SCIWAY News, No. 22 – September 1999

In addition we have begun the process of giving SCIWAY's 3,000+ pages a new look. You can see where we're headed by exploring the South Carolina Business Directory and the new "Fast Facts and Firsts" and "SC Governors" sections described below.

If you prefer, you can read this issue of SCIWAY News on the Web by going to https://www.sciway.net/sn/.

In This Issue

• Fast Facts and Firsts ... South Carolina in a Nutshell
• New and Notable South Carolina Web Sites
• Thanks to SCIWAY's Advertisers
• Meet South Carolina's 84 State Governors
• A Church Web Site That Catches Your Ear
• Palmetto Pride: Taking Care of South Carolina
• A Good Summer for Local Web Sites
• The Future of Internet Access in South Carolina
• Upcoming Festivals and Events
• What Do You Do with an Old Wooden Boat during a Hurricane?

Fast Facts and Firsts ... South Carolina in a Nutshell

One of the benefits of hosting Ask SCIWAY is that we learn a lot about what people want to know about South Carolina. We have used this knowledge to develop a new section of SCIWAY called "Fast Facts and Firsts" (https://www.sciway.net/facts/).

This unique online resource already includes more than 250 facts about our state's geography, climate, population, history, government, economy, schools and colleges, etc. From the highest temperature on record (111 degrees) ... to the year South Carolina and North Carolina were separated (1710) ... to voter and vehicle registration requirements ... to the words of our two state songs, you can quickly find a wealth of useful and interesting information.

The best part is that Fast Facts and Firsts is just an infant. Each of its pages invites readers to suggest additions or changes, and with each week's email, it will become a more valuable resource. Please send your suggestions to improve@sciway.net.

Top of SCIWAY News No. 22

New and Notable South Carolina Web Sites

Clemson University Home and Garden Information Center

http://www.clemson.edu/extension/hgic/

Daily Bread Ministries - Greer Soup Kitchen

http://www.greersoupkitchen.com/

Darlington Raceway - history, schedules, online tickets

http://www.darlingtonraceway.com

Gift of Life Trust Fund - organ and tissue donation in SC

http://www.giftoflife-sc.org - page no longer exists

(Organization changed names in 2007 to Donate Life South Carolina http://www.donatelifesc.org/)

Legacy Alliance Committee - a group that wants to ban video poker

http://www.legacyalliance.org - page no longer exists

Let Us Bray - South Carolina political commentary

http://get.to/bray - page no longer exists

Metropolitan Arts Council - Greenville - new site, new address

http://www.greenvillearts.com

Palmetto Conservation Foundation, Palmetto Trust for Historic Preservation, and Palmetto Trails

http://www.palmettoconservation.org/

South Carolina Area Health Education Consortium - AHEC

http://www.scahec.net/

South Carolina Education Association

http://www.thescea.org

Sumter High School Alumni - a Web site every SC high school needs

http://www.sumterhigh.com

Top of SCIWAY News No. 22

Thanks to SCIWAY's Advertisers

As SCIWAY grows, I better understand the direct relationship between its advertisers and its quality. Adding new sites, fixing broken links, developing new content, and attempting to answer the 200+ email messages we receive each week takes LOTS of time. Virtually all of our income is used to pay the people who do this work.

To thank our major advertisers for their business, we will list their websites in this and future issues of SCIWAY News. Here's our first group:

Access-1 Web Hosting Network - Beaufort

http://access-1.net

Mel Coker - Columbia Realtor

http://www.columbiasouthcarolina.com/homes/ - site no longer exists

Fort Mill Communication / Internet South - Rock Hill

http://www.fmci.net/

MortgageScape.net - Mount Pleasant

http://mortgagescape.net - site no longer exists

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of South Carolina

http://www.southcarolinablues.com/

Top of SCIWAY News No. 22

Meet South Carolina's 84 State Governors

Since South Carolina declared its independence from Great Britain in March of 1776, we have had 84 governors. You can learn much about these chief executives (the first two were called presidents) by visiting SCIWAY's new "South Carolina Governors" section (https://www.sciway.net/hist/governors/). There you will find a separate page for each governor. These pages include basic biographical information, election results, a list of major events and accomplishments during the governor's term, links to related Web pages, and in many cases a photograph or portrait of the governor.

All of the pages were developed by William Nation, who began working on this internship project while he was a graduate student in the University of South Carolina's College of Library and Information Science (http://www.libsci.sc.edu). As you will see, Mr. Nation does quality work, and I will long be grateful for his contributions to SCIWAY.

But now it's your turn. When you finish exploring a governor's page, please take a few minutes to write us (at improve@sciway.net) about any additions or changes you think we should make. We are also looking for more pictures of the governors and related Web links. If people throughout South Carolina contribute to these pages, they will become an extraordinarily useful as well as accessible resource–and one that keeps getting better every year.

Top of SCIWAY News No. 22

A Church Web Site That Catches Your Ear

Editors note: Sadly, the following website no longer works. It has been replaced by a generic site at http://archives.umc.org/Directory/ChurchDetails.asp?FAC=32170&strLong=-80.38253&strLat=34.67157.

SCIWAY now links to nearly 300 South Carolina religious websites (see https://www.sciway.net/org/relig.html). My favorite is the Jefferson United Methodist Church (http://www.gbgm-umc.org/jeffersonumc/index.htm - site no longer exists). Jefferson is located in Chesterfield County, which is in northeastern South Carolina.

What's special about this site is its warmth. It radiates from the text and the photographs and the music ... from "Jesus Loves Me" to "I Love to Tell the Story" to "When the Saints Go Marching In." I visit scores of South Carolina websites each week, but this one is especially hard to leave ... and easy to return to.

Top of SCIWAY News No. 22

Palmetto Pride: Taking Care of South Carolina

There's a new South Carolina Web site that I hope you all will visit. It's called Palmetto Pride (http://www.palmettopride.org), and it's published by the Governor's Task Force on Litter. As you would guess, this site focuses on our state's litter problem and how we can solve it.

During the past few months I've spent some time in New England, and everyday I was there I was struck by how much cleaner their roadways and waterways are compared with ours.

The real solution to our litter problem is, of course, not to litter in the first place. Which is why the Palmetto Pride site is aptly named ... because our ability to eliminate litter depends directly on our pride in ourselves and in the natural beauty of our state. If we have this pride, we will take care of South Carolina like we should.

Top of SCIWAY News No. 22

A Good Summer for Local Web Sites

In recent months a number of South Carolina city, county, and local economic development websites have been created or signiicantly improved. Here's a good sampling:

Cowpens, SC

http://mycowpensgov.com/

Charleston Metro Chamber of Commerce - new address

https://www.charlestonchamber.org/

Florence County

http://www.florenceco.org

Horry County

http://www.horrycounty.org

Greater Florence Chamber of Commerce

https://www.flochamber.com

Laurens County

http://www.laurenscounty.org

West Columbia, SC

http://www.westcolumbiasc.gov/

Westminster, SC Chamber of Commerce - new address

http://www.westminstersc.com

Top of SCIWAY News No. 22

The Future of Internet Access in South Carolina

For the past month I've been enjoying high-speed Internet access through Comcast, the cable television company that serves James Island. The down side is that the growth of closed cable modem access–"closed" means that only the company which owns the cable network can provide you Internet access–may reduce the competition that has so far provided us better and cheaper Internet connections. To learn more about this important issue and the viewpoint of our state's independent Internet service providers, visit the openNET Coalition's (South Carolina page no longer exists) page http://www.opennetcoalition.org/ .

Top of SCIWAY News No. 22

Upcoming Festivals and Events

For the latest information on upcoming South Carolina events, please see https://www.sciway.net/calendar.html.

Jazz Carolina! 99 - Hartsville - Sept 30-Oct 2

Midlands Area Crop Walk - Columbia - Oct 3

Charleston Jazz and Arts Festival - Oct 7-10

South Carolina State Fair - Columbia - Oct 7-17

Fall for Greenville - Oct 8-10

Charlie Glasgow Memorial Golf Tournament - Blythewood - Oct 11

South Carolina Environmental Symposium - Pawleys Island - Oct 13-15

South Carolina Genealogical Society Annual Meeting - Hilton Head Island - Oct 13-16

Lee County Cotton Festival - Bishopville - Oct 15-16

Race for the Cure - Charleston - Oct 16

South Carolina Historical Society Roundtable on The Shaftesbury Papers - Charleston - Oct 23

Top of SCIWAY News No. 22

What Do You Do with an Old Wooden Boat during a Hurricane?

As some of you who have been reading SCIWAY News for a while may remember, I am the current guardian of an old wooden boat named Orca. Owning Orca has many benefits, but when a powerful hurricane threatens South Carolina's coast, I worry about what will happen to her. She is too slow to outrun a storm (even if I knew which way to go), and her hard-chine ribs can be damaged by the nylon straps used to lift younger fiberglass boats out of the water.

So how do you protect a 60-year-old wooden boat when a hurricane comes calling? Well, you find a protected creek where she can get some help from some old relations. For the rest of the story, plus pictures, please see https://scpictureproject.org/charleston-county/orca.html.

Top of SCIWAY News No. 22

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