A reminder via our pal Bruce Doneff at the Beaufort Film Society:

"Only two weeks remain for entries to the first-ever Beaufort International Film Festival Poster Contest—deadline 31 August. Contest rules and submission guidelines can be found here:  http://www.beaufortfilmsociety.org"

The winner will be chosen from 10 finalists and revealed during an Unveiling Party, September 30th at Artworks in the K-mart shopping center. Buy tickets on-line at the website above. We'll see you there and don't forget the 6th annual Beaufort International Film Festival coming in February, 2011.

The Beaufort International Film Festival
is produced by:

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The 55th edition of the Beaufort Water Festival kicks off this weekend on the waterfront. Be sure and pick up the latest issue of the Lowcountry Weekly for a complete rundown of the festival and an entertainment preview.

-MS

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The Lowcountry Weekly staff had the pleasure of spending time with Pat Conroy and his daughter Melissa after her booksigning at Bay Street Trading Co. on Thursday. That's right – I said her booksigning! Melissa, a professional artist, has penned and illustrated an outrageously delightful children's book – "Poppy's Pants" – based on her series of whimsical Wooberry dolls. One of the dolls, "Poppy," looks suspiciously like Melissa's famous father, who has written a lovely afterward to the book.

The Conroys graced us with their company at Emily's following the signing (minus Pat's wife, Cassandra King, who's in the mountains finishing her new novel.) Father and daughter shared some funny stories, and Pat brought us up to speed on his upcoming memoir "My Reading Life," which should be out in October.

Look for the full scoop in our next issue! Mark Shaffer's working on it now...

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Got a note from Maria out at Bella Luna in Frogmore. Seems somebody's been spreading a rumor that the restaurant is closed. NOT TRUE, she says, "We certainly are open and business is steady!  We do have an awesome special involving sea scallops, fresh LOCAL grouper and black risotto. "

Believe me Chef Josh is turning out dishes to warm the cockles of  any epicurean's heart without breaking the bank. This is fresh, local Italian done in both traditional and not so traditional styles in a relaxed casual atmosphere. Like I posted before: EAT THERE NOW!

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Italian with a Sea Island accent:

Bella Luna Cafe, 859 Sea Island Parkway

St. Helena (across from the Foolish Frog)

843-838-3188

Italian food. The  first thing that probably springs to mind is something heavy, something doughy or pasta-bound - something in a heavy coma-inducing sauce. The truth is, that's what we've come to expect from mass-marketed pizza joints and our cultural obsession with carbs. Italian cuisine has many, many styles and approaches and almost all of them (when executed properly) depend on fresh, local, seasonal ingredients. Those three words are getting a lot of play these days with a renewed emphasis on quality and the growing awareness among American consumers (finally!) of what's available at the corner produce stand or just off the boats at the local docks.

Case in point: the Crab Cake at Maria Jackson's Bella Luna in the heart of Frogmore. It's nearly all fresh local crab, pan sauteed and served atop fresh local sweet corn in a sweet red pepper sauce, topped with jalapeno aoli. In a word: Damn.

Hey, you can still get spectacular, fresh made to order pizzas (8 minutes  from call in to pick up at their very own drive-thru) as well as a large selection of the classic dishes. But I'm begging you, try the grilled vegetable salad: sliced summer squash, zucchini, portabello, sweet peppers, artichoke hearts and succulent slow-roasted tomatoes all lightly grilled and served on a bed of fresh mixed greens and herbs. Most of it was picked just up the road a piece. The concentrated flavors of the tomatoes and peppers explode like sweet summer sunshine on your taste buds.

Satisfy that summer sweet tooth with an Italian Bomba - a frozen confection of layered fruit ice wrapped in a chocolate shell. 

Frankly, for dishes of this caliber the prices are a steal - and at all three meals. No pretense involved. This is Lowcountry casual. Bella Luna has a full bar and a nice wine list, too. Give Maria a call and tell her we sent you. Look for more on Bella Luna in an upcoming issue of The Lowcountry Weekly.

-Mark Shaffer

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Lowcountry Weekly is proud to announce that our Features Editor Mark Shaffer has been appointed chairman of the Beaufort Film Commission. Mark is an Emmy-winning journalist and writer with a lifelong love of film. As our readers know, he has covered the local film scene extensively for Lowcountry Weekly.

“Mark’s passion and commitment to film shows in his articles and we are thrilled to have him serve in this role,” says Beaufort Regional Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors Chair Jimmy Boozer.  Shaffer is replacing J.W. Rone, Executive Director of the Arts Council of Beaufort County, who served as chair from January 2009 to March of 2010.

The Beaufort Film Commission was formalized in 2006 and is part of the Beaufort Regional Chamber of Commerce Visitor & Convention Bureau.  The mission of the Beaufort Film Commission is to position the Beaufort region as film-friendly to encourage production of film, television and catalog photography thereby strengthening the economy.

Congratulations, Mark! (But please, don’t quit your day job.)

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We're lucky to live in such a beautiful place and we all have our favorite spots in the Lowcountry. We'd like to know where you hang out or go to get away from it all. What are your favorite places? Are any of them in danger of being overrun by development or neglect?

The Backyard Tourist is always looking for a new place to visit, a fresh perspective on what makes our back yard so unique.

-Mark Shaffer

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The studio at WJWJ before the load in for the upcoming production of Sam Shepard's True West.

Lowcountry Weekly Publisher (and well-known local thespian), Jeff Evans, teams up with Tom Schuster to mount the first ever theatrical production at ETV Lowcountry. Get all the details in the 3/31 issue.

Tom Schuster, Set Designer Jim Passanante and Jeff Evans load in Passanante's set.

The production not only marks a first for the TV studio, it's also an interesting collaboration of a serious concentration of talent. Schuster's worked as a professional actor for decades with more than 100 plays and dozens of film and TV roles.

Evans is  the founder of Lowcountry Shakespeare and worked as an actor on the west coast before relocating to SC some years back. And Passanante's one of Hollywood's hardest working Scenic Artists with credits like Die Hard III, Cold Mountain and Forrest Gump on his resume. He designed and built this set from scratch in six days in between movie gigs.

WJWJ Operations Manager Scott Johns behind the camera as Your Day's, Bob Schuster tapes a segment for broadcast.

The show opens 4/9 and runs through 5/2.

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My friend, colleague and longtime Lowcountry journalist, Richard Brooks, delivers the goods on Beaufort's "parking problem" - a problem, in this writer's opinion, which has only just begun.  - Mark Shaffer

By Richard Brooks, special to Lowcountry Weekly

Note: The following statement was delivered to the Beaufort City Council on Tuesday, March 9. The council voted to increase parking fees from 50 cents to $1 an hour and increase fines from $3 to $10. A decision to extend enforcement hours from 6 to 9 p.m. was delayed.

Mayor and council:

Unfortunately, when we get past the concept and arrive at the details, any ordinance is probably inevitable. So I suppose new parking regulations are a done deal. But let me offer a few philosophical observations to keep y’all up at night after you do what you’re going to do anyway.

First, after who-knows-how-many years of talking about it I still don’t believe there is, or ever was, a parking problem downtown. There’s a perceived parking problem. And then there are meetings to talk about the so-called parking problem. And the “parking problem” has become a self-fulfilling prophecy. The problem is we can’t shut up about parking. When an issue is framed as a problem, the natural tendency is not to leave well enough alone but to solve the problem. You feel obligated to do something. But anything you do is going to make somebody unhappy. I don’t envy you. But I’m not going to give you a break, either. You could have done nothing. Or better yet, you could have considered free parking – which is a valid model for downtown revitalization. Greenville, Spartanburg and Pendleton in the Upstate, Georgetown on the coast and Bluffton right here in Beaufort all made free parking a part of their downtown rejuvenation programs. The customer-friendly idea is to bring people downtown and encourage them to stay a while, take in some historic or natural sights, walk in the park and maybe even spend some money. I don’t think you even considered the free-parking option. If you did, it wasn’t for long.

Secondly, you should think about the unintended consequences of creating a law enforcement revenue stream. It’s simply bad public policy. The purpose of law enforcement is safety, not revenue. Your ordinance creates a whole new criminal class – downtown visitors. And your private law enforcement arm is ruthlessly vigilant for two reasons: Paying itself; and paying you enough so you let it keep paying itself. And you are on a path of no return. You already have a long-term contract with the parking mercenaries and you’re already financially committed to buying the appropriate toys: Credit card scanner meters and kiosks and cell-phone alerts and such – none of which contributes to policing the city – preventing and solving real crimes against people and property. Instead, it creates resentment toward law enforcement. It begs the question: “Don’t you guys have anything better to do. Go catch some crooks.” I realize the Lanier people aren’t sworn police officers, but they’re enforcing your law on your behalf and you have to explain that fine distinction to the public. Then the public can resent you, too.

Thirdly and finally, I’m still wondering how this revenue stream arrived at the doorstep of the Redevelopment Commission. If I understand correctly, most downtown parking revenue will fund the commission’s efforts to revitalize Uptown, Boundary Street, Bladen Street and other areas that are not downtown. Downtown merchants who support this are cutting their own throats: creating new competition for themselves, discouraging their own customers from shopping downtown, and effectively encouraging their customers to go somewhere else. This is effectively robbing Peter to pay Paul – and Paul has free parking.

This all adds up to customer aggravation. Whatever it costs to park downtown, I’ll probably pay it. But I’ll be aggravated. When the meter expires, I’ll pay the fine. But I’ll be aggravated. And eventually, people just avoid aggravation. So, all other things being equal, visiting downtown or not might be based on the path of least aggravation.

Richard Brooks doesn't live or work or own a business downtown, but spends a lot of time there anyway.

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Beaufort continues adding to its list of literary lights! Y'all remember my conversation, a few issues back, with Tim Johnston about the launch of his new website, Short Story America? Well, Tim is terrific writer himself, and he's just had his short story The Errand published in the March issue of Pine Straw, a popular magazine out of North Carolina. And not only that; the editor, Jim Dodson, has written a wonderful editorial about Short Story America in the same issue. Good on ya, Tim!

As you may know, SSA posts a new short story every Friday ("Story of the Week"), but this Friday, Tim tells me they're doing something a little different. They'll be publishing three flash-fiction (also known as 'short-short') stories. One of them is "The Collector" by Beaufort's own Gail Westerfield! So keep your eyes peeled for some good reading this weekend... 

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