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| THIS PAGE IS FOR HEATHER LAKES NEIGHBORS IN THE NEWS. HAVE ANYTHING? SEND IT ON! Fantastic contribution by a VERY PROUD HL GRANDMA!! Our granddaughter, Amber, went on a trip with her church youth group to Uganda. This is such a great picture a proud grandma wanted to share it with you. While they were there they built a foundation for a family, dug a garden for an older woman, made some rainwater collectors, and spent a lot of time in school. Amber said it was a great adventure and certainly made her appreciate all that she has at home. Grandma Judy County Doing Great Job on Parks & Recreation Sun News-Sept. 29, 2011 Horry County is fortunate to have a great Parks and Recreation Department. In the past five years, several facilities have been added. Under the leadership of Director Brent Taylor, these indoor and outdoor facilities have increased opportunities to us, the residents of Horry County, to enjoy many new programs organized and run by dedicated staff. The South Carolina Recreation and Parks Association (SCRPA), at its recent annual conference in North Charleston, presented Horry County Parks and Recreation Department the Agency of the Year Award! Since Brent Taylor was appointed as director, five recreation centers have been added, 15 playgrounds were upgraded to meet ADA and national safety standards (none met those standards previously), added 10 athletic fields, upgraded 19 others, improved eight boat landings, and increased dramatically the programs available to our senior citizens. In addition, special holiday events, afterschool programs, summer camp opportunities, health and fitness programs, arts and crafts programs, environmental education programs and programs for children with special needs. This is only a partial list of offerings. In other words, something for everyone. Over a million people use the Parks and Recreation facilities every year. If you see a staff member, tell them how much you appreciate their tireless efforts. Mr. Brent Taylor, for leading this department over the past very busy five years, deserves your special thanks and a great big pat on the back. Bob Weldon Little River Time to Trade in National Anthem Sun News Posted on Sun, Feb. 13, 2011 By Gregory J. Dean The letter from Alan Sipe ("Anthem should be sung with dignity," Feb. 10) regarding the "Star Spangled Banner" commits an error common to most Americans. He said: "I am sure that [Francis Scott Key] expected it to be sung with respect and dignity as the national anthem of the United States." Key did not write a song. He wrote a poem, a poem which was changed by others to the musical version we now know. He had nothing to do with the music that was written more than 40 years earlier as "To Anacreon in Heaven." It is an old English drinking song with no historical or traditional significance to this country. The song as we know it has been our national anthem for only the last 80 years. Prior to that, it was a popular patriotic song on a par with "Yankee Doodle" and "Hail, Columbia" (another British rip-off). The problem is not with the artists who are performing the anthem. The problem is that the national anthem is a musical atrocity, incapable of being sung by a normal person. Most singers, trained and untrained, are powerless to conquer its impossible range. One is hard pressed to find any musician, singer or other performer who can find any kind words for it. It is no surprise therefore when untrained rock and country singers find ways to avoid the impossible passages and improvise by adding notes, changing tempo, etc. It is time for us to get rid of this musical abortion and replace it with music that is both native to our country and capable of being played/sung by everyone. We have other songs to select. Would you rather have this abomination or the beautiful words and music of "America the Beautiful," a song that can be sung with devotion and reverence? If you want something rousing, how about "God Bless America"? You want a march? Try the "Stars and Stripes Forever." These are musical pieces with which everyone can identify; songs identified with the United States. Don't shoot the messenger. The performer only performs what is given them. In this case, what is given should be returned as quickly as a Christmas tie. It's time we acknowledged that Congress made a mistake in 1931 and adopt a real American anthem. The writer lives in Little River. Carolinas PGA Recognizes Mac Hood Posted on Sat, Dec. 11, 2010 Mac Hood's workplace 20 years ago was in the financial district in New York City.
He chose to make the beach his home and the golf course his place of employment in 1992, and several aspiring golf professionals on the Grand Strand who have worked under him since have benefitted from his change in direction.
Hood, the head pro and general manager at both Farmstead Golf Links and Meadowlands Golf Club, is being honored by the Carolinas Section of the PGA of America for his mentoring of golf professionals with the 2010 Bill Strausbaugh Award.
"Twenty years ago I didn't even have visions of being a golf pro, so to get an award like this is pretty nice," Hood said.
The Strausbaugh Award is given to a CPGA member for his/her day-to-day efforts to make significant contributions to the game and business of golf through the mentoring of PGA professionals and the furtherance of their careers.
Hood earned his Class A PGA membership in 1998 and has managed over six former apprentices that have achieved Class A status. One of them is his son, Brendan, who attained Class A status earlier this year at age 21 and is now working at Puntacana Resort & Club in the Dominican Republic.
"As PGA professionals it's part of our responsibility to train the next generation of golf professionals to administer the game after our time in the industry is up," Hood said. "If you do your job and do it well you fulfill one of the prerequisites for getting this award."
Hood credits area professionals Don Barnes, Gene Weldon and the deceased Hamp Auld as the pros who helped him get into the business and advance in it.
"These guys all helped me become the PGA professional I am, and it's my job to do the same for others," Hood said.
Although the Strausbaugh Award centers on mentoring, other considerations include character, integrity, service to the section and involvement in community and charitable activities.
Hood has volunteered to work as a rules official and instructor at Play Golf America Day events, and served on the CPGA Board of Directors and PGA of America President's Council, and as chairman of past Carolinas PGA Hall of Fame committees.
He's also a member of the Rotary Club in North Myrtle Beach and is the outgoing chairman of the Little River Chamber of Commerce.
"I have a bad habit: when people ask me to do something I can't say no," Hood said. "When it's for the community and you live here, you jump in with both feet."
Farmstead and Meadowlands give numerous greens fees as prizes at charity events and host charity tournaments.
A recent Pet Food Open sold out with 144 players and raised nine tons of pet food for the North Myrtle Beach Humane Society, and other events have benefitted the homebuilders of Brunswick County and Elks in Calabash. "We're always very active helping to promote anything in the community of any worth," Hood said.
Hood has formerly been awarded the 2004 Merchandiser of the Year award in the public facilities category.
Hood, and other CPGA award winners, along with 2010 Hall of Fame inductee Mike Harmon of Beaufort, will be honored during the CPGA's Special Awards and Honors Ceremony at the Myrtle Beach Convention Center on Feb. 20, the eve of the 18th annual CPGA Merchandise Show. WHY ARE THESE HL LADIES HAVING SUCH A GOOD TIME??? It's because "BRAS ACROSS THE WATER", a fundraiser for RELAY FOR LIFE, raised over $4500 by folks donating over 800 bras, and local businesses and donors donating $$$ for every bra donated and, guess what, 33 of those bras came from Heather Lakes NEIGHBORS!! ........AND, the event made the national news!! Sam Konrad in the Sun News Posted on Fri, Aug. 13, 2010
Marine helps offset health costs
Sam Konrad is one of those readers who prefer his name not be mentioned in the paper.
Some people adhere to the "throw a rock and hide your hands" concept after infecting the world with hate, hubris or both.
Konrad, a retired U.S. Marine, is the opposite. He likes to conduct good deeds in the dark and remain little noticed.
He doesn't crave pats on the back or public attention. But I want to give him a little anyway.
Konrad read my column from a few weeks ago about James Pope of Conway, a man who has needed throat surgery for many years but hasn't had it because of a lack of health insurance and money. A few months ago he was 20 minutes away from getting relief but had to stop the doctor, who was willing to conduct it in her office during a screening visit, telling her he couldn't afford it.
Pope's condition is complicated by uncomfortable and unproductive interactions with a handful of area lawyers and his condition's link to the work he did as a car detailer.
"He didn't have the problem, he started working there and started having the problem," Robert Bibb, a Myrtle Beach dermatologist who has been working with Pope for several years, has said. "It got so severe he could hardly function. It makes your life miserable. We had to get James away from the work. He was a mess."
For Konrad, the decision was simple. Though not a man with resources to assist scores of people, he wanted to help in this case.
"I saw an opportunity to help someone in need," Konrad said. "I have been blessed with a wonderful family, all of which have been blessed with good health. And for a relatively minor operation, why should Mr. Pope not enjoy the same? No one should live with his condition when the medical profession has the ability to correct his ailment and provide him comfort."
That was when Konrad thought the surgery would cost $1,760. A financial official at the Medical University of South Carolina initially gave Pope that estimate, which included a 50 percent standard discount for self-pay patients.
Since then, MUSC has said the surgery could cost as much as $5,187, including charges that were not listed in the initial written estimate. That total could be reduced if Pope qualifies for some of the hospital's other financial-assistance programs.
Has that caused a change of heart in Konrad?
"I am still willing to donate the $2,000," he said. He's already gotten directly in touch with the doctor who will be performing the surgery, which is scheduled for Sept. 17.
"I am by no stretch of the imagination a wealthy person," Konrad said. "The decision to assist is my way of thanking God for all the blessings bestowed on me and my family. Nothing more, nothing less."
Pope has been dealing for about a decade with the kind of throat condition his doctor said she mostly sees in lounge singers who inhale copious amounts of cigarette smoke. "I appreciate what he is doing," Pope said. "It means a whole lot to me. That's a blessing by itself. That's a big blessing." GREAT LETTER TO Ed. BY DICK COTE Sun News: Posted on Fri, Feb. 12, 2010 Public Safety Not Served by SystemBy Richard J. Cote
I read with great skepticism the reaction of the city manager and mayor to the latest revelations as recorded by former Lt. Randy Fisher. According to their account, they knew nothing of the disarray in the Public Safety Department prior to the tapes being published by The Sun News. Surely the city manager and mayor would not have us believe that that situation in the Public Safety Department happened overnight. Do they really believe that the recorded conversations were isolated incidents? This mind-set, by the leadership of the Public Safety Department, has been festering for a long time. How could the city manager not recognize the low morale in the department? How could he not notice the high turnover rate? Did he not read the results of the exit interviews by the employees leaving the department? Did he really expect any employee to go directly to him to report any wrongdoing by his superiors? How long does he think that any employee would last if he or she did that? According to the tapes, Lt. Fisher did approach the assistant city manager with his concerns, but nothing happened. It seems that the assistant city manager may be part of the problem. I strongly advocate the separation of the Public Safety Department into independent fire and police departments as recommended by the city's own consultant. It is time to eliminate the public safety officer concept. Trying to make police officers firefighters and firefighters reserve police officers no longer works. The city needs fully trained police and firefighters. When a public safety officer responds to an emergency involving the fire department, he is of minimal value because he has had only minimal basic training in firefighting operations. The same is true when a firefighter works as a reserve police officer. In reality these people are just another warm body on the scene whose presence gives the appearance of adequate manning of the apparatus. If one of these minimally trained employees is ever injured while working in a capacity for which they are not trained, the city would face a severe liability claim. The first thing OSHA inspectors want to see is the training record of that employee. For example, when I was the Fire Chief, the regular firefighters received around 300 hours of training annually. The public safety officers received 40 or 50 hours of basic fire training a year; this lack of advanced training severely limits their effectiveness. The City Council voted to implement the public safety concept back in 1984 or 1985. It is now way past time to change back to separate police and fire departments. When this plan was implemented, the fire department responded to 300 or 400 calls a year. Lsat year it answered well over 3,000 calls for assistance. It is time the council stopped kidding themselves into thinking the public safety concept works. It does not. You now have the perfect opportunity to hire a experienced, educated and professional police chief to oversee the corrections that must be made in the police department. We presently have a capable fire chief. Let them both do their jobs. We do not need a director of public safety. The writer is a retired fire chief for North Myrtle Beach. (also in NMB Times, Feb. 11, 2010) ARLENE MAKES THE NEWS.....AGAIN!! For her great Community Service! (posted on Nov. 12 in the Sun News)  Posted on Wed, Sep. 23, 2009 Sun News MEET YOUR NEIGHBOR WALTER OWEN LITTLE RIVER
Walter Owen is originally from New York City and rural New York. He lives in Little River. A retired school teacher of the English language, Owen has also worked as a librarian. He is a single man with one daughter, Courtney Martinez. Owen's son-in-law is deployed in Afghanistan right now. I recently saw "Public Enemies," which was a good movie, but the camera angles made me dizzy. My favorite food is pasta. I like to make all kinds. I recently visited the Villages of Orlando, Fla., to see some family and friends. I attend church at St. Stephens Episcopal in North Myrtle Beach. My philosophy of life is live day by day. 
MEET YOUR NEIGHBOR IRENE SHUBECK LITTLE RIVERSun News Posted on Wed, Aug. 26, 2009 Irene Shubeck lives in Little River and owns her own business, Low Country Flavors, which she promotes as a vendor in the Myrtle Beach Flea Market. She was married for 20 years and has two sons who live in Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. She has five granddaughters and one grandson. Irene was born in a concentration camp in Germany. Her family moved to the U.S. in 1956 and settled in New Jersey. She moved to the Grand Strand area seven years ago. Irene also works part time in communications at Grand Strand Regional Hospital. I am the kind of person who | loves to talk to people and deal with the public. My favorite leisure activity is | polka dancing. I was the Harvest Moon Polka Champion in Madison Square Gardens in New York. My greatest challenge has been | overcoming meningitis and encephalitis as a child when the doctors said I would never walk again. A place I would like to travel to is | the Grand Canyon. My favorite television show is | "The Golden Girls." A famous person I met was | Fred Astaire. He was my idol as a dancer. Flock's father figure Man adopts 12 orphaned ducklings By Janelle Frost
jfrost@thesunnews.com Posted on Sat, Oct. 25, 2008 Lloyd Price, 63, became a new father six weeks ago. The Little River resident took in 12 yellow ducklings while their mother struggled to stay alive after she was attacked for a second time by predators. But Molly - Price's name for the mother duck - did not survive. She died about seven days after she was attacked. Price, who said he will keep the ducklings until they are able to survive on their own, thinks Molly died from starvation, as she could not eat because of her injuries. "This duck was in a lot of pain. She wouldn't eat," he said. "She got down to almost nothing." Price, who lives in the Heather Lakes subdivision, noticed that Molly had a broken neck: Her head was lying on her back when she and her ducklings passed his and his wife's van one day in September as they were backing out of their driveway. Price and a neighbor tried unsuccessfully to catch Molly, who was covered in blood. "We wanted to get a hold of her and take care of her and clean her up," he said. After that, Price became a parent to her ducklings. Before Molly died, Price said, the mother didn't let her suffering keep her away from her babies. She knew her babies were being cared for. "She came by every day to see the babies," said Price, who keeps the ducklings in a wire pen in his backyard during the day. "She would sit by them, and I would let them loose, and they would go and communicate with each other." Then every night, Molly, who also had a broken bill, went to neighbor David Kessler's house to get food. "It was a ritual to get food, so she knew it was time to feed whether she could eat or not," Kessler, 72, said. "She wanted to eat, but she couldn't put her neck down." Kessler, who helped Price nurse Molly back to health the first time she was attacked, used to feed bread to Molly and the father duck, who Price calls Aflac, when they would come up on his deck. Molly was attacked the first time in the spring, at which time she had 15 different ducklings that were all killed by birds. Molly is now buried on the side of Kessler's house. A homemade wood cross reads: "white female duck." "Whatever it was [that attacked her], she really put up a fight," Kessler said. "She was good; I'm going to miss her." Kathy Mullen, who also lives in Heather Lakes, tried to feed Molly once as the duck followed Price down the street. She thinks the ducklings are wonderful, as neighborhood residents see them as theirs, and praises the way Price takes care of them. s"Lloyd's done so much; they wouldn't be here today if it wasn't for him," Mullen said. "He's out there feeding them, bathing them, walking them and cooking them noodles. How many people going to do that? Not many." Price, on the other hand, does not view what he's done as anything special - considering what Molly went through. "She's the hero in all of this," he said. Catholic Church Hosts Craft Fair By Barbara D. Jones
For The Sun NewsPosted on Thu, Nov. 13, 2008
The annual "Crafting by the Sea" fair will be held in the church Fellowship Hall from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday; 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday and after the 8 and 10 a.m. and noon Masses on Sunday Every year residents from Horry County as well as those from N.C. counties come to the Craft Fair for early Christmas shopping. Many do some of their year-round gift shopping. You can find gifts for all occasions from birthdays to anniversaries, welcome to the neighborhood, or the arrival of a new baby. There are even treats for your pets. Their inventory includes homemade teacher and hostess gifts filled with homemade candies, chocolate/caramel pretzels, peanut brittle and more. Family munchies bags will be available as well as homemade jam and shared layered mix recipe jars. Pieroni said all of the containers will be unique, decorated for the holidays or for a special person. New this year will be hand-carved personal wooden items, such as Christmas mantel decorations made with children's or grandchildren's names. A donated rocking horse and an Italian basket will be raffled, and there will be a table of $1 items. "We have attempted to 'go green' in many of our different craft items," Pieroni said. Again this year they will bring back the ever popular hand-painted and lighted boxes and bottles. An assortment of sewn, knitted and crocheted gifts for Christmas, birthdays, and other occasions will be available. There will be a variety of Christmas crafts, ornaments, baby and children's gifts, religious articles, and floral arrangements. This is Arlene Grzeskiewicz's eighth year to work with the crafters. Usually she contributes knitted and crocheted items for the sale, but this year she is serving as co-chairwoman with Chairwoman Cathey Farley in the food department. She said shoppers may eat in or take out vegetarian chili, regular chili, soup, pasta sauce/meatballs and cornbread. (Delicious by the way!!) The bake sale, an always popular component of the annual event, will offer - in addition to a variety of cakes, pies, and other pastries - low-sugar baked goods, which are always in demand. The Quilters of Our Lady Star of the Sea have made a queen-sized quilt, titled "State of Grace," which will be raffled along with two twin-size quilts named "The Cat" and "The Sailboat." Proceeds from the Craft Show will go to the church's building fund. Our Lady Star of the Sea Catholic Church is at 1100 Eighth Ave. N., North Myrtle Beach.
Passion for pottery Area studio wheels spin out magical art forms By Jan A. Igoe
The Sun News Posted on Thu, Sep. 13, 2007
Joe Jeffcoat doesn't take kindly to thin lips, heavy bottoms or chicken dancing. Yet his students - predominantly women - are willing to endure such insults in pursuit of the perfect pot. These common faux pas are ranked among "Big Joe's Top 10 Throwing Pitfalls" posted above the 13 pottery wheels that impassionately spin masterpieces and mishaps at Jeffcoat Pottery in Calabash, N.C. Although taming wet clay can be a humbling experience, demanding time and commitment to master, there's no shortage of folks willing to give it a go. "The 'chicken dance'? That's where you can't control centering the clay. It wobbles, your hands and elbows are flopping. It happens to all of us," said student Nancy Knapp of Bolivia, N.C., who inherited a pottery wheel when her daughter moved to San Francisco. "She has a degree in ceramics, but she never taught me. I needed a new hobby, so I thought I'd give it a whirl - literally." Moments after she discovered clay, all Knapp's needlecraft projects were put on hold. For many students, from children to grandparents, the process of transforming mere mud into a functional bowl or fabulous family heirloom quickly becomes addictive. Even if a piece will never call a museum home, it might have mosaic potential. That's why Brunswick Community College instructor Kimberly Smittle-Caroon advises students working at Franklin Square Pottery Studio in Southport, N.C., to ignore loud crashes. "That's the smashing wall behind the gallery," she said. "I normally warn everybody if they're in the studio and they hear a crash. If something is defunct or cracked, you just smash it." With enough patience, almost anyone can master throwing, said John Johnson of Mud Bucket Pottery in Little River. There's more to it than brute strength. "I can show you a woman 5-foot-2 who throws pots that she could climb into. ... And she doesn't break a sweat," Johnson said. "It's all in knowing how to handle the clay. There are other ways to overcome physics." Johnson spent 30 years in medical sales, but has been a full-time potter for two years. It's not the easiest way to make a living, he said, although he's ready to start construction on a larger studio and wouldn't trade the lifestyle. For 33 years, Jeffcoat was a full-time banker and a part-time potter. His wife, Tonda Jeffcoat, taught art. Now they're turning out 800 to 1,000 commercial pieces a month in their Calabash, N.C., studio that are distributed through galleries, craft shows and the Internet. "I just never stopped just waiting for opportunity," said Jeffcoat, who stands 6-foot-7 and is known as "Big Joe" to most everyone. He does the throwing; his wife's specialty is carving decorative designs. Their daughter, Casey Jeffcoat, does some throwing and adds handles to the pots, mugs and cookers. Glazing techniques The real fun starts with glazing. The Jeffcoats fire in a gas kiln that's unique in the area. Electric kilns, which produce bright colors at lower temperatures, are more common. "Gas or reduction firing gives better control of the the atmosphere," Joe Jeffcoat said. "Glazes react to atmosphere." "The same red would turn pale green in an electric kiln," Tonda Jeffcoat said, displaying an exquisitely deep, cranberry-colored pot with speckled cream edges. Beyond hand-building or wheel throwing and firing, glazes give pottery its personality. Glaze recipes are very precise and painstakingly measured. "My wife loves to mix glazes," Johnson said. "She's got a degree in microbiology. There's a lot of left brain stuff about clay bodies, glaze ingredients; matrix of the glaze; coefficient and expansion ... interaction between clays and glazes. You can put the same color on two different clay bodies and end up with two very different colors." Instructors say their biggest joy is seeing their students become adept at working with the medium, whether that takes months or years. Many pottery places offer formal instruction with open studio time for practice. Clay and glazes may be part of the package, or available at additional cost. Most studios offer raku fire pits for exotic metallic effects. "Raku firings are almost magical," Smittle-Caroon said. "When you do a regular firing, it takes two days. In Raku, 20 minutes after you take it out of the kiln, you place it in a pile of combustibles and it bursts into flames. Twenty minutes later, it's Christmas or Halloween." Either way, it's a celebration.
Some pottery studios
Jeffcoat Pottery 284 B Koolabrew Drive Calabash, N.C., 910-579-2400; www.jeffcoatpottery.com Mud Bucket Pottery 115 Surfrider Boulevard Suite 6 Little River, 399-8702; www.mudbucketpottery.com Franklin Square Gallery/Associated Artists of Southport 130 E. West St. Southport, N.C., 910-371-1795; www.franklinsquaregallery.org Sunset River Marketplace S 10283 Beach Drive SW (Highway 179), Calabash, N.C. 910-575-5999; www.sunsetrivermarketplace.com © 2007 MyrtleBeachOnline.com and wire service sources. All Rights Reserved. http://www.myrtlebeachonline.com
Check out more photos at MyrtleBeachOnline.com.
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