The Friends of the School of Music is hosting a Musical Feast on April 14, 2022, at the Koger Center for the Arts, located adjacent to the University of South Carolina campus. This is a unique concept where performers from our highly rated School of Music perform various musical acts, including but not limited to, a Percussion Ensemble and the Palmetto Pans (steel drum band); Jazz combos and Carolina Alive; Students of Opera at USC performing arias, duets, and trios from famous operas; Friends of the School of Music scholarship recipients and then Undergraduate and Graduate String Ensembles. It is a night of fun, festivities, and libations, and all for a worthy cause – Scholarships for the University of South Carolina music students.

This is the 30th Anniversary of The Friends of the School of Music. Under the leadership of Dr. Tayloe Harding, who has been Dean for 17 years, it produces an unbelievable array of talent. I am frankly shocked at how many different musical degrees are offered at the University of South Carolina.

I am proud to serve on the Board of The Friends of the School of Music. I have learned much about the music program and events like Musical Feast during my time on the Board. I promise you, if you are looking for an enjoyable time, which also accomplishes a great purpose, then order tickets and see me there!

I became an environmental stalwart after getting involved in the Gills Creek Watershed Association seven years ago. I have never considered myself an environmentalist, but the Gills Creek Watershed Association taught me the error of my ways! Even though I rolled off the Board in November 2021, I am still a volunteer with Gills Creek Watershed Association, and always will be.

The Watershed consists of sections of Richland County, the City of Columbia, the City of Cayce, the City of Forest Acres, the Town of Arcadia Lakes, as well as Fort Jackson. I, along with approximately 120,000 other Midlands’s residents, call the Gills Creek Watershed home. We can all use Gills Creek for recreational purposes and sustenance fishing. Unfortunately, Gills Creek Watershed itself is among the largest impaired urban watersheds in South Carolina, with numerous water quality problems, including high bacteria, low dissolved oxygen, litter, and sedimentation, along with high flood risks.

The quality of life in the Watershed is in enhanced by the work of GCWA. I encourage you to consider supporting Gills Creek by participating in our major fundraiser, Wine for Water, that will take place on Thursday, March 24, 2022, at my friend Dupre Percival’s event venue, The Hall at Senate’s End, which is by another watershed, the Congaree River. We will have auction items, food from a variety of restaurants, wine tasting, and a whole lot of fun.

Below is information about the event. I hope you will consider sponsoring, attending, and/or contributing to Gills Creek.

Mike Kelly Law Group is in need of an additional attorney for our Myrtle Beach location, ASAP! As everyone in South Carolina knows, our state is growing, and especially Horry County and the Grand Strand. We are extremely fortunate to have an office that is centrally located in revitalizing Downtown Myrtle Beach, and we are really looking forward to what is transpiring in our business neighborhood! We need to add an attorney to our growing practice at the beach, and minimal experience is required. We are looking for someone of great integrity, someone who is professional, a people person, and loves to get involved in community affairs. We look forward to coaching them up in the MKLG style of serving our clients! Personally, I cannot think of a better place for a young lawyer to enjoy living and working than the Grand Strand. I spend a significant portion of my time there, and I absolutely love all things related to the beach!

If you, or anyone you know, would like to discuss our new lawyer addition, please let us know!

While college football in South Carolina is a 24/7 – 365 days a year engagement for me and many, many others, the official football season has drawn to a close with Sunday night’s Super Bowl. I watched every minute of it, and it was one of the better games, featuring two outstanding quarterbacks. As a matter of fact, while Matt Stafford is a veteran, Joe Burrow is in just in his second year. He is one of the young guns that, along with the Bill’s Josh Allen and Patrick Mahomes of the Chiefs, will be in the spotlight for many years to come.

Speaking of shows, I have seen comments all week long on social media, some liking the half-time extravaganza featuring Snoop Dogg, Dr. Dre, Kendrick Lamar, Eminem, and Mary J. Blige while others were very unhappy with it. I love my sports, particularly at the college level, and will get the football itch this summer while I am still closely following baseball, especially my beloved Atlanta Braves. I hope to witness quite a few more Super Bowls, and on top of that, I enjoy living my life, because it is certainly a blessed one.

Greetings!

We have a very close working relationship with our friends at the Beasley Allen Law Firm, a National Law Firm that handles a variety of cases including products liability claims such as NEC Baby Formula and Paraquat.

NEC Baby Formula – Premature babies that are fed cow’s milk-based Enfamil and Similac formulas and human milk fortifiers are at an increased risk of developing a debilitating and sometimes fatal intestinal condition called necrotizing enterocolitis, or NEC.

Paraquat – Known by the brand name Gramoxone. Paraquat is one of the most widely used herbicides on the market. It’s also one of the most dangerous. Farmworkers, crop dusters, herbicide applicators, chemical mixers, tank fillers, and even people who live near farmland exposed to Paraquat are up to 2.5 more likely to develop Parkinson’s disease than those who have not been exposed.

If you, your loved ones, or your friends have suffered adverse effects from either one of these products listed above, please contact the Mike Kelly Law Group. We will take the initial basic information and then associate Beasley Allen to assist in handling this claim. We are here for you to evaluate your situation.

The Mike Kelly Law Group is beyond thrilled to announce the addition of Janet Rhodes as a Partner at our Firm. I have known Janet for more than a few years. I have always thought that she would be a great fit in our Law Group, and she finally agreed!

Janet has been a practicing lawyer for thirteen plus years. She began her legal career as a Judicial Law Clerk for two SC Circuit Judges, and then worked in several law firms, practicing Employment Law. We are especially appreciative of the fact that Janet will bring her versatility to the firm and engage in several aspects of law. While her focus will be on Employment and related law, she will also be handling Social Security Disability claims and assisting Brad Hewett and the ligation team in both the Columbia and Myrtle Beach offices.

Before graduating law school, Janet went to college at Wofford, where she graduated Magna Cum Laude. She was on the track and field team, where she threw the javelin, and I can honestly say she is the only person I know who is an All-Conference in javelin. When she is not practicing law, Janet enjoys serving on the Board of Directors of our beloved Trustus Theatre, and hanging out with friends and family!

Please join me in welcoming Janet to the Mike Kelly Law Group family!!

The last several weeks in Columbia and Myrtle Beach have been very cold! We have had snow and/or ice on two occasions, and prospects for the next few days appear to be more of the same! I must confess as I get older, I am more averse to cold weather, and am looking forward to Springtime. My outdoor activities will resume, flowers will bloom, and the State of South Carolina will rise and shine with the warmer weather!

I especially worry about the homeless during these cold nights. I salute the various agencies around our two key cities of MKLG, Columbia and Myrtle Beach, for their efforts to keep those on the street warm, fed, and safe. I closely follow what happens at Transitions, which is right up the street from me, and I think they do an excellent job dealing with this critical situation.

Please remember these non-profit agencies during these times with your volunteerism, your treasure, and your prayers. I am looking forward to warming up soon!

Even as a little boy, I was interested in governmental affairs, and all types of change. I became acquainted with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. when I was eight or nine, and then again at age eleven, when I watched live his most famous of many speeches – “I Have a Dream.”

In observance of the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday, I watched it again this past Monday on YouTube. If you have never watched it, or have not seen it in a while, I urge you take 18 minutes out of your life to listen. Many things that he advocated for in his speech have come to pass, and others have not. As someone who has done more than his fair share of public speaking over the years, I not only appreciated the content of the message, but also his advocacy skills, his passion, and his elocution. I especially admired his insistence on nonviolence. His was another life cut way too short, but I am thankful that Dr. King lived on this earth and served mankind!

It is pet peeve time on this Friday! I have noticed in downtown Columbia, as well as certain heavily traveled areas of Myrtle Beach, that pedestrians risk life and limb to walk across the street! As a prime example, I was coming to work last Friday when what looked to be a homeless gentleman was in the crosswalk at Taylor and Main Streets. He was wearing a mask, paying attention and was in the middle of the street when the light turned green. I was in the right-hand lane heading down the hill to my office, and I slowly inched across the intersection to give him time to pass. My cohort in the left lane took off like he was drag racing, and fortunately, the man was able to get back to the curb in the nick of time before being plowed under. Citizen’s arrest has been in the news a lot lately, but I sure wanted to make one if I could have caught the guy! Seriously, pedestrians in the crosswalk always have the right of way!

Section 56-5-3130 (Pedestrians’ right of way in crosswalks) says in part when traffic control signals are not in place, or not in operation, the driver of a vehicle shall yield the right of way, slowing down or stopping if need be to yield to a pedestrian crossing the roadway within a crosswalk when the pedestrian is upon the half of the roadway upon which the vehicle is traveling, or when the pedestrian is approaching so closely from the opposite half of the roadway as to be in danger.

Please talk about this with the young drivers in your family, your friends, and your neighbors. We want Columbia and Myrtle Beach to be pedestrian friendly cities, and that requires motorists to give them their rights under the statute!

I am always in a reflective mood, but much more so at the beginning of a New Year. The year 2022 stands before us, and even though it will pass quickly (especially for those senior members of life like me!), there is still much time to make changes and improvements, and to foster better habits. Now is the time for those of you who choose to improve your finances, personal health, internal growth and maturity to get busy!

With loved ones and friends passing away in increasing numbers each and every year, or so it seems, I am going to choose to get busy! This is not merely a New Year’s Resolution, but a profound commitment to change what I can, and pray that what is beyond my control can be changed.

There will be multiple failures, disappointments and some surprises for sure, but that is where Faith comes in. Your faith can be religious (mine certainly is!) or belief in one’s self, reference to past occurrences, belief in statistical probabilities or whatever else assists all of us through the hard times. With regard to failures, I can honestly say after quite a few years on earth, that I have learned more from being in the proverbial ditch, as opposed to when I have been on the mountain top!

Here is to the best 2022 for all of you. Take the time to smell the roses for sure, but if you choose to do so, then commit yourself to positive changes for you, your loved ones and all people around the world!