Wedding & Event Venue Near Georgetown, SC.

GEORGETOWN — Elizabeth Humphrey’s passion for mentoring students in Orangeburg County recently earned her a trip to not only Washington, D.C., but also to the White House.

Since graduating from Claflin University in 2005, the Georgetown County native has dedicated her career to serving others through education or by just simply lending a hand. Those are two values the 41-year-old received from her parents growing up in rural Plantersville.

Georgetown Times

“They instilled in me the value of education, helping people, being humble and keeping God first,” Humphrey said. “Those are the biggest things I can say my parents did in shaping my life to where I am today.”

Humphrey grew up amid oak trees on 30 acres of land in Plantersville. One of her fondest memories is of her father cutting grass surrounded by chickens and the family’s dog.

“My dad is a pastor, so every Sunday we were in church no matter what,” Humphrey said. “But sitting out there in the summertime with a glass of sweet tea, or just running up and down the yard. Me and my sister used to ride bikes until it was dark. It was just the experience of just being at peace out there surrounded by open land. Just beautiful.”

Yet the Georgetown High School graduate never had an inkling that one day she would walk through the doors of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue N.W. that has been the official residence and workplace of every U.S. president since John Adams.

Currently an instructional coach at Robert E. Howard Middle School, Humphrey was invited along with other women from across the United States to the White House for the "Know Your Value Event" with First Lady Dr. Jill Biden and MSNBC's Mika Brzezinski. She was recognized for her dedication to mentoring students in the Orangeburg County School District.

“I did an interview with the National Education Association maybe six months ago, but I never heard back from them,” Humphrey said. “They asked me how I mentored students in my current role as a teacher; as an instructional coach, and that was it. I never heard anything else.”

But one day — out of the blue — Humphrey received a phone call from her friend Sherry East, president of The South Carolina Education Association.

“She was like, ‘Liz, you are going to the White House.’ I was like, ‘No way, not me,’” Humphrey said. “So about two days after the call, I got the invite. I was like 'Is this real?'”

Reality set in Jan. 10 when Humphrey stepped inside the doors of the White House and was greeted with a tea party before going into the East Room where Brzezinski interviewed Biden and answered questions from the invitees.

“Just being inside the White House and the East Room was amazing,” Humphrey said. “All of the people greeted us with a smile, even the security guards and security detail.”

Humphrey said the White House is bigger than it looks on television, describing it as pristine, bright and very neat. She was able to observe the portraits of all of the past presidents.

East said she was not surprised that Humphrey was invited to the White House event.

“She is a very dedicated educator,” East said. “She goes above and beyond for her students and her community. I first came across Liz when she was the district teacher of the year. I met with her and worked with her on a project to create a clothes closet for students in her school. She sees a need and she goes for it.

“If a student’s computer breaks down, she goes to their house. She worries about her students. She becomes part of their lives.”

Humphrey, who will graduate in May with a specialist degree in principalship, said her love for service started years ago when she came to Orangeburg County as a science teacher.

“My most impactful experience was helping one of my students that lost their home and everything," she said. "Me and a couple of teachers here were able to provide clothing, toiletries, kitchen appliances —whatever they needed. It helped to make them comfortable until the government could kick in assistance to help them recover.”

Every year during Christmas, Humphrey’s class of 30 students would adopt a family, providing gifts and clothing. That effort inspired others and soon the entire school participated.

Humphrey has a long list of honors in her career including teacher of the year, 40 under 40 recognition from Claflin University, NAACP Educator of the Year award and many others.

She credits her parents, Ben and Willie Mae Grate; husband Albert and two of her elementary school teachers, Angela Prioleau and Hermenia Bell, for being role models in her life.

“They (Prioleau and Bell) came to work every day, always dressed professionally and had a great mindset to teach students how to learn," she said. "They were amazing.”

These days Humphrey continues to mentor students as well as recruit more young women to become teachers in South Carolina. She also strives to instill the same values into her 7-year-old daughter Ashley.

“She was excited to see her mom on TV,” Humphrey said. “She was like, 'I want to be next.’ Hopefully I will rub off on her that one day her and other girls that I impact can sit in that White House seat and just be amazed.’”

Humphrey also has advice for the youth of Georgetown County.

“Know your why,” Humphrey said. “That’s instilled in my students here. Love yourself and always be willing to help others because you never know what somebody is going through.”

Sign up for weekly roundups of our top stories, news and culture from the Myrtle Beach area. This newsletter is hand-curated by a member of our Myrtle Beach news staff.

GEORGETOWN — Marie Livingston has big shoes to fill, but the Georgetown native is more than ready for the challenge.

Livingston recently took over as executive director of Friendship Place from Charlie Ball, who retired after 24 years at the helm of the Christian-based nonprofit whose mission is to help break the cycle of poverty in Georgetown.

“I heard a smart man several years ago say something to the effect of, you know when you’ve taken something as far as you can take it,” Ball said. “It didn’t make sense to me at that point, but 24 years later and a fantastic new facility, a great capital campaign, great leadership; gosh, it’s time for fresh eyes to take a look at it and take it into the future.”

That set of fresh eyes belongs to Livingston, a 40-year-old wife and mother of four who additionally co-owns a logistics company with her husband Quentin.

Ball knows Livingston’s father, Commander Franklin Rutledge, who runs the Low Country Veterans Group in Georgetown. He recalled one day years ago when Rutledge hinted to him that Livingston was in the process of moving back to the area from out of state.

“He knew that we were looking for someone to help us who had energy and passion,” Ball said.

Georgetown Times

It is actually the second round at Friendship Place for Livingston, who started in 2017 as a program lead for the organization’s Georgetown WORKS initiative and stayed until 2019, when she went to work for the city of Georgetown. Livingston came back in 2022 as the associate director but remained engaged even though she was away.

“We were ecstatic when she came back," Ball said. "She is the perfect fit. She knows and loves the organization. She’s got the right personality and drive for it and I’m just so excited for Friendship Place and what it is going to do with her leadership.”

Friendship Place has served the Georgetown community for more than two decades. It helps people move from crisis to self-sufficiency through programs with names such as EATS, LEARNS and PRAYS.

Livingston said the nonprofit is averaging 30-40 individuals per day in its EATS program, where anyone can come to the facility at 1423 Front St. and receive a hot meal and words of encouragement.

“We just learn our neighbors and who they are and how we can better assist them with their various needs,” Livingston said. “Oftentimes, we have to say this is what you need, but it’s not a cookie-cutter solution for everyone. ... They are all coming from different backgrounds and different walks of life.”

LEARNS aims to improve reading skills of elementary school students through one-on-one literacy tutoring sessions. Livingston said PRAYS speaks to their role as a Christian-focused organization.

“It’s right in alignment with what we believe in, nourishing the souls of neighbors through effective ministry and prayer,” Livingston said. “Our prayer team and prayer in general keeps us grounded. It helps keep us sound and focused on the mission of what we are doing in our community.”

Livingston said the transition into her new role as executive director has been eye-opening, but she is excited to expand on the foundation that Ball has set.

“We are looking to launch Georgetown LIVES in the spring, which is a little revamping of Georgetown WORKS,” Livingston said. “It was primarily for women but we are looking to open that up for all of our neighbors. It is a more holistic approach to helping those navigate life and get them employed through direct support versus getting bounced around from agency to agency.”

Friendship Place is a nonprofit, so it relies on donations to operate. Two of the organization’s biggest fundraisers are Georgetown’s annual Bridge2Bridge Run in April and Palmetto Giving Day in May. Livingston said they participated in Coastal Giving Tuesday for the first time in November and raised $68,000.

Livingston said the facility's Tom and Jean Yawkey Foundation Community Room can be rented for meetings.

“We are here for the community,” Livingston said. “That’s what we want to be known and identified as. I encourage anyone interested to schedule a tour of our new location and see what we are doing.”

Ball said it’s been inspirational to spend 24 years at Friendship Place. He can recall helping people reunite with their families, getting folks into drug rehabilitation, seeing people get their first job or just leaving someone with a good word.

“To know that it is in such great hands, it is a blessing to see that,” Ball said. “She has a great board and staff. I can’t wait to see the new things there that will happen under her leadership.”

The George Hotel has opened its doors to welcome guests. The design-forward waterfront property from Indigo Road Hospitality Group and Winyah Hospitality has 56 rooms and suites alongside a full-service restaurant, marina bar and private event spaces, making it the first of its kind on South Carolina’s Hammock Coast.

Georgetown, SC, is a common stopover for boaters traveling the eastern coast and The George offers prime marina access, allowing boaters the opportunity to enjoy the hotel’s amenities, while also providing a port for guests to enjoy excursions, such as fishing and sailing, in Winyah Bay. In addition to on-site activities and events, The George offers a variety of spaces that can be booked for semi-private and private events, including a meeting and event room, outdoor greenspace and bar, Eliza’s, and on-site restaurant, The Independent.

Housing 56 rooms, 42 of which are waterfront, the hotel has been curated by Jenny Keenan Design, which used a collection of vintage European furnishings and custom pieces. The lobby sports two-toned hardwoods and lime-washed plank walls, patterned sofas, wing-backed chairs and "oriental" rugs. The corridor of the first floor displays a large painting of a mermaid and alligator by artist David Boatwright of Charleston.

There are several room types, including two suite variations with living rooms and balconies, the largest being approximately 725 square feet. Each guestroom includes vintage seating and sideboards with custom fabric headboards ranging from detailed chintz to soft pastel stripes. Rooms vary in color scheme, while cypress softwoods stripe the floors and walls of communal spaces.

Located within The George Hotel, The Independent is a seafood restaurant and raw bar paying homage to the community’s former seafood market by the same name. Guests can expect a seasonal menu of Southern-inspired dishes guided by the region’s seafood. Raw offerings such as littleneck clams, peel-and-eat shrimp and oysters on the half shell are complemented by prepared small plates, chef selections and à la carte proteins and sides.

Located on The George’s greenspace, Eliza’s waterfront bar serves as a casual retreat along the Sampit Riverfront with lounge seating and outdoor games. It offers island-inspired cocktails with a small menu of light bites, snacks and a full raw bar, as well. The name serves as tribute to South Carolina’s Eliza Lucas Pickney, who was largely responsible for the indigo crop hitting the map, and the first woman to be inducted into South Carolina’s Business Hall of Fame.

For more information, visit www.thegeorgehotelsc.com.

GEORGETOWN — Ebony Hughes, a successful business owner and community leader who runs a thriving nonprofit organization and an insurance agency, has a goal of helping to mold the future workforce of South Carolina.

She grew up in rural Georgetown County and attended Carver’s Bay High School in the early 2000s, performing near the top of her class. But the future was not very clear.

“I had my first child in high school and had to get over the people that said I was stupid and could not survive,” Hughes said. “So, I had to show them that I could. I already knew I could. I didn’t just want to succeed, it had to be in a big way.”

While attending Coastal Carolina University a few years later, her life changed overnight.

“I was engaged to be married while also expecting my second child, which was a miracle because they said I wouldn’t even be able to have another child because of health issues,” Hughes said. "Then my fiancé died a couple of weeks before our wedding.”

Hughes was slated to get her degree in health promotions and even participated in a graduation ceremony dressed in cap and gown, but after her fiancé drowned in an accident, she did not do well enough on a final exam.

“I failed it by three points,” Hughes said. “I walked across the stage, thinking I had passed the class, just to learn that following Monday that I did not.”

She could have given up, but the lessons she learned from her parents and grandparents prevented it.

“So after that happened, I delivered my son, and I just needed a different change in pace,” Hughes said. “I went on the internet back when it was just a little thumb drive thingy and I looked for some positions and found an agency in Atlanta, Ga., and became a marketing contractor for the Atlanta Braves.”

She packed up her life and moved with her two children 346 miles away from Georgetown County.

“That position taught me, then, a lot about sales, the word 'no,'" she said. "And I became friends with the owner of the company.”

Christina Vrsoso became a mentor and shared a story about her parents moving to the states from the Philippines and how she grew up in a small apartment in New York.

“I think that position was the beginning of teaching me about collaboration and business operations,” Hughes said.

In 2009, her grandfather suffered a massive stroke, so she moved back to Georgetown County to take care of him.

“I said I would never come back to the country, but I am home, which was supposed to be temporary,” Hughes said. The move helped her "realize that if there is a will, there is a way. It also made me realize how much of a slower place it is here. I could work half as hard as I did in Atlanta and still be able to flourish here.”

Shortly after moving back, she visited her mother. A man came to sell life insurance. Hughes sat at the table thinking she was protecting her mom.

“It dawned on me that this guy was able to control his time and his efforts because he is self-employed,” Hughes said. “I asked him if he was able to make a living doing that. He said yes, and I went on the internet once again and I researched and taught myself how to get my insurance license.”

Hughes said she gave herself a timetable of two weeks to get her insurance license because bills had to be paid.

Today's Top Headlines

“I had two kids, moving back to take care of my grandfather with no job,” Hughes said. “I studied for two weeks, and I said, hell over high water, whether I’m ready or not, I’m going to take the exam. And I passed it the first time.”

Hughes became affiliated with Aflac Insurance around 2010 and soon received a Rookie of the Year award for selling the highest amount of insurance policies in South Carolina. She credits Athena Hooker, who trained and mentored her.

“Being a single parent, I realized that there were so many people around me that helped out,” Hughes said. “It was sort of like my time to start giving back. Then I realized that I needed to start my own business.”

In 2014, Hughes founded Access Alliance Insurance Group.

“I began to recruit and teach agents the same things I have learned from the time I grew up on a farm up until then,” Hughes said.

She spent her childhood in rural Georgetown County, in Hemingway, near the Pee Dee region.

“Growing up on a farm, I think from the very beginning I learned the value of hard work,” Hughes said. “So that sort of filtered into when I was in Atlanta. All of these experiences molded and shaped what I am doing now."

She has strived to instill in her agents the values she prizes.

"If you take care of people and invest in people, you automatically win personally.”

As she visited her clients' homes, she noticed that too many clients were suffering from health issues and needed help obtaining social services.

“Being a single parent, I needed social services at one time myself,” Hughes said. "It dawned on me that a lot of the individuals I was helping didn’t understand how to apply for assistance. I realized that there were billions of dollars allocated to help people. So, I started getting paper applications and helping people apply for social services for free for probably about eight years.”

Hughes founded a nonprofit, 7 Dimensions Outreach, in 2020 to help people connect with resources. Now she has a bigger goal of shaping the workforce of Georgetown and beyond.

“We have a brand new initiative called MIP,” Hughes said. “That stands for Minority Business Incubator Solar and Disaster Resilience Hub.”

Slated to begin in March in her Georgetown headquarters on Highmarket Street, the initiative is dedicated to incubating minority businesses, collaborating with organizations that can provide resources and providing a workforce development program for solar energy.

Black History

“We plan to host individuals that are interested in learning about solar energy and for EV charging stations," she said. "They come here, instructors will teach them, and they will gain an OSHA certification, and they actually will help (with) installing solar panels and charging stations right here. Gov. (Henry) McMaster allocated billions of dollars to set up the infrastructure for more electric charging stations in South Carolina. The problem is they don’t have enough workers, and not even enough people are aware that it is a career path.”

Hughes, 40, said she never set out to be a leader, only to make a good imprint on the world.

“There is this old saying that when the student is ready, the teacher will appear, and that’s what has happened over time,” Hughes said. "I can learn how to do anything; I just need someone to show me. That is why the MIP program is so very important to me. It’s not just about giving out resources, but we are also showing people how to take care of themselves. You have to show people how to fish, otherwise you’d be feeding them their whole lives.”

GEORGETOWN — When his daughter decided to downsize, Jay Doyle was ready to help.

The retired Brookgreen Gardens facilities director knew he was the best one to help her join the tiny home movement — so he built hers himself.

“We had discussed purchasing a tiny house through a manufacturer or designing it together and hiring someone to build it, but at the end of the day I couldn’t help myself,” Jay Doyle said. “The design we came up with was so intricate that I knew I needed to build it myself.”

The journey started during the pandemic when Danielle Doyle lived in the Boston area, working as a yoga teacher and a massage therapist.

“During the pandemic I got really into minimalism - paring down my belongings to what I loved and truly needed, being more mindful about spending, how I spend my time,” Danielle Doyle said. “Tiny houses sprang from the minimalist movement, so I looked into finding one on Airbnb to stay in for a weekend but there were so few in New England and the ones that I found were booked solid and really expensive, so I decided to just get my own.”

In the spring of 2021, she began searching for available land in Maine. By the fall, the father and daughter were designing her first tiny home. They secured a trailer that would be a blank canvas for Jay Doyle to work his magic, but the 65-year-old had his share of obstacles. Jay has battled cancer and underwent quadruple bypass surgery.

“Initially we thought it would maybe be a five- or six-month build, but then the design became more and more intricate — (and) I had a major surgery — so it ended up taking almost two years of nearly full-time work from start to finish,” Jay Doyle said.

Affectionally known as the Thainy House, the home is influenced by Thai culture. Danielle spent a year teaching English in Thailand and loves the country.

“She has always had a deep affinity for the design and culture, so when we started to design it she came up with the idea for it to have a Thai influence, much inspired by the Jim Thompson House Museum in Bangkok,” Jay Doyle said. “We used that as our inspiration for the design, especially for the exterior.”

Jay Doyle, his daughter and his wife Suzanne all had a hand in shaping the tiny home. It was built entirely in a Georgetown warehouse, then transported to Gardiner, Maine, after construction was complete.

“The exterior design was by far the most tedious endeavor, especially since we used surplus material from the Shutter Shop in Georgetown,” Jay Doyle said. “I had to measure and cut every individual piece, put it up on the house for placement, take it down to prime and paint the back to make it extra weather proof and then put it back up on the house to paint the front of the exterior. Suzanne ended up doing so much of the priming and painting. I do not think she will ever want to see a can of red paint again in her life.”

Jay Doyle designed the tiny home to withstand the harsh Maine winters. He used two systems to heat the 23-foot-long dwelling, with radiant heat in the floors and a small wood burning stove. There is also propane access for a ventless heater.

The plumbing is installed in such a way that the water can easily be drained from the pipes if winterization is desired. Another feature is an automatic warming system for the water pipes near the lower part of the trailer.

“Open windows and a ceiling fan are the primary cooling (options)," he said. "It was less of a concern than it would be in South Carolina."

In the year before they started construction, Jay Doyle watched YouTube videos and combined a lot of ideas in the tiny home. Not wanting his daughter to feel claustrophobic, he installed additional windows and lighting.

The builder said his favorite features are the windows he installed in the dormers of the home’s two sleeping lofts: they make you feel as though you are resting up in the trees. Danielle and Suzanne Doyle designed the headboard in the main loft that folds down with storage behind it.

“We were recently up there setting it up and got to sleep in there a couple of nights,” Jay Doyle said. “We were able to watch the sunrise laying in bed.”

Growing up, the Cambridge, Mass. native did not see himself in the construction industry.

“I attended Northeastern University but found I was more at home on a construction site than in a classroom,” Jay Doyle said.

News

His family owned a property rental business and his experience doing odd jobs in their portfolio of apartments such as cleaning, painting, carpentry, plumbing and electrical work changed his mind.

“At 21 I started my own construction company, which kept me busy till my daughter Danielle graduated from college,” he said.

Like many others moving to the Hammock Coast, Jay Doyle and his wife wanted a warmer climate. They stumbled upon Front Street where they now live.

“Once here, I got to try my hand in several different trades, including director of facilities at Brookgreen Gardens, helping businesses reduce energy costs by switching to LED lighting and designing fiber optic networks from New York to California,” he said.

Jay Doyle said he thought building a tiny home would be easier than a regular-sized version, but he soon learned that’s not the case. Everything in a tiny home has to be precise while fitting the utilities in, but drawing on his construction background helped.

Despite the challenges of building the home, not to mention Jay Doyle's health struggles, the family remains grateful they took on the project.

“He’s been through the ringer," Suzanne Doyle said of her husband. "But (he) keeps going on.”

Georgetown Times

Sign up for weekly roundups of our top stories, news and culture from the Myrtle Beach area. This newsletter is hand-curated by a member of our Myrtle Beach news staff.