Sasee - March 2016

March 2016

If the sight of the blue skies fills you with joy, if a blade of grass springing up in the fields has power to move you, if the simple things in nature have a message you understand, rejoice, for your soul is alive.

Eleanora Duse

IT’S NOT JUST ANOTHER PRETTY PIECE OF FURNITURE.

IT’S A LIFESTYLE!

TAKE LIFE

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Volume 15, Issue 3

Sasee’s

March 2016

y k S e u l B Favs!

Delores Blount

Sales & Marketing Director Susan Bryant

Editor

Leslie Moore

Account Executives Amanda Kennedy-Colie Erica Schneider Gay Stackhouse Patrick Sullivan

18 Sasee Kids

28

Graphic Artist Stephanie Holman

Photographer & Graphic Artist Aubrey Plum

Contributing Photographers Susan Bryant Leslie Moore Celia Wester

Web Developer

42

Featured The Golden Triangle by Joan Leotta . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 The Antidote to First World Problems by Diane Stark . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 The Deep End by Sally Gosen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 Our Top 10 Lists by Janey Womeldorf . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 Hot Stuff by Diane DeVaughn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 One Day by Melissa Face . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

In This Issue Read It! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Sasee’s Spring Favorites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Sasee Takes A Look: Socastee . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 34 Years of Beauty: Don King, Kings Florist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Southern Snaps: Honoring the Past by Building a Better Tomorrow by Leslie Moore . . . . . . . . . . . 28 Kids Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 March Calendar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

4

Publisher

Art Director

14 22

who’s who

Scott Konradt

Accounting Kristy Rollar

Administrative & Creative Coordinator Celia Wester

Executive Publishers Jim Creel Bill Hennecy Mrs. Tom Rogers PO Box 1389 Murrells Inlet, SC 29576 fax 843-626-6452 • phone 843-626-8911 www.sasee.com • info@sasee.com Sasee is published monthly and distributed free along the Grand Strand. Letters to the editor are welcome, but could be edited for length. Submissions of articles and art are welcome.

Visit our website for details on submission. Sasee is a Strand Media Group, Inc. publication.

Copyright © 2016. All rights reserved. Reproduction of any material, in part or in whole, prepared by Strand Media Group, Inc. and appearing within this publication is strictly prohibited. Title “Sasee” is registered with the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office.

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5

Pen & Brush readers’ comments RE: “Valentines on the Ledge,” by Erika Hoffman What a sweet, lovely story Erika Hoffman has written again, this time about pairs of birds, pairs of dogs, and pairs of people for Valentine’s Day. I always look forward to reading about her experiences.

-Sally

RE:“That Girl,” by Diane Stark Very tender. Moved me to tears.

-Erika

RE: “Bachelor Number 1,” by Rose Ann Sinay

letter from the editor Years ago, when I was attending what was then Coastal Carolina College, I would drive to class on Highways 707 and 544 from the south end of the Grand Strand. Nearly every day I was stopped by the Socastee Swing Bridge. A line of traffic would stall while the bridge slowly opened and closed allowing whatever boat was waiting to pass through and continue its journey on the Intracoastal Waterway. I had not lived on the coast that long, and this mechanical marvel fascinated me. Even when I was running late, I loved seeing the passing watercraft – sometimes gorgeous yachts, sometimes hulking barges and everything in between. I learned to appreciate the beauty of the water and the sky, and I even learned a little patience, because there was absolutely nothing anyone could do to hurry that bridge along. A decade later, I was again traveling to a class at Coastal, but this time I was nine months pregnant.

While stopped waiting for the bridge to open and close, my water broke. I was nervous at first, but knew from the birth of my daughter that I had plenty of time, so I sat in the car and enjoyed my own private celebration of my son’s birthday while watching a line of boats pass through the open bridge. No, I didn’t make it to class that day, but the Socastee Swing Bridge will always be a reminder of one of my greatest blessings.

This month, we take a look at Socastee, a small community with a proud heritage reaching back to the early 19th century, long before the Myrtle Beach of today came into existence. And, even though a new bridge now soars high above the ICW, and motorists do not have to wait for the old bridge to open, I encourage you to take the short detour over this beautiful, old swing bridge.

It really is worth the wait.

Happy Spring!

Love it, especially “pa(h)king” the “cah!” We Northerners still talk funny. I still go to the “stoah” instead of the store!

-Joan

RE:“Notes for Newcomers: Who’s Teaching Who?”by Phil La Borie

The lessons we learn as educators are often from our students. I taught summer day camp K-6th for 15 years and learned as much as I taught. Your essay was enjoyable.

-Linda

Cover Artist Cristina Jaco´ Woman With a White Hat, by Cristina Jacó Cristina Jacó is a Brazilian artist who uses strong brush strokes and vibrant colors to express her joy and love for nature in a impressionistic style. She paints birds, landscapes, people and flowers. Her recent works are acrylic paintings using palette knife techniques, but she has experimented with many other art materials along her artistic journey.

The artist started painting as a child, and during her teenage years she began studying with a local artist, continuing to develop her style since graduating from college. Cristina’s artwork has been exhibited in Brazil and the United States, and is a part of private collections in Brazil, the United States and Europe. Her same passion for color can be seen in her writing. This artist/ author has written three books -- two about art and art business and one novel – all three are available on Amazon.

To see more of Cristina’s work, visit her Etsy shop at cristinajaco.etsy.com, find her on Facebook at Cristina.Jaco or email her at cojacbr@gmail.com.

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mail: P.O. Box 1389

Murrells Inlet, SC 29576 phone: 843.626.8911 email: info@sasee.com web: www.sasee.com

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7

The Golden Triangle - My Mother’s Pride and Joy

by Joan Leotta

“The Golden Triangle” I speak of is the mass of golden day lilies that filled the corner of my yard when I was growing up. These visual harbingers of summer’s start were, and are still, a tangible remembrance of my mother. Bright, showy, hardy, lovely beyond expectation in their June prime.

The autumn after I was six she added lilies to a corner patch of our yard -- all the same a special yellow variety that cost the horrific sum (in the 1950s) of almost five dollars apiece.

I guess the yellow lilies brought the sun into her heart. As she shoved the bulbs into the holes her little device made, she told me, “These will multiply.”

In the dreary gray rains of Pittsburgh’s November, that corner of the yard was off limits, but since it was too damp and chilly to be outside it did not matter so much that the lily garden now blocked my way to my favorite hiding place.

Yes, they made a line across a large swath of yard, filled in on two sides, with the deep green of hedge marking the side boundaries and the point marked by a boundary stone and my favorite bush. Snow mounds covered the patch in winter, and when my mother was not home to shoo me away I tramped over this forbidden corner of the yard to reach that corner marker stone. I would climb up on it and dream of pelting the other neighborhood kids with snowballs, though I never did.

Spring brought bright green shoots out in the patch. Their slim, green selves shifted with the cool spring breezes, occasionally revealing the nozzle-like buds that would later turn from green to yellow and burst out into trumpet form in summer.

True to her prediction, the bulbs did multiply. In two years, the triangle was large enough for the lilies to act as an audience for my summer outdoor antics. Like so many trumpethatted matrons, the patient lilies attended all of my dramatic performances in the yard, warm breezes inspiring them to nod approval for my songs, poems, stories. Day lilies have none of the heady aroma of floribunda roses but then again, neither do they attract those dreaded Japanese beetles. Only bees, butterflies and birds frequented their innards -- and then only for a short visit.

8

I came to love those flowers.

When I wanted to bring some inside, my mother informed me that their rich golden yellow beauty was not for picking.

They remained an outside testament to floral elegance.

After I moved away to find a job, on my various return visits, I never failed to marvel over that triangle of floral finery. After I married, I lived for seven years in a yard-starved townhouse in Washington DC’s Virginia suburbs -- no room for much of anything except for a small kiddie pool and a few azaleas. At last, in 1984, we moved to a house with enough room for a swing set -- a single-family colonial with a soonto be fenced yard and play equipment aplenty for our then four and two year olds.

Along our fence line, from the gate to the back, I saw a patch of ground I wanted to use for daylilies -- my mother’s day lilies. She and my father were planning to move to an apartment, and I wanted some of those golden lily bulbs for my own yard. I wanted to keep them in the family by putting some of her garden in my yard.

My father acquiesced right away -- as fathers do. My mother resisted when I asked for “a few bulbs.”

“No,” she blurted out. “Those bulbs cost five dollars apiece in 1956, and you will kill them.”

I do have a rep for having a black thumb. But I was confident the lilies could survive even me and likely Virginia’s warmer climate and more clay-like soil.

Her last argument was, “the new people will want them, I know.” I won that argument by countering that the new people would never miss a few from the middle part of the swath since the lilies needed to be divided anyway.

By the following spring I was enjoying skim green stems, and my mother and father were safely ensconced in a new apartment. By summer, golden blooms adorned their rectangle of space alongside my fence in spite of me, in spite of the soil, in spite of the sun.

On my first summer visit back to Pittsburgh after the bulb transfer, my mother and I took a drive past the old house so she could enjoy the full expanse of her golden triangle of lilies. When we pulled up to the old house and walked up to the gate to the yard, we looked left and my mother took a step back in shock. “They’re gone,” she exclaimed.

The philistines who purchased the house from her had torn out those five dollar bulbs (probably consigning them to the trash) and laid down more green sod. My mother gloried in her wisdom at giving me some bulbs before leaving the old house.

When she died in 1997, I was left alone in my reverence for those lilies. In 2003 we sold our house, our patch of colonial Virginia. However, before the new owners took possession, I divided the lilies, leaving some for them put three bulbs in a pot. Those three traveled to Calabash, North Carolina, with me to a sandy bed by Caw Caw creek.

Although the geometry of my garden is once again a rectangle—when I look out of my kitchen window those yellow heads nod approvingly at me, and I think of my mother. I think she would enjoy their showy display and is in heaven reveling in her wisdom at spurring me to take some to North Carolina with me.

Over the years the name of this variety is lost to me. However, the true name and cost do not matter. To me the bulbs are “Mom’s,” they evoke her indomitable spirit, and for that and all the memories, they are worth more than gold; their value is priceless.

Happily, they seemed to enjoy the trip. First came the green spears. Then, when June arrived, all of them, even the three from my balcony that had thrown up leaves but no blossoms, rewarded me with blooms as yellow and full as a row of trumpet shaped suns against the white of the pampas grass plumes and the deep blue of the Carolina sky.

Spring Into Fashion!

Joan Leotta

of Calabash, North Carolina, has been playing with words since childhood. She is a journalist, playwright, short story writer and author of several mysteries and romances as well as a poet. She also performs folklore and onewoman shows on historic figures.

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–Read It!–

Nicole Says…Read

Ocean Beach

by Wendy Wax

Review by Nicole McManus 10

Four friends -- Maddie, Nicole, Avery and Kyra -- are looking forward to putting their pasts behind them by focusing on their next home renovation project. The new house should be the avenue to brighten each of their futures. However, when they arrive they are greeted by cameramen, and the women quickly learn their self-cleansing mission has been turned into a reality television show. Will these women be able to stand together to realize their dreams or will this be a disaster from day one?

Ocean Beach is the second book in the Ten Beach Road Series. Although it refers to the events in the previous book, readers won’t be lost if they start with this story.

There are plenty of characters, each desperate to start over and rid themselves of upsetting pasts. The shifting points-of-view allows readers an inside look at the inner turmoil each of the characters are facing. The fresh, salt air of Miami works wonders on the women’s souls as they bring new life into an aging building. Wendy Wax does a beautiful job showing readers the depth of friendship, and how far friends go to help each during dark times.

Spring is in the air and that can only mean one thing… Spring Cleaning! There is something revitalizing about opening up the house, letting in all the fresh air and completing a thorough scrubbing of everything, while removing all the unused items cluttering up the space. What better book to read than one based on a home renovation, where each of the characters is burdened with a tumultuous past? This book had been sitting in my To-Read stack for a while, and as I am sorting through boxes deciding what to donate or put in a yard sale, I found the premise of a home renovation promising. I enjoyed the author’s strong female characters, who felt very real, and I have a feeling this won’t be the last book, I read by Wendy Wax.

Nicole McManus

Nicole McManus loves to read, to the point that she is sure she was born with a book in her hands. She writes book reviews in the hopes of helping others find the magic found through reading. Contact her at ARIESGRLREVIEW.COM.

11

The Antidote to First World Problems

by Diane Stark

I looked in the fridge and scowled. We’d run out of my favorite coffee creamer. “This stinks,” I muttered.

“What stinks?” My teenage son, Jordan, asked.

“The average family in America spends 8% of their income on food. In Haiti, it’s over 90%.” He waited a moment to let the statistics sink in. “Can you even imagine that? Spending almost everything you have just to keep from starving to death?”

“I ran out of creamer.”

“It’s no wonder they can’t afford shoes,” my husband murmured.

“So put milk and sugar in your coffee,” he said with a shrug.

I nodded. I remembered a few years ago when my children and I had packed food to send to Haiti. We filled bags with rice, dried vegetables, and a protein powder. When I’d asked how many people that small bag served, I was shocked when the volunteer said, “It serves a family of six, and when you give it to them, those mothers act like they’ve won the lottery.”

I shrugged back. “It’s not the same. I’ve got a big writing deadline today, and I always work better when I have coffee.”

“You do have coffee, Mom. You just don’t have creamer. And this sounds like a first-world problem to me.”

I sighed. This first world problem thing was his new favorite expression and frankly, I was ready for the phase to pass. “You know I don’t like it when you say that. It feels like you’re making fun of me for complaining about small things, but we all do it.”

“You’re right,” he said. “We all do it, and that’s why I’m not making fun of you. I’m just reminding you that if running out of coffee creamer is the worst thing that happens to you today, it was still a really good day.”

I smiled. “You’re a pretty smart kid.”

He grinned back. “All teenagers are.”

I rolled my eyes and hugged him.

That Sunday at church, my pastor was talking about a program that provides shoes to children in Africa. “There are these fleas called jiggers that burrow so deep into kids’ feet that they have to cut them out,” he explained. “They get so bad that the kids can hardly walk, but their parents don’t have money to buy them shoes to protect their feet.”

I glanced down at my well-worn Nikes, suddenly grateful for them.

But my pastor wasn’t finished. “What percentage of your household income do you think you spend on food?”

My husband and I looked at one another and shrugged. I really had no idea.

12

I looked at the bag again, knowing I’d prepare three times as much food for my own family’s dinner. And that meal wouldn’t have been our only one for the day.

When we left church that day, I vowed to return the following Sunday, my arms full of shoes to donate.

But as the week went on, I couldn’t stop thinking about those statistics. I spent some time on Google and discovered a wonderful tool called the World Wealth Calculator.

I typed in my family’s middle-class income and discovered that we are among the richest people in the entire world. We’re talking top 1%.

I’d been a single mom before I’d met and married my husband.

My annual income was $18,500 for a family of three. We’d barely made ends meet, but we’d never gone hungry. I plugged that income into the calculator and even that meager amount placed me in the top 12% of world incomes.

I remembered my constant fears over having enough food for my children, and tears filled my eyes as I realized how many mothers in the world experience those fears every day of their lives.

According to worldwealthcalculator.org, a billion people in this world earn less than $762 a year. I wish I’d realized during my single mom days how fortunate I really was.

Studies show that having more money makes us happier, but only to a certain point. People who earn less than $50,000 a year usually become happier as their income increases. But for people

THE B. GRAHAM COLLECTION

with annual incomes over $50,000, their level of happiness does not increase if their income goes up.

The bottom line? Stuff doesn’t make us happy.

I thought about all of my little gripes. My first world problems, as Jordan would say. Running out of coffee creamer. Disliking the color of my super-reliable used car. The ten extra pounds I carry because we have too much food.

I realized that nearly all of the aggravations in my life could be classified as first world problems. I remembered all of the times I’d found myself in a bad mood because of something insignificant.

Countless times, I’d allowed small inconveniences to steal my joy.

Luckily, there is an antidote to this type of dissatisfaction. It’s gratitude.

Simply being thankful for what we have.

Being happy is nearly impossible without gratitude. Without gratitude, we can’t see the blessings we already have. Our glass is always half-empty.

I don’t want to live that way.

Now, when I look in the mirror and see a few wrinkles, I call them “laugh lines” and thank God for the friends and family who helped put them there. When I have too many errands on my To Do List, I am grateful that I have a reliable, if not beautiful, car to drive that day.

And when I run out of coffee creamer, I remember that I have a son who loves me enough to remind me that if drinking a less-than-perfect cup of coffee is the worst thing that happens to me today, it was still a really good day.

Yep, the antidote is definitely gratitude. And if our gratitude leads us to help those who have less to be grateful for, we’ve found the path to true happiness.

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Her essays have been published in over 20 Chicken Soup for the Soul books.

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13

Sasee’s

y k S e u l B Favs!

Here along the coast, we have beautiful blue skies year round, but when March rolls around, temperature rise and it’s time to think about outdoor living! Today, outdoor living spaces can be anything from elegant and formal to kid friendly and comfortable. So, what is an outdoor room? It’s your special place, created by you, for you and your loved ones to enjoy relaxing in nature.

Sasee has found some unique items to help you spruce up your “great outdoors!” Get creative and have fun!

1 2 3 14

Hardy Island by Hinkley Lighting is a heavy duty solid cast brass collection backed by a lifetime warranty. The salt air can be brutal so its important to consider lighting that can withstand the different climates.

Available at Butler’s Lighting, 926 Frontage Road East, Myrtle Beach, SC 29577

This Blue Pub Set is part of the Country Garden Collection. It is made from poly lumber which is manufactured from environmentally-friendly recycled plastics by the Amish.

Available at Owl’s Nest Furniture 410 Highway 17 North, Suite A, Surfside Beach, SC 29575 We love this Four Piece Polywood Outdoor Furniture Set, it both brightens and provides pub-like seating for your best warm weather parties!

Available at Palmetto Ace 8317 Ocean Highway Pawley’s Island, SC 29585

4 5 6

Handwoven Chipped Wood Pendants provide light as well as a

sophisticated ambiance to your outdoor living and garden area.

Available at The Shops at Tweaked, 4491 Highway 17 Business, Murrells Inlet, SC 29576

Stylish Outdoor Pillows that can stand up against the weather

add a fashionable and unique touch to your outdoor living space.

Available at Rose Arbor Fabrics, 6916 North Kings Highway, Myrtle Beach, SC 29572

Hummingbird Plant Picks will add lots of personality to

your garden!

Available at Studio 77, 5001 North Kings Highway, Myrtle Beach, SC 29577

2 1 5 4 3

6

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After all, that’s why we are one the area’s oldest and largest introduction service, from Myrtle Beach, Savannah and Hilton Head to Charleston and beyond.

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17

Where the Past Meets the Future: Socastee

Just a few miles west of the coast, running the length of Highway 707 and extending east and west on Highway 544, is the community of Socastee. Part of a land grant given to Percival Pawley in 1711, this historically significant area is one of the few remaining examples of post Civil War development and was a thriving community many years before Myrtle Beach became a popular vacation resort. By the 1870s, the Socastee community was a significant center for the production and distribution of naval supplies such as turpentine and tar, and the area around the Socastee Swing Bridge was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2002.

The Socastee Swing Bridge was opened to the public in 1936, spanning the Intracoastal Waterway. This section was the last to be opened and connected the Maine to Florida waterway.

Originally opened by a hand crank, today the bridge opens for water traffic 24 hours a day.

Other structures listed in the Historic District include the Samuel Sarvis House, built in 1881, the Thomas Cooper Store, built in 1905 and closed in 1932, the Thomas Cooper House, built in 1908 and a Pecan Grove.

Dedicated to preserving and maintaining the history of their community, the Socastee Heritage Foundation was formed in 2010 after several years of planning. Board member, Tim Turbeville’s family has lived in Socastee for generations, and he is passionate about the mission of the organization.

Sasee Takes A Look: Socastee “My family has been here since 1878, when they came from Marion, South Carolina, and bought a farm on what is now Forestbrook Road. Back then, everyone produced turpentine, an important product of the day and easily produced from the virgin pines in the area – that’s where our last name came from!

When I was growing up, most people farmed tobacco.”

The Turbeville family bought their home from the Flagg family – many will recognize the name from the story of Alice Flagg, the famous Pawleys Island ghost. The Turbeville home is one of the two oldest in Socastee – sadly, many more were demolished during the last half of the twentieth century. “Growing up in Socastee was all I knew,” Tim told me when I asked him about his childhood. “I think it was a better time for families; we ate breakfast together, dinner together, there weren’t as many distractions. I understand progress, but I love the memories I have.”

Every year, the Socastee Heritage Festival is held the last Saturday in April; this year the event will be on April 30. Held in the Socastee Historic District, there will be live music, vendors and lots of family fun. In addition to maintaining the Sarvis House, money raised is granted to local children with a variety of needs from medical bills to helping parents pay power bills. Since the first festival in 2011, the event has grown and become popular with locals and visitors alike.

While most of the Turbeville’s farm was sold and is now being developed, Tim, who has worked as a building contractor for 30 years, still loves going to his family home, now owned by his brother.

“We hope more and more people will get involved in the festival and help it grow every year. We want to preserve this history for future generations.”

Socastee’s local eateries are delicious and reasonably priced –locals know the best places to grab a quick lunch or dinner – or enjoy a leisurely meal.

Athen’s Pizza Don King says Athen’s Pizza has the best Italian subs on the Grand Strand – the perfect amount of fillings and seasonings served on a crunchy delicious roll.

Amy Weaver is also a fan of Athen’s Pizza, but her family loves their perfectly prepared pies – the crust is always just right!

The Porch The Porch, a restaurant set on the banks of the Intracoastal by the Socastee Swing Bridge, gets lots of positive reviews – in addition to great seafood one of their special dishes is chicken bog egg rolls!

La Hacienda Sasee’s own Erica Schneider loves La Hacienda Mexican Restaurant for yummy Mexican food – her favorite is their fajitas and tacos.

Sarvis House Built by Samuel Sarvis, this historic building was constructed in 1881, and is currently owned by the Socastee Heritage Foundation. The organization plans to use the building for special events throughout the year!

Cooper House The Thomas B. Cooper house was built for Mr. Cooper by Robert M. Prince, Jr. in 1908. The exterior has recently been renovated. Today, it is managed and operated by Rita Gray as a wedding and event venue.

Socastee’s Historic District is the area surrounding the Socastee Swing Bridge and history buffs will enjoy a glimpse of the past.

King’s Florist 34 Years of Beauty

For 34 years Don King, owner of King’s Florist, has been known in Socastee and throughout the Grand Strand, as an amazing florist and all around nice guy.

King’s Florist has been named “Best on the Beach” in the Sun News for the past eleven years and is consistently awarded either first or second place in the newspaper’s “Reader’s Choice Awards” as well. A native of Conway, Don loves being a part of the Socastee Community.

“Socastee is a melting pot,” Don began. “People have settled here from all over. It’s convenient to the beach, and we have most everything here you need!” Don went on to tell me about the friendliness of the community and the many close ties he has made here in his years in business. “Flowers are the best gift in the world,” Don said as we sat, surrounded by flowers, in his shop. “ W hen someone gets a bouquet, their eyes light up and they automatically smell the blooms.”

Always artistically inclined, Don grew up on a tobacco farm and noticed a neighbor ’s beautiful flowers on the days when he was working in the fields.

“I always thought that God created this beauty for us to enjoy!”

Today, the popular florist’s three grandchildren, two boys and a girl, keep Don and Mona, his wife of 46 years, ver y busy. “ We open at 7 am and close at 6 pm – I used to work the entire day, but now I have eleven wonderful employees who help me.”

Don also believes in giving back to his community and helps Socastee High School with plants and flowers whenever they have an event. I asked Don about his favorite places to eat in Socastee and he immediately said Athen’s Pizza. “I love their Italian sub.” He shops locally as much as possible and says Socastee Hardware always has what he needs.

Spring is blossoming on the Avenues

We are excited to announce that we are EXPANDING our Myrtle Beach location to be your Lilly headquarters on the Grand Strand!

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Job Coach at Making Change Consignment In the Making Change Consignment store, SOS Health Care’s Job Coach Program is designed to assist young adults with disabilities in finding skill appropriate employment within the community.

From writing a resumé to the interview process and adjusting to the first few weeks of a new job, the Job Coach assists participants through the entire process. This program fosters valuable job skill and independence for adults with disabilities.

Now accepting applications for participants: Email us at JobCoach@sos-healthcare.com or call 843-449-0554 Come to Making Change Consignment to purchase candles, sugar scrubs and soaps

handmade by our participants.

1106 N. Kings Hwy., Myrtle Beach, SC 29577 (Street parking and lot in back) www.sos-healthcare.com • JobCoach@sos-healthcare.com Store phone: 843-945-4006 • Job Coach at SOS: 843-449-0554

• Custom Framing Available •

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Saturday, March 19, 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.

Live Art Demonstrations • Pottery • Fabric Art • Marbling • Painting • Wood Carving • And More!

Live music with Rick Strickland & Lesa Hudson (2-4 p.m.)

Coastal Luxe Companies Sally Stowe Interiors Located in Fabric Decor and More...The Grand Strand’s LARGEST Full-Service Interior Design Center

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Myrtle Beach, SC 29577

843-945-4611

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AW my

eaver

Honoring the Past by Building a Better Tomorrow by

Leslie Moore

“If I can help, I feel like I need to be there,” said Amy Weaver as we began our interview in her office in Socastee. It is said that if you want something done ask a busy person, and this certainly rings true with Amy who is the mother of two teenagers, a successful business owner with her husband, Ratt, a tireless volunteer and respected leader in her community. “My most comfortable spot is in the background, making things happen,” Amy laughed. “I’m really happier when someone else takes all the glory.”

As a member of the all volunteer board of Socastee Heritage Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to preserving the history and unique heritage of Socastee, Amy and her fellow board members organize the annual Socastee Heritage Festival, held the last Saturday in April. The organization has also purchased the historic Sarvis House, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and Amy is currently leading the work to open the home for use as an event venue. “We want the house to be a bigger part of the community,” said Amy. “We held a Christmas Fair there this past December and it went very well.”

Fellow board member, Teresa Turbeville, believes Amy’s contribution to the Socastee Heritage Foundation has changed their community for the better. “I have had the privilege of working alongside Amy, and I am truly amazed at her ability to take on so many tasks --always with a smile on her face. She certainly wears many hats

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and goes above and beyond to get the job done.

Amy has such a huge heart and is definitely an asset to the Socastee Heritage Foundation and our community as well. We are blessed to have her dedicated involvement, and I am personally blessed to call her my friend.”

This will be the sixth year of the Socastee Heritage Festival and funds raised are granted to help children in the Socastee and St. James school districts with a variety of needs. “We have given grants to help families keep their power on, helped with medical bills, provided gas cards to parents who are travelling for medical reasons, paid for educational field trips, and more. All grants are given anonymously to protect the children.” In 2015, $4,000 was granted to underprivileged children living in the Socastee community, and the festival has also funded two special needs playgrounds in the area.

I asked Amy how she became involved in the Socastee Heritage Foundation. “Two of the board members approached me in 2010 about participating. The organization was not doing as well as they had hoped, and the group wanted to plan an annual event to raise funds and spotlight the organization. My sister and I had spent the last few years helping care for my parents, who both passed in 2009, so the timing was perfect.” Amy pitched in, and after nine months of planning and hard work, the first Socastee Heritage Festival was held in April of 2011.

A lifelong resident of the Socastee community, Amy is very proud of her heritage. “Growing up I lived on Peachtree Road, and I could walk from my house, though the woods, all the way to the boat landing,” Amy remembers. The area is now developed, and dotted with residential communities and businesses. “I loved growing up here, it was, and still is, the best of both worlds. We live in a small, close knit community, but have the city [Myrtle Beach] close by if we want to see a show or go shopping, something not available in many small towns. The technical term for our area is rural/urban interface.”

Amy went on to share fond childhood memories of riding with her father in the cab of his pickup late at night when he ran his hunting dogs. “I can still hear Daddy talking with his friends on the CB radio.”

It never occurred to Amy to go away for college.

“I wanted to stay close to home, and, of course, I had already started dating Ratt,” she said with a big smile. After graduating high school, Amy began classes at Coastal Carolina University, planning to become a teacher. Ratt, a native of Florida, had come to the area to work, planning to eventually move to Alaska, but fell in love with the Grand Strand and decided to make it his home. Amy and Ratt married while she was still in college and in 1990, Ratt and his former partner opened Glasstec, a specialty trade contractor that does glass glazing and exterior surface waterproofing, one of the few companies doing this work in inaccessible locations, specializing in height. The business quickly took off, and after Amy graduated, Ratt needed someone to manage the office. Like a lot of well laid plans, her teaching career was abandoned for one in business. “I thought it would be easier to raise a family if I was working for myself, I wanted the flexibility to be there when my children needed me.” Today, Amy and Ratt have twelve employees; most have worked for the couple for over ten years.

“Our team members are our family,” Amy told me.

During our interview, Riverlee, Amy and Ratt’s 17 year old daughter, was in another office working on schoolwork. Riverlee, named because Amy and Ratt met on the river, is completing her senior year of high school through an online school. An expert hunter, Riverlee travels a lot to hunt, making traditional school nearly impossible. After graduation,

this young outdoorswoman plans to attend a school in Colorado to become a hunting guide. Thirteen year old Landon attends public school – “He’s much too social for online school,” Amy told me laughing.

“He doesn’t want to miss anything!”

Amy and Ratt own 15 acres of land behind the Glasstec office and warehouse, and Amy came up with the idea to develop it as a special event venue.

Today, RH Acres hosts the annual Mythical Medieval Festival every November and Harley Bike Week events in May and October. Private events are held throughout the year and a Mayfest is planned for 2017. “During the recession, the construction business was hit hard, and we decided to use the property to generate extra income. It’s been a lot of fun and is growing every year!”

A strong sense of community combined with natural leadership skills make Amy one of the first to jump in to help when anyone in the community is in trouble. She and Ratt own horses, and Amy and Riverlee love to ride for pleasure, but Amy saddles up for search and rescue operations whenever needed. “I helped in the search for Heather Elvis. It was extremely hard, but I am always glad I can do something to help,” she told me.

Her country roots run deep, and Amy’s friends and family tease her about driving a big, white Suburban. “I love big trucks!” But, along with boating, fishing and traditionally country activities, this multi-dimensional woman also enjoys Broadway plays even though she rarely makes it to the Big Apple these days. “I think Mama Mia is my favorite.”

She and Ratt are movie buffs, and Amy’s all time favorite is Gone With the Wind. “I try to emulate Scarlett’s good qualities,” she told me mischievously.

When I asked Amy about the future, she told me she has a common problem – saying no! “I am going to focus more on me. I’m working out daily and feel great. As RH Acres becomes more successful, Ratt and I want to travel – out west, to Alaska -- we love the National Park scene.” Amy went on in a more serious tone, “Yes, I am strong and independent, but I have always relied on my faith to get me through in good times and bad.”

The Deep End

by Sally Gosen Case

For 45 years everyone knew that I could not swim. Time and again, I tried to learn and failed. I simply sank like a stone.

I grew up on a river, in a family that loved boats. I remember my father’s unwavering patience, holding me at the surface in his powerful arms, repeating, “Straighten your back. Relax.

You’re a frog, kick like a frog.” As soon as he let go, I sank. It was hopeless. Everyone else could swim, even snakes could swim, but I could not.

I grew up, married and moved away. Every time someone dragged me to a pool, I ended up shivering in the shallow end, splashed and tormented by small children. They would eventually get bored and swim away. I paid people to instruct me, but they gave up after a few sessions of watching me sink.

It wasn’t until after my 45th birthday that I began to seriously ponder this situation. I was a widow with a child and life lay heavily on my shoulders. My escape, my sanity, was my little boat…but I could not swim. I feared leaving my son as an orphan simply because I was insufficiently buoyant. I voiced my concerns to a friend who gave me a set of rather cryptic instructions. She told me to drive to a specific pool in a neighboring town. She said to arrive early. She said that I would swim.

That is how I found myself standing on the edge of a large swimming pool at an ungodly hour, scantily clad, terrified and almost awake. I was confronted by a sweetly rounded, motherly woman who quickly sized up the situation. She fitted my feet with swim fins, handed me a foam board, and said, “This is your lane. Swim back and forth.”

After a brief, stunned silence, I began to protest. Of course, she hadn’t heard me correctly. I wasn’t allowed in the deep end, I could not swim, I would sink like a stone.

She repeated her instructions and walked away. Walked away! To do something else! She wasn’t even going to rescue me! I had never been in water over my head. I had to be able to touch bottom. Obviously, I would drown. I looked around for witnesses to this homicide attempt. No one was paying any attention at all.

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I sat on the edge of the pool. The water was frigid. She wanted me dead, I was certain of it. I pictured my pale, middle-aged body being dragged from the icy water of the deep end. There would be scandal. Maybe even lawsuits.

Vibrating with apprehension, I slid into the shallow end.

Gripping my foam board in mortal terror, I began to kick.

My feet flailed wildly until I learned to manage the flippers.

Nine feet deep, nine feet deep ran through my head like a resounding curse. Nine feet deep, and I was at the far end, shaking and gasping. I pushed off of the wall and kicked my way back to the shallow end. I pushed away and headed back again. Occasionally, my tormentor would surface nearby, dolphin-like, and call out instructions. “Straighten your back! Relax!” Then she would be gone again, leaving me to my solitary battle with the deep end.

I kicked back and forth for two hours that day and could barely walk the next, but the curse had been broken. I had faced the deep end and survived. For months afterward, I regularly found myself on the edge of that pool, shivering and almost awake. It wasn’t long before I discarded the foam board and started actually swimming. Then I left the fins behind. In time, I learned to love my aqueous enemy, to relish the slip and roll of my body in both heated pools and mountain lakes. I will never be buoyant; I have to keep moving pretty strongly to be able to breathe at all. I am still, after all, something of a stone. But I can dive down, down, trailing bubbles in a long stream, frog-kick to the mirrored surface, and burst upward into light and air. I can plunge and kick and dive. These are not possible in shallow water. One cannot learn such things standing on the bottom. The only way I could learn to swim was to leave behind everything I thought I needed. I had to learn in the deep end.

Sally Gosen Case

lives and writes on the beautiful Oregon coast. Her poetry and nonfiction have appeared in a wide variety of publications, including Horticulture, Rocky Mountain Rider, and Time of Singing. Sally and her son coauthor a popular Oregon travel blog, casingoregon.com.

The Most Versatile Cooking Device Ever . . .

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Hop on in and see our huge selection of Easter clothing and accessories for your little bunny!

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Back By Popular Demand

1

3

Snap a few shots, share the occasion and who (if anyone) is in the picture with you. You could pack your hats for the next girls’ weekend and share the fun with us- whatever you’re doing; we’d love to join in!

We will publish your photos each month and pick a winner in July.

The asee

SHat!

The winner will receive dinner for two, a bottle of wine and other goodies from our wonderful supporters.

Sasee Hats Around Town. We love seeing Sasee readers wearing their hats!

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4

1. Carmen Sutcliff and Judy Bachand having fun hat shopping!

2. Here are (L-R) Debbie Townsend, Connie Williams and Margaret Whitlock at a Derby party last year at the home of Marcia and Bill Faris.

3. Diane Piegare, sporting a stylish hat, attended a Long Bay Symphony Youth Orchestra concert at the Kaminski House in Georgetown last spring!

4. Mike Neff snapped this photo of his fiancée, Yvonne Leonard, trying on this unique hat while they were at the Renaissance Festival in Charlotte last year.

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Start pulling out those hats and wearing them proudly! Just send your digital photos to our editor, Leslie Moore, at lmoore@strandmedia.com or #SaseeHat. And watch for your Sasee shot in an upcoming issue!

Apparel &Shoes

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The Little Blue Bag from Grady’s...because spring is right around the corner !

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Antiques • Baby & Toddler Boutique Collectibles • Country Decor • Fabrics + Notions • Wood Products Unique Handmade Crafts • Handbags Jewelry • WoodWick Candles Vintage Items • Glassware 114-A Hwy. 17 N. • Surfside Shopping Center, Surfside Beach • 843-238-3622 www.homespuncrafters.com • Mon - Fri: 9am to 6pm • Sat: 10am to 5pm

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Our Top 10 Lists

by Janey Womeldorf

My husband and I have compiled our own book of Top 10 lists. We started it after I asked him one night: “Tell me the top three, most-memorable times you laughed until you cried.” Before long, we were roaring with laughter and in stitches as we relived each other’s laugh-till-you-cried stories. By the end of the evening, our stomachs hurt and we ended up with ten hilarious memories. We decided to rank them, and the book was born. After that, whenever those spontaneous, magical evenings hit that found us both in that laughter-filled, happy zone, we’d grab our book and ask more questions. Different categories of lists emerged as we reminisced over three decades of shared and happy memories: Top 10 Memorable Things Said by a Friend or Family Member; Top 10 Favorite Vacation Moments; Top 10 People or Couples Who Inspired Us; Top 10 Food Memories; Top 10 Happiest Days; and Top 10 Most Bizarre Days.

In all that time, only one memory has made more than one list: The following episode ranked number two (behind our wedding day) on our Top 10 Happiest Days list. It ranked number one, however, on our Top 10 Most Bizarre Days list.

The day of my husband’s job interview finally arrived. He had previously decided to make a career change and had studied hard to acquire the qualifications necessary for his new field. All he needed now was someone to give him a chance (and a job). After a year of unsuccessful applications and diminishing hope, he finally scored an interview for the perfect position in his new field. It was hard not to get our hopes up, and we spent every night role-playing and improving his answers to every question we thought he might be asked. The morning of his interview, I gave him a reassuring hug and wished him luck as I headed out to work.

“Phone me the instant you get out,” I pleaded.

My day at work turned out to be anything other than the ordinary which at least kept me focused when all I could think about was him. During the time of his interview, I was called into an unexpected meeting and was not able to take

36

his call when he phoned. He left a message that he would be tied up all afternoon and would see me at home. I ached with anticipation, clock watched until 5 pm, and rushed out the door at 5:01. My sister was visiting at the time and recognizing this would not be a one-sentence conversation, the three of us decided to save it and head to a local bar so he could talk, without distraction, over a beer.

“Start from the beginning,” I implored once we were seated, “I want every detail.”

He described the office, the interviewer and the set up. One by one, he recalled as many questions as he could, followed by how he answered them. He kicked himself again for the ones he felt he answered poorly. Overall, our practice had paid off and hope filled my heart.

“Finally, the interviewer asked me what my greatest weakness was,” he said. An involuntary gasp left my mouth -- we had missed this obvious question -- and my sister and I were on the edge of our seats waiting for his response.

“So I replied, chocolate-chip cookies.” After a few seconds of stunned silence, we laughed -- it was either the best or worst answer ever. The interviewer balked momentarily at my husband’s honest, albeit unconventional response but seconds later, burst out laughing, confessing that he also shared the same weakness. The two of them then bonded in an impromptu, light-hearted conversation about cookies before the interview came to a close.

“So when will you hear?” we asked anxiously.

“I won’t,” he replied, poker-faced. My heart sank in despair.

Suddenly, he exploded with excitement: “He offered me the job right then and there!”

My sister and I erupted in shrieks of joy. People turned to glare at the table making the ruckus but we didn’t care. “Oh my gosh,” we screamed. “That is so fantastic.” The three of us cheered and hugged for what seemed like ages before our

happy momentum calmed down long enough to make a toast.

His excitement was off the charts and as we raised our glasses to his success, his happiness brought a tear to my eye. Once the euphoria of his Top 10 Happiest Day died down, he apologized for having hogged the spotlight and asked me about my day.

NEW FOR 2016

“I’ve got some news too,” I declared. “Someone got laid off from work today.” For the second time in ten minutes, shocked shrieks of “Oh my gosh!” rang loudly from our bar stools. “And you’ll never guess who,” I continued. They both knew the quirky office personalities I worked with and one by one, started calling out the names of colleagues they felt sure it would be. Surprise consumed them every time I said “No.” “It was me; I got laid off today,” I declared. Their faces froze in disbelief and stony silence replaced the exuberant joy from minutes before. I confessed that the reason I could not talk when he phoned was because at the same time he was in his interview getting his job, I was in a meeting, losing mine. Bizarre could not even begin to describe the day.

Two weeks later, he started his “new” job -- a position that he still works in, and loves, 15 years later; ultimately, my redundancy led me to better things. In nine months, three weeks and four days, he retires from his beloved position. Although we are counting the days, we already suspect his last day of work/first day of retirement will be immortalized in one of our Top 10 lists.

What we’re not sure of though, is which list -- happy or bizarre -- we’ll place it on. Maybe, like only one other day before it, it will make both.

I vote for happy.

Gold Tones are Back! with simple geometrics

Janey Womeldorf

once went to work wearing different shoes.

She now freelance writes and scribbles away in Orlando, Florida. It’s probably best.

843-448-4364 926 Frontage Road East Next to Hyatt Buick GMC www.ButlersElectric.com

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Hot Stuff

by Diane DeVaughn Stokes My husband, Chuck, has always loved cooking on his outdoor grill, but ever since he heard me drooling loudly over Tyler Florence of the Food Network he has become more interested in grilling than ever before. (Don’t tell him, but I was actually drooling over Tyler himself not necessarily his pork chops, if you know what I mean!)

So, after years of owning a Weber Grill, Chuck started craving the ultimate outdoor cooking sensation, a Big Green Egg! Now he is obsessed, but better about this than golf, as grilling is much cheaper.

In case you are not familiar with this brand, it is a high-end ceramic cooker that can roast, bake, smoke or grill based on the way cooking was done in years gone by in an old clay pot.

High or low temperature, it produces great results cooked over natural wood lump charcoal. Besides, if you saw it -- the name describes it perfectly. It’s big, green and shaped like an egg!

Lucky for us, we found a used one. Chuck refurbished a few of its parts, and now it’s his favorite toy, next to his iPhone, of course. He even had a carpenter build a cypress cabinet to put it in that will also hold all of his cooking tools. This is the kind of obsession I love, because even though I love to cook it gives me time away from the stove.

Chuck has mastered steaks that are seared to perfection with a nice crunch on the outside, and they turn out medium rare every single time just as we like them. His wood plank salmon with herb butter, which is actually cooked on a piece of water soaked cedar, is a standout! He grilled a delicious turkey for Thanksgiving, and last month his prime rib was out of this world! Last night it was an Herbes de Provence coated pork loin that had our dinner guests begging for more! Recently he purchased a veggie basket, and after each piece is rolled in olive oil and sprinkled with kosher salt, he grills them to perfection.

Frankly, even an old shoe rolled in olive oil and kosher salt would taste great!

Hate to talk about it, but Chuck did flunk making pizza! I should have known. This is a man who does not eat red sauce or cheese. What was he thinking? He is the only person to ever graduate from USC who NEVER ordered a pizza. The old adage holds true, “Stick to what you know!” But I’ll give credit where it is due. He knows I love it, so he wanted to do it for me.

Then, he announced he wanted to make the dough from scratch when I suggested he buy the pre-packaged dough. You’ve got to love a man who tries to please you, even though he made the

38

biggest mess in the kitchen with flour flying all over the place.

Even the cats ran and hid! Finally, on the grill it went; a pizza which was half red sauce and mozzarella and on the other half, to please his own weird taste buds, chicken with sausage and peppers and ranch dressing. You heard right -- ranch dressing!

Sadly, the whole thing tasted horrible.

Even my half was hard to swallow as the dough tasted like cardboard. Worse actually. I was able to scrape the sticky gooey cheese off the top, but the rest was not edible. I’m a great actress, but I could not fake it this time. Then he tasted his half and decided this was one time he should have stuck to one of his better meaty specialties like London broil. Proving he was a great pizza “tosser,” however, he tossed it right into the garbage can. Then, as any good husband would do after promising his wife a stimulating meal, he ordered Pad Thai to be delivered.

Never miss a meal no matter what, that’s our theory. And we’re sticking to it!

Okay Mario Batali, King of Italian cuisine he is not! And he will never have hair like Guy Fieri, because he doesn’t have hair, but Chuck could give Bobby Flay a run for his money. Last summer he cooked an entire meal on the egg -- grilled rosemary chicken, candied sweet potato rounds, asparagus, even the romaine lettuce was lightly grilled and basted with olive oil and vinegar.

But it was the fresh Horry County peaches with maple glaze that stole the show! And it was all cooked on the Big Green Egg. That means no dirty pots and pans either. What a man!

And there’s one more thing worth mentioning; I actually think Chuck looks very sexy prepping his grill for the process. It’s a real turn-on! Maybe even better than Tyler Florence!

So, honey what’s cooking tonight?

Diane DeVaughn Stokes

is the President of Stages Video Productions, Host and Producer for TV show “Inside Out” as seen on HTC, and Host for “Diane on Six” on EASY Radio.

She is the author of Floating on Air- a Broadcasting Love Affair found on Amazon.com.

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what is pure barre Pure Barre is the fastest, most effective way to transform your body.

Each 55 minute class offers a full-body workout that lifts your seat, tones your thighs, abs and arms and burns fat in record-breaking time.

Murrells Inlet Shoppes at Tournament Boulevard • 11897 Highway 707, Murrells Inlet www.purebarre.com • murrellsinlet@purebarre.com

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Vintage & Shabby Chic Home Décor Whatever your style or budget . . . we have something for everyone!

The Oasis Shopping Center • 2520 Hwy.17 Business • Garden City 817-235-6875 • 717-451-2856 • www.twosisterswithsoutherncharm.com

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When families make a decision about hospice care, it helps to have a good understanding of what hospice is, and what it isn’t.

843-237-2631 11096 Ocean Hwy., Pawleys Island

Monday - Saturday 10am - 5:00pm

Give Your Mom, Sister, Best Friend or Yourself the Gift that Lasts a Year!

• Hospice is not a death sentence; it’s about recognizing someone’s life-limiting illness, controlling symptoms and improving quality of life rather than seeking a cure. It is not giving up hope; it is about preserving hope.

• Hospice is not only for cancer patients; cancer diagnoses account for less than half of all hospice admissions. Other common diagnoses include heart failure, lung diseases, kidney failure, Alzheimer’s/Dementia and others.

• Hospice care is not expensive; the hospice benefit is paid by Medicare, Medicaid and by most private insurers, meaning that there are no financial burdens incurred by the family.

• Hospice is not a place; it is a concept of care delivered in the home setting. Our care includes a strong emphasis on the spiritual component of a person. We believe in faith and family and strive to support both in the home setting. Our comprehensive hospice services are available wherever you call home.

Special Offer 12 Issues for $24

We offer quick response with local staff & weekend and holiday admissions. If you have Medicare Part A, you have a hospice benefit.

Name Address City State

Zip Send check or money order to Sasee Distribution PO Box 1389, Murrells Inlet, SC 29576

4612 Oleander Drive, Suite 102, Myrtle Beach, SC 29577

843-438-4905 www.hospicecare.net

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Sasee Kids Celebrate Spring!

Kids love crafts! Along with the Easter egg

You’ve Been Egged

hunts and chocolate bunnies wrapped in

Blogger, Becoming Martha, has a wonderful craft that teaches children the joy found in giving. Visit

beautifully - colored foil paper, these mem-

www.becomingmartha.com/youve-been-egged

ory-making crafts are just the thing to celebrate Easter and beautiful spring weather!

for a free printable to hang on your neighbor’s door! Start a neighborhood tradition of “egging” in a way everyone will love. Fill your eggs with chocolate or jellybeans and have fun!

Edible Easter Basket

The Krazy Coupon Lady is making the cutest edible Easter baskets! Follow the simple directions at

www.thekrazycouponlady.com/tips/family/diyedible-easter-egg-basket for a fun craft the kids will love. All you need is four theater sized candy boxes, some laffy taffy and a piece of cardboard.

Hot glue it all together and fill with grass – you’re Easter bunny ready!

Carrot Footprints

For the littles, One Krieger Chick has a great craft idea. Make footprint carrots! Use washable orange paint, make the “carrot” and use green paper to make the tops. Find complete directions at

www.onekriegerchick.com/2014/03/31/springhandprint-art-bunny-carrots/

Please take a few photos of the kids making their favorite Easter craft and share them with Sasee – either on our Facebook page or send to

lmoore@strandmedia.com!

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P l e a s e Joi n

us for t h e

Low Country Garden Party Friday, April 29, 2016 12 Noon - 3 pm

Whitehall Plantation W inyah B ay , G eorgetown , SC

An Elegant Garden Party Luncheon Gem Dig (Combined Values of $10,000 plus) Live Painting • Raffle and Live Auction And much more . . .

Tickets $85 Reservations Required Call 843-626-8911 for more information All proceeds will benefit the Pawleys Island Festival of Music & Art and the Kathryn Bryan Metts Scholarship Fund Dress is Inlet Casual – flats and hats are encouraged Photo Provided by Stacey Carter Studios

One Day

by Melissa Face

I am sitting on my sofa, watching my maple tree release the last of its leaves to the ground. I watch them with awe and wonder and a new feeling of gratitude that has developed in me over the past few years. It is true that the appreciation of life’s best gifts comes with time. For me, it took more than three decades to truly recognize the beauty that surrounds me every day.

When I was in my twenties, my mom asked me if I would like to accompany her and my grandmother, Mammie, on a road trip.

“We’re going to Harrisonburg,” she said. “Mammie and I like to see the leaves each year in their prime, before they all fall off.”

I wasn’t too tempted by her offer. “I really don’t care about a trip to see leaves,” I said. “That’s not too high on my list.”

My mother and grandmother, unfazed by my disinterest, enjoyed their getaway and filled me in on the highlights once they returned: apple picking, leisurely lunching, bookstore shopping and of course, leaf admiring.

“It was just so gorgeous, Melissa,” Mammie told me. “I get so overwhelmed by the beauty. I look at them and just cry.

I can’t help it.”

She teared up a bit trying to explain it to me. But I didn’t get it. Naively and discreetly, I rolled my eyes at her emotional response.

“You’ll understand one day,” she assured me.

My “one day” has finally arrived. I am approaching forty years old. My hair is graying, my skin is sagging, and my waistline is growing. All signs point toward old age. And to the appreciation of the passage of time that comes only with life experience.

So, here I sit. This elusive “one day” has found me, and I am watching the leaves drop from my tree, thinking about how precious life is. The changing of seasons is a subtle tap on

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the shoulder, a gentle reminder that we have passed another mile marker on the road trip of life. I’m so glad I didn’t miss it, the season or the reminder.

I could complain about the annoyances of growing older, but my time is more productively spent being grateful that I have the opportunity to become old. I have the privilege of plucking gray hairs in the morning because I have lived long enough to earn them. I am so fortunate.

I don’t know exactly what my grandmother thinks about when she sees the leaves changing colors in the fall. I don’t know for certain, but I would imagine that her thoughts are not too different from mine today.

Today the same thoughts race through my mind that I ponder at all annual events including: the first day of school, birthday parties, the day we put up our Christmas tree, the day we take it down and today, the day that the very last leaf falls from my tree and lands in my front yard. I wonder what life will be like one year from now, and I hope that I will be here to find out. It is likely that I still have many years ahead of me, but I know that very little in life is absolutely certain.

I do have this one day though.

There is so much comfort in a life well lived and in being grateful for every moment, every blossom, every glimpse of sunlight, and every single autumn leaf.

The beauty is overwhelming, enough to bring a tear to the eye. I think I will call my grandmother and tell her she was right, even though she already knows.

Melissa Face

Melissa Face lives in southeastern Virginia with her husband and two children. She teaches English, writes essays, and spends a little too much time on Facebook.

Email Melissa at writermsface@yahoo.com.

Advertiser Index The Accessory Cottage...................................................................................................9 Angelo’s Steak & Pasta..................................................................................................11 B. Graham Interiors......................................................................................................13 Barbara’s Fine Gifts.......................................................................................................25 Belk..................................................................................................................................27 Bloomingails..................................................................................................................34 Brookgreen Gardens.....................................................................................................11 Burroughs & Chapin Art Museum..............................................................................7 Butler Lighting...............................................................................................................37 Carolina Car Care.........................................................................................................17 CHD Interiors.................................................................................................................3 The Citizens Bank...........................................................................................................5 Coastal Dance................................................................................................................17 Coastal Luxe...................................................................................................................27 David Grabeman, D.D.S., P.A.....................................................................................17 Details by Three Sisters..................................................................................................7 Doodlebugs....................................................................................................................31 Dr. Sattele’s Rapid Weight Loss & Esthetics Centers............................................35 Easy Fit of the Carolinas..............................................................................................47 Fowler Furniture & Bedding......................................................................................34 Fowler Life Coaching...................................................................................................39 Good Deed Goods........................................................................................................31 Grady’s Jewelers............................................................................................................33 Homespun Crafters Mall.............................................................................................33 Hospice Care of of SC..................................................................................................41 Joggling Board...............................................................................................................41 Kangaroo Pouch............................................................................................................25

Long Bay Symphony....................................................................................................34 Low Country Garden Party........................................................................................43 Making Change Consignment...................................................................................26 Michele Coleman Photography.................................................................................33 Myrtle Beach Singles....................................................................................................16 North Myrtle Beach Woman’s Club..........................................................................10 Palmetto Ace Hardware...............................................................................................31 The Palm Apparel & Shoes..........................................................................................33 Papa John’s Pizza...........................................................................................................34 The Pink Cabana...........................................................................................................24 Pounds Away..................................................................................................................39 Pure Barre.......................................................................................................................39 Rose Arbor Fabrics & Interiors..................................................................................24 Sea Island Trading Co..................................................................................................48 Shades & Draperies........................................................................................................5 The Shelter Pet Project.................................................................................................39 Simply Divine..................................................................................................................5 South Atlantic Bank......................................................................................................40 Studio 77.........................................................................................................................25 Sunset River Marketplace............................................................................................27 Take 2 Resale..................................................................................................................17 Talk of the Town...........................................................................................................10 Taylor’s..............................................................................................................................7 Two Sisters with Southern Charm............................................................................40 WEZV..............................................................................................................................45 Wicker Imports/Island Furniture................................................................................2

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March 2016 1 2 3 4 5 6 13 20 27 5

Princess Gala to benefit The American Red Cross

8:30 am, themed breakfast, parade through the Market Common, red carpet entrance to princess movie, princess or prince costume required.

All inclusive tickets, $30.

For more info or tickets, visit www.princessgala.net.

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Beethoven and Blue Jeans

8 15 22 29

9 16 23 30

7-28

Coastal Kayaking

10 11 12 17 18 19 24 25 26 31 10-12

33rd Annual National Shag Dance Championship Finals

Long Bay Symphony, Myrtle Beach High School Performing Arts Center, 4 pm. For tickets or more info, call 843-448-8379 or visit www.longbaysymphony.com.

Mondays, Huntington Beach State Park, 10am-noon, $35, reservations required. For more info, call 843-235-8755 or visit www.southcarolinaparks.com.

The Spanish Galleon, North Myrtle Beach, Thurs. 8pm, Fri. 7:30pm, Sat.7:30 pm. For more info, visit www.shagnationals.com.

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12-20

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Myrtle Beach Can-Am Days

10 am-4 pm, $40 in advance, $45 the day of the tour, buffet luncheon at Pine Lakes Country Club, tickets, $20. For more info, call 843-238-2510 or visit www.myrtlebeachartmuseum.org.

Annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade and Festival

parade at 9am, festival from 11am4pm, Main St. North Myrtle Beach.

For more info, call 843-280-5570 or visit www.nmbevents.com.

various events. For more info, call 843-912-70276 or visit www.visitmyrtlebeach.com.

Bill Noel discusses Boneyard Beach: A Folly Beach Mystery, 11 am, Pine Lakes Country Club, $25. For more info, call 843-235-9600 or visit www.classatpawleys.com.

18-19

19

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The Art Museum’s Annual Spring Home Tour

69th Annual Prince George Plantation Tours

Georgetown County, 9:30 am-5 pm. $40 each day or $70 both days.

Advance tickets by mail only, 843-545-8291 or www.pgwinyah.com

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7 14 21 28

“Diggin’ It” Spring Garden Festival

Brookgreen Gardens, events throughout the day, free with garden admission. For more info, visit www.brookgreen.org or call 843-235-6000 www.myrtlebeachpresbyterianchurch.org.

Creativity Unleashed

Sunset River Marketplace, Calabash, N.C., 10am -5pm. A full day of live art demonstrations including pottery, painting, pillow-making, fabric dying, marbling, wood-carving and live music! For more info, call 910-575-5999 or visit www.sunsetrivermarketplace.com.

Moveable Feast

Baruch Roundtable: Dinner and Lecture Series

featuring author and scholar, Harlan Greene, 6-8 pm, $75, reservations required. For more info, call 843-546-4623 or visit www.hobcawbarony.org.