October 29, 2024 • 16 mins
Jen Johnson, Executive Board Member at Summerville Museum & Research Center
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
iHeart Media Presents CEOs you should know.
Speaker 2 (00:03):
Welcome to iHeart Media, Charles and CEOs. You should know
where we highlight great people and doing big things right
here in the low Country today. Jen Johnson, executive member
at Summerville Museum and Research Center, the little museum with
big stories, preserving and sharing Somerville's unique history. Welcome Jen,
Thank you for having me. So tell us a little
bit first about your education, your background, what got you,
(00:24):
what piqued your interests in history and preservation.
Speaker 3 (00:27):
So, I actually grew up in a home full of
historic preservationists. My grandfather was an antique dealer, so was
my mother, and so I've always been in this field,
this area, so it's very close and personal to me.
And I kind of put my education on the back
burner for about fifteen years, and then I went back
to school to be a historic preservationist and I came
(00:50):
to the museum and I've been there now for a
little over a year. But I just truly love history
and preservation and it's just a huge part of my life.
Speaker 2 (01:02):
So did you put your education on pause because you
were assisting the family and restoring and know.
Speaker 3 (01:08):
My husband was in the army for thirteen years, and
so it's kind of hard being a military spouse, moving
every couple of years to new schools, and so yeah,
I just kind of put my education on the backburner
for that to support him, and I don't regret it
one bit.
Speaker 2 (01:23):
Well, thank him for a service.
Speaker 3 (01:25):
Thank you.
Speaker 2 (01:25):
That's tough. I come from a military family as well,
so that's that's difficult. You have to know some things
at times.
Speaker 3 (01:30):
Yes, you kind of have to do some sacrifices and
so it is what it is.
Speaker 2 (01:35):
So during that time, did you still, in your own time,
follow history and preservation and all the advances.
Speaker 3 (01:41):
Oh? Absolutely, And I'm very fortunate and lucky that my
aunt uncle have actually let me assist them on some restorations.
And I've always just been in even when I wasn't
in school. So, like I said, it's just a huge
part of my life and always will be. So I'm
very grateful where I am right now that I get
to do this and be in school and actually have
(02:03):
hands on experience and museums and because this is what
I want to do for the rest of my life.
Speaker 2 (02:08):
So are there particular items or things that you enjoy
restoring more?
Speaker 3 (02:14):
Yes, so I love to restore furniture, specifically like eighteenth
century chairs and homes. If I can get into a
house and restore the original pink colors. I'm just a
very hands on person when it comes to that aspect
of it. So yeah, if I could do that forever,
(02:36):
that would be great. But I really also love event
planning and being a part of education, So being on
the museum side of this is also something that I love,
and I'm going to pursue this as long as i can.
Speaker 2 (02:50):
So do you like going to inting malls and trying
to pinpoint things? Do you like antiquing?
Speaker 3 (02:55):
Oh? Yeah, everything in my house is at least one
hundred years old. Wow, except for like our couch and
like stuff like that. But yeah, I have a lot
of antiques.
Speaker 2 (03:04):
So I have a friend that does a state sales
and he has the exact same background. His parents restored
furniture and used to help his dad. His mom actually
took the lead on it and he would help her
restore things in the garage. And now he just followed
that and has the same you know, desire and that
you have. Apparently, Yeah, I.
Speaker 3 (03:21):
Love estate sales. You find the best stuff at a
state sales.
Speaker 2 (03:24):
That he specializes in North Carolina pottery. Wow, that is
his forte.
Speaker 3 (03:30):
That's very cool.
Speaker 2 (03:31):
Yeah, it's I love going to teach shops with him
when he comes in town. I'm always trying to find
a new one to hit.
Speaker 3 (03:36):
Yeah, I love that.
Speaker 2 (03:39):
So your executive board member at the Somerville Museum and
Research Center.
Speaker 3 (03:42):
I decided that I wanted to do something local and
volunteer at Somerville Museum and I went into be a
docent and fam Geisik, our vice president, said after an interview,
she said, maybe you could do a little bit more
and that that's kind of how it just happened organically.
I went to an executive board meeting and we had
(04:06):
a conversation and they nominated me to be on the board.
And next thing I knew, I was on the board
and now I'm the secretary. And I have many hats
at the museum because, like you said, we're very small,
so you do all of.
Speaker 2 (04:19):
The things, so you wear a lot of hats.
Speaker 3 (04:22):
Over there, A lot of hats.
Speaker 2 (04:23):
Yes, well, it sounds like the building itself has worn
a lot of hats. I mean it was a lumber company.
Yeahmberville's water department police department. I mean, the building itself
has a rich history, correct.
Speaker 3 (04:33):
Yes, So the building was first built in nineteen twenty nine,
I believe, and it used to be the Eagle Creek
Lumber Company, and then, like you said, it was the
water company, and then from nineteen seventy one to nineteen
ninety one it was the police department in Courthouse. And
(04:57):
so when you actually tour the museum, you actually go
into the old jail cells. Wow, those are actually our exhibits,
so you're actually walking through the actual jail. So yeah,
it's really cool. The building has its own unique little
history and we love it so well.
Speaker 2 (05:19):
Part of the museum for people or listeners who haven't
been to the museum yet but want to go, what
are some of the unique things about the museum that
people typically come for.
Speaker 3 (05:31):
So I would say that a lot of people enjoy
hearing the history of Summerville that they truly didn't know.
So Somerville used to be named one of the most
healthiest places on Earth. It was in eighteen eighty six,
(05:52):
I believe, at the Paris Symposium, the Tuberculos System Posium,
that they named Summerville one of the healthiest places on Earth.
And from there so many people came to Somerville, and
that's how Somerville grew. And from that you had places
like the pine Forest inn that popped up and the
(06:13):
Squirrel in and we had a golden age of inns
in Summerville. And that's how so many wealthy people came
to Somerville and helped build it up. And so a
lot of people don't know that history. And they also
don't know that the pine Hurst Tea Plantation was there
and from those plants that doctor Shepherd planted and grew commercially.
(06:36):
The only place in the United States from there is
how you have the Lipton Tea Company and we have
the Charleston Tea Plantation. Those plants are from doctor Shepherd's
original fields.
Speaker 2 (06:51):
The normal person would not know anything about.
Speaker 3 (06:53):
Normal person would not know that.
Speaker 2 (06:55):
The healthiest city in America is that Zon.
Speaker 3 (06:58):
Yes, it used to be the healthiest place on how
do you measure that? Well, because of all the pine
trees that you have in Somerville that you used to
have in Somerville, the tally, the long leaf pine. Excuse me,
there were no mosquitoes and the soil was so rich
that they just couldn't be there, so there was nothing
in the air. So if you had tuberculosister, any sort
(07:21):
of breathing issue, you came there and you just had clean, fresh,
healthy air an environment to to really heal from.
Speaker 2 (07:29):
So this is the reason you come to the Somerville
Museum and Research Centers. You learn things just like this.
Speaker 3 (07:33):
Yeah, you learn things that you really just never knew. Also,
Somerville is the first true railroad town in America that
started taking passengers, So.
Speaker 2 (07:42):
Yeah, there's a lot of first from lived in Tea
to the first railroad.
Speaker 3 (07:45):
Yeah, so there's there's a lot of a lot of
firsts that Somerville has been in. And of course you
know they were a huge part of the Civil War
and all of that. So yeah, there's there's so many
different stories. You have kitties for you have saw Alexander,
a lot of notable people in Somerville who who made
a huge impact on the Low Country that still do
(08:09):
especially in Somerville. You just don't know any of these
stories until you walk into the museum.
Speaker 2 (08:14):
So exciting for the Museum and Research Center is that
you're now featured on the Bloomberg Connects app. Tell us
about that. So what can we find there what kind
of resources are live on that app.
Speaker 3 (08:25):
We started the Bloomberg Connects journey in February of this year.
Our app Our Guide went live in June. So it
was a long process. A learning curve for me is
I'm not a person who lives in the digital space,
so it was very interesting. I learned some new skills
which I'm excited to move forward with those in some
(08:47):
other aspect. But we really wanted to highlight most of
the things that make Summerville unique, our heritage or culture,
because so many people you come to Charleston and you think, oh, well,
we just go a little bit outside of Charleston. It's
kind of the same history. It's not. Summerville is so unique,
just as like Goose Creek would be your amongst corner,
(09:08):
even Mount Pleasant. We really wanted to highlight what was
special about Summerville and especially the museum. So, like I said,
we talk about Sala Alexander, we talk about Kiddie Springs,
we talk about how we were the healthiest place on Earth.
We really share all of the stories of the museum.
We also talk about the Charleston earthquake that shattered the area,
(09:29):
and so you can get onto our guide and you
can read about who we are, you can read about
the museum, you can walk through all of the exhibits
we have at your own pace. Everything is an audio.
It took us about six months to get everything ready
(09:49):
so the guide would be live. It's just a very
cool experience to walk through this little museum in a
different experience with Bloomberg Connects.
Speaker 2 (09:58):
So it's you know, I think today I learned you
learn something different every day about the area. Yeah, you do.
I mean every day there is a new historical fact
that just blows my mind. So there's no wonder that
people flock here. I think today I heard that for
the thirteenth year in a row, Charleston was named the
best small town in America. So I don't doubt that right,
And people are asking to be removed from that list
(10:20):
at this point. I've heard it at least five people
today say hey, we've we've had thirteen years. Let's be
removed so we can stop the influx.
Speaker 3 (10:29):
We're definitely a tourist destination.
Speaker 2 (10:31):
You're definitely a tourist destination. So we talked a little
bit before before we start recording that you love true crime,
is there anything that you read or watch that kind
of keeps your interest piqued, or that you see as
part of what you do.
Speaker 3 (10:43):
So I love to watch a lot of documentaries. I
love every aspect of history, from World War two history
all the way to now to British monarchs. I'm constantly
watching different documentaries, different shows. Anything I can watch I love.
I mean, I even watch Ancient Aliens and I'm not
(11:06):
ashamed to say it, because it's so interesting how they
try to get you to be like an ancient alien
theorist pertaining to history.
Speaker 2 (11:16):
So their arguments are good in some cases, actually their
arguments are very good.
Speaker 3 (11:21):
You kind of questioned things, and so I even watch
those and think that those are interesting in terms of
how they interpret history. So I watch a lot of
different things.
Speaker 2 (11:31):
Is there a particular historical fact about the area that
you find the most interesting.
Speaker 3 (11:35):
I find something that's very interesting to me about Somerville.
I'm actually her name was Sue Gelzer. They call her
Gunboat Sue. During the Civil War, we needed the iron
boats here and she decided to fundraise for those, and
(11:57):
at the time they were about thirty thousand dollars to build.
She raised so much money throughout Somerville and Charleston, that
she actually made enough money to build two of those boats,
which actually sat here in the harbor and were used.
So that's a fun fact that no one would know
unless you came to the museum when.
Speaker 2 (12:17):
That time thirty thousand dollars. What is that quite to today?
Is that three million?
Speaker 3 (12:21):
I have no idea. I've actually never done the math
on that. It probably should, but I mean just to
think that this one woman said, I love my country
so much, I love where I live, I'm going to
get out there and do this, and she made sure
that she raised that money and to raise sixty thousand
dollars to build two of them, you know, she really
(12:43):
had a lot of passion and conviction. And so I
always find that that's an interesting historical fact.
Speaker 2 (12:50):
That is I mean, just coming to that center for
an hour or two, and it's a great path outside
of Charleston to see something completely different, a whole other
set of history, and just the you know, the twelve
minutes we've been here, I mean, all of the stuff
that we talked about has been amazing.
Speaker 3 (13:05):
Thank you.
Speaker 2 (13:06):
Thanks. You never know unless you walk into the doors
of the Summerville museum in research. Yes, so what do
you do when you're not working?
Speaker 3 (13:12):
When I'm not working, I am planning for a vow
renewal that my husband and I are having. We've been
married for eleven years, but we were a military couple.
We were broke, so we got married in the courthouse
in Kansas City. So we're finally having a celebration of
(13:34):
our life together with our friends and families. So we're
very excited about that. I'm either cooking, baking, gardening, doing something, kayaking.
We love to go hiking, we love to travel. We
were actually going to go to Chimney Rock on Saturday,
so it just breaks my heart for all of those affected.
(13:56):
And but yeah, we we love to go to the mountains.
So yeah, I'm We're constantly doing something. But I'd say
my favorite hobby is probably going kayaking.
Speaker 2 (14:06):
Going kayaking, even outside of antiquing, Yes.
Speaker 3 (14:09):
Yeah, even outside antique.
Speaker 2 (14:11):
You really love kayaking.
Speaker 3 (14:13):
I really love kak Yeah.
Speaker 2 (14:15):
I just love to be outside. That's that's Charleston in
a nutshell, Charleston, Somerville, the whole area. You see people
outside walking and running and it's just this is an
outdoor town. It is I would like to see it remeasured,
to see if we're still the healthiest. Oh, we're definitely not.
Speaker 3 (14:32):
No, we're definitely not. I think that title went away
from Somerville years and years ago. There used to be
an ordinance that because the railroad had come in and
they were cutting down so many trees. Well, the townspeople said, hey,
you're cutting down trees, you're taking away, you know, the
health benefits of being in Somerville. And there was an
(14:55):
ordinance at one time that you couldn't cut down the
long leaf pine. So there's pictures where you're actually walking
through all of these trees that are just in the
middle of the road that are now roadways. So Somerville's
history of being the healthiest place on Earth to now
is very interesting to see how people used to protect
(15:16):
the town and then ordinance has changed.
Speaker 2 (15:18):
And it calls the evolution of infrastructure in the pine trees.
Speaker 3 (15:23):
Yes, wow, yes. So that's why when you come to
Somerville the pine we have a motto, let the pine
be sacred because for Summerville, that's a huge part of
of our identity is the pine tree.
Speaker 2 (15:37):
So many interesting things to learn about the area in Somerville,
particularly I would urge you know, everybody to check out
the Bloomberg and X app and see the Summerville MU
Research Center on there. Well, Jen, this has been great.
I've learned things learned about you. Thanks a lot for
coming on to I Heard Media. Charles and CEOs you should.
Speaker 3 (15:53):
Know, thank you for having me.
Speaker 1 (15:55):
You've been listening to iHeart Radios CEOs you should know,
heard every Tuesday and Saturday morning right here on this
iHeartRadio station
iHeart Media Presents CEOs you should know.
Speaker 2 (00:03):
Welcome to iHeart Media, Charles and CEOs. You should know
where we highlight great people and doing big things right
here in the low Country today. Jen Johnson, executive member
at Summerville Museum and Research Center, the little museum with
big stories, preserving and sharing Somerville's unique history. Welcome Jen,
Thank you for having me. So tell us a little
bit first about your education, your background, what got you,
(00:24):
what piqued your interests in history and preservation.
Speaker 3 (00:27):
So, I actually grew up in a home full of
historic preservationists. My grandfather was an antique dealer, so was
my mother, and so I've always been in this field,
this area, so it's very close and personal to me.
And I kind of put my education on the back
burner for about fifteen years, and then I went back
to school to be a historic preservationist and I came
(00:50):
to the museum and I've been there now for a
little over a year. But I just truly love history
and preservation and it's just a huge part of my life.
Speaker 2 (01:02):
So did you put your education on pause because you
were assisting the family and restoring and know.
Speaker 3 (01:08):
My husband was in the army for thirteen years, and
so it's kind of hard being a military spouse, moving
every couple of years to new schools, and so yeah,
I just kind of put my education on the backburner
for that to support him, and I don't regret it
one bit.
Speaker 2 (01:23):
Well, thank him for a service.
Speaker 3 (01:25):
Thank you.
Speaker 2 (01:25):
That's tough. I come from a military family as well,
so that's that's difficult. You have to know some things
at times.
Speaker 3 (01:30):
Yes, you kind of have to do some sacrifices and
so it is what it is.
Speaker 2 (01:35):
So during that time, did you still, in your own time,
follow history and preservation and all the advances.
Speaker 3 (01:41):
Oh? Absolutely, And I'm very fortunate and lucky that my
aunt uncle have actually let me assist them on some restorations.
And I've always just been in even when I wasn't
in school. So, like I said, it's just a huge
part of my life and always will be. So I'm
very grateful where I am right now that I get
to do this and be in school and actually have
(02:03):
hands on experience and museums and because this is what
I want to do for the rest of my life.
Speaker 2 (02:08):
So are there particular items or things that you enjoy
restoring more?
Speaker 3 (02:14):
Yes, so I love to restore furniture, specifically like eighteenth
century chairs and homes. If I can get into a
house and restore the original pink colors. I'm just a
very hands on person when it comes to that aspect
of it. So yeah, if I could do that forever,
(02:36):
that would be great. But I really also love event
planning and being a part of education, So being on
the museum side of this is also something that I love,
and I'm going to pursue this as long as i can.
Speaker 2 (02:50):
So do you like going to inting malls and trying
to pinpoint things? Do you like antiquing?
Speaker 3 (02:55):
Oh? Yeah, everything in my house is at least one
hundred years old. Wow, except for like our couch and
like stuff like that. But yeah, I have a lot
of antiques.
Speaker 2 (03:04):
So I have a friend that does a state sales
and he has the exact same background. His parents restored
furniture and used to help his dad. His mom actually
took the lead on it and he would help her
restore things in the garage. And now he just followed
that and has the same you know, desire and that
you have. Apparently, Yeah, I.
Speaker 3 (03:21):
Love estate sales. You find the best stuff at a
state sales.
Speaker 2 (03:24):
That he specializes in North Carolina pottery. Wow, that is
his forte.
Speaker 3 (03:30):
That's very cool.
Speaker 2 (03:31):
Yeah, it's I love going to teach shops with him
when he comes in town. I'm always trying to find
a new one to hit.
Speaker 3 (03:36):
Yeah, I love that.
Speaker 2 (03:39):
So your executive board member at the Somerville Museum and
Research Center.
Speaker 3 (03:42):
I decided that I wanted to do something local and
volunteer at Somerville Museum and I went into be a
docent and fam Geisik, our vice president, said after an interview,
she said, maybe you could do a little bit more
and that that's kind of how it just happened organically.
I went to an executive board meeting and we had
(04:06):
a conversation and they nominated me to be on the board.
And next thing I knew, I was on the board
and now I'm the secretary. And I have many hats
at the museum because, like you said, we're very small,
so you do all of.
Speaker 2 (04:19):
The things, so you wear a lot of hats.
Speaker 3 (04:22):
Over there, A lot of hats.
Speaker 2 (04:23):
Yes, well, it sounds like the building itself has worn
a lot of hats. I mean it was a lumber company.
Yeahmberville's water department police department. I mean, the building itself
has a rich history, correct.
Speaker 3 (04:33):
Yes, So the building was first built in nineteen twenty nine,
I believe, and it used to be the Eagle Creek
Lumber Company, and then, like you said, it was the
water company, and then from nineteen seventy one to nineteen
ninety one it was the police department in Courthouse. And
(04:57):
so when you actually tour the museum, you actually go
into the old jail cells. Wow, those are actually our exhibits,
so you're actually walking through the actual jail. So yeah,
it's really cool. The building has its own unique little
history and we love it so well.
Speaker 2 (05:19):
Part of the museum for people or listeners who haven't
been to the museum yet but want to go, what
are some of the unique things about the museum that
people typically come for.
Speaker 3 (05:31):
So I would say that a lot of people enjoy
hearing the history of Summerville that they truly didn't know.
So Somerville used to be named one of the most
healthiest places on Earth. It was in eighteen eighty six,
(05:52):
I believe, at the Paris Symposium, the Tuberculos System Posium,
that they named Summerville one of the healthiest places on Earth.
And from there so many people came to Somerville, and
that's how Somerville grew. And from that you had places
like the pine Forest inn that popped up and the
(06:13):
Squirrel in and we had a golden age of inns
in Summerville. And that's how so many wealthy people came
to Somerville and helped build it up. And so a
lot of people don't know that history. And they also
don't know that the pine Hurst Tea Plantation was there
and from those plants that doctor Shepherd planted and grew commercially.
(06:36):
The only place in the United States from there is
how you have the Lipton Tea Company and we have
the Charleston Tea Plantation. Those plants are from doctor Shepherd's
original fields.
Speaker 2 (06:51):
The normal person would not know anything about.
Speaker 3 (06:53):
Normal person would not know that.
Speaker 2 (06:55):
The healthiest city in America is that Zon.
Speaker 3 (06:58):
Yes, it used to be the healthiest place on how
do you measure that? Well, because of all the pine
trees that you have in Somerville that you used to
have in Somerville, the tally, the long leaf pine. Excuse me,
there were no mosquitoes and the soil was so rich
that they just couldn't be there, so there was nothing
in the air. So if you had tuberculosister, any sort
(07:21):
of breathing issue, you came there and you just had clean, fresh,
healthy air an environment to to really heal from.
Speaker 2 (07:29):
So this is the reason you come to the Somerville
Museum and Research Centers. You learn things just like this.
Speaker 3 (07:33):
Yeah, you learn things that you really just never knew. Also,
Somerville is the first true railroad town in America that
started taking passengers, So.
Speaker 2 (07:42):
Yeah, there's a lot of first from lived in Tea
to the first railroad.
Speaker 3 (07:45):
Yeah, so there's there's a lot of a lot of
firsts that Somerville has been in. And of course you
know they were a huge part of the Civil War
and all of that. So yeah, there's there's so many
different stories. You have kitties for you have saw Alexander,
a lot of notable people in Somerville who who made
a huge impact on the Low Country that still do
(08:09):
especially in Somerville. You just don't know any of these
stories until you walk into the museum.
Speaker 2 (08:14):
So exciting for the Museum and Research Center is that
you're now featured on the Bloomberg Connects app. Tell us
about that. So what can we find there what kind
of resources are live on that app.
Speaker 3 (08:25):
We started the Bloomberg Connects journey in February of this year.
Our app Our Guide went live in June. So it
was a long process. A learning curve for me is
I'm not a person who lives in the digital space,
so it was very interesting. I learned some new skills
which I'm excited to move forward with those in some
(08:47):
other aspect. But we really wanted to highlight most of
the things that make Summerville unique, our heritage or culture,
because so many people you come to Charleston and you think, oh, well,
we just go a little bit outside of Charleston. It's
kind of the same history. It's not. Summerville is so unique,
just as like Goose Creek would be your amongst corner,
(09:08):
even Mount Pleasant. We really wanted to highlight what was
special about Summerville and especially the museum. So, like I said,
we talk about Sala Alexander, we talk about Kiddie Springs,
we talk about how we were the healthiest place on Earth.
We really share all of the stories of the museum.
We also talk about the Charleston earthquake that shattered the area,
(09:29):
and so you can get onto our guide and you
can read about who we are, you can read about
the museum, you can walk through all of the exhibits
we have at your own pace. Everything is an audio.
It took us about six months to get everything ready
(09:49):
so the guide would be live. It's just a very
cool experience to walk through this little museum in a
different experience with Bloomberg Connects.
Speaker 2 (09:58):
So it's you know, I think today I learned you
learn something different every day about the area. Yeah, you do.
I mean every day there is a new historical fact
that just blows my mind. So there's no wonder that
people flock here. I think today I heard that for
the thirteenth year in a row, Charleston was named the
best small town in America. So I don't doubt that right,
And people are asking to be removed from that list
(10:20):
at this point. I've heard it at least five people
today say hey, we've we've had thirteen years. Let's be
removed so we can stop the influx.
Speaker 3 (10:29):
We're definitely a tourist destination.
Speaker 2 (10:31):
You're definitely a tourist destination. So we talked a little
bit before before we start recording that you love true crime,
is there anything that you read or watch that kind
of keeps your interest piqued, or that you see as
part of what you do.
Speaker 3 (10:43):
So I love to watch a lot of documentaries. I
love every aspect of history, from World War two history
all the way to now to British monarchs. I'm constantly
watching different documentaries, different shows. Anything I can watch I love.
I mean, I even watch Ancient Aliens and I'm not
(11:06):
ashamed to say it, because it's so interesting how they
try to get you to be like an ancient alien
theorist pertaining to history.
Speaker 2 (11:16):
So their arguments are good in some cases, actually their
arguments are very good.
Speaker 3 (11:21):
You kind of questioned things, and so I even watch
those and think that those are interesting in terms of
how they interpret history. So I watch a lot of
different things.
Speaker 2 (11:31):
Is there a particular historical fact about the area that
you find the most interesting.
Speaker 3 (11:35):
I find something that's very interesting to me about Somerville.
I'm actually her name was Sue Gelzer. They call her
Gunboat Sue. During the Civil War, we needed the iron
boats here and she decided to fundraise for those, and
(11:57):
at the time they were about thirty thousand dollars to build.
She raised so much money throughout Somerville and Charleston, that
she actually made enough money to build two of those boats,
which actually sat here in the harbor and were used.
So that's a fun fact that no one would know
unless you came to the museum when.
Speaker 2 (12:17):
That time thirty thousand dollars. What is that quite to today?
Is that three million?
Speaker 3 (12:21):
I have no idea. I've actually never done the math
on that. It probably should, but I mean just to
think that this one woman said, I love my country
so much, I love where I live, I'm going to
get out there and do this, and she made sure
that she raised that money and to raise sixty thousand
dollars to build two of them, you know, she really
(12:43):
had a lot of passion and conviction. And so I
always find that that's an interesting historical fact.
Speaker 2 (12:50):
That is I mean, just coming to that center for
an hour or two, and it's a great path outside
of Charleston to see something completely different, a whole other
set of history, and just the you know, the twelve
minutes we've been here, I mean, all of the stuff
that we talked about has been amazing.
Speaker 3 (13:05):
Thank you.
Speaker 2 (13:06):
Thanks. You never know unless you walk into the doors
of the Summerville museum in research. Yes, so what do
you do when you're not working?
Speaker 3 (13:12):
When I'm not working, I am planning for a vow
renewal that my husband and I are having. We've been
married for eleven years, but we were a military couple.
We were broke, so we got married in the courthouse
in Kansas City. So we're finally having a celebration of
(13:34):
our life together with our friends and families. So we're
very excited about that. I'm either cooking, baking, gardening, doing something, kayaking.
We love to go hiking, we love to travel. We
were actually going to go to Chimney Rock on Saturday,
so it just breaks my heart for all of those affected.
(13:56):
And but yeah, we we love to go to the mountains.
So yeah, I'm We're constantly doing something. But I'd say
my favorite hobby is probably going kayaking.
Speaker 2 (14:06):
Going kayaking, even outside of antiquing, Yes.
Speaker 3 (14:09):
Yeah, even outside antique.
Speaker 2 (14:11):
You really love kayaking.
Speaker 3 (14:13):
I really love kak Yeah.
Speaker 2 (14:15):
I just love to be outside. That's that's Charleston in
a nutshell, Charleston, Somerville, the whole area. You see people
outside walking and running and it's just this is an
outdoor town. It is I would like to see it remeasured,
to see if we're still the healthiest. Oh, we're definitely not.
Speaker 3 (14:32):
No, we're definitely not. I think that title went away
from Somerville years and years ago. There used to be
an ordinance that because the railroad had come in and
they were cutting down so many trees. Well, the townspeople said, hey,
you're cutting down trees, you're taking away, you know, the
health benefits of being in Somerville. And there was an
(14:55):
ordinance at one time that you couldn't cut down the
long leaf pine. So there's pictures where you're actually walking
through all of these trees that are just in the
middle of the road that are now roadways. So Somerville's
history of being the healthiest place on Earth to now
is very interesting to see how people used to protect
(15:16):
the town and then ordinance has changed.
Speaker 2 (15:18):
And it calls the evolution of infrastructure in the pine trees.
Speaker 3 (15:23):
Yes, wow, yes. So that's why when you come to
Somerville the pine we have a motto, let the pine
be sacred because for Summerville, that's a huge part of
of our identity is the pine tree.
Speaker 2 (15:37):
So many interesting things to learn about the area in Somerville,
particularly I would urge you know, everybody to check out
the Bloomberg and X app and see the Summerville MU
Research Center on there. Well, Jen, this has been great.
I've learned things learned about you. Thanks a lot for
coming on to I Heard Media. Charles and CEOs you should.
Speaker 3 (15:53):
Know, thank you for having me.
Speaker 1 (15:55):
You've been listening to iHeart Radios CEOs you should know,
heard every Tuesday and Saturday morning right here on this
iHeartRadio station
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