February March 2011 Lakeside

Lakeside The Good Life on Lake Marion, South Carolina •February - March 2011

Livin’ Lakeside At home on Lake Marion

A gardener’s life Flowers more than a hobby

To reclaim a swamp santeelakeside.com

Pocotaligo reclamation ongoing

santeelakeside.com 1

A blueprint for success There are few things as essential as a dock when you own a waterfront home. But building one isn’t as easy as throwing a few planks up. Santee-Cooper, which owns the watered acreage of Lakes Marion and Moultrie have strict regulations on what is--and what isn’t--OK. So before you hire an architect to design an unapproved dock, make sure they factor these things into their drawings.

Keep it simple Docks on Lake Marion have few flourishes. That’s because walkway covers, structures and even bathrooms are forbidden.

Grab the measuring tape No personal dock on the lakes are longer than 50 feet or wider than six.

In addition, docks can’t be in water deeper than four feet.

Pay attention to the details Some parts of dock building are nobrainers. Others, like a maximum handrail height of three feet and white deck tape, seem like obsessive details.

Getting the rest

In addition to making sure you have specifics down, make sure you fill out Santee Cooper’s required permits before you start building, and make sure you let the right people know, including your neighbor, the Charleston District Corps of Engineers and the state Institute of Archeology and Anthropology.

2 February • March 2011 | Lakeside

Check your materials Only a select number of materials can be used in building your dock.

All wood has to be treated, and floating docks have specific allowed materials.

R. Darren Price / The Item Source: Santee Cooper

in this issue

General Manager Gail Mathis gailm@theitem.com Publisher Jack Osteen jack@theitem.com

12

Articles & Research Robert J. Baker bbaker@theitem.com

30

R. Darren Price dprice@theitem.com

24

18 Landmarks and Landscapes Livin’ Lakeside Does it cost more to live at the Lake?

Gardening is life for Manning man

4

9 12

Not ready to fish?

Spend downtime maintaining rod, other equipment 16

At home on Lake Marion

24

Fishing Tournaments dominate spring calendar

28

Pocotaligo Swamp two years later

30

Why Live at the lake

34

Mad about Duck Hunting but my boat isn’t 35

Layout & Design Cary Johnson cjohnson@theitem.com Photography Robert J. Baker, Darren Price & Gail Mathis Contributing Writers: John Durant, Yana Mathis, Ray Winans

and Jane Collins

on the cover: Surrounded on three sides by Lake Marion’s waters, the Zeigler’s lake home is commonly referred to as a ship. But this four-bed, four-bath stucco home is settled just off the water.

santeelakeside.com 3

Landmarks and landscapes

Berkeley County • Calhoun County • Clarendon County • Orangeburg County • Sumter County & Williamsburg County

The Santee Cooper lakes, specifically Moultrie and Marion, cover Berkeley, Calhoun, Clarendon, Orangeburg and Sumter counties, providing nearly limitless recreational opportunities for those who love the outdoors in small or large doses. In Williamsburg and Clarendon counties, the Black and Santee rivers provide similar outdoor adventures. Altogether these counties boast Revolutionary War battles sites, grave markers of war heroes, museums dedicated to preserving watershed moments in state and American history, beautiful churches that have sheltered the worship of Jesus Christ for more than two centuries, and wildlife reserves, swampland and nationallyrecognized, pristine forests.

For those people looking to pursue more in these areas than government meetings, cotillions and the annual events that each individual town cherishes, this compiled list should help explorers see what else is going on.

BERKELEY COUNTY The Berkeley County Blueways consist of 175 miles of waterway comprised of 23 paddling trails in Lake Moultrie, lower Lake Marion, the Santee River and Francis Marion National Forest. Operated primarily by the Berkeley Soil and Water Conservation District, with funds from Berkeley County government and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the blueways are always viewed as an open invitation for recreational paddlers to experience and enjoy this region’s beautiful lakes, rivers, streams and wildlife. For more information, visit www.berkeleyblueways. com , email berkconsdist@homexpressway. net, or call (843) 719-4146.

The Cypress Gardens, located on S.C. 52, eight miles east of Moncks Corner, provide a 250-acre park that features more than 80 acres of open swamp covered in bald cypress and water tupelo to make a unique habitat for waterfowl, numerous butterfly species, deer, opossum, bobcats, raccoons and the occasional snake and alligator.

Specific attractions include the gardens’ Butterfly House, with live butterflies, birds, ponds and exhibits detailing the beautiful creatures’ life cycle; the Swamparium, an observation area featuring fish, amphibians and reptiles, including venomous snakes native 4 February • March 2011 | Lakeside

to the area; and several walking trails made from dikes dating back to the rice fields previously cultivated at the site. The gardens feature a 24,000-gallon freshwater aquarium and flat-bottom boats, which hold up to six people, that meander through a designated path in the swamp. As long as they have at least one adult present, groups can see alligators and other wildlife.

Francis Marion’s Gravestone is a popular attraction at Belle Isle Plantation Cemetery off S.C. 45 between S.C. 6 and Eadytown.

Francis Marion National Forest was practically destroyed in 1989

by Hurricane Hugo, but the young growth that survived on its 252,368 acres situated in Charleston and Berkeley counties has emerged to make it a popular tourist attraction.

The forest itself contains the towns of Awendaw, Huger, Jamestown and McClellanville, and its headquarters are in Columbia, as are those of Sumter National Forest. Recreational opportunities include campsites, rifle ranges, boat ramps, hiking and biking trails and the famous Palmetto Trail.

Mepkin Abbey, a community of Roman Catholic monks, was built in 1959 on the Cooper River, S.C. 402, north of Charles-

ton, where historic Mepkin Plantation once stood. The brothers at Mepkin belong to the worldwide Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance, popularly known as trappist. Visitors are usually interested in the church and the Nancy Bryan Luce Gardens.

A guestmaster greets them at the Reception Center, answers any questions and directs them to the gardens. Guided tours of the church are provided at 11:30 a.m., Tuesday through Saturday; and 3 p.m., Tuesday through Sunday.

The abbey is closed to visitors on Mondays.

Groups of 10 or more visitors are asked to make reservations by calling (843) 761-8509.

CALHOUN COUNTY Aeolian Hill, which sits two miles east of St. Matthews on S.C. 6, was built by the Rev. John Jacob Wannamaker in the 1875 and served as the main house of Aeolian Plantation. The plantation is named due to the strong winds that swept across the land, and the name translates roughly to “where the wind blows.” In 1900, the family added a second story to the house using architects from Clemson College. The stately home served as the residence of Dr. John E. Wannamaker II, whose scientific work with soybean and cotton had a marked influence on the state’s agricultural economy. The plantation itself covers 395 acres, which includes 158 acres of planted pine trees, 34 acres of pecan trees and meadows and 147 acres of cropland.

Belleville Plantation and Cemetery dates back to the Revolutionary War when

Col. William Thomson and his new bride, Eugenia Russell, bought 400 acres of land on Buckhead Creek. Located on the Congaree River near Fort Motte in St. Matthews off U.S. 601, the site almost became the state capitol after the war, but lost out by a couple of votes. Aside from its importance to South Carolina’s role in the Revolutionary War, the plantation lands were one of the first American farms to produce indigo, and cotton was planted starting in 1794.

The Calhoun County Museum and Cultural Center, located at 303 Butler St., St. Matthews, contains an art gallery, along with agricultural galleries and a research room with archives.

For more information, call (803) 874-3964.

The Congaree Bluffs Heritage Preserve, located on Turkey Track Lane near Fort Motte and St. Matthews, provides nature walks ranging from easy to strenuous.

The Educational Center may be used by groups centered around natural or cultural resource goals, with an application submitted to the Calhoun County Conservation District, 904 F.R. Huff Drive, Suite 104, P.O. Box 528, St. Matthews, SC 29135, for approval 30 days prior to use of the center. For video of the bluffs, visit www.youtube. com/watch?v=014H7pSjJdw . For more information, call (803) 874-3337.

Shady Grove Methodist Church, located on State Road S-9-53 in Cameron, was built in the 1800s on land given to Conrad Holman in 1740 by King George II. Its oldest section was built with hand-

hewn log framing set by wooden pegs in the early 1800s. Its white-frame building, along with its bell tower and steeple, were recognized as a historical site in June 1970.

CLARENDON COUNTY The Clarendon County Museum and History Center, operated at 102 S. Brooks St., Manning, by the county’s Historical Society, is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., ThursdayFriday, and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, excluding holidays. The museum features permanent exhibits dedicated to war memorabilia and the county’s agricultural history as well as an early 20th century kitchen furnished with an antique wood stove, cast-iron water pots and oldfashioned china and cutlery.

The Manning Commercial Historic District, which features more than 40 businesses within a nine-block radius in downtown Manning, was put on the National Register of Historic Places in May 2010. The district features gift shops, a museum, both the Clarendon County Courthouse and Manning City Hall, photography studios, the Clarendon County Archives and Historical Center and several department stores.

Pocotaligo Park, located at the intersection of U.S. highways 301 and 521, has a 1,296-foot boardwalk leading from the highway into the Pocotaligo Swamp, where it winds through 40 acres of swamp and timberland.

The park is open each day during daylight hours and is free to the public.

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Santee National Wildlife Refuge, located in North Santee and Summerton, was first opened in 1941. Of its 13,000 acres, only 4,400 are owned by the refuge, with the remaining acreage managed through a lease agreement with the South Carolina Public Service Authority, also known as SanteeCooper. The refuge manages 10 conservation easements on private lands, totalling 458 acres in Bamberg, Barnwell, Clarendon and Orangeburg counties. The refuge serves as a major wintering area for ducks and geese and a stopover area for neo-tropical migratory birds, raptors, shore birds and wading birds. Endangered and threatened species at the refuge include the American alligator and the wood stork.

The public may use the Visitor’s Center, which features exhibits, walking trails, an auto-tour route, wildlife observation and hunting and fishing opportunities. The Visitor’s Center is open 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., Tuesday-Saturday. The refuge trails and grounds are open daily from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. through March 31; 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., April 1 to Aug. 31. For more information, call (803) 478-2217, or email santee@fws.gov.

The Swamp Fox Murals are spread throughout Clarendon County and feature depictions of Gen. Francis “Swamp Fox” Marion and his soldiers fighting the British in Clarendon and surrounding areas.

Murals in Manning are located on the walls of B-Mart, 1 W. Rigby St.; the Manning Fire Department, 42 W. Boyce St.; IGA, 600 S. Mill St.; Edward Jones, 1 S. Mill St.; Piggly Wiggly, 36 Sunset Drive; and Substation II, 37 N. Brooks St. In Summerton, they are located at Baucom Realty, 140 N. Main St.; Ginger’s Flower Shop, 4 S. Cantey St.; the Walker building, Main Street; Detwilers, Main Street; and Gaters Law Office, 203 E. Main St. In Turbeville, they are located at Dollar General, Main Street; the Smith Building on Main Street; and the corner of Main and Gamble Streets. The newest mural, completed in June 2010 by Terry Smith, is located at Geddings Do It Best Hardware, 110 N. Brooks St., Manning.

Taw Caw Park, located off Wash Davis 6 February • March 2011 | Lakeside

Road in Summerton, has an extensive set of boardwalks around Taw Caw Creek, which empties into Lake Marion. A popular spot for fishing, the area has a playground, picnic shelters, volleyball courts and is free and open to the public during daylight hours.

A $5 rental fee is required for the picnic shelter. For more information, call (803) 473-3543.

Weldon Auditorium, North Brooks Street, Manning, is a newly refurbished, state-of-the-art concert facility that was originally built in 1955; in 1967, the building was renamed from the Manning High School auditorium to the Weldon Auditorium after a former superintendent of Clarendon School District 2. The building was sold to Clarendon County in 2006, and remodeling began in early 2008. The site hosts concerts featuring national and local artists each week, and also features dance groups like the Columbia City Ballet and other performing arts groups. For more information and a schedule of events, visit weldonauditorium.org ORANGEBURG COUNTY The All Star Bowling Lane, known as All Star Triangle Bowl until it closed in 2007, played a pivotal role in the Orangeburg Massacre, a confrontation between black students at South Carolina State College and police in which three students were killed and 27 were injured. In February 1968, the bowling alley was one of the last public places in Orangeburg County still segregated, and local leaders argued the business had to integrate as it had a snack bar, therefore

falling underneath the Interstate Commerce Provision in the public accommodations section of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, which desegregated businesses selling goods to the public at-large. On Feb. 6, a group of black students from State and Claflin colleges entered the bowling alley and refused to leave. Another 15 students came back the following night and were arrested.

On Feb. 8, 300 students confronted about 100 police officers, who beat the students with batons. The students broke car and store windows as they fled back to their schools. The bowling alley itself was closed for business in September 2007, but is listed on the National Register of Historic Sites and serves as a popular educational destination.

The Branchville Railroad Shrine and Museum, 7204 Freedom Road, Branchville, is located at the world’s first and oldest railroad junction, featuring a line that once operated on the country’s first scheduled passenger train. At one point in the 1800s, Branchville sat on the longest line in the world, the 183 miles stretching from Aiken to Charleston. Call (803) 274-8820 for hours and admission prices.

The Edisto Memorial Gardens and Home Wetlands Park, off Seaboard Street in Orangeburg, is host to the Memorial Gardens, where less than 600 Confederate soldiers gathered to defend Edisto River Bridge. A marker honors this site, which they eventually abandoned for Columbia.

The gardens were first developed in the 1920s with azaleas planted on five acres of land. A greenhouse was added in 1947, followed by a rose garden in 1951. The park displays past and current award-winning roses from the All-American Rose Selections, with more than 4,000 plants representing at least 75 labeled varieties on display. The annual Festival of Roses, held in late April each year, is a popular gardens attraction.

The Elloree Heritage and Cultural Museum is located on Historic Cleveland Street in downtown Elloree, about seven

miles from Santee off Exit 98 at Interstate 95. Started in 1998 as part of the downtown area’s revitalization efforts, the museum boasts a rotating series of exhibits in its 10,000-square-foot facility and specifically focuses on rural life of the past. The museum opened Oct. 5, 2002, with its Farm Wing being the first part open to the public. For more information, call (803) 897-2225 or visit elloreemuseum. org.

I.P. Stanback Museum and Planetarium, located at South Carolina State University in Orangeburg, is named for the first African-American chairman of the university’s Board of Trustees, Isreal Pinkney Stanback. Started in the basement of the college’s library in the early 1970s, it features a 40-foot planetarium dome, located across the foyer adjacent to the galleries, and has an auditorium capacity of 82 seats and a Minolta IIB Planetarium Projector.

Educational programs for schools may be arranged by appointment two to four weeks in advance. Admission to the museum is free, but fees for programs vary. Hours are 9 a.m. to 4:40 p.m., Monday-Friday.

Call (803) 5367174 for more information, or visit www. draco.scsu.edu.

Orangeburg National Fish Hatchery, located at 427 Lakeview Drive on the S.C. 21 bypass in Orangeburg, is one of more than 60 federal fish hatcheries located in the United States. Operated by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the hatchery produces a number of species, in-

cluding striped bass and red breast and bluegill sunfish, which are used to stock lakes and streams throughout the southeastern United States. Nose sturgeon are used for research and development at the site. The aquarium is open from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., Monday-Friday. For more information, call Hatchery Manager Willie V. Booker at (803) 5344828 or email the hatchery at orangeburg@ fws.gov.

SUMTER COUNTY The Church of the Holy Cross, an excellent example of Gothic Revival architecture, is located in Stateburg, off S.C. 261. For more information, call (803) 494-8101.

The Cultural Center on Haynsworth Street in Sumter contains both the Sumter Gallery of Art and Patriot Hall. Housed in a newly renovated facility, the gallery operates as a non-profit art institution and features rotating shows of both traditional and contemporary art by local, regional and nationally-recognized artists. Three formal

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exhibition galleries are offered along with free group tours by reservation, volunteer opportunities (with docents receiving free membership), catered opening receptions for all exhibitions and classroom space available for rent. Classes are offered throughout the year for kids, teens and adults.

Located at 135 Haynsworth St., Sumter, Patriot Hall combines the grandeur of the past with the superb acoustics, versatility and state-of-the-art technology of the future.

Local actors and musicians have a state-ofthe-art facility at which to perform, and the venue frequently hosts national and international acts, including the Moscow State Symphony of the United Soviets Socialist Republic, the Charleston Ballet, the Atlanta Symphony, the U.S. Coast Guard Band and a variety of touring plays and musical productions. For more information, call (803) 436-2260.

The Sumter County Museum and Historical and Genealogical Research Center and Backcountry Homestead, located at 122 N. Washington St., Sumter, sits in a southern mansion built in 1916. The museum is popular for its living history demonstrations and its Backcountry festivals, which appear each fall and spring. For more information, call (803) 775-0908 or visit www.sumtercountymuseum. org.

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located on West Liberty Street in Sumter. Its renown is due in part to its status as the only public park in the United States serving as home to all eight species of swans, including black necks, royal white mutes, coscorobas, whoopers, black australians, whistlers, bewicks and trumpeters. The park began in 1927 as a private fishing lake for wealthy businessman Hamilton Carr Bland, who began landscaping his garden with Japanese Iris flowers.

The park has an open-air Garden Street picnic shelter, the covered Heath Pavilion that seats 200 comfortably and the enclosed Visitor’s Center with conference/reception space for 125 people.

Tables are located throughout the grounds, and a large playground features an antique fire engine perfect for climbing. The Bland Gardens feature a boardwalk, on which visitors may meander through a cypress swamp, and a gazebo popular for spring weddings. Call (803) 778-5434 for more information about reservations for any of the park’s facilities or email tourism@sumter-sc.com.

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WILLIAMSBURG COUNTY Come See Me Weekend, sponsored by the Williamsburg County Tourism Board, will be held March 26-27, featuring the Taste of Williamsburg at Thorntree House,

the Lancing Tournament and an art festival.

Call (843) 355-6431 or email whtc@ftc-i.net for more information.

The Kingstree Historic District contains 48 different buildings on Main, Academy and Hampton streets that make up Kingdowntown commercial area. Placed PMstree’s Page 1 on the National Register of Historic Places

in June 1982, the district features the Williamsburg County Courthouse, a library, a railroad station and numerous businesses.

The Salters Plantation House was built

by William Salters before he died in 1833, and has had many renovations since. An important example of 19th century domestic architecture, which combined national and local trends, the building was primarily influenced by the Greek Revival, while its front porch is relatively common among similar porches across the Pee Dee during the time period. The plantation, home of Capt. John Alexander Salters, eventually served as the land for Salters Depot, upon which the town of Salters was built. The site was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in June 2000.

The Williamsburg County Historical Museum, 135 Hampton Ave., Kingstree, is open 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., Tuesday-Thursday, and features a room depicting a turn-of-thecentury drug store. For more information, call (843) 355-3306 or email history1@ftc-i. net.

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8 February • March 2011 | Lakeside

Livin’ Lakeside

Does it cost more to live at the Lake?

I

was asked this question recently and have been thinking about how I would answer it. First of all, let me say that “cost” is a relative term. For example, I have a friend who will drive all over “tarnation” to get exactly what she wants.

If it happens to be on sale, oh well, all the better! Now, I don’t know about you, but if I have to drive 100-plus miles to “save” money on an item, I would just as soon not get it, because I have a good news/bad news car. The good news is that it’s paid for and the bad news is that it gets 18-miles-to-the-gallon at best.

Take today for example, which is now about a month ago as you’re reading this magazine. I’m writing my article on my home computer and realized that I’m in the mood for some yogurt.

The ones in my refrigerator were outdated and just got tossed in the garbage.

I stood in my kitchen and debated, “Do I want to drive 25 miles round trip just for yogurt?” In the old days, I might have jumped in the car and done just that. But on that day, I refused.

Is it because I live at the lake rather than in town with conveniently located grocery stores? No! It’s because the economy is so bad that I can’t justify spending over $4 in gas to get a 50-cent yogurt, nor do I wish to waste the 45 minutes it takes to drive there, park, shop and head back home.

So, when someone asks me if it costs more to live at the lake, I have to put things in perspective. Some things are definitely cheaper. For example, NO city taxes! Yeah! Most folks have a well and a septic tank versus public water and sewer. You have initial installation then maintenance fees, but no monthly water and sewer bill. Your well usage is hidden in your electric bill and you spend gas to drive to the recycling center (affectionately referred to as “the dump”) rather than having your garbage picked up and paid for on your monthly water and sewer bill.

On two recent occasions, I asked a service/delivery person I encountered what they charged to come to my house. When they found out I lived at the lake, they said the price was a little more. So, I guess everyone is trying to cover their extra gasoline costs these days.

Does it cost more to build a house at the lake rather than in town? Other than transportation costs and a new well and septic system, I would

think building a home in town compares about the same as building a home at the lake. That means the actual construction of the home, not the lot. In most cases the land will be more expensive than in town or in the country. The restrictions vary, but are reasonable in allowing you what you want to build or to add on to.

Some people have bought older “mom and pop” lake cabins, torn them down and rebuilt because of the value of the property with its

santeelakeside.com 9

lake location or views of the water.

Appraisers are not going to compare the two areas similarly when doing a market analysis of sales to present their report to the bank or lending institutions. “Like kind” is a common term when comparing properties for the purpose of value. Just like you wouldn’t compare a grocery store to a home in the Country Club, an appraiser wouldn’t use a home in town to compare to a sale with one at the lake.

We have an area in our Realtor’s Multiple Listing Site (MLS) termed “Lake Area.” It is not a finite circle with which we outline what’s in versus what’s out of the area we term “the lake.” Waterfront properties are obvious and have their own category. You can build two identical homes across the street from one another and they will have a huge price difference if one is actually waterfront and the other merely has a view of the water.

Supply and demand? Not particularly, in my opinion. It’s a lifestyle. You’ve heard me talk about this before. The ease of living comes from the outdoor recreational opportunities, being in the fresh air more often, getting wet and having fun! Some people are fortunate to be able to afford the waterfront homes. Others are just as happy with going to the many local boat landings that lakes Marion and Moultrie offer. Some just know someone with a lake home and are happy to join in with the expenses of food, gas, etc., that rise when you have a crowd to feed and entertain.

The motto on the back of my business card says, “Honest and Friendly.” There is only one home that I sold in my 16 years of lake living and selling real estate that I felt a little uneasy about. After the fact, I definitely felt guitly, but I really didn’t know any better

at the time. My beloved BIC, the late B.G. Alderman Jr. shot down my pride when I announced I had made a sale to a family with small children in the Potato Creek area.

He said in his soft, but firm voice, “They’re not going to be happy there” “Why?” I asked.

He told me, “Because they have small children.”

Well, in all honestly, someone without children (like myself ) didn’t realize the impact it would have on a family with young children and two working parents that wanted to live at the lake full-time. I didn’t take into account that they would have numerous round trips to town daily for such things like school, after-school activities and in-town recreational games with practice, etc. In fact, a couple of years after settling here, they sold their home and moved away.

Mr. B.G. told me one time, “Don’t sell them what they want, sell them what they need.”

Those words are emblazoned in my brain and have helped me many a time when I thought someone was getting carried away with their unrealistic budget or the location of the property they wanted to buy. Some things are just not a “good fit.”

That’s the true sign of a good real estate agent - It’s not one who just wants to make the deal, collect her money and go on to the next transaction; rather, the good agent is one who will point you in the right direction. That direction may not be a home at the lake at this time in your life. It may be a suggestion to rent right now until your finances improve. Whatever you do, make sure it is with a wellseasoned, educated agent who has your best interest at heart.

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santeelakeside.com 11

For Manning man, gardening is life Robert J. Baker bbaker@theitem.com

12 February • March 2011 | Lakeside

O

n a cool, crisp January morning, as his neighbors head to work or simply walk to the end of driveways to get morning papers, Richard Spangler is working in his yard.

“Right now, I’m cutting out all the dead stuff, getting it out of the yard,” he said in late January.

The “dead stuff ” is from Spangler’s immense garden, which surrounds his home and covers about one of the 140 acres on which he and wife Norma have lived for about 18 years. The Spanglers, mostly Richard, work year-round to produce a garden full of everything from lantana to roses. Even in winter, Richard Spangler can be spotted in his yard periodically mowing his grass.

“I cut my grass in the wintertime, too,” he said. “My mowers are mulching mowers, and I like to put that mulch back in the ground year-round. Other than that, I go through and check the flowers, trim them up. And, of course, I remove the dead stuff.”

Spangler, 64, also spends his “off-season” transporting flowers from one bed to another.

“I spend some time looking at the places that I want to move flowers to,” he said. “In some beds, they can get overgrown and choke one another out, so I’ll find a new place and make a bed there.”

A native of West Virginia, Spangler cultivated a fascination with beautiful flowers as a young boy, learning tricks of the trade from his mother and grandmother.

“My mother’s like me,” Spangler said. “She loves flowers. She was constantly planting and big into roses.

When I saw her working around them, I just enjoyed seeing her work and I enjoyed the flowers as well.”

Now, Spangler uses that same knowledge to grow his own flowers at his home on Kingstree Highway, about four miles east of downtown Manning.

“Right now, I’ve got lantana, and I really love that,” he said. “It’s easy to maintain and you know it will last all the way into winter.

Actually, the lantana will last all the way until the first frost and it flowers all through the summertime.”

Spangler is also fond of mirabilis jalapa, or four o’clock flowers, named because they bloom about 4 p.m. each day in the spring and early summer. Also known as the “marvel of Peru,” noting its country of origin, the four o’clock is also one of the few flowers that will produce different-colored flowers on the same plant.

Spangler’s grow red, yellow and even striped flowers, and he’s noticed a few tangerine-colored bulbs in the past year.

“I have roses, day lilies, irises and just about anything that I can think of,” he said. “Whatever will grow, I’ll try it once.”

Such curiousity has led to Spangler trading seeds and cuttings with fellow garden enthusiasts Dickie Thompson and Jeanine Surrette, both of Manning. “(Thompson) is much bigger into flowers, even more than I am,” Spangler said. “He does a lot of creating his own flowers, and he’ll bring me some of his cuttings and I’ll trade him some of mine. Switching out like that lets us both try new things.”

Spangler tends to swap his four o’clocks for Surrette’s angel trumpets.

“Those are beautiful flowers when they’re all growing, and Jeanine really likes the four o’clocks,” Spangler said.

He also gets flowers from a cousin he and his wife frequently visit.

“People know that I mess around with flowers and stuff like that, and they’ll give me things to try,” he said. “Someone gave my (cousin) some (canna) flowers, but by the time I got them, they were pretty much all dead.”

Quick to try anything, Spangler replanted the hearty plants in his garden anyway.

“I planted them after growing season,” he said.

“It was late to be planting anyway, but everyone of those flowers bloomed the next summer.”

That was summer 2010, and Spangler said one of his objectives in February is to transplant the new additions to other places in his garden.

“I’ve got to transplant them all over the place,” he said with a chuckle.

“They’ve done much better than I expected, and they’ll make a great addition to other beds.”

Though he and his wife have called Manning home for 18 years, Spangler didn’t begin playing in his garden “in earnest” until about 10 years ago, he said, other than making the original barren landscape prettier.

“When we first got here, there was just the yard with nothing on it other than some old oak trees,” he said. “But still, I didn’t get serious until later. I’ve always planted and had flowers, but that was really the first time I did a major garden like we have now when I began 10 years ago.”

He began with seeds he had kept with him since his days in West Virginia. He and Norma had been in the military before moving to Manning, and the frequent moves that come with the santeelakeside.com 13

An antique afficianado as much as he is an avid gardner, Richard Spangler enjoys finding unique ceramic items to place in his flower beds.

armed services left him with little time to undertake cultivation of a massive garden.

“Both of us being in the military, I’d just bring the seeds along with me,” Spangler said. “When we finally got the house here, I thought I now have a place I can play with them. I cleared a path on the side of the house and planted the seeds there. They started growing, and one thing led to another. I started making flower beds anywhere that grass wouldn’t grow.”

Norma, he said, encourages his endeavors and helps a little bit.

“But it’s pretty much my deal,” Spangler said. “She’ll come out now and then, but I’ve done more of it, especially since I have more time now that I’m retired.”

The garden isn’t just for flowers and beautiful green grass – Spangler also puts interesting objects throughout his flower beds, one of which features a trio of frogs playing musical instruments.

“I also do a lot of antiquing,” he said. “I find those things all over the place. In one of my gardens, I have a rock. The cousin I was talking about, someone brought her a big rock they found in the mountains of West Virginia, our home place. She thought it was awful, so she asked if I wanted the rock.”

An avid collector of rocks, which he and Norma use for a fish pond, Spangler couldn’t resist the opportunity.

“When we got it, I was surprised that it looked exactly like the

14 February • March 2011 | Lakeside

state of South Carolina,” he said. “I have it out in the front yard in front of the flower beds.”

Though he has fun in his garden, Spangler notes his pasttime means a lot of hard work. He spends as many as 12 hours each day in his garden during the prime growing season each year, he said.

“I’m the type of person that likes to get up early in the morning and stay out until dark,” he said. “I’m either working in the beds or cleaning the yard or cutting the grass. I basically stay out all day during the summertime. I’ve always been that way. I like to go tinkering around, just finding something to work on.”

Anxiously awaiting spring, Spangler said, as always, that he’ll be trying some new flowers this year.

“I have some flowers that I got from Alaska, different kinds of them,” he said. “My sister-in-law is from Alaska, and she gave me about six packs. I’m going to work a bed up and see if I can get them to grow out here.”

Whether those flowers take or not, Spangler said he is content with what he has. He said his garden is a lot of hard work, but the payoff makes his labor worthwhile.

“Flowers are pretty, they’re nice to look at definitely,” he said.

“But to sit on the porch at night in the spring and smell that aroma coming around. That’s really nice.”

Love, and decorate with, what you don’t have to buy The Beatles proclaimed “Can’t Buy Me Love ...” Fortunately, if you are around the lake area, there are many decorating items that don’t cost much either.

Now that the Christmas trees are gone, there is another kind of tree to add interest to your home. Consider it a form of “greening” as well.

On a nature walk, look for fallen limbs or overcrowded trees that need branches pruned. Select three (they may be the same size or staggered). Imbed them upright in a thin rectangular planter-bought or madeand anchor them with Plaster of Paris. If you want extra texture on the new “trees,” cover them with gesso and then spray paint them flat white, making sure to cover the base if you don’t want if white also.

If you don’t like the top branches, cut them off, drill holes and glue in new sprigs. I especially like tops that fan-out like parts of a broom.

Cover the base with rocks and pebbles gathered from other outdoor excursions.

This Christmas, I was fortunate to spend some time in

Munich, Germany, and visit many Christmas bazaars. One of the prevalent crafts was - some of you will remember this craze - painted rocks! They sold between $8 and $25 America.

Some suggestions for making your own rocks – divide the stone or rock into three, four or five sections. Alternate patterns and colors, like small dots, with red in one section, and blue and green in another; combine a fern pattern with dots and a tree shape. Remember to repeat some colors and shapes to add continuity. Copy a design from a piece of trim or logo. The choices are endless.

My good friend Linda H. shared this next decorating suggestion. If you want a clever way to light up a pathway or steps when the weather is cold (the way we are headed, there are a few days left), level off gallon milk jugs under the handle. Pour in two to three inches of water and freeze the container. Once the base is solid, place a plastic cup (not foam or paper) in the center, weighing it with pebbles to keep it anchored, and fill around it with water. Be sure not to let it overflow into the cup. Return the jug to the freezer until the water is frozen. Trim away the plastic, remove the rocks and cup, and place a votive (or even and artificial blinking) candle in the center and set the lights in the desired area.

If the weather is cold enough, the “lights” can be refrozen and used again. Depending on the time of year, the artificial lights could be green and red at Christmas, red for a Valentine’s event or even green for a St. Patrick’s Day bash.

You may not be able to “buy love,” but with a little time and imagination, living at the lake can help you “Love what you don’t have to buy.” santeelakeside.com 15

Not ready to fish?

Spend downtime maintaining rod, other equipment By: Ray Winans

H

ello again, Santee Country.

I hope you are coping with this extreme cold by just thinking about how close we are to some real hot fishing.

Yeah! It’s not working for me either. I’m just as cold and miserable as you are. Not to fear, though: It is going to get warm, and as I say every year, get ready now. Early preparation may be the cause of great success in your springtime adventures.

Some of things that I have been doing to be prepared are cleaning and oiling my reels, checking all my rods, making sure that my tackle is back to supply level I need and basic drooling for all that new stuff they come up with every year. I know that I can’t afford all that fancy, evolutionized, state-of-the-art, gotta-have tackle and gear, but I can still look at it, right? They have come up with some really great things, but I can promise you, that same old worm or same basic buzz bait will catch just as many fish as it ever did.

One thing I know for sure - bass can’t read and I know they don’t migrate from lake to lake so they ain’t gonna change. Just because they wander in schools sometimes doesn’t make them any smarter! My theory is stick to what’s worked in the past and don’t go chasing baits that just catch fishermen, not fish.

16 February • March 2011 | Lakeside

Another thing you need to remember maintenance on that vehicle that gets you back and forth from the dock to the fishing hole. It’s a sad thing when those swimming creatures are ready to eat just about anything that hits the water and you can’t even get the motor started to get out and tempt them because of lack of maintenance. Go through all of your equipment while you have the time so when the time comes it’s not wasted on what you should have done.

Now let’s get to the fish. If you did not get out on the water during November and December, shame on you. I personally had days catching more than 30 bass and know of others who did the same. Our lake is on a comeback and I am still predicting that, five years from now, it will be the elite lake of the south once again. It is our responsibility to take care of this fishery because, obviously, there are some that will never follow the be-responsible rule.

I’ve seen pictures again this week of certain individuals who took more than their share and had concern neither for the lake, nor the law. If you are one of these individuals that I speak of, and you read this, let me say that I hope you get caught and they ban you for life from a privileged license that you don’t respect.

I know this is harsh but these people are stealing from our children and grandchildren, and I feel it is my responsibility along

with yours to call them out. Let’s do what we can to stop this.

There are some exciting things coming to our lake this year. We once again have a tournament sponsored by the Clarendon County Chamber of Commerce and the group Santee Bass Masters. This tournament was a huge success in 2010 and is scheduled for around the same time that the Striped Bass Festival will be celebrated in April.

The other exciting tournament information is the National Championship for the Bassmaster’s Weekend Series, which is on Santee Cooper in November this year.

Around 400 anglers will be competing for big pay outs with the winning boater taking home at least $100,000 and a berth in the 2012 Bassmaster Classic. We have several of our local anglers, including myself, who will be competing in the qualifying tournaments in order to make this big show.

This could bring a lot of money into our local economy, badly needed during these slower economic times. These are good people wanting to be showed some good southern hospitality, so I say we welcome them.

Hopefully by the next column, I will have some good fishing reports and how they’re being caught. Until then, God bless and be safe.

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Warning: The Low Country Paddlers is not a college fraternity Submitted By: Rick Carter

W

hen I was in my late forties I ran the Cooper River Bridge Run with my daughter. I blame her for all of this and so much more.

A couple of years later the boredom of jet travel drove me to reach for the magazine in the seat pocket before me, something called “Runners World.”

There was an ad for the 2005 Chicago Marathon that was being held on my 50th birthday. I felt compelled to participate. As you might imagine, it ended badly.

A smart man would have learned a valuable lesson. I continued to run.

Until February, 2009, I had never done any sort of triathlon.

I was happy to be a simple “road racer,” a distant member of the Charleston Running Club. Unfortunately, the previous New Year’s Day I sprained my ankle and began searching for alternative conditioning. The Winter Challenge in Springfield seemed ideal. A little seven-mile run? I could tape my foot. A short paddle? Dad taught me how to paddle a boat years ago. Bicycles? Heck, I once had a paper route. How hard could it be? After the footrace, you were sitting down anyway.

So, a buddy in Mount Pleasant loaned me his kayak. A woman from Atlanta loaned me her bike. It would soon become apparent that neither of these two people liked me very much if they were willing to enable this degree of self-abuse.

Things began to unravel after mile five of the run when I went left, back up the hill, instead of right. When the next mile marker read 4 instead of 6, I instantly developed Tourette’s syndrome until a kind woman redirected me back on course. The extra quartermile was a serious blow to my original strategy.

When Chris Williams passed me on the six-mile watercourse, I still felt hopeful. I decided that all I had to do was to keep pace with him. After less than a minute of that, I’m pretty sure my lungs were bleeding. He was in a Westside Thunderbolt, while I gamely pursued in my 12-foot Old Town Dirigo, flogging the water in unholy desperation like a rabid animal trying to escape drowning. Had the six miles been in a straight line, he would have soon disappeared in the curvature of the earth. I was getting beaten like a rented mule.

There was a lot of time for reflection during the bicycle race. I began to wonder if five weeks of drinking beer on the sofa was really the best way to condition myself for such an event. I wondered 18 February • March 2011 | Lakeside

if they had a medical tent, or at least someone on hand who could successfully resuscitate an old man with an abnormally small brain.

I wondered how much it would cost to have a bicycle seat surgically removed from my colon. Most of all, I wondered why I didn’t have any friends, or at least a loving family who might have organized an intervention to stop me from doing this to myself.

The last two miles were fraught with relentless humiliation while one woman after another flew past the sadly determined, wobbling geezer who was now spastic with fatigue. I’m sure some of those women were mothers, but the milk of human kindness was frightfully absent. While some merely averted their eyes, others blasted past with a competitive zeal normally reserved for Olympic events or divorce court. It didn’t help that in my haste through the transition area I had failed to shed my life personal flotation device.

Thus, with my skinny legs, taped ankles, bulky life vest and enormous helmet, there wasn’t much “swash” in my buckle.

It was then that I realized I could have saved a lot of money by just staying home and beating myself with a couple of claw hammers.

Strangely, this is what sparked my interest in kayaks. The following December I crashed the Christmas party hosted by the Low Country Paddlers (www.lowcountrypaddlers.net) and came to know some of the finest folks I have ever had the pleasure to meet. They were incredibly helpful and generous with advice. I have found this to be generally true of all “boat people.”

If it were about winning, I would never even load the boat or crank the truck. Futility is just too tiresome. The awards ceremony is not the lure. Rather, it is about using your body to test the limits of your will. Most of all, it is simply about spending time on the water with some truly wonderful people. Just as the Cooper River Bridge Run has a division for walkers, these so-called races have competitors of all abilities. I hope you will decide to join us soon.

Here’s a link that might lend some insight: www.youtube.com/ watch?v=xbI9uomYQag. Kayaks are lightweight and low maintenance. Life in this area provides an unsurpassed opportunity to explore the outdoors and view wildlife while at the same time developing physical fitness.

The Santee State Park Off-Road Triathlon will be held Feb. 26.

Please use your imagination and find some way to stop me from doing this to myself.

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santeelakeside.com 19

SUMTER 15

38

sparkleberry landing

CALHOUN

Pack's landing

37

1

low Falls landing

rIMInI

lonestar 33

elliott's landing

6

36

Carolina king retreat & Marina

267

Cameron

34

28

arBUCkle's lanDInG

Poplar Creek landing

Elloree

32

4 santee state Park

elloree 36

ORANGEBURG

eaDYtoWn

5

20 February • March 2011 | Lakeside

25 29

La Mar

Mill Creek Marina

Vance

210

7

lakeside Marina & resort

9

6

453 210

Reevesville

Goat Island resort

lake Marion resort & Marina

36

Bowman Orangeburg - 25 miles Florence - 56 miles Sumter - 30 miles 178 Summerton - 5 miles Manning - 8 miles

Polly's landing

26 taw Caw Campground & Marina

john C. land III Boating Facility

Santee 6

176

27

30

267

301

taw Caw Creek landing

santee lakes Campground

31

6

taw Caw Park

Cooper's landing and Guide service

33

3

267 176

CLAREND

jack's Creek landing

stump Hole landing

2

Summerton

35

10 Hide-a-way Campground Marker 79 Marina

Blo lan

Eutawville 8

45

Bell’s Marina

eUta sPrIn

176

Holly Hill 453 176 311

Harleyville

27

WILLIAMSBURG

Manning

Kingstree

521

377

n 23

NDON

Salters

Greeleyville

j&j Marina

52

26

Caw ound & ina

C. land III ng Facility

24

lake Vue landing

21

scarborough Marina

25

Lake Marion

BERKELEY

Blount's landing

14

rocks Pond Campground

12

eUtaW sPrInGs

Wilson’s landing

19

way ound

45

Lane

randolph’s landing

20

11

52

lighthouse Pointe Family Campground

22

13 spier’s landing

6

18

Harry’s Fish Camp

17

Mac’s landing & Camp

16

45 Harry’s Fish Camp

Hill’s landing

k

Big oak landing & Campground

M

Canal lakes Fish Camp

Mac’s Camp angel’s landing

l

a

45

Quattlebaum’s Campground

n

15

Pineville 52 Palmetto Trail St. Stephen 35

52

B C

Big oak landing & Campground

D

Canal lakes resort

e

Hill’s landing Black’s Fish Camp

F

l & M Campground s & s Campground

6

Cross

Lake Moultrie

41 Bonneau Beach resort

j

Bonneau

311

52

G

6

atkins landing

17 riverside Marina and restaurant the Dock restaurant

H

Moncks Corner

17

I

santeelakeside.com 21

Lake Marion Map Information

33 Arbuckle’s Landing..................................... 803-478-5260 8 Bell’s Marina.............................................. 803-492-7924 14 Big Oak Landing & Campground................ 843-753-2285 11 Blount’s Landing........................................ 803-492-7773 15 Canal Lakes Fish Camp.............................. 843-753-2271 35 Carolina King Retreat & Marina................. 803-478-2800 32 Cooper’s Landing and Guide Service.......... 803-478-2549 7 Cypress Shores Marina............................... 843-351-4561 36 Elliott’s Landing......................................... 803-452-5336 29 Goat Island Resort...................................... 803-478-8165 18 Harry’s Fish Camp...................................... 843-351-4561 10 Hide-a-way Campground........................... 803-492-9695 16 Hill’s Landing............................................. 843-753-2731 34 Jack’s Creek Landing.................................. 803-478-2793 23 J&J Marina.................................................. 803-478-2490 25 John c. Land III Boating Facility.................. 803-854-2131 5 Lake Marion Resort & Marina..................... 803-854-2136 9 Lakeside Marina & Resort.......................... 803-492-7226 21 Lake Vue Landing....................................... 803-478-2133

22 Lighthouse Pointe Family Campground...... 803-478-2138 1 Low Falls Landing...................................... 803-826-6050 17 Mac’s Landing & Camp.............................. 843-871-1224 6 Mill Creek Marina....................................... 803-492-7746 37 Pack’s Landing........................................... 803-452-5514 30 Polly’s Landing........................................... 803-478-2351 3 Poplar Creek Landing................................. 803-897-2811 20 Randolph’s Landing....................................800-BIG-CATS 12 Rocks Pond Campground........................... 803-492-7711 31 Santee Lakes Campground......................... 803-478-2262 4 Santee State Park....................................... 803-854-2408 24 Scarborough Marina................................... 803-478-2184 38 Sparkleberry Landing................................. 843-761-4068 13 Spier’s Landing.............................................................NA 2 Stump Hole Landing................................... 803-826-6111 26 Taw Caw Campground & Marina................ 803-478-2171 27 Taw Caw Creek Landing................................................NA 28 Taw Caw Park................................................................NA

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22 February • March 2011 | Lakeside

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When it rains, it pours Ninety percent of all disaster claims in the United States (last year) involved some type of flooding.

Twenty percent of all flood claims typically happen in low to moderate risk areas.

When buying insurance on a home, most people want to make sure it is covered for perils such as wind, fire and liability. Flood insurance is treated as an afterthought.

Flooding in your area may be an annual event or a rare occurrence, but if you are hit by a flood, you’ll be glad you spent a little time investigating flood insurance. As floods are excluded under a normal homeowner’s policy, they are NOT covered.

We see so many people that come in our office and automatically assume that if their home is flooded, it’s insured.

We had one policy holder recently that was under the impression that their current policy did cover flood. I explained that flood insurance is a separate policy outside of her normal homeowner’s policy and there was no other policy to be found in her insurance jacket. That policy that she had is now a “former policy.” Flood insurance is written through the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), and administered through companies and their agents. Flood insurance is available wherever there are participating communities, which would include most

of our general area, since parts of Lake Marion are in Clarendon County.

Flood insurance is relatively inexpensive. The premiums start at $112 and go up from there depending on the level of risk and the amount of coverage needed.

You can buy coverage for your home and its contents.

Protection levels go as high as $250,000 for your home and $100,000 for your contents. While your home is written on a replacement cost basis, your contents are written on actual cash value (ACV) basis. If more insurance is needed there are private companies that provide “excess” coverage which is coverage above and beyond what is provided under the NFIP. There is a 30-day waiting period before coverage goes into effect. This is to keep the horde of policy holders from my front door the day before Jim Gandy claims there will soon be a 10-inch deluge.

Lastly, I’ve heard this from policy holders: “I don’t need to buy flood insurance because the government will step in and bail me out.”

Well, if you want more debt, then keep thinking that way, because the government offers emergency help in the form of emergency loans which must be paid back - with interest.

Flood insurance is inexpensive and easy to obtain.

Make it an integral part of your family’s complete protection program, especially if you’re living around lakes and other areas at low sea levels.

DuRant is the owner of DuRant Insurance in Manning, SC. He can be reached at 803-435-4800 or john@durantinsurance.com

John DuRant

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w w w.sumtermarinesupply.com santeelakeside.com 23

At home on Lake Marion 24 February • March 2011 | Lakeside

R. Darren Price dprice@theitem.com

santeelakeside.com 25

F

or most people, finding relaxation means taking off from work, driving or flying somewhere and giving up home comforts for a hotel bed that is usually too hard or too soft.

But for the Zeiglers, relaxation is as short as a 45-minute drive away.

“We’re a very family-oriented family,” Judy Zeigler said. “We wanted a place that was large enough for us all to enjoy together.”

Zeigler and the rest of her Sumter-based family bought a home on Lake Marion in July 2009.

Nestled in the back of Wyboo Plantation at the end of a cul-de-sac, their 4,500 square-foot lake house serves as a quick weekend retreat, summer vacation spot and even yuletide gathering place.

“It’s agreat place for us,” she said.

“Everywhere you look, there’s water.”

Zeigler and her husband, Steve, are the home’s third owners. She said the family had been looking for a getaway on the lake after years driving four hours to North Carolina to another vacation home there.

With her family streching into three generations, it got harder to make the trip.

“Our time was more and more limited there,” she said. “Now it’s only about 40 minutes away from us and about an hour from our daughter and her husband.”

They kept that house in North Carolina, but were really looking for a place that was both close to their home in Sumter, and where they could get away from the town’s suburban bustle.

“There’s privacy in this house,” she said. “It’s very conducive to us.”

Built in 2002, the house’s modern styling didn’t immediately attract Zeigler, but she admitted that she

26 February • March 2011 | Lakeside

couldn’t resist the appeal of the land surrounding the building.

Resisting that allure would be particularly hard - it’s surrounded on three sides by tranquil waters from one of the lake’s finger-like offshoots. The house feels more like a seafaring vessel than brick-andmortar home. If Wyboo Plantation were a boat, their house be the helm.

Zeigler said her husband even likes to fashion himself a captain when they’re staying there.

“He says he feels like the captain of a boat,” she said. “Anywhere you look, there’s water.”

But the water surrounding the house wasn’t the only appeal for the land. The house features a large yard and is beautifully landscaped, complete with South Carolina’s customary Palmetto trees and saw grass. On one side of the house, there is a shaded area the family calls the grotto.

Zeigler’s daughter, Margaret Moore, of Florence, said that area is one of her favorite at the property.

“It’s a good place to read or a glass of wine or cup of coffee,” she said.

Zeigler said despite its “contemporary” look, the home still has a lot to offer the family. Featuring four bedrooms and four bathrooms, a large living room, sunroom and a large kitchen with a 180-degree view of the lake’s waters, the house is both large and open, thanks to vaulted ceilings. The house is large and open enough, in fact, to fit a 12-foot Christmas tree. The family spent Christmas at the house last year, the first time they did so.

“That was an interesting experience,” Moore said.

Zeigler said they’re in the process of redecorating the home. She said the previous owners left a lot of furniture in the house for them, but

Left: In the summer, waters rise up to the top of wood barriers around the home. The green turf and blue waters make the home a favorite weekend getaway for the Zeiglers.

Facing Page: Featuring a pontoon boat, intricate stone ornaments around the house and a wide view of the lake, this Lake Marion home makes a great place to enjoy the water.

after a recent trip to Italy, they decided to give the house a more Mediterranean feel.

She said when it’s finished, she hopes the house will remind people more of Italy than South Carolina.

“With the tile and stucco, it reminds me of an Italian villa,” she said. “it just gives us that feeling of being there.”

The family has found a lot more uses from the home than just a place to spend Christmas. The home’s location means the Zeiglers, Moore and her family, and her brother, David Zeigler, of Sumter, can find plenty to do.

Moore is an avid cook, and loves to use the kitchen. Zeigler said it’s not hard

to think of a reason for wanting to cook when you can look out at South Carolina’s biggest lake.

“She says she could cook all day in that kitchen,” Zeigler said.

Steve said the lake is a big attraction for his grandchildren. The family has a pontoon boat, and they will often tow their children on whatever floats and tubes they might have. He said they also have an inflatable slide that the family puts out on the water, which he says keeps the the kids entertained.

“They’ve got this big float-type thing, Steve said. They could stay in the water all day.”

Moore said the family also enjoys fishing. She and her husband say that there is good catfishing in the area, and it’s definitely a top priority whenever they go to the house.

“We all love to go fishing,” Moore said.

“We’ve recently discovered what catfishing is like.”

For Judy and Steve, just sitting on their back porch and taking in the lake is worth the 45-minute trip. It all comes back to the view, they said.

“It’s got that great view we were looking for,” Steve said. “We can relax down the water and watch the children swim. We can really chill out.”

santeelakeside.com 27

Fishing Tournaments dominate spring calendar R. Darren Price dprice@theitem.com

A

fter a couple of quiet months, the fish in the Santee-Cooper lake system have got to be anxious.

After all, they’re soon going to be swimming for their lives.

Hundreds of fishermen are set to drop lines in Lake Marion in March and April as part of two bass tournaments. The first, on March 12, is a Bassmaster Weekend Series pro-am event put on by the American Bass Anglers Association.

The second, on April 30, is an independent tournament in conjunction with the 32nd Striped Bass Festival. Manning fisherman Ray Winans said the coming months will give fishermen plenty 28 February • March 2011 | Lakeside

of exciting reasons to get back on the water.

BASSMASTER WEEKEND SERIES

The Bassmaster Weekend Series tournament is the second leg of five South Carolina tournaments in the American Bass Anglers Association’s Tournament Trail. Part of a bigger fishing league, the top South Carolina division finishers will advance to a regional tournament in Alabama, where anglers will cast for their chance to fish in the Bassmaster National Championship to be held Nov. 6-12 back at the Santee-Cooper lakes. Winans said the tournament could be a good opportunity for South Carolina

fishermen.

“It could propel someone into a lifetime career,” he said.

Fishermen qualify for the regional tournament by finishing in the South Carolina division’s top 40. The top 40 are determined by a points system that takes into account an angler’s finish at the Santee-Cooper lakes tournaments, the first of which was on Lake Murray in January. They will continue in April at Lake Wateree, located in Kershaw, Fairfield and Lancaster counties; in May at Lake Hartwell, near the upstate at the South Carolina-Georgia border; and in August, at Lake Strom Thurmond, also on the South CarolinaGeorgia border, but in McCormick County.

Winans said any South Carolina angler who makes it from the regional tournament back to the national championship could have an advantage fishing on home waters, and a shot at more than $200,000 in prize money.

“It’ll be a definite competitive edge,” he said. “It would be South Carolina anglers’ home water.

Even better, Winans said, the winner gets to compete in the Bassmaster Classic, a nationally televised event.

“It’s the superbowl of bass fishing,” he said.

STRIPED BASS FESTIVAL

Anglers without professional aspirations can still get into the competitive spirit when the Clarendon County Chamber of Commerce hosts the 32nd annual Striped Bass Festival. Featuring a long weekend of food, vendors, music and fun, the event will this year include the popular Santee Open Team Tournament on April 30. About 200 fishermen will compete for their chance at a $5,000 prize for the biggest and best catches.

The festival itself kicks off April 29 with a performance from the Mighty Kicks Band and a street dance; things go into full swing April 30 with a street festival that typically draws close to 30,000 visitors, said chamber Executive Director Dawn Griffith.

“This is the big one for the county,” she said.

Griffith said the festival’s particulars

are still being nailed down, but previous attendees can still expect the same food, crafts and fun as they’ve had in years past. Also making a return is the Miss Striped Bass Festival Pageant April 28.

Last year, 110 Clarendon County girls and young women competed for titles in eight age divisions. Griffith said all the women in the pageant make great contestants.

“You’ve never seen so many beautiful women,” she said.

Griffith said the chamber is hard at work designing this year’s T-shirt, hoping the typically iconic piece of clothing will be ready for sale well in time to put in Easter baskets. She wouldn’t give too many hints about the look of this year’s shirt, but assured there would be a bass emblazoned somewhere on it.

“Sometimes we don’t always have a bass on it,” she said.”But usually we try to.”

Griffith said she’s not sure of an event schedule or a vendor line-up just yet, but she expects lots of local acts for the festival. She said carnival rides, which have been popular with children in the past, could also make a return at this year’s tournament. Whatever they have, she said it will be any enjoyable for everyone “It’s a great celebration for spring,” she said. “Visitors can enjoy everything this county has to offer.”

One thing not returning this year? A restocking of the lake’s bass in conjunction with the fishing tournament. Last year, about 100,000 striped bass fry were released into Lake Marion. Griffith said this year, they couldn’t get enough to merit dumping them in the lake.

“For whatever reason, they couldn’t hatch ‘em quick enough,” she said.

Winans said the Striped Bass Festival’s tournament, though not as high-profile an affair as the Bassmaster Weekend tournament, will still serve as great way for fishermen to show their skill.

Griffith said the lake’s population of striped bass currently should be good enough to satiate fishermen’s needs. For those fish currently swimming in Lake Marion’s waters, not restocking means simply one thing: It’s open season come March and April.

FYI: Boats launch 6:30 a.m.

March 12 from John C. Land III Landing, Manning, for the

Bassmaster Weekend Series tournament

on the Santee-Cooper lakes.

Go to www.abraproam.com to register.

Priority registration: $200 for anglers and $150 for co-anglers – closes Feb. 20.

Registrants must be members of the American Bass Anglers and BASS. For information about the Santee Open Team Tournament or the Miss Striped Bass Festival Tournament, both of which will be held in April to coincide with the 2011 Striped Bass Festival, call the Clarendon County Chamber of Commerce at (803) 435-4405 or toll-free at 1-800-731-LAKE (5253).

Vendors can check out the festival’s website at clarendoncounty.com/ stripedbassfestival.htm for more information on food and cratf vendor applications. santeelakeside.com 29

The Pocotaligo Swamp became stagnant and lifeless for more than 50 years after various logging companies destroyed the area’s natural ecosystem by placing logging roads through the 25,000-acre marshy expanse. The roads caused bodies of water to flood the area, which sucked oxygen from the water, killing aquatic life and choking out remaining trees.

In 2009, the Pocotaligo Reclamation Committee celebrated the clearing of a 32-mile stretch of the swamp from Sumter to Manning, and members are still working year-round to keep the swamp waters flowing.

File photos.

Two years later, Pocotaligo Reclamation still ongoing

W

Robert J. Baker bbaker@theitem.com

hen Clarendon County resident W.D. Harrington was a child, the Pocotaligo Swamp was more of a river, with lush vegetation that included trees serving as a thriving environment for fish and other aquatic life.

More than 50 years later, the swamp is getting closer to its former state, with Harrington and other former members of the Pocotaligo Reclamation Committee still working on keeping it that way.

Two years ago, the committee celebrated its decade-long partnership with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to return the swamp to its peaceful state.

“We still have a couple of men on our board who go out and spray for weeds and pick up debris,” said Harrington, who is chairman of the Clarendon County Soil and Water Conservation Board.

“The water is still moving, though it’s been so dry lately. Still, we don’t have the standing water in it that we had before. Everything seems to be going well.”

Harrington said his board worked with the committee and the corps on years of work to clear a 32-mile stretch of the swamp, including the draining of water from 5,800 flooded acres and undo30 February • March 2011 | Lakeside

ing damming caused by generations of logging roads and other development.

In February 2009, Sumter County District Conservationist Louis Jackson said the crux of the work was lowering the water table by “clearing, snagging and removing obstructions that were present in the stream channel.” “(The work) was designed to lower the water table, the standing water that was present for the last 30 or 40 years, to drop it back to the natural hydrology of the swamp,” he said. “That way, it will be dry in the summer and wet in the winter, the way it should be so that the trees there will be able to grow and reproduce again.”

Fifty years ago, the flora and fauna that constitute the Pocotaligo lived and died by the natural wet and dry cycle of the swamp. Indiscriminate logging undertaken by different companies in the 1950s destroyed the system’s natural tree canopy, allowing aquatic vegetation to take over and artificially raising the water table to make the swamp continually flooded.

Under those abysmal conditions, the swamp’s once vibrant trees, which included bald cypress, water tupelo, swamp cottonwood, water elm, water ash and pumpkin ash, were logged; without the

canopy they provided, the sun beat down onto the forest floor, allowing weeds like cattails and pennywort to flourish. This choked out any remaining trees and raised phosphorus levels in the water, killing fish like bream, warmouth and redbreast.

Harrington remembers when the swamp was still a river system, when it teemed with aquatic and plant life of all kinds.

“This swamp was, before it was undercut, full of beautiful streams and trees and wildlife,” he said. “But when the forest was cut over, it became clogged. Trees would not grow. It looked like something that was thrown away.”

Harrington said at the time that loggers told residents the swamp would eventually grow back.

“We waited 25 years and that never happened,” he said. “Now, it’s good to know we have the stream going back through that swamp. I think that will restore it. Sumter and Clarendon counties have worked hard together in unison, and the Corps of Engineers went out of their way to try to help us.”

Completed in early 2009, the project took more than 20 years of preliminary work before any machines or personnel set foot within the swamp, said Lt. Col. Trey Jordan.

“What we were working at was an aquatic environmental restoration,” Jordan said. “That simply means we go in and bring the environment to where it used to be.”

Projected at $1 million in 2003, the entire project cost a little less than double that amount by 2009.

“The water levels are back now to where they’re supposed to be and you have a seasonal swamp,” Jordan said.

Roy Todd, resource, conservation and development coordinator for the Santee-Wateree Resource, Conservation and Development Council, agreed with Harrington and said maintenance now is as simple as pursuing minor clean-up initiatives from time to time.

“We want to call this the Pocotaligo River again, not a swamp,” Todd said. “I think we’ve restored the hydrology to where that will be possible.”

Harrington said his board continues to work toward that goal.

“In fact, we have to,” he said. “Part of the overall project was providing updates to the Army Corps of Engineers.”

He said the majority of work done in the swamp now includes spraying for aquatic weeds and picking up trash. He said he and Todd will likely go out in a boat once spring arrives.

“Right now, it’s too dry and cold,” Harrington said. “We went out there last summer, and we’ll probably go again in April or May when there’s more water out there. We’ve come a long way, and we don’t want it to ever go back to the way it was before the reclamation project.”

History of the Pocotaligo Swamp The Pocotaligo Reclamation Project began in earnest more than 20 years ago through the efforts of two men, Clarendon County resident Billy Jackson and Sumter County resident Gene McLeod. Although both men are now deceased, their collective dream was that the Pocotaligo would return to its once-majestic state, showing no traces of the logging operations that stripped the 25,000-acre swamp of its trees and allowed aquatic weeds to take hold.

The history of the reclamation of the swamp, once known as a River-Swamp System with many well-defined flowing streams, dominated by a dense community of water tupelo and bald cypress trees, spans more than 50 years.

• 1950s-1960s – Timber is harvested within the swamp using clear-cutting methods and tram roads, which blocked stream channels and water flow within the swamp.

• 1960s-1970s – Water levels in the swamp increase, suppressing and preventing natural tree regeneration. This shallow, permanent flooding, along with the excessive nutrient load from the Sumter Wastewater Treatment Plant, provides ideal conditions for aquatic weeds to grow.

• Jan. 7, 1974 – The first public meeting to discuss the swamp is held with proposals to drain water from low-lying areas of the swamp, construct additional water diversion channels and carry out a program of dredging and diking. Those persons attending the meeting include Sen. T.O. Bowen, Rep. Ernest A. Finney, Rep. John Miles, Rep. Alex Sanders, Mayor R.P. Moses, A.C. Stanley, T.L. Rogers, C.R. Beall, J.D. Heriott and L.A. Williams.

• Mid-1970s – Fifteen years after logging operations ended, the swamp is a boggy mass of annual and perennial freshwater marsh plants that formed dense floating mats. Many of these weeds die in the winter and decay the following summer, providing a repeating cycle that causes significant increases in the biochemical oxygen dcemand and results in oxygen deficits that are lethal to many species of fish and aquatic life.

• 1986 – The state Department of Heatlh and Environmental Control conducts a special study in Turkey Creek and Pocotaligo to determine the level of heavy metals, particularly their effect on fish. They find high levels of mercury, likely left over from when Sumter discharged poorly treated sewage into the

headwaters of the swamp prior to 1977.

• 1988 – Billy Jackson and Gene McLeod form the Pocotaligo Committee – which will later be known as the Pocotaligo Reclamation Committee – to address the swamp’s problems.

The committee is sponsored by the Clarendon and Sumter Soil and Water Conservation districts.

• 1991 – The committee releases Alligator Weed Flea Beetles to determine effectiveness of using insects to control aquatic weeds.

• 1992 – The committee, through the use of a $40,000 state grant, commissions a two-year water quality study from James T. Morris of the University of South Carolina that finds high levels of phosphorus in the swamp’s water and sediment deposits.

• 1992 – The committee partners with the U.S. Geneological Survey to install and monitor water flow quaging stations at Twelve Bridges Road and U.S. 301, they also partner with the Army Corps of Engineers to complete a reconnaissance of the swamp to determine the extent and range of degradation.

• 1994 – The committee partners with the S.C. National Guard to blast 115 breaches in tram roads to improve water flow. In August, Morris presents his findings that high phosphorus levels in the swamp are choking possible tree growth and letting aquatic weeds flourish.

• 1995-1996 – The committee selects 10 sites for tree-planting demonstrations.

• 1996 – Five miles of stream channels are identified for restoration. Three miles are hand-cleared and hand-snagged. The entire area is sprayed with herbicides for weed control.

• October 2003 – The committee signs a project agreement with the Corps to restore 32 miles of stream channels under Section 206 of the Water Resources Development Act of 1996, a bill specifically designed for this type of work.

• January 2008 – Reclamation begins.

• February 2009 – The Corps and committee host a Reclamation Ceremony to celebrate the completion of the project.

• February 2011 – W.D. Harrington, chairman of the Clarendon Soil and Water Conservation Board, says his group continues to monitor the swamp’s progress.

santeelakeside.com 31

On the Lake... utiful enjoys a bea Alaina Purdy ond p randfather’s day by her g in Manning.

During her Christmas break Rachel Carlton went fishing with father an d grandfather, catch ing sev en blue catfish weighing 12-20 pounds each.

nning gave a A brightly vivid sunset over Ma January cold little warmth to an otherwise and red , blue in sky evening, draping the er Bak J. ert Rob – golden hues.

ing A whilte blue jay has been call the for e hom yard ’s mer Cra Kathy by past several months. First noticed has jay the 0, her neighbors in 201 gotten bold enough to let Cramer flies take pictures of him though he to away should she get any closer nuts in pea ing putt him. Cramer began to guy little the ce enti to her feeders e. mor out e com

32 February • March 2011 | Lakeside

A beautiful sunset on Lake Marion

Davis Chapman, 6, recently got

his first buck.

first ry recently killed her Rachael Ann Woodbu she t tha ck bu nd ou 5-p deer, a two-point, 13 is the daughter of Dr. e Sh n.

Zio w Ne in t sho nning.

Steve Woodbury of Ma

Mattison Casselman and Lila Kate Mathis always enjoy campin g with their “Nanny,� Gail Mathis.

santeelakeside.com 33

Why live at the lake?

R. Darren Price dprice@theitem.com

It’s hard to deny that Lake Marion’s natural beauty makes it a highly desirable place to visit, with its vast recreational options, from fishing and boating to hunting and birding.

Living there, however, may be another issue entirely.

Agents at Remax by the Lake say that most people who come to look for houses near the water know what they want. Realtor Renee Roark said there are a lot of things people would want in a home at the lake, whether it’s easy access to water, the peaceful lifestyle or or the low cost of living.

“We tell people that our area is a lot like Mayberry,” she said.

Roark said a lot of families come to her knowing they want to live on or near a body of water. She said most people who eventually decide on buying houses in the area are already familiar with Lake Marion and its 110,000 acres of water. She said the lake makes her job a bit easier.

“A lot of people who buy know the lake,” she said. “They know they like it.”

If the lake itself doesn’t make the sell, Roark said there are other draws to the area. Low property taxes, reasonable home prices and low cost of living make the area attractive to a lot of people, she said. The lake’s proximity to three of South Carolina’s major interstates make the lake an attractive choice, too – just a short hop on the interstate can put you in larger cities like Charleston or Columbia in about an hour, and Savannah, Ga. in a little under two hours.

“We’re centrally located,” she said. “It makes it real simple if you like going to a larger place, but don’t want to have that added expense of living there.”

The fact that boaters can make a boat trip from their home to Charleston Harbor in just a couple of hours is another interesting advantage to living on Lake Marion. Any day of the year, 34 February • March 2011 | Lakeside

boaters can float through the 150-foot tall Pinopolis locks into Lake Moultrie and down the Santee River. After only a few hours, boaters can find themselves tying up for a little shopping on King Street in Charleston.

“It’s not a boat trip,” she said. “It’s a good day trip through the harbor.”

Even with its many selling points, the lake isn’t for everyone, Roark said. The rural setting alone can make for slow days, and she noted there isn’t much shopping close by either.

But most buyers know what they’re getting into, and many are looking for that country setting.

“I tell buyers, ‘It’s not for you if you want a grocery store at the end of your street,’” she said. “’If you want the opera every night, it might not be the best place for you.’”

Roark said she has never sold a house at the lake to someone who was looking for something in Manning and vice-versa. She said a lot of buyers want to raise their kids in a lake setting, or they want the peace and quiet. One man recently bought a property and moved from Chicago. He is a pharmacy representative in Columbia, she said, but wanted to live somewhere without the traffic and bustle. Another family recently closed on a house because they wanted their 8-year-old daughter to grow up in a lake setting.

And a third recent buyer purchased a lake home after retiring.

“Its a diverse group of people,” she said. “We don’t just sell to retirees.”

But, in the end, Roark said living on the lake is enjoyable. She should know – she owns a home there herself. It’s great, most of the time.

“In the summertime, I love living on the lake,” she said. “But (when school starts), I do have to drive 15 minutes to get my daughter to school.”

Mad about duck hunting, but my boat isn’t

N

ot too long ago, I was totally addicted to duck hunting. I ate, slept and breathed ducks. It got so bad, my lovely bride, Sherri, threatened to take away my guns and my duck calls. Then, the water and the ducks disappeared.

It has been years since South Carolina has had a significant harvest of ducks, and while I have tried to maintain a positive attitude about ducks, it has been extremely hard to force myself to get out of bed, do everything that needs to be done to go duck hunting, and do it all for naught. I think I may have turned the corner on my addiction. I no longer have the mouth-foaming, rabid drive to speed through the swamp in search of a bird with webbed feet.

I was succeeding in my rehabilitation until a couple of weeks ago when my good friend, Jim, asked me to go hunting with him. Jim and I met in the hallway outside of my Sunday school class, and he wondered if I would be interested in doing some duck shooting the following Saturday. Hey, deer season was at an end and turkey season was still months away, so I might as well.

Jim described the hunt he had just been on and explained how he knew exactly where we needed to go in order to get some shots at passing wood ducks and also be in a position to intercept a few mallards/ gadwalls if they should show up. He would pick me up at 3:30 a.m. the next Saturday.

I know his intentions were well intended, and he was just looking for a couple of shots at a passing duck and a little Christian fellowship; what he did was unleash the beast.

The water was dead calm

when we launched the blind-covered boat at Pack’s Landing and proceeded out to the spot Jim had chosen. The wind was coming from across a tree line and provided a nice slick in which to throw the decoys. We got that job done and sat back to wait on legal shooting time.

The horizon was showing just a hint of color when the wind shifted. Let me tell you, it shifted with a vengeance; not just a slight increase in a non-existent breath, but an all-out high-velocity gust that sent chills down your spine. It was now blowing across open water, from behind us and to the left across the boat to our right.

Some time later, two birds were coming in from the left and low.

We swung on the birds and just before I touched off the shot, a group of close to a dozen came winging in at five feet off the water and from behind us. One minute, I’ve got a target picked out and the next he’s covered up with whizzing ducks. I spread steel all over everywhere, but I might as well have been pouring it down a rat hole. The screaming ducks made both Jim and me look incredibly stupid.

After a few more moments of madness, I connected on a bird and dropped him into the lake, but that was about it for the day.

Before I got back home from that hunt, I was planning the hunt for the following weekend, that of Jan. 15. Jim would be otherwise engaged, so I was on my own; no problem, I’ve got a boat and an intimate knowledge of the swamp and duck hunting. Tim is one of my church buddies and he loves to hunt and fish as much as I do, so by the time morning worship service was over, he was scheduled to be in the front seat of the boat the next Saturday morning.

Like so many other people, my boat becomes a storage locker when it’s not being used; so in order to use it the following weekend, some major cleanup had to take place and I spent several hours of spare time during the week leading up to the hunt putting some stuff away and pulling out other stuff. I fired off the outboard just to be sure it would crank, which it did on pull No. 3. Not bad for a motor that had not been cranked since August.

The big morning finally came and Tim was at the house before I opened the garage door. Tim gets excited about things and it’s hard for him not to be early, which I like. I hate to wait on people.

I had a plan, after watching the temperatures plummet for a week and watching Second Mill Pond freeze over. I figured that several of the duck ponds located around the lake would be frozen over as well, which might run some of the ducks out of the ponds and onto the lake, where refuge could be found on the open water.

I also assumed that a lot of the back waters around the river and swamp, the shallow water that had no current, would also be frozen over, but water with current and water that got a great deal of direct sunlight for most of the day would remain open for ducks to use. The Blowout seemed like the perfect spot. It was shallow enough for puddle ducks to use, and there was some cover in and santeelakeside.com 35

around the area and there was current and a full day of direct sunlight. Add to that the fact that I’d watched a great number of wood ducks fly over the area with Jim and at other times- well, it seemed like the place to be.

Tim and I launched the boat and she fired up on the second pull. She may be 14-years-old, but she still starts quick. If it takes more than five pulls on the starter rope, then there is something wrong. Tim parked the truck as the motor idled next to the pier where he joined me. I threw the motor in gear and it immediately dropped to one cylinder then stopped completely.

No problem - all motors are a little finicky when they are cold. I pumped the bulb on the gas line, primed the motor again, pulled the handle and she fired right back up only to repeat the process of losing a cylinder and failing.

The second time I primed it, I noticed something wet on my finger and a quick sniff confirmed it to be gasoline. After the restart and re-stop, I noticed it had lost its prime; the first

thing that rushed to mind was that the O rings in the primer had failed, allowing air to defeat the vacuum needed to draw gasoline from the tank to the motor. Every try after that resulted in a wet finger, a few seconds of power and then engine failure. We weren’t going anywhere, except home.

What a total disappointment.

I’d had the motor in the shop for a similar problem late last summer and it seemed to be repaired, but evidently not completely. I’ll gladly take a chance if I feel good about it, but I’m not driving a boat down the river on a trolling motor in the dark just to shoot at a wood duck.

What really upset me the most was that Tim was along. We had that burning desire of an addict: We had a plan, we had the guns, the gear and the time. What we didn’t have was the way to get there. It’s like showing a crackhead a bag of crack cocaine and then pulling it away.

I absolutely must have equipment I can trust and depend on. It’s time to shop for a new one.

Look for Our Next Lakeside in April!

Features include Festival inFormation, History & more! email us your photo to clarendonsun@yahoo.com to place an advertisement call Gail or christy at 435-8511.

We need your story ideas.

Please call Bobby at 435-8511.

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from Bimini tops to seats to flooring No Trailer No Problem

36 February • March 2011 | Lakeside

803-492-7515 Ruffin Baird, Store Manager

Open 7 Days A Week • 7am - 9pm

Getting ready to rent your home?

Things for Prospective Landlords to Consider Before Renting

W

hile the economic downturn hit many people rather hard over the last year, some people have been able to weather the storm and actually thrive in the current economic climate. Real estate investors who managed to keep their holdings under control, for instance, have experienced somewhat of a financial windfall as the economy regressed. This may be due to victims of foreclosure seeking rental properties or more and more people steering clear of committing to a home of their own and choosing instead to rent.

But renting out a property isn’t as easy as 1-2-3, even in a market where more people are looking to rent than buy. In fact, vacancies in larger cities such as New York and Los Angeles are so commonplace that rents and stipulations such as realtor fees have begun to drop, albeit slightly. Still, the current climate could benefit those with a spare property ready to rent. There are just a few things to consider before advertising.

Is It Allowed?

It’s not uncommon for young people to purchase an apartment before purchasing a home but keep the apartment once they do, in fact, buy their first home. That’s often done with the intention of renting out the property once a home is purchased.

While that’s a sound financial plan, it’s not necessarily allowed.

Before deciding to rent out a property, be it a condominium or apartment, be sure the condo association allows it. Discuss the situation with an association representative to see just what is and isn’t allowed. In some instances, a contract will stipulate that a property can be rented, but only through the association’s own management

Dee's Rentals

Lake Marion Vacation or Long Term Rentals!

team, which can cost you, the owner, money.

Will You Do It Yourself ?

While some condo associations insist their management team handle things, others don’t. Still, that doesn’t mean doing it yourself is easy or even desirable. Owners can hire a real estate management group independently that will handle things related to renting, such as finding tenants, running credit checks, even maintenance and handling complaints. Of course, this will cost owners money.

But for those who simply have busy schedules and an extra property they’re not yet ready to sell, hiring a management group can save you the headaches of being a landlord while still affording you to earn extra money on the property.

Furnished or Unfurnished?

Another thing to consider is whether or not to rent the property furnished or unfurnished. Chances are, if you’ve been living in the property recently, there’s plenty of furniture available to rent it furnished. Of course, this means you’ll have to purchase furniture for your new place.

Oftentimes, the financial benefits of furnished versus unfurnished is a toss-up. Some renters prefer an unfurnished place, while others would pay more per month if the place is furnished. One option is to lease the apartment as “Furnished or Unfurnished.” This keeps the apartment on all potential renters’ radar, and if you settle on a tenant who prefers it unfurnished, you can always rent a storage unit for a small monthly fee to store any leftover furniture you might want to keep. ©MetroCreativeConnection

Why pay more for your new system?

A Westinghouse 2 speed compressor will lower your power bill!

reasonaBLe Prices 32 Years exPerience

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Heating and Air

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619 South Mill St. • Manning, SC

803-433-7355

Jimmy Mathis

Chris Mathis

Dee Osteen

Licensed, Bonded & insured

SaleS & Service on all BrandS santeelakeside.com 37

LakesideClassifieds Easy

Ding Dong AVON calling! $10 to start.

Let’s talk!

Call Vi Milliard 803-934-6292 vi.avon@yahoo.com

Custom Computer “Everyone Needs Two Computers”

On-Site Service (803) 460-3692

35 N. Brooks St. Manning, SC 29102 jerrywindham.net

pO BOY’s

Tree service

Rent-To-Own

Established 1969

no CrEdit ChECk

• Easy Qualify • Easy PaymEnts AppliAnces-furniture-electronics-tv’s

(803) 433-7373

Over 40 Years experience Licensed & insured

35 N. Brooks St. Manning, SC 29102

Po Boy’s • Rex Prescott & Tommy Thompson

goeasyRTO.cOm

469-7606 or 499-4413

One Stop Fisherman

TJ’s supply

Lanes Shopping Center American • Chinese Food made fresh daily (No MSG) Live Bait & Tackle All Year Beer & Ice • Gasoline, Kerosene & Propane Kayaks (Lifetime Guarantee)

Big T To place Jewelers We Buy an ad Gold here (803) 435-8094 520 West Boyce Street Call Gail, Manning, SC 29102 Christy or Jamie at 845 S. Guignard Drive Sumter, SC 435-8511

Lawn Mowers & Small Engine Parts Plants and Nursery Supplies

9708 Hwy. 260 • Manning 478-2648 Store Open 7 Days Kitchen: Mon-Sat 6am to 8pm

U-Haul Rentals 12119 Old Number Six Hwy. Eutawville, SC 29048

AIR CONDITIONING SERVICES THE NAME YOU TRUST

803-778-1937

803-492-7026

Tootsie

www.boykinacs.com

Jerry

The AreA’s BesT LisTings

Lakeside or In Town!

Celina Gleason

$260,000 3BR/2.5BA waterfront, private pier, 2 c gar, access to golfing, tennis, swimming.

Great Deal!

Yana K. Mathis

1056 Golf Villa Way, $75,000 3BR, 3BA, ground level townhouse close to Foxboro Golf Course & Goat Island at Lake Marion. Good rental history.

803-473-6002 www.manningscrealty.com

803-505-2788 yanakmathis@gmail.com

Tammy Cupp 803-460-7090

$255,000 4BR/3BA – 1997 home, 2400 sf+/-, $122,900 4BR/2.5BA – 1993 home, 2200sf+/-,1 1.3ac+/-, 2c garage, 2 car workshop, screened porch, mi from Lk Marion, .75ac+/-, screened porch, new Beautiful! deck, new roof, Must See!

1105 Blue Heron Pt., Manning, SC, $125,000 3BR, 2BA, 3 Golf Courses nearby, Lake Marion access.

For rent or sale.

1153 Warrens Way, $98,500 1588 Charles Drive, $340,000 Like new brick townhome at The Wyboo Golf Club offering a community GREAT WATERFRONT LOCATION! Lg fenced waterfront (148ft frontage) lot center with pool and work out room. Tastefully decorated home offers a golf with a variety of trees, 3BR, 2BA, boat house/work shop, sandy beach and pier. Bring cart gar, ex storage and parking. Golf Course membership is optional. your friends and family for weekends of fun or make this your permanent home.

Charley Schmidt

803-410-1188

38 February • March 2011 | Lakeside

WF Lot Eagle Point S/D, $219,500 Spectacular sunset over water! Georgous sandy shoreline with excellent swimming areas. Priced to sell!

144 Ridge Lake Drive, $210,900

REDUCED!! Very open floor plan and private setting. The rear north-facing screened porch has adjustable optical grade vinyl windows and ceramic tile flooring and is accessible from both the great room and the master bedroom. Laundry facilities are located in the garage, thus providing an office or den in addition to the three bedrooms. Boat slip included in price!

Celina Gleason

803-473-6002

The AreA’s BesT LisTings

Lakeside or In Town!

Redu ce

d

No image available Patty Wood 803-410-0082

200 Brooks Street, $89,900

3 BRS 2BA older home with hardwood floors, lg screened porch, fireplace, smooth ceilings, on lg lot. Within walking distance to most all services and activities. With a little TLC this could be a Southern Showplace. Great starter home or rental property.

Dee Osteen

1460 Quail Trail, $155,000 Lake view. large corner lot. 3br, 2ba, 1800 sf, furnished, 2 car garage, sunroom. JUST REDUCED!

Johnny Odom

1106 Cypress Point, $89,900 1BR,1BA, 670 Sq ft, First floor waterfront condo.

Most furniture conveys and all appliances!!

803-433-7355

803-460-4955

Mary Wilson 803-460-4251

Renee Roark 803-460-4373

42 South Street, Summerton, SC , $269,000

Two Story Brick home with a 2 bedroom guest cottage. Main house has 3252 sf with 4 befrooms, 4 full baths, hardwoord floors.

Inground pool with new pool liner. Great home for entertaining or possible BED & BREAKFAST. Bring all offers!!!

Davenport Drive, $116,900 Beautiful Golf course patio home. 1600 sf, 3 br., 2 ba, 2 car garage, hdwd floor, screen porch overlooking pond

1312 Blue Heron Point, $189,500 Golf Course, New Construction Townhomes, 2 br, 2ba, fp, 1100 sf, patio, includes golf membership.

1203 Cypress Point, $99,900 0 Wyboo Avenue, $25,000 1BR,1BA, 760 sq ft, second floor updated waterfront condo. 0.61 Acres, WATERVIEW, wooded, has well and septic permit!!

Very nice, all furnishings and appliances convey!!

Ready for your dream home!!

1042 Newman Circle Rd., $67,000 1229 Lake Drive, Summerton, SC Enjoy view of lake from this 3BR, 2BA home. Large decks on both the front Live near the lake in this 3BR, 2Ba on 1.5 acres of land. Fireplace, Island and back of the home. All appliances and some furnishings included.

Kitchen. Wired and plumbed picnic shelter and 3-bay boat storage.

1236 Forest Lake Drive, $325,000

1049 Island Court, $274,500

Gated waterfront community 3 bedrooms 3.5 baths 1700 sf beautiful tri-level home located at The Pointe in Goat Island. hardwood floors, screened porch, shared pier, community pool and pool house. Great watefront view. Bring all offers!!!

1320 Morello Road, $78,500

REDUCED $75,000.00 - Deep water lot, home built 1988-good condition, 1.56 acres/2 lots with 50X70 metal building, insulated with full bath. 3- 14 4 beds/2 baths, large back porch, work shop, mature trees, nice landscaping, ft. tall remote controlled metal doors plus 2 "man doors". Great location for sandy beach, and dock! GREAT home and location a new home! Close to Lake Marion! Make Offer!

821 Bentwood Circle, $22,000 823 Bentwood Circle, $25,000 Build your dream home on these affordable lots in gated golf community near Lake Marion

1035 Canary Court, $259,000

Trinity Heights - 1.75 acre lot on pond, new construction, 3 beds/2 baths with finished bonus roof/2400 sq. ft.-seemless gutters!

Builder says make offer!

We've got a home for you! by the lake!

To promote your listings contact Gail or Christy at (803) 435-8511

Renee Roark 803-460-4373

santeelakeside.com 39

5 Piece Dining Set Includes 38”W x 60”Dx30”H $ rectangular table with faux

499

your choice $ 5 Piece Dining Sets

marble top and 4 chairs.

349

Great.

Make it even easier to buy furniture why don’t ya.

special financing available!* Mattresses Starting at

$

84

health & Sleep

$

399 Queen Set

Each twin piece as sold as a set

Twin Set ...............$299 Full Set ................$349 King Set ...............$640

$

captiva

599 Queen Set

Twin Set ...............$540 Full Set ................$574 King Set ...............$899

Natural Posture Pillow Top

$

899 Queen Set

Twin Set ...............$725 Full Set ................$788 King Set .............$1098

5 Piece Includes Bedroom queen headboard, footboard, $

5 Piece Bedroom $

Includes queen headboard, footboard, rails, dresser and mirror

699

599

rails, dresser and mirror Chest $249 Night Stand $149

Chest $299 Night Stand $149

42” TV Stand $299 50” TV Stand $349 Twin Loft Bed $

Includes twin loft bed, stairs and 2 bookcases

599

60” TV Stand $399

AlSo AvAilAble iN 7 other wood fiNiSheS At the SAme priCe!

Although every precaution is taken, errors in prices and/or specifications may occur in print. We reserve the right to correct any such errors. Circulars may not be used with any other promotion. Some items may not be on display but may be available via our special order program. See store for details. **Leather Match upholsterly features top-grain leather in the seating areas with skillflly matched vinyl everywhere else.

2891 Broad Street • Sumter, SC 29150

803-469-8733

Cash, Check, Credit Cards and Financing are available - See store for details

40 February • March 2011 | Lakeside

Open: Mon-Fri: 10am-7pm • Sat: 10am-5pm • Closed Sunday