The Craft Stand - Main Street Dream

Lancaster’s Main Street got a new place to hang out this week as The Craft Stand opened for business in a renovated century-old building in the heart of downtown.
Owners Don and Brandy Geraghty had their official opening at noon Thursday, with 24 Carolinas craft beers on tap, retail craft beer in bottles and a few original Craft Stand items such as pint glasses, koozies and T-shirts in signature black.
The business is located at 134 South Main in the old Emanuel’s Jewelers building, just across Gay Street from the old Bank of Lancaster.



Friends and supporters celebrated with the Geraghtys at a special soft opening Wednesday night. The event allowed the owners to thank those who contributed in some way to the realization of their dream as well as work out potential snags.
The Geraghtys stood behind the bar, relieved and grateful as they looked around the room filled with about 25 friends.
“It’s nice to see our friends and supporters enjoying the experience. We wanted to have them here tonight, because they will help us work through any glitches and won’t get mad if something is not just perfect,” Brandy Geraghty said with a wink.
Geraghty said the exposed brick wall is 114 years old. The couple’s kids helped paint the other walls.
“It feels like home,” she said.
All the craft beers are made in the Carolinas. The grand opening Thursday featured Lancaster’s own Benford Brewing Co.
Benford Brewing owner Brian O’Neal said he encouraged the Geraghtys to pursue their dream during conversations they had on Saturday mornings at Benford’s.
“I told them to go for their dream of opening The Craft Stand,” O’Neal said.
“If you don’t, someone else will and you will be so mad at yourself.”
O’Neal said this gives locals a chance to get a good craft beer without driving to Rock Hill or Charlotte.
“The clientele is definitely here,” he said.
O’Neal said he prefers tap rooms to bars and this offers a nice alternative.
“I don’t like being in a loud, blaring bar with 18 noisy TVs. I like going to a craft store to enjoy myself – not trying to pick anyone up, but just to enjoy a beer and talk to somebody,” O’Neal said.
O’Neal believes The Craft Stand may be the spark that downtown Lancaster needs to bring it to life. The Geraghtys, he said, are good people with the right personalities to make this work.
A trio of friends were gathered around the bar making their selections from the handwritten chalkboards hanging above the taps.
“It’s something we need in this town to revitalize it,” said Lancaster resident Glenda Warfield as she sipped on a Raspberry Wit.
“I’m sure Don and Brandy will do a great job,” she said.
Doug and Martha McClelland were enjoying an Old Mecklenburg Copper, which seemed to be one of the favorites.
Lancaster County Chamber of Commerce Chair Kristin Blanchard was there, showing her support for the new business.
“I wanted to support a unique new business that is opening,” Blanchard said.
“It’s wonderful that it is here, local and in the city of Lancaster.”
Joe Timmons and Grant Kyzer sat along the marble bar enjoying conversation and craft beer.
Timmons is the city’s events manager. He said he enjoyed the white mocha stout.
“The atmosphere and art work are beautiful,” Kyzer said.
Wells Fargo employees and craft beer connoisseurs Amy Ellis and Nikole Curran said they were there supporting local business and enjoying freshly crafted brew.
“As their bankers, we have been involved from the beginning, from concept to the reality of the opening,” Curran said.
Ellis had the Upstate Orange Wheat and Curran was sipping on a hefeweizen.
The Geraghtys’ friend and Rock Hill resident Jeanna Ray sat along the brick wall enjoying a beer as she surfed on her cell phone. Ray said she will be making the drive to Lancaster often to enjoy the atmosphere and to support the business.
Teachers Melissa Caughman and Rose Clawson, along with Melissa’s husband Richard, were sitting at a round table chatting and enjoying pizza that had been delivered.
“We’ve been supporting them since the beginning,” said Clawson.
Melissa’s art is on display along the wall next to Gay Street.
The teachers teach the Geraghtys’ children at North Elementary.
“It’s great to have a place to go,” said Clawson.
The most honest response came from Richard Caughman, who held up a half-full glass of honey-colored liquid and said, “I’m here for the beer.”
John Gagliardi and Sean Roper were enjoying an animated conversation at a round table. Gagliardi owns Random Tap in Columbia, which is also a craft room or tap house.
“You have such a lovely downtown here, and this building has such character,” Roper said.
“It’s not a typical bar, which is too often what small towns get stuck with,” Gagliardi said.
Both said they would be back often to enjoy the view of the town and to support The Craft Stand.
Don ventured from behind the bar to mingle with friends and to chat. One such guest was Neil Gimon owner of Dream Chaser’s Brewery in Waxhaw.
“It’s been fantastic to see their dreams come together,” Gimon said.
Windy Hill apple cider is on hand for the gluten-intolerant. Non-alcholic Abita root beer is on tap. Peanuts and chips are available for 50 cents. Coca-Cola products are served. Patrons are encouraged to bring food in or have pizza delivered to The Craft Stand, since it doesn’t serve food.
After the event, Brandy Geraghty reflected on the night and looked forward to the official opening Thursday at noon. The hours are Monday through Thursday from noon until 9 and Friday and Saturday from 11 a.m. until 11 p.m.
“I’m excited Lancaster has shown us so much love,” she said.
The Craft Stand is pet friendly, but the Geraghtys ask that pet owners wait until Monday to bring their four-legged friends since the crowds the first few days might be an uncomfortable atmosphere for them.

8/26/16





Follow Reporter Mandy Catoe on Twitter @MandyCatoeTLN or contact her at (803) 283-1152

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New Route to Jobs - Free Training in 4 Trades

Under a pioneering new program, any adult in Lancaster County can get free training in four vocational trades through the school district, and three more specialties will be offered soon.

The first class of 22 adults, ranging in age from 17 to 66, are already in the program, and signups for the next classes are under way. 

Andre Clyburn, 64, is retired from the military and has experience as a machinist, but he’s attending classes to learn the newest computerized metal-cutting techniques.

“I don’t know it all. This line of work changes every day,” said Clyburn. His hair is peppered with gray, but his spirit is young and his smile is big. 

“A new process, a new step, a new formula is added every day,” he said. “If I want to stay in this field, I have to stay abreast with the changes.” 

The Lancaster High School Career Center comes alive in the late afternoons with hissing spray guns and the sizzle of welding. The scents of paint and burning metal fill the air. Electricians measure voltage with digital meters. 

Classes in culinary arts, certified nursing and carpentry will be added after the first of the year.

Dr. Kim Linton, Lancaster County adult education director, created a partnership between adult ed and the career center to expand opportunities for the unemployed and underemployed.

In addition to getting their GEDs, adult ed students can now receive hands-on career training. It’s the first such program in South Carolina, Linton said.

The program is funded by a $25,000 Duke Energy grant and the federal Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act, which helps provide education, training and support to job seekers, giving them needed skills to compete in today’s market. 

“This is all about workforce development,” said Rick Jiran, Duke Energy vice president of community relations.

 “For Duke Energy, this is a great partnership as organizations such as this work hard to get folks trained and ready to go to work or go back to work,” he said.

The classes are free for everyone who needs or wants to learn a skill, regardless of income. Courses are offered in auto body repair, welding, Computer Numerical Control (CNC) machining, and electricity.

Among the 22 students in the program now, two are women learning welding and electrical work.

“I want to learn about electricity so I can safely work with my husband in his HVAC business,” said Rita Brammer.

She said she will use her skills to help with church projects, too.

Linton, whose background is in career technology, said this has been a long-term goal of hers.  

“These adults have a desire to work and they want to improve their lives,” Linton said. “I want to offer a path for them to become self-sufficient.”

Linton drew inspiration for the program from frustrated adult ed graduates facing limited options. A lack of reliable transportation prevents many from furthering their education at York Tech.  

Linton said the program is open to any Lancaster County adult. Her hope is this will boost the local workforce and attract more companies to the area. 

The next round of classes begin Nov. 28 and are taught on Monday and Tuesdays from 4-6 p.m. at the Lancaster High School career center. Each course lasts eight to 10 weeks.  

Students must register and attend an orientation before being enrolled. Interested adults can register from 9 a.m.-noon and 12:30-2:30 p.m. weekdays at the adult ed office, 610 E. Barr St.

Orientation begins Monday, Oct. 31, with day and evening options. The day orientation is from 9 a.m.-noon Monday through Thursday. The nighttime orientation is 5-8 p.m. Monday, Tuesday and Thursday.

The first two weeks focus on job readiness, shop safety and soft skills – those hard-to-measure intangibles of reliability, responsibility and commitment. 

The WIOA funds pay for the instructors and for the students’ welding certification tests after course completion.  

Tyler Carpenter, 17, is in the GED program and is taking all the trade classes to prepare him to own his own business one day.

“I want to feel comfortable with what I am doing, whether it is auto body work or welding,” Carpenter said. “I want to learn all I can.” 

10/30/16

Follow Reporter Mandy Catoe on Twitter @MandyCatoeTLN or contact her at (803) 283-1152

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THE CRAFT STAND - A NEW DOWNTOWN VIBE

A new place to gather is coming to Lancaster’s Main Street in the shadow of the Historic Courthouse. The Craft Stand, aiming to open by Aug. 1, will offer retail craft beer in bottles as well as 24 local craft beers on tap.

The Craft Stand will occupy a storefronts at 105 South Main that has been vacant for four years.

“We are hoping to be the spark that starts the fire for other businesses to come to the downtown,” said Brandy Geraghty, who co-owns the business with her husband, Don. 

Looking around the empty rectangular store, Don Geraghty described his vision, which includes a 30-foot-long bar running along the left wall and retail craft beer on shelves down the right wall. Gathering tables will fill the area in between. Family games such as Jenga will be on hand. 

“All the beer on tap will be from the Carolinas, including Lancaster’s own Benford. Other local brews will be from Noda, OMB, Holy City, Full Spectrum and many others. Charlotte alone now has over 20 microbreweries,” Don said.

A back door opens to a small alley where they hope to place a couple of tables. “Our intention is to be dog-friendly,” he said. “We welcome your leashed dogs.”

Once a week, The Craft Stand will feature a beer with a portion of the proceeds going to Lancaster Area Shelter Supporters (LASS) out of Indian Land. 

“We have a couple adopted shelter dogs, Davison and Delilah. That is a cause near and dear to us,” Don said. 

A small meeting room will be available for reservations for private events, conferences or local artists who want to display their work. 

A gathering spot

The Geraghtys want people to think of The Craft Stand as a community gathering spot, not as a bar. No liquor or wine will be served. 

“We are offering a nice place to hang out where you can buy and enjoy local products. It’s a social gathering spot,” Don said, with Brandy nodding in agreement.

The Craft Stand hopes to be a place friends can meet with each other after work to sip on a regional, microbrewed craft beer. Soda, water and root beer will also be available. Brandy said they plan to have root beer on tap.

“Craft beer is small-batch brewing. It’s not big factory brewing. It’s somebody’s love going into their art,” Brandy said. 

Hoping to win over those new to craft beers, Don said, “All craft beer is not bitter. There is something for everyone’s pallet.” 

The Geraghtys said one of their first steps before deciding to open the business here was to meet with city officials to make sure there was no opposition to craft beer in the downtown area. Don said that City Administrator Flip Hutfles met with them and brought the fire marshall, zoning commissioner and several other town officials in a show of support. 

“The city accepted us with open arms,” Brandy said. 

Don said the city gave them a $2,000 facade grant for work on the front of the store and the signage. 

City of Lancaster Marketing and Development Manager Cherry Doster believes The Craft Stand’s presence will attract tourism to downtown. 

“See Lancaster and the City of Lancaster are absolutely thrilled to have another new business opening up downtown. We feel like The Craft Stand is a great addition to the businesses already in place,” Doster said. 

Business homework

The Geraghtys did their homework in preparation. They attended a four-week mentorship program sponsored by the Small Business Administration, which educated them on financial planning, customer relationships and a dose of reality. They also consulted with Winthrop’s Regional Small Business Development Center. Don said they have talked with other local small businesses, including owners of bottle shops and taprooms. 

Traffic was steady outside the window of their future business, and Don pointed out that more cars travel down Lancaster’s Main Street than Rock Hill’s, based on his research on the S.C. Department of Transportation’s website.

Heavy traffic

“The site said 11,000 vehicles pass by my front door in a day,” he said.  

The Geraghtys moved to Lancaster last year after living in Charlotte for 20 years. They quit their jobs at Harris Teeter and headed south across the state line. Tired of the crowds and the traffic, they longed for a slower pace with a small-town feel. They love the historic downtown area of Lancaster. 

Both are pleased with the move, which included three children (Emily, 13, Allison, 10, and Tyler, 8) and their two dogs. Don’s 16-year-old son, Brian, lives in Louisiana with his mother and visits during the summers and holidays. 

“The schools are better and the people are friendlier, with a hometown feel that you don’t get in Charlotte,” Brandy said. 

Don managed a Harris Teeter store for 20 years, and Brandy decorated cakes in the bakery department. They shared the dream of The Craft Stand and had figured they would realize it five to 10 years down the road. 

After living here for a year, they felt Lancaster was a good fit and the time was right so they quit their jobs. 

“We wanted to be the first to offer this,” Don said. “The city needed it. We decided to go for it.”

Craft beer now occupies a fifth of the beer market, Don said. Craft beer is different from other beer in that it is brewed more naturally, without machinery.

“People came to see me in the bakery for joyful events, and hopefully this will be the same,” Brandy said. Her smile and laughter are contagious and she will no doubt be spreading her joy.

Brandy looks and sounds a lot like actress Melissa McCarthy. She is originally from Akron, Ohio, but grew up in Charlotte. Don is from Brooklyn, N.Y., and moved to the Carolinas after visiting one warm December day. They have been together for 15 years and married for 13.

The Geraghtys are embracing small-town life and keeping it local. The T-shirts bearing their logo were printed by Pelican Prints. A local woodworker is making their tables out of barn wood. 

A huge round bulletin board hangs at the front of their store for local businesses to advertise their services. 

The Geraghtys will have their door open during the Red Rose Festival in May to greet customers and introduce themselves.

The Craft Stand will join Benford’s Brewery at Art & Ag’s kickoff event June 10 from 6 to 8 p.m. at Benford’s.

Don and Brandy have their door propped open anytime they are at the business working. During our interview, a tall man stopped in to ask how things were going. It was obvious he had been talking with them and keeping tabs on their progress. Equally obvious was the Geraghtys had remembered past conversations. 

“I’m sorry we won’t be open for your birthday,” Brandy said. 

He laughed and made a comment that he could celebrate late. When he left they told me that was Hutfles, the city administrator.

Not serving food

No food will be served, but the Geraghtys encourage patrons to bring food in from downtown restaurants or even order pizza to be delivered to The Craft Stand.

Support is in place and interest is growing, with three months to go before the doors open for business. The Craft Stand’s Facebook page has over 1,000 likes and supporters are rewarded with promotional items bearing The Craft Stand logo when they like and share their posts.

Don and Brandy both say they have received nothing but positive support. “We probably have had over 60,000 views on our Facebook page and there hasn’t been a single negative comment,” Don said.

Business hours will be Monday through Wednesday noon to 8 p.m., Thursday noon to 9 p.m., Friday and Saturday noon to 10 p.m.

5/1/16

Contact reporter Mandy Catoe at mcatoe@thelancasternews.com

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GIVE LOCAL LANCASTER BLASTS PAST GOAL

Fate handed Give Local Lancaster another day of donating and the community rallied, giving 36 local nonprofits more than $60,000.   
The online total of $60,865 is expected to rise by about $30,000, once prize incentives and matching funds from sponsoring businesses are added, according to   the J. Marion Sims Foundation, which led the local effort.
“One of the marks of a healthy community is the level of engagement of its citizens. I’d say we get high marks there indeed,” said Susan DeVenny, president of the foundation.
DeVenny also said Give Local Lancaster received donations from 15 states and two other countries.
In its first year with the national Give Local America crowdfunding campaign, Give Local Lancaster was on target to meet its $50,000 goal when the host website crashed about halfway into the online campaign Tuesday.
Give Local America fixed the technical problems and extended the day of giving through Wednesday, to the relief of Lancaster’s nonprofit community.
“Every organization got something,” said Holly Furr, program officer for the Sims Foundation. “The giving and generosity of our community is what powered this. We had people coming in with blank checks, asking the foundation to just pick a nonprofit randomly.”
Lancaster County Council of the Arts received the most donations, with a total of $6,115. HOPE was second and the Women’s Enrichment Center was third, both with more than $5,000. Habitat for Humanity was fourth with $3,445. Lancaster Children’s Home joined the top five with nearly $3,000.
GRASP, Seth’s Giving Tree, Lancaster County Society for Historical Preservation, Lindsay Pettus Greenway Inc. and Lancaster SPCA all received over $2,000.
Nonprofits receiving over $1,500 included Grace Place of Lancaster, Katawba Valley Land Trust, Lancaster County Council on Aging, Christian Services, United Way of Lancaster County, Barr Street High School Foundation Inc. and Communities in Schools of Lancaster County.
Those receiving over $1,000 included Friends of the Del Webb Library, Horse N Around Therapeutic Riding Center, Lancaster Fatherhood Project, Humane Society of Lancaster SC, Kershaw Area Community Resource Exchange, Columbus Parker Track Club and Lancaster County First Steps Partnership.
“I’m really proud of this community, the foundation and the sponsoring business organizations who stepped up to make this possible,” Furr said.
The J. Marion Sims Foundation partnered with the Lancaster County Community Foundation, Lancaster County Partners for Youth and the City of Lancaster to bring the Give Local America effort to Lancaster.  
Checks from the online campaign will be mailed to the organizations by the first of June. The foundation will present checks with the sponsors’ matching funds to the nonprofits at a special event June 20 at the University of South Carolina’s Bradley Arts and Science Building. The foundation will release the total numbers at that time.

5/6/16

FANCY POKKET - Gluten-free bakery is coming to town!!!

After four frustrating years of delays and facing an ultimatum from county officials, Fancy Pokket has cleared its final hurdle and can fire up its ovens. 

The state inspection of the bread-making plant's boilers was completed Wednesday, five days short of the county-imposed Halloween deadline.

"Finally! It's about time!" said a relieved Mike Timani, the Canadian company's owner. "Now I have the CO (certificate of occupancy) and we can move forward and put people to work."

Timani said he will begin hiring immediately, starting with a seven-member administrative team followed by about two dozen other plant workers. He hopes to begin production by January.

Fancy Pokket has committed to creating 58 jobs within five years of its opening. Timani said he intends to hire locally and will advertise through SC Works.

Failure to meet the Oct. 31 deadline would have resulted in the company paying the county a fine of $274,000 and foreclosure on the 57,000- square-foot bakery, located in Lancaster's Air and Rail Industrial Park on Nebo Road off S.C. 9 near the county airport.

"We are so excited that Mike persevered through the frustration," said County Council member Larry McCullough. "He is bringing to Lancaster the largest gluten-free facility in North America."

Timani chose to locate here, a spinoff of his established 27-year-old New Brunswick-based bakery, because he can reach half the American population within a 14-hour drive.    

In 2012, he signed an agreement with the county to expand his operation into the United States and tap into the gluten-free market, which currently has sales of $2.6 billion and is projected to rise to $6.2 billion by 2018. With three years of research and development on his gluten-free products, he predicts Fancy Pokket's sales will double within three years. 

County officials expressed relief upon hearing the news that Fancy Pokket has met all code requirements and can begin production. 

"This is good news," said Dean Faile, Lancaster County Chamber of Commerce president. "I am anxious for them to start hiring and start baking bread." 

"This will be a great asset to the community," said McCullough. "It's a Class-A facility in the new industrial park, our first tenant, and now that he is in operation, that will draw other top-tier companies to the industrial park," he said.

"Mike is the epitome of the American Dream," McCullough said. "He worked his way up from a dishwasher at the Hilton. He was as frustrated as anyone else about the delays." 

Jamie Gilbert, county economic development director, said this will bring Lancaster some much-needed positive attention.

"Timani is a success story, and I believe this will create a niche market and put us on the map," Gilbert said. "He has a great reputation in Canada and makes a high-quality product."

With Duracell closing its 430-worker Lancaster plant by mid-2019, we need the jobs that this will bring to our area, Gilbert said.

"The timing could not be better, with the holidays just around the corner," he said.

 Timani never considered giving up on the gluten-free bakery, a spin-off of his very successful wheat-based bakery in New Brunswick, Canada, which he began in 1989. He invested his life's savings of  $22,000 in a 1,000-square-foot facility with three employees. The bakery, expanded six times since it opened, now is a 45,000-square-foot building with 60 employees. It produces millions of pitas, bagels and tortilla wraps each year.

Timani emigrated to Canada from war-torn Lebanon in 1976. He got a job at The Toronto Airport Hilton, worked his way from busboy to upper management before opening his own restaurant/bakery in 1989. 

His luxury hotel background is apparent in the decor of porcelain, tile and ceramic throughout the Lancaster building. The elevator, stairway and restrooms would be at home in a five-star resort. 

Timani said his investment of $13 million will soon grow to $19 million with the addition of final packaging equipment and machinery. 

Steam from the huge boilers will course through 600 feet of stainless steel pipes snaking through the spacious facility. He stood in front of several 3-foot-diameter, waist-high stainless steel bowls sitting on the floor. 

"One of these bowls costs $10,000," he said. "I didn't cut any corners."

The stainless steel gives a feeling of pharmaceutical cleanliness. Even concrete walls are covered with sheets of smooth, satiny stainless steel. 

"It's quality," he said. "Fifty years from now, stainless steel will look just like it does now."

Timani slowly ran his hands along the smooth, sleek pipes.

"It's clean and very hygienic," Timani added. "It never rusts."

"For people who eat my bread, I rest assured that they will never get sick. You can eat off the floor in here." 

Special skylights were installed to filter sunlight in to soften the harsh, artificial fluorescent lighting. 

With pride, he walked through the production process step-by-step, from the raw ingredients to the finished products that will soon snake their way through the industrial maze of machines.

Fancy Pokket will bake only gluten-free goods at the Lancaster plant. Those with celiac disease or gluten-intolerance will not have to worry about cross-contamination with wheat. The bakery will make pitas, sliced bread, hot dog and hamburger buns, pound cakes, brownies, muffins and cookies.

The fully-automated bakery is designed for high output. It can produce 6,500 loaves of bread per hour, or 10,000 bagels, 18,000 muffins and hot dog and hamburger buns, 25,000 brownies or cookies. 

"Our gluten-free bread tastes like regular bread. If I did not tell you it was gluten-free, you would not know the difference," Timani said. 

"It is 30 percent lighter than what is on the market now. It won't feel heavy on your stomach. It is like a nice, homemade bread."

McCullough backed Timani up on the taste of his product.

"I tasted the brownies, and they are some of the best I have ever eaten," McCullough said.

History of delays

The original incentive agreement with the county was signed almost four years ago, on Dec. 28, 2012.  The company bought the property from the county for $100, with the understanding that construction would be complete and a CO would be in hand by August 2014. If not, the company would be required to pay $274,000 as reimbursement for the value of the property. 

After additional delays near the end of 2014, county council unanimously granted two separate 90-day extensions for the company to obtain its CO. Under the terms of the second extension, the company had until the end of June 2015 to finish the project.

Though the company missed that deadline, the council did not start talking about collecting the $274,000 fine until a year later.

This past May a frustrated county council blew the dust off the incentive agreement and issued an ultimatum. No more extensions or waivers. Timani must get a certificate of occupancy by Oct. 31 or pay the penalty.

Timani explained he did not know the rules and regulations of the county and state and felt a bit misled as he relied on the local general contractor, lawyers and county officials to steer him in the right direction. 

Timani said he has already spent $13 million of the company's own money on the project, without any borrowing.

"We have financed over 70 percent of the project without a lender in the U.S.," he said. "All of these funds have been taken from our facility in Canada." 

To obtain the CO, he needed to finalize the installation of all of the necessary equipment, but without financial backing, it was difficult to get gas and electricity to the equipment for the inspections, he said. 

Timani is now ready to move forward and let the past be.

"We have Keer from China, Continental Tire from Germany and now Fancy Pokket from Canada," McCullough said. "We have others looking at this area. We need to start positioning ourselves for more international companies coming in."

10/30/16

Follow Reporter Mandy Catoe on Twitter @MandyCatoeTLN or contact her at (803) 283-1152

My Mom Saved My Life - A Mother's Day Memory

Mother's Day 2016

By Mandy Catoe

Most of us who are still blessed to have our mothers will likely buy a card this weekend and maybe take our moms to lunch.
Bobbie Johnston can't do that and hasn't been able to since Mother's Day 2008. This year she put pen to paper, wrote a letter and tucked it in the door of The   News. She wanted to share her mom's story with someone.
Shortly after Mother's Day in 1984, Bobbie Johnston's mom loaded her daughter in her big old Buick Electra 225. She told Bobbie to get down in the floorboard and then she threw a green raincoat over her. Then the tiny woman, less than 5 feet tall in heels, ran to the driver's side, cranked up the big Buick and headed to a lawyer's office to get her daughter into drug treatment.
“She gunned it!” And I hung on,” Bobbie recalls.
She was being driven to safety by her mom, Anne Johnston.
“Anne with an E and Johnston with a T,” she would tell people in an introduction that rivaled James Bond's. Anne had worked for the FBI as a clerical worker in the fingerprint division in Washington, D.C. She was small in stature, but mighty in willpower.
 It had been a hard 10 years. Bobbie had a drug problem, and it was killing both her and her mom. Her mother was visiting her one day at her Charlotte apartment when Nadar, a Middle-Eastern man, banged on the door demanding she pay a $2,500 drug debt.
Money was no big deal for Bobbie, thanks to a trust fund she received when she was 16 from a rich aunt who owned an oil well. She easily could have paid the drug dealer off. Her mom knew that.
Bobbie had been using the trust fund to finance her cocaine habit. She would call the lawyer requesting funds for trips she never took and clothes she never bought.
That day when Nadar was demanding money and threatening her, she was scared and paranoid from drugs.
“I had to do something or I was going to die, either from the drugs or the drug dealer was going to kill me. I was a mess,” Johnston recalls.
While Nadar was using a pay phone on the street, Anne Johnston took control, grabbed Bobbie and the raincoat and ran for the Buick.
Soon the lawyer had arranged for Bobbie to be placed in treatment at an undisclosed location. She recalls sitting there in a big room with a shiny conference table as the lawyer, the trustee of the trust fund and a couple of other people talked about her in third person as though she were a little girl.
“I remember hearing them say, 'We need to put her somewhere.'”
The lawyer told Johnston to return the next day and someone from his office would take her to the treatment center.
The next day, Anne Johnston loaded her daughter into the Buick once again and drove her to the lawyer's office, making sure she kept that  appointment. Mom bid her goodbye and the lawyer's assistant took her to the Lancaster Recovery Center at Springs Memorial Hospital.
Johnston laughs as she recalls that frightening time in her life. “I was dreaming of them sending me to sunny California, maybe the Betty Ford Center,” she says. “As I walked through the basement tunnel in the hospital, I knew for sure they were taking me to the nut house.”
Johnston was at LRC for eight weeks. Under the advice of the lawyer, her mom wasn't told where she was. Bobbie wrote her a letter during the second week.
Treatment brought Johnston face to face with demons, deceit, lies and scars from her 10 years of drug addiction, which began with a few beers and some pot when she was 15. When she found cocaine in her 20s, her life unraveled. Her mom, who had a heart condition, would often call asking for her help. “I ignored her phone calls,” Johnston says.
Her mom dragged her out of drug dealers' houses, rescued her in the middle of a riot at her high school, and threw her bongs and drug paraphernalia away.
Recovery involved Johnston getting honest with herself, taking a moral inventory and making amends to anyone she had harmed or wronged. The honesty part had been eating at her for a while. She was about to pick up her six-month chip at Alcoholics Anonymous and asked her mom to attend.
“I had to tell mom I was gay. I felt like a fake,” Johnston recalls. She wasn't ready to do that face to face, so she gave her mom a letter and asked her to wait until she got home to read it. Her mom tucked the letter into her purse and waited.
Anne Johnston believed in celebrating life's great moments with homemade cakes. Bobbie had told her not to make a cake for the six-month chip meeting. Her mom honored that request.
Anne got home and read the letter. A few hours later, Bobbie's phone rang. Her heart pounding, she answered.
“My mom screamed into the phone with a mean tone, 'How dare you!' My heart stopped, and then Mom said, 'How dare you not let me make you a cake for your six-month sobriety birthday!'
After a few seconds of silence, her mother said, “I fooled you, didn't I?”
Johnston says her mom struggled with her sexuality for a while. Bobbie's sister, Patty, supported their mom and encouraged her to not push Bobbie away. In time, Anne was embracing Bobbie's girlfriend as though she were her own daughter.
Her mom attended family night at the end of the eight-week treatment. “That night she said, 'I'm so glad to have my daughter back.' That was 32 years ago, but I remember it like it was yesterday.”
Bobbie made a new life, a sober life, she says, here in Lancaster. She's retired now, living with her wife and two dogs, Chico and Sara.
She stays in touch with one of her Lancaster Recovery Center counselors, who confirmed much of Johnston's account but asked that his name not be used.
Anne Johnston celebrated her daughter's sobriety every year on May 16 with a homemade cake, until she began her stay at the Lancaster Convalescent Center a few years before she died.
Bobbie visited her mom often at the nursing home and made sure she was taken care of. Bobbie says her mom, wheelchair bound in the last years of her life, was known as “Speedy.”
Bobbie says the residents would ask her mom if it was true that she had worked for the FBI. “Without batting an eye, my mom would say, “If I tell you that, I'll have to kill you.' And then she would laugh that laugh of hers.”
This Mother's Day, Bobbie Johnston will spend time thinking of her mom a little more than usual. No cakes to celebrate, but lots of memories. She tells her friends to spend a little extra time with their moms and take photos and make videos, and not just on Mother's Day.


“My mom saved my life,” she says, “more than once.”

In her closet, that green raincoat still hangs.





5/8/16 
(Photos supplied)

Contact Mandy Catoe at (803) 283-1152

Sent from my iPad

Buford Teen is Lightning in the Saddle - Rodeo Girl

Out in the middle of Buford community, in a dusty oval arena called Horseplay Farms, the Tyre family offers lessons on horseback riding and bigger lessons about life, including responsibility, connection and commitment.
The story of how an official-sized barrel-racing arena was built just off Cimmeron Road began a dozen years ago, when Savannah Tyre was 4 years old and begged her parents, Andy and Mandy, to take her to visit the neighbor’s horse. That led to them buying her a horse a year later.
Savannah Tyre, now 16, is a mix of Southern charm and raw grit. She is quiet, sweet, modest and well-mannered. Something happens when she is in the saddle. She becomes a creature of speed and precision.
Savannah’s first competitions began when she was 5. She was showing horses in Western Pleasure competitions and has won ribbons in walk, trot and canter events.
“That was too slow,” Savannah said. “I got bored with that. I wanted to go faster.”
She began taking barrel lessons when she was almost 7, on other people’s horses. She was good at it, so her parents bought her a barrel-racing horse. Then they built the arena after Savannah started practicing barrel racing in the uneven pasture. They feared she or her horse would get hurt.
Once the arena was built, friends and neighborhood kids started asking for lessons. That became a way for Savannah to pay her rodeo entry fees.
Barrel racing requires fast, strong, agile and smart horses to navigate around four barrels in a cloverleaf pattern. The race is against the clock as horse and rider hug in close to the barrels to get a fast time.
Savannah, a rising junior at Buford High, has arranged her life around her passion of riding and teaching.
“After high school, I am going to cosmetology school so I can set my own schedule and keep doing rodeos,” Savannah said. “I can still do lessons too. I can do everything I want to.”
Since getting a horse, Savannah’s parents have expected her to take care of it. Her mom, Mandy, says that Savannah got up early every morning before school to help feed and care for the horses.  
The little side job for Savannah grew as more people came wanting horseback-riding lessons. Standing in the dusty arena behind the house she grew up in, Savannah smiled as she shared stories of teaching kids to ride and feel a bit of the magic she enjoys.
Surrounded by kids and horses, she is quick to talk about her students’ first rodeo or them overcoming their fear, but it takes a bit of coaxing to get her to talk about her own accomplishments.
Asked if she has received any awards, she smiles and points to her belt buckle.
“I won this last year. I was third in the whole state of North Carolina in barrel racing,” Savannah said matter-of-factly. “We are doing National Barrel Horse Association (NBHA) this year and we are first or second in points right now.”
The belt buckle is the size of a piece of Texas Toast. Little girls who stand eye-level with that prize buckle look up to Savannah with adoration and their own rodeo dreams. And Savannah is the perfect cowgirl to coach them. If a parent could pick a role model for their child, it would be Savannah.
Savannah’s help goes beyond the arena. She recently helped Emma Craig,11, pick out her first barrel-racing horse, Allie. Savannah went with the Craigs, rode Allie and assured them she was a good horse for Emma.
Picking a barrel horse is harder than picking a trail horse, Savannah said.
“They get hotter and then more hyper and many are not kid-friendly, which is critical for what we do,” Savannah said. “My older barrel horse, Dixie, is kid-friendly. I learned on her and I give beginner barrel lessons to kids with her.”
Other horses include the beautiful, gentle Palomino, Holly, who lets kids stand right behind her and brush her tail.
“We feel at home here,” said Emma’s mom, Kristy. “They are so good with Emma and so knowledgeable.”
“I can’t brag enough about them,” she said. “Savannah didn’t have to go with us to ride Allie. She did it to support Emma. It means that much to Savannah to see the kids do well.”
Some children are afraid of horses. Savannah tells the kids to stay calm, breathe deeply and relax. She tells them the horses relate to their calmness. Teaching the kids how to access the calm center within is a valuable life skill that will serve them for years to come – on and off a horse.
She goes on to talk about the magic moment when you and the horse feel like one being. “It’s all about the trust and learning to control the horse,” she said.
“That is what we start with, and then the speed,” she says smiling ear to ear.
The Tyres have six horses and will match the rider with the horse to ensure safety and fun.  
More and more people have begun taking lessons at the arena, which is a good thing because Savannah has a lot of rodeo entry fees.
Horseplay Farms began officially offering riding lessons the end of last summer. The demand has continued to grow so much that Mandy Tyre was able to leave her eight-year office job this past May to help give lessons.
“I love doing this,” she said. “The only word I can use to describe all this, is  ‘blessing.’ It is truly a blessing.”
Currently Horseplay has about 30 students ranging in age from 3 to 28. There is no age limit. Adults are as welcome as kids.
Mandy Tyre said Horseplay offers a chance for kids to get outside off their cell phones and video games and learn responsibility and connect with nature.
“We stress two things out here,” she said. “First, kids have to keep their grades up, and second, they aren’t allowed to say they can’t.”
We teach them they can do anything they set their mind to, she said.
Horseplay offers riding lessons at $20 for an hour. They also offer birthday parties, horse boarding, arena rental, and horse camp with riding lessons, basic horse care, saddling and grooming.
Savannah’s dad, Andy, named Horseplay Farms.
“It’s just kids and horses playing,” he said. Then with a laugh added, “Not just kids, we are out there playing, too!”
Savannah will be competing in Pageland July 15 at the rodeo during the Watermelon Festival. She will be riding Choo Choo, her fast barrel-riding horse. She placed fourth in the Blythewood Rodeo last month.
Horseplay teaches riding lessons to boys as well as girls, but there is a special connection between the little cowgirls and Savannah, with her big, shiny belt buckle.
Up the hill above the arena next to the barn, 6-year-old Railee Brown stopped grooming her horse and said, “I’m doing barrels,” as she looked toward the arena where Savannah and her horse were racing around the barrels leaving a trail of dust.
She didn’t need to say anything else. Savannah Tyre is inspiring little cowgirls to dream.
Horseplay Farms is at 3684 Cimmeron Road. For more information, call (803) 320-3188.


7/13/16

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Contact Mandy Catoe (803) 283-1152

The Wide-eyed Joy of a Teen Princess : Teresa Mackey Celebrates, Wrapped in Her Community's Love

A hush fell over the Fort Lawn Community Center this past Saturday as a princess entered the gala hall with her parents.
“Isn’t She Lovely” began playing, and all eyes were on the featured guest, Teressa Amanda Mackey, whose studded crown was out-sparkled only by her eyes as she took in the adoring crowd amidst the pink and white decorations.
Nearly 100 friends, family and loved ones wearing their finest formal wear gathered to celebrate Teressa’s Sweet 16 birthday. Many had tears in their eyes as they watched Teressa in a shimmering white gown stand between the two people who made this day possible, a day doctors said would never come.
“She is my princess,” said her mother, Marlene Mackey, stepping aside to give Teressa the spotlight. “You don’t have to birth a child to love a child. You don’t have to birth a child for a child to become your own.”
Children and adults joined in singing Mother Goose nursery rhymes. Some danced a jig in their Sunday shoes. Though she is nonverbal, Teressa, an eighth grader at A.R. Rucker Middle School, is very expressive. Her smile, laughter and wide-eyed joy said more than words can capture.
Sixteen years ago, Teressa was born with spina bifida, hydrocephaly and cerebral palsy. Doctors told her birth parents she would likely not live to see her first birthday. But then two life-saving surgeries inserted a feeding tube and a shunt to relieve pressure on her brain.
Eventually, her birth parents found the special needs too challenging. A choking incident resulted in a three-month hospital stay when she was 8 years old. Teressa weighed only 18 pounds. Social Services began looking for placement.
In stepped Marlene Mackey, a therapeutic foster parent for over 20 years, with a loving heart and an unending supply of patience, understanding and energy.
The doctors and specialists trained Mackey for the physical care Teressa needed. She and her husband, Menzell, cared for Teressa for four years before the adoption was final in 2012.
The consistent care and nurturing allowed Teressa to grow stronger. She now weighs 76 pounds, and her yearly visits to the gastroenterologist have been reduced from four to only one. She is in a self-contained class at A.R. Rucker.
Mackey, a junior pastor at Mount Olive Holiness Church, takes no personal credit for what she does. Teressa is only one of five children who the Mackeys care for as their own.  
The others are 20-year-old Tevin, Jamilah, 14, Jamichael, 11, and 5-year-old Jamarcus.
She has had Tevin and Jamarcus since they were babies. Jamilah and Jamichael are siblings, and the Mackeys will finalize their adoption within the next month.
“I cannot attribute being able to be renewed and refreshed every morning except it comes from God,” Mackey said.
“I get up early, sometimes as early as 5 a.m., to have a little devotional time before the kids get up, and that refreshes me for the entire whole day. No matter how much I have on my plate in the course of one day, God helps me get through it.”
Caring for medically fragile children often results in long hospital stays and special training. Mackey is a part of the S.C. Mentor Network, which serves children with intellectual and developmental disabilities, as well as youth and families with emotional, behavioral and medical issues.   

The other children
Jamarcus was born four months premature. When Mackey became involved in his care, he had been in the hospital for nine months and had missed the opportunity to bond with his mother. Marlene drove to Levine Children’s Hospital in Charlotte every day for five weeks to hold Jamarcus in preparation for bringing him home.
She held him close so he would know her smell, and she read to him so he would know her voice.
“When I brought him home, it was like I brought my own baby home,” she said.
Once home, she gave him breathing treatments every four hours. Otherwise he would have had to remain in the hospital, and Mackey wasn’t having that. She drove him to the pediatrician every day for several weeks to be sure his lungs were clear. She did all this while caring for Teressa, Tevin, Jamichael and Jamilah.
Mackey has one birth child, Malcolm Williams, now 42. He and his wife, Jamesila, are following in his mother’s footsteps and became licensed therapeutic foster parents in 2015.
“All my life, I have seen them be a blessing to other people, and that is what I want to do now, be a blessing to other people,” Williams said.
Williams said he might be her only birth child, but he has many brothers and sisters. The Mackeys have provided foster care to 35 children over the past two decades.
“Malcolm came along early in my life,” Mackey said. “I had to finish my last year of high school as a mother while I worked in the J.P. Stevens mill in Great Falls.”
Marlene met Menzell when Malcolm was 5. They married a year later and will celebrate their 37th wedding anniversary this Thursday. He has been “Pops” to Malcolm and the foster children, who came along after Malcolm graduated from high school.   

‘A precious friend’
Saturday’s party for Teressa was a celebration of love for a little girl not expected to survive and a woman who would not give up on her. Nearly 25 relatives and church members joined to make the party possible for Pastor Marlene and her princess.
Mackey, humble and grateful, quickly credits others for helping her out. She said her parents helped her when she was a teen mother and her husband helps her now when he is home from his job at U.S. Foods.
Among the guests were Teressa’s former teacher Leanne White and A.R. Rucker Middle School Principal Anita Watts.
“Marlene is always so calm,” White said.
“Marlene is a precious lady and a precious friend,” said Charlotte resident Gwendolyn McIntyre. “It is amazing the love she gives these children. I just wanted to share in it.”
Mackey took a minute to gaze at the loved ones joined together to celebrate Teressa and to and support her. She had been planning this party since January.
“I’m so full. I could cry. It almost feels like a wedding. I’m happy and excited,” Mackey said. “There is so much help and support from family and friends.”
Mackey reports that she has grown spiritually from taking care of the children. She hopes others will become foster parents and is sometimes disheartened by the sad stories of foster care gone wrong and is grateful to share her story.
“It’s been an amazing journey, and I thank God. I can’t take credit for the strength over the years. He has empowered me and equipped me and given me the grace to do all the things from my teen years until now,” she said.
Mackey realizes there are easier ways to make a difference, and easier ways to serve. But she knows she was meant to do this.
“I really believe this is what God intended for me to do in this life – to care for, love and minister children,” she said.
“It was my calling in life.”



8/17/16


Follow Reporter Mandy Catoe on Twitter @MandyCatoeTLN or contact her at (803) 283-1152