7.23: Push UP & Up; City council candidates; Bridge Run impact

These tulips enjoyed the cool spring weather over Easter weekend. About the only negative thing happening weather-wise is the new onslaught of oak pollen. Take your allergy pills! Photo by Andy Brack.

IN THIS EDITION | APRIL 6, 2015 | Number 7.23

FOCUS: Push Up & Up Challenge seeks $150K for education
BRACK: A look at Charleston City catherine e lafond, p.a.
MONEY:  Bridge Run is more than a race
GOOD NEWS: RiverDogs baseball is back
FEEDBACK: Send your letters
CALENDAR: April+ — Concert, Pet Fest, more
REVIEW:  Girls Like Us
PHOTO: Tulips
MYSTERY PHOTO: Local reflection
S.C. ENCYCLOPEDIA: End of the Civil War

TODAY’S FOCUS

Push-up challenge seeks $100K for education

By Loren Ziff

APRIL 6, 2015 — I am co-chair and co-founder of Push-Up & Up, a Charleston-based non-profit that raises money and awareness for dropout prevention. I am 54 years old, in OK but not great shape, and I can do 450 push-ups in 30 minutes – and so can you!

Ziff

This is not an infomercial, but an opportunity to look in the mirror and face a challenge. It’s an opportunity to break down the artificial barriers that all of us put up.

Let’s be honest. Not too many of us wake up thinking about how many push-ups we are going to do today. However, with the Push-Up & Up training program, we have hundreds of participants in schools and businesses doing just this. We use the common, ordinary push-up as a metaphor for success through goal setting, time management and team-building.

Our goal is not to make everyone in the Lowcountry buff, but it is a wonderful by-product of engagement. Our goal is to raise money and awareness for dropout prevention. Did you know that one in four children in our state will drop out of school? Did you know that 67 percent of state prisoners nationally are high school dropouts?

Our program not only raises money for our proven partner, Communities In Schools, but is also a tool they use to help kids tackle their fears and gain confidence to succeed. In the workplace, our program breaks down barriers and is a great catalyst for team building. The “push-up” does not care whether you are the boss or the associate, or about your gender or age. It’s a great equalizer and also a great way to get in shape.

All you need to train is a timer, five minutes and the nerve to start. Once you start, you’ll be a little sore, but you will want to keep going. The goal is to do sets of five push-ups every 20 seconds for five minutes, with several seconds of rest between sets. This would total 75 push-ups. If you can’t do this, it’s OK … start with fewer minutes or fewer push-ups. It’s even OK to do them on your knees. Simply track what you do and strive to improve.

The key is to do this every day for two weeks. Don’t take a week off if you are sore … the soreness will go away in a few days. It’s important to track how many you do so that you can try to do more every day. You then try to add minutes to your daily activity. What happens over time is that this becomes more of mental challenge than a physical one.

By the way, you don’t need any special equipment to get going!

Our Push-Up & Up event is on May 2 from 9 a.m. to noon on Marion Square. We need you to engage with us. We need you to start a team (you can do this)! We need you to sponsor a school team or even become an event sponsor.

More importantly, if you consider yourself someone who has not done many push-ups lately, or ever, this is your opportunity to prove something to yourself. It’s an opportunity to improve your health and to give back to our incredible community.

Last year, we had over 50 teams complete over 112,000 push-ups while raising $55,000. This is the trifecta opportunity to engage, get healthy, and do good for yourself and our community.

Thank you for reading this and I personally challenge all of you to see how many push-ups you can do in five minutes using our process. Please go to www.pushupandup.org for more information. We hope to see you on May 2 at Marion Square!

Loren Ziff is a commercial Realtor and partner with EastRock Properties, LLC. More.

COMMENTARY

Three lawyers to challenge Charleston council incumbents

By Andy Brack, editor and publisher

APRIL 6, 2015 — Just about all of the focus in Charleston politics of late has been on the November race for mayor as candidates vie to replace longtime incumbent Joe Riley, who is retiring after 40 years. But there are six other races that are important too — half of the seats on city council.

As best as we can tell, three attorneys are challenging three incumbents in city council races around town. Three other incumbents don’t seem to have candidates looming, but with filing not until the end of the summer, they’re not safe yet. Here’s a look at who seems to be running so far in 2015 as odd-numbered districts are up for election. (We’re told by sources that all incumbents plan to file for reelection):

District One (Daniel Island, Ansonborough, French Quarter): Incumbent Gary White, a banker, is being challenged by lawyer Shawn Pinkston, one of several Republican candidates in 2013 for U.S. Congress.

District Three (West side of peninsula, eastern part of West Ashley): Incumbent James Lewis Jr. does not appear to have an opponent yet, but insiders say at least one challenger is looking closely at how to win the seat.

District Five (western fringes of West Ashley, Johns Island): Accountant Marvin Wagner so far apparently faces on challengers, but insiders say the district might be attractive for a fresh candidate to take on the first-term incumbent.

District Seven (West Ashley, between U.S. Highway 17 and St. Andrew’s Boulevard): Incumbent Keith Waring, like his father before him, likely won’t face a challenger in this majority minority district.

District Nine (West Ashley, Northwoods area): Incumbent Aubrey Alexander, a Realtor, will face Peter Shahid, a Charleston native who practices law downtown.

District Eleven (West Ashley south of Highway 17 and parts of James Island that are in the city): Incumbent Bill Moody will face West Ashley attorney Catherine LaFond, known throughout the county as a past candidate for the Charleston Water System board of commissioners.

* * * * *

The most recent Statehouse Report commentary focused on state Sen. Chip Campsen’s efforts to broaden the discussion about offshore exploration for oil and gas. Campsen noted that there are dirty onshore effects — metal spaghettis of pipes to build refining infrastructure — that make the whole issue unattractive. See more here in “Recovering oil or gas would have dirty onshore price.”

Andy Brack is editor and publisher of Charleston Currents.  Send feedback to:  editor@charlestoncurrents.com.

IN THE SPOTLIGHT

catherine e. lafond, p.a.

Attorneys Catherine E. LaFond and Ashley Andrews and their competent team offer compassion and broad experience in helping clients with real estate closings, estate planning, and securing veterans’ benefits and other long-term care benefits. Located at 544 Savannah Highway near Folly Road, catherine e lafond, p.a., is convenient for appointments with helpful staff members who can help you and your family craft wills and trusts, weave comfortably through the maze of estate and elder law planning options, and close real estate loans for refinancing or purchases.To learn more, contact catherine e. lafond, p.a., at 843.762.3554.

• Visit online at LaFondLaw.com.

MONEY

Bridge Run is more than a race

By Kyra Morris, contributing editor

APRIL 6, 2015 — The 30,000 participants and thousands of spectators celebrated the 37^th Cooper River Bridge Run on March 28.

Charleston’s local economy gets a direct infusion of nearly $20 million. A 2011 economic impact study stated $18.3 million and that was several years ago in a much more tenuous market environment. To add to the impact the Bridge Run was also the first weekend of spring break and the beginning of Easter week.

Per Wikipedia, the Bridge Run is the only competition in South Carolina sanctioned by USA Track and Field as an elite event. Based on number of race finishers, the event is the third largest 10K and the fifth largest road race in the United States.   Though for many Charlestonians, the Bridge Run is more than a race. It symbolizes our spirit and our hospitality.

Many areas of the Lowcountry are affected by the increase in tourists.   Every type of restaurant from high end to fast food is busy, and hotels for many miles around are booked. The numbers from the 2011 impact study show hotels recognizing more than $4.2 million and restaurants experiencing over $10 million. The traffic is dotted with license plates from all over the country.   There is a feeling in the air that is contagious.

On the Saturday of the Bridge Run at the start line in Mont Pleasant, the sound system was tested – loudly – at 5:20 a.m. It then came on in earnest with non-stop music at 6 a.m. From then until 11 o’clock in the morning, the traffic between Charleston and Mount Pleasant was non-existent, unless you were a shuttle bus or other service vehicle for the event.   Shuttle busses transported the participants efficiently this year. The race began at 8 a.m. .

Locals gear up for the festivities inviting friends and family for the weekend.   Before and after the race, shopping is abundant. The race may be over by 10 to 10:30 on Saturday morning, but the event lasts the weekend. Logistical complications may exist, but for most part this event is a great way to enjoy spring, Charleston, family, friends and creating memories. What started as a small 600 participant event in 1978 is now one of the hallmarks of Charleston’s tourism success. Our “Cooper River” Bridge Run is more than a race.

Kyra Hollowell Morris, a Certified Financial Planner, is CEO of Morris Financial Concepts, Inc., in Mount Pleasant. A national leader in the financial planning profession, she has been named several times by leading magazines as one of the country’s top financial planners.

GOOD NEWS

Get ready for some baseball!

FEEDBACK

Rant.  Rave.  Tell us what you really think.

If you have an opinion on something we’ve offered or on a subject related to the Lowcountry, please send your letters of 150 words or less to: editor@charlestoncurrents.com.

• Our feedback policy.

CALENDAR

April 6+:  Concert, Pet Fest, more

REVIEW

Girls Like Us

A novel by Gail Giles

Biddy and Quincy, two young women with mental disabilities, have graduated from high school and been placed together as roommates in the home of Miss Lizzy, an older woman in their community who is in need of assistance. They are as different as can be — Biddy, sweet and pliable; and Quincy, hostile and aggressively independent — except for their mutual experiences of abuse, neglect and insults. They have been told their whole lives that they are worthless and stupid, but in Miss Lizzy’s house, they find for the first time understanding, friendship, and family. Yet even this new refuge cannot protect them completely from the outside world, and they must face, and triumph over, the cruelty they find there.

In short, alternating chapters, Biddy and Quincy reveal their pasts and tell their stories with their own unique, accented voices. Watching the friendship between these two special women develop and evolve over the course of the novel is as heart-warming as witnessing the fear and abuse that tears them down is heart-breaking. Gail Giles has done a brave and important thing in Girls Like Us, giving voice to the Special Education students she taught throughout her career and reminding us how very similar we all are on the inside.

– Susan Davidson, Main Library, Charleston, S.C.

Find this and similar titles from Charleston County Public Library. This item available as a book. To learn more or place a hold, visit www.ccpl.org or call 843-805-6930.

MYSTERY PHOTO

Reflection of a local attraction

Contributing photographer Michael Kaynard snapped this photo on Easter at an area attraction, but which one is it?  Send your guess to:  editor@charlestoncurrents.com — and make sure to include your name and hometown!

Last week’s Mystery:  For some, such as Charleston graphic designer Sara Dwyer, last week’s Mystery Photo was pretty easy. It was a shot of flowers in Millennium Park in Chicago with skyscrapers looming in the background. Noted James Island’s Archie Burkel: “The primary building seen is what my children used to call ‘The Lipstick Building.’  I never knew what its real name was and didn’t want to; Lipstick was too perfect!”

But others struggled, wondering whether it was a park in Dallas or at MUSC. Thanks all for the guesses. Good luck next time.

S.C. ENCYCLOPEDIA

Last months of the Civil War

NOTE: April 9 (Thursday) marks the 150^th anniversary of General Robert E. Lee’s surrender to Union General U.S. Grant at Appomattox Courthouse in Virginia. While skirmishes continued after this date, it generally is considered the end of the Civil War. More.

In January 1865 Sherman began shifting his army’s right wing through Beaufort to Pocotaligo. Then on February 1 the soldiers at Pocotaligo moved inland while Sherman’s left wing crossed the Savannah River and marched through Robertsville and Lawtonville. The only engagement of any consequence before he approached Columbia occurred on February 2 and 3 at Rivers Bridge on the Salkehatchie River.

Some 8,000 Federals attempting to cross there were delayed briefly by nine hundred Confederates, who were quickly outflanked and forced to withdraw, clearing the way for Sherman’s advance through the state. Though Sherman feinted as if he were headed for Charleston, his force reached the outskirts of Columbia by February 16. Charleston was quietly evacuated the next day, at the same time that the major Confederate force defending the two Carolinas evacuated Columbia.

Columbia, after Sherman’s troops went through in 1865

In the capital city, Sherman’s soldiers ransacked both the existing State House and the new unfinished one, and many of them roamed the streets drinking, frightening citizens, and looting at will. High winds throughout the night of February 17–18 helped spread multiple fires, and about a third of the city burned, although numerous Union officers and men tried to reestablish order and help Columbians save their homes and churches. Sherman continued toward North Carolina, occasionally skirmishing along the way and burning or ransacking portions of Winnsboro, Camden, Chester, and Cheraw during the next two weeks.

A limited Federal raid by troops under General Edward E. Potter in April made its way through Georgetown, Manning, Sumter, and Camden and was the last significant military operation in the state during the war.

One of the more painful costs of Confederate defeat was that 18,000 to 21,000 men, or one of every fourteen white South Carolinians, had been killed or mortally wounded or had died from disease. The most significant consequence of Union victory was the emancipation of 400,000 slaves and their subsequent attempt to adjust to their new place in South Carolina society.

Whether bitter amid defeat, devastation, and memories of the past or optimistic amid victory, freedom, and expectations for the future, South Carolinians would struggle with the results—and the legacy—of the war for generations to come.

– Excerpted from the entry by J. Tracy Power. 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.)

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