September 2020
R E AL E T ESTA INGS LI ST E IN SID
HOLY CITY
HOME
STYLE
SEVEN WAYS TO
DECLUTTER YOUR HOME RANKY TANKY’S
Quiana Parler HOW TO THINK LOCAL WITH
FLOWERS Sully Sullivan
a Charleston City Paper publication
Digs, our new monthly home-focused publication, connects the people who make the Lowcountry special with content they’ve been missing. Digs gets up close and personal with stories on local personalities, home design and remodeling, plants and gardening, home repair and real estate. To learn more about advertising opportunities offered through Digs, contact our advertising team at (843) 577-5304 or send an email to: sales@charlestoncitypaper.com. Dig it! PUBLISHER Andy Brack
Volume 1, Number 2
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Jeanne Dunn
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Views expressed in Charleston City Paper cover the spectrum and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher. Charleston City Paper takes no responsibility for unsolicited manuscripts. © 2020. All content is copyrighted and the property of City Paper Publishing, LLC. Material may not be reproduced without permission. Proud member of the Association of Alternative Newsmedia and the South Carolina Press Association.
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AT HOME IN THE LOWCOUNTRY
Quiana Parler relaxes at home, pounces on stage .......... 4 BY ANDY BRACK
DIGGING YOUR HOME
Seven smart ways to declutter your home
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BY JEANNE DUNN
DIGGING INTO HISTORY
Charleston’s got a lot of firsts in its 350 years
.......... 10
BY ANDY BRACK
DIGGING REAL ESTATE
Properties for sale and rentals in your area
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DIGGING SAFETY
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CHARLESTON CITY PAPER 09.02.20
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AT HOME IN THE LOWCOUNTRY
Quiana Parler relaxes at home, pounces on stage BY ANDY BRACK You might be surprised to learn that energetic Gullah jazz singer Quiana Parler is an introvert at heart. The lead singer for the Grammy Award-winning local roots band Ranky Tanky that has earned international acclaim says she prefers home and family when not on the road, even before the coronavirus pandemic. “It’s no secret to my close family and friends but I’m really a homebody and introvert when I’m not on stage,” she said at her North Charleston home with marsh views. “When I’m not on the road — even before quarantine — I would stay in the house for seven days or more without leaving. “Resting is so important for myself as a vocalist even with a 14-year-old rambunctious child I find ways to incorporate rest, relaxation and fun at home.”
CHARLESTON CITY PAPER 09.02.20
A good day at home
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At home, Parler generally wakes up early — around 6:30 a.m. — for breakfast with her boyfriend, a Charleston police detective. “That’s such a dangerous job that I like to see him off,” she said. On the menu may be her favorites — eggs, buttery grits and Roger Wood sausage. Then it’s back to bed for three or four hours before an afternoon of rest and work. “I”m a YouTube fanatic,” she said. “Throughout the day, I’m still dealing with Ranky Tanky business. The performing part is easy. It’s the business part that’s the hard part — do this interview, get on this call, make this decision. I could be emailing and texting all day long with Ranky Tanky business.” Evenings are quiet as her partner often cooks supper. The couple and her son spend time together, only to wake up to a similar routine the following day. On the road, it’s different with travel, now often more difficult because of
Quiana Parler’s pandemic-related delays, soulful voice sound checks, performinvokes the ing two shows and then sounds of getting ready for the next Gullah culture. show, averaging 50 a year before the virus shut down a lot of live music. But whenever on the road, Parler gets up for breakfast, just like at home. “I’ve got to have my breakfast. That’s my thing — eggs, bacon. But not every hotel serves grits, so we have to settle for what they have and that generally means potatoes,” she said in a disappointed voice.
It’s about the music Parler has been singing since she was a child in Harleyville. During performances in 2003 in the second series of American Idol, she became friends with Clay Aiken and later toured for several years as a backup singer with him and first season winner Kelly Clarkson. Aiken is her son’s godfather. Parler joined longtime Charleston musicians and friends Charlton Singleton (trumpet, vocals), Clay Ross (guitar, vocals), Kevin Hamilton (bass) and Quentin E. Baxter (drums) in 2016 to form Ranky Tanky. The following year, the band released its eponymous first album, a recording
TapCharleston.com
THE LOWDOWN ON QUIANA PARLER
“Take a track like ‘Freedom.’ Between the Afrobeat guitar line and Quiana Parler’s commanding vocals that fuse gospel, jazz and soul into an urgent groove, Ranky Tanky occupies a unique bandstand space: conscious and danceable American roots music.” “Freedom” is Parler’s favorite song. She wrote the lyrics with Ross, the guitarist. “The song is very personal to me. I was going through some personal stuff when it came to my mind.” They take our homes. They take our names. They say that behind four walls is where we’ll remain. They take our dreams. They pull us apart. They’ll never know our strength. They’ll never know our hearts. We want freedom. We want freedom. We want freedom. We want freedom. “We are still living it today with what’s going on with the climate today,” she said referring to the May murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis. “We are always speaking of freedom and none of us is really free yet. We’ve got a long way to go. Freedom to walk the street, to leave home, to walk in your front yard and not having to worry about whether you make it home at night. “I’m raising a black son and I have a lot of worries. Freedom from anxieties. You have people worried about losing their homes. It’s a lot.”
Spreading the sound For now, Parler says she and her band-
Photos Provided
mates are continuing to work to spread the story of Gullah through their music. “I am so thankful and blessed to be able to do what I love,” she said on a rainy weekend afternoon from her home. “Being in Ranky Tanky has allowed me to share my gift of song around the world even as far as the Antarctic. We’ve been so very blessed to have a strong team professionally and support system at home. “The universe has allowed my brothers and me in Ranky Tanky to break down barrier walls in the music industry for the Gullah community and ancestors. I can’t thank Charleston and the surrounding areas for the support that’s been shown for Ranky Tanky. “Winning a Grammy with my brothers who I’ve known since I was a little girl is a moment I will never forget. I do not take any of this for granted. Every day, I wake up with gratitude and go to sleep with gratitude. It’s only up from here.”
Age: 40 Birthplace: Born in Charleston. Grew up in Harleyville. Relocated to Charleston at the age of 17. Education: Graduated from Harleyville Ridgeville High School In 1998. Attended College of Charleston until American Idol audition. Current profession: Lead vocalist in the Grammy Award-winning band Ranky Tanky. I am also the owner of Quiana Parler and Friends band. “Singing has been my only profession my entire life since the age of 9 years old.” Favorite new music: “My bandmate and brother Charlton Singleton’s new album Date Night, which is charting right now. Family: “I have a 14-year-old gifted son who is a direct Gullah descendant with roots in James Island. My mom and dad reside in Harleyville and celebrated their 42nd wedding anniversary in July. My younger brother resides in Tampa, Fla., with his wife and sons.” Childhood hero: My parents. Something people would be surprised to learn about you: “I’m a gadget geek and lover of all things technical. I should start a technical support company after retirement.” Favorite food: “Anything and everything my partner cooks. He’s an amazing cook. When I’m on the road with Ranky Tanky, we make it our duty to eat Thai food but nothing compares to Basil on King Street. Favorite cocktail or beverage: Southern sweet tea. “I would like to say I make the best sweet tea hands down with my secret ingredient.” (A syrup of white and brown sugars.) Describe your best day in 50 words or less: “My best day is waking up with my son and partner and spending the day doing absolutely nothing. Hobbies: “Shopping on Amazon, baking, sitting at the dock and watching my son fish.” Pet peeve: “People cooking with wet hands. Double dipping when sharing food.” Quote: “Just breathe. It is so important to inhale and exhale, no matter what the circumstances you are faced with. Watch how your circumstances and situations change when you focus on your breathing.”
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infused with the sounds of soul, funk and gospel that Parler calls “Gullah jazz.” Ranky Tanky’s music is based on Gullah songs and rhymes around for centuries. Parler said the band got its start after Ross, the guitarist in the band, observed how cultures across the world were being represented in popular music, except for Gullah. “What we did was we took the Gullah nursery rhymes and songs and put a more up-to-date twist on them, but you can hear the Gullah rhythms in them,” said Parler, who remembers meeting drummer Baxter when she was 10 and Singleton five years later. “A lot of people think it’s from New Orleans, but it’s a little different from New Orleans. “I call it ‘Gullah jazz,’ and now that we’ve won a Grammy in roots music, it means now Gullah is being recognized by the recording academy.” In 2019, the band released Good Time, which received a Best Regional Roots album nomination for the music industry’s top award, the Grammy. After the album’s release, band members noted they stayed in a zone to create the album because of a “garage band mentality.” The album won the Grammy earlier this year. “The attitude is ‘Let’s just have fun with it and see what sounds good,’” Hamilton told the Charleston City Paper, whose readers named the band as the artist of the year in 2019. Garden & Gun magazine writer Allison Glock described in 2019 how Ranky Tanky’s soulful music sprang from the culture of enslaved West Africans with “songs of praise, of freedom, of rebellion, of protest, of joy, of sorrow, songs that assert a culture, that say we are here, we are still here, we will be heard. To listen to Ranky Tanky is to be taken to church, yes, but it is also to be reminded of your secular humanity, to feel in your bones your mortality and the mortality of others, and how your mortality and theirs are inextricably linked; to be cautioned that none of us outrun death or tragedy, and how when death and tragedy strike, and those bones ache, you will need music that recognizes those truths and gives you a reason to keep walking forward.” Award-winning radio journalist Marco Werman, host of PRI’s The World, described to Charleston City Paper how music is about the continuing migration of sounds from one place to another and how artists manipulate those sounds. “It’s a magical process, and one of the most exciting exponents of that right now is Ranky Tanky,” he said. “They bring us joyfully to a bigger world: it’s South Carolina music connected to the fleeting ghost of rock n roll present and the ghost of West Africa past. Even contemporary Africa isn’t that far away in Ranky Tanky’s music, Werman said.
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DIGGING YOUR HOME
Photos from GettyImages.com
Seven smart ways to declutter your home BY JEANNE DUNN
CHARLESTON CITY PAPER 09.02.20
Decluttering your home can be a time-consuming process, but it will leave you feeling much more organized and motivated in your space.
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Beginning the process of decluttering can feel daunting. Nobody wants to face the reality that they should get rid of unused items that they’ve been holding onto, whether it’s the vintage lamp from the grandparents sitting in the garage or a 10th pair of blue jeans. Heed these professional tips to tidy the house in the most efficient way possible:
KNOW YOUR GOAL AND WHERE TO START It’s important to figure out which space
you are trying to declutter. Is there one particular area you want to work on, or does the whole house need to be reorganized? If you’re working on the whole house, it’s best to start in the place that feels easiest to you, said Jennifer Truesdale, a certified professional organizer who runs STR8N UP Professional Organizing Services in Charleston. “The kitchen and pantry are often a great starting point because there are clear expiration dates on perishable items. “You also tend to have fewer emotional
BE READY TO PURGE Getting rid of your things can feel upsetting, but using logical questions to decide if an item is worth keeping will help expedite the decluttering process. Truesdale recommends using these basic questions that can work for any item: • Do you know what this thing is? • Would you buy it or create it again? • When was the last time you touched it or used it? • Does this item bring up negative emotions? • If you were to discard it, what’s the worst that could happen?
USE THE 4-CONTAINER METHOD When going through your things, it can be helpful to sort stuff into piles. After asking yourself questions determining whether an item should be kept, you then can separate belongings into piles based on where they should go, said Pyne. “Have three bags or boxes nearby — one for donations, one for trash and one undecided. Everything else will stay in a ‘keep’ pile and will be organized into a new system,” she explained. Since getting rid of things can be difficult, this method can make it easier for people to divide belongings and decide what is really worth keeping. TIDY DRAWERS WITH ORGANIZATIONAL CONTAINERS Separating drawers and cabinets will provide a designated place and allow your
A JAPANESE METHOD OF ORGANIZING Mount Pleasant organizer Katie Pyne shares on her website how she uses a methodology of organizing that relies on five Japanese words: 1. Seri (Sort) - Removal of unnecessary items 2. Selso (Shine, Sweep) Cleaning of area to more easily identify what’s out of place 3. Selton (Straighten, Set) Organize to optimize efficiency and flow 4. Seiketsu (Standardize) Implement labels, designated areas and systems to create consistency 5. Shitsuke (Sustain) - Develop behaviors that maintain organization over the long term Focusing on these five methods highlights “how to organize for efficiency and effectiveness by identifying and storing the items used, maintaining the area and items, and sustaining the new order for the long term.” things to be easily divided into sections with containers. “Your items will stay better organized when they have clear borders and boundaries,” Pyne said “This means, rather than having a bunch of items loose in a drawer, you can add drawer dividers to keep different categories contained and keep them from sliding around. In cabinets, bins with labels will serve this same purpose of keeping categories together and in line.” Organizational containers can be easily found on the market with a continued on page 8
Fall 2020 Collection: Somewhere Over the Rainbow CROGHAN’S JEWEL BOX 308 KING STREET C H A R L E S TO N , S C 2 9 4 0 1 843.723.3594 C R O G H A N S J E W E L B OX . C O M
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attachments to these types of items, compared to say clothing or memorabilia,” added Truesdale, who also is a board member of the National Association of Productivity and Organizing Professionals. Katie Pyne, owner of Room for Peace Organizing in Mount Pleasant, also said that before you start the sorting process, “Walk through the area with a trash bag and gather anything that you can quickly identify as immediate trash.”
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HOME IS WHERE THE HEART IS
Celebrating Charleston Families Since 1996
Declutter continued from page 7
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range of prices based on your budget. For a sustainable and free option, you can repurpose small boxes and arrange them in your drawers, said STR8N UP’s Truesdale.
CHARLESTON CITY PAPER 09.02.20
STORE THINGS BY CATEGORY Creating designated areas for certain types of items will ensure everything has a place. This will reduce clutter over time. Truesdale said it can be helpful to appoint particular areas for items that you want completely out of sight, such as “holiday decorations, entertaining supplies, sports gear and luggage.” For more frequently used items, you may want to make them easier to reach. For instance, in the laundry room, you might create a space for storing utility items such as hooks, tape, batteries, flashlights and lightbulbs so you will have a central place to find them when you need them, said Truesdale.
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USE OVERLOOKED AREAS FOR STORAGE Closets and cabinets are the main storage spaces in most houses. But if storage is minimal, consider rethinking your space and incorporating more creative ways to keep things put away. The experts recommended using these hacks for potential storage space: Under the bed. “Underbed bins can be used for off-season clothing, memorabilia, and anything else you want out of sight but within reach,” said Pyne of Room for Peace Organizing. Behind doors. Pyne also suggested using hooks inside cabinet doors “for
hanging kitchen supplies like measuring cups and oven mittens if you find your drawers are getting too crowded.” Shoe-bag organizers. “You can often use the over-the-door shoe bags on the insides of closet doors to corral supplies for crafts, cleaning, winter outerwear, pet needs and various other needs,” Truesdale advised.
MAINTAIN YOUR ORGANIZATION A FEW MINUTES A DAY Once you’ve finished the process of purging and reorganizing, the most important thing to do is to keep it that way by making sure things are put away correctly. Routine cleaning will ensure that your home stays as tidy as possible. “You have to spend the time to keep up with the system or things will find a way to return to disorder. A few minutes everyday helps you to enjoy an organized life,” said Truesdale.
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DIGGING INTO HISTORY
From the source of the Atlantic Ocean to pirates CHARLESTON CITY PAPER 09.02.20
BY ANDY BRACK
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As a tribute to 350 years of history since the founding of Charleston in 1670, the staff of the Charleston City Paper has pulled together a bunch of interesting facts for a new book that will be published this month. Its title? “350 Facts About Charleston.” As a preview, we thought you’d enjoy some of these Charleston firsts from the Holy City’s past. If you’d like to pre-order the book, which will be available in area shops in mid-September, visit CharlestonFacts.com.
Start of the Atlantic Ocean According to old-time wags and natives who see Charleston as the epicenter of the world, the Atlantic Ocean actually starts in Charleston harbor at the confluence of the Ashley and Cooper rivers. The late U.S. Sen. Fritz Hollings, born in the Holy City in 1922, often was heard saying, “Every great city has a great river. London has the Thames.
New York has the Hudson. Washington has the Potomac. And Charleston, Andrew, Charleston has two great rivers — the Ashley and the Cooper — and that’s where the Atlantic Ocean starts.”
The state was occupied by natives for millennia before colonization At least 29 distinct tribes of Native Americans lived in the borders of
Getting here in olden days was a nightmare for travelers The ships that made the voyage to the Carolinas in 1669 were met with rough waters and even rougher weather. Damaged in the first trip to Barbados, ships were scattered by storms during the next outing, during which one shipwrecked and another disappeared in a hurricane. It wasn’t until the following year that the expedition’s surviving ship, the Carolina, dropped anchor at the mouth of the Ashley River, with the only known date of arrival to be “early in April,” 1670. Carolina was a “colony of a colony” Charleston and Barbados have a strong connection. In 1670, the Lords Proprietors invited Englishmen who had spent up to four decades successfully settling on the Caribbean island to be part of the expedition to start the Carolina colony. Settlers in the Carolinas imported the “Barbados Model” of governance, which included forced labor by indentured servants and enslaved Africans. “Carolina thus became what one historian called a ‘colony of a colony’ — a colony of Barbados,” according to Rhoda Green, honorary consul for Barbados in South Carolina. Other similarities between the two are found in similar surnames, such as Drayton, Middleton and Gibbes, and similar architecture, such as how the Charleston single house may be adapted from a type of dwelling in Barbados. Slave trade boomed in early days of the colony The only colony that had slavery from the beginning was South Carolina. Part of the first contingent of settlers arriving in Charleston were three enslaved Africans, “thus introducing into the permanent settlement the issue that would dominate much of the economic, social, and
political life of South Carolina’s next three hundred years.” The slave trade boomed between 1720 and 1740 when an estimated 40,000 enslaved Africans came into the colony, most through Charleston.
Piracy was a problem for some early Charlestonians Edward Teach, otherwise known as the pirate Blackbeard, appeared off the coast of Charles Town with a flotilla of four ships in 1718. At the time, it was the most powerful naval force in the hemisphere. Teach seized several Carolina ships and captured councilman Samuel Wragg, his son and other residents, demanding ransoms of money and medicine. Blackbeard blockaded Charles Town harbor for a week and eventually all ransoms were paid. The pirate then sailed north, plundering along the way until he reached Virginia, where his reputation for invincibility came to an end when authorities captured and executed him. Pirates hanged in White Point Gardens A stone marker at White Point Gardens near Charleston’s Battery memorializes the hanging of 49 pirates in 1718. While local historian Nic Butler says there is a “frustrating paucity of details” in historical documents, the exact location of the public hanging is hard to pinpoint because the topography of the site has changed much in the last three centuries. The marker provides this detail: “Near this spot in the autumn of 1718, Stede Bonnet, notorious ‘gentleman pirate,’ and twenty nine of his men, captured by Colonel William Rhett, met their just deserts (sic) after a trial and charge, famous in American history, by Chief Justice Nicholas Trott. Later nineteen of Richard Worley’s crew, captured by Governor Robert Johnson, were also found guilty and hanged. All were buried off White Point Gardens, in the marsh beyond low-water mark.” Staff writer Skyler Baldwin contributed to this story. Cartoon by Robert Ariail
350 Facts About Charleston is a new book about, well, Charleston. With facts. Lots of them. In fact, there are 350 facts, one for each year that Charleston’s been around. The staff at the Charleston City Paper pulled together fun and arcane information about the Holy City to illuminate its deep, rich history. Included in the 224 pages are details on early settlers, the wars (Revolutionary and Civil) and the struggle for civil rights by descendants of enslaved Africans. You’ll learn about food (Charlestonians have loved to drink wine for centuries), books, people, music, culture and much more.
FEAT SOUTH URING CA CARTO ROLINA ROBER ONIST T ARIAIL
Order your copy today for just $20 (plus shipping and handling) at
CharlestonFacts.com You’ll get it in the mail in mid-September. Or pick it up in a favorite local shop just in time for the holidays.
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modern-day South Carolina before the arrival of European settlers. The names of many tribes are still with us today in places like the Stono and Ashepoo rivers, Kiawah Island and Edisto Island. The native population sharply declined after the arrival of the Europeans, who brought diseases such as smallpox and conflicts over trade practices and land. Many tribes are now extinct; a few tribes, though, still exist and are active today, including the Catawba, Pee Dee and Santee tribes. Many tribes made their homes around what would become Charleston, such as the Edisto, Kiawah, Stono and Etiwan tribes.
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DIGGING REAL ESTATE
Vacation Rentals
FIND YOUR HOME HERE Jennifer LePage has advertised all of her listings in the City Paper for over 15 years. Work with her and find your home here!
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Place your ad in the Charleston City Paper for only $15 per week. Contact cris@charlestoncitypaper.com www.Roommates.com will help you find your Perfect Match™ today!
Furnished Rentals
15 N Enston Ave. Beautifully restored, turn-key 3 BR, 2 BA home w/many upgrades
Unfurnished Rentals 867 South Colony Dr. 1 BR, 1 BA, condo, fully equip kit, living room, coin operated W/D on site, pool, no pets, available now, $850/mo. Call Just Rentals (843) 225-7368.
DOWNTOWN
1 BR, 1 BA condo in Ansonborough. Walk to Market area/ Harris Teeter & restaurants. Private parking, $1,295/mo. Call 843 795 5622.
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ELLIOTBOROUGH
CHARLESTON CITY PAPER 09.02.20
259 St Philip St. Lots for sale. $399,000
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335 Wappoo Rd. Beautiful, furnished short-term rental, 1 BR, 1 BA w/ lots of storage & 15’ x 11.7” flex space, convenient to the WA Greenway, shops & restaurants & downtown, $149/ night + tax & $50 cleaning fee. Call Charlie Smith (843) 5713573, CSA Real Estate. www.tou. rs/359057,
(843) 608-6832 or visit www.843realestate.com
Air Harbor. 3 BR, 2 BA, fully equip kit, living & dining room, HVAC, bonus room, avail 9/1, $1,800/ mo. Call Just Rentals, (843) 225-7368.
147-D Church St. 1 BR,1 BA, apt, kit, living room, hardwoods, avail now, $1,100, no pets. Call Just Rentals, (843) 225-7368.
56 Hester St. 5 BR, 3 BA, 3337 sf, amazing patio & pool, $1.649M. Call Jennifer LePage (843) 478-2600. www.jjlrealestate.com
WESTSIDE
33 Kracke St. Great location for home or investment, 4 BR, 2 BA, split floorpan perfect for live-in w/ Amazing floor plans & flexibility. short or long-term rental, versatile Sturdy, well-built models (Wind Zone 3) for hundreds of thousands spaces, renovated, driveway parkless than traditional homes. Land/ ing, fenced, private backyard w/ shed & patio, $435,000. Call home packages. Locally owned Susan Arrington 843-324-6165. and operated for over 25 years. Call (843) 821-8671, www.nand- Carolina One RE, MLS 20009759. https://bit.ly/33kracke mmobilehomes.com
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15 N Enston Ave. Beautifully restored, turn-key, 3 BR, 2 BA home off of Rutledge Ave w/ many upgrades. Walk to restaurants & local breweries, $495,000. Call Jennifer Lepage, (843) 478-2600. Agent Owned RE, www.jjlrealestate.com
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Two single family homes on one lot sold together. Ideal for live/ rent. 2BR, 2.5 BA each, excellent rental history, no flood insurance required, $725,000. Call Charlie Smith (843) 571-3573, CSA Real Estate. http://bit.ly/296298Coming
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Beautiful & spacious 5 BR, 3 BA home w/ FROG, quiet wooded lot, hardwoods, vaulted ceiling in great room, close to shopping restaurant & Ashley River views, $425,000. Call Charlie Smith (843) 571-3573, CSA Real Estate. http://bit.ly/117hampton
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SUMMERVILLE Main Street (843) Trolley Road (843) 871-9000 WEST ASHLEY Orleans Road (843) 556-5800 METRO NORTH Crowfield Boulevard (843) 797-7799
MT. PLEASANT Long Point Road (843) 884-1622 Coleman Boulevard (843) 884-1800 Hwy 17 North (843) 284-1800 JOHNS ISLAND Maybank Highway (843) 559-0202
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DIGGING LOCAL
All flowers aren’t created equally BY TONI REALE, ROADSIDE BLOOMS
CHARLESTON CITY PAPER 09.02.20
Consumers have increasingly paid close attention for years to where their food comes from, how it’s grown or raised, and even how it’s packaged. Certifications such as free-range, cage-free, non-GMO or organic, influence decisions at the supermarket. Many products include photos of farmers next to their products, tapping into an innate human desire to relate to the hands that grow food. Conscientious consumers are willing to pay a bit more for goods that match personal ethics. They often put their money where their values are. Local and regional sourcing designations on meat and produce often sweeten the attraction of a farm product. But “to know thy farmer” should not stop at grocery products. Origin matters when it comes to flowers, too. Most consumers are not aware that beautiful, fragrant and whimsical miracles of nature can come with significant REALE environmental and ethical baggage. More than 80 percent of all flowers sold in the United States that adorn everything from weddings and funerals to the kitchen table, are imported from countries with little to no environmental or labor laws. It’s hard to imagine the devastation that’s wrapped up in a traditional bouquet. I hope to shed light on the truth behind the flower trade and how to be a more conscientious consumer.
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BEAUTY ON THE BACKS OF LOWWAGE LABORERS The flower trade is a multi-billion dollar industry complete with all the dark secrets and cut corners of other industries its size. According to a Global Exchange report, in a country like Colombia, where the majority of imported flowers come from, the average worker labors 16 hours a day in the high season and earns slightly over $300 a month. The work is grueling and dangerous. After years working the fields, laborers are left with debilitating conditions such as slipped discs from
hunching over flower beds, carpal tunnel syndrome from cutting stems and broken bodies. There is a movement to unionize flower field workers in Colombia to improve working conditions, but in retaliation, corporations are moving away from hiring permanent employees by choosing contract workers to avoid union pressure.
WORKERS EXPOSED TO A BUNDLE OF CHEMICALS The overseas use of chemical fertilizer, pesticides and fungicides (most of which Wildflowers, such are banned in North as Black-eyed America and Europe due Susans, make to carcinogens) on the great cut flowers. flower fields largely goes unchecked, which puts workers, the environment and the end consumer at risk. In fact, since flowers are not considered edible, miscarriages, strange rashes, migraines the U.S. Department of Agriculture does and impaired vision. These workers have not inspect imports for chemical residue limited access to health care and are often when they are inspecting for plant pests penalized if they take off from work to and disease. Next time you get a grocery seek treatment. store bundle of roses, you might even see a white waxy residue on the stems. TRADE DEAL HURTS AMERICAN According to the International Journal FLOWER FARMERS of Environmental Research and Public The floral trade wasn’t always reliant on Health, the average imported rose has 14 imports. In fact, American farmers grew foreign substances with many of them more than 64 percent of all flowers used being acutely toxic. in the U.S. prior to the passage of the Andean Trade Preference Agreement (ATPA) in 1991 as part of the so-called “More than 80 percent of War on Drugs. This law was intended all flowers sold in the United to help Andean countries (Colombia, States that adorn everything Ecuador, Bolivia and Peru) grow alternafrom weddings and funerals to tives to coca and export them duty-free the kitchen table, are imported to the United States. But it’s debatable whether this agreement does much to from countries with little to no counter drug-related violence in those environmental or labor laws.” countries. It did, however, provide a runway for the Latin American flower The chemicals sprayed on the fields trade to take off, albeit at the expense of leach into aquifers, which are stressed American farmers. The industry’s abuse from constant irrigation. This creates a of field workers and the environment vicious cycle of risk and exposure from produces a cheaper product with which workers spraying the chemicals to the American farmers simply can’t compete. water table and back to communities Currently, American-grown flowers that rely on well water. Many women only account for about 20 percent of the who work the fields report birth defects, market in the U.S.
Mike Goad
THERE’S A COMMON-SENSE ALTERNATIVE Living in a foodie town like Charleston, you’ve most certainly heard of “slow food,” but have you heard of “slow flowers”? Debra Prinzing, “Queen of the Slow Flower Movement” and one of my mentors, describes the practice: “At its simplest, it means enjoying flowers grown with sustainable farming practices harvested in their natural season of bloom, sourced as close to you as possible, and produced by florists who are using green, chemical-free design techniques.” The next time you are holding a beautiful bundle of American-grown blooms or a certified imported product, know that you’ve made the conscious choice to not support the international abuse of workers and the pillaging of the environment for short-term profits. Toni Reale is the owner of Roadside Blooms, a unique flower and plant shop in Park Circle in North Charleston. It specializes in weddings, events and everyday deliveries using nearly 100 percent American- and locally grown blooms. Online at www.roadsideblooms.com. 4610 Spruill Ave., Suite 102, North Charleston
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S O C T H K O C A B 2020 -2021 OL
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