November 2020 Issue

Overcoming Adversity | An Interview with Aiken Mayor Rick Osbon

It has been a privilege to hold the position as Mayor of Aiken for five years now. Has it been challenging? Absolutely, especially due to COVID-19 affecting our world, our country, our state, and our city. But through adversity come self-evaluation and reflection, which lead to innovation, new ideas, efficiencies, productivity, and opportunities to achieve success. Whether a small business, a large manufacturer, or a city, I want you to know — you will be better, stronger, more profitable, and able to reach and help more people because of the challenges we are currently facing. When Team Bella recently asked me about why I love what I do, I immediately

Horsemanship vs. Humanship | Part II

I am sitting here listening to my horses chewing their hay, enjoying the nice cool morning with a cup of strong and bold black coffee from Schaefer Outfitters. I have so much to share with you folks, but trying to compartmentalize in a logical manner. Let’s chat about positive thinking and visualization today. In addition to being a horseman, judge, trainer, and instructor, I’m also an accomplished hockey and baseball player. I didn’t get there from skill alone though. I learned by watching, listening, and studying those much better than myself. Wayne Gretzky, deemed the best hockey player in the NHL, said that he was not the best, but attributed

Traditions!

“But it’s a tradition … because of our traditions, everyone knows who he is and what God expects him to do.” Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof Traditions are funny things. They occur one moment at a time over a lifetime, and often we don’t even realize they are happening. I remember our granddaughter’s face crumbling into tears one Thanksgiving Day when I mentioned that I had prepared a different sweet potato casserole than our usual. The 4-year-old sobbed, “But Mimi! We always have the one with marshmallows on top!” Guess whose Mimi beat a path to the kitchen to make a real sweet potato casserole! Traditions are nothing to

The August Bella Book Club Review | The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo | Aiken Bella Magazine

The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires – by Grady Hendrix

Bella Book Club Monthly Selection by Nichole Miller The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires, by Grady Hendrix, provides an unusual combination of classic horror and old Southern charm. Patricia Campbell is a stay-at-home mom who is trying her best to raise her teenage children and care for her senile mother-in-law. Her husband, a psychiatrist, is never home and is little help, and Patricia’s sanity is starting to run thin. After embarrassing herself at the snooty local ladies’ book club, she walks out to find some of the other members forming a new book group where she is introduced to true crime stories and a group of amazing women

Buying Your First New Car

So I got a new car! Yay! It was much harder than I expected. There were many things I didn’t know I would have to know. So I figured that I would give some advice on the things that I didn’t know so that anyone who is thinking about buying his or her first car could get some insight. The Dealership Finding the place to buy the car was a lot harder than I originally expected. I was pretty much under the impression that I could go to a dealership and they would have exactly what I wanted in the exact color and with all the features I wanted. Wrong!

Employee Engagement in a Pandemic

It seems like an oxymoron. While our teams worry about keeping safe, learn from home, work from home, and alternate schedules, how do we ensure that they remained engaged with their work? Employee engagement has many definitions, but my favorite comes from Wikipedia: An engaged employee has a positive attitude toward an organization and its values. You may want to read that again. More and more employees are placing higher emphasis on organizational values. Employee engagement is infused into every part of the employee life cycle. Whether you’re an employee or an employer, it’s important to ensure that your values are on display, beginning with the hiring process. Keep in

What are Telomeres?

Have you ever wondered why some 60-year-olds look and feel like 40-year-olds and why some 40-year-olds look and feel like 60-year-olds? Thousands of studies have been done on aging, and many are beginning to point to an inescapable conclusion: our lifestyle choices, what we eat, and what we don’t eat may actually affect our aging process. The aging process begins at birth. Lifestyle choices made throughout childhood affect our aging process either positively or negatively. What exactly are telomeres and what role do they play in aging? Telomeres are tiny pieces of DNA that are critical to our ability to stay young as we get older. Dr. Elizabeth Blackburn, University

Traditions in the Time of Covid

Every family has traditions that mark special occasions, and how families handle them builds connections. We humans are amazing creatures of habit. We love the predictable and seek routine even though we frequently complain about being in a rut. We go on vacation only to long for home to sleep in our own beds, see our friends and family, and re-engage in our lives. Every nation, tribe, culture, and subculture establishes rituals and traditions that are unique and help define its individual, family, and group identity. Every family has traditions that mark special occasions, and how families handle them builds connections. One of the many casualties of the COVID restrictions

Lux Libations | Traditional Sours

Jack Rose — not quite a household name when it comes to cocktails, but maybe it should be. At first glance, there isn’t anything special about a cocktail like this. Simple measurements, three ingredients, two of which are quite common (you’ll recognize them if you read last month’s article), but then you taste it. It’s lush, delicious, clean, and complex, and it’s PINK! What more could you possibly want? A traditional “sour” like the Jack Rose utilizes a tried and true cocktail template. The basic 2:3/4:3/4 ratio is darn-near perfection. Don’t believe me? Ever hear of a gimlet? Whiskey sour? daiquiri? (Yeah, that’s right, a daiquiri!) They all use the