Mobile Home Sales in North Santee, SC

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Sustainability, climate-smart crops, variety and quality evaluation, harvest tips and more are on the agenda for the 43^rd South Carolina Peanut Growers meeting.

The meeting is slated for Jan. 26, 2023, at the Santee Conference Center, 1737 Bass Drive, Santee, South Carolina, 29142. Registration is scheduled to begin at 8:30 a.m. The meeting opens with a welcome from Richard Rentz, chairman of the South Carolina Peanut Board, at 9:40 a.m.

The morning session includes a peanut market update from Dell Cotton, manager of the Peanut Growers Cooperative Marketing Association, and a peanut variety and quality evaluation by Maria Balota, an Extension specialist from Virginia Tech University. David Jordan, professor of crop science and Extension specialist from North Carolina State University will talk about research results from North Carolina. Warren White and Josey Peele of Amadas Industries will discuss principles of peanut harvest. Kendall Kirk, Clemson precision agriculture engineer, will give an update on precision agriculture in peanut research.

The morning session ends with an update from South Carolina Commissioner of Agriculture Hugh Weathers.

Following lunch, Eric Coronel, sustainability director for the American Peanut Council will talk about peanut sustainability in the United States. Richard Owen, president and chief executive officer of the American Peanut Council will give updates from the American Peanut Council and the American Peanut Research and Education Society. Bob Parker, president and chief executive officer of the National Peanut Board, will give an update from the Board and Nathan Smith, Clemson Extension economist, with give a market outlook for 2023. Dan Anco, Clemson Extension peanut specialist, will talk about how to tell when runner peanuts have reached maturity.

Also during the afternoon session, Anco will provide information about the Clemson University/South Carolina State University Climate-Smart Commodities project. This project provides incentives to South Carolina farmers, enabling them to implement selected climate-smart production practices.

Peanut yield contest awards will be announced during lunch. Prize drawings will be held immediately following lunch before the afternoon session starts. Prizes this year include a $5,000 voucher to be used towards a piece of equipment or parts. Growers must visit the

Kelley Manufacturing Company booth for entry and be certified as a peanut grower with a Farm Service Agency farm number.

Grand prize from Amadas is the use of a new 4-row or 6-row Amadas peanut digger/inverter for the 2023 harvest season or $10,000 towards the purchase of a new Amadas self-propelled peanut combine or $5,000 towards the purchase of a new Amadas 4-row or 6-row pull-type peanut combine. To be eligible, growers must be 2022 commercial peanut growers who intend to plant peanuts in 2023. Growers must be present to win.

Continuing education and pesticide credits will be available, as will newly updated copies of the

Peanut Money-Maker 2023 Production Guide. For more information contact Dan Anco, Clemson Extension peanut specialist at (630) 207-4926 (cell) or email, danco@clemson.edu.

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With the upcoming annual Francis Marion Memorial Day on Monday, February 27, I thought he would be a most appropriate topic for this bit of history.

Events marching toward a Declaration of Independence, the thoughts and actions of colonialists were being undertaken and pursued in each of the thirteen colonies. These leaders were numerous, but none was more picturesque than Francis Marion of Berkeley County.

As I’ve mentioned before, Francis Marion’s ancestors were Huguenots driven from France by the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, and came to Carolina in 1685. His grandparents were Benjamin and Judith Baluet Marion, and Anthony and Esther Baluet Cordes. They settled in the Goose Creek district. (We would know it today as Crowfield Plantation.) Three children were the offspring of Benjamin and Judith Marion — Esther, Gabriel, and Benjamin.

Gabriel Marion married Esther Cordes and lived in St. John’s Parish at Chachan, on the west branch of the Cooper River. (Today we know it as the western side of Cordesville.) They were both first-generation Carolinians. Gabriel and Esther had six children — Esther, Isaac, Gabriel II, Benjamin, Job, and Francis.

Some folks, especially from the Georgetown area, have placed the birthplace of Francis Marion at Georgetown. And who wouldn’t want to claim him as a native son? But evidence is sufficiently clear to conclude that Francis was born in midwinter of 1732 at Goatfield Plantation in St. John’s Parish, Berkeley County.

Francis was a puny child. Peter Horry said, “I have it from good authority, that this great soldier, at his birth, was not larger than a New England lobster, and might easily enough have been put into a quart pot.” In spite of his scrawny body and poor health, he had a happy childhood.

When Francis was five or six years old, his parents moved from Goatfield to a plantation in Prince George, a parish on Winyah Bay. Apparently, they wished to get near the English school in Georgetown, for they had drifted from their French traditions and were determined to provide all their children with a common school education.

After Francis’s terrible, life-threatening voyage as a seaman at the age of about fifteen, he gave up this notion and became content with farming, even though by the time he had reached home, he was in much better health. He settled down with his parents. It wasn’t very long before he was their mainstay, as his sister and brothers had begun to marry and move away.

After Francis’s father’s death in 1750, he followed Job and brother Gabriel back to St. John’s Berkeley Parish, assuming the care of his mother.

Francis Marion began his military career just before his twenty-fifth birthday. In the latter stages of the French and Indian War, the Cherokees along the border of South Carolina began threatening hostilities, and Govern Lyttleton expanded his armed forces. When Captain John Postell, Jr. began recruiting a company of Provincials among the Huguenots, the Marion brothers were stirred by patriotic fervor. On 31 January 1756, Gabriel and Francis joined the militia company of Upper St. John’s.

Approximately twelve years difference in years, they were now the closest of the Marion brothers, partners in farming, in hunting and fishing, and in attending the musters and drills of the militia. When the Cherokee War finally broke out in 1759, they were veteran militiamen. Both offered their services to the province. After receiving a commission as Captain, Gabriel recruited a troop of cavalry in St. John’s. Francis enlisted and served under him. But neither saw active duty. Captain Gabriel Marion’s cavalry was disbanded as soon as Governor Lyttleton had concluded a treaty with the Indians.

After their demobilization, the brothers separated. Gabriel had married well, his wife Catherine, had been given Belle Isle, a fertile plantation in St. Stephen’s Parish, as a wedding present from her father, and was now with a growing family to support. Francis moved up the Santee to live near his brother Job. He had scarcely settled in before the Cherokees again rose and spread terror along the frontier.

Whatever Francis did or saw during the Cherokee War of 1759 to 1761, he came away from the experience with a profound distaste for the cycle of vengeance that is set off when one side’s atrocity is met with barbarism from the other. He also witnessed, firsthand, the ambush and hit-and-run style of warfare that would serve him so well when fighting the British and their Tory allies in the American Revolution.

Not much is recorded during the next decade, or “lost” years of Francis’s life. In 1767, he acquired 350 acres of land in Berkeley County adjoining that of his brother Job. The following year he was granted and conveyed another 450-acre tract in Santee River Swamp. By this time, he was the only Marion brother yet to marry . . . and I might add . . . marry well!

By 1773, Francis was able to purchase a Santee River plantation called Pond Bluff, though only a relatively small, two-hundred acre tract further upriver in St. John’s Parish. This tract was about four miles east of present-day Eutawville and not far from Thomas Sumter’s plantation.

On the morning of 19 April 1775, British redcoats fired upon a group of outnumbered patriot militia at Lexington Commons in Massachusetts. Later that day, the Minute Men responded by inflicting major damage on the British at Concord’s North Bridge. Emerson would describe it as the “shot heard round the world.” For Francis Marion, his “comfortable” days were over.

Celebrating Francis Marion’s life at eleven o’clock a.m. on the 27th of February every year at Belle Isle Plantation’s family cemetery has been tradition for many years, sponsored by Gen. Marion’s Brigade Chapter, of Daughters of the American Revolution (and Col. Hezekiah Maham’s Chapter, Sons of the American Revolution, for the past eight), along with family, friends, and students of the General. He has been called the “Washington of the South.” And rightly so!

One historian writes of Francis Marion, “His fame will live forever in the history of our country as a man of high ideals, a brave and hardy soldier, a beloved commander, and a man who did most valiant service for his country under the most trying of conditions.” It is indeed our responsibility to keep this history alive!

Marion is honored nationwide, but particularly in South Carolina, where he was, and is, familiarly known as the Swamp Fox. After galloping over a twenty-six-mile chase through the woods and swamps of Black River to no avail, Lt. Col. Banastre Tarleton stated in despair, “Come on boys, let us go back, and we will soon find the Gamecock (Gen. Thomas Sumter, another Patriot partisan leader), but as for this damned old Fox, the devil himself could not catch him.”

We invite you to join us at the gravesite for the Francis Marion Memorial Service, with a flyover at promptly 11 a.m. by the SCANG 169th Swamp-Fox F-16 Fighter Wing, the South Carolina Battleground Trust Artillery, with the Washington Light Infantry Color Guard presenting, the National Anthem by Ruth McDaniels, then a Wreath Laying Ceremony by DAR and SAR, and this year’s guest speaker, Michael Heitzler. Following closing remarks and Retiring of the Colors, a BBQ lunch will be available ($10 donation/pay at the church) afterwards at the Belle Isle Presbyterian Church Social Hall, two miles west of Belle Isle gravesite. Hope to see you there. Keith Gourdin

Resources:

-A Sketch of the Life of Brig. Gen. Francis Marion, by William Dobein James

-Swamp Fox, The Life and Campaigns of General Francis Marion, by Robert D. Bass

-The Swamp Fox, by John Oller, and

-The General’s Brothers and Their Families, by Keith Gourdin

A legislative panel is questioning why Santee Cooper’s largest customer is taking legal actions that, in a worst-case scenario, could create more financial hardships for the state-owned utility that could require a bailout.

The 20-member Central Electric Power Cooperative has been trying in court to block Santee Cooper from recouping from customers the unbudgeted $450 million it has had to spend on fuel after coal and natural gas prices spiked unexpectedly over the past year.

“This is about the entire state, not just a certain group of ratepayers,” said Sen. Nikki Setzler, D-West Columbia, chairman of the Joint Bond Review fiscal oversight subcommittee.

Moncks Corner-based Santee Cooper has been forced to purchase fuel for its generators at skyrocketing rates after an August 2021 fire crippled a mine owned by Foresight Energy, its largest coal provider. The war in Ukraine has made the situation worse.

Santee Cooper can’t pass on those costs to customers because it is under a rate freeze as part of a lawsuit settlement. The agreement prohibits it from raising rates through December 2024, but the utility can ask for permission to collect the money retroactively.

Central is objecting to Santee Cooper’s efforts to claim exceptions to the settlement, which was struck after the expansion of the V.C. Summer Nuclear Station was halted in 2017. The group, which represents 20 independent electric providers around the state, also has requested an audit.

The judge overseeing the case, for now, has ruled in favor of Santee Cooper in an order handed down this week, said Ken Lott, the utility’s finance chief.

But should Central prevail later and Santee Cooper is blocked from recouping its fuel expenses, Lott said that it “will have a significant impact on Santee Cooper moving forward.”

He added that both sides are working to find a “mutually beneficial framework,” but Setzler voiced skepticism Tuesday about the negotiations. He pointed to Central’s recent decision to opt out of a plan to work with Santee Cooper to replace coal-fired units at the Winyah plant in Georgetown County with a natural gas generator.

“It may be time we talk to Central and hear from Central in this sub-committee where they are and if they understand what impact the decisions they are making have on us,” he said during a Sept. 27 meeting.

Setzler called Santee Cooper’s financial situation “concerning,” he said.

“Worst-case scenario, you get ruled against, and conceivably Santee Cooper could become insolvent. ... Or the state would have to find a way to infuse some money into Santee Cooper, which all would benefit customers of one entity to the detriment of citizens of South Carolina,” he said.

Committee members agreed that their next meeting would include a question-and-answer session with Central Electric officials.

“With all the heads I see shaking, we will plan on that occurring,” Setzler said.

In a written statement late Tuesday, Central CEO Rob Hochstetler said his group bowed out of the Winyah gas plant plan because it “believed, after extensive study, had a significant amount of pipeline risk and did not offer cooperative members the power supply flexibility we need.”

“We remain open to other options that Santee Cooper may propose and are looking at all options available to provide the best value for our members,” he said.

Hochstetler added that Central has been trying to protect the small co-ops it represents by making sure that the rate-freeze exceptions that Santee Cooper is looking to claim to recover its fuel costs “are appropriate in light of that agreement.”

“We raised concerns and asked questions as thorough due diligence would require and, as indicated in testimony by Santee Cooper today, remain in discussions with them about how to reach an agreement that works for all parties involved,” he said.

Santee Cooper isn’t the only power provider coping with soaring fuel bills. Duke Energy is seeking to recover $145 million in unanticipated expenses from its South Carolina customers. And Dominion Energy filed for a rate increase in March to collect $142 million from its Palmetto State ratepayers.

During a day trip to Old Santee Canal Park in Moncks Corner, north of Charleston, it’s not difficult to imagine life in the Lowcountry as it was 200 years ago: A swampy creek bordered by cypress trees, alligators cruising through black water, egrets wading in the shallows, and frogs croaking from behind a curtain of rustling marsh grass.

All that is missing is a long, slender wooden flatboat filled with barrels of molasses, sacks of cornmeal and bales of cotton, being poled along toward the spires of the city of Charleston in the distance.

Old Santee Canal Park in Moncks Corner preserves 195 acres surrounding Biggin Creek, a swampy waterway that was once the site of America’s first summit-level canal that was an engineering marvel of its day.

Backed by business leaders and some of the most famous names in colonial South Carolina — including Revolutionary War generals such as William Moultrie, Francis Marion and Thomas Sumter, and eminent figures such as John Rutledge, signer of the U.S. Constitution — the Santee Canal was an ambitious project. The canal, stretching 22 miles connected the Cooper River in Charleston with the Santee River and opened a waterway of trade to Columbia and the heart of the Carolinas.

Begun in 1793, under the direction of Lt. Col. Christian Senf, a Swedish or Danish-born engineer who had saved with the patriot army, the Santee Canal took nearly a decade to build and at its height employed over 1,000 laborers, many of whom were indentured slaves. The canal used a series of locks, built of hand-made brick, to raise and lower flatboats over a 35-foot elevation change between the Santee and Cooper rivers.

Farmers and traders from the midlands to the mountains could more easily sell their goods in Charleston, and merchants there could ship their wares far inland. Despite its success, the Santee Canal was soon overtaken by railroads and this new technology rendered it obsolete.

A section of the Santee Canal is preserved at Old Santee Canal Park in Moncks Corner, and when you visit today, you will be fascinated by the unique history, and amazed at the natural beauty of the park. When you arrive you will encounter the 11,000-square-foot interpretive center, the entrance to which is a replica of an old canal lock.

Inside, the well-maintained building houses a museum outlining the history of the canal, the technology behind its construction and the cultural impact of its success. The natural world is celebrated, too, as a giant live oak highlights the oak bluff ecosystem surrounding the park, and live examples of Lowcountry wildlife can be viewed.

There are guided tours, educational programs and special events held year-round that make Old Santee Canal Park a facet of culture that benefits young and old alike.

Outside, more than four miles of boardwalks and trails crisscross Biggin Creek and the swampy canal trace. Wildlife abounds and can be easily seen from well-sited viewing areas.

Canoes and kayaks are available to explore the waterway, too. While watercraft speed by in the nearby Tailrace Canal, life in Old Santee Canal Park remains a quiet oasis where nature and history can be explored together. This history also includes nearby Stony Landing and the 1843 plantation house that still sits high on the bluff over the river it once served.

Here was a hub of trade from colonial times and during the Civil War it became known for another important role: The small semisubmersible “Little David” was built, and armed with a torpedo, was sent against the Union fleet blockading Charleston. There it successfully damaged a Union ironclad and made history.

A replica of the “Little David” can be seen on the grounds of Old Santee Canal Park at the Berkeley County Museum, and inside the park’s interpretive center.

For a day of adventure through history, a glimpse at a fascinating technology of the past, and a walk on the wild side, Old Santee Canal Park in Moncks Corner is well-worth a visit.

Old Santee Canal Park in Moncks Corner in Berkeley County is located at 900 Stoney Landing Road., is just under two hours from the Beaufort area and very easy to find.

Take U.S. 17 toward Charleston to Ravenel and turn left onto S.C. 165. Take 165 to Summerville and take a right onto U.S. 17A toward Moncks Corner. In Moncks Corner, turn right onto Mountain Pine Road and turn left at U.S. 52. Follow the signs to Old Santee Canal Park and turn right onto Stoney Landing Road.

Old Santee Canal Park is open year-round from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is $5 per person, $3 for seniors and children under 6 free. Guided tours and group rates are available and there are numerous educational and cultural programs throughout the year.

For more information on Old Santee Canal Park, call 843-899-5200 or visit https://www.oldsanteecanalpark.org

This story was originally published September 5, 2022, 5:00 AM.

CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCBD) – Grab a cup of hot chocolate and turn the Christmas tunes on the radio – there are several options for checking out Christmas lights beyond your neighborhood.

Enjoy a night with friends and family as you drive through bright shining lights on display in Moncks Corner, North Charleston, Cottageville, and the largest drive-thru holiday light event at James Island County Park.

Holiday Festival of Lights – James Island County Park871 Riverland Dr, Charleston

A trip to the Holiday Festival of Lights at James Island County Park is a Christmas-time tradition filled with thousands of dazzling lights and displays.

Guests are invited to drive along a three-mile stretch lined with more than 700 light displays each night through December 31. A stop at Winter Wonderland – about halfway through the drive – gives you an opportunity to stretch your legs and view the area’s largest holiday sand sculpture.

You can view shops, search for gifts, or enjoy sweet treats or a cup of hot chocolate. Hop on a train ride for a fun look at light displays or take a stroll through the Enchanted Walking Trail for a fun look at nature-themed light displays.

Santa Claus will meet children each night from November 21 – December 23. Plus, enjoy an array of large greeting cards decorated by students from across the Charleston area.

Ticket prices on a regular night will cost $15 per vehicle if purchased online at HolidayFestivalofLights.com or $20 at the gate. Peak night prices increase to $25 per vehicle online and $30 at the gate.

The 33rd Annual Holiday Festival of Lights is open every evening from November 11 through December 31 from 5:30 p.m. until 10:00 p.m.

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The Lights at Park Circle4800 Park Circle, North Charleston

Pack up the car and take a drive or go for a relaxing stroll around North Charleston’s Park Circle to see dozens of Christmas light displays.

Trees, lights, and displays will be shining bright around the circle at the Felix C. Davis Community Center.

City leaders say the lights will shine until New Year’s Day. There is no fee to enjoy the lights.

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Bee City Zoo’s Christmas Wonderland of Lights1066 Holly Ridge Ln. Cottageville, SC 29435

On select nights in November and December, guests can enjoy a combination of animals and Christmas lights at Bee City Zoo’s Christmas Wonderland of Lights festival.

Santa Claus will make a special appearance during some nights of the event for a photo opportunity.

Those attending can also attend an ‘Australian Walkabout’ which is included in the price of admission. And for some additional costs, you can enjoy roasting s’mores, ornament decorating, grabbing a cup of hot chocolate, or feeding animals during the festival.

Admission is $12 or you can purchase a combo pass which includes day access to the zoo and entry to the lights at $20. Click here to learn more.

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Holiday Lights Driving Tour – Old Santee Canal Park900 Stoney Landing Rd, Moncks Corner

Celebrate the season with family and friends on a driving tour filled with sparkling Christmas lights and displays at Old Santee Canal Park powered by Santee Cooper.

The event runs each night from 6:00 p.m. until 9:00 p.m. from November 25 – December 30. It will be closed on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

Admission to the event is $5 per vehicle. Proceeds benefit local charities.

Guests will enter the Holiday Lights Driving Tour at 1 Riverwood Drive in Moncks Corner.

“The beautiful LED lighting displays are powered by 100% Santee Cooper Green Power, which is Green-e Energy certified and meets the environmental and consumer-protection standards set forth by the nonprofit Center for Resource Solutions,” organizers said.

Santee Cooper is also inviting guests to attend its two-night event ‘Holiday in the Park’ on November 24 and 25. You’ll have the chance to meet Santa Claus, enjoy crafts, roast marshmallows, and sample some seasonal foods.

“This event is included with admission to Holiday Lights Driving Tour, which runs through Dec. 30, so you can start your holiday season early at this fun-filled meetup,” said organizers.

To learn more or purchase tickets online, please click here.

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Cougar Night Lights – The College of CharlestonNear the corner of George and St. Philip Streets

A holiday tradition that brings a fun and dazzling light show to the College of Charleston’s Cistern Yard and Randolph Hall will light up with the spirit of the season each night, offering a holiday light show featuring festive music and visual performances each half-hour from 6:00 p.m. until 9:00 p.m.

The display will be open to the public beginning December 1 through January 2. It is free to view and this year’s show will include new music and lighting displays.

Visitors can find the Cistern Yard at the corner of George and St. Philip Streets. Public parking garages are available at two nearby locations – the George Street Garage and the St. Philip Street Garage.

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Did we miss something? Email us with details about a local Christmas light show.