Save the Date! 7:00 pm, March 20, 2008 at the Radisson Hotel Columbia & Conference Center.

Capital City Lake Murray Country puts on the Taste of Lake Murray as a fundraiser to support their annual July 4th fireworks celebration on Lake Murray.

This year’s Taste of Lake Murray will include live music from the Showmen and food from 14 local restaurants.

Check out TasteofLakeMurray.com for a complete list of restaurants, then order your tickets here. Tickets are $55 per person and that includes food, beer, wine and margaritas - a cash bar will be available.

Two towns in South Carolina made their lists:

Irmo made the list of Top 25 Places to Live Where Homes Are Affordable.

Seven Oaks made it into the Overall Top 100 Places to Live in America!

As a Realtor, it makes me happy to see our area showing up on lists like these - especially the Affordable Housing list. Those of us that live here already know how great it is. But it’s nice to see that we are getting some national exposure.

Not yet, anyway

Voters rejected the new town on Saturday 950 to 682. Most of the naysayers were concerned about higher taxes in the future and restrictions on the use of their land.

Supporters of the new town wanted more local control over the development of the area.

There are already whispers about another proposal for Ballentine incorporation that would, hopefully, be more appealing to all residents.

I thought that, instead of giving my opinion on this topic, I would provide a place for you to give yours.  Let the readers’ voices be heard!

Would the incorporation of Ballentine be a good thing or a bad thing?

Do you have a compelling reason for people to vote one way or the other?

Or maybe you just want a place for your voice to be heard.

Consider Lake Murray Life your podium.  Put your opinion in the comments of this post and let the debate begin.

The cost of the course is $35 per person or $50 for two people sharing one course material. You can register online here.

The Boat Smart class is very comprehensive, is designed for new and experienced boaters and is open to boaters of all ages.

For more information you can click on the links above or you can contact Mack McGahee at 803.234.5985 or victorialynn@att.net.

Now you ask, “What are you talking about?”

Keep the Midlands Beautiful is doing their annual Christmas Tree recycling program called Grinding of the Greens.   Here’s how it works:  You take your live (or once-living) Christmas Tree to one of the drop off sites, then you go back to one of the distribution sites to collect your Free Christmas Tree Mulch.

The only catch is that the mulch is given out on a first-come first-served basis this Saturday, January 12.  So, you might want to get there early.

The local drop off sites are Seven Oaks Park and Crooked Creek Park.  The local mulch distribution site is Seven Oaks Park.

Have you been to the Lake Murray Visitor’s Center? If not, you need to go this weekend.

This Saturday and Sunday Capital City Lake Murray Country is holding a Holiday Open House to show off their place and also help you with your Christmas shopping. The Lorick Plantation House will be decorated to the hilt and there will be some local vendors there selling their wares.

Check out this link for more information on vendors, decorators and times, and this link for a map to the Visitor’s Center.

VOTE YES!

VOTE NO!

But what are they talking about?  Well, here’s the skinny on tomorrow’s vote:

Those of us who live in Richland/Lexington School District 5 will be voting on a bond referendum that will allow the District to build a new high school, middle school and elementary school as well as renovate several existing schools.  The amount of money needed for this…$256.5 million.  The cost to you…about $40 in annual property taxes per $100,000 in house value over the next 20 years.

It is estimated that District 5 grows by approximately 300 students per year.  Have you seen all of the portable buildings in the parking lot of Irmo High?  Did you know that each one of those portable buildings costs about $50,000?  I drive by there everyday and I feel like something has to be done.  District 5 has a reputation for being one of the best in the state.  If we want that to continue we need to keep the class sizes down and the learning environment positive.

Here’s how I see it:  My property taxes dropped by 43% this year because of the new law that removed the cost of the day-to-day operation of schools from our property taxes.   So, that makes my vote of YES that much easier.  I know that one day in the not-so-distant future I’m going to have kids going to these schools and I don’t want them to be in a portable building.  I know you don’t want my kids to be in a portable building either–so VOTE YES!

Also, as a Realtor, I know that simply being in District 5 raises the value of a house because of this reputation.  So, even if you don’t have kids in school - VOTE YES!

Twenty-eight vendors will be there selling a large variety of holiday gifts, decorations, specialty items and more. Vendors include Serendipity, Brodie Girl, Tastefully Simple, Pampered Chef, Southern Living, Avon, Tupperware and many more.

So, go have a good time, get some shopping done and support some local ladies.  Then come back here and let us know how much you enjoyed it.

Please check out my new site at SethWells.net. It has a lot of really useful information on it that I hope you will find helpful.