This summer brought news that the Cape Romain Environmental Education Charter School had gained approved by the state charter school board.  This school, which will me most likely begin it’s life at Archibald Rutledge Academy’s facilities, will be publicly funded and free to attend but will operate autonomously from the Charleston County School Board.  Decisions governing the school will be made by a local board of teachers, parents, and community leaders with the best wishes of the children placed first.  As the name implies, education at the school will be intertwined with the rich natural resources that we have here, raising a generation of children who appreciate and understand the bountiful resources that nature has bestowed upon us.   The school is able to attract students from beyond Charleston county, with enrollment open to all South Caroline residents. This means that students living in nearby Berkeley and Georgetown counties will be able to attend.  The school will open it’s doors in 2012 teaching Kindergarten through 5 or 6th grade, with the potential to grow to a full K-12 school in the coming years.  For those with a family, or plans to start one, this is a monumental achievement that offers parents struggling with the choosing between local public schools or cross-district enrollment a great opportunity.

The second news comes from a committee that has been in the works for several years now but is gaining steam recently.  The Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelly Foundation (huge advocates for the environment throughout the lowcountry) is paying for the formation of a group called the Sewee Summit.  The group seeks to protect the resources of the Francis Marion Forest, Cape Romain Wildlife Refuge, and beyond by getting local governments to agree to a standard of development more suitable for this area.  McClellanville was the first municipality to approve the recommendations of the group, which did not conflict with Town’s existing Comprehensive Plan and Zoning Ordinance. The Summit doesn’t just stop at getting the regulations in place however. It is also working hard to assist the area in regard to employment, education, health, infrastructure, housing, and more through professionally lead forums in which local community members and experts in the corresponding field sit down to brainstorm on ideas for improvement

The most recent jobs forum had local business owner and organization leaders from across Awendaw and McClellanville seated together with the heads of government agencies including the Forest Service and US Fish & Wildlife Service. The coalition to came to a consensus on a list of resources that should be marketed to promote the uniqueness of the area. There was a strong call for the formation of a chamber of commerce to be shared by the communities of Awendaw and McClellanville, which I hope will soon begin.  The group identified many low-impact sources of jobs that could be fostered and nurtured to further develop the unique assets of this area without taking away from what we hold near and dear.  By working together local businesses will be able to achieve greater marketing strength than they could have ever achieved as individuals and also increase job opportunities in the region that will strengthen our community rather than change it in the negative.

I could easily hit the publish button on this article and hope that it improves everyone’s day, but here is where I ask you to roll up your sleeves. Both of these plans do not seek to change McClellanville, but to promote it’s uniqueness and sustain the way of life that it has.  That is not something that comes from a government bailout check, a new law, or a visit from your representative, it’s change that the people must want and it’s change that the people must make for themselves.

One thing that I have learned is that you can either sit around and say, “Someone should…” or you can be that someone.  I am involved with both of these organizations and have taken a lot of  time out of my schedule which truly belonged to my family and my real estate business to participate with both of these organizations, but my hope is that my family and my business will be better off in the long run through these efforts.  Just as this community banded together after Hurricane Hugo in a time of community crisis, I hope that we again can band together to avert potential crisis.  There will be jobs that everyone can fill and I truly believe that when we look back 5 years from now at our hard work that we will all have an enormous amount of pride at what we have accomplished and have changed McClellanville’s path for the better.

I have just received a new shipment of McClellanville bumper stickers.  I had a little fun with the design and added a picture of McClellanville’s unofficial mascot; the mosquito.

These bumper stickers are completely free and I have distributed them at the following local businesses: Kingfisher Construction, Another Time Art Gallery, Town Hall, T.W. Grahams, McClellanville Arts Council,Village Museum, Pinckney Street Kitchen, and Bulls Bay Supply.  So please stop by and pick one up today.

For loyal out-of-towners that want to show off their McClellanville pride too, you can fill out this form and I’ll mail you one.

PS – If you’re on facebook, be sure to stop by and “like” the unofficial McClellanville, SC page.  I post local news and events more regularly there than I get a chance to here.

Friday, December 3rd  (tonight) from 5-8 p.m.

The McClellanville Arts Council will be hosting many artists throughout their gallery for the event as will many of the other business fronts including Pinckney Street Kitchen, Another Time, Elizabeth Bronson Studio, Lee Arthur Studio, Sassafras, The Yellow Shop , T.W. Graham Restaurant, and Kingfisher Construction.

I will also be co-hosting an open house of the new Red Rooster Loft vacation rental above the Kingfisher Construction at 824 Pinckney, so please feel free to come up for some wine and cheese or hot cocoa and observe the festivities from the balcony.   This is a great opportunity to find some truly unique Christmas gifts, see McClellanville in a different light and catch up with friends and meet new ones as support the well-deserved, local economy.

October 26th at 7pm – Candidate Forum
October 30th at 10am- Eggstravaganza
October 30th at 4:30pm – ARA Halloween Carnival
November 6th – Children Clothing Sale
November 6th at 6pm – Village Museum Oyster Roast

Candidate Forum

This Tuesday, October 26th the Cape Romain Environmental Charter School brings education to the forefront with a political forum featuring candidates from the House District 108 and East Cooper seats of the Charleston County School Board.   Bring important questions and brush up your knowledge of the issues just one week before the elections.

Eggstravaganza: The Art of Sustainable Living

October 30th from 10 to 6:30, the McClellanville Arts Council presents Eggstravaganza: The Art of Raising Chickens, the first in it’s series of lessons on sustained living. The event will feature the “Tour da Coops” allowing patrons a peak into the backyard coops across McClellanville in a sort of chicken meet and greet.  There will be lots to learn and raffles and door prizes as well.

ARA Halloween Carnival

Follow up your “egg-siting” afternoon (I couldn’t help it) with a trip to Archibald Rutledge Academy’s annual Halloween Carnival from 4:30 to 7 featuring hot dogs, baked goods, costume contest, pumpkin carving contest, Hay Rides and fun and games for all ages! Pumpkin contest entrees need to be brought by 4:30 to participate.

Barefoot Daydreams Children Clothing Sale

November 6th at the Methodist Church Annex, Barefoot Daydreams will hold it’s first sale of clothing for children.  There will also be professional photography by Rebecca Porter Photography at the Deer Head Oak.

Village Museum Oyster Roast

Last, but certainly not least, on your McClellanville dance card is the Village Museum Oyster Roast.  This annual event starts at 6pm under the Town Hall on November 6th and goes into the night.  It is free to Village Museum members or just $15 donation for non-members and includes mountains of fresh Bull’s Bay Oysters and heaping kettles of “He Crab Soup”, Seafood Chowder, Fish Stew, and Chile.  BYOB and oyster knives and have a great time.

McClellanville, SC – October 10th, 2010 -  Daniel Bates is proud to present his new real estate company MCVL Realty.  MCVL Realty offers both real estate sales and property management services to the McClellanville and Awendaw markets.  Daniel has completed his broker training and left the company his grandfather started, W.P. Baldwin & Associates in McClellanville, to launch this exciting new company.

As broker/owner Daniel Bates will be managing the daily operations of the company while striving to serve those looking to buy, sell or rent homes and land in McClellanville and Awendaw.  A (near) life-long resident of McClellanville, Daniel Bates has made it his mission to work with clients that appreciate the unique beauty of this rural, coastal area.

Daniel’s popular websites MyMcClellanville.net, McClellanvilleRentals.com, and AwendawLiving.com will continue to operate as usual.  Daniel will also soon be rolling out McClellanvilleHomes.com and McClellanvilleLand.com focusing on all the local real estate markets and allowing MyMcClellanville.net to become a non-commercial, community blog focusing on news and events surrounding the area.  Finally, MCVL.net will serve as a company blog that will feature all of the latest news from the aforementioned websites  and serve to promote company real estate and rental listings better than any other real estate company in the area.  Together, Daniel feels that MCVL family of websites will provide his clients, customers, and fans with the opportunity to choose exactly what news they like to receive without missing a beat.

Daniel Bates would also like to welcome all Facebook users to follow all the latest McClellanville news at Facebook.com/McClellanville, the largest facebook page devoted to McClellanville.

Daniel Bates
Broker / Owner
MCVL Realty
http://MCVL.net
843-606-0622

Lights, Camera, Action!

More than two years after the filming of The New Daughter in McClellanville it has finally been released on DVD after witnessing brief and very limited theater screenings.  I got a copy over the weekend and while I’m not going to become a movie critic here, I will tell you that I enjoyed it.  Having met the two child actors that play Costner’s children, I have to say what a great job they both did.  Ivana Baquero, who speaks with no noticeable accent despite English being her second language, should definitely be admired for her title role.  Kevin Costner never disappoints (I even liked Waterworld) but I don’t think that the script gave any of the characters much depth.   The Wedge and it’s surroundings, where most of the movie was filmed, are quite scenic but and also creepy at night. In case you’re not aware, let me just warn everyone that this isn’t Dances with Wolves, it’s a horror movie.  Here’s the official trailer. Note that Costner says “Real-a-tor”, a pet peeve of all Realtors®, since it’s not a real word.

If scary movie’s aren’t your cup of tea, then you won’t enjoy this movie despite your love of seeing McClellanville on the big screen TV.  So if it’s not something for you, I thought I’d share a few shots of McClellanville from the film with you so that you don’t feel like you missed out.  Like most movies a lot of shots wound up on the cutting room floor. I didn’t spot anyone from McClellanville although I’m told that one of the dead bodies is Emmy Bronson (but correct me if I’m wrong) I also didn’t see any shots of the Arts Council which was supposed to have been transformed into the police station (see photo above), but here is what I did noticed:

Mercy looks a lot like McClellanville

The Wedge - looks great in the daylight.

Lower the lights and add some fog and it's a different story

Ivana Baquero totally ignores McClellanville out her window

Costner and Mathis enjoying dinner at T.W.Grahams

Costner picking up supplies in Bulls Bay Hardware

Copyright © 2009 Gold Circle Films LLC

We built a quick snowman and went to explore the village.  A few children and adults were venturing out.  Snowmen spotted the land but by the afternoon they were nearly all that remained; a brief reminder of the snow that was.   We spent the day with my parents playing Scrabble and talking around the fire and were actually a little dissappointed when the power finally returned in the late afternoon and our excuse to hangout melted away.

Here are just a few of the pictures that I took around McClellanville.  The parade of snowmen is at the end. Which is your favorite? If I missed yours and you want to have it included you can email it to daniel (at) mymcclellanville.net

Those parents showed last night that they still desire a strong local school and that a charter school is the most likely candidate to achieve their goals.  Charter schools are publicly funded and free to attend.  They are open to everyone and are required to meet the same test standards as a public school, but are allowed to be managed by a committee of community leaders and parents rather than the county school district board.  Charter rules can also include details such as more strict behavior policy, requirements for parental involvement, and an educational focus or specialty.  All of these topics will be on the plate during the planning phase of the charter school, but the idea of school have an environmental aspect that would be incorporated into its curriculum seems to be appealing to many considering the vast and rich natural resources in the area.

Charter school funding is based on the number of students that attend the school and is traditionally paid by the county school district, but state funding has also become available from the South Carolina Association of Public Charter Schools.   A charter funded with state money also has the benefit of be able to accept children from other counties, an important feature with Georgetown and Berkeley counties just 10 to 15 miles away.   A future site for school has not yet been decided though the vacant McClellanville Middle School in the center of town seems a likely candidate if it could be purchased, leased, or borrowed from Charleston County.

As it stands now, public support is the most important thing to start the ball rolling for this cause.  Last night was the first of many public meetings aimed at educating the public and gauging support.  Next Thursday, February 18th, the group will meet at the Awendaw Town Hall at 7pm to hopefully garner their much needed support.  If you are interested in having your child attend this school if created, participating on the steering committee, or offering some other skills, you are asked to visit the Cape Romain Environmental Charter School’s website at CapeRomainSchool.com and fill out the contact form or print out this questionnaire and mail it in.  The deadline for the charter school application is May 1st and there needs to be support from the entire McClellanville/Awendaw community in the next month in order to proceed.   Results from the application could be known in as little as 60 days and the school could be ready for students the following the school year.  This is an important cause for the future of the entire area, because without good educational opportunity current families may leave the area and new owns will not consider it, hurting the economy of the area.

I’ll go ahead and say it.  I don’t like seafood.  Yes, I grew up in McClellanville, “the seafood capital of the world”, but the taste of  crabs, clams, shrimp, fish, and oysters has never really been that appealing to me.  I try not to open with this point, because most seafood lovers write me off as crazy, but I can’t help my taste buds.

All that aside, I’ve got to say that I love a good oyster roast.  It’s such a great excuse to get bundled up, go out and see friends you haven’t seen in a while.  There are also, of course, OYSTERS and if you enjoy those slimy boogers (yes, I said it) then you’ve got a lot to look forward to this weekend.

In addition to the Village Museum’s Annual Oyster Roast, which is always a blast, Thornhill Farms will also be holding “Local Music on the Farm” benefit with oysters.  No need to choose, because they’re on different days.  The Village Museum Oyster Roast which is held under the Town Hall is Saturday, November 7th at 6pm and also includes great home-made deserts, soups, and chilis (which I usually consume a dozen or so bowls of).  It’s free to museum members or $20 donation at the door.  BYOB and BYOOK – that’s Bring Your Own Oyster Knives for those that haven’t been to many roasts.

Thornhill Farms event will be Sunday, November 8th from 12-5pm and feature live music, barbercue and oysters.  Proceeds go to benefit the Adaptive Gardens of the Lowcountry and the cost is $25 for adults and $10 for children.  All the details are on the images and you can click them to see a bigger picture.  If I can kick this nasty cold, I’ll see you there.

For those of you that weren’t “born and raised”, oyster season couldn’t be easier to remember.  The rule of thumb is that oysters are only harvested (and therefore consumed fresh) in months with an “R” in them, so starting around SeptembeR and going to ApRil oysters are typically harvested.   Small batches of  oysters can be cooked on a baking sheet in the oven or broiler until the pop open.  The preferred local method, however, is to wait until the weather gets a little colder for a good excuse to break the cabin fever.  Build a rip roarin’ fire (outside) until you’ve got a nice stock pile of coals and then place a sheet of metal (a rusted sheet of tin or slab o’ steel work well) over the coals.  Shovel on the oysters and cover with a dampened burlap sack or towel and cook for around 15-20 minutes or until they’ve all popped open.  Around here you don’t even have to send out invitations, people just wander from out of the woods with oyster knives in hand.

It doesn’t matter if you harvest them yourself, have them delivered, buy them at a market, or pay a professional as long as you’re getting local Bull’s Bay Oysters and enjoying them with friends, it can’t go wrong.