SINHG – Page 2 – Tidelines

SINHG Explores Charleston’s Irish Heritage March 14

The spring series of SINHG Evening Programs offered by the Seabrook Island Natural History Group continues in March with “The Irish In Charleston”, presented by The College of Charleston’s Joseph Kelly on Thursday evening, March 14, 2024 at 7:00 pm at Lake House.

With its prominence during the 18th and 19th centuries as one of the eastern seaboard’s busiest ports, a large influx of Irish immigrants helped build the city’s economic, social and architectural life that can still be appreciated today. Joseph Kelly is a professor of English at The College of Charleston and leads the college’s Irish studies curriculum. He has published critical works on James Joyce and is a frequent presenter for the American Conference for Irish Studies.

SINHG Evening Programs are offered free of charge to SINHG members. There is a $5 charge for non-members. The spring series continues in April with an examination of Gullah culture and tradition. Pre-registration is available at sinhg.org/events-page.

-Submitted by Norm Powers for SINHG

SINHG Announces Spring Trips, All-Island Open House

Seabrook Island Natural History Group (SINHG) will host an Open House for all Seabrookers on Thursday, December 14, 2023 at The Lake House as an opportunity to learn more about the benefits of SINHG membership, including Member Trips. Learn how the trips are developed to the signup process for each year’s spring and fall trip offerings. Residents interested in attending may RSVP via the SINHG website at sinhg.org/events-page.

SINHG has also announced its Member Trips for next spring, beginning in February and continuing through mid-May.

Among the thirty expeditions on offer for members are an inshore fishing trip on surrounding tidal creeks and inlets; kayak expeditions along Lowcountry estuaries and rivers; a private guided tour of the College of Charleston’s Mace Brown Natural History Museum; a number of downtown walking tours of Charleston history and culture; and a visit to Deveaux Bank, the shore bird sanctuary at the mouth of the North Edisto River.

This was a recent SINHG trip to Cape Romain Wildlife Refuge.

The Seabrook Island Natural History Group is one of the island’s oldest and largest special interest groups dedicated to exploring the ecology, history and culture of the Carolina Lowcounty. To find out more about SINHG, the Member Trips, the Open House and how to become a member, go to sinhg.org.

-Submitted by Norm Powers, for SINHG

SINHG Announces Spring Trips, All-Island Open House

The Seabrook Island Natural History Group (SINHG) has announced its Member Trips for next spring, beginning in February and continuing through mid-May.

Among the thirty expeditions on offer for members are an inshore fishing trip on surrounding tidal creeks and inlets; kayak expeditions along Lowcountry estuaries and rivers; a private guided tour of the College of Charleston’s Mace Brown Natural History Museum; a number of downtown walking tours of Charleston history and culture; and a visit to Deveaux Bank, the shore bird sanctuary at the mouth of the North Edisto River.

Next month, SINHG will host an Open House for all Seabrookers on December 14, 2023 at The Lake House as an opportunity to learn more about the benefits of SINHG membership, including Member Trips.

-Submitted by Norm Powers, for SINHG

The National Bird

The Seabrook Island Natural History Group (SINHG) has written several articles of interest to Seabrookers. This article is about the Turkey, our National Bird.

The National Bird – that’s what Ben Franklin famously thought the turkey should be. It was, he wrote, “a much more respectable bird” than the eagle, which he considered to be “a rank coward”. He thought the turkey to be “a true original native of America, and a bird of courage” that would willingly attack any grenadier of the British Guards who dared to invade his farm.

He was correct in thinking that the Tom turkey would aggressively protect itself, as many a stroller or golfer who has come too close to one can attest. But he was wrong in thinking that turkeys were native to the United States, although today they can be found in every state except Alaska. They were first encountered by 16th-century European explorers arriving in Mexico, where turkeys had been bred for centuries, making it one of only two birds native to the Americas (the other being the Muscovy duck). Imported to Europe and the Middle East, the birds reminded traders of the African guinea fowl that came to them along trade routes passing through Turkey, and thus came to be called “Turkey birds.”

Although there is no reliable evidence that Pilgrims and Wampanoags ate turkey in November of 1621 (the Wampanoags provided deer meat, the Pilgrims brought “fowl”, which were probably ducks or geese), turkeys were plentiful in the wild and a convenient addition to the traditional harvest feast tradition that the Pilgrims brought with them from Europe.

The bird that may be gracing your Thanksgiving table this week is a descendant of a millennia-long heritage, as fossil records from up to five-million years ago confirm. Although most consumer turkeys are farm-bred and raised, turkeys in the wild, as Franklin declared, are resourceful and agile. They can fly for short distances, with a flank speed of 50 miles an hour on the wing as they seek overnight roosts in trees. On the ground, they can run at 25 miles an hour when danger is sensed. They use their signature gobbles, that can be loud enough to be heard over a mile, to warn others of a threat; otherwise, the communicate with a series of clucks and purring noises. The poults that emerge from the hens’ clutches of as many as eighteen eggs are up and foraging on their own within twenty-four hours and mature quickly, abandoned by the hen within a few days.

Lincoln proclaimed a national holiday of thanksgiving in 1863 as the Civil War neared its end, and presidents after him were presented with a turkey as a gift from the nation to mark the day. It wasn’t until 1989 that President George H.W. Bush issued the first presidential pardon saving at least one turkey from the oven, a tradition observed by every president since.
Seabrook Island Natural History Group

–Tidelines Editors

A Busy November For SINHG Members

This autumn’s schedule of Seabrook Island Natural History Group (SINHG) Trips for members is taking a Thanksgiving break before embarking on the last stretch of this season’s trips to finish out the year.

During late October and November, members traveled downtown to learn about the close ties between Charleston and the West Indies, especially Barbados, whose culture and architecture is reflected in much of downtown.

The Holy City’s noted culinary traditions were celebrated by SINHG members during a tour and sampling of four restaurants surrounding Upper King Street.

Weather buffs enjoyed visiting with Channel 2’s weather guru Rob Fowler, who guided members on a tour of the station’s studio and production facilities.

And a score of SINHG members cut loose at The Woodruff for an evening of Music Bingo, which happened to coincide with Halloween and inspired many members’ costume talents.

SINHG trips will continue through mid-December. The schedule of spring 2024 trips is nearly complete and will be released soon.

-Submitted by Norm Powers, for SINHG

Reminder: SINHG Program Canceled Nov 9

SINHG would like to remind all Seabrookers that the Evening Program scheduled for Thursday, November 9, 2023 has been cancelled due to the untimely passing of presenter Doug Bostick.

For those interested in Doug’s intended topic, “A History Of Seabrook Island”, please visit the SINHG website‘s blog entry “History Under Our Feet”.

-Submitted by Norm Powers for SINHG

SINHG Wraps Up Fall Member Trips

The Seabrook Island Natural History Group (SINHG) continued its Lowcountry autumn explorations. Members have been traveling far and wide as part of the season’s more than thirty trip offerings.

Entertainment took center stage as members enjoyed an evening at Charleston’s Black Fedora Night Club, helping to solve a scripted murder mystery in which several members acted as suspects and detectives.

Beautiful fall weather blessed a group who visited The Citadel to learn about its 180-year history from its beginnings on Marion Square. Members also witnessed the Parade of Cadets, a Citadel tradition.

The ongoing restoration of the H.L. Hunley Confederate submarine was the subject of a private SINHG visit to Clemson’s Warren Lasch Conservation Center in North Charleston, where the historic submarine has been undergoing conservation since being raised from Charleston Harbor 23 years ago.

SINHG member trips will continue through mid-December. A spring 2024 series will be announced soon. To learn about SINHG membership, visit sinhg.org

-Submitted by Norm Powers, for SINHG

Pumpkintown

The Seabrook Island Natural History Group (SINHG) has written several articles of interest to Seabrookers. Their latest article is entitled “Pumpkintown” and explains Sidi Limehouse’s history with local pumpkins.

The Lowcountry may not have the sudden snap in the air that heralds the arrival of autumn, but a sure sign of the changing season is the proliferation of pumpkin patches. These iconic squashes were being cultivated centuries ago by Native Americans as an important diet staple, particularly by Cherokee in the Upstate, who shared them with European settlers in and around today’s Pickens County. They grew so prolifically there along the Oolenoy River that (so the story goes) an early 19th-century settler named the new town in the pumpkin’s honor, making the autumn Pumpkintown’s time in the botanical spotlight.

Pumpkins fell out of favor for a time in the Lowcountry, though, as soil depleted by cotton plantations made them harder to grow. By the early twentieth century, when truck farming became more common, the pumpkin began a slow return to Lowcountry fields; and by the latter half of the century, our own Sidi Limehouse staged somewhat of a pumpkin renaissance. “I saw the need to have a decent edible pumpkin,” he once told the Johns Island Conservancy. “You can go to most places and they have pumpkin pie and it’s out of a damn can, and it ain’t pumpkin, it’s just squash with with sugar in it.” Limehouse worked with Clemson’s agricultural station to develop a pumpkin suited to the Lowcountry’s sandy, slightly salty soil, literally laying the ground for the proliferation of pumpkin patches that are now a common feature of our coastal autumn.

Pumpkins may all look pretty similar, but there are a number of varieties promoted by pumpkin aficionados. There are Mammoth Golds, Ghost Riders, Howdens and Small Sugars; but all have woody stems, stringy flesh, and seeds that can be cleaned, dried and roasted. Pumpkins are a great source of Vitamin A, and the seeds are a good source of protein and fat.

At the pumpkin patch, look for pumpkins that are uniformly firm and free of cracks or splits. If a gently pressed fingernail easily penetrates the skin, it’s a sign the pumpkin was harvested too early. And if you’re picking your own, look for ones with bright green stems, and when cutting from the plant, leave at least an inch of the stem. Most of all, enjoy this heritage vegetable, at the center of generations of Lowcountry harvest feasts.
SINHG

–Tidelines Editors

(Image credit: Trip.com)

SINHG Explores History of Seabrook Island

Popular historian Doug Bostick will explore the history of Seabrook Island in November’s Seabrook Island Natural History Group (SINHG) Evening Program on Thursday, November 9, at 7:00 pm at The Lake House. From the earliest days of settlement, the island has played a significant role in the trade, culture and conflicts of barrier island history.

Doug Bostick received his Master’s degree from the University of South Carolina and is the author of twenty-six books of history. He served as the editor for a series of books commemorating the sesquicentennial of the Civil War, while his book on the landmark Morris Island Lighthouse in Charleston Harbor was named Book Of The Year by the Foundation For Coast Guard History. He currently serves as Executive Director of the South Carolina Battleground Preservation Trust.

SINHG Evening Programs are open to all Seabrook Island residents and their guests. Pre-registration is available at sinhg.org/events-page.

-Submitted by Norm Powers for SINHG

SINHG Members Hit The Road For Fall

Members of the Seabrook Island Natural History Group (SINHG) have been traveling far and wide this fall with the group’s autumn series of SINHG Trips.

In September there were three different trips. On one of the trips, members learned about the role indigo has played in Lowcountry culture while making their own indigo dyes to create wearable accessories. Another trip took members to the water to explore Charleston Harbor and the Intracoastal Waterway, the eastern seaboard’s network of canals, rivers, and channels that stretch all the way from Virginia to the Florida Keys. On the last trip, members were given a private, behind-the-scenes tour of the South Carolina Aquarium, visiting the top of the Aquarium’s famous 45-foot-deep tank where volunteer divers maintain the quality and cleanliness of the tank and its inhabitants.

SINHG Member Trips will continue through mid-November, with a new schedule of trips for Spring 2024 to be released soon. To learn about SINHG membership, visit sinhg.org.

-Submitted by Norm Powers for SINHG

Out and About with SINHG This Spring

Seabrook Island Natural History Group (SINHG) members have ventured far and wide these past two months during SINHG’s spring series of thirty-four learning adventures. Close to home at the beach, members met with marine geologist Leslie Sauter to discuss the dynamic nature of our three miles of coastline and the importance of periodic remodeling of Captain Sam’s Spit. A bit further afield downtown, members explored the heritage of Charleston’s famous Grimke Sisters, feminists and early nineteenth century abolitionists who fought for the eradication of slavery and women’s rights. Later in April, members communed with goats, hogs, mules, cows and chickens at The Goatery At Kiawah River to learn about the growing Community Sustainable Agriculture movement. SINHG spring trips continue through mid-May and will resume in September.

-Submitted by Norm Powers for SINHG

(Image credit: SINHG)

Whose Hair Is It?

There’s an amusing story about one of the South’s most emblematic sights, one so common that Lowcountry residents hardly notice it. During the Spanish – French exploration and rivalry for control of Lowcountry ports in the 17th century, French explorers asked their Native American guides about the scraggly growths dangling from live oaks and bald cypresses. Their guides’ name for it translated as “tree hair”, prompting the French to think of the ragged beards many of their Spanish rivals sported and leading them to name the stuff “barbe espagnol”. The Spanish, on the other hand, preferred to call it “cabello francés”; but it was the French explorers’ name that stuck and that, over the centuries, morphed into Spanish Moss.

To read more about this interesting plant, click here to access the complete article on the Seabrook Island Natural History Group (SINHG) website.

Explore the ecology, history and culture of the Carolina Lowcountry with SINHG. For information visit sinhg.org.

–Tidelines Editors

(Image credit: SINHG)