Summer Reads
The Reality Of Change
“To everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under the heavens.” (Ecclesiastes 3:1). On a first...
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Tending the Creative Fire
With great delight, The Aiken Center for the Arts announces the privilege of hosting Taos, New Mexico artist Jan Haller,...
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Is Eye Strain the New Normal for Us?
We are now using our computer screens more than ever, whether it is for fun, work, or school. How does...
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Back to Fall: Pumpkins and Their Rich History, Traditions … and Pie!
Let's Give Them Pumpkin to Talk About. Strips of pumpkin lying on the ground gave up their moisture to the...
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Back to Grassroots: Are You Ready to Help #ConnectAiken Through Arts + Music?
Are you ready for a whole season of music in Aiken? This Fall, neighborhoods, lifestyle and advocacy groups, dreamers and...
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James Andre, the Artist
“And if what they say is true — if every great painting is really a self-portrait — what, if anything, is James Andre...
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Aiken Music Fest Interviews The Red Clay Strays
A conversation between local Aikenite, Rob Heilig, and The Red Clay Strays ahead of their Aiken Music Fest show on...
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Imagine being in stars with Butterflies
We can fill our time of living “in stars” with kindness and justice and all good things and right actions....
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July Cabinet of Curiosities | Can You Can?
This month’s focus for Bella is “youth.” So, we thought we would tell y’all about the awesome Tomato Girls. Early in 1910, a 25-year-old rural Aiken County school teacher named Marie Cromer noticed a lack of organizations the local young ladies of her school could join. The young boys had several agricultural clubs to choose from, but the girls had none. Marie Cromer set out to change this by founding the Girls’ Tomato Club of Aiken County at the Talatha School. The club charged the young girls to grow and can 1/10th of an acre of tomatoes. Her goal was that the club members would “not learn simply how to
Aiken’s Character Initiative Enthusiasm
The Aiken Characteristic of the month for March is Enthusiasm. Google defines enthusiasm as an intense and eager enjoyment, interest, or approval. It is a feeling of energetic interest in a particular subject or activity and a desire to be involved in it. It means having an active and motivated attitude instead of a passive one. Who chooses your attitude? Being enthusiastic is a choice, and your enthusiasm can motivate others to achieve their goals and objectives. I think enthusiasm is good for health and can add to the quality of life. Being enthusiastic about yourself, even about your negative experiences, obstacles, struggles, and encounters, can change the vibration and
Being Human
If there is one nugget of advice that we should take away from 2020, it is to be human. It sounds like such a simple request, but is often lacking in a business setting. We celebrate love (among other things) in the month of February. Love is a strong word, but loving one another is the basis of our humanity, so how can we love one another in the workplace? Angela Ahrendts, Senior VP at Apple, said, “Everyone talks about building a relationship with your customer. I think you build one with your employees first.” Whether or not you want to be, you are in relationship with the people you
