8/20, full issue: Good breakfasts; Joshie the Giraffe; North Charleston library

FOCUS: Start the day with a great breakfast

COMMENTARY, Brack:  Go the extra mile, do the extra work and exceed expectations

IN THE SPOTLIGHT: Titan Termite & Pest Control

GOOD NEWS:  Plans to be unveiled for new North Charleston library

WHAT WE LOVE: Floating and fishing on the Edisto

FEEDBACK: Readers respond to column on Dick Riley

MYSTERY PHOTO:  Look familiar

S.C. ENCYCLOPEDIA: The lettered olive

CALENDAR, Aug. 20+:  ACLU to have back-to-back events

FOCUS:  Start the day with a great breakfast

By Jennifer Bonham, Envolve  |  Kicking your day off with a breakfast that’s high in protein will help you to keep your energy level up, improve your body’s metabolism, build and repair your muscles, and make you feel fuller longer. The health experts at Envolve, an integrated healthcare solutions company, are pleased to share five easy, healthy and delicious breakfast options that will help you dominate your day.

1. Opt for oatmeal. Full of protein and fiber, oatmeal isa versatile choice that will keep you full until lunch. Use skim milk instead of water when you’re making it to increase the protein even more. Sprinkle fresh fruit and your favorite nuts like walnuts or pistachios on top to add some crunch and additional health benefits. Looking for a savory breakfast option? Use oatmeal for your base, add some low-fat cheese, dust with pepper or other spices, and top with cut-up veggies like tomatoes, mushrooms and spinach. You can even toss in some turkey bacon or other lean meats to up the flavor and protein. The variations are endless!
2. Enjoy eggs. One of the most affordablesources of protein, eggs also give you the benefits of vitamins B2, B12 and D, iron and zinc. This small but powerful food may also help maintain healthy skin, improve the immune system and increase brain and liver function. Double up your protein power and top a bowl of savory oatmeal with a freshly cooked egg. Try making hard-boiled eggs the night before for a quick breakfast to grab on your way out the door. You can even make ahead a frittata to sneak some veggies into your morning meal. Just search for “egg recipes” online and you’ll be rewarded with more creative ways to enjoy this protein powerhouse.
3. Go Greek. Besides the protein payoff, low-fat plain Greek yogurt helps maintain muscle mass and revitalize your hair and skin. For additional nutrients and health benefits, create your own chia peanut butter yogurt bowl. Start with yogurt as your base and add two tablespoons of natural peanut butter. Next, add chia seeds to enjoy omega-3 fatty acids, fiber, iron and calcium. Top off with chopped blueberries and bananas for additional fiber and potassium. Just remember to choose plain or read the nutrition label to limit your intake of added sugar.
4. Try quinoa. There are endless breakfast options at your fingertips with this healthy, versatile and protein-packed grain. People tend to think quinoa is more of a lunch and dinner type of food but start to incorporate into your morning meal and you won’t be disappointed. It’s a great source of iron, magnesium, vitamin E and fiber. Additional health benefits include a reduced risk of diabetes and improved bone health. Just like oatmeal, it’s a great base for either a sweet or savory protein-rich meal.
5. Pack on peanut butter. While the creamy, versatile spread might seem decadent, a single serving is protein-packed, making it a much better choice to top your whole-grain toast than butter or jelly. Just make sure to measure out your two tablespoons and check the label for added sugar to keep calories in check. For another delicious breakfast option high in fiber and protein, try peanut butter, strawberry and banana quesadillas. Spread one tablespoon of natural peanut butter evenly across two whole wheat tortillas. Place banana and strawberry slices on one tortilla and sprinkle with cinnamon. Top with the second tortilla and press gently to help stick together. In a skillet on medium heat, add the quesadilla and cook each side for three minutes or until golden brown.

About Envolve, Inc.  Envolve, Inc.® is a family of health solutions, working together to make healthcare simpler, more effective and more accessible for everyone. As an agent for change in healthcare, Envolve is committed to transforming the health of the community, one person at a time. For more information, please visit www.envolvehealth.com.

• Have a comment?  Send to: editor@charlestoncurrents.com

BRACK: Go the extra mile, do the extra work and exceed expectations

By Andy Brack, editor and publisher  |  With hundreds of thousands of South Carolina students headed back to classrooms now, here’s hoping that it will be their best year ever, a year in which they exceed the expectations of their parents and teachers, a year in which they work harder to achieve excellence.

If we all exceed expectations, we’ll change the places where we learn, work and play. Imagine if 700,000 public school students did better in the classroom.  Not only would they perform better in an irritating flurry of standardized tests.  But they would also create a more positive, competitive learning environment that might change the pathways of their lives.

The story of Joshie the Giraffe illustrates the importance of doing more than required.

A few years ago, a family vacationed in the Ritz-Carlton Amelia Island in Florida.  Upon arriving home, the parents discovered their young son’s stuffed giraffe Joshie didn’t return with them.  Joshie, it appeared, was lost.  The boy panicked at the prospect of going to sleep without Joshie.

Businessman Chris Hurn told his son Joshie was fine.  “’He’s just taking an extra-long vacation at the resort, ‘he wrote in 2012 in Huffington Post.  “My son seemed to buy it, and was finally able to fall asleep, Joshie-less for the first time in a long while.”

Fortunately, the Ritz Carlton staff found Joshie that night.  Hurn asked the staff to take a photo of Joshie in a lounge chair by the pool to reassure his son.

But the staff went way beyond one photo.  They took pictures of Joshie all over the property.  One photo showed him with cucumber slices on his eyes while getting a massage.  In another, Joshie lounged with other stuffed animals and a real parrot.  He drove a golf cart on the beach.  And finally, as a new member of the hotel’s Loss Prevention Team, they snapped a picture of him watching security footage.

Joshie and the photos soon arrived an album with a cache of hotel goodies.  The Hurn family was blown away by how the staff exceeded expectations for guests that had already checked out.

Joshie’s story went viral on social media.  But it didn’t end there.  Three years later, Joshie got left accidentally in another Florida hotel room.  Again, the boy was distraught.  The parents couldn’t find another Joshie, so they bought a stand-in giraffe soon named Tucker.

Later that year, the family returned to the Ritz-Carlton.  Staffers were saddened to learn Joshie was again missing.

“Later that afternoon someone knocked on the door of our room and handed my son a bag with his name on it,” Hurn wrote in a follow-up column.  “ In it was another stuffed giraffe with a small note around his neck introducing him as ‘Jeffie,’ a long-lost cousin of Joshie’s. The note said that while Joshie is off on his worldwide adventures, Jeffie would be honored to be his new companion. It also said he likes warm hugs.”

None of that was in anyone’s job description.  But the staff went the extra mile to make a little boy happy.  It’s what authors Chris Heath and Dan Heath called “breaking the script” of what was expected with a strategic surprise.  They related the story of Joshie in their 2017 book, “The Power of Moments.”

Charleston School of Law Dean Andy Abrams shared the Joshie’s story with faculty and staff as they prepared to welcome students.

“The story is about the commitment of people to not just meet but to exceed expectations, and it resonated for me because it reminded me of the kind of culture so many of you work so hard to nurture daily here at the Charleston School of Law,” he wrote in an email.  “It also underscored the impact that your small acts of kindness and compassion can sometimes have.”

For students, teachers, administrators and anyone in a service-oriented business, the inspiring story of Joshie the Giraffe highlights how good things can happen by embracing a lifestyle of exceeding expectations and striving for excellence.

And it reinforces one suggestion my daughters frequently hear about school work:  Always do the extra credit.  It will always help you.

• Have a comment?  Send to: editor@charlestoncurrents.com

SPOTLIGHT:  Titan Termite & Pest Control

Titan Termite & Pest Control, headquartered in Charleston, is a full service residential, commercial and industrial pest control company serving South Carolina. It is a third-generation, family-owned company known for outstanding customer service. Each associate is dedicated to the customer and exhibits integrity and respect. Titan’s pest professionals can assist your commercial or residential location with general pest control, termite inspections, termite control, flea control, bed bug extermination, ant control and more.  Titan Termite and Pest Control continues to set high standards so that its customers receive the best possible service. Titan’s technicians are knowledgeable of the latest in pest control techniques, which enables the company to customize effective treatment plans for every situation.

• Free estimate: 888-794-5603.
• Contact Titan online.

GOOD NEWS: North Charleston library design to be unveiled Aug. 27

Staff reports  |   Charleston County Public Library (CCPL) will host a community meeting 7 p.m. Aug. 27 to updated designs for the R. Keith Summey North Charleston Library that will replace the Cooper River Memorial Library.

Local residents overwhelmingly approved a referendum in November 2014 to build five new Charleston County Public Library branches and upgrade 13 others. Behind-the-scenes progress has been made on the library building projects since then, and residents are invited to this community meeting to listen to a presentation by the architects and participate in a question and answer session with CCPL and Charleston County Government staff.

The meeting will be at Cooper River Memorial Library, 3503 Rivers Ave., North Charleston, SC 29405.  To learn more about the construction and renovation plan, view a map and see a breakdown of the estimated costs, visit the Library Construction page.

In other Good News:

New photography exhibit.  “Interwoven: The Art of Indigo and Silver” is a new exhibit that will open Aug. 25 and run through Oct. 7 at the City Gallery at Joe Riley Waterfront Park.  The show will highlight the work of silversmith Kaminer Haislip, textile designer Leigh Magar and photographer Jack Alterman, all longtime Lowcountry artists who have been influenced by the city’s cultural heritage and legacies.  The exhibition includes about 60 works with indigo and silver serving as conceptual inspiration and the materials.  An opening reception is 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Aug. 24 at the gallery, 34 Prioleau St., Charleston.

Literary Festival set for November.  Legendary editor Tina Brown, former editor of Vanity Fair and The New Yorker, will showcase the Charleston to Charleston Literary Festival, set for Nov. 8 to 11, which will be held in the Beaux Arts building of the Charleston Library Society and in the Dock Street Theatre, both in downtown Charleston.  The festival, a partnership between the Society and the Charleston Trust in the United Kingdom, will also include presentations by  authors Margo Jefferson, Deborah Lipstadt, Charles Spencer, Christopher Dickey, Judge Richard Gergel and several more.  To learn more about the Charleston to Charleston Literary Festival, visit www.charlestontocharleston.com​.

Nonstop to Minneapolis.  Starting Wednesday, Frontier Airlines will offer seasonal nonstop flights to Minneapolis-St. Paul each Wednesday and Saturday, according to the Charleston County Aviation Authority. The ultra-low-cost carrier is one of eight airlines giving travelers the ability to fly nonstop from the Lowcountry to 25 cities and 30 airports in the U.S.

State ends year with surplus.  South Carolina ended the 2018 fiscal year on June 30 with $177 million more in the coffers than expected, according to a press release from the S.C. Comptroller’s Office. In the budget, lawmakers designated any surplus to roll over into the following year’s contingency fund, according to a House staff member.  Lawmakers could decide what to do with that one-time money in January, according to a Senate staff member.  More.

Floating and fishing on the Edisto

Hanahan photographer Chuck Boyd has a memory from his boyhood that he cherishes:

“I helped my granddad build a small square floating cabin on the Edisto River when I was a teenager in the late 1940s. It sat it on four empty 55-gallon drums and we floated and fished for catfish.

“He was a ‘squatter.” I learned later that he did not own any land there and the owners must not have cared. The first night he woke me shouting, ‘Get up, boy, we’re sinkin’!’  Sure enough, the room was canted to one side and water was lapping at our feet. Later, when he fixed the leaks, we were afloat again and laughing together. Great memory!

“Grandad was a retired railroad man from Yemassee and eventually added more linked cabins but all were up on stilts, not bobbing on empty drums.  He even rented out rowboats after a while.

“One day, my older brother and I ran up the dock yelling we had seen a moccasin coming upriver. Grandad ran down and fired off both barrels of his shotgun! He killed the snake and blew the bottom out of one of his rowboats.”

Tell us what you love about the Lowcountry.  Send a short comment – 100 words to 150 words – that describes something you really enjoy about the Lowcountry.  It can be big or small.  It can be a place, a thing or something you see.  It might the bakery where you get a morning croissant or a business or government entity doing a good job.  We’ll highlight your entry in a coming issue of Charleston Currents.  We look forward to hearing from you.

• Click here to TELL US what you love.
• Click here to READ what others love

FEEDBACK: Readers respond positively to column on Riley’s leadership

To the editor:

Your feature on the USC Library’s event celebrating the opening of Gov. Dick Riley’s papers is the best coverage I’ve read.

I was particularly taken by your characterizing Riley as “a quiet lion of a leader.”

— Herb Hartsook, West Columbia, S.C.

To the editor:

Amen to that. Feeling really blessed to have had the opportunity to work with/for real public servants like Dick Riley and Fritz Hollings.

— Laura Morris, Mount Pleasant, S.C.

To the editor:

One hell of a good man!

— Chip Brown, Conway, S.C.

Send us a letter:  We love hearing from readers.  Comments are limited to 250 words or less.  Please include your name and contact information.  Send your letters to: editor@charlestoncurrents.com.  |  Read our feedback policy.

MYSTERY PHOTO:  Look familiar?

This image should look familiar, but what is it?  Send your guess to:  editor@charlestoncurrents.com.  And don’t forget to include your name and the town in which you live.

Our previous Mystery Photo

The Aug. 13 mystery was the gazebo, or bandstand, built in Charleston’s Hampton Park  for the S.C. Inter-State and West Indian Exposition of 1901-02.

This week’s Mystery Photo detectives included Marnie Huger of Richmond, Va.; But Ferillo of Columbia; Stephen Yetman and Gwen McCurdy, both of Charleston; Les Schwartz; Archie Burkel and Paul Hedden, both of James Island; Bill Segars of Hartsville; and George Graf of Palmyra, Va.

Several people shared that the expo was held to promote Charleston business, but was generally considered a bust (even though President Teddy Roosevelt attended).  Graf provided some other interesting information about the land that now is a 60-acre park.  “ According to charlestondaily.net:

• “From 1792 – 1900, Hampton Park was a horse racing track called Washington Race Track.  It was started by the South Carolina Jockey Club.  Though the track was historically closed in 1900, the last race was in 1877 due to the damage caused by the Civil War.
• “During the Civil War, the land was used as a prisoner of war camp for Union Soldiers being moved from Andersonville, Georgia to Florence, South Carolina.  Over 200 died due to illness and are buried in unmarked graves near the parking lot on the Wagoner Terrance side.
• “In 1901, several businessmen decided to hold a regional trade exposition in Charleston and bought the land from the Charleston Library Society for part of the grounds.  The Expo was considered a failure by many but in 1902 Teddy Roosevelt came to the event and one year, the actual Liberty Bell made an appearance.  Officially called the South Carolina Inter-State and West Indian Exposition, this event brought new business to Charleston including the American Cigar Company and United Fruit Company.
• “The Boston Bean Eaters (today known as the Atlanta Braves) held two weeks of spring training in the park in 1905, and lost to the Detroit Tigers.
• “Mr. Archer Huntington donated $1000 and a collection of exotic animals from his personal collection at Brookgreen Gardens to get a zoo started in 1932.  zoo included lions, bears, and native species in a series of big chain link cages located between the current bandstand and the Cleveland Street entrance.  By 1972, the zoo was in such bad condition, it was deemed in violation of new federal codes of animal welfare treatment and was soon closed.”

Send us a mystery:  If you have a photo that you believe will stump readers, send it along (but make sure to tell us what it is because it may stump us too!)   Send it along to  editor@charlestoncurrents.com.

HISTORY:  The lettered olive, South Carolina’s state shell

S.C. Encyclopedia  |  The lettered olive (Oliva sayana) was declared the official state shell in legislation approved by Governor Richard Riley on May 8, 1984. In the act, legislators described the South Carolina coast as “one of the most widely promoted areas . . . for recreation and tourism” and noted that shelling along the state’s beaches had become “increasingly popular among residents as well as with the tourist trade.”

The lettered olive is prolific on the South Carolina coast. Dr. Edmund Ravenel, a Charleston physician who attained international renown as a pioneer conchologist, first recognized the lettered olive in 1834. He assembled a famous collection of mollusks from the waters and wetlands of the Charleston area and published the catalog of this collection in 1834. That work contained descriptions of several new mollusks, including the lettered olive.

Oliva sayana is a predatory snail that lives in sandy environments from the intertidal zone down to twenty feet. It spends most of its time burrowing through the sand in search of prey. The shells are two to two and one-half inches in length and are colored grayish tan with brownish-purple zigzag bands. Their supposed resemblance to ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs gave rise to the name “lettered.”

The shell, much prized by collectors, is highly polished because the mollusk’s mantle, or shell building tissue, is large and envelops the entire shell while the creature is burrowing, protecting it from corrosive sand. Lettered olives are sometimes seen on the surface of the sand at night, and it is believed that they can flap their mantle lobes and swim through the shallow water, increasing their predatory range.

— Excerpted from an entry by David C.R. Heisser.   To read more about this or 2,000 other entries about South Carolina, check out The South Carolina Encyclopedia, published in 2006 by USC Press. (Information used by permission.)

CALENDAR:  ACLU schedules back-to-back events

Staff reports  |  The American Civil Liberties Union of South Carolina is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year.  Here are two events the organization is putting on in September:

• Shared racial history. At 6 p.m. Sept. 20 at Burke High School in Charleston, Deputy Legal Director Jeffrey Robinson will deliver a talk about the country’s shared racial history and how to unite America as a nation.  Robinson also is director of the Trone Center for Justice and Equality, a project focusing on criminal justice reform.
• Five decades of service.  The following week on Sept. 27 at 6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. at Republic Garden & Lounge on King Street in Charleston, the South Carolina office of the ACLU will hold an anniversary celebration with a keynote speech from Faiz Shakir, national political director of the ACLU.  He is expected to provide updates on national community engagement efforts.

Also on the Calendar:

Race for The ARK: 7:45 a.m., Aug. 25, downtown Summerville.  The 19^th annual Thrivent Financial Race for The ARK, a 5K run/walk, is an event to benefit work of The ARK to provide support to families living with Alzheimer’s or related dementia.  To learn more and register, click here.

Mamma Mia!  Month-long run at Charleston Stage opens Aug. 31, Dock Street Theatre, Charleston.  The popular musical is the opening show of the 41^st season of Charleston Stage.  The show runs through Sept. 23 at a variety of times with tickets ranging from $33.75 to $70.75.  Click here for tickets and more info.Expressive abstracts:  Through Aug. 31, North Charleston City Gallery, 5001 Coliseum Drive, North Charleston.  The city’s cultural arts department will welcome a group of works by 35 female abstract expressionist artists who come from across the country.  Two thirds of the group will present new mixed media work in the exhibition called “Inside Out:  Expressing our Inner Voices.”  More info.

Wine Down Wednesday: 5 p.m. to 7 p.m., Sept. 5 and Sept. 19, Old Town Creek County Park, West Ashley.  Explore Old Towne Creek County Park, one of West Ashley’s hidden gems, during the second of this four-part springtime event series. Guests will enjoy wine, live music from Shane Clark, and food truck fare from Tamashii. Wine and a commemorative glass are included with admission. Food truck fare is a separate fee. For more information, visit CharlestonCountyParks.com. Fee: $20, or $15 in advance.

Black Ink Festival:  11 a.m. to 5 p.m., Sept. 8, Charleston County Public Library Main Branch, 68 Calhoun St., Charleston.  The third annual festival will celebrate African-American books and support local writers.  The keynote speaker at 2 p.m. will be nationally-acclaimed writer Terry McMillan.  Lots of activities and fun at this free festival, supported in party by Charleston Currents.  More info via the Charleston Friends of the Library.

Shaggin’ finale:  Gates open 7 p.m., Sept. 8, Mount Pleasant Pier, Mount Pleasant.  The season finale of Shaggin’ on the Cooper will feature live music by the Recollections and shag dancing. Advance tickets to Shaggin’ on the Cooper are $8 per person. Space is limited, so advance purchase is recommended. If available, tickets sold on site are $10. To purchase tickets, visit CharlestonCountyParks.com or call 843-795-4386.

Early morning bird walks at Caw Caw:  8:30 a.m. every Wednesday and Saturday, Caw Caw Interpretive Center, Ravenel.  You can learn about habitats and birds, butterflies and other organisms in this two-hour session.  Registration not required, but participants are to be 15 and up.  $10 per person or free to Gold Pass holders.  More:  http://www.CharlestonCountyParks.com.

AREA FARMERS MARKETS

SATURDAYS: The  Charleston Farmers Market, is back in action from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. every Saturday through Nov. 24 at Marion Square.  A holiday market will be open Dec. 1, 2, 8. 9, 15 and 16.

SATURDAYS:  Johns Island Farmers Market operates each Saturday from 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. year-round with more than 50 local farmers and vendors, food trucks, music and more.  The market is located on the campus of Charleston Collegiate School, 2024 Academy Road, Johns Island.

SATURDAYS: The Town Market on James Island are again open.  Open 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. every Saturday at the James Island Youth Soccer Club, 871 Fort Johnson Road, James Island.

TUESDAYS:  The Town of Mount Pleasant’s Farmers Market is every Tuesday from 3:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. in the market pavilion at Moultrie Middle School, 645 Coleman Blvd, in Mount Pleasant.

WEDNESDAYS.  The West Ashley Farmers Market, 55 Sycamore Ave.,  is open every Wednesday from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m.  in Ackerman Park.  More.

• If you have an event to list on our calendar, please send it to charlestoncurrents@gmail.com for consideration. The calendar is updated weekly on Mondays.

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