Staff reports | Children won’t be able to sit in Santa’s lap this year for pictures at regular visits to the annual Holiday Festival of Lights, but they will offer photos with a popular Old St. Nick uring select daytime visits. Families can sign up for a timeframe visit with Santa during the day at James Island County Park, according to Charleston County Parks. Sessions come complete with a private visit and a photo package from the official Holiday Festival of Lights photographer Gary Coleman. For details or to register, visit HolidayFestivalofLights.com.
The annual event opens NOv. 13 for the 31st year at James Island County Park with a dazzling array of displays and about 2 million lights. The festival will be open every evening nightly from 5:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. through Dec. 31, 2020.
“Charleston County Parks is thrilled to offer the Holiday Festival of Lights to the community this year,” said Parks Executive Director David Bennett. “While the event has been modified for these challenging times, the heart of the festival – its driving tour – remains unchanged to safely delight families and guests of all ages.”
At the lights festival, you can take a heartwarming cruise along the three-mile display of glimmering lights with your closest companions. The driving tour features over 700 light displays, most of which were created in-house by park staff. Displays range from traditional holiday scenes to Lowcountry icons such as Rainbow Row and the Cooper River and Ravenel Bridges; to various themed sections that delight all ages like Sea Land, Dinosaur Land, Candy Land and Toy Land. For details or to register, visit HolidayFestivalofLights.com.
In other recent news:
Trident Tech gets $1.9 million grant. The Department of Defense has awarded Trident Technical College $1.9 million to implement the Building Outreach Opportunities to Motivate and Inspire the Next Generation in STEM initiative to help address acute STEM workforce needs in the Charleston region. Working with partners Joint Base Charleston and the Charleston Promise Neighborhood, Trident Tech will use the funding to provide camps and coursework to engage youth in STEM activities and connect them to educational offerings and work experiences. The project will create STEM career pathways for military-connected, rural and disadvantaged K-12 students, primarily focusing on students age 7 to 18.
Poems by Platt. James Island poet Eugene Platt has a new work published by Revival Press of Limerick, Ireland. Nudas Veritas ($20 online; or $5.99 for Kindle edition) “invites us to travel with him on a survey of a long writing life in poems that cloak their craft and technique in language deceptively simple and direct,” one reviewer said. “He confronts tragedies and disappointments without bitterness or sentimentality, finding joy and hope in unexpected places. Eugene’s poetry speaks from the heart with a clarity of vision and generosity of spirit which make this volume a delight to read.”
Museum Mile Month. January will offer a chance for local residents to visit 13 area attractions downtown by purchasing a Museum Mile Month pass. Passholders can spend an entire month learning about the city’s rich history and culture while visiting sites in the order that best fits their schedule. Tickets — $35 for adults and $10 for children — can be purchased in advance via Charleston’s Museum Mile website through December 31, making these passes a great holiday gift.
How do you spend $85 million? With news last week of fundraising by U.S. Sen. LIndsay Graham and his Democratic challenger, Jaime Harrison, Statehouse Report’s Lindsay Street dives into finding answers for this question. The answer: Do lots of stuff and more of it. Read the full story.
More than 1M expected to vote absentee in S.C. A record number of South Carolinians have voted absentee, both in person and by mail, and based on current trends, more than 1 million voters will likely vote before election day, according to the state Election Commission. So far, 637,000 absentee ballots have been issued. In 2016, a total of 517,000 voted absentee. And friendly reminder: Voters seeking to vote by mail must return their request application by Oct. 24. Learn more.
Bad ballots in Charleston County reported. More than 1,300 incorrect mail-in ballots were sent out in Charleston County. Those ballots have been resent to the West Ashley voters affected. Read more.
Charm v. high energy in the fight for First Congressional District. South Carolina’s First Congressional District race in the Lowcountry has attracted national attention as Democratic incumbent U.S. Rep. Joe Cunningham takes on Republican challenger and state Rep. Nancy Mace. Our sister publication, the Charleston City Paper, published profiles on both candidates last week:
Statehouse Report’s Lindsay Street contributed to this report. Have a comment? Send to: editor@charlestoncurrents.com
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