One of
South Carolina’s best kept secrets: Our Antebellum Homes are Rich in History
A Guide to Camden, South Carolina 2022-2023
Stay in touch Jon Rorie City Manager Caitlin Young Assistant City Manager Debra Courtney Finance Director
The magazine Camden ~ Classically Carolina Magazine ®, published by Camden Media Co., is an official publication of the City of Camden showcasing the city’s vitality, character, businesses and people who call Camden home.
Tom Couch Public Works Director John Bowers, Chief Camden Fire Department
Tourism/Economic Development Suzi Sale, Director
John Burns Building Official
Joseph Floyd, Chief Police Department Rickie Good Director Revolutionary War Visitor Center Shawn Putnam Planning Official Katherine Richardson Director Camden Archives & Museum Suzi Sale, Director Tourism/Economic Development
Writers Martin L. Cahn Tom Didato Suzi Sale Lilian Turner
Katharine Spadacenta, Director Downtown Camden Program Camden City Hall 1000 Lyttleton Street Camden, SC 29020 Mailing Address P.O. Box 7002 Camden, SC 29021 Public Works 803-425-6045
Photos Martin Cahn Suzi Sale Betsy Greenway
Fire Department 803-425-6040 Police Department 803-425-6025 Utilities 803-432-2421
803-432-2421 CityofCamden.org 2 /
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INSIDE 6
The Girls with the Wanderlust Genes
12
Camden Cultural District: A Cause for Celebration
18
Nothing but Blue Skies
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Camden Calls a Couple Home
About the Cover Built in 1854 Bloomsbury is one of many antebellum homes that grace Camden’s famous historic district. Download the free Camden Tour app for more details.
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Greetings from our mayor
Welcome to Camden Unlike Camden, there are not many communities where you can literally have it all: a lively city that maintains its history-honored small town feel, in one of America’s most vibrant regions, with access to best education, warm hospitality, entertainment and outdoor activities, and prosperous, strongly supported small businesses – each with its own personality and welcoming and friendly staff who make you feel right at home. With 290 years of tradition, our hometown is vibrant and growing. New homes and new businesses are springing up throughout the city as more and more people want to live and work in Camden. While our rich history is prominently displayed in our architecture and parks, a new generation of entrepreneurs is making Downtown Camden home with exciting new businesses and activities, generating a new ‘vibe’ and attracting more and more in-town investment. Our very robust tourism program is focused on attracting visitors who seek small town, time-honored attributes. Most of our attractions are free and family-oriented, and increasingly incorporate Camden’s natural resources, such as Camden’s Riverfront Environmental Park on the Wateree River.
This year, one of our local business angels, Tom Mullikin, worked with the city and the Palmetto Conservation Foundation to create a new corridor linking us to the South Carolina Palmetto Trail. We believe ‘The Chotty Trail’ will enhance Camden as a family-friendly destination, and be a great benefit to businesses in the area. Through the public/private partnerships creating this project, we anticipate growth in our tourism sector. Equally important is the opportunity for increased awareness of healthy lifestyle choices and improved quality of life initiatives for our residents. Our City Council prioritizes all the elements that make our city so special. This year we welcome a new City Manager, Jonathon Rorie. Previously City Manager for Peachtree City, Ga., he is a ‘strong towns’ advocate, and he and city staff actions are already generating good ‘strong towns’ results. Camden IS a strong community, and we hope you will come and experience all we have to offer. Warm wishes,
Alfred Mae Drakeford Mayor
Camden City Council
Jeffrey R. Graham Mayor pro tem
Joanna B. Craig
Deborah H. Davis
Stephen Smoak
City Manager Jon Rorie
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TheGirls
with the Wanderlust
Genes
J u li e M c Ke fa m il y p lv e y ( le ft ) a n d h h o to g r a p e h . T h e tw r s is te r, K a y M c Tr a v e l S K in n er v o fo o ts te p ic e, fo ll o w in g in w o r k to g e th e r a e y, in a s. t Camde th e ir m o th e r ’s, J u li a G e n n tl e s,
"Not all those who wander are lost" - JRR Tolkien By LILIAN TURNER
I
f you ask sisters Julie McKelvy and Kay McKinney how they came by their wandering ways, they’ll tell you they got them the oldfashioned way-- they inherited them from their mother.
The owners of Camden Travel Service located at 402 Dicey Ford Road, in Camden, don’t look like world travelers. They look more like they just stepped off the catwalk. They are both slender and seem to have impossibly long legs. McKinney, the older sibling, is wearing an elegant lemon-yellow jacket and skirt suit, diamond studs, pearl necklace and black stilettos with pointy toes. McKelvy is equally stylish in an above the knee green and blue print dress, dangling earrings and high heels. But world travelers they are, with over 215 trips abroad between them and still counting. And it was their mother who started them on this journey.
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The Wonderlust Girls book amazing trips all over the world – including Croatia with Camden friend Anne Conder.
“With the internet, travel professionals can work remotely from anywhere, but we chose to remain in Camden because of our love for the community. ” In 1979, Julia Gentles, newly divorced and with four daughters to raise, wasn’t one to sit around waiting for the phone to ring or hoping to win the lottery. She purchased the Camden Travel Service from the wife of a Dupont employee when the couple transferred to Virginia. The fledgling business was only one year old. A gutsy move for a single mom, but also a calculated risk. At the time, Camden Travel was a business that served DuPont’s corporate travelers. Gentles employed her second youngest daughter, Julie, to work as her assistant.
“Our mother was always a true business professional,” McKelvy remembers, “and the first day I came in to work, I was wearing blue jeans and a tri gamma t-shirt. She took one look at me and said, ‘Go home, put on a skirt and come back.’ And I did.” “Then a few years later,” Julie continues, “Mom said, ‘We’re getting a computer airline system, and it’s going to have a printer to print our tickets and itineraries, so we don’t need you anymore.’ And she fired me!” An ominous start to what would become an enduring family business.
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Julia Gentles purchased Camden Travel Service in 1979 and quickly employed her middle daughter, Julie McKelvey, to work with her only to let her go a few years later after the purchase of a computer airline system.
“So, I got another job,” McKelvey says, “and then one day Mom called and said, ‘You need to come back. No one keeps me organized like you.” The sisters laugh at this memory, but McKelvey concedes, “I didn’t go back completely, but I did work for her on and off through the summers.” However, it would be 1992 before McKelvey returned full time to work with her mother in the family business. In 1985, Kay McKinney was working at a bank in Columbia but wasn’t happy. Her mother called her and McKinney says with a chuckle, “She made me an offer I couldn’t refuse: ‘Come work for your mother and take a cut in pay.’ And I agreed!” Smiling, she adds, “I knew instantly that this was what I wanted to do.” Gentles grew her business by making a shift away from arranging airline tickets for corporations to international travel. Although the travel agency is based in Camden, their clients come from all over. Nowadays, the internet gives them the world at their fingertips. McKelvey says, “With the internet, travel professionals can work remotely from anywhere, but we chose to remain in Camden because of our love for the community. The sisters were born and raised in Camden and still call Camden home. McKinney says, “I’ve been around the world 10 times, but I love coming back to Camden.” Gentles retired in 2002, turning the business over to her daughters who bought her out.
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The business continues to thrive despite all the bullets it has had to dodge in the last few decades. The biggest hit came when the major airlines started to cut commissions in 1995 and the whole travel industry had to restructure. McKelvey says, “In order to survive we had to make some big changes and that’s when leisure travel became important.” In fact, it was the recession that led McKinney into the luxury cruise market. “The luxury cruise lines were practically giving away trips, and I decided to take advantage of one because it was just a great rate. At the time it was $2500 and I could spend a week in Europe on a ship and that included my airfare and they were going to give me $500 spending money! I couldn’t say no to that. So, I invited a girlfriend to go with me and she told someone about it, and next thing I knew we had 25 people.” McKinney says, “We’ve done well, but we wouldn’t have survived without our clients who have confidence in us and place their trust in us. We are truly grateful for that.”
“While I love traveling to big cities and exotic foreign destinations, I really love coming home to Camden . World travel really opens your eyes and makes you appreciate just what we have here and how special it is - just a very charming, historic, small town .”
McKinney retired in 2020, although she retains part ownership in the business and still does a lot of traveling on her own. McKelvey says that like her mother, she loves the books by Danielle Steele and in particular the book Wanderlust. “It was all about a woman who had the wanderlust gene. There really is a wanderlust gene. Our father did not have it. But our mother certainly did.” Apparently, the gene doesn’t seem to wane with age. Not long ago, Julia Gentles informed her daughters that she would be traveling to the one continent that she has not yet visited: Antarctica. Unfortunately, health concerns prevented her from making that voyage. Still, she’s not ready to quit traveling just yet and wants to go on a cruise for her 90th birthday coming up. “Well,” McKinney quips, “I think she knows who to call.”
Camden Travel clients enjoy an exotic trip to India.
All three women are born vagabonds, but McKelvey says they have a special place in their hearts for Camden, “While I love traveling to big cities and exotic foreign destinations, I really love coming home to Camden. World travel really opens your eyes and makes you appreciate just what we have here and how special it is. No traffic jams, pollution, just a very charming, historic, small town.”
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Camden Cultural District:
A Cause for
Celebration We have a very robust district downtown which is not something that a whole lot of people may realize.
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B
ack in October 2020 when Covid was raging and we were right in the thick of things, something wonderful happened in Camden. Something that might have slipped your notice, but something that is definitely a cause for celebration. Riotous, joyous celebration! Drum roll, please. Camden was officially recognized by the South Carolina Arts Commission as having a designated cultural district. That’s a big deal. And what makes it a big deal, according to Katharine Spadacenta, Main Street Program Manager for Downtown Camden, is first and foremost, “It officially recognizes what we are, what we have. We have a very robust district downtown, which is not something a whole lot of people may realize.” Spadacenta says that the City of Camden partnered with Arts Center of Kershaw County and applied to the South Carolina Arts Commission to be recognized as the ninth and newest designated cultural district in the state. Camden joined Beaufort, Bluffton, Congaree Vista, Florence, Greenwood, Lancaster, Rock Hill and Spartanburg on a select list of destinations that have an area that is easily identifiable as the center of the cultural, artistic and economic activity of the town or city.
This new ‘interactive’ mural created by local artists Colt Shirley and Lori Starnes Isom in Camden’s Town Green Alley (connecting the Green to Broad Street) allows visitors to find fun and imaginative ways to pose with the butterflies. By LILIAN TURNER So where, you may ask, is this cultural district? Camden’s Cultural District is a walkable route that runs roughly east along Rutledge Street, south down Lyttleton, west on York and north on Broad Street, touching all or part of fourteen city blocks. It’s an area filled with over 60 assets, including galleries, theaters, live performance venues, museums, artist studios, green spaces, artisan and farmers markets, restaurants and eateries, historical landmarks and arts education centers. In addition to acknowledging what the city has, the cultural district designation is also good for business. “The arts is big business. Our antique shops alone generate at least half a million dollars a year in revenue. They bring in people from Charlotte, Atlanta, Charleston, Myrtle Beach and other areas across the state,” Spadacenta says. “There are grant opportunities available now that we are a recognized as a cultural district. And it’s a great marketing opportunity. It attracts a different type of audience that might not normally come to Camden.” According to Spadacenta that demographic could include “people who love to go antique shopping, people who love to look for very specific local art, people who drive just to see and shop at our quilt shops. We have a gentleman who is still handcrafting 18th century furniture. There are plenty of people who will travel for that.” But that’s not all. Spadacenta notes that some people will come for a variety of things and another important draw is food. “Food and foodie tourism is becoming a huge driver for travel. We have eighteen eateries and restaurants within or just outside the cultural district, serving up everything from fine wine and charcuterie, to Mexican or Mediterranean fusion, to traditional Jamaican fare, to good old fashioned Southern comfort food. We have Kershaw County’s only independent coffee roaster in the cultural district. We have a woman from Mexico City making over 40 flavors of ice cream from scratch, six days a week.”
Gallery537: For the Love of Art and Music Gallery537 has a simple, but powerful motto: “For the love of art and music.” Owners, Suzan and James Austin, who opened the gallery last October, want Gallery537 “to be known as a place to see interesting art, hear great live music and enjoy fellowship in a beautiful and comfortable environment.” With art direction and curation by Suzan and music curation by James, the couple have managed to tap into a unique synergy by combining their two passions to create an immersive musical and artistic experience.
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Examples of artwork that can be found for sale in downtown Camden. And let’s not forget about the music. The Arts Center of Kershaw County is the anchor of the Cultural District. This venue provides access to the visual arts, performances, lectures, arts education and live music. However, Spadacenta notes, “We also have a live music venue downtown, Baron’s Bar on Broad Street. We also have several green spaces in the district where we have music and, on the Town Green, we’ve started a free concert series in the spring and fall. Many of our restaurants have live music throughout the year, some weekly and some on a more scheduled basis. You can find live music all over downtown during any given week.” After a few minutes talking to Spadacenta, it quickly becomes apparent that she is an unabashedly, diehard Camden fan. And, as the city’s liaison to small business owners, property owners, prospective merchants, and people who want to be downtown, Spadacenta is also one of the Cultural District’s biggest cheerleaders. “We have Rutledge Street Gallery, which has been on Rutledge Street for over 20 years. And we have the Artist’s Attic, which is an artist collective that been operating for almost 30 years in the same spot. One of our legacy businesses, Blackmon’s Little Midget Family Drive-in, has been in the same location for over 60 years. It used to be a drive-in that just served hot dogs and hamburgers, and you can still drive up, but now it is enclosed, and you can eat inside while enjoying a fabulous indoor mural.”
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For these live monthly musical events, James chooses the music with “genres ranging from funk to rock to jazz, including the continuing series, ‘Birthin’ of A Band,’ which has been successful in bringing local music talent together in surprising ways.” The gallery features works by artist-in-residence Lori Isom who combines history, storytelling and hard truths in her pieces, creating portraits telling personal tales in a variety of media. Suzan, who curates the works on display, says that in addition to Isom’s work, there will be “new installations of collectibles and art objects of all kinds, murals to miniatures, and digital works” on display. Suzan and James would love to have folks stop by to see what’s new at 537 East DeKalb Street and enjoy an entrancing experience where art and music intertwine. “At Gallery537, we hope to continue to share our love for both music and art and appreciate the tremendous support we’ve had here so far. We’re currently reaching out to both artists and musicians to collaborate with us in creating an inspirational, fun space for the community. We are always looking for interesting visual arts and music projects. Our new outdoor lounge and Upstairs@ Gallery537, provides additional exhibit space, lounge and artists studios, will help make it an even more special experience at the gallery.” www.gallery537.com
Funktional Harmony performs during a Blanket & Bands concert on the Camden Town Green. She champions the new as well as the old. “Gallery 537 is one of our newest additions and it’s such a great space.” Gallery537 located at 537 East DeKalb Street in the Cultural District. It features exactly the kind of innovate and creative vision that makes the district unique and Spadacenta says in 2025 when the program comes up for re-certification, they’ll have the opportunity to expand and add more assets. She’s already got her eye on a few possibilities. Spadacenta knows that the arts have the power to bring people together and make the community stronger. She recognizes that the official designation
can help revitalize downtown and preserve historic buildings and landmarks. She’s pleased with the feedback she is getting from visitors, “It sounds cliché, but the draw is that small town charm. I am always pleased to have people tell me that they love coming to Camden because everyone is so nice. The southern hospitality gets rolled out like a red carpet. We have people in our community who are really proud of Camden, and it shows in everything that we do. Maybe I sound a little like I’ve got rose-colored glasses on, but it’s true.” And definitely something else worth celebrating.
Music, art and comraderie on tap at Gallery537.
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803.432.3445
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www.FDGoodaleJeweler.com
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Nothing but Blue
S kies Kayci Merritt Brazell and a lanky flamingo welcome visitors to her shop at 1012 Broad Street in Downtown Camden called Blue Skies & Sunshine.
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“The first time I came to Camden ... I looked around and said, ‘This is exactly the kind of town I want to live in one day .’” By LILIAN TURNER
I
f you look up the definition of “free spirit” online, you just might just see a picture of Kayci Brazell smiling back at you.
The owner of Blue Skies and Sunshine, a unique toy shop located at 1012 Broad Street in Camden, Brazell’s enthusiasm for all things fun and playful is infectious. Wearing a white and blue cotton peasant dress, dangly mirror earrings, and blue eye shadow, she doesn’t so much walk as bounce as she moves around her store. It is clear that although she is the mother of 18-year-old Merritt, 15-year-old Davis and 11-year-old Carson, she herself is still a child at heart. “I’ve always loved shops.” She explains, “It’s like therapy for me, to be listening to music and shopping.” Born and raised just outside of Greenville, Brazell has an affinity for old downtowns and small-town living. “I have always loved old downtowns because I grew up in Piedmont which has an old downtown. My great grandmother actually owned a beauty shop downtown.” But it wouldn’t be the little town of Piedmont that sang its siren song to a young Kayci when she began to think about her future; it would be Camden. “The first time I came to Camden was when I was in college, and I was driving through the downtown, I looked around and said, ‘This is exactly the kind of town I want to live in one day.’ At the time, I had no idea that I would end up living in this very town and having a shop on the very street.” Call it the hand of God, call it fate, call it serendipity, call it whatever you want, but the stars aligned and Brazell got her wish.
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A sample of the toys, games and other items on sale at Blue Skies and Sunshine.
“Something just clicked, and I knew I wanted to create something similar in our building in
Camden. 20 /
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When she first saw Camden, she hadn’t yet met her husband to be, Russell Brazell, who hails from nearby Lugoff. They met while both were attending Clemson and married. And according to his wife, Russell likes to invest in real estate and land. He bought the building on Broad Street with the intention of creating office space. His wife, however, had a different vision . Brazell had spent over a decade as a teacher, and then turned into a stay-at-home mom for a short period of time, “That was not for me. I’m such a people person.” Then one day, she discovered a store in Lexington, South Carolina called The Learning Express. It was her “Aha!” moment. “Something just clicked, and I knew I wanted to create something similar in our building in Camden. Not exactly the same. I wanted it to be not just a toy store, but a happy place for everybody.” It took some convincing to get her husband to go along with the plan as he still had his practical heart set on office spaces.
“I feel like we have a really close community here. The downtown business owners are like a family. Truly.” opened her toy shop, but for her, she says, it was never a question of going somewhere else. “We love Camden so much. Even though we live nearby in Lugoff, I wanted to give back to this community.”
Brazell laughs when she explains, “My daddy always said I’m an easy-going person and fun spirited, but I can be as stubborn as a rock when I’m determined to do something; I won’t let it go.” Eventually, the couple compromised. Brazell got her toy store and her husband got to open a coffee bar in the back half of the building. There’s more than a bit of the bohemian about the place. A lanky, stuffed flamingo stands poised in all it’s feathered, pink panache at the entrance to welcome shoppers. The shop itself reflects its owner, filled with bright colors, bright lights, a big sun painted on the ceiling, and a striking black and white tile floor that looks like it came straight out of a 50’s diner. It is her father’s eternal optimism and proclivity for creating handmade cards that gave her the inspiration for the shop’s name. At the end of each of his carefully crafted cards, he would handwrite, “may all your skies be blue” and, at the prompting of his daughter, he added “and filled with sunshine.” There were other small towns where Brazell could have
One of the most positive aspects of having her business in the downtown area is the strong support she has received from other business owners. “I feel like we have a really close community here. The downtown business owners are like a family. Truly.” She appreciates the sense of camaraderie and the “we’re in this together” mentality she has seen in the downtown area. “We’re all on good terms. We don’t feel like it’s going to take away from business to have more businesses open.” Since opening her store, Brazell has made an uplifting discovery. “I’ve learned that they’re still a lot of really good, good people in this world that truly care and are willing to help you out. Camden is a close knit community, full of people who really care about one another. It has a spirit that I wish all American towns had, and I really mean that.” And at the end of the day, she says she is pleased with how things have worked out. “Everyone has been so welcoming and so supportive. I couldn’t be happier.” Here’s wishing her nothing but blue skies from now on. www.blueskiessunshine.com
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Three Sisters Essentials is a local grassroots market offering farm-direct produce, meats, dairy, baked goods, beautiful jams and infused honeys, freshly roasted coffee and artisancrafted wares. Our greener living mission inspired us to provide a Refill Room with bulk spices, teas, natural cleaning products and other items for our community! Follow us on Facebook and Instagram for our latest offerings and the launch of our #naturerocks classes soon! Three Sisters Essentials 2503 Broad Street (in Dusty Bend) Camden, SC 29020 (803) 272-0503 threesistersessentials.com
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Camden
Calls a Couple
Home
T
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CAMDEN~CLASSICALLY CAROLINA
By LILIAN TURNER
wenty-two years ago, Sally and Felix Gravino said good-bye to Camden and headed North to a picturesque little mountain town called Mountain Rest. Tucked up in the Blue Ridge mountains of South Carolina, just 7 miles from the Georgia border and with a population hovering around 2000, Mountain Rest is known for its hiking trails, waterfalls and whitewater sports on the Chattooga River.
Felix and Sally met when they were in college at University of South Carolina and shortly after were married at Grace Church in Camden where the bride grew up. Felix, an army brat, had grown up in Columbia. After they were married, Sally worked as marketing manager at the old BF Goodrich plant in Elgin. After leaving the Air Force in 1980, Felix earned his Phd and worked as a counselor in a variety of settings in and around Columbia. The couple lived in Camden for 20 years, while raising their two daughters, before deciding to pull up stakes and head north. They had inherited a piece of land and decided to build a house there. In their late 40’s and avid kayakers, the two were still young enough to hear the call of the wild and feel the pull of life’s next big adventure. While living in their mountain paradise, they took full advantage of the cooler temperatures, the natural setting, and access to the river. They even became beekeepers for awhile, but eventually gave it up. “We were beekeepers for 15 years, but it became too much trouble dealing with the bears—they would slash up our hives.” Felix says. Fast forward twenty-two years and the couple, who have been married for fifty years, are hearing a different call. A quieter, calmer call—maybe more of a whisper---to come home. Sally says, “We figured we’re in a new season in our lives. A long time ago someone told us ‘you should write your will when you’re feeling good,’ and so we thought let’s look for where we want to end our days while we’re feeling good.” “So we drove all over and looked at lots of independent living places and different communities, and then we said why don’t we just go back to Camden.” Mountain Rest, for all it’s beauty, was losing some of it’s appeal as the two grew older. ““Where we live in the mountains, it is absolutely beautiful, but we are thirty minutes from a grocery store and fortyfive minutes from a Walmart,” Sally says, “and that’s a big deal since we’re slowing down.” “It is a splendid misery being up there,” Felix poetically adds. Coming back to Camden, they were very pleasantly surprised. “From the little house we bought in Camden, it took me 120 seconds to get to Food Lion,” Sally laughs. In addition, Camden is 3 ½ hours closer to their seven grandchildren, as well as closer to family in Columbia and Charleston. “Another thing we were impressed with is that the hospital is now a part of MUSC. As we get older we hope that will be a help to us.” “We still have really good friends in Camden and they have just welcomed us back,” Sally says,“It seems like Camden has really come alive since we left. The landscaping, the signage, it’s all freshened up!” As a member of Sons of the American Revolution, Felix is quite excited about the historical aspects of the town, “I couldn’t get over the spectacular Revolutionary War Visitor Center. That’s quite an attraction. Several friends were telling us how they’re expanding the grounds next door at Historic Camden. It’s just three miles
Felix and Sally Gravino are all dressed up for a local high school JROTC function near their home in Mountain Rest, N.C. The Gravinos were married at Camden’s Grace Episcopal Church. away from our new house.” Sally, a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution, shares her husband’s excitement over this nearby attraction. Now that the two are in their seventies, they have taken up less risky pursuits, trading in their whitewater kayaks for clogs. “We clog—like Riverdance,” Sally explains. “But we don’t jump up in the air like they do anymore,” Felix adds ruefully. This will be their second year and they’ll be performing at the 61st Annual Hillbilly Day on the Fourth of July up in Mountain Rest. So they won’t be completely cutting ties with their mountain hometown . The couple is settling into in their new home in their old hometown. Sally says the couple plan to attend Grace Church, the same church where she and Felix were married in 1972 and where her great grandmother was buried. “Here’s a funny thing,” she says, “we already have a family plot in Quaker cemetery, so we’ll be four hours closer.” And there is something comforting about that, knowing you are surrounded by your ancestors and they are holding you a place. But the forebearers will have to wait, because today it is hot and sunny and there is a U-Haul to be packed and roads to be traveled. “We love the way that Camden is being run right now and we want to be a part of that,” Sally says. Now, the two are enjoying these hot summer days and planning their new life in a city they have fallen in love with all over again.
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