Charleston City Paper 09/05/2025 - 29.6

Chef Daniel Humm to join Charleston Place for year-long pop-up

Bacteria levels in local waterways spike after heavy rain

Covid jumps in S.C. amidst vaccine fight in Washington

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Andy Brack

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Cris Temples

NEWS

News Editor: Skyler Baldwin

Staff: Herb Frazier, Vincent Harris, Maura Hogan, Becky Lacey, Jack O’Toole

Cartoonists: Robert Ariail, Steve Stegelin

Photographer: Ashley Stanol

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CHARLESTON’S

FRIDAY 9/5

DJ DOLLA MENU

Sat TROY AT CLEMSON 3:30pm Sat SC STATE VS GAMECOCKS 7pm

INSIDE IS BORING.

Thurs COWBOYS AT EAGLES 8:20pm

Fri CHIEFS VS CHARGERS 8pm

Sun NFL ALL DAY

Sun Night RAVENS AT BILLS 8:20pm Mon VIKINGS AT BEARS 8:20pm

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CLEMSON at USC

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Guess the final score of the Clemson and USC games each week. The closest guess + ties qualify for our drawing on Nov. 1st.

*** One entry per person per week. Must be 21. *** Picks must be entered by 3PM this Saturday 9/6.

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WIN 2 TIX TO THE BIG GAME!

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The first vaccine for Covid-19, manufactured by Pfizer, in S.C. being injected into a patient at the end of 2020

File photo courtesy MUSC

Covid soars amidst big fight over vaccines in Washington

By Jack O’Toole

A fight over vaccines is causing shockwaves in Washington and concern among medical professionals, as Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) data shows Covid cases spiking in the Palmetto State.

“Across emergency rooms that MUSC operates in the state, we have been seeing significant increases in Covid-19 diagnoses among emergency room patients,” said Michael Sweat, head of MUSC’s Epidemiology Intelligence Project and a former Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) researcher. “The most striking increase has been in the pediatric population, which has been having logarithmic growth (doubling of the number week to week).”

Sweat said those findings were consistent with previous late summer waves as children headed back to school. He added that with the numbers spiking in S.C. those at high risk “may want to take precautions,” including avoiding large crowds and getting vaccinated.

“The bottom line is that there is significant transmission now of Covid-19 occurring,” he said.

And now thrown into the mix — a national policy to limit use of vaccines to protect against the disease.

Unravelling of vaccines

In Washington, the fracas began on Aug. 27 when U.S. Health and Human Services

Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a longtime vaccine skeptic, announced this fall’s Covid shot would be approved only for Americans 65 and older or those with underlying medical risks. Up to now, the vaccine has been available to all Americans six months and older.

The following day, the White House fired CDC Director Susan Monarez, a Trump appointee from just a month ago, after she reportedly resisted Kennedy’s push to purge career health officials and further restrict vaccine access.

Monarez’s ouster set off a wave of turmoil, with at least three top CDC leaders resigning and dozens of staff staging a walkout in protest. By late Thursday, Kennedy deputy Jim O’Neill had been installed as acting director of the agency.

“It’s concerning that some of the most respected leaders in our premier public health institution have resigned over this issue,” MUSC’s Sweat said. “Which raises questions about whether we’re following the science as closely as we could.”

South Carolina’s reaction

In an Aug. 28 statement to Statehouse Report, Democratic U.S. Rep. James Clyburn of South Carolina called the situation a threat to “Americans’ freedom to protect themselves” from disease.

“RFK Jr. and his team of hacks and quacks are dangerously out of control,”

Clyburn said. “I urge the President and congressional Republicans to put a stop to this unscientific foolishness before people start dying.”

U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace, who in Feb. 2023 announced that she had been “vaccine injured” by the Covid shot, did not respond to request for comment.

Meanwhile, state lawmakers split sharply over the new policy.

Conservative S.C. Rep. Jordan Pace, R-Berkeley — who’s called for mRNA-based Covid vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna to be pulled off the market until long-term safety data is available — called the decision to restrict access “eminently reasonable,” pointing to similar policies in Denmark and Sweden.

“I’d rather get rid of them entirely,” Pace said on Aug. 28. “But this [recommendation] essentially brings us in line with what most of Northern Europe has been doing for the last four years.”

But S.C. Sen. Minority Leader Brad Hutto, D-Orangeburg, said the new policy would violate South Carolinians’ medical freedom and could impose high costs on patients if insurance companies refuse to cover shots for people outside of high-risk groups.

“It should be available to any adult who wants it, with parents deciding what’s best for their children,” he said. “Restricting the vaccine is going to cause some people to

The Rundown

MUSC gets millions in grants, donations

The Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) received $7 million in grants from the Duke Endowment aimed at tackling three health care initiatives across the Carolinas.

And the news got better during the third inning of the Aug. 31 RiverDogs baseball game. The team presented a $100,000 check — its largest donation to date — to the MUSC Shawn Jenkins Children’s Hospital.

The awards focus on:

• Maternal and infant health care.

About $5.2 million will go toward a new technical assistance center. The facility will assist hospitals and clinics to implement a text/phonebased screening system and referral program that identifies women at risk during pregnancy and after birth.

• Access to care. $1.1 million will go toward a new program to connect uninsured women or those enrolled in Medicaid with health care.

• Workforce. An additional $1.5 million will help launch the “OneMUSC Workforce Development Initiative” to help people just starting their health care careers.

“This merger is more than a change in name — it’s a bold step forward. By working together, we will build more homes, complete more critical repairs, and expand our programs to reach more families in need.”

—Lynn Bowley, incoming CEO of Charleston Habitat for Humanity in announcing a merger this week with East Cooper Habitat for Humanity.

CP GROCERY TRACKER

Numbers are based on weekly average costs nationwide.

Milk (half-gallon): $2.31 ( $0.73)

Cheese (8-ounce block): $2.33 ( $0.02)

Eggs (dozen, large white): $2.28 ( $1.25)

Bananas (per pound): $0.68 ( $0.14)

Avocados (each): $1.17 ( $0.14)

Gas (per gallon, S.C. avg.): $2.855

( $0.021)

Sources: Most recent data at ams.usda.gov, gasprices.aaa.com

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson spoke before a joyous crowd of 1,800 supporters Sept. 2 at the Charleston Gaillard Center

Jackson talks Southern roots,

role of dissent at packed Gaillard

By Maura Hogan

In a hot pink suit and sparkling smile, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson warmly presided over a sold-out, cheering Tuesday crowd of 1,800 fans at Charleston Gaillard Center.

“I’m very aware that I’m the first Black woman to serve on the Supreme Court, but not the first who could have done this job,” she said. in reflections with U.S. District Judge Richard Gergel that focused on her acclaimed 2024 memoir, Lovely One.

In a conversation punctuated by a photographic slide show of her family pictures and a few seminal figures, Gergel guided the justice through key details of her trajectory from being a Miami-raised child of a Southern family to her current seat.

These included the impact of her maternal grandparents from southern Georgia, the role of her husband, Patrick Jackson, in her success, and her appointment to the Supreme Court as a former public defender — another unprecedented feat.

“I thought criminal law had the most significant stakes that the law mattered — in my view the most — because we’re talking about people’s liberty,” Jackson said. She shared experiences with two uncles, one a prominent police chief and the other incarcerated who was serving a life sentence by way of a “three strikes” statute.

Jackson talked also of her hero as a teenager, Constance Baker Motley, the first Black woman appointed to the federal bench, who tried many prominent cases including Brown v. Board of Education and, in South Carolina, the landmark Gantt v. Clemson.

The event attracted numerous admiring members of the legal community as well as a sizable gathering of Delta Sigma Theta sorority sisters decked out in their signature red outfits with gem-festooned Greek-letter pins. There also were book lovers from the city’s literary organizations.

The evening also realized the intention of former Charleston Mayor Joseph P. Riley in driving the multimillion-dollar Gaillard renovation 10 years ago: to provide a place to be enjoyed by all Charlestonians.

Jackson’s visit included an interaction with 1,000 students earlier that day, who were invited as part of the Gaillard’s ongoing education and community program.

Leaning into the future is at the heart of the justice’s widely reported dissent of recent Supreme Court decisions, informed by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s view that dissenters speak for the future.

“Dissent is one of the most extraordinary parts of our American legal tradition,” Jackson said. “It is a symbol of one of the things that we value most, which is free expression. We built into our system the opportunity for opposition to the majority for tolerance of minority views. So it is emblematic of who we are as Americans. And I’m so proud to be part of a system that is like that.”

Kennedi Carter

Entrance to & from Reid St.

Tough return to Vietnam helps to heal veteran

By Herb Frazier

North Charleston resident Harvey Jones recently returned from Southeast Asia, disappointed he couldn’t revisit three war sites in the former South Vietnam that he saw as a private with the U.S. Army in the late 1960s.

Vũng Tàu’s pristine beaches with crystalclear blue water are among Jones’s positive war-time memories.

He chuckled recently as he explained how his flat feet earned him a reprieve from infantry patrols in the jungles surrounding the U.S. Army post at Long Binh when a former Citadel student, Gen. William C. Westmoreland, led U.S. forces in Vietnam.

Then his eyes widened when he remembered Cam Ranh Bay where he hunkered in a bunker fearful of North Vietnam’s country-wide bombardments during the Tet Offensive.

After one year in South Vietnam, Jones returned to Charleston feeling guilty he fought against the North Vietnamese, who he said were “people who did absolutely nothing to me. Being there was not by choice, and harming these people in any way bugged me,” he recalled. “When I went back, I didn’t have that feeling of guilt anymore.”

Vietnam’s capital, Ho Chi Minh City, which was once called Saigon when Vietnam was a divided country, looks like New York City on steroids, said Jones, a former paramedic with the Mount Pleasant Fire Department.

“I was extremely elated to see the country has recovered as well as it has after we did all that we did to it,” said Jones, who traveled with his wife, daughter and two of his brothers-in-law.

North and South Vietnam were unified after the 19-year conflict ended in 1975 when American forces hastily evacuated Saigon. The war claimed slightly more than 58,000 American lives, according to the

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 4

become severely ill and potentially die.”

‘Talk to your doctor’

With Covid cases again on the rise in the Palmetto State, the S.C. Department of Public Health (DPH) is advising residents to talk with their medical provider about vaccine eligibility.

“The Covid vaccine remains a safe and effective way to prevent severe illness, hospitalization and death from Covid,” DPH spokesperson Casey White said in a statement. “DPH also urges people to continue using other practical proven prevention measures such as hand washing, staying home when ill, and covering your cough.”

where he served in the late 1960s (inset)

Defense Manpower Data Center.

Sources estimate the death toll among South and North Vietnamese soldiers and civilians ranged from 970,000 to 3 million people. The figure does not include hundreds of thousands killed in neighboring Cambodia and Laos.

Jones arrived in South Vietnam in the mid-summer of 1967, about two years after America overtly entered the war. Some of the most intense fighting occurred in 1968 during the Tet Offensive, according to Defense Department records.

Jones tried to follow in his father’s military footsteps in 1965 when he attempted to join the U.S. Navy. He said he hoped that by joining the Navy, he could dodge Vietnam’s killing fields. He was denied, however, because he was charged in 1963 with inciting a riot in Charleston.

Jones was part of the youth movement led by the Rev. Benjamin Glover at Emanuel

Dr. Robert Oliverio, chief medical officer at Roper St. Francis in Charleston, reiterated the importance of talking to a doctor, particularly with so many details — including precisely what will count as a “high risk” preexisting condition — still unclear.

“We don’t know where people are going to be able to get the vaccine or who’s going to pay for it,” Oliverio said, noting that vaccines can cost hundreds of dollars when they’re not covered by insurance. “It’s a tough situation.”

A federal government panel, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), is tentatively scheduled to meet in mid-September to iron out the eligibility details. In June, Kennedy removed all 17 members of the panel and replaced them with his own appointees.

Like Oliverio, MUSC’s Sweat is waiting for details, but said he’s particularly concerned

AME Church and other Charleston ministers. They protested against segregated lunch counters along King Street and Whites-only public accommodations, like the city-owned swimming pool.

Jones walked with the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. during a 1963 protest march when a White man emerged from a King Street bar and threw a beer on Jones. King saw what happened. Jones said King told him: “ ‘Son, don’t do anything. If you feel that you have to do something, go back to the church.” ’ Jones said he replied: “I am fine, Dr. King. I am fine.”

A few days later as the protest intensified, Jones and others were among an estimated 100 people who were arrested outside The New and Courier ’s building on Columbus Street when rocks and bottles were hurled at police officers and firefighters.

Jones said people who were not part of the peaceful demonstration threw the bricks and bottles that triggered a melee. He said he spent 11 days in jail. He and others were charged with rioting, but Jones said he was not prosecuted and the charge against him was dropped. Shortly after that, the 20-year-old Jones was drafted in the Army and sent to Vietnam.

Jones believes he was labeled a “trouble maker,” and he was sent to war. Jones lashed out at the draft board clerk in Charleston. Jones said he told her: “You think that you are going to send me to Vietnam, and I am going to get killed. Let me tell you this, the first thing I am going to do when I get back from Vietnam, I am coming to see you, and I am going to show you I am not going to die.”

First assigned to the 1st Calvary Division, a diagnosis of flat feet changed his role to supply clerk, a job that gave him power to steer supplies.

Read an expanded version online at charlestoncitypaper.com.

about pregnant women’s eligibility after Kennedy announced in May that the CDC would no longer recommend that they get vaccinated. Nevertheless, major American medical societies, including the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, continue to recommend vaccination.

“The science has shown the vaccine is beneficial and safe for pregnant women,” Sweat said. “So, like many other people in public health, I have concerns that they’re not following the evidence in that regard.”

In the end, Sweat, too, advises patients to rely on their doctor to help guide them through the intricacies of the new vaccine environment, though he worries some patients will fall through the cracks.

“It’s a complicated system,” he said. “And I do think some people who want it are going to run into trouble.”

Blotter of the Week

A West Ashley woman on Aug. 25 reportedly tried to steal about $150 worth of goods from a West Ashley Circle store. Security footage caught her driving a motorized cart to and from different exits around the store — none of which were near the checkout area. Security stopped her. After viewing video footage, Charleston police arrested her for the attempted theft and banned her from the store.

Kiss and make up A Mount Pleasant man on Aug. 20 flagged down a town police officer, claiming another driver suddenly and repeatedly braked in front of him and that he had it on video. The officer stopped both drivers, took the memory card to review the footage and reportedly found nothing relevant. The officer asked the men to apologize and move on. They declined, according to a report.

Fifth time’s the charm (not) North Charleston police on Aug. 29 arrested a man found drinking a beer on the sidewalk along Rivers Avenue. Police noted the man had been warned four previous times not to drink beer in public — and specifically in that area. Some people just don’t listen.

By Skyler Baldwin

Illustration

by

Steve Stegelin

The Blotter is taken from reports filed with area police departments between Aug. 20 and Aug. 29.

SPONSORED BY

Andy Brack; provided

North Charleston resident Harvey Jones returned recently from a 10-day visit to Vietnam

Let Your Summer Feelings Linger Let Your Summer Feelings Linger

LINGERIE

CHARLESTON

RFK Jr. must go for the good of America

Sherlock Holmes had it right: “Once you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth.”

And so it is, with some real dismay, that we must tell you we’ve eliminated the impossible — hoax, mass delusion, multiversal madness, what have you — and now must report the wildly improbable truth. Noted conspiracy theorist and crank-for-all-seasons Robert F. Kennedy Jr. really is the U.S. secretary of Health and Human Services. And yes, he’s in charge of vaccine policy in the world’s greatest nation.

Yes, it boggles the mind and is having tremendous impacts. So, here’s where things stand in Kennedy’s campaign to return America to the simpler days of mumps, polio, pertussis — and, of course, Covid.

In June, Kennedy fired all 17 members of the expert federal panel that sets vaccine guidelines. In turn, he replaced most of them with charter members of the Do Your Own Research Society — after promising not to do precisely that during his Senate confirmation hearings.

Then in early August, he canceled federally funded research into mRNA vaccines — the same technology that helped save millions of lives during the Covid pandemic and now holds promise for treating cancer.

And then last week, he announced that only high-risk patients — basically people 65 and older or those with certain preexisting conditions — would be eligible for the Covid vaccine this fall.

When Susan Monarez, his fellow Trump appointee as head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, refused to get with the anti-vax program, Kennedy had her removed — prompting some of the agency’s best and brightest scientists to resign in protest.

Given the circumstances, Medical University of South Carolina

professor and former CDC scientist Michael Sweat may deserve an award for professional discretion and restraint when he spoke with Statehouse correspondent Jack O’Toole on Aug. 29.

“It’s concerning that some of the most respected leaders in our premier public health institution have resigned over this issue,” he said. “Which raises questions about whether we’re following the science as closely as we could.”

Actually, it raises questions about whether what we’re following is science at all. Still not convinced? Here’s America’s secretary of Health and Human Services, in his own words from March 2023:

“Covid-19, there is an argument that it is ethnically targeted,” Kennedy told reporters at a campaign press event. “Covid-19 is targeted to attack Caucasians and Black people. The people who are most immune are Ashkenazi Jews and Chinese. We don’t know whether it was deliberately targeted or not but there are papers out there that show the racial or ethnic differential and impact.”

We can’t even envision those words coming from RFK Jr.’s father, the late progressive senator Robert F. Kennedy, slain in 1968 by an assassin.

So let’s be frank. RFK Jr. is making a mockery of the preeminence of American medicine and health research. President Donald Trump’s decision to put Kennedy in charge of America’s health system was trolling on a scale not seen since the emperor Caligula appointed his horse to the Roman Senate.

But now with millions of lives at stake, Trump shouldn’t need the world’s greatest consulting detective to help him deduce what to do.

Put simply, it’s time for Trump to bring Kennedy into the Oval Office and bark the words for which he’s best known: “You’re fired.”

We encourage community leaders to act on these audacious priorities:

1. Deal with the water. Build a strong resiliency plan to harden infrastructure and make smart climate change decisions about development, roads and quality of life.

2. Fix roads, traffic. Repair and improve roads and reduce traffic. Speed up alternatives, including more public transportation.

3. Be smarter about education. Inject new energy into the broken Charleston County school board by focusing on kids, not national mantras.

4. Conduct public business in public. Be transparent in public business. Stop the secrecy.

5. Invest in quality of life. Build more parks. Have more festivals. Invest in infrastructure that promotes a broad sense of community.

6. Engage in real racial conciliation. If we embark on more conversations and actions on racial reconciliation, our community will strengthen and grow.

7. Develop fewer hotels, more affordable housing. Make Charleston a more affordable place to live for everyone.

8. Develop Union Pier at scale. Let’s not put ship-sized buildings on the coveted Union Pier property downtown. Instead, make what comes appropriate.

9. Build and follow a 50-year plan. Plan for the county’s long-term future and follow the plan.

10. Pay people more. Pay a living wage. Push South Carolina lawmakers to set a real minimum wage.

Use critical thinking skills to cut nimrodic blather

By Andy Brack

For the last two decades, there’s been a steady drumbeat of conservative messaging about how bad government is. But there’s not been much of a concerted effort to counteract the negativity.

Part of it’s human nature because it’s way easier to believe something bad about a person, program or effort than it is to use critical thinking skills to dispel what doesn’t make sense. And with everybody and his brother thinking they know how to really research something when most of them just pass along the latest social media trash, faith in government institutions has waned. It hasn’t helped that the people now in charge from the president through the GOP in Congress and many state legislatures seem to simply hate government — or disrespect enough of what our founding fathers did to be the world’s biggest hypocrites.

And to top all of that off, the loyal opposition — the Democratic Party — does such a poor, milquetoast job of messaging that it’s no wonder the nation is in a fix.

So try to step back and think about what government — local, state and national — does to make your life better everyday:

• Internet: Yep, government created it to free the flow of information. It also has made everyone a publisher and led to dark channels of rhetoric, misinformation and lies that hurt freedom. Yes, the internet works, thanks to government, but its unfettered openness helped to erode the foundations of democracy.

• Military: America invests more in military spending ($997 billion) than the other nine countries in the top 10 of military spending ($985 billion). That means our defense spending tops the combined coffers of China, Russia, Germany, India, the United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia, Ukraine, France and Japan.

• Interstates: The nation’s Interstate highway system allows for comparatively quick travel between major metropolitan areas and is buttressed by the system of federal roads in between. All are paid for by the government. These roads connect people and markets, just as governmentfunded airports and ports do.

• Satellites: Enjoy the Weather Channel, cable TV or Google Maps? Remember a government program launched satellites for weather, communications and mapping. And President Trump is threatening these — which makes no sense.

Our government makes a daily difference in our lives, from protecting our food and water supplies to educating our children and to keeping our communities safe.

Today, those functions are commonplace. We assume they’ll be there and too often forget how hard it was to build their infrastructure.

A dozen years ago in a book titled Citizenville: How to Take the Town Square Digital and Reinvent Government, now-Calif. Gov. Gavin Newsom described how people often are oblivious about how enriched their lives are by government because “government doesn’t have an official PR department to help burnish its image.”

Well before Trump was a candidate, Newsom wrote, “When ordinary people feel politics is irrelevant, the whole Jeffersonian model of democracy is in peril. We’re becoming a government of the elites, the opposite of what our forefathers intended, and the opposite of what has historically made America strong.”

So here’s a challenge: Think seriously about how government positively impacts you and then start thinking more critically about the blather being shifted from one channel to one post in the media. Question that information. Maybe then, you’ll start appreciating how government is a civilizing force — and that’s why it scares so many who are trying to destroy it.

“Government is us,” Newsom wrote in 2013. “It’s the police officer, soldier, educator, IT worker, secretary, lawyer or engineer who lives next door. Helping people realize that would be a great first step in cutting through the disdain and mistrust people have for government today.”

PIER DANCES 2025

Andy Brack is editor and publisher of Charleston City Paper. Have a comment? Send to: feedback@ charleston citypaper.com.

MIXERS FOLLY BEACH PIER

SEPTEMBER 19

DANCING ON THE COOPER MOUNT PLEASANT PIER SEPTEMBER 12

Bacteria levels in local waterways soar after heavy rain ‘Deja vu’

By Skyler Baldwin

Charleston Waterkeeper Executive Director

Andrew Wunderly says this year’s analysis of bacterial contamination in Charleston County’s rivers and streams feels all too common.

“It’s a little bit like deja vu for us,” he recently told the Charleston City Paper. “We know what the problem is. The question now is whether we can muster the political and community will to try and actually fix it.”

Charleston Waterkeeper has been testing the levels of harmful bacteria in Lowcountry waters each summer for more than a decade. And while levels generally don’t fluctuate much, stormwater and coastal flooding can cause levels of bacteria to spike and linger way above state standards.

When skies are clear and stormwater runoff eventually leaves from local rivers and creeks, bacteria levels in most waterways hover between 10 and 100 colony-forming units per 100 milliliters (cfu/mL) of water, well within safe standards for swimming. But tests done on a half dozen waterways in the area consistently deliver high levels of harmful bacteria.

For example, Filbin Creek, located near a decades-old and now-closed paper mill in North Charleston, consistently delivers readings for Charleston Waterkeeper’s Swim Alert project that are more than twice over the state’s water quality standard of 104 bacterial cfu/100 mL. But in the wake of the recent storms, it spiked to more than 150 times over the standard — for the fifth year in a row.

Photos by Ashley Stanol

Waterkeeper Executive Director Andrew Wunderly (right) and a team member (above) test samples from sites throughout Lowcountry waterways

Other problem areas with spiked levels of unsafe bacteria include Ellis Creek on James Island and three locations along Shem Creek in Mount Pleasant. After more than 9 inches of rain at the end of August, three other areas showed elevated levels, including parts of Ashley River near Northbridge Park, a section of Hobcaw Creek in Mount Pleasant and another James Island Creek.

Visit charlestonwaterkeeper.org for a detailed breakdown of the 20 tested sites. Numbers are updated weekly through October.

‘Just gross’

Waves of rain bands last month from Hurricane Erin brought severe flooding across the Lowcountry, even though the storm never made landfall. When coastal plains are inundated with water, it carries enterococcus (or fecal) bacteria from the ground into local rivers, creeks and channels. If people jump in for a quick dip, they may encounter so much bacteria that they get gastrointestinal illness, eye and ear infections, skin rashes and more.

“Stormwater is just gross,” Cheryl Carmack, a water quality specialist for Charleston Waterkeeper, said in last year’s report. “It’s so disgusting, and often when we have these big storms, sewers overflow as well, and we see issues with that.”

It can take weeks for levels to come back down after a heavy storm like Hurricane Erin, as the flow of water brings the bacteria from further inland toward the coast.

Some progress made, more to be done

Charleston Waterkeeper has spent the last decade raising awareness of the issue in an effort to keep people out of the contaminated water. And things have gotten a lot better, Wunderly said.

“You see it happening less and less, and you see more people warning others about it now, too,” he said. “But we always need more eyeballs on it, and now, we need more investment in stormwater infrastructure.”

Wunderly said the city of Charleston has been a big leader when it comes to stormwater awareness and infrastructure, but the problem is far from isolated to the peninsula.

“We do a lot of talking about stormwater quantity — keeping the water out and installing bigger drains — but we don’t talk enough about stormwater quality,” he said. “The bottom line is, it’s not very good.

“When we have big flood events, that’s an ecological disaster for our waterways,” Wunderly added. “It’s not just about flooding on the peninsula. It happens all over, and it’s especially concerning in communities that are still relying on septic tanks.”

Septic tanks cause big issues

Septic tanks are havens for these harmful bacteria colonies. When septic drain fields and floodwaters mix, you end up with huge amounts of contaminated waterways.

“It quickly becomes a public issue,” Wunderly said. “What we have going on right now is incredible growth pressure at a time when our climate is changing, and these flood events are becoming more common and more severe. At the same time, the state of South Carolina is permitting septic tanks being installed in sensitive coastal areas. … The state has really failed to lead on this issue.”

Wunderly said there needs to be a robust set of regulations to prevent septic tanks from being permitted in dense

Water quality failure percentage

Water quality (failure percentage)

The chart below details how often the sites Charleston Waterkeeper test for dangerous bacteria are

8/27/2025

clusters, such as the proposed White Tract project that would install more than 100 septic tanks in about the same number of acres in Awendaw.

“We should have a collective water plan for the whole coastal plain in the state,” he said. “In the Lowcountry, you always have one foot on land and one in the water. We live in a way that’s so connected to and dependent upon the surrounding estuary. That’s true in Charleston, but it’s also true throughout the coastal counties.”

Stay informed via web, app

Charleston Waterkeeper offers two big ways for residents to check the levels of bacteria in their nearby creeks before heading out for a swim or fishing trip.

The group’s Swim Alert page online keeps detailed records of bacteria levels in 20 different waterways across the Lowcountry. From the Ashley River to unnamed creeks on the sea islands, Waterkeeper has its hands in the water. Residents can find results dating back to May online to see how weather patterns have affected bacteria levels.

Charleston Waterkeeper also partners with Swim Guide, a mobile app that several Waterkeeper organizations across the country use to share their data for public use. The group shares the data they collect as well as beach data from the state’s Department of Environmental Services.

“You can stand on Folly Beach, pull up the app and see what the most recent water quality data is,” Wunderly said.

“It’s a neat, handy thing. It gives you the data in a really simplified way.”

Carmack

Source: Charleston Water Keeper

What To Do

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WEDNESDAY

Oliver Pluff & Co. Tea Class

Step into the world of tea with a hands-on lesson in history, flavor and craft. In this interactive class, guests will explore how the region where tea is grown shapes its unique characteristics. Taste the three distinctive teas that make up our English Breakfast blend, learn how to brew the perfect cup using loose leaves, then blend them together and enjoy a freshly made cuppa.

Sept. 10. 10:15 a.m. $50/person. Oliver Pluff & Co. 49 John St. Downtown. oliverpluff.com

SUNDAYS

Sunday Brunch Farmers Market

Head to the Pour House on James Island for a 100% local market brimming with more than 40 local farmers and artisans, a deck bar, live music, good eats and all kinds of amazing areamade goods. Cap off your weekend by kicking back, enjoying the local tunes and stocking up on unique goodies. This farmers market is open year-round.

Sundays. 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Free to attend. The Pour House. 1977 Maybank Highway. James Island. sundaybrunchfarmersmarket.com

MONDAYS AND SATURDAYS

4

TUESDAY

Discovery Day: Crab-by Adventure

Why do some fiddler crabs have one large claw? What do crabs eat? Are all crabs really crabby? Learn all about crabs while creating your own crabby crafts to take home. Discovery Day is designed for young learners ages 2 to 5 to explore the Dill Sanctuary with a parent or guardian. Program fees include admission for one child and one adult.

Sept. 9. 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. $10/members; $15/nonmembers. The Dill Sanctuary. 1163 Riverland Drive. James Island. charlestonmuseum.org

5

Let’s Move

Join the Children’s Museum of the Lowcountry for Let’s Move twice a week. This interactive program is designed to inspire children to explore the joys of physical activity through play, discovery and imagination. Let’s Move is focused on promoting healthy lifestyles for children and combines fun and fitness in a dynamic environment. All events are free with paid museum admission.

Mondays and Saturdays. 11 a.m. to noon. $15/admission. Children’s Museum of the Lowcountry. 25 Ann St. Downtown. explorecml.org

NEXT WEEKEND

Johnnie-O second anniversary

M. Dumas and Sons will celebrate the second anniversary of its brand partner store, Johnnie-O by M. Dumas and Sons, located in The Charleston Place. Stop by to enter a $500 gift card raffle, enjoy a gift with purchase and sip complimentary wine from Boutique Beverage Company while browsing the shop new arrivals and the best brands in men’s fashion.

Sept. 12 through Sept. 13. Store hours vary. Free to attend. Johnnie-O. 132 Market St. Downtown. johnnie-o.com

Cuisine

What’s new

• La Taqueria by El Molino has opened at 2901 Maybank Highway on Johns Island. The restaurant serves a menu of street-style Mexican food, including tacos, tortas and birria. The new Johns Island location is open daily and joins El Molino’s other spots in North Charleston and West Ashley. More: molinosupermarket.com

HOPS: OPINION

In defense of beer festivals

By Connelly Hardaway

My first beer festival came along in 2012. I was freshly 21, living in a college town where the leaves turned perfectly red and orange every fall and craft breweries were just beginning to make a name for themselves.

As a server at a busy student bar, I’d slowly learned the names of increasingly popular local brews from spots that still thrive today — Devil’s Backbone, Starr Hill, Blue Mountain. My favorite beer back then came from slightly further afield — Flying Dog’s Raging Bitch. (It’s still a fave today, and I’d pay big money for someone to bring me a six-pack.)

Sure, nostalgia makes me miss those days. But if you were a beer drinker in the 2010s, you know that those days felt special: exciting, fresh, unknowable.

Craft beer was making a mark and we — those intrepid college kids slugging through wind, sleet and snow to make it to our local pint night — did not want to miss

out on the fun.

While craft beer and beer festivals are inextricably linked, festivals are a more fragile entity, existing only as long as enthusiasm for the experience remains.

Keeping the fire burnin’

That first beer festival, held on a balmy September day on Charlottesville’s downtown mall, was a revelation.

Drinking tiny samples of tasty beer with my other of-age pals (we’d waited a long time and gone through a lot of questionable IDs for this) felt like a very grown-up thing to do. Chatting with beer vendors and brewers themselves, I felt the passion for the

Know before you go to the Charleston Beer Fest

• The Charleston Beer Fest will be held at Riverfront Park Oct. 25.

• General admission tickets are currently on sale for $69 and include a commemorative mug for beer tastings, fest admission and live entertainment.

• VIP tickets are currently on sale for $139 and include expedited entrance to the fest, a tap trailer for VIP-only beers, catered hors d’oeuvres and more.

• The event is rain or shine and guests must be 21+. Full beer pour tickets are available for $5 each.

product. It was incredible to drink something that tasted good and wasn’t, well, a handle of ‘crat.

Sitting in my too-small bedroom that night and eating Chinese food while my head bumped the ceiling from atop my shaky bunkbed, I knew I would want to attend some more of these festivals. And soon.

The next year I’d moved to Charleston and was attending every fest I could, from muddy affairs at Brittlebank Park to Charleston Beer Festival’s first shindig at Patriots Point.

I am merely a beer lover — sure, I married a homebrewer (who actually placed in Charleston Beer Fest’s home brew competition years ago), but I don’t claim to be a beer expert.

That’s the thing about beer festivals amateurs and pros alike are welcomed with open arms. What do you like? What

• More than 60 craft breweries are participating, including Allagash Brewing Company, Bird Song Brewing Co., Angry Fish Brewing Co., Commonhouse Aleworks, Charles Towne Fermentory, Magnetic South Brewery, Kite Hill Brewing Co., The Veil Brewing Co. and more.

• Shake Shack soon will open its first South Carolina location in North Charleston’s Tanger Outlets. The restaurant is known for its ShackBurger, made with a custom 100% Angus beef blend, as well as chicken sandwiches, crinkle cut fries, shakes, frozen custard and a signature ShackMeister beer. An opening date has not yet been announced, but construction has started. More: shakeshack.com

• Rooftop bar Rosemary Rose has opened at The Nickel, the recently opened luxury boutique hotel in Charleston. Rosemary Rose offers sweeping views of the city and a menu of shareable plates including snapper crudo, shrimp remoulade, crispy stuffed zucchini blossoms and tuna carpaccio. More: nickelhotel.com

What’s happening

• Summerville’s Kersey House is now hosting a jazz brunch on from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sundays. Brunch menu highlights include eggs Benedict, croque monsieur, French toast and $5 mimosas and bloody Marys. More: kerseyhousesummerville.com

• Indigo Road Restaurant Week is offering special, multi-course menus at its Charleston restaurants through Sept. 14. From Brasserie la Banque’s $60 menu featuring dishes like scallop carpaccio and pork paillard to the Post House Inn’s $35 lunch-only menu offering chicory salad and a grilled swordfish sandwich, guests can sample special items from the group’s eight local restaurants. More: theindigoroad.com

Becky Lacey CONTINUED ON PAGE 14

• Proceeds from the Charleston Beer Fest is Palmetto Community Care’s primary fundraiser and helps those living with HIV/AIDS receive medical care, everyday resources and emotional support.

• Learn more at chsbeerfest.org.

Be the first to know. Read the Cuisine section at charlestoncitypaper.com.

Charleston Beer Fest file photo

The Charleston Beer Fest takes place on Oct. 25 at North Charleston’s Riverfront Park

Acclaimed chef to join Charleston Place for a year in new pop-up collaboration

By Becky Lacey

Daniel Humm, the acclaimed chef behind New York City’s three-Michelinstarred Eleven Madison Park, will launch a yearlong pop-up restaurant at The Charleston Place starting Oct. 2. The collaboration will take over the hotel’s former Charleston Grill space.

The partnership will focus on Humm’s commitment to plant-forward and climate-conscious foodways as well as the top-notch service that Daniel Humm Hospitality is known for. The menu will feature seasonal produce and Lowcountry ingredients along with wine pairings and creative cocktails.

“This project represents more than a collaboration. It’s a shared commitment to bringing people together through the language of food,” said Humm in a press release. “Charleston’s connection to the land and sea, and its culinary traditions — from its native ingredients and historic role in maritime trade to its abundant local farms and fisheries — offer so much to learn from. I’m excited to spend time here, connect with the community, and grow through the experience.”

The $135 per person prix fixe menu offers five courses. Choices include radish carpaccio with apple, daikon and rutabaga, ricotta gnudi with Parmesan and black truffle and celery root schnitzel with fennel and black truffle.

As part of the initiative, Beemok Hospitality Collection, owner and operator of The Charleston Place, will launch an apprenticeship program. It will give Charleston-based culinary professionals a chance to train at Eleven Madison Park. A reciprocal program will send Eleven

“Charleston’s connection to the land and sea, and its culinary traditions — from its native ingredients and historic role in maritime trade to its abundant local farms and fisheries — offer so much to learn from.”

—Daniel Humm

Madison Park team members to Charleston.

During the 12-month collaboration, the restaurant will also host other guest chef residencies.

“This partnership celebrates what makes hospitality so powerful — bringing people together through extraordinary experiences,” said BHC President Casey Lavin. “Chef Humm’s curiosity to learn and immerse himself in culture, paired with his humble and thoughtful culinary approach, make this collaboration especially meaningful.

“United by Chef’s creative vision and our shared passion for intentional hospitality across BHC and Daniel Humm Hospitality, we’re excited to contribute to Charleston’s vibrant dining scene in a way that inspires connection, conversation, and a true sense of community.”

will be available via Resy starting Sept. 2. More:

LEGEND DELI FOR THE LEGENDS OUT THERE

Humm is known for a commitment

foodways

can I get you? Should we be best friends?

Charleston’s beer fest landscape

Charleston has a rich history of beer festivals. Just ask any local about Coast’s Brewvival (which sadly ended its epic run of fests in 2018) and watch their eyes glaze over as they reminisce on the heyday of local beer fests. For years, folks flocked to the popular parking lot fest, Famulari’s Chucktown Brewdown: Homebrew Festival. And, of course, Charleston Beer Fest has been going strong for more than a decade.

With the rise of alternative beverages and a generation that is simply drinking less, the craft beer industry has seen a decline in recent years. Naturally, festivals have felt the pain, too.

In 2024, Forbes wrote “many local, smaller beer festivals have ceased as that trend has waned in the past few years.” In 2023, Axios took an even stronger stance in its article: “The death of the beer festival is jolting the craft brewing industry.”

And yet. Charleston Beer Fest, a fundraising festival that raises moneys for Palmetto Community Care, remains.

Palmetto Community Care’s director

Reams, said that almost 5,000 people attended last year’s festival, with more than 30% of attendees traveling from outside of the Tri-county area.

The festival tries to offer something new and exciting for consumers including taproom only brews, so people can sip on stuff they can’t simply buy in local stores. And, of course, folks can sip on non-beer offerings — it’s what the people want. In addition to brews, attendees can enjoy offerings from a liquor garden, NA beers, kombuchas, ciders, meads and CBD-based bevs.

Times have changed. Those college kids racing to pint night are mommies trying to write beer-centric essays with two kids underfoot. Craft beer is far more accessible than it once was, and the allure of a craft beer festival isn’t quite as exciting for beer lovers.

I’m not saying we have to recreate the excitement of the past, but I don’t think we should buy into the doomsday narrative that craft beer and its accompanying festivals are any less appealing than they once were.

So, fellow millennial beer lovers, hear me out: Grab a babysitter, acquire a designated driver and get ye to the Charleston Beer Fest next month. The fun ain’t over yet.

Connelly Hardaway, who is a former City Paper editor, is a writer who

Dream Theater brings progressive, metal to North Charleston Sept. 9

By Vincent Harris

The Boston, Mass., quintet Dream Theater has spent more than 40 years combining the sheer power of metal with the complexity of progressive rock.

The Grammy-award winning band’s show at the North Charleston Performing Arts Center on Sept. 9 will be a roller coaster ride of savage riffs, neck-snapping time changes, haunting synths and, perhaps surprisingly, catchy melodies courtesy of guitarist John Petrucci and vocalist John LaBrie.

The melodies are important. Dream Theater is a band that proves that “complex” does not have to equal “difficult.”

In fact, the band, LaBrie, Petrucci, keyboardist Jordan Rudess, bassist John Myung and drummer Mike Portnoy, recently put out a new album of complexyet-accessible tunes called Parasomnia. The album, which has already been streamed more than 20 million times, takes up the first set of the band’s North Charleston PAC show.

“We’re super-excited to play it from start to finish,” Rudess said in a recent interview with the Charleston City Paper

“That’s the way that we put it together, and I think it’s the way that it should be heard. Here we are in an age and a day when people don’t have that much patience. But I think it’s really important for Dream Theater and for others to create

Arts+Music

Revisit timely classic The Sound of Music

Charleston Stage opens its season with The Sound of Music. The legendary Rodgers and Hammerstein musical, which runs through Sept. 28, gathers the von Trapp brood with nanny Maria in Austria in the late 1930s. The Dock Street Theatre, 135 Church St. More: charlestonstage.com.

STAGE AND SCREEN

• Sept. 6, 4 p.m.: The Terrace Theater will host a special screening of Freakier Friday, followed by a virtual Q&A with director Nisha Ganatra. 1956D Maybank Highway, James Island.

“ Here we are in an age and a day when people don’t have that much patience. But I think it’s really important for Dream Theater and for others to create the kind of material that people can sink their teeth into.” —Jordan Rudess

the kind of material that people can sink their teeth into.”

It’s an interesting sentiment in an age where, thanks to streaming, many listeners pick and choose tracks instead of diving deep into an album.

“I think it’s important to our collective society to have work that is more demanding than scrolling through Instagram reels,” Rudess said.

The second half of the show will feature another full-length performance. The band is revisiting its debut EP, A Change of Seasons, which turns 30 this year. The rest

• Sept. 6, 7: The Footlight Players offer the “splashy, splendidly sordid cracker of a new production of the Ton-topping show” Caberet in three weekend performances. Read Maura Hogan’s review online. Sept. 6 at 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.; Sept. 7 at 3 p.m. Queen Street Playhouse, 20 Queen St.

• Sept. 12 , 5:30 p.m. and Sept. 13 , 10 a.m.: PURE Theatre presents its first annual Playwrights Festival, including performances of “Takes All Kinds” by Dan Hoyle on both nights, and playwright-led workshops. Cannon Street Arts Center, 134 Cannon St., More: puretheatre.org.

MUSIC

• Sept. 5, 8 p.m.: George Thorogood and The Destroyers, Charleston Music Hall

• Sept. 6, 7:30 p.m.: The Nova , Tin Roof

• Sept. 6, 6 p.m.: Drifter Fest , The Refinery

• Sept. 6, 9 p.m.: Winterteeth, Royal American

• Sept. 6, 6 p.m.: The Brook and The Bluff, The Windjammer

• Sept. 7, 7 p.m.: Howard Jones, Charleston Music Hall

• Sept. 7, 6 p.m.: Limbo/Jesse Roper, The Refinery

• Sept. 9, 7 p.m.: Dream Theater, North Charleston PAC

• Sept. 10, 8 p.m.: Kenny G , Charleston Music Hall

• Sept. 11 , 8 p.m.: The Simplicity (album release), Pour House

• Sept. 12 , 7:30 p.m.: Riley Coyote , Tin Roof

Mark Maryanovich

Dream Theater’s members are excited about the band’s new album

FALL INTO THE

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Creatives to inspire Sept. 9 at PechaKucha 48

By Andy Brack

For the second time this year, several members of Charleston’s creative community will share what inspires them at the 48th iteration of PechaKucha, an arts gathering that ignites inspiration. Presenters perform 7 p.m. Sept. 9 at a ticketed show at the Charleston Music Hall.

Maura Hogan, arts and culture editor of the Charleston City Paper, will serve as emcee.

“I’m always up for participating in PechaKucha, as [organizer] Terry Fox has an uncanny knack for curating each program in a way that is uniquely suited for its moment in Charleston’s creative scene,” said Hogan, who presented in PK33. “And the 48th lineup is a knockout.”

The Sept. 9 event will showcase these 10 presenters:

• Quiana Parler. lead vocalist and lyricist for Grammy-winning Ranky Tanky.

• Mena Mark Hanna, general director of Spoleto Festival USA.

• Lee Barbour, producer, composer and guitarist who has performed with globally-known musicians.

• Sharon Graci, co-founder and artistic director of PURE Theatre.

• Arun Drummond, multidisciplinary artist and Eastside gallery owner.

• Kate Boyette, founder of Mise En Place Publishing and publisher of Revisionist, a literary journal that champions female voices.

• Jenny Ferrara and Michael Bourke, owners of Philosophers and Fools bookshop.

of the set features fan favorites like “Pull Me Under,” “As I Am” and “Another Day.”

It’s been interesting for Rudess to play the epic 23-minute title track of “A Change of Seasons,” given that he hadn’t joined the band when it released the EP. He’s only been in Dream Theater a mere 26 years.

“I remember the first time I played that song,” he said. “I remember being backstage and Mike Portnoy asked me how I felt about playing ‘A Change of Seasons’ that night. I didn’t want to say no, but that is a very long and very complicated song. And I was like, ‘Well, I guess so, let’s try it!’ That’s what I think about when I think about that song.”

• Nameless Numberhead, a Charlestonbased comedy improv duo and creative team.

Professor Ping, the house DJ also known as James Island resident Josh Silverman, will provide tunes. Artist Johnny Pundt designed the event’s poster.

“Johnny last lent his artistry to the poster design for PechaKucha 7 in 2010,” said Fox of the Charleston Arts Festival. “Amazingly, we have all the design elements prepped this far in advance — thanks to Johnny!”

What you’ll experience

“PechaKucha” is a Japanese phrase that means “chit chat.” It’s fun and educational.

Started in Tokyo in 2003, the presentations morphed through the years into a global conversation platform now represented in more than 1,300 communities. Charleston held its first PechaKucha in November 2008.

Audience members watch eight presentations that blend 20 slides shown each for just 20 seconds by a presenter or presenters. In 400 seconds (it goes by quicker than you might expect), presenters are supposed to share what inspires them and get audience members to think in new ways.

The results often are magical as listeners get sucked into what stirs and spurs poets, writers, chefs, artists, comedians, photographers and other creatives to do what they do.

Tickets are $16.50. Doors open at 6:30 p.m., show starts at 7 p.m. All ages are welcome.

It’s interesting that Rudess mentioned Portnoy, because the drummer’s return to the band was a big deal. He’s an original member, leaving in 2010 and returning in 2023 to take part in Dream Theater’s 40th anniversary tour.

Once the tour was over, the band decided to record Parasomnia with Portnoy as a fully reinstated member.

Rudess said Portnoy was a perfect match to the album, a conceptual collection that explores various sleep disorders, the unconscious mind and the blurry line between dreams and reality.

“John had the idea to do Parasomnia before we knew Mike was coming back,” he said, “but the album idea is very conceptual. And that was perfect for Mike coming in because he has a moviedirector type of talent, and he just loves diving in and figuring out all kinds of interesting connections. He used the abilities that he has to make this album unique and special.”

Now, with Portnoy back behind the kit and new material to play, Rudess sounded energized when he spoke of Dream Theater and its future.

“There aren’t many bands that have been around this long,” he said. “But we still feel vital when we’re playing music. We feel a lot of connection with each other. So I think there’s a lot of energy towards doing this tour and then creating another album. One can’t look too far into the future, but I definitely see us continuing to make music.”

IF YOU WANT TO GO: Doors open at 7 p.m. Sept. 9, North Charleston Performing Arts Center, 5001 Coliseum Dr., North Charleston. Tickets range from $88-$126: northcharlestoncoliseumpac.com

Dream Theater’s Parasomnia released on Feb. 7

Bonny Wolfe file photo/Frank Productions

PechaKucha presenters get 400 seconds to share 20 slides

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Notices

ADVERTISE YOUR AUCTION

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Berkeley County

STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA

COUNTY OF BERKELEY

IN THE FAMILY COURT FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT

DOCKET NO. 2025-DR- 08-1275

SOUTH CAROLINA

DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL SERVICES VERSUS WILONA MATTHEWS, TERRENCE SMALLS, SONJA

JAMES, NAKIA JAMES

DEFENDANTS. IN THE INTERESTS OF:MINOR CHILD BORN 2008.

TO DEFENDANT: TERRENCE SMALLS

YOU ARE HEREBY SUMMONED and required to answer the Complaint in this action filed with the Clerk of Court for Berkeley County on July 7, 2025, 1:38 PM. Upon proof of interest, a copy of the Complaint will be delivered to you upon request from the Berkeley County Clerk of Court, and you must serve a copy of your Answer to the Complaint on the Plaintiff, the South Carolina Department of Social Services, at the office of its Attorney, John McCormick Legal Department of the Berkeley County Department of Social Services, 2 Belt Dr. Moncks Corner, S.C. 29461 within thirty (30) days of this publication, exclusive of the date of service. If you fail to answer within the time set forth above, the Plaintiff will proceed to seek relief from the Court.

John McCormick, SC Bar # 100176 2 Belt Dr. Moncks Corner, SC 29461, 843-719-1007.

STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA COUNTY OF BERKELEY IN THE FAMILY COURT FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT

DOCKET NO. 2025-DR- 08-1243

SOUTH CAROLINA

DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL SERVICES VERSUS NICOLE RUSSELL DEFENDANTS. IN THE INTERESTS OF: MINOR CHILD BORN 2025.

TO DEFENDANT: NICOLE RUSSELL

YOU ARE HEREBY SUMMONED and required to answer the Complaint in this action filed with the Clerk of Court for Berkeley County on June 30, 2025, 3:09 PM. Upon proof of interest, a copy of the Complaint will be delivered to you upon request from the Berkeley County Clerk of Court, and you must serve a copy of your Answer to the Complaint on the Plaintiff, the South Carolina Department of Social Services, at the office of its Attorney, Jason D. Pockrus Legal Department of the Berkeley County Department of Social Services, 2 Belt Dr. Moncks Corner, S.C. 29461 within thirty (30) days of this publication, exclusive of the date of service.

If you fail to answer within the time set forth above, the Plaintiff will proceed to seek relief from the Court.

STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA COUNTY OF CHARLESTON IN THE FAMILY COURT FOR THE NINTH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT

DOCKET NO. 2025-DR-10-1707

SOUTH CAROLINA

DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL SERVICES VERSUS JUSTIN BRIGHT, HEATHER LECLAIR

DEFENDANTS. IN THE INTERESTS OF: MINOR CHILD BORN 2008

TO DEFENDANT: HEATHER LECLAIR

YOU ARE HEREBY SUMMONED and required to answer the Complaint in this action filed with the Clerk of Court for CHARLESTON County on June 27, 2025, at 2:49 pm. Upon proof of interest, a copy of the Complaint will be delivered to you upon request from the Charleston County Clerk of Court, and you must serve a copy of your Answer to the Complaint on the Plaintiff, the South Carolina Department of Social Services, at the office of its Attorney, Sally R. Young, Legal Department of the Charleston County Department of Social Services, 3685 Rivers Ave., Suite 101, N. Charleston, South Carolina 29405-5714 within thirty (30) days of this publication, exclusive of the date of service. If you fail to answer within the time set forth above, the Plaintiff will proceed to seek relief from the Court.

Sally R. Young, SC Bar # 4686, 3685 Rivers Ave., Suite 101, N. Charleston, South Carolina 29405-5714, (843) 953-9625.

CHARLESTON

STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA COUNTY OF CHARLESTON IN THE FAMILY COURT FOR THE NINTH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT DOCKET NO. 2025-DR-10-1899

SOUTH CAROLINA DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL SERVICES VERSUS ASHLEY WHITE, SHAINE GARY, BRYAN JAMISON, GWENDOLYN WHITE, MIRIAM HALL. DEFENDANTS. IN THE INTERESTS OF: MINOR CHILDREN BORN 2013, 2016

TO DEFENDANTS: ASHLEY WHITE, SHAINE GARY, BRYAN JAMISON

YOU ARE HEREBY SUMMONED and required to answer the Complaint in this action filed with the Clerk of Court for CHARLESTON County on July 21, 2025, at 3:05 pm. Upon proof of interest, a copy of the Complaint will be delivered to you upon request from the Charleston County Clerk of Court, and you must serve a copy of your Answer to the Complaint on the Plaintiff, the South Carolina Department of Social Services, at the office of its Attorney, Sally R. Young, Legal Department of the Charleston County Department of Social Services, 3685 Rivers Ave., Suite 101, N. Charleston, South Carolina 29405-5714 within thirty (30) days of this publication, exclusive of the date of service. If you fail to answer within the time set forth above, the Plaintiff will proceed to seek relief from the Court.

STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA COUNTY OF CHARLESTON IN THE FAMILY COURT FOR THE NINTH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT DOCKET NO. 2025-DR-10-0862

SOUTH CAROLINA DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL SERVICES

VERSUS Katelyn Doran, Brian Cole,Jeanne Doran and James Doran

DEFENDANTS. IN THE INTERESTS OF: MINOR CHILDREN BORN 2014, 2016, & 2019

TO DEFENDANT: Katelyn Doran

YOU ARE HEREBY SUMMONED and required to answer the Complaint in this action filed with theClerk of Court for Charleston County on March 27, 2025. Upon proof of interest, a copy of the Complaint will be delivered to you upon request from the Charleston County Clerk of Court, and you must serve a copy of your Answer to the Complaint on the Plaintiff, the South Carolina Department of Social Services, at the office of its Legal Department of the Charleston County Department of Social Services, 3685 RiversAvenue, Suite 101, North Charleston, S.C. 29405-5714 within thirty (30) days of this publication, exclusive of the date of service. If you fail to answer within the time set forth above, the Plaintiff will proceed to seek relief from the Court.

Charleston County Department of Social Services, Legal Office, 3685 Rivers Avenue, Suite 101, North Charleston, S.C. 29405, (843) 953-9625.

ESTATES’ CREDITOR’S NOTICES

All persons having claims against the following estates are required to deliver or mail their claims to the Personal Representative indicated below and also file subject claims on Form #371ES with Irvin G. Condon, Probate Judge of Charleston County, 84 Broad Street, Charleston, S.C. 29401, before the expiration of 8 months after the date of the first publication of this Notice to Creditors or one year from the date of death, whichever date is earlier, or else thereafter such claims shall be and are forever barred.

Estate of: MICHAEL JOSEPH ARSENAULT

2025-ES-10-1284

DOD: 7/3/25

Pers. Rep: STEVEN JOSEPH ARSENAULT 5858 SENN ST., THE VILLAGES, FL 32163

***********

Estate of: JOSEPH W. HALL

2025-ES-10-1314

DOD: 6/7/25

Pers. Rep: JEFFREY R. HALL 686 W. MOUNTAIN VIEW RD., LEHI, UT 84043

***********

Estate of:

MARGERY ADA HASBROUCK

2025-ES-10-1347

DOD: 6/28/25

Pers. Rep: TROY HASBROUCK 1600 ERINDALE CT., MONROE, NC 28110

Atty: MORGAN M. INSLEY, ESQ. 1501 BELLE ISLE AVE., #110, #064, MT. PLEASANT, SC 29464

***********

Estate of: BARBARA ANN JOHNSON

2025-ES-10-1349

Pers. Rep:

FRANCES H. CHAMPION

2422 HANSCOMBE POINT RD., JOHNS ISLAND, SC 29455

Atty: LISA WOLFF HERBERT, ESQ.

864 LOWCOUNTRY BLVD., #C, MT. PLEASANT, SC 29464

***********

Estate of:

BENJAMIN R. SCHOOLS

2025-ES-10-1360

DOD: 6/16/25

Pers. Rep: DAVID R. SCHOOLS

771 NAVIGATORS RUN, MT. PLEASANT, SC 29464

Pers. Rep: NELLA B. SCHOOLS

771 NAVIGATORS RUN, MT. PLEASANT, SC 29464

Atty: M. JEAN LEE, ESQ. 115 CHURCH ST., CHARLESTON, SC 29401

***********

Estate of: FRANK B. PETERS, JR. 2025-ES-10-1365

DOD: 7/16/25

Pers. Rep: MEREDITH P. DUNNAN 64 CHURCH ST., CHARLESTON, SC 29401

Atty: DAVID H. KUNES, ESQ. 115 CHURCH ST., CHARLESTON, SC 29401

ESTATES’ CREDITOR’S NOTICES

All persons having claims against the following estates are required to deliver or mail their claims to the Personal Representative indicated below and also file subject claims on Form #371ES with Irvin G. Condon, Probate Judge of Charleston County, 84 Broad Street, Charleston, S.C. 29401, before the expiration of 8 months after the date of the first publication of this Notice to Creditors or one year from the date of death, whichever date is earlier, or else thereafter such claims shall be and are forever barred.

Estate of: CHARLES WAYNE MOORE

2025-ES-10-1417

DOD: 7/11/25

Pers. Rep: ELISE SHARP MOORE 959 PITT ST., MT. PLEASANT, SC 29464

Atty: ANDREW W. CHANDLER, ESQ. 115 CHURCH ST., CHARLESTON, SC 29401

ESTATES’ CREDITOR’S NOTICES

All persons having claims against the following estates are required to deliver or mail their claims to the Personal Representative indicated below and also file subject claims on Form #371ES with Irvin G. Condon, Probate Judge of Charleston County, 84 Broad Street, Charleston, S.C. 29401, before the expiration of 8 months after the date of the first publication of this Notice to Creditors or one year from the date of death, whichever date is earlier, or else thereafter such claims shall be and are forever barred.

Estate of: ELLEN J. MASSEY

2025-ES-10-1390

DOD: 6/17/25

Pers. Rep: WILLIAM L. CANDLER

11601 PARKSBURG CT., GLEN ALLEN, PA 23059

Atty: DAVID H. KUNES, ESQ. 115 CHURCH ST., CHARLESTON, SC 29401

Notice of Self Storage Sale

Please take notice Extra Room Self Storage - North Charleston located at 8911 University Blvd. North Charleston SC 29406 intends to hold an Auction of storage units in default of payment. The sale will occur as an online auction via www.storagetreasures.com on 9/16/25 at 10:00 AM. This sale is pursuant to the assertion of lien for rental at the self-storage facility. Unless stated otherwise the description of the contents are household goods, furnishings and garage essentials.

Robert Greer.

This sale may be withdrawn at any time without notice. Certain terms and conditions apply.

STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA PUBLIC AUCTION

Extra Space Storage, on behalf of itself or its affiliates, Life Storage or Storage Express, will hold a public auction to sell personal property described below belonging to those individuals listed below at the location indicated:

Facility 1: 1108 Stockade Ln. Mt. Pleasant, SC 29466

09/16/2025 10:00 AM

Sharlia Smith Household goods

Kerry Leadingham Household items

Facility 2: 1904 N Hwy 17

Mount Pleasant, SC 29464

09/16/2025

10:15 AM

Ladson McCutchen Clothes and stuff

Aine Odoherty Personal items and business items

White Anne Household Goods

Facility 3: 1640 James Nelson Rd

Mount Pleasant, SC 29464

09/16/2025 10:20 AM

Renee Williams Household items

Lauran Tolly Furniture

Facility 4: 1117 Bowman Rd. Mount Pleasant, SC 29464 09/16/2025 10:25 AM

Joel Smith Household goods

Carrie Ackerman

Plastic Totes with clothing, Children’s Toys - Storage racks

Ricky Rios Household items

Facility 5: 1514 Mathis Ferry Rd. Mt. Pleasant, SC 29464

09/16/2025 10:35 AM

Adrienne Nelson Clothes

3510 Glenn McConnell Pkwy

Charleston, SC 29414

09/16/2025

10:00 AM

Peggy Publicover Contents of a 3BR Apt, Garage

Tamara Brown Boxes Barrels Clothes

Shelia Grier Expanded Learning Boxes, clothing

Facility 8: 45 Grand Oaks Blvd Charleston, SC 29414

09/16/2025 11:15 AM

Jessica Helms Queen mattress, queen metal bed frame, medium sized TV and 6 or 7 small boxes with clothes and shoes

Jaleah Mclean Couch, Mattress, table boxes.

Propman Systems, LLC Job materials

Randi Powell Apartment contents

Carey Cohen Clothing, furniture, TV

Christopher Logan Davis 15 Medium boxes of clothes and household goods

Julie Osborn Furniture

Facility 9: 1951 Maybank Hwy Charleston, SC 29412 09/16/2025 11:30 AM

Miriam Windham Household stuffs

Allison Risher Household goods, clothes and furniture

Patrick Kamleiter Boxes, clothes

Facility 10: 810 St Andrews Blvd Charleston, SC 29407 09/16/2025 11:45 AM

Sabrena Sheppard Bicycles and household goods

Michael Sample Antique equipment

Theresa Brown Bedroom sets, living room sets, kitchen table

Facility 11: 1533 Ashley River Rd Charleston, SC 29407 09/16/2025 12:45 PM

Marvin Fleming Clothes, washer

Rachel Morales 3-6 bins of toys household

David Willis 3 bed room house

Facility 12: 1861 Ashley River Rd Charleston, SC 29407 09/16/2025 1:15 PM

Kyle Marquis Furniture and miscellaneous

Robert Jones TV, boxes

Eric Peden Music equipment, dishes, personal item

Matthew Wesseling Store Supplies

Facility 14: 1540 Meeting Street Road 09/16/2025 1:00 PM

Melvin Ellington Household Goods/Furniture, TV/ Stereo Equipment

The auction will be listed and advertised on www. storagetreasures.com. Purchases must be made with cash only and paid at the above referenced facility in order to complete the transaction. Extra Space Storage may refuse any bid and may rescind any purchase up until the winning bidder takes possession of the personal property.

Extra Space Storage, on behalf of itself or its affiliates, Life Storage or Storage Express, will hold a public auction to sell personal property described below belonging to those individuals listed below at the location indicated:

Facility 1: 427 St. James Ave Goose Creek, SC 29445 9/16/2025 11:00 AM

Braxton Comer Household items

Stephon Johnson Furniture, Electronics, Household items, Holiday decor

Kristina Solara Household Items

Embrace the Nation (Tammy Reese)

Sound equipment, Church equipment, Chairs, Coxes

Christina Coulston Dog pins, Trampoline, Storage bins 15, Riding lawn mower, Outside supplies

Facility 2: 609 Old Trolley Road Summerville, SC 29485 9/16/2025 10:30 AM

Stephanie Hale Christmas Decor, Totes, and Luggage

Brando Law

Elephant Painting, Bed Frame, Mattress, Printer, Totes, Dog Kennel, and Backpacks

Norvanah Benjamin Table, TV, Mattress, Totes, Shelves, Microwave, Vacuums, Wall Art, Pillows, Deep Fryer, and Electronic Drum

Nikia Hawkins Folding Table, Dresser, Boxes, Wall Art, Mattress, Barber / Salon Chair, Wicker Planters, and Bed / Sofa Bench

Derrick Witt Golf Clubs, Washing Machine & Dryer, TV, Sofa, Tools, Tables, Recliner, Chairs, Bags, Totes, Bar Stools, Artificial Plants & Planters

Vakisha Hurst

Casi Shylock Household Items & Clothes

Facility 4: 208 St. James Ave, Ste C Goose Creek, SC 29445 9/16/2025 11:00 AM

Jennifer Jefferson Washer, dryer, armoire, 1 desk, 2 bookshelves, 2 couches, other misc items

Sarah Faulkner Couch, boxes, totes, lamp, shelf, chair, music equipment

Zee Walker Boxes, bags of personal belongings

Martia Robinson 60 inch tv, dining room table-6 chairs, washer, dryer, sectional, 1 bin

Tiffany Nelson

DOD: 7/16/25

Jason D. Pockrus, SC Bar # 101333

2 Belt Dr. Moncks Corner, SC 29461, 843-719-1080.

Sally R. Young, SC Bar # 4686, 3685 Rivers Ave., Suite 101, N. Charleston, South Carolina 29405-5714, (843) 953-9625.

Pers. Rep: PEARCE L. VENNING 121 WHISPER DR., SUMMERVILLE, SC 29485 ***********

Estate of: BENNIE C. CHAMPION

2025-ES-10-1356

DOD: 5/29/25

Annette Lee

Household Goods, Furniture, Boxes,

Facility 6: 1426 N Hwy 17

Mt. Pleasant, SC 29464

09/16/2025 10:40 AM

Zachary Bradley Household Goods/Furniture

Facility 7:

Ronald Cooke Clothes, instruments, bike

Patricia Evans Boxes, small furniture, clothing, photos

Cassidy Peter Clothes Household Goods

Facility 13: 2118 Heriot Street Charleston, SC 29403 09/16/2025 12:15 PM

Sofa, Bed Frames, TV, Planters, Artificial Plants, and a Mattress

Facility 3: 8850 Rivers Ave North Charleston, SC 29406 9/16/2025 10:45 AM

Noel Adrich Household Items & Furniture

Britany Pasley Household Furniture & Toys

9/16/2025

11:15 AM

Melissa Beverly Store stuff

Hysaan Batiste Furniture, Clothes, Baby stuff, Electronics

John Sullivan Household Goods

Ashante Lincoln Household Goods

Facility 12: 344 Nexton Creek Circle Summerville, SC 29486

9/16/2025

11:45 AM

Danielle Snow 1 bedroom apartment

Rimini Community Center (Vanessa McCray) Office supplies desk computers refrigerators

Popeye’s Towing Office and household equipment

Stacy Craven Couch love seat 6 totes

Facility 13: 9670 Dorchester Rd Summerville, SC 29485

9/16/2025

10:15 AM

Michael Collins House hold goods Clothes Electronic Cards Jewelry TV Computer Tablets

Ashley Coutrier

5-6 totes, 5 boxes

Isheka Manigault Household goods

Terrence Wright Household items

Nikeema Heyward Entertainment center, couch, bed, crib, baby changing table, household goods

Melissa Calhoun Boxes, totes,tv,bookshelves, dishes, movies

Olivia Smith Dresser China hutch couple of chairs

Facility 14: 6941 Rivers Ave North Charleston, SC 29406

9/16/2025

12:30 PM

Ave Dowell My apartment belongings

Corey Shaw Children’s stuff, toys, suitcases

Someiya Bryant Furniture

Tanesha High Bed, boxes, table TVs, printers

Rochelle Harris Household goods

Joseph Goodale Tools, camping gear, home goods

Sandra Brown 2 bedroom

Nikeema Heyward Couch and chairs

Julie Hubert Magazines

Regina Dupree Washer & Dryer

Facility 15: 5146 Ashley Phosphate Road North Charleston, SC 29418

9/16/2025

12:00 PM

David Holmes Shelving and racks

Shawnterica Gibbs My apartment items, couch, clothes, etc

Anire Manigault Furniture, toys, clothing, appliances

Desha Simpson Custom decorations, fragrance candles, heat press

Jennifer Moore Furniture, boxes, bags

Bryonna Simmons Pictures, bags clothes, boxes

Kadeshia Campbell Boxes, bins

The auction will be listed and advertised on www. storagetreasures.com. Purchases must be made with cash only and paid at the above referenced facility in order to complete the transaction. Extra Space Storage may refuse any bid and may rescind any purchase up until the winning bidder takes possession of the personal property.

Tools belonging to Diane Etling were left at Bulls Bay Diesel and deemed abandoned as of June 30, 2025. Storage fees apply. If unpaid and unclaimed by September 25, 2025, the property will be sold under SC Code § 29-15-80 to recover costs. (803) 293-5418 jason@bullsbaydiesel.com

Aderene Brown v. Hopeton A. Grizzle.

Docket no: NA25D00064DR

To the Defendant:

The Plaintiff has filed a Complaint for Divorce requesting that the court grant a divorce for irretrievable breakdown.

The complaint is on file at the Court. An automatic restraining order has been entered into this matter preventing you from any action which would negatively impact the current financial status of either party. SEE Supplemental Probate Court Rule 411.

You are hereby summoned and required to serve upon:

Elizabeth B. Anderson, Esq. Nova Law Group 83 Walnut St. Wellesley, MA 02481 your answer, if any, on or before 10/15/2025. If you fail to do so, the court will proceed to the hearing and adjudication of this action. You are also required to file a copy of your answer, if any, in the office of the Register of this Court. (844) 844-6682 eanderson@nova.law

STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA COUNTY OF CHARLESTON IN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS CASE NO: 2025CP1003794

Canterbury Woods Community Association, Inc., Plaintiff, vs. Tobey R. McCracken and Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, Inc. as Nominee for Guaranteed Rate, Inc., Defendants.

SUMMONS

TO: THE DEFENDANTS NAMED ABOVE:

YOU ARE HEREBY SUMMONED and required to answer the Complaint herein, a copy of which is served upon you, and to serve a copy of your written response to the said Complaint on the subscribers at the law office of Closser Law, P.A., 7455 Cross County Road, Suite 1, Post Office

Box 40578, Charleston, South Carolina, 29423-0578, within thirty (30) days after the date of service hereof, exclusive of the day of service; and if you fail to answer the Complaint within the time aforesaid, the Plaintiff in this action will apply to the Court for the relief demanded in the Complaint.

CLOSSER LAW, P.A. s/Zachary J. Closser

Zachary J. Closser (SC Bar No. 74005) 7455 Cross County Road, Ste 1 (29418) P.O. Box 40578, Charleston, SC 29423

843-760-0220; 843-552-2678 (fax) zach@closserlaw.com Attorney for the Plaintiff

July 7, 2025 25-068

STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA COUNTY OF CHARLESTON IN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS C/A No.: 2025-CP-10-03708

First National Bank of America, Plaintiff, vs Pamela Tonette Delullo; Nick Delullo a/k/a Nicholas Angelo Delullo, Jr.; UMB Bank, NA; Patrick Butler, Defendant(s).

SUMMONS AND NOTICES (NonJury) FORECLOSURE OF REAL ESTATE MORTGAGE

TO THE DEFENDANT(S) ABOVE NAMED:

YOU ARE HEREBY SUMMONED and required to appear and defend by answering the Complaint in this action, a copy of which is hereby served upon you, and to serve a copy of your Answer on the subscribers at their offices at 339 Heyward Street, 2nd Floor, Columbia, SC 29201, within thirty (30) days after the service hereof, exclusive of the day of such service; except that the United States of America, if named, shall have sixty (60) days to answer after the service hereof, exclusive of the day of such service; and if you fail to do so, judgment by default will be rendered against you for the relief demanded in the Complaint.

YOU WILL ALSO TAKE NOTICE that Plaintiff will move for an Order of Reference or the Court may issue a general Order of Reference of this action to a Master-inEquity/Special Referee, pursuant to Rule 53 of the South Carolina Rules of Civil Procedure. TO MINOR(S) OVER FOURTEEN YEARS OF AGE, AND/OR TO MINOR(S) UNDER FOURTEEN YEARS OF AGE AND THE PERSON WITH WHOM THE MINOR(S) RESIDES, AND/OR TO PERSONS UNDER SOME LEGAL DISABILITY: YOU ARE FURTHER SUMMONED AND NOTIFIED to apply for the appointment of a guardian ad litem within thirty (30) days after the service of this Summons and Notice upon you. If you fail to do so, application for such appointment will be made by Attorney for the Plaintiff.

NOTICE OF FILING OF COMPLAINT

TO THE DEFENDANTS ABOVE NAMED:

YOU WILL PLEASE TAKE NOTICE that the original Complaint, Lis Pendens, and Certificate of Exemption from ADR in the above entitled action was filed in the Office of the Clerk of Court for Charleston County on June 30, 2025.

J. Martin Page, Esq. (SC Bar: 100200)

Morgan Ames, Esq. (SC Bar: 106058)

Bell Carrington Price & Gregg, LLC

339 Heyward Street, 2nd Floor

Columbia, SC 29201

Phone (803) 509-5078

BCP No.: 25-42766 7200

STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA COUNTY OF CHARLESTON IN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS

C/A No.: 2025-CP-10-03959

PHH Mortgage Corporation, Plaintiff, vs The Estate of Phyllis Grant, and John Doe and Richard Roe, as Representatives of all heirs and devisees of Phyllis Grant, deceased, and all persons entitled to claim under or through them; also, all other persons, corporations or entities unknown claiming any right, title interest in or lien upon the subject real estate described herein, any unknown adults, whose true names are unknown, being a class designated as John Doe, and any unknown infants, persons under disability, or person in the Military Service of the United States of America whose true names are unknown, being a class designated as Richard Roe; The United States of America, acting by and through its agent, the Federal Housing Commissioner, Defendant(s).

SUMMONS AND NOTICES (Non-Jury) FORECLOSURE OF REAL ESTATE MORTGAGE

TO THE DEFENDANT(S) ABOVE NAMED:

YOU ARE HEREBY SUMMONED and required to appear and defend by answering the Complaint in this action, a copy of which is hereby served upon you, and to serve a copy of your Answer on the subscribers at their offices at 339 Heyward Street, 2nd Floor, Columbia, SC 29201, within thirty (30) days after the service hereof, exclusive of the day of such service; except that the United States of America, if named, shall have sixty (60) days to answer after the service hereof, exclusive of the day of such service; and if you fail to do so, judgment by default will be rendered against you for the relief demanded in the Complaint.

YOU WILL ALSO TAKE NOTICE that Plaintiff will move for an Order of Reference or the Court may issue a general Order of Reference of this action to a Master-inEquity/Special Referee, pursuant to Rule 53 of the South Carolina Rules of Civil Procedure.

TO MINOR(S) OVER FOURTEEN YEARS OF AGE, AND/OR TO MINOR(S) UNDER FOURTEEN YEARS OF AGE AND THE PERSON WITH WHOM THE MINOR(S) RESIDES, AND/OR TO PERSONS UNDER SOME LEGAL DISABILITY:

YOU ARE FURTHER SUMMONED AND NOTIFIED to apply for the appointment of a guardian ad litem within thirty (30) days after the service of this Summons and Notice upon you. If you fail to do so, application for such appointment will be made by Attorney for the Plaintiff.

NOTICE OF FILING OF COMPLAINT

TO THE DEFENDANTS ABOVE NAMED:

YOU WILL PLEASE TAKE NOTICE that the original Complaint, Lis Pendens, and Certificate of Exemption from ADR in the above entitled action was filed in the Office of the Clerk of Court for Horry County on July 15, 2025.

J. Martin Page, Esq.

(SC Bar: 100200)

Morgan Ames, Esq.

(SC Bar: 106058)

Bell Carrington Price & Gregg, LLC

339 Heyward Street, 2nd Floor Columbia, SC 29201 Phone (803) 509-5078

BCP No.: 25-42977 7203

STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA COUNTY OF BERKELEY IN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS

Case No.: 2025-CP-08-01473

Felecia Kimbel Wilcox, Plaintiff, vs. Tricia Poole Madison and Alfrieda Deas-Potts Defendants

SUMMONS (Jury Trial Demanded)

TO THE DEFENDANTS ABOVE NAMED

YOU ARE HEREBY SUMMONED and required to answer the Complaint in this action, a copy of which is herewith served upon you, and to serve a copy of your Answer to the Complaint on the subscriber at her office, 1075-A East Montague Avenue, N. Charleston, South Carolina 29405, within thirty (30) days after the service hereof, exclusive of the day of such service; and if you fail to answer the Complaint within that time, the Plaintiff in this action will apply to the Court for the relief demanded in the Complaint.

THE TED LAW FIRM s/ Laura W. Robinson By: Laura W. Robinson (SC BAR#: 66582)

1075-A East Montague Avenue N. Charleston, SC 29405 T: 877-833-5297 laura@tedlaw.com

Attorney for the Plaintiff

PUBLIC NOTICE:

Crown Castle is proposing to deploy telecommunications antennas/equipment atop two new poles within Charleston, Charleston County, South Carolina. The deployment includes the installation of antennas atop two new poles at heights 32.4-feet and 38-feet at the below-listed individual locations. The project also includes associated fiber and electric conduits located within the associated utility right-of-way.

465 Meeting St, Charleston, Charleston County, SC 29403 (32° 47’ 41.60” N, 079° 56’23.29” W);

71 George St, Charleston, Charleston County, SC 29401 (32° 46’ 58.01” N, 079° 56’17.69” W);

Public comments regarding potential effects from this project on historic properties may be submitted within 30-days from the date of this publication to: Terracon, 2105 Newpoint Place, Suite 600, Lawrenceville, GA 30043, 770-623-0755, or PublicNoticeAtlanta@terracon. com.

of Fred Lewis, Jr and Asante Margre Lewis distributees and devisees at law to the Estates of Fred Lewis, Jr and Asante Margre Lewis and if any of the same be dead any and all persons entitled to claim under or through them also all other persons unknown claiming any right, title, interest or lien upon the real estate described in the complaint herein; Any unknown adults, any unknown infants or persons under a disability being a class designated as John Doe, and any persons in the military service of the United States of America being a class designated as Richard Roe; Fred Lewis, III; Telvonne De Antre Lewis, Sr; Tiffany Tiara Lewis; E T, a minor; A Y, a minor; Midland Funding LLC; Portfolio Recovery Associates, LLC; Charleston County Clerk of Court; South Carolina Department of Probation, Parole and Pardon Services; Walmart, Inc.; South Carolina Federal Credit Union, DEFENDANT(S)

SUMMONS AND NOTICE OF FILING OF COMPLAINT (NON-JURY MORTGAGE FORECLOSURE)

C/A NO: 2025-CP-10-03550 DEFICIENCY WAIVED

TO THE DEFENDANTS, ABOVE NAMED:

YOU ARE HEREBY SUMMONED and required to answer the Complaint herein, a copy of which is herewith served upon you, or otherwise appear and defend, and to serve a copy of your Answer to said Complaint upon the subscriber at his office, Hutchens Law Firm LLP, P.O. Box 8237, Columbia, SC 29202, within thirty (30) days after service hereof, except as to the United States of America, which shall have sixty (60) days, exclusive of the day of such service, and if you fail to answer the Complaint within the time aforesaid, or otherwise appear and defend, the Plaintiff in this action will apply to the Court for the relief demanded therein, and judgment by default will be rendered against you for the relief demanded in the Complaint.

YOU WILL ALSO TAKE NOTICE that should you fail to Answer the foregoing Summons, the Plaintiff will move for an Order of Reference of this case to the Master-in-Equity/Special Referee for this County, which Order shall, pursuant to Rule 53 of the South Carolina Rules of Civil Procedure, specifically provide that the said Master-in-Equity/ Special Referee is authorized and empowered to enter a final judgment in this case with appeal only to the South Carolina Court of Appeals pursuant to Rule 203(d)(1) of the SCACR, effective June 1, 1999.

TO MINOR(S) OVER FOURTEEN YEARS OF AGE, AND/OR TO MINOR(S) UNDER FOURTEEN YEARS OF AGE AND THE PERSON WITH WHOM THE MINOR(S) RESIDES, AND/OR TO PERSONS UNDER SOME LEGAL DISABILITY:

with the Complaint, were filed in the Office of the Clerk of Court on June 20, 2025 and the Amended Summons and Complaint were filed on August 5, 2025.

NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT OF ATTORNEY FOR DEFENDANT(S) IN MILITARY SERVICE

TO UNKNOWN OR KNOWN DEFENDANTS THAT MAY BE IN THE MILITARY SERVICE OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA ALL BEING A CLASS DESIGNATED AS RICHARD ROE: YOU ARE FURTHER SUMMONED AND NOTIFIED that Plaintiff’s attorney has applied for the appointment of an attorney to represent you. If you fail to apply for the appointment of an attorney to represent you within thirty (30) days after the service of this Summons and Notice upon you Plaintiff’s appointment will be made absolute with no further action from Plaintiff.

THIS IS A COMMUNICATION FROM A DEBT COLLECTOR. THE PURPOSE OF THIS COMMUNICATION IS TO COLLECT A DEBT AND ANY INFORMATION OBTAINED WILL BE USED FOR THAT PURPOSE, except as stated below in the instance of bankruptcy protection.

IF YOU ARE UNDER THE PROTECTION OF THE BANKRUPTCY COURT OR HAVE BEEN DISCHARGED AS A RESULT OF A BANKRUPTCY PROCEEDING, THIS NOTICE IS GIVEN TO YOU PURSUANT TO STATUTORY REQUIREMENT AND FOR INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES AND IS NOT INTENDED AS AN ATTEMPT TO COLLECT A DEBT OR AS AN ACT TO COLLECT, ASSESS, OR RECOVER ALL OR ANY PORTION OF THE DEBT FROM YOU PERSONALLY.

s/ Gregory T. Whitley

August 21, 2025

John S. Kay (S.C. Bar No. 7914)

Ashley Z. Stanley (S.C. Bar No. 74854)

Alan M. Stewart (S.C. Bar No. 15576)

Sarah O. Leonard (S.C. Bar No. 80165) Gregory Wooten (S.C. Bar No. 73586) Gregory T. Whitley (S.C. Bar No. 100792)

Attorneys for Plaintiff Hutchens Law Firm LLP P.O. Box 8237 Columbia, SC 29202 (803) 726-2700

john.kay@hutchenslawfirm.com ashley.stanley@hutchenslawfirm. com

alan.stewart@hutchenslawfirm. com

sarah.leonard@hutchenslawfirm. com

k.gregory.wooten@ hutchenslawfirm.com gregory.whitley@hutchenslawfirm. com

Firm Case No: 26497 - 134942

DORCHESTER

STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA COUNTY OF CHARLESTON IN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS

HSBC Bank USA, National Association as Trustee for Renaissance Home Equity Loan Asset-Backed Certificates, Series 2007-3, PLAINTIFF, vs. Fred Lewis, Jr and Asante Margre Lewis AND IF Fred Lewis, Jr and Asante Margre Lewis be deceased then any child and heir at law to the Estates

YOU ARE FURTHER SUMMONED AND NOTIFIED to apply for the appointment of a guardian ad litem within thirty (30) days after the service of this Summons and Notice upon you. If you fail to do so, application for such appointment will be made by the Plaintiff immediately and separately and such application will be deemed absolute and total in the absence of your application for such an appointment within thirty (30) days after the service of the Summons and Complaint upon you.

NOTICE OF FILING OF SUMMONS AND COMPLAINT

TO THE DEFENDANTS ABOVE NAMED: YOU WILL PLEASE TAKE NOTICE that the foregoing Summons, along

COUNTY OF DORCHESTER IN THE FAMILY COURT FOR THE FIRST JUDICIAL CIRCUIT DOCKET NO. 2025-DR- 18-0680

SOUTH CAROLINA DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL SERVICES VERSUS Nicole Miller and Joseph Moffett, DEFENDANTS. IN THE INTEREST OF: MINOR CHILD BORN 2014. TO DEFENDANT Nicole Miller

YOU ARE HEREBY SUMMONED and required to answer the complaint for termination of your parental rights in and to the minor child in this action, the original of

for Dorchester County 212 Deming Way, SC 29483, on the 17th day of June, 2025, at 1:56 PM., a copy of which will be delivered to you upon request; and to serve a copy of your answer to the complaint upon the undersigned attorney for the Plaintiff at 1452 Boone Hill Road., Ste C, Summerville, SC 29483 within thirty (30) days following the date of service upon you, exclusive of the day of such service; and if you fail to answer the complaint within the time stated, the plaintiff will apply for judgment by default against the defendant for the relief demanded in the complaint.

Dawn M. Berry, SC Bar # 101675, 1452 Boone Hill Road., Ste C, Summerville, SC 29483, (843) 486-1861.

OUT OF STATE

BCG Equities LLC 225 S Executive Drive Suite 200 Brookfield WI 53005 Creditor, vs. Kevin Laster Jr 3591 Bayou Road Johns Island SC 29455 Debtor

Wells Fargo Bank 100 E Wisconsin Ave Milwaukee WI 53202 Garnishee.

AMENDED NON-EARNINGS GARNISHMENT SUMMONS TO THE GARNISHEE:

You are hereby notified that the creditor named above has filed a lawsuit or other legal action against you. The complaint, which is also served on you, states that nature and basis of the legal action.

You are summoned as garnishee. Within forty (40) days after August 24, 2025, you are required to answer as described in Wis. Stat. Sec. 812.11, whether you are indebted to or have in your possession or under your control any property of the debtor’s. You must file the original of your answer with the Clerk of Circuit Court and serve a copy on the creditor’s attorney. If you fail to answer, judgment may be entered against you for the amount of the creditor’s judgment against the debtor(s) plus the cost of this action.

You are to retain this property pending the further order of the Court. Any excess indebtedness is not subject to the garnishment as provided in Wis. Stat. Sec. 812.18(3).

Dated at Brookfield, Wisconsin this 18th day of August 2025

Dobberstein Law Firm, LLC

Electronically signed by Meghan

Free Will Astrology

ARIES (March 21-April 19): Austin Curtis was a prominent Black scientist whose work had spectacularly practical applications. Among his successes: He developed many new uses for peanut byproducts, including rubbing oils for pain relief. His work exploited the untapped potential of materials that others neglected or discarded. I urge you to adopt a similar strategy in the coming weeks, Aries: Be imaginative as you repurpose scraps and leftovers. Convert afterthoughts into useful assets. Breakthroughs could come from compost heaps, forgotten files or half-forgotten ideas. You have the power to find value where others see junk.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): In Polynesian navigation, sailors read the subtle rise and fall of ocean swells to find islands and chart their course. They also observe birds, winds, stars and cloud formations. The technique is called wayfinding. I invite you to adopt your own version of that strategy, Taurus. Trust waves and weather rather than maps. Authorize your body to sense the future in ways that your brain can’t. Rely more fully on what you see and sense rather than what you think. Are you willing to dwell in the not-knowingness? Maybe go even further: Be excited about dwelling in the not-knowingness. Don’t get fixated on plotting the whole journey. Instead, assume that each day’s signs will bring you the information you need.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): The umbrella thorn acacia is an African tree whose roots grow up to 115 feet deep to tap hidden water beneath the desert floor. Above ground, it may look like a scraggly cluster of green, but underground it is a masterpiece of reach and survival. I see you as having resemblances to this tree these days, Gemini. Others may only see your surface gestures and your visible productivity. But you know how deep your roots run and how far you are reaching to nourish yourself. Don’t underestimate the power of your attunement to your core. Draw all you need from that primal reservoir.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): To make a tabla drum sing, the artisan adds a black patch of iron filings and starch at the center of the drumhead. Called a syahi, it creates complex overtones and allows the musician to summon both pitch and rhythm from the same surface. Let’s imagine, Cancerian, that you will be like that drum in the coming weeks. A spot that superficially looks out of place may actually be what gives your life its music. Your unique resonance will come not in spite of your idiosyncratic pressure points, but because of them. So don’t aim for sterile perfection. Embrace the irregularity that sings.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): There’s a Zen motto: “Before enlightenment, chop wood, carry water. After enlightenment, chop wood, carry water.” I hope you apply that wisdom in the coming weeks, Leo. Your breakthrough moments of insight have come or will come soon. But your next move should not consist of being self-satisfied or inert. Instead, I hope you seek integration. Translate your innovations into your daily rhythm. Turn the happy accidents into enduring improvements. The progress that comes next won’t be as flashy or visible, but it’ll be just as crucial.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): The Gross National Product (GNP) is a standard of economic success by which countries gauge their health. It reflects the world’s obsession with material wealth. But the Buddhist nation of Bhutan has a different accounting system: Gross National Happiness (GNH). It includes factors like the preservation of the environment, enrichment of the culture, and quality of governance. Here’s an example of how Bhutan has raised its GNH. Its scenic beauty could generate a huge tourist industry. But strict limits have been placed on the number of foreign visitors, ensuring the land won’t be trampled and despoiled. I would love to see you take a similar GNH inventory, Virgo. Tally how well you have loved and been loved. Acknowledge your victories and awakenings. Celebrate the beauty of your life.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): In Japanese haiku, poets may reference the lingering scent of flow -

By Rob Brezsny

ers as a metaphor for a trace of something vivid that continues to be evocative after the event has passed. I suspect you understand this quite well right now. You are living in such an after-scent. A situation, encounter, or vision seems to have ended, but its echo is inviting you to remain attentive. Here’s my advice: Keep basking in the reverberations. Let your understandings and feelings continue to evolve. Your assignment is to allow the original experience to complete its transmission. The full blossoming needs more time to unfold.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): In the Australian desert, there’s a phenomenon called desert varnish. It’s a thin, dark coating of clay, iron and manganese oxides. It forms over rocks due to microbial activity and prolonged exposure to wind and sun. Over time, these surfaces become canvases for Indigenous artists to create images. I like to think of their work as storytelling etched into endurance. In the coming weeks, Scorpio, consider using this marvel as a metaphor. Be alert for the markings of your own epic myth as they appear on the surfaces of your life. Summon an intention to express the motifs of your heroic story in creative ways. Show the world the wisdom you have gathered during your long, strange wanderings.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): In Indigenous Australian lore, the Dreamtime is a parallel dimension overlapping the material world, always present and accessible through ritual and listening. Virtually all Indigenous cultures throughout history have conceived of and interacted with comparable realms. If you are open to the possibility, you now have an enhanced capacity to draw sustenance from this otherworld. I encourage you to go in quest of help and healing that may only be available there. Pay close attention to your dreams. Ask your meditations to give you long glimpses of the hidden magic.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Saturn is your ruling planet and archetype. In the old myth of the god Saturn, he rules time, which is not an enemy but a harvester. He gathers what has ripened. I believe the coming weeks will feature his metaphorical presence, Capricorn. You are primed to benefit from ripening. You are due to collect the fruits of your labors. This process may not happen in loud or dramatic ways. A relationship may deepen. A skill may get fully integrated. A long-running effort may coalesce. I say it’s time to celebrate! Congratulate yourself for having built with patience and worked through the shadows. Fully register the fact that your labor is love in slow motion.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): In Greek mythology, the constellation Aquarius was linked to a heroic character named Ganymede. The great god Zeus made this beautiful man the cupbearer to the gods. And what drink did Ganymede serve? Ambrosia, the divine drink of immortality. In accordance with astrological omens, I’m inviting you to enjoy a Ganymedelike phase in the coming weeks. Please feel emboldened to dole out your gorgeous uniqueness and weirdness to all who would benefit from it. Let your singular authenticity pour out freely. Be an overflowing source of joie de vivre and the lust for life.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): In 1932, trailblazing aviator Amelia Earhart made a nonstop solo flight across the Atlantic, steering through icy winds and mechanical trouble. When she landed, she said she had been “too busy” to be scared. This is an excellent motto for you now, Pisces: “too busy to be scared.” Not because you should ignore your feelings, but because immersion in your good work, mission, and devotion will carry you through any momentary turbulence. You now have the power to throw yourself so completely into your purpose that fear becomes a background hum.

“THAT’S RIGHT” —of this we can be certain.

Across

1. Econ. indicator

4. “30 Rock” co-star Baldwin

8. Musical key with two flats

14. Dinghy thingy

15. Osso ___ (veal entree)

16. Gap

17. Colorful theft deterrents

19. Some popular Japanese films

20. “Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend” co-host ___ Movsesian

21. “The Great Race” or “It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World”, perhaps 23. Amazonian berry

25. Certainly, in Chartres

26. Tabula ___

27. Sometimes-scary story?

29. Sigur ___ (Icelandic post-rock band)

31. FedEx rival

32. Jamaican Olympic gold medalist sprinter ___ Powell

33. Ire

36. TV offerings where the cast might learn the true meaning of the season -- or go trick-or-treating

41. Nice round figure?

42. Former Chevron competitor

43. Superlative ending

46. Feel sickly

47. Hands, in Honduras

48. Old-timey stadium cheers

50. Quick swim

52. “Seasons of Love” musical

53. Slightly darker, earthier-tasting Swedish breakfast fare

56. The Beatles’ “___ Her Standing There”

59. Fizz-ify

60. Pirate costume feature

62. Gets something for something

63. “Alice’s Restaurant” chronicler Guthrie

64. Sashimi tuna

65. “Quaking” trees

66. CondÈ or Thomas follower

67. Did we figure out what the long theme answers have in common?

5. Susan of “All My Children”

6. Fashion designer Marc

7. Mag with quizzes

8. Showy irises with an even showier plural ending

9. Lots and lots

10. More aloof

11. Ten-key setup, slangily

12. Around lunchtime

13. Imp

18. Tijuana’s time zone

22. Latvia’s locale

24. Easternmost U.S. national park

27. “That feels good”

28. General linked to poultry

30. Tahini base

33. In repeating phases

34. Aptly named underworld goddess

35. Bucharest’s country

37. Dry quality

38. “Just go”

39. “Foucault’s Pendulum” author Umberto

40. Nautical signal

43. Goof list

44. Creator of Lord Peter Wimsey

45. Some can beat it

49. One of 13 of 52

51. Ecstatic hymn

52. Instagram short videos

54. Two fives for ___

55. Actress Sedgwick

57. Hurt

58. Indiana Jones prop

61. Poker build-up

Pantheon crew

“Banana Boat Song” shout

Before birth

‘70s hoops gp.

editorial staff

Belvin Olasov Co-Editor in Chief

Belvin Olasov is the co-founder and director of the Charleston Climate Coalition. His background is in creative writing and he believes in bringing vision-making and art to climate work.

Sydney Bollinger Co-Editor in Chief

Sydney Bollinger (she/her) is a writer and editor affiliated with Surge and The Changing Times. She aims to connect communities to climate action through narrative and collaborative storytelling. Find her online @sydboll.

Visioning and creative counsel provided by Katherine Bartter Beachnik logo by Caroline Frady

Design by Belvin Olasov and Sydney Bollinger

Surge Magazine, as the Lowcountry Climate Magazine, typically features deep-dives into climate action stories, profiles on ecofuturist thinkers, and ecological art and poetry.

The Beachniks have taken over. In this issue: an introduction to the movement; a glimpse of the future, or a dream, or a prophecy; the untold story of Sullivan’s Island; a helpful guide to deciphering Beachnik slang; the Gullah Geechee present that will blossom and intertwine into Beachnik future; how surfing connects us to self, community, and planet; and a meditative journey through yoga and place. Explore your inner Beachnik with us!

The breeze at dawn has secrets to tell you. Don’t go back to sleep! You must ask for what you really want. Don’t go back to sleep! People are going back and forth across the doorsill where the two worlds touch.

The door is round and open. Don’t go back to sleep!

–Jalāl al-Dīn Rūmī

Limitless and immortal, the waters are the beginning and end of all things on earth.

–Heinrich Zimmer

If the fool would persist in his folly, he would become wise.

–William Blake

By serving this world, we can save it.

–Chögyam Trungpa

To be beachnik

WRITTEN BY BELVIN OLASOV

Etymology of BEACHNIK:

BEATNIK (a member of the Beat Generation, ne’er-do-wells who challenged the staid 1950s with soul-bearing art, poetry, and literature; one who challenges the mores of conventional society; a cool cat.)

BEACH (where the ocean meets the land; briny portal, that great humming initiator into the enormity of life beyond oneself; lazy sand blanket, where soft shore holds you in warm, sticky embrace; home.)

We Beachniks believe in a lot.

We believe we are entering the Solar Age, a time of change, chaos, and heroes. We believe we can be light, rising to meet the dark.

We believe in joy, play, and scampery; spirituality and mysticism; art, music, and theater; activism and changemaking; all of this mixed together, brewing, alive.

We believe in this land; that our fate is directly tied to its fate; .

We believe in bringing harmony back to our world.

We believe in the movement called

theA movement that blurs the line between the cultural and political, that hearkens back to and evolves from the ‘60s counterculture, that is rooted in the land and spirit of the Lowcountry, and that is, as of publication, still in a state of becoming…

We believe in the beach as our spiritual home — the place where the land’s voice rings out the clearest, where joy and celebration come naturally, and where the community knows it can find a free and open gathering space.

We believe in facing the oceanic. Oceanic love — the light between us all. Oceanic grief — processing, or just being with, the overwhelming pain of life’s slings and arrows, with the loss of of our natural world. Oceanic mystery — the awesome and unknowable that lays behind and within the material plane.

We believe in the right of all peoples to a good life.

We believe you have a part to play in the flowering to come.

Beachnik

Imagine, if you will, that you’re living in the near-future. Gaze upon the Beachniks in full swell! The wave is rolling; the movement is alive.

WRITTEN BY BELVIN OLASOV

Community! Gathering, union, fellowship! Beachniks dotting the Lowcountry shore! Congregations in makeshift beach villages of musicians, petitions, art builds, lunches, teach-ins, tea temples, little libraries, seed shares, yoga lessons, reading groups, spikeball rallies, clothing swaps, or simply a group of friends who would like nothing more than to meet you — you can tell by the Beachnik flag whipping in the ocean breeze.

Changemaking! Questing for the world to come! Everyone you meet with a goal in their heart for collective growth! Activist gatherings imbued with adventurous spirit, be it carnivalistic bike parades for safer streets careening across town like raucous knights, native plant gatherings putting seeds in ground and seeds in minds with druidic wisdom twinkling in their eyes, justice rallies for housing and against poverty, for racial equality and against state violence, for harmony and against aristocracy, laying bare the ways we create hell on earth and fighting for human dignity with the fire and clarity of seers and monks! To be a Beachnik is to join hand-in-hand with your brethren in merry, openhearted, and devoted work and play and battle and peace!

Ritual! Acts of devotion, documents of revelation! Beachniks grasp at meaning in a world starved of the sacred! They gather rites, such as the mikvah from Judaism, ritual immersion in a body of natural water for purification — they submerge themselves for a sense of renewal, to mark a great loss, or to cleanse themselves of psychospiritual dust for trials ahead! They repurpose the psychedelic explorations of the ‘60s counterculture into elevated beach walks, all-day sojourns for self-discovery! Black Beachniks work together to rediscover ancestral practice, to share grandparents’ hoodoo, to grow in alignment with Gullah Geechee wisdom! And always, the Beachnik strives to balance the old and the new, to marry the grounded with the mystic, and to be attentive to what is ego trip and what is building relationship with the divine — no one wants to be a plastic shaman.

Art! Music, theater, paintings! A new Charleston sound emerging, surf rock and gospel and ‘60s-revivalism and folk blending together — a new craze of plays, everyone trying their hand at writing and directing, constant backyard debuts, a populist theater uprising — nature paintings evolving in novel ways, Lowcountry landscape remixed with ukiyo-e palette, Byzantine flourishes, marshes as window into the universal — Beachnik art as a movement, as fertile ground, as the collective genius of devoted artists in a flourishing scene!

FABLES

Sullivan’s Secret History

They say Captain Florence O’Sullivan was a wicked man, as most men with their name etched into history are. Born into servitude as an Irishman in the British Empire, O’Sullivan scrabbled and fought his whole life to become someone of importance — to never again be under the lash. He made a name for himself killing a hundred Frenchmen in Barbados and was soon recruited by Lord Ashley Cooper himself to tame the wilds of the Carolinas.

He took to the job with gusto. Ignorant to the particulars of surveying, he told his men, indentured servants from Irish towns much like his home village, to cut more, cut faster, cut harder. On an expedition to clear what would become Fort Moultrie, palms and pawpaws and oaks falling all around him, O’Sullivan found himself lost in a strange green haze. A figure appeared before him looking like Lord Ashley, but his cloak was made of leaves and his eyes were as briny and endless as the ocean.

“What is it that you’re looking for, Flannery O’Sullivan?” the figure asked.

“I want this to be my island,” O’Sullivan said, believing himself now to be blessed, to be chosen. “I want to be a part of history.”

“So it shall be,” the figure said.

The green haze lifted, and the oak behind him fell, and O’Sullivan was crushed where he stood. But his spirit did not go on to the place where spirits go. What remained of Captain Flannery O’Sullivan was shackled to the island.

As more and more trees fell to make space for plantation owner villas, O’Sullivan’s soul was sliced.

As tens of thousands of enslaved Africans were quarantined on the island, put into pestilence houses teeming with smallpox, tuberculosis, and cholera before being sold into bondage, O’Sullivan’s soul was blighted.

As Osceola, Seminole Indian Chief who led the resistance against President Jackson in the Second Seminole War, was imprisoned at Fort Moultrie and felled by malaria with his scalping knife resting on his breast, O’Sullivan’s soul felt the icy cold of dying light.

Then, as the 21st century turned, O’Sullivan’s spirit found some comfort. The maritime forest had begun accruing land, its canopy growing in Fort Moultrie’s shadow. He could escape his bondage by joining with the spirits of the migrating birds and the hatching moths – by being, for a moment, a part of the growing. And so he was revisited by the forest spirit that had once appeared as Lord Ashley, now appearing to O’Sullivan as the dark of a tree hollow.

“You have been a part of history, Florence O’Sullivan,” the forest spirit said. “Now guide the men of this earth to not repeat it.”

Today, Beachniks consider the Sullivan’s Island Maritime Forest to be sacred ground for the epoch to come. They say the Carolina sin eater is healing there.

Beachnik slang

netted to feel caught up, tangled, occupied by small things.

Example:

Beachnik A (BA): “How have you been?”

Beachnik B (BB): “Man, I’ve been netted.”

A silent transmission of understanding passes between the two. Life is, indeed, full of distractions and worries. We ensnare ourselves in them, our reality becomes defined by them, until the light shines through a crack in our armor and we feel awake again.

BA: I love you.

The two share a warm, beatific smile and embrace.

Strandverträumt (pronounced Schrant-fer-troymt) German compound word for the contented, dreamy sleepiness one feels after a day at the beach.

walking on dunes in a foolish and wayward phase of life.

briny containing nourishing grief.

Example:

BA: “I said goodbye to Laura for what feels like the last time today. It’s hard to understand how someone can be such a central part of your life and then they’re gone. There’s still so much love there. Where does it go?” A pause. “It feels right, though. The role she played in my life is already taking shape. I’m grateful for the lessons I learned being with her. And I miss her.”

BB: “Briny, dude.”

shabumi an expletive.

Example:

BB: [drops sandwich]

BB: Oh, shabumi!

PHOTO BY CAROLINE FRADY

ROOTS

Gullah geechee wayfinding

WRITTEN BY BELVIN OLASOV

Mosquito Beach was the safe place to be by the water. In segregated Charleston, where Sol Legare residents couldn’t go down the road to Folly for fear of white violence, Mosquito Beach emerged as a Black community hub. You could go dance to musicians like Honest John and Shake-a-Plenty at the pavilion; you could hit the clubs, join a boat race, play bumper cars; buy perfectly cooked crab from Joe “Kingpin” Chavis.

A Beachnik paradise before the Beachnik movement arose. Now that Mosquito Beach functions more as history (stewarded by Cubby Wilder), where does Gullah Geechee water connection flow? How will Gullah Geechee roots grow and intertwine with the Beachnik movement? We discussed this and more with some contemporary Lowcountry Black thinkers.

K.J. Kearney, Charleston Promise Neighborhoods organizer and founder of the James Beard winning account Black Food Fridays, would like to see Charleston center its Gullah Geechee culture instead of becoming “white At-

“The powers that be never allowed Gullah Geechee culture to be a central tenet of this city, like New Orleans does with their Creole culture,” Kearney said.

Kearney sees food as the one area of Charleston that has held up Gullah Geechee culture, as much as it’s

been appropriated (shrimp and grits for brunch, anyone?). He also sees food as a great unifier, a tool for bringing people together.

“I think about the Montgomery Improvement Association with Georgia Gilmore, and the Club from Nowhere, and how they sold chicken dinners to help keep the bus boycott in Montgomery going for over a year. Mary McLeod Bethune, to keep her school open, she sold sweet potato pies, right? The Black Panthers and the free breakfast program.”

Charmayne Planter is a researcher, writer, and founder of Planter Girl, a multimedia platform to engage young women of color in environmental justice. She sees one of the major barriers to Gullah Geechee flourishing in Charleston as economic –the housing is inaccessible to so many.

She also sees great power in nature practices as a way to reclaim feelings of agency and comfort for Gullah Geechee folks. After a recent Rising Rhythm outdoor yoga event, she saw something that should be replicated for more Black young women –and through Planter Girl, she aims to provide those spaces.

“It just felt like I was in a place where I belonged, even though there's so many stigmas around being Black and being in Charleston,” Planter said. “For a second, I didn't feel that way. I was just in my body, moving my body with the sun, moving my body with the trees as they swayed in the wind, and just being a being of the earth.”

Elder Carlie Towne is a producer, play-

wright, poet, historian, and Minister of Information for the Gullah/Geechee Nation.

Towne is proud of what the Gullah/Geechee Nation has accomplished, from UN summits across the globe to the Gullah/Geechee CREATE program to upcycle marine debris into works of art. Queen Quet, their leader and founder, is also a prominent climate activist. Their work isn’t just cultural preservation, but also active nature defense through advocacy.

“They say the water bring us and the water take us,” Towne said. “We respect the water, the land, the air. We don't see it as separate from us, but it's a part of us. It's like it's our family, so that makes us want to take care of it.”

She’s spent time recently making the film High Water with young Gullah Geechee creatives Tyquan Morton, Joshua Parks, and Brittney Washington – and she sees them as powerful torchbearers for the Gullah Geechee future.

“The future is vibrant. They have a blueprint,” she said. “We be Gullah Geechee anointed people.”

BRITTNEY WASHINGTON, "THE TIES THAT BIND"”

Blue on beachniks

Brittney (Blue) Washington is a multidisciplinary artist, cultural organizer, and co-founder of Flowers for Palestine, a Black, femme-led group of Lowcountry artists and organizers. The follow is excerpted from our Beachnik interview.

What does the beach mean to you?

I actually grew up in Orangeburg… so the beach to me was something that was special. We’d be thrilled as kids. The ocean is huge and scary and exciting. It's not something I did very often, so it was pretty special to us.

I moved away from South Carolina for a long time, and I always thought that when I moved back, it would be to Charleston, it would be near the water, because the smell of salt water – it’s really grounding for me. It feels familiar to me. It feels familial, it feels ancestral.

Now that I live in North Charleston, I find myself wanting to go to the beach when I'm in need of clarity, cleansing – when I just want to be at that specific place where I can feel like this sort of reverence and awe and fear and smallness all at once. To remind myself of my place in this ecosystem, you know. My problems feel too big? Let's just go to the beach and be reminded about how actually small you are, and how anything that you're experiencing is not something that is alien or foreign to someone else. It reminds me of how small I am, and how a part of a fabric I am, and how interdependent my life is with others around me.

Ecospirituality and land connection – what’s the significance of that in your life? And for Gullah Geechee folks you know or are in community with, what’s the role of ecospirituality in their life?

The short of long is that my people don't exist without connection to the land, without deep ties to the movement of the tides, the contents of the soil. Being able to forage and identify herbs that are helpful, that are harmful, that can help you in spells, that can help you with digestion.

My ancestry comes out of the Green Pond Wiggins ACE Basin area, and then in Charleston and in the places in between. And so I have folks like my great-grandmother, and I'm sure my greatgrandmother, an ancestor whose name I won't know, ever, that practiced things like hoodoo. And had faith, spirituality and religious practices that would tie not only to Christianity, but

to the literal plants and herbs and the trees.

I had the opportunity to visit this farm called Soulfire Farm up in New York because I'm thinking a lot about how to transform the place that I am right now, my backyard, into a garden learning lab, where we help people reconnect to their ancestral lineage of being in deep relationship with the land, not only for food, but as a source of spirituality and grounding. And one of their t-shirts that I like a lot, says, Malcolm X, something like: all revolution is land-based. And so, our survival, our liberation depends on a deep connection and understanding of land. And again, an understanding, or sort of a divestment from human-centric, profit driven existence, towards re-contextualizing our existence in the context of being alongside land, animals, in that sort of ecospiritual stewardship.

What do you think is the role of joy and creativity in changemaking?

I find that in organizing spaces that I've been in across town and different areas, not only in the Lowcountry but I lived in D.C. for a long time, that folks tend to treat joy and play and expression. and even connection between folks as ornamental or icebreaker-ish, or tangential to the reason that we've come together to organize for this very serious thing. I would argue that organizing from a place of possibility and joy, what makes you feel joyful, is a really powerful place… maybe I can take a risk and say, perhaps the only sustainable, truly sustainable, place to organize from, towards what will help you feel joyful and that your needs are met and that you have access to self-determination.

When joy is missing in organizing spaces, I'm not sure how long they can last. How deeply people could commit to each other, or how wide your work can reach, and how long it can go for… when there’s light there is also shadow, so where there is made space for anger or sorrow there also has to be made space for joy and gratitude.

Creativity is the only way we could even fathom a different world exists, you know, could even fathom that organizing is a thing, building power is a thing. Creativity, we minimize it to if you could draw or if you can put together at Trader Joe's flower bouquet. But creativity is much more accessible than that. It's more like breathing than like drawing, in that everything that exists around us, everything physically outside of what nature creates, everything man-made, and even the way we shape nature – everything in the social realm and the political and institutional realm – everything that we experience today – existed first in somebody's imagination.

And so, really building that muscle of creativity and trusting it and leaning into it and prioritizing it, much like joy in our movement work, is the way to create different realities.

I love that. People associate creativity with craft, when it's more of a way of being. Exactly, and we all have access to it.

BRITTNEY WASHINGTON, SELF PORTRAIT

FABLES

The Fools of Folly

Folly Beach was colonized by a cadre of hippies who left Woodstock in the summer of ‘69 vibrating from the lifechanging experience of communal transcendence and wanting nothing more than to keep the party going. The dream was born the morning after the onetwo punch of the Grateful Dead into Creedence Clearwater Revival – an auspicious sign. The rest of the group that would become known as the Fools of Folly went to bed, but Randy Washoutton and Carmie Edgewitz couldn’t sleep, thanks to the three tabs of lysergic acid they’d bummed off an enterprising 14 year old. As the sun rose over the muddy fairgrounds, Bert and Rita hatched a plan: an ocean paradise they would create together, where the spirit of the hippie culture they’d come to treasure – freedom, music, intoxicants, and, above all else, love – would be the spirit of home, too.

Randy and Carmie led their merry troupe to the coast of South Carolina and found a nearly empty beach town to call their own. It even came with a name that doubled as a compelling warning for their quest: FOLLY.

Those first few years they set about sanctifying Folly Beach as a bonafide hippie enclave. They sat in quiet contemplation in fecund nooks of marsh and seaforest, to honor the spirit of the earth. They held ceremonies of welcome for all visitors, to honor the spirit of brotherhood and love. They threw great parties, to honor the spirit of parties. The Fools of Folly became known throughout the land as proud emissaries of the counterculture and a really good hang.

Randy and Carmie remained their fearless leaders for some time. But no reign lasts forever. The dream began to fray, in the way dreams do – money troubles, addiction, interpersonal drama. They found themselves at a crossroads, wondering what to do with their lives, with the hippie enclave they’d created.

Randy became a regular at Chico Feo. Carmie got her Realtor’s license.

The battle for the soul of Folly continues to this day. Though the rentals are growing in power, the spirit of the Fools of Folly remains in the land and the sunstruck revelers who still know how to have a good time. They say that if you listen closely to the surf roll in on a clear night, you can hear the opening chords of Bad Moon Rising (Live At The Woodstock Music & Art Fair / 1969).

WRITTEN BY SYDNEY BOLLINGER

Look out over the ocean and see the spot where the world curves, nothing beyond that point. The ocean’s size is unfathomable, an expanse we can look at on a map, but are not able to fully experience. And it’s the ocean and long, winding rivers that provide Charleston with our salt marshes, our beaches, our coastal wildlife and salty breeze.

“When I think of Charleston, I just think of how wild it is, how many different waterways there are, and how connected everything is,” said local surfer and lifestyle coach Mara DeMauro. Mara grew up in Miami, but didn’t start surfing until living in Charleston.

“Something I love about surfing is that it allows me to be super present in that moment. It’s very rare when we can disconnect…Being connected to nature in that way, for the first time in a very long time, came with a profound feeling of joy and peace.”

Connecting to our oceans and waterways through surfing

Surfing and surf culture are deeply intertwined

with environmental work, going back to the 1960s with writing in Surfer, a magazine printed from 1962-2020. The sport depends on a healthy, protected ocean and surfers and surfing organizations, like the Surfrider Foundation, have been at the forefront of environmental causes.

The Surfrider Foundation started in San Clemente, Calif. in 1984.

“We focus on clean waves, water, and beaches, and [easy] access to them for all people,” said Theo Hair, who serves as secretary for Charleston’s Surfrider chapter.

“Not only are we looking to keep our beaches and ocean clean, pollution-free, and plasticfree, but we also get involved with location action to bring campaigns and projects to the people’s attention, like [ordinances] and what we can to reduce waste, [especially] consumption of plastic.”

Theo, who like Mara grew up in South Florida, also learned to surf a few years ago after moving to Charleston. After beginning to surf, he

looked for ways to get involved with the community and came across Charleston Surfrider.

“I’d recycle, do this or that, and then I wanted to get involved in the community [and] learn more. Surfrider combines what you can do to make the community and the world a better place through environmental action while [working] with other people who enjoy our coast and surfing.”

For Mara, learning to surf meant becoming more aware of the tides and our water systems.

“When you love something, if you appreciate it, you’re going to have respect for it. You’re going to take care of it…None of what we do is separate from anything else. It all impacts each other.”

Communing with self and spirit on the water

Surf culture is embedded with creativity and self-expression, as well as living intentionally.

ANDREW SHELLEY / UNSPLASH

“I grew up dancing [and] struggled a lot with body image, so having my body exposed [when surfing] in front of people in order to learn something that felt good was a contradicting experience, but it was extremely healing to be like, ‘hey, I love myself,” Mara said.

“That’s what this is about. Accepting myself and where I am at the pace I’m going and being open to my playful said…It’s about enjoying the process.”

For many, surfing and art go hand-in-hand.

“There’s a mindset that surfing itself is a person’s form of art. How you express what you’re doing on the water is unique to everyone,” Theo said.

“You’re not doing this for anyone else.”

The energy humming beneath surfing is that of the self and the ocean, that great body of water linking us all together. With this sense of community and deeper connection to self, our experiences with the water guide us toward the work necessary to preserve not only ourselves but also the sea.

The ocean doesn’t stop because the seasons change

Even as summer turns to fall, the ocean’s tides continue to ebb and flow, and still need the care we can provide.

“A lot of [our work] is connecting with people who might not know how easy it is for their individual actions to be a positive thing down the road,” Theo said.

Charleston Surfrider offers chapter meetings as a way to connect with the community and hear ideas for actions.

“When individual people realize how much they can do to make a difference and that individual person becomes an entire community, the impact multiplies with each person who starts taking that action.”

Currently, the organization is working on an ocean-friendly restaurant program.

“We try to identify restaurants that either already are or are willing to take the steps to become plastic-free now…We’re [also] looking to launch a partnership with some local coffee shops to get people to start using their own reusable coffee cup.”

The group also works on eliminating cigarette cigarettes and has regular beach clean-ups to engage communities to lessen the impact of ocean litter.

“We’re going to make sure we keep focusing on [what we can do]...every morning I go out there to surf and I get less and less time because it’s not light enough to get in the water until later and later,” Theo said.

“None of this shuts off where we live just because it gets darker earlier. The beach doesn’t stop being there just because [the seasons change]. We’ll still find ways to get out there and keep doing what we’re doing.”

NANETTE

MOJA GOSPEL REUNION

COVENANT

DIRECTED BY SHARON GRACI

SUNDAY, SEP 28 AT 4PM AT GREATER ST. LUKE AME CHURCH MOREHOUSE IN THE LOWCOUNTRY: GLEE CLUB EXPERIENCE

SATURDAY, OCT. 4 AT 7PM AT DOCK STREET THEATRE

THURSDAY, OCT. 2 AT 7:30PM AT PURE THEATRE EUREKA DAY

THURSDAY, NOV. 6 AT 7:30PM AT PURE THEATRE MOJA: GULLAH COLLECTIVE

FRIDAY, OCT. 3 AT 7PM AT DOCK STREET THEATRE

A WAY OF BEING IN THE LOWCOUNTRY

On the Practice of Yoga in Place

WRITTEN BY KATHERINE BARTTER

Yoga connects us. I started to find yoga in all the spaces of my life outside of my studio experience, how the people that came into my life weren’t traditional yogis but were still yoga practitioners. You start to see that yoga is in the practice no matter what that practice looks like.

Tashi Marshall Founder of Rising Rhythm

What defines yoga here is the community. You take it in other cities, and it’s so quiet, so serious. Here everyone is talking to you, saying hi. It’s a social hour, a human connection.

Steven Willard Teacher at Holy Cow Yoga Center & James Island Yoga

The Lowcountry has a unique way of being. It is the way of the land, water, and each other. Despite our tensions and our turmoil, to love thy neighbor still holds true.

Life mirrors a tranquil fluidity that can easily turn into a tumultuous crash. It is the journey from estuary to sea. To live life, to practice yoga in the place you are in, is to move with the movements of the land and its people. It is to move with the momentum of a flood, to endure the oppressive heat of the sun. We endure by playing in the sand, laughing with one another, lounging in the tide pool, snoozing beneath the wide, old oak tree.

To practice yoga in the Lowcountry is to move with this way of being. It is to listen to the place we are in. It is to listen to the cycles of the climate, the rotations of the mind, the movement of all people and things and to see ourselves within. To practice yoga in place is to sit in observance of the push and pull of the tides, to move in rhythm with the seasons and the systems of which we are all a part.

This practice teaches us how to be still in the midst of turmoil; to witness without judgment; to be detached from outcome and to look with a calm,

open heart on the way of the world. This kind of presence and awareness is a constant rooted, mindful, and forward engagement with all that is. That is the practice. Eventually, through our practice, we begin to see the true self nestled within the union of all that is, and we see that when we integrate every part of our being, both inner and outer, we are able to move forward from a clear, rested center to perform yoga in action.

To practice yoga in action is to see with an open eye and an untarnished heart how we may be of use to others and to act in a way that does no harm or ahimsa. We acknowledge and learn from the greater context in which we are all situated without fear, and we carry our lessons from our mat out into the world so we may act with loving awareness.

I say a little prayer before my classes from the Course of Miracles: “Where would you have me go, what would you have me say, what would you have me do?”

Steven W.

This witnessing self, this loving awareness of all that is, is evident in our teachers of the Lowcountry. Each teacher is unique in their own way, pulling from a myriad of backgrounds and lineages, but they maintain a calm, playful, and powerful undercurrent of devotion and service to each other, to all of us, and a recognition that what our world needs most is connection, community, and loving presence.

Teachers are those who guide our way when we are lost, when the river feels too dark to see a way forward. They remind us of the eternal teacher, the atman, that resides in each of us. What makes the Lowcountry and its yoga so special are these teachers. They exist as reflections of our time and our place. When we listen, we can hear the Lowcountry itself speak through them, guiding our way to a foundational loving awareness, guiding our way to becoming the one who listens, the one who watches, the one who acts from a place of peace, of love.

Yoga is about revealing the part of us that is hidden.

Trace Bonner, Founder of Holy Cow Yoga Center

The atman, the witness consciousness, the eternal teacher, is the quiet, tranquil observer that watches the fluctuations of the mind and the

world without fear, without judgement at the center of you. It floats down a river of darkness, murmuring like a quiet flame.

Often our day-to-day can block our connection with the self, block the way to one another. Misconceptions, delusions, and entanglements muddy and cloud the atman’s voice in the form of hatred, fear, distraction, and greed; these misconceptions, or vritti, interfere with our sight, our movement, and our choices. Worst of all, they interfere with the generosity of our trust and our affection. Vritti are the blocks on the way to peace for the world.

To practice yoga is to remove these blocks by moving through them and breathing life, love, and clarity into our bodies, our spirits, and our minds. It is to stoke the will, the inner flame of recognition.

It is to recognize the other as you.

Alex Seaman, Founder of Yoga Is Us

In this newfound spaciousness and clarity that we create for ourselves, we are able to listen more carefully along the river. The river speaks. It says I am you.

It isn’t a selfish, grasping you. It is not an identity nor a projection of your own mind onto the other. In yoga, we say self because it is the closest term we have for god, source, ocean, or all that is. It is not separate from anyone or anything. It merely is and has always been. It is the overwhelming felt presence of joy, gratitude and love that is present when you lift the veil of untruth. It is not something you earn or gain. It only waits to be uncovered. It is the plentiful water that only wishes to give you a drink.

When we see the true self, it feels like coming home, being greeted by an old friend, who says, I am so happy to see you, I am so happy you are here. They embrace you after a long and harrowing journey, and they have prepared a bed for you to rest.

You start to see all that you have been given; the beauty and the blessings of the world. It is an act of opening the heart to the place that you are in, listening and dreaming to the sigh of the trees on a hot day. It is to feel and to become the rush of the wind in the reeds. It is the river, it is you, simple and breathing, the river atman.

The foundation of yoga is living with an open heart. We practice opening the heart on the mat…to then broaden it outward to the external environment and to meet our community.

Tashi M.

In opening the heart, you will see the great gift that is life, a great union, but you will also see and feel the immense heartache and wounds of the world.

You cannot become a witness to divine love and creation without a recognition of an ever-present, deep, and all-consuming destruction. It is not something you can escape or transcend. It is not to be rationalized because it isn’t rational.

It can be difficult to reconcile the benefits of the practice with the heartache of the world.

Alex S.

You must be able to reckon with suffering. That is the practice. To embrace suffering, to walk with it hand-in-hand, and to apply the balm of loving awareness to clear the way.

If your heart is open, it is meant to break over and over again. This is where we see… that there is an intelligence to the collapse, the falling apart. If we don’t look at it, there is no creating beauty, no creating magic.

Alex S.

To live in the Lowcountry is to look out into a dense, brooding night of forgotten neighborhoods; a choked marshland, consumed by a crawling, growing and greedy development that walks atop a mass grave.

To practice yoga in place here is to never look away, to never deny or make excuses. It is an ever present heart opening, a churning.

You rise up and embrace, love, and walk hand-in-hand with the destruction, the dead, the repercussions of history, and all of our collective ghosts.

We’re in the South. Think about the deep-seated, deep rooted energetic history of Charleston. You can’t wipe that away, you can’t ban it. It’s still there. You can feel it. The people who inhabit this place are the ones who have to shift that trajectory and shift that energy.

Tymi B.

Following loving awareness through Charleston can feel like following a pinprick over rugged, suffocating terrain, full of challenge, bends, twists, balancing acts, and falling.

To practice yoga in the Lowcountry can look like drowning, sweltering. It is to sink, to be bitten, to be consumed by the marsh and its demons, the wrath of the sea, the expanse of greed and capital. We become processed, broken down, decompositioned until we are still, stagnant, quiet, and crushed enough to dissipate, to dissolve, to cycle.

You can’t stop here. You must continue to practice. To continue to move through and out to sea. To practice is to shift and to transform as water over land.

The Lowcountry travels. The marshes are transitory. There is a constant shifting of sands, sediment, salt. Structures crumble, mud churns and moves with a swift tranquility back out into the infinite calm of the sea. In order to move through heartbreak, failure, cruelty, shame, and violence we must move, shift, and transform our vritti.

We must see and embrace our place for exactly what it is so we may listen and understand what is needed to dispel and overcome a great and brutal fear.

No knowledge is to be found without seeking, no tranquility without travail, no happiness except through tribulation. Every seeker has, at one time or another, to pass through a conflict of duties, a heart-churning.

The Bhagavad Gita According to Gandhi

It takes a courageous and momentous love with the power of a hurricane to hear and embrace all that is, including our flaws, our disgrace, and our disapointments.

When water rises, it provides the nutrients for life, the raw materials of creation drawn from its own destruction. It is an unrelenting deposit of compassion and understanding.

When I feel I have lost my way, I remember Krishna speaking to Arjuna in the Bagavadgita: Arise Brave Heart and Destroy the Enemy.

Trace B.

The enemy is fear. It is the source of these negative, destructive experiences. We must rise as the water rises: transforming, banishing fear with the loving ferocity of a flood.

By committing to the difficulty of the practice, by navigating the twists in the journey with discipline and persistence, you develop a skillfulness.

When you practice a practice that is always changing, you become more comfortable with the unexpected. You’re forced to show up for the unknown. That is life: becoming more comfortable with the unknown.

Tymi Howard Bender, Founder of James Island Yoga

Skillsets differ from person to person, and your personal skill becomes your yoga in action. Yoga in action is the service you give back to the world for providing you with the tools, the ability to live greatly and well. The service is always the same. It is to clean the river, to bring peace into the world. The way you do this, your particular skillset, looks different and changes all of the time as you move through each churning, each cycle, each lesson. But its purpose is always the same: om shanti, peace, peace, peace.

People who want to oppress you want you to be miserable and tired because when you are tired, you can’t act. Joy is an act of resistance.

Steven W.

Yoga provides us with the tools for us to follow the loving path with skillfulness and consistency. It prevents us from getting stuck in the mire so we may recover, get up, and act with peace, connection, and loving awareness amidst turmoil, mistakes, pain, and confusion.

There could be a very intentional plan to separate and polarize people. We need to resist and commit to radically loving our neighbor even when it feels impossibly hard. Alex S.

Skillfulness is to be discerning in the cultivation of work, rest, and play. It is a dynamic balance, a mindful shift back and forth between yang movement, sthira, or strength, and yin movement, sukkha, or the surrender of energetic effort.

Work cultivates strength, certainty, agility, and nimbleness in craft. Play creates connection to one another, the freedom to explore, to be curious, to be light and innovative in our movements. Rest allows us to reflect, recover, and repair. All three are necessary to develop your skill, your service, to establish peace.

When you play, you surprise yourself with your abilities, it’s empowering… We’re here to be in spirit with one another. Playfulness keeps us connected to joy.

Tymi B.

To listen and to live by the push and pull of the tides, to know when to

take on the heavy burden and when to surrender if your effort may cause harm: this is skillfulness.

I am responsible for my house first, then I can start to clean up my neighborhood, my city, my country.

Steven W.

From finding and integrating our whole self into our practice, we can move outward from a clear center that is steady, balanced, and compassionate. We cultivate a readiness along the path to challenge fear and adapt to tumult with strength, courage, and grace.

The physical place of Charleston brought me into my yoga journey. It is an inviting city, spiritually charged, the Holy City.

Tashi M.

To clear the heart of fear is like being washed by spring rain. You feel clean, empty, like a glass windchime. When you are empty, you are able to listen and to hear a call to return all your blessings and gifts, to utilize the skills you have been given.

You listen in communion, in community with the other, to your teachers, to the place that you are in. You hear how you can contribute, how you can fulfill a unique need. Your response to the call is always as if in answer to a prayer from a close friend, a neighbor.

Yoga is a way of being. It is to practice while listening to place. The river speaks, and when you establish a present awareness, you hear the call of the land, the water, and the people. By listening, you are able to strengthen your service and skills to respond to the call with dexterity, honesty, and effulgence.

Justice is in the listening and in the presence of one another. It lives in our relationships and how we show up for our community. It is a radical commitment to welcome all of the polarized, fragmented parts of ourselves back home.

Alex S.

Your home is the place you are in, the marsh, the river, the sea, your body, your mind. To clear the way back home is to see the true self, to see how

YOU ARE THE WAY HOME.

You are are the will, the momentum, the quiet, inner flame that is able to uplift, to rejuvenate, to imbue with love, life, wealth, and abundance the place you are in.