December 14, 2015

Ridge Spring News

Harriet Householder

Mt. Calvary Lutheran Church is planning a Christmas Youth Night this Friday December 18^th from 5:00 to 10:30PM. All youth from grades 6^th to 12^th are invited to a night of fun and fellowship.  RSVP to Sara at 803.215.9798

Saturday was also Customer Appreciation Day at five of the shops.  Harriet’s Garden was on the street in front of what used to be Gregory’s Store.  That really dates me.  Cokes and peanuts were served to customers

Haley{Bee} Pop-Up Boutique is located at 401 E. Main St. in Ridge Spring (The Cumbee Place) The shop is open Monday through Friday from 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM (Closed Wednesday), Saturday from 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM and  closed Sunday.  She has women’s and men’s clothing with accessories and home goods. I even found a Christmas present for our daughter, granddaughter and me. 

Off the Beaten Path: If you are looking for that special gift for Christmas, come by and take a look at all the unique items we have to offer. Open daily from 10-5 except Wednesdays and Sundays.

Cookies and pictures with Santa: December 21 3:00-5:00 PM at The Gables Inn and Gardens in Ward $10 per child Pictures by Brittany Steele Waters

The Gables Inn and Gardens in Ward is hosting a New Year's Eve Gala December 31^st from 8:00 to 12:00 PM.  Music, dancing, food, and friends make for a great evening. Individual-$35, Couples-$55, and Families-$60.  Tickets can be purchased by calling 803-685-0099 or pick up at Off the Beaten Path in Ridge Spring.

Spann United Methodist Church will hold its annual Christmas Eve service Thursday, December 24.  The program will begin at 5:30 with the decorating of the church.  The service will start at 6:00 and will include songs of the season and a Christmas message by Pastor John Kneece.  The church will be collecting peanut butter for Johnston Food Bank. All are welcome.  For more information - 803-430-1314.

Olde Treasures would like to send a huge shout out to all of great customers who came by Saturday during our Customer Appreciation Day.  To  those of you who didn't make it but support us with your business all year round we appreciate you too.
True to our word the Shoppes on Main Street pooled together and gave away two $50 Visa Gift Cards. The shoppes involved are Harriet's Garden Shop, Off the Beaten Path, Olde Treasures, Ridge Antiques and Dry Goods and The Nut House.  Merry Christmas to everyone and thank you for a good 2015...

Saturday was the last day for Primitives at the Ridge.  We have certainly appreciated what they added to our town and they will be missed.

The Historic Lorick Plantation House (Lake Murray Visitor Center) stepped back in time to Christmas season 1840 for our Annual Holiday Open House. Area Garden Clubs and volunteers - including the Saluda Garden Club transform the Visitor Center into a Christmas haven with period decorations, including live and dried plant materials and this year the theme is The Scents of the Season. Vendors included Juniper Restaurant.  Local artists included our local lady Joanne Crouch.

We had a wonderful time at Brandon Velie’s cooking class Saturday and the class included Sangria, White Bean And Pasta Soup, Pork chops, Grits andflash fried collards, with dessert being cheesecake.  He uses as many locally gwotn items.  They included pecans from the Nut House, goat cheese from Trail Ridge Farms, collards from WP Rawl Farms, honey from George and Virginia Raborn, milk from Hickory Hill Farms, and grits from Adluh in Columbia.  He used Palmetto sweet onions, too.   The food that he prepared was delicious.  I wonder if I might cook any of it. Juniper will be closed from December 21 through the 27^th. 

The Green Thumb Garden Club with the help of the Ridge Garden Club and many friends did it again.  The tour of homes was wonderful and the cakes were perfect and served at the Joe Cal and Betty Watson House that is beside the Ridge Spring United Methodist Church.  The homes of John and Noal Burger, Kevin and Marie Taylor, and Gene Ray and Sue Fulmer were decorated so uniquely beautiful.  The two churches were just perfect.  Thank you to so many who were able to make a successful tour for us all.

2016 Baseball/Softball season is coming soon.  Registration dates are every Saturday in January from 9:00 to 1:00 PM at the RSM Little League Ballpark, 217 Musketeers Rd. Monetta, SC.  There will be T-Ball, Coaches Pitch, Minors, Ozone, and Pony League.

If you have any questions or concerns regarding registration please contact Leslie Long at 803.687.0857 or Ashley Bradley at 803.645.1433.

Leonard Bell will be at the Ridge Spring Town Square selling fresh produce on December 12^th and 19^th with January 31 being his last day until June.

RIDGE SPRING UNITED METHODIST CHURCH: Big Red Box

The month of December the BRB goes to the Helpful Hands ministry for use in their food bank. Approximately 200+ families use this food bank. Thank you again BRB Angles. ( the empty bags are on the porch) It’s not too late to contribute to the BRB for December. Leave your donations on the porch of either the Church or FLC and a church member will make sure it finds its way into the Box.

Face Book: RSUMC has a Face Book page. Visit us and see what’s going on.

Services: Unless otherwise noted, service at RSUMC is at 11 a.m. every Sunday.

Book Review from David Marshall James:  "Dollbaby" by Laura Lane McNeal--Visits to Grandma are part and parcel of summertime, but what if you're twelve years old and have never met her, because you live on the other side of the USA, and your mother can't stand her, and Grandma's feelings toward her daughter-in-law are mutual?

   Thus, young Ibby Bell lands on the doorstep of Granny Fannie's seen-better-days manse on Prytania Street, way uptown in New Orleans, almost to the Audubon Zoo. You can even hear the tigers growling at night, as if there weren't enough catfights back on Prytania.

   Fanny is not your typical, gingerbread-baking kind of granny, even if this is 1964.  It is, however, New Orleans, and Fannie likes to smoke, to toss back a few toddies, and to play the horses. Give her something to bet on-- be it an All Star game or Wimbledon-- and Fannie's in hog heaven.

   She has hardly been alone since her son, Ibby's father, eloped, yet she has been long-widowed. Queenie, who came with the house following the death of her previous employer, prepares meals of fresh sea delicacies to rival the fare at Antoine's restaurant in the Vieux Carre.

   Meanwhile, her daughter, Doll, sews all of Fannie's clothes, plus Ibby's, now that she's come to stay. Above all, Queenie and Doll tend to "Miss Fannie," whose personal history runs to enough volumes to warrant its own course at nearby Tulane University. 

   First-time novelist Laura Lane McNeal does mighty fine by her characters, her setting, and especially her plot, which marches forward like a fifty-piece band in a Mardi Gras parade, complete with be-tasseled majorettes.

   Naturally, the progress of Civil Rights figures into the proceedings, as Ibby progresses from Catholic school to Tulane, yet this is a character-driven novel, and Miss Fannie is steering it, as if she were out on one of her joyrides in her red Lincoln convertible.

   Fraught with joys and sorrows, this novel may inspire you to throw on a bunch of Mardi Gras beads and crank up the nearest Oldies station.  As Queenie remarks, "You got to dance even when there ain't no music.  Especially when there ain't no music."

Reminders:

Ridge Spring Library hours: Mon/Tues 8:30 am - 12 pm; Wednesday 9:00 to 4:30, Thurs 8:30 am - 12:00 pm; Fri 8:30 am -4:30 pm, Saturday from 9:00 until noon,

Every 2^nd & 4^th Monday:  Kids' Corner Story Time 10:30-11:30 a.m., at the Ridge Spring Library. 

Every 2^nd Monday:  RSM Elem PTO meets at 6:30 pm in the media center. 

Every Friday & Saturday:  AARS hours 10 – 4 or by appt, free admission