a THE MAGAZINE FOR COOPERATIVE MEMBERS VOLUME 73 • NUMBER 1 (ISSN 0047-486X, USPS 316-240) Read in more than 595,000 homes and businesses and published monthly except in December by The Electric Cooperatives of South Carolina, Inc. 808 Knox Abbott Drive Cayce, SC 29033 Tel: (803) 926-3175 Fax: (803) 796-6064 Email: [email protected] EDITOR Keith Phillips Tel: (803) 739-3040 Email: [email protected] FIELD EDITOR Walter Allread PUBLICATION COORDINATOR Travis Ward ART DIRECTOR Sharri Harris Wolfgang DESIGNER Susan Collins PRODUCTION Andrew Chapman WEB EDITOR Chase Toler COPY EDITOR L. Kim Welborn CONTRIBUTORS April Coker Blake, Mike Couick, James Dulley, Tim Hanson, Hastings Hensel, Jan A. Igoe, L.A. Jackson, Kaley Lockwood, David Novak, Sydney Patterson, Susan Hill Smith, Belinda Smith-Sullivan, Carol J.G. Ward PUBLISHER Lou Green ADVERTISING Mary Watts Tel: (803) 739-5074 Email: [email protected] NATIONAL REPRESENTATION American MainStreet Publications Tel: (800) 626-1181 Paid advertisements are not endorsements by any electric cooperative or this publication. If you encounter a diffiffifficulty with an advertisement, inform the Editor. ADDRESS CHANGES: Please send to your local co-op. Postmaster: Send Form 3579 to Address Change, c/o the address above. Periodicals postage paid at Columbia, S.C., and additional mailing offiffiffices. ©COPYRIGHT 2019. The Electric Cooperatives of South Carolina, Inc. No portion of South Carolina Living may be reproduced without permission of the Editor. SOUTH CAROLINA LIVING is brought to you by your member-owned, taxpaying, not-for-profifit electric cooperative to inform you about your cooperative, wise energy use and the faces and places that identify the Palmetto State. Electric cooperatives are South Carolina’s—and America’s—largest utility network. ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTIONS: $5.72 members, $8 nonmembers Member of the AMP network reaching more than 9 million homes and businesses 2019|j 16 Wearing the mask Step inside the spirited, yet secretive, world of South Carolina’s beloved college mascots. 4 CO-OP NEWS Updates from your cooperative 6 AGENDA Apply now for the 2019 Jenny Ballard Opportunity Scholarship program. 10 DIALOGUE The briar patch was a good teacher With patience and a commitment to serving our members, South Carolina’s electric cooperatives will work through any challenge. 12 ENERGY Q&A Rolling up energy savings Boost comfort and reduce energy use when you insulate or replace leaky, ineffiffifficient garage doors. 14 SMART CHOICE Beat the chill Does your house or workplace feel like a meat locker? Fight back against the chill with these gadgets that will warm up those bones to toasty bliss. 21 STORIES Man of musical talents Blue Ridge Electric Cooperative member Josh Johnson masters the art of old-time music on banjo and fifiddle. 22 SCENE The last of the wild places Explore the untamed islands of Cape Romain National Wildlife Refuge. 28 TRAVELS Strolling down memory lane Building a state-of-the-art museum dedicated to their town was a labor of love for the residents of Elloree. 30 RECIPE Halftime snacks Spend more time watching the playoffffs and less time worrying about halftime snacks with these recipes that can be prepped the day before and fifinished on game day. 32 GARDENER Fight camellia petal blight Don’t let the unsightly brown spots of this fungal disease ruin your landscape. 34 MARKETPLACE 36 CALENDAR 38 HUMOR ME Beauty and the beast Humor columnist Jan A. Igoe takes us on an around- the-world journey to beauty pageants for four- and eight-legged contestants. Learn what it’s like tobetheNo.1fan for South Carolina’s leading universities. Photos by Mic Smith. PHOTOS, FROM TOP: MIC SMITH; WEATHERLY MEADORS; GINA MOORE Mascots rule Learn what it takes to be your school’s No. 1 fan SC SCENE Last of the wild places SC RECIPE Halftime snacks n 16 22 30 JANUARY 2019