Jane Page Thompson

"The Houndslake Community centers around a 27- Hole Championship golf course in the Aiken area. Designed by Joe Lee, who designed the likes of La Costa, Doral, and Disney World. The three nines provide pleasure to the average golfer and a memorable challenge to the advanced player. All three nine holes play to a par of 36 and average just over 3,300 yards each. Our Azalea and Dogwood nines boast over 50,000 Azaleas planted during construction in 1974 to compliment the splash of Dogwood, Holly, and Kalmia in the area." quote from the Houndslake Country Club website.

Rumors are running around that Club Owner, Weldon Wyatt, is going to close the Laurel Golf Course at Houndslake Country Club. The reason stated by the Aiken Standard Newspaper is: Lack of Play and residents and members say they do not play because of poor maintenance of the course. As you can see in this beautiful photo by Thom Abbott, of Southside Gallery, the 9-holes are along water and the wooded areas close to Hitchcock Woods.

The houses along this course are some of the most valuable in the development, but now these values are in jeopardy. This course is an integral part of the community and closure could collapse the housing values in this area of Aiken. I encourage Aiken residents and members of the Club to help save the Links! Start Playing the Laurel, again! Call a member and play, if you are not a member become one, everyone in this part of Aiken needs to help support the future of the golf course.

The economic devastation that this closure would bring to the Aiken housing market does not benefit anyone. I hope citizens that live in Houndslake will write letters in protest of this closure. The Members of the Houndslake Country Club need to join forces and stop this devastating action. Help Save the Laurel 9! Write to the newspaper and the club, get your voice heard. The membership was not asked about the Club's sale to Wyatt, but now the members need to stand up and be counted, not only for the Laurel, but for our economy!

Champagne, Divots & Polo Divas

Polo is a sport of great skill, effortless team work and deep pockets. Players are given handicaps that grade their ability to score, not score or score for the other team (10 is the best and -2 the beginning). To be a "Zero" in the sport of polo is a compliment and makes the math easier. Each team's handicaps must add up to equal the published tournament handicap. Polo Clubs and the United States Polo Association host tournaments for beginners and youth to International games where the best in the World gather to play.

Beyond the complexity of the handicapping system is the team work between the players and their horses. Polo requires multiple abilities of its players. It is like riding a race horse in the Kentucky Derby, Swinging a golf club with Masters Tournament accuracy, shifting the play with World Cup Soccer skills and communicating with your teammates like an MBA All-Star- All rolled into one fast paced, thundering game that offers NO Monetary Prize. That's right; there are no Million Dollar Purses, Commercial Endorsements or Fantasy Payoffs. The teams consist of a patron and maybe a few paid players, but they are not paid by winnings, rather at the whim of the patron. This makes it a gentleman's sport that does not come cheap, a player needs 6 horses for each game and sometimes more (a $60,000 minimum investment).

Aiken, South Carolina is a polo Mecca with over 50 fields, 9 Active Clubs, 8 months of tournament play in all ranges and 2 annual Polo Pony Sales. Games happen all over town and out in the country, signs pop-up "Polo Today" with a sign. Spectators drive in (sometimes a fee is required to benefit a charity) and if your car is insured in South Carolina pull-in to a spot, your car insurance will replace your windshield for free; otherwise park 15 feet away from the boards, pop your tailgate and watch the display on and off of the field. The fashionistas that follow polo are more than Ralph Lauren devotees; they set new standards for glamour, they are Polo Divas. The best time to check out the other spectators and the sport's Divas is at half time when the field needs its divots stomped back down, have a glass of bubbly, get a little dirty and enjoy the action. See you on the sidelines!

Aiken, South Carolinahas a rich history and one of her local legends claims that if you drink from Coker Spring you will return to Aiken again and again. This was ccertainly true for me; I first visited Aiken as a wide eyed young girl, drank her waters and years later have returned.

Time changes all things, and so it had changed me and the city that I love. As growth and development began to gobble-up the countryside and eat away at the town; I realized there were measures that needed to be taken, battles to be fought in court and changes to zoning to protect her character. And so my legacy begins, I am, along with many others, quoted in newspaper articles and on television clips that will stay Online for years. The points and changes required to protect our quaint Downtown are on Laserfiche public records forever. Citizenship is a freedom that demands attention; it is not easy, nor should it be taken for granted.

• As the challenges arise that need attention, I ask how can I help to bring about the best possible conclusion. I pray for wisdom. Remembering to pray that:
• "God grant me the courage to change the things I can, the serenity to accept the things I cannot change and the wisdom to know the difference."

So, as I live to enjoy and love Aiken more and more each day; I know that the legacy I leave behind Online is one that honors her past, embraces her present and protects her future.

[The Serenity Prayer quoted here is from memory and Photos of Aiken were taken from the City of Aiken Website]

Aiken, South Carolina is a small Southern Town with a lot of history. One of my good friends, Louise, is in her early 90's and remembers a time when the streets were filled with big screen icons and tabloid headliners. In the 1930's and 40's, The Aiken Post Office steps were the key to a fantasy world that gave way to an amazing reality.

Mr Fred Astaire's first wife Phyllis Potter was accustomed to Wintering in Aiken and continued that habit while married, for 21 years, to America's dancing feet. Whom Louise recalls, spun her up and down the post office steps as if she was as light as a feather. His affinity for the charm of Aiken kept him returning even with his friends from the Ziegfeld Follies. Mr Gene Kelly and Mr. Astaire created quite a stir when they both went to the Post Office together.

The local girls sat along the granite steps hoping that they would be the next ones whisked up to dance down the street with Americas' most entertaining gentlemen. And so the gentlemen went about their daily routine, posting letters and enchanting Aiken's own sweethearts.

With Mr. Astaire's sister married to a Duke, it did not come as quite such a surprise to some of Aiken's residents to see Prince Edward and Wallace Simpson take refuge in their quiet town. With friends and family surrounding them, the media was thrown off of their trail for a while. And one of Aiken's brick walls was closed in to hide the lovebirds.

Some of Aiken's local lore, accredit Fred Astaire's love of race horses to the premiere equestrian of that generation, Ambrose Clark. With horses for every activity, Ambrose Clark is one of America's legends in his own right. Astaire and Kelly even owned a racehorse together at one time and it was horses that led Astaire to his second wife, who had been a jockey.

At the core of it all is horses and the stage was Aiken. We may not have the big screen icons and thank goodness, we do not have today's tabloid headliners; but Aiken is still that charming and enchanted place were little girls' dreams come true and love is in the air.

[This blog was inspired by the recollections of a friend and my own daily reminder- The Post Office, which is nextdoor to my real estate office. The pictures are from the City's online photo gallery and Wikipedia, where some facts were gleaned, as well.]

Aiken, South Carolina and her Live Oaks

Live Oaks line either side of South Boundary Avenue in Aiken, SC. These trees are so magical with their evergreen nature, they lend a brightness to the Winter throughout the South.

When other states are anticipating the fall and the change of color in the leaves, Live Oak trees are just filling out for the Winter. They do not shed their leaves until the new growth pushes the old ones off in the Spring.

These trees, in Aiken were planted to give shade to a local banker as he rode to work, now they are an iconic image of our town. Aiken has adopted tree protection ordinances to protect heritage plantings like these. About 20 years ago, a widening of the street threatened these trees and people actually chained themselves in the tree so that DOT would not cut them down.

Every City has its iconic image and for Aiken, if its not great golf or fast horses, it is South Boundary with the overhanging Live Oaks. Come to Aiken and enjoy a trip down this quintessentially Southern Highway.