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11/4: Citadel gets a big Tattoo; Dark money; New network

Charleston Currents· 11/04/2019 5:44 am·1 comment

Charleston Currents #12.01  | Nov. 4, 2019

HEADED OVERSEAS:  The Citadel Regimental Band and Pipes will represent the United States next year in the 2020 edition of the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo.  Read why it’s a big deal in Today’s Focus below. Photos provided.

IN THIS EDITION

FOCUS:  Citadel military band to represent U.S. at Edinburgh Tattoo
BRACK: Dark money pours malice, nastiness into elections
IN THE SPOTLIGHT:  Charleston RiverDogs
GOOD NEWS: Home improvement spending is up, New local social network
FEEDBACK:  Send us your thoughts
MYSTERY PHOTO: Under construction
S.C. ENCYCLOPEDIA:  Barbecue
CALENDAR:  Holiday Festival of Lights to start Nov. 15
EDITOR’S NOTE:  Today’s issue starts our 12th year of publication.  Happy birthday to us (although we’re still a pre-teen)!

FOCUS

Citadel military band to represent U.S. at Edinburgh Tattoo

Staff reports  | The Citadel Regimental Band and Pipes will represent the United States next year as the country’s designated military band at the at The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo in Scotland.  

The overseas honor will be the band’s fourth time performing in what is considered the world’s most famous military music festival.  Over the three-week event, millions of people will watch the band, which is the only U.S. military college band to have been invited to perform on behalf of the United States, according to a press release.    

“It would be an honour to welcome the Citadel cadets back to the Tattoo,” Brigadier David Alfrey, chief executive and producer of the Tattoo wrote in his invitation.  “The band performed with us to huge plaudits and it would be wonderful to present their talents to the Tattoo audience once more.”

Citadel President Glenn M. Walters accepted the invitation:  “We earnestly express our gratitude to this distinguished organization for the consideration it has shown to The Citadel Regimental Band and Pipes on this occasion – and in years past,” he said.  “Our cadets are honored and humbled by the opportunity to participate alongside the accomplished military bands and performers from around the world on the venerable Edinburgh Castle Esplanade in 2020.” 

The Citadel’s band of approximately 80 cadets will perform on the esplanade of the medieval Edinburgh Castle Aug. 7 to Aug. 29, 2020, as part of the month-long festival of music and pageantry that features military organizations from around the world.  Band members, many of whom began preparing for the festival last year, will be led by music director Timothy Smith, a retired officer in the Marines, and pipes director Jim Dillahey.

Smith’s military career consisted of more than 20 years as an instrumentalist, arranger and vocalist, and later as a director of Marine Corps Bands.  During his tenure as a Marine band officer, Smith broke ground in establishing military bands as educational assets for school programs, establishing performance competitions for schools in Georgia, helping rebuild the Hawaii Music Educators conferences, and hosting master-classes in schools located where his Marine bands were performing.  He joined The Citadel in 2016.

Dillahey is an internationally-known pipes instructor and award-winning pipes player.  A member of The Citadel Class of 2001, he joined his alma mater as director of piping in 2003. He earned his master’s in education from The Citadel in 2005.

The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo, which celebrates its 70th anniversary in 2020, it is the largest production of its kind, broadcast to more than 30 countries.  The college said the band’s participation as America’s band puts Charleston and South Carolina in the spotlight with an estimated 100 million viewers annually according to the show’s producers.

The Citadel’s band also performed at the Tattoo in 1991, 2010 and 2015.

COMMENTARY

BRACK: Dark money pours malice, nastiness into elections

By Andy Brack, editor and publisher   |  State legislators might have a little extra incentive to do something about nameless  groups that pour dark money into elections to affect their outcomes: their own political hides.

If elections set for Tuesday in the Charleston area are a hint of the political future, state House and Senate candidates in 2020 should get ready to be hammered by nasty direct mail pieces. The way out?  Rein in dark money.  

“Public officials have lost elections in the face of well-funded attacks by organizations known only by some meaningless name made up for the occasion,” said Columbia resident Lynn Teague of the League of Women Voters of South Carolina.  “Their motives may have little or nothing to do with the claims that are made in the ad, with the public interest, or with the concerns of the voters reading the ads.”

In Charleston, a group that won’t disclose its donors has been sending outright smears that target incumbent Mayor John Tecklenburg, now running for a second four-year term.  Here’s how silly they are: they accuse him of not “fixing flooding,” even though he’s the guy who reached out to the world’s experts (the Dutch) to start a dialogue to figure out ways to, ahem, fix flooding.  At the same time, the city is pumping millions of dollars into infrastructure projects to get periodic floodwater off streets and property.

Does the truth matter to these nabobs of negativism?  Not one iota. They just want to trick voters into voting for someone else.

To illustrate how this mess filters down — and how it should worry state legislators — look at a city council race on the peninsula. Earlier this year, two challengers and the incumbent agreed to run positive campaigns.  But two groups — or maybe one group using two fake names — weren’t having any of that.

The “Committee to Have our Voices Heard” mailed a flyer to get voters to use race to choose a candidate.  Another group, the “Committee for Leadership Integrity,” showed a complete lack of integrity with a mailer that was a personal attack.

“This type of politics is the last thing we need right now,” candidate Jason Sakrun wrote in the Charleston City Paper.  “I think it’s critically important those seeking political office and those in office denounce them. There is no place for them in our political discourse.”

Dirty politics won’t go away anytime soon.  They’ve been around a long time. In the election of 1800 when Vice President Thomas Jefferson was running against President John Adams, things got ugly pretty quickly.  “Adams was labeled a fool, a hypocrite, a criminal, and a tyrant, while Jefferson was branded a weakling, an atheist, a libertine, and a coward,” according to Mental Floss.

Today, it’s unacceptable to do nothing about the insidious, anonymous dark money infecting our democracy.  South Carolina legislators must stop kicking the can down the road and approve measures that have been introduced for years to get something done.

“Unlike the federal government and 48 other states, South Carolina doesn’t even require disclosure of donors to groups that openly admit that their primary purpose is to influence our votes,” Teague said.  

The simple fix, she suggested, is to reinstate a state law declared unconstitutionally vague to ensure it refers “specifically to groups that have as their ‘major purpose’ the nomination, election or defeat of particular candidates.”

Such wordsmithing is in bill by S.C. Rep. Gary Clary, R-Clemson, and has been passed by a House subcommittee.  Another bill by Rep. Mandy Powers Norrell, D-Lancaster, seeks to control nefarious independent expenditures by groups that do more than try to fool voters.  That measure, too, has passed a subcommittee. Now, the full house and state Senate need to stop fiddling around and pass both bills to stop unnamed people from trying to impact elections with questionable money.

“Until our laws catch up with the flood of dark money drowning our elections, voters should

reject any campaign ad from unknown sources,” Teague said.  “If it isn’t from an organization that you know and have reason to trust, consider the source – people who don’t want you to know what they are doing and why. That can’t be good.”

IN THE SPOTLIGHT

Charleston RiverDogs

The public spiritedness of our underwriters allows us to bring Charleston Currents to you at no cost. This issue’s featured underwriter is the Charleston RiverDogs.

In 2019, the team finished in second place in its league with a 73-66 record.  In 2018, the club celebrated its 25th season (that’s 175 years in “Dog” years!!) and, for the second season in a row, hosted more than 300,000 fans.

The Lowcountry’s leader in sports entertainment, Charleston RiverDogs baseball is an attractive, affordable medium for your group or business. The RiverDogs develop the next major league stars for the 27-time World Champion New York Yankees at one of the finest ballparks in Minor League Baseball — Joseph P. Riley, Jr. Park.

Three short words sum up the everyday approach taken by the Charleston RiverDogs front office. The brainchild of club President Emeritus Mike Veeck, the nine-letter phrase “Fun Is Good” is meant to be a guideline and daily reminder of how employees should approach their jobs and in turn capture the imagination of the fans to turn them into repeat customers.

GOOD NEWS

Home improvement spending is up

Via Digit Matheny, Carolina One, special to Charleston Currents  |  Thinking about remodeling? You’re not alone. According to a report from the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies, home improvement spending in the U.S. is up more than 50 percent since 2010.

The study found that, “Spending on improvements and repairs to the US housing stock continued on an upward trend in 2017, setting a new high of $424 billion. This represents a 10 percent increase from 2015 and more than 50 percent gain from the low in 2010.” 

According to the analysis, 22 million homeowners across the country completed at least one home improvement project in 2017.”The report[…] attributed part of the increase to a shortage of new construction and a reliance on aging housing stock that requires upkeep and repair,” said The New York Times. “Other factors include higher housing prices that have increased the available equity for home improvement loans, and a growing population of older homeowners who are financially equipped to pay for renovations.”

The primary “spenders” fall into three main categories: Homeowners using surging equity to make improvements, homeowners playing catch-up on deferred maintenance and updates, and rental property owners.

The average expenditure on home improvement was rather modest; 40 percent of participants reported spending less than $2,500, and almost 75 percent spent less than $10,000.

The most common project in 2017 was adding or replacing flooring, with 5.2 million homeowners, or 7 percent, upgrading their floors. The next most common projects were:

  • Adding or replacing plumbing fixtures
  • Built-in dishwashers or garbage disposals
  • New windows or doors
  • New water heaters

In other area news:

Hyperlocal social media network:  The GoodSharing Network is a new hyperlocal free social media platform that seeks to better serve the needs of individuals and organizations trying to make Charleston a better community.  Said Todd Chas, founder of Charleston Good:  “Imagine a completely ad-free social network where you actually will see what your friends share and reach the people you’re trying to reach. Imagine a single platform where eager volunteers and needy organizations can effectively find one another. Imagine an online community that cares more about you and Charleston than about revenue streams. Now stop imagining and come join us because that is what we have built.”

Sign up for free.

New Brew Hop Pass:  If you love experiencing the local craft brew scene, you can now get discounts through a new Brew Hop Pass app.  The pass will include discounts such as “buy a pint get a pint” at 28 of Charleston’s top breweries and taprooms.  The pass, which offers discounts of up to $185 a month, comes in three forms: A two-day pass for $14.99, a monthly pass for $29.99 and an annual pass for $289, which is two months for free.  Learn more and see how the pass works.

Defense Summit’s registration is open:  You can now register for the 13th annual Defense Summit by the  Charleston Defense Contractors Association (CDCA)—a non-profit advocacy group focused on the growth of defense and technology-related industries in Charleston and Lowcountry Region.  With more than 1,200 anticipated attendees and speakers at the top of their fields, the summit’s “Accelerate to Dominate” theme will focus discussions about technologies that increase the speed of warfighting innovation.  The event will occur Dec. 11-12 at the Charleston Area Convention Center. More info.

ACA enrollment begins today. Affordable Care Act open enrollment begins Nov. 1 through Dec. 15, and the state could see higher interest in the plans as rates fall and more providers are available. Read more.

Previous coverage: Palmetto Project works to find coverage for S.C. residents in unprecedented ways. 

Previous coverage: Hundreds in S.C. have died without expanded Medicaid, study finds.  

Green groups to sue over plastic pellets. Environmental groups including the Southern Environmental Law Center and Charleston Waterkeeper are filing a lawsuit against Frontier Logistics for spilling plastic pellets that have washed up on Sullivans Island. Read more. 

FEEDBACK

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. 

MYSTERY

Under construction

Just where in the Charleston area might you have seen this building?  For those of you who use Google images to try to scout this new building, good luck!  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 Oct. 28 mystery, “Great flower boxes” showed the exterior of Rodney Scott’s barbecue joint on upper King Street in Charleston.  Just looking at the building makes one’s mouth water for Scott’s tasty pork sandwiches.  

Congratulations to several alert readers who identified the location:  George Graf of Palmyra, Va.; Stephen Yetman and Sandra W. Campbell, both of Charleston; Allan Peel of San Antonio, Texas; Ray Pantlik of Kiawah Island and Kristina Wheeler of West Ashley.

“According to washingtonpost.com, Rodney Scott was born in 1971 in Philadelphia, but the following year, his parents, Roosevelt and Ella, whisked their only child to South Carolina, where Ella’s father had land around Nesmith, a small community in Pee Dee. The family became farmers, raising hogs and growing tobacco and other crops. Come harvest time, or the holidays, the family would smoke a hog. It’s what folks did in the area. 

“Rodney Scott’s Whole Hog BBQ in Charleston, a counter-service restaurant that puts a sleek, fast-casual spin on an old Pee Dee tradition. The place debuted in February 2017 with 64 seats and a menu that went well beyond the Scott family’s signature whole-hog barbecue with a spicy vinegar sauce. It also features spare ribs, fried catfish and a rib-eye sandwich.  Scott was nominated by the James Beard Foundation for Best Chef: Southeast and became only the second pitmaster to win a Beard chef award.”

Peel, a Texan, wrote:  “The Charleston City Paper rated this restaurant as “Best Pitmaster” for both 2018 and 2019, once again beating out the 2017 winner, John Lewis (of Lewis Barbecue fame). Rodney was also named the Southeast winner of the ‘2018 James Beard Best Chef Award’. While I have never eaten there myself, I guess that the food at Rodney’s place may be pretty good…even if it isn’t Texas BBQ 😉

“Rodney Scott’s BBQ website provides an interesting story behind Rodney Scott’s rise to fame. The Scott’s family opened a convenience and grocery store in Hemingway, S.C., when Rodney was only 1-year old. They sold local produce throughput the week, but they would smoke a whole hog every Thursday using the whole hog pits that they built behind the store. Rodney himself smoked his first hog when he was only 11-years old, and he hasn’t looked back since!

“Over time, the Scott’s increased the frequency of how often they would smoke hogs. By 2012, they were offering their customers, who would drive all the way from Charleston, some 90 miles to the south, for a taste of hog heaven. Their smoked hogs were so popular, that Charleston residents started begging them to open up a place in Charleston. So in July 2016, Rodney Scott left the family business in Hemingway, and opened Rodney Scott’s BBQ on King Street in Charleston. Since then, Rodney has opened another location in Birmingham, and has recently announced that a third location will be opened in Atlanta (in the spring of 2020). What’s up, Rodney … scared to come to Texas?”

  • 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.

S.C. ENCYCLOPEDIA

HISTORY:  Barbecue

S.C. Encyclopedia  |  South Carolina barbecue is slowly cooked, hand-pulled or shredded pork that is flavored with a tangy sauce and usually served with side dishes such as rice, hash, coleslaw, sweet pickles, white bread, and iced tea. Barbecue often is served on festive occasions such as holidays, family reunions, weddings, church and community fundraisers, football tailgating parties, and political meetings. It varies widely across the state with respect to cooking methods, cuts of pork, sauce type, and side dishes served. Barbecue is often the topic of friendly debate since many South Carolinians have strong preferences for particular types that reflect the cultural character and identity of specific regions or places.

Traditionally the pork is cooked in an open pit fueled by hardwood coals. The pit usually is a rectangular cement block structure of variable length, about three feet high and five to six feet wide, with either iron or steel rods across the narrow width. Openings at floor level allow for refueling and air circulation control. Hot hickory or oak coals are placed at the bottom, and the meat is suspended above the coals on the rods. The pit usually is housed in a shelter-like building with partially screened walls. Many restaurants have converted to gas or electric cookers and abandoned the open pit because it is labor intensive and the cost of wood is high. There is an endless variety of portable cookers, and each design is as much a point of pride as is the barbecue.

The whole hog typically is cooked in the coastal plain regions, while shoulders, hams, or Boston butts are used in the Piedmont. There are at least four basic sauce types. Watery thin and fiery hot pepper and vinegar concoctions dominate the Pee Dee region, while the upstate and Savannah River areas favor peppery tomato or milder ketchup-based sauces. A yellow-mustard-based sauce is favored in the Midlands. As sauce types differ from place to place, their uses also vary. Some use sauce as a baster while the meat is cooked; others douse the meat with sauce after it is cooked; and sometimes the meat is served without sauce, allowing consumer discretion. Sauces often are derived from secret family recipes, and each sauce has a strong regional following.

Some barbecue restaurants serve one or two side dishes, while all-you-can-eat barbecue buffets in the coastal plain regions include a wide assortment of regional specialties. These may include greens such as turnip, mustard, or collard; baked beans, green beans cooked in fatback, or butter beans; peas such as crowder, field, or black-eyed; sweet potatoes; fried okra; and sweet or creamed corn. Barbecued and fried chicken, pork skins, ribs, and banana pudding are other common buffet selections. Regional specialties such as chicken bog and liver hash are served in the Pee Dee, while the northeastern Piedmont is known for its hash barbecue and chicken stew. Many barbecue restaurants post a familiar sign urging patrons not to waste food: “take all you want, but eat all you take.” Most cater to families and rarely serve alcoholic beverages.

— Excerpted from an entry by Charles F. Kovacik.   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.)

 ON THE CALENDAR

Holiday Festival of Lights to start Nov. 15

Staff reports  | Jonesing for some holiday lights?  You’ve only got a little more than a week before you can return to James Island County Park as the Holiday Festival of Lights returns to make merry magical memories with its vibrant light show is one of Charleston’s most cherished holiday events, featuring an estimated two million dazzling lights. 

Now in its 30th year, the Holiday Festival of Lights is open every evening, rain or shine, from Nov. 15 to Dec. 31, 2019. The festival opens at 5:30 p.m. nightly and closes at 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday. More.

Also on the calendar:

Family Movie Night at Cool Blow Park: 5:30 p.m., Nov. 8, Cool Blow Park, 10 Conroy St., Charleston.  Come at 4:30 p.m. for superhero-themed games and activities from Meeting Street Academy and Early College High School at Trident Technical College before the showing of “Spider-Man Into the Spider-Verse” at dark (approximately 5:30 p.m.). Food trucks will have food and drinks available for purchase. Pets on leashes are welcome.  Pre-registration requested. 

Annual Redux benefit:  8 p.m. Nov. 16, 1056 King Street, Charleston.  Redux Contemporary Art Center will hold its 17th silent and live auction on Nov. 16 to promote contemporary art and culture in Charleston and to continue to provide opportunities for emerging visual artists.  The event is the organization’s primary, annual fundraising event. Funds raised at the Redux auction support for comprehensive exhibitions, education and outreach programs, and robust studio program.  Attendees will be able to bid on art by 150-pus artists and enjoy good food, an open bar and dancing with tunes from a special guest DJ. Tickets start at $60. More info.

Coming to the Gaillard.  Check out these awesome coming events at the Charleston Gaillard Center, 95 Calhoun St., Charleston:

Goo Goo Dolls: 7:30 p.m., Nov. 17.  Charleston is one of 20 cities in which the band is performing on its tour in support of its 12th studio album, Miracle Pill.  Formed in Buffalo, N.Y., during 1986 by John Rzeznik and Robby Takac, Goo Goo Dolls quietly broke records, contributed a string of staples to the American songbook, connected to millions of fans, and indelibly impacted popular music for three-plus decades. Tickets start at $25.  More.

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

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.

NOTE: The Mount Pleasant Farmers Market weekly market on Tuesdays finished in September. The next opportunity to shop is a special Dec. 7 holiday market and craft show at the market pavillion at Moultrie Middle School, 645 Coleman Blvd., Mount Pleasant. Time:  11 a.m to 4 p.m. Free parking. Lots of activities. 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.

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