Getting my feet wet.

The following is my first column. In other words I was getting my feet wet.

When Caroline Spencer tells you about the house she and her boyfriend, David Rutherford are renovating at 204 Meridian Avenue, her eyes light up and the excitement in her voice is infectious. They have taken on this task because she fell in love with the house and with North Augusta. Caroline and David moved to Evans to take advantage of all the new developments, the stores and the restaurants. Now they feel as if Columbia County has grown too big too fast and have found our city to be just the right spot to settle down. Caroline grew up in a small Virginia town and told me this place reminded her of home. She said the idea of being able to walk any place they wanted to go appealed to her small-town roots.
At this point they are still in the demolition stage, doing most of the work themselves in their spare time. David is in the Army, Caroline is employed at Fort Gordon, as a result they don’t have a lot of spare time but what they have done so far is impressive. Her father renovates houses in Virginia so she does have some experience but David has never done any work like this and told Caroline, “just tell me what to do.”
I stopped one morning to chat with them and to be nosey as to what they were going to do with the place thinking they had probably bought it to “flip” but I was pleasantly surprised to find that they planned to move in once the work was completed. The two of them had nothing but nice things to say about North Augusta and our growth and were pleased that we still had that small town feel. I’m a transplant myself so I was tickled that they shared my opinion of the place I fell in love with ten years ago. We spoke about the River project, our new stores and restaurants and agreed that with proper foresight, North Augusta could grow and prosper but keep the small town feel and the welcoming people. Caroline said Columbia County was just too big and too impersonal and after two years of searching found this house knowing from the minute she saw it that this was the one. It has not been without its problems; the house was infested with termites leading them to tear out all the walls, put in new headers. They then framed new walls to open up the living room, dining room and kitchen areas for a more spacious welcoming feeling. Caroline also praised our city inspectors, especially Steve Smith, saying they had been a tremendous help to her. It’s coming along, slowly, but I have a feeling that when it’s done and others see what they have accomplished many will follow suit.
Knowing that they had little time to work, I thanked her for speaking with me and was on my way but every chance I get I will ride by to see what they have accomplished. And that is just one of the good things going on in my neighborhood.