Communities

Gen Z refers to young people born between 1996 and 2015. They are unique and face different challenges. They are important in shaping the future and there are a lot of them: 67.17 million in the United States and 2 billion in the world. One common theme associated with Gen Z is the idea of growing up with a remarkable degree of freedom. Unlike previous generations, many Gen Z individuals have unprotective parents who provide them with more autonomy and independence. As a result. Members of Generation Z often start pursuing their interests and developing skills at a young age, benefiting from early independence. Young people in Generation Z have more freedom to use the internet, but that comes with some problems. They are growing up faster because they can see things that are meant for adults, like sex videos. This is causing them to lose their childhood. View On Instagram In response to these challenges, GroundZero in Myrtle Beach emerges as a vital solution. This organization provides a space where Gen Z can find the balance between freedom and guidance. It provides a nurturing community, mentorship, and resources for youth navigating the intricacies of growing up with insufficient parental protection. GroundZero helps teenagers find their way in life by giving them both independence and guidance. In today’s world, the youth enjoy considerable freedom, and this organization provides essential guidance and structure for their success. “Comedy for a Cause” featured a diverse lineup of talent. This ranged from the perception artist Sean Emory to the director of student strategies Stuart Hall and the hilarious Jonnie W. Join us next year for another fantastic event, or visit Ground Zero to learn more about our mission and how you can get involved.

Experience Spine-Tingling Fun: Top 10 Events in “Halloween, SC” Halloween is just around the corner, and if you’re in the Conway, SC area, you’re in for a thrilling treat. After all, there is a reason they renamed the city to “Halloween, SC” for the month! From pumpkin patches to haunted trails, ghost walks to pumpkin parades, there’s something for everyone to enjoy this season. So, get your costumes ready and prepare for a hair-raising time as we count down the top 10 ways to celebrate the spooky season in 2023! Pumpkin Patch Fun (Sept 23- Oct 31) Start the Halloween festivities at a local pumpkin patch. Pick the perfect pumpkin for your jack-o’-lantern or simply enjoy the vibrant fall atmosphere. Halloween Home Decoration Contest (Oct 2- Oct 27) Join the Halloween spirit by decorating your home with the spookiest and most creative decor! Compete against your neighbors and win fabulous prizes. Halloween Costume Float (Sat Oct 14th 10:00am) Grab your costumes and inflatable pool floats, and let the Waccamaw River carry you away in this whimsical Halloween tradition. Downtown Conway Alive Ghost Walk (Oct 18- Oct 23 10:00 am) Embark on a ghostly journey through downtown Conway, guided by storytellers sharing chilling tales of the city’s past. Spooky River Tours(Oct 16- Oct 30 7:30pm-9:00pm) Take a daring boat tour along the Waccamaw River, where you might just encounter some eerie sights. View On Instagram Forest of Fear Haunted Trail (Thur Oct 19- Sat Oct 21 6:00pm- 9:00pm) For the brave souls, venture into the Forest of Fear for a spine-tingling experience in the woods. Halloween Golf Cart Parade (Sat Oct 28- 9:00 am) Decorate your golf cart with spooky flair and join the Halloween parade, a unique and fun way to celebrate. Halloween Pickleball Tournament (Sat Oct 14- 9:00 am) Show off your skills on the court with a Halloween twist. Dress up and play pickleball with fellow ghouls and goblins. Family Fall Festival (Sat Oct 28th 4:00pm – 6:00pm) Enjoy a day of family-friendly fun with games, activities, and sweet treats for everyone. Haunted Movie Nights (Fri Oct 27th 6:00pm) Wrap up the Halloween season with chilling movie nights featuring classic horror films – just don’t forget the popcorn! Conway truly is the place to be during the month of October, offering a mix of spooky thrills and family-friendly festivities. Get ready for a hauntingly good time and create unforgettable memories with your loved ones.

A Different Way to Celebrate the Holidays by Melissa LaScaleia Operation Christmas Child is a subset of Samaritan’s Purse, a worldwide, faith-based, disaster-relief organization that operates out of Boone, NC. Billy Graham started Samaritan’s Purse in 1970, with the intention of offering support in crisis areas to those in need. After Hurricane Florence struck South Carolina in 2018, the organization was active in Socastee for two years, rebuilding numerous homes. Operation Christmas Child began in 1993 as an effort to support children in war-torn Bosnia by distributing shoeboxes to them filled with simple gifts, during what was an otherwise bleak holiday season. With less than a month to mobilize, several communities that first year collectively sent 28,000 boxes. Every year since, Samaritan’s Purse has collected shoeboxes filled with toys, school supplies, and hygiene items, from the public for children around the world. Since 1993, more than 198 million children in more than 170 countries and territories have received an Operation Christmas Child shoebox. In Horry and Georgetown counties, more than 175 churches participate in the program every year, helping to spread the word among the community, as well as acting as drop-off locations for the finished boxes. Last year, both counties together netted a total of thirty thousand shoeboxes. You don’t have to be religiously affiliated or a member of a church to volunteer or donate a box— the program is open to all. And for those who aren’t mobile or can’t get out and about with ease, you can build a box online at the Samaritan’s website for $25, and fully customize the contents, including with a note, to say hello to the child who will receive it. Most people fill a box with items themselves, and the website has guides to help people pick age-appropriate toys as well as the most-needed supplies. When you drop off your box, you’ll receive a tracking number so you can follow your box to the country in which it lands. People can also donate one or two items, and those can be added to boxes that need more items by volunteers at central distribution centers. Dale Reeves, a retired teacher and coach from Camden, SC, is the Horry County area coordinator for Operation Christmas Child. He has a background in disaster relief and has been a volunteer with the program for the past seven years. “I felt like I was just called to do this,” he says. “We get to help children— most of whom have never even received a gift, in communities that otherwise would not have a lot.” Locally, the program has thirty year-round volunteers who make things happen, as well as a bevy of short-term volunteers who help during national collection week in November— the week when the boxes are dropped off, processed and shipped to a central location before heading overseas. And they’re always looking for more volunteers. Wife and husband team, Trish and Don Sheehan are working their first year as drop-off coordinators for Garden City Baptist Church. “Each year I took our girls shopping so they could each build a box,” Trish says. “One year, my husband did it with us and he had so much fun he made a point to do it with us every year after that. Even after they were grown, he still wanted to do it.” But arguably it’s the recipients who have the most fun receiving their presents. Testimonials from adults reminiscing about the boxes they received abound on Samaritan’s website. And there’s also one from a Grand Strand local. Tania grew up in Communist Romania, and received a box of colorful crayons in her Christmas box when she was ten years old— she had never seen anything so beautiful. The school supplies inspired her, and today, she’s a special education teacher living in Horry County. Creating a Christmas box is now a family tradition that she and her husband and children complete each year, knowing the impact it can make. Call Us Website

A Pickleball Aficionado and Myrtle Beach Inspiration by Melissa LaScaleia Bill Hunsberger lives in Leitersburg, Maryland. But the indomitable 87-year-old vacations at his home away from home in Myrtle Beach several times a year. And when he does, he’s almost certain to play pickleball. The sport is now the fastest-growing in the country, claiming a following of almost 5 million and counting; the number of players has nearly doubled since 2014. Pickleball has ushered in a new era of fitness and fun, and has begun to replace tennis in popularity amongst younger and older generations alike. It’s similar to tennis in that it’s played on a court with a net, but opponents use paddles rather than rackets. It’s quick, good exercise, and lends itself to greater sociability around the court because of the way players rotate through the game; and it doesn’t require you to run as far as in tennis. The game has rapidly become a household name across the U.S., but perhaps nowhere more so than in Myrtle Beach, where an active baby-boomer generation has readily embraced it. “I never heard about it until 2013 when it was introduced to me at the Hagerstown, Maryland YMCA,” says Bill. “I knew pretty quickly it was something I wanted to pursue; I like racket sports. It started spreading around the local community and soon there were a lot of us playing.” Around the same time, Bill’s wife, Sylvia, developed Alzheimers disease. As her disease progressed and nurses came to their home during the week to assist, Bill would go to the Y and play pickleball to clear his mind. “It gave me the chance to talk to other people,” he says. “It’s a very social sport— way more so than tennis. I found out other people were also struggling with problems, and they found being out and about with other people was good for them too.” Bill has been active his entire life. He jumped horses until he was 15; when he was in his twenties he took up skiing, and was on ski patrol for eighteen years. He also pursued sailing, windsurfing, hang gliding, tennis, and now, pickleball.  “I’m not a big guy, and I like any sport where competition and skill are more important than the size of the individual,” he says. “With pickleball, success is not so much about size as it is team effort. It’s an easy game to learn, but like any sport, you have to practice to develop skill.”  Bill has exerted his competitive side by playing in pickleball tournaments almost from the get-go. In 2016, he met his partner, Pothen Varughese, who’s a year younger than he, and the two have been undefeated ever since—  playing in eight senior tournaments to date. They won the gold in Men’s Doubles at the National Senior Games in 2017, 2019 and 2022. “A lot of people tell me: ‘Pickleball saved my life,’” Bill says. “People get addicted to the game, but I think what really hooks them is the social aspects and feeling good around others. It’s common for me to hear how people have lost spouses or are struggling with something. Being engaged with this sport— where your competitiveness comes out and it gets more intense as you progress— it helps you physically and mentally. And you can have fun while exercising. Men and women can play together so it fosters greater diversity and social interaction.” Sylvia passed away two and a half years ago. The last five years, the couple weren’t able to travel much more than to visit their property in Myrtle Beach a few times per year. Bill’s family has owned well over 500 acres of oceanfront property in Myrtle Beach since 1928, and he remembers taking regular family vacations to their small seaside cottage throughout his childhood. “My dad had to put a road in to get to the beach house,” Bill says. “You couldn’t see anybody in either direction when you were on the beach, that’s how deserted it was.”  The original cottage took a beating with Hurricane Hazel in 1954. And successive hurricanes inspired his family to relinquish their oceanfront property for an inland plot.   “Now I have a condo here,” Bill chuckles. “And when I come down there’s lots of places to play pickleball. I won the silver medal in singles this year in Myrtle Beach for the age 80 + bracket. But I actually took home the gold because I was the only one who showed up for my bracket of 85+.” Bill is an inspiration not only for his peers, but for younger generations as well. Most of the people he plays with are below the age of seventy-eight. “People often say things to me like, ‘If you can play it at your age, I can play it at my age,’” he says. “Or, ‘I hope I can be as good as you are when I get to be your age.’ I guess people think it’s kind of special to live to be this age and still be so active. But I’ve always had that competitive spirit in me— the drive to do well. And exercise, to me, is like preventative medicine.” Bill and Pothen hope to continue their undefeated streak at the National Senior Games in Pittsburg in 2023 to include a fourth gold medal. And Bill has another goal as well: “I aspire to get an endorsement from Metamucil,” he says. “I had tried before but it always fell through! I’m hopeful for the future though.” For endorsements of Bill Hunsberger please contact: 843-310-9140.

A Life Fully Lived and a True Love Story by Melissa LaScaleia Lynn Mueller was born on February 2, 1941 in Cincinnati, Ohio. He graduated from the University of Cincinnati with a bachelor’s degree in accounting and received an MBA in finance. “As an undergrad, I was elected president of the senior class and president of the student body,” says Lynn. “That same year I won the Mr. Bearcat award which is given to the outstanding senior. It was a big deal back then and a highlight of my younger years.” Lynn was awarded a teaching fellowship as a doctoral candidate at The George Washington University. “Afterwards, I founded the most successful political consulting firm in America at the time, Robert-Lynn Associates in Washington, D.C. in 1968,” he says. “Then I went to NY and worked with the Speaker of the Assembly. In 1991, I formed a business consulting firm, Decisions Strategies Group, and worked with national corporations and multi-national corporations in England, France, Switzerland.” In September 2001, he and his wife, Maria, came to Myrtle Beach for a vacation. “We started in Charleston and drove up the coast to Pawleys Island,” she says. “9/11 happened while we were there, and we decided that it was time to think about moving from New York. We bought a historic home in Georgetown that we refurbished, and lived there for twelve years. “But we really craved the urban lifestyle, the restaurants, theatre and walking, and we decided that the Market Common really fit our lifestyle. “So we moved there in 2017, and we’ve been here ever since. We just love living here. We’ve met dear friends. And boldly— we sold our cars. We take Ubers if necessary, or catch rides with friends.” While living in Georgetown, Lynn was very active in the community. He wrote a monthly column for The Georgetown Times on economics, government and politics. He served as president of the Georgetown Business Association, which was formed to promote the area, but wasn’t adding as much value as Lynn knew it could. After becoming president of the association, Lynn raised $30K to have Clemson University’s Center for Economic Development conduct a charrette for the area— three days of planning and assessment in which they interviewed stakeholders and forged ideas about how to develop the area economically. For the ensuing two years, Lynn acted as the chairman of the steering committee instituted to implement those ideas. He also acted as chairman of the board of the Friendship Place, a nonprofit that helps people overcome poverty. “We found a model that successfully took people from welfare to employment and it changed the organization entirely,” Lynn says. “The program is called Georgetown Works.” “Lynn is the smartest and most generous person I know,” Maria says. “He is always willing to reach out and help anyone, to share his knowledge and expertise to help others be successful.” The two were living in Albany when their paths crossed. “Ours is a true love story,” Maria says. “People often ask me how we met. We both worked for the NY State Legislature. Lynn was chief of staff and I worked in the Counsel’s office.” “We knew each other from afar,” Lynn says. “One evening after several political receptions, we ran into each other on the street, almost literally, and finally had a conversation; three hours later I was madly in love.” “I lived three blocks away from where we were standing, and when I bid him goodnight, I told him I was going to walk home,” says Maria. “And he said, ‘I’ll walk you.’ And never again did I walk alone. “At Lynn’s 80th birthday, my son said to Lynn: ‘I wish you and my mother had met sooner, that you had gotten together earlier in your lives…so you could have been happier longer.’”

by Emily Smith The time of year for holiday celebrations has arrived, with few areas of the Grand Strand lighting up quite like North Myrtle Beach does. This strip of the coast is known for a number of holiday events that begin this month and last through the New Year. No matter what or how you celebrate, there are a myriad of activities to enjoy.  The Alabama Theater in Barefoot Landing kicks off the season with The South’s Grandest Christmas Show. It begins November 1 and plays daily through New Year’s Day. This production is sure to put everyone in a party mood, sporting, as it does, exuberant dances, singing, and dazzling special effects. Visit www.alabama-theatre.com for more information and ticket times and prices. On November 19 at 7pm, walkers, joggers, and perambulators of all kinds can catch a first glimpse of The Great Christmas Light Show when they sign up for Dashing Through the Glow, a two mile non-competitive walk/run through the holiday lights. Get in the spirit and wear your best holiday themed outfit. Prizes will be given for best dressed individual and best dressed family. The course is held at the North Myrtle Beach Park and Sports Complex, and ends at Santa’s Village, where you can enjoy hot chocolate, rides, and visits with the big man himself.  The Light Show officially opens for touring nightly, November 22-December 30 (closed Thanksgiving and Christmas Day), weather permitting. Visitors can drive through this spectacular enchanted holiday land, which features over 2 million lights along a 1.5 mile drive. More than 500 magical light displays, some up to 55 feet tall, have been custom-made for this event; and this year the town has prepared thirty new animated scenes for all to experience. For more information about Dashing Through the Glow and the Great Christmas Light Show, visit them on the web.  Finally, on the last Saturday of the month, the Intracoastal Waterway will light up from the Little River Inlet down to the Dock Holidays Marina. Each year since 1984, the Intracoastal Christmas Regatta provides a decked-out yacht parade to delight watchers on the shores. The parade runs from 5-7pm, when the last of the decorated boats sails away. Hosted by Yachts for Tots, this event also supplies multiple collection points for unwrapped gifts to be donated to local charities. Visit www.christmasregatta.com for spectator locations and donation spots. 

Susan Chandler King was a friend, teacher, an inspiration, and more than anything, a great mom & wife. The community lost a very special woman this past January. Join us as we celebrate the life of Susan Chandler King.

All throughout the summer and now into fall, The Market Common opens its doors, so to speak, to an outdoor Farmers Market up and down Deville Street. Written by Ashley Daniels.