June 2020 Issue

South Carolina’s Jewels That Forever Shine

As a Lowcountry South Carolinian, I have had the opportunity to live in all three sections of our beautiful state: the Lowcountry, the Midlands and the Upstate. Many have enjoyed amazing experiences living in our state since South Carolina has so much to offer — a rich past, a bustling economy, and stunning landscapes. But unlike most people, I traveled and lived in various places across our state wearing a crown, with rhinestones. Welcome to my journey serving our state as an ambassador, as a Miss America Contestant, or more specifically, as Miss South Carolina. It was not the crown that made the difference on my journey across our Palmetto

Our Experience Charleston

“There is nothing like returning to a place that remains unchanged to find the ways in which you yourself have altered.” – Excerpt from Long Walk to Freedom by Nelson Mandela For years I subscribed to Southern Living and was always intrigued by their travel section. But they covered the entire South and featured cities that were too far away for trips with young children. Even today, I prefer to visit places that are within a four hour drive of Aiken. I am surprised at how much there is to see and do within this range. From mountain to ocean, city to countryside, river to lake, the South has it

Publisher’s Letter

“Home isn’t a place, it’s a feeling.” Cecelia Ahern The theme of this month’s Bella is expansion. You can find my partner’s editorial and perspective on the idea of expanding from Aiken to the surrounding area on page 3. My perspective on all this is different and in many ways opposite. My story and experience is one more of contraction than expansion. In my entire life I have never lived in any one location more than four years. I was born in southern Georgia and raised, for the most part, in central North Carolina. I was an Army brat and then spent 20 years in the Army. I have

Cabinet of Curiosities | Depots of Aiken County

When the Charleston to Hamburg Railroad crisscrossed through what is now Aiken County in the early 1830s, the need for train depot stations along the new railroad line soon followed. And where a depot developed, so did a community. In an era prior to the invention of automobiles, the trains that stopped at the depots brought friends, family, groceries, clothing, and other daily essentials to a growing community. Thus, train station depots became an integral part of life. Depots provided travel, supplies, and communication. For a bit of a time travel, we have included a late 1800s photograph of the Aiken passenger depot station, which was located near the intersection

Beyond the Barricade | SRS ties that shaped our community | Part 6

In 2005, Charlie Hansen took Lyddie Broussard on their first date. Over dinner he asked her, “Where do you see yourself when you retire?” She laughed and said, “I am going to be in Aiken, South Carolina! There is nowhere else I would rather be.” With that answer, Charlie knew that Lyddie was a woman he really wanted to get to know better. Married since 2006, Lyddie and Charlie Hansen have made Aiken their permanent home. While she is a Louisiana native and he hails from Massachusetts, they lived in South Carolina earlier in their careers. They both had sought opportunities to move back to South Carolina, and their continued

Psychological Flexibility in the Age of COVID-19

Knowing what we control and what we don’t is a vital part of self-awareness. It has been nearly 3 months since social distancing policies were implemented for South Carolina, and there has been a huge range of personal reactions to the pandemic and to changes in our lifestyles. Nearly everyone has experienced the consequences of job loss, reduced income, and anxiety about the virus and getting sick or dying, to say nothing of adjusting to much more time spent with our families in much closer proximity. National surveys are reporting increases in stress, anxiety, and relationship difficulties. The novelty and uncertainty of the virus have resulted in differences in how

Finding Your Lane: A Quest Worth the Journey

I listen to music often. When I am working on my farm it is common to hear my playlist blasting extra loud on my bluetooth speaker or to see me wearing my earphones as I do my chores. It was a day like this recently when a Tom Misch song captured me. It captured me in a way that made me put the song on repeat for over an hour. After the third replay I added it to one of my playlists, the one entitled My Frequency. His song It Runs Through Me is about why I even have a playlist called My Frequency. On this playlist are some songs

Perspective on Ending My Senior Year in Quarantine

Quarantine Everyone has a different idea on how everyone else is handling it because, let’s face it — we’ve got the time to think about it. So I thought I would share a little bit of my perspective on quarantine. My name is Anaya Armstrong. I have worked for Bella for some months now; among other responsibilities, I am in charge of the Bella Buzz Community Calendar. I am a graduating senior at South Aiken High School and I turned 18 in February. For me quarantine has been a rollercoaster of emotions and feelings. As a senior in high school, my experience with quarantine was at first very hard. I

The Tail of Two Kitties

On a bitter cold snowy New Year’s Day in New Hampshire, my friend Brian accompanied me to Advent Hill Cattery to pick out a Maine Coon kitten. I had done my research on the breed, but I really just wanted a replacement for Misty, my rescue cat who had passed of old age a few weeks earlier. Brian had discouraged me from raising miniature horses instead, and since he ended up carrying most of the kitty litter to the trash, this turned out to be a wise move on his part. The cleaning routine at Advent Hill would have made any coronavirus doctor proud. We disinfected our shoes, scrubbed our