he said.

Clinton related that he had a habit of attending his high school and college reunions every five years -- and the 50th high school reunion was coming up. The people who seemed to be happiest, he said, were the ones who didn't live "failure-free lives."

"The ones who are happiest are the ones who just kept getting off the map and pursuing their dreams and going on.... The ones who are saddest are not the ones who failed, but the ones who didn't try. You have the power to try with this degree and you have the responsibility to use it."

This theme -- of not being afraid to fail -- seems to be a common thread in commencement addresses.

U.S. Rep. Tim Scott, speaker at Charleston Southern University's Saturday graduation, noted: "Sometimes life is going to get you on the blind side. You have to learn to fail forward." He urged them to make the most of unexpected challenges.

Other examples that echo the advice of Clinton and Scott can be found through a simple Internet search.

Listen, for example, to the words of director and movie producer Jerry Zucker (not the late Charleston businessman) in a 2003 speech at the University of Wisconsin:

"Ask yourself one question: If I didn't have to do it perfectly, what would I try? ... It doesn't matter that your dream came true if you spent your whole life sleeping. So get out there and go for it, but don't be caught waiting. It's great to plan for your future. Just don't live there, because really nothing ever happens in the future. Whatever happens, happens now, so live your life where the action is - now."

One of the most famous graduation speeches is a 2006 address by Charleston's Stephen Colbert at Knox College. He focuses on responsibility in between the jokes:

"I have two last pieces of advice. First, being pre-approved for a credit card does not mean you have to apply for it. And lastly, the best career advice I can give you is to get your own TV show. It pays well, the hours are good, and you are famous."

Just last year, comedian Conan O'Brien gave a humdinger at Dartmouth College when he observed, "Whether you fear it or not, disappointment will come. The beauty is that through disappointment you can gain clarity; and with clarity comes conviction and true originality."

Congratulations to area college and high school graduates. Live life fully ... and prosper.

Andy Brack is publisher of Charleston Currents and Statehouse Report. He can be reached at: publisher@charlestoncurrents.com

On cutting the cord

My letter is actually in regards to Andy Brack's Grand media experiments start this week. I kicked the cable television habit last year and use Netflix. Love the cost savings. I miss some of the news stories on television yet catch them online. My most missed are HGTV and the cooking shows.

I am researching to find a less expensive way to access wireless Internet on my laptop. Please share if you have ideas. Regarding The Post and Courier charging: Enjoy reading it online daily, yet refuse to pay for it. So I will join the rest and see how this pans out.

I enjoy Charlestoncurrents.com, appreciate the diversity in articles, and hope you don't join Post and Courier in media experiments that would include limiting online content to non-paying subscribers.

-- Anita Antoinette, North Charleston, SC

Editor's note: Don't worry, we won't start charging for content!

More cable comments via Facebook

We got several Facebook comments on publisher Andy Brack's commentary about cutting off cable in his home.

A West Ashley woman wrote: "I haven't ever had cable TV. It can be done!" Another added that her family hadn't had cable for years. "We use Netflix and we have an antenna in our attic which gets us all the major networks, including several PBS stations."

A colleague in Rhode Island wrote that his family had no cable until he and his wife had children and they discovered the magic of DVR. An Arkansas friend remembered how her father cut the TV plug off of the TV in the 1960s. And a California college classmate said her family had been without cable for a decade because now, "everything you need is online."

• Big winner: We welcome your posts and letters. Hats off to Michael Kaynard for winning tickets for his April letter on tree-trimming by the power company. From now until August, the best signed letter of the month will win four box seat tickets to a baseball game featuring our own RiverDogs. Just drop us a line and you're automatically entered into our ticket giveaway. So, what's on your mind? So drop us a line and tell us what's on your mind or what's bothering you? Or send us other thoughts. We love getting input from you. If you have an opinion you'd like to share (150 words or less), send your letters to: editor@charlestoncurrents.com. We look forward to hearing from you!

SCRA

The public spiritedness of our underwriters allows us to bring Charleston Currents to you at no cost. In this issue, we shine the spotlight on SCRA, a global leader in applied research and commercialization services with its headquarters in North Charleston. SCRA collaborates to advance technology, providing technology-based solutions with assured outcomes to industry and government, with the help of research universities in South Carolina, the U.S. and around the world. Managing more than 100 national and international programs worth over $1.3B in applied R&D contract value, SCRA has a results-based management approach that assures delivery of technology solutions to complex client challenges. Learn more here.

Teaching your "mom" a thing or two about cooking
By ANN THRASH, contributing editor

MAY 7, 2012 -- Happy Mother's Day (a few days early) to all our Charleston Currents moms. Whether your mother taught you how to cook, as mine did, or taught you how not to cook -- perhaps she was the queen of the TV dinner -- she surely had a role in your earliest ideas about food and cooking.

I'm blessed to still have my mother and first cooking teacher, Edith Mitchell, going strong. Now in her 80s, she doesn't cook as much as she used to, but her culinary gifts keep on giving -- I use her tips and tricks in my kitchen almost every day. As just one example, she taught me to use white pepper instead of black pepper in light-colored dishes where the dark flecks of black pepper might make someone think, "Ew, what's that black speck in my cream sauce?" She also made the best, creamiest, richest-tasting scrambled eggs -- and taught me to add an extra yolk or two (without their whites) to get that same depth of flavor. (Low cholesterol, no; awesome, yes.)

For Mother's Day this year, why not teach the mom in your life (mother, wife, significant other, etc.) a thing or two about cooking? Sign her up for a cooking class - even better, sign yourself up, too, so you can enjoy some quality time together. I scanned the websites of our three most popular cooking-class providers and saw bunches of classes - really, something for just about every kind of mom you can think of. Here are a few that caught my eye. For more ideas, go to the Web sites listed below.

• Custard. Mark Gray, one of Charleston's best pastry chefs, will lend his signature touch to a classic dessert technique in an upcoming class at the Coastal Cupboard. In "Custard, Custard, Custard," Gray will explain the secrets of making custards and will use them in an array of elegant desserts: creme brulee, flan, creme caramel and pots de creme. Learn how to make them all (while enjoying a glass of wine) in this demonstration class. When and where: 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, May 15, at Coastal Cupboard, Belle Hall Shopping Center, Long Point Road, Mount Pleasant. Cost: $50 per person. Call 856-4321 or go here to register.
  
  
• Ice cream. If you've got a mom with a youngster on your Mother's Day shopping list, check out the new parent-child "We All Scream for Ice Cream" class at the Culinary Institute of Charleston. The class isn't until August, but I have a feeling this one is going to fill up as fast as the CIC's popular parent-child gingerbread house classes do in December. The course focuses on basic ice cream bases that can be tailored to suit your tastes by the addition of things like our fresh seasonal fruits. This is a hands-on class, and I'm told that sampling is required! When and where: 9 a.m. to noon Saturday, Aug. 4, at the Culinary Institute of Charleston, on the Main Campus of Trident Technical College on Rivers Avenue. Cost: $69 (parent and child). Call 574-6152 or go here to register.
  
  
• Wine pairing. If your mom is into wine - or wants to be - you can help her drink in some knowledge in a "Food and Wine Pairing" class at Charleston Cooks. Participants will get a primer on how to pair food with classic wine varietals. The class starts with students stepping into the kitchen to cook, and then everyone will sit down to enjoy the meal and discuss the wine pairings and what makes them work. On the menu for the night are pimiento-cheese-stuffed buttermilk biscuits (with sparkling wine); crab fritters in lettuce cups with garlic pepper relish (with Albarino); beef brisket barbecue sandwiches with sweet and smoky cherry sauce (Syrah); red cabbage and fennel slaw with creamy goat cheese aioli (Pinot Noir); and caramel Dutch apple pie with vanilla bean ice cream (Riesling). When and where: 6:30 p.m. Friday, May 11, Charleston Cooks, 192 East Bay St., downtown. Cost: $70 per person. Call or go here to register.
  

Mount Pleasant writer and editor Ann Thrash can be reached at: ann@charlestoncurrents.com.

College of Charleston is home to 4 Rotary Scholars

The College of Charleston is one of five U.S. universities sending four or more Rotary Ambassadorial Scholars abroad for the 2012-13 academic year. The college's Rotary Scholars are sponsored by local Rotary clubs of District 7770.

While abroad, Rotary Scholars participate in community service projects and speak at local Rotary club meetings and conferences, schools, civic organizations, and other forums where they serve as “goodwill ambassadors” for their home countries.

• Justin Hendrix is a May 2012 graduate from the Honors College at the College of Charleston. A member of the prestigious William Aiken Fellow Society, he is double majoring in music composition and international studies. Hendrix, sponsored by the Mount Pleasant Lunch Rotary Club, will study at the University of Sussex in the United Kingdom in their anthropology of development program.
  
  
• Ann-Marie Quinn is a graduate student in the Master of Public Administration program at the College of Charleston. She works in the Graduate School Office and serves as the Professional Development Chair of the Masters in Public Administration Student Association. Quinn, sponsored by the North Charleston Breakfast Rotary Club, will study at the Universite Mohammed V in Morocco.
  
  
• Allysan Scatterday, also a new graduate, s a biology major in the Honors College at the College of Charleston. She will spend the scholarship year in Paris studying at L'Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sante Publique towards a Master's in Public Health. During her time abroad, she intends to learn about the French health care system and work on local Rotary projects. Scatterday is sponsored by the Mount Pleasant Lunch Rotary.
  
  
• Caroline Warren, another 2012 graduate from the Honors College, has been an active member of the nationally ranked College of Charleston Sailing Team. As a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar sponsored by the Downtown Charleston Breakfast Rotary, she will be studying business and public health in San Jose, Costa Rica, at the Universidad de Latinoamericana de Ciencias y Tecnología.

Garden lovers, students to have big Magnolia Friday

Hundreds of garden lovers and students are expected to take part in the fourth annual National Public Gardens Day Friday at Magnolia Plantation and Gardens.

Magnolia, the oldest garden in the United States, is a member of the American Public Gardens Association and the only garden in South Carolina participating in the observance.

"Being among some of the nation's best gardens that open their doors to allow Americans to experience a public garden comes at a special time for Magnolia," said Tom Johnson, Magnolia's director of gardens. "Recently, we were selected as a Garden of Excellence by the International Camellia Society. This international award coincides with an expanded summer garden for our guests.

"The educational programs we are offering have been designed to match the standards being taught in social studies and science," Johnson said. "This is our contribution to education at a time when the demands on teachers and budget cuts force educators to look for other ways to enhance the educational experience for our students.

Friday's free educational program for school children will include demonstrations with small animals, guided tours that discuss the role African Americans played at Magnolia and a discussion about plants that are native to Lowcountry South Carolina. Students, teachers and chaperons from James Simons and Sanders-Clyde Elementary schools, Charleston Development Academy and Midland Park Primary School have been invited to participate in the four-hour field day.

Three join county parks board

Three Charleston County residents are new members of the Charleston County Park and Recreation Commission as it changed leadership recently. Among the new commissioners on the seven-member board are:

• Jeff Gladwell, an Air Force veteran who has lived in Charleston for 45 years. He served as chair of the St. Andrews Parks and Playground Commission for 17 years.
  
  
• Mattese Miller Lecque, a native of Charleston and Burke High School graduate who retired from the U.S. Justice Department after 24 years of service. She also has three college degrees.
  
  
• Andrew Thomas, a graduate of James Island High School and Clemson University. He currently is a senior commercial client manager with First Federal and lives on James Island with his family.

Former Secretary-Treasurer Benjamin Cooke was elected vice chair of the commission, and commission member J. Michael Surles was named to the position of secretary-treasurer. Ravi Sanyal remains chair of the commission. Also on the commission is Lisa S. King. Read more. More.

Learn the facts about heartworm disease

Local nonprofit Pet Helpers is urging area dog lovers to treat their pets for heartworm disease and offers this easy-to-understand guide from Dr. Jack Love, the organization's veterinarian. The group urges proactive, preventive health care as being more humane and more cost-effective than expensive heartworm treatments.

What is heartworm disease?

It is a spaghetti-shaped parasite that lives in the right side of the heart. It is primarily a disease of dogs and their wild relatives. Cats can be infected but most abort the infection before the adults grow in the heart. Adults can grow from 4 inches to 18 inches long. The heartworm babies (called microfilaria) are produced by the adults and circulate in the blood. The microfilaria are then picked up by a mosquito who can then transfer the infection to another dog.

Why should you be concerned about heartworm disease?

Heartworm is carried by mosquitoes, which are extremely prevalent in the Lowcountry! Untreated heartworms in dogs and cats multiply in the right side of the heart causing heart failure, lung disease, and liver disease.

How can you protect your pet?

Keep your dog on monthly heartworm preventative for its entire lifetime. Many of the medications that are available also provide intestinal parasite control as well. It is important to visit your veterinarian for a yearly heartworm test. Do this even if you are excellent about giving the monthly preventative medication. While this medication is extremely effective, it is not considered 100% fail-proof and failures of the pill, the pet (spitting out the pill), or the owner (forgetting to give the pill on time) can lead to a break down in protection.

What happens if your dog gets heartworms?

Heartworm disease is a somewhat slow developing problem. When only a few worms are present in the heart, there may be no outward signs. This does not mean your pet is not already undergoing adverse reactions to the heartworms (i.e.: chronic inflammatory lung problems and inflammation of the lining of the heart.) You, the pet owner, will only see signs when the population of heartworms is enough to impede blood flow through the heart, which causes lethargy, loss of appetite, perhaps a swollen stomach, or coughing as a result of damage from inflamed lungs. You do not want your pet to get to this point.

• Learn more: www.heartwormsociety.org

Send us your recommendations

If you have a review or recommendation of a book, movie, restaurant or local arts endeavor, please send no more than 150 words to editor Andy Brack. Make sure to include your name and full contact information.

Sheldon Church

Moss-draped live oak trees shade the quiet burial ground that surrounds the ruined Sheldon Church of Prince William's Parish (today's Beaufort County). Its molded brick columns support a nonexistent portico and continue between arched openings along the side walls to lend a sense of enclosure to the unroofed building.

Even in ruins, Sheldon Church symbolizes Beaufort County's prosperity during South Carolina's early years as a royal colony. Sophisticated in its architecture and craftsmanship, this isolated brick edifice was among the first examples of the temple design in the English-speaking world.

In the 1730s influential planters began moving to the former Indian lands, bringing their slaves and creating wealth, and in 1745 the Commons House of Assembly established Prince William's Parish. No longer was it necessary to travel to St. Helena's Parish for worship or voting.

So that a church could be built, Elizabeth Bellinger donated a fifty-acre tract of Tomotley Barony, next to William Bull's Sheldon Plantation. Construction was funded largely by the Bulls, supplemented by legislative appropriations. The result, completed in 1757, was "esteem'd a more beautiful Building than St. Philip's. It is far more elegant than St. Michael's."

This emblem of English political and religious organization was burned in 1779 by a band of Beaufort Tories. Not until 1825 did commissioners advertise for estimates "to cover the Ruins of the Sheldon Church. with a plain strong wooden Roof, putting Doors, Windows, Benches, and a Floor to the same."
The rebuilt church was consecrated in 1826, but in 1865 both the church and its summer chapel at McPhersonville were burned. A replacement chapel was constructed in 1898. Sheldon Church has never been rebuilt. It was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1970.

-- Excerpted from the entry by Sarah Fick. 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.)

Honor guard

SISTER PUBLICATIONS

We encourage you to check out our sister publications:

CREDITS

Charleston Currents is provided to you twice a week by:

• Editor and publisher: Andy Brack, 843.670.3996
• Contributing editor, food & drink: Ann Thrash
• Contributing editor, green: Greg Garvan
• Contributing editor, neat stuff: Marsha Guerard
• Contributing editor, history: Douglas W. Bostick
• Contributing photographer: Michael Kaynard
  

Address: P.O. Box. 22261 | Charleston, SC 29413

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© 2008-2012, Statehouse Report LLC. All rights reserved. Charleston Currents is published every Monday and Thursday by Statehouse Report LLC, PO Box 22261, Charleston, SC 29413.

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The buzz on B foods

Kathleen Allison of the Chautauqua Day School and Academy of Dance Arts on Johns Island offers the five most important foods for you that start with the letter "B."

• Brown rice
• Broccoli
• Beets
• Bananas
• Blueberries

Big difference

"There is a difference between conceit and confidence. Conceit is bragging about yourself. Confidence means you believe you can get the job done."

-- Quarterback Johnny Unitas

SEARCH CHARLESTON CURRENTS

THIS WEEK | permalink

Kentucky Chorale: 7:30 p.m., May 8, First Scots Presbyterian Church, Charleston. The University of Kentucky Chorale will be in Charleston to perform wide variety of sacred choral classics. The group has performed all over the world. More.

(NEW) Theater "Shorts:" 8 p.m., May 10 to May 12; 3 p.m., May 13. at Midtown/Sheri Grace Productions, 915 Folly Road, James Island. "Short: Fun-size Theatre" is a weekend of 10-minute plays presented by Charleston Acting Studio's Theatre Outside the Box series. Featuring the talents of 15 local acres, half of the shorts are world premieres written by local playwrights. Tickets are $10 for adults, $5 for students. More info online.

Greek Festival 2012: 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. May 11 and May 12; Noon to 5 p.m., May 13, at Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church, 30 Race Street, Charleston. Enjoy delicious Greek food and beverages, Greek music, folk dance performances and much more for just $3 per person. Learn more.

CALENDAR: ONGOING AND SOON

(NEW) Stroke screening: 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., May 16, Trident Medical Center. Free stroke prevention assessments will be offered by appointment. To reserve your place, call 797.3463. AT noon, there will be a free lunch in Cafe B of TMC featuring a talk by Dr. Thomas Privett.

(NEW) Third Thursday: 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., May 17, downtown Summerville. The first round for "Summerville's Got Talent" will be on Hutchinson Square. Also on tap: Art Walk with music from the Ashley Ridge High Jazz Ensemble. Classic cars, food, drink, fun and Cinderella carriage rides. More.

Yappy Hour: 4 p.m. to 8 p.m., May 17, James Island County Park's dog park. Live music will be provided by local band Folk Grass. Other Yappy Hours planned for June 7 and Aug. 23. Free with admission to park. More.

Weekend water fun. Splash Zone Waterpark at James Island County Park, Splash Island at Mount Pleasant Palmetto Islands County Park, and Whirlin' Waters at Wannamaker County Park will be open on weekends in May. Splash Zone will open daily beginning May 21, Whirlin' Waters and Splash Island open daily beginning May 28. More: www.splashparks.com

Magnolia's photo contest: Entries due June 6. If you want to submit pictures to the 2012 photo contest by Magnolia Plantations and Gardens, you can start taking picture now. Submissions start April 1 for photos taken between March 5 and May 31. More info.

Bird walks: 8:30 a.m. to noon, every Wednesday and Saturday. This is the time of year that a great variety of migrating birds fly through the Lowcountry so what better time to take part in one of the regular early morning bird walks at Caw Caw Interpretive Center in Ravenel. Pre-registration is suggested. Cost is $5. Learn more online.

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FOCUS ARCHIVES

6/11: Derreberry: Maximizing talent
6/4: Carroll: Real heroes

5/29: Laird: After-school programs
5/21: Gruber: Sun prevention tips
5/14: Moryl: Piccolo Spoleto 2012
5/7: Mills: Why Madagascar?

4/30: Geiger: Mobile payments
4/23: Fisher: Moms' Run
4/16: Silverman: New book
4/9: Moore: Longleaf ecosystem
4/2: Lamb: Palin's sound, fury

3/26: Darby: More Warings needed
3/19: Hannah: SCRA gives
3/12: Solomon: Care for your eyes
3/5: Martin: Spring gardening

2/27: Curley: "Inga Binga"
2/20: Collins: Cinderella Project
2/13: Bradford: Red state thinking
2/6: Pelzer, Hanson: Cruise study

1/30: Tisdale: Home House Press
1/23: Scherer: Mentoring can help
1/16: Perdue: Women's Leadership Inst.
1/9: Greene: Black male depression
1/2/12: van der Meyden: Alcoa plant

• More of Focus in the archives

DOUG BOSTICK:
CIVIL WAR HISTORY

7/30: Secessionville aftermath
6/18: Battle of Secessionville
5/21: Robert Smalls
4/16: Preparing for the attach
3/19: Yankee in charge?
2/20: Lee and Traveller
1/30/12: Stone Fleet

12/27/11: Defending Charleston
11/14: Battle of Port Royal
10/17: Fleet headed South
9/11: Port Royal Sound
8/11: Ohio native helps CSA
7/14: Blockade intensifies
6/9: Hampton's Legion
5/12: Beauregard prepares city
4/14: First shots fired
3/10: Student vs. instructor
2/10: War prep offsets horseracing

ANDY BRACK

6/11: RFK's passion
6/4: Gadsden flag

5/29: PeopleMatter, more
5/21: When history comes alive
5/14: McConnell exclusive
5/7: Advice to graduates

4/30: Grand media experiment
4/23: Court should make decision
4/16: Spell bridge name right
4/9: Haley's book bombs
4/2: Giveaway dog not news

3/26: Mutant bugs attack
3/19: Waring statue planned
3/12: Job security for columnists
3/5: SC's $700 million problem

2/27: South is changing
2/20: Ard mess should conclude
2/13: Hill paints good picture
2/6: Carrier is city upon the sea

1/30: Carrier visit is awesome
1/23: Newt did what he does best
1/16: Dream still inspires
1/9: Visits for candidates
1/2/2012: A different New Year's

• More Andy Brack in the archives

ANN THRASH:
FOOD & DRINK

7/16: Mystery of old cans
7/2: Eat like a Founding Father
6/18: Nuke that corn
6/4: Huguenot torte
5/21: Local connection for Star
5/7: Teaching mom a little
4/23: Cooking for crowd
4/9: Farmers markets opening
3/26: Hank's new cookbook
2/27: Enjoy Carter's Kitchen
2/13: Glass Onion to be on TV
1/30: Guacamole and the Bowl
1/16: Restaurant Week
1/2/2012: Using leftover bubbly

• More Ann Thrash in the archives

GREG GARVAN:
CHARLESTON GREEN

4/30: Waterkeeper event
4/16: GrowFood difference
4/2: Earth Day festival
3/19: Lorax Project
3/5: More gardening tips
2/20: Food Waste program
2/6: Energy from farms
1/23: Turtles that fly
1/9/2012: Art from beach trash

12/27/11: Coal ash, more
12/12: Boeing's solar farm
11/28: More eco-tours
11/21: More recycling ahead

LIST ARCHIVES

6/11: Okra
6/4: Hurricane readiness

5/21: Happiest seaside towns
5/14: Tips for fresh flowers
5/7: Buzz on B foods

4/30: Gifts for grads
4/23: 5 water-skiing spots
4/16: No-see-ums
4/9: Five SC poets
4/2: Five fab females

3/26: Joe's accomplishments
3/19: 5 birding spots
3/12: Spring festivals
3/5: Charleston's Irish

2/27: Charleston history
2/20: Spring break tips
2/13: 5 Charleston novels
2/6: For Valentine's Day

1/30: Enterprising fun facts
1/23: Five Gullah events
1/16: Remembering Martin
1/9: Herrick's 5 winter foods
1/2/2012: Five area protected places

12/27: Civil war ammo
12/19: Green holiday tips
12/12: Nathalie's 5 holiday foods
12/5: How to appear busy

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IN OUR SISTER PUBLICATION

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