Mount Pleasant, S.C. Accepting Applications for Neighborhood Recreation Facilities Grant (Until September 1)

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MOUNT PLEASANT, S.C. (Feb. 28, 2019) – The Town of Mount Pleasant is proud to announce the establishment of the Neighborhood Recreation Facilities grant, which aims to improve recreational opportunities for unincorporated neighborhoods within town limits, while providing access to these facilities for Mount Pleasant Recreation Department activities.
 
The NRF grant will be awarded on a project by project basis with a maximum grant allowance of $8,000. Up to 80 percent of eligible project costs may be covered by this grant with an approved application. Applications are now being accepted from eligible unincorporated neighborhood associations through Sept. 1.

“Through this grant, we can support facilities improvements, providing key access to recreation that these neighborhoods may not have had in the past, ” said Councilman Gary Santos, recreation committee chairman. “With increased access to recreational facilities townwide, we can promote improved health, which improves quality of life for our residents.”

The NRF grant was borne out of the desire by the Town to create a granting program for areas that are not in the Town of Mount Pleasant, where joint-use facility agreements could be made to promote community and MPRD recreational activities. 

To be considered eligible for the NRF grant, applicants must be established, financially stable homeowners’ associations or similar entities of the unincorporated neighborhoods within the town limits of Mount Pleasant. Facilities must be open to the public, owned by the neighborhood and under the direct control of a neighborhood association for maintenance and control of use.

The NRF application must be submitted to the Town by Sept. 1 of each year.  Priority will be given to those projects that display a benefit to town residents and an ability to maintain the facilities in good condition. Award of grant recipients will be determined at the October Recreation Committee meeting.

“Building partnerships is a key element in how we operate at the Town,” said Santos. “With this grant, we will develop and explore ties to our local community neighborhoods that we haven’t had in the past.”

Complete information about the NRF grant may be found in the NRF grant application here. Questions and inquiries about the NRF grant may be directed to Recreation Deputy Director Jimmy Millar by email at recreation@tompsc.com.

Mount Pleasant, SC Turns to New Business Model as Single-Use Plastic Ban Comes into Effect April 16, 2019

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MOUNT PLEASANT, SC (March 8, 2019) – Town businesses are reminded that the single-use plastic ban ordinance passed last April will come into effect next month, on April 16. The new ordinance addresses environmentally acceptable packaging and products, like carry-out bags and plastic straws.

“The momentum to minimize single-use plastic in our business community is strong,” said Business Development Manager John Holladay. “With our local economy and recreation being so dependent on our environment and waterways, we urge our businesses to Be the Solution, Stop the Pollution

Holladay highlighted the resources the Town has expanded to facilitate the transition. To review the ordinance, visit the municipal website at www.tompsc.com. There you will also find a FAQs page and a video with information and tips to help businesses make this eco-friendly transition. You can also contact the Business Development Office at (843) 884-8517 for more information. 

Youth Volunteer Corps of Charleston Receives Top Honor

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Charleston, S.C.—Youth Volunteer Corps (YVC) of Charleston was recently named a Gold Level program, one of only 14 YVC programs throughout the U.S. and Canada awarded this honor. Created in Fall 2015 as part of the Mayor’s Office for Children, Youth and Families, the YVC Charleston program offers volunteer opportunities for more than 250 youth volunteers who serve more than 1,500 volunteer hours each year.

“YVC is paving the way for YVC programs all over the U.S. and Canada,” said David Battey, founder and president of YVC’s headquarters, located in Kansas City. “The program has had such a profound impact on both youth volunteers and the community they’re serving.

”YVC Headquarters works with each YVC Affiliate to ensure that they are serving the youth and their community in the best way possible. The Gold Level rating goes only to the very top YVC programs that serve as stand-out examples for how the program can serve its community.

Mindy Sturm, director of the Mayor’s Office for Children, Youth and Families, said, “We are honored to receive this distinction for our YVC program and all of our hardworking youth volunteers. YVC Charleston has already done great work throughout our community, and we look forward to seeing everything that our youth volunteers will accomplish in the years ahead.

”Last year 150 youth served a total of 1,280 volunteer hours with YVC in Charleston, helping out at places like retirement homes, soup kitchens, animal shelters, parks and more.

For more information on YVC Charleston and how to get involved, visit: http://yvccharleston.wixsite.com/yvccharleston

Bulldog Tours Offering Walking Tours of Magnolia Cemetery for First Time Ever – Beginning April 5, 2019

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The Spirits of Magnolia Cemetery

The Spirits of Magnolia Cemetery Tour gives you exclusive access to Charleston’s most hauntingly beautiful Victorian burial grounds.

Originally a 1790’s rice plantation, Magnolia Cemetery was founded in 1849 on the banks of the Cooper River in Downtown Charleston. Home to 35,000 permanent residents, including authors and poets, artists, Confederate generals and soldiers, prominent politicians, bootleggers, prostitutes, and socialites. Magnolia Cemetery served as a Confederate encampment to defend the city from the Union bombardment during the Civil War. Many Confederate soldiers lay at rest in Magnolia, including the eight-man Hunley crew, 2,200 soldiers who fought in the battle at Gettysburg, and six confederate generals.

This nighttime tour is the first official walking tour of the historic site, previously off limits to commercial tour companies. The 90-minute walking tours promise the best of Magnolia’s history, mystery, and spirits. You’ll hear startling stories such as an unsolved murdered socialite, an outraged politician that ordered his butler’s execution and scandalous tragedies that are never told in history books.

Don’t forget your flash cameras! You never know what phantom images you can capture.

Space is limited – Book online today!

Mount Pleasant Mayor Will Haynie to Deliver Meals on Wheels This Tuesday

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East Cooper Meals on Wheels is excited to have Mayor Haynie participate with delivering meals on Tuesday. Visuals include, Mayor Haynie, assisting with delivery preparations as well as while out on the route with recipients also, George Roberts, CEO of East Cooper Meals on Wheels will be available. Please let me know if you plan to send someone. Thank you!

What: Mayor Haynie to be an East Cooper Meals on Wheels “Community Champion” for a day

When: Tuesday, March 26 at 9:30 a.m.

Where: 2304 N Hwy 17, Mt Pleasant, SC 29466

Background:

Mayor Haynie will join the team at East Cooper Meals on Wheels as they prepare to deliver meals to homebound recipients East of the Cooper. He will accompany a volunteer driver on a delivery route and will deliver meals and brief conversations.


During the Month of March, East Cooper Meals on Wheels is celebrating “March for Meals.” March for Meals is an opportunity for East Cooper Meals on Wheels to share its story with friends both old and new. Meals on Wheels programs have come together, nationally, each March since 2002 to celebrate this effort to ensure that our homebound neighbors are not forgotten. This month, East Cooper Meals on Wheels is offering an opportunity for those not familiar to be a “Community Champion” for a day and ride along with one of our volunteers as they deliver meals.

Great Southern Quotes by folks born and raised under Southern skies or inspired by the South

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“Gimme soaky bread with grits and gravy for breakfast, pinto beans with ham hocks for dinner and cracklin’ cornbread in buttermilk for supper and you’ll have yourself a happy man. – Gene Owens, Columnist – talking about Southern treats.

“They still think differently. And the place keeps producing well beyond its share of great writers.”Lisa Alther, Southern novelist, on why there are so many great Southern writers.

“In the South, the breeze blows softer… neighbors are friendlier, and more talkative. (By contrast with the Yankee, the Southerner never uses one word when ten or twenty will do)… This is a different place. Our way of thinking is different, as are our ways of seeing, laughing, singing, eating, meeting and parting. Our walk is different, as the old song goes, our talk and our names.”Charles Kuralt in Southerners: Portrait of a People

“What is there to see in Europe? I’ll bet those foreigners can’t show us a thing we haven’t got right here in Georgia.” –Margaret Mitchell 

“If you like cornbread n beans, black-eyed peas n grits, too. Catfish n turnip greens, and Southern barbecue Love sweet, sweet tea and, of course, coke. In the spring n fall, eat salet made from poke, add peach cobbler n buttermilk pie. Love okra, green tomatoes and chicken to fry. Gumbo, biscuits n gravy, blackberry jam and a big old slab of country ham. Made by the hands of a Southern cook, then you must be Southern in my book!”J. Yeager 

“Southerners know you can’t be considered a serious Southern cook if you don’t know how to make peach cobbler.”  – Trisha Yearwood

“Southerners equate food with love, so if you love what they cook, they’re sure to love you back.”Kim Holloway

“It was not a Southern watermelon that Eve took: we know it because she repented.”Mark Twain

“You might be from the South if – you learned how to make noise with a blade of grass between your thumbs”Jeanette H. Whitfield

“The most beautiful voice in the world is that of an educated Southern woman” Winston Churchill

“The perfect speech would consist of the diction of the east, the vigor of the midwest and the melody of the South”Winston Churchill

“In the South, as in no other American region, people use language as it was surely meant to be employed; a lush, personal, emphatic, treasure of coins to be spent slowly and for value”Time Magazine, September 1976

“We Southerners live at a leisurely pace and sharing our hospitality with our family, friends, and the stranger within our gate is one of our greatest joys.”Winifred G. Cheney

“From the mountains of Virginia to the Texas Plains there is a Southern way of life and it begins with hospitality and a proper emphasis on good cooking.”Winifred G. Cheney

“The Southern drawl has many variations, but all are authentic Dixie. Stretch out words, add pauses, drop a “g” from “ing” and sprinkle your speech with Southern phrases like, “looks like somethin the cat drug in” or “like a chicken with it’s head cut off” or “like a duck on a June bug.”The Politically Incorrect Guide to the South.

“Southerners love to sweeten their foods-from sweet tea to sugar on grits, everything is better when it is sweeter. Southern favorites include fried chicken, sweet corn bread, potato salad & collard greens. The more the food sticks to your ribs, the better. Large picnics, family get togethers and after church meals are all highly popular. If you attend those on a regular basis, you might be Southern.”
Jessica Bold

“Made by the hands of a Southern cook, then you must be Southern in my book!”J. Yeager

“Cause Dixie is a part of me. My Dixieland.”
J. Yeager

“Johnnie! Susie! Come to supper! The music of iron skillets, the flitting of lighting bugs, are in that antique invocation. Supper, in the South, was the light meal: cereal or sandwiches, sometimes bacon and eggs. No culinary folderol, anyway. All of that belonged to the midday repast known as dinner, when the whole family turned up, from office or school, to feast in solidarity on meatloaf and turnip greens.”by William Murchison, The Dallas Morning News Columnist 3/13/96

“O magnet-South! O glistening perfumed South! my South! O quick mettle, rich blood, impulse and love! Good and evil! O all dear to me!”Walt Whitman

“Our Southern homeland, beautiful and so grand. Your laid-back Southern ways, Your long, hot, humid days, Your traditions from long ago and your speech that flows so slow. Your native sons and daughters, too My Dixieland! I love you.~~J. Yeager   In the South, we “sip” sweet tea, mimosas, and mint juleps while “swayin” in the porch swing or “rockin” on the veranda. These things are all guaranteed stress relievers!”J.Yeager

“I’m a Southern girl. I like when they open the door and pull out a chair. I’m really into a man’s man.”Brooke Burns

“It’s hi ya’ll did ya eat well. Come on in child. I’m sure glad to know ya.”Southern Voice Lyrics

“Well it’s way, way down where the cain grows tall. Down where they say, “Y’all” Walk on in with that Southern drawl. ‘Cause that’s what I like about the South. She’s got backbone and turnip greens. Ham hocks and butter beans You, me and New Orleans. An’ that’s what I like about the South”
Bob Wills


“She was so Southern that she cried tears that came straight from the Mississippi, and she always smelled faintly of cottonwood and peaches.”Sara Addison Allen

“It is so hot in the South tonight, the mosquitoes are carrying canteens. There’s a Southern accent, where I come from. The young’uns call it country, The Yankees call it dumb. I got my own way of talkin but everything is done, with a Southern accent where I come from”Tom Petty

“A Georgia peach, a real Georgia peach, a backyard great-grandmother’s orchard peach, is as thickly furred as a sweater, and so fluent and sweet that once you bite through the flannel, it brings tears to your eyes.”Melissa Fay Greene, ‘Praying for Sheetrock’

“Tough girls come from New York. Sweet girls, they’re from Georgia. But us Kentucky girls, we have fire and ice in our blood. We can ride horses, be a debutante, throw left hooks, and drink with the boys, all the while making sweet tea, darlin’. And if we have an opinion, you know you’re gonna hear it.”Ashley Judd, Actress

“All I can say is that there’s a sweetness here, a Southern sweetness, that makes sweet music. If I had to tell somebody who had never been to the South, who had never heard of soul music, what it was, I’d just have to tell him that it’s music from the heart, from the pulse, from the innermost feeling. That’s my soul; that’s how I sing. And that’s the South.”Al Green

“True grits, more grits, fish, grits, and collards. Life is good where grits are swallered.”Roy Blount, Jr.

“About fifteen miles above New Orleans the river goes very slowly. It has broadened out there until it is almost a sea and the water is yellow with the mud of half a continent. Where the sun strikes it, it is golden.”Frank Yerby, Author

“I was a typical farm boy. I liked the farm. I enjoyed the things that you do on a farm, go down to the drainage ditch and fish, and look at the crawfish and pick a little cotton.”Sam Donaldson, Reporter and News Anchor from Texas

“About fifteen miles above New Orleans the river goes very slowly. It has broadened out there until it is almost a sea and the water is yellow with the mud of half a continent. Where the sun strikes it, it is golden.”Frank Yerby, Author

Wake Up and Smell the Rose’s with Weekday Breakfast at Ms. Rose’s Fine Food & Cocktails

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Charleston, SC – West Ashley eatery, Ms. Rose’s Fine Food & Cocktails, announces weekday breakfast starting Monday, April 1. Well known for their weekend brunch, Ms. Rose’s is bringing all of the southern breakfast favorites to the workweek. Customers will be invited to enjoy the new breakfast menu every Monday – Friday from 7am – 11am.

From Braised Chicken and Waffles to Fish and Grits, Executive Chef Matt Paul has crafted a full menu of breakfast options sure to satisfy everyone in your party. And if you’re in need of something sweet,  Executive Pastry Chef Liz Gorman is whipping up delicious pasties like the Jumbo Cinnamon Roll and Everything Muffin.

In addition to the new breakfast service, customers can enjoy Ms. Rose’s for lunch, dinner, weekend brunch and happy hour and for on-site events including the Ms. Rose’s Comedy Hour and Spring Live Music every Friday starting April 12.

For more information about Ms. Rose’s Fine Food and Cocktails, please visit msroses.com.

Breakfast Menu

‘The Lion in Winter’ on Stage at Threshold Repertory Theatre in April 

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SONY DSC

Sibling rivalry, adultery and dungeons are coming to Threshold Repertory Theatre in April as it presents “The Lion in Winter.”

“The Lion in Winter” by James Goldman is a modern-day classic often described as a medieval “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” Comedic in tone and dramatic in action, the play tells the story of the Plantagenet family, which is locked in a free-for-all of competing ambitions to inherit a kingdom.

Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine – also the wealthiest woman in the world – has been kept in prison since raising an army against her husband, King Henry II. The play centers around the inner conflicts of the royal family as they fight over both a kingdom and King Henry’s paramour during the Christmas of 1183. As Eleanor says, “Every family has its ups and downs,” and this royal family is no exception.

Paul O’Brien plays King Henry II and Jennifer Metts plays Eleanor of Aquitaine. This local production of “The Lion in Winter” is directed by Paul Rolfes.

Performances are 7:30 p.m. April 11-13; April 18-20; and April 26-27 with Sunday matinees at 3 p.m. on April 14 and April 21. Threshold Repertory Theatre is located at 84 1/2 Society St. in downtown Charleston.

Tickets are $25 for adults, $20 for seniors and $15 for students. Purchase tickets at www.thresholdrep.org.

Link to Purchase Tickets for “The Lion in Winter”

About Threshold Repertory Theatre

Threshold Repertory Theatre was founded in 2010 with the mission to inspire and excite the public through classic and contemporary theatre productions at an affordable price. Threshold Repertory Theatre produces five main stage shows a year in its 99-seat theatre at 84-1/2 Society Street in downtown Charleston. For more information or tickets call 843-277-2172 or visit www.thresholdrep.org.

Local Charleston Author Suzie Webster’s first book, ‘Revival on King Street’ to be released nationwide on April 10th – Order Your Signed Copy Today

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New novel follows an interior designer’s romance with a seductive stranger in the hot spot of Charleston, South Carolina

  • Revival on King Street
  • Genre: Romance
  • Price: $11.99
  • by Suzie Webster
  • ISBN: 978-1-64111-247-5
  • 293 pages, paperback

Publication Date: April 10, 2019

In Revival on King Street, author Suzie Webster shares the ups and downs of a group of friends in Charleston, South Carolina, as they pursue their dreams by day and their passions by night. The first of a series called Lowcountry Liaisons, Revival on King Street zeroes in on Charlotte “Charlie” Finley as she pieces her life back together after her husband unexpectedly breaks her heart.

After launching a new interior design career with her friend Chase, Charlie finds herself in the arms of a captivating stranger at the launch party for their biggest design project. This chance encounter spins Charlie’s life, which she thought was back on track, out of control in unexpected ways.

Revival on King Street is available for purchase online at Amazon. There will be a book signing and launch party at The Restoration Hotel on April 17 th from 6-8pm in the Library. Additional details can be found at www.suziewebster.com

Click Here to Order a Personalized Signed Copy

About the Author

Suzie Webster seeks out adventure as much as she can. A self-described “foodie”, she feels fortunate to live in a town lauded not only for it’s amazing history and architecture, but also for the amount of award winning restaurants lining it’s cobblestone streets. When she’s not out exploring or eating, she loves to write stories, putting her daydreams down on paper. Webster loves to read; do CrossFit; and hang out with her husband, Drew; their three daughters, Ryleigh, Katie, and Reese; and her goldendoodle, Seamus.

MEDIA CONTACT:

Suzie Webster

E-mail: info@suziewebster.com

Charleston Parks Conservancy Dedicates Rose Pavilion at Hampton Park

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CHARLESTON, S.C. – The newly renovated Rose Pavilion at Hampton Park is officially open to the community. Mayor John Tecklenburg joined representatives from the Charleston Parks Conservancy, The Speedwell Foundation, the City of Charleston and the surrounding community for a ceremonial rose planting to mark the Pavilion’s dedication on Tuesday, March 19.

The Conservancy, with the support of The Speedwell Foundation and in collaboration with the City of Charleston, refurbished the previously shuttered concession stand at Hampton Park. The structure and surrounding area has been transformed into the Rose Pavilion, a stunning public gathering space and garden. Rose Pavilion will be a place for community gatherings and a central location for new park programs and community events, such as culinary pop-ups, neighborhood gatherings and cultural events.

A contribution from The Speedwell Foundation to the Conservancy made the project possible. Jenny Messner, a director of the Foundation, said “Hampton Park is a Frederick Law Olmsted treasure that my husband and I were delighted to discover in our new hometown, when we moved here seven years ago. We had just completed a documentary film of Olmsted’s life called ‘Olmsted and America’s Urban Parks’ that aired on Earth Day 2011. The Rose Pavilion is a tribute to Olmsted’s impact on our landscapes and the starting point for an exciting project to bring Hampton Park back into the glorious limelight it deserves.”

“Thanks to The Speedwell Foundation, we’re achieving our goal to enliven and improve the experience at Hampton Park,” said Harry Lesesne, executive director of the Charleston Parks Conservancy. “We know the community will love admiring the heirloom rose garden, relaxing on the Pavilion’s joggling boards and benches, or attending an event here. A project like this is central to our mission of creating beautiful public spaces that inspire people to connect with their parks.”

Mayor John Tecklenburg said, “The decade-long partnership that the City’s Parks and Recreation Departments have developed with the Charleston Parks Conservancy continues to blossom.  We’re proud of the more than 20 public spaces that have been transformed, maintained and energized by the Conservancy team working alongside our very fine City staff. We also give our deepest thanks to Jenny and Mike Messner of The Speedwell Foundation for their support of the Rose Pavilion at Hampton Park and so many other worthwhile ventures making a difference in the lives of citizens all over Charleston.”

The Conservancy, with the support of its Park Angel volunteers, planted more than 200 heirloom roses. The rose planting is significant as we celebrate two centuries of Charleston’s place in rose history. The Noisette rose class is one of the most significant creations then and now. Citizens who are interested in joining the Conservancy’s Park Angel volunteer corps to help maintain the garden are invited to go to www.charlestonparksconservancy.org/volunteer for more information.

The Rose Pavilion facility is available to rent for events up to four hours. Rentals will be managed by Lowcountry Park Venues, which manages event rentals in other parks in the region. Rental includes pavilion access with a prep counter and four serving counters as well as access to the surrounding park, gardens and hardscape, which has joggling boards and built-in benches. The space is ideal for up to 150 guests.

For residents of the City of Charleston, the rental rates are $550 Sunday-Thursday, and $675 on Saturday and Sunday. For those from outside of the City, rates are $800 Sunday to Thursday and $1,000 for Friday and Saturday. For more information on renting the Rose Pavilion, call 843-849-8091.

When not being used for an event, the Pavilion is open to the public.

Proceeds from renting the Rose Pavilion will help the Charleston Parks Conservancy sustain additional projects in Hampton Park and in parks throughout the City of Charleston. The Conservancy previously renovated McMahon Playground at Hampton Park as well as the nearby Allan Park and Corrine Jones Park. The next phase of its Hampton Park project is Jubilee Hall, multi-use community center with small meeting rooms, community event space, outdoors gardens and a dedicated parking lot.

The Conservancy’s Rose Pavilion project project team included McAlister Construction Management, Wertimer + Cline Landscape Architects, David Thompson Architects, Forsberg Engineering, and Frampton Construction.  

Rose Pavilion is named for the heirloom rose collection in Hampton Park and for a notable contribution to the world of horticulture that originated in Charleston. In the early 1800s, Charlestonian John Champneys crossed Rosa chinensis (Old Blush) and Rosa moschata, a white musk rose, to create Champneys’ Pink Cluster, America’s first hybrid rose. His friend and neighbor,  French botanist Philippe Noisette, created a more refined hybrid of the Pink Cluster, calling it the Blush Noisette and establishing an iconic flower for the gardens of Charleston. These roses are featured in Hampton Park and at the new garden at the Rose Pavilion.

Over the last decade, the Conservancy has been dedicated to inspiring the people of Charleston to connect with their parks and together create stunning public spaces and a strong community. It has spearheaded park renovation and beautification projects all around the city, including Colonial Lake, Tiedemann Park and Nature Center, Chapel Street Fountain Park, Cannon Park, Wragg Square, McMahon Playground at Hampton Park, Allan Park, Magnolia Park and Community Garden, Medway Park and Community Garden, the West Ashley Greenway and Bikeway, and many more.

About the Charleston Parks Conservancy

The Charleston Parks Conservancy is a nonprofit organization dedicated to inspiring the people of Charleston to connect with their parks and together create stunning public places and a strong community. The Conservancy opens doors to individuals and organizations in Charleston wanting to engage with their parks and green spaces in a kaleidoscope of positive ways. With the help of its Park Angels, the Conservancy improves, enhances, and invigorates these spaces, making Charleston even better, stronger, and more successful. For more information about or to support the Charleston Parks Conservancy, please visit www.charlestonparksconservancy.org.

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