So the realities of going back to school have set in.  You’re bored and wishing for the carefree days of summer to return again, but alas, they won’t be here for quite some time.  So, what are you to do?  This weekend, the Irmo Okra Strut Festival is in town, ready to keep you amused and entertained!

Since 1973, the Irmo Okra Strut Festival has been raising money for the town.  As the idea stemmed from a joke on a local radio show at the time that pondered the question, “What were the ancient Irmese like?”  One answer was that they most likely survived off Okra, as they were originally a farming community.

The Lake Murray-Irmo Women’s club took that idea and ran with it, and as they say, the rest is history.  The purpose for the festival was to raise funds to build a public library, and they had enough money to do so by 1980.  Today, a board of commissioners appointed by town council put on the event, which now funds civic and school organizations, scholarships and town improvements with the festival’s profits. Read the rest…

Are you craving some spanikopita or maybe a little baklava?  Starting today, you can dive right into some great Greek food, music and culture in Columbia, South Carolina!  For 23 years, downtown Columbia has been host to its very own Greek Festival, with dancing, music, culture and so much more!

Check out this video to see some of last year’s music!

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This morning, I found myself moving to some awesome Latin sounds provided by the Main Street Latin Festival’s website. How can you help but feel happy when listening to these tunes? In checking out the photos and videos on the festival’s website, it’s proof positive I’m not the only one who feels this way.

Each year, the Main Street Latin Festival in Columbia, SC brings Sizzling hot Latin and Caribbean Music, Salsa, Grupera, Latin Pop & Reggaeton artists, Authentic Caribbean, Cuban, Mexican, & Puerto Rican Food, hands-on activities for kids and so much more to downtown Columbia. This year, the festival takes place on September 26, 2009! Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got a little Salsa dancing to do around my office…

Click here to check out the video!

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With all the talk of saving money and our environment, how many of us have actually completed an energy audit?  Local electric companies will provide on monthly bills a chart showing usage trends.  While that information is nice to know, where can you save on electric usage and cut your bills?  Read the rest…

What is National Night Out?

It’s America’s Night Out Against Crime!

The “26th Annual National Night Out” (NNO), a unique crime/drug prevention event sponsored by the National Association of Town Watch (NATW), has been scheduled for Tuesday, August 4, 2009.

Last year’s National Night Out campaign involved citizens, law enforcement agencies, civic groups, businesses, neighborhood organizations and local officials from over 15,000 communities from all 50 states, U.S. territories, Canadian cities and military bases worldwide. In all, over 37 million people participated in National Night Out 2008. Read the rest…

A jewel on Chapin’s Lake Murray shores, the Timberlake Country Club welcomes you!  With breathtaking views of the lake, this Willard Byrd designed course has a par of 72.  Compared to some of Tom Fazio’s best designs, this 18 hole course was built in 1988 and has a brand new clubhouse, scheduled for completion in September 2009. Read the rest…

Much of Columbia’s history is wrapped around the railroad.  In the early days, it was the Columbia, Newberry and Laurens (C.N. &L.) railroad that helped to make Irmo a town.  It was because the trains needed a refueling stop that Irmo came into existence.  In Columbia, one can see evidence of how the railroad helped shape a growing city. Read the rest…

Somehow watering the yard and saving money never end up in the same sentence.  However, with a little help from the folks at the Home Depot, it can.  If you water smart and avoid killing your lawn or ornamental plants, you can have a lush lawn that will make you the envy of the neighborhood. Read the rest…

As a follow-up to yesterday’s posting on things to do in downtown Columbia, South Carolina, I thought I’d show you the beauty of Lake Murray.  Since it is not within the downtown city limits, the Columbia Convention and Visitors Bureau won’t show you the lake.  It borders parts of Columbia, Chapin, Lexington, Irmo, Ballentine, Chapin and even Prosperity, SC.

Lake Murray, named after the New York architect who designed the dam, was built in 1929-1930.  It has nearly 600 miles of shoreline and is a 50,000 acre lake.  Not a small pond by any stretch of the imagination!  Read the rest…

Looking for something new to do? Thinking of making the move to Columbia, South Carolina and don’t know what we have to offer? This short video gives a sampling of our downtown area. Read the rest…