I purchased the South Carolina African American History calendar which was produced by AT&T, Dominion Energy, South Carolina ETV, University of South Carolina, and WIS News. I wanted to highlight the month of September which features Gloria Blackwell Rackley. She was born in 1927 in Little Rock, South Carolina which is in Dillon County. Gloria earned her bachelor’s degree at Claflin College, which is now Claflin University, her master’s at South Carolina State College, now South Carolina State University, and her doctorate from Emory University. She initially became involved in the civil rights movement in Orangeburg. By 1961, she was a NAACP local leader and was targeted, along with her husband, for their stand on civil rights.

Gloria filed Rackley v. Tri-County Hospital with her lawyer, Matthew Perry, after being arrested for sitting in the whites only waiting area seeking care for her daughter’s injured finger. Her lawyer went on to be a United States District Judge and an icon in South Carolina legal history. The lawsuit succeeded in integrating hospitals. Courageous people like the Rackley’s are the reason why we have progressed to where we are today. However, there is much more work that can be done to advance race relations for all people.

Today’s KellyGram was inspired by a devotional that I read in Forward Day by Day devotional series that I read many mornings. The devotional was based on a line from Philippians 2:4 – “Let each of you look not to your own interest, but to the interest of others”. Whether you are a Christian or not, those words are powerful and literally cause me to give some deep thought to, “Am I doing enough for others”. I have been blessed to live a long life. I have children, grandchildren, relationships, friends, a church family, and a very blessed law practice. I know through my work I can help others and my favorite expression is “I get paid a nice salary to help people every day”. Tuesday was a prime example; a client who will remain unnamed, came in to hire me. He was injured in July, has not received any income, and has not received meaningful medical treatment. My paralegal, Kimberly, and I were able to get the ball rolling and even though the workers’ compensation system moves way too slowly, I believe we are at the start of getting him on a better road.

I clearly can do more in the Community to help others and I plan to do so. I don’t know how much time I have left on this Earth, but I am renewing my dedication to serving others. The options are limitless, and I challenge all my readers to consider doing the same.

It’s that time again! Yes, as we all prepare to enjoy our Labor Day weekend it’s also college football time in South Carolina! Although I have great respect for the Clemson Tiger program as well as Clemson University, I am a Gamecock through and through! My backup college team is the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers. Since I have my two major offices in Columbia and Myrtle Beach and I attended the University of South Carolina for seven years, neither of these should be a surprise!

I have yet to meet my soon to be neighbor, Shane Beamer, and I am looking forward to the opportunity. He is bringing a high-level of enthusiasm and energy to a Gamecock program that has been down the last several years after unprecedented success under the Head Ball Coach, Steve Spurrier. I will be attending all their home games at Carolina, as well as several on the road and will try to catch a Coastal game or two. Coastal is ranked in the preseason top 25, not bad for a program that only recently entered big time football! Please root for your favorite team, enjoy the excitement, and entertainment that college football in the Southeast brings to us. Be safe and enjoy your weekend. And for me GO COCKS! GO CHANTS!

After not traveling on an airplane since before Covid, I took a weeklong trip to Colorado and played golf on their beautiful courses. I enjoyed all things about Colorado. Even though I grew up in the South, I would not voluntarily leave the southeastern United States. While I love lots of other parts of this great nation, especially the American West which includes Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada, Utah, Montana, Wyoming, etc. as they are absolutely breathtaking. Aside from smoke from the California wildfires, the air in Colorado was wonderful. Although the temperature was warm, the humidity was low and was greatly appreciated by someone who lives in Famously Hot Columbia! Colorado has been voted the second healthiest state in the nation and for good reason, nature, climate, and air quality. Most importantly, the beauty of its scenic mountains, valleys, canyons, and rivers are hard to beat. I hope this Covid thing will suddenly slink away into the darkness, and we will be free to enjoy America the Beautiful again.

I must admit every summer providing my Atlanta Braves are doing fair to middling, I find myself fixated on their games every single day. This year marks at least 30 years that I have been a Braves’ fan. As of today, we are one game back. It seems my emotions live or die (It’s not quite that bad!) on how the Braves do the night or afternoon before. I always keep up with the Gamecocks and Coastal Carolina’s traditionally excellent baseball programs. I even find time to take in a few Fireflies games, especially when they play the Myrtle Beach Pelicans, from my second home. A lot of sports have my attention, such as college and pro football, golf, and even men’s and women’s college basketball. In the summertime, it’s definitely watching America’s team play the national pastime.

Today I want to share my thoughts on the drivers in South Carolina. I travel all over the Midlands, the Grand Strand, and the route in between. I see numerous instances of people speeding, being discourteous, being distracted, and disregarding traffic signals. I live in Columbia off Trenholm Road and the people that are coming through in the mornings and back out to the suburbs in the afternoon fly down that road like it’s a racetrack. As I look out my office window at 1523 Huger Street, I see that the red light does not mean anything to a lot of people. The speeding down Huger Street is terrible as well. In my forty-three and a half years, part of my practice has been as a personal injury attorney, and I have seen the harm that careless driving can cause, sometimes even death. Please slow down and obey the traffic signals! Please be courteous to your fellow drivers. We are all in this together.

Today I want to give a shout out to my friends at Vista Insurance Group. Vista is owned by Alex and Cecilia Fournil, who are great agents and exercise the highest degree of fiduciary responsibility to their clients. They are extremely responsive when we reach out to them, they are quick and efficient. Vista has a full line of property casualty as well as a wide range of insurance products and services. They have offices in Columbia, Charleston, and Charlotte. I get calls and emails daily from companies wanting to quote my business insurance and I always tell them, “That would be a waste of time because I’m extremely SATISFIED with the service, I receive from Vista Insurance Group.” I highly recommend them for your insurance needs!

Aside from being great business owners they are great people and amazing parents.

The Mike Kelly Law Group is excited to announce the addition of Melissa Delldonna to the Myrtle Beach team. She is a very experienced paralegal and excellent with client service. She is quickly fitting into the Mike Kelly Law Group family and we are glad to have her!

She is a native of Connecticut and attended the University of Connecticut – Go Huskies! When she is not pushing the ball forward for the Mike Kelly Law Group, she enjoys spending time with her family, hanging out at the beach, or watching baseball – especially her beloved Red Sox. We look forward to Melissa spending a long tenure as a Mike Kelly Law Group family member!

I spent most of the last two weeks in our Myrtle Beach office. My time was mainly spent on working, but I was able to do a little golfing, enjoying the beach, and other fun activities. On Tuesday I attended a Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce event along with our resident Attorney, Joseph Scibelli. We really enjoyed getting to know the members and learning about all the benefits that being a Chamber member has to offer. This is a sizable chamber with businesses from Calabash, NC to Georgetown County. While my favorite, the Fairfield County Chamber of Commerce, operates for the benefit of commerce and quality of life where there are approximately 22,000 residents. Gene Stephens, President and CEO, along with his team of Susan Yenner and Dillon Pullen do an excellent job of promoting everything Fairfield County has to offer from the Palmetto Trail to the Farmers Market as well as downtown Winnsboro, Ridgeway, and the beauty of Lake Monticello. They do an outstanding job making Fairfield a better place to live, work, shop, and play. Support your local Chamber of Commerce especially the good people in Fairfield County.

This week I am going to highlight a long-time close friend, Larry Needle. Larry practices law in Columbia, Charleston, and Myrtle Beach, Lawrence J. Needle, P.A. He is a Charleston native and has a very impressive resume! Larry is a graduate of both Georgetown University School of Foreign Service and Law Center and previously practiced law in Houston, Texas. He is an active member of numerous associations in the field of immigration. Larry is an extensive writer and public speaker in his area of expertise. He is as experienced and competent as any immigration lawyer in the nation. Larry is passionate about doing his job and in helping his clients; whether they be corporate, such as hospitals, medical clinics, or just individuals who have immigration issues.

I recently had the pleasure of spending most of the day with Larry. We both enjoy practicing law side by side when we are in our Myrtle Beach office. Larry is an avid tennis player and is most passionate about his wife and three daughters.

I am glad to have him as my friend and cohort. If anyone in KellyGram land ever needs an immigration lawyer, Larry is your man!