Imagine stepping onto the grounds of Boone Hall Plantation and Gardens, enveloped by the whispers of history and the echoes of stories untold. Today's conversation with Jim Westerhold, the General Manager of this historic Charleston landmark, along with co-hosts Kathi Herrmann and Scott Labarowski, is a journey that began with a serendipitous summer job and led to a lifelong dedication to the preservation of a site steeped in American history. Like a scene from "The Notebook," Boone Hall captures hearts, and Jim invites us into a world where the past is not just remembered—it's actively preserved and honored.
Our exploration with Jim doesn't just stay rooted in the past; it branches out to the vibrant present of Boone Hall, a place where the community gathers in celebration and education. As we traverse the lush gardens and catch the harmonious strains of Gullah performances, it's clear that Boone Hall is more than a place—it's a living legacy, intertwining the joys of today with the rich tapestry of its history. Boone Hall hosts everything from the oyster festival to Fright Nights.
Looking toward the horizon, Boone Hall's future is as fertile as its fields, with plans of nurturing both land and community. In this episode, we touch on the plantation's dedication to local agriculture and the ways in which fostering historical knowledge can root us more deeply in our own lives. So, join us on this walk through time, across the grounds of Boone Hall, as we uncover the threads that connect us all through history, culture, and the timeless pursuit of knowledge. Jim's story is a testament to the power of passion and the importance of every individual's role in shaping and sharing our collective heritage.
Presenting Sponsor: Mount Pleasant Chamber of Commerce
Studio Sponsor: Charleston Media Solutions
Production Sponsor: RMBO.co
Design Sponsor: DK Design
Committee:
Kathleen Herrmann | Host | MPCC Immediate Past President | Mount Pleasant Towne Centre
Mike Compton | Co-host | Marketing Chair | RMBO.co
Rebecca Imholz | Co-host | MPCC Executive Director
Amanda Bunting Comen | Co-host | Social ABCs
Ben Nesvold | Co-host | In-coming President | Edward Jones
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:08):
Well, hello and welcome to the Building Business
Podcast powered by the MountPleasant Chamber of Commerce.
We are here recording in theCharleston Radio Group studios
with our friend, brian Cleary.
Thank you, brian, for all youdo for us and all Charleston
Radio Group does for us.
As a supporter of the chamber,my name is Kathy Herman, I am
(00:29):
your current president of theMount Pleasant Chamber and I am
also the marketing director atMount Pleasant Town Center.
So thank you all so much forjoining us.
I'm here today with my co-host,scott Labrowski.
He is the current membershipchair for the chamber.
So, scott, introduce yourselfand say hello.
Speaker 2 (00:47):
Absolutely.
I'm the current membershipchair for the chamber and I've
got a small independentinsurance company.
Well fantastic Home and autoand business and all the good
stuff.
Speaker 1 (00:59):
Well, this is your first co-chair with me.
Absolutely we are very excitedto have you here, Scott.
I'm more excited.
I am more excited to have ourspecial guest today.
I have to tell you we have anincredible, incredible guest
here in the studio JimWesterhold, the general manager
of Boone Hall Plantation andGardens.
Thank you for coming today, jim.
Speaker 3 (01:18):
It is a pleasure.
Thank you for having me.
This is also my first time onradio and soott and I'll try not
to mess this up for you okay.
Speaker 1 (01:28):
Well, you know I've been doing this for a little
while, so I'll make sure thatyou guys, you know we keep it on
track, but I'm going to startyou.
I I'm so excited to talk to youabout boone hall.
One thing I want to tell you,though, jim, is that I've been
here eight years.
Anytime anybody comes to visitme for the first time, anytime
they're in Charleston, the firstthing that we do is we go to
(01:48):
Boone Hall.
Speaker 3 (01:50):
That's the way to do it.
Speaker 1 (01:50):
It's, without question, our first stop for
anyone who ever comes here, andwhen people leave there, I mean
I think they've changed.
I honestly think they'vechanged and that's thanks to you
and your team.
So we're going to get to thatin a second.
All about how important BooneHall is to the area, but tell us
a little bit about yourself andhow you got involved to be the
(02:11):
general manager of Boone Hall.
Speaker 3 (02:12):
Well, it's great to hear, and so to get to answer
that question, I need to talkabout this gentleman by the name
of Willie McRae, and whodoesn't know Willie McRae?
That's right.
And so in answering thatquestion, I'll tell you Willie,
who was one, when his parentsbought this property in 1955, so
738 acres, which is now rightin the middle of 100,000 people,
(02:33):
that community we know of MountPleasant.
So I got to know him and heopened up, and his family opened
up, boone Hall to tourism, andso all thanks go to Willie and
his family.
They're a great family, but Icall Willie up.
I started teaching inGeorgetown when our daughter was
(02:54):
very young and I wanted my,because I wanted my summers free
, and so I started teaching at atechnical college in Georgetown
and so, um, after about twoweeks of being home with her,
and in the summer I wanted to goback to work for a farm.
I grew up on a farm, alwaysworked on a farm, and so I call,
I sent a blank email into BooneHall Farms and didn't expect
anything, but within the hourthis gentleman by the name of
(03:16):
Willie called me and said let'sgo riding around.
And so we did.
We rode around and he pointedout certain tasks for me to take
care of and I did.
Um, I'd kind of uh, dawdlearound there and do odds and
ends in the summers for 12 years, um was it a part-time gig?
it was a part-time gig just inthe summers he called me um
(03:39):
sporadically to do with someother things as well.
But it was about two months inafter I got to know Willie,
before I really knew who he was.
He was that kind of a humblegentleman, sir, and so he never
let on that he was the mainowner, and so I got to know him.
I got to know him first, andthen, unfortunately, as he was
(04:01):
dying in early 2020, he offeredme this job of general manager,
and so since then, I started inMay.
Unfortunately, he died in Aprilof 2020.
Speaker 1 (04:13):
I started in May of 2020.
Speaker 3 (04:15):
Wow, oh, wow, and we'll talk more about Willie as
we go on here and what theMcCrays have done for this
community, but that's how Iended up at Boone Hall.
Speaker 1 (04:24):
So did you work there all those years in between?
Speaker 3 (04:27):
Yes, yes.
So I've been a summer employeefor 12 years and then my recent
gig as general manager for thelast four Wow.
Speaker 1 (04:36):
Wow.
Speaker 3 (04:37):
That's amazing.
Speaker 1 (04:38):
And you like farmed, did you farm?
Speaker 3 (04:40):
Well, I would do other odds and ends.
There was always a lead farmer.
Did you farm?
Well, I would do other odds andends.
There was always a lead farmerum, and I would always help them
and help, help do other oddsand ends and help them um
occasionally, and you know it's.
You know one day a week or acouple days a week, but but the
real, um the real and willienever paid me and I never
accepted um anything.
(05:01):
For me it was a treasure justto be able to pull in off the
highway 17 gate and drive on adirt road.
Absolutely, our daughter, whowas just a young girl at the
time, we had a habit of as soonas we pulled off the 17 gate,
she would, she knew what to do.
She would climb up out of hercar seat, she would unbuckle
herself and climb up out of thecar seat and sit in my lap and
(05:22):
steer and we'd put in um.
We'd put in um, we'd put inJohn Denver country roads.
Speaker 1 (05:27):
I love that.
Speaker 3 (05:28):
And that was our habit, and so, um, for me that
was so rewarding to be able toaccess that property that way,
and I I wish every child inMount Pleasant had an ability to
drive around on a on a countryroad.
Every country dirt road.
Speaker 1 (05:44):
I have enjoyed taking the tractor rides.
Speaker 3 (05:46):
Those are fun.
That's one of the best toursthat we give and that gives all
of our tourists for thehistorical side who are mostly
from out of town.
90% of those folks on thehistorical side are from out of
town, out of state, out of thecountry, and so to put them on a
tractor-pulled wagon and thengive them a guided tour around
(06:08):
for the farm really is one ofour best tours.
Speaker 2 (06:12):
One of my best memories is when I brought my
daughter when she was littlelittle.
Now she's 21 years old, so formany years it's, you know, doing
the tractor pull going throughthe cornfields in the fall.
Speaker 3 (06:29):
Yeah, absolutely.
And you know, on the farm side,with the farm festivals, those
are opportunities for thecommunity, the Mount Pleasant
community and the greaterCharleston area, to come out and
enjoy those days on the farm.
Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 1 (06:41):
And for those that might be semi-new to the Mount
Pleasant area, something thatyou said before made me laugh is
you see this beautiful farm inthe middle of Mount Pleasant on
17.
It is actually a working farm.
Speaker 3 (06:54):
No doubt about it.
No doubt about it.
It is not like the rest ofMount Pleasant and most of us
celebrate that.
There are some folks out therethat, for some reason or another
, don't like the look of a farm,but it is definitely a working
farm.
Speaker 1 (07:12):
They should move back to New York City then, or
something who doesn't want afarm in the middle of their town
.
Speaker 3 (07:17):
They're still our community, but it is quite
different.
We have over 150 neighbors andwe are significantly different
than all of them.
Speaker 1 (07:26):
And can you tell everybody a little bit about
because I'm a little bit naiveabout this but nothing will ever
be built on Boone Hall ever.
So people driving by there arenot going to be condos or houses
or anything ever built.
How did that process happen?
Speaker 3 (07:43):
That's right.
Well, thank you for asking.
So that goes way back toconversations with Willie, and
he had other conversations withother individuals as well that
were very important in himmaking the decision, but every
now and then, willie would bringup the fact this is going back
16 years that the buildingpressures around Boone Hall are
starting to grow and grow andthe traffic is starting to
become a problem, and Williedidn't like that, and he was
(08:07):
worried about what would becomea boon hall down the road, and
I'd always remind Willie thatthere was a tool called a
conservation easement, which isa deed restriction, and Willie'd
listen for about three secondsand then move on to another
subject, and then, as years wenton, though, he'd become more
and more open to this thingcalled conservation easement.
(08:28):
So, yeah, he died in April of2020, but in November of 19,.
He, along with his sister,elizabeth, did put the property
in a conservation easement, andin doing so, they themselves
wrote restrictions on futureuses of this property, and one
such restriction is that we'llnever have paved roads.
I love that Another restrictionis that we'll never have any
(08:51):
more than five houses on 738acres Wow.
We are also constrained by theamount of impervious surfaces we
have.
We can build a little bit more,but not a lot more.
So if a building is taken downby a hurricane, you go, we can
rebuild that building and we canrebuild it a little bit larger,
(09:12):
but we can't build them alllarger and we can't add on
another one, and so we arerestricted in the amount of roof
space or concrete that we have.
And so you're right, it'llnever be able to know?
Speaker 1 (09:24):
Is there a time constraint on this, Jim, or is
it forever?
Speaker 3 (09:27):
Forever, that is the best time constraint ever, yeah
this is forever, and that'sreally important, and I wish
everyone in our community knewwhat that meant and what it
really means is, kathy, you canbring your children,
grandchildren,great-great-grandchildren to
Boone Hall, and they'll alwaysget the same experience There'll
(09:48):
always be a strawberry festival, there'll always be a pumpkin
patch, and so the history.
While we have so much historyat Boone Hall over 300 years of
history think about how longforever is from now, and so I
even think our future isbrighter than our history and
we're gonna, we're certainlygoing to talk about that okay,
(10:09):
great scott, didn't you have aquestion?
Speaker 1 (10:17):
oh no, I was actually listening, I was enjoying it he
threw me a curve I threw youyou a curve.
Speaker 2 (10:24):
Yes, you did.
Speaker 1 (10:25):
I wanted to hear your voice.
Speaker 2 (10:29):
So we're talking about the landmarks.
You know, preserving ahistorical landmark often
includes delicate balancebetween conservation and
education.
How does Boone Hall approachthe balance?
Speaker 3 (10:43):
Yeah, good question.
Well, part of the education isthe conservation easement and
the preservation and lettingeveryone know that drives down
that beautiful avenue, that theycan come back in future
generations and experience justwhat they're seeing.
And so part of it is education,and that falls on us to make
sure everybody in the communityappreciates what Boone Hall and
what Boone Hall will maybe neverbe or will always be for the
(11:06):
future.
And so we, as far as educationgoes, we work with other
partners.
For example, the Low CountryLand Trust holds that easement,
and they're a local organizationthat holds that conservation
easement and supports ourefforts in keeping that property
the way it is.
And so we also have aneducation director that takes in
(11:29):
many school groups and tries todo the best we can with
educating school groups as well.
Speaker 2 (11:34):
Can you talk a little bit about the houses and what
is there, because we talk abouttwo sides.
We know about the working farmaspect, but can you speak a
little bit about what's actuallyelse on the property?
Speaker 3 (11:49):
Yeah, I'll do my best to describe it, although my
words and even a picture doesn'tpaint it the best way it can be
painted.
The best way is to come visit.
But a visitor on the historicside would drive down the avenue
.
But a visitor on the historicside would drive down the avenue
, which includes live oak treesthat age back to 1743 and a
(12:14):
three-quarter mile driveway.
But along the left-hand side ofthat driveway, as they approach
the center area, there are nineoriginal enslaved cabins that
date back to 1790 and they'remade out of brick, and that's
likely the only reason they'restill in existence is because
they are made out of brick.
There's also um just to justbehind the enslaved cabins is a,
(12:35):
a building called the cottondock right, and a lot of many
parties there at the cottongoals have come to the cotton
dock.
It's definitely an event space.
Uh, historically that wouldhave been the location where all
the products and produce raisedon the farm would have been
loaded on a barge at high tideand then taken to Charleston, so
that would have been a mainport Interesting.
(12:56):
And then there's also on theleft, near the enslaved cabins,
is a smokehouse that dates backto the 1750s.
It's also made out of brick.
Most people don't see thatunless they're on a tour, but as
you drive up that avenue mostpeople are focused then on the
house that was a centerpiece ofthe movie the Notebook.
Speaker 1 (13:19):
Oh, we're going to talk about that.
Speaker 3 (13:20):
We're in north and south, but the house was built
by a previous owner, the Stones,in the 1930s mid-1930s, and so
it's not an original house.
It's still very, very iconic,though in the picture.
Speaker 1 (13:36):
Right.
Speaker 3 (13:36):
And then off to the right are Visitors Park.
But they will also see and nowgo into our newly rejuvenated
gin house Not the kind of ginwhere we can give out samples.
In this case, gin is short forengine, and so it was a cotton
engine, which we have reduced itdown to just cotton gin, and so
that building was built inprobably the 1850s and Willie
(14:01):
had restaurants in there andgift shops in there until 2006
when it was condemned.
Two years ago.
We started restoration on thatand have just recently opened up
the gin house.
And then there's a cafe.
There are stables as well.
All of these things are part ofour tours that are included
(14:21):
with admission.
Speaker 2 (14:23):
You talk about the age of the different properties.
Um, probably takes a lot ofmoney.
Is there ongoing maintenancethat you have to?
Uh, that is it that is it.
Speaker 3 (14:33):
Wow, you've hit on um on a tough subject for us, the.
The cost of maintenance hasgone through the roof recently,
wow, and it has to be done in aspecific way.
Speaker 1 (14:44):
It can't just be like oh, let's just, you know, slap
some cedar plank on the side ofthat house it has to be,
specific restorations, I'massuming absolutely so.
Speaker 3 (14:53):
For example, with the brick in the gin house built um
you know, every one of thosebricks for the gin house were
made by hand by the enslavedright there on the property in
the mid-1800s or before then.
Um, the new mortar we useportland cement is harder than
the brick and so if you use thethe easy to use and and very
(15:14):
economical, usable mortar, it'llbreak the brick wow oh wow, you
have to use special mortar, forexample.
That's just one example, and sothe expense of that gin house
was very, very expensive but itwas done in the right way.
Speaker 2 (15:27):
Do you do a lot of your own maintenance in house?
We do.
Speaker 3 (15:31):
We do, but mostly on the contract with a special
company we do, we do both, andso our maintenance staff mostly
is taking care of the roads, thegrounds, so to speak.
We have a garden staff alsothat takes care of the gardens,
and they do a fabulous, fabulousjob, but when it comes to
historic structures we farm thatout now how.
Speaker 2 (15:50):
How many employees are on staff?
Um about 100 all employees orvolunteers, or both.
Speaker 3 (15:57):
We have zero and zero volunteers.
Okay, we would take volunteersfor guided tours and those kind
of things.
We need them to show up whenthey need to show up.
We need them to be dependable.
We have not had much luck withvolunteers showing up just
whenever they want to and sowe'll take volunteers, but for
the most part we pay.
(16:19):
I'll pay Because we need themto show up when they show up.
Speaker 1 (16:22):
One of my favorite aspects of my tour and again,
I've gone multiple, multipletimes and I will continue to go
is that live Gullah Geechee.
I want to make sure I say itcorrectly what is the actual
name of the show?
Speaker 3 (16:34):
Gullah Gullah Show.
The live Gullah Show.
Speaker 1 (16:37):
It had my sister-in-law, who doesn't get
affected by anything in tears.
I've never seen her like thatbefore by anything in tears of.
I've never seen her like thatbefore.
Speaker 2 (16:48):
I think it actually changed her to be a nicer person
if you're listening Arlene andum but that is an experience, um
, that is just you have.
Speaker 1 (16:53):
You have got to go see that.
And how did that come about?
Speaker 3 (16:56):
yeah, absolutely.
Um, quite an experience.
Um Willie brought that about ummany, many decades ago and it
is the only daily live Gullahshow you can see in Charleston
and we have right now threeshows a day and they are all
packed.
Oh yeah, besides our Farm andNature Tour, the tractor wagon
ride around the property.
The Gullah show is the hit isthe hit, no doubt about it.
(17:20):
And most people come in and saywe want to see the gula or goal
or that.
You know, they don't know howto pronounce it, but but it's
gala and and when they learnwhat it means and how it, how
gala is still a culture that isvery alive in charleston, it it
(17:42):
makes um all the meetingworthwhile.
Speaker 1 (17:44):
Oh, it was absolutely incredible, the first one I saw
.
I was just completely blownaway and, like I said, some
people come down like I don'twant to sit through this.
I'm like, listen, you have tounderstand something.
You are not coming toCharleston and visiting Boone
Hall and not sitting down forthis.
And then, of course, at the endthey're like oh, thank you so
much for making me see this.
Speaker 3 (18:05):
Yeah, end, they're like oh, thank you so much for
making me see this.
Yeah, the gulla show is a hitand um.
All I can say is that you haveto to do it.
I can't sing like they can, Ican't um speak gulla like they
can you have to experience itfrom um, from a gulla performer
very, very moving experience.
Speaker 1 (18:18):
You know one of the first times.
Speaker 2 (18:19):
when I went to boone hall, I went for the wine
festival yes, um, and I drovedown this road with beautiful
oak trees.
I said, oh, there's a house,and that made me come back to
explore more of the property.
What other activities do youhave during the course of the?
Speaker 3 (18:35):
year.
Speaker 2 (18:36):
Yeah, great Great question.
Speaker 3 (18:37):
So we get that very commonly.
The local community will comeout for our festivals and come
out for Wine Under the Oaks.
The challenge is to get them tocome back during the rest of
the year and we just startedwell, we just ended, but this
was the first year we did BlackHistory Month, oh, wow, and
mostly because the gin house wasfinished and downstairs in the
(19:00):
gin house is a museum.
We spent a lot of money but ourmuseum we're really, really
proud of, and upstairs is theevent space.
We opened it up for the month offebruary, black history month,
and led another organization,john wright, from the
african-american we know johnvery well everybody knows john
right um planned and organizedactivities and events the whole
(19:24):
month of february in the blackand uh the gin house for
February in the Black HistoryMonth, and we just let them take
hold of it and do it the way,john, we know John would do it
and it was fabulous.
It was well, well done, and sothat's another example of how
we're trying to get more localsout to come experience Boone
Hall.
And going back to Black HistoryMonth, yeah, I can't give John
(19:47):
enough praises.
They did a fantastic job.
It was included.
So those exhibits were includedwith our admission.
The way we do everything.
Everything's included withadmission.
Even the drive down that avenueis included with admission.
And then we gave some of theproceeds back to their main
project, which is the Long PointSchoolhouse, which is another
(20:08):
fabulous project that we'rehappy to be partners with.
Speaker 1 (20:11):
Well, I've been to Fright Night.
Fright Nights, that was reallyfun that first time.
But, I'm actually a scaredy cat, believe it or not.
I don't like horror movies andI don't like being scared.
And I was really scared, jim.
I really was scared.
But, I had a good time, so ifyou have not been to Fright
(20:32):
Nights, those are really fun.
Speaker 2 (20:33):
I like the old car that they put out front.
Speaker 1 (20:36):
Oh right, Is it a hearse?
Speaker 2 (20:38):
It's a hearse, yes.
Speaker 1 (20:41):
My favorite part is the tractor rides in the back at
night.
Speaker 2 (20:45):
So we have the pumpkin patch, we have the
strawberry festival.
Speaker 1 (20:48):
Which is happening.
Speaker 3 (20:50):
Yeah, the strawberry festival is coming up the first
two weekends in April.
That's great.
April 5th, 6th and 7th, and the12th, 13th and 14th the first
two weekends.
It used to be just one weekend,but we couldn't provide the
quality of service we needed toprovide, and so we opened it up
for two weekends of service weneeded to provide, and so we
opened it up for two weekends.
(21:11):
This is the 28th year thisfestival will happen and so, um,
you know, back to traditionsand traditions and thinking
about how long is forever.
We will now have children thatcame to some of those first
strawberry festivals that arebringing their children yep, and
and and again, I have to saythat they'll be able to bring
their children and grandchildrenback to the 50th and the 60th
(21:35):
and the 80th strawberry festivalso how many people in that
weekend for the strawberryfestival do you think will go
through the doors?
yeah, a few thousand, and we youknow I'm not I'm gonna stay
away from from exact numbers,but a few thousand, yeah, and we
want every one of them to goout there and pick a strawberry.
That's really the reward ofhaving a strawberry festival is
(21:57):
having those children engagewith learning more about where
their food comes from, and sowe're a little bit worried about
especially the community ofMount Pleasant.
If you ask a teenager wheretheir food comes from these days
, they would say the grocerystores.
Speaker 1 (22:16):
No, they come from Willie's Market everybody, okay,
willie's Market, go visitWillie.
Speaker 3 (22:20):
We're going to be a farm forever Remember the
conservation easement and indoing so, we need all future
generations to appreciate farmsand not just the grocery store.
And so we want every child thatvisits Strawberry Festival out
there picking their ownstrawberries and eating the
strawberries out of the field.
Speaker 1 (22:36):
Yes, and having that on their face and having the
juice coming down their chin.
Speaker 3 (22:39):
Those are experiences that are so rewarding for us.
Speaker 1 (22:41):
One thing I love, too , is you guys have done an
amazing job to me of giving thecommunity such a different array
of events.
So you have all the childrenevents, and then you've got the
Oyster Festival, and then you'vegot the Wine Festival, and then
you've got the Fright Night.
So you have everything for theadults, everything for the kids,
everything for the familiesJust a great, great schedule of
(23:03):
events.
Speaker 3 (23:04):
It is.
We're really excited aboutthose.
Of course we have greatpartners to help us with all
those events.
I mentioned um john ryan,african american settlement
community helping us with blackhistory month.
Of course we have charlestonradio group that helps us with
that, partners with us for oneof the oaks and um we have other
sponsors.
I don't know if I can mentionsponsor other sponsors but um,
(23:26):
um star Starling Chevrolet helpsus tremendously.
One of my favorite people, yeahthey sponsor and have been
sponsoring our farm events thePumpkin Patch and the Strawberry
Festival and so we don't dothis by ourselves, obviously,
and we do have a wide range ofevents and with each one of them
we're trying to find a way ofgiving back to the community
(23:49):
along with making sure theproperty is used but then left
better for the next time.
We have a festival, for example, the oyster festival, which is
really not our event is it'sheld the Boone hall, but it's
another partner is theCharleston um restaurant
foundation.
Um holds that event and that'sa charity event and so obviously
(24:10):
big in oysters.
So this year we're going totake some of those recycled
oysters and build a new oysterreef right there on the side of
Boone Hall on the back lawn, andso it's a great opportunity to
have future oyster festivals andthen give back and promote the
property and make sure theproperty is in a better state,
moving forward.
Speaker 1 (24:30):
Well, I remember when I first moved here, my first
event for Town Center this wouldhave been in April of 2016.
I did a I believe it was FidoFester.
It was one of my dog events,but I was new I'd only been here
three months, so I did not knowto not have an event on the
same day that Boone Hall washaving an event.
Speaker 2 (24:53):
That's a no-no, and so, um, that was a huge I
learned fast, scott.
Speaker 1 (24:55):
I'll tell you what.
You can't even get down 17.
I learned fast, um.
Not only that, but nobody wasat my event, because everybody
was at the strawberry festivalbecause we did it in april so I
learned so now and we get youknow and it's fun.
We've actually had.
I've had conversations with themarketing team before Jim about
you know, because I have reallybig events and you have really
big events and the first thing Ido is I'll look and I'll say
when is he not having an event,when are they not having an
(25:16):
event?
And that's when I'll book mine.
Speaker 3 (25:18):
Yep, that's pretty smart.
Yeah, we want the wholecommunity to come out and you
know I've heard this before.
When I started this job fouryears ago, I heard about the
downside of our events withtraffic.
There's traffic everywhere wethink we've gotten much better
at that, but I ask everyone justto have patience.
(25:40):
During those few days we havefestivals, because that's how
the property is going to be usedto maintain itself.
Instead of, the alternativewould be Willie selling this
property for development, andthen we'd have traffic, bad, bad
traffic the other 350 days outof the year, and so we just ask
for some patience, I think youdo a really great job.
Speaker 1 (26:01):
I've seen a change because I have to pass you to go
to work every day, and I'veseen a change during um.
I mean just with the policeofficers there and the signage
it's always very smooth, very,very, very smooth so let those
those people that complain jimjust ignore them that's all I'm
gonna tell you.
Speaker 3 (26:17):
well, listen, we we've um another one of our
great partners who actually doesfright night, puts on all
fright night, but they have onthe wall a lot of other
logistics for us also as liveproductions, and they do a
fantastic job with traffic andpedestrian control and they put
on a fabulous Fright Night, afabulous, fabulous Fright Night.
(26:37):
They do all that, almost allthemselves, and they do a great
job.
Speaker 2 (26:41):
I've been there many times picking up my daughter.
I'd drive in, wait for her tocome out and then drive right
back out.
Did she have fun?
Hell, she had a blast.
She's always told me daddy, Iwant to go work, I want to go
work.
I say no problem, I'll driveyou there and that's all that
happens I want to do it, but Ijust never go so what are some
of your?
(27:02):
you know we're talking aboutgiving back in the community,
into these events.
What's on your radar in termsof the future?
What are some things thatyou're looking to, uh, to do as
a general manager?
Speaker 3 (27:12):
yeah, thank you.
Um, well, some things we justrecently done, um, that we that
are in the process of startingto give back.
So the black history month andgiving back to the long point
schoolhouse we've already been abig supporter of long point
schoolhouse.
That that's our neighboringsettlement community, so we want
to be good neighbors.
We're starting to grow.
I'm pretty excited about this.
(27:33):
We're starting to growsweetgrass Now.
Sweetgrass is growing reallyeverywhere in a horticultural
setting.
It's a beautiful, beautifulplant.
It went to flowers in October.
However, when it's growing in ahorticultural setting which is
what I've learned, and I've hadthe tremendous opportunity to
learn a lot, and so I'm soblessed but what I've learned
(27:54):
from Corey Alston, who is amajor and highly recognized
sweetgrass basket maker thatsweetgrass, if it's grown with
fertilizer or irrigation, is notgood material for baskets.
And so, under his advice, we'regrowing sweetgrass now in more
of a natural wild setting.
(28:14):
We're starting to getestablished, but in another year
or two, that material will beharvested by basket makers for
free right here in theCharleston area, which is one of
those restrictions on theSweetgrass Basket.
And you know, going back toGullah, the Sweetgrass Basket,
there's no other key elementthat I think of that's still
(28:35):
left behind.
That's tangible than theSweetgrass Basket, and so it's
very important that we carry onthat culture, and so Boone Hall
is just trying to be a part ofthat.
There is Willie's Market, andwe haven't talked much about
Willie's Market but it justopened last Monday.
Speaker 2 (28:49):
Willie's.
Speaker 3 (28:49):
Market is that beautiful building out on
Highway 17,.
And that's where we're sellingall of our local produce.
Speaker 2 (28:58):
My wife sends me there all the time.
Speaker 3 (28:59):
That's our community.
Speaker 2 (29:00):
Good, she says, come on my wife loves to cook and
she'll say we've got to keep itlocal.
Speaker 3 (29:07):
We just opened up you Pick Strawberries today, and so
you Pick Strawberries willhappen, and so again, that's
part of the education andWillie's.
Market is an outreach for us toget out there on Highway 17 and
to promote the farm and to leteverybody know the farm is there
.
Speaker 2 (29:23):
What's in Willie's Market.
Mainly produce.
Mainly produce the freshestproduce, yeah yeah.
Speaker 1 (29:28):
The freshest produce, Absolutely.
I love the way.
I love the new building too.
I that was a beautifulconstruction.
Speaker 2 (29:35):
It just looks.
Speaker 1 (29:36):
It looks like it belongs right where it is Right
I, that's how I feel.
Speaker 3 (29:39):
Yeah, we're excited.
That has a story as well, andso that was built originally in
Mount Pleasant in uh, I think in2018, 19,.
Taken back down.
It's all mortise and peg kindof kind of old school
construction and um, it wastaken down in Mount Pleasant.
Owner didn't like it, sold toum this lady in Hendersonville,
north Carolina.
She let it sit on trailers fortwo years and then we found out
(30:01):
about it in 2022, bought it,shipped it back down here and
put, put it back up.
And there we are with thatbuilding.
Speaker 1 (30:08):
Wait, it was up somewhere else.
Speaker 3 (30:10):
It was up, it was in Mount Pleasant.
Speaker 1 (30:12):
It was in Mount Pleasant, not at Boone Hall.
Speaker 3 (30:14):
Taken down, okay, shipped into Hendersonville,
north Carolina.
Speaker 1 (30:16):
I'm going to have to think about where I've seen that
building before you wouldn'thave been able to see it.
Speaker 3 (30:20):
It was off the highway.
Speaker 1 (30:28):
And then fortunately she never did put it up in
Hendersonville, North Carolina,it was in Kathy's backyard With
all of my fresh produce.
No, not me, I have to go.
I go to Willie's to get myfresh produce.
Speaker 3 (30:34):
We are really excited about that building.
Speaker 2 (30:36):
You know, before we started we were talking about
everybody knows the old Red Barnbuilding.
Yes, speak to that.
Speaker 3 (30:45):
And that came about.
I thought that was veryinteresting.
We still get questions aboutthat, um, all the time.
And you're talking about it wascalled boone hall farms market
on the east side of highway 17.
Um, and, and that building wasleased by boone hall and then
the lease was not renewed in um2020, right, and so, um, we
(31:07):
decided to move that business,minus the restaurant, back over
on our side and call it Willie's, so now it's Willie's Roadside
Produce Market, and yourefurbished a barn.
Speaker 2 (31:19):
Yeah that's right.
Refurbished a barn.
Speaker 1 (31:22):
That's amazing.
So another tidbit that mostpeople who live here should know
because I'm going to go back tothe movies now is that
everyone's favorite the Notebook.
And I don't care if you I meanyou had to love that movie.
Everybody loves the Notebook.
Don't shake your head at me,brian.
I know everybody loves theNotebook Was filmed at Boone
(31:43):
Hall and I mean that's reallybig for people who love that
movie so much and love that book.
But apparently there's othermovies that have been filmed
there that I don't know about,so you need to share those with
us.
Speaker 3 (31:54):
Yeah, absolutely, and so again, I invite our visitors
to go inside the gin house.
We have our marketing directors, rick Penthaw, and he's been
working on this two minute movieof all of the scenes from the
Notebook, north and South, andQueen and a few others, wheel of
Fortune a part of Wheel ofFortune was filmed out there and
(32:16):
some others, but he has all ofthe highlights of those movies
and Hollywood shrunk into twominutes, playing over and over
and over in our gin house, andso our visitors can come see
those special highlights fromthose movies.
Oh, I need to do that, and thenand then come out and see the
grounds where some of thosethings were filmed.
And so, yeah, the notebook.
Obviously people know about thenotebook and they're crazy
(32:38):
about the notebook.
I was giving a tour.
Occasionally on a good day Iget out and give a tour and I
was doing a farm nature tour.
So I was on the wagon with agroup of 45 people and we passed
by one of the scenes in thenotebook and I said I said, has
it?
Have any men on this wagon seenthe movie, the notebook?
And this guy raised his hand.
You know, most, most timeswomen are like raise your hand
(33:01):
you've watched.
Speaker 1 (33:02):
You've watched it with me, honey.
I know you have.
Speaker 2 (33:04):
Yeah but this guy tells me that all the time all
over it.
Speaker 3 (33:07):
And so, um, when we got back, we got back down the
ground and he approached me andsaid that's my wife's favorite
movie.
He took off his wedding ringand had the notebook inscribed
in his wedding ring.
Oh, wow, he said we're on ourone year anniversary and I I'm
surprised her with this trip tocharleston to show her all the
scenes of the Notebook.
Wow, and so the Notebook.
Speaker 1 (33:30):
Where's he?
What a romantic guy.
I love that.
Speaker 2 (33:34):
I was just glad to be around and to be alive after my
first year of marriage.
Speaker 3 (33:38):
The Notebook is something special for sure, but
North and South was filmed thereas well.
And then the movie Queen andQueen is Alex Haley's sequel to
Roots and probably best knownfor introducing Halle Berry to
the rest of the world, that'sright, well one tidbit.
Speaker 2 (33:56):
My brother is a movie producer up in Charlotte and
comes to Charleston and haslooked at that property to do
different things over the years.
Nothing's ever materialized onit.
Speaker 3 (34:05):
Bring them on.
Yeah, got another notebook, thesequel.
Oh on, yeah, got anothernotebook, the sequel oh, wow.
No, I'm just saying I don'tknow.
Bring them on the sequel.
Speaker 1 (34:14):
For some reason that movie just I mean reigns in so
many women's hearts because it'sjust such a love story and I'm
honored that it was filmed here.
Speaker 2 (34:23):
Sure.
Speaker 1 (34:24):
I mean, I think it's so much fun.
Speaker 2 (34:28):
How many filmed here.
I mean, I think it's so muchfun how many people go through
the gates.
We talked about the attendanceon the one side, but at the
other.
Speaker 3 (34:32):
I mean, yeah, again, I can't share um numbers, but we
are pretty busy right now.
Slowest usually january, andthen right now is definitely a
big upswing with the, the warmerweather and the zayas right and
then, um, it's still beingcolder in northern climates.
But we're right there whereeverybody wants.
This is a chamber of commercekind of time of year.
Speaker 1 (34:54):
Oh yes.
Speaker 3 (34:55):
Absolutely.
Speaker 1 (34:55):
And what about wildlife, Jim?
Is there wildlife on the farm?
Speaker 3 (34:58):
Oh, thank you.
So that's my background.
Thank you for asking.
Yeah, I'm traditionally awildlife biologist.
I grew up on a farm and been awildlife biologist.
I have a master's degree inwildlife management.
I'm not doing much wildlifemanagement now, but that's what
I taught in college before thisjob, and so wildlife is
definitely something I don't getto talk about very often.
So, kathy, thank you.
Speaker 1 (35:17):
I love animals.
That's my problem.
Speaker 3 (35:19):
Bald eagles.
We have a pair of bald eagles.
They do mate for life, and sothey've been using the same nest
on Boone Hall for the last noweight years, and they always
raise at least one or twoeaglets every year.
Right now they have one eagletand that eaglet is about to bust
out of the nest.
That eaglet's standing on thenest.
Speaker 1 (35:38):
Do you see them or is there a camera on them?
Speaker 3 (35:41):
We don't have a camera on those.
Speaker 1 (35:43):
But you actually see the nest.
Speaker 3 (35:45):
Yeah, you can see the nest.
And the pair of mature baldeagles.
The mom and dad are around.
They're often feeding theiryoung, but the young, the eaglet
, is almost full grown and we'llfledge the nest in another few
weeks.
But it won't get a white headand white tail until they become
sexually mature themselves.
Speaker 1 (36:05):
Really.
Speaker 3 (36:06):
But that same pair will come back.
Hopefully they come back nextyear and the year after that and
the nest just stays there,waits for them that nest, that's
right, um.
Speaking of cameras, though, andnest, we do have cameras on
bluebird boxes, and so we havethree, three bluebird boxes that
will also nest bluebirds thistime of year, in early spring,
in april, and we have cameras onthose, and that that's a live
(36:28):
feed from our website.
We have alligators, of course,that are easily seen um.
My daughter and I built thefirst alligator float, and so
all it is is a float with somewood, kind of like a dock, what
we would use a floating dock,but we built it just for
alligators and stake it outthere.
So alligators can lay yeah andsun suntan there, within sight
(36:53):
of our visitors and not on theroad, where our visitors are
right don't tell my wife thatshe might send me out there for
a couple hours yeah, so we havea lot of alligators, turtles um,
of course, white-tailed deerraccoons, possum, bobcat, coyote
, yeah you name it Horses.
And horses yeah, and horses.
I'm really proud of one otherwildlife adventure that we have,
(37:17):
and that's fox squirrels.
So I think maybe if you live onDaniel Island, you might know
what fox squirrels are, but Idon't think there are any left
in Mount Pleasant.
So fox squirrels are a littlebit larger than the gray
squirrels and, uniquely, they'reall unique.
They all have a little bit ofgray, a little bit of white and
a little bit of black, but noneof them look the same Really,
(37:39):
and so there are pockets of themall around the little country
of South Carolina.
Boone Hall has great habitatfor it All those old pecan
groves and open woods.
Boone Hall has the perfecthabitat for it, but they're not
there, and so my guess isthey've been replaced or moved
out and then not been in theplanet.
So the Department of NaturalResources has brought some back,
(38:00):
and we have a donor that willdonate these fox squirrels.
Dnr brings them to us andreleases them, and so the idea
is we will have a sustainablepopulation of fox squirrels
these squirrels that most peoplein Mount Pleasant have never
seen.
Speaker 1 (38:15):
That's something to be really proud of.
It's really neat.
Speaker 3 (38:18):
It's really neat yeah .
Speaker 1 (38:19):
That's fascinating.
All right, well, before we letyou go, I'm going to ask you one
more question, all right?
Okay, so we're talking abouthow we have 300 years of history
of Boone Hall and we know thatwe're going to have a forever of
Boone Hall because of the greatthings that were done to
preserve this incredible,incredible place.
So what do you see?
The future of Boone Hall?
(38:40):
Do you see it exactly the same?
Do you see any changes?
What do you see in the next 25years not 300?
Before we get spaceships and,you know, floating cars and
things like that?
Speaker 3 (38:52):
Great, great question , and I only wish I had the
foresight of those folks whoplanted those live oaks 300
years ago, and unfortunately Ido not.
But I think in the next 25 yearswe will keep making
improvements to buildings in anice historic way, like we've
done with the gin house.
(39:13):
We will maintain Willie'sproduce market now and making
sure that's supplied with freshproduce, and so we'll keep up
the farm.
By the way, the farming isbecoming harder and harder and
harder also because of all ofour supplies are becoming harder
and harder to find locallyright, and so, um, we have some
challenges ahead just becausewe're a lot different than
(39:35):
everyone else, and thosechallenges are becoming, will
become even more and moredifficult.
But we can also celebrate, um,those challenges and and how
we're different, and we willfind, we will continue to find
those ways of of helpingeveryone appreciate how
different we are and why we'redifferent and what's going to be
the future, and so we will keepcontinuing to do things.
(39:58):
Like the sweetgrass, we alsohave a small forest of longleaf
pine, which longleaf has mostlydisappeared from this area as
well.
It's in the france marionnational forest, but it's a very
rare pine species and it's our,it's our native pine and so we
we have a small display of pinetrees, we have a special pines,
we have a small display ofcotton and indigo, and so we
(40:21):
will continue to find diversityand promote that history and
improve the property over thenext 25 years within reason and
still respecting that history.
Speaker 2 (40:33):
Not only that is you know the ability to give back to
the community, I think is, youknow, hugely important and
ongoing.
You know the traditions thatyou've started.
Speaker 3 (40:43):
Yeah, absolutely.
We.
We're definitely part of thiscommunity.
We call mount pleasant, orwe're now right in the middle of
it, and, um, it somewhat breaksmy heart when someone speaks
out that they don't like thefarm there, and so then it's our
job, then it's our challenge toto be a better part of the
(41:03):
community and help themunderstand what we're going to
be doing forever and and we'renot going away, we're just
trying to do it better so theycan understand.
Speaker 1 (41:11):
You just tell me who they are, I'll have a
conversation with them.
Speaker 3 (41:13):
Okay, Jim.
Speaker 1 (41:14):
Thank you, kathy.
Well, on behalf of the chamber,of course, we love having Boone
Hall as a member.
We love your spirit andeverything that you've done for
the community.
Personally, like I said, it'sone of my favorite places to
visit and I can't wait, like yousaid, to hopefully bring my
(41:36):
grandchildren there one day andjust have them to continue to
visit.
What can our membership do tohelp you overcome these
challenges that you're facing?
Can you ask that question?
What are the challenges you'reseeing?
Right, our membership.
What can we do to help?
Yep, I got it and you're gonnaadd you want to do it?
Speaker 2 (41:56):
go ahead, yeah jim, you know we've got a growing and
vibrant membership um with thechamber.
Um, what can we do, uh, tosupport your efforts?
Um, and what can the members doto support your efforts?
Speaker 3 (42:10):
yeah, great question.
Well, thank you for thisopportunity, um, thank you for
the chamber, um and charlestonradio group for for hosting me
and and to get to explain, kindof, the back roads of boone hall
and I think the chamber moving.
I think the chamber can keepdoing what they're doing and
allowing Boone Hall to be BooneHall and speaking up for Boone
(42:32):
Hall.
They're going to be a farmforever and the chamber's
already doing a great job ofsupporting but I think any
opportunity, like you said,kathy, just let me know who
those people are complainingabout.
I think if you hear those folksthat are that are maybe um
misunderstood about the purposeof Boone hall and about the
future of Boone hall then maybe,maybe speak to them or send
(42:54):
them send them to us.
And we'll be glad to give themthat answer what a real purpose
is and our mission and how wewant to be a community.
Speaker 2 (43:01):
I think that's key.
You know there's a lot ofmisunderstanding and
misperception and hear it fromthe source and saying, hey, you
know, yes, no, indifferentwhatever it may or may not be to
but but to have that feedback,I think is um is valuable.
Um, you know our membership, inaddition to doing what you're
saying, speaking out the truthand helping you know we
(43:22):
hopefully they'll come visit umand attend and uh, all the
wonderful events that y'all puton is amazing.
I've been to several of them,like we've talked about.
But, most importantly, knowingwe have this gem of history in
the middle of of mount pleasantin our backyard, I think is uh
speaks volumes.
Speaker 1 (43:44):
Thank you.
Speaker 3 (43:44):
Scott.
Speaker 1 (43:45):
All right, awesome, it was such a pleasure to have
you, jim.
Before we leave, we're going tothank again our sponsors,
charleston Radio Group Studios,our friend Brian Cleary and, of
course, to the Mount PleasantChamber of Commerce.
If you'd like to be a sponsoror a guest on our show, just
reach out to us and we will getback to you.
Be sure to like and subscribeto all of our media channels.
(44:07):
We'll be in Spotify, itunes,youtube, instagram, facebook and
LinkedIn.
So thank you all so very muchfor being with us here today.
Until next time, mount Pleasant.
No-transcript.
Well, hello and welcome to the Building Business
Podcast powered by the MountPleasant Chamber of Commerce.
We are here recording in theCharleston Radio Group studios
with our friend, brian Cleary.
Thank you, brian, for all youdo for us and all Charleston
Radio Group does for us.
As a supporter of the chamber,my name is Kathy Herman, I am
(00:29):
your current president of theMount Pleasant Chamber and I am
also the marketing director atMount Pleasant Town Center.
So thank you all so much forjoining us.
I'm here today with my co-host,scott Labrowski.
He is the current membershipchair for the chamber.
So, scott, introduce yourselfand say hello.
Speaker 2 (00:47):
Absolutely.
I'm the current membershipchair for the chamber and I've
got a small independentinsurance company.
Well fantastic Home and autoand business and all the good
stuff.
Speaker 1 (00:59):
Well, this is your first co-chair with me.
Absolutely we are very excitedto have you here, Scott.
I'm more excited.
I am more excited to have ourspecial guest today.
I have to tell you we have anincredible, incredible guest
here in the studio JimWesterhold, the general manager
of Boone Hall Plantation andGardens.
Thank you for coming today, jim.
Speaker 3 (01:18):
It is a pleasure.
Thank you for having me.
This is also my first time onradio and soott and I'll try not
to mess this up for you okay.
Speaker 1 (01:28):
Well, you know I've been doing this for a little
while, so I'll make sure thatyou guys, you know we keep it on
track, but I'm going to startyou.
I I'm so excited to talk to youabout boone hall.
One thing I want to tell you,though, jim, is that I've been
here eight years.
Anytime anybody comes to visitme for the first time, anytime
they're in Charleston, the firstthing that we do is we go to
(01:48):
Boone Hall.
Speaker 3 (01:50):
That's the way to do it.
Speaker 1 (01:50):
It's, without question, our first stop for
anyone who ever comes here, andwhen people leave there, I mean
I think they've changed.
I honestly think they'vechanged and that's thanks to you
and your team.
So we're going to get to thatin a second.
All about how important BooneHall is to the area, but tell us
a little bit about yourself andhow you got involved to be the
(02:11):
general manager of Boone Hall.
Speaker 3 (02:12):
Well, it's great to hear, and so to get to answer
that question, I need to talkabout this gentleman by the name
of Willie McRae, and whodoesn't know Willie McRae?
That's right.
And so in answering thatquestion, I'll tell you Willie,
who was one, when his parentsbought this property in 1955, so
738 acres, which is now rightin the middle of 100,000 people,
(02:33):
that community we know of MountPleasant.
So I got to know him and heopened up, and his family opened
up, boone Hall to tourism, andso all thanks go to Willie and
his family.
They're a great family, but Icall Willie up.
I started teaching inGeorgetown when our daughter was
(02:54):
very young and I wanted my,because I wanted my summers free
, and so I started teaching at atechnical college in Georgetown
and so, um, after about twoweeks of being home with her,
and in the summer I wanted to goback to work for a farm.
I grew up on a farm, alwaysworked on a farm, and so I call,
I sent a blank email into BooneHall Farms and didn't expect
anything, but within the hourthis gentleman by the name of
(03:16):
Willie called me and said let'sgo riding around.
And so we did.
We rode around and he pointedout certain tasks for me to take
care of and I did.
Um, I'd kind of uh, dawdlearound there and do odds and
ends in the summers for 12 years, um was it a part-time gig?
it was a part-time gig just inthe summers he called me um
(03:39):
sporadically to do with someother things as well.
But it was about two months inafter I got to know Willie,
before I really knew who he was.
He was that kind of a humblegentleman, sir, and so he never
let on that he was the mainowner, and so I got to know him.
I got to know him first, andthen, unfortunately, as he was
(04:01):
dying in early 2020, he offeredme this job of general manager,
and so since then, I started inMay.
Unfortunately, he died in Aprilof 2020.
Speaker 1 (04:13):
I started in May of 2020.
Speaker 3 (04:15):
Wow, oh, wow, and we'll talk more about Willie as
we go on here and what theMcCrays have done for this
community, but that's how Iended up at Boone Hall.
Speaker 1 (04:24):
So did you work there all those years in between?
Speaker 3 (04:27):
Yes, yes.
So I've been a summer employeefor 12 years and then my recent
gig as general manager for thelast four Wow.
Speaker 1 (04:36):
Wow.
Speaker 3 (04:37):
That's amazing.
Speaker 1 (04:38):
And you like farmed, did you farm?
Speaker 3 (04:40):
Well, I would do other odds and ends.
There was always a lead farmer.
Did you farm?
Well, I would do other odds andends.
There was always a lead farmerum, and I would always help them
and help, help do other oddsand ends and help them um
occasionally, and you know it's.
You know one day a week or acouple days a week, but but the
real, um the real and willienever paid me and I never
accepted um anything.
(05:01):
For me it was a treasure justto be able to pull in off the
highway 17 gate and drive on adirt road.
Absolutely, our daughter, whowas just a young girl at the
time, we had a habit of as soonas we pulled off the 17 gate,
she would, she knew what to do.
She would climb up out of hercar seat, she would unbuckle
herself and climb up out of thecar seat and sit in my lap and
(05:22):
steer and we'd put in um.
We'd put in um, we'd put inJohn Denver country roads.
Speaker 1 (05:27):
I love that.
Speaker 3 (05:28):
And that was our habit, and so, um, for me that
was so rewarding to be able toaccess that property that way,
and I I wish every child inMount Pleasant had an ability to
drive around on a on a countryroad.
Every country dirt road.
Speaker 1 (05:44):
I have enjoyed taking the tractor rides.
Speaker 3 (05:46):
Those are fun.
That's one of the best toursthat we give and that gives all
of our tourists for thehistorical side who are mostly
from out of town.
90% of those folks on thehistorical side are from out of
town, out of state, out of thecountry, and so to put them on a
tractor-pulled wagon and thengive them a guided tour around
(06:08):
for the farm really is one ofour best tours.
Speaker 2 (06:12):
One of my best memories is when I brought my
daughter when she was littlelittle.
Now she's 21 years old, so formany years it's, you know, doing
the tractor pull going throughthe cornfields in the fall.
Speaker 3 (06:29):
Yeah, absolutely.
And you know, on the farm side,with the farm festivals, those
are opportunities for thecommunity, the Mount Pleasant
community and the greaterCharleston area, to come out and
enjoy those days on the farm.
Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 1 (06:41):
And for those that might be semi-new to the Mount
Pleasant area, something thatyou said before made me laugh is
you see this beautiful farm inthe middle of Mount Pleasant on
17.
It is actually a working farm.
Speaker 3 (06:54):
No doubt about it.
No doubt about it.
It is not like the rest ofMount Pleasant and most of us
celebrate that.
There are some folks out therethat, for some reason or another
, don't like the look of a farm,but it is definitely a working
farm.
Speaker 1 (07:12):
They should move back to New York City then, or
something who doesn't want afarm in the middle of their town
.
Speaker 3 (07:17):
They're still our community, but it is quite
different.
We have over 150 neighbors andwe are significantly different
than all of them.
Speaker 1 (07:26):
And can you tell everybody a little bit about
because I'm a little bit naiveabout this but nothing will ever
be built on Boone Hall ever.
So people driving by there arenot going to be condos or houses
or anything ever built.
How did that process happen?
Speaker 3 (07:43):
That's right.
Well, thank you for asking.
So that goes way back toconversations with Willie, and
he had other conversations withother individuals as well that
were very important in himmaking the decision, but every
now and then, willie would bringup the fact this is going back
16 years that the buildingpressures around Boone Hall are
starting to grow and grow andthe traffic is starting to
become a problem, and Williedidn't like that, and he was
(08:07):
worried about what would becomea boon hall down the road, and
I'd always remind Willie thatthere was a tool called a
conservation easement, which isa deed restriction, and Willie'd
listen for about three secondsand then move on to another
subject, and then, as years wenton, though, he'd become more
and more open to this thingcalled conservation easement.
(08:28):
So, yeah, he died in April of2020, but in November of 19,.
He, along with his sister,elizabeth, did put the property
in a conservation easement, andin doing so, they themselves
wrote restrictions on futureuses of this property, and one
such restriction is that we'llnever have paved roads.
I love that Another restrictionis that we'll never have any
(08:51):
more than five houses on 738acres Wow.
We are also constrained by theamount of impervious surfaces we
have.
We can build a little bit more,but not a lot more.
So if a building is taken downby a hurricane, you go, we can
rebuild that building and we canrebuild it a little bit larger,
(09:12):
but we can't build them alllarger and we can't add on
another one, and so we arerestricted in the amount of roof
space or concrete that we have.
And so you're right, it'llnever be able to know?
Speaker 1 (09:24):
Is there a time constraint on this, Jim, or is
it forever?
Speaker 3 (09:27):
Forever, that is the best time constraint ever, yeah
this is forever, and that'sreally important, and I wish
everyone in our community knewwhat that meant and what it
really means is, kathy, you canbring your children,
grandchildren,great-great-grandchildren to
Boone Hall, and they'll alwaysget the same experience There'll
(09:48):
always be a strawberry festival, there'll always be a pumpkin
patch, and so the history.
While we have so much historyat Boone Hall over 300 years of
history think about how longforever is from now, and so I
even think our future isbrighter than our history and
we're gonna, we're certainlygoing to talk about that okay,
(10:09):
great scott, didn't you have aquestion?
Speaker 1 (10:17):
oh no, I was actually listening, I was enjoying it he
threw me a curve I threw youyou a curve.
Speaker 2 (10:24):
Yes, you did.
Speaker 1 (10:25):
I wanted to hear your voice.
Speaker 2 (10:29):
So we're talking about the landmarks.
You know, preserving ahistorical landmark often
includes delicate balancebetween conservation and
education.
How does Boone Hall approachthe balance?
Speaker 3 (10:43):
Yeah, good question.
Well, part of the education isthe conservation easement and
the preservation and lettingeveryone know that drives down
that beautiful avenue, that theycan come back in future
generations and experience justwhat they're seeing.
And so part of it is education,and that falls on us to make
sure everybody in the communityappreciates what Boone Hall and
what Boone Hall will maybe neverbe or will always be for the
(11:06):
future.
And so we, as far as educationgoes, we work with other
partners.
For example, the Low CountryLand Trust holds that easement,
and they're a local organizationthat holds that conservation
easement and supports ourefforts in keeping that property
the way it is.
And so we also have aneducation director that takes in
(11:29):
many school groups and tries todo the best we can with
educating school groups as well.
Speaker 2 (11:34):
Can you talk a little bit about the houses and what
is there, because we talk abouttwo sides.
We know about the working farmaspect, but can you speak a
little bit about what's actuallyelse on the property?
Speaker 3 (11:49):
Yeah, I'll do my best to describe it, although my
words and even a picture doesn'tpaint it the best way it can be
painted.
The best way is to come visit.
But a visitor on the historicside would drive down the avenue
.
But a visitor on the historicside would drive down the avenue
, which includes live oak treesthat age back to 1743 and a
(12:14):
three-quarter mile driveway.
But along the left-hand side ofthat driveway, as they approach
the center area, there are nineoriginal enslaved cabins that
date back to 1790 and they'remade out of brick, and that's
likely the only reason they'restill in existence is because
they are made out of brick.
There's also um just to justbehind the enslaved cabins is a,
(12:35):
a building called the cottondock right, and a lot of many
parties there at the cottongoals have come to the cotton
dock.
It's definitely an event space.
Uh, historically that wouldhave been the location where all
the products and produce raisedon the farm would have been
loaded on a barge at high tideand then taken to Charleston, so
that would have been a mainport Interesting.
(12:56):
And then there's also on theleft, near the enslaved cabins,
is a smokehouse that dates backto the 1750s.
It's also made out of brick.
Most people don't see thatunless they're on a tour, but as
you drive up that avenue mostpeople are focused then on the
house that was a centerpiece ofthe movie the Notebook.
Speaker 1 (13:19):
Oh, we're going to talk about that.
Speaker 3 (13:20):
We're in north and south, but the house was built
by a previous owner, the Stones,in the 1930s mid-1930s, and so
it's not an original house.
It's still very, very iconic,though in the picture.
Speaker 1 (13:36):
Right.
Speaker 3 (13:36):
And then off to the right are Visitors Park.
But they will also see and nowgo into our newly rejuvenated
gin house Not the kind of ginwhere we can give out samples.
In this case, gin is short forengine, and so it was a cotton
engine, which we have reduced itdown to just cotton gin, and so
that building was built inprobably the 1850s and Willie
(14:01):
had restaurants in there andgift shops in there until 2006
when it was condemned.
Two years ago.
We started restoration on thatand have just recently opened up
the gin house.
And then there's a cafe.
There are stables as well.
All of these things are part ofour tours that are included
(14:21):
with admission.
Speaker 2 (14:23):
You talk about the age of the different properties.
Um, probably takes a lot ofmoney.
Is there ongoing maintenancethat you have to?
Uh, that is it that is it.
Speaker 3 (14:33):
Wow, you've hit on um on a tough subject for us, the.
The cost of maintenance hasgone through the roof recently,
wow, and it has to be done in aspecific way.
Speaker 1 (14:44):
It can't just be like oh, let's just, you know, slap
some cedar plank on the side ofthat house it has to be,
specific restorations, I'massuming absolutely so.
Speaker 3 (14:53):
For example, with the brick in the gin house built um
you know, every one of thosebricks for the gin house were
made by hand by the enslavedright there on the property in
the mid-1800s or before then.
Um, the new mortar we useportland cement is harder than
the brick and so if you use thethe easy to use and and very
(15:14):
economical, usable mortar, it'llbreak the brick wow oh wow, you
have to use special mortar, forexample.
That's just one example, and sothe expense of that gin house
was very, very expensive but itwas done in the right way.
Speaker 2 (15:27):
Do you do a lot of your own maintenance in house?
We do.
Speaker 3 (15:31):
We do, but mostly on the contract with a special
company we do, we do both, andso our maintenance staff mostly
is taking care of the roads, thegrounds, so to speak.
We have a garden staff alsothat takes care of the gardens,
and they do a fabulous, fabulousjob, but when it comes to
historic structures we farm thatout now how.
Speaker 2 (15:50):
How many employees are on staff?
Um about 100 all employees orvolunteers, or both.
Speaker 3 (15:57):
We have zero and zero volunteers.
Okay, we would take volunteersfor guided tours and those kind
of things.
We need them to show up whenthey need to show up.
We need them to be dependable.
We have not had much luck withvolunteers showing up just
whenever they want to and sowe'll take volunteers, but for
the most part we pay.
(16:19):
I'll pay Because we need themto show up when they show up.
Speaker 1 (16:22):
One of my favorite aspects of my tour and again,
I've gone multiple, multipletimes and I will continue to go
is that live Gullah Geechee.
I want to make sure I say itcorrectly what is the actual
name of the show?
Speaker 3 (16:34):
Gullah Gullah Show.
The live Gullah Show.
Speaker 1 (16:37):
It had my sister-in-law, who doesn't get
affected by anything in tears.
I've never seen her like thatbefore by anything in tears of.
I've never seen her like thatbefore.
Speaker 2 (16:48):
I think it actually changed her to be a nicer person
if you're listening Arlene andum but that is an experience, um
, that is just you have.
Speaker 1 (16:53):
You have got to go see that.
And how did that come about?
Speaker 3 (16:56):
yeah, absolutely.
Um, quite an experience.
Um Willie brought that about ummany, many decades ago and it
is the only daily live Gullahshow you can see in Charleston
and we have right now threeshows a day and they are all
packed.
Oh yeah, besides our Farm andNature Tour, the tractor wagon
ride around the property.
The Gullah show is the hit isthe hit, no doubt about it.
(17:20):
And most people come in and saywe want to see the gula or goal
or that.
You know, they don't know howto pronounce it, but but it's
gala and and when they learnwhat it means and how it, how
gala is still a culture that isvery alive in charleston, it it
(17:42):
makes um all the meetingworthwhile.
Speaker 1 (17:44):
Oh, it was absolutely incredible, the first one I saw
.
I was just completely blownaway and, like I said, some
people come down like I don'twant to sit through this.
I'm like, listen, you have tounderstand something.
You are not coming toCharleston and visiting Boone
Hall and not sitting down forthis.
And then, of course, at the endthey're like oh, thank you so
much for making me see this.
Speaker 3 (18:05):
Yeah, end, they're like oh, thank you so much for
making me see this.
Yeah, the gulla show is a hitand um.
All I can say is that you haveto to do it.
I can't sing like they can, Ican't um speak gulla like they
can you have to experience itfrom um, from a gulla performer
very, very moving experience.
Speaker 1 (18:18):
You know one of the first times.
Speaker 2 (18:19):
when I went to boone hall, I went for the wine
festival yes, um, and I drovedown this road with beautiful
oak trees.
I said, oh, there's a house,and that made me come back to
explore more of the property.
What other activities do youhave during the course of the?
Speaker 3 (18:35):
year.
Speaker 2 (18:36):
Yeah, great Great question.
Speaker 3 (18:37):
So we get that very commonly.
The local community will comeout for our festivals and come
out for Wine Under the Oaks.
The challenge is to get them tocome back during the rest of
the year and we just startedwell, we just ended, but this
was the first year we did BlackHistory Month, oh, wow, and
mostly because the gin house wasfinished and downstairs in the
(19:00):
gin house is a museum.
We spent a lot of money but ourmuseum we're really, really
proud of, and upstairs is theevent space.
We opened it up for the month offebruary, black history month,
and led another organization,john wright, from the
african-american we know johnvery well everybody knows john
right um planned and organizedactivities and events the whole
(19:24):
month of february in the blackand uh the gin house for
February in the Black HistoryMonth, and we just let them take
hold of it and do it the way,john, we know John would do it
and it was fabulous.
It was well, well done, and sothat's another example of how
we're trying to get more localsout to come experience Boone
Hall.
And going back to Black HistoryMonth, yeah, I can't give John
(19:47):
enough praises.
They did a fantastic job.
It was included.
So those exhibits were includedwith our admission.
The way we do everything.
Everything's included withadmission.
Even the drive down that avenueis included with admission.
And then we gave some of theproceeds back to their main
project, which is the Long PointSchoolhouse, which is another
(20:08):
fabulous project that we'rehappy to be partners with.
Speaker 1 (20:11):
Well, I've been to Fright Night.
Fright Nights, that was reallyfun that first time.
But, I'm actually a scaredy cat, believe it or not.
I don't like horror movies andI don't like being scared.
And I was really scared, jim.
I really was scared.
But, I had a good time, so ifyou have not been to Fright
(20:32):
Nights, those are really fun.
Speaker 2 (20:33):
I like the old car that they put out front.
Speaker 1 (20:36):
Oh right, Is it a hearse?
Speaker 2 (20:38):
It's a hearse, yes.
Speaker 1 (20:41):
My favorite part is the tractor rides in the back at
night.
Speaker 2 (20:45):
So we have the pumpkin patch, we have the
strawberry festival.
Speaker 1 (20:48):
Which is happening.
Speaker 3 (20:50):
Yeah, the strawberry festival is coming up the first
two weekends in April.
That's great.
April 5th, 6th and 7th, and the12th, 13th and 14th the first
two weekends.
It used to be just one weekend,but we couldn't provide the
quality of service we needed toprovide, and so we opened it up
for two weekends of service weneeded to provide, and so we
opened it up for two weekends.
(21:11):
This is the 28th year thisfestival will happen and so, um,
you know, back to traditionsand traditions and thinking
about how long is forever.
We will now have children thatcame to some of those first
strawberry festivals that arebringing their children yep, and
and and again, I have to saythat they'll be able to bring
their children and grandchildrenback to the 50th and the 60th
(21:35):
and the 80th strawberry festivalso how many people in that
weekend for the strawberryfestival do you think will go
through the doors?
yeah, a few thousand, and we youknow I'm not I'm gonna stay
away from from exact numbers,but a few thousand, yeah, and we
want every one of them to goout there and pick a strawberry.
That's really the reward ofhaving a strawberry festival is
(21:57):
having those children engagewith learning more about where
their food comes from, and sowe're a little bit worried about
especially the community ofMount Pleasant.
If you ask a teenager wheretheir food comes from these days
, they would say the grocerystores.
Speaker 1 (22:16):
No, they come from Willie's Market everybody, okay,
willie's Market, go visitWillie.
Speaker 3 (22:20):
We're going to be a farm forever Remember the
conservation easement and indoing so, we need all future
generations to appreciate farmsand not just the grocery store.
And so we want every child thatvisits Strawberry Festival out
there picking their ownstrawberries and eating the
strawberries out of the field.
Speaker 1 (22:36):
Yes, and having that on their face and having the
juice coming down their chin.
Speaker 3 (22:39):
Those are experiences that are so rewarding for us.
Speaker 1 (22:41):
One thing I love, too , is you guys have done an
amazing job to me of giving thecommunity such a different array
of events.
So you have all the childrenevents, and then you've got the
Oyster Festival, and then you'vegot the Wine Festival, and then
you've got the Fright Night.
So you have everything for theadults, everything for the kids,
everything for the familiesJust a great, great schedule of
(23:03):
events.
Speaker 3 (23:04):
It is.
We're really excited aboutthose.
Of course we have greatpartners to help us with all
those events.
I mentioned um john ryan,african american settlement
community helping us with blackhistory month.
Of course we have charlestonradio group that helps us with
that, partners with us for oneof the oaks and um we have other
sponsors.
I don't know if I can mentionsponsor other sponsors but um,
(23:26):
um star Starling Chevrolet helpsus tremendously.
One of my favorite people, yeahthey sponsor and have been
sponsoring our farm events thePumpkin Patch and the Strawberry
Festival and so we don't dothis by ourselves, obviously,
and we do have a wide range ofevents and with each one of them
we're trying to find a way ofgiving back to the community
(23:49):
along with making sure theproperty is used but then left
better for the next time.
We have a festival, for example, the oyster festival, which is
really not our event is it'sheld the Boone hall, but it's
another partner is theCharleston um restaurant
foundation.
Um holds that event and that'sa charity event and so obviously
(24:10):
big in oysters.
So this year we're going totake some of those recycled
oysters and build a new oysterreef right there on the side of
Boone Hall on the back lawn, andso it's a great opportunity to
have future oyster festivals andthen give back and promote the
property and make sure theproperty is in a better state,
moving forward.
Speaker 1 (24:30):
Well, I remember when I first moved here, my first
event for Town Center this wouldhave been in April of 2016.
I did a I believe it was FidoFester.
It was one of my dog events,but I was new I'd only been here
three months, so I did not knowto not have an event on the
same day that Boone Hall washaving an event.
Speaker 2 (24:53):
That's a no-no, and so, um, that was a huge I
learned fast, scott.
Speaker 1 (24:55):
I'll tell you what.
You can't even get down 17.
I learned fast, um.
Not only that, but nobody wasat my event, because everybody
was at the strawberry festivalbecause we did it in april so I
learned so now and we get youknow and it's fun.
We've actually had.
I've had conversations with themarketing team before Jim about
you know, because I have reallybig events and you have really
big events and the first thing Ido is I'll look and I'll say
when is he not having an event,when are they not having an
(25:16):
event?
And that's when I'll book mine.
Speaker 3 (25:18):
Yep, that's pretty smart.
Yeah, we want the wholecommunity to come out and you
know I've heard this before.
When I started this job fouryears ago, I heard about the
downside of our events withtraffic.
There's traffic everywhere wethink we've gotten much better
at that, but I ask everyone justto have patience.
(25:40):
During those few days we havefestivals, because that's how
the property is going to be usedto maintain itself.
Instead of, the alternativewould be Willie selling this
property for development, andthen we'd have traffic, bad, bad
traffic the other 350 days outof the year, and so we just ask
for some patience, I think youdo a really great job.
Speaker 1 (26:01):
I've seen a change because I have to pass you to go
to work every day, and I'veseen a change during um.
I mean just with the policeofficers there and the signage
it's always very smooth, very,very, very smooth so let those
those people that complain jimjust ignore them that's all I'm
gonna tell you.
Speaker 3 (26:17):
well, listen, we we've um another one of our
great partners who actually doesfright night, puts on all
fright night, but they have onthe wall a lot of other
logistics for us also as liveproductions, and they do a
fantastic job with traffic andpedestrian control and they put
on a fabulous Fright Night, afabulous, fabulous Fright Night.
(26:37):
They do all that, almost allthemselves, and they do a great
job.
Speaker 2 (26:41):
I've been there many times picking up my daughter.
I'd drive in, wait for her tocome out and then drive right
back out.
Did she have fun?
Hell, she had a blast.
She's always told me daddy, Iwant to go work, I want to go
work.
I say no problem, I'll driveyou there and that's all that
happens I want to do it, but Ijust never go so what are some
of your?
(27:02):
you know we're talking aboutgiving back in the community,
into these events.
What's on your radar in termsof the future?
What are some things thatyou're looking to, uh, to do as
a general manager?
Speaker 3 (27:12):
yeah, thank you.
Um, well, some things we justrecently done, um, that we that
are in the process of startingto give back.
So the black history month andgiving back to the long point
schoolhouse we've already been abig supporter of long point
schoolhouse.
That that's our neighboringsettlement community, so we want
to be good neighbors.
We're starting to grow.
I'm pretty excited about this.
(27:33):
We're starting to growsweetgrass Now.
Sweetgrass is growing reallyeverywhere in a horticultural
setting.
It's a beautiful, beautifulplant.
It went to flowers in October.
However, when it's growing in ahorticultural setting which is
what I've learned, and I've hadthe tremendous opportunity to
learn a lot, and so I'm soblessed but what I've learned
(27:54):
from Corey Alston, who is amajor and highly recognized
sweetgrass basket maker thatsweetgrass, if it's grown with
fertilizer or irrigation, is notgood material for baskets.
And so, under his advice, we'regrowing sweetgrass now in more
of a natural wild setting.
(28:14):
We're starting to getestablished, but in another year
or two, that material will beharvested by basket makers for
free right here in theCharleston area, which is one of
those restrictions on theSweetgrass Basket.
And you know, going back toGullah, the Sweetgrass Basket,
there's no other key elementthat I think of that's still
(28:35):
left behind.
That's tangible than theSweetgrass Basket, and so it's
very important that we carry onthat culture, and so Boone Hall
is just trying to be a part ofthat.
There is Willie's Market, andwe haven't talked much about
Willie's Market but it justopened last Monday.
Speaker 2 (28:49):
Willie's.
Speaker 3 (28:49):
Market is that beautiful building out on
Highway 17,.
And that's where we're sellingall of our local produce.
Speaker 2 (28:58):
My wife sends me there all the time.
Speaker 3 (28:59):
That's our community.
Speaker 2 (29:00):
Good, she says, come on my wife loves to cook and
she'll say we've got to keep itlocal.
Speaker 3 (29:07):
We just opened up you Pick Strawberries today, and so
you Pick Strawberries willhappen, and so again, that's
part of the education andWillie's.
Market is an outreach for us toget out there on Highway 17 and
to promote the farm and to leteverybody know the farm is there
.
Speaker 2 (29:23):
What's in Willie's Market.
Mainly produce.
Mainly produce the freshestproduce, yeah yeah.
Speaker 1 (29:28):
The freshest produce, Absolutely.
I love the way.
I love the new building too.
I that was a beautifulconstruction.
Speaker 2 (29:35):
It just looks.
Speaker 1 (29:36):
It looks like it belongs right where it is Right
I, that's how I feel.
Speaker 3 (29:39):
Yeah, we're excited.
That has a story as well, andso that was built originally in
Mount Pleasant in uh, I think in2018, 19,.
Taken back down.
It's all mortise and peg kindof kind of old school
construction and um, it wastaken down in Mount Pleasant.
Owner didn't like it, sold toum this lady in Hendersonville,
north Carolina.
She let it sit on trailers fortwo years and then we found out
(30:01):
about it in 2022, bought it,shipped it back down here and
put, put it back up.
And there we are with thatbuilding.
Speaker 1 (30:08):
Wait, it was up somewhere else.
Speaker 3 (30:10):
It was up, it was in Mount Pleasant.
Speaker 1 (30:12):
It was in Mount Pleasant, not at Boone Hall.
Speaker 3 (30:14):
Taken down, okay, shipped into Hendersonville,
north Carolina.
Speaker 1 (30:16):
I'm going to have to think about where I've seen that
building before you wouldn'thave been able to see it.
Speaker 3 (30:20):
It was off the highway.
Speaker 1 (30:28):
And then fortunately she never did put it up in
Hendersonville, North Carolina,it was in Kathy's backyard With
all of my fresh produce.
No, not me, I have to go.
I go to Willie's to get myfresh produce.
Speaker 3 (30:34):
We are really excited about that building.
Speaker 2 (30:36):
You know, before we started we were talking about
everybody knows the old Red Barnbuilding.
Yes, speak to that.
Speaker 3 (30:45):
And that came about.
I thought that was veryinteresting.
We still get questions aboutthat, um, all the time.
And you're talking about it wascalled boone hall farms market
on the east side of highway 17.
Um, and, and that building wasleased by boone hall and then
the lease was not renewed in um2020, right, and so, um, we
(31:07):
decided to move that business,minus the restaurant, back over
on our side and call it Willie's, so now it's Willie's Roadside
Produce Market, and yourefurbished a barn.
Speaker 2 (31:19):
Yeah that's right.
Refurbished a barn.
Speaker 1 (31:22):
That's amazing.
So another tidbit that mostpeople who live here should know
because I'm going to go back tothe movies now is that
everyone's favorite the Notebook.
And I don't care if you I meanyou had to love that movie.
Everybody loves the Notebook.
Don't shake your head at me,brian.
I know everybody loves theNotebook Was filmed at Boone
(31:43):
Hall and I mean that's reallybig for people who love that
movie so much and love that book.
But apparently there's othermovies that have been filmed
there that I don't know about,so you need to share those with
us.
Speaker 3 (31:54):
Yeah, absolutely, and so again, I invite our visitors
to go inside the gin house.
We have our marketing directors, rick Penthaw, and he's been
working on this two minute movieof all of the scenes from the
Notebook, north and South, andQueen and a few others, wheel of
Fortune a part of Wheel ofFortune was filmed out there and
(32:16):
some others, but he has all ofthe highlights of those movies
and Hollywood shrunk into twominutes, playing over and over
and over in our gin house, andso our visitors can come see
those special highlights fromthose movies.
Oh, I need to do that, and thenand then come out and see the
grounds where some of thosethings were filmed.
And so, yeah, the notebook.
Obviously people know about thenotebook and they're crazy
(32:38):
about the notebook.
I was giving a tour.
Occasionally on a good day Iget out and give a tour and I
was doing a farm nature tour.
So I was on the wagon with agroup of 45 people and we passed
by one of the scenes in thenotebook and I said I said, has
it?
Have any men on this wagon seenthe movie, the notebook?
And this guy raised his hand.
You know, most, most timeswomen are like raise your hand
(33:01):
you've watched.
Speaker 1 (33:02):
You've watched it with me, honey.
I know you have.
Speaker 2 (33:04):
Yeah but this guy tells me that all the time all
over it.
Speaker 3 (33:07):
And so, um, when we got back, we got back down the
ground and he approached me andsaid that's my wife's favorite
movie.
He took off his wedding ringand had the notebook inscribed
in his wedding ring.
Oh, wow, he said we're on ourone year anniversary and I I'm
surprised her with this trip tocharleston to show her all the
scenes of the Notebook.
Wow, and so the Notebook.
Speaker 1 (33:30):
Where's he?
What a romantic guy.
I love that.
Speaker 2 (33:34):
I was just glad to be around and to be alive after my
first year of marriage.
Speaker 3 (33:38):
The Notebook is something special for sure, but
North and South was filmed thereas well.
And then the movie Queen andQueen is Alex Haley's sequel to
Roots and probably best knownfor introducing Halle Berry to
the rest of the world, that'sright, well one tidbit.
Speaker 2 (33:56):
My brother is a movie producer up in Charlotte and
comes to Charleston and haslooked at that property to do
different things over the years.
Nothing's ever materialized onit.
Speaker 3 (34:05):
Bring them on.
Yeah, got another notebook, thesequel.
Oh on, yeah, got anothernotebook, the sequel oh, wow.
No, I'm just saying I don'tknow.
Bring them on the sequel.
Speaker 1 (34:14):
For some reason that movie just I mean reigns in so
many women's hearts because it'sjust such a love story and I'm
honored that it was filmed here.
Speaker 2 (34:23):
Sure.
Speaker 1 (34:24):
I mean, I think it's so much fun.
Speaker 2 (34:28):
How many filmed here.
I mean, I think it's so muchfun how many people go through
the gates.
We talked about the attendanceon the one side, but at the
other.
Speaker 3 (34:32):
I mean, yeah, again, I can't share um numbers, but we
are pretty busy right now.
Slowest usually january, andthen right now is definitely a
big upswing with the, the warmerweather and the zayas right and
then, um, it's still beingcolder in northern climates.
But we're right there whereeverybody wants.
This is a chamber of commercekind of time of year.
Speaker 1 (34:54):
Oh yes.
Speaker 3 (34:55):
Absolutely.
Speaker 1 (34:55):
And what about wildlife, Jim?
Is there wildlife on the farm?
Speaker 3 (34:58):
Oh, thank you.
So that's my background.
Thank you for asking.
Yeah, I'm traditionally awildlife biologist.
I grew up on a farm and been awildlife biologist.
I have a master's degree inwildlife management.
I'm not doing much wildlifemanagement now, but that's what
I taught in college before thisjob, and so wildlife is
definitely something I don't getto talk about very often.
So, kathy, thank you.
Speaker 1 (35:17):
I love animals.
That's my problem.
Speaker 3 (35:19):
Bald eagles.
We have a pair of bald eagles.
They do mate for life, and sothey've been using the same nest
on Boone Hall for the last noweight years, and they always
raise at least one or twoeaglets every year.
Right now they have one eagletand that eaglet is about to bust
out of the nest.
That eaglet's standing on thenest.
Speaker 1 (35:38):
Do you see them or is there a camera on them?
Speaker 3 (35:41):
We don't have a camera on those.
Speaker 1 (35:43):
But you actually see the nest.
Speaker 3 (35:45):
Yeah, you can see the nest.
And the pair of mature baldeagles.
The mom and dad are around.
They're often feeding theiryoung, but the young, the eaglet
, is almost full grown and we'llfledge the nest in another few
weeks.
But it won't get a white headand white tail until they become
sexually mature themselves.
Speaker 1 (36:05):
Really.
Speaker 3 (36:06):
But that same pair will come back.
Hopefully they come back nextyear and the year after that and
the nest just stays there,waits for them that nest, that's
right, um.
Speaking of cameras, though, andnest, we do have cameras on
bluebird boxes, and so we havethree, three bluebird boxes that
will also nest bluebirds thistime of year, in early spring,
in april, and we have cameras onthose, and that that's a live
(36:28):
feed from our website.
We have alligators, of course,that are easily seen um.
My daughter and I built thefirst alligator float, and so
all it is is a float with somewood, kind of like a dock, what
we would use a floating dock,but we built it just for
alligators and stake it outthere.
So alligators can lay yeah andsun suntan there, within sight
(36:53):
of our visitors and not on theroad, where our visitors are
right don't tell my wife thatshe might send me out there for
a couple hours yeah, so we havea lot of alligators, turtles um,
of course, white-tailed deerraccoons, possum, bobcat, coyote
, yeah you name it Horses.
And horses yeah, and horses.
I'm really proud of one otherwildlife adventure that we have,
(37:17):
and that's fox squirrels.
So I think maybe if you live onDaniel Island, you might know
what fox squirrels are, but Idon't think there are any left
in Mount Pleasant.
So fox squirrels are a littlebit larger than the gray
squirrels and, uniquely, they'reall unique.
They all have a little bit ofgray, a little bit of white and
a little bit of black, but noneof them look the same Really,
(37:39):
and so there are pockets of themall around the little country
of South Carolina.
Boone Hall has great habitatfor it All those old pecan
groves and open woods.
Boone Hall has the perfecthabitat for it, but they're not
there, and so my guess isthey've been replaced or moved
out and then not been in theplanet.
So the Department of NaturalResources has brought some back,
(38:00):
and we have a donor that willdonate these fox squirrels.
Dnr brings them to us andreleases them, and so the idea
is we will have a sustainablepopulation of fox squirrels
these squirrels that most peoplein Mount Pleasant have never
seen.
Speaker 1 (38:15):
That's something to be really proud of.
It's really neat.
Speaker 3 (38:18):
It's really neat yeah .
Speaker 1 (38:19):
That's fascinating.
All right, well, before we letyou go, I'm going to ask you one
more question, all right?
Okay, so we're talking abouthow we have 300 years of history
of Boone Hall and we know thatwe're going to have a forever of
Boone Hall because of the greatthings that were done to
preserve this incredible,incredible place.
So what do you see?
The future of Boone Hall?
(38:40):
Do you see it exactly the same?
Do you see any changes?
What do you see in the next 25years not 300?
Before we get spaceships and,you know, floating cars and
things like that?
Speaker 3 (38:52):
Great, great question , and I only wish I had the
foresight of those folks whoplanted those live oaks 300
years ago, and unfortunately Ido not.
But I think in the next 25 yearswe will keep making
improvements to buildings in anice historic way, like we've
done with the gin house.
(39:13):
We will maintain Willie'sproduce market now and making
sure that's supplied with freshproduce, and so we'll keep up
the farm.
By the way, the farming isbecoming harder and harder and
harder also because of all ofour supplies are becoming harder
and harder to find locallyright, and so, um, we have some
challenges ahead just becausewe're a lot different than
(39:35):
everyone else, and thosechallenges are becoming, will
become even more and moredifficult.
But we can also celebrate, um,those challenges and and how
we're different, and we willfind, we will continue to find
those ways of of helpingeveryone appreciate how
different we are and why we'redifferent and what's going to be
the future, and so we will keepcontinuing to do things.
(39:58):
Like the sweetgrass, we alsohave a small forest of longleaf
pine, which longleaf has mostlydisappeared from this area as
well.
It's in the france marionnational forest, but it's a very
rare pine species and it's our,it's our native pine and so we
we have a small display of pinetrees, we have a special pines,
we have a small display ofcotton and indigo, and so we
(40:21):
will continue to find diversityand promote that history and
improve the property over thenext 25 years within reason and
still respecting that history.
Speaker 2 (40:33):
Not only that is you know the ability to give back to
the community, I think is, youknow, hugely important and
ongoing.
You know the traditions thatyou've started.
Speaker 3 (40:43):
Yeah, absolutely.
We.
We're definitely part of thiscommunity.
We call mount pleasant, orwe're now right in the middle of
it, and, um, it somewhat breaksmy heart when someone speaks
out that they don't like thefarm there, and so then it's our
job, then it's our challenge toto be a better part of the
(41:03):
community and help themunderstand what we're going to
be doing forever and and we'renot going away, we're just
trying to do it better so theycan understand.
Speaker 1 (41:11):
You just tell me who they are, I'll have a
conversation with them.
Speaker 3 (41:13):
Okay, Jim.
Speaker 1 (41:14):
Thank you, kathy.
Well, on behalf of the chamber,of course, we love having Boone
Hall as a member.
We love your spirit andeverything that you've done for
the community.
Personally, like I said, it'sone of my favorite places to
visit and I can't wait, like yousaid, to hopefully bring my
(41:36):
grandchildren there one day andjust have them to continue to
visit.
What can our membership do tohelp you overcome these
challenges that you're facing?
Can you ask that question?
What are the challenges you'reseeing?
Right, our membership.
What can we do to help?
Yep, I got it and you're gonnaadd you want to do it?
Speaker 2 (41:56):
go ahead, yeah jim, you know we've got a growing and
vibrant membership um with thechamber.
Um, what can we do, uh, tosupport your efforts?
Um, and what can the members doto support your efforts?
Speaker 3 (42:10):
yeah, great question.
Well, thank you for thisopportunity, um, thank you for
the chamber, um and charlestonradio group for for hosting me
and and to get to explain, kindof, the back roads of boone hall
and I think the chamber moving.
I think the chamber can keepdoing what they're doing and
allowing Boone Hall to be BooneHall and speaking up for Boone
(42:32):
Hall.
They're going to be a farmforever and the chamber's
already doing a great job ofsupporting but I think any
opportunity, like you said,kathy, just let me know who
those people are complainingabout.
I think if you hear those folksthat are that are maybe um
misunderstood about the purposeof Boone hall and about the
future of Boone hall then maybe,maybe speak to them or send
(42:54):
them send them to us.
And we'll be glad to give themthat answer what a real purpose
is and our mission and how wewant to be a community.
Speaker 2 (43:01):
I think that's key.
You know there's a lot ofmisunderstanding and
misperception and hear it fromthe source and saying, hey, you
know, yes, no, indifferentwhatever it may or may not be to
but but to have that feedback,I think is um is valuable.
Um, you know our membership, inaddition to doing what you're
saying, speaking out the truthand helping you know we
(43:22):
hopefully they'll come visit umand attend and uh, all the
wonderful events that y'all puton is amazing.
I've been to several of them,like we've talked about.
But, most importantly, knowingwe have this gem of history in
the middle of of mount pleasantin our backyard, I think is uh
speaks volumes.
Speaker 1 (43:44):
Thank you.
Speaker 3 (43:44):
Scott.
Speaker 1 (43:45):
All right, awesome, it was such a pleasure to have
you, jim.
Before we leave, we're going tothank again our sponsors,
charleston Radio Group Studios,our friend Brian Cleary and, of
course, to the Mount PleasantChamber of Commerce.
If you'd like to be a sponsoror a guest on our show, just
reach out to us and we will getback to you.
Be sure to like and subscribeto all of our media channels.
(44:07):
We'll be in Spotify, itunes,youtube, instagram, facebook and
LinkedIn.
So thank you all so very muchfor being with us here today.
Until next time, mount Pleasant.
No-transcript.
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