Bluffton celebrates Fourth of July in grand fashion on Calhoun Street

Life for Bluffton children on the Fourth of July was great fun.

Calhoun Street was closed to traffic for one hour for the annual children’s parade, much to the delight of more than 200 children. The street was a sea of red, white and blue as the happy participants rode on their bikes, trikes and were maneuvered in their carriages and strollers by their parents from The Church of the Cross all the way down to Lawton Street.

We missed our wonderful bagpiper Bill Treacy, who has retired from his bagpiping duties — he thinks at 90 years old he needs some time off. A very thoughtful person brought an amplifier so we could play John Philip Sousa marches as we meandered down Calhoun Street. Then it was off to the river, the beach and other fun events to celebrate a wonderful American holiday.

Thank you to our Bluffton police, who always help keep us safe and, of course, to all of you who took the time to share a memory with your families and me.

This year marks the 240th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

Chanticleers make us proud

If you watched the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers baseball team versus Arizona in the recent College World Series, you know what an exciting day that was for the team.

The Chanticleers won their first national championship in any sport by beating Arizona in game three.

I love the name Chanticleers. Chanticleer is the French word for rooster, a very cool moniker, especially since now they really have something to “crow” about.

I would love to have a team T-shirt or ball cap if they are sold anywhere in Bluffton. A very great team effort. We are all so proud of you.

Hitting the online dictionary

I have heard the term “populist” bandied about for the past month or so.

I Googled it and found out it has been around since the latter part of the 19th century. “Populist” means a believer in the rights, wisdom and virtues of the common people.

In this context, the term was coined as the name of a political party known as the People’s Party or the Populist Party. This party existed from 1892 until 1896 when it then merged with the Democratic Party.

The word comes from the Latin word for “the people,” populus.

I’m never quite sure who brings these words back to life; I’m guessing a speech writer who is paid to keep us on our toes.

My hairdresser has a tin cup on her table that is emblazoned with the word “Lollypop.” I love that word, and it makes me think of fun childhood memories.

Since I love words, I looked that one up too. It all started in Britain, of course. In that country “lollypop” means a round stop sign on a pole used to stop traffic, perhaps at a school crossing.

The first known use of the word was in 1784. Lolly is “tongue” in English dialect.

Beaufort Water Festival starts July 15

The Beaufort Water Festival is such fun. There are many interesting events planned for the weeklong festival. There are arts and craft exhibits, lots of seafood, sports tournaments of all kinds, concerts. Everything you can imagine will be offered.

The festival runs July 15-24 in downtown Beaufort and at other venues.

Details: bftwaterfestival.com

Ice cream the old-fashioned way

My grandparents had many friends whom we all adored.

There was one lady in particular we were fond of. She had a big black Cadillac, complete with a driver decked out in what I thought was a very handsome outfit.

We were invited once in a while to her house for ice cream, and were picked up and brought back home in grand style.

The lady was not married, and I was always amazed that she seemed to have an endless supply of ice cream doled out to us by her maid, who also was always beautifully dressed in a freshly starched uniform.

I asked my father once how the lady could afford giving all of these treats to us without a husband to help her. My father always had silly sayings he could spout at a moments notice, and this one was one of my favorites: “Don’t worry about her. She made money the old-fashion way ... she inherited it.”

I was about 8 years old and never worried about where the ice cream came from again.

This story was originally published July 6, 2016 at 3:07 PM with the headline "Bluffton celebrates Fourth of July in grand fashion on Calhoun Street."