Holiday Entertaining Made Easy with Local Catering Options

Thanksgiving may be over, but the holiday parties are about to kick off. We’re not stressing this holiday season because our friends (and clients) at Thurston Southern Catering have us covered.

Local Charleston caterer, Thurston Southern Catering, is busy dishing up some serious eats fit for the season. This is always a jam-packed event season in the Lowcountry, and the team at TSC is a part of some of Charleston’s best celebrations.

If you are throwing a holiday party or corporate event, let TSC cater. From product launches to holiday soirees, their professional staff will ensure your company’s event is the hot topic at the workplace for days to come. Take a look at some of their signature hors d’oeuvres here.

Here’s one of Thurston Southern Catering’s recipes that we love making for Thanksgiving or Christmas.

Root Vegetable Au Gratin

This dish is sure to impress your house guests this holiday season!

Ingredients:
3 cups heavy cream
1 heavy Tbsp fresh thyme leaves
1 bay leaf
5 cloves roasted garlic
4 lbs. root vegetables (Yukon gold and sweet potatoes, and rutabaga) - sliced 1/3″ thick
4 cups shredded gruyere or Swiss

Instructions:
1) Bring first four ingredients to a simmer. Remove from heat, add roasted garlic, and allow to cool 1 hour. Strain into a large bowl.
2) Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Add sliced root vegetables and 1/2 of the cheese to strained cream bowl. Season with salt and pepper to taste and toss together.
3) Line a 9×13″ casserole dish with parchment and lightly grease pan.
4) Fill pan with the vegetable mixture and level out. Top with remaining cheese.
5) Cover with foil and bake 30 minutes.
6) Remove foil, rotate, and bake another 15-20 minutes or until center is fork tender. Enjoy!

Caregivers Will Get Assistance with New Memory Care Day Facility Close to Opening in Mount Pleasant

Alice’s Clubhouse, the first medical model memory care center in the Lowcountry will open on Bowman Road this fall. Alice’s Clubhouse is open to adults with mild to moderate memory loss, including but not limited to Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases and other forms of dementia. Open to adults with mild to moderate memory loss, the 3,100 square-foot facility will host up to 30 members per day, and is now accepting applications.

The co-founders, David AvRutick and Diane Sancho (pictured) hosted a Dusty Boots Tour on October 18 to offer doctors, locals and potential members a first look at the facility and the chance to learn more about membership.

Two local residents, with a desire to improve quality of life for both the Clubhouse’s members and their caregivers, developed the facility from concept through creation. Diane Sancho, MSW, a 30-year veteran of elder care will serve as its executive director. David AvRutick, whose mother, Alice, has Alzheimer’s disease, is its president.

“We are excited to launch the first medical model memory care day center in South Carolina – and one of only a few in the United States,” said AvRutick. “Alice’s Clubhouse will allow those struggling with the disease to live at home longer and be more stimulated socially and cognitively, while at the same time helping their caregivers better maintain their own lives and health.”

The Alzheimer’s Association estimates that:

• Every minute, an adult is diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in the United States
• One in 10 seniors are living with dementia from Alzheimer’s disease
• By 2025, the number of people with Alzheimer’s is expected to grow in every state by at least 13 percent. In South Carolina, that number is expected to grow by 35 percent

“Alice’s Clubhouse offers comprehensive services, enabling both its members and their caregivers to live less stressful, more fulfilling lives,” said Sancho. “The goal of our center is to offer support, stimulation, socialization, and relief to our members and their families who are shouldering these challenging conditions.”

The center will have a team of licensed medical professionals on site to assess each club member, administer medications and assist with daily care. Staff includes registered nurses, a physician liaison, a certified nursing assistant and a recreational technician. Dentists, podiatrists, physical therapists, occupational therapists and speech therapists will be in rotation. White linen food service will also be featured at lunch and snack time.

AvRutick envisions opening multiple locations of Alice’s Clubhouse to meet this tremendous growing need, as well as partnering with researchers and hospitals in the field of memory care to contribute to the body of knowledge on dementia, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and the many other conditions that rob individuals of their cognitive abilities.

The structured environment of Alice’s Clubhouse will prioritize therapeutic and recreational programming tailored to each member’s interests, including art therapy, horticulture, baking, music, word games, guest lecturers and reading – all for cognitive stimulation. Salon services, exercise classes and visits by therapy animals will also be offered.

Alice’s Clubhouse is open to adults with mild to moderate memory loss, including but not limited to Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases and other forms of dementia. A comprehensive assessment for care plan development must be completed before being accepted as a Clubhouse member. The Clubhouse is private pay, although some costs may be covered by a member’s long term care insurance.

Alice’s Clubhouse is located at 1156 Bowman Road, Suite 105, Mount Pleasant, SC 29646. Hours of operation are Mondays through Friday 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

To learn more, contact Diane Sancho at diane@alicesclubhouse.com or visit www.alicesclubhouse.com. Alice’s Clubhouse is located at 1156 Bowman Road, Suite 105, Mount Pleasant, SC 29646.

20 Permitted Farms Statewide Learning As They Grow

Farmers all over South Carolina have been working overtime in recent months to prepare for the first legal hemp planting in decades. From the Upstate to the Lowcountry, twenty 20-acre parcels are nurturing their first industrial hemp seedlings, all of which will ultimately be harvested and used for a variety of industrial purposes.

Many of the participants are literally betting their family farms on the viability of this new crop. Six-figure investments of real cash, and countless hours of sweat equity, have been made by many farmers since permits were issued in January – all in hopes of gaining a foothold in an industry projected to spur $1.8 billion in U.S. sales by 2020.

Hemp – a member of the cannabis family that does not possess the psychoactive properties of its cousin, marijuana– has more than 25,000 known uses. The hemp plant can be used for fiber, fuel, food, construction, health and wellness products, and more.

“The farmers, researchers and processors who came together to launch the hemp industry in South Carolina are true visionaries,” said Lucas Snyder, founder and executive director of the South Carolina Hemp Farmers Association. “In just a few weeks in their fields, they have made tremendous strides and discovered critical facts about the variations in our state’s micro climates, topographies and support networks, which will go a long way toward helping hemp realize its full potential in South Carolina.”

Hemp Cultivation Attracts New generation of S.C. Farmers

Permitting by the South Carolina Agricultural Department has allowed the initial 20 farmers to test hemp production here. Each approved permit requires farmers to link up with a research institution and to have in hand a commercial production partner. In 2019, 40 permits will be issued.

Popular wisdom claims that hemp is an easy-to-grow crop – disease, draught and pest resistant. Yet the class of 2018 has quickly learned that hemp is as challenging as any other plant. Farmers also note that one region may produce the ideal plants for popular cannabinoid – or CBD – products, while another region is ideal for the row plantings suited for fiber production.

In some participating communities, farmers are focused on one day re-invigorating abandoned tobacco warehouses or textile processors.

“Our association allows each member to collect and share data about these inaugural crops, so that these farmers and communities can benefit from industrial hemp for generations to come.”

Snyder notes that hemp cultivation has attracted a new generation of farmers, for whom stable pricing and abundant end uses are attractive. Many have seen their farms buffeted by variable market conditions that make this year’s cash generator next year’s loss leader.

South Carolina Hemp Farmers Association is an advocacy organization dedicated to creating a robust, sustainable hemp industry in South Carolina.

We always say that PR never sleeps and that’s been the case this month. We found ourselves hustling at Charleston Wine + Food Festival followed by Charleston Fashion Week. March is a month when folks in the city never seem to slow down.

We had the opportunity to handle media relations for Charleston Fashion Week^® (CFW). The annual event took place March 13-18 in Marion Square in historic downtown Charleston.

Showcasing Charleston’s most fashionable boutiques & trendsetters, and emerging designer and model talent across the country, CFW has fast become one of the premier events in North America since its founding in 2007. Held under the tents in Marion Square, this true multimedia event showcases collections from nationally renowned designer runway shows, glamorous on-site and citywide activities, shopping, chic after-parties, and much more.

We worked with traditional media, bloggers, social media influencers and photographers before, during and after the event to secure media coverage. We arranged on site TV interviews for the featured designers who came in from New York City: Yeohlee and Yigal Azrouel and lead fashion panel judge, Fern Mallis, creator of New York Fashion Week.

Top hits include:

Charleston City Paper - Charleston Fashion Week’s featured designer has dressed Madonna and Kendall Jenner

The Post and Courier - ‘Project Runway’ star and 12-year-old among Charleston Fashion Week designers

Encore Atlanta - 3 Atlantans, Including ‘Project Runway’ Alum, Among Semifinalists for Emerging Designer Competition at the March Event

Arizona Foothills Magazine - Meet Scottsdale’s Own 12-Year-Old Fashion Protégé

Art Mag - Slow Fashion: How Charleston Emerging Designer Heather Rose Johnson is Taking Responsibility to Change the Fashion Industry

TOWN Carolina - Emerging Designer Tygerian Lace delivers novel styles for Charleston Fashion Week

To learn more about CFW, please visit the official website for links to the fashion and model judges panels, emerging designers bios and schedule of events.

How do you sustain the momentum of a new product or service launch? You focus as hard on the marriage as you do the wedding!

That’s the philosophy we bring to our work with Holy Spokes, the new Charleston bike share that launched in late May. As they prepared to announce a major milestone, we asked the community:

What do 4,700 buttery biscuits, 11,111 glasses of sweat tea and 2,000 pieces of pecan pie have in common?

The answer is they each total one million calories, the same amount riders burned in just three months since Holy Spokes and Title

Partner MUSC Health challenged the community to do so within a year.

Since the launch, Holy Spokes has seen more than 10,000 bike rides traveling almost 25,000 miles - even crossing the Ravenel Bridge.

Touchpoint has helped fuel that success through PR and social influencer outreach that resulted in some great coverage and an ongoing effort to keep people biking.

There’s so much more creativity and science behind public relations than I thought.

When I started my internship at Touchpoint Communications, I was aware that public relations involved social media and event planning, but did not know the extent of what Touchpoint does for its clients.

I quickly learned that PR is also about more than events and posts!

Beyond posting Instagram photos and Facebook updates, they manage a company’s entire public image. I helped Michael and Emily reply to customer complaints, repost customer pictures, advertise new menus and promote different events through various media channels.

Figuring out what kind of audience a company hopes to attract and then creating a social media presence that encourages that audience is pretty clever. Being able to help the team work to meet the goals of their clients was a real learning experience.

Meanwhile, PR is often about working with the media. I learned that the creativity and insight required to gain a writer’s interest combines some of the skills I learned in college. It’s interesting to see the blend of interpersonal skills, marketing and writing that goes into pitching the media.

Writing turns out to be a big part of the work here. After writing innumerable essays for college, it was encouraging to see how those skills will come in to play in the workplace!

Studying organizational communication has exposed me to various theories about structure and its impact on the interactions between employees and their bosses. Watching those different theories unfold in real time proved fascinating!

Seeing a group of adults work in a professional setting that is laid-back and amiable is pretty reassuring for a college senior, and makes the “real world” so much more appealing. This team clearly loves what they do and enjoys their work environment.

The lively work atmosphere and the jovial relationship between all of the employees made my first office “job” far more entertaining than expected.

Written by intern Maddy Longenecker