I must confess that Gamecock Athletics are number one with me, but a close second is the so called “national pastime” Major League Baseball! I have been a Braves fan since moving to South Carolina and currently watch almost every game (West Coast excluded). I love all the Braves’ teams whether they win or lose and was especially excited when 6 Braves’ players got named to the All-Star team. Although they are currently in second place, breathing down my friend, Chris Millar’s Metropolitans necks, I am hopeful for an exciting second half of the season!

I enjoyed watching the Home Run Derby on Monday night and the All-Star game on Tuesday. There are so many young athletes in their early 20’s that are going to be heroes to their fans for all time, such as Juan Soto, Shohei Ohtani, Ty France, Julio Rodriguez and our very own Ronald Acuna, Jr., and Michael Harris, II. Any time the Pennant Races or the competitors of the National League East and/or a Braves baseball game is on, you will know where to find me. Go Braves!

It is easy for all of us, whether we are 15 or 85 years of age, to become depressed and/or anxious about all the challenges in this crazy world we live in today! Sometimes I take the bait myself and worry or get concerned about a myriad of topics, issues, and the happenings in the world around me, but I have received signals this week from my devotional readings to focus on all my blessings as well as love and generosity.

No matter what our circumstances may be, everyone reading this KellyGram can cite blessings and love all around us! We all know that love is a very incredible tool in our lives! My focus today, from my heart, is on GENEROSITY!

There are too many indicators coming my way not to experience the joys of generosity in my life! I have been richly blessed in all aspects of my life, but I am not speaking of finance or charitable giving. I am speaking of generosity at its MOST basic level – sharing food or material items, giving hugs, kind words, a smile are even more precious to some, the giving away of my time to others especially to family, friends, and anyone I come across.

I am urging my fellow friends who read this blog to ponder this thought and act on it in whatever manner you wish. Just try it!

Happy Friday, Folks!

Today I want to talk about a growing area of practice in our law firm – Construction Defects. With the housing industry boom in Horry, Lexington, and Richland Counties, we are fielding many calls about shoddy construction involving both residential and commercial properties. In many cases, the contractors and subcontractors are either unqualified or they are not paying sufficient attention to the details and are instead trying to get on to the next job while the housing boom is in full gear.

Our Construction Defect litigation team headed by Partner, Brad Hewett, and ably assisted by two attorneys as well as our excellent paralegal team are handling these cases to successful conclusion.

While our primary practice areas remain Personal Injury, Workers Compensation, Disability, and Employment, our work in the field of construction litigation is rapidly growing. If you have had a Construction Defect problem created by a builder, contractor, or remodeler, please give us a call for a free consultation.

Without revealing specific numbers, I have been to many, many July 4th festivities celebrating this great Nation, but I have never been to where I am going on Monday, July 4th – The Lexington County Peach Festival! I have been learning about it and understand it is an all-day celebration at the Gilbert Community Park in Gilbert, SC. It features a peach parade, arts and crafts, food (especially the “Peachy” delights!), a classic car show, all kinds of live entertainment, and ending with a fun display of fireworks. The action kicks off at 8:30 AM and the peach parade starts at 9:30 AM and the Mike Kelly Law Group, under the leadership of our Legal Administrator and lifelong Gilbert resident, Amanda Miller Swearingen, will be spearheading a Mike Kelly Law Group tent full of swag and takeaways.

Come on out and get some goodies from Mike Kelly and company. We look forward to seeing you there.

This was a wonderful week for my younger son, Mac, who purchased his first ever pickup truck! Going back in history, I will tell you that my father, whose life we celebrated on Father’s Day (he died in 2008) left school in the 8th grade to take care of my grandmother. He worked the same job in men’s retail clothing sales for 55 years. He told me even though his formal education was limited that he was smarter than this old lawyer will ever be and thankfully shared lots of wisdom with me. Two things particularly stand out. He said, “Mike, we Kelly’s are working men” and the second thing was, “We’re Ford men.”

Mac and I try to keep the tradition alive by only driving Fords or Lincolns. This week Mac took delivery of his dream truck, a 2022 Ford Ranger and is still in heaven. Every family needs a pickup truck and now we have one.

Give me a call or send me an email and I will make sure Mac comes to your house and gives you a ride!

I know I have discussed this topic in my KellyGram a time or two before, but I am really fed up with the way people drive in my hometown of Columbia, SC. They continue to come racing off I-126 down Huger Street like it is a freeway! The turn I make off Trenholm Road while driving home at night is extremely dangerous (drivers act like Trenholm Road, which is only two lanes, is another freeway!)

I cannot speak with as much authority as first responders or emergency room personnel, but I can speak from my perspective. I have handled auto accidents among other areas of practice for 44 years of my life and I have seen the damage caused by a speeding vehicle crashing into another or striking a pedestrian. These auto accidents are devastating to many, and fatal to others.

We recently began working on two cases right here in the Columbia area, where people were walking safely off the roadway, and drivers who were speeding and probably talking on their cell phones (we will find that out soon) veered off the roadway and struck the pedestrians. Two people were badly injured, and another person was killed. PLEASE SLOW DOWN! Getting to your destination a minute or two early is never worth the injury or loss of life which can occur.

If this week’s KellyGram causes one person of the thousands that read it to think twice, then it was certainly time well spent.

Seventy-eight years ago, this past Monday, June 6, 2022, the allied forces crossed the English Channel (approximately 160,000 of them!) and landed on the beaches of Normandy in France. While this operation was very risky, it contained the element of surprise. There was heavy loss of life, this was the beginning of the end of Hitler and the German dictatorship. Currently there are 9387 Americans buried on Omaha Beach and I certainly want to visit there one day soon!

As a long-time member of St. Martin’s-in-the Fields Episcopal Church, I am blessed to know Vernon Brantley who participated in this invasion to protect America. Although he is 97 years young, he is an amazing person, in great physical condition and mind, with a vivid memory. I guess after going through that experience, his faith will always remain important to him. I look forward to seeing him every Sunday that I am at church and showing him the respect that he so deserves.

WLTX, a CBS affiliate here in Columbia, featured him in a news article this week. You owe it to yourself to spend a few minutes watching it.

With the massacre of nineteen precious children weighing heavy on my mind, I wanted to write about a more pleasant subject, my inaugural trip to Buc-ee’s!

Buc-ee’s truly devise description and in fact, Jamie Brown, my long-time administrative assistant, asked me “what is in there,” and I said, “literally everything!” LOL!!

The Buc-ee’s at Exit 170 and I-95 in Florence County is on my direct route to and from my second home in Myrtle Beach and I visited there this past Sunday. It has the best food prepared on site, such as Texas barbeque and brisket, and has snacks of all sorts that are truly a cut above any convenience store, I have ever been in! It also has fuel, home décor, clothing, toys, camping supplies and so much more, including the cleanest restrooms in the country.

I was weighted down walking out of the store buying items for my granddaughter, Helena, and my new grandnephew, Parker, who turns one this month. A dear friend of mine who I consider family, Kevin Etheridge of the Gardner Law Firm in Florence and Darlington, said to me that he no longer has to take his beautiful little daughter, Emma Rae, to Disney World anymore because Buc-ee’s is now right outside his backdoor!

Go check out Buc-ee’s! If you are traveling not only in South Carolina, but in Texas, Georgia, Mississippi, Alabama, Kentucky, Florida and soon to be Tennessee. It is worth the visit, and you will be glad you did!

This past Wednesday, May 25th, yours truly entered into his seventh decade. Who knows what is in store for the future but based on the last six decades, I am definitely excited for the coming years! Although I have been through my ups and downs, for every down there has been fifty ups!

I am so grateful for all the blessings that God has bestowed upon me starting with my family, my faith, my beloved church, St. Martins-in-the-Fields Episcopal, and my law practice for which the last seventeen years has been with the Mike Kelly Law Group! I could not have a more dedicated group of family, friends, and fellow co-workers than those that surround me with love, care, and attention to what we as a whole need to do to serve our clients!

I could not close this shout out of gratitude without especially being thankful for the opportunity to work and serve the Gills Creek Watershed Association, Mental Illness Recovery Center, Inc. (MIRCI), and Transitions in Downtown Columbia. I am truly blessed!

I pledge to continue to serve my clients and further the mission of the Mike Kelly Law Group as long as I am able!

As everyone knows I am a Columbia guy. It is my home and always will be. However, there is a significant piece of me that loves the Grand Strand, where our Myrtle Beach law office is located. I have been here to work for three days this week (I swear I did not pick up my golf clubs one time!) and it has been absolutely gorgeous!

Those of us who live in South Carolina are blessed to have such a wonderful Coastline and frankly, I could not be happier to have my part-time residence at Kingston Plantation. Our Myrtle Beach office is thriving, and we are looking forward to welcoming two new employees. We are blessed that the City of Myrtle Beach Downtown Redevelopment Corporation has prioritized the “Superblock” where our office is located, for beautification and improvements. The future of our work neighborhood is both promising and exciting!

Please enjoy visiting our beautiful Coastline in South Carolina early and often!