Brett Bennet, President, SC250

Brett Bennet, President, SC250

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
iHeartMedia presents CEOs You Should Know. CEOs You Should Know
Charleston is brought to you by SC two to fifty Charleston,
Www dot SC two to fifty Charleston dot org.

Speaker 2 (00:11):
I'm Michael Blaze. Thanks for joining us for another session
of CEOs you Should Know Today, Brett Bennett is joining us.
BRT is president of SC two to fifty Charleston and
he's Treasurer of the South Carolina American Revolution Sister Centennial Commission.
Welcome Brett, so glad to be here. Thanks for the invitation.
Absolutely well, we were talking before we started the show,

(00:33):
and I mean you have a lot of interesting facts
to share with us. Let's start with what is the
mission of SC two fifty, right?

Speaker 3 (00:42):
So, SC two fifty was established by the state legislature
in the Governor's office actually quite some time ago, even
pre COVID, and we have such a rich revolutionary era
colonial era history in our state that our elected officials
thought it was important to establish a commission for purposes

(01:05):
of promoting and supporting programming and events for a lengthy
period all the way through to twenty thirty three, which
will be consistent with the signing of the Treaty of
Paris in seventeen eighty three, so we're really excited about that,
and so much of our emphasis is on site preservation
and educational programming, and of course promoting our cultural Turk

(01:30):
tourism and promoting our revolutionary era history and all the
contributions that were made by the persons that came before us.

Speaker 2 (01:39):
Now, all of the events of SCQ fifty, it's not
only going on for the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary
in twenty twenty six. This goes on for years, right.

Speaker 3 (01:48):
It does exactly right, so a little bit different from
maybe some other states across the country that don't enjoy
our rich colonial era or revolutionary era history. Our commission
and charter extends through twenty thirty three to ensure that
we're commemorating historical events that took place throughout the entire revolution.

Speaker 2 (02:12):
Now, what are some of the big events that we
can look forward to, Well.

Speaker 3 (02:16):
Really gearing up and focusing very squarely on all this
to come, particularly in next during next June and July
of twenty twenty six, so as you might imagine, the
entire country will be focused on celebrating the founding of
our nation. On July fourth Independence Day. But what we'll
be doing that plus some to commemorate Carolina Days and

(02:40):
the great victory at the Battle of Sullivan's Island in
June of seventeen seventy six. So there have already been
quite a number of events across the state and here locally,
but we'll see a big ramp up in much larger
programs and events over the next six to seven months.

Speaker 2 (02:59):
Now, we have such a rich history here in Charleston
and in South Carolina. What's one of the most interesting
historical facts to you?

Speaker 3 (03:09):
Well, I think we focus so much on the Battle
of Sullivan's Island, and I think that's legitimately so the
fact that those men accomplished what they did what was
a makeshift or still incomplete fortification at the mouth of
the harbor against the might of the British Navy in

(03:31):
addition to the British army that were coming over and
what we know today to be the Isle of Palms
is really just a remarkable feat and the courage of
those men is just really astounding.

Speaker 2 (03:45):
Now, what is the Sister's Centennial Commission?

Speaker 3 (03:48):
So the state, as I said, the state established a
commission back during I think twenty eighteen that to ensure
there was proper commemoration and programming around the American Revolution.
And so the Commission is comprised of men and women

(04:10):
who are appointed either by the governor, by the Speaker
of the House or representative of the Senate. And I
think they're fifteen members, including our chairman, Major General William Grimsley,
and a vice chairman, Bill Davies, who are just tremendous
leaders and are doing a great job in organizing programs

(04:33):
and events throughout the entire state.

Speaker 2 (04:36):
Yeah, and there's a lot to coordinate. The logistics of
it must be massive because you have SC two fifty,
as you have SC two to fifty Charleston, and then
you have the Sisters Centennial Commission, which it sounds to
me like that's what kind of mandates things and how
it's controlled on a state level, right.

Speaker 3 (04:56):
That's right. So the State Commission I think did a
wise thing early on, and that was recognizing that to
try to prescribe events and programs from Columbia or some
sort of central authority was really not going to be
a great fit for our state, or frankly, probably for
any state. But instead we wanted there to be far
more of a grassroots orientations, so that the persons who

(05:20):
live in Marlborough County and the persons who live in
Beaufort County or Barwell County, that they took responsibility for
conducting the programming that they thought made most sense for
their communities. And thus far it's worked out very, very nicely.
There are county committees in each of the forty six
counties across our state. They all have their own sort

(05:40):
of emphasis and personalities, which is just by design, and
we're really proud that we've been able to accomplish that.
And there's leadership in those counties and localities so that
they're doing what they believe to be the highest priorities.
And because they also not only know the communities, but
they know members of the community that are interested and

(06:04):
eligible to sort of spearhead and support all these activities.
So thus far it's worked out very nicely for us.

Speaker 2 (06:11):
Now, you have a rich background with historical many different
historical organizations. Why don't you tell us about your background?

Speaker 3 (06:18):
Yeah? Sure, So I've always been above even though professionally
I'm no professional historian or scholar, but I've always been
involved and have been fascinated since I was a boy. Frankly,
a lot of my motivation to participate in the Sister
Centennial Commission stems from my fascination with the American Revolution

(06:41):
when I was a young teenager during the bi centennial
back in seventeen seventy five and I'm sorry, nineteen seventy five,
in nineteen seventy six. So I come by this over
many years, but I've been involved with the American Battle
or Battleground I'm sorry, the American Battlefield Trust, as well

(07:01):
as the South Carolina Battleground of Trust over a number
of years, doing research projects and even writing a little
bit with the Journal of the American Revolution on various topics.
And it's just been my advocation for for a long time.
So it was very, very pleased to have been invited
to become a member of the State Commission and also

(07:24):
had leadership responsibilities for organizing our efforts here in the
Charleston community.

Speaker 2 (07:29):
Now you're also the president of the Friends of Charleston National.

Speaker 3 (07:33):
Parks, right, that's correct. So the Friends of Charleston National
Parks is one of dozens or more philanthropic partners of
various National park sites across the country. So as you
might imagine the flagship parks like Yosemite and Yellowstone and Glacier,
and go down a lengthy list, all have philanthropic partners

(07:55):
that are dedicated toward meeting the resource need of those
parks that are not met by the federal government or
the Department of the Interior. And so the Friends of
Charleston National Parks is organized and dedicated towards the Seine
to the several Charleston National Parks. Here, Fort Moultrie, of course,

(08:17):
Fort Sumter, the Charles Pinckney National Historic Site of the
Charleston Light, so the Sullivan's Island Lighthouse we always refer
to it is part of that network, as well as
Liberty Square downtown.

Speaker 2 (08:30):
So give us a little bit of history on you personally.
We always like to dig in a little bit and
see what you know, how a person is formed and
what kind of background they come from. Now you went
to Wake Forest.

Speaker 3 (08:41):
I did, went to Wake Forest, and then I went
to a graduate school at Duke and so most of
my background professionally has been in management and medical devices
and healthcare information technology.

Speaker 2 (08:55):
Now where did you grow up.

Speaker 3 (08:56):
I grew up in Durham, so I grew up in
central North Carolina, but after I graduated from college really
haven't lived in that part of of our region for
a long time. But I'm a native Carolinian and have
lived in the in the southeast my entire life.

Speaker 2 (09:13):
Tell us a little bit about your family, Now, where
they history buffs? Is that where your interests comes from?

Speaker 3 (09:19):
To some degree, my mom and dad when I was younger,
they would take us or stop by various historic sites,
and I really appreciated that, whether it was Williamsburg or
trips to Washington or Valley Forge. I can go down
a lengthy list, but it was always interesting to me,
and my parents were actually when they retired, they became

(09:41):
interested in family history. So all those little tidbits, I
think all sort of supported my interests personal interest in
history too.

Speaker 2 (09:49):
What did your parents do?

Speaker 3 (09:51):
My father was was with a large academic medical center
for his career, and my mother, she was involved in
a lot of not profit organizations.

Speaker 2 (10:01):
I see, do you have any siblings?

Speaker 3 (10:03):
I do. I have two, two sisters. They both still
live in North Carolina.

Speaker 2 (10:07):
Well, you know, family is important, and it's kind of
funny where you know, sometimes they might not even realize
that what they're instilling in you and how much it's
going to affect your future.

Speaker 3 (10:18):
Right, that's so true. I think about that. I have
a young granddaughter and who's to say what her interest
will be. You know, her parents and all of us,
her family, extended family members provide her with opportunities and
what really motivates her in the end, what will be
interesting to see. But fortunately for me, I had opportunities

(10:39):
to sort of cultivate my interest in history, and here
I am. Now what do you do when you're not working?
I enjoy the outdoors and spent a lot of time
doing outdoor pursuits, hunting, fishing, hiking, so really enjoy those activities.

Speaker 2 (10:58):
Now you also take part in reenactments.

Speaker 3 (11:02):
I do. I'm a hobbyist re enactor with the second
South Carolina Regiment, where the only Continental Army Infantry regiment
in the state, and we have members from from several
surrounding states. So we have a lot of fun, especially
given the ramp up toward commemorating two hundred and fiftieth events.

(11:24):
You can imagine our calendar is pretty full these days,
but it's a lot of fun to be surrounded by
men and women who have similar interest from all over
our region.

Speaker 1 (11:33):
In fact, we have.

Speaker 3 (11:34):
Members that reside as far west as Texas and Louisiana,
and they make an effort to make events that we
have here in the Carolinas in Georgia throughout the year.
And it's a lot of fun. From a more practical,
tangible standpoint, explaining what a day in the life of
a soldier or a settler or a merchant was like

(11:57):
back in the seventeen seventeen hundreds.

Speaker 2 (12:00):
I mean, so much different than today, right.

Speaker 3 (12:02):
There's so much different, And I think about it all
the time about the hardships that those persons endured. Of
course at the time, they didn't think of them as
being any any different from anybody else, because it wasn't.
But by comparison to the comforts that we enjoy today,
it's it's mind boggling. You know, all of the healthcare advances,

(12:25):
the other technological advances that we in many ways come
to have come to take for granted, just did not
exist then. And so whether it was the weather or
you know, disease, other conditions, what what they what they
endured is is very very impressive.

Speaker 2 (12:43):
I mean, there's so many things from mortality too, as
you said, I mean just the amount of labor that
it took to survive every day versus now the conveniences
that we have. And you know, and I always think
about air conditioning.

Speaker 3 (12:56):
Oh boy, I think about that all the time too,
especially in the context of the Battle of Suldym's Island,
which I mentioned a little bit earlier. In fact, some
of the British troops actually, uh commented on their experience.

Speaker 1 (13:12):
And you can.

Speaker 3 (13:12):
Imagine being from the United Kingdom or England and making
it over on a on a ship to the Carolina
coast and being introduced to alligators and snakes and the
mosquitoes and san gnats and the heat, the humidity and
all of those things, and uh, it must have been

(13:37):
quite eye opening to it.

Speaker 2 (13:38):
To put it mildly, I mean, it literally was a
foreign world to them.

Speaker 3 (13:41):
Right, absolutely was. And of course they were doing their duty.
There were troops during that period, you know, taking on
the assignments that they did under under King Charles.

Speaker 2 (13:54):
Uh.

Speaker 3 (13:55):
No different from what troops do to to today, but
and during probably a little bit more than would be
the case even by modern standards, given that they just
didn't enjoy all of the resources that we have available
to us during the modern era.

Speaker 2 (14:13):
Sure, it's so interesting. What's the philosophy that drives for
you each day? Bruh.

Speaker 3 (14:18):
I think in terms of SC two fifty and SC
two to fifty Charleston, we're so very eager for there
to be events and programming that will be of interest
to everyone. We recognize that not everyone will have abiding
interest in the details of history like I do or

(14:39):
many others do, but instead they may be motivated by
learning more about food ways or material culture or music
and those kinds of things. And whether there are hardcore
historians or not, we have a lot for which to
be proud with respect to the contributions that were made
two hundred fifty years years ago and founding our nation.

Speaker 2 (15:02):
Now one of the this might be actually two different,
separate places where you'd want to send people, But let's
start with people that are interested in the history and
want to join any of these organizations or take part
in the celebration of them. Where should they go to
find out more?

Speaker 3 (15:22):
Well, is so often the case in our age. I
would really encourage people to monitor the SC two fifty
and SC two to fifty Charleston websites. It should pop
up on a simple Google search. So we're making announcements
of various programs and events that are being held throughout
really every week now, and those that are being sponsored

(15:43):
by community organizations like our historical societies or the Charleston
Library Society or the Charleston County Public Library. I can
go down a lengthy list of our partners, but it's
infrequent for there to be a week or even a
handful of days whether isn't some program that is being
sponsored by one of those organizations that isn't somehow under

(16:06):
the umbrella of what we're trying to achieve with SC
two fifty. So again SC two fifty and SC two fifty,
Charleston dot org or good places to start there.

Speaker 2 (16:16):
And if they want to say that somebody wants to
be a reenactor or something like that, well how should
they pursue, you know? And I'm thinking of the total
novice who's like, you know, that would be interested in history,
that sounds like fun to me, but doesn't have any
idea of you know, where to go or how to start.

Speaker 3 (16:34):
Yeah. So there are quite a number of re enactment
units and they all have their own sort of personalities
or areas of emphasis. Some are militia units and some
are continental units, and they work very diligently at accurately
portraying whatever unit that they have adopted to portray. And

(16:56):
so you know, we have in the Carolinas, there's the
six North Carolina and the Second North Carolina and as
I said, we have in South Carolina the Second South
Carolina Regiment, and then a range of militia units. There's
a new acquisition militia in the upstate of South Carolina
and others across our states. So what I would encourage

(17:17):
people to do is to contact representatives of any of
those based on their where they live, where they reside,
and what their interests may be, and those persons can
help guide that that person as to have best to
build their kit and what's historically accurate. There are a
lot of people who have interests that sometimes will make

(17:39):
purchases that they probably shouldn't have in retrospect because it's
not a good fit for whatever group that they aspire
to becoming involved with. And so involving themselves or approaching
someone who is a more experienced renactor to get guidance
and coaching on that is probably a good first step.

(18:00):
But Generally people in the hobby are very welcoming because
we are always recruiting. We want the hobby to be
an active one and one that will go on for
a long long time to come, and so by and large,
if anyone is approached, they'll be very willing to share
and engage those those persons who have interest.

Speaker 2 (18:22):
We're so lucky to live in such a place with
such a rich history. You know, one of the oldest
histories in the United States of America. I mean it
goes back before the founding of the country. It goes
back to the very beginning if you look to the
Europeanization of America.

Speaker 3 (18:37):
Right absolutely, and sometimes we don't think about all that
went on even prior to the revolution. So it's top
of mind. But I've given some thought about this just
in the last few weeks as we're being approached by
some of our historic church congregations in the immediate Charleston area,

(18:58):
to include the New Wappatah Presbyterian Church, which for a
long time has taken responsibility for oversight of sort of
their legacy church congregation in the building site upon which
that group were worshiped. But the point is is that

(19:19):
those were Congregationalists that migrated from New England to the
coast of South Carolina in the late sixteen hundreds. So
that church congregation and modest settlement, and what's what we
think of today is aundals predated the American Revolution by
you know, seventy five or more years, and so a

(19:40):
lot happened even generationally before, well before the American Revolution,
just in our area, to include the Spanish and the
French settlements down in the Buford area and even around Georgetown.
So a lot of interesting history, for sure.

Speaker 2 (19:54):
Absolutely, So can you give those websites again, please.

Speaker 3 (19:58):
Absolutely, as that's the two fifty dot com and SC
two fifty Charleston dot Org.

Speaker 2 (20:03):
Brett Bennett, President of SC two to fifty Charleston and
Treasurer of the South Carolina American Revolution Sister Centennial Commission,
thank you so much for your interesting conversation today.

Speaker 3 (20:14):
Thank you.

Speaker 1 (20:15):
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