Daniel Island Farmers’ Market Opens This Thursday, 4/30

Island residents, employees and neighbors from surrounding Mt. Pleasant and North Charleston areas are excited for the opening of the new Daniel Island Farmers’ Market this Thursday, April 30 at the Family Circle Tennis Center. For the first time, families and individuals from these areas will have a centrally located place where they can purchase locally grown foods and trinkets, mingle with friends, and enjoy food, cold drinks and weekly entertainment!

• The Farmers’ Market will be home to a variety of local vendors and farmers selling fresh vegetables, seafood, meats, fresh-cut flowers and more.
• River Run Farms, located on 400-acres in Vance, SC, will be selling their 100% grass-fed beef.
• Farmers will have local vegetables and fruits like sugar snap peas, arugula, spinach, onions, yellow squash, cantaloupe, watermelon and other delicious spring fare for sale.
• And fresh shrimp and fish will be available from Captain Hatt’s Shrimp Market.

Whether patrons are shopping for tonight’s dinner or a weekend get-together, the Daniel Island Farmers’ Market is a great one-stop shopping experience!

Local artisans will be selling jewelry, art, sweetgrass baskets and other crafts and trinkets, and cold beverages and snacks will be available for purchase from a variety of vendors. There will also be live music and entertainment each week. This Thursday, Charleston musician Larry George will be performing his range of contemporary pop, rock, southern rock, country, blues, funk, reggae and jazz.

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The Daniel Island Farmers’ Market takes place from 3 pm until dusk every Thursday afternoon from April 30 through September 24, with the exception of May 21 when the market will be closed due to a scheduling conflict. The location is the courtyard entrance to the Family Circle Tennis Center in downtown Daniel Island. The address is 161 Seven Farms Drive. Abundant free on-street parking is available.

Further information about the Market, including a weekly update on upcoming vendors and live entertainment, is available at www.danielislandfarmersmarket.com. Vendors interested in participating can contact Jennifer Carrigan, market manager, at (843) 971.9816 or Jennifer.carrigan@danielisland.com.

Daniel Island History & Aesthetic Inspire Local Architect

A Daniel Island home on Creek Landing Street, designed by local architect and city official Eddie Bello, has been honored by the South Carolina chapter of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) with a 2009 Robert Mills Residential Citation. This annual awards program recognizes excellence in architectural design and helps underscore the importance of quality design in creating healthy, vibrant communities.

As Director of the City of Charleston’s Urban Design and Preservation Division, Bello is no stranger to working on new projects built to preserve the aesthetic quality of the Lowcountry. He is also the lead architect of Bello Studio Architecture, the firm responsible for designing the Creek Landing Street home. For this project, he applied his knowledge and understanding of Charleston architecture to create a home that encompasses the principles of traditional Lowcountry vernacular architecture, with fitting proportions, detail and individual character.

The home’s plan is centered around a rear courtyard that addresses the clients’ desire to entertain both indoors and out. And, drawing from Daniel Island’s history as a farming community, Bello implemented design features such as deep overhangs, large window expanses and shading devices to the exterior of the home to help create a farmhouse affect. The result is a design that reinterprets the site’s historic use as a crop field while creating a distinctive presence for the modern neighborhood.

This recognition from the AIA places Bello’s firm among the ranks of some of South Carolina’s top architecture firms. Although recipients of the award historically are projects located on dramatic sites with large budgets, Bello’s inspired design demonstrates that simple, quality design also holds a place among award-winning architecture.

Click on the photos below to see more views of the award-winning home.

A Bashin’ Good Time: Recap of the 2009 Bocce Bash

Approximately 500 players competed in the 9th Annual Marino Family Bocce Bash at Blackbaud Stadium on Saturday, April 25, helping to raise tens of thousands of dollars for Special Olympics of South Carolina.

This popular island event has grown by leaps and bounds since it first started, and now takes nearly 100 volunteers and dozens of sponsors to pull off. This year the defending champions, Ted’s Butcherblock, held onto their title after ten hours of competition on a gorgeous spring day on Daniel Island.

Wall Street Journal Touts Value of Lowcountry Real Estate, Including Daniel Island

For an article published recently in The Wall Street Journal, writer Lawrence Bivins interviewed Matt Sloan of the Daniel Island Company, along with other real estate professionals throughout Charleston and the Lowcountry, to get an assessment of what attracts people to this area and what types of values are currently available. The news is good for buyers.

“(The Lowcountry’s) broad appeal to buyers at all stages of life and career helped insulate the region’s property market from the subprime meltdown that began in 2007. But nationwide financial convulsions last fall slowed home sales there, as nearly everywhere, to a trickle,” writes Bivins. “Today, however, with prices as much as 25% off their peaks and mortgage rates falling, Mr. Sloan and other Lowcountry property professionals believe conditions are ideal for a wave of bargain hunting.”

Bivins notes that many communities in the region, including Daniel Island, are starting to see increased interest as people start to recognize the opportunities here. And everyone he talked with agreed the area has much to offer.

“The eclectic array of amenities found in the Lowcountry account for much of its popularity as a retirement destination,” he writes. “The region’s moderate climate enables residents to pursue an active outdoor lifestyle year-round, with golf, fishing, tennis and equestrian sports among the more popular pursuits. Urban amenities – shopping, fine dining and live entertainment – all can be found nearby.”

Daniel Island Provides the Perfect Backdrop for the Upcoming Amazing Race on April 25

This weekend, teams of four will explore Daniel Island by bike in search of clues as they compete in the Amazing Race. This annual event is a fundraiser for Creative Spark, a non-profit organization that promotes the arts and arts education for all ages. Teams participating in this fun, family event will ride the bike trails of Daniel Island in search of a series of clues that will lead them through a five-mile course that begins and ends at Blackbaud Stadium. At each stop, contestants will have to complete a task to get the next clue. The day ends with a buffet dinner where participants will receive tickets to a Battery soccer game, all included in the registration fee of $90 per team. Big prizes will be awarded! The event takes place on Saturday, April 25 beginning at 3 p.m. Register on line at www.active.com.

A Champion Emerges: A Wrap-up of the Final Weekend at the Family Circle Cup

Beautiful spring weather prevailed for the final weekend of the Family Circle Cup, as temperatures climbed to the mid- to upper-70s and happy fans from near and far came out to enjoy the final matches of this year’s tournament.

On Saturday, 18-year old Caroline Wozniacki (DEN) and No. 1 seed Elena Dementieva (RUS) faced off in an exciting morning match, with Wozniacki emerging as the victor after a tough match between the two strong players, 6-4, 5-7, 7-5. Later in the day 19-year old Sabine Lisicki (GER) beat No. 6 seed Maria Bartoli, 6-3, 6-1, setting the stage for an international showdown for Sunday’s finals.

Click on the photos to take a look at scenes from Saturday’s seminfinals match.

Crowds filled the stands Sunday as play got underway. Sabine Lisicki (GER), world ranked 63, got off to a strong start, winning the first set 6-2 over Caroline Wozniacki (DEN). Lisicki also won the second set 6-4, clinching the title. Making her debut at the Family Circle Cup, Lisicki is the lowest ranked player to ever win the tournament on Daniel Island. With this win, she will become No. 43 in the world when the WTA releases its new rankings on Monday.

By all accounts, this year’s tournament was an outstanding success with more than 85,000 in attendance throughout the week. Hats off to the entire Family Circle Cup staff for pulling off yet another successful, world-class event!

Island Residents Help Make Family Circle Cup a Success

Pulling off a week-long tennis tournament that attracts players and visitors from around the world is not an easy task. Each year approximately 550 volunteers sign up to assist with everything from ticket sales, guest services and transportation to assisting players, maintaining the Family Circle Tennis Center’s 17 courts and providing assistance to the media. The ball crew alone consists of 200 specially-trained volunteers!

A good portion of the tournament’s pool of volunteers and temporary staff are island residents, who are proud to have this world-class event take place in their hometown and take pride in the fact that their contributions go a long way towards making the tournament a success. Despite long hours and some late nights, they enjoy the experience and many come back year after year. We caught up with a few of them to learn about their experience. You can meet some of them below:

The Charleston Battery Season Opener This Saturday

The Charleston Battery takes on the current Canadian champion Montreal Impact this Saturday night at Blackbaud Stadium, in it’s first home game of the 2009 USL First Division season. The Battery fought the Vancouver Whitecaps to a 0-0 tie in the season opener last Saturday night in a game played in Vancouver, BC.

The Montreal Impact has traditionally been one of the stronger franchises in the USL First Division. In 2008 the Battery played Montreal three times winning twice at Blackbaud Stadium and losing the lone game contested at Stade Saputo in Montreal.

Montreal is led by second year head coach and former Charleston Battery defender John Limniatis who took over midway during the 2008 season. Limniatis played one year with the Battery (1999); he is a former Canadian international (44 caps).

Giveaways & Fireworks
Everyone who attends the game will receive a 100% recycled plastic schedule cup plus all children in attendance will receive an official 2009 Charleston Battery Autograph Book.

Fan’s can enjoy discounted $2 drafts until kick off in the Charleston Battery Beer Gardens plus immediately following the match there will be a spectacular season opening fireworks display.

Tickets
Tickets are available starting at just $10, to purchase tickets, for directions or for more information please call (843) 971-4635 or visit www.charlestonbattery.com.

More Than Just Tennis!

Driving over the Wando River Bridge on I-526, drivers can view the skyboxes, banners and tents at the Family Circle Tennis Center, all signs that the 2009 Family Circle Cup is almost here! Workers and volunteers are hard at work, preparing for the thousands of people coming to Daniel Island next week to see some of the tennis’ top female players in the world!

And Family Circle is ready! With a full week of competitive tennis, great events and fun activities, there really is something for everyone. We’ve put together a list of some things happening at the Family Circle Tennis Center, as well as downtown Charleston.

Easter Egg Hunt
Sunday | April 12 | 1:30 pm (registration) 2:00 pm (Hunt begins)
Come over to the Family Circle Stadium to ring in spring with a good ole’ fashioned Egg Hunt! This event is FREE to the public!

Lacoste Fashion Show (King Street, Downtown Charleston)
Monday | April 13 | 6:00 pm
The Family Circle Cup is kicked off in style with a runway show on historic King Street, and admission is FREE to the public! Enjoy the fun colors and music as local students showcase Lacoste’s latest spring looks for men and women.

Celebrity Radio DJ Brooke Ryan emceed last year’s fashion show.

Match Point Market
Monday – Sunday | April 12 – 19
Fans can take a break from the on-court action and take advantage of Match Point Market, where they can pick up some clothes, gifts, souvenirs and more.

The Post & Courier’s Girls Night Out
Tuesday | April 14
Hang out with the coolest chicks in town! Get your mom, sisters and girlfriends together for an evening of fun and tennis. Tickets for this special Tuesday Night promotion are ½ price for all women.

Garnier Nutritioniste “Winning in Doubles” Luncheon
Tuesday | April 14 | 11:00 am – 12:30 pm
Garnier Nutritioniste brings you the chance to join top Sony Ericsson WTA Tour doubles players as they offer advice and tips on how to succeed in doubles. Luncheon tickets are $45 each and include lunch, strategy presentation, Q&A, autograph session and a special gift. Please note: A ticket for the Tuesday Day Session is required for entry to the facility. A separate ticket for the luncheon is required.

USTA Member Appreciation Day
Wednesday | April 15 | 1:30 – 3:00 pm
USTA members are invited to join us for a private member reception hosted by the USTA Southern Section in the Family Circle Hospitality Tent. Come enjoy free refreshments and gifts. *Also, USTA members receive a $10 discount on all session tickets Monday, April 13 – Wednesday, April 15.

The Post & Courier’s Family Night
Wednesday | April 15 | 4:00 – 7:00 pm
The Post & Courier invites kids 16 and under for free admission on Wednesday Night when accompanied by an adult and adult tickets are only $10 each! Special activities include court fun, autograph sessions, prizes and more.

Center for Women 125Center for Women Luncheon
Thursday | April 16 | Noon – 2:00 pm
Spend a Day Session in the Family Circle Sky Suite with a catered lunch. A Luncheon Buffet, Official Tournament Program and Parking Pass are included in the ticket cost. $65 for Members, $75 for Non-Members

To purchase your tickets for individual tennis sections or any of the events listed above, click HERE.

TASTE OF THE TOWN: Gourmet & Great!

Et Cetera Gourmet Shoppe on Seven Farms Drive offers an eclectic eating and shopping experience for its patrons. The eatery and store is full of delicious items ranging from olive oils, pastas, balsamic vinegars, sauces, wines, pastries, sandwiches, chocolates, candies and other unique items. It’s a one-stop shop for the gourmet obsessed!

The Gourmet Club
Bob Farini, owner and gourmet food connoisseur, recently sat down with My Island Town to talk about Et Cetera’s new Gourmet Club. For $15 a year, members receive a 10% discount on all grocery, frozen pastas, gift baskets, wine and accessory purchases. Only the prepared, behind-the-counter foods aren’t included in the discount.

What to cook for dinner tonight? How about lobster and black truffle ravioli with pomodoro fresco sauce, a mixed greens salad with estate balsamic vinegar and a perfectly-paired bottle of Pinot Grigio? Enjoy international flavors at home on Daniel Island while also saving a pretty penny!

Stop by the shop to sign up for the Gourmet Club and start shopping, cooking and, best of all, eating! Or click HERE and get started on your shopping list now!