Beaufort February March 2016

B EAUFORT, P ORT R OYAL A ND T HE S EA I SLANDS

VW Scheich & Uyen Le FILM FESTIVAL ISSUE FEBRUARY/MARCH 2016

MAKING MOVIES

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CONTRIBUTORS

Cindy Reid

Mary Ellen Thompson

Cindy Reid has been published in About Town, skirt!, Salon.com and The Coastal Mariner. A graduate of Mills College in Oakland, CA, she spent most of her career working with authors in the retail book business before becoming one herself. She has a daughter who lives in the state of Washington. A native of New York’s Hudson Valley, she now makes her home on St. Helena Island.

Mary Ellen Thompson has never met a train, boat or plane that she didn’t like ~ they represent travel and adventures, two of her most favorite things. Having started life on Philadelphia’s Main Line, she’s lived in houses and on boats on the Chesapeake Bay, New York, Florida, England, France, and now Beaufort.

When she travels she find the most secret locavore restaurants, the best dive bars, and the most charming little hotels. When Mary Ellen’s at home, she loves being with her friends, entertaining, listening to the marsh, and her silly cats. Best of all, she loves her son in Denver, her daughter in New York, and her great friend and editor, Meredith, in PA.

Susan Deloach Susan Deloach was born Susan Bessinger in Beaufort, where she still resides with her husband, Larry, and sons Hudson and Tucker. Susan has a gift for capturing the personality and unique essence of her subject whether on location or in the studio. Her portraits are as diverse as the personalities of the people she photographs - some are edgy, some joyful, but all have one thing in common: the sensitive, skilled and thoughtful approach of the artist behind the camera.

John Wollwerth

John Wollwerth is a photographer raised in New York, now living in Beaufort. He specializes in wedding and commercial photography, with additional background in portrait and stock photography. His work has appeared in such publications as The Washington Post, the Minneapolis Tribune, Coastal Living and South Carolina Homes and Gardens. John is involved with the Photography Club of Beaufort and the Professional Photographer of South Carolina. He lives with his wife and three children.

Paul Nurnberg

Kim Poovey Kim Poovey is an author and historic reenactress specializing in the Victorian era. Her novel, Truer Words, is a work of historic fiction set in the Lowcountry of SC during the 19th century. Her lifelong love of horses led to a BA degree from Virginia Intermont College where she was a winning member of the equestrian team.

Kim lives with her husband, three dogs, and a cat in Beaufort.

Carol Lauvray

Carol Lauvray has called Beaufort home since 2011, when she relocated from Ohio. Her passion for the coastal beauty and history of the Lowcountry drew her to settle here and become a docent for the Beaufort History Museum. She has more than 20 years of experience writing marketing communications and holds a Masters Degree in organizational communication from Ohio University. Her daughter Cristin and son-in-law Kevin live near Columbus, Ohio.

Paul Nurnberg, whose studio is in Beaufort, SC, specializes in architectural and lifestyle advertising photography. He photographs a variety of subjects including people, products, food, nature and travel for ad agencies, large corporations and magazines.

Local clients include, Beaufort Memorial Hospital, The Vegetable Kingdom and Swanky J Boutique.

Other clients include JCB, (UK/Savannah), Johnson Matthey, Parker’s Markets and Stertil­Koni. Paul also teaches photography and camera classes and one on one lessons to individuals. He just finished a two-year term as president of the SC chapter of the American Society of Media Photographers

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Beaufort Lifestyle welcomes story ideas from our readers. If you have a story idea, or photo essay you would like to share, please submit ideas and material by emailing Jeff Whitten at jeff@idpmagazines.com Stories or ideas for stories must be submitted by email. Only feature stories and photo essays about people, places or things in Beaufort, Port Royal or the Sea Islands will be considered.

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C O N T E N T S February/March 2016

features

08 There Are Promises Held In Darkened Theaters VW Scheich and Uyen Le

14 10th Annual Beaufort International Film Festival 18 Losing Tom Bixby His Reality and Finding Himself

22 Nan Sutton Hometown Girl

08

26 Richard Jones Magician To Actor 30 Leo Ganon Construction: The Process of

Creating and Building...Anything

34 Actor, Joe Johnson Artist, Musician departments

18

14

07 Publisher’s Thoughts 37 Lazy Dining Feature Susan’s 41 Real Estate

22

28

45 Let’s Do Business special sections

49 Health and Wellness 06 February/March 2016 | www.BeaufortLifestyle.com

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P U B L I S H E R ’ S Thoughts

Julie Hales owner/publisher julie@idpmagazines.com Jeff Whitten editor jeff@idpmagazines.com Lane Gallegos graphic design lane@idpmagazines.com Lea Allen administrative assistant/circulation lea@idpmagazines.com Peg Beekman account executive peg@idpmagazines.com Marsha Stewart account executive marsha@idpmagazines.com

Beaufort Lifestyle is proudly produced by:

One Beaufort Town Center 2015 Boundary Street, Suite 221 Beaufort, SC 29902 (843) 379-8696

Beaufort International Film Festival Celebrates 10 Years

It’s that time of year again....a time which brings thousands of people into our area to attend the Beaufort International Film Festival. The excitement around town is obvious, hotels and restaurants are gearing up for the crowd, merchants are getting their wares ready....and the staff and volunteers are in full force putting the final touches on for this year’s extravaganza.

BIFF has certainly grown over the years, going from 500 attendees in the first year to 10,000 in 2015.

What a huge growth margin. This year seems to be no different. Ron and Rebecca Tucker are expecting a record crowd for this year’s festival.

Ron Tucker is the founder of this festival. He, and wife Rebecca, put countless hours and hard work into making this event the best that it can be. And, best, it Julie Hales, PUBLISHER is.

We, at Beaufort Lifestyle, are very honored to be one of the sponsors of this event.....and even more proud that we have been a part of it since the birth of Beaufort Lifestyle.

Each year, we bring you stories of local folks who are or have been, in some way, shape or form, part of the film industry. This year is no different. Ron and Rebecca graciously supply us with leads for stories and we take the reigns from there.

Over the years, we have met some very fascinating people. Who knew we had all these talented people living right here in Beaufort and on our sea islands?

Out of all the folks we have met, my favorites come to mind. I have met Blythe Danner, Michael O’Keefe, Tom Beringer, Andie McDowell and others. But, my favorites, are Ron and Rebecca Tucker. In short, I will just call them the “dynamic duo.”

It’s hard to even imagine the work these two do. Being a small part of this festival over the years, I have seen first hand the many facets it takes on. Each facet brings more work.

And, like a film itself, it all unfolds right in front of your eyes.

From the opening night ceremony to the awards banquet, each piece goes off without a hitch. Well, at least in the eyes of the audience. This is a small miracle within its self.

And, all due mainly to this dynamic duo.

So, for 10 years of Beaufort International Film Festival, I raise my glass to Ron and Rebecca Tucker. Here’s to the next 10!

B EAUFORT, P ORT R OYAL A ND T HE S EA I SLANDS

ABOUT THE COVER

CIRCULATION: Beaufort Lifestyle is publlished bi-monthly (six issues a year), printing 15,000 copies and distributed to over 200 locations.

I bet you have seen these two smiling faces around town. Meet VW Scheich and Uyen Le, a very talented husband and wife team.

These two have made a great name for themselves here. Read their story as they share with us the makings of their movie, Interwoven.

Reproduction in whole or in part in any manner without the written permission of the publisher is strictly prohibited.

VW Scheich & Uyen Le FILM FESTIVAL ISSUE

Photo by Susan DeLoach

MAKING MOVIES

FEBRUARY/MARCH 2016

www.BeaufortLifestyle.com | February/March 2016

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08 February/March 2016 | www.BeaufortLifestyle.com

There Are

Promises

Held In Darkened Theaters

I

story by mary ellen thompson photography by susan deloach

t’s why we go see a film, isn’t it? To be transported to another place, time, mindset? The way particular films affect us stirs up our myriad of emotions and reactions: we smile, we laugh, we cry, we gasp, we nod in agreement or understanding; we may clench our fists, or reach for our friend’s hand, or a tissue. If we don’t do any of those things, the film maker has failed us. There are promises held in darkened theaters, the unexpected about to roll out before us, and what we are left with is not only our imagination, but also the film maker’s ability to draw us into his vision.

But how much of that do we consciously consider? We get our ticket, some popcorn, a drink, choose a seat in preparation for being entertained, enlightened, educated, or maybe even frightened out of our shoes. “Bring it on” we invite those who have created this film we are about to see, then we judge how we liked it. We are all film critics at the end of a movie, but do you know what is interesting about that? Very few of us have any real idea of what goes into making a film so VW Scheich, and his wife, Uyen Le, are going to give you a picture of the picture making business.

Uyen’s background is in corporate and entertainment law, structuring film finance deals, and seeing the process from the business perspective. She is also a writer and producer. VW’s talents lie in writing, directing, production and post-production work.

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How do they choose where to start when making a film?

UL: There are so many stories one could tell, it’s important to recognize what you have to work with.

VW: Part of the experience is knowing how not to bite off more than you can chew and how to work with your assets. But it comes down to telling a story you’re passionate about, one you can’t live without doing. And then it takes undaunted perseverance for years.

Although they have several collaborations between them, their film Interwoven will make its South Carolina, and East Coast, premiere at the Beaufort International Film Festival (BIFF) this year. Interwoven combines real moments in the life stories of thirteen people and weaves them into a single narrative. Two main characters’ lives intersect in a way that each impacts the other, and the idea we come away with is that we never know how our story will affect someone else. The film promises to captivate the audience with a combination of emotional forces. But let’s start at the beginning.

VW: We were sitting around in Los Angeles wanting to make a movie, but we had limited funds. So we took a creative approach and developed the film backwards, letting the characters drive the story. We placed a casting call and received 2011 submissions.

None of those people knew what the movie was about, and neither did we, yet. Normally an actor reads a script, and gets a character breakdown, but there was no script. Instead we were looking for a true compelling story, or moment, from the actor, and that was where we would start. I met 75 of the actors who responded. I spent about an hour and a half with each of them. It was quite an intense process. I asked them to tell me about a moment that shaped their life.

UL: The idea was that you never know who will play a role in your life. For example, VW and I met years ago as strangers sitting next to each other on an airplane flying to Los Angeles.

VW: The next morning I would tell Uyen about the interviews/ auditions. Some stories were way too big, i.e. “I spent a year in Tibet and it changed my life...” Then we found a story we could shoot. A young woman told me that she was getting ready to go out when she got a phone call from her father telling her he had cancer. Her life was never the same after that call. Over the course of the next two weeks, we found more life-changing stories which we scripted into one cohesive narrative.

Now that the concept was settled on, the budget was the next consideration. “How much money do we need? How much money would we like?” Uyen explains that the budget is divided into three categories: above the line, below the line, and post-production costs. Above the line includes: the stars, director, writer, producer. Below the line: crew, equipment, food, transportation, fuel, travel, locations, permits, legal fees, insurance. Post production costs are things like the editor, colorist, composer/score; then tack on about ten percent of the total budget for contingencies.

In Interwoven, the majority of actors are telling their own stories so they’re invested in the project and the process. One actress offered her house as a location for shooting her scene and others. “On a tight Indie film budget, the fewer locations there are, the better it is,” Uyen explains, “because every time you move, you lose not only time, but daylight, and it costs money, so the longer you stay in one location, the better.”

VW says, “Then it’s time to raise the funds. In our case, we

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reached out to family, friends and a couple of investors to realize the funding. It’s all complicated, so you really have to love it.

I’m a big picture guy so I naturally shoot for the moon for every project.” Uyen counters, “It’s my job to figure out a plan to shoot said moon here on earth.”

Back to Interwoven: “Another actress auditioned for the movie and told the story about how she caught her husband cheating on her. She was so hurt that she wanted him to die, so she started putting rat poison in his food. After being confronted by a physician about her actions, she left her husband and moved to New York. We felt she should not have to re-live that painful and difficult story so we re-cast her role for the film with an Academy Award winning actress.”

The film was shot in three weeks. Next, it was moved into postproduction for editing, sound design, scoring and visual effects.

Finally the film was ready to submit to festivals.

Since what we’ve seen so far is money going out, like the low spring tide, how does it come back in and repay the investors?

Well, it helps if the film wins awards in the festivals, every laurel that can be applied to a film gives it a boost. Once a film has been entered in all the desired festivals, in the case of Interwoven, the world premiere was in October 2015 at the Mill Valley Film Festival, and after BIFF in 2016 the film will screen at Durango Independent Film Festival, Richmond International Film Festival, and Garden State Film Festival. Then a distribution plan will be launched and the film will be for sale on line. Once that happens, the investors can be repaid.

Having met Ron and Rebecca Tucker at the Charleston International Film Festival in 2012, where their film Wallenda won two awards for best film, Uyen and VW brought the film to BIFF in 2013, where it also won the award for Best Short Film.

Wallenda is a mesmerizing twenty minute film about the high wire performer Karl Wallenda, and how he got his start in the 1920s. VW’s own family included several circus performers; his parents had a motorcycle act with the Clyde Beatty Cole Bros.

Circus in the 1970s and 80s; his paternal grandmother and her family were high wire artists in Europe; and Karl Wallenda died while performing in San Juan, Puerto Rico on the day that VW was born.

In 2014, VW and Uyen returned to BIFF with Pawn, which won the award for best screenplay. (Coincidentally, when they were here for that festival, they actually started writing their notes for Interwoven on the porch at The Rhett House.)

In 2015 the couple moved to Beaufort to make the movie Basement Bob, which is a comedy written by Gary Weeks, (another favorite son at BIFF), and will be co-directed by VW and Gary. It promises to be outstandingly hilarious. “Bob still lives in his ex-wife’s basement but when she decides to sell the house, Bob will go to every ridiculous extreme to keep from losing her forever.” Since we don’t have a plethora of basements in Beaufort, there is bound to be some of VW’s legendary creativity in finding locations.

A perfectly matched pair, Uyen and VW have enough enthusiasm and energy to light up the city, and when they turn, they turn their smiles toward you, you just want to sign on for whatever they’re up to next. So be sure you don’t miss the screening of Interwoven at 4:15 on Thursday, February 11, 2016 at USCB Center for the Arts where BIFF is being held. And keep your eyes and ears open for updates on Basement Bob.

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I

t may seem hard to believe, but the little Film Festival that could is turning 10 this year. The Beaufort Film Society’s annual tribute to the art of making movies, the Beaufort International Film Festival, gets under way February 10 and runs until February 14, and will again host thousands of film lovers from around the world.

Considered one of the fastest growing events of its kind in the Southeast, the BIFF in 2013 was named one of the “top 25 Coolest Film Festivals in the World”

by Moviemaker Magazine, and organizers expect their biggest crowds yet.

Not bad for a festival that began with some 500 attendees and five filmmakers.

Last year, an estimated 10,000 people from 30 states and five countries attended, along with more than 70 filmmakers, and organizers Ron and Rebecca Tucker expect 2016 to be another record-breaking year with 700 entries from 66 countries, both records.

Tucker, who is the founding father of the BIFF, said the Festival grew out of the formation in 2004 of the Beaufort Regional Film Commission in an attempt to bring moviemaking back to Beaufort County and the South Carolina lowcountry, where such famous films such as “The Great Santini,” “The Big Chill,” “The Prince of Tides” and “Forrerst Gump” were shot.

“Since the state film incentives were not that attractive any longer, the thought was

14 February/March 2016 | Beaufort Lifestyle

story by jeff whitten photography by susan deloach to establish a film-friendly infrastructure in the four counties of Beaufort, Colleton, Hampton and Jasper so that filmmakers could be invited to bring their work to our region,” Tucker said. “It was only after I attended film commissioner training in Las Vegas that I came back with the idea of starting a film festival that would attract the newest generation of filmmakers to our beautiful Beaufort.”

Guided by the the film commmission and the Beaufort Regional Chamber of Commerce, the first festival was set for 2007 and invitations were sent to filmmakers around the world, Tucker said, and organizers received nearly 200 entries.

“Over the years the festival has grown in reputation and attendance,” he said.

“Through the years there have been many memorable films, some of which have stirred people to action. It was after a film screening of the documentary “Awaken the Dragon” about cancer survivors who had formed a Dragonboat Team in Charleston, S.C., that a few attendees were motivated to create a simliar movement in Beaufort, resulting in the nonprofit Dragonboat Beaufort.”

“That impact is by design,” said Tucker, who noted the BIFF looks for films that will make viewers feel and think. “ We try to present films that will offer some emotional impact on the viewer.

From dark comedy like the student musical ZomRomCom to the controversial subject of big business and government in

Death by China, our film festival is more than just an afternoon or evening at the movies,” he said. “We endeavor to enrich, inspire and entertain our audiences.”

The BIFF has become as popular with filmmakers as it is with movie buffs, perhaps in large part because organizers are good at finding talented filmmakers with something to say.

“For nearly 10 years now we’ve managed to identify and entice filmmakers

who are willing to come to Beaufort with their film,” Tucker said. “Part of this enticement comes from a film and fun loving Beaufort community that wrap their arms around this festival then proceed to enamor our guests with a big dose of Southern Hospitality. Many of our filmmakers return with other projects which is a great testament to their affection for the festival and the city of Beaufort.

In the past 10 years, we’ve managed to attract over 400 filmmakers who might not otherwise have even heard of Beaufort, SC. We’re proud of that.”

Here’s a look at past milestones: • 2007: First festival held at the former Lady’s Island Theatre, approx. 500 attending • 2008-2011: Festivals held at the former lady’s Island Theatre, approx. 5000 attending in 2011.

• 2009: The non-profit 501(c)3 organization Beaufort Film Society was created and assumed all administrative and operational control from the Beaufort Regional Chamber of Commerce.

• 2012: Venue for screenings was moved to University of South Carolina, Beaufort (needed more seats) (went from 175 seat theatre to a 460 seat theatre) • 2013: Named one of the top 25 Coolest Film Festivals in the World by Moviemaker Magazine Celebrity guests through the years have been, Tom Berenger, Pat Conroy, Blythe Danner, Michael O’Keefe, Eugene Gearty, Powers Booth, Craig McKay, Arthur Schmidt, Mike Tollin, Kim Delaney and

Andie MacDowell. BIFF 2016 will honor Vanna White with the Spirit & Pride of South Carolina Award.

Here’s a look at what the Beaufort International Film Festival has in store for 2016: Awards will be presented in the areas of Features, Documentaries, Short Films, Student Films, Screenplays, Animation.

Comedy and Audience Choice. Also, winners will be named for Best Actor, Best Actress, and Best Director.

BIFF 2016 also marks the second award for the Spirit & Pride of South Carolina Award, presented to that person whose career achievements in the areas of film, television or music have reflected positively on themselves and the state of South Carolina. The award will be presented to Television Host and Fashion Icon Vanna White, originally from North Myrtle Beach.

Former Army Chaplain and filmmaker Justin D. Roberts will be presented the Santini Patriot Spirit Award for his film “No Greater Love.” The “Santini “ is awarded to that filmmaker whose portrayal of the American active duty military, veterans, or their families in a feature film, documentary, or short reflects the highest standards of service and sacrifice for the good of others. The award is named after Marine Corps Colonel Donald “The Great Santini” Conroy. father of Academy Award® nominated screenwriter and bestselling author Pat Conroy.

Jonathan Gaynor will be presented the “Behind the Scenes” award for his more

than 20 years of work as a Film Sound Mixer. Jonathan’s resume includes over 50 film and television credits.

For more information about the 10th Annual Beaufort International Film Festival, visit beaufortfilmfestival.com. The festival is produced by the Beaufort Film Society.

The Beaufort Film Society is a nonprofit, 501 (c) 3, member-supported organization, dedicated to providing the highest levels of entertainment and education to the public from all areas of the film industry.

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Tom Bixby:

Losing His Reality and Finding Himself

I

story by carol lauvry

f you attended the 9th Annual Beaufort International Film Festival’s awards ceremony at USCB’s Performing Arts Center last February, you were treated to a lavish cocktail party and an exciting, star-studded evening of film awards presentations. The award for Best Screenplay that evening was presented to Saint Helena Island’s own Tom Bixby for Club Bong Son, a screenplay recounting the emotional Vietnam War experiences of a fictional 19-year-old military policeman.

Most people at the awards ceremony would not have guessed from Bixby’s humorous and upbeat acceptance speech, that the screenplay draws heavily on memories of his own time spent in Vietnam—memories that still haunt him. If you were not on hand for the screenwriters workshop and the reading from Club Bong Son, you did not experience the gut-wrenching mental images conjured

by Bixby’s jarring words, describing the unimaginable horrors of the war.

Tom Bixby, who directed, wrote and produced films for more than 35 years, says his screenplay is about “what you bring home with you from the Vietnam War and what gets lost inside.” He wrote Club Bong Son during the 1980s when he first began to understand the toll that Vietnam had taken on him.

Losing Reality Do they still dream The men I killed As I still dream of them Can they see My eyes at night The way I still see theirs…

photography by paul nurnberg

They do still scream The men I killed And I still dream of them They can never Go back home But neither can I (Excerpts from the poem, Do They Still Dream, copyright 2009 by Tom Bixby) Bixby says he began to lose his reality after returning from a 1967 - 1968 tour in Vietnam, where he served as a military policeman in a field detachment of the 272nd MP Company, “the Fighting Deuce,” and as a helicopter door gunner with the 201st Aviation Company. He started college when he got back from the war, but had an emotional breakdown in 1970 at the age of just 22, citing the anger and grief he had suppressed from events in his childhood and the Vietnam War as the cause. During his three-year struggle to overcome his breakdown, Bixby learned to achieve a kind of meditative state while painting and drawing as he watched old movies. This helped his repressed emotions of anger, then deep grief, and finally joy, surface. “It was a long process, but at the end of it I was able to feel joy and freedom that was unknown to me during my disease or even before I fell ill,” he says.

During the years following his breakdown, Bixby says he was a highly functioning individual, pointing to his extensive accomplishments (see the related sidebar article). He had no idea of the far-reaching effects that the war still had on him until after September 11, 2001, when US troops including his own

son went back to war. His memories of Vietnam began to resurface in a dramatic and devastating way and he learned that other Vietnam Vets, including buddies from his own unit, who were widely known as the “Bong Son Rangers,” shared his ongoing torment.

As Bixby recounted a surprise phone call he received in 2001 from his military policeman buddy ‘Vee,’ his brow furrowed and his eyes teared up. Vee wanted Bixby to call their friend ‘Shu’ who was fighting demons from his time in Vietnam. Bix (Bixby’s nickname in Vietnam) and Shu hadn’t spoken in years, but they talked on the phone for four hours about struggles with war memories and symptoms— the inability to sleep, hyper-vigilance, exaggerated startle response to noises, flashbacks and more. Bixby met with Shu in Arkansas for an “all you care to eat catfish lunch.” The man who sat across the table from him did not look the same as his friend in Vietnam—since then Shu had grown several inches taller and was a bulkier man—but Shu had the same voice Bix had heard beside him in the bunker as they fought the Viet Cong. Bixby said the emotion of recalling incidents from their time together in Vietnam unleashed longdormant memories for him.

Talking with Shu, Bixby realized he had been suffering from the same Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) symptoms and that they had become more extreme after September 11th. In 2002 the Veterans Administration certified him as permanently and totally disabled due to PTSD. He recounted an incident when he was filming a piece in Cooperstown, NY in the back yard of one of the town’s patrons of the arts. “Someone in the next yard fired a shot to kill a varmint. I immediately hit

www.BeaufortLifestyle.com | February/March 2016

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TOM BIXBY: Director, Producer, Screenwriter, Scholar,Veteran Templar Films Tom Bixby has directed, written and produced more than 1,000 commercials, sales, training and promotional films, and marketing campaigns over his career spanning more than 35 years. His clients have included Ford, Texas Instruments, KFC, Levi’s, IBM, Playtex, Suzuki, The New York Times, NAPA, DuPont and Upjohn, to name a few. Bixby’s work has garnered dozens of awards for his clients, including a National Telly for best retail spot and a number of first and second place awards from the International Association of Business Communicators, the International Television Association, the American Advertising Federation, and the Public Relations Society of America.

Education He earned a BFA degree in Film Production from New York University, where he also served as a technical instructor. In addition, he completed graduate studies in psychology at UCLA and at Vanderbilt University.

Organizations Bixby has been listed in Marquis’ Who’s Who in Entertainment.

He is a life member of Disabled American Veterans and is a member of Vietnam Veterans of America, Directors Guild of America, Mensa and Triple Nine Society. the ground, pulled the camera over on top of me, and tried to shoot back with the camera,” he exclaimed.

In an essay he wrote in 2010, Bixby relates another disturbing incident that happened when he was out with his young children, daughter Kayla and son Morgan.

“Something falls off a shelf at Toys-RUS. It makes a loud bang. Your muscles contract. You let out a small yell. You dive into a crouch and your hands fly up into a firing position as if you had a rifle. Your head whips toward the noise. Your kids freeze. ‘Whoa,’ says your eight-year-old daughter as she stares wide eyed and open mouthed at the monster that just leapt out of the closet ready to kill.” (Excerpt from, A Case of the A.S.S., copyright 2010 by Tom Bixby.)

In 2012, Tom Bixby’s worst nightmare came true—his 22-year-old Army Ranger son, Morgan, who had completed three tours of duty in Afghanistan, committed suicide. Morgan suffered from an extreme case of PTSD due to life-altering experiences while he was deployed.

His Army Ranger unit had to break off a successful assault and instead fight their way through an imminent ambush to protect the crash site of the downed Chinook helicopter, carrying members of Navy Seal Team Six. Morgan had to spend

48 hours on that site with the burned and co-mingled bodies of the Seal Team members—men who had comprised the other half of his strike force and who had tented with and worked with Morgan for months. In separate incidents during the same deployment, his mentor and best friend was mortally wounded and died in Morgan’s arms, a junior member of the fire team Morgan led was killed, and more than a dozen members of his platoon were wounded.

After he returned home from Afghanistan, Morgan married in 2012. Just a few months later, though, when Tom and his wife Patti were in route from California to move to Beaufort, they received the call telling them Morgan had died. PTSD has devastated two generations of the Bixby family.

Finding Himself Tom Bixby has just written a new book scheduled to be available by February 2016, Crazy Me—How I Lost Reality and Found Myself, published by MPM of Stockbridge, MA. (For more information on his book, visit www.myserenitypress. com.) Crazy Me is a moving personal account of Bixby’s fight to recover from PTSD with Schizophrenia. Bixby says that

20 February/March 2016 | www.BeaufortLifestyle.com

the book reveals the “split mind” of the disease as a battle between a long hidden natural self and a false self, created to survive a world of childhood disease, bullying, emotional repression and the horrors of war.

“I entered therapy in the 1970s, and as incidents from my past surfaced, I had to look deeper and do more reflection,” Bixby said. “What I’ve discovered is that I had to stay with feelings. I feel that now, I’ve found a floor upon which I can rest and open space above me to explore.”

“For years I had resisted or denied my feelings to the point that I began to lose touch with external reality. I lived in constant terror that my body and the world around me would dissolve and my naked soul would fall for all eternity into an endless pit of black flames, pursued and tormented by demons. What I finally discovered was that even the most excruciating and disturbing of my repressed feelings wouldn’t kill me. The crazy world I had invented merely served the purpose of concealing the feelings I was so afraid of. When I was finally able to experience them fully and directly through my art and psychotherapy, I not only found my true self, but I discovered the world was a workable place after all,” Bixby explained.

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21

Nan Sutton: Hometown Girl story by kim poovey photography by susan deloach

“I love this town and its beauty. My favorite thing is coming toward Bay Street from Ribault Road when the breeze is coming off the river bending the moss sideways-there’s nothing more beautiful than that.” - Nan Sutton

B

eaufort’s majestic charm exhales over towering oaks, across glimmering estuaries, and through swaying marsh grasses. After spending 16 years in New York City and traveling the world, Nan Sutton returned to her beloved home where the salty marsh waters run through her veins. Nan’s eyes sparkle as she reminisces about her small town childhood surrounded by nature’s beauty and a loving family. Raised on the Beaufort River, Nan is the youngest of three children. Her mother was the “strong, silent type,” while her father was “the personality, he always knew the right line and the right joke.”

A close knit family, Nan shared memories of her older brother Steve Brown picking her up by her ears as well as boating on the Beaufort River with her father, Ned Brown.

“Dad was a Lowcountry river rat born in 1923 on Parris Island.” The property overlooking the river on which she and her siblings grew up was purchased by her father from Kate Gleason in the 1940s.

Other nostalgic reminiscences include typical coastal pastimes such as sailing a Sunfish and water skiing. More specific recollections were the purchase of an Easter outfit, complete with gloves, hat, shoes, and a dress from Kenwin’s on Bay Street. She remembers fondly “when mom and I would sneak into Koth’s grocery store before Sunday school each week for a coke with crushed ice and a package of Nabs crackers. My grandmother owned Sally’s Alteration shop on West Street where the Old Bull

Tavern is now located. She would give me a quarter and I’d go to Edward’s 5 & 10 for candy.” Nan went on to share memories of local downtown businesses of the time to include Edwards 5 & 10, Luther’s Pharmacy, the Breeze Theater (now Panini’s), People’s Bank, and Kenwin’s. “I worked at Belks (now the Saltus building) in high school wrapping presents at

Christmas. Now my employees refer to me as the “wrapping Nazi” because I insist on well wrapped packages. I got it from working at Belk’s all those years ago.”

Nan graduated high school from Beaufort Academy and went on to earn

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a degree in business from the College of Charleston. Her travels have taken her around the world to places like England, Rome, and her favorite, Paris.

Following college graduation, Nan accepted a job in marketing at Sea Pines on Hilton Head Island. Having done some acting in college she was surprised to receive a call at her office from a casting agent based upon a recommendation from her collegiate director. Despite her love of the theater, Nan adamantly declined.

Undeterred, the casting director called again the next day imploring her to reconsider. Finally, she accepted his offer to meet for an audition.

A few days later she drove to Charleston and met the man at a hotel. Walking into one of the rooms she was introduced to another director sitting in a chair near a vestibule with photos of well-known actors starring in the film. She read for the part and left. A week later they offered her the role as Linda Holland, sister of Alex Holland (played by Ray Wise) in the cult classic, The Swamp Thing. She would later discover that the other director present during her reading was the infamous Wes Craven.

Months after filming was complete, Nan received a letter from Wes with both ‘good and bad news.’ The good news being none of her scenes were cut. The bad news was her southern accent made an unbelievable sister to her on-screen brother, Alex Holland. The solution was unusual but effective. They dubbed her voice with that of a Los Angeles actress. “I remember Wes yelling “cut” after one of my scenes

www.BeaufortLifestyle.com | February/March 2016

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saying my accent was too southern. The line was “It’s replicating like mad” which apparently came out as “mayad.” He had me repeat the word several times in an effort to sound more like “mad.” I never realized I had a southern accent, it’s just the way I spoke.”

Nan would learn more about dialect and accents while training in New York City with world-renowned acting teacher, Uta Hagen, for five years. However, her acting career was short-lived and she took a job managing United Nations Catering at the UN building. Being in charge, she was responsible for all of the catered events in the North Lounge, an exciting endeavor exposing her to many heads of state including Margaret Thatcher, Fidel Castro, Yassir Arafat and President Bill Clinton.

Returning to Beaufort to be with her mother who was ill, Nan decided to follow a dream from her college days; opening a business of her own. Decades after college, her dream was realized in 2000 when she opened Lulu Burgess in downtown Beaufort. It was this very enterprise that

introduced her to the love of her life, husband Mike Sutton. “I was being shown the space for my store and Mike was the contractor. He was in the building with his crew when I walked in.” They started dating after that chance encounter and celebrated their 11th wedding anniversary on New Year’s Eve. They live with their adored dog, Lulu Belle. When the opportunity arises for a getaway, she and Mike enjoy vacationing in the Caribbean.

Not surprisingly she shared, “I love the beach and the water.”

On her day off each week, Nan enjoys curling up with magazines followed by a nap. “I’m a magazine junkie, especially ones with beautiful photography. I love house magazines.” When asked if she had a hobby she responded, “No, I don’t have much time for that but if I did it would be photography. My father always hoped I’d be a photographer.”

Nan enjoys a wide range of movies from classic oldies like Sound of Music to modern day films such as Love Actually and Galaxy Quest. Reading is a rare

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treat with favorite tomes by Pat Conroy, particularly The Great Santini and Beach Music. Musical interests include a plethora of styles encompassing acoustic vocalists, in addition to Adele, Bonnie Raitt and Sarah McLachlin.

Nan’s friendly nature and empathetic manner are apparent when asked what she would request if given three wishes. “I would wish for an end to child and animal abuse, a cure for Alzheimer’s and cancer, and a good ole vacation.” Her goals for the future are straightforward. “Make enough money to retire someday. I just have to keep working hard.”

Nan is a hometown girl exuding the same heart, soul and beauty as the salty marshes and billowing moss laden trees surrounding her. One thing is certain; her love of Beaufort is as deep as the river on which she was raised. “I love this town and its beauty. My favorite thing is coming toward Bay Street from Ribault Road when the breeze is coming off the river bending the moss sideways-there’s nothing more beautiful than that.”

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Richard Jones: Magician To Actor story by mary ellen thompson

photography by john wollwerth

“Acting is illusion, as much illusion as magic is...”

R

ichard Jones loves the limelight; it all started when he fell under the spell of Houdini when he was thirteen. Not one to be bound by convention, instead of following his friends to factory jobs after high school, Richard married his sweetheart, Becky, and practiced magic.

Having read a book about Houdini in the sixth grade, Richard started entertaining his friends and neighbors with illusions that he created. Eventually Becky became his assistant and they toured with their show, Richard Jones Magic and Illusions. They were getting ready to do a show on the Fox network when Becky became ill; she passed away in 2008 and, unwilling to continue without her, Richard put all his magic tricks to rest.

He found the experience of being on the stage translated easily for him into acting, and for the past several years Richard has been working in film and television.

“I enjoy being part of the group, it’s a well orchestrated experience with many moving parts. I started working in background just to get the experience, then I started to do features and now I have small speaking

- Sir Laurence Olivier

parts. In 2015 I was in six movies, five television shows, and other commercials and videos.” He has appeared in notable series such as Nashville and Reckless, and is hoping to be cast in Basement Bob. “I worked as a stand-in on Dirty Grandpa with Robert DeNiro, I would be on the set while they were getting the cameras set up and the lighting just right, while the star waited in his trailer for the actual shooting to begin. I also was in a movie last fall where I did my own stunt

work - they chopped me up. That was very interesting and reminded me of when I used to saw my wife in half during our act.”

Richard and Becky and their daughters, Beth, and the triplets, Susan, Linda and

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Cheryl, lived in Ohio. “We had so many adventures,” he remembers. There was the time he rented tigers for his magic act, “They came from Rent-A-Tiger, actually I had to rent two. I produced the tiger at the end of the show and he kept sticking his paw out of the cage. After a few times, I played along with him and acted like I had trained him to high five. We also had raccoons, rabbits, and an albino skunk (named Flower), for the acts.”

Then there was the time in the late 1980s when “I saw a hot air balloon flying over our house and told my wife I wanted to fly one of those. She said, ‘How can we do that?’ So I found, and bought a hot air balloon, got my pilot’s license, which is the same as a regular pilots license, and started doing competition flying. The longest jump I ever did was from Indiana to West Virginia in the winter. I was flying at 10,000 feet in the jet stream and made the trip in four hours. My wife always drove the chase vehicle. Then I started working on my blimp license but I had three heart attacks and decided I didn’t need to be up there.

Richard sails the seas as well as the sky.

Beaufort Lifestyle | February/March 2016 27

“Becky’s aunt and uncle lived in Wood’s Hole MA. When we went to visit them we learned to sail there on Cape Cod.” In 2012, Richard decided sell his house since all the daughters were married and he was alone there. He bought a 34’ Hunter sailboat in Miami, and headed north.

About that same time, Hurricane Sandy had the same idea. “I was out in the ocean for two weeks during Sandy. I ran out of rum and cigars so I pulled into Beaufort. I wasn’t planning on staying here but it was November and the weather wasn’t good for sailing then.” Of course, Beaufort worked its charm on Richard the way it has so with many of us, and he is still living on his boat in Port Royal.

“I would love to get more movies and television shows here; the state took our tax incentives away. There are twenty

seven television shows and films being shot in Georgia this month and four movies will soon be made in Savannah.

“I’ve played several parts: doctor, lawyer, plantation owner, detective. But I really wish I could have been on Cheers, which was my all time favorite show. I wanted to sit beside Norm. He sent me an autographed photo for Christmas one year.

“Tomorrow I’m going to Georgia to be a day player. It will probably be a twelve hour day where they will give me breakfast, then I’ll get in costume and make-up and I may sit in the dressing room for six or seven hours before I go out on the set.”

When asked how he gets in character, Richard replied, “I read; hopefully I get enough of the script to get a feel for it. I had no training for acting; in my magic act, I had a script. However, I never followed

28 February/March 2016 | www.BeaufortLifestyle.com

it because you never knew what would happen with audience participation. I love ad-libbing, thinking quickly on the spot.

A lot of people think acting is just reading the lines but you have to add the emotion and sometimes ad-lib. One time my magic show was on the radio; I got to the studio with a bag full of cards and ropes, which I realized weren’t going to do much good on radio. As soon as I walked in they said ‘You’re on the air!’ and someone asked me, ‘How did you get into magic?’ I said, My grandpa pulled my finger!

“There are a lot of actors who just started off doing background, like Matt Damon and Clint Eastwood, just like I’m doing now. I hope we’ll do Basement Bob; I want bigger parts this year.” Maybe you’ll see Richard on one of your favorite shows, or maybe it will just be an illusion.

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www.BeaufortLifestyle.com | February/March 2016

29

CONSTRUCTION: The Process of Creating and Building...Anything

L

story by mary ellen thompson

eo Gannon is a man filled with tremendous creativity. According to his professional bio, “Leo... is a perfect example of the modern equivalent of a renaissance man. His technical aptitude coupled with his creative talent and passion make spending time around Leo an enlightening experience.” This description could not be more true, and as we talk, we agree, tongue in cheek, that it is all about him.

Apparently his wife, Kim Quixell, says the same thing.

Kim and Leo came to Beaufort in 1989, shortly after Leo found out that during the years his parents had spent driving from New York to Florida and back, they had stopped in this area and his father had purchased land on Callawassie. Leo inherited the land and they designed and built their first house.

With a degree in Construction Management from Oklahoma State University, Leo spent much of his life working in the residential construction business. Building homes in Oklahoma, South Dakota, Connecticut and New York’s Hudson Valley preceded his time in the Lowcountry. He has served on the Architectural Review Board of Callawassie Island, and the Spring Island Habitat Review Board. And in 1991

30 February/March 2016 | www.BeaufortLifestyle.com

photography by paul nurnberg he became a part of the Spring Island Company’s development team overseeing and managing vertical construction.

The love of the big screen, for Leo, started here in the early 90‘s when Kim read that the production team was seeking extras for The Prince of Tides. Leo was out of town so she took his information to the set. “At five o’clock in the morning, I got a phone call asking if I was interested in being a stand-in for Nick Nolte, so I went. I just walked in, I didn’t know what to do.” He subsequently landed small roles in Last Dance and White Squall.

In the mid-90’s, Leo took a hiatus for about five years, and the family moved back to the Hudson Valley area of New York, where Kim and Leo had grown up, so he could pursue acting as a career. “I thought, yeah, I’ll go to New York and I’ll be a big time actor. Our family was there and our daughter, Logan, had many cousins there that we wanted her to meet and spend time with.”

Leo’s interest in acting began many years before he walked onto the set of Prince of Tides.

When he was 22, he took to the stage for the first time as Kenny in Jules Feiffer’s Little Murders in Garrison, NY. “ I had a friend who was auditioning and he encouraged me to tag along.

www.BeaufortLifestyle.com | February/March 2016

31

The plays were staged in an aging train depot which I liked, so I tried acting. I knew what it was like to be on stage because I once was a singer in a rock ‘n roll band in high school, called The High Tides; we modeled ourselves after the Dave Clark 5. My dad and my grandmother were professional dancers and dance teachers; and my father also acted and directed in regional theater.”

While in New York, Leo landed the lead role in the film Coyotes. “The director and I had a common friend, so I received an invitation to audition, and a copy of the script. I was back in Beaufort to see old friends and I was able to get Jeff Evans to shoot a video of me performing the scene, and I got the part.

“I flew to Los Angeles from New York; the young actress who played my daughter in the film, Kirsten Carmody, flew in from Florida, and we met at the director’s house. After a few hours of discussion about the story of a down-and-out dad and his daughter, the director did something very interesting. He gave us each $50 and told us to go to Goodwill and buy our wardrobe for the film. It was a great idea as it helped us to step into character and get to know each other. The film was shot in fifteen days in Baja, Mexico. The director had shot a documentary about giant squid there, and he wrote Coyotes with that in mind. Every night the script would be revised for the next day’s shoot depending on the weather, or if we could secure permission for the locations. I really enjoyed the under the gun collaboration; it was intensive.”

Coyotes went on to win awards in the Savannah Film Festival, the Palm Springs Film Festival and the Austin Film Festival.

After Coyotes, that director asked Leo to play Woodes Rogers in the television documentary, Pirate Tales, which was filmed in Puerto Rico. Leo also co-starred in the film Lush Life as the agent of a struggling novelist. Leo recalls, “It was filmed in Brooklyn,

32 February/March 2016 | www.BeaufortLifestyle.com

NY, and the director was in the graduate school of NYU. At that time Brooklyn was starting its resurgence - changing from postindustrial to artsy. It was a very exciting environment.”

With a few more credits under his belt, Leo decided that acting wasn’t paying the bills. Leo received a call from his former business partner, Larry Naylor, in 2001 asking him if he was interested in coming back to Beaufort and Leo accepted. His decision to foray away from business and into acting, and back again was captured by his character’s sarcastic self realizations in Coyotes. “You know there was a time when it all made sense. You took a look around at people; what they did to get ahead, and said, ‘Forget it. Forget that game.’ And then the years fly by and you’re forty, forty-five, without a pot to piss in. I guess we showed them, didn’t we? We beat the game.”

Although Leo may not have beaten the acting game in the big city, he still has enjoyed being in several local and regional productions on stage. One of his favorite parts was playing Atticus Finch in To Kill a Mockingbird performed at USCB; “I always wanted to play Atticus.” Still on his wish list is to perform as Willy Loman in Death of a Salesman.

Happily ensconced at Habersham, Leo continues to not only work in the building business, but also enjoys running his wildly popular restaurant, the Spaghetti Club.

The Spaghetti Club is a wonderful venue for musicians and other performers. If you hit it on the right night, you may just find Leo and/or Logan performing. So once again, we find that Leo is never too far from the stage. True to his measure of a renaissance man, Leo remarks, “I find the parallel of designing and building anything - a house, a toaster, anything, is not that different from designing and building a character.”

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121 Dataw Drive, Dataw Island, SC 29920 DatawCaters@islc.net www.BeaufortLifestyle.com | February/March 2016

33

Joe Johnson:

Actor, Artist, Musician story by jeff whitten photography by john wollwerth

34 February/March 2016 | www.BeaufortLifestyle.com

A

At the tail end of a long conversation it comes, a sudden streak of melancholy from Joe Johnson, the still mostly unknown actor, artist and musician who has called Beaufort home for more than a decade.

Maybe it’s the PTSD, which by now nearly everyone knows is short for post traumatic stress disorder. Johnson, a Vietnam vet who saw combat more than 40 years ago, said he didn’t even know he had PTSD until the VA diagnosed it a few years ago and gave him 70 percent disability.

“I think I could actually get in my truck right now and drive out of town and never come back,” Johnson said, toward the end of a conversation that went some three hours and touched on just about everything under the sun. “ And I wouldn’t have anybody to stop to say goodbye to, and I’ve been here such a long time, and I know plenty of people, but I don’t have any friends on a day to day basis. Nobody I can call up on a Tuesday night and say let’s go out and do something.”

He paused.

“I’m like a dog circling the rug looking for his spot to lie down. I guess I’m still looking for my spot on the rug.”

Yet temporary bouts with wanderlust notwithstanding, Johnson loves Beaufort, loves the trips to the grocery store and the conversations he has with people he’s never met. “It’s the way it’s supposed to be,” Johnson said.

“They look you in the eyes down here and talk to you. That would never happen in Chicago.”

And this acting thing, which Johnson does a couple times a year, is really more a way to get him out of his comfort zone than it is about becoming the next big thing.

“All the things I do, I do by myself,” Johnson said. “Painting, fishing, working with glass, that’s all me being by myself, and I didn’t even realize it until it was pointed out to me. I was like, ‘oh, man, I’ve got to do something to get out of this shell.’ So I do the movie thing for enjoyment and it’s fun and it also gets me out of my comfort zone and in among a bunch of people doing something you wouldn’t normally get to do.”

Still, if acting is therapy for Johnson, and it is, it isn’t the only reason he looks for roles and is a member of such groups as Beaufort Film Society and the Savannah Film Alliance and so on. There’s the camaraderie with the extras and the folks who work on the sets to factor in. Johnson has been in 13 movies so far, mostly as an extra, but he has worked on the sets of some major productions like Savannah with Jim Caviezel and Chiwetel Ejifor, and the upcoming Birth of a Nation.

Johnson played a slave owner in that one and likened that to being in a movie about the second World War and then

finding out he had to play a Nazi. He’s had a few lines in movies done by Savannah College of Art and Design students. He’s even had lunch with movie icon Hal Holbrook in Springfield down in Effingham County while working on Savannah, where they talked about the area and people and that sort of thing.

Johnson’s even been in the same scene with Kim Delany, who isn’t bad to look at, but if acting is over tomorrow, it’s over tomorrow. There are too many other things to be interested in.

“If being in a movie ever got to be a chore, I’d stop. I’ve got plenty of other things to do,” Johnson said. “I do it because it’s fun, but I didn’t spend years in Julliard, I didn’t take acting classes ever, and it hasn’t been my lifetime expectation hoping to be able to do this. I do it because it’s a hoot.”

He puts the emphasis on that word. “Hoot.”

And that’s not the entire story, either. Even if he did give up acting tomorrow, Johnson is hoping for a part in Basement Bob, perhaps the most anticipated film to be made in Beaufort in years. “I’d like to do that one,” he said.

As for his acting style, it’s nothing fancy. Just do what they tell you to do and try not to look like you’re acting. Like Robert Duvall, the greatest American actor of our time.

It’s a talent.

And a thing to try and get good at. Like painting and glasswork and fishing and cooking ­­Johnson’s a vegetarian ­­and swimming, all of which help fill the days. Two hours of painting a day, no more or he’ll be making “mud,” but other than that, the man’s schedule is flexible.

Things to do you do when you can.

Johnson did that, went from Vietnam to building his own one-man computer technology company ­­“I was president, CEO and janitor” ­­to taking a job at Clemson in 2000. He lived in Seneca while he did the job, loved it.

“When I came to South Carolina, I didn’t know anybody, I’d never been to South Carolina before,” Johnson said. “Lucky for me, people turned out to be so nice, and there are such nice beautiful physical surroundings, and 98 percent of the people are wonderful.”

Still, in 2003 he went back to Chicago to give living there another try. When he got robbed of a 100­-year-­old violin he bought in Saluda, he put his two apartment buildings up for sale and started looking for another place to exist and found the Lowcountry. “I can’t go back to Chicago to live, it makes me crazy. Every morning you read of the killings of the day, three dead, 14 shot, or 11 shot, two dead, every day, every day,” he said. “My son is still back there and I’ve got brothers and sisters there, but I’ve lost my city skills. Plus, I get cold at nearly 70.”

Still, he goes back, though the trips are getting shorter.

Johnson comes from a big Irish family. One of the www.BeaufortLifestyle.com | February/March 2016

35

photographs on a wall in his home not covered by one of his paintings is of Johnson’s maternal grandfather and three brothers, dressed in Chicago police uniforms. Johnson’s grandfather, a Madigan, immigrated to America from Ireland, and the family settled on the Southside of Chicago where Johnson was raised and attended Catholic schools and was tough as they come, maybe because he slept on a bunkbed in the same room with four of his brothers until he went into the Army.

“My dad worked for the railroad, my mom raised seven kids, and we’re all still real close, although we’re scattered from California to Texas to Chicago.”

These days, Johnson’s son Jacob still works in Chicago as a first responder, but at 38 he’s planning to cash in and maybe open a pizza restaurant on an island off Thailand. Johnson’s younger son Brian is a pipefitter and welder in Chicago. He’s married to Stephanie and they have three children, Lucas, Bella and Finley, and it’s clear Johnson is a proud father and grandfather.

He’s also proud of his Irish heritage, misses Irish music in Chicago bars on Sunday nights when you could pitch in with a tin whistle or fiddle. Johnson has an Irish passport, can travel Europe but seems mostly content to stick close to where he is now, doing the movie thing in the Southeast between Savannah and Beaufort and nearabouts. His paintings are quite good, he’s sold 15 or so ­­and recently bought equipment to work with glass to make chandeliers and so on.

Still, the urge to find that spot in the universe to settle down is at odds with the urge to see what’s just around the corner. It’s what makes artists what they are, and Johnson is an artist, even if he’s just now finding that out.

843-379-5503

35 Parris Island Gateway • Beaufort, South Carolina 29906

Everything You Need...

Elegant Events H

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Wedding Hall Live Flowers Decorations Live DJ Planning Rental Store

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36 February/March 2016 | www.BeaufortLifestyle.com

dining guide

L

LAZY SUSAN’S CAFÉ & CREPERIE story by carol lauvray

ooking for a delicious change of pace for breakfast or lunch instead of the usual fare? Then Lazy Susan’s Café & Creperie in the nearby Habersham community may be just the place you’ve been searching for! Nestled among the shops and restaurants in the quaint town center, Lazy Susan’s offers its signature crepes—very thin, light and airy pancakes—wrapped around a wide variety of savory and sweet fillings to satisfy every palate.

Signature Crepes From menu favorites like the number-one-selling Huevos Rancheros crepes (jalapeno, sausage, bell peppers, avocado, egg, pico, and cheese, topped with a fried egg) and the French Englishman (tomato, bacon, cream cheese and egg), to newer offerings like the John Wayne (black forest ham, cream cheese, jalapeno and tomato) and the Vegetarian Rainforest crepe (bell pepper, mushroom, onion, spinach, tomato and pesto), these delicious crepes will tantalize your taste buds! Lazy Susan’s owner, Marine Captain Phillip “SUSAN” Goebel, says that he likes to give his crepes fun and interesting names, like the James Bond, Paris at Noon, and The Old Forge, which is named after his family’s creperie located in Put-In-Bay, Ohio.

But don’t forget dessert! For those who want to indulge their sweet tooth, try one of the sweet crepes—the Turtle (Nutella, caramel, sliced almond and sea salt), the Snickerdoodle (butter, cinnamon and sugar), the Honeymoon (Ghirardelli dark chocolate, whipped cream and almonds), or Carolina Summer (blueberry, chocolate, glazed pecan and whipped cream), to name just some of the possibilities! Your kids will love Lazy Susan’s too, where they can choose from these Kids Crepes selections—Pizza, Banana Crunch, and P, B & J.

photography by paul nurnberg Gourmet Coffees

And for coffee lovers, Lazy Susan’s serves its own special blend of Brazilian, Colombian, Guatemalan and Honduran coffees, which soon will be sold as whole roasted beans at the restaurant so patrons can enjoy brewing it at home. Phil says Lazy Susan’s blend, with its light roasted beans, is actually stronger and has more caffeine than darker roast coffees. The café also serves Ethiopian and decaffeinated brewed coffees, as well making all of their coffees using larger ground beans and a French Press, for those who prefer a more intense, full-flavored coffee experience.

And you’ll be able to enjoy your coffee at the café in Le Creuset serve ware in colorful Marseilles Blue, Flame Orange or Cherry Red. Weekends at Lazy Susan’s Weekends are special at Lazy Susan’s—that’s when the café features one of its most popular dishes, Red Pepper Biscuits and Gravy. Be sure to come early to get yours, because the café sells out of it quickly on Saturdays and Sundays—it’s not offered during the week and you can’t call ahead to order it, so you’ll just have to get up early! Another popular feature at the café is the special Mimosas—8 ounces of champagne and orange juice, with just a splash of Grenadine for sweetness, served in a 12-ounce Pilsner glass. Phil, who used to bartend when in college, created the café’s signature drink, which happily is available every day the café is open. He notes that a traditional Mimosa is just 5 to 6 ounces, so you get a lot more to enjoy at Lazy Susan’s!

The café also celebrates the Habersham community’s First Friday (of the month) Habby Hour from 5 PM to 7 PM with specials. Recent offerings for the monthly event included cheese www.BeaufortLifestyle.com | February/March 2016

37

dining guide and chocolate fondue, a triple-decker grilled cheese, and a tomato-basil soup bread bowl. Plans are in the works for a Valentine’s Day Dessert Special at February’s First Friday Habby Hour, so mark your calendar now!

Winter Panini Specials at Lazy Susan’s This winter, in addition to crepes, you can enjoy these features: • Paris at Midnight Panini—Ham, Swiss and, Dijon mustard • Green Goddess Panini—Avocado, spinach and pesto • Caprese Panini—Tomato, mozzarella and balsamic glaze • Pizza Panini—Pepperoni, mozzarella and marinara • Sweet Bananas Panini—Bananas, Nutella and sugar Winter Drink Specials • Pumpkin Spice Latte • Salted Caramel Hot Chocolate • Hot Caramel Apple cider A Neighborhood Connection and Welcoming Atmosphere Aside from the mouth-watering food and drinks, what makes Lazy Susan’s Café and Creperie a special place? It’s the friendly atmosphere and staff who warmly welcome patrons. Phil and his staff personally greet folks when they enter the café and engage them in conversation—it’s more like a neighbor saying ‘hello’ than the owner of an establishment. Phil says that the Habersham neighborhood is very supportive of the businesses in the community and that it’s easy to get close with customers who patronize his café. The ambiance of the café welcomes guests too.

It’s a cozy, comfortable space painted in warm yellow tones with turquoise accents—and filled with homey touches including a coffee-cup chandelier overhead. Phil has decorated the café with his personal collection of military photos and mementos as well.

A Marine F/A-18 Pilot with VMFA (AW)-533 at Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort, Phil, who has been deployed to Middle Eastern countries several times, greeted me for our interview in his leather flight jacket and uniform. He said he was leaving afterward to do training on a flight simulator and had flown a couple of days earlier, but emphasized that he would love to fly every day if he could.

Phil is quick to acknowledge his café staff, comprised almost entirely of Marines’ wives, for their outstanding work and support. “My staff has done an absolutely phenomenal job since we opened the café in July 2014, running the business in my absence for nearly a year while I was stationed at Camp Lejeune. Lazy Susan’s would not be the success it is now without the dedicated folks who work here,” he said. “They are amazing people, and the reason people return again and again.”

Coming Soon!

What’s next for Lazy Susan’s? Phil says he’s planning to expand soon into the mobile crepe-cart business at festivals, farmers’ markets, receptions, parties and showers. “I want to be able to bring Lazy Susan’s food to my customers wherever they are,” Phil exclaimed.

38 February/March 2016 | www.BeaufortLifestyle.com

NEW ADDITIONS! Beer and Wine License • Mimosas • Paninis Whole bean coffee sales of our Lazy Susan’s House Blend “HABBY HOUR” from 5-7 the first Friday of each month featuring a new dish each time: Fondue, Tomato basil bread bowls, Triple Decker Grilled Cheese, Broccoli Cheese Soup.

dining guide 1635 On The Avenue 1635 Paris Avenue Port Royal, SC (843) 379-0607 Breakwater Restaurant and Bar 102 Carteret Street, Suite 102, Beaufort SC 29902 (843) 379-0052 www.breakwatersc.com Lazy Susan’s Cafe & Creperie 31A Market Street Habersham, SC 29906 (843) 466-0735 www.lazysusanscafe.com

Luther’s Rare and Well Done 910 Bay Street Beaufort,SC 29902 843-521-1888 www.luthersrareandwelldone. com Sea Eagle Market 2242 Boundary Street, Beaufort, SC. (843) 521-5090 www.seaeaglemarket.com SMOKIN’ PLANKS BBQ AND SMOKEHOUSE 914 Paris Avenue, Port Royal, SC (843) 522-0322 today. www.smokinplanks.com

Lazy Susan’s

Impressions are everything.

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Make yours today.

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Serving The Best Steaks, Ribs & Chops In Town.

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Where The Locals Go...

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Open 7 Days A Week 11:00 AM - 2 AM

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A Special Sunday Brunch for Valentines day Limited Menu Reservations Only 11:30 am -2:00 pm Sunday, Feb. 14th 1635 Paris Avenue • Port Royal, South Carolina • (843) 379-0607 Lunch: Tuesday-Friday 11:30-2 • Dinner: Thursday-Saturday 5 until... www.BeaufortLifestyle.com | February/March 2016

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t i s i V Port Royal Village Treasures Furniture • Decor • Jewelry • Vintage

WE’RE STILL HERE! LOADS OF NEW STUFF

Come see us in Port Royal

1215 Paris Ave, Port Royal, SC 29935 843-379-5599 Hours: Monday - Saturday 10am-5pm

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If your pet isn’t becoming to you, it should be coming to us!

Murals and Furniture Makeovers Also offering Commissioned Fine Art Aki Kato

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www.portroyalveterinaryhospital.com Mon 10am-8pm • Tues,Wed,Thurs,Fri 8-6 Sat 8-2 • Closed Sunday

Visit my homepage to see more work.

Call or Email Aki for a free estimate & consultation for Beaufort, Bluffton and Hilton Head area customers!

40 October/November 2015 | www.BeaufortLifestyle.com

real estate

This Home is Offered By: Greg Bennett (843) 812-0623 greg@beaufortrealtyconsultants.com

www.BeaufortLifestyle.com | February/March 2016

41

C

PRI

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UCT

ED ER

10 MISES ROAD

Beautiful, traditional Lowcountry home in New Point, one of Beaufort’s most sought after neighborhoods!

The wide double front porches are the perfect place to entertain or simply enjoy the outdoors. A gorgeous sunroom is the perfect place for family time and easily flows into the eat in kitchen. The first floor also hosts a large utility room as well as a bedroom and full bath. There is a large Master Suite and cozy bedroom upstairs, both with en suite baths. Walk down the tree lined sidewalks to enjoy the community dock! This home has wonderful updates, has been well cared for and is ready for new owners!

MLS#143828 $410,000

Ethan James,

Meet the

27 KATELYN’S WAY

Great Lady’s Island home conveniently located close to all that Beaufort has to offer.

Open living space that flows into the dining space and spacious kitchen. A large utility room offers plenty of space for laundry and a large pantry. Master suite has great closet space and an en suite bathroom. Enjoy the Lowcountry seasons on the screened porch that opens to the large fenced in backyard. Great home with lots of charm!

MLS#143973 $218,000

Amy Achurch REALTOR

REALTOR

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www.VisitSeaIslandRentals.com 42 February/March 2016 | www.BeaufortLifestyle.com

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Serving Beaufort and the Sea Islands

Fripp Island, Harbor Island, Coosaw Point, Beaufort 2 Harbor Drive Harbor Island, SC 29920 843-838-3004- office

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No one is risk free when it comes to the No one is risk free when it comes to the #1 cause of property damage from #1 cause of property damage from natural disasters - flood. Keep everything natural disasters - flood. Keep everything you value Safe. Sound. Secure.® from a you value Safe. Sound. Secure.® from a flood with Auto-Owners Insurance! flood with Auto-Owners Insurance!

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44 February/March 2016 | www.BeaufortLifestyle.com

Let’s Do Business...

IN BEAUFORT www.BeaufortLifestyle.com | June/July 2015

45

LOWCOUNTRY

INSURANCE SERVICES

S

ome things never change, and having an insurance agent you can depend on day after day, night after night, right here in the Lowcountry is one of them.

Lowcountry Insurance Services has been a valued member of the Beaufort community since 1977. It’s a local business with the mission of serving the insurance needs of Lowcountry residents and protecting the interests of each and every customer while providing adequate coverages and premiums that are affordable.

That’s something that’s never changed.

But some things do change. And that’s good, too.

As more people discover the Lowcountry, the more it grows, and evolves, Lowcountry Insurance Services is keeping up with those changes where it matters, and that’s serving the community better. Whether it’s utilizing the latest technology to serve its customers, or making sure staff members are up to date on the latest in the insurance industry, Lowcountry Insurance Services strives to be the area’s premiere independent agency through its office on Lady’s Island and in Bluffton.

In order to serve customers better, Lowcountry Insurance Services offers coverage through some of the best-rated companies in the world. Lowcountry Insurance Service also has the ability to write with companies that others in the area cannot, bringing customers lower premiums while helping them navigate the ins and outs of property and flood insurance - a vital need in the Lowcountry.

That’s the beauty of choosing an independent agent to handle your insurance needs, whether its auto, home, commercial or workers comp. You’re choosing an advocate and an expert to make sure you’re protected.

Jeff Althoff President of Lowcountry Insurance Services “To me, being an advocate means being on the side of the customer. Part of what makes us so competitive is that we have so many companies to shop from in order to provide the best program for our customers needs,” said Jeff Althoff, president of Lowcountry Insurance Services. “ We offer personalized service, and we are constantly improving our staff through professional development through industry education.”

You don’t stay in business for more than three decades without doing something right, and Lowcountry Insurance has many satisfied customers. But there’s more to it than that. Althoff, who is president of the Rotary Club of the Lowcountry, notes it’s also about being involved in the community.

46 February/March 2016 | www.BeaufortLifestyle.com

“Many of our employees grew up in or around Beaufort County,” Althoff said.

“We’re a local, hometown agency and we provide personal service, honesty and integrity.”

Whether it’s sponsoring nonprofit events, being active in the Beaufort Chamber of Commerce, or supporting our local Toys for Tots Foundation, Lowcountry Insurance Services is involved and dedicated to serving you better.

Lowcountry Insurance Services has two locations to serve you -- 80 Ladys Island Drive in Beaufort, phone 843-522-2020, and 10 Pinckney Colony Road in Bluffton, phone 843-815-2121.

Visit www.lowcountryinurance.com , or call toll free at 1-800-883-7209 for more information .

We are the Lowcountry Property & Flood EXPERTS

We offer competitive prices because we represent many insurance carriers... not just one!

Question: At what age should I consider the purchase of long term care insurance protection?

Phil in Beaufort

80 Ladys Island Drive, Beaufort, SC 29907

843.522.2020

jalthoff@insuranceserv.com www.lowcountryinsurance.com

y h W

s U Ask OU On Y Be ! d s l e u g o a Sh ur P O

(843) 379-8696 www.beaufortlifestyle.com One Beaufort Town Center 2015 Boundary Street • Suite 221 Beaufort, SC, 29902

Answer: Accidents or an early onset of illness can happen at any age. Paying for extended care to recover or settle into a new health level can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, not covered by your health insurance or Medicare. We suggest if you are between the ages of 45 and 75 that you look into this for yourself.

Call Frank Gibson, III, CIC-President For Guidance In Developing Your Long-Term Care Planning.

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860.930.5070 www.BeaufortLifestyle.com | February/March 2016

47

Experience Small Town Charm...

Old Village ofPort Royal

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BBQ & Smoke House All your favorites cooked up low and slow and served fresh for you.

Don’t forget to try our famous smoked fish!

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HEALTH AND WELLNESS

Beaufort Memorial Hospital:

Improving Patient Care With Advance Practice Providers

F

inding it hard to get in to see a doctor? A report released by the Association of American Medical Colleges confirms there’s a scarcity of physicians in the United States—and it’s only going to get more challenging.

According to the study, the nation will face a shortage of between 46,000 and 90,000 physicians by 2025 in both primary and specialty care. It’s particularly troubling given the kind of medical care that our aging population is going to need in coming years.

In the Lowcountry, primary care practices already are feeling the pinch—and Beaufort Memorial Hospital is making an effort to meet the growing demand for health care services.

“The practices are getting busier and busier,” said Dr. Kurt Gambla, a board-certified internist and the chief medical officer at BMH. “The gulf between the demand for services and the supply of doctors is going to continue to be an issue.”

To help make up for the undersupply of physicians, medical practices all across the country are hiring nurse practitioners and physician assistants trained to perform a wide range of preventive and acute health care services. These health care professionals— sometimes referred to as advanced practice providers (APPs) because they receive advanced training—are fast becoming as critical to a medical practice as nurses.

“They’re worth their weight in gold,” Gambla said. “For 80

percent of the non-emergency cases we see in the office, they do just as well as a physician.”

In the last several years, BMH has hired a dozen APPs for its busy primary care practices. Several more are working with specialists in fields including gastroenterology, vascular and general surgery, orthopaedics and obstetrics and gynecology.

“It’s a trend that’s here to stay,” said board-certified family medicine specialist Dr. Clark Trask, who works with certified nurse practitioner Mary Beth Donovan at Beaufort Memorial Coastal Care MD. “If there’s a nurse practitioner working with a doctor, they really complement each other. I don’t think of Mary Beth as a nurse practitioner, I think of her as a colleague.”

Often the biggest obstacle in integrating APPs in practices is educating patients, who may not be as familiar with the training and areas of expertise of APPs as they are with those of physicians.

“Many people don’t understand the role of nurse practitioners,” Donovan said. “But I’ve been here for three years and so with that, I know a lot of our patient population. They’ve learned to trust me.”

At Beaufort Memorial Bluffton Primary Care, longtime certified nurse practitioner Mary Ellen Groff works in collaboration with four board-certified primary care physicians. She also has developed her own panel of patients.

Advanced practice providers like NP Mary Ellen Groff, work in collaboration with physicians and many also have their own panel of patients. “We work as a team,” said Groff, who earned her NP certification in 1977, making her one of the longest continuously practicing nurse practitioners in the country.

While PAs like Paul Schaefer and NPs like Ronda O’Connell take different educational tracks to get their advanced training, both have a minimum of a master’s degree and an extensive amount of clinical experience working with patients.

50 February/March 2016 | www.BeaufortLifestyle.com

GET TO KNOW THE Y!

In addition to primary care, Beaufort Memorial has several APPs working with specialists, like certified nurse practitioner Jaime Cuff, who works with orthopaedic surgeon Dr. Edward Blocker.

“We work as a team,” said Groff, who earned her NP certification in 1977, making her one of the longest continuously practicing nurse practitioners in the country. “I see my patients, their [the doctors’] patients and our patients, depending upon who has a break in their office schedule and how ill the patient may be.”

Along with the increasing number of aging baby boomers, several factors have led to the primary care crisis. The growth of the U.S. population and the expansion of insurance coverage under the Affordable Care Act have added to the demand for services.

At the same time, fewer medical students are choosing primary care as their specialty. It’s down to 30 percent compared to 70 percent 50 years ago.

The good news is that NPs and PAs are ready to fill the void.

“In recent years, there’s been an explosive growth of advanced practice providers,” Gambla said. “You’re going to start seeing them in every specialty.”

While NPs and PAs take different educational tracks to get their advanced training, both need a minimum of a master’s degree and an extensive amount of clinical experience working with patients.

They also must pass a rigorous licensing exam.

Their scope of practice allows them to perform a wide range of preventive and acute health care services. They can diagnose and treat common health problems, order and interpret imaging tests and lab work, prescribe medication, refer patients to specialists, and manage chronic health issues such as diabetes, high blood pressure and asthma.

“Rest assured, these are highly trained health care professionals capable of treating most common ailments,” Gambla said. “If they should encounter a more serious problem, a physician can be

20 years as the fitness & fun capital of northern Beaufort County!  We’re social! From our lively Fit Over Fifty class to special

community wide events like The Beaufort River Swim and Boots & Bling, the Y is a place where everyone is welcome to join in the fun!

Coming up: Annual Meeting Feb. 18

 We

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Register now: Our Preschool has a few spots available for spring 2016. Coming Up: Summer Camp

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Beaufort Lifestyle | February/March 2016 51

GIVE MOM OR DAD THE

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DAD THE

Notes:

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called in for a consultation.”

And in most practices, patients often can get in to see an NP or PA faster than they can a physician.

“With us in the office, there’s always someone who can see patients if the doctor is in surgery,” said Jaime Cuff, who works with BMH board-certified orthopaedic surgeon Dr. Edward Blocker and serves as the leader of the hospital’s nurse practitioners. “Or we can take their hospital rounds and leave them to see patients in the office.”

Paul Schaefer, who joined Beaufort Memorial last March after earning his Master of Physician Assistant Studies at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, has found patients are happy to see him because they understand he works in collaboration with board-certified internists. Schaefer divides his time between Beaufort Memorial Primary Care and Beaufort Memorial Lady’s Island Internal Medicine.

“Some days, I don’t consult with the doctors at all; other MOM OR days, I may consult with them a couple of GIVE times,” Schaefer said. “I’m not going to do anything beyond the scope of my practice.”

By having more APPs on staff, all of Beaufort Memorial’s primary care practices are now able to accept new patients.

“Some people didn’t realize that we can write prescriptions,” said certified nurse practitioner Ronda O’Connell, who also works at Beaufort Memorial Primary Care. “Once they’ve been treated by an advanced practice provider and understand all that we can do, the majority have no reservations about seeing us again.”

To learn more about Beaufort Memorial’s primary care practices or make an appointment with a physician, nurse practitioner or physician assistant, visit beaufortmemorial.org.

1119 Pickpocket Plantation Drive Beaufort, SC 29902

843-770-0105

www.SummitPlaceOfBeaufort.com 1119 Pickpocket Plantation Drive 52 February/March 2016 | www.BeaufortLifestyle.com Beaufort, SC 29902

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Kim Nelson is the Director of Bridge to Rediscovery at Five Senior help you give Mom orStar Dad the Living best.

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TIPS FROM YOUR DENTIST What types of services do you offer?

All areas of comprehensive dental care are provided in our Beaufort office. Dr. Squicquero has had extensive training in orthodontics, cosmetic dentistry, restorative dentistry, periodontics (gum disease), endodontics (root canals), prosthedontics (dentures, partials, bridges) and Implants.

Why is a regular dental checkup so important?

Dental problems come in many forms ranging from cavities and periodontal disease to infections and oral cancer. A comprehensive dental examination is an important way to insure your overall health.

Many dental problems start out as small painless areas that can quickly progress into serious and painful problems. With respect to oral cancer, most oral cancers are painless until they become very invasive.

Also, many patients are surprised to find that new technologies and procedures are available to address most of their dental concerns.

Visit our Dr. Mark Squicquero new location in Beaufort!

Now Accepting New Patients Welcome, Dr. Mark Squicquero!

Family. Friendly. Neighbors.

35 Robert Smalls Parkway, Suite 103 · Beaufort, SC 29906

Howard Family Dental 35 Robert Smalls Parkway Suite 103 Beaufort, SC 29906 (843) 781-8900 HowardFamilyDental.com

What type of cosmetic services do you offer?

We provide all levels of cosmetic dentistry ranging from simple bleaching and the placement of tooth colored fillings to veneers, onlays, and crowns. Because of his extensive training in complex restorative dentistry, Dr. Squicquero can asses and restore even the most complex situations to provide a beautiful and functional result.

What are my options to replace a missing tooth?

The current state of the art for tooth replacement is the use of implants.

Dental implants are actually stronger than your natural teeth and don’t require the adjacent teeth to be restored in order to fill the space.

Implant supported crowns look and function like natural teeth, allowing you to floss and brush normally.

Additional options include the placement of a fixed bridge and in more extensive situations a removable partial denture can be used to replace multiple missing teeth. The type of restoration used depends on the size of the space involved as well as the condition of the remaining teeth, gums, and bone.

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Fripp Island Golf & Beach Resort Beautiful weddings come naturally here.

Picture a storybook wedding on an intimate island against the backdrop of the beautiful Atlantic Ocean. Add to that everything you and you guests could possibly want to enjoy as you prepare for that magical day. This is Fripp Island Golf & Beach Resort. Casual elegance on the most beautiful of South Carolina’s barrier islands, just down the road from Beaufort.

Call 877-770-0764 or visit us at www.FrippIslandResort.com

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