December 11, 2017

Ridge Spring News

Harriet Householder

Thank you all for enjoying the town, the Christmas Open House by the Shoppes of Ridge Spring and the Tour of Homes sponsored by the Green Thumb Garden Club.  Isn't December fun?

Ridge Spring Town Hall:

 We hope everyone is doing well and getting ready for Christmas. We have been extremely busy here at Town Hall and that is a really good thing. I am sending this message out to all our committee members to let you know what we have been so busy doing and what we have coming up. 

1. All the hard work has paid off and Security Federal Bank is excited about being a part of our community. They are hoping to get started started in January by coming here to Town Hall and helping people change their accounts over. They understand how cumbersome this can be and they know how important it is to make this transition as smooth as possible. Its really great to see a bank that speaks small town values and they consider this effort a unique opportunity and a learning experience for them, because as you know the trend is banks leaving small towns not coming to them. Security federal considers this an opportunity to merge old traditions and new style banking together and this is exciting for us and for them. So make sure you pass the word along to all your friends colleges, church groups to support Security Federal and by doing this they will be supporting the town, and our communities. 

2. We have secured Alison South Marketing Group to help us brand our town. This is to maximize our marketing effort and bring everything together in a very cohesive way, to help bring awareness about Ridge Spring to our surrounding area and beyond. This is one of the towns ways of investing in our businesses, our town, and community. We will be meeting with Alison South Monday at 2:00 here at town hall to discuss phase 1 of this project. If you would like to attend please come. 

3. As you see we have our Christmas Decorations up and we made the light pole wraps ourselves, thank you Donna Lybrand for helping us out with making the lighted ribbon!! Also the tree in the gazebo we have named the community tree and we would like the community to be the one to decorate it. Personalized ornaments that represent your family and business or a loved one is what we would love to have added to it. The ornaments will be put back on the tree year after year. So again pass the word along.

4. We have also implemented a 2% hospitality tax on prepared foods here in Ridge Spring. These funds will be used for town improvements and the efforts of the committees.

5. The Civic Center has been rented on a permanent basis by an Auction house. We did this because in the past renting the Civic Center out has not proven to be very profitable and it has been a bit of a hardship to keep it up. This way it has started producing the funds we will need to keep it up. Also our hopes for the Auction is to eventually bring more people to Ridge Spring. Its open Every Thursday at 6:00  and Sunday starting at  2:00.

6. I know some of you have not met yet and that is because we needed to get some of the other committees started before we got into things like looking for grants and finding partners to help us with our efforts. After the holidays we will resume our meetings and increase our effort. For those of you that were on the Civic Center Committee as you see that took its own direction. We still need you! so we would love for you to become part of one of the other committees just let us know if you are willing to do this and which one you would like to be apart of. I am attaching the committee list for you to review.    

 We, here at Town Hall, hope you all have a Very Merry Christmas and A Happy and Safe New Year!!! Also remember if you have Ideas or comments we want to hear from you.

RIDGE SPRING UNITED METHODIST CHURCH: During the month of November, Ridge Spring United Methodist Church, RSUMC, adopted a family through the Palmetto Project’s Families Helping Families. Our family of 5 ranged in age from 10 months to 24 years old. Presents were bought (from a suggested list), wrapped, placed in and beside the Big Red Box, BRB and were delivered last week to the warehouse in Columbia. Much fun was had as we traded stories of finding just the article of clothing or toy. We are glad to be a part of this worthwhile project. We ask for a family in our zip code so we can help those in our community. If you are interested in finding out more visit palmettoproject.org.

 The Church is decorated for the Advent and Christmas season. Visit us and see the lovely windows, Advent wreath and tree. The outside of the Church and Family Life Center has bright red bows and wreaths to welcome in the Season.

 The Church Outreach/Mission committee met to plan activities and events for 2018. Watch this column and others for information regarding these and how you can participate.

 RSUMC will have regular Church Service December 24, 2017 at 11 a.m. This is Christmas Eve.

RSUMC will NOT have Church Service December 31, 2017, this is 5^th Sunday and New Year’s Eve.

Spann Church in Ward will have regular worship service at 9:45 on Christmas Eve.  At 5:30 children will decorate a Christmas tree.  The traditional Christmas Eve night time service will begin at 6:00.  It will include songs of the season and a Christmas meditation and special music by Pastor Ashley.  For more information call 803-430-1314.

The Ridge Spring and Ward Christmas Tour of 2017 was another successful and delightful event. People came from Aiken, Augusta, Columbia, Winnsboro and all the surrounding areas.  The Green Thumb Garden Club wishes to thank the Ridge Garden Club, all volunteers, and visitors.  Our gratitude to Daisy Rutland, Rosalyn Presley and the Gables Inn and Gardens for showing their beautiful and tastefully decorated homes is most appreciative.  The Churches were spruced and a big event.
A special thanks to Pastor Charles and Joye Bodie and the members of Ward Baptist Church for their support in hosting the refreshments and fellowship area.

Juniper will be closed for Christmas December 21-26th reopening for our regular hours on Thursday the 28th

Ridge Spring Auctions will be at the Civic Center Sunday afternoon at 2:00 PM.  They will have auctions on Thursdays at 6:00 PM and Sundays at 2:00 PM.

Don't forget the two new businesses that have opened in Ridge spring, Haley Bee's Boutique opened in the old town hall on Town Square and My Love All Occasion Shop at the Cumbee Place on East Main Street.

Review from David Marshall James:  "Much Ado About Murder" by Elizabeth J. Duncan

   This classy mystery novel set at a Catskills resort that features Shakespearean plays ought to tickle devotees of Agatha Christie and the classic Cotswolds village mystery.

   The bucolic setting, combined with Canadian author Elizabeth J. Duncan's U.K.-philia-- she writes another mystery series, set in Wales-- contributes to the Christie-ness.  Let's not forget the resident corgi, Rupert, either.

   To further Brit things up, the protagonist is an English ex-pat.  Costumer Charlotte Fairfax has worked with the RSC (if your "forsooth's" are a tad rusty, that's the Royal Shakespeare Company).  Charlotte is currently "bungalow-ed up" with a local detective on the resort grounds.  Now, that just might brush her up against a mystery or two.

   Charlotte's good chum, Paula Van Dusen, resides at a nearby estate, and we do mean estate.  She employs a full-time staff, including a gardener for the prizewinning roses and a chauffeur to handle the Rolls, and we don't mean Sister Shubert's.

   Paula and Charlotte frequently confabulate over frosty gin-and-tonic's as Paula heads up the Shakespeare Co.'s board of directors.

   In this third go-round of Duncan's Shakespeare in the Catskills series, the piece du jour is, of course, "Much Ado About Nothing," and there're gobs ado about the English actress who's crossed The Pond to play Beatrice and her dissatisfaction with multiple directors, younger co-stars, and teabags.

   We're not about to divulge the particulars of the plotting.  Suffice to say that, if Christie's village mysteries and The Bard are your cup of tea, then this'll be your second cuppa.  

Harriet's Garden Tips: I guess we do get some winter this far in the South.  It has been so cold, that it is even hard to clean out the beds.  So what can we do in this cold spell?  Seeds and the planning of planting seeds, soil testing by Clemson County agents and more to do.  Are you interested in more herbs?  They have become the newer crop to do.  Then there is the newest which is seed sprouts.  I need to research that a little more.  I did get a taste recently and the Farm to Table at Gravatt with Chef Brandon and these little things were delicious in a salad. 

REMINDERS

Ridge Spring Library hours: Mon/Tues 8:30 am - 12 pm; Wed., 8:30 – 4:30;         Thurs 8:30 am –12:30 pm; Fri 8:30 pm -4:30 pm; Sat 9-12

Ridge Spring Library Toddler Time Mondays at 10:30

Saluda County Library Hours:  Mon/Wed 8:30 am-5 pm; Tues/Thurs 8:30 am – 6 pm;   Fri 8:30am – 5 pm; Sat closed new fax machine and can send toll free

Narcotics Anonymous Fridays at RS Library at 7:00 PM

Ridge Spring Post Office hours:  Mon-Fri. 7:30 am – 11:30 am; Sat 9 – 10 am

Recycling Center Hours: Mon/Wed/Fri 1-7; Sat 7-7; Sun 3-7; Tues/Thurs closed

First Thursday of the Month:  AARS meets at 6:30, 685-5783

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

December: No FORS meeting