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articles: Renting in today’s Market 10 Reasons to Plant trees...Now! Profiting From The Green Movement

Contents From The Editor

5

Wardrobes

11

Commerical Real Estate - Renting In Today’s Market

13

Books

15

Pillows

17

Umbrellas

19

Outdoors

21

10 Reasons To Plant Trees...Now!

23

Flags

24

Carolina Girl Gear

26

Palms

28

Aquariums

30

Bunker Shot Perfection

31

Kitchens

32

Curtains

34

Sunrooms

36

Can You Find The Gorget?

37

Chandeliers

39

Fans

41

How To Make Grits

43

Baths

44

About Carolina Forest

46

Time To Refinace or Buy?

48

Neighborhoods

50

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From The Editor Buy Local Promoting local business is as simple as having other company’s business cards or brochures posted on a board in your store. In an effort to promote your area, we are distributing decals that say “Check us out at www.MoncksCorner.sc,” in hopes that local shoppers will visit the site to find local restaurants, clothing, specials, coupons and more. We are doing our part, so please join us, and promote your local merchants, and everyone will benefit!

Buy

Top Ten reasons to Think Local Local - Be Local – Help Local Businesses

1. Buy Local -- Support yourself and Moncks Corner. Many studies have revealed when you buy from an independent, locally owned business in the your own area, rather than a nationally owned businesses, considerably more of your money is used to make purchases from other local businesses. Local businesses continue to strengthen the economic base of the local community. These include case studies showing that local local owned businesses generate a premium in enhanced economic impact to the community and our tax base.

2.Support Local Area Community Groups:

Non-profit organizations receive an average 250% more support from smaller Moncks Corner area business owners than they do from large companies.

3. Keep Your Area Unique: Where we shop, where we eat and have fun -- all of it makes our community home. Our one-of-a-kind local businesses are an integral part of the distinctive character. Local tourism businesses also benefit. “When people go on vacation they generally seek out destinations that offer them the sense of being someplace, not just anyplace.” ~ Richard Moe, President, National Historic Preservation Trust.

4. Reduce Environmental Impact: Locally owned businesses in your area can make more local purchases requiring less transportation. This generally means contributing less to sprawl, congestion, habitat loss and pollution.

5. Create Additional Jobs: Small local businesses are the largest employer nationally and in the community, provide the most jobs to local residents. 6. Receive Better Service: Local businesses often hire people with a better understanding of the products and services they offer, and take more time to get to know customers. Cont. next page www.MoncksCorner.sc Online Magazine | 2009 5

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7.invest

in your Community: Local businesses are owned by people who live in this community, and they are less likely to leave, and are more invested in the community’s future.

8. put

your

taXes

to

Good use:

Local businesses require a relatively little infrastructure investment and make more efficient use of public services as compared to nationally owned stores entering your area.

9. Buy What you Want, not What BiG advertisinG BudGets Want you to Buy: A South Carolina marketplace comprised of tens of thousands of small businesses is the best way to ensure innovation and low prices over the long-term. A multitude of small businesses, each selecting products and services based not on a national sales plan but on their own interests and the needs of their local customers, promises a much broader range of product choices.

10. promote LoCaL prosperity: An escalating body of economic research shows that in an increasingly homogenized world, entrepreneurs and skilled workers are more likely to invest and settle in communities that preserve their one-of-a-kind businesses and distinctive character. Larry Local Editor in Chief

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cEo Dennis Stewart EDITOR IN CHIEF Larry Local cREatiVE DiREctoR Daniel Holliday aRt DiREctoR Amy Coats WEB DEVELoPERs Allen Bayless Matthew Coats ACCOUNTING Marie Bentley ADMINISTRATION & MARKETING Vivi Morillo Angie Woods

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Just let the wardrobe do the acting Jack Nicholson

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Commercial Real Estate – Renting in Today’s Market First make sure that the area you have chosen is right for your intended business. If you plan on expanding, take that into consideration. Do you need to be close to an expressway, or the local airport? Before you decide, think ahead, because you may be getting into a long term commitment. Make sure that any space you’re considering is big enough for both your current needs, and your foreseeable growth. Be realistic and never over-commit. Do your homework beforehand. Investigate traffic patterns; tour the area and building. Find out who the previous tenant was, and why the business left. Learn what kinds of marketing the location does in support of its tenants (if any) and whether cooperative marketing funds are available to you. Weigh the benefits of guaranteed foot traffic at a mall location against premium rent. Some malls require that all tenants stay open during mall hours, and pay for common area usage as well as the store’s own space and upkeep. Stores may also be asked to pay a percentage of sales to the mall. Identify your closest competitors. Also check out neighboring businesses with an eye for complementary products or services. If you are locating in a

mall, check the lease agreement for any guaranteed protection against competition. Evaluate whether the physical location and space is a good fit with your product line. Do you need a large, bright space or is an office warehouse sufficient?

venture if you have a business that is not being adversely affected by this economy. Just make sure you get the right location……

Investigate any restrictions on signage. Signs are vitally important to retail businesses, yet many landlords decide on what a store can and cannot do. The rules may be even stricter in a mall, which closely monitors its physical appearance. Negotiate the terms of your lease aggressively. Think about consulting a realtor that is familiar with the area. Never accept wording that’s confusing or that leaves you wondering who is liable for what. Ask for the right of first refusal on adjacent space in case you need to expand. Negotiate for free improvements, free rent, and other incentives before signing your lease. Hire a real estate attorney who not only specializes in lease negotiations, but knows your area and, preferably, has dealt with your kind of business before. A lease negotiation can cover tens, if not hundreds, of terms, and you want someone in your corner who has seen it all before. Know who is responsible for maintaining the heating, air-conditioning and other systems, as well as keeping up the parking lot and building exterior. This can be critical in older buildings. Who pays for the utilities and trash pick-up? The time has probably never been better to start a new www.MoncksCorner.sc Online Magazine | 2009 13

“A lot of people ask me if I were shipwrecked, and could only have one book, what would it be? I always say ‘How to Build a Boat” Stephen Wright

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“No one realizes how beautiful it is to travel until he comes home and rests his head on his old, familiar pillow.”

Lyn Yutang

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Don’t sit under an umbrella waiting for it to rain

“If people sat outside and looked at the stars each night, I’ll bet they’d live a lot differently.” Bill Watterson

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“Every normal man must be tempted at times to spit on his hands & hoist the black flag” Henry Louis Mencken

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Get Your Carolina Girl Gear!

“It is the nature of the strong heart, that like the palm tree it strives ever upwards when it is most burdened.” Sir Philip Sidney

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“The essential is to excite the spectators. If that means playing Hamlet on a flying trapeze or in an aquarium, you do it.” Orson Welles

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Bunker Shot Perfection: Blast Your Way to a Better Golf Score Bunker shots can be daunting but it’s really all in your head! Use these simple techniques the next time you’re in the bunker and blast your way to a better score. Golf ScoreFirst, don’t change your swing. Use the loft of the club and your back swing to determine your distance. Of course this will take some practice so you know how to shorten your backswing to get the distance you need. You use your back swing to adjust your distance because you always want to accelerate through

the ball. You never want to the club head to decelerate. Also open the club face if needed to decrease the distance the ball will travel. Use the “bounce” on the club to launch the ball out of the sand. Don’t worry too much about the definition of bounce but try this the next time in the practice sand trap. Take your sand wedge and swing at the sand. Vary the angle the club hits the sand. When you bring the club down steeply you’ll take a lot of sand and leave a large “divot” in the sand. Decrease the angle that you strike the sand until you can feel the club almost bounce off the sand. Feeling that is more important than the actual definition of bounce. The key is to have this bounce feel when hitting the ball out of the sand. Open the club face and aim slightly right with an open stance with the ball forward in your stance, slightly off of your left heel for right handed golfers. When you swing follow the line

of your feet. Keep the weight on your left foot and don’t try to lift the ball, let the club do the work; trust me the club will lift the ball. Hit about 1 inch behind the ball. The key is to get sand between the club face and the ball. This is where that bounce comes in to play. Also, expect more roll on the ball when faced with a down hill lie in the bunker because the ball won’t get as much spin and tend to roll quite a bit. Use and practice these techniques to get yourself off the beach and onto the green. For more helpful tips, advice, or to add some Golf Tips and Suggestions of your own - you are invited to visit the South Carolina Golfers Blog at www.Golf.sc/Blog/

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“If you can organize your kitchen, you can organize your life.” Louis Parrish

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“When twilight drops her curtain down and pins it with a star, remember that you have a friend though she may wander far.”

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In our lives there is bound to come some pain, surely as there are storms and falling rain; just believe that the one who holds the storms will bring the sun.

Can

you find

the gorget? The South Carolina State flag is immediately recognizable to native Carolinians, and if you’re spending some time out-of-State, it will probably bring a tear to your eye to see it whizzing by on a bumper sticker or rippling in the soft blue sky of a native license plate. Most folks, however, consistently confuse our flag for a simple representation of a moonlit palm tree. The truth it, the sliver of crescent suspended in the upper left hand corner is not a moon phase: it’s a piece of ornamental armour known as a “gorget”. A holdover from the days of knights in shining armour, the gorget was originally used to protect the throat and block blows from non-projectile weapons such as swords. Since the gorget originally rested

around the throat, the shape was that of a crescent. In formal armour, the gorget was placed beneath the breastplate and backplate set and supported the weight of the armour. They were often equipped with straps in order to attach some of the heavier armours. By the Renaissance, the gorgets had already achieved an ornamental status and by the American Revolution, it could be seen hanging from delicate chains and ribbons around the throats of officers, signifying their rank. The first South Carolina flag, designed in 1765, displayed the dark blue of the American troops’ uniforms and a large crescent with the word “Liberty” written within it. While most historians agree that the crescent is the representation of the gorget, which was also worn as a symbol on the caps of American soldiers, there is some argument that the symbol could also stand

for the river bend on which Charleston sits (the crescent was a common symbol used by early American settlements when their Town rested on the curve of a river), or it was a borrowed symbol from the crest of the Bull family, one of Charleston’s early settlers. The palmetto tree on today’s flag was not included until January 28, 1861, the day of South Carolina’s secession from the Union. The palmetto tree represents the defense of Fort Moultrie from British attack, as the Fort itself was made of palmetto logs: an unexpectedly brilliant construction, as the logs of the palmetto tree are incredibly resilient and absorbed the enemy cannon fire like a sponge. Either way we have a pretty cool state flag, and gorget is hard to pronounce!

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There really are some incredible chandeliers on the market now. The designs are a lot softer and warmer than they used to be. I think the overriding design factor that most homeowners are seeking is something that says their home is warm, inviting and comfortable. Susan Humphress

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“What is my loftiest ambition? I’ve always wanted to throw an egg at an electric fan.” Oliver Herford quotes (1863-1935)

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hoW

to make Grits

By now, you should know that grits are not only the starch of choice in South Carolina, it’s also the acronym for “Girls Raised in the South”; so if you don’t have your recipe down by now, it’s time to get boiling. Proper grits do not come in an easy to open, plastic-lined paper packet. As My Cousin Vinny put it, “Real grits take at least 20 minutes to cook”. In fact, they take a couple hours, but it’s worth every simmering second.So get rid of the Quaker Instant Grits and mosey on down to the rice isle. Grits can usually be found either here or in the baking isle. If you’re lucky enough to live near a locally produce market or farmer’s market, 99% of the time you’ll find more than enough grits in stock. Some local favorites include Anson Mills grits and Charleston’s Favorite Stone Ground Grits.

filling the bowl with water until the water is an inch or so above the grits. Skim off the chaff and drain. Don’t worry, it doesn’t have to be completely dry, just get it as close as possible. Now, dump the wet grits into a pot and pour in twice as much chicken stock as grits. Bring this to a boil, then reduce to medium-low. Now add equal portions cream and milk up to 2 and ½ times the amount of grits. So, if I was making this recipe for two, I would have used 1 cup dry grits, 2 ½ cups chicken stock, 1 ¾ cups cream and 1 ¾ cups milk. Add salt and pepper to taste, then sit back and let it simmer. The longer the grits simmer, the richer they’ll be. Typical time is 20-30 minutes, but some of the best grits sit for an hour to two hours at low to medium-low heat, just soaking up that cream and milk. Right before you serve the grits up, stir in a healthy pat of butter and, if you’re feeling a little wild, grate a handful of parmesan or cheddar cheese over the top. Play with and perfect this dish to your liking. The recipe is purposefully simple for the sole reason that it’s up to each southern girl to come up with her own special twist on this Southern Classic.

Now that you have the dry goods, make sure you have some fresh chicken stock, milk, cream and butter. Oh yes, you’re making these the way God intended. Measure out your dry grits (1 cup of dry grits makes roughly 2 servings) and clean them by placing them in a bowl and

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Sorrow can be alleviated by good sleep, a bath and a glass of wine. Saint Thomas Aquinas www.MoncksCorner.sc Online Magazine | 2009 44

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About Carolina Forest Carolina Forest is one of the more popular communities for people living and working in the Myrtle Beach area in South Carolina.

Recent Development Carolina Forest boasts one of the top school districts in the state, and is an unincorporated town made-up of numerous neighborhoods communities and new commercial developments conveniently situated between the beaches Myrtle Beach and the historic city of Conway. The Carolina Forest community enjoys residential family-friendly neighborhoods and businesses, as well as top schools and preserved natural foliage and wildlife create a master-planned community in Horry County and a unique and sought after place to live.

Master Planned for the Communities Benefit Carolina Forest is an one-of-a-kind, master-planned, unincorporated area of Horry County SC that’s an example of how excellent neighborhoods,

family-friendly businesses, and superior schools mix to form one of the most desirable places to live.

Golf! Residents are afforded with recreational opportunities in the Carolina Forest area. There are two golf courses in Carolina Forest, Man O’ War and The Wizard golf courses. Both are situated beside Windsor Green and Waterford Plantation. The River Oaks neighborhood, which borders Carolina Forest, also features numerous golf courses as well. Carolina Forest has plans for ten golf courses, but the slight decline of the golf industry in Myrtle Beach has not permitted this.

Future Plans Upcoming recreational plans have been set aside in Carolina Forest. International Paper initially planned parkland, roadway easements, reserves, and animal corridor land, some of which has not been started and for now remains virgin forestland. Lewis Ocean Bay Preserve, a gigantic tract of land reserved by the state of South Carolina, borders Carolina Forest and is easy to get to through International Drive and Highway 90.

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Visit www.Jobs.sc To Find Your Dream Job!

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rate with the tax advantages of a mortgage, and you have an incredibly cheap way to build wealth, but you better act now.

time to reFinanCe Buy !?

or

Right now, mortgage rates are at their lowest level since 1971. Think about that. Twenty-five years ago, homeowners were paying as much as 18% on a 30-year fixed. Today it’s just a little over 5%.Combine that

Real estate guru Barbara Corcoran has already seen a tremendous surge in refinance applications – more than triple the average – and the number of people getting approved is astronomically higher as well, she says. But that doesn’t mean the low rates are a panacea for the ills of the housing market. It is only once home prices start to go up that we will finally see a light at the end of tunnel, Corcoran says. Until that happens, we are still going to have to crawl out of this mess. “[Low interest rates are] a not a lifesaver,” Corcoran says. “This is just a helping hand.”

David Kittle, chairman of the Mortgage Bankers Association, has this advice to homeowners looking to refinance: Do it. Don’t get greedy searching for another quarter-point. Lock in rates now. He is seeing applications soar over 125% just since Thanksgiving due to the low rates. Of course, you should only refinance if it saves you at least 3/8 on the rate and if you plan on staying in your home for at least four years, Kittle says. Along with good credit, proof of income and money by means of a down payment or equity in the home, there are certain things every homeowner needs regardless of interest rate levels.

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Neighborhoods

investment of time, but material costs are often low.

1. Neighborhoods are where we all grew up a long time ago. Today, because of golf courses, shopping areas, subdivisions, jobs, schools, and a transient society, a neighborhood means different things to different folks. 2. Neighborhoods can be as small as a dozen or so houses, and be as many as thousands of homes. 3. Neighborhoods are common, and perhaps close to universal, since most people in urbanized areas would probably consider themselves to be living in one. 4. Neighborhoods are convenient, and always accessible, since you are already in your neighborhood when you walk out your door. 5. Successful neighborhood action frequently requires little specialized technical skill, and often little or no money. Action may call for an

6. With neighborhood action, compared to activity on larger scales, results are more likely to be visible and quickly forthcoming. The streets are generally cleaner; the crosswalks are painted; the trees are planted; a festival draws a crowd. 7. Visible and swift results are indicators of success; and since success is reinforcing, the probability of subsequent neighborhood action is increased.

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8. Because neighborhood action usually involves others, such actions create or strengthen connections and relationships with other neighbors, leading in turn to a variety of potentially positive effects, often hard to predict. 9. Over and above these community advantages, neighborhood activity may simply be enjoyable and fun for those taking part.

crime, better outcomes for children, and improved physical and mental health. The social support that a strong neighborhood may provide can serve as a buffer against various forms of adversity. Sometimes a neighborhood isn’t a neighborhood until an event occurs, which draws people together, to become “neighbors”.

But in addition to these benefits, considerable research indicates that strong and cohesive neighborhoods and communities are linked –quite possibly causally linked – to decreases in

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Final Words

Far away in the sunshine are my highest aspirations. I may not reach them, but I can look up and see their beauty, believe in them, and try to follow where they lead. Louisa May Alcott

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