Guscio: Oscar Frazier has a special place in Bluffton's heart

The 10th annual Oscar Frazier Day was finally celebrated by family and many friends at Oyster Factory Park on Wharf Street. The rain had caused the celebration to be canceled several times, and Oscar's adorable daughter, Bridgette, was not giving up the cause.

Renae, Oscar's widow, Juanita Cleveland, Jacob Martin, Sharon Brown, Ann Cooke and Mayor Lisa Sulka joined many gathered to celebrate a life well-lived and cut short too soon at the age of 49.

Sponsored by Lowcountry Powersports along with wonderful edibles prepared by Cool Breeze, Melly Mel's and GW Catering, the party was off to a grand start with Bill Dupont providing his wonderful music.

Oscar was a friend to many of us in Bluffton. He was a real community leader, Bluffton's mayor pro tem, a deacon at his church and was involved in many civic events. Oscar was also a published poet and, at a Town Council meeting, I had the pleasure of asking that he be made the Poet Laureate of Bluffton. That request was met with a resounding yes.

Bridgette Frazier teaches English at Battery Creek High School in Beaufort and is determined to keep Oscar's love for his community and extended family alive.

Oscar's son, Oscar Jr,. is a policeman with the Bluffton Police Department. His father would be so proud of that.

As the sun set over the festivities, we all gathered down by the river to release balloons that floated up to the sky and made for a beautiful ending to a delightful evening.

ONE OF OUR OWN

Recently, Lawrence Lessig announced his bid as a Democratic candidate for the presidency of the United States in 2016.

He made it official in Claremont, N.H., a town favored by many entering politics.

Lessig is the Roy L. Furman Professor of Law at Harvard University. Professor Lessig says the funding of campaigns in the United States is very corrupt. Fewer than 400 families in the United States are responsible for funding the people running for the presidency. He wants to change the process to make all of us equal in elections by changing the way those elections are funded, address political gerrymandering, and letting all citizens vote for the candidates.

He also thinks Congress is too beholden to a very small group and that it is very unfair.

This might be a little like trying to take away an Englishman's plum pudding or roast goose at Christmas, but he is willing to give it a try.

Professor Lessig also has the distinction of being the son of Blufftonians Pat and Jack Lessig who live in Rose Hill.

Jack is a faithful member of the Church of the Cross in Old Town, and both he and Pat have been my friends for many years. Their daughter Leslie has just bought a house on Bridge Street and she and her fiance Brannan are my new neighbors.

So one could say I have a bit of interest in this whole amazing affair.

Professor Lessig has been on many news programs and has been written about in all of the "best" magazines and newspapers.

So if you see that he will be on the telly, I urge you to tune in. He is very interesting.

And be nice to Pat and Jack. You just might get an invitation to the White House in January 2017.

NORTH TO ALASKA

If you are trying to cool off and not having much luck, hop on a plane to Alaska.

That is exactly what Dianne Reynolds did recently. Dianne called her son Marshall and invited him, too.

Soon the duo were winging their way to Seattle where they boarded a ship for a cruise along the Alaskan coast to see whales, seals and snow-capped mountains.

They visited Juneau and Skagway and many charming small villages along the way.

The nine-day trip was such a pleasure for mother and son they might be planning another jaunt soon.

Dianne is the wife of the late Cecil Reynolds who was our magistrate for many years and a great friend to many Blufftonians. If you ever ran a stop sign or did not slow down in the old days, you met a force to be reckoned with if you landed in the magistrate's court.

WHAT'S THE WORD?

You know the word I dislike so much?

Now it is part of a new word coined recently and appears in the venerable Oxford English Dictionary -- online of course.

The word is "butt-dial."

Yikes. It's defined as a verb meaning calling someone accidentally with your mobile phone in your rear pocket.

And another new word which could be construed as politically incorrect?

Fatberg.

It's a noun meaning a very large mass of solid waste in a sewerage system, consisting of congealed fat and some unmentionable items that have been flushed down the loo.

But I have to wrap this up now. At this moment, it is wine o'clock!

Babbie Guscio is the social columnist for The Bluffton Packet. She can be reached at The Store on Calhoun Street.

This story was originally published September 15, 2015 at 7:44 PM with the headline "Guscio: Oscar Frazier has a special place in Bluffton's heart ."