How has daily life changed for you? It’s a question many of our area’s seniors are asking one another these days, as stay-at-home regulations restrict most social activities to one’s immediate household and fear of the COVID-19 virus keeps many out of the few open businesses and other regular meeting places. Nowhere is the answer to this question clearer than at … [Read more...]

The realities of COVID-19 and social distancing have forced companies nationwide to adapt their business model to fit the new normal of personal interaction. Nowhere is this more evident than in how we access our food and other essentials from grocery stores, restaurants and retailers. Pre-pandemic, delivery services were often perceived as a convenience that businesses … [Read more...]

“I told my students goodbye on a Friday not knowing the call would be made to not return,” explained Beth McCall, a 5th grade teacher at Whitesides Elementary School. “Knowing what I know now, I would have been more specific about what materials to take from their desks and cubbies, but more importantly I would have given them all a reassuring hug and told them how much I loved … [Read more...]

When you take a moment to think about the core values of our town, one of the first things that comes to mind is our hospitality. It’s no wonder that we’ve built a booming industry on the back of the friendly reception and overall care for others that Charleston is famous for. Sadly, in a city where striking up a conversation with a stranger is commonplace, the effects of a … [Read more...]

How does a global pandemic such as COVID-19 get dealt with in smaller communities? The greatest impact in managing the crisis comes from our hometown heroes. The health care workers of the Lowcountry in South Carolina answered as they always do: swiftly, with compassion and determination, all while placing themselves, and oftentimes their own families, at risk. From the … [Read more...]

As the COVID-19 pandemic made its way through Mount Pleasant, the town took an innovative approach to police work, redirecting its law enforcement resources to make life a little more bearable and a lot safer for the people who call the fourth largest municipality in South Carolina home. Mount Pleasant’s men and women in blue played an especially important role for the … [Read more...]

Is it your business’ one-year anniversary and you have no one to celebrate it with? That was me on March 18 this year, having to make the tough decision to close my doors to the public. The day also happened to be one year from the grand opening of my boutique, Erika Lynn Studio and Boutique. Immediately, it felt like survival of the fittest! Every store and small business … [Read more...]

The effects of COVID-19 are undeniable and reverberate within each and every home. While we cannot see the virus itself, change is evident and has impacted us in many ways. It may appear that we have lost freedoms, but we also have gained new opportunities. This is how some families are taking the lemons of a pandemic and making lemonade out of this experience. The … [Read more...]

Family lives transitioned quickly in March 2020 throughout South Carolina and the entire United States. Work layoffs, school closures, medical offices closed, as well as many other nonessential businesses shutting their doors for several weeks, even months. Athletes around the world could no longer take the court, hit the field or start their engines. Theme parks, trails, … [Read more...]

When the pulse started to take a turn and locals began taking COVID-19 more seriously, businesses became either essential or non-essential, a critical classification for small and micro businesses with impacts that will last long after the pandemic. Local towns issued stay-at-home orders. Beaches were closed off to non-residents. Visitors were essentially turned away at the … [Read more...]