Choose Charleston

Charleston’s hep cats and swinging dames are sure to have seen copies of ART Magazine, the latest venture from publisher extraordinaire Olivia Pool, about town.

Ms. Pool, of course, was the driving force behind the late critically acclaimed Domain Magazine and is known to have contributed many a “Special to” piece to the Post & Courier Preview section.

As she is among the most cosmopolitan of Charlestonian cognoscenti, it is only natural that Olivia would be helping to celebrate the 800th anniversary of the birth of the Persian poet Rumi.

The celebration proper, hosted by the Sophia Institute, will be in October but Rumi rejoicers yearning for an early taste of soul can catch a screening of “Rumi: Poet of the Heart” at Charleston County Library on August 14, 7 p.m.

The screening is free, open to the public, and will be a good way to schmooze with the local art and soul minded while grooving to ancient rhymes.

The whole downtown medical district gets a-buzzing when the Roper-St. Francis cafeteria has smoked turkey legs on the lunch menu.

Big juicy smoked turkey leg and some sweet tea - you might as well be walking the midway at the county fair. Not that walking is the thing to do in this kind of heat. Man, that sunshine just pushes you down and makes you say, “Uncle!” And that’s just from crossing the street. Can you imagine what the construction workers are feeling right about now?

On the subject of Roper-St. Francis Healthcare, kudos are due. Health Imaging and IT Magazine recently named RSFH as one of the top 25 connected healthcare facilities.

Accurate information and the ability to access that information in a timely manner are vital to patient care, as we all know, and RSFH is just as pleased as a peach at the way their people consistently keep them on the leading edge, technologically speaking.

Now, everyone go hug someone from hospital IT. They’re the behind-the-scenes heroes keeping the information flowing, after all.

It was busy, busy, busy and hot, hot, hot this weekend.

Waves of heat and an occasional shower hit Folly Beach but that did not dissuade the crowds gathered for the Governor’s Cup of Surfing. The Post & Courier has a nice gallery of images from the event here.

Then, I was out late Saturday night covering the photography chores at a spectacular anniversary party.

Crowds were just beginning to fill in along Market and East Bay by the time I was heading home. Big waves of folks rolling in to party at City Bar, et cetera. It was still hot, even with the sun long gone, but the young folks of Charleston were lined up all the same ready to cut the rug, trip the light fantastic, whatever they’re calling it these days.

Me, I was the old dude lugging camera equipment up the steps of the parking garage, old bones creaking, dogs barking, ready for a few hours sleep.

Though you may not know it / you could be a poet

Only way to find out / is to come out and shout

With a mic in your hand / you’ll be leading the band

So Marjory Wentworth I’m not. Still, my sad poetastry should not dissuade you from schlepping on out to the East Bay Meeting House (159 East Bay Street) clad in your finest black turtleneck and a raspberry beret with a stack of scribbled verse under your arm should you yourself be a finer meter-reader.

Shelly Warters will be on acoustic guitar tonight, Friday, August 3, at 9 p.m. and on Monday, August 6, special guest poet Barbara Presnell will be presenting her finest work.

For more information on this or other Monday Night Blues events, ring Elle Davis at 437-1958 / but don’t call too late / ’cause that wouldn’t be great//

Award-winning food writer Holly Herrick, perhaps best known locally for her work with The Post & Courier, has long been an advocate for local, seasonal food choices - fresh from the farm fare that only travels a few miles down the road from where it was grown to where it is sold at farmers’ markets.

Those interested in hands-on, close up and personal, instruction in the art of orchestrating showstopper meals from ingredients selected at the Charleston Farmers’ Market on Marion Square can now sign up for small (limited to four students) Saturday morning classes with Holly.

Now only do students get a slow walk through the entire process, from choosing the freshest in-season products to top flight cooking techniques, the class culminates in a savory meal complete with wine pairings.

Information on registration for classes is available online or by calling (843) 720-3109.

Every year the list of required school supplies gets longer and, tax holiday or no, that can bring a lot of hardship to low income families.

Come on, Lowcountry - we like to talk the talk about caring for the children of our community and the importance of education, right? Here’s a small something that those of us who are doing a little better can do to help:

Today, August 2, at 4 p.m. Steve Waters, a.k.a. “Steve the Guy” of the 95SX Two Girls and a Guy morning show, will be at the Summerville Publix on Central Avenue collecting school supply donations for local families in need.

Number 2 pencils are always in season. Notebooks? Needed. Paper towels? Probably so.

If you can imagine it, chances are the kids and teachers need it, and it doesn’t have to be much. Just a little something-something, one starfish tossed back in the sea makes a difference, at least to that one starfish, and all that good stuff.

Besides, drop something off and you get to groove with Steve, easily one of the coolest cats in the Lowcountry. Hey, not only does this guy gets to start every morning with Tanya Brown and Brooke Ryan, but he also puts a smile on the faces of a whole lot of folks who are stuck in the slow ooze of local traffic every weekday morning. He makes us laugh, lightens the load just a wee bit at the very start of the day.

Makes you feel better, makes you wanna do something good for someone else, makes you wanna pay that karma forward.

This Saturday and Sunday, August 4-5, the Washout on Folly Beach will once again host the South Carolina Governor’s Cup of Surfing.

That’s two whole days of competition featuring the best of the class from all the way up and down the Easten seaboard. Wahines wade in from the Outer Banks and Menehunes migrate from Myrtle Beach to show their stuff at this top wave event.

Arrive early to catch a good parking spot.

Keep in mind that South Carolina is one of only two states with an official Governor’s Cup dedicated to the sport of surfing (the other is California). Governor Mark Sanford, well known as a champion of coastal and environmental causes, is himself an avid surfer.

So the Governor’s Cup is a point of pride for Sandlappers.

Speaking of which, the summer 2007 issue of Sandlapper: The Magazine of South Carolina features a cool article on the Governor’s Cup and the Folly Beach surf crowd, if you’re interested in some background research before you show up on the beach.

As well, the summer issue of Garden & Gun has an article on the local wahines and the July 2007 Charleston Magazine has an article on Folly Beach in its golden age (check out the sailing adventure by the ever adventurous Ida Becker in the same issue).

Those with a yen for yarn, take heed.

The Charleston Museum is once again offering a workshop on natural dyes for yarns.  On Saturday, August 25, from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Suzanne Collins will give you the skinny on natural dyes, the what and wherefore of fibers, and the basic game plan for putting the two together.

Whether you’re in it for the indigo or whooping for worsted wool, it should be a class to remember.

These workshops sell out faster than Acme delivers to Wile E. Coyote so make sure you get your name in quick (there is also a dye workshop on August 4 but it’s too late, baby, as Carole King would say, for that one).

$25 will get you in the door should you happen to be a museum member and $35 will do the trick if you aren’t.

Register online or by calling (843) 722-2996 ext. 235.

It’s the big two-double-oh for the City Market, one of the top destinations in town for tourists.

To say that Market Street has a storied past is an understatement.

Longtime Charlestonians recall the days when wandering into the Market was a rather dicey proposition. When the chain supermarkets first hit the area, the former go-to place for fresh food withered and went wild with weeds, so to speak. Lots of flies and buzzards circling in the skies are some of the visuals with which oral historians pepper their tales of those days.

Luckily, King Joe and like-minded preservationists were coming into power back then. The Market did an about face in step with the rest of the slightly North of Broad Street area.

Today, it is vibrant and bustling with activity. Everything from artisan sweetgrass baskets to art prints, kitschy t-shirts, candy, and keepsakes are sold in the Market these days.

Market Street is also a good jumping-off point for just about anything else you might choose to do while touring the peninsula.

Wild Wing Cafe and Tristan are just two of the many eateries on Market Street. Charleston Legends and Lore Ghost Theatre is a short walk down Church Street from the Market. The Shops at Charleston Place are just across Meeting Street, FIG and Jestine’s Kitchen are within walking distance, as is King Street shopping.