Walking Through A Hopeful Process | Child Advocacy Center
The Child Advocacy Center of Aiken County (CAC), located at 4231 Trolley Line Road in Aiken, coordinates investigations, treatment, and prosecution of the most serious cases of child abuse in Aiken and its surrounding counties. The building, staff, and volunteers provide a safe, nurturing, healing, child-friendly environment at no cost to the families who need it. A 501(c)(3) nonprofit, the CAC also provides training, education and community outreach to break the cycle of abuse. For more information, visit ChildAdvocacyAiken.org. I was asked to speak at a volunteer recruitment tea for the Child Advocacy Center last fall. Unfortunately, I personally know individuals who have been summoned to the center for the […]
July Book Club Selection: The Sun Down Motel by Simone St. James
Aiken Bella Magazine Book Club July Book Club Selection: The Sun Down Motel by Simone St. James Summer is one of my favorite times to grab a fast-paced read. Our July Book Club choice is The Sun Down Motel by Simone St. James. For those who are not familiar with St. James, she is master of the period ghost story. In The Sun Down Motel she hits the mark again with a chilling ghost-based mystery that straddles two time periods. In 1982 Vivian Delaney runs away from home with ambitions to move to New York City. However, she ends up in Fell, New York, alone, with her money running out […]
The Aiken Center for the Arts presents: “Burd Brain”
Marius Valdes, also known as Zoo Valdes, is known for creating a menagerie of lovable animals and whimsical creatures that pop off the page. Valdes, who teaches graphic design and illustration at the University of South Carolina in Columbia, will share his colorful characters in the main gallery at Aiken Center for the Arts while students are in camps this summer. These works, which are based on a children’s book the artist is working on, will give students insights into the process of creating art. “Burd Brain,” the children’s book he is writing and illustrating through a grant from the University of South Carolina, includes words and illustrations that tell […]
The Future of Tax Rates — Storm or Hurricane?
Get House in Order NOW We desperately need some good news at this period in life. I have good news for now through 2025 which I will comment on below! While I was already aware of the issues that I will discuss in this article, the need to act ASAP really hit me hard when I read The Power of Zero by David McKnight — I would strongly encourage you to read this book. On the very first page of the first chapter, McKnight quotes David Walker, CPA, former Comptroller General (CPA for the United States), stating that unless future tax rates double, our country could go bankrupt. If you […]
The care and feeding of Wild Roses
I suspect that doing the right thing is, in the end, simply cultivating an appropriate and deliberate respect for all the beautiful variations and possibilities of one another. I always thought they were a gift from my mother. The wild and brilliant red rose vines burst into my yard, along the front of the house, just beneath my bedroom windows, the very first spring following my mother’s death. They have been bringing me delight and insight rather consistently ever since. It’s been almost a decade now. And I’ve always refrained from interfering with their spontaneity, their free-form loveliness, even their integration with the window shutters and roof line and other […]
Mr. … Mrs. … Miss… What?
I am 18 years old now, I’m a legal adult, and I am a high school graduate. The road to adulthood was rocky but I made it, and now, well, now I’m more confused about life than I was when I was a “kid.” I feel like I’m at a fork in the road with about a million different paths, and I know that’s the exciting part of life. I’m told that these are supposed to be the best years of my life and I finally get to figure out what I want to do and be an adult, but ironically I don’t feel much different than when I was […]
Be Young at Heart
“Youth is happy because it has the capacity to see beauty. Anyone who keeps the ability to see beauty never grows old.” Franz Kafka July is The Youth Issue. Nothing is more youthful than summer. Kids are out of school and can be found all over town, playing in parks, hanging out by the pool, and making new friends at summer camps. The days are long and the sunsets seem to go on forever. Birds sing all day and fireflies grace the evenings. There is magic at play. Families spend more time together and schedules are a little more relaxed. The presence of children and their playfulness adds fun to […]
