Legacy – Page 2 – Palmetto Bella Magazine

OPEN – HANDED Generosity

“I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across water to create many ripples.” MOTHER TERESA As we enter yet another month of the COVID-19 epidemic,...

100 Christmases

I walked into the old farmhouse that housed four generations of the Jenkins family. Suddenly memories of Christmas Eve flooded my mind. I remembered so many details of that special...

The Ancient Traditions of Yule

Yule, also known as Yuletide, Yulefest, and Winter Solstice, has many traditions that are present in current day religions. If you like history as much as I do, come on...

Holidays and the Gathering Spirit

Celebrations have social and emotional motivators Grandma Anderson made delicious meatballs with a secret ingredient called Rusk that is no longer found in stores. She taught my brothers and me...

Fall of the Berlin Wall, Part II | First Person Account

My sister Ursula lived in Berlin. By 1989 she was chief oboist in the Theater des Westens, taught a number of oboe students, substituted at the Berlin Opera, and owned...

Traditions!

“But it’s a tradition ... because of our traditions, everyone knows who he is and what God expects him to do.” Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof Traditions are funny...

Golf is a Family Tradition | Our Favorite Golf Course is the Palmetto

The first time I saw my boyfriend wearing loud plaid pants with a white belt and a clashing shirt, my thoughts were something akin to, “What a dork.” He is...

First Person Account | Fall of the Berlin Wall

My family has always had a strong connection to Germany, and later, to Berlin. As a result, I have long thought that the fall of the Berlin Wall on November...

Baking Traditions: The Search for the Great (Can of) Pumpkin

I have had many conversations about American Thanksgiving. I have been asked many questions. “Why are we all so crazy about them?” So I’m working at a kids’ clothing store...

Overcoming Adversity | An Interview with Aiken Mayor Rick Osbon

It has been a privilege to hold the position as Mayor of Aiken for five years now. Has it been challenging? Absolutely, especially due to COVID-19 affecting our world, our...

Beyond the Barricade | SRS Ties That Shaped Our Community | Happy Birthday SRS!

This grand lady celebrates her 70th birthday on November 28, 2020. On this date in 1950, President Harry Truman authorized the design, construction, and operation of what was known at...

A Tradition of Women

There is a decades-old tradition among the people of the Hawaiian Islands — among the women specifically, and those of Polynesian descent in particular — to take to their boats...

Beyond the Barricade | SRS Ties That Shaped Our Community | October 2020

Although she was only three years old, Barbara Smoak clearly remembers attending a party for her maternal grandfather’s retirement from Dupont in 1960. As a reminder of her family’s legacy...

Creativity in Moments of Momentous Change – Time and Time Again

Never was more emphasis on creativity in the history of our country than during the Great Depression. Newspapers, magazines, radio commercials, and the like were filled with suggestions of how...

Greatest Generation – First Person Account | Sunset for Block Island

The USS Block Island (CVE-21), a “baby flattop” aircraft carrier, was struck by 3 torpedoes in the middle of the night of May 29, 1944. Once the order to abandon...

Restless Morning

My daughter, Laura, left in early January this year to fly to Seattle to take a new job. It was exciting for her — a new opportunity in a new...

Join us for the SRS70 Exhibit

Bring your mask and join us for a COVID friendly Gallery Opening Reception on Thursday, September 10 from 6 – 8 pm The Aiken Center for the Arts is proud to...

Cabinet of Curiosities | Moments of Momentous Change – Time and Time Again

This month’s focus for Bella is “change.” 2020 has been especially full of changes, and the year isn’t over yet! With the idea that nothing is ever quite new, let’s...

Beyond the Barricade – Lisa Fountain

There are three traits that clearly define Lisa Fountain: devotion to her family, commitment to her job, and a pure passion for performing.Lisa is a Savannah River Site (SRS) baby....

Greatest Generation – First Person Account | Into the Water

This is Part Two of a first person account of the sinking of the USS Block Island (CVE-21), a “baby flattop” aircraft carrier, by a German U-boat in the battle...

Cabinet of Curiosities | Back to the Historical Museum

As you all know, we are now in the midst of a tumultuous time in our history, and it has taken our “normal” and tossed it out the window. Because...

Beyond the Barricade | SRS ties that shaped our community | Part 8

Over 40 million dollars … thousands upon thousands of service hours … lives touched … countless lives. This is the story of a vital community partnership. This is the story...

Rotary Club of Aiken Awards $105,000 in College Scholarships

This has been a year unlike any other, but the Rotary Club of Aiken has made it a very special one for twenty-one high school seniors in Aiken, SC. Foregoing...

Beyond the Barricade | SRS Ties That Shaped Our Community | Part 7

When Tambra Wilkerson graduated with a degree in electronic engineering, she never imagined she would start a nonprofit and don boxing gloves on a regular basis in Aiken, South Carolina....

Greatest Generation – First Person Account | Sunset for the USS Block Island

Every family passes stories down to the children and grandchildren. Some are unique to the family, and others tell of historical events that affected an entire generation. My father wrote...

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...

Cabinet of Curiosities | Depots of Aiken County

When the Charleston to Hamburg Railroad crisscrossed through what is now Aiken County in the early 1830s, the need for train depot stations along the new railroad line soon followed....

Beyond the Barricade | SRS Ties That Shaped Our Community | Part 3

While some women would be put off if they learned that the man they had been dating for three weeks had fibbed about his last name, Peggy Ford just took...

May Cabinet of Curiosities: Weddings – Glitzy and Unique

Weddings in the Aiken County area have historically run the gamut from simple and traditional to over-the-top glamorous. In this article we’re going to feature three weddings that all took...

The Virus that Made a Doctor: Certainty from Uncertainty

Dr. Pierre Gaultier Jenkins’ letters home during the first wave of the 1918 influenza pandemic Saturday A.M. “Still in bed.” Dearest Father: I guess mother has rec’d my Special Delivery...