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KellyGram – My Dear Friends, Debra and Steve Hamm

 

Today I want to celebrate a friendship that has existed for over forty years – my good friends Debra and Steve Hamm. Debbie and Steve have had a wonderful marriage and are the proud parents of two lovely daughters, Kristen and Laura. More on those two later!

Steve came to South Carolina from California as a teacher and felt a calling to go to law school. He was my classmate in the class of 1977 and the Hamms and the Kellys lived together in married student housing. Steve has distinguished himself in the law, being recognized as one of the premier litigators, administrative lawyers, and lobbyists in South Carolina history. Debbie has devoted her entire working life to bettering South Carolina by serving in the field of education. She obtained her doctorate degree and has served with distinction as superintendent of one of the top school districts in South Carolina – Richland District 2 – and will be retiring at the end of the 2016-2017 school year. Debbie and Steve have endured more than their fair share of trials and tribulations with untimely deaths of loved ones, both surviving successfully bouts with cancer and, overcoming other health problems. Through it all, their love for God and their love for each other has taken them through. They were also there for me when I lost my wife, Anne, suddenly last February.

Lately, courtesy of Laura, Kristen, and their husbands, they have decided to bless the world with several additions to the Hamm family. This week, Laura followed Kristen’s lead and gave birth to twins. By my count, Debbie and Steve have six little Hamms to raise and nurture to turn into quality people like their grandparents and parents.

Both Debbie and Steve are treasures in the great state of South Carolina, and I am proud to call them very close friends and love both of them dearly!

Have a great weekend!

 

Mike Kelly

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KellyGram – The Pros and Cons of Facebook

 

Many of my friends question why I bother with Facebook. I tell them that I have learned enormous amounts of information on Facebook, stay in touch with friends and classmates and other people I have grown up with, and get to share my views on a variety of subjects as well as to listen and understand other people’s viewpoint that may be radically different from mine. I look at Facebook multiple times a day, and now I don’t know what I did without it! On the other hand, some of my Facebook friends have lately shown me another side of themselves over the presidential election.

Being a political science graduate, I have been following politics for fifty years and I have never seen such a level of hate and anger between the warring factions. I am just one guy but here is to hoping that the rhetoric can somehow be toned down between now and November 8th. Whoever is elected president, pray that our country can be unified in the best interest of our great nation! America is too great a country with too great a history to have us ruled by anger, fear, and hatred!

Have a great weekend!

 

Mike Kelly

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KellyGram – Job Growth and Creation

 

Understandably we spend a lot of time in South Carolina talking about unemployment rates and our large homeless population, especially in Columbia. Those issues are of paramount importance and need to be addressed, today I would like to talk about something more positive to end the week on a brighter note.

For example, since 2011 our overall employment increase in South Carolina, in terms of the number of jobs, is 12.1%. That is higher than the states of Colorado, California, Arizona, Florida, and North Carolina. In fact, we rank in the upper tier of employment change.

For April of 2016, the unemployment rate was 5.2%. This is a significant improvement and the largest sector of jobs that had an increase was in professional and business services. Because Columbia is, in large part, a professional and service economy, the highs may not be as high, but the lows are never as low as other areas in our nation. Here’s to hoping that our leadership on the State and National level (no matter who is governor and president) will continue to make job growth, wage increases, and employee benefits a top priority!

Have a great weekend!

 

Mike Kelly

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KellyGram – Another Reason I Love Columbia

 

At the young age of 18, I came to Columbia to attend the University of South Carolina, and I’ve lived, worked and raised my family here for the last 46 years. Columbia is such a wonderful place to live, and I can honestly say that I am thankful and proud to be able to call it my home. Sunday evening, there were two diametrically opposed demonstrations –the Black Lives Matter march and a rally in support of the Confederate flag – all on the same day. The attendees in both instances rallied peacefully and without serious incident. I was very proud of law enforcement for their skillful handling of both of these rallies and special thanks to the leadership of the highway patrol, Sheriff Lott, and Columbia Police Chief, Skip Holbrook. You hear a lot about Greenville, Charleston, Atlanta and Charlotte but as for me, I’ll take Columbia any day of the week!

Have a great weekend!

 

Mike Kelly

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Weekly KellyGram

 

In lieu of the KellyGram this week, the MKLG team will be keeping the families of these senseless tragedies in our thoughts and prayers.

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KellyGram – Our New Relationship with Lawrence J. Needle, P.A.

 

We at the Mike Kelly Law Group strive to be the best we can be in our individual areas of expertise. While I have my hands mainly in Personal Injury, Workers’ Compensation, and disability and insurance law, we have others who are strictly administrative lawyers and some that represent clients before boards and commissions. For example, we have Rick Wallace who specializes in alcohol licensure issues. Several years ago, we added Michael Paul Swearingen to the group as our attorney for Real Estate and Probate related matters. In an effort to further strengthen our service to our present and future clients, we have formed a business relationship with my longtime friend, Larry Needle, owner of Lawrence J Needle, PA. Larry focuses on immigration, naturalization, and citizenship issues. He represents individuals, corporations, university, and heath care facilities in all areas of immigration law. He reached out to me recently because, in addition to his two offices in Charleston and Columbia, he is receiving inquiries on the Grand Strand from internationals who are seeking to live and work in the Myrtle Beach area. He will be working several days a month out of our Myrtle Beach office, and we hope we can support each other’s businesses better by entering into this formal relationship.

Welcome aboard Larry! We look forward to working with you on behalf of the people of South Carolina.

We are the Mike Kelly Law Group and we are here for the people of South Carolina!

Have a great weekend!

 

Mike Kelly

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KellyGram – Dustin Johnson

 

Guts, perseverance, and glory: Dustin Johnson. I am a longtime fan of Dustin Johnson. He grew up in Irmo, distinguished himself at Dutch Fork High School, was an All-American golfer at Costal Carolina University and talent-wise is an athlete with few equals. He has come very close in several major tournaments and was beginning to get the reputation that he could not win the big one. This weekend proved that nothing could be further from the truth. He won the United States Open in convincing fashion against enormous odds. He was playing the toughest course in the country and, out of the 180 people who started the tournament, only five broke par for the weekend. On the back nine on Sunday, he demonstrated tremendous courage and determination.

I could go further, but my vocabulary doesn’t possess enough adjectives to describe Dustin Johnson’s incredible accomplishment. Despite tremendous adversity, not the least of which came from USGA officials who acted like amateurs (and they heard about it from Golf’s Elite on Twitter, etc.). I believe this victory will open the door to many more majors claimed by Dustin Johnson.

Hail to Dustin Johnson, one of my heroes!

Have a great weekend!

 

Mike Kelly

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KellyGram – My Dad, Garland F. Kelly

 

In light of the upcoming Father’s Day weekend, I dedicate this week’s KellyGram to my father, Garland F. Kelly. My dad was born at his home in Pleasant Shade, VA in 1924. He was the youngest of ten children, and his father died of pneumonia when he was three years old. Dad went to school until the 8th grade but had to drop out because his brothers were all at war serving in the United States Army, and my grandmother needed help in keeping a roof over their head.

My dad initially went to work in a grocery store nine miles down the road in my hometown of Emporia, VA. He worked there for five years, then began a career that spanned almost 40 years working for the town’s Jewish merchant in his department store. There were no chains back in that day, and almost every southern town had a Jewish merchant. This Jewish merchant, like all the rest spread through the Southeast, was a very hardworking, industrious and brilliant man who at one point owned almost half of the town. He took dad under his wing, and dad had a wonderful relationship with the Bloom family for all those years. After his relocation to Columbia in 1984, my dad worked another 20 years in a men’s clothing business, where I worked as well through high school and college.

My dad was short on formal education but nonetheless was incredibly wise. He taught me many things but drilled in my head three very important rules to live by. First and foremost he taught me, “Mike, we Kelly’s are working men!” Secondly, “Mike, we Kelly’s are Ford men!” Thirdly, “there is no future in an ugly woman!” (LOL!) I took these rules to heart and they have served me well.

My dad passed away in 2008 and is buried St. Martin’s-in-the-Fields Episcopal Church alongside my mother and late wife, Anne Garrison Kelly, and I miss them all every day. Thank you, Garland F. Kelly, for being the most wonderful dad! I love you!

Have a great weekend and Happy Father’s Day!

 

Mike Kelly

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KellyGram – A Salute to My Eldest Son, Patrick Michael Kelly!

 

This week I want to celebrate the blessing of my first born son, Patrick Michael Kelly! He made his life debut 33 years ago this past Wednesday on June 8, 1983! He has brought me years of continuous joy and happiness. I am very proud of all his accomplishments and especially his passion for theatre.

Patrick was bitten by the acting bug in Middle School at Heathwood Hall and has pursued his passion ever since. He has acted, directed, served as stage manager, appeared in several movies, and now he will be returning back to Columbia from New York with his wife of two years, Martha Hearn, who has a passion for theatre as well. Martha and Patrick received their undergraduate degrees in Theatre from the University of South Carolina and both went on to get their Master’s degrees in New York. Martha will be involved in the theatre here, and both will be teaching the art of theatre to others.

Columbia is a great central location to obtain theatrical roles all over the Southeast, which has become a hotbed for producing movies and TV shows. Patrick will be starring in the upcoming Playwrights’ Festival at Trustus Theatre in the play Anatomy of a Hug. It will be on the Thigpen mainstage from August 19 – August 27, 2016. Please be sure to catch Patrick on his return to Columbia.

I am so proud of you son, and you too, Martha! Welcome Home!!

 

Mike Kelly

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KellyGram – The Joys of Exercise

 

For twenty-five years, I exercised on a regular basis and jogged up to twenty-five miles each week. As often happens, I got out of the groove and was starting to feel the effects of “Father Time”. When I looked at my son Patrick’s wedding pictures, I saw that I needed a makeover!  Almost two years ago, I made the decision to get back to taking care of myself. I am going to be an old man, but I refuse to be an unhealthy old man!

I went to my longtime friend, Chris Hardwicke, who is a brilliant and very fit 60+-year-old. He spent several hours with me, educating me about a proper diet for someone my age. Since that time, I have lost 40 pounds and have been able to maintain my weight. He also encouraged me to enroll in his comprehensive exercise program, known as Frontier Movement. You can get more information and read Chris’ phenomenal story by visiting www.frontiermovement.com.

Currently, we are focusing on my balance, core strength, and flexibility. Prior to my lifestyle change, I was unable to bend down and read a putt on the golf course but now I am pleased to report I am able to golf like a twenty-five-year-old.

I strongly recommend that all my friends engage in weight management and maintenance and age appropriate exercise. Thank you to Chris Hardwicke and his staff for changing my life!

Have a great and active weekend!

 

Mike Kelly

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