IN THIS ISSUE of Charleston Currents #11.15 | Feb. 18, 2019
FOCUS: Photos from a Lowcountry oyster roast
COMMENTARY, Brack: Don’t miss the opportunity for education reform
IN THE SPOTLIGHT: SCIWAY
GOOD NEWS: Celebrating azaleas, history and sweet tea in Summerville
FEEDBACK: Tell us what you think
RECOMMENDED: Party of One: A Memoir in 21 Songs, by Dave Holmes
MYSTERY PHOTO: Who’s this old guy?
S.C. ENCYCLOPEDIA: Reformed Episcopal Church
CALENDAR: Charleston Museum oyster roast is Saturday
FOCUS: Photos from a Lowcountry oyster roast
Byko
Staff reports | Local Realtor Rob Byko has a real eye for capturing the essence of the world around us. Whether he’s scouting birds in the wild or people with his camera, his photos provide a real feel that puts you inside the spaces and places he sees.
In this issue, we welcome Byko, who lives on Sullivan’s Island, as a contributing photographer who will provide periodic photo essays of what he’s seeing around the area. In today’s essay, you get a real feel for the grittiness and steaminess of a Lowcountry oyster roast. It’s easy to smell and taste the briny sweetness of oysters as they left the cooker and were dumped on the tables of hungry patrons of a roast earlier this month on Sullivan’s Island. Enjoy these — and future — photos from Rob.
- Have a comment? Send to: editor@charlestoncurrents.com
BRACK: Don’t miss the opportunity for education reform
S.C. House Speaker Jay Lucas, R-Darlington.
By Andy Brack, editor and publisher | House Speaker Jay Lucas is a man on a mission to reform South Carolina’s failing education system for the first time in more than 30 years.
“We have left generations of children in poverty behind in this state and every year that we don’t act [on education], we’ll continue to do that,” said Lucas, a powerfully built Hartsville Republican whose tired eyes mask a palpable intensity.
“We’ve got to buckle down and do it,” he said in an exclusive interview last week. “If it was easy, somebody would have done it over the last 42 years. Part of the problem is it’s not easy.”
When asked if there were anything he’s wanted more in his two decades of service in the House, the answer was simple: “ No.”
Good. It’s about time for someone at the top to step up. As a state, we can’t sink much lower on how our schools perform. And with legislators underfunding the state’s legally-mandated base student cost by more than $4 billion over the last decade, our bottom-of-the-barrel state K-12 schools desperately need the full attention of the General Assembly.
There’s a lot of blame to go around for why change has been slow, Lucas admitted. But it’s time to stop pointing fingers and get something done so more kids aren’t snared in failing schools, he urged.
At the beginning of the 2019 session, Lucas introduced an expansive, 84-page education reform bill that focuses on a broad array of education policy to try to upend how learning is being delivered in South Carolina.
“I’m the last guy that should have put this bill forward, because I’m not an education person, never served on the education committee,” the speaker said. “[But I’m] concerned about education. … I spent six months learning about the system so I could put forth a product that we could begin debating.”
Lucas said his bill, which is mirrored in a companion Senate bill, essentially is a big policy statement on education. It focuses on several areas to press education forward:
Career development. Lucas said the bill pushes earlier and more attention on readying K-12 students to be ready for work, college and career pathways.
Testing. The bill seeks to cut some of the seemingly endless standardized student testing and revamps a “Read to Succeed” program for improving early reading skills.
Changing remediation. It would move student remediation to K-12 schools to allow more students to be ready for college.
New teachers. It would increase the pay for starting teachers.
More accountability. The bill would create major changes for underperforming schools and districts, including possible consolidation of small districts.
Critics may point to critical big-ticket items that the bill doesn’t cover – the need to stick to the base student cost and the formula used to calculate it or the struggle to pay existing teachers more to stop a hemorrhage from K-12 classrooms. But, Lucas points out, there are other bills in place to accomplish those things, both of which will be part of budget discussions. His policy bill would set a new framework for what’s happening now.
Rep. Mandy Powers Norrell, D-Lancaster, this week outlined on Facebook that she was backing the measure because “Speaker Lucas believes strongly in public education — and because I believe in the process. The bill is at the subcommittee level, which is the point for shaping the bill, getting input, and making changes. If it’s not a good bill at the end of this process, I won’t support it, but I have confidence that it will be.”
With about 70 co-sponsors ranging from conservative Republicans to more liberal Democrats, the speaker’s bill should pass the House. It’s up to the Senate to make sure it moves on it, too.
“There’s nothing more important that we’ve dealt with, however, than this issue,” Lucas said. “This issue is critical to where we go as a state.”
Lawmakers must move K-12 education forward so we don’t keep failing our children. But they also need to use a huge state surplus to pay existing teachers more and stop shortchanging students by not investing the money the law requires them to spend.
Andy Brack is editor and publisher of Charleston Currents. Have a comment? Send to: editor@charlestoncurrents.com
SPOTLIGHT: SCIWAY
The public spiritedness of our underwriters allows us to bring Charleston Currents to you at no cost. Today we shine our spotlight on SCIWAY. Pronounced “sky-way,” SCIWAY is South Carolina’s Information Superhighway — the largest and most comprehensive directory of South Carolina information on the Internet. It includes thousands of links to other South Carolina Web sites, including Charleston Currents, as well as an amazing collection of maps, charts, articles, photos and other resources.
- To learn more about this extraordinary information hub that 7 million people visit a year, go to: http://www.SCIWAY.com.
- To meet all of our underwriters, click here.
GOOD NEWS: Celebrating azaleas, history and sweet tea in Summerville
Staff reports | The Rev. John Drayton Azalea Chapter of the American Azalea Society and Magnolia Plantation and Gardens will host the society’s 2019 convention on March 14-16 in Summerville.
“We are honored to have some of the top azalea experts coming to Summerville to experience the beauty of the gardens we have in the Charleston area,” said Tom Johnson, Magnolia’s executive director who also is president of the local azalea chapter.
The Rev. John Drayton Chapter hosted this convention five years ago in Charleston. This is the first time the convention is being staged in Summerville. The convention, themed “Azaleas, History, and Sweet Tea,” is being held in Summerville because it is certified as an Azalea City and known as the home of sweet tea, according to a press release. .
The convention, which will have nationally-recognized horticultural experts, will include a plant sale and garden tours of Middleton Place, Mepkin Abbey, the Charleston Tea Plantation and Magnolia. The Wyndham Garden Hotel and the Hampton Inn are the convention hotels. The convention is open to the public. To register, go to www.azaleas.org.
In other Good News:
New news tool. South Carolina is already an epicenter of 2020 presidential politics as candidates are here every weekend introducing themselves and, well, politicking across the Palmetto State. If you want to be able to keep up with all that’s happening, check out a new daily news clipping service offered by our sister publication, Statehouse Report. It’s called 2020 Early State News and offers headlines and summaries of what’s happening in S.C. related to presidential politics — plus a few national stories throwin in for good measure. You can subscribe for free by email.
New record. The Lowcountry Food Bank’s 20th annual Chefs’ Feast gala on Feb. 10, set a new record at $450,000 for donations that support the fight against childhood hunger. More than 750 community partners and guests attended the annual event. Three generous supporters donated $20,000 each to commemorate the 20th year of Chefs’ Feast. Chefs’ Feast is a collaboration between the Lowcountry Food Bank and nearly 30 of the community’s most celebrated chefs who offered up delectable bites for guests to enjoy. Guests also participated in a live auction and met the Lowcountry’s own celebrity chefs as they served up signature dishes. For photos from the event, please click here
Successful food drive. In a related story, Magnolia Plantation and Gardens ended its recent holiday food drive to assists the Lowcountry Food Bank with a record-breaking 9.5 tons of non-perishable food. The amount of food donated by Magnolia’s guests has increased each year since Magnolia launched the food drive seven years ago. This year’s total was 5,000 pounds more than the previous year.
Big grant. SCRA has been awarded approximately $750,000 in federal grant funding by the U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA) as part of the 2018 Regional Innovation Strategies Competition. The grant will fund the creation of the South Carolina Medical Device Alliance to invent and develop products and bring them to market. This partnership, comprised of Clemson University, the Medical University of South Carolina and industry leaders, will form a regional innovation cluster to grow the economic impact of the medical device industry through job creation and startup formation, as well as to attract international businesses to establish a presence in South Carolina.
FEEDBACK: Tell us what you think
We’d love to get your impact in one or more ways:
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Party of One: A Memoir in 21 Songs, by Dave Holmes
By Amy Adams, James Island Library | Dave Holmes is the kind of guy I’ve wanted to be friends with since I first saw him on MTV’s “Wanna Be a VJ” contest in 1998. My feelings were completely reaffirmed after reading his book, “Party of One: A Memoir in 21 Songs.” It is an honest offering, with the perfect blend of humor, emotion, and juicy pop culture buzz.
Intended for adults who are interested in music, journalism and other aspects of popular culture, this biographical journey tells the story of Holmes’ life in a mixtape style. He talks about growing up gay, his struggle to break through on television, what his life was like before, and what he’s done since MTV. Fans of Rob Sheffield and Nick Hornby will appreciate Holmes’ music references, readable writing style, and depth of knowledge in his field.
— Find this and similar titles from Charleston County Public Library. This item is available as a print book, large print book, downloadable eBook, downloadable audiobook and audio CD. To learn more or place a hold, visit www.ccpl.org or call 843-805-6930.
MYSTERY: Who’s the old guy>?
This long-dead South Carolinian isn’t someone you might recognize easily. But there’s a pretty good bet he was pretty important to the United States at some point in his life. Who is he? end 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
Our previous mystery, “Curly hair,” got a great, but obviously intended-to-be-wrong, guess from one wag, whom we won’t identify. He guessed the marble bust to be of powerful longtime state Sen. Hugh Leatherman, R-Florence, before the late U.S. Sen. Strom Thurmond of South Carolina invented hair dye!
Ha! Not true, but funny. Seriously, the bust in the Gibbes Museum of Art on in front gallery under the Tiffany-style dome was of George Washington in a Roman style by an Italian sculptor.
FYI: If Washington were alive, he’d turn 287 on Feb. 22!
Congrats to the sleuths who correctly identified the first president: Eric Hansel of West Ashley; Freida McDuffie of Charleston; George Graf of Palmyra, Va.; and Charleston native Marnie Huger of Richmond who said she had a delightful time figuring out this mystery.
Graf correctly shared that the bust attributed to Giuseppe Ceracchi has been at the Gibbes Museum of Art since 1917. “According to charlestoncitypaper.com, Ceracchi’s bust of Washington first made its way to Charleston when collector John Izard Middleton purchased it in 1820; it lived at Middleton Place for nearly a century (surviving the 1865 fire) and was donated to the Gibbes in the 20th century.”
- 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: Reformed Episcopal Church
Cummins Theological Seminary, Summerville, S.C.
S.C. Encyclopedia | This small denomination (approximately six thousand members nationwide in 2000) was organized in New York City on December 2, 1873, by eight clergy and twenty laypersons who had been members of the Protestant Episcopal Church. It emerged out of the low-church / high-church controversy of the mid–nineteenth century.
Assistant Bishop George Cummins of Kentucky and Charles Edward Cheney, rector of Christ Church, Chicago, were both opposed to the ritualism and ecclesiasticism of the high-church party and especially to the doctrine of baptismal regeneration, which taught that at baptism a person is not only initiated into the Christian community but is also truly “born again,” regenerated, made new. The immediate cause of the division was Cummins’s participation in a joint communion service with Presbyterians and Methodists at the Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church in New York City, a service at which the Episcopal Book of Common Prayer was not used. Cummins was criticized for this and withdrew from the Episcopal Church.
The Reformed Episcopal Church in South Carolina is part of the Diocese of the Southeast, which also has churches in Tennessee and Florida. In the early twenty-first century there were approximately thirty-one parishes and missions in South Carolina with about 2,500 members, and they were about evenly divided between whites and blacks. Many blacks who joined the Reformed Episcopal Church had left the Protestant Episcopal Church. The Reformed Episcopal Church has three theological seminaries, one of which is the Cummins Memorial Theological Seminary in Summerville, which was established in 1876. The office of the Diocese of the Southeast is located at the seminary.
— Excerpted from an entry by Donald S. Amentrout. This entry may not have been updated since 2006. 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: Charleston Museum oyster roast is Saturday
Staff reports | If Rob Byko’s oyster roast photos made your mouth water, you can still get tickets to this weekend’s oyster roast at the Charleston Museum’s Dill Sanctuary on James Island.
You will enjoy an incredible view as you listen to live music with the Paul Quattlebaum Jazz Trio, shuck oysters,and eat delicious barbecue and cotton candy from Pure Fluff, Co. Attendees are also invited to join Museum Archaeologist Ron Anthony as he leads a discussion of archaeological work that has taken place at Stono Plantation, one of four plantation sites within the Dill Sanctuary. The property is a wildlife sanctuary and is only open for select Museum programming.
The event is noon to 3 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 23. Tickets are $40 for members; $50 for nonmembers. BYOB. Click here for more.
Also on the calendar:
Events at the Gaillard. Check out these awesome coming events at the Charleston Gaillard Center, 95 Calhoun St., Charleston:
Feb. 19, 7 p.m.: Rodgers + Hammerstein’s Cinderella.
Feb. 22, 1 p.m. and 3:30 p.m.: Magic School Bus: Lost in the Solar System
Outside Agitator talk, signing: 5 p.m., Feb. 15, Blue Bicycle Books, 420 King St., Charleston. Author Adam Parker and his subject, Cleveland Sellers Jr., will offer a public book talk and signing for the recently published book, “Outside Agitator: The Civil Rights Struggle of Cleveland Sellers Jr.”
Women, Wine & Shoes: 6 p.m. to 9:30 p.m., Feb. 21, Hotel Bennett, downtown Charleston. This fun annual benefit for Florence Crittenton Programs of South Carolina will feature designer shopping, wine tasting, great food and a fashion show. Tickets are $175 per person and seating is limited. Learn more.
McLeod by Night: 6:30 p.m. to 7:45 p.m., March 1, McLeod Plantation Historic Site, James Island. For enslaved residents, night was time for burials, worship, family visits, or an opportunity to seize freedom. Tour McLeod after dark to discover how they commandeered the night and the risks they took doing so. Fee: $15 admission. More: www.charlestoncountyparks.com
Great book sale: Starting at 9 a.m. March 1 and 2, Otranto Regional Library, 2261 Otranto Road, North Charleston. The Charleston Friends of the Library offers another great book sale with paperbacks for $1 and hardbacks for $3. Last year, the said raised nearly $8,000 and welcomed hundreds of people through the doors. More: CharlestonLibraryFriends.org
Commissioning of USS Charleston: 10 a.m., March 2, Columbus Street Terminal. Charleston. A commissioning ceremony for the new USS Charleston (LCS 18), an Independence-class littoral combat ship, requires anyone who wishes to attend to register this month and soon through the Navy League of Charleston. The registration period has expired. However, you can watch online here. More info.
Steel Magnolias: 12 shows, March 6 to March 24, Dock Street Theater, 135 Church St., Charleston. Charleston Stage will present Steel Magnolias, one of the most produced comedies in America, for three weeks with resident actors to the delight of area audiences. Truvy, Ouiser, Clairee, M’Lynn, Annelle, and Shelby have gathered once again at Truvy’s Beauty Parlor to primp, gossip, and spar with one another. As hair is teased, blow-dried, and permed, the comic sparks fly in this hilarious and beloved classic Southern comedy. Tickets available online 24/7 at www.charlestonstage.com. Or by calling (843) 577-7183.
The Reckoning in the Park: 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. sets, March 10, Dog Park, James Island County Park, James Island. Bring your favorite furry friend to the dog park to enjoy live music from local Grateful Dead cover band, The Reckoning! Fee: $2 park entrance. More: www.charlestoncountyparks.com
Great jazz: 7:30 p.m., March 11, Recital Hall, Simons Center for the Arts, 54 St. Philip St., Charleston. The 2nd Monday Series at the College of Charleston School of the Arts will present the CofC Faculty Jazz Ensemble: Robert Lewis (saxophones), David Heywood (flute), Tyler Ross (guitar), Gerald Gregory (piano), Quentin Baxter (drums) and Frank Duvall (bass). The group will perform jazz standards, arrangements and originals. Directed by Robert Lewis, Jazz Studies in the College’s Department of Music is one of the most prominent music programs in the area and includes instruction by some of the best jazz performers of the South.Admission is $15 general / $10 students. More information is available at music.cofc.edu/concerts/2nd-Monday-series.
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: 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.
- If you have an event to list on our calendar, please send it to feedback@charlestoncurrents.com for consideration. The calendar is updated weekly on Mondays.
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