Debra Whitfield, 50Plus Realtor

I offer a specialized approach to real estate for the Baby Boomer generation. It’s a whole new chapter in your life. Get right to the best part. A time to pursue hobbies or creative interest. To travel, take classes or start a business. Or simply relax and enjoy what you’ve worked hard for. Along with this new stage in life, comes a whole world of new possibilities.. And there’s no better place to start your exciting new future, than from a new home in Charleston, SC. Home of gracious southern living so genuine the town has been named the most polite city in the nation for the past decade. World-class golf, island resorts, and a college town provide an array of diverse experiences waiting to be explored. Come visit me at www.50PlusRealtor.com for more information.

Credentials

Seniors Real Estate Specialist (SRES)

Charleston Trident Association of Realtors

South Carolina Association of Realtors

National Association of Realtors

Qualifications

• SRES
• Sales Associate

See the 2009 Harborfest in true Greater Charleston fashion!

2009 Charleston Harborfest Video: Part I (of 2) Dockside Festivities
Click Here for our complete Photo Gallery.

2009 Charleston Harborfest Video: Part II: Parade of Sails

The Charleston Harborfest is probably the most full-family, “everything for someone” festival anywhere in the south. With majestic tall ships sailing in from twelve different nations, there was no shortage of oohs and ahhs on land or sea, yet the 4 day festival featured far more than eye candy, and more than 50,000 attendees bathed in the balmy-hot sun for a uniquely Charleston celebration of the sea.  It was a true spectacle of maritime beauty and harbor side fun for kids and tourists and country club members alike. In addition to the 19th century transformation or our port Charleston Harborfest featured live music, outstanding food and drink, fine arts, crafts, harbor tours, cocktail parties, historic adventures, pirate re-enactments, numerous air shows including acrobatic stunts and skydiving, and just about every type of maritime exhibit or workshop you could imagine… all along the historic downtown docks of Charleston, the very port where Blackbeard and his ship the Queen Anne’s Revenge staked their clam to pirate fame in the historic blockade of 1718.

All who ventured to Union Pier where the largest of the tall ships made port were surely thrown aback by the spectacle. The main line included Russia’s ship the Kruzenshtern (which is the world’s second largest tall ship on earth) the ornate USCG Barque Eagle, and several other world famous sailing ships.  It truly was a time-warping sight, with masts from half a dozen massive sail ships parked stem to stern one behind the other, all lit up with their colorful flags and running lights and a sparkling against sky day and night. If you missed it this year, watch our 2-part video coverage of Charleston Harborfest below and visit our  photo gallery for hundreds of beautiful photos. If you were in attendance, you might even see yourself in the gallery or the video. Whether you made it this year or not, once you take it all the beautiful imagery at GreaterCharleston.com, we’re confident you’ll want to attend next year. Enjoy!

Video and editing by Ryan Ricker, interviews by Amber Caparas; Photos by Amber Caparas, Lauren Turner and GreaterCharleston.com.

For more information and to support the Charleston Harborfest vistit www.CharlestonHarborfest.org

Enjoy N. Charleston’s 4th of July Bash in Video, Photos, and Story

4th of July Bash on North Charleston’s Riverfront Park
By Kyle Hilliard

Bouncy castles, bouncy trampoline bungee jump contraptions and bouncy children were among the sights to behold at the 4th of July Riverfront Festival in North Charleston South Carolina.  The beautiful new Riverfront park is located on historic land that once served as the country club and golf course for the former Charleston Navy Base, making it an especially appropriate location for an Independence Day celebration.

Hundreds of people gathered to watch artists like Crowfield, The Blue Dogs and Mary Wilson — who used to sing for The Supremes — perform on stage.There may have been big name musicians and lots of great food, but the largest congregation of parents and children could be seen right by the entrance of the park.  The water fountain had what seemed to be thousands of kids running and screaming in drenched glee as parents watched nervously anticipating a fall or an uncomfortable nose full of water.

The screaming and splashing gave way to strained necks and open mouths though once darkness fell.  The bridges and boats that could once be clearly seen far off into the water became strings of white and blinking red lights as fireworks erupted high above them.Lots of delicious food, soaking wet and bouncing children and relaxed parents and adults sum up the events of this year’s 4th of July Festival at Riverfront Park.  Hopefully next year’s festival will be just as entertaining and just as delicious. We’ll look for you then!

Click Here to view our full photo gallery from North Charleston’s Independence Day Celebration

Video by Tristan Hilliard, editing by Kyle Hilliard, featuring Tsukasa Sato and North Charleston’s 4th of July Celebration attendees, photography by Tristan Hilliard.

Tucker on Shem Creek

Old Mount Pleasant (Old Village) resident, Brian Whitsitt and his companion Tucker are always on the go.  Tucker constantly finds himself in a new and exciting place.  After looking back through all the pictures of places they’ve been they decided to share their adventures with you.  This is one of Tucker’s favorite places to be (on the boat) and in one of his favorite parts of town, Shem Creek, or anywhere in the Old Mount Pleasant area!  Look for future photos and stories of “Where in the world is Tucker now”…

Stella’s Story

Hi, my name is Stella and I am a contributor to www.greatercharleston.com. I really don’t get it yet but they say it will be cool and I will meet a bunch of other dogs and get to find out what their lives are like.

By way of background, a couple of years ago I was lost, I mean really lost. I finally found this really nice neighborhood with a lot nicer homes than the one I was from. I know I wasn’t looking very cool since I had lost weight and had a bunch of bugs biting me, but this guy took me in his car to his house and made a real comfy place for me on his porch and gave me a towel so I could sleep on the couch. I finally felt a little safe since I didn’t have to walk around all night and worry about bad things. I knew things were good the next morning when the guy called me “Baby” and said that Daddy would feed me. He let me into his house and I decided to be on my very best behavior and see how long I could stay. I figured if I didn’t poop in the house, didn’t bark, didn’t bite or chew anything I may be able to fit in very well.

Man, I’m telling you this must be heaven! Blankets, toys, two very good meals a day and this has been going on for almost two years. These people (Mom and Dad) are silly about me. They even have a special language when they talk to me in kind of high pitched voices (what’s that all about?).

My next big coup will be when they let me on their bed; the thing is gigantic. Hey, I gotta go now, but write me and tell me what’s up with you cats, I mean dogs, oh sure I guess we’ll let cats into our group.

I’m all ears!

Stella

Fabulous 4th in the Creek

While most Charlestonians trek to one of the major Fourth of July celebrations downtown, Goose Creek offers a quaint, laid-back atmosphere for people to enjoy the birthday of our nation. Located at the Marguerite H. Brown Municipal Center, the festivities began at 7:00 P.M. concluding with a fireworks show at 9:00 P.M.

The weather could not have been more cooperative with a comfortable 89 degrees as the music provided by The Fabulous Kays from Charlotte, North Carolina, filled the air. A very diverse crowd and multi-generational families spread out blankets and popped open lawn chairs immersing themselves in the music, food, and the open fields where games of football and soccer were played. Many of the smaller children spent their time in the jump castle sponsored and supervised by Goose Greek Recreation.  Most people brought small coolers filled with food and drink, but most of the crowd lined up to purchase fresh-squeezed lemonade, hot boiled peanuts, and of course hot dogs and hamburgers.

As the evening waned and the band continued to play songs that kept the crowd dancing, the children, exhausted from playing, found their way back to their families and readied themselves for the fireworks show. The “ooooooh’s” and “aaaaaah’s” from the crowd confirm that Fabulous 4th In The Creek is a satisfying way to spend a holiday evening.

Summer-ball Fundamentals

Click here to see a full album of photos in our gallery.

It seems that lately, everything we hear and read about young people in this area is bad. From young men being in the wrong place at that wrong time, to boys who have lost their sense of direction and constantly doing the next wrong thing instead of the next right thing.

Wednesday, July 15th, Charleston Southern University and its partner, the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, finished its annual 7 on 7 Passing League and Lineman Camp for area high school football teams. Twelve schools in all came out for the practice and competition, including Ben Lippen HS which came all the way down from Columbia. In all, there were over 250 players and fifty coaches, and scores of parents who came out to support their children and teams. At camp, players practice passing plays against other teams, and the lineman are coached on taking their skills to the next level to be better players.

But the annual camp is more than just a chance for these students to analyze their competition before the fall football season. It is an opportunity for athletes to develop good sportsmanship, learn respect and learn about the spiritual side of football. Each summer, CSU hosts this preseason passing league football camp for local high school teams. The camp, which was held July 13-15, helps players keep in shape during the summer months and gives them a chance to challenge other local teams in a competitive but friendly environment. The players and coaches practice football, but they also learn about how to make the right fundamental decisions in life.

“We try to make this camp a lot of fun, but we really want to help the teams prepare for their upcoming season,” says Jay Mills, head football coach at CSU. “They get to practice offensive plays and their passing game, and they are getting a chance to compete against each other. It’s a neat opportunity for the teams to come together as many of them don’t play against one another in the regular season. If you want to be better, you have to practice with bigger and better teams. You have to think that a SCISA school that comes out and toes the line with Summerville HS or Stratford HS is going to grow its game.”

The camp has been held each summer for seven years. The camp accepts both public and private schools. Although CSU hosts the camp, coaches and assistant coaches from each school participate and work with their own players. And at the end of three days, for all the hard work and coaching, the teams with the best camp record to compete in the Championship game at the end of camp. The coaches find this really keeps everybody working hard.

“It was really good being able to come out and get some repetition. It brings us together as a team, the football and the message from FCA” said one tired but happy player from Palmetto Christian Academy. “There are a lot of good players out there, but you just come out and give it all you have.”

Starting several years ago, CSU wanted to provide students with more than just a chance to practice. So they involved the Lowcountry Fellowship of Christian Athletes, a nonprofit organization that shares a Christian message with coaches and young athletes. “We have been doing this with CSU for three years now. It’s a wonderful opportunity for FCA to be out here with the coaches and players,” says Emmett Morgan, the FCA’s Lowcountry area director. “At FCA, we believe that athletes have a tremendous influence over other students on the campus. We want to make sure that they understand there is more to life than football, girls, and parties on Friday nights. What these players say and how they act can influence a whole campus. We want to provide a foundation through the Gospel for the coaches and players to do the right things.”

At the end of competition, FCA provides the players with ice cold Gatorade and water, and takes a few minutes to share the Gospel with the players and coaches. This week, Darrell Coulter, a former All American quarterback from Morgan State, and Ernest Smith, former Wando HS baseball stand-out, took time from their busy days to come and talk with the teams. “I am always humbled when I am given an opportunity to come out here and talk to young athletes and give them advice on how to be a better football player and, more importantly, a better person,” said Coulter, now a pastor at Joy Baptist Church in downtown Charleston.

Coulter, while sharing some of his own experiences as starting QB for four years, explained that it is not always enough to do the “right thing” but you sometimes have to do the “hard thing.” He used the example of Pat Tillman, former NFL player he gave up a lucrative contract to go fight and eventually die for his country in Afghanistan. This tied into the explanation of Christ dying for our sins. Not only did Christ do the “right thing,” He did the “hard thing.” Smith, who is now the head of College Ministries for Seacoast Church, shared his own story of being a high school athlete and the pressure that went with that, as well as all the pressures that go with being a teenager in today’s society. His own testimony recounted a troubled youth that only got better when he decided to start living for God and Jesus Christ. That last evening, Smith invited those that did not know Christ, but wanted to live for Him, to accept Christ into their hearts. Over 100 players and a few coaches tearfully turned their hearts over to God.

“A lot of these players and some of the coaches have a hard life,” said Morgan. “It’s not like when we were growing up. Lots of these kids come from broken homes with no father figure, their brothers and sisters are involved in bad things, and it seems like the only answer is to hide their pain by being in a gang, drinking or drugging on the weekends, or ending up a father at sixteen…. With a little love and a little guidance, these guys can go on to great lives.

Now that the camp is over, students and coaches begin the heavy preparation for the upcoming football season. Mills hopes that students will remember what they’ve learned over the last three days, both physically and spiritually. “I think we’ve been very blessed with the people we have had come speak to us,” says Mills. “It’s good to have people from different walks of life with different perspectives that can relate to these young men and help build them a road map toward some of the goals that they have.”

Emmett Morgan is a Board Editor, and is the Area Director for the Lowcountry Fellowship of Christian Athletes.

Click here to see a full album of photos in our gallery.

Reducing the bottom whine

So, the telephone isn’t ringing as often, the orders aren’t flooding in from the Internet and the customers and prospects aren’t returning your calls or responding right away to your e-mail offers.Money and credit are both tight, so some people are less likely to buy what you’re selling anytime soon, at least until things loosen up. Now the experts are saying that it’s going to get worse and this downturn may run longer than expected.What to do?

No whiners
Have you seen that tongue-in-cheek sign with the word whining inside a red circle with a diagonal line through it? Using the universal symbol for “not allowed here,” this can and should become the battle cry of everyone with work in front of them. I don’t have to tell you how bad things are. Chances are excellent that you already know and can recite chapter and verse the latest round of cuts, chops, closings and convictions. The point is that such events will continue. What we choose to do in such an environment will make all the difference.What would help you stop any whining that you’re inclined to do as well as encourage others to focus on the opportunities of each moment of the day? Would it be the reminder that you’re in the single-digit top percent of the world’s population simply by virtue of the fact that you sleep in a warm bed and enjoy indoor plumbing and clean, drinkable water? Would it be that you still enjoy basic freedoms that most of the world’s population only dreams to experience one day?Would you be less likely to complain by realizing that, despite what most news media are reporting, there are still people buying and selling, free market commerce still exists and some companies are hiring and growing in this climate?Sure, it’s tougher out there than it was six months ago, even 90 days ago. That said, yearning for better days in an immobilized state won’t bring those better days around a bit more quickly. One friend described some members of his sales team as being “in the fetal position” and not knowing how to handle what has happened in the marketplace.

Action without fraction
What are the five or seven or ten things you can do right now to get yourself (and maybe even a few others) out of the doldrums? I’ve heard the professionals say that the very best cure for depression is movement and activity. To the degree that you allow yourself to be media-mesmerized into a state of inaction and a recurring conclusion of, “What’s the use of working?” you will effectively drown in your own swirling cesspool of self-fulfilling prophecy.

Some tips to rid yourself of any whining:

1. Call 12 people – Get in touch with a dozen customers, suppliers, and/or peers in your business or profession. Find out how each is doing and ask how you may be of service. It could be connecting them to the provider of a specific service. It could be talking them through a stuck point or problem. It could just be listening to allow them a moment to vent before they get back to their work. Whatever it is, this contact beats sitting still or surfing the Internet for more bad news or information totally irrelevant to your opportunities.
2. Treat someone to breakfast, lunch or coffee – Do this with someone from whom you’re not asking for business at present. In fact, choose a person who is particularly hard hit by the current market conditions and whose phone rings infrequently these days. The treat may mean the world to this person and can ensure long-term benefits to that relationship. It’s also not likely to break your bank.
3. Get a bit of exercise – It’s difficult to whine when you’re out of breath with a workout. Get the endorphins flowing, invigorating both your body and your outlook. While it’s great to have a personal trainer guiding you, you can accomplish similar benefits with some push ups, sit ups and jumping jacks. If you have the equipment, jump rope for 30 seconds or a minute to get your heart started. It’s amazing how even a 10-minute mini-workout can help boost your attitude.
4. Change your space – If sitting in the same office day after day is becoming paralyzing to you, walk away – literally. Take a walk in the middle of your day if at all possible. Use part of your lunchtime to sit or walk somewhere you haven’t been lately or ever.

Move past the inclination to whine and complain into actions that will soon have you so busy that you’ll have little time for either. The accomplished whiners have taken up residence at the bottom of the barrel, so get up and off your bottom now for a better mindset and better results. John Earl Carroll is an award-winning columnist, author, consultant and president of Unlimited Performance, Inc. in Mount Pleasant. You can follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/johnearlcarroll

Daniel Island, S.C.

Daniel Island is a friendly town with an island pace. Residents of all ages have come from around the country to make their home here, drawn by the island’s natural beauty, welcoming neighbors and endless array of amenities and conveniences. This is a place where people live and work, where children walk to school, and where the opportunities for active recreation are limitless.

Ansonborough

The neighborhood of Ansonborough lies north of the French Quarter business district. It is located between George, Meeting, Pinckney and East Bay Streets. In 1840, the neighborhood was destroyed by a major fire, so most of the buildings were built soon after, which include 125 pre-Civil War homes that still remain. You will find mostly brick and stucco homes in the neighborhood which also calls home to the South Carolina Aquarium. Real estate opportunities include expansive single and double houses dating to Georgian and Greek Revival  styles, as well as quaint town and carriage houses and condominiums.

Next Page »