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We seem to be heading headlong into summer. Now is the time to examine your yard and garden for empty spaces that need new plants. The Aiken Master Gardeners Association will be holding its annual plant sale from 9 a.m. to noon Saturday, April 27, at Millbrook Baptist Church. Come early for …

In the bustling corridors of the SPCA Albrecht Center for Animal Welfare, amidst the cheerful barks and soft purrs of furry friends, there's a silent army at work — its volunteers. These cape-less heroes form the backbone of the center's operations, tirelessly dedicating their time and effor…

The Run United event, which consists of a 5K (5 kilometers or 3.1 miles), 10K (10 kilometers or 6.2 miles), a half marathon (13.1 miles) and a kids fun run, is this weekend. Maybe you are among the people in our area have been training for it, or another event. As the event approaches, there…

Want to enrich your wildlife experience on a warm spring day when birds, insects and plants abound? If you do, go on a spoor hunt.

I may have sometimes stretched the facts a little bit. The subtitle of my book “Circling the Savannah,” for example, indicates that the volume focuses on cultural landmarks of the Central Savannah River Area. While the majority of the 36 places I describe in the book lie squarely in that geo…

I’m supposed to be writing a column today. But I’m not. I suspect it’s just me being rather unfocused and undisciplined. Or perhaps it’s the child in me being unruly and interested only in playing and messing about (I think she’s about four).

When Gray Moore was asked to fill in for golfer Tommy Fleetwood’s regular caddie at the 2024 Masters, with less than a week to prepare, he wasn’t sure he was up to the task. At 70, he’d be the oldest looper on the course.

Since the doors opened in the mid-’80s, the SPCA Thrift Store has been the definition of shopping with a purpose. The store’s journey began as a haven where locals could discover incredible deals while making a meaningful impact on the lives of homeless shelter animals at the SPCA.

Now that spring has arrived and the Masters just ended, lots of people in our area are talking about, and playing, golf. Over 25 million Americans played golf last year, making it one of the most popular sports to participate in. In fact, golf is the most popular sport played by adults over …

“'Crazy-busy' is a great armor, it’s a great way for numbing. What a lot of us do is that we stay so busy, and so out in front of our life, that the truth of how we're feeling and what we really need can't catch up with us.” — Brene Brown

Want to participate in an exciting, possibly dangerous, field trip while trekking through a jungle or exploring an underwater cave? Would you like to stand alone in the dark in a Colorado pond surrounded by thigh-deep snow waiting for frogs to call? Or does a nighttime ride atop a logging tr…

The Aiken County Animal Shelter has three wonderful indoor-only cats available for adoption – Sabrina, Tom and Yoda – who can’t seem to catch a break.

Art songs are generally musical settings of poems, and there are fine examples to be experienced in the Aiken Symphony’s April 20 concert. Yet, even instrumental music can sometimes involve narrative. Such works fall into the category of program or programmatic music, and Maestro Scott Weiss…

The benefits of regular exercise include increased endurance, strength, and flexibility along with increased energy expenditure for weight loss and weight maintenance. These benefits will vary depending on the type of exercise you perform.

If you are looking for a canine companion, the Aiken County Animal Shelter has a great variety of dogs looking for loving homes. There are strays and surrendered dogs of many different breeds, sizes, colors, shapes and personalities waiting for a path to a better life.

When we think about fascinating animals, we tend to focus on places like Africa, Australia and the deep blue sea with their laughing hyenas, duckbill platypuses and giant squids, respectively. But some U.S. creatures, many of which people have never seen or even heard of, have notable featur…

Perhaps nothing is sadder than a life whose promise remains unfulfilled. Such was the case with countless young men who died in the AIDS pandemic in the 80s and 90s before a practical therapy was developed. One such individual was the 33-year-old mixed media artist Darrel Ellis, whose innova…

The discovery of maple syrup predates the arrival of Europeans on this continent by many years. Indigenous people of the Northeast – probably the Iroquois – were the first to discover the sweetness of maple sap and later taught the Europeans how to collect and then boil and essentially conde…

Diets don’t work! Exercise can actually make you gain weight! You can take supplements that will melt fat away while you sleep! Claims like these should make you wonder if someone is trying to fool you. Since today is April Fools’ Day, it is worth learning the truth about these common weight…

The twin belfries are empty now. Only one of the two has ever contained a bell. The other tower was added for the sake of architectural balance and symmetry, an aesthetic gesture rarely found in buildings designed as manufacturing space.

A drive through the country can be so meditative. Now that spring has sprung and the weather has become idyllic, a drive through the country had an almost magnetic pull on me earlier this week. I decided to drive out Highway 302, with the windows down and Neil Young playing through my speake…

Spring has arrived and Mother Nature’s creatures are astir, including the snakes. The good news is that when you are outside where snakes are close at hand, the odds of a happy ending are definitely in your favor. Despite the mystique surrounding snakes, an encounter that ends badly can usua…

This is the time of the year that bees swarm to increase their colonies. The old queen leaves with approximately half of the colony. They have gorged on honey prior to leaving to help them with their new home. Initially they fly a short distance from the parent hive because the queen has not…

Achieving and maintaining a high level of physical fitness is essential for good health and an active lifestyle. Regular exercise can promote weight loss, enhancing wellbeing and improve endurance, strength and flexibility. Of these three components of fitness, flexibility is the one that of…

Recently a woman contacted us from out of state and informed us that her brother, an Aiken County resident, had passed away from cancer. He left behind two dogs that he loved, and his parents were driving from far away each day to feed them.

The Center for Lifelong Learning on the campus of USC Aiken has many courses on Apple products and operating systems to benefit seniors. We have courses on how to use your iPhone, your Apple Watch and your Mac computer. We also have courses to help you with iPhone photos and iCloud.

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