A Tar Heel Visits The Palmetto State

On Wednesday, March 17th, I drove to the South Carolina State Conference in North Charleston, which began with a BBQ on John’s Island at Bob and SC Daughter Mary Ann Marwick’s extraordinary home. To get there, Maryland State Regent Maureen Tipton and I rode with Harriet Nash and Martha Dyar, two state officers. What a ride that was! Bless her heart, Harriet took two wrong turns right out of the hotel on the interchange. We managed to find the correct highway and headed east into Charleston where Harriet turned onto 17 North instead of 17S! So, after crossing the Ravenel Bridge and entering Mount Pleasant, Harriet made a U-turn and we headed back across the bridge towards downtown Charleston again. We managed to get through the 5:30 traffic with only one car blowing a horn at us and proceeded using the GPS on Martha’s phone. It directed us to a lovely home in a beautiful neighborhood, but it wasn’t the Marwick’s!! Once we straightened out the address, we did reach the Marwick’s some 23 minutes later. We laughed the whole way with our SC sisters. Some azaleas were already blooming among the moss draped oaks and Palmetto trees.

There were two Citadel cadets posted at her front steps directing us to the side and back yards. A few minutes later, these handsome uniformed cadets escorted our President General and South Carolina State Regent Libby Billham around the house to join us in the side yard. So very Southern!

Mary Ann’s husband and his friend had prepared the BBQ on the grill and were handsome additions to the gathering. An open bar with bartenders were creekside near the pool.

We were given a tour of the Marwick’s showcase home which featured the many big game mounts on the walls Bob had hunted on six continents. The food was delicious, the company wonderful, and we visited until well after dark!

The next morning we met in the hotel lobby at 8:30 and were entertained by Susan Lee, SC Hospitality Chair who conducts tours. We arrived at the Old Exchange Building on East Bay Street and entered for an informative tour by a Rebecca Motte Chapter member and then the dedication of an Interactive Pedestal donated by the Fort Sullivan Chapter. This pedestal gives an enormous amount of information about DAR and connects with our public website with the touch of your cell phone. Click here for more information about the building and the Rebecca Motte Chapter.

Susan gave us a quick tour around downtown with lots of historical tidbits. Upon returning to the hotel, we discovered that Susan had married a high school classmate of mine! She knew his football coach who was my neighbor while growing up and for whom I had babysat his two daughters! Small world.

Walking into the lobby, who should I see but our own Lizzy Thier! Lizzy Paged for their conference and represented us so well. It was great seeing her there.

Friday and Saturday were typical business and evening meetings with visiting in between with SC Daughters. Much to our surprise, we discovered that Honorary SC Regent Dot Lind and I both spent our childhood summers at Wrightsville Beach! Such a small world. Friday night a group of SC Daughters presented a skit about a DAR meeting using the Golden Girls characters. At first I thought it was going to be an instructional skit about protocol and parliamentary procedure. At least that’s how it began. However, Blanche came late to the meeting because she had been with a male friend. When she reached into her bodice to pull out a handkerchief to wipe her face, she pulled out a red lace bra, then red lace panties, and then a pair of men’s boxer shorts! It was all downhill after that! The audience was laughing and the jokes were hilarious. It brought the house down though, when Blanche made a play for Libby’s husband asking if he liked golf and then pulling out of her bodice—- a golf club!

Saturday afternoon, new state officers were installed. Mari Noorai who has Paged in North Carolina is their new Organizing Secretary. Their State Registrar is Nan Jones’ college roommate and longtime friend of our own Marsha Hanna. Their new treasurer is Robin Wilson who has NC ties to Shelby, lives in Camden, SC and still has family here.

Attending this in person conference was a huge boost to my spirits. It was the best medicine for my soul. Then, immediately after crossing the North Carolina state line, the rain stopped, and a huge brilliant rainbow was visible in the sky ahead of me! It was a promise of even better days ahead and a perfect ending to a wonderful trip!