Author: Margaret Evans

The national event-planning firm makes its home on Charles Street   Have you been curious about the colorful new sign on Charles Street that announces Fandango Productions South? Wondering what it is that Fandango is all about? Well, Fandango, in one word, is a marvel. They are a company that is bringing extraordinary ideas to Beaufort and the Southeast.

  Life is full of moments that define us, but I wonder whether those moments define our lives and who we are? For example: If someone wins a million dollars in the lottery, isn’t the winner automatically redefined as a millionaire? Likewise, when someone adopts a child, aren’t they immediately reclassified as a parent? The list goes on. But what happens when someone receives a medical diagnosis? How does this redefine them? As sick? It is a question I think about often and my answer usually changes with the tide.

When I tell people I’ve created a non-profit organization called Help the Hoo-Hahs, there is inevitably that look of confusion, followed by questions. I chose the word Hoo-Hahs as a broad term to describe that area below the belt for women. Let’s face it, most people aren’t comfortable using anatomically correct terms like ovarian or cervical, and certainly not vaginal. Then go and add the word cancer and you’ve really made people uncomfortable. However, the harsh reality is, every 7 seconds a woman is diagnosed with a gynecological cancer. More than 90,000 women will be diagnosed this year and more than 22,000 will die.

September 14 to 18, 2011 marks the 2nd annual Lieutenant Dan Weekend, a four-day event that honors severely wounded veterans from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. From Beaufort to Ridgeland, Hilton Head to Fripp Island, Bluffton, Lady’s Island, and Parris Island, neighbors and merchants have banded together earning money for this worthy cause.