Professional Documents
Culture Documents
A Lifetime of Choices
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contents
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{ H OM E }
AUGUST 2012
{ COVE R STO RY } Roof Basket Works has been weaving a business in Lexington County for generations. Meet the family that makes baskets for stores across the country.
Rock Creek Farm, near Batesburg-Leesville, has stayed in one family for 100 years. The restored home is a link to the familys past and a legacy for the future.
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{ SKE TCH }
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Yoga instructor Priscilla Patricks longtime ETV show remains one of the most popular fixtures in public television. She is still stretching her limits at the age of 70.
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An outdoor pool area in the Northeast gets a makeover that makes it even more comfortable and inviting.
{ GA RD EN } Sandy Raymond loves English gardens and fairy tales. She made both a reality in the garden of her home on Old Cherokee Road.
Maria Suga stacks finished baskets at Roof Basket Works in Lexington PHOTOGRAPH by Tim Dominick COVER PHOTOGRAPH by Kim Kim Foster-Tobin
LAKE MURRAY
COLUMBIA Editor
NORTHEAST
COLUMBIA
August 2012
Lake Murray-Columbia and Northeast Columbia are published 12 times a year. The mail subscription rate is $48. The contents are fully protected by copyright. Lake Murray-Columbia and Northeast Columbia are wholly owned by The State Media Co.
BUY PHOTOS: See more photos from our stories and purchase photos published in this issue; order online at thestate.com/lakemurray.
www.Miyos.com | www.goMFresh.com
august
uthe Sout The So omes to the ug. 11. Show c te Museum A a Sta Carolin
{Performing Arts}
Through Aug. 4: Pinocchio, Columbia Marionette Theatre, (803) 252-7366 Aug. 3: Mindless Behavior, Township Auditorium, (803) 576-2350 Aug. 4: Chris Tucker, Township Auditorium, (803) 576-2350 Aug. 10-18: The Palace of the Moorish Kings, Trustus Theatre, (803) 254-9732 Aug. 18-Nov. 12: Hansel and Gretel, Columbia Marionette Theatre, (803) 2527366
Columbia Museum of Art, (803) 7992810 Through Aug. 26: Abstract Art in South Carolina, State Museum, (803) 898-4921 Through Sept. 3: Titanic: The Artifact Exhibit, State Museum, (803) 898-4921 Through Sept. 3: Tangible History: South Carolinas Stoneware from the Holcombe Family Collection, State Museum, (803) 898-4921
Through Sept. 3: The Robert B. Ariail Collection of Historical Astronomy, State Museum, (803) 898-4921 Through Sept. 9: Moneyville, EdVenture, (803) 779-3100 Through Sept. 29: Bold Banners: Early Civil War Flags of South Carolina, S.C. Confederate Relic Room and Military Museum, (803) 737-8095
CALENDAR CONTINUED ON PAGE 8
Slight touch-ups or dramatic results, find The WhisperLift for Eyes thats right for you. Visit www.whisperlift.com to learn more.
Through Oct. 6: Blooming Butterflies, EdVenture, (803) 779-3100 Through March 1, 2013: The Civil War in South Carolina: Naval Warfare on the Coast and Failed Attempts to Take Charleston, State Museum, (803) 7992810 Through June 2, 2013: Civil War in 3D, S.C. Confederate Relic Room, (803) 737-8094 Aug. 4, 11, 18, 25: Gallery Tour, The Art of Seating, Columbia Museum of Art, (803) 799-2810
Aug. 5, 12, 19, 26: Gallery Tour, Highlights of the Museums Collection, Columbia Museum of Art, (803) 7992810 Aug. 11: Southeastern Toy Soldier Show, State Museum, (803) 898-4921 Aug. 11-Dec. 14: Get Cocky Exhibition, McKissick Museum, (803) 777-7251 Aug. 12: Passport to Art: Pick a chair, Any Chair, Columbia Museum of Art, (803) 799-2810 Aug. 13-Dec. 15: McKissick Mysteries Exhibition, McKissick Museum, (803) 777-7251 Aug. 14: Family Night, EdVenture, (803) 779-3100 Aug. 15: Community Leader Reader, EdVenture, (803) 779-3100 Aug. 15: Todd Barry and Neil Hamburger, Tapps Art Center, (803) 988-0013 Aug. 16: Third Thursday Lunch Discussion with Laura Spong and Mike Williams, State Museum, (803) 898-4921 Aug. 23: Tales for Tots, EdVenture, (803) 779-3100 Aug. 24: Annual Gala and Art Sale, McKissick Museum, (803) 777-7251
Aug. 2-4: South Carolina Pro Am Basketball Game, Eau Claire High School, (803) 414-4042 Aug. 5: Rising Stars Junior Tournament, Cayce Tennis & Fitness Center, (803) 227-3030 Aug. 10-12: Lexington County Junior Challenger, Lexington County Tennis Complex, (803) 957-7676 Aug. 25: Columbia Quad Squad vs. Lowcountry Highrollers, Jamil Temple, columbiaquadsquad.com
{Special Events}
Aug. 1, 4, 8, 11, 15, 18, 22, 25, 29: All Local Farmers Market, 711 Whaley St., stateplate.org Aug. 2: First Thursdays on Main, Main Street, Columbia Aug. 2, 9, 16, 23, 30: Northeast Farmers Market, Lake Carolina Village Green, (803) 7365253 Aug. 3: Brew at the Zoo, Riverbanks Zoo, (803) 779-8717 Aug. 4, 11, 18, 25: Hay Hill Farmers Market, Hay Hill Garden Market, (803) 834-6652
{Sports}
Aug. 1: Columbia Blowfish vs. Forest City, Discount Beverage Night, Capital City Stadium, (803) 254-3474
Aug. 4: Fourth annual A Glam Affair Fashion Show, Tapps Art Center, (803) 988-0013 Aug. 4: Auction and Wild Game Feast, South Carolina Wildlife Federation, The Zone at Williams-Brice Stadium, (803) 256-0670 Aug. 7: Woodrow Wilson Family Home Hard Hat Tour, Historic Columbia Foundation, (803) 252-1770 Aug. 7, 14, 21, 28: Sandhill Farmers Market, (803) 699-3190 Aug. 9: Moonlight Cemetery and Secrets from the Grave Tour, Elmwood Cemetery, (803) 252-1770 Aug. 10: City Strolls with Historic Columbia Foundation, Robert Mills House and Gardens, (803) 252-1770, ext. 24 Aug. 12: Second Sunday Stroll: Sacred Sites Bus Tour, Historic Columbia Foundation, (803) 252-7742 Aug. 14: Harvest and Art: a Farm to Table Dinner Inspired by Art, Columbia Museum of Art, (803) 799-2810 Aug. 16: Garden Tour of the Robert Mills Founders Garden, Robert Mills House
CALENDAR CONTINUED ON PAGE 11
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Make an entrance. An elegant re-creation of the magnificent Grand Staircase, which was a meeting spot for passengers
aboard the equally grand vessel, the RMS Titanic. Room re-creations join photographs, actual recovered artifacts and more in the South Carolina State Museums incredible new blockbuster Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition.
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and Gardens, (803) 252-1770 Aug. 18: Jubilee Festival of Heritage, Robert Mills House and Gardens, (803) 252-1770 Aug. 18: Exceptional You! Storytime, Richland County Public Library, Sandhill branch, (803) 699-9230 Aug. 18: Women of Hampton-Preston Tour, Hampton-Preston Mansion and Gardens, (803) 252-1770 Aug. 19: Dollar Sunday, Robert Mills House and Gardens, (803) 252-1770, ext. 24 Aug. 19: W. Gordon Belser Arboretum Open House, (803) 7773934 Aug. 22: Historic Columbia Foundations Mann-Simons Site Tour: Uncovering the Past, Mann-Simons Site, (803) 252-1770 Aug. 24: Shagging on the Shore, Lake Carolina, (803) 736-5253 Aug. 24-26: Famously Hot Music Festival, Finlay Park, www. famouslyhotmusicfestival.com Aug. 25: Third Annual Summer Celebration of Water, Riverfront Park, (803) 733-8613 Compiled by Diane Morrison
april 28 -
august 26
Easy Edges Line Designed by Frank Gehry | Manufactured by Easy Edges, Inc. | High Stool, 1971 | Photo by Michael Koryta. The Art of Seating is organized by the Museum of Contemporary Art, Jacksonville in collaboration with the Jacobsen Collection of American Art and toured by International Arts & Artists, Washington, D.C.
eDuCATion SPonSor:
The Ultimate Driving Machine
&
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Home place. Rock Creek Farm, near Batesburg-Leesville, recently joined the list of Century Farms in South Carolina, meaning it has been in the same
family for 100 years or more. The house has four bedrooms and a parlor that still have the original pine walls, floors and ceilings.
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{home}
Living history
Story by JOEY HOLLEMAN Photographs by TIM DOMINICK
Pride and joy. Barbara Damrons relatives, the Burgess family, built the home in 1912 with local timber. The land these days is leased to others to farm but they have lovingly restored the old farmhouse. At right, the entrance from the front of the house.
he slightly sloped base of the wrap-around porch. The heart-pine floors, walls and ceilings inside. Even the musty, non-airconditioned smell. Everything about the former farmhouse on a back road near Batesburg-Leesville harkens back to a simpler time, a time that many in the increasingly bustling region around Lake Murray would hardly recognize. Rock Creek Farm recently earned recognition as a Century Farm, indicating it has been in the same family for at least 100 years. The truth is, the family hasnt farmed most of the 120 acres for decades. Neighbors lease the land to grow corn. Barbara Damrons grandfather, Felix Burgess, cut the timber himself to build the four-bedroom home in 1912. Her father, Jeff Burgess, worked for National Linen Service in Miami and Columbia, but he lived for weekends or summer vacation weeks piddling around the farm. He made few changes to the house, simply adding an indoor bathroom in the 1950s and enclosing the back portion of the porch. Nobody has lived in the house for about a decade, but Damron has lovingly kept it up as a family museum/meeting place. She hired others to replace the roof and fix damaged floors in the kitchen and bathroom. She hung family photos on the walls. And she excitedly leafed through family photos and documents she found stored in cigar boxes in the
homes only two closets. The furniture is original to the house, and nothing too fancy. Im sentimental, Damron says. My thing doesnt have anything to do with dollar value its that my grandfather sat here, my grandmother sat here. The original documents and photos now are in a safe at Damrons home near Lake Murray. They indicate a man named Jones tried to buy the property in the late 1800s, but a note on a court document says it was Never delivered to Jones as he did not comply. Felix Burgess and his sister Damron bought the 240 acres in 1911 and split it in half, each paying $1,440. Felix Burgess portion is cut into three sections by a dirt road and Rock Creek, and it ends at Chinquapin Creek. The house he built had four spacious bedrooms, a parlor, a small dining room and a smaller kitchen. The house and immediate family was fortunate to avoid major damage when a powerful tornado roared through in April 1924. (An aunt died from injuries from the twister.)
FARM CONTINUED ON PAGE 16
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Peaceful rest. Photos of homeowner Barbara Damrons parents and grandfather adorn a mantle in one of the bedrooms in the home.
Eventually, the dirt road was paved. Other large farms nearby broke into smaller tracts with each generation. Trailers now outnumber farm houses on the back roads. But the Burgess home remains the same. It was a sacred place for Jeff Burgess, a place he longed for during his years spent working in Miami.
The happiest day in my daddys life was the day he was transferred back to Columbia, Damron says. She notes that some people visit their parents graves when they want to remember them. If I want to think about my daddy, I come here, she says. Damron never had heard of the Century Farm program until a cousin mentioned it to her recently. The program, coordinated by the Pendleton
District Historical, Recreation and Tourism Commission in the Upstate, was created in 1974 to recognize farms that have been in one family for 100 years or more. Designation comes with one perk, a sign to place on the property. More than 300 Century Farms have been designated in the state. The documents Damron had rescued from the cigar boxes made it easy for Rock Creek Farm to qualify. She hopes to
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have the sign up in time for the houses 100th birthday celebration, which likely will be delayed from its actual date in August to October to avoid the summer heat. The sign is one of many little projects she will get to when she finds the time. But shes in no hurry. She recalls how her father always had some project he felt he had to get done when he came to the farm. Every time I come out here, Im not going to have a project, she says. Im going to sit on the swing and enjoy it.
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{sketch}
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Forsaking the spiritual aspects of yoga and focusing instead on the stressrelieving stretches and therapeutic poses, she took the New Age exercise from mystical to mainstream with her userfriendly, nuts-and-bolts approach. Yoga did so much for me, Patrick said. I wanted to show people what it could do for them. More than three decades, four television shows and 17 videos later, the soon-to-be 70-year-old is still teaching students how to coax their bodies to do things they never thought possible. It has made a tremendous difference in my life, said 49-year-old Allison Brown, now in her 23rd year of classes. I feel better today than I did when I was 25. Irmo resident Debra Hudson has been driving to Columbia every Wednesday for the last 29 years to take classes at
ong before yoga became the fitness fad of the new millennium, Priscilla Patrick was quietly practicing the ancient Hindu discipline in a small, 70s-era studio in Melrose Heights.
Patricks Yoga I studio. Never mind she is a certified yoga instructor herself. Her class is just superior to any other yoga Ive ever taken, said the 58-yearold Hudson. Its her positive energy. It has benefitted me both physically and mentally. Patricks students arent the only ones devoted to the yoga guru. Her ETV series, Priscillas Yoga Stretches, continues to air nationally from 6 to 6:30 a.m. Monday through Friday12 years after it was last produced. Its one of a series of four yoga shows Patrick created for public television between 1980 and 2000. Listed among the New York Times Best Television Exercise Programs, the shows have brought in more revenue for ETV than any other locally produced series. A dozen of her DVDs are still best sellers
for the public educational broadcasting network. My style of Hatha Yoga is therapeutic, gentle, rejuvenating and strengthening, Patrick said. Each student works to his
...And stretch. Priscilla Patrick runs her classes in the same studio she set up 30 years ago. One of her yoga students, Sally Stansill, is seen in the
background.
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or her own bodys ability. There is no competition here. Patricks one-hour sessions are performed almost entirely with eyes closed, reducing students temptation to keep up with their classmates. It also serves to calm the mind, which allows the body to relax and flow more easily into yoga poses, she said. Not one to follow trends, Patrick has stuck with her simple, no-nonsense format, ignoring some of the latest yoga crazes that have students practicing their poses in 100-plus-degree studios or on standup paddleboards. She wont talk about your aura, ask you to chant the Om mantra or greet you with Namaste. What does that do for you? Patrick asked. Id rather know where you have aches and pains so we can work on relieving them. Its a very practical class. Once an avid follower of exercise expert Jack LaLanne, Patrick got hooked on yoga after taking a class taught by a touring Indian guru in Okinawa, Japan, where her husband was stationed in the early 70s. I had this bizarre image of people who did yoga, said Patrick, a Bible-reading Christian and mother of three. I thought all they did was levitate and meditate. Halfway through the class I decided it was the most intelligent exercise Id ever seen. Ive been doing it ever since. Not long after moving back to her husbands hometown of White Oak in Fairfield County, Patrick began teaching yoga once a month at a local modeling agency. Her first television exposure came on Joe Pinners Carolina Today show. There were no yoga studios in Columbia at the time, Patrick recalled. I talked about the benefits of stretching and demonstrated a few poses. The switchboard at the station lit up. She ended up becoming a regular guest, appearing every Monday and Wednesday on the show for seven years. In 1978, she opened Yoga I in a nondescript office building on Carlisle Street. I asked the landlord for a month-to-month lease because I was sure I wouldnt last six months, Patrick said. Im still renting month to month. The space appears pretty much as it did 34 years ago. The same dated wallpaper hangs in the studio. The carpeting is clean, but well worn. I make fun of the wallpaper, but it really doesnt bother me, said Brown, who began taking Patricks Wednesday morning class when she was pregnant with her now 22-year-old son. Thats one of the things I appreciate about her. Shes been consistent all these years. Marie McAden is a Midlands-based freelance writer.
{ garden }
G
A punch of color. Colorfully painted pieces of outdoor art peek out from behind foliage in the Fields yard.
So, instead of giving each other the traditional 45th anniversary stone, the Fields decided to celebrate by replacing their gems former setting with a new one. The couple chose to redefine the path leading from their WildeWood home to their aquatic oasis with brick pavers. The couple learned the paver tiles they wanted could be installed in a herringbone design, affixed with adhesive directly over the existing concrete. Suzi Fields recalled the patience of the artisan who put the pavers down like puzzle pieces, blending several earth tones with a soft gray that keyed to the exterior color of their contemporary home, designed along Frank Lloyd Wright lines. The project was finished in time for this summers swimming season. The pool surround now links the partly shaded pool area to several garden rooms the couple cultivated together, colorful beds and verdant focal points that meander through the neatly manicured grounds. Except for fertilizing, we do all the gardening, mowing, trimming ourselves, said Sandy Fields, retired now from his practice as a chiropractor. Although Suzis soft hands belie her
iving sapphires to mark 45th wedding anniversaries is a longstanding tradition, but as Sandy and Suzi Fields approached theirs, the couple realized they already had an aquatic gem in a lush setting: their custom-designed, pond-shaped pool.
industrious landscaping endeavors, she became a bricklayer briefly. To protect the edges of the tile pavers from nicks and scraps, she edged both sides of the walkways with bricks. I planted, relocated, propagated many of the plants and flowers myself, starting with a basic plan and foundational plantings. I love color and use perennials as often as I can because they are a good value. Im on a first-name basis with the gardening associates at Lowes, the retired schoolteacher said. On one side of the pool, plantings bow almost to the waters edge. To protect the foliage from chemicals, the couple swapped chlorine water for a salt-water infill. The other side of the pool is set solidly on the new pavers, deck chairs aligned for front row views of the aquaantics of swimmers. Intermittently among the lush foliage are pieces of outdoor art the couple has collected over the year, many pieces from Portfolio Gallery in Five Points. The static menagerie includes a smiling metal frog, a friendly alligator peeking from beneath a tuft of pine straw and a saucy parrot. Overlooking them all is a lanky
Custom fit. Sandy Fields sketched the layout of his pool to allow him to stretch to his full 6-foot-2inch height when doing his daily laps.
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A lasting love. Sandy and Suzi Fields marked their 45th wedding anniversary by revamping their pool area at their WildeWood home. dinosaur who spouts fresh water into the pool. Shading the pool are towers of vibrant color. Crape myrtles in various hues punctuate the recreational space and, sprawling along the baseline of foundational plantings is lantana, again in a riot of color during the summer. Daylilies reach out for the suns attention, and varieties of hydrangeas are harbored by the shade. Retaining walls create shallow terraces, adding to the topographic relief and diversity of the deep, grassy lot. Knowing the anniversary project would make their pool area more visually alluring, the Fields wanted to be able to see it easily, so they also extended the elevated decking around their home. Now gray stained planks border the exterior. From the three oclock spot on the deck, they can look out over flower beds and wave to neighbors whirring by on golf carts. From the ten oclock spot on the deck, they have a vista of the golf course and, beyond it, a placid lake. The golf course lake inspired the shape of the 13-by-56-foot pool, its aggregate gray-blue surface blending naturally into its surroundings. Marble-like tiles in gray and rust line the pools interior. The Fields added the pool after they purchased this home in 1993. Sandy sketched out the design at our dining room table, Suzi recalled. The couple wanted a graceful elongated shape, one that would allow him to stretch to his full 6-foot-2-inch height as he swims his daily laps. Ive been a swimmer most of my life, he said. Other family members relish time spent at the pool. The couples two sons, Andrew and James, live just a golf cart ride away. For safe recreation the grandchildren Player, Elizabeth, Andrew and Parker learned to swim early in their lives. Sometimes I hear a splash, and I look out and theyve come over, Suzi said. We just learned we will have another grandchild early next year. Rachel Haynie is a Midlands-based freelance writer
803.781.1201 866.650.SKIN
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{cover story}
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Much has changed in Roofs history, yet much has also remained the same. When Harold and Elsie Roof put a few people to work weaving baskets for local farmers who needed containers to hold their products in the 1940s, they were making three kinds of baskets. The main peach basket is still the staple of the Roof business, but the company now manufacturers more than 150 different sizes and shapes for customers throughout the United States. Most
of the baskets are natural, but a few customers order them dyed certain colors. Our wide variety differentiates us in the marketplace, says Karen Roof, granddaughter of the founder. Slowly, we just add basket designs as we see the need. For the first few years of production, Roof made and sold around 900 half bushel and peck peach baskets a day;
BASKETS CONTINUED ON PAGE 30
A tisket, a tasket. Roof Basket Works offers more than 150 styles of handmade baskets. Above, a tub basket is formed. At left, Brad Alewine rolls out
the poplar veneer for cutting to make the strips that are woven into a basket.
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8,000-9,000 baskets now are produced daily. One of its largest craft basket customers is Hobby Lobby. Customer orders vary from a few to thousands. Karen says the Internet has been a benefit in attracting customers outside of the South. Much of the actual basket weaving continues to require hands-on skill, yet automation assists workers and enables the factory to churn out thousands of baskets daily. When Roof Basket Works was founded, the Roofs cut their own timber, hauled it to the factory and milled it into thin slices for the strips that make up the baskets. Some of the strips are so thin they are see-through. Now 16-foot poplar logs are delivered from forests across South Carolina. Workers still debark and mill the logs until only a small core remains. In the past, more waste of the unused wood was common; today scraps are sold to power plants or as mulch. Quips second-generation owner Richard Roof, 78, Like a fellow raising hogs says, Youve got to sell the squeal too. One of the greatest challenges to making baskets in South Carolina is humidity. To make a basket, the poplar strips have to be wet. However, in order for the baskets not to mold, they must be quickly dried. Depending on the size and type of basket, drying time is a few minutes up to 35 minutes. A large 70-foot-long dryer allows the larger baskets to slowly dry on a conveyor belt. Roof has not been without its share of business challenges. Besides a few injuries, in 1983 a fire destroyed 65
BASKETS CONTINUED ON PAGE 32
A bushel and a peck. Alfredo Aranda, right, and Juan Ventura, left, assemble bushel baskets. At left, cords of poplar wood are stacked before heading into the mill for cutting down to strips that will be woven into baskets.
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Basket cases. From left to right, Robert Harris, Charlie Gable and Victor Gonzalez install and staple the handles in place.
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Basket cases. The Roof family, from left to right, Karen, Richard, Dorothy, Tony, Betty and Terry.
percent of the factory. Richard says the fire took place during the busy peach-harvesting season, yet Roof was producing baskets just two weeks after the fire and rebuilt the factory a few months later. Roof learned early on that if a customer said he was taking his business to China because China could make a basket for less, Roof would counter with a lower price. One customer appreciated the endproduct and Roofs competitive spirit so much that he ended up paying a higher price than what was agreed on. When customers order from us, they learn that our products are superior to those in China, says Richard. Its just up
to us to learn the right tactics in order to compete. Roofs original founders worked in the business for 40 years. My grandfather literally worked until the day before he was taken to the hospital and died. My grandmother did the same, says Karen. Their dedication and my dads dedication is why I work here. Richard and his brother, Terry, still work full time. Richard handles product development and has designed baskets and the metal molds for them to be shaped on. Terry handles maintenance and wood buying. Terrys wife, Betty, does payroll. Richards son, Tony, oversees finance and office management, while daughter, Karen, is the sales and warehouse manager. If something needs
doing, one of us just does it, says Karen, so in that way were the Jack of all trades. Richard retired at 65. That lasted only a few months. Im the oldest thing around here, jokes Richard. My wife asks me why I still get up and go to work every day. Because I still enjoy it. I still wake up at 2 a.m. sometimes with all kinds of ideas for this company. He says he can make a basket just as quickly as he did as a 12-year-old when his dad started him working at Roof. I guess you could say, I know baskets. Deena Bouknight is a Midlands-base freelance writer.
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In our annual arts issue, find out how art leagues helps painters connect and grow creatively. Also: Highlights of theater, music, dance and arts seasons and other special events in the Midlands; a look at the Harbison Theatre.
The Village Square Theare Childrens Summer Acting Workshop presents Mother Goose, Vamoose! Aug. 2-5 at 105 Caughman Road in Lexington. Its a fractured fairy tale starring Donald Chump who has to take over when Mother Goose quits her job as a storyteller. Details: (803) 359-1436 or www. villagesquaretheatre.com Outdoor movies continue at Saluda Shoals Park in August. See The Lorax Aug. 11 at 7:30 p.m. Movies begin at dark around 8:45 p.m. Saluda Shoals Splash is open until 8 p.m. for $2. There is free admission to the park after 6 p.m. Join others for a Family Fun Walk at 7:30 p.m. Concessions by Pawleys Mobile Food Truck The Lake Murray Symphony Orchestra holds its third annual gala event, Wine and Waltzes, on Sept. 28 at the River Center at Saluda Shoals Park. The event includes dining, dancing, wine tasting and a silent auction. The symphony also will perform. Details: www.lmso.org.
UPCOMING
BUSINESS BRIEFS
Fuel Fitness and Dance recently opened at 300 Long Pointe Lane in Northeast Richland. The studio offers zumba, yoga and pilates, as well as a variety of dance classes. Fuel also offers aerial silks classes, in which participants are taught dance moves performed while suspended in the air from ribbons Cirque du Soleil style. Details: www. fuelfitnessanddance.com or (803) 445-1478 Sephora enters the Columbia market with a free-standing store in Columbiana Center on Harbison Boulevard and an in-store location in JC Penney in Village at Sandhill in Northeast Richland. The store a 2,200-square-foot space inside JC Penney and a 5,100-square-foot store in Columbiana Centre features close to 50 brands of beauty products, many of which shoppers can sample. Jamestown Coffee Co. at 5166 Sunset Boulevard, which opened two years ago, is featured in a new best-selling book, The $100 Startup: Reinvent the Way You Make a Living, Do What You Love, and Create a New Future. Owner James Kirk worked for 12 years in high tech in Seattle before returning to the Midlands to open the shop. Hamricks clothing store has moved to the former Circuit City site at nearby 1950 Bush River Road, after 20 years at Market Pointe shopping center. Have an item for People, Places and Things? Email lakemurray@thestate.com. Event notices can be included in our monthly calendar, but must be sent at least six weeks in advance.
Comprehensive Rehabilitation
The Heritage at Lowman Rehabilitation Team provides specialized treatment for a variety of needs: Knee, hip & orthopedic Pain control IV therapy Stroke & neurological Disease management Cardiovascular Post surgery Wound care We love to see people go home. Physical, occupational and speech therapists; nurses; dieticians; social workers and wellness staff work with patients and their physicians to set rehab goals for independence. Medicare certified.
Coming Soon:
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Gardening guidance
A few years ago, Sandy Raymond earned her certification as a Master Gardener. She meets regularly with other Master Gardeners, attends garden tours, and visits various nurseries around the state. The group shares tips, successes, and failures. Some of Sandys suggestions regarding gardening include: n Pay attention to how the sun hits the garden areas throughout the day and at different seasons of the year. This will determine what should be planted. n Plant only what works for the soil, the amount of sun or shade and the region. n If a plant doesnt work in the area, try something else. n Water often. n Re-evaluate the garden annually as trees grow and add more shade as plants grow and overtake areas. Sometimes plants need to be moved or taken out periodically. n Make your own compost with fruit and vegetables scraps and clippings from the grass and garden. After it has decomposed, sprinkle it in various areas around the garden during the winter months so that it can seep into the soil. In the South, there are all kinds of elements working against you as a gardener, says Sandy, who is originally from the North. You have to be on top of the vermin, funguses and insects particular to this area.
GARDEN FROM PAGE 35
Tiny worlds. Sandy often features miniature cottages, smallish plants such as Pandoras Box hosta or dwarf boxwood, tiny pebbled walkways and fairies in or on her handmade troughs which are hidden throughout her garden.
The list of plants is extensive, including coral bells, varieties of ferns and hydrangeas, rose bushes, Labrador violets, sanguinella, pulmonaria (lungwort), beacon silver lamium, hearty begonias, lambs ear, lilies, daisies, dianthus, zinnias and Echinacea. Giving height and dimension to the garden are a few carefully selected trees, such as the dwarf hinoki cypress, lousha dogwood, rose of Sharon and dwarf crape myrtle. Sandy especially enjoys a variety of ground covers: dwarf mondo grass, ajuga, English ivy and pachysandra. Moss covers one whole area of the garden, as well as spots where there are rock formations and other garden elements. What is most distinct about the Raymonds garden, however, is not necessarily the vast array of plant life and multiple hues, but the fanciful surprises one discovers while walking along the brick or stone paths. Sandy is enamored with ornate metal items, such as gates or topiary stands, as well as other decorative elements that bring whimsical life to the garden. Her favorite garden creation, however, is the trough, modeled after those carved out of stone in England to be filled with water or food for animals. Later, the English filled them with plants for their gardens. Sandy makes her own troughs which are hidden among her plants out of
a mixture of concrete, peat moss and perlite. She sets the mixture in different molds, such as a babys bathtub or a bowl, to get her shapes. Over time, the troughs look like they are hand-carved out of stone. Most surprising is what Sandy often features in or on her troughs: miniature cottages, smallish plants such as Pandoras Box hosta or dwarf boxwood, tiny pebbled walkways, and fairies. Some have hand-crafted mushrooms and all feature a covering of moss. The result: Tiny worlds that conjure images from The Shire in Lord of the Rings. My three grandchildren who live nearby love to come and play in this garden, she says.
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Cool and green. Over the years Sandy says she did a little here and there as I could afford it, gradually, filling in beds in the back yard, close to the house, and in the front yard. My three grandchildren who live nearby love to come and play in this garden, she says. Displayed on an outdoor window shelf are antique pots filled with succulent plants. French bell jars helped start plants and protect them from the elements before greenhouses were invented and used. Sandy has a display of these hand-blown pieces on a patio next to an iron bench. There are bird baths, bird houses, and even a lizard bath, which was a broken bird bath that the lizards now use. A sundial on a pedestal is a focal point in the center of the garden. It is surrounded by brick and terracotta pots. Thyme is planted beneath the sun dial. Sandy quips: Thyme is planted with the time. Visitors to the garden enter or exit through the lichgate, based on the decorative entryways common in some English cemeteries. When a family could not afford to hold their funeral inside the church, they would settle for the next best thing holding it underneath the beautiful lichgate. Jim built theirs, and Sandy planted a rose to climb onto it and gardens on either side. A garden sign says what the Raymonds
hope their labor of love conveys: Our garden gate doth open wide, for all our friends to walk inside. Deena Bouknight is a Midlands-base freelance writer.
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{ past tense }
AUGUST 1978
Williams-Brice Stadium at rest just before football season. The upper deck of the west zone was added in 1971-72; it increased capacity of the stadium to 54,000 from 43,000. Note the relatively small scoreboard in the foreground. The home of the Gamecocks is undergoing another facelift this summer, with the addition of a video scoreboard, landscaping and completion of a tailgating area at the grounds of the former SC Farmers Market. The stadium was first built in 1934 as a Works Progress Administration project.
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