Don’t Cry For Me, Carolina

Regular readers of this blog during our British Rotary Friendship Exchange have heard lots about a song called “Carolina.” Sue Read, team member from District 1070, wrote the song for the team to sing at parties while in the United States. Set to the tune of “Oh, Susanna,” it is quite funny.

Lloyd Mackall of Coastal Digital sent me a great video of the team performing the song for us at their farewell party in Pawleys Island. I’ve reproduced the words below. Enjoy!

We come from Eastern England District one oh seventy
We’ve flown across the world South Carolina for to see
The weather it is very nice no mist or fog or rain
And we’re thankful that we missed the very recent hurricane

Carolina oh don’t you cry for me
Cos we’re English, we are happy and we come from Rotary

Now some of you will know us well and some we have not met
And some of us we’re sure that you’re not likely to forget
Yet still we’ve come so many miles from way across the sea
To view just for ourselves this good old former colony

Carolina oh don’t you cry for me
Cos we’re English, we are happy and we come from Rotary

We thank you for the friendship and we thank you for the beer
We thank you for the fellowship of simply being here
And by the time we leave you if you are still quite sane
WE’ve love the chance to welcome you to England once again

Carolina oh don’t you cry for me
Cos we’re English, we are happy and we come from Rotary.

Groovin’ on a Sunday Afternoon

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When the English Rotary Friendship Exchange team was in Columbia, they were treated to a dinner cruise on Lake Murray by the Lexington Rotary Club. Rotarians from both sides of the Atlantic met on the tiny body of water that is Lake Murray for food, good times, dancing, and, apparently, some piloting of the boat around the lake.

If you want to enjoy some music while watching, here’s a fitting tribute to this outing for Team 1070.

It’s a Kind of Magic

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While we’re not done updating the blog for the England 1070/South Carolina 7770 Rotary Friendship Exchange, sadly the exchange came to an end tonight with a farewell party in Pawleys Island at the home of Johnny and Janette Weaver. The team feasted on more frogmore stew and another Southern delicacy I’d entirely forgotten – chicken bog. Clive even had his very own apple pie all to himself.

Past District Governor Alan Walters was on hand to see the fruit of the program he started, and GSE team leader to 1070 Dr. Bill Greene came out to spend the evening with our English guests. The team regaled us with two presentations, one on their District and the other on the community service projects they engage in at home. They sang their very entertaining version of “Carolina” again to resounding applause. To close the evening, we all stood in a circle, clasped hands and sang Auld Lang Syne.

It was fun, and it was bittersweet. John and I commented on how we’ve been working on this exchange for over a year from start to finish, and I will truly miss his regular messages in my inbox. Rotary Friendship Exchange is a kind of magic – one that leads people from around the world into life-altering experiences and true friendships. Please come back in the coming days as I finish uploading all the photos people are sending from around the District and continue to enjoy these lovely people from across the pond.

While you’re at it, click on the video below and bop along to Queen‘s “Kind of Magic,” the background of Team 1070’s presentation. It’s a fittingly upbeat tune to mark the occasion of the conclusion of our first-ever, official Friendship Exchange.

I Love Beach Music

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Last night, we had a great time and the Edisto home of Sam and Stella Hazel. The Walterboro Rotary Club prepared one of the best frogmore stews I’ve ever had. On my third plate full, I sent my husband to get it for me. The team ate their fill of shrimp, sausage, corn on the cob and potatoes, which are the primary ingredients in the stew, along with a healthy helping of Old Bay Seasoning. We enjoyed lingering on the patio until the bugs forced us indoors for dessert.

The Walterboro folks didn’t disappoint in the dessert department, either. The spread included rum cake, pound cake and a generous pan of Southern banana pudding. Many of us tried all three. We watched some college football on television and chatted around in groups until several people decided to turn in.

A knot of us stayed up looking at all of Sam Hazel’s photos from the trip to England, and it was fun to see them together with some of the English team and to relive some of the things we did while there. Most likely, we were abominable slumber party companions, as we loudly recounted details of the trip while others tried to sleep, but it was fun.

Today, the team mostly enjoyed individual walks and swims along Edisto Beach. Peter and Christine told me they walked early this morning, just as the sun came up. Edisto is truly one of our loveliest beaches.

At noon, we all met Russ and Sue Campbell and Brenda and Phil Greer from the outgoing English team to make the transfer to the Pawleys Island Rotary Club. Seewee Cafe was our lunch spot, a dumpy jewel of a seafood restaurant along Highway 17 in Awendaw. I hope to have photos of their afternoon activities in the Pawleys Island area from someone up there tomorrow.

Sambo

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As the official blog narrator, I have no idea what I have just uploaded as photos. I will report that the team moved from Walterboro to Edisto Island today. They had lunch at the Pavilion Restaurant in Couts Lounge facing across the ocean directly across to England.

After lunch, the team toured Botany Bay Plantation, an area controlled by the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources. Jeff Rockwell, a friend of the Walterboro Rotary Club, took the team on a boat tour around Edisto Island. They are still seeking a real, live alligator but have yet to see one.

Tonight, the team had a frogmore stew party at the Edisto home of outgoing team members Sam and Stella Hazel. Lawton Huggins and Bucky McCormack of the Walterboro Rotary Club prepared the lowcountry grub for the team. Although the mosquitoes almost carried us away, we enjoyed it and moved inside to have banana pudding and pound cake for the pudding course.

Tomorrow, the team moves to Pawleys Island. Stay tuned for more photos

Lemme See Your Alligator

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The English Rotary Friendship Exchange team was busy on Wednesday in Walterboro, South Carolina. They were led on a guided walk through a lowcountry swamp, examining cypress trees and various wildlife. While I’m not sure if they saw a real-live alligator, there is a photo of one in the slideshow. You be the judge as to whether or not it is authentic.

The team did an official presentation at the Walterboro Rotary Club, home of area host Sam Hazel, one of the outgoing team members to England. The Walterboro Club meets at lunch in an air conditioned space, surely a break from the morning hiking. We’ve had cooler weather for the team the past couple of days, but I suspect it is still warmer than they’re accustomed to.

In the afternoon, the team toured the Artisan Center in Walterboro and walked around downtown for some shopping. The Christmas shop was obviously a big hit. Maybe a few English readers will be getting more than coal in stockings this year.

Tonight, the Walterboro Club hosted a cookout for the team. From the photos, I wish I’d been there. Did Stella and Sam teach the team to shag?

Thursday, the team moves to Edisto Beach. Yours truly will be there Thursday night and can correct any mistaken representations made on this blog due to overactive imaginations and filling in details without much interviewing.

Oh My Sweet Carolina

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The English team toured the Charleston Air Force Base this morning. I cannot show you those photos, pending security clearance by the military. However, we did lots more today.

In the afternoon, we took a boat ride, hosted by three East Cooper Breakfast Club Rotarians – President Nick Williams, Secretary Warren Pruitt and Board Member Paul Curry. They captained us around Charleston Harbor, Shem Creek, under the Cooper River Bridge and up the Wando River, showing us all sorts of things. The team saw dolphin, pelican, egret, sea gull, schools of fish, shrimp boats, large cargo vessels, and more in our two hour tour.

After our boat ride, we attended a cocktail party at the home of Charleston Lunch Club Rotarian Bill Prewitt and his wife Karen. The team mingled with Charleston Lunch Rotarians and exchanged banners with President Brian Johnson. We were treated to a surprise visit from District Governor Rick Moore as well.

We then quickly showered and headed to Mt. Pleasant Waterfront Park for a party with the East Cooper Breakfast Rotary Club, complete with the only real barbeque – vinegar based pork – and all the trimmings donated by ECB members. As the sun set, we enjoyed banjo music by ECB Rotarian Jim Rowe and mingling on the patio. The team exchanged banners with ECB Rotary President Nick Williams, and they all tried something called a jello shot (google it.) The party was a resounding success, and this typist is (to use an English word) knackered.

This was a long day for the English team, but they’re holding up beautifully, and – I hope – enjoying themselves very much.

They’re Coming to America

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The English team made it to South Carolina on Tuesday – finally – after a 3 hour delay in Washington DC. Welcome to the fun of flying in America! We picked up the team at the airport and had some fun times trying to fit all the luggage into the SUV Alison borrowed for the pick up. Once that was all sorted out, we took John and Lesley to their hosts for a cook out (British readers, this means barbeque), and Roger and Trudy freshened up at Andra’s.

Bill arrived at the airport to retrieve Clive and Sue with a chauffeur sign that named them characters from one of their plays. It was very funny and a good joke on the two of them. Both Jorgen and Vibeke and Peter and Christine made it into town earlier in the day on flights that were more cooperative, with Jorgen and Vibeke coming from Chicago and Peter and Christine from Atlanta.

Alison and Andra took their guests, David and Brenda and Roger and Trudy, to Fish, a local restaurant that has a mystery dinner every Tuesday night. Four of us ordered the mystery, called “Mercy of the Chef,” and enjoyed a three course meal with wine pairings.

The weather is warm in South Carolina, but the humidity has given us something of a break thus far. (The British team may argue otherwise, but they’re not maintaining this blog.) 🙂 Our air conditioners are cranked, and hopefully, everyone will have a blissful night of sleep on their first night in South Carolina.

Wednesday morning, the team meets Mayor Joe Riley first thing, before heading to a private tour of Drayton Hall. Stay tuned to follow their path through Charleston for the next few days.

You’re a Grand Old Flag

Over the next few days, I will try to add some video from the outgoing England trip to remind us all of the lovely people we met. Also, watching these movies is helping me to immerse myself in the cadence and lilt of the English voice again, something that I didn’t realize I’ve missed.

For you non-Rotarians, we Rotarians do something called a banner exchange when we visit different clubs and districts. It is a way for us to give another club a little gift, a reminder that we’ve met. In this video, I exchange district banners with District 1070 District Governor Roger McDermott.