Charleston Currents #11.40 | Aug. 26, 2019
REMEMBRANCE. Captain America watched over a Friday celebration of the life of Summerville resident Jim Goolsby. Learn more about “Planet Jimbo” in Andy Brack’s commentary below.
FOCUS, Loftis: State has tax-advantaged way to save for disabled
COMMENTARY, Brack: A great send-off for Planet Jimbo
IN THE SPOTLIGHT: SCIWAY
GOOD NEWS: Mitchell HIll to open new Charleston design center
FEEDBACK: Send us your letters
MYSTERY PHOTO: This could be the beginning of something good
S.C. ENCYCLOPEDIA: Jonathan Lucas
CALENDAR: From a musical to shows to art
FOCUS: State has tax-advantaged way to save for disabled
By Curtis Loftis, state treasurer | August is ABLE to Save Month (#ABLEtoSave), a national grassroots initiative of the ABLE National Resource Center, designed to educate the public about ABLE accounts. The campaign not only brings attention to this important savings resource, but it also demonstrates a positive step towards levelling the financial playing field for the disability community.
Loftis
Living with a disability can significantly add to the financial pressure families live with every day, especially when families cannot save money for fear of losing eligibility for important benefits like Supplemental Security Income and Medicaid. Only a few years ago, individuals with disabilities and their families were faced with this impossible financial dilemma: sacrifice saving for the future or lose vital public benefits. As it stood, if individuals with disabilities had more than $2,000 in financial resources, they risked losing means-tested benefits they often relied on for income, health care, food and housing.
Thankfully, the passage of the federal ABLE Act of 2014 (also known as the Stephen Beck, Jr., Achieving a Better Life Experience Act) solved this predicament. The ABLE Act brought an opportunity to save for the future to eligible individuals with disabilities. Similar to their 529 college savings counterparts and 401(k) accounts, ABLE 529A accounts allow eligible individuals with disabilities and their families a tax-advantaged way to save and invest money for disability-related expenses.
As your state treasurer, I’m proud to administer the Palmetto ABLE Savings Program. Since its launch in 2017, nearly a thousand South Carolinians have opened a Palmetto ABLESM account. Now, these South Carolinians can put aside funds to help with basic living expenses and build savings for their future without losing eligibility for needs-based benefits. The money in a Palmetto ABLE account grows tax-free and may be used for any qualified disability expenses, such as transportation, health care, education and training, assistive technology, housing and much more.
With as little as $50, individuals with disabilities and their families can visit PalmettoABLE.com to open a Palmetto ABLE account online, and they may contribute up to $15,000 a year to their account. Thanks to the federal ABLE to Work Act of 2017, employed individuals with disabilities may be able to contribute up to an additional $12,140 of income to their Palmetto ABLE account for a total of $27,140 each year.
It’s simple for other people to contribute money to a Palmetto ABLE account, too. Any person, business, employer, trust, corporation or other legal entity can make contributions to someone’s Palmetto ABLE account. The program even offers a special gifting tool that allows account owners to invite friends and family members to contribute online via an eGift, and the tax benefits aren’t limited to the account owners. Any South Carolina resident that contributes to a Palmetto ABLE account can deduct their contributions from their South Carolina state income tax return.
Flexible and easy to use, Palmetto ABLE features a number of investment options to choose from – including one that is FDIC insured – and a load-and-spend debit card that allows account owners or their authorized representatives to access and spend account funds on qualified disability expenses.
This August, as we observe national ABLE to Save Month, I want South Carolinians with disabilities and their loved ones to know, that by opening and regularly contributing to a Palmetto ABLE account, you’ll be empowered to save, invest and build the financial future you want for yourself and your family.
- To find out if you or a loved one is eligible to open a Palmetto ABLE account, visit PalmettoABLE.com.
Republican Curtis Loftis was first elected as South Carolina’s state treasurer in 2010.
- Have a comment? Send to: editor@charlestoncurrents.com
BRACK: A great send-off for Planet Jimbo
By Andy Brack, editor and publisher | Jim Goolsby’s obituary was unexpected in more ways than one.
Celebrate Jim’s life, it said, by putting on your favorite bright and colorful Superhero T-shirt (please no black unless Darth Vader or Batman), and join family and friends at Hampton Park. There will be food, water and tea, it added, saying you could bring chairs, blankets and coolers (wink, wink.)
“Planet Jimbo” loved comics (DC over Marvel, but he also loved Captain America) and their blockbuster movies. He loved pro wrestling and reportedly was thrilled when “Nature Boy” Ric Flair phoned him as he lay in a hospital room being treated for the pancreatic cancer from which he died a few days ago.
An accomplished guitarist and songwriter, Jim loved music. A pair of friends performed a couple of favorite songs by Jim Croce at the Friday celebration.
“The measure of a friend is the hole they leave when they’re gone,” one longtime friend shared tearfully Friday as more than 50 people hung on every word. “I won’t see a Star Wars movie or a Charleston Green taxi without thinking of him.”
When we got to know Jim a few years back, he was selling ads for a local radio station, a job he approached with professionalism and vigor — except during the dull sales meetings required of all ad execs. He often dozed through them, another friend remembered.
Goolsby
Most of all, Jim liked being with people — learning from them, bantering and even arguing without getting nasty. When he’d had it with the radio business, he headed back to the taxi business where he could learn, banter and listen even more.
No one who knew Jim would remember him as a shy or retiring type. Irreverent, yes. Suffering from a lack of words — not so much. In fact as anyone with a passing knowledge of Jim’s Facebook posts would attest, you knew exactly where Jim stood on everything from support for Boston professional teams or disgust with President Trump.
On Friday afternoon as a barbecue feast awaited, Superman, Batman, Captain America, Hulk, Wonder Woman and others thrilled as four small fireworks screamed through the air. Packed inside each were some of Jim’s ashes. What a great way to go.
James Jackson Goolsby Jr., (1957-2019), we’ll miss you. Rest in peace.
ON THE SAME DAY that we celebrated Jim’s life, we offered a column on a lot of bad ideas foisted upon us by state and federal governments. Jim would have loved it — particularly calling out the president on the dumb idea of buying Greenland. Read the column here.
Andy Brack’s new book, “We Can Do Better, South Carolina,” is now available for $14.99 in paperback via Amazon.
- 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.
Mitchell Hill to open new Charleston design center
Staff reports | Mitchell Hill, a Charleston-based interior design house, will open a design center in the fall on upper King Street in an art deco building long known as Chase Furniture.
According to a press release, the business founded in 2010 by Michael Mitchell and Tyler Hill will revive the 12,000-square-foot space as a multi-line showroom, but will continue to operate as a gallery.
Hill, left, and Mitchell
“We’ve seen Charleston grow into a design hub, and with the influx of interior designers, furniture makers, and design aficionados, we saw a hole in the market,” Mitchell said. “The same way many of the designer gravitate towards High Point Market, Atlanta and New York, we want to be seen as a design resource in your backyard.”
Mitchell and HIll, both known for their sense of occasion, also will host events in the space with local design and media partners to continue the comradery found in the design and art industry in Charleston.
The company’s new venture seeks to serve as a resource for design connoisseurs and to-the-trade industry professionals. The two-level space will reflect their design taste that they call “twisted traditional,” a style the brand is known for. The first floor will carry the latest in furnishings, paint, flooring, hardware, surfaces, and original works of art, the release said. More info.
In other Good News:
Big gift. The city of North Charleston will give $1 million to the International African American Museum after city council unanimously approved the gift last week. North Charleston Mayor Keith Summey said, “This announcement marks the beginning of a great partnership with the International African American Museum and gives us a broader opportunity to tell our community’s rich African American history to an audience of visitors from around the world. Our history is not bound by city limits, and when our story is illuminated, our entire region benefits.”
New citizens to be sworn in. Charles Pinckney National Historic Site will host its 22nd Naturalization Ceremony at 11 a.m. Sept. 19 in the park, located at 1254 Long Point Road in Mount Pleasant. Every year, approximately 100 people from countries all over the world take the oath of citizenship during this ceremony. The event is free and open to the public.
Send us your thoughts
We’d love to get your impact in one or more ways:
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.
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.
This could be the beginning of something good
This one could be another tough one. Hint: It’s in Charleston. Where? 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
Our Aug. 19 mystery, “Peeking into where?” was particularly vexing for many. “Hat Lady” Archie Burkel of James Island explains the photo she submitted: “It was taken looking through the keyhole of Old St. Andrews Parish Church, Ashley River Road. What should make it even harder to identify is the fact that the antique (most likely original) keyhole was replaced with something more modern a few years ago.”
Thanks for the great photo — and congratulations to the photo detectives who correctly guessed the church: George Graf of Palmyra, Va.; Allan Peel of San Antonio, Texas; Marnie Huger of Richmond, Va.; and Kristina Wheeler of West Ashley.
Graf provided some context taken from a book about the church’s history:
“The tranquility of the magnificently restored Saint Andrew’s Parish Church, surrounded by stately oaks and ancient gravestones, belies a tumultuous past. If its walls could talk, they would tell a story as old as the human condition. Founded in the forest of a new colony, this simple Anglican church served planters and their slaves during the heyday of rice and indigo.
“Before the Civil War, ministry shifted to the slaves, and afterward to freed men and women. Following years of decline and neglect, Saint Andrew’s rose like the phoenix. The history of the oldest surviving church south of Virginia and the only remaining colonial cruciform church in South Carolina is one of wealth and poverty, acclaim and anonymity, slavery and freedom, war and peace, quarrelling and cooperation, failure and achievement. It is the story of a church that has refused to die, against all odds.”
Peel provided more information: “The mystery photo is of the interior of the Old St. Andrew’s Parish Church in Charleston, SC. Also known as St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church, it is the oldest surviving church building as well as the last remaining colonial cruciform style church in South Carolina. The original building was built in 1706 and was expanded to its current cruciform plan in 1723. The church was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1973. The photo was shot through the old-style skeleton keyhole in the front door. To be more precise, the keyhole on the front door on the right.”
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: Jonathan Lucas
West Point Rice Mill around 1940. Library of Congress photo.
S.C. Encyclopedia | Millwright. Lucas was born in Cumberland, England, the son of John Lucas and Ann Noble. His mother’s family owned mills in the town of Whitehaven, which undoubtedly served as the source of Lucas’s skill as a millwright. Little is known of his early life in England. He married Mary Cooke on May 22, 1774. They had five children before Mary died sometime between 1783 and 1786. He then married Ann Ashburn of Whitehaven.
Lucas immigrated to South Carolina around 1786, which proved a fortuitous time and place for the arrival of a talented young millwright. Lowcountry rice planters had greatly increased the production of their rice fields by employing tidal rice cultivation. But the process of rice milling or “pounding”—removing the outer husk from the rice grains—had failed to evolve in a like manner. Most rice was still pounded by hand with wooden mortars and pestles or by crude pecker or cog mills powered by animals. Neither of these methods kept pace with the rapidly expanding production of tidal rice fields. Planters could sell unhusked or “rough” rice, but for a considerably lower price than cleaned rice.
Soon after his arrival in South Carolina, Lucas was put to work by a Santee River rice planter to improve the output of his plantation’s rice mill. Lucas experimented with wind and water as power sources, and within a short time his efforts bore fruit. His new pounding mill design was powered by an undershot waterwheel fed by a mill pond. It was first employed at Peach Island Plantation on the North Santee River in 1787. Lucas continued to improve his design, building his first tide-powered mill in 1791. Two years later at Henry Laurens’s Mepkin plantation he built a tide-powered mill, complete with rolling screens, elevators, and packers. The highly automated mill needed just three workers to operate and could pack as many as twenty 600-pound barrels of clean rice on a single tide.
With the assistance of his son Jonathan Jr., Lucas constructed his rice mills throughout the lowcountry, providing a means for South Carolina planters to clean their ever-growing output of rice. He purchased his own plantation on Shem Creek near Charleston, where he also established his own rice- and saw-milling operation. Lucas later purchased land in Charleston and built the city’s first toll rice mill. In 1817 Lucas built the first steam-powered rice mill in the United States. Jonathan Lucas, Jr., also had a successful career as a millwright, patenting an improved rice-cleaning machine in 1808 that found great favor in the rice-receiving ports of England and western Europe. His son Jonathan Lucas III built South Carolina’s largest antebellum rice mill, West Point Mills, on the Ashley River in 1839. Jonathan Lucas died on April 1, 1821, and was buried in St. Paul’s Cemetery, Charleston.
— Excerpted from an entry by Tom Downey. 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: From a musical to shows to art
Footloose, the musical: Aug. 28 to Sept. 28, Dock Street Theatre, Charleston. Charleston Stage will present the 1980s movie-turned-rock-and-roll musical for the first time in a month of performances sponsored by the Henry and Sylvia Yaschik Foundation. Tickets are $29 to $71 for any of the 16 performances of the show. Buy tickets.
Events at the Gaillard. Check out these awesome coming events at the Charleston Gaillard Center, 95 Calhoun St., Charleston:
Lowcountry Jazz Fest: Aug. 30 to Sept. 1, The All White Party Affair, set for Aug. 30 from 7:30 p.m. to 11 p.m.,will feature Grammy-nominated soul slinger Anthony David. Tickets are $85. The next evening at 7:30 p.m. is Day One of the festival, which will include several artists: The Sax Pack. Richard Elliott, Peter White, Keiko Matsui, DW3 and the West Coast Jam Horns. Tickets are $68 to $153. At 7:30 p.m. Sept. 1, Day Two starts including Dave Koz and Friends Summer Horns with Gerald Albright, Rick Braun, Kenny Lattimore and Aubrey Logan; Marion Meadows; Kirk Whalum; and Jonathan Butler. Tickets are $68 to $153.
Tom Segura’s “Take It Down Tour:” 7:30 p.m., Sept. 13. Actor, comedian and writer Tom Segura has quickly become one of Hollywood’s most in demand and highly regarded talents. He is best known for his three Netflix specials, Disgraceful (2018), Mostly Stories (2016), and Completely Normal (2014). Tickets are $32 to $78.
Keb’ Mo’ Solo: 7:30 p.m., Sept. 19. It all took off for Keb’ Mo’ in 1994 with the self-titled release under his newly coined Keb’ Mo’ moniker, and over the years, he has proven that he is a musical force that defies typical genre labels. Tickets are $25 to $69.
New North Charleston art show: Sept. 1-30, North Charleston City Gallery, Charleston Area Convention Center, 5001 Coliseum Drive, North Charleston. The show will feature mixed media works by Vik Hart of Charleston, and abstract paintings by Pascale Bilgis of Lexington. They will host a free two-hour public reception for their concurrent solo exhibitions at the gallery at 5 p.m. Sept. 5.
CofC Piano Series: 7:30 p.m., Sept. 10, Emmett Robinson Theatre, 54 St. Philip St., Charleston. American pianist Johnandrew Slominski will open the 30th anniversary season of the College of Charleston International Piano Series. Slominski’s program will include an impressive body of repertoire featuring works by Liszt, Mozart, Brahms and Glass. General admission is $20 and FREE for College of Charleston students and employees. Tickets available online at go.cofc.edu/ips or at the door.
Wine Down Wednesday: 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Sept. 11, Old Towne Creek County Park, Old Towne Road, West Ashley. Charleston County Parks will kick off this fall series of four events to allow you to enjoy wine, food and live music in a new park. Admission is $15 in advance of $20 at the gate. Other dates are Sept. 25, Oct. 9 and Oct. 23. More info.
Sunday brunch series: 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., Sept. 15, Rose Pavilion in Hampton Park, 30 Mary Murray Drive, Charleston. The Charleston Parks Conservancy is hosting the fall series of Sunday Brunch in Hampton Park with food trucks and live music. Bring blankets and chairs to enjoy live music by local indie rock band Argot while relaxing in the park. Local food trucks Semilla, Lola’s Lumpia and Pita Stroller will have food available for purchase along with coffee from Independent Coffee Grounds and beer, wine and mimosas available for purchase from MIX Charleston. New this year, Create Your Own Mimosa Bar hosted by The West Edge. Advance tickets are $10. Tickets purchased at the door are $15. Free admission for children 12 and under.
The Reckoning: 1 p.m. to 5 p.m., Sept. 15, James Island County Park, James Island. The popular Grateful Dead tribute band returns to the county park in its off-leash dog park area. Beer and non-alcoholic drinks will be available for purchase, but no food is allowed into the dog park. Free with park admission of $2 per person. Dogs welcome, too!
Galivants Ferry Stump: 5 p.m., Sept. 16, Pee Dee Farms General Store, 125 West Highway 501, Galivants Ferry, S.C. Democratic presidential candidates will be vying for attention in a special edition of the nation’s oldest stump meeting in Horry County. Learn more here.
Black Ink: 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., Oct. 5, Memminger Auditorium, 56 Beaufain St., Charleston. Black Ink, Charleston’s African-American book festival, will feature world-renowned poet and educator Nikki Giovanni as keynote speaker at 2 p.m. It is an exciting program of Charleston Friends of the LIbrary and a part of the MOJA Arts Festival. Cost: More info.
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 is 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 MARKETS
TUESDAYS. The Mount Pleasant Farmers Market is every Tuesday from 3:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the market pavillion at Moultrie Middle School, 645 Coleman Blvd., Mount Pleasant. Free parking. Lots of activities. More info.
WEDNESDAYS. The West Ashley Farmers Market is every Wednesday from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. in Ackerman Park off Sycamore Avenue in West Ashley. The last week of the market will be the first week of October. More.
FRIDAYS/SATURDAYS: Night Market. Every Friday and Saturday from 6:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. for the rest of the year, you can shop with 108 vendors, including artists and craftsmen, at the night market on Market Street between East Bay and Church streets. It’s more than four blocks of local shopping and fun. Free.
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 Charleston Farmers Market is open 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. in Marion Square each Saturday through Nov. 30. More info.
- 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.
If you like what you’ve been reading, how about considering a contribution so that we can continue to provide you with good news about Charleston and the Lowcountry. Interested? Just click the image below.
OUR UNDERWRITERS
Charleston Currents is an underwriter-supported weekly online journal of good news about the Charleston area and Lowcountry of South Carolina.
- Meet our underwriters
- To learn more about how your organization or business can benefit, click here to contact us. Or give us a holler on the phone at: 843.670.3996.
OUR TEAM
Charleston Currents offers insightful community comment and good news on events each week. It cuts through the information clutter to offer the best of what’s happening locally.
- Mailing address: P.O. Box. 22261 | Charleston, SC 29413
- Phone: 843.670.3996
Charleston Currents is provided to you weekly by:
- Editor and publisher: Andy Brack, 843.670.3996
- Contributing editor, common good, Fred Palm
- Contributing editor, money: Kyra Morris
- Contributing editor, Palmetto Poem: Marjory Wentworth
- Contributing editor, real estate: Digit Matheny
- Contributing editor, AT: Jerry Adams
- Contributing photographer: Rob Byko
SUBSCRIBE FOR FREE
Subscriptions to Charleston Currents are free.
- Click here to subscribe.
- Unsubscribe. We don’t want to lose you as a reader of Charleston Currents, but if you must unsubscribe, you will have to do it through the email edition you receive. Just go to the bottom of any of your weekly newsletters and click the “unsubscribe” function. If that doesn’t work, please send us an email with the word “unsubscribe” in the subject line.
- © 2008-2019, Statehouse Report, LLC. All rights reserved. Charleston Currents is published every Monday by Statehouse Report LLC, PO Box 22261, Charleston, SC 29413.
We Can Do Better, South Carolina!
Like us on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter
Use our feed
Send us your comments
