Charleston Currents #13.38 | Aug. 9, 2021
REDS, GREENS, PURPLES, YELLOWS. Look at how these fresh vegetables pop at the Charleston Farmers Market. Wow. They look great. For a list of area farmers markets, see our Calendar below. And if you see something you think our readers would enjoy? Snap a shot and send it along. Photo by Ashley Rose Stanol.
FOCUS: James Island woman, 95, honored for years of nonprofit service
COMMENTARY, Brack: Henhouse politics must change on redistricting
IN THE SPOTLIGHT: Magnolia Plantation and Gardens
NEWS BRIEFS: Red Cross needs volunteers, blood donors for hurricane season
FEEDBACK: Send us your thoughts
MYSTERY PHOTO: Brick and glass building
CALENDAR: From parties to contests and more
James Island woman, 95, honored for years of service
Kara Stewart, executive director of Tricounty Family Ministries, with volunteer Louise Carpenter, right. Photo provided.
By Eric Johnson, special to Charleston Currents | Louise Carpenter has volunteered at Tricounty Family Ministries three days a week for 12 years, paying for a ride each day, even throughout the pandemic. For her 95th birthday, the James Island resident was surprised Aug. 4 by friends and family, along with North Charleston Mayor Keith Summey and a representative from U.S. Sen. Tim Scott’s office.
Carpenter has been a mainstay for a dozen years for the North Charleston nonprofit, feeding and providing services to homeless members of the community. Tricounty Family Ministries offers meals, clothing, job training, wellness checks, legal help and housing assistance.
”It is better to give than receive and not everyone lives by that,” Summey said.. He continued, saying the 95-year-old has set a foundation for generations that follow. A flag will also fly in her honor over the U.S. Capitol.
In all, Carpenter has volunteered 3,744 hours, which adds up to 2,600 pieces of cake served and 117,000 silverware servicing, according to the organization.
“Louise plays an integral role in what we strive to do for our neighbors, she would be missed if she wasn’t here,” Tricounty Family Ministries Executive Director Kara Stewart said.
Carpenter shared what she thought makes Tricounty Family Ministries so special: “The people, and what we can do for the people. It’s kind of a circle. We help them, they help us.”
- If you’re interested in being a volunteer at Tricounty Family Ministries, visit tricountyfamilyministries.org.
- Have a comment? Send to: editor@charlestoncurrents.com.
Henhouse politics must change on redistricting
By Andy Brack, editor and publisher | When the fox guards the henhouse, the fox pretty much can do as it pleases.
That’s what is bothersome about state lawmakers redrawing the lines of the districts they represent. Despite what’s ahead — months of tedious meetings, court challenges and complicated processes — the results are already rigged to favor the very people who are managing the whole shooting match. They don’t want the chickens in control.
What really needs to happen is the opposite of incumbency protection. To produce a fair reapportionment as envisioned by the U.S. Constitution every 10 years, the chickens need to be in charge through a redistricting commission that is independent of the legislature. But if you believe that’s going to happen anytime soon, let me sell you a seat on a rocketship.
So with a nod to the state’s past three cozy efforts on legislative redistricting, let’s just say we’re wary of what’s surely coming — backroom deals, nods and winks among incumbents to protect what they’ve got so they can win re-election.
It’s understandable — who wants to give up power? But it’s not really completely democratic or fair, particularly when you realize how elections for seats in the state Senate and House are mostly uncompetitive. A Statehouse Report analysis of the 2018 House elections showed, for example, that two thirds of races had no competitive general election as 42 Republicans, mostly from the Upstate, and 28 Democrats faced no challengers that November.
“Of the 44 remaining November races, only 10 had margins of victory of fewer than 20 points, meaning they were somewhat competitive,” we wrote in 2018.
In other words, in 10 of 124 House elections in 2018, the selection of the House winner wasn’t preordained in just 10 of 124 elections. Why? Because of the way the lines are drawn to keep Republicans or Democrats in control in each particular district. These kinds of shenanigans have been going on for years.
“The state has deteriorated to the point that the Republicans can pretty much get away with what they want to do,” said longtime civil rights activist Joe Darby of Charleston. “They aren’t being held accountable. All they want to do is stay in power and throw out some red meat legislation to their base sometimes. It’s pitiful.”
But Darby, a pastor who is a former officer with the state NAACP, noted the GOP isn’t acting much differently than when Democrats controlled the Statehouse before a redistricting around 1994 that led to the Republican ascendancy to power.
“At one time, the Democratic Party was doing the things the Republican Party is now doing,” he said. “They managed to maintain their majority in South Carolina by gerrymandering” the lines.
There’s no real incentive for the foxes to change the process.
“Nothing in South Carolina has ever changed by the goodness or decency of the people who have led the state willingly,” he said, noting it took federal intervention to end slavery, force Reconstruction and push states to make voting and civil rights changes.
“Anything that has brought balance and equity to this state has come from federal intervention,” Darby said.
Unfortunately in the coming 2021 redistricting, federal intervention is even more limited because of a U.S. Supreme Court case a few years back that essentially OKed partisan gerrymandering. In the past, states with a history of racial discrimination in voting — mostly Southern states — had to get a federal sign-off from the U.S. Justice Department that proposed new districts didn’t blatantly break laws. Those protections diminished when Justice Department oversight fizzled.
Furthermore, anyone who does bring a lawsuit that proposed districts are unfair has a new challenge this go-round — they have to prove inequities. In the past, the people who drew the lines had to prove districts were fair. But because the burden of proof has shifted, the foxes have even more of an upper hand.
So as new Census numbers come out soon and legislators tour the state to listen to citizen concerns about new lines, ask them to take out their earplugs and do the right thing. And demand changes to the process to provide for an independent redistricting commission.
Andy Brack is editor and publisher of Charleston Currents, and publisher of the Charleston City Paper. Have a comment? Send to: editor@charlestoncurrents.com.
Magnolia Plantation and Gardens
The public spiritedness of our underwriters allows us to bring Charleston Currents to you at no cost. Today we shine our spotlight on Magnolia Plantation and Gardens, founded in 1676 by the Drayton family.It has survived the centuries and witnessed the history of our nation unfold before it from the American Revolution through the Civil War and beyond. It is the oldest public tourist site in the Lowcountry and the oldest public gardens in America, opening its doors to visitors in 1870. Open 365 days a year, Magnolia offers its visitors splendid tours of nature and history and the role African-Americans played in the development of its award-winning Romantic-style gardens.
- Visit www.magnoliaplantation.com to learn how you can experience a complete plantation experience.
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Volunteers, blood donors needed for hurricane season
Staff reports | As hurricane season moves towards its peak season and experts say more hurricanes are expected, the American Red Cross is seeking volunteers to help support shelters as well as donors to give blood.
According to the National Hurricane Center, there’s a 60 percent chance of a tropical wave off the African coast developing into a tropical depression that may influence weather here.
“There have already been several named storms this year and experts report we could see 10 or more storms with winds reaching hurricane strength,”Rod Tolbert, regional executive for the Red Cross of South Carolina, said today in a press release. “It’s critical to have a trained, ready volunteer workforce to make sure we can provide disaster relief at a moment’s notice. Please train now to be a Red Cross volunteer and help if the need arises.”
Volunteers will help at emergency shelters with reception, registration, food distribution, dormitory, information collection and other vital tasks. After most disasters this year, the Red Cross said it still plans to open group shelters. But in some communities, it said hotels may be more appropriate if the risk of COVID-19, including the delta variant, is particularly high. The Red Cross will also continue many of the safety precautions implemented in 2020, including masks, health screenings, enhanced cleaning procedures and encouraging social distancing.
- To volunteer, contact Herdie Mathews, Sr. Volunteer Recruitment Specialist – Regional Team Member, herdie.mathews@redcross.org or (843) 655-4176.
If you want to make blood or platelet donations to help keep a strong blood supply, there are dozens of opportunities in the tri-county area. You can make an appointment to give by using the Red Cross Blood Donor App, visiting RedCrossBlood.org, calling 1-800-RED CROSS (1-800-733-2767) or enabling the Blood Donor Skill on any Alexa Echo device.
In other recent news:
COVID-19 rages in South Carolina. Case numbers for the first week of August represent an increase of more than 10-fold compared to the same time in July. South Carolina health officials reported 16,400 total cases, with 11,991 confirmed, of the coronavirus between July 31 and Aug. 6. A total of 46 new deaths, with 38 confirmed, were reported this week. The percent positive, as of Friday, was 16.3%.
Sanford memoir to come out Aug. 24. Mark Sanford, the former governor and congressman who weathered scandal only to be undone by President Donald Trump, will release his memoir Aug. 24. Sanford’s political career spanned four presidents and played out in three acts, from an initial election to Congress to serving as South Carolina governor to an improbable second stint in the U.S. House. He also ran for president briefly in the 2020 cycle. The memoir charts each winding phase, fittingly affixed with the 17-word title, Two Roads Diverged: A Second Chance for the Republican Party, the Conservative Movement, the Nation — and Ourselves.
Google News Initiative fellow joins City Paper. Charleston City Paper is one of 12 newspapers across the nation to host student fellows this semester as part of the Google News Initiative. Google News fellow Eric Johnson, 23, has joined the newsroom for two months. He earned his bachelor’s degree in mass communication from Mississippi’s Rust College in 2021 and is currently a graduate student at Columbia University in New York City, where he is studying nonprofit management.
State lawmakers to visit to talk, listen on redistricting. House and Senate committee members will each visit once over the next six weeks to hear from voters as they prepare to redraw political districts in every corner of South Carolina. Updated data from the 2020 census is expected to be delivered to state leaders by mid-August, with new population figures impacting where district lines will fall until the next census in 2030.
Columbia senator sues after state attorney general’s anti-mask mandate. S.C. Sen. Dick Harpootlian, D-Columbia, has asked the state Supreme Court for a ruling on whether public colleges can require masks for unvaccinated students on campus after a letter by the S.C. Attorney General Alan Wilson. More coverage.
Send us your thoughts by email
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.
Brick and glass building
You might have come across this brick and glass building in your walks around the Holy City. But what and where is it? Send your best guess to editor@charlestoncurrents.com. And don’t forget to include your name and the town in which you live. And if you’ve got a clever mystery photo for our readers, send it to the same address (Try to stump us!)
Our previous Mystery Photo
Our most recent past mystery, “Classical art,” showed a pair of classical figures framing the door of the Original House of Pizza on Calhoun Drive in Orangeburg. Thanks to Columbia’s Elizabeth Jones for the photo.
And congratulations to these readers who knew where the picture was (or who figured it out, mostly because of the orange newspaper box): Christel Newton of North Charleston; Tim Murray of Charleston; Marnie Huger of Richmond, Va.; Allan Peel of San Antonio, Texas; George Graf of Palmyra, Va.; and Jay Altman and John Hart, both of Columbia.
Peel shared: “This restaurant offers both Italian and Greek items on its menu, which explains, in part, the reason for the Greek artifacts and sculptures that adorn the entrance to the establishment. It is a family-owned and -operated no-frills restaurant that offers dine-in, take-out, and delivery, and catering services. … The original restaurant employed 20 employees and could seat up to 55 patrons. Today it employs 40 people and has been expanded to seat up to 130 diners.”
- 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.
From parties to contests and more
Party at the Point continues. Gates open Fridays at 5 p.m. through Sept. 10, Charleston Harbor Resort and Marina, 20 Patriots Point Road, Mount Pleasant. Party at the Point, a Charleston-area happy hour Friday concert series that sold out five July shows, will continue with tickets for $10 each:
- Aug. 6: Sgt Submarine, Charleston’s own Beatles tribute band
- Aug. 13: Yesterday’s Wine featuring Wyatt Durette & Levi Lowrey with special guest Faith Schueler
- Aug. 20: Two Weeks Notice featuring Ward Buckheister & Friends
- Aug: 27: The Yacht Club
- Sept. 3: Labor Day Bash with The Midnight City
- Sept. 10: Rattle & Hum, a tribute to U2
One week left for Rescue Brew contest entries. Through Aug. 15, you can now enter Charleston Animal Society’s second annual contest to get an image of your rescue dog and cat printed on labels of 2021 Rescue Brew Beer cans of beer from Palmetto Brewing Company. The cost? A donation of $10, which will support programs at the animal welfare organization. After the entries are in, voting will be from Aug. 16 through Sept. 17. The grand prize spokesdog and spokescat will be announced Oct. 16.
Art of Jazz Series: 6 p.m., Aug. 25, Gibbes Museum of Art, 135 Meeting St., Charleston. The 2021 Art of Jazz Series of original music inspired by art at the museum will feature the Geoffrey Dean Trio on Aug. 25. Tickets are $40.
Ongoing
North Charleston exhibition: Through Aug. 28, Park Circle Gallery, North Charleston. The space will offer concurrent solo exhibitions of drawings and mixed-media works by artists Christopher Kye of Goose Creek and Christine D. Johnson of Summerville with a free reception at 5 p.m. Aug. 6. More info. The gallery is located at 4820 Jenkins Avenue.
“Tidal Futures” exhibition: Through Sept. 11, Redux Contemporary Art Center, 1056 King St., Charleston. Tidal Futures: Friends of Gadsden Creek is an exhibition that aims to highlight the organization’s outreach program to challenge viewers’ preconceived notions of what contemporary art is. It also seeks to guide them to discover and investigate how social justice work is conceptualized and executed, and to serve as a catalyst for dialogue about the intersection of creative practice and cultural impact.
The Lawn Party exhibition: Through Sept. 19, Charleston Museum, Meeting Street, Charleston. The Charleston Museum is pleased to present The Lawn Party: From Satin to Seersucker, the latest offering in its Historic Textiles Gallery. In an “unprecedented” era when large gatherings have been discouraged and fashion has trended towards leisurewear, this exhibition is a celebration of getting dressed up for an outdoor party. Bringing a hint of glamour to a trying time, the garments on display were selected with the grand idea of “after” in mind. This is a perfect opportunity to come see what to wear for your next outdoor event as we head toward the new “normal.”
Reviving photos. Through Oct. 31, Charleston Museum, Meeting Street. The museum is exhibiting The Lowcountry in Living Color: Making Historical Photographs Come to Life as the latest offering in its Lowcountry Image Gallery. Colorizing black and white pictures allows viewers to see components that otherwise might be overlooked. Buy tickets.
Birds of Prey flight demonstrations: 10:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. on Thursdays and Saturdays, Center for Birds of Prey, 4719 Highway 17. Awendaw. The center has reopened its doors to visitors after closing due to the COvID-19 pandemic, inviting people to once again come and explore the world of raptors through an outdoor program and flight demonstration. Tickets: . $20/adult; $15/children age 3-17.
Bird-watching at Caw Caw. Every Wednesday and Saturday — particularly through the end of February — you can see a plethora of birds at Caw Caw Interpretive Center in Ravenel as they make their way through the Lowcountry. The two-hour regular walks, which start at 8:30 a.m., are through distinct habitats that allow participants to view and discuss a variety of birds, butterflies, and other organisms. Registration is not required. Participants are encouraged to bring their own binoculars. A paid chaperone is required for participants ages 15 and under. Max. 10 participants. Fee: $9; free for Gold Pass holders. Open to all ages. More: Caw Caw Interpretive Center.
Farmers markets
Here’s a look at a bunch of local farmers markets where you can find fresh fruit, vegetables, crafts and more. If you know of others, send us a note at: feedback@charlestoncurrents.com.
Mount Pleasant Farmers Market: 3:30 p.m. to 7 p.m., every Tuesday, Market Pavilion at Moultrie Middle School, 645 Coleman Blvd., Mount Pleasant. Check here for more.
Holy City Farmers Market: 4 p.m. to 7 p.m., every Wednesday, Holy City Brewing, North Charleston. vendors rotate weekly to provide shoppers with a tiny but mighty shopping experience. vendors will be selling a range of products from specialty foods, home and body care to arts and crafts. More info.
West Ashley Farmers Market: 3 p.m. to 7 p.m., every Wednesday, Ackerman Park, 55 Sycamore Avenue, Charleston. More.
North Charleston Farmers Market: 5 p.m. to 7 p.m., every Thursday, Felix Davis Community Circle in Park Circle. The market offers fresh, locally grown produce as well as arts-and-craft vendors, specialty foods and live music. More.
Charleston Farmers Market: 8 a.m. to 1 p.m., every Saturday, Marion Square, 329 Meeting St., Charleston. More.
Summerville Farmers Market: 8 a.m. to 1 p.m., every Saturday, First Citizens Bank parking lot near Town Hall, 200 S. Main Street, Summerville.
Sunday Brunch Farmers Market: 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., every Sunday, Charleston Pour House, 1977 Maybank Highway, James Island. While the market is discouraging people from spending too much time hanging out during the market, everyone is invited to shop their local vendors. More info.
- If you have any online events, drop us a line (editor@charlestoncurrents.com) and make sure to put “Online event” in the subject line. Similarly, if you’ve got cool ideas for stuff to do while in isolation at home, send them our way.
- ORDER NOW: Copies of our new book, 350 Facts About Charleston, are in Lowcountry-area bookstores now, but if you can’t swing by, you can order a copy online today.
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