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Celebrating 100 Issues of SCIWAY News!
This month we're excited to celebrate the 100th issue of SCIWAY News. We started this newsletter in March of 1997 – just under 14 years ago. SCIWAY itself began a year before that, in March of 1996. When we first went online, there were only 23 websites in all of South Carolina! So in the beginning, SCIWAY News mostly introduced the new websites that were sprouting up all over our state.
Since that time, SCIWAY News has become a chronicle of some of South Carolina's most interesting subjects. Below are links to our 10 most popular articles ever published. Enjoy! Here's to the next 100 issues of SCIWAY News!
SCIWAY News – Our "Top Ten" of All Time!
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#1) South Carolina Picture Project
South Carolina is one of – if not the – most beautiful states in the Union. And even though our state is small in size, it is great in diversity. We have beaches, rivers, swamps, forests, mountains, waterfalls, elegant bridges, and buildings of extraordinary craftsmanship. To celebrate and also preserve these landscapes, SCIWAY is proud to have created the South Carolina Picture Project. Our online gallery contains over 700 photos and paintings, and we add more every week.
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#2) That's a Wrap: Movies Made in South Carolina
South Carolina has served as a backdrop for over 100 feature films, including such well-known favorites as Forrest Gump, The Patriot, and The Abyss. Besides the appeal of spotting a familiar scene, homegrown movies also create an emotional connection between us and our state. Perhaps you fell in love watching The Notebook and took your sweetheart to Boone Hall Plantation. Or maybe you called upon The Legend of Bagger Vance as you putted your way across golf courses in Bluffton and on Kiawah Island. In this spirit, we'd like to direct you to SCIWAY's guide to movies filmed in SC.
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#3) Are You Smarter than a South Carolina Third Grader?
Each year, third graders in South Carolina study our state's history. A Richland County student named Katie developed this fun and informative quiz as her special year-end project – which she graciously granted SCIWAY permission to host and share. This quiz covers South Carolina's history over the past 500 years. It only takes a few minutes to tackle these 20 questions, which are worth five points each. So take a break and test your knowledge. Find out if you're "smarter than a third grader." It just may be harder than you think!
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#4) South Carolina Soundtrack
Sifting through seven decades of songs either about South Carolina or by an artist from our state was challenging ... but enjoyable! The 15 songs SCIWAY finally selected range from beach music to country, blues to bluegrass, and rock & roll to gospel and jazz. Your votes were a major consideration as we put together our SC Soundtrack. We also considered music by artists who are credited with innovations in their field and have had a widespread impact on their peers and musical successors. We hope you'll agree that these songs represent the best of South Carolina music.
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#5) So What's a "Sandlapper" Anyway?
In South Carolina, we call ourselves Sandlappers. What's more, we share this nickname with the things we care about – our schools, sports teams, companies, and clubs. Oddly enough, we couldn't seem to find an answer for what this strange word meant – no matter who we asked. So we took up the challenge ourselves, and, after months of research, sorted out the truth. Learn about the Origin of the Term Sandlapper here.
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#6) Say What? The South Carolina Pronunciations Guide
SC locations were named by a diverse array of early inhabitants, including Native Americans, Germans, English, and French. This often causes confusion for South Carolinians and visitors alike when they first encounter a new town, river, or street. That is why we created a comprehensive list of SC place names that can be tricky to pronounce. From Alcolu to Wisacky, we hope this resource will become a helpful guide for everyone to use.
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#7) Webcams: South Carolina Windows
South Carolina has close to 75 webcams, and we link to all of them in one convenient guide. You can look through these video windows to see surfers at Folly Beach ... view all four seasons at Table Rock State Park ... watch students walk to class at Clemson University ... or take in the scene from the top of the Harbour Town Lighthouse on Hilton Head Island.
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#8) Richardson Waltz – A Song, Not A Dance!
Believe it or not, South Carolina's State Waltz is a song – not a dance. The music, evolved over a period of perhaps 300 years or more, has been passed down by ear through generations of the Richardson family. In 2008, SCIWAY had the fortune of spending an afternoon with Gretchen Huggins, a descendant of the Richardsons. Gretchen filmed her great-aunt Mary Richardson Briggs playing this historic piece of music and generously contributed the video to SCIWAY. It is the only recorded version of the song available. Click here to learn about – and hear – South Carolina's State Waltz!
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#9) South Carolina's State Symbols
South Carolina has many state symbols of cultural and historical relevance to the state. Most have only recently been designated state symbols, although the state seal was first used in 1777. The state flag wasn't adopted for almost another century, when South Carolina seceded from the Union. The past century has seen the introduction of many new state symbols, and SCIWAY has put together an extensive list of all of them. See each of our SC State Symbols here – some may surprise you!
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#10) South Carolina On My Mind
Did you know South Carolina actually has two state songs? For years, readers asked us where they could hear these songs. Many people, like us, were simply curious. We also heard from teachers who hoped their students could learn one or both of them. One call we received even came from the Canadian government – they were preparing to host a South Carolina dignitary and wanted to play the state song for him! So SCIWAY set out to find the answer. We found both of South Carolina's State Songs, and we even interviewed Hank Martin, who wrote South Carolina on My Mind and first sang it with his friend Buzz Arledge more than a quarter century ago.
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