New this year, kickoff Celebrate The Season at Holiday in the Park on Nov. 25 and Nov. 26.

MONCKS CORNER, S.C. – The 12th annual Celebrate The Season charitable event, a family-friendly, month-long holiday festival, takes place daily from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. from Nov. 25 through Dec. 30 (closed Dec. 24 and Dec. 25). Celebrate The Season, organized and hosted by Santee Cooper, has donated more than $1 million to local charities, including the Coastal Community Foundation’s Giving Back to Berkeley Fund, since 2011. Berkeley Electric Cooperative will again serve as the festival’s presenting sponsor.

For only $5 per vehicle, visitors can drive through Celebrate The Season’s mile-long Holiday Lights Driving Tour, where thousands of festive holiday lights complement the natural beauty of Old Santee Canal Park. Participants can take as many trips as they like on the day they purchase their ticket.

New this year, Old Santee Canal Park will host Holiday in the Park from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Nov. 25 and 26. This kickoff event is included with admission to the Holiday Lights Driving Tour, which begins at Santee Cooper Headquarters at 1 Riverwood Dr. in Moncks Corner and ends in the park. Bring your family and friends for food, entertainment, a visit with Santa, and many other activities to help usher in the holiday season.

The beautiful LED lighting displays are powered by 100% Santee Cooper Green Power, which is Green-e Energy certified and meets the environmental and consumer-protection standards set forth by the nonprofit Center for Resource Solutions. Learn more at www.green-e.org.

For those looking for additional weekend festivities, Holiday Fairs at Moncks Corner Regional Recreation Complex, organized by the Town of Moncks Corner, will be held each Friday and Saturday from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. from Dec. 2 to Dec. 17. Admission to the Holiday Fairs, which features holiday-themed entertainment and activities, is free.

Santee Cooper is South Carolina’s largest power provider, the ultimate source of electricity for 2 million people across the state, and one of America’s Best Midsize Employers as named by Forbes. Through its low-cost, reliable and environmentally responsible electricity and water services, and through innovative partnerships and initiatives that attract and retain industry and jobs, Santee Cooper helps power South Carolina. To learn more, visit www.santeecooper.com and follow #PoweringSC on social media.

Tired of leftover turkey yet?

The Thanksgiving holiday weekend has come to an end, which can only mean one thing — it’s time to delve into Christmas season. And one of the best ways to do that is to enjoy a Christmas light show with family and friends.

But why limit yourself to one Christmas light show this year when there are plenty around the Palmetto State to enjoy?

Grab your thermos of hot chocolate and head out on a fun road trip to one or more of these 13 Christmas light shows across the state.

Location: South Carolina State Fair, 1200 Rosewood Dr., Columbia

Open: Dec. 3-26 (Closed Christmas Day): 6 p.m. - 9 p.m.

Cost: $20 per car | $35 for mini-buses (9-25 passengers) | $70 for vehicles over 25 passengers

Website: https://www.scstatefair.org

Location: The Courts at Saluda Shoals Park, 6071 St. Andrews Rd., Columbia

Open: Now through Dec. 31: 6 p.m.-10 p.m.

Cost: $25 per car | $50 12-15 passenger van | $75 16+ passengers

Location: Segra Park, 1640 Freed St., Columbia

Open: Open through Dec. 31 (Closed Christmas Day): 6-9 p.m., Sunday through Thursday and 6-10 p.m. Friday and Saturday

Cost: $12 for adults and $9 for kids now through Dec. 16 (Sunday-Thursday). $14 for adults and $11 for kids (Friday and Saturday).

$16 for adults and $12 for kids on all days from Dec. 17-31.

Location: Cayce City Hall, 1800 12th Street, Cayce

Cost: Visitors are asked to bring canned goods and non-perishable food items for the needy.

Website: https://business.cwcchamber.com/event-calendar/Details/christmas-in-cayce-drive-through-760590?sourceTypeId=Website

Location: Greenville Pickens Speedway, 3800 Calhoun Memorial Highway, Easley

Open: Now through Dec. 31: 6 - 10 p.m., Sunday-Thursday and 6-11 p.m., Friday and Saturday

Cost: $35 per car | $75 for vans | $100 for buses

Location: 150 Rose Valley Blvd., Anderson

Open: Now through Christmas Day: 5:30-10 p.m.

Cost: $10 per car

Location: James Island County Park, 871 Riverland Drive, Charleston

Open: Now through Dec. 31, 5:30-10 p.m.

Cost: $15 online or $20 at gate per car | $50 for vehicle of 16-30 passengers | $150 for vehicle with 31 passengers or more.

Location: 1 Riverwood Driver, Moncks Corner

Open: Now through Dec. 30 (Closed Dec. 24-25), 6-9 p.m.

Cost: $5 per vehicle

Location: College of Charleston, Cistern Yard

Open: Dec. 1-Jan. 2, 6-9 p.m.

Cost: Free

Location: North Myrtle Beach Park and Sports Complex, 150, Citizens Circle

Open: Now through Dec. 30 (Closed Christmas Day), 5:30-9:30 p.m.

Cost: $15 per car when Santa’s Village is closed and $20 per car when Santa’s Village is open. $30 per vehicle with 16-30 passengers. $60 per vehicle with 31 or more passengers.

Location: At Ash Pond Road and Marina Drive, Conway

Open: Dec. 1-24, Thursday-Sunday, 5:30-10 p.m.

Cost: $1 per person

Location: 1215 Cedar Drive North, Surfside Beach

Open: Now through first week of January, 6-11 p.m.

Location: Brookgreen Gardens, 1931 Brookgreen Drive, Murrells Inlet

Open: Now through Jan. 1, 4-9 p.m.

Cost: $30 for adults and $14 for children (members) | $35 for adults and $17 for children (non-members)

Website: https://www.brookgreen.org/events/nights-thousand-candles?_ga-ft=1ZWzua.0.0.0.0.COKfWM-1PfM55v.0.0&utm_campaign=vmb-website&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=visitmyrtlebeach

A massive crane stood above the new structure on Wall Street in Moncks Corner. Attached to the crane was a hose that spit concrete into seams to form walls and eventually the entire frame to a house for a mother and her three children.

It’s the first build of its kind for Berkeley Habitat so an event called “Behind the Build” was held on Nov. 22, to celebrate the time-saving task. Habitat partnered with Knight’s Ready Mixed and Ready Mixed Concrete Association’s, Build with Strength Coalition. The structure is made with insulated concrete forms (ICFs).

“It’s the first ICF house built by Habitat in South Carolina. It is a fortified home, has concrete in the walls. It earthquake resistant, it’s hurricane resistant. It’s probably one of the strongest built homes in Moncks Corner,” said George Druyos, President and CEO of Habitat for Humanity of Berkeley County.

Not only is it strong the technique in efficient. Druyos said a traditional wooden frame, would normally take a month to erect because of the organization’s dependence on volunteer workers. The frame for the home on Wall Street took just two-and-a-half days to form.

“It looks like a cinder block on the inside except it’s made out of foam with a webbing inside. So you put the block up and you put rebar inside of that and then you fill it with concrete,” said Druyos. “The end result for the home owner is they have a much less expensive energy bill. They save on their homeowner’s insurance and they have stronger more weather-resistant home.”

The material is also noncombustible. The organization has been working for some time to find a new way of building homes to make them stronger and more energy efficient and it looks like they found their product.

And others are in on the action as well. Habitat reports the project is part of a wider initiative between Build with Strength and Habitat for Humanity International to construct more than 50 sustainable concrete homes in 50 states in five years. Since the initiative launched in February 2021, 47 homes have been constructed in 27 states.

A portion of Habitat for Humanity’s mission statement is that it offers decent affordable housing opportunities for families in need willing to work hard, to help revitalize neighborhoods and build stronger communities. This new technique shows strength both literally and figuratively.

For years a new Berkeley County courthouse has been needed. The current facility on California Avenue in Moncks Corner is cramped, cluttered and when it comes to restrooms and courtrooms, there is not enough of either. The court system in Berkeley County has out grown the building.

To meet the need county officials have decided to build a new courthouse on Belt Drive in Moncks Corner. Council initially put together a courthouse committee and along with the clerk of court and court security, a plan was devised to move ahead.

Clerk of Court, Leah Guerry Dupree said the upgrades will include, of course, more courtrooms.

Also, she said, there will be more elevators, secure entrances for detainees, a secure route through the building for judges and employees, not shared by detainees, which is currently not the case. And more holding cells to separate the juveniles from the adults.

In June of this year, it was time to hand the ball off to county procurement for architecture and engineering plans. Procurement’s job was to scour the country to find the best firm to design the $50-milllion investment. For five-months, numerous firms were considered and it was finally narrowed down to one — but Council believes somebody fumbled.

At the Council meeting on Nov. 14, procurement staff took their good news to the governing body that an out of state firm named Studio 8 Design/HDR has been chosen at a cost of $4.3 million, all that was needed was Council’s approval. Members were told the firm has designed several courthouses in states all over the country. But South Carolina wasn’t mentioned as one of them.

“What I would like to see Council do is go around and look at some of the projects, that this firm has done, the architectural and engineering part of it. Let’s see it first hand,” Councilman Jack Schulknight said to presenters.

Council member Josh Whitley then offered his concerns on that idea. “That would be difficult because they haven’t done any in the state of South Carolina,” he said.

He asked about another firm that was passed over on how many they designed in South Carolina — the answer was seven.

“So you have one firm that has by far and away done multiple, substantial courthouse projects in South Carolina and you have one that’s done zero,” Whitley said.

“This is a concern to Council,” said Schurlknight. “A huge concern to Council. A huge concern” added Whitley.

“A firm from California can come and do architectural services and they not get it right they go back to wherever they came from and no big deal,” said Whitley.

Whitley and the other members agreed that the firm chosen should have more ties to the state in order hold them more accountable if something goes wrong. Although the procurement speaker noted having done work in South Carolina was never pointed out as a stipulation in the search. Council also added that there has been a lack of communication from procurement staff and those on the courthouse committee during the process.

Council then chose to go into executive session for the purposes of personnel and the awarding of the contract.

Upon return, the motion was denied to award the firm the contract based on its lack of experience in South Carolina. After months of searching, bidding and interviews the effort to move the project along stalled. While to project is still in the works, it seems like it’s back to square one in the hunt to for design plans for the long overdue new Berkeley County Courthouse.

Sixty-four years in the game and Moncks Corner’s Customs Four and Friends music band still keeps the crowds flocking to their shows — and dancing in the aisles.

While many of the components of the entertainment combo have changed since 1958, drummer Gene Cribb and saxophonist/vocalist Truman Metts have been rocking the stage since day one.

Another aspect of the band that’s remained status quo, according to Cribb, is the ensemble’s dedication to Carolina beach music, which to the uninitiated has nothing in common with anything ever released by The Beach Boys. Instead, in describing the “shaggin’” beats of the Carolina beach genre, the longtime drum master defined it as an upbeat mix of rock, R&B and pop that features similarities to the Carolina Shag, which has its own rhythmic step/shuffle dance that complements the sound.

Other past and present practitioners of the Carolina beach melody include: The Tams, The Drifters and The Catalinas.

In the early days, when the Customs Four were strictly a quartet with no friends, the group featured the drums, piano, sax and guitar. But as more performers began joining the fray, the music team eventually grew to eight members, including a female led singer (Kristina Gaskins), along with additional pieces (sax, keyboards, drums, trumpet, trombone and bass).

The covers heard at a Customs Four and Friends outing might include a lot of the same 60s, 70s and 80s toe-tappers played by several other town and bar bands, but unlike so many other performers, the spectators at any one of the local band’s concerts can often be seen on their feet and grooving like nobody’s watching.

“It’s what we play. We look out to the audience, they’re the same age as we are, and I’m 76. We try to satisfy [the kids] as well,” said Cribb about his popular act whose following spans generations.

While Cribb and company normally travel throughout the South Carolina cities of Myrtle Beach, Greenville, Spartanburg and Clemson, they also once ventured outside the Palmetto State decades ago.

Cribb recalls his music crew entering a 4-H contest and winning county and state competitions and earning a trip to Chicago to compete on a national stage ... until that is they found out they were too young to vie for the big prize.

“So, they paid us $20 a day to entertain a bit. We played a bit at different hotels there too,” he mentioned.

Recently, the Customs Four and Friends have been a Monday night staple in Downtown Moncks Corner, where they’ll set up shop on Main Street and play for hours to a crowd of adoring locals sitting back, bobbing their heads and clapping their hands in their individual lawn chairs.

The self-effacing Cribb attributes the hometown popularity to the fact that “there’s not a whole lot to do in Moncks Corner,” but remains staunchly supportive of his hometown and neighbors when it comes to youngsters who flash potential. In terms of musical talent, in fact, the happily married father and grandfather assures that his Berkeley County town is a hotbed for skilled entertainers.

The kind of advice he’ll typically dispense to young musicians on the rise — including fellow drummers — is to maintain a high level of consistency in honing their craft.

“To be a top-notch drummer, and this is my opinion, you really need to learn the drum rudiments — that’s one of the most important things — and just keep practicing,” added Crib, who counts Cozy Cole and Buddy Rich as a couple of legendary drummers he admired coming up through the ranks.

The now retired Cribb worked in a variety of roles in his adult life, such as operating a burial company in Summerville and also working for Berkeley Electric. But despite his hard work, the local son always found time to get together with his music buddies, whether that meant playing weddings or performing for local organizations in town.

In his 64 years as a professional, he and his bandmates have always made time for rehearsal, which has been one of many elements that have allowed Customs 4 and Friends to produce a flawless sound to the layman listener, while also creating a festive atmosphere that helps folks forget about real-world problems for a while.

Since calling it a career at Berkeley Electric, Cribb and wife, Esther, have opened the Music Man BBQ restaurant, which has keeps the septuagenarian active and on his toes as he continues to keep Carolina beach music alive and well — with the help of his friends of course.