TOWN July 2012

Senseof

Place

our best literary voices capture the essence of the upstate

Claire Bateman • Sarah Blackman Mindy Friddle • Scott Gould • Dot Jackson John Lane • John Pursley • Glenis Redmond George Singleton • Michel Stone • Ashley Warlick

J U LY 2 012 towngreenville.com

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Contents the list 9 See, hear, read, react.

The month’s must-dos.

15 On the Town

Pics of the litter: Upcountry fêtes & festivities.

29 WEDDINGS

Four couples say “I do.”

31 townbuzz

Artist Teri Peña, the Bleckley Inn, new books, skydiving, Betsy Teter, and TreesGreenville.

45 Style central

Reel life, men’s board shorts, and women’s flats.

73 SIDE WAYS

Take shelter in the valley of Waynesville, NC.

79 Eat & Drink

Chattooga Belle Farm’s muscadine wines, the Sazerac, wine slushies, and Soby’s still cooks.

84 Dining Guide

Find your pleasure in Greer and Spartanburg.

90 TownScene

Got plans? You do now.

96 Second Glance Da’Shawn Mosley goes to Washington.

0 5

PLACE HOLDERS There is more to a place than its land, more to a land than its people.

Eleven literary voices capture the essence of the Upstate.

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july

Cover: Photo of Lake Jocassee by Bill Gilbert This page: photo of Caesars Head by Dave Allen

/ edited by Blair Knobel / photography by Paul Mehaffey

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CARLTON MOTORCARS

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MARCH 2012 / 5

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editor’s

Letter Mark B. Johnston PUBLISHER mark@towngreenville.com

Photograph by Pat Staub

Jack Bacot EdItoR-In-cHIEf jack@towngreenville.com Blair Knobel managIng EdItoR blair@towngreenville.com Paul Mehaffey aRt dIREctoR Robin Batina-Lewis gRaPHIc dESIgnER

Word Up

Heidi Coryell Williams SEnIoR EdItoR

i

like to think that writing is the oldest profession. From cave walls to sonnets of Shakespearean proportions, it’s writers that craft the words, tell the stories, paint the verbal pictures, and allow ideas to be shared, discussed, and dissected.

A choice of words can enrich or destroy. Each word has a meaning, a use, and a definition. Put them together with structure and creativity, and stories are woven—like spindles spun into gorgeous fabric.

One of my favorite authors (Tom Robbins) puts it this way, “Certain individual words do possess more pitch, more radiance, more shazam than others, but it’s the way words are juxtaposed with other words in a phrase or sentence that can create magic.”

What better way to express your love, desire, intentions, or feelings than a personal note of carefully chosen words? Choose them wisely. Once written they have staying power, become a reference, become quotable, become a keepsake.

There is power in words. They can be motivating, strong, and comforting.

Just read the letters of past presidents—Adams, Jefferson, Lincoln, Roosevelt, Eisenhower, Kennedy—and you will understand their eloquence and grace.

When we asked eleven of the area’s premier literary figures to describe why they love the Upstate, we were humbled by the response. We gave them freedom to express what, to them, makes this place so special. We asked them to write to us, to you, a story, a poem, a rhyme, a reason about this area that spills over borders, covering counties, cities, and towns (see “Place Holders,” page 50).

This issue is your summer read—a collection of prose and poetry from your literary neighbors. We are blessed to have such scribes in our midst, and we are honored to celebrate the literary arts in TOWN. As philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein famously said, “All I know is what I have words for.”

Jac Chebatoris SEnIoR EdItoR Kym Petrie LIfESt YLE EdItoR contRIBUtIng WRItERS Kimberly Johnson M. Linda Lee April A. Morris Liza Twery McAngus contRIBUtIng PHotogRaPHERS TJ Getz Davey Morgan Gabrielle Grace Smith Jay Vaughan EdItoRIaL IntERn Anna DiBenedetto Holly Hardin PRodUctIon managER

gRaPHIc dESIgnERS Kristy Adair Michael Allen Caroline Reinhardt y h i o o M e p maRkEtIng REPRESEntatIvES Mary Beth Culbertson Kristi Jennings Donna Johnston Pam Putman Katherine Elrod SaLES admInIStRatIon managER katherine@towngreenville.com Kate Banner commUnIt Y SPonSoRSHIPS EvEnt maRkEtIng kate@towngreenville.com maRkEtIng aSSIStant Angela DeGarmo

Jack Bacot editor-in-chief jack@towngreenville.com

Alan Martin SEnIoR vIcE PRESIdEnt David Robinson cIRcUL atIon managER

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Follow us on Facebook & Twitter Be the first to know what TOWN Magazine and the Man About TOWN are up to—events, stories, dining, & more!

When you see this new “TOWN Sponsored Event” logo, you will know the Upstate events and causes that this publication supports. Plus, visit towngreenville.com for more On The TOWN photos.

Sue Priester PHIL antHRoPIc advISoR

E RE D

TOWN Magazine (Vol. 2, No. 7) is published monthly (12 times per year) by TOWN Greenville, LLC, 148 River Street, Suite 120, Greenville, SC 29601, (864) 679-1200. TOWN Magazine is a free publication. However, if you would like to have TOWN delivered to you each month, you may purchase an annual subscription (12 issues) for $45. For subscription information or where to find, please visit www.towngreenville. com. Postmaster: Send address changes to TOWN, 148 River Street, Suite 120, Greenville, SC 29601. All rights reserved. Printed in the USA.

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P h o t o g ra p h y : M ic h e l l e M o g a v e ro

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WHERE YOU WANT TO LIVE

Come home to the heart of Verdae. Hollingsworth Park reinvents a bygone era, creating an intimate community defined not merely by where—but also how—you want to live. Nestled within the City of Greenville, this new urban development offers a diversity of housing options at varying price points, from custom and estate homes to more modest single-family dwellings and townhomes. Residents Photograph courtesy of Grandstand Media & Management. All rights reserved.

enjoy a 20-acre central park, shared common areas, pedestrianfriendly streetscapes and being close to everything.

New homes under construction now.

Homes & Townhomes from the $200s Custom Designs from the mid $300s Estate Homes from the mid $700s

Sales Office Open Daily

18 Shadwell Street • Greenville, SC 29607 (864) 329-8383 www.verdae.com Verdae Development, Inc. 8 TOWN / towngreenville.com

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TOP OF THE

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Photograph courtesy of Grandstand Media & Management. All rights reserved.

Jackson Browne Jackson Browne has written and performed some of the most moving songs in popular music and has defined a genre of songwriting charged with honesty, emotion, and personal politics. he was honored with induction into the Rock and Roll hall of Fame in 2004 and the Songwriter’s hall of Fame in 2007. Playing guitar and piano, Browne will perform songs from his entire body of work.

Singer-songwriter and fiddle player Sara Watkins will open the Acoustic Tour as a special guest.

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The Peace Center 300 S Main St, Greenville Tues, July 17, 8pm. $45-$65.

(864) 467-3000, peacecenter.org

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The lion King

RopeR MounTain Science cenTeR BlueBeRRy FeSTival

The Peace Center, 300 S Main St. Tues–Sun, through July 8, times vary. $35-$135. (864) 467-3000, peacecenter.org

This much-lauded, roots-music group takes the stage with a riveting live show following the release of their new album Leaving Eden. The carolina chocolate Drops not only embody a fresh take on traditional music, but punctuate it with buck dancing, jug playing, and entertaining stories.

The Handlebar, 304 E Stone Ave, Greenville. Fri, July 13, 9pm. $16. (864) 233-6173, handlebaronline.com

Photograph courtesy of Disney

Take advantage of peak blueberry season at this Second Saturday event that features local blueberries and other fruit, ice cream, baked goods, and contests. in addition, there will be opportunities to explore the scientific side of blueberries, gardening, and food preservation.

Roper Mountain Science Center, 402 Roper Mountain Rd, Greenville. Sat, July 14, 9am–1pm. $5-$6. (864) 355-8900, ropermountain.org

catch the South carolina premiere of this award-winning Broadway musical that brings the classic Disney film to the stage with dazzling costumes and a soaring score. The Lion King won a Tony award for Best Musical and tells the tale of royal heir Simba, who must return to the pride lands to fulfill his destiny as king of the lions.

caRolina chocolaTe DRopS

Photograph courtesy courtesy of of the the Bi-Lo Carolina Chocolate Drops Photograph Center

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10 TOWN / towngreenville.com

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Winfred rembert Gallery talk Winfred rembert depicts african-americans in the segregated South in his vibrant and compelling paintings. Often using dye on carved and tooled leather, rembert recalls his colorful and often painful memories of growing up and as a prisoner in Georgia. in this gallery talk, he will discuss his life and art, focusing on the current exhibition “Winfred rembert: amazing Grace.” the exhibit will be on display through august 19.

HOt dOG day

WritinG in Place

enjoy a great american treat, the hot dog, at this family fundraiser for the Greenville Zoo. in addition to the tasty red hots, there will be chips, ice cream, and Pepsi—all for 50 cents each.

Hub city Writers Project will host its twelfthannual Writing in Place conference for the literary set, a weekend seminar that includes a keynote address by popular young-adult novelist ruta Sepetys, challenging workshops, faculty readings, and a happy hour at Hub city bookshop. Sleeping in dorms, going to classes, and celebrating happy hour? college—but better.

Greenville Zoo, 150 Cleveland Park Dr. Sat, July 14, 10am–4pm. $7.75, adults and $2.25, children. (864) 467-4300, greenvillezoo.com

Wofford College, 429 N Church St, Spartanburg.

Fri–Sun, July 13–15, times vary. $200-$340.

(864) 577-9349, hubcity.org

Photograph courtesy of the Greenville County Museum of Art

Greenville County Museum of Art, 420 College St. Sun, July 15, 2pm. Free. (864) 271-7570, greenvillemuseum.org

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Making your house a home with beautiful art.

As an art consultant, Amanda helps clients choose and integrate art into commercial and residential spaces.

amanda bennett, Owner

Stop by our gallery, call us, or visit us online!

2100 L aurens rd. GreenviLLe www.bennet tsart G aLLery.com

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864-288-6430

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Quick Hits Henry V zExperience Shakespeare how the Bard was meant to be enjoyed: live and onstage. Bring your blankets and picnics to this open-air production of Henry V, the coming of age of a young king and his evolution into a military leader and ruler.

Falls Park, S Main St, Greenville. Thurs–Sun, July 12– Aug 5, 7pm. Free, donations appreciated. (864) 2356948, upstateshakespearefestival.org

The Fox on the Fairway zThe Flat Rock Playhouse becomes the “clubhouse” for a comedy show about a funny game: golf. Two rival golf clubs square off in an annual competition with fortunes on the line, and everything depends on the fragile psyche of a promising young golfer. Those who consider golf to be “a good walk, spoiled” or consider the word golf spelled backwards will enjoy this unforgettable round.

Flat Rock Playhouse, 2661 Greenville Hwy, Flat Rock, NC. Wed–Sun, through July 15, times vary. $35. (866) 732-8008, flatrockplayhouse.org

Music on Main Street zMusic on Main Street showcases a diverse lineup of regional musical talents, from pop, oldies, rock, and contemporary music. Bring a lawn chair and your dancing shoes. There will be a special Fourth of July Celebration concert.

Photograph by Robert Maxwell

Visitors Information Center, 201 S Main St, Hendersonville.

Fri, thru Aug 17, 7–9pm; seating area opens at 5:30pm. Free.

(800) 828-4244, historichendersonville.org

Sunrise Hike AT Table Rock zRise before the early birds, take a moonlit hike to the top of Table Rock, and experience a stunning sunrise on the mountaintop. Be sure to pack your camera—and your flashlight—for this unique nocturnal trek.

Table Rock State Park, 158 E Ellison Ln, Pickens.Sat, July 7, 2:15–10:15am. $25. (864) 878-9813, southcarolinaparks.com

Red, White, and Blue Festival zWhat better way to celebrate independence, Old Glory, and one of the best days of summer than with music, food, and one of the largest fireworks displays in the state? This annual event is a relaxing, family-friendly celebration of freedom.

Downtown Greenville. Wed, July 4, call for times. Free. (864) 232-2273, greenvillesc.gov

Diana Krall Krall brings her enchanting vocals to the local stage. Her latest album Quiet Nights blends sweet surrender with Brazilian-influenced numbers, including three Brazilian classics. Krall says, “I feel this album’s very womanly—like you’re lying next to your lover in bed whispering this in their ear.” Don’t miss an evening with this Grammywinning songstress.

The Peace Center 300 S Main St, Greenville.

Thurs, July 12, 8pm. $65-$85.

(864) 467-3000, peacecenter.org

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Photograph by Robert Maxwell

Downtown Greenville . 123 College Street . JBLacher.com . 864.232.7385 . Since 1946 TOWN_JULY_TheList 2.indd 13

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Become A Broadway Subscriber!

Subscribers get their choice of seats and performance dates before tickets go on sale to the public. Don’t miss a minute of the magic!

90 TOWN / towngreenville.com

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BEST SEATS peacecenter.org 864.467.3000 800.888.7768 BEST PRICES

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Town

on the

BMW Charity Pro-Am Kick-Off Party May 16, 2012

Bill Pelham & Lynn Greer

Virginia Hayes, Lindsay Powers, Kerry Ellett, Jennifer Hoover, Bentley Mitchell, Kate Banner & Dixie Dulin

Friends of SmoakPR, Elliott Davis, and TOWN Magazine gathered at the 17th fairway of Greenville Country Club’s Chanticleer golf course to mix and mingle and watch the BMW Pro-Am. Guests were treated to a kick-off party at the home of Mark and Donna Johnston that included Big Al’s Barbeque, desserts by Table 301, Thomas Creek beer, and live music by Taylor Moore.

Photography by Davey Morgan

Les Gardner, Courtney Tessler & Alan Ethridge

John Paylor, Toni Paylor & Rick Davis Charles Eldridge & John Dickens

Donna Johnston & Marguerite Wyche Justin Kopelman & Megan Heil

Andrew Trull, Katy Sides, Lisa Bentley & Bartley Sides

Will Oldham & Brodi Zaffuh Betty & Mike Zeller, Heidi & Keith Miller

Jim McCraw, Tom Austin & Mary Earle McCraw

Elizabeth & Jim Yarbrough with Anne Barr

Kirk Whitehead, Beverly Duvall, Karen & Greg Sieber

William Luce, John York, Michele York, Faye Holcombe & Wayne Holcombe Doug & Debbie Wallace

Kyla & Ryan Moss

Meredith Papapieris, Scott Freeman, Kate Scheele & William Jackson

Amanda Soule & Britton Holland

See more photos online at towngreenville.com and TOWN Magazine’s Facebook page.

Tom & Gidge Marchant

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Frank Desanti & Scott Filion

Jon & Deborah McClure with Carmen & Hal Johnson

Angie Rehkop & Mark Bryan

BMW Charity Pro-Am Celebrity Party and Concert

Sometimes you just know

Kate Baldwin & Terry O’Quinn

May 17–18, 2012

Hollywood hit the Upstate, as celebrities joined sponsors and special guests at a private reception at the Huguenot Loft at the Peace Center. The next night, guests enjoyed a private concert organized by Mark Bryan and Dean Felber of Hootie & the Blowfish, which featured Joe Don Rooney and Jay DeMarcus of Rascal Flatts, Steve Azar, and Josh Kelly.

Actor Rob Morrow and comedian Gary Valentine surprised everyone with a set of songs.

David McGee

Funeral Director

David McGee knew, at a very young age, what career path to follow – indeed, he was only six years old when he discovered his heart’s calling. A death in the family exposed him to grief but also to the soothing comfort of sincere compassion. Thus he determined to one day help others, too.

George & Alaina Lutkitz

Patrick Warburton, Joan Libl & Rob Morrow

Photography by Jay Vaughan Brent Lillcud, David Wallace, Glenn Willard & Samantha Edwards

As a child, David served as unofficial caretaker to the local historical cemetery, tending flowers, tidying gravestones, learning the tales of his hometown’s forefathers. He often re-imagined his Matchbox cars as hearses in peaceful funeral processions. “I felt drawn to tradition,” David recalls. “I had a respect for reverence.”

The Tennessee native graduated from David Lipscomb University in Nashville before heading to Atlanta’s Gupton-Jones College of Funeral Service, where he was a member of Pi Sigma Eta.

Chrystal Orvis & Reggie Smith

Tim & Carol Polin

David has dedicated the past 30 years to re-gifting the compassion he received as a child. He is committed to helping families celebrate and remember the ones they love most.

“No detail is too small,” says David, a member of St. Paul UMC. “I am so grateful to have this as my life’s work.”

Russell Burton, Kim Delainey & Gregg Moses

Mackey Mortuary. We are here for you … since 1872.

Tara Metcalf, Tommy Landford & Shannon Waters

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Georgia Gristwood & Jessica Swanner

Julian Martin, Lily Whitaker, Amy Moore & Chrissy Carter

Holly Sonders & Carl Sobosinski

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311 Century Dr., 291 Bypass at I-385, Greenville | 864-232-6706

Peter & Lisa Larocque with Sandy & Ashby Lincoln

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Paul & Nichole Mathews with Keith & Lisa Sparling

Rick & Katherine Davis, with Dean Felber, Jack Bacot & Leigh Watson

Alexa & Marion Preston with Terrie Janulis & Bobby Barrineau

Announcing Our New Eastside Location!

Located at 3728 Pelham Road, near Earth Fare in the Pelham Hills Shopping Center.

Visit www.ivysalons.com for our Grand Opening Specials!

Dottie Hollis, Susan Mack, Cindy Mack & April Garrison

pelham hills shopping center . 864-288- 1 IVY (-1489) downtown greenville . 864-370- 1 IVY (-1489)

ivysalons.com Ivy Salon

IvySalon

Maurice & Angela Hood with Kevin Coghlin

Mark Bryan & Wendy Cris

Steve Mack, Bredeen Hollis & Brian Garrison

Paul & Nichole Mathews with Keith & Lisa Sparling

Tommy Landford, Alexis Blakely, Stacey Flax & Tommy Plumer

Rusty & Kim Cagle with Terry O’Quinn & Kate Baldwin

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We believe... above & beyond is the only way.

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be happy. be grateful. mostly, be kind. maymebakerstudio.com 90 TOWN / towngreenville.com

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Women Mean Business

The State Theatre of North Carolina

Flat Rock Playhouse celebrating 60 years

April 25, 2012

828.693.0731 flatrockplayhouse.org

Members of Women Mean Business— Greenville businesswomen who want to connect and network socially— indulged in conversation at River Falls Spa in downtown Greenville.

The group meets once a month at different woman-owned businesses.

The Fox on the Fairway In this hysterical homage to the classic farce, two rival golf clubs square off in an annual competition with fortunes on the line and everything depends on the fragile psyche of a promising young golfer.

Photographs by Jay Vaughan

JUN 28 - JUL 15 Boys Arnold & Company Wealth Management presents

Proof

This Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winner for Best Play follows a young woman and the mysterious notebook that draws her into the genius and madness of her mathematician father.

Lindsey Oehman, Elizabeth Garrison & Lauren Skelton

JUL 18 - AUG 5

Guys and Dolls

First Citizens Bank presents

This classic, oddball romantic comedy soars with the spirit of Broadway with a cast of characters who sing and dance through a timeless, groundbreaking score.

Kim Mahaffey, Robin Longino, Sarah Dewey & Sarah Swartz

JUL 25 - AUG 19

The Marvelous Wonderettes

Blue Ridge Literacy Council presents

Meet the Wonderettes, four girls with huge hopes and dreams who sing their way through some of the greatest hits of the 50s and 60s (like, “Heatwave,” Lollipop,” “It’s My Party” and “Respect.”

Teressa Cawley, Beth Harris & Kathy Gerwig

AUG 16 - SEPT 9

Maris Romos, Kristina Backert & Barbara Godfrey Rosylin Gilstrap & Jennifer Abaate Meliza Vargas

Connie Shamlin, Stephanie Vanterpool & Cammie Seymour

Amy Martin & Jennifer Dewitt

Leigh Hartsell Cheryl Hill

Jessica Reeves & Danielle Libka

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You vs.

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on the

Town

Catherine Daniels, Alison Pitts & Carol Ann Good

Craig & Liza Ragsdale with Kacee & Andrew Lominack

Caribbean Crush May 18, 2012 Captain Jack Sparrow couldn’t have done it better himself. With Lilly prints and Bermuda shorts, guests celebrated the fifth-annual fundraiser for the South Carolina Children’s Theatre at Zen in downtown Greenville. While the band Pantasia got folks moving, a silent auction and an open bar kept the party going in pirate style.

Shannon Robert & Anne Tromsness

Photographs by Jay Vaughan

Faith & Zach Stauter

Louis & Roslyn Burroughs

Lindsay Rogers, Sophia Galvau, Kristin & Matt Whitehead Kate Banner & Matt Madden

Injuries don’t just happen to the 5k crowd. Lower back issues, hamstring pulls, shoulder and elbow pain happens to ordinary folks doing ordinary things. But here’s the real problem: Let little injuries go and over time those ibuprofen pills bring no relief. At Proaxis, we bring the experiences of 30 years working with elite athletes to the Average Joe immobilized

by Mother Nature. So when you’re feeling pain, come to the team that’s committed to getting you back to being you.

Paul Barrett, Pam State, Ivonne Diego & Osorno Bermude

Debbie & Fred Nelson

Meg & Will Riley

Barbara Stover, Nicole Fowler & Tammy Stone

Andrea Brazell, Bob Munich & Jessica Latif

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Mara Sharkey & Riley Haskell Charles Ratteerree, Alan Ethridge & Jeff Renow

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Cool and Calm John Otton, Mike DeMaine & Eric Pitts

Drive Business Downtown May 3, 2012

Elliott Davis and the Greenville Drive invited Upstate businesses to celebrate in the “Heart of Greenville” at Fluor Field to recognize downtown’s importance in the prosperity of the Upstate. Attendees were treated to a baseball game and a chance to network with other participants, while some were assigned honorary roles as team captains, scorekeepers, and announcers.

Photography by Jay Vaughan

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Craig Brown & Rick Davis

Ann Ellefson & Nancy Whitworth

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Harbor Run April 28, 2012

Our team listed this 4 bedroom, 4.5 bath Eastside home and had it under contract in just 3 days!

Upstate runners laced up their sneakers for the 11th annual Harbor Run. With a 5k track meandering through downtown Greenville, supporters weren’t the only ones who benefitted from a healthy, active morning. The proceeds from the race went to Safe Harbor, an organization that helps women begin new lives, free of domestic violence.

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Our team listed this 3 bedroom, 2 bath Eastside home and had it under contract in 26 days with multiple offers!

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Bill & Bentley Mitchell with Jonathan & Kay Hill

Melissa & Don Stroud

Young Collectors at the Greenville Museum of Art May 19, 2012 Diana & Morgan Tiller

Norman & Karen Kuebel

Members of the Young Collectors gathered at the Greenville County Museum of Art to celebrate another year of art awareness.

Guests enjoyed works by Alfred Hutty and John James Audubon, among others. This philanthropic branch of the museum is dedicated to promoting art education, awareness, and stewardship.

Photography by Jay Vaughan

Blueberry Facial

Greg & Cary Weekes with Katherine & Kelly Odom

WITH FIRMING EYE MASK Feel the power of the blueberry. High in antioxidants, Carolina Aesthetics Blueberry Facial will deep clean, tone and leave skin feeling soft and refreshed. In July, we are offering the facial for just $99 which includes a firming eye mask treatment at no extra charge.

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24 TOWN / towngreenville.com

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Molly Crowell & Hagen Rogers

Chesnee Klein & Margaret Garrett

Preston Bray & Marion Jacobs with Laura & Greg Williams

Jay & Kimberly Stephens with Lindsey & Jimmy Kmetz

Carol Ann & Paul Good with Keith & Lindsay Jones

Taylor McCarthy & Nolan Ashton Marquin Campbell & Jeanie Halseden

A Family Tradition Since 1964

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POP Art Party April May 5, 2012

The eighth-annual POP Art Party tipped its cap to the Derby, with a hat competition, cigar bar, Firefly mint juleps, and an “Off to the Races” theme at the Hilton Greenville. The fundraiser benefited the Prince of Peace Catholic School in Taylors, SC, with live and silent auctions. Bill Rhodes provided musical entertainment.

Photography by Jay Vaughan

Staff accountants focus on their PTO, 401(k)s and your finances.

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Katie Saad & Michelle Dumit

A.T. LOCKE offers high-level accounting at a fraction of the cost of a full-time employee. Our team of experts is ready to help with bookkeeping functions, CFO-level functions and everything in-between. We’re thorough.

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Pat & Lea Dwyer

Chris & Ashley Maddox

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Hope & Darron Meares

Angela DeGarmo & Randall Childree Mike & Julie Cunningham

Lisa Norton & Judy McCallion

Vencie & Venice Matawaran

Tonya & Therry Wersinger Rich & Lisa Costner with Tommy & Ginger Donovan

Dave & Sheila Dartez with Myrna Dayan & Prax Sanchez

Shirley Farrell, Audry Beerman & June Julian

Stephanie Chasteen & Val Holmes

26 TOWN / towngreenville.com

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Ashley Vaughn, Cathy Stevens & Danielle Mitchell

Camp Opportunity Circle of Friends May 21, 2012

At the “Circle of Friends” wine tasting, guests rotated around six wine stations and indulged in hors d’oeuvres from Devereaux’s. The fundraiser benefited Camp Opportunity, a nonprofit dedicated to enriching the lives of children with difficult backgrounds.

Photography by Jay Vaughan

INTRODUCE YOUR KIDS TO THE WORLD WIDE WORLD. Jennifer & Brad Browning with Richard Lynch

There are adventures here that can’t be experienced anywhere else. YMCA Camp Greenville offers 1400 acres of horseback riding, hiking, kayaking, archery, rock climbing, swimming and ziplining. All high atop Standingstone Mountain. Sign up today at campgreenville.org.

YMCA CAMP GREENVILLE 864.242.1111 ext. 34

David & Doris Shellhorse

Nichole Bond & Rick Amundsen

Carl & Lisa Lorentcen

Jennifer & Archie Gambrel

Iris Wright & Sheila Cureton

Lacie Pottle & Austin McGroarty

Patti Raines, Amy Pecht & David Turner

Paige Blankenship

Elisabeth Lee & Mark Davis

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Town

wedding

Jeremy Paul Mehaffey & Erin Jane Ank April 14, 2012 When Erin and Paul met eight years ago, they heard music playing—because Paul’s band brought them together. Erin was dating the drummer at the time, but it was Paul who made her heart beat. They’ve been making music together ever since. In a modern twist, Erin proposed after a long weekend in Chicago, where the couple lived several years ago. The two now live in Greenville, where they both make art: Erin as a lead designer at Erwin Penland Advertising and Paul as the art director of TOWN Magazine.

Photographed by Red Apple Tree Photography

Carmen Solesbee & Kyle Putnam March 24, 2012 Carmen and Kyle first met in a real estate class at the University of South Carolina—and several years later decided to make a home for themselves. Kyle proposed to Carmen in downtown Greenville, and they were married at Furman’s Charles Ezra Daniel Chapel in a ceremony performed by Carmen’s father. The reception followed at the Huguenot Loft at the Peace Center. The couple traveled throughout Italy on their honeymoon. Carmen and Kyle currently reside in Greenville.

Photographed by Josh Rigsby

Bobby Kent Wagner & Jessica Lynn Rochester

Seth Swan & Lanford Stone

April 14, 2012

June 2, 2012

Clemson made more than only Tiger fans out of Jessica and Bobby. While Bobby was the manager of Keith Street Pub and Grille in Clemson, Jessica worked part-time at the pub while enrolled as a student. After seven years of dating, Bobby proposed on an afternoon walk close to Saluda Falls, North Carolina, near the same spot where they had shared their first date. The ceremony was held at the bride’s parents’ home near Paris Mountain on a beautiful Saturday. Jessica and Bobby currently reside in Easley.

Sometimes fairytales come true. That seems the case for Lanford and Seth, who met through mutual friends. Since childhood, Lanford has cherished trips to Disney World, so Seth took her for a special birthday weekend. While the two explored the Grand Floridian Resort & Spa, Seth took Lanford out to a dock and proposed.

After a wedding at the Trustees’ Garden in Savannah, where the couple has family ties, the two now make their home in Greenville.

Photographed by FamZing Photography

Photographed by LeeAnn Ritch Photography

Hearing wedding bells? TOWN Magazine wants to publish your wedding announcement. If you currently live or grew up in the Upstate area and were recently married, please write to us at TOWN Magazine, Attn: Blair Knobel, 148 River Street, Suite 120, Greenville, SC 29601, or e-mail blair@towngreenville.com. Due to space constraints, inclusion is not guaranteed.

28 TOWN / towngreenville.com

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Proven Results….Made Possible by You Advanced Composite Materials | AHOLD | Allen Tate Corporate Services | Alliance Consulting Engineers | Apartment & Corporate Relocation Services | Ashmore Brothers | AT&T | AWHS Architects | Bank of Travelers Rest | BB&T | BB&T CIC Insurance Services | Blue Choice Healthplan | Blue Ridge Electric Cooperative | BMW Manufacturing Co., LLC | Bob Jones University | Bon Secours St. Francis | C. Dan Joyner Co. | Catherine Hayes Art & Sculpture | Cely Construction | Century 3 | Certus Bank | Charter Business | City of Fountain Inn | City of Greenville | City of Mauldin | City of Simpsonville | City of Travelers Rest | Clemson University ICAR | Coldwell Banker Caine | Colliers International | CountyBank | Crawford Strategy | Davis & Floyd | Day & Zimmerman | Dixon Hughes | Duke Energy Corporation | Easlan Capital | Eastern Industrial Supply | ECS Carolinas | EDTS, LLC | Elliott Davis, LLC | Elmore Goldsmith | Engineered Systems Inc. | Ernst & Young | Ever-Green Recycling | Find Great People | Florence and Hutcheson | Fluor | Froehling & Robertson | Ft. Inn Chamber of Commerce | Furman Company | Gallivan White Boyd | Goodwyn, Mills & Cawood | GrandSouth Bank | Greater Greenville Association of Realtors | Greenville Business Magazine | Greenville Chamber of Commerce | Greenville County | Greenville Downtown Airport | Greenville First Bank | Greenville Hospital System | Greenville News | Greenville Technical College | Greenville Water System | Gregory Electric | H2L | Harper Corporation | Haynsworth Sinkler Boyd, P.A. | Hogan Construction | Homewood Suites by Hilton | Hubbell Lighting | Independence National Bank | J Wesley Crum, III P. A. | Jackson Marketing Group | KBR Building Group | KPMG LLP | Laurens Electric Cooperative | LeChase Construction | Lee & Associates - Greenville | Lockheed Martin Aeronautics - Greenville | M. B. Kahn Construction Co./Argo Division | Marchant Company | Marketplace Staffing | Mauldin Chamber of Commerce | MCA Architecture | McCallum Sweeney Consulting | McMillan Pazdan Smith Group | McNair Law Firm | Mediasation | Melloul-Blamey Construction SC Ltd. | Metromont Corporation | Michelin | Morgan Corporation | Moss and Associates | Nachman Norwood & Parrott | NAI Earle Furman | Nelson Mullins | Nexsen Pruet | Ogletree Deakins | O’Neal | Pacific Gateway | Palmetto Bank | Palmetto Economic Development Corporation | Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP | Patrick Marketing & Communications | Pharmaceutical Associates, Inc. | Phillips Staffing | Piedmont Natural Gas | Pires Group | Raby Construction | Recruiting Solutions | Regions Bank | Rescom Construction | Robert E. Howard | Rödl Langford de Kock | Roebuck Buildings | Rosenfeld Einstein | Roy Metal Finishing | S&ME, Inc. | SC Bank & Trust | SCMEP | SC-TAC | Simpsonville Chamber of Commerce | Smith Moore Leatherwood, LLP | Smoak Public Relations | Spartanburg Regional | Spectrum Commercial | SunTrust Bank | SYS Constructors | Thomas Creek | Thornblade | THS Constructors | Trehel Corporation | URS Corporation | Verdae Development Inc | Verdae Properties | W. D. Workman | Wells Fargo | Westin Poinsett | Whitmire Company, LLC | Womble Carlyle | Woodward & Zwolinski Advertising | Wyche Firm | Yeargin Potter Shackelford Construction

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Town

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OUTSIDE THE BOX / FIELD GUIDE / SHELF LIFE

Land Marks

Photograph of artwork by Eli Warren

Greenville artist Teri Peña’s largescale canvases are often inspired by places that have played a significant role in her life, which she views as a continuous journey.

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Outside the

Box

Spaces Between

Teri Peña paints the road less traveled

/ by Liza Twery Mc Angu s

Lands of Time : Teri Peña’s life and travels in the United States, France, and Chile have inspired her large paintings of animals, landscapes, and people.

To see more, teripena.com

Photographs of artwork by Eli Warren (horse) and Georgina Peña; portrait by Georgina Peña

I

f you’ve had both the pleasure of meeting Teri Peña and seeing her paintings, there’s a clear correlation between the art and its creator. Both appear grounded in warmth, playfulness, and a peaceful outlook derived from approaching life as a continuous journey. While she credits her mother as one of her greatest artistic influences, it’s apparent by her work’s array of subjects that this multifaceted woman has a wide variety of passions and experiences to draw from.

After studying communication arts at East Carolina University, the Charlotte native had a successful career in advertising and corporate communications in Michigan. But when the Peñas moved to France in 1992, Teri began to concentrate on painting. During her four years abroad, Peña enjoyed painting plein air After returning to the States and air. settling in Greenville with three young daughters, she decided to experiment with large-scale painting, switching from watercolors, a more convenient medium for transporting around the French countryside, to working in oil paints.

Naturally, when she started “moving the paint around,” memories of France began flowing onto the big canvases. “I really started focusing on playing, and using the memories I had of the skies and water in France, places that brought me peace and wonder,” Peña explains.

The artist has developed multiple landscape series, which are often inspired by places that have played a significant role in her life, such as the Lowcountry, France, and Chile. In Peña’s earlier works, large sweeping brushstrokes are balanced by an earthen color palette. Her most recent landscapes use bolder colors and are activated by experimentations with shadows.

Whether pieces from the former triathlete’s bicycle series, famous writer portraits, or collection of Percheron horse paintings, there remains a sense of timelessness throughout the work.

Pena’s studio is in the Art Bomb in Greenville’s Far West End. Recently hanging near the front door of the nonprofit was a Peña painting titled Fahrvergnügen. The piece depicts a beautiful countryside with a road worthy of a Sunday drive, and heading down the road is a four-wheeled piece of cheerful nostalgia—a VW van. When someone suggested she add a sign to clarify the van’s destination, her response was, “If you drive a Volkswagen, you’re not worried about where you’re going or how long it takes to get there.

It’s about the journey.”

32 TOWN / towngreenville.com

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Gvill

Escape the Everyday Every Day

Photographs of artwork by Eli Warren (horse) and Georgina Peña; portrait by Georgina Peña

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Field

Guide

Stable Mates: Anderson’s elegant Bleckley Inn, a restored livery stable, boasts 14 smartly decorated rooms and suites, along with 8,000 square feet of event space and a charming side alley.

Southern Comfort

The Bleckley Inn in downtown Anderson offers modern char m

L

ike a modern Southern lady, the Bleckley Inn holds to genteel manners while showing off a sophisticated, contemporary style. This boutique hotel, which opened in March 2011 just off of Main Street in Anderson, receives guests in its casually elegant lobby, comfortably dressed in subdued earth tones. Lit by a sparkling Swarovski crystal chandelier, a heart-pine and wrought-iron staircase leads up to the rooms—all 14 of which are on the second floor.

A group of visiting Budweiser Clydesdale horses sparked the idea for the inn, according to local entrepreneur and Bleckley Inn owner, Steve Kay. When the Clydesdales came to town in 2009 for the Anderson Soiree festival, Kay had already purchased the Fretwell Company livery stable that fronts McDuffie Street. It was in this early-twentieth-century brick carriage house that he hosted the Clydesdales. The horses’ handlers, however, had to drive back out to the highway to find a place to stay. That was when it dawned on Kay that downtown Anderson needed a good hotel.

So he snapped up the three historic structures adjoining the carriage house and set about renovating them into a large breakfast room and 8,000 square feet of meeting space. Much of the past is preserved in original brick walls, wood beams, and photographs of the early families who once owned the buildings. To the mix, he added the stone-and-brick edifice that contains the inn’s lobby and guest rooms.

Three categories of rooms take the names of the former owners of the inn’s historic buildings. Spacious Bleckley Suites (named after nineteenth-century merchant Sylvester Bleckley, whose building once stood on this site) accommodate longer stays with a full kitchenette, washer and dryer, and separate bedroom and living areas. The six Peoples Rooms (for John Peoples, a local banker and Bleckley’s son-in-law) have king beds, while four larger Fretwell Rooms make space for two queen beds.

All accommodations boast 10-foot ceilings, heart-pine floors, mahogany furnishings, and tall, custom-made doors. Oversized tile baths, 600-thread-count bed linens, robes, mini-refrigerators, flat-screen TVs, and free WiFi number among the creature comforts. A hot, gourmet breakfast is included in the rates, and fresh-baked cookies and milk are laid out in the hall pantry each evening after dinner.

Kay, who maintains a frequent presence in the inn, claims that what sets the Bleckley apart is that the property is small enough to consider its guests as family. “I tell my staff to always treat guests like your mother would,” he says. That is, with the gracious welcome of a true Southern hostess.

The Bleckley Inn 151 E Church St, Anderson (864) 225-7203, bleckleyinn.com Rates: $150-$200/night

Photog r aph s by David Hear ne Photog r aphy and K i m Deloach ; cour tes y of t he Bleck ley I n n

/ by M. Linda Lee

34 TOWN / towngreenville.com

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Caro

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Shelf

Life

Marching Forward Kimberly’s Flight: The Story of Captain Kimberly Hampton, America’s First Woman Combat Pilot Killed in Battle

by Anna Simon with Ann Hampton, 2012 Casemate

Photograph courtesy of Arcadia Publishing

by Kimberly herself saying that landing a helicopter in sand was like having a “brown paper bag over your head.”

Hampton’s emotions are equally candid, including one point during Kimberly’s funeral services when she admits to muttering, “I’d rather have Kimberly back instead,” as the Army officer handed her the folded flag from her daughter’s casket.

This book succeeds because it goes beyond the headlines in the days and weeks following Kimberly’s death. It quantifies the efforts in the War on Terror (Hampton was one of more than 1,000 deployed to Iraq in the summer of 2003, for example), and it personalizes their plight through hundreds of emails, letters, and instant messages, excerpted throughout.

Kimberly’s Flight not only pays tribute to the life of an extraordinary woman; it gives a voice to the untold sacrifices every soldier makes in service to country. If it’s hard to read this book—to learn of a life cut short and to see her face smiling back at you from the page—then imagine how hard it was to write.—Heidi Coryell Williams

Road Trip Greenville’s Augusta Road

by Kelly Lee Odom, 2012 Arcadia Publishing

A

Photograph courtesy of Casemate

W

ith thoroughness, accuracy, and, at times, heart-wrenching honesty, Kimberly’s Flight details the life and military career of Easley native Captain Kimberly Hampton, commander of D Troop, 1st Squadron, 17th Cavalry, the armed reconnaissance aviation squadron of the 82nd Airborn Division. On January 2, 2004, Kimberly was flying an OH-58D Kiowa Warrior helicopter above Fallujah, Iraq, in support of a raid on an illicitweapons marketplace. The helicopter crashed when a heat-seeking, surfaceto-air missile entered the exhaust and knocked off the helicopter’s tail boom.

Kimberly was killed, making her the first woman combat pilot in history to lose her life in battle.

Told from the perspective of a grieving mother who has loved and lost her only child, the book takes readers from Kimberly’s first breaths in the hospital to her last phone call home, a full month before her death, and beyond.

Kimberly’s Flight says as much about the ultimate sacrifice of a soldier as it does of the sacrifice of military parents, who allow their children to pursue their dreams no matter the cost. “I just wanted to hug her and keep her close,” Hampton says, “but I loved Kimberly enough to let her fly.”

Kimberly’s Flight offers a glimpse into the day-to-day lives of soldiers who have served and are serving in the War on Terror, doing everything from dodging bullets to building makeshift offices in dusty desert tents to constructing bunk beds in crowded barracks. Co-authored by newspaper veteran Anna Simon (Greenville News), Kimberly’s Flight remains grounded, albeit sadly, in the firstperson view of a grieving but proud mother (Ann Hampton). Hampton recounts high-school tennis matches, the college admissions process, military training, and more—all from the sidelines of her daughter’s life, where she simultaneously cheered and fretted over where Kimberly’s ambition and talent would lead her.

Descriptions of the Middle East are vivid at times, including one offered

ugusta Road, a commercial corridor and concentration of historic neighborhoods, was once a trade route between Greenville and Augusta, Georgia. First-time author and history lover Kelly Odom captures its evolution in the illustrated history Greenville’s Augusta Road, out July 30.

With 165 photos from the Greenville County Historical Society, Odom tracks the development of business and the influx of wealth into the area between 1860 and 1960. He begins the journey at Main Street and follows Augusta Road through its business district, neighborhoods, and golf clubs. In addition, the book spotlights well-known homes and businesses, including the Tuten-Mart shopping center, among others.

An Upstate native and third-generation co-owner of the Pickwick, a pharmacy and soda fountain on Augusta Road since 1947, Odom is no stranger.

He says this writing endeavor evolved from his interest in history and desire to highlight the Greenville County Historical Society, “a hidden gem.” Proceeds from the book’s sale will benefit the society. —April A. Morris

36 TOWN / towngreenville.com

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Photograph courtesy of Arcadia Publishing

Exhibit A

Some call it Catering, I call it MAGIC! Kristina Murphy, Director of Magic

www.larkinscatering.com 864-467-3020

Larkin’s on the River ~ Wyche Pavilion Larkin’s Sawmill TOWN_JULY_ShelfLIfe.indd 37

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Town

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W

Dive In

Skydive Carolina offers a different perspective / by Kimberly John son

ho could forget the image of Jack Nicholson yelling “geronimo!” before flinging himself out the open doorway of a perfectly good airplane, hurtling toward the flat earth below in The Bucket List? The scene threw down a cinematic challenge to live life to the fullest.

Each year, thousands of area jumpers follow Jack’s lead and seek out their own life-changing adventures with the help of Skydive Carolina in Chester. The company also has a large jumping community of licensed skydivers who jump regularly from both North and South Carolina, with many jumpers from the Upstate, according to general manager James LaBarre.

“The largest draw for first-timers is the ‘bucket list’ theme,” says LaBarre, who added that this year alone, Skydive Carolina is on target to provide 5,000 tandem jumps. “When the movie The Bucket List came out, it really got people thinking, and as a result we have seen a much larger demographic, from 60-to80-year-olds coming out.” Landing space and ideal weather also make for an easy draw, he explains. “Skydiving operations in the north

tend to close down for the winter. Because we have mild winters here in the Carolinas, it does allow us to jump year-round,” he says.

“We see a lot of folks who have been through difficult times in life, and as a result, they just want to start living, whether they’ve lost somebody or they’re overcoming cancer,” LaBarre says. “It’s a very empowering experience. Your whole social circle is telling you, ‘you’re crazy,’” he says. “There’s all this build-up and tack on whatever baggage you have going on in your life. Then you go do it, and you’re completely free, you land, and you loved it,” he says. “What can’t you do now that you’ve faced jumping out of an airplane?”

Taking that first step need not be daunting, he adds. “What people need to realize is this is not as scary as a roller coaster. If you can handle going on a roller coaster at Carowinds, then you can handle a skydive.” The speed at which you leave the airplane, which is moving at 100 miles-perhour, prevents the stomach-in-your-throat sensation, he explains.

“The sense of peace you have when that parachute opens up is extraordinary,” LaBarre says. “If you’re looking to get out of your comfort zone, if you’re looking to see the world from a whole different perspective, and if you have anything that is troubling you, come make a skydive because once you get out of that airplane, none of that matters.”

Take a Leap: Skydive Carolina offers a variety of skydiving packages and is open yearround. 1903 King Air Dr, Chester. (803) 581-5867, skydivecarolina.com

38 TOWN / towngreenville.com

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Row

furniture • antiques • interiors

M72A

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Up

Towner

Word Play Hub City Writers Project executive director Betsy Teter fills a niche / by Jac Chebatoris

“She Said Spartanburg lookS like a literary town, So i deCided to JuSt move here,” SayS teter. “i thought, wow, that’S a pretty good Sign that we’re Shaking thingS up for the better.”

Photograph by Paul Mehaffey

F

DR would be so proud.

About 17 years ago, three writers in Spartanburg decided to create an organization based on President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s idea called the Federal Writers’ Project, enacted to put 6,000 writers back to work during the Great Depression.

Betsy Teter felt Spartanburg could benefit from a similar incentive: “We felt like the community could do more to appreciate its assets, its culture, and its history,” says Teter, who, along with journalist Gary Henderson and Wofford University professor and author John Lane (her future husband), founded the Hub City Writers Project in 1995, based in Spartanburg.

The kick-off party, pegged to their selfpublished Hub City Anthology, an original collection of personal essays written by local writers about the experience of living in Spartanburg, was in a decrepit train station, which was a fitting backdrop. Teter explains, “The name ‘Hub City’ goes back to the late 1800s when Spartanburg was a very ambitious place and laid all the railroads here that made the city prosper.”

The city decided shortly thereafter to renovate the train station. We were building a community of writers, but at the same time it was our mission to community-build, as well— to make this a stronger community focused on things that mattered,” she says.

Teter comes from a family with three generations in the car-dealership business, but words were always the industry where she felt most at home. After attending Spartanburg Day School, she majored in English and history at Wake Forest University then jumped into the newspaper business for 15 years before launching the Writers Project, for which she is the executive director. Two years ago, the Hub City Press became another tentacle, expanding the reach of this literary community as an independent and nonprofit press with its own bookstore. The Writers Project has published 400 writers and has a budget of $450,000—not bad for an idea that started over coffee those many years ago.

Just recently, a literary agent who had been living in Ohio called Teter to say she had moved to Spartanburg. When Teter asked why, the woman said she had heard about the Hub City Writers Project and began following it on Facebook. “She said Spartanburg looks like a literary town, so I decided to just move here,” says Teter. “I thought, wow, that’s a pretty good sign that we’re shaking things up for the better.”

A novel idea if there was one.

40 TOWN / towngreenville.com

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Spa

I’ve seen the

road to recovery.

It doesn’t end with

the climb.

John Cash, Gibbs Survivorship Program donor

Photograph by Paul Mehaffey

John Cash knows about survival. Even as an elite athlete, he’s watched cancer take its toll on his family. That’s why John leads the annual Climb to Conquer Cancer. He’s seen cancer survivors benefit from exercise, nutrition, encouragement and coaching, so John’s cycling marathon helps fund the tools survivors need to live strong. With each dollar raised, the race toward the cure picks up speed. I’ve seen Gibbs work miracles. That’s why I’m here.

Spartanburg Regional • 101 East Wood St. • Spartanburg SC 29303 • 1.877.455.7747 • gibbscancercenter.com

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GivinG

Back

Leafy Greens : TreesGreenville is a volunteer-powered nonprofit that plants trees throughout Greenville County.

To learn more, treesgreenville.org

Ever Green

TreesGreenville promotes the count y’s upward mobilit y / by Kimberly John son

O

n any given Saturday, from October to March, there’s a small army of volunteers storming through the county with pitch axes and shovels, looking to put a little more green in Greenville.

Each weekend, volunteers of the 400-member-strong TreesGreenville scatter around the county, planting 15-gallon trees where needed. The county-wide nonprofit has been responsible for planting nearly 3,000 trees since it began in 2005.

“We plant trees that will be around for generations yet to come,” says Joelle Teachey, the organization’s executive director. “We promote the benefits of trees, and we protect trees by teaching people how to properly plant and care for them.”

The group offers workshops to teach how to properly prune and fertilize trees and to test soil. There’s a good way to plant a tree, starting with a really wide, shallow hole, she explains. “Trees, more often than not, are planted too deep,” says Teachey, who has a background in environmental science.

Then there’s the dreaded “mulch volcano,” a gardening abomination that comes from an overly aggressive use of the soil covering. Mulch should never touch the bark, Teachey explains.

Through its Legacy Tree Project, TreesGreenville plants trees capable of living at least 100 years, such as oaks and

maples, at parks, schools, and neighborhoods. Eighteen schools have already benefited from their saplings. “Any park, municipality, even city can request support from TreesGreenville,” she says. For example, the organization, with an assist from Public Works, recently planted at a county animal care facility on Airport Road. “We provided the materials, but they provided the labor,” she says.

Residential areas also get their love. Through its “Neighborwoods” initiative, neighborhoods throughout the county can organize group plantings. A new grant from TD Bank will pay for 50 trees to be planted to screen off the revitalizing Brutontown community from an adjacent industrial complex, Teachey says.

Edible fruit trees planted in affordable housing neighborhoods have been meaningful for residents long after shovels have been put away. Teachey recalls the excitement of a single mother of two daughters who received a plum tree, fruit her children had never tasted. The tree helped provide fresh fruit, which would have otherwise been too expensive for her to afford, she says.

“That, to us, keeps us passionate,” Teachey says. “It’s important to take care of our environment. It’s important to take care of our trees, so they’ll take care of us.”

42 TOWN / towngreenville.com

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Handshake by Handshake | Block by Block That’s how we’ve done business since 1933.

Photograph by Paul Mehaffey

Since 1933 generations of business owners and home owners have turned to Caine for their real estate needs. A mark of quality, service, integrity and respect. We’re proud to have served the place we all love for three quarters of a century and we stand ready and committed to serve future generations with the same passion and loyalty. Visit us online at cbcaine.com.

44 TOWN / towngreenville.com

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Central

style

all things stylish / unique / extraordinary

Got Light?

Antique copper milk jug carries new weight

Phil Watson likes to rummage for antiques and odd objects and turn them on. More accurately, he looks for ways to convert them into lamps or light fixtures. With an artist’s eye, he works with a local craftsman to turn unique finds into artistic furnishings.

This lamp is made from a large, copper-clad milk jug used by dairy farmers in Belgium. Dating from the early 1800s, these milk jugs were copper clad to add weight for transporting the milk from farm to market.The Belgian dairy farmers preferred the heavy jugs as they traveled by wagon over rough terrain to reduce spillage.The milk would be used to make buttermilk, butter, cheese, or transferred to bottles for city dwellers.

Belgian Copper Milk Jug Lamp (32” high x 12” in diameter), $329.

20” Beige Retro Drum lamp shade, custom-made in USA from 100-percent Czech linen hardback, $101.

Flame finial in copper finish, $15.

Hot Rod

Cast away this summer with a flashy reel

Photograph by Paul Mehaffey

A warm afternoon, a cold brew, a top-notch rod, and schools of tailing trout—not much can beat a day of fly fishing. For the die-hard anglers out there, you probably have already found the exact spot for you and your crew. If that’s the case, we can only wish you good weather. But for those needing direction, consider Western North Carolina’s fly-fishing trail in Jackson County—the first of its kind in the United States (flyfishingtrail.com). Fifteen spots offer ample pools of brook, brown, and rainbow trout—and prime waters for mastering the perfect roll cast.—Anna DiBenedetto G. Loomis CrossCurrent GLX saltwater rod, 9ft, $680; Nautilus NV saltwater reel, machined aluminum lightweight, $600; Jim Teeny saltwater sight fishing line, call for cost. Luthi’s Outfitters, 22 Butler Ave, Greenville.

(864) 233-0551, luthis.com

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TOOL

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2

3 1

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1 SUMMER STUD Immersion Research Demshortz, $62. Sunrift Adventures, 1 Center St, Travelers Rest. (864) 834-3019, sunrift.com 2 short supply Billabong Coil Platinum X board short, $55. Invert Action Sports, 4 24 River St, Greenville. (864) 271-3986, invertactionsports.com 3 lucky stripe Patagonia Wavefarer board short, $59. Mast General Store, 111 N Main St, Greenville.

(864) 235-1883, mastgeneralstore.com 4 FINE PRINT Michael’s board short, $85. Rush Wilson Ltd, 23 W North St, Greenville.

(863) 232-2761, rushwilson.com 5 ORANGE CRUSH North Face Men’s Class V trunk, $35. Mast General Store, mastgeneralstore.com

Photog r aph by T J G et z

5

46 TOWN / towngreenville.com

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If you can imagine it…

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Wish

List

2

3

1 1

4

6

4

5 Photog r aph by T J G et z

Flat Lands

Strut your stuff in these low-lying heels

1 BLACK & NEW Tory Burch, call for cost. Monkee’s of the West End, 103 A Augusta St, Greenville. (864) 239-0788, monkeesofthewestend.com 2 PRINT SHOP VANELi “Betyle,” multi-snake sandal, $113. Sutton’s, 86 Orchard Park Dr, Greenville. (864) 288-1951 3 THIN SKIN Schutz, call for cost.

Monkee’s of the West End, monkeesofthewestend.com 4 GOLD STANDARD Vince Camuto “Signature Flora Gold,” metallic lambskin, $110. Muse Shoe Studio, 2222 Augusta St, #5, Greenville. (864) 271-9750, museshoestudio.com 5 LINEAR PERSPECTIVE FS/NY striped ballet flat, $60. Labels Designer Consignments, 1922 Augusta St, Ste 112, Greenville. (864) 631-1919, labelsonaugusta.com 6 INITIAL STEP Stephen Bonanno handmade leather with custom monogram, $156. The Pink Monogram, 2243 Augusta Rd, Greenville. (864) 271-3587, thepinkmonogram.com 48 TOWN / towngreenville.com

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Shoes Handbags Accessories Fresh Designs Friendly Service Fabulous Shopping!

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2243 Augusta Road | Greenville, SC 29605 | 864.271.3587 | www.thepinkmonogram.com J U LY 2 0 1 2 / 4 9 PinkMonogram_HalfH_Town_July.indd 1 TOWN_JULY2_Wishlist.indd 49

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PLACE hoLdErs 72 TOWN / towngreenville.com

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a sense of place. Essence of place. it’s often thought that people give meaning to a place. But maybe a place gives meaning to us. Maybe the place, with its ineffable yet distinct beauty—its collective soul—says more about those who call it home than what we could say about it. for these mountain hills, with their Cherokee mystery and Scots-irish moonshine, call back natives who’ve since gone, and call forth settlers to begin anew. There is more to a place than its land, more to a land than its people—both are indispensable, interconnected, whole. and it’s this wide circle that we call home.

Edited by Blair KnoBEl Photography by Paul MEhaffEy

JJUUNL Y E 2012 / 5 71 3

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ties that

bind by dot jackson

M

place-in-the-heart mystique in his memoir Red Hills and Cotton. y family first shows up here, in the Keowee What Stephen Vincent Benet had said, in a review of Red Hills basin at the top of South Carolina, in 1784. when it became a national best-seller in 1942, was true—it was At least that was when deeds to Cherokee indeed “the most beautiful book ever written about the South.” As lands began to be filed, by invasive evidence, it remains in print, through the University of South Carolina European whites.

Press, though Ben was killed while covering the war, a few months One of these, my brother, due to certain after its publication. inter-family dust-ups that at one point Beyond the writing, what set it apart was that it was about Pickens involved shooting, was born in Georgia. He was killed on his twentyCounty, South Carolina—the most beautiful part of the South—and first birthday, off the coast of Iwo Jima. Except for short, rare, and about our kin—thousands of whom never left, or have managed, joyful visits to our great-aunt Bird Montgomery, who once ran a somehow, to come home. boarding house beside the Southern tracks in Central, he would never Getting here, at last, was sweet almost beyond endurance. be able to know “Home.” He had been pledged to Clemson, out of Since every bald knob and pine-bristled hillock and every stream high school in Miami, when the war took most every male not already and pumpkin field had been the stuff of stories on the porches of in a wheelchair. my childhood, nothing was strange. The little old stores, with the While, in our childhood, we lived wherever our daddy could make a perfume of Nehi chocolate, laying mash, snuff, and banana flips, living, one thing was implied, somehow, about our tribal life. Someday and the attendant old men, who hushed the tale at once when a we would go home. Not my mother’s idea. Bitter things had happened, “womern” came inside; the old iron bridges, over muddy Twelve Mile following her elopement with my father, a tenant on her mother’s and sparkling Eastatoee; the churchyards, where nearly every stone considerable cotton farm. The sticklers for Family Preservation were bore a familiar name; the old houses where people I knew by blood adamant. “For Heaven’s sake, that man is an ORPHAN!” without ever knowing in the flesh had lived, and sometimes lived, Translation: He had no Land! Even a heinous felon might have still—this was the stuff of rapture.

Land—and be a better bet. Our family had its values, after all.

“Don’t go back there,” my mother said to me, over and over. But here was the old house near Keowee, its ruins consumed I knew her better. I knew her loneliness for her people, for the cool, by a thicket, where my daddy, then 5, and his older brother, hemlock-shadowed flow of the sacred river Keowee, and for the 9, and the year-old baby found solace with “Aunt Jane,” arching blue horizon, at the far end of the family fields. time to time, after their mother died. They were in the care of There was never any doubt, this was my home. I remember standing their sister, 11, who made the living chopping cotton. Made them on the seat of a T-Model Ford, at no more than two years old, staring work, too—and made them go to school. Their pride would not out the windshield, enraptured at the sight of hills ahead. I was 52, let them “live on Aunt Jane and Uncle William.” But they did love when I got here, to stay. to go there!

Most of my working life had been in newspapers. Reporting was Just past the “Eastatoee Waterworks”—a hollowed locust flume serious business, a trust and an obligation. We worked for a publisher, rammed back into the rocks of a crystal roadside spring—with a cup and somewhat in the interest of his profit, of course. But the bottom beside it for the convenience of the thirsty, I had to stop and cry. line of that day was the service of the public. It was telling the truth, or Home, home. getting in bad trouble. Sometimes truth-telling got the scribe in trouble, Of course, as Cud’n Ben had written, there had to be a “stopping too. I remember a colleague who was called in from a fine dinner to place for the night.” I bought one, in the woods not far from Mile cover a holiday parade and was not inspired. He drew an editor’s wrath Creek, above Six Mile. Paid next to nothing for it, which some when his copy showed up, in total: “Saw the Thanksgiving Parade. thought was way too much. But it was a haven like no other. The Again. As usual, there wasn’t much to it.” A little fake enthusiasm was frogs came up on the back porch to sing at night. Once when I not considered lying. was despairing, the birds came I had several newspaper jobs singing, from everywhere, after a project for the Anderson right up within reach.

Getting here, at last, was sweet almost beyond Independent helped me come Down in the woods near a home in 1984. But what was spring, the wood thrush had its endurance. Since every bald knob and pine-bristled working on my mind, all the time, nest. In the evening, its fourhillock and every stream and pumpkin field had was to see this place as it had phrase song was straight from been the stuff of stories on the porches of my evolved, some four decades after Heaven. Just as its ancestors childhood, nothing was strange.. a beloved reporter kinsman, Ben sang for mine—two centuries Robertson, captured its basic, ago. Home.

T

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dot jackson Dot Jackson began as a music student, but found that took way too much effort and there were too many great players out there already. She taught school for a while, but that was really hard work. With a natural gift for telling everything, she found her place in newspapers, for more than 40 years, wrote one novel, Refuge, and is now the on-site manager of the Birchwood Center for Arts and Folklife, in the mountains of Pickens County.

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Cake

walk by george singLeton

B

elieve me when I say that I have little love for the to escort said individual to the gate and, with one of those old-timey airline experience. My luggage does—I’ve had jetmetal megaphones, keep the passenger-to-be apprised. setting Samsonite pieces travel the continental United Here’s a list of cities I’ve flown into or out of over the last ten years States solo for the low, low price of 50 dollars. If on book tours, in no particular order: Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, New my luggage could talk, it might show up a couple York, Memphis, Cedar Rapids, Minneapolis–St. Paul, Seattle, Portland, days after I returned home and say, “You only went San Francisco, Dallas, Houston, Jackson, Miss., Jackson Hole, Salt Lake to New York? Man, I’ve been to Charlotte, Detroit, City, Jacksonville, Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Richmond, Greensboro, Jackson Hole, Denver, Atlanta, Houston, and back in the last few days. I Raleigh, DC, Pittsburgh, Buffalo, Detroit, Cincinnati, Birmingham, just flew in, and boy are my tags tired . . .”

Cleveland, Louisville, Nashville, Chattanooga, New Orleans, Charlotte, I imagine more than a few other people have had this experience.

Roanoke, St. Louis, and Toledo. There might be five or ten others I’ve Know that I’m an anger-filled curmudgeon, and it almost pains me to say banished from my memory. that my love of Upstate South Carolina begins and ends at the GreenvilleWhat I’m trying to say is this—like knowing exactly what a magnolia Spartanburg International Airport. tree looks like, I’ve tried to understand the other trees. I’ve learned this, so A long time ago at Furman University I took a philosophy course far: I fly into or out of these cities or towns, I have bad experiences, and on Ludwig Wittgenstein, and somewhere in between banging my head I spend a good 12 hours all curmudgeonly angry about what happened. on the desk repeatedly, I caught Professor Jim Edwards say something Maybe I had to stand in line forever waiting for baggage. Maybe I had about how To Know Something Completely, Then We Need to Know to go talk to a representative about my jet-setting luggage that didn’t All of Its Opposites. To know a magnolia tree best, for example, then show up. Maybe I had fellow passengers bang into my shoulders as we should know pine, oak, sycamore, cypress, and all those others. And we walked aimlessly toward a moving sidewalk that crept along slower to love and understand the Greenville-Spartanburg International Airport, than vegetarians committed to a barbecue festival. Maybe I wanted to indeed, it’s best to visit all of the other airports in America. fly back to Greenville-Spartanburg International Airport, but missed my I’ll go ahead right now and say, okay, what’s the story with calling flight because the idiot in charge of announcements said, “Passengers… this place “International”? I’ve never flown from Greenville to Santiago Nibblety…Slaw…Forensic Napalm…Zhigamojo…Now!” here’s always something, I swear to God. or Singapore. I know that perhaps Michelin or BMW executives fly to I don’t need to tell anyone from around here how beautiful France and Germany, but they—and only they—should be obligated to it is to drive out of the short-term parking garage, pay about include “International” when describing their departure site. one-tenth that it costs in all those aforementioned cities, then take Listen, when I leave from GSP it goes like this: I park my Jeep in an that slow right-hand bend to I-85. February or June or October, it’s enclosed, short-term parking garage because it ain’t exactly expensive, exhilarating to roll down the windows and let the Upstate blow in on comparatively speaking. I walk in, and there’s an air of excitement the way to downtown Greenville, which one day might be referred to across the board. I check in easily, take the escalator upstairs, take as Mecca. I won’t even go into the times I should’ve driven straight a right, and order the best pancakes in the world at that Windows home but got caught up somewhere between the Bohemian and restaurant. IHOP needs to send its manager trainees here to learn the Ford’s Oyster House, needy of nerve-curing supplements—or to see importance of Perfect Pancakes. that weird curved bridge over the Reedy, or get out of my Jeep and Later on, I stroll on over to Gate A or B—meet the smiling TSA agent, take a walk on the Swamp Rabbit Trail where most passersby kindly show my ID, take off my shoes, and don’t get thrown up against a wall say, “Hey, how are you?” to be probed. After getting through the short line, and having my laptop A couple years ago we had a visiting writer from the Cleveland area X-rayed for cancer, it’s an easy walk to my gate. The little bistro-kiosks named Dan Chaon come visit the South Carolina Governor’s School for the upstairs offer coffee and bagels and sandwiches and beer—like at other Arts and Humanities. I took him back to GSP. After we got him checked American airports, except it’s all less than a half-mile from the gate. And in, he said, “This might be the only civilized airport in the United States.” bagels don’t cost 20 bucks.

I said, “See? South Carolina’s not like everything they say on TV. When it’s time to board the plane, the voice from above doesn’t sound We’re not as backwards as like, “Passengers…Nibblety… everyone thinks—at least not Slaw…Forensic Napalm… around this part of the state.”

Zhigamojo…Now!” Nope, I check in easily, take the escalator upstairs, take a right, We went outside, and the most hearing-impaired looked at jets flying elsewhere, passenger can make out and order the best pancakes in the world at that Windows sad passengers going onward what’s going on overhead— restaurant. IHOP needs to send its manager trainees here toward destinations that will and if he or she can’t, I would to learn the importance of Perfect Pancakes.. never compare to what we be willing to bet that someone have here. downstairs would be happy

T

54 TOWN / towngreenville.com

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george singleton George Singleton has published four collections of stories, two novels, and one work of nonfiction. His short stories and essays have appeared in Atlantic Monthly, Harper’s, Garden & Gun, Oxford American, Playboy, New Stories from the South, the Georgia Review, Southern Review, Kenyon Review, and elsewhere. His latest collection, Stray Decorum, will be available in September. A recent Guggenheim Fellow, and winner of the 2011 Hillsdale Award in Fiction from the Fellowship of Southern Writers, he teaches fiction writing at the South Carolina Governor’s School for the Arts and Humanities.

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Main

Stay by mindy friddle

I

t’s vacant now. An elegiac, stubborn building, shrugging by often, he says, wanting a look inside, including Max and Trude off the Virginia creeper scaling its shady side. On my daily Heller, and, once, a group of children from the Beth Israel Synagogue neighborhood walks in the Heritage Historic District on North on Summit Drive. Crosby renovated the place twice in the 17 years he Main, I find myself being drawn to it. owned it, constructing an apartment on the lower level in which he lived Perhaps it’s the majestic silver dome—now peeling—and the for a short while, and later rented out. “We had gallery openings, parties. tiled Stars of David that still grace its entryway, but the history It was a great, great time,” he says with a pensive sigh. He reluctantly of the place is hard to ignore. It was, after, all, Greenville’s first sold the building in 2004. The new owner put the property up for sale synagogue. It was built with one million bricks. Included on the lower level several years ago. was a mikvah, a bathing pool for ritual cleansing, that is there still, as is a Mark Bergstrom, restaurant consultant and a culinary chef and chandelier with a chain, originally lowered to light candles. instructor, is smitten with the old synagogue and nearly rescued it The Beth Israel congregation formed in 1910 with 25 families who last fall. A Charleston native who now makes Greenville his home, worshipped at various rented places before constructing the synagogue in Bergstrom “fell in love” with Greenville and says the old synagogue is 1929. Greenville’s Jewish population had been increasing since the turn “a great historical building.” Last year, Bergstrom’s company, Feast or of the twentieth century, and most of the members of Beth Israel owned Famine, spent considerable time and resources recruiting an investor retail stores located on Main Street in downtown Greenville. By 1947, at and assembling an elaborate plan of tax credits and loans to restore a time when Jews were excluded from the Greenville Country Club and the building and transform it into a wine bar and restaurant called the the Poinsett Club, the synagogue had grown to 300 members, including Madeline, “a paring of eclectic wine and food grown from local farms.”

Max Heller, who was elected mayor of Greenville in 1971. According The plan would have spent more than 6 million dollars restoring the to newspaper clippings from the era, during World War II, Beth Israel building to original historical standards, he says, replacing copper and Synagogue sponsored a servicemen’s center, and the American actor Zero stained glass, and uncovering oak floors and plaster walls, as well as Mostel is said to have performed at one of the synagogue’s USO shows. installing energy efficient heat and air, and solar panels. “That building Beth Israel’s congregation transitioned from orthodox to conservative has a great feel. You just can’t buy that feel,” he says. “There’s not enough practices in the late 1940s, and in 1957 purchased land on Summit Drive historical landmarks like this in Greenville.” Bergstrom had the building for a new synagogue. Grace Evangelical Methodist Church moved into rezoned to Office District, the “least invasive,” he says, with a special the Townes Street location next and held services there until 1964, when exception added for a restaurant with indoor and outdoor seating. nfortunately, the plan didn’t clear all hurdles by January 1, a cooperative of labor unions took up residence. A 1968 city directory when laws changed and tax credits disappeared, and the deal lists local union offices for carpenters, electrical workers, plumbers, fell apart. Bergstrom says the current owner hasn’t sold the steamfitters, and Teamsters who provided aid and relief to workers for 13 property, and it has been in foreclosure since February. It’s likely the years. Occasionally, there were bread lines. In 1978, the building was sold bank will soon auction off the building to the highest bidder, and to the Faith Tabernacle Apostolic Temple. without historical protection the old synagogue could even be torn A decade later, David Crosby opened his photography studio there, down. “I’m heartbroken about it,” Bergstrom says. “It’s perfect for a Crosby Stills. Crosby found the building had suffered various indignities. combined restaurant and historical landmark. I really think that’s the Leaks had been ignored, literally papered over, and stained glass removed. best fit for the structure and the neighborhood.”

Faith Tabernacle had replaced most of the windows with red Plexiglass. “It Mike Mecklenburg, president of Colonel Elias Earle Historic District gave you an awful headache,” Crosby says. “Everything was red inside.”

Association (CEEHDA) and active with Friends of Stone Avenue, The mikvah had been fashioned into a makeshift baptismal pool, he says, laments such a historical gem is vulnerable to being demolished. “We with a system of rigged heating coils that was downright dangerous. “It don’t have the laws here to protect historical buildings. In fact, we was a wonder no one had been electrocuted.” have no local landmark law.” The old synagogue, he says, “has such But there were happy surprises, too. He found a dozen, small tin a great history, but it has a very cloudy future.” menorahs in a closet, the Hebrew still legible under the rust. The dome, Surely a city that has drawn accolades from all over the country once a majestic centerpiece in the auditorium, had been boarded up from and beyond for its lively, gorgeous downtown—a rediscovered the inside, blocking out light, which Crosby uncovered. “Right after the waterfall, an elegantly restored Westin Poinsett Hotel, a newly real-estate closing, the first thing I did when I owned the building was erected Mayor Max Heller knock out the panels to see the sculpture in Legacy Plaza— dome. I couldn’t wait to see that will save the old synagogue dome.” He and a friend built an The mikvah had been fashioned into a makeshift on Townes Street. I have intricate covering of 12 handfaith Greenville will see painted panels over the dome baptismal pool, Crosby says, with a system of rigged how crucial it is to preserve that could retract and open heating coils that was downright dangerous. “It was a this vulnerable landmark. like flower petals with a system wonder no one had been electrocuted.”

Meanwhile, it wouldn’t hurt of pulleys and a commercial garage opener. People stopped to pray for a miracle.

U

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mindy friddle Mindy Friddle is the author of The Garden Angel, selected for Barnes and Noble’s Discover Great New Writers program in 2004. Her second novel, Secret Keepers, won the 2009 Willie Morris Award for Southern Fiction. The South Carolina Arts Commission granted Mindy a fellowship in prose in 2008, and she has twice won the South Carolina Fiction Prize.

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Freedom of

Speech

by Glenis redmond

L

ove my state, the whole state—especially the Upstate, because it made me who I am: hands and hearts tempered with struggle and beauty. From my daddy’s parents: Mable and Willie Clifton to my own: Johnny and Jeanette, meeting at Fountain Inn Negro High School, locked in a kiss that ended after 47 years of marriage. I am from their sharecropping, separatebut-not-so-equal history, yet their fierce steps kept the tribe of our family moving forward. Daddy bussed tables at the Poinsett Hotel on Main Street. Mama dusted at TE Jones Furniture Store out in Greer. These hands bore me out of the dust of their Upstate dreams, but I am also grounded by Lowcountry roots: 50,000 unnamed slaves thrust on the Port of Charleston. Those ghosts speak even today from cobblestone carriage rides and out of the mouth of the Atlantic. Upcountry is Lowcountry’s kissin’ cousin. Can’t speak of one without feeling the breath of the other.

When I open my mouth people say, you not from around here. I was somewhat Upstate raised, but I was born more near the middle: Sumter. As my parents’ fourth child, I came to life on Shaw Air Force Base—smack dab in the middle of my dad’s military trek—my walk, tongue, and ways are molded by this journey. Many call me an Air Force brat, but I am Carolina sweetened. My poetry is imbued with frontporch storytelling from the green flatlands to the foothills. Greenville back roads are in my veins. I could navigate Old Georgia Road with my eyes closed. I am from down yonder—Highway 25 going south on Augusta Road, where the Hub used to be and the old Woodmont High School still stands.

I was the household’s resident book geek and word nerd. I ran after the bookmobile like most kids ran after the ice-cream truck. I also pored over stacks at the Main Library on College Street during every free moment. Woodmont High School gave me teachers that sculpted me. Mr. Jack “Hoss” Candler shaped my scholarly mind in biology. Mrs. Michelle Meekins (now Dr. Meekins) strengthened my backbone just by the way she conducted herself as woman and a teacher. Ms. Roberta Sergeant (now Mrs. Allen) put a poet’s journal and pen in my hand.

The Upstate I come from is make-do—Mama working at Model Coats down at the Ware Place sewing applique on housedresses, making $1.50 an hour—her back bent all day over a sewing machine. These tired know-how hands made me. They took me to the Jockey Lot—ten tube socks for a dollar. On trips to Pelzer we sang the commercial’s jingle, There’s more for less at Sky City.

I am Jeanette Redmond’s child grown by her grace, but I am my father’s daughter—his mouth and temper. A fire he set that caused me not to suffer fools. Straightforward-arrow-of-a-girl that straddles the racial divide with dignity. I always sought a larger picture: track, mime, dance, literature, but mostly I am a soul growing. I am fruit from the Palmetto family tree: Redmonds, Baileys, and Greggs. We came together at reunions at Mt. Pleasant Recreation Center, a rich, charismatic crop of preachers, artists, athletes, and teachers.

I am from we-don’t-speak-of-this-Cherokee-and-Sioux, but it is as plain as the high cheekbones on all our faces—these are the stories not told, but they flow fierce in my blood. I recognize and honor all my relations and all the poems and stories that have shaped my life: the dignity of church-lady hats parading down the aisle at Bethlehem Baptist

Church, the music my daddy played by ear, and the shape notes the all-male choir sang, from Reverend Stewart’s holler in the pulpit to Louvenia Stewart’s Sunday-morning, no-nonsense announcements to our funeral-home paper, fan sway.

I am from talk-back congregations: Hallelujah, Thank you, Jesus, and Pass the collection plate. I love the Upstate where my daddy played at practically every black church in a 100-mile radius, but his after-hour gigs spoke more to my soul: blues and jazz. With this beat I danced my body’s poetry from Woodmont’s gym to The Ghana, to the Memorial Auditorium—my first concert, Parliament and the Funkadelics.

Music feeds me like food, but nothin’ was better than Mama’s comfort food: salmon croquette on top of grits topped by a pat of butter and sprinkled with extra-sharp cheese, with homemade, buttered biscuits on the side. I am from good eatin’ and stomachaches: from Pisgah Fish Camp on Friday to Thunderbird Inn or Morrison’s Cafeteria on Sunday, then off to stroll and be seen at Cleveland Park. witnessed Saturday-night, Main Street, bumper-to-bumper roads that blacks in my day never felt safe to cruise. We were from Piedmont, a plateau. And a place, if you weren’t careful, would hold you down, if you didn’t keep moving.

I found Suzanne Abrams’s The Artist’s Way as steps that healed me on my journey and which led me to create the first Poetry Slam at the Village Café downtown on Main Street, a space I carved for poets in the ’90s for them to bring their words from the page and into a mic— out into the world. Now, I am back in Greenville working with the Peace Center to promote poetry in the community.

I

Verse flows like the Reedy River through me.

I am from circles and spirals that go back to Main Street the blood that always turns the heart to the past—the long memory that won’t let me forget the whole story— pot liquor simmered—good to you, but hard to swallow—the downhome taste of collards on your tongue—a beautiful broken line:

Descended from sharecroppers

Descended from slaves

Descended from Nigeria Descended from Cameroon Survival’s hands: mahogany, golden, and alabaster hands scooped me up lifted me to my full Southern height. I do not walk alone—elder’s songs grace my ears on this journey:

I’m gonna stay on the battlefield I’m gonna treat everybody right

I am from this kinda strength I am from this kinda love stirred with salt and sweet of the land coming together in Upstate heat

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glenis redmond Glenis Redmond is a native of Greenville, South Carolina. She graduated from Erskine College with a BA in psychology and from Warren Wilson College with an MFA in poetry. She is a Cave Canem: A Home for Black Poetry fellow and an NC Literary Fellowship recipient from the North Carolina Arts Council. Glenis is a Kennedy Center teaching artist and a full-time road poet, performing and teaching across the country. She founded the Greenville Poetry Slam and took the first all-women’s team to nationals. Glenis is twice an Individual Regional Slam Champion and twice a top-ten finalist at nationals. Her poetry is featured in the Emrys Journal, Meridians, and the Asheville Poetry Review, among other publications. Her latest book of poetry is Under the Sun.

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layered

life by john lane

I

often joke about how half of my genetic material has been them a time dimension (a depth of memory) and an emotional circulating in the Carolina Piedmont for hundreds of years, gravity. Love of place builds like topsoil through the seasons of but I have also written about the rootlessness of my early occupation. Place-love isn’t as flashy as pride or as short-term years, how my mother, broke and unemployed, moved us as greed. True place-love doesn’t track well in travel magazine back from North Carolina to the South Carolina Upcountry, surveys because it’s temperamental and might go off in the wrong her home region, after my father’s suicide in 1959. I was direction, like this essay. five when we returned to Spartanburg, and in our first five So I refuse to give some namby-pamby simple answer about years back we moved a half-dozen times—Tenant Street, Hollywood our love of this place, some nod toward “quality-of-life indexes,” Street, Washington Road, the mill village of Arkwright, East Park Avenue, “excellent recreational opportunities,” and “proximity to both the Florida Avenue, Sewanee Street. As my uncle loaded the pickup he used mountains and the sea.” to say, “Boy, if you don’t like the place, keep your motor running, and When I stalk my love for this place and try to define it, I shy away it’ll change again.” from writing something that one of the various Upstate Chambers Those early childhood years were a formative time of great, deep of Commerce might easily excerpt for an economic development connection to place: the seasonal garden my father planted, the walks on brochure. Love is not a single emotion. Psychologist Robert Sternberg sand roads with my sister to the stables where she worked, swimming has a famous triangular theory of love, dividing the emotion into and fishing with friends and family in the community’s lake on the passion, intimacy, and commitment. Commitment is the triangle’s base outskirts of town. of varying lengths depending on one’s level of engagement. The other Memories of that childhood place are also punctuated by frequent two legs—passion and intimacy—can be of different lengths as well. weekend, dream-time drives east to my father’s family’s farm on the We engage all three when we ponder our love for this place. hat has kept me committed to this place is a complex stew North Carolina coastal plain near Wilson, to the “old home place.” We of emotions that runs the gamut between love and hate I’m went there to see my old grandfather Lane (who would have been sure many in the region share. I love paddling our rivers close to 90 at that time, born only two years after Appomattox) and to and hiking our many protected preserves, visiting the abandoned or commune with my father’s tribe of eight brothers and sisters, who were redeveloped industrial sites like Saxon Mills and Spartan Mills where still working the 400-acre farm. my kinfolk labored in the past. I love the local fried food of old-time I ate sweet corn, cucumbers, crowder peas, and yellow squash (never drive-ins, and the emerging farm-to-table culture as seen through so zucchini as my mother always called that “Yankee squash”) picked from many local, small farms. I love our book and coffee culture. I love the the field, sat on the front porch with my ancient grandfather who never Swamp Rabbit Trail in Greenville and the Glendale Shoals Preserve had a driver’s license or plowed with anything but a mule, watched the downstream from our house on the east side of Spartanburg. distant tree line, and listened to stories of land, labor, and family.

I also hate things here. How can we not be disgusted at times by My father’s people were of English origin, from what the Old South our Upstate political culture, one that South Carolina’s Pitchfork Ben called “the planter class,” though they always said they were “land poor.”

Tillman would have recognized in 1900? And isn’t it hard to love a Their world was ancient, and I’m sure they thought it was settled. The place when the primary value often seems to be creating “a pro-business farm had been in the family since 1800, and no one sitting on that porch environment” at any cost, with little regard for the natural systems that would have believed that by the year 2000 there wouldn’t be any Lanes have been in place here since the cold of the Pleistocene retreated? working the land anymore.

Is it possible to love the “mind of the South” we see at work on My mother’s family in Spartanburg was more of a sort of Piedmont Woodruff Road or at Westgate—big-box culture, traffic snarls, suburban archetype: Scots-Irish, scrappy, profane, most of them cotton-mill sprawl, asphalt hell, neon circus—or in the super gas plazas called workers. They were the folk WJ Cash described in The Mind of the South QT popping up overnight like poison mushrooms on central corners as full of industry, thrift, vision, luck, callousness, and cunning. around Spartanburg?

What was it that brought But I do love it all. I’m all these bucolic, rural, and committed. I’m intimate. pastoral childhood memories I’m passionate. As U.S. and reflections to the surface Love of place builds like topsoil through the seasons poet laureate Stanley just now when I sat down to of occupation. Place-love isn’t as flashy as pride or as Kunitz advised in a poem write about my assigned topic, once, “live in the layers, my love of this particular region? short-term as greed. True place-love doesn’t track well in not on the litter.” And What brought me here is travel magazine surveys because it’s temperamental and so live and love we do, the complexity of answering nested always between the any question about love, might go off in the wrong direction, like this essay. demands of our affections especially love of place. Place, and their complexities. and being placed, carry with

W

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john lane John Lane is a professor of environmental studies and English at Wofford College, where he also directs the Goodall Center for Environmental Studies. He is the author of 12 books, including poetry, prose, and edited anthologies.

Abandoned Quarry: New & Selected Poems was published by Mercer University Press in 2011. His latest prose book My Paddle to the Sea was published in 2011 by the University of Georgia Press. In late 2012, Mercer will publish his latest essay collection, Begin with Rock, End with Water. For five years he wrote a column for the weekly Greenville Journal called “The Best of the Kudzu Telegraph.�

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food for

thought T

by Ashley warlick

here’s a machine at the state farmers market on Rutherford Road that sounds pretty much like a jackhammer. Folks sift shell beans into its maw and, after a great rattle and hum, collect the resulting speckled butter, crowder peas, Christmas limas in the lid from a cardboard filebox. They stack sandwich bags of shelled beans beside the cash register, tucked little pods of tenderness. I would buy my weight in shelled beans if I could, simmered with some onion and fatback and plenty of fresh thyme—it takes so damn long to shell those beans yourself.

The Soda Shop on North Main Street is the slowest place to get the thinnest, crispy-edged, pimento cheeseburger on the planet. The counterweight to this is their fresh-squeezed orangeade over crushed ice. I have thought to bring a flask of gin many, many times, often the last, semi-desperate thought I have before my burger arrives. My father, who believes prompt service is his birthright, once nearly lost his mind in the wait, and I don’t know if we can take him back.

Two summers ago, my cousin Emily and I picked 33 pounds of figs at the Happy Berry in Six Mile. I believe it took something in the neighborhood of two hours to do it, and before we were through, my son wept in the car for the bees and the heat and the endlessness. We took the figs back to Emily’s lakehouse on Keowee, went for a swim in the green water, and, starting after dinner until the small hours of the morning, we made 16 quarts of preserves, the last jar of which I opened yesterday. It’s as if that one season lasted almost three.

I have always liked the idea of plenty, and its weird relationship to time. Expectation is part of that—anticipating what you need and when you can get it—and so, too, waiting for the right time, getting enough while you can. And then you teeter on the edge of being sick and tired of whatever it is you’ve chased after and gathered up, right on the edge of never wanting to see a fig, a hot day ever again—you teeter right on the edge of too much, and being grateful. It’s an ephemeral place, and kind of the essence of home.

This summer is the first time I’ve joined a CSA, which stands for community-supported agriculture, and means that once a week I pick up a grocery bag full of vegetables from Parson Produce in Clinton.

We are now deep into peppers and tomatoes and squash, but back in the spring, my first bag held eight different kinds of lettuce, two types of kale, and a kohlrabi. It was a personal quest to eat it all: the salads and more salads, the kale chips and gratin, the vegetables I didn’t recognize. Daniel Parson went to school with my brother. I’ve known him for years, as a college freshman and later as a farmer, as a dad. He grew all of this himself, on land down the road, bagged up and carted to me because I threw in with him by way of a bunch of post-dated

checks and a willingness to eat what I was served. I feel responsible.

Committed.

I was writing about the community garden on the property of St. Francis Hospital, and two of the women who keep plots there came to talk to me about their vegetable pride, their own histories with growing their food. Liz and Dot walked me through the beds, filled a grocery bag of green tomatoes, tiny white eggplants, chilies of a dozen shapes and sizes. It was a summer morning beginning to rev towards high, and we stood in the garden shed drinking water that was still hot from the day before. Dot told me her recipe for stewed green tomatoes, and I wrote it down.

As I was leaving, she followed me to the car. She said she knew I was a writer, and she could tell I was in the middle of a grand change, and she would pray for it, for me, because that was what she did.

“Your new is going to come,” she said.

“My new?”

“Your new whatever,” she said. “Write that down in your little book.”

I did what I was told.

I don’t grow anything myself. I have just moved into a new house with a yard the landlady takes care of. But I have a lovely front porch; the trolley passes by, and I can hear the ladies singing from the Baptist church across the street on Sundays. Near the corner of the front steps, I found a volunteer tomato plant and showed it to my father. Now four feet tall and counting, I receive photos of my tomato plant when I’m out of town, staked and tied with strips of plaid from what I’m pretty sure is an old pair of his boxer shorts, updates on the count of flowers, of fruits. The tomatoes are still green, pear-shaped teardrops, but we talk about how we’ll be rolling in tomatoes soon.

We’re talking about more than food here, and we always have been.

If you are what you eat, what you feed your friends and family, then, too, a town is fed by what it grows, in its farms and gardens, what springs up unexpectedly. The little family joints, the dive bars, the white-tablecloth restaurants, the guy selling boiled peanuts on the side of the road: Greenville is a rich place for what sustains.

You teeter on the edge of being sick and tired of whatever it is you’ve chased after and gathered up, right on the edge of never wanting to see a fig, a hot day ever again—you teeter right on the edge of too much, and being grateful. It’s an ephemeral place, and kind of the essence of home.

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ashley warlick Ashley Warlick is the author of three novels: The Distance from the Heart of Things, The Summer After June, and Seek the Living, all published by Houghton Mifflin. Her fiction and nonfiction have appeared in Garden & Gun, Redbook, Oxford American, and McSweeney’s, and she is the editor of edible Upcountry, a magazine focused on local and sustainable foodways in the Upstate. She teaches in the MFA program at Queens University in Charlotte, and is at work on her fourth novel, In Hunger.

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claims for magnolia & shadow

by Sarah Blackman & John Pursley III

Because of the graceful bridge and my love of entrances, Because of The Art Bomb and Andrew Wyeth, Because the world is haunted by dogs and empty spaces, Because Delta swelter and Dorothy Allison Just making the place sound really great, Because old mills slumping toothless up the mountain, And Blind Gary Davis and Pink Anderson, And dogwood, redbud, jessamine, quince.

Because Shakespeare in the park and the hollow thwack Of bucket drum solos. A goose egg Laid in daylilies and Christmas-tree lights every day of the year.

Because “life without television?” has become a landmark for me.

Because the black cat beseeching the porch is now dictator of our home.

Because of the porch, the craftsman style houses— Golf carts steered by children across dull canals.

Because the Cherokee and Richard Pearis, His bridal bed, his boot on top of the mountain.

Because dal and roti, baingan bharta simmering in strip malls, Because Esquerita is not Little Richard, Because of the Michelin Man, and the White Horse Flea Market Where we almost bought a pig (and a donkey).

Because Old Textile Hall was listed on the National Register in 1980 And then demolished in 1992.

Because the Reedy ran dark under the highway for all those years, And Jesse Jackson sat down at a Woolworth’s lunch counter.

Because medicine shows and grist mills, Evangelical ardor and brass bands baloomphing Main Street.

Because the Handlebar and Unknown Hinson, Unknown Hinson and Unknown Hinson.

Because Shoeless Joe Jackson should be in the Hall of Fame.

Because Helen Maria—eight pounds, eight ounces— And strawberries in white plastic buckets, yarrow root tonic in dusty jars.

Because scuppernongs are next to godliness, and muscadine Grows wild on Paris Mountain. Because Horizon Records, And Thomas Creek, Addy’s mustard soup and Barley’s hoppy din.

Because 49th is not 50th. Because thank you Mississippi.

Because Scotch Bonnet, Aji Cito, Bhut Jolokia and Devil’s Tongue.

Because heirloom and hand-spun, grass-fed and free-range.

Because a candle should look like a slice of key lime pie, Because Peg-Leg Bates danced his ass off for Ed Sullivan, Because Baby Bob thinks peanut butter is about the best stuff on earth, And to settle means less to till the land, than to make it our own.

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John Pursley III & Sarah Blackman John Pursley III is the author of If You Have Ghosts, a poetry collection, and several chapbooks. He teaches at Clemson University. Sarah Blackman’s poetry and fiction have been published in the Missouri Review, the Gettysburg Review, and American Poetry Review, among others, and her short story collection, Mother Box, is forthcoming from FC2 in August, 2013.

She teaches creative writing at the Fine Arts Center in Greenville.

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after the

ice STORM

by ClaIre bateman

Was I wrong to love those shatterings as oak and magnolia descended with the reverberations of an enormous egret opening its wings inside a blown glass cathedral?

Stepping carefully through prisms of afternoon, we watch negative space rushing through to rearrange itself in a multitude of altered angles, lacerations of trees and sky.

Winter privacy is bluer than that of summer.

This wreckage aspires to become habitation, this latticework of downed boughs rising up as harborage for everything that creeps and burrows.

What is the difference between rupture and radiance?

Does the world splinter because it’s weak, or is it weak because it demands to be broken?

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claire bateman Claire Bateman’s books are The Bicycle Slow Race (Wesleyan University Press, 1991), Friction (Eighth Mountain Poetry Prize, 1998), At the Funeral of the Ether (Ninety-Six Press, 1998), Clumsy (New Issues Poetry & Prose, 2003), Leap (New Issues, 2005), Coronology (a chapbook, single long poem, Serving House Books, 2009), and Coronology (and other poems) (Etruscan Press, 2010). She has been awarded individual artist fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Tennessee Arts Commission, and the Surdna Foundation. She has taught at Clemson University, the Fine Arts Center, and various workshops and conferences, and is poetry editor of the St. Katherine Review.

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fertile

ground by michel stone

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he Geechie dialect of my people is thicker than pluff rejections, making stellar progress toward plans to paper my bathroom mud, so I’ve got to come clean here and admit I was with them. I had some fabulous ones, too: the New Yorker, Georgia raised a Lowcountry girl. I cut my teeth on shrimp Review, the Southern Review, Ploughshares . . . and grits, drank salt water from my Sippy cup. When A weekend at Hub City’s Writing in Place conference changed my I married and settled in Spartanburg, my parents tack. The instructor’s prompt became the kernel from which sprouted mourned my move “north” and spoke as if I’d landed in my novel The Iguana Tree. When I left that weekend workshop I New Jersey. continued the piece I’d begun, ultimately submitting it to Hub City’s But the truth is, I love the Upstate. Other than being born in a annual creative writing contest. My story won. The prize: a week at place, nothing makes somewhere feel more like home than raising one’s Wildacres Writers’ Workshop where the instructor suggested I continue children there. my story. Her encouragement was the push I needed to attempt a novel.

The late writer Harry Crews said, “The closest a man can come to Later, through Hub City, I met C. Michael Curtis, longtime fiction experiencing childbirth is writing a novel.” Having endured both childbirth editor of The Atlantic. He became a trusted reader, advisor, and, when and novel writing, I can say he’s probably right. And since I have birthed a I’d completed the novel, my editor. Mike referred me to his literary novel and three children here, raised them up from infancy among kudzu agent in Boston, who, upon reading my manuscript, signed me. Soon vines and red clay mud, I have a connectedness to the Upstate that is afterwards, however, the agent became terminally ill. etsy Teter, executive director of Hub City Press, had read different but equally as strong as my Lowcountry roots. my manuscript and said if the time came when I gave up on I love the Upstate for many reasons, most of which revolve around publishing with a big publishing house, she would like to the natural world and the four seasons. publish my book. I said yes, and now, eight years after that initial Hub I’d not seen a tulip poplar until I moved here; I fancy the way their City workshop, I have a novel entering its third printing and receiving blossoms drift to the ground each spring, their yellow-orange petals forming fabulous reviews, due largely to Hub City’s tireless efforts at promoting tiny, upside-down umbrellas. And though they are a gardener’s nemesis, I’m it. One of the first places I was invited to read from my novel was quite taken with chipmunks; they don’t live in the Lowcountry.

Emrys’s Reading Room in Greenville. I am living my dream.

My husband, our children, and I delight in cruising Highway 11, Between my novel’s inception and publication, I published a dozen the Cherokee Foothills Scenic Highway, visiting majestic waterfalls and or so stories and essays. One of the most rewarding projects proved to mountain streams for midsummer dips and picnics. The cool, clean waters be a partnership between Hub City and Emrys, resulting in a beautiful of the Upstate refresh in ways the warm, salty ocean and tidal creeks anthology titled Outdoor Adventures in the Upstate, which I was fortunate cannot. We love field-ripened strawberries and just-picked peaches, both to coedit with then-editor of the Emrys Journal, Lydia Dishman. uncommon where I was raised.

In June 2010, Hub City opened Spartanburg’s only independent The brilliant fall foliage of the Upstate far surpasses the autumnal bookstore. Hardly a day passes that I don’t stop to grab coffee from colors of my childhood, and nothing in the state compares to the the coffee shop or an award-winning biscuit from the bakery—both Clemson Tigers’ pregame festivities in Death Valley. under the same roof as the bookstore. Nothing feels more like home, Snowfalls in my youth were rare and fleeting. The more frequent besides home, than that fabulously happening place. Proceeds from wintry weather here thrills me with an embarrassingly childlike glee, every book sold fund creative-writing education and independentand I’m right there dancing with my children in our PJs when school book publishing in our area. cancellations are announced as the first flakes fall.

The characteristics that define one’s home are often amorphous I appreciate our diversity of cultures, too, fostered by the variety of things—peculiarities we feel so innately we cannot name them when international industries here. My children’s lives are richer because of their we’re in the midst of them. A necessary distance from a place brings its friendships with children from Europe, Asia, Central America, and Mexico. distinctiveness into focus somehow. Being away from the Lowcountry But more than anything else, what appeals to me most about living for the past seventeen years has allowed me the necessary perspective in the Upstate is the supportive literary community. The scaffolding here to write about my birthplace. Had I remained there, my novel wouldn’t for fledgling as well as established writers is astonishing. Integral to have come to fruition. Not only would I have somehow been too my writing life are the fine writers and literary organizations I’ve come immersed in the place, but also, to know, specifically, the Hub and perhaps more importantly, I City Writers Project in Spartanburg wouldn’t have become connected and the Emrys Foundation in The characteristics that define one’s home are often to so many influential authors Greenville. Both organizations amorphous things—peculiarities we feel so innately and instructors who nurtured and nurture our area’s emerging and continue to nurture my craft. established writers. we cannot name them when we’re in the midst of The richness of the Upstate I’d hardly published a sentence them. A necessary distance from a place brings its provides fertile ground for raising when I attended my first Hub City distinctiveness into focus somehow.. children and stringing words. I’m workshop, though not from lack fortunate to call this place home. of trying. I’d accumulated stacks of

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michel stone Michel Stone’s debut novel The Iguana Tree, which Kirkus Reviews says “recalls the work of John Steinbeck,” received a starred review from Publishers Weekly and an IPPY Award as one of the top novels published in 2012 by an independent publisher. Stone has published numerous stories and essays, and she is a 2011 recipient of the South Carolina Fiction Award given by the South Carolina Arts Commission. She received her BA from Clemson University, her MA from Converse College, and she’s an alumna of the Sewanee Writers’ Conference. Raised on Johns Island on the South Carolina coast, Michel now lives in Spartanburg with her husband and their three children.

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heart

felt by scott gould

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hought I knew something about love in the sixth Upstairs at the Corner Pocket, where the pool tables stand, grade, when I tried to give a plexiglas heart to refuses to change. The dark pockmarks on the uneven floor— Laurie McCutcheon on the Kingstree Elementary tattoos from wanna-be pool sharks spearing the hardwoods School playground. It became quickly apparent with their cues—have never been sanded out. The actual bar is that young Miss McCutcheon had no desire for my a throwback, none of that trendy marble or prettified cement. heart, plexi or otherwise, and I realized at that Just wood. Wood you can get a grip on. The brick walls are moment that I would be forever an idiot about original and solid. I love the fact that the Corner Pocket thumbs love. There are a half-dozen women and a golden retriever who its nose at change. Well, for the most part. They did install can attest to my sustained ignorance. Ask any of them (the dog motion-activated towel dispensers in the bathrooms. I cried a excepted), and they’ll say I try too hard or try too little. They will little the day I first saw those. say I give up too soon or say the wrong thing at the exact right The real changes all happen below us, on the street level. time. (Like the evening I invoked that late 1970s philosophical think That’s where downtown Greenville’s little tornado of evolution tank Lynyrd Skynyrd and told a woman, “I know a little ’bout love, and revolution spin. We’re safe at the corner table. But we can and, baby, I can guess the rest.” She did not appreciate the musical spy on it all through the tall windows that bracket the table. Joe, reference. We haven’t talked since.)

Shawn, and I watch people and businesses and thunderstorms So, if you were to press me about love and the Upstate, I could come and go and come back again. We cheer on the men and comfortably plead utter stupidity. But that would be a bald-faced women who try (and try and try) to ease their cars into the parallel lie. Because there is one thing around here I couldn’t possibly live parking spaces on Coffee Street. We watch the coveys of girls in without, one thing whose disappearance would leave me battered their summer clothes scatter toward Downtown Alive, and we and lonely: the corner table at the Corner Pocket. I love that corner, bemoan our birth dates. From the corner table, the three of us dammit. I can’t help myself. step back in time for the afternoon, while just outside the window, I’m there an afternoon a week, normally. Shawn and Joe meet time (and Greenville) punch the gas and downshift toward some me upstairs. In the late afternoon, usually around five, we have the sort of future. We’re safe, one story up. ’ve crunched the numbers. The corner table at the Corner place to ourselves. We go in the afternoons because we have reached Pocket is the cheapest therapy in town. It’s the place the point in our lives where the energy and noise of a crowd are as where I’ve grown scar tissue after some of life’s left turns: welcome as a hangnail. We go to talk, to catch up, to lie. The bartender an evaporated marriage, a busted engagement, a left knee doesn’t mind tuning the satellite radio to classic rock. (Zeppelin and replacement. Shawn, Joe, and I discovered early on that we can a two-rail bank shot are oddly organic.) The bartender takes good deposit the heavier parts of our lives on the sidewalk outside care of us because we are her only tips in sight, at least until dark. the door of the Corner Pocket and feel lighter when we retrieve She hands us a rack of balls and a cube of chalk. She fills pints with them. There must be something healing about the sound of Pabst Blue Ribbon draft, teeth achingly cold, so cold it is undoubtedly a cue ball cracking through a tight rack. Maybe it’s the PBR. pumped from some frozen chamber far below. Speaking of below, Really, the only thing I know about love is that it will, inevitably, that’s where the food comes from, delivered upstairs to the pool hall body-slam your heart. I know, I know—everything must change. by a creeping dumbwaiter that grinds and moans like a freight train So one day, I expect I’ll climb the stairs to the bar and walk right coming to a halt. This may be the last restaurant dumbwaiter in the into the smell of new felt on tables that have been leveled to Upstate. I’ve never seen (or heard) another. perfection. Or I’ll spot a fern hanging in the window, blocking Our favorite table in the corner is, admittedly, butt-ugly. The felt my view of Charlie’s Steakhouse. Or—god forbid—I’ll head to has been worn so bare, you can see the gray slate peeking through my table, balancing a rack of balls and a pint, and trip on the what’s left of the nap. The rails are spongy and dead. There is a new, state-of-the-art karaoke machine. And my heart will bottom yellowish stain in the shape of Australia near the side pocket. Balls out. But until that afternoon don’t roll straight on this table, comes, love is more than rather they tend to break toward worth the risk, I suppose.

Coffee Street like a crazy putting From the corner table, the three of us step back I’ll keep going to the Corner green. And playing nine-ball on Pocket, keep watching the slick corner table is akin to in time for the afternoon, while just outside the Greenville bustle below me, rolling marbles on ice, more like window, time (and Greenville) punch the gas and keep thinking how lucky I am curling than pool. But I love it downshift toward some sort of future. to be in a place like this, a for its faults, love it because I’ve We’re safe, one story up. place I love to be. come to recognize all the angles, expect all the breaks.

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scott gould Chair of the creative writing department at the South Carolina Governor’s School for the Arts & Humanities, Scott Gould’s poetry, fiction, and nonfiction have been published in magazines and anthologies including Kenyon Review, New Madrid Journal, Blood Orange Review, Carolina Quarterly, Black Warrior Review, Yemassee, New Stories from the South, and New Southern Harmonies, among others. He is a past winner of the Literature Fellowship from the South Carolina Arts Commission and the Fiction Fellowship from the South Carolina Academy of Authors. Gould has an MFA in writing from Warren Wilson College.

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Valley High

Photog r aph by M icah McClure (aer ial of dow ntow n Way nes vi l le) ; photog r aph by Paul Meha f fey (sc ulpt ures)

Waynesville offers a portal to Western North Carolina’s hidden treasures / by Kimberly John son

View Finder : (clockwise from left) Downtown Waynesville shines against the Blue Ridge backdrop; public art punctuates the area; Waynesville is in the heart of the Blue Ridge Mountains

he valley town of Waynesville tucked between Pisgah National Forest and the Great Smoky Mountains offers up a sepia-toned mountain getaway straddling epochs of yesteryear and today. It’s the kind of place where you go to let your feet and mind wander.

While the sleepy mountain town was founded in the early 1800s, its character began to emerge decades later as Union soldiers were sacking the region. According to lore, in May 1865, as Civil War fighting began to wane, a guerilla unit of Rebel soldiers maneuvered through the terrain to completely surround the raiding Federalists pillaging the area. A night of psychological warfare ensued, fraught with tremendous bonfires and bone-chilling war chants from the ridgelines above. The next day, however, Rebels put down their weapons and brokered a truce. The war, they learned, was already over. The action would go on to mark the end of years of bloody battle. Perhaps it was only inevitable that hospitality would take root.

Today, visitors flock to the mountain valley area to surround themselves in natural beauty and to surrender to a slow, relaxed pace.

The Andon-Reid Inn Bed and Breakfast, nestled in a compact residential neighborhood off of Waynesville’s Main Street, is one of the area’s most popular accomodations. The tree laden property surrounding the turn-of-the-century historic home promises a morning wake-up call of song birds and melodic doves. The inn has been completely restored, with amenities added, such as a great room with stone fireplace and well-appointed bathrooms in each of its five guest rooms. The décor is tastefully vintage, but steers clear of being saccharine. The sweets are saved for breakfast, as the decadence of the Andon-Reid begins with its signature first meal of the day. Course after course promises offerings such as fresh fruit, poached eggs with dill, homemade chicken sausage, and a sweet chaser, such as peach cobbler or banana cream Neapolitans.

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(Opposite page) photog r aph (T he Way nes vi l le I n n) cour tes y of t he Way nes vi l le I n n ; photog r aph s by Paul Meha f fey

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(Opposite page) photog r aph (T he Way nes vi l le I n n) cour tes y of t he Way nes vi l le I n n ; photog r aph s by Paul Meha f fey

Innkeepers Rachel and Ron Reid have thought of just about everything to help their guests feel at home, from a fully stocked refreshment bar in the common area to a full gym and sauna room in the basement for those guests seeking to work off the breakfast delights. Their efforts have brought numerous accolades, recently garnering the inn’s inclusion as one of the fewer than 400 inns endorsed

by Select Registry. It’s a triumph when you’re in the nation’s pool of more than 20,000 bed and breakfasts. Ron, however, relishes in what he sees as a more meaningful approval metric.

“About 70 percent of our guests are repeat,” he says.

It’s little wonder. The house, as well as Waynesville, radiates a sense of calm, he says, recounting the first impressions he and his wife felt when they first saw the property in 2006. “That’s what we were looking for and what we hope we give to our guests,” says Ron. “We hope to help create a memory that they can take home with them.”

Less than an hour away from the Daisy Avenue retreat is the Great Smoky Mountain’s Cataloochee Valley, a place where nature’s magic lies in wait. Accessing the valley provides its own adventure, starting down the Cataloochee Trail, a historical Native American footpath gradually widened for interstate passage of wagons and, later, automobiles. Blacktop driving gives way to gravel for several miles before entrance into the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, forcing everyone who passes along to slow down and take in the beauty of the lush forest foliage. The bumpy dirt road is less of an infrastructure oversight, and more a reflection of locals seeking to hold change at bay.

Sunrise and sunset are show time at Cataloochee, when elk emerge from the tree line to graze the valley floor.

About a decade ago, nearly two-dozen elk were reintroduced into the area as an experiment, undoing a long absence in southern Appalachia due to loss of habitat and overhunting.

Inn & Out : (clockwise from far left) The Andon-Reid Inn Bed & Breakfast, off of Waynesville’s Main Street; the Waynesville Inn Golf Resort & Spa; pulled pork sandwich at the Sweet Onion Restaurant; elk graze in the Cataloochee Valley; a refurbished cathedral tube radio at the shop Affairs of the Heart; homemade coconut cake from Pheasant Hill Café & Gallery

Who’s your doctor?

If you have an OB/GYN you like, tell someone you know. If you don’t, ask someone you trust for a recommendation.

Studies show having a close relationship with a doctor is one of the best ways to stay healthy. So it’s no surprise that upstate residents turn to Greenville Hospital System University Medical Group for dedicated women’s health and primary care.

As part of the region’s most comprehensive community of care, our board certified OB/GYNs aren’t just capable – they’re committed to making your health a top priority. And when you get to know a doctor while you’re well, it’s easier to monitor your health and get treated quickly when you’re sick.

Greenville Ob Gyn Associates Memorial Medical Drive 295-4210 Verdae Boulevard 286-7500 Simpsonville 454-6500 Greer OB/GYN Medical Parkway 797-9200 Gynecology Specialists Faris Road 455-1600 Halton Village Circle 455-1600 Piedmont OB/GYN Faris Road 455-1270 Maxwell Pointe 234-0226 Premier Women’s Care Three Bridges Road 220-4209

Schedule an introductory appointment with one of our OB/GYNs by calling a practice listed here, or visit whosyourdoctor.org to learn more.

whosyourdoctor.org 120218bTWN

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Boutique nice…

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without the boutique price.

Bogart’s Restaurant & Tavern If you believe that logic dictates that you eat where the locals do, grab a table at this low-key pub. Generous portions and pours of locally brewed beer. 303 S Main St, Waynesville. (828) 452-1313, bogartswaynesville.com Nico’s Café Delicious deli grub with Cuban flair.

171 Montgomery St, Waynesville. (828) 456-1844 Pheasant Hill Café & Gallery A stylish array of cakes, pies, ice cream, and confections await at this café and design shop, replete with custom furniture and accessories.

112 N Main St, Waynesville. (828) 456-1796, pheasanthilldesign.com The Sweet Onion Restaurant Billing itself as “regional cuisine with contemporary flair,” this gem in downtown Waynesville is a tempting spot for lunch or dinner. The Sweet Onion Spring Rolls—andouille sausage, black-eyed peas, caramelized onions, and goat cheese, served with sweet peach pepper jelly—are on the mark. 39 Miller St, Waynesville. (828) 456-5559, sweetonionrestaurant.com PLAY Cataloochee Valley Tours Venture deep into a remote corner of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park with your own personal naturalist. This tour is full-service, will pick you up from your hotel and even tempt you with homemade cookies. (828) 450-7985, cataloocheevalleytours.com SHOP Affairs of the Heart Quaint and personalized, this gift shop offers eclectic items and delightful kitsch. 120 N Main St, Waynesville. (828) 452-0526 STAY Andon-Reid Inn Bed and Breakfast Come for the decadent breakfast and stay for the plethora of amenities, charm, and hospitality at this couple-run B&B. 92 Daisy Ave, Waynesville. (800) 293-6190, andonreidinn.com

The Waynesville Inn Golf Resort & Spa For nearly 100 years, the Waynesville Inn Golf Resort & Spa has offered premier accommodations, nestled in the heart of the Western North Carolina mountains, minutes from nearby Asheville and Maggie Valley.

Legendary golf designer Donald Ross carved out a picturesque course in 1926, and since then, 18 more holes have been added for a total of 27 holes of championship golf. Guests will also enjoy fine amenities and stunning views from nearly all of the inn’s 115 rooms.

176 Country Club Dr, Waynesville. (800) 627-6250, thewaynesvilleinn.com

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Photograph by Paul Mehaffey

Cataloochee Primative Camping Grab a front-row seat to the natural wonders near Waynesville at the primitive campground in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

(877) 444-6777, nps.gov/grsm/planyourvisit/cataloochee.htm

Discover GreeNville’s FiNest Homes

Mountain Arts : Gallery Two Six Two offers a mixed bag of whimsy and tradition, featuring local artists and wideranging media. 262 Depot St, Waynesville. (828) 452-6100, gallerytwosixtwo.com

17 Pinckney Street • $855,000

Downtown Living at its finest! 4 BR, 4 BA custom home. 2 story foyer leads to huge open living space with cathedral ceilings. Custom kitchen with coffered ceilings, center island, stainless appliances, gas stove, custom soft close cabinets. All the rooms on the main level boast 10' ceilings. Large master suite with his and her’s closets, master bath with soaking tub, double vanities, water closet and separate walk-in shower.

Huge laundry room right off the 2 car garage and a drop station. Separate office and a bonus room. Large back porch, professionally landscaped yard. Walk to museums, shopping, dining, downtown or catch the Trolley from the front door. MLS#1237918

The Rickman House. Queen Anne Victorian completed in 1908. 3 story, 6 BR with large foyer lined with original pocket doors that lead to the parlor, formal living, great room, and massive dining room. Large kitchen with butler’s pantry, front and rear staircases with intricate woodwork, eight fireplaces. Original stained glass, wrap around porch with corner gazebos. Paved brick driveway with porte-cochere leads to parking for up to 6 cars. Large backyard with a deck, gazebo, and Koi pond. The widow’s walk allows you to see wonderful views of downtown and the distant mountains. The opportunity to own this sought after home only comes around once in a lifetime. MLS#1236513

Nick

carlsoN Cell - 864-386-7704 Work - 864-675-5639 Fax - 864-239-5546 ncarlson@cbcaine.com

Photograph by Paul Mehaffey

Today, the herd is about 140 strong, and promises a memorable spectacle during the rutting season of fall or calving season in early summer.

Once the sun gives way to blueblack night, prepare for an astounding lesson in bioluminescence. Rare synchronous fireflies, visible once a year for only three weeks in early summer, light up Cataloochee’s forest floor and sky in a nightly mating dance. The sighting is extraordinary in that these fireflies exist only in the Great Smoky Mountains and Southeast Asia, says naturalist and passionate wildlife enthusiast Esther Blakely of Cataloochee Valley Tours. They are a wonder to see, she says, because they evoke memories of childhood of staying up late and chasing them into the summer night.

No trip to Waynesville would be complete without an afternoon exploring the shops and art galleries of its quaint downtown. Small shops are stuffed to the rafters with pottery and antiques, such as the collection of restored, elegant, cathedral tube radios at Affairs of the Heart. Indulge in a slice of coconut cake—nay, a wedge beckoning to be taken down by at least two forks—found in the pastry case at the Pheasant Hill Café & Gallery on Main Street. But don’t tarry too long, the beauty of the valley awaits.

501 Townes Street • $699,000

Absolutely beautiful home in popular Kellett Park subdivision in Parkins Mill Area. 2 story foyer with circular stairwell opens to a gorgeous formal living room with lounge area. Dining room sits off the large eatin kitchen with custom cabinets, granite countertops, breakfast bar, gas range, and lots of storage. Huge family room overlooks large backyard with patios. Master suite on main level boasts trey ceiling and large master bath with double vanities, jetted tub, separate shower, and his and her closets. Storage is no issue! All bathrooms have been completely updated. Large laundry room with extra storage. Breezeway from the oversized 2 car garage. Cul-de-sac location! MLS#1231708

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Coldwell Banker Caine 111 Williams Street , Greenville, SC 29601 NickCarlson SrPg TownJuly12.indd 1

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1 Belvior Court • $539,900

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The Dental Retreat at Mountain Park, which serves Cliffs Members and Property Owners, Associates and the surrounding communities, opened in December 2011 after years of planning. Dr. Julian and his wife, Karen, visited The Cliffs several years ago from their home in Kansas and fell in love with the area and The Cliffs’ commitment to wellness. What initially was thought to be a prime spot for a summer home or perhaps retirement has now become their full-time residence and business location.

“My sense of adventure kicked in and I decided to start something new here in South Carolina after practicing in Kansas for the past 33 years,” said Julian. “The prospect of starting a practice from scratch and watching it grow and positively impact a community is very exciting for me.”

Dr. Julian’s unique approach to patient care has been well-received by his first patients at The Dental Retreat at Mountain Park. His philosophy is that patients don’t necessarily need dental care – he’ll never tell a patient what procedure they must have done.

However, he will give the patient all the information available along with treatment options so they can choose the plan they are most comfortable with. And he’ll provide that information during a consultation in a room with actual chairs…not while the patient is laid back in a dentist chair with a variety of metal tools in their mouth.

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The Dental Retreat

DENTISTRY FROM AZ

His patients also appreciate that they can have all of their dental care done under one roof with a doctor and staff they have gotten to know well and grown comfortable with. “I rarely have to refer a patient out to another doctor unless they need something very specialized like orthodontic care. I like to think of my approach as dentistry from A-Z,” said Julian. “From basic cleanings and fillings to crowns, root canals, dentures and implants, our office is equipped to handle it all.”

Dr. Jon Julian, D.D.S.

Jon M. Julian, D.D.S.

WHEN MOST PEOPLE THINK OF GOING TO THE DENTIST, 125 ISN’T BotanicalTHE Circle FIRST | Travelers Rest, SC THAT 29690 | COMES 864-836-3611TO | www.

TheDentalRetreat.com ‘RETREAT’ WORD MIND. HOWEVER, JON HAS CREATED JUSTSedation THAT WITH Modern New Facility DR. Implant ServicesJULIAN Laser Thereapy Cosmetic Conscious Dentures Extractions Introducing a New Approach to Dental THE SERENE SETTING, COMPASSIONATE STAFF AND UNIQUECare APPROACH Introducing TO PATIENT CARE IN HIS NEW PRACTICE AT Care a New Approach to Dental THE VILLAGE AT people MOUNTAIN When most think of goingPARK. to the dentist, ‘retreat’ isn’t the rst word that comes to mind.

Crowns

One of Dr. Julian’s priorities while developing the plans for The Dental Retreat was the equipment. He was committed to integrating equipment into his practice that would allow him to practice the most effective, comfortable dentistry possible.

Rather than using the 2D X-rays that are

Call Today for an Appointment

However, Dr. Jon Julian has created just that with the serene setting, compassionate staff, and unique approach to patient care at his practice at The Village at Mountain Park.

864-836-3611

www.vinosetconline.com

X-rays taken with the 3D Cone Beam imaging system, a new type of technology used by less than 5% of dentists in the country. still standard in most dental offices, Dr. Julian uses a 3D X-ray machine on all new patients that provides non-distorted images that can be viewed and manipulated from different angles, giving his patients the complete picture of their current dental health. Another piece of equipment that is unique to Dr. Julian’s practice is the soft tissue laser, which significantly reduces the pain, bleeding and inflammation often associated with dental care. It’s no surprise that his patients have become big fans of the laser!

While the residents of the The Cliffs and the surrounding communities are fortunate to have Dr. Julian in their backyard, dentists and patients all over the world are benefitting from his passion and commitment to the field of dentistry. The Dental Retreat at Mountain Park serves as an education center, hosting dentists from the United States and abroad for educational seminars where Dr. Julian helps other dentists advance their level of care using more modern techniques and equipment.

If you are interested in learning more about Dr. Jon Julian and The Dental Retreat at Mountain Park, please make plans to attend one of the following events: TITLE OF FIRESIDE CHAT? Tuesday, February 28, 5:00 pm at The Cliffs at Glassy Clubhouse FILL IN DATE, 5:30 pm at The Cliffs Valley Clubhouse

www.TheDentalRetreat.com

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125 Botanical Circle | Travelers Rest, SC 29690

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located in five forks promenade | 2531 woodruff road, suite 107 simpsonville, SC | mon-thurs 11am-8 pm | fri-sat 11am-10 pm

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B Y L I N D S AY O E H M E N

Girls night out to benefit make

a wish foundation

Music, martinis, gift bags and food by High Cotton.

All proceeds from purchases of Stella & Dot by Lindsay Oehmen, to benefit Make a Wish Foundation.

July 19th 5:30 to 8:00 pm Sassy on Augusta For more info: lindsay.oehmen@gmail.com www.stelladot.com/lindsayoehmen to order online, select Make-A-Wish at checkout.

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OPEN BAR / THE REVIEW / dININg guIdE

Local Vino

Chattooga Belle Farm elevates muscadine wines

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hattooga Belle Farm’s muscadine wines are full-bodied, a little sweet, and have forty times the health benefit of typical red wine. It’s enough to make you light-headed, and not because the Long Creek–based orchard sits at a slightly higher altitude.

Bottled by Pelzer-based City Scape Winery, and locally grown and harvested by the folks at Chattooga Belle, these traditional Appalachian wines are an old-fashioned, flavorful, and fruity alternative to traditional red wine, perfect for enjoying on a sultry summer night or at an afternoon brunch.

Chattooga Belle Farm has released three wines this year, each with its own, unique blend of grapes, all picked from the mountainside vineyards of this Oconee County orchard.

Muscadine wines have been around for hundreds of years in the South and are typically made from a mixture of muscadines, scuppernongs, and Concord grapes. Chattooga Belle’s blends incorporate three muscadine grape varieties, Carlos, Nobel, and Magnolia, as well as scuppernongs, and require no supplementing from outside sources. They are custom crafted by a local winery with tasting input from Chattooga Belle owner Ed Land.

The Chattooga Belle Farm Blush is fruity and crisp and adds Concord grapes to the scuppernong and muscadine mix. And new this year is Chattooga Belle’s blackberry blend, which combines blackberries and scuppernongs. A sweet ending to summer meals, which are in full swing.

—Heidi Coryell Williams

Photograph by Blair Knobel

Fine Wine:

Chattooga Belle Farm’s muscadine, blush, and blackberry wines are available at the Long Creek–based orchard and at Greenville’s Swamp Rabbit Café and Grocery. For more information, visit chattoogabellefarm.com.

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Breakwater Restaurant mixes a high-steppin’ Sazerac One of America’s most venerable cocktails, the Sazerac has a checkered past. The drink was first crafted—or so the story goes—at the Sazerac Coffee House in New Orleans around 1850. The original Sazerac was made with cognac—specifically an imported French brand called Sazerac-deForge et Fils. In the late 1800s, when the phylloxera epidemic wiped out the grape vines in France, rye whiskey became the main ingredient. To this, Crescent City bartenders added bitters made by local apothecary Antoine Peychaud. The dash of absinthe to rinse the glass was reputedly initiated by Sazerac House bartender Leon Lamothe. After wormwood-infused absinthe became illegal by 1915, mixologists substituted Herbsaint, an anise-flavored liqueur invented in New Orleans in 1933, shortly after Prohibition ended.

Today, the tradition of using rye remains. And now that absinthe is legal again, Breakwater Restaurant bar manager Stacey Wingate uses it to make the Sazerac on his cocktail menu. Upon first sip, the scent of anise hypnotizes your palate, followed by the strong kick of rye whiskey. Sugar takes off a little of the edge.

Believe what you will of the legend, but at the end of the day, the Sazerac still possesses a soupçon of decadence—just as you’d expect from the official cocktail of New Orleans. —M. Linda Lee

Wine Chiller

Simmer down with a summer slushy

T

he Upstate boasts a legion of young talent. The Fine Arts Center of Greenville County attracts and nurtures gifted high-school students in a wealth of disciplines, and it has partnered with local publishing company Genesis Press to produce a first-edition 2012 calendar of outstanding student work to benefit the school. Your gift for another has just become a gift for the gifted.—Anthony Reese Breakwater Restaurant 802 S Main St,Time: Greenville Buy The calendars are $10. To order, contact the Fine Arts Center at (864) 355-2550.

(864) 271-0046, breakwatersc.com

Photog r aph s by Paul Meha f fey

I

t may not be a cellar, but there is another place to store that bottle— the freezer.

Wine purists may object, but don’t knock it until you’ve tried it. I’m a purist, too: sommelier, wine educator, Old World wine preferences. But I’m also human (read, forgetful).

The recipe was discovered by accident when I forgot about guests and needed to chill a bottle fast. I threw a bottle of white in the freezer—but forgot about it after my guests said they only drink red.

That’s all it takes! There is nothing to add. The joy of this recipe is its simplicity.

The trick is to catch the bottle just before it freezes solid. Check every 30 minutes.

When you see solids beginning to form, remove the bottle and open it normally.

If you’ve timed it perfectly, you’ll need a chopstick or very thin handle of a spoon to encourage the partly frozen solids out into the glass—any glass. Be playful.

Like a regular slushy, the wine choice depends on your flavor preferences. I suggest Pinot Blanc—hints of melon and pear make this grape a pleasant choice.

But Sauvignon Blanc offers more tangy citrus and even grapefruit flavors. Or, try an off-dry Riesling for a bit of sweetness.

Traditional? No. Delicious? Absolutely.

—Richard Peck

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NORTHAMPTON WINES & Wine Café

?

CHANGES WEEKLY

Visit us online each week for menu

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{ D E S S E RT S }

{BAR BITES & DINNER}

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northamptonwines.com | 864-271-3919 211A East Broad Street, Greenville Dinner Monday–Saturday from 5:00pm Saturday Lunch 11:30am–3pm AMpLe Free pArking proviDeD

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Review Soby’s / by M. Linda Lee / photography by Paul Mehaffey

Soul Food

Soby’s sets the tone for contemporary Southern cuisine

G

reenville can thank its lucky stars that Clemson grad Carl Sobocinski ditched his major in architectural design in favor of the restaurant business. What the field of architecture lost, Greenville’s restaurant scene gained, beginning with Soby’s, across from the Westin Poinsett on Main Street.

In 1997, when Sobocinski and founding partner David Williams opened Soby’s in a late-nineteenth-century cotton-exchange building, Main Street had a dearth of good places to eat. An instant hit, with original, exposed-brick walls and space for 150 diners on two levels, Soby’s played a big role in catalyzing Greenville’s downtown dining renaissance. Fifteen years later, it’s still a lively scene most any night of the week. In warm weather, diners fill the brick patio, and French doors in the front of the bar—which boasts a 500-label wine list—open up to the sidewalk.

Chef de Cuisine Sean Garcia interprets “New South Cuisine” in the likes of crispy fried chicken with kumquat pepper jelly. Though he uses just-picked organic produce from the 7-acre farm he tends in Travelers Rest, the chef keeps his grandmother’s down-home comfort Soby It : food in mind as he crafts Soby’s menu. (clockwise from top-left) While the she-crab soup and fried green Deviled eggs with crispy tomatoes are classics here, tonight we start prosciutto; BLT iceburg with an iceberg wedge and a Southern wedge; Soby’s interior; charcuterie platter. I’m not a fan of iceberg white-chocolate banana cream pie; Chef de Cuisine lettuce, but the chilled wedge sprinkled with Sean Garcia; pan-roasted Benton’s bacon and preserved tomatoes wins trout sautéed i n brown me over with its icy-cold crunch. butter, with haricot verts As for the charcuterie, whole-grain mustard and fingerling potatoes from Asheville complements salty slices of country ham; a house-made duck rillette pairs well with house-made pickles; and buffalo burrata cheese, creamier than mozzarella, makes a good mate for grilled bread. Of course, the contents of the basket of buttery, house-made cheese biscuits disappear in the blink of an eye.

Pan-roasted trout is the frontrunner of the entrées. Mild and flaky, it is served simply with haricots verts and ovals of fingerling potatoes tossed in nutty, brown butter. Potato-crusted snapper sits on a bed of crawfish étouffée with just the right amount of spice. And half a sweet, succulent lobster tail plated with two seared sea scallops tops creamy risotto as a house special.

Only the meatloaf disappoints; it lacks the moistness and depth of flavor I’ve tasted in this dish on previous occasions.

What better way to end our meal than to indulge in the rich, whitechocolate banana cream pie (a menu staple since the beginning)? This table leaves happy that Carl Sobocinski followed his heart.

LocAtioN: 207 S Main St, Greenville (864) 232-7007 sobys.com HourS: Dinner: Mon–Thurs, 5:30– 10pm; Fri & Sat, 5:30– 11pm; Sun, 5:30–9pm; Sun brunch: 10:30am– 1:30pm Price oF diSHeS: Entrées range from $16–$30

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Come and enjoy the French Quarter on Main Street! late

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5 Bedrooms; 3-1/2 Baths | Augusta Circle, Hughes Middle, Greenville High Charming 4,550 sq. ft. bungalow custom-built Quinn & Satterfield boasts an open floor#1 Buyers by Agent Augusta Road Office, Prudential C. Dan Joyner Co.,with 2011 plan and more! Formal Living Room with built-in bookshelves.

Beautiful Dining Room designer wallpaper. Large front porch accessible from Living & Dining Rooms via French #6 Individual Agent Company Wide doors. Gourmet Kitchen with granite countertops, stainless steel appliPrudential C. Dancustom Joyner cabinetry, Co. , 2011 ances & large island. Cozy Den with gas log fireplace. Master Suite on main with spa-like 7% of2 All Agents Nationally Master Bath & 2 walk-in closets. 4 Top Bedrooms, fullPrudential Baths, plus Bonus upstairs.

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116 N. Main St., Greenville • 864.335.8222 J U LY 2 0 1 2 / 8 3

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Guide flat and fried potato) and the Down East Twisted Crab Cake, served with Carolina Gold rice pilaf. Reasonably priced wine spans the globe from California to Australia. $$$ , D. Closed Sunday & Monday.

112 Trade St, Greer. (864) 8482112, bin112.com

Greer / by M. Linda Lee Bin 112 Billing their cuisine as “southeastern with an international twist,” brotherand-sister team Jason and Allison Clark (he’s the chef; she manages the restaurant) cook up some sophisticated fare at their Greer eatery. Favorites—available in both appetizer and entrée portions— include the BIN Stack (a grilled Angus filet mignon medallion stacked on a crab cake, a fried green tomato, and a “potato flata,” a

The CazBah Sister to the original Cazbah in downtown Greenville (16 W McBee St), this tapas bar holds sway in a historic building adorned with restored tin ceilings and exposed brick walls. On the menu, “foreplay” might mean black and white hummus or baked brie en croute, while innovative “finger lickers” like a mac-n-cheese egg roll compete with the signature lobster cigars. All the wines are available by bottle or glass. On a warm evening, take your libations to the rooftop bar and drink in Greer’s downtown scene. $, D. Closed Sunday & Monday.

308 Trade St, Greer. (864) 8779311, thecazbah.com

DellavenTura’s With more than 30 years’ experience in the business, Joe Ventura knows his stuff. His family helps run this pizzeria, located a mile north of the Greer Medical Campus of Greenville Hospital Center. Fans come here for everything from subs and calzones at lunch to chicken Romano and shrimp Stacey (named after one of Joe’s daughters) at dinnertime. Then, of course, there are the pizzas with hand-tossed crusts and toppings like fresh sausage, ricotta cheese, spinach, Genoa ham, and eggplant; these are available all day. $$–$$$, L, D. Closed Sunday & Monday.

337 S Buncome Rd, Greer. (864) 989-0100, dellaventuras.com The GreaT Bay OysTer hOuse Gulf shrimp, Charleston clams, and Apalachicola oysters tempt at this laid-back oyster house in Greer Station. Though oysters are the house specialty, many other seafood preparations (think seared scallops, blackened salmon, sesamecrusted tuna) make waves here.

Check out the nightly specials:

on Monday, for instance, come for half-price steamed oysters; on Thursday, a special Lowcountry Boil. Sushi lovers should head to the back of the restaurant, where Sushi Mizu offers a fusion of nigiri, sashimi, rolls, and hibachi dishes.

L, D. Closed Sunday. 109 E Poinsett St, Greer. (864) 879-1030, thegreatbayoysterhouse.com The MasOn Jar New kid on the block, the Mason Jar prides itself on serving good homemade food seven days a week.

In addition to sandwiches and burgers served with hand-cut fries or your choice of another side, the menu features a different special every day (available at lunch and dinner). It might be meatloaf or turkey and stuffing, but whatever the chef’s whim, the special comes with three sides and sweet tea for one modest price. And beverages come to the table in (you guessed it!) Mason jars. $, L, D. 202 Trade St, Greer. (864) 879-4454, masonjargreer.com

KEY : Average price of a dinner entrée (lunch if dinner isn’t served): Under $10 = $, $10-$15 = $$, $16-$25 = $$$, $25+ = $$$$ Breakfast = B Lunch = L Dinner = D Sunday Brunch = SBR

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BARS, CAFéS, & RESTAURANTS Rivera’s Chef Bruce Rivera came to Greer in 2008, after two stints in downtown Greenville, one in the kitchen of the erstwhile Sophisticated Palate on Main Street, and then at his own Café Rivera in the West End. The chef’s Puerto Rican roots shine in empanadas and ceviche tostadas, as well as in the Mayan-style roast pork, the specialty of the house.

The selection of Angus steaks can get pricey, but if you’re watching your budget, sandwiches and entrée salads make less-expensive dinner options. $$$, L, D. Closed Sunday & Monday. 117 E Poinsett St, Greer. (864) 8779600, caferivera.net

Photog r aph by Paul Meha f fey

THE Strip Club 104 Jason and Allison Clark, the duo that brought you Bin 112, opened a steak place in the former location of Gerard’s. From a lamb Porterhouse to a house-aged, Black Angus filet mignon, meat forms the core of the menu. But don’t pass up the sushi-grade, pistachio-crusted tuna or the char-grilled salmon. Sauces (sweet chili BBQ; bacon and caramelized onion Béarnaise) and sides (sautéed forest mushrooms; Parmesan-truffle pommes frites) are available à la carte, and most entrées come with the Strip Club’s signature carb, Rice-a-Noodle. $$$-$$$$, D. Closed Sunday & Monday. 104 E Poinsett St, Greer. (864) 877-9104, thestripclub104.com

Southern Thymes Café This no-frills, diner-style eatery has been pleasing locals with large portions of homestyle Southern cooking since 2005. Starting at 7am daily, Southern Thymes serves up hearty breakfasts of omelets, hotcakes, French toast, and more.

Supplement your meal with hash browns, stewed apples, or a bowl of sausage gravy. For lunch, there

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are burgers and sandwiches, but the meat-and-three meals are what many hanker for. Entrées are priced with a choice of two or three sides—the likes of creamed corn, fried okra, and macaroni and cheese. $, B, L. 219 Trade St, Greer. (864) 801-9511, southernthymescafe.com

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Greenville’s West End Coffee, organic apple pie from Spurgeon Farms in Taylors, cream cheese Danishes and apple muffins from Flour Haven in Greer, and homemade donuts, cakes, and cookies from around the corner, are among the goodies under the glass. Bagels, breakfast sandwiches, deli sandwiches, daily soup, and salads round out the menu. Enjoy live music, beer, and wine in the evenings. $, B, L, D. Closed Sunday. 208 Trade St, Greer. (864) 801-1555, stompinggroundsgreer.com

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Spartanburg CONveRSe DelI Chef/owner Tray Mathis picks many of the deli’s ingredients from his garden in Chesnee, so you know the food here is farm-fresh.

At lunchtime, the War Eagle wrap (roasted chicken, smoked bacon, cheddar, avocado, roasted tomatoes, and garlic mayo) is a hands-down winner. In the evening, “bistro mains” such as seared beef medallions, BBQ yellowfin tuna, and pestocrusted chicken breast steal the show. The deli is located in Converse Corners shopping center, across from Converse College. $$$, L, D, SBR. 551 E Main St, Spartanburg.

(864) 585-5580, conversedeli.com CRIbbS KITCheN Cribbs Kitchen fulfills the dream of chef/owner William Cribb, who vowed to open his own restaurant before he turned 30. Sandwiches run from classics (Reuben; French dip; half-pound Black Angus burgers) to contemporary iterations like the North Spring Street, a ciabatta roll stuffed with roasted chicken, applewood-smoked bacon, caramelized onions, pesto, and

Bruce Meyer, cSA | 864.527.0464 | AlwaysBestcareGreenville.com

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Hot Plate

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62% of American adults experience a sleep problem a few nights per week 70 Million people suffer from insomnia 43 Million people suffer from sleep-disordered breathing 40 Million people in the u.S. have a chronic sleep disorder 20 Million people suffer from restless leg syndrome 200,000 people suffer from narcolepsy $18 Billion – the estimated cost to u.S. employers in lost productivity due to sleep loss issues Let our team of highly-trained medical professionals help determine if you have a sleep-related disorder.

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Wild ace pizza & pub Honoring the veterans of World War II, during which american soldiers stationed in Italy were introduced to the joys of pizza, this pub packs in the crowds for hand-tossed, new York–style pies, “Hero” sandwiches, and “Fighter Wings.” Specialty pizzas have names like pearl Harbor (ham, pineapple, and bacon) and amelia Earhart (a veggie version). For those with particular diets, Wild ace offers gluten-free pizza crust and soy cheese. the fried Snickers candy bar with vanilla or chocolate ice cream begs you to save room for dessert. $-$$, L, D. 109 Trade St, Greer.

(864) 879-6900, thewildace.com

GREENVILLE - 357 Woodruff Rd. | EASLEY - 600 North A St. | ANDERSON - 129 Pelham Ln. | CLINTON - 400 Plaza Cir., Ste. G 86 TOWN / towngreenville.com

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goes upscale, with tempting mains— pecan-smoked pork chops, cashewcrusted Atlantic salmon, and shrimp and spoonbread—taking center stage. $$$, L, D. 226-B W Main St, Spartanburg. (864) 699-9669 Gerhard’s cafÉ Voted best restaurant in Spartanburg last year, Gerhard’s Café blends American cuisine with German and Austrian specialties for an Old World vibe that’s just right. Drop by for a drink and tasty bar appetizers, or enjoy an upscale dinner in the Elizabeth dining room.

(Word has it they serve the best wiener schnitzel this side of Austria.) $$-$$$$, D. Closed Sunday. 1200 E Main St, Spartanburg. (864) 591-1920, gerhardscafe.net La Taverna This family-friendly place serves up tasty pizza and a long list of Italian specialties—think baked ziti, chicken Parmigiana, veal saltimbocca, and shrimp fra diavolo. The bill of fare at lunch and dinner is nearly the same, except for the addition of midday subs.

If you’re craving something that’s not on the menu, just ask. Chef Rosario Pugliese will happily prepare special orders if the kitchen is not too busy. La Taverna also welcomes the young set with a special kids’ menu. $$, L, D. 120-A Dorman Commerce Dr, Spartanburg. (864) 576-8660, latavernaitaliancuisine.com Lime Leaf Located right downtown, this restaurant has been the local pick for Thai cuisine since it opened in 2005 (there’s now a new location in Hendersonville, NC). A variety of traditional curry dishes spice up the menu. Don’t care for curry?

There are myriad Asian-fusion choices, including noodle dishes, fried rice, and seafood that take their influences from Chinese, Korean, and Japanese cuisines. $$-$$$, L (Mon–Fri), D. 101 E Main St, Spartanburg. (864) 541-2171, limeleaf101.com miyako sushi Popular Miyako has something for everyone. All the standards are here, along with enticing special rolls such as the Citrus Rainbow (tuna, salmon, avocado, and lemon) and the Dancing Unagi (shrimp tempura, barbecued eel, and avocado). For the non-sushi set, the menu offers plenty of cooked dishes— from soy-marinated steak to chicken teriyaki. On weekends, plan to get here early, or be prepared for what could be a long wait. There’s also a sibling in Greenville on Rushmore Drive. $$, L, D (only Sat). Closed Sunday.

116 Magnolia St, Spartanburg.

(864) 583-5112, miyakosushigroup.com

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Palmetto Palate The mother-son duo who runs this casual restaurant, located at the Spartanburg Farmer’s Marketplace, roast the roast beef and turkey for their sandwiches, make their own salad dressings, and create all their soups in-house. At dinner, choose among all-inclusive entrées or à la carte grill and side items. Call two hours in advance to order any number of casseroles and other dishes (lasagna, chicken pot pie, quiche) to pick up for dinner the same night. $$$, L (Mon–Sat), D (Tues–Fri). 401 E Kennedy St, Spartanburg. (864) 541-1818, palmettopalate.com Renato’s Chef/owner Renato Marmalino relies on fresh-imported Italian ingredients to whip up dishes such as scaloppine di manzo (beef tenderloin medallions sautéed with fresh herbs, garlic, mushrooms, and a splash of balsamic vinegar) and spaghetti alla carbonara (tossed with eggs, pancetta, cream, and parmesan).

The wine list skews Italian, too, with bottles running the gamut from Prosecco to Brunello di Montalcino. $$-$$$, L, D. Closed Sunday. 221 E Kennedy St, Spartanburg. (864) 585-7027, renatosrestaurantsc.com

Hot Plate Photog r aph by Paul Meha f fey

II Samuels Originally called Ribault St. Eatery, II Samuels’ name change is nothing more than a reflection of its commitment to staying fresh, with an innovative take on American cuisine. Stop in for a signature sandwich at lunch, or enjoy an elegant dinner and wine. The evening menu changes weekly, featuring entrées like blackened tuna or osso bucco. Try your entrée’s wine pairing, order a wine flight, or choose from the extensive list. $$-$$$$, L (Mon–Fri), D (Tues–Sat). 351 E Henry St, Ste A, Spartanburg. (864) 596-5080, ribaultcatering.com

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Wasabi Located in a little shopping strip, Wasabi boasts a full sushi bar plus a menu of hot dishes. You can build your own lunch with a special main course and choice of two sides (miso soup, fried rice, and steamed vegetables, etc.). Dinner entrées include Kyoto chicken, tempura, and shrimp teriyaki as well as noodle and rice dishes. But if you want the real deal, take a seat at the sushi bar and let the chef point you to the day’s freshest catch. $-$$; L, D. Closed Sunday & Monday. 1529-C John B. White Sr. Blvd, Spartanburg. (864) 5768998, wasabispartanburg.com

Spice of Life Spice of Life presents fresh, creative American cuisine with a unique Southern twist. Longtime guests can expect to see menu favorites from the past, along with new creations and a focus on local, sustainable food. The historic building lends great ambiance to a night out or dinner with friends. Add a full bar and a friendly, neighborhood vibe—your weekend plans are made. $$-$$$. D, SBR. 100 Woodrow St, Spartanburg. (864) 804-6688, spiceoflifesc.com

TOWN Magazine accepts no compensation for Dining Guide reviews and selects entries by its editorial discretion. Reviews are conducted anonymously.

WELCOME TO THE NEIGHBORHOOD! The physicians of Woodward Medical Center welcome

K. LEIGH WATSON, MD, FACP

specializing in Internal Medicine.

Former president of the Greenville County Medical Society, Dr. Watson is an Associate Professor of Clinical Internal Medicine at USC. She is an honors graduate of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine with 20 years of experience practicing internal medicine.

For information visit woodwardmedical.org/physicians/watson.php or to schedule an appointment call 864.370.8325

A Bon Secours Medical Group Affiliate – Bon Secours St. Francis Health System

21 ABERDEEN DRIVE

GREENVILLE, SC 29605

864-370-8325

WOODWARDMEDICAL.ORG

December2011 Woodward Medical Center is located behind historic Lewis Plaza shopping center in the 1700 block of Augusta Road near downtown Greenville J U LY 2 0 1 2 / 8 9

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Scene

Town

Thru July 12 Thru Aug 16

Music on Main sTreeT

The Fox on The Fairway

Thru July 8 The Lion King Catch the South Carolina premiere of this award-winning Broadway musical that brings the classic Disney film to the stage with dazzling costumes and a soaring score. The Lion King won a Tony award for Best Musical and tells the tale of royal heir Simba, who must return to the Pride Lands to fulfill his destiny as king of the lions. Peace Center, 300 S Main St. Tues–Sun, times vary. $35-$135. (864) 467-3000, peacecenter.org

Thru Sept 28

BBT Main sTreeT FriDays

Photog r aph cour tes y of Di sney

JULY

Music on Main Street showcases a diverse lineup of regional musical talents, from pop, oldies, rock, and contemporary music. Bring a lawn chair and your dancing shoes.

There will be a special Fourth of July Celebration concert.

Visitors Information Center, 201 S Main St, Hendersonville. Fri, 7–9pm; seating area opens at 5:30pm. Free. (800) 828-4244, historichendersonville.org

The Flat Rock Playhouse becomes the “clubhouse” for a comedy show about a funny game: golf. Two rival golf clubs square off in an annual competition with fortunes on the line, and everything depends on the fragile psyche of a promising young golfer. Those who consider golf to be “a good walk, spoiled” or consider the word golf spelled backwards will enjoy this unforgettable round.

Flat Rock Playhouse, 2661 Greenville Hwy, Flat Rock, NC. Wed–Sun, times vary. $35. (866) 732-8008, flatrockplayhouse.org

Keep your skin healthy, youthful and free from sun damage with Vitamin C facials at Massage Envy Spa. Visit us today and by tomorrow you could have the confidence that comes with radiant skin.

PElhaM hillS

This popular summertime series features live jazz, blues, oldies, and soul, along with food, beer, and playtime for the kids. This month, catch the Nightcrawlers, City Street Band, Taylor Moore, and Hott Gritz.

Hyatt Regency Plaza, 220 N Main St, Greenville. Fri, 5:30–9:30pm.

Free. (864) 467-5741, greenvillesc.gov

4

reD, whiTe, anD BLue FesTivaL

What better way to celebrate independence, Old Glory, and one of the best days of summer than with music, food, and one of the largest fireworks displays in the state? This annual event is a relaxing, familyfriendly celebration of freedom.

Downtown Greenville. Wed, call for times. Free. (864) 232-2273, greenvillesc.gov

Expect the Best for

your Child’s Education.

You Deserve a School that Meets Your Expectations!

3714 Pelham Rd, at 1-85 w/ Earthfare

(864) 288-1150

introductory 1-hour healthy Skin facial session*

VERdaE VillagE

101 Verdae Blvd, at laurens Rd w/ SteinMart

(864) 675-1155

Franchises available | MassageEnvy.com | Convenient hours Open 7 days: M-F 8am-10pm, Sat 8am-8pm, Sun 1pm-8pm *One-hour session consists of a 50-minute facial and time for consultation and dressing.

See clinic for details. © Massage Envy Franchising, llC.

Log on to our website to learn more about our Summer Academy offerings from Monday, June 4, through Friday, August 3, 2012!

829 Garlington Road | Greenville, SC 29615 | 864.678.5107 | shannonforest.com

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can’t-MiSS culture / eventS / attractionS

7

picnics to this open-air production of Henry V, the coming of age of a young king and his evolution into a military leader and ruler.

Falls Park, S Main St, Greenville.

Thurs–Sun, 7pm. Free, donations appreciated. (864) 235-6948, upstateshakespearefestival.org

SunriSe Hike at table rock

Rise before the early birds, take a moonlit hike to the top of Table Rock, and experience a stunning sunrise on the mountaintop. Be sure to pack your camera—and your flashlight—for this unique nocturnal trek.

Table Rock State Park, 158 E Ellison Ln, Pickens. Sat, 2:15– 10:15am. $25. (864) 878-9813, southcarolinaparks.com

12

9 & 17

Get MovinG witH Greenville YoGa

Aspiring young yogis can get a taste of this practice with the experts from Greenville Yoga.

Children will use creative and fun movements to stretch and energize.

Children’s Museum of the Upstate, 300 College St, Greenville. Mon, 3–4pm. $9-$10.

(864) 233-7755, tcmupstate.org

12–Aug 5

Diana krall

Krall brings her enchanting vocals to the local stage. Her latest album Quiet Nights blends sweet surrender with Brazilian-influenced numbers, including three Brazilian classics. Krall says, “I feel this album’s very womanly—like you’re lying next to your lover in bed whispering this in their ear.” Don’t miss an evening with this Grammywinning songstress.

Peace Center, 300 S Main St, Greenville. Thurs, 8 pm. $65-$85.

(864) 467-3000, peacecenter.org

HenrY v

Experience Shakespeare how the Bard was meant to be enjoyed: live and onstage. Bring your blankets and

1322 e washington st | greenville, sc | 864.255.5656 | www.studio7greenville.com

December2011 J U LY 2 0 1 2 / 9 1

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Town

CRAFTED

Scene

12–28

SC PeaCh FeStival

Some might argue that South Carolina’s staple crop is sweet tea.

But at the renowned SC Peach Festival in Gaffney, crowds will gather once more to honor what is rightfully the state fruit. The festival will include a dog show, golf tournament, dessert contest, parade, and BBQ tasting, just to name a few. Downtown Gaffney, Thurs–Sat, Fri–Sat, Sat, times vary.

Free admission (some events require entry fee). (864) 489-5721, scpeachfestival.org

13

Carolina ChoColate DroPS

This much-lauded, roots-music group takes the stage with a riveting live show following the release of their new album Leaving Eden.

The Carolina Chocolate Drops not only embody a fresh take on traditional music, but punctuate it with buck dancing, jug playing, and entertaining stories. The Handlebar, 304 E Stone Ave, Greenville. Sat, 7pm. $12-$15. (864) 233-6173, handlebar-online.com

by DESIGN

13–Sept 30 new workS by kim Sholly

PelhamArchitects.com

Coldwell Banker Caine presents the work of local photographer Kim Sholly, as she explores the everyday with pinhole and toy plastic cameras.

Sholly continues to work in the darkroom, coaxing images that are singular and unique—like the moments she captures.

Main Street Real Estate Gallery, 428 S Main St, Greenville. Opening reception, Thurs, July 26, 5–7pm. kimsholly.com

13–15

Hub City Writers Project will host its twelfth-annual Writing in Place conference for the literary set, a weekend seminar that includes a keynote address by popular young-adult novelist Ruta Sepetys, challenging workshops, faculty readings, and a happy hour at Hub City Bookshop. Sleeping in dorms, going to classes, and celebrating happy hour? College—but better.

Wofford College, 429 N Church St, Spartanburg. Fri–Sun, times vary. $200-$340. hubcity.org

AugustA RoAd AReA, gCC · ReduCed $899,000 Almost 2 acres. 4 bedrooms, 4 full, 3 half baths. the interior of the 1950’s, one-story home has been completely refurbished. Master suite has 3 walk-in closets and master bath of tumbled limestone. Basement rec room. Hardwoods throughout, hot water circulator, landscape lighting, sprinkler system, lighted, clay tennis court and playhouse. Cedar-, cypress- and stone-constructed covered patio with a stone fireplace and full bathroom. MLs# 1232287

Photog r aph cour tes y of K i m Shol ly

writing in PlaCe

14

hot Dog Day

Enjoy a great American treat, the hot dog, at this family fundraiser for the Greenville Zoo. In addition to the tasty red hots, there will be chips, ice cream, and Pepsi—all for 50 cents each. Greenville Zoo, 150 Cleveland Park Dr, Greenville.

Sat, 10am–4pm. $7.75, adults and $2.25, children. (864) 4674300, greenvillezoo.com

John StephenSon 864.201.5803 · jstephenson@cbcaine.com Coldwell Banker Caine · www.cbcaine.com C72R

92 TOWN / towngreenville.com JohnStephens 4thS TownJuly12.indd 1 TOWN_July_TownScene.indd 92

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discuss his life and art, focusing on the current exhibition “Winfred Rembert: Amazing Grace.” The exhibit will be on display through August 19. Greenville County Museum of Art, 420 College St, Greenville. Sun, 2pm. Free. (864) 271-7570, greenvillemuseum.org

17

JackSon BroWne

On this special acoustic tour, the longtime songwriter and performer Jackson Browne will play guitar and piano, selecting numbers from his more than four-decadelong career, creating a different show each night. Singer, songwriter, and fiddler Sara Watkins, a founding member of the band Nickel Creek, will open. Peace Center, 300 S Main St, Greenville. Tues, 8pm. $45-$65. (864) 467-3000, peacecenter.org

Don’t buy cheap clothes, buy good clothes CHEAP!

19–Aug 11

Beehive, The ’60S MuSicaL

14

The Laughing STock underground

The Greenville Little Theatre’s improv troupe Laughing Stock performs latenight shows every second Saturday at Coffee Underground. The audience suggests it, and the troupe runs with it, often with surprising results.

Coffee Underground, One E Coffee St, Greenville. Sat, 10:30pm. $5. (864) 233-6238, greenvillelittletheatre.org/ laughing-stock

14 Photog r aph cour tes y of K i m Shol ly

roper MounTain Science cenTer BLueBerry FeSTivaL

Take advantage of peak blueberry season at this second Saturday event that features local blueberries and other fruit, ice cream, baked goods, and contests. In addition, there will be opportunities to explore the scientific side of blueberries, gardening, and food preservation.

Roper Mountain Science Center, 402 Roper Mountain Rd, Greenville. Sat, 9am–1pm. $5-$6.

(864) 355-8900, ropermountain.org

15

WinFred reMBerT gaLLery TaLk

Winfred Rembert depicts AfricanAmericans in the segregated South in his vibrant and compelling paintings.

Often using dye on carved and tooled leather, Rembert recalls his colorful and often painful memories of growing up and as a prisoner in Georgia. In this gallery talk, he will

Labels 4thS TownJuly12.indd 1

25–Aug 1

Big League BaSeBaLL WorLd SerieS

McDaniel Village | 1922 Augusta St., Ste. 112 864.631.1919 | labelsonaugusta.com Mon.- Fri. 10-6, Sat. 10-5

CREATIVE

J72

Relive the heyday of the girl groups and solo singers of the ’60s in this musical revue featuring 37 hits from artists like the Supremes, Tina Turner, the Chiffons, and Aretha Franklin.

This melodious stage production features favorites like “One Fine Day,” “Respect,” “Proud Mary,” “My Boyfriend’s Back,” and more.

Centre Stage, 501 River St, Greenville. Thurs–Sat, 8pm; Sun, 3pm. $25-$30. (864) 233-6733, centrestage.org

6/11/12 3:01:35 PM

Some of the best teen baseball players in the world travel to the Upstate to duke it out in the 45th annual Big League World Series. Last year, teams from across the globe, including those representing the United States, Canada, Mexico, Latin America, and Asia gathered to test their skill. Don’t miss this eight-day, international celebration of baseball.

J.B. “Red” Owens Recreation Complex, 111 Walkers Way, Easley.

Times vary. $3-$30. (864) 855-7933, bigleagueworldseries.org

by DESIGN

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AD

Index

Advertiser

Page Telephone

Web Site

A. T. Locke

26

864.908.3062

atlocke.com

Always Best Care

86

864.527.0464

greenville.alwaysbestcare.com

Bell Laundry & Cleaners

84

864.583.8668

bellcleaners.com

Bennetts’ Frame & Art Gallery

11

864.288.6430

bennettsartgallery.com

Blue Ridge Security Systems

43

888.407.7233

blueridgesecuritysystems.com

Branches & Burlap

88

864.275.2648

shdesignsinc.com

Breakwater Restaurant & Bar

47

864.271.0046

breakwatersc.com

Caine Company Real Estate

44

864.250.2850

cbcaine.com

5

800.801.3131

carltonmotorcars.com

Carolina Aesthetics

24

864.233.8088

carolinaaesthetics.com

Carolina Consignment

83

864.228.1619

carolinaconsignmentllc.com

Carolina Furniture

35

864.963.9536

cfiupstate-carolinadesign.blogspot.com

Chocolate Moose

78

864.232.2121

chocomoosebakery.com

Comfort Keepers

84

864.268.8993

comfortkeepers.com

Cox Photography

95

864.233.9992

coxphotography.net

The Dental Retreat

78

864.271.6213

signaturesmilesgreenville.com

The Green Room

83

864.335.8222

thegreenroomupstate.com

Devereaux’s

81

864.241.3030

devereauxsdining.com

Dick Brooks Honda

72

864.877.9090

dickbrookshonda.com

3

864.987.0034

donelsoneye.com

Downtown Dental

81

864.438.2646

downtowndentalsc.com

Dr. Leigh Watson

89

864.370.8332

woodwardmedical.org

Dr. Ryan Cook

72

864.232.5289

mygreenvillescdentist.com

EquilifeMD

23

888.299.9300

Eric Brown Design

IFC,1 864.233.4442

ericbrowndesign.biz

euphoria

94

864.233.5663

euphoriagreenville.com

Flat Rock Playhouse

19

828.693.0731

flatrockplayhouse.org

Ford’s Oyster House and Cajun Kitchen

83

864.233.6009

fordsoysterhouse.com

Gabriel Builders

IBC

864.879.3035

gabrielbuilders.com

Genco Pools & Spas

gencopools.com

Carlton Motorcars

Get out of your wet clothes and into a dry martini.

TOWN Magazine, euphoria 2012 and Van Gogh Vodka present:

Tapas and ‘Tinis The Loft at Soby’s Thursday, July 26th 6:00pm – 10:00pm An exclusive event for TOWN readers.

Door prizes, live music and a taste of euphoria 2012 featuring Performance Foodservice Corporate Executive Chef Daryl Shular and Soby’s New South Cuisine.

Supported by

september 20 – 23 www.euphoriagreenville.com RSVP to kate@towngreenville.com or call 864.679.1254.

Limited space available.

Donelson Eye

equilifemd.com

47

864.967.7655

Greenville Area Development Corporation 30

864.235.2008

greenvilleeconomicdevelopment.com

Greenville Automotive

864.288.7575

greenvilleautomotive.com

Greenville County Museum of Art

33 7

864.271.7570

greenvillemuseum.org

Greenville Dermatology

10

864.242.5872

greenvilledermatology.com

Greenville Hospital System

75

864.455.7000

ghs.org

Gregory Ellenburg

28

864.298.0072

gregoryellenburg.com

Hale’s Jewelers

BC

864.297.5600

halesjewelers.com

Hamilton & Co.

22

864.527.7865

mygreenvillehome.com

Howard Custom Builders

44

864.423.2721

howardcustombuilders.com

Ivy Salon & Spa

17

864.801.8014

ivysalonandspa.com

JB Lacher Jewelers

13

864.232.7385

jblacher.com

2

864.268.3101

jefflynch.com

John Stephenson/Coldwell Banker Caine 92

864.250.2850

cbcaine.com/agents/JohnStephenson

Kiawah Island Golf Resort

28

864.768.2121

kiawahresort.com

Labels Designer Consignments

93

864.631.1919

labelsonaugusta.com

Larkin’s on the River

37

864.467.9777

larkinsontheriver.com

Liberty Tap Room

87

864.770.7777

libertytaproom.com

The Lighting Center

10

864.268.4822

thelightingcenter.net

Mackey Mortuary

16

864.232.6706

mackeymortuary.com

Massage Envy

90

864.675.1155

massageenvy.com

Mayme Baker Studio

18

864.467.1930

maymebakerstudio.com

Muse Shoe Studio

49

864.271.9750

museshoestudio.com

Nick Carlson/Coldwell Banker Caine

77

864.675.5639

cbcaine.com/agents/NickCarlson

Northampton Wines

81

864.271.3919

northamptonwines.com

Old Colony Furniture

21

864.277.5330

oldcolonyfurniture.com

Peace Center for the Performing Arts

14

864.467.3030

Pelham Architects

92,93 864.271.7633

pelhamarchitects.com

The Pink Monogram

49

864.236.1028

thepinkmonogram.com

Proaxis Therapy

20

864.528.5700

proaxistherapy.com

Reedy River Dentistry

44

864.272.3091

reedyriverdentistry.com

Rowan Company

39

864.331.2077

rowancompany.net

Rush Wilson Limited

47

864.232.2761

rushwilson.com

Saige Consignment

76

864.233.5441

saigeconsignment.com

Shannon Forest Christian School

90

864.678.5107

shannonforest.com

Skatell’s

25

864.288.2501

shopskatells.com

skinkare

85

864.234.7900

skinkare.com

Southeast Regional Sleep Disorders Center 86

864.627.5337

southeastregionalsleep.com

Spartanburg Regional

41

864.560.6000

spartanburgregional.com

Spaulding Company

88

864.458.8585

spauldingcompany.com

Stella & Dot Girls’ Night Out

78

404.313.8450

stelladot.com/lindsayoehmen

Studio.7

91

864.255.5656

studio7greenville.com

Valerie Miller/Marchant Company

43

864.430.6602

valeriejsmiller.com

8

864.329.8383

verdae.com

Vinos, Etc.

78

864.236.8604

vinosetc.com

Virginia Hayes/Prudential C. Dan Joyner

83

864.313.2986

virginiahayes.com

YMCA

27

864.242.1111

ymcagreenville.org

Jeff Lynch

Verdae

peacecenter.org

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WEDDINGS

M22A

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Glance

SECOND

High Art Creative writing graduate Da’Shawn Mosley wins a top honor

Opening Night of Emily Mann’s Greensboro: A Requiem Greensboro: A Requiem strutted into the theatre, passed in high heels and a crimson cocktail dress to grab the seat next to mine. Waited until the lights dimmed to spread her snowy legs, speak her jagged talk of vintage reconnaissance and unrestrained profanity. Because Greensboro heard the late night conversation my grandmother held in the kitchen with my brother and me to discuss her many reasons why not to date white girls. She gave us a glimpse of the future and the concept was so minimal: the two of us content black men with content black brides.

But Greensboro told me she could recall a series of days

This past June, a president met the president—of the United States. Da’Shawn Mosley, recent graduate in creative writing of the South Carolina Governor’s School for the Arts and Humanities (and 2011–2012 student body president), met President Barack Obama—but it was Obama who congratulated Da’Shawn on his rare accomplishment of selection as a Presidential Scholar in the Arts. Da’Shawn has already received numerous honors throughout his young career. But with plans to begin an undergraduate degree at the venerable University of Chicago this fall, we are sure to hear more of this rising talent—and add his work to our shelf. An executive decision.—Blair Knobel

Poem courtesy of Da’Shawn Mosley

when the blonde meteorologist on the local news reported nothing but thick fog. And one night, the glittering brunette two rows down called me at home, said she wanted a relationship. I thought things through, and declined.

—Da’Shawn Mosley

96 TOWN / towngreenville.com

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HANDCRAFTED HOMES f LIFELONG RELATIONSHIPS

Welcome to the passion that is Gabriel Builders.

“I love making homeowners’ dreams become reality, the pride in quality workmanship, and the wonderful people we’ve met who we now count among our great friends. It’s about being passionate about quality, service, and relationships.”

Quality custom homes since 1984

—Gus Rubio, Owner/Operator, Founder

Gus and Belinda Rubio

M62A

52 Parkway Commons Way, Greer, SC 29650 | 864.879.3035 | www.GabrielBuilders.com IBC.indd 4 GabrielBuilders TOWNJuly12.indd 1

6/21/12 9:40 AM 6/20/12 11:08:06 AM

BC.indd 4 TownJuly12.indd 1 Hales FPBleed

6/19/12 2:14 PM 6/14/12 1:22:34