How ‘liquid sunshine’ didn’t dampen the fun during Bluffton’s arts and seafood festival
The recent annual arts and seafood festival was a marvelous success until noon on the last Sunday of the fun. Rain came and went with gay abandon for several hours, disrupting some of the events. It is rather difficult to peruse beautiful art while one is getting soaked.
My porch at my store turned into a safe haven for a time for many. We were all quite happy to bid adieu to the liquid sunshine and get back to business. In spite of being a rather damp last day, good food and camaraderie prevailed. I saw lots of happy art lovers walking to their cars with colorful treasures.
I got a wonderful treat just as the rain stopped.
The Vintage Four, a barbershop quartet — made up of Mike Dorsey, Duke Andrus, Jim Cheesman and Brian Franck — appeared as if by magic to serenade me. They were charming, and I was thrilled. What a treat it would be to hire them to appear at someone’s house for a special occasion. If you think so, too, the number to call is 843-226-6262.
Over-the-top gorgeous
Another fun thing for me was getting to visit with two friends from my hometown of Athens, Ga. Chad Erwin and Peggy Galis drove down to attend a wedding that was held at Palmetto Bluff.
Paula Zahn’s daughter, looking fabulous, married a very handsome Athens boy Saturday at a beautiful outdoor ceremony that, according to my friends, was over-the-top gorgeous. There were lots of New Yorkers there who could not believe how lovely our area is and plan to return again.
Save the horses!
The fires in Northern California created not only panic for people but also for animals.
In Sonoma and Napa counties, wildfires are still a problem. The counties are home to more than 26,000 horses, mules and donkeys. The Sonoma County horse industry alone brought in $613 million in business revenue in 2014. Many of the most valuable horses in America are based in California.
Thousands of horses had to be evacuated as the fires spread.
As you might well imagine this was not an easy chore because when the call came to leave their houses, many people were told they could not take animals. Wonderful groups of people stepped in to help find the horses and get them to safety. The average horse rescued is valued at $75,000. Inhalation of smoke and other problems could affect the animals well-being, so getting them safely out of harm’s way was necessary.
Being told you have five minutes to pack up and leave must really be a nightmare. At least with hurricanes, we do have a bit of time to plan.
‘Batter up!’
Have you watched any of the World Series games?
I don’t know if any of us could play baseball or any sport in 103-degree heat. It has been a very exciting event and so far a very welcome diversion from news reports.
The series is America at its best. That’s the way I see it, and may the best team win.
Babbie Guscio is the social columnist for The Bluffton Packet. She can be reached at The Store on Calhoun Street or at thestoresc@gmail.com.
This story was originally published October 25, 2017 at 11:18 AM with the headline "How ‘liquid sunshine’ didn’t dampen the fun during Bluffton’s arts and seafood festival."