A quarter century ago – in the actual olden days – Jeff and I were wide-eyed newlyweds with big dreams and little sense when we invested our meager savings in an obscure local rag, about a year old, called Lowcountry Bi-weekly. We hated the name – so clunky! – and figured we’d soon go weekly anyway, so we dropped the “bi,” spruced up the design, added some new features, and Lowcountry Weekly was born.

We’re still biweekly. But, hey, it’s only been 25 years. Have patience.

Our first issue, before the name-change

From the beginning, it was a crazy risk. We had no idea what we were doing or how to do it. We had a “vision,” but even that vision was vague. Both “come-yahs,” besotted with all things Beaufort County, we knew we wanted to celebrate its amazing cultural and environmental heritage.

And we wanted to create a space where writers could write. Really write.

But what kind of publication were we, exactly? Not a newspaper, per se, but not a journal or magazine, either. We played with the word “magapaper” for a while. Eventually, we settled on a tagline: Reflections on the good life in coastal South Carolina. It was never meant to sound fancy or high falutin’. By “good life” we meant just that. We did not mean the “high life” nor the “life of Riley.” Just the good life.

We wanted to tell you about our hundreds of visual artists – and show you their fantastic work. For 25 years, we’ve done that in our pages, and especially on our covers. To this day, we never “pre-promise” a cover, nor do we seek out cover art. Our policy has always been to choose our cover at the last minute – just pick our favorite image from the selection of artwork submitted. In 25 years, we have never lacked for cover art. Our challenge is typically choosing between so many great options.

We also wanted to celebrate our theatre performers (so many productions over 25 years!) and our musicians (so many concerts!) and our writers, both local and visiting. (Oh, the readings and signings and literary festivals we’ve covered!)

We wanted to shine a light on our natural environment, our architectural wonders, and our culinary delights. Enter Mark Shaffer, who joined our LCW family around 2008 and stuck with us for many years. A seasoned journalist with impeccable credentials, Mark invented ‘The Backyard Tourist,’ taking readers on adventures up and down the east coast. Through his ‘Moveable Feast’ feature, you dined vicariously at the finest restaurants around; his ‘Life Behind Bars’ took you out drinking; his ‘Burger Beat’ pointed you toward the best burgers in the Lowcountry.

Speaking of food, we’d be nothing without Debbi Covington, our fabulous foodie who’s been writing her regular column here for 20 years. She started as our ‘Everyday Gourmet’ then later began to ‘Celebrate Every Day.’ Somehow, despite her hectic life as Beaufort’s favorite caterer, cookbook writer and personal party-thrower, Debbi has never missed a deadline. There are literally hundreds of her recipes on our website now. I’m in awe of her endless energy and creativity, and she writes like an editor’s dream.

Which brings me to our revolving stable of columnists. From the get-go, we were blessed with an array of terrific contributors who just love to write. Sometimes they were sharing their expertise. (Remember ‘Fashion Granny’? ‘Travel Tapas’? ‘Ask the Yogi’? ‘So You Want to Start a Business’? ‘Civitas’? ‘Calling Card’? ‘Aunt Bossy’?)) And sometimes, they were just sharing their thoughts. (Bernie Moscovitz mused freely in ‘Standpoint.’ Jim Tatum made us laugh with ‘Reflections and Refractions.’ Laura Von Harten, may she rest in peace, wrote colorfully of her lifelong home in ‘My Lowcountry.’)

Vivian Bikulege was in and out of the paper for 20 years, with her poignant reflections on ‘Whatever.’ Laura Packard graced us with her humor and heart (‘What I’ve Learned by Accident’) and Jack Sparacino was a fan favorite. Terry Sweeney wrote the uproarious ‘Happy Winos’ column for a while, then Terry Connor took over with the slightly-more-serious “Drink Globally.”

And let’s not forget our spectacular garden columnists. We’ve been publishing ‘How Does Your Garden Grow?’ since 2009, when Lanier Laney came to us with the idea. In 2011, Lanier passed the baton to Alice Massey and Laura Lee Rose, who lured Will Balk, Jr. into the mix a year or two later. Alice moved away, but she left us a stellar replacement in Sandra Educate, who introduced us to Wendy Hilty. These columnists are all master gardeners and delightful writers and we’ve been privileged to publish them year after year.

Katherine Tandy Brown and Sutty Suddeth started the fascinating ‘Wholly Holistics’ column a few years ago, and now Jared Madison has joined them. Mindy Lucas worked as a Staff Writer for a while, bringing some serious reporter’s chops to the table.

More recently, we’ve added talented columnists Luke Frazier (‘Flow Country’) and Carolyn Mason, and the dynamic duo Lynn and Cele Seldon, who drop in on area restaurants to write ‘The Lowcountry Dish.’

Of course, the oldest “regular” is this column. My baby. I’ve been writing it since before I had my baby, and that baby turns 24 this month. Looking back at those early columns, I feel a tenderness toward the young woman who wrote them, but I hardly know her anymore. Reading forward through them is a revealing, amusing, and often deeply humiliating experience – like reading the story of my adult life. (Some years were more ‘adult’ than others.) For over two decades, I’ve poured everything I have onto this page – done some serious “oversharing,” as my husband likes to say. Five years ago, I called this column “the biweekly bane of my existence and my greatest joy.” That hasn’t changed. Thank you, readers, for indulging me.

From the start, Lowcountry Weekly developed organically, with some wonderful surprises along the way. Pat Conroy wrote his first (and last) restaurant review here (singing the praises of Griffin Market), and Daryl Ferguson’s series ‘Where America Really Began’ evolved alongside the Santa Elena Foundation. We partnered with the Beaufort International Film Festival in its infancy, and though BIFF is our younger sibling – only going on 20 – it feels like we grew up together. The Pat Conroy Literary Center has also been a treasured partner.

At some point, we started an annual Poetry Contest and, later, an annual Short Story Contest. You may not have noticed, but we also have an annual Chicken Issue, featuring chicken art on the cover. Yes, chicken art. We’ve always been a bit kooky.

And did I mention we’ve always been free? For 25 years, we’ve depended solely on advertising, and it hasn’t been easy. Thank goodness Amanda Hanna joined us as Sales & Marketing Manager 10-plus years ago. She’s worked absolute magic, not to mention working her way into the hearts of advertisers all over Beaufort County. Without Amanda and her revolving sales team – we recently welcomed Jere Russo – I doubt we’d still be in print.

And without our advertisers – and you, dear readers – all bets would have been off a long time ago. Thank you for supporting us. Thank you for getting us. Thank you for loving us.

Lowcountry Weekly has always been about love. So, I hope you don’t mind if I end this reflection by thanking my husband, Jeff Evans, who holds it all together. Jeff calls himself the “publisher,” but he’s also the graphic designer, the business manager, the IT guy, the bill payer, the dispute settler, the maker of uncomfortable phone calls, the re-stocker of toilet paper, and the one who takes the trash to the dump. Jeff is our rock and our foundation.

And because we decided long ago that I should work from home while he works from our downtown office, we are still happily married after 25 years.

Thanks for the memories, y’all. Here’s to the next quarter century.