THURSDAY AT 5 PM
Learn why Big Oil wants to place an unnecessary assault on our pristine coast and why the SC Coastal Conservation League thinks this is a bad idea

Chamber of Commerce Forum on Seismic Testing 
and Off Shore Oil and Gas Drilling 
TCL Auditorium 5:30 PM Thursday




Events in and around Beaufort

Billy Keyserling
 

Today's news leads me to believe 
our President is dead wrong in calling for offshore oil and gas!


January 27, 2015

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE


 

CONSERVATION VOTERS OF SOUTH CAROLINA OPPOSES DRILLING OFF THE SOUTH CAROLINA COAST   


 
COLUMBIA, S.C. - Conservation Voters of South Carolina (CVSC) Executive Director Ann Timberlake issued the following statement in response to today's proposal from the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management to open up the South Atlantic to drilling for oil and gas: "We strongly oppose today's proposal from the Obama Administration to open up our coast to drilling for oil and gas. Drilling is simply not worth the risk to our coastal communities like Georgetown, Charleston, and Beaufort. Tourism supports nearly 79,000 jobs and provides $4.4 billion to our state's economy.  


 
"Industrializing our coastline would not affect energy prices, which are determined by global markets. Oil is not like shrimp, where we can consume what comes out of our water directly.


 
"Offshore drilling for oil and gas would take us down the wrong path. South Carolina is on track to be part of the future of energy, with our landmark solar legislation last year. Offshore drilling would divert us from a clean energy future. 


 
"We urge South Carolinians to contact Governor Haley and their State Senators and Representatives to let them know that our coastline is too special to sacrifice, and we owe it to our children and future generations to protect it." 

Conservation Voters of South Carolina is a nonpartisan, state-wide organization that fights for air, water, and land in South Carolina through political action. 


 
You may want to learn more about the some at risk in or own back yard


 

 Great Whites (whales) Show 

Their Fins in Beaufort County

from  Packet/Gazette

http://www.islandpacket.com/2015/01/23/3553267/great-whites-show-their-fins-near.html

 


Second Helpings
They're everywhere, they're everywhere! 
And yet they remain behind the scenes.

The exclaimer in the title above sounds like a humorous radio gig a decade ago where the Super Hero, Chicken Man, seemed to be everywhere doing one good deed or another. That is what a lot of folks in the greater Beaufort area say about an organization called Second Helpings. They are everywhere!

The question to ask now is "How much good are they doing in our community?"

How about this fact: over 1 million pounds of food are delivered to 38 plus locations in and around Beaufort each year. The two trucks are on the road 7 days a week, zig zaging across northern Beaufort County, rescuing food from local supermarkets and other food suppliers and delivering to food pantries, churches, community centers, and shelters.

The trucks average about 3500-4000 pounds of food each trip. The food is healthy, fresh, and most importantly, needed by the 20,000 customers who visit the drop-off sites for subsistence assistance.

These neighbors of ours are mostly the working poor or adults and children that are in some kind of protective care. When seasonal migrant workers arrive in the area every spring to help with the produce harvest, they come with not much more than the basics in clothing. The Franciscan Center director, Sister Canice, says when they first arrive they are in need of "survival food support" and the center located on St Helena ensures it is given, but it would not be possible without the 80 volunteers that work the Second Helpings trucks and help at the local agencies.

Second Helpings is headquartered in the HHI/ Bluffton area where similar programs and work is being done. Maureen Korzik, the Executive Director of the program, cites affiliation with the national program that is endorsed by another national effort called Feeding America. You can visit You Tube- Feeding America to view short 3-4 minute videos and see what their program goals are for the nation.

How does an organization like Second Helpings stay afloat, pay for the truck operation, a small office staff, and the myriad of responsibilities good 501C non-profit organizations must employ to remain effective? Supermarket chains like Publix, Walmart, Sam's Club, Food Lion, Bi Lo, Kroger and Harris Teeter, keep the surplus food coming. Major donors like the Community Foundation of the Lowcountry, United Way, and the Beaufort Fund, churches and individual donations are generous in their support.

Annual fund raisers and countless efforts to include hotdog sales, canned goods collections, and more are also valuable. The back bone of the organization really is the volunteers. Men and women who are helping with the food distribution program, while others donate their time and talent helping with fund raising events, administrative tasks, advisory board duties, marketing efforts, and more. Many of the volunteers have been serving 10,11,12,13 years. Some "retire" a second time and so the need for more help is constant. The local Volunteer Coordinator, Cesar Garcia, can be contacted at 843-441-4601.

So the next time you see the Second Helpings truck on the road, at some of the stops like Help of Beaufort, Our Ladies Pantry, The Franciscan Center, CAPA, local churches, and at local events like the recent Jaycees Oyster Roast, think, Oh yes, They are EVERYWHERE, and that could not happen without the continuous support of volunteers.

This story was submitted by Compassionate Beaufort Communities (on Facebook or at cbs-sc.org) an organization that seeks to tell the stories of kindness and compassion that make up the fabric of our Beaufort area community.

Noel Tillman
Compassionate Beaufort Communities









The still lifes of Casa Huger Bacot are not so still. 

Instead, they have the vibrancy of Matisse and the welcoming appeal of a fresh table cloth stealing the show from the feast. This is an exhibition of watercolors at the hand of an artist who understands shape and movement, and who knows how to recognize and enjoy splendor.

 

 

Bacot moved to Lady's Island in 2014, after visiting the area many times. Her grandmother was a Charleston Huger (pronounced you-gee) and her mother was a sculptor: "When I was growing up, she was always doing something. I saw her working everyday, and she always said that I'd be an artist- so I didn't have any choice." Now her daughter is an artist and designer as well.

 

Bacot was born in New York, NY but grew up in Richmond, VA. She was educated at the University of Richmond Painting Department, Virginia Commonwealth University painting and prinmaking department. She studied with Archie Rand and Louise Fishman, both well known international artists. She worked in Harvey Littletons Studio, printmaking on glass. She also studied lithography and monoprints at Penland in Spruce Pine, N.C. She has been in one-woman shows, and juried shows up and down the east coast including many shows at the Virginia Museum and fellowships at the Vermont Studio Center. Her work is in many private and public collections in Virginia including North American Corporation the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond Collection and Bell Atlantic: casabacotpaintings.com for more information.

 

The public is invited to an opening reception on Friday, February 27 from 5:30-9pm, and the show runs through March 14. The Charles Street Gallery is an established source for Lowcountry and international art, presented within a carefully renovated house surrounded by a lush garden in the middle of Beaufort's historic district. 843-521-9054, http://www.thecharlesstreetgallery.com, 914 Charles Street 29902.


Who Says A Blizzard in New York City Cannot be Fun?
Anna Cassaro made the best of it and apparently had a good time.