♪ Hello, I'm Beryl Dakers.

Welcome to Palmetto Scene.

If you believe that variety is the spice of life, then this episode is for you as we sample a variety of topics.

First we'll take a look at a new spin on South Carolina's official snack, boiled peanuts.

We'll find out how a local upstate company kicks up the flavor of these tasty treats.

Carla: I literally tell people all the time that if I was stuck on an Island boiled peanuts would be probably one of my three foods that I carry with me on island because I love them that much.

Brittany: You're driving by and you see the boiled peanuts.

And I think that's what we've kind of always thought of as boiled peanuts.

We've seen them on the side of the road, we pull over, we eat them in the car.

And that's that's kind of the way it is.

And I think that's what we wanted to do differently.

We wanted to stand out.

I mean, we're here in the upstate, we're in Simpsonville, South Carolina and a Food Hall.

As a southern snack is actually good for you.

It's got good vitamins, its got good protein.

So it's fantastic.

But then it's just an amazing southern treat.

Adam: Everybody who's had them knows they're an amazing snack.

In addition to that, it's just it's just a thing you do.

It's something about sitting around eating boiled peanuts, that is a special part of the enjoyment of the snack as well.

Carla: Growing up as a little girl in the low country part of South Carolina, there's a lot of boiled peanut stands on the side of the road.

It was just that Sunday tradition after church, you get out of church and you went to the stand and I have my three books and you tried these boiled peanuts that people just put their blood sweat and tears into Adam: There's a little bit of contention between a few different southern states on who which southern state had them first.

They actually probably came from overseas, there's probably some other nations in the world who made them before we did of course South Carolina, his official state snack is the boiled peanut.

And that's something that we were a badge of honor about being a South Carolina boiled peanut company because it's it's our snack, and so my wife's from Alabama and she likes to say that from Alabama, and that they're not.

South Carolina boiled peanut culture has a lot to do with just tradition, and what we do as a family and how we enjoy them and all of that.

Brittany: We couldn't find boiled peanuts in the upstate.

I think traditionally, boiled peanuts have kind of been found on the side of the road he kind of never know when you're going to find them so for us we really wanted to have a place where you could come and get boiled peanuts at any time.

So that's really why we got started we couldn't find them there was a need.

Adam: So we said let's make our own let's try it and see what we think and we gave away to family and friends and they said okay, we need more peanuts, you know that's that was a big part of it for us was people wanted more.

So instead of trying to find a job that we necessarily love, we decided we turned something we love into a job.

There's more than one variety that people boil.

Jumbos are really popular to boil.

That variety is not necessarily what we wanted to bring it's a Valencia Peanut, it's what we love and what we find that you know, our customers love as well.

It's a little bit smaller a little bit richer and tastes a little bit firmer.

I think.

It's a little bit pandemic driven, driven, maybe a little bit crop rain driven as well.

But there was a big rain shortage this year on peanuts, we were you know, we were buying a few weeks at a time, that kind of thing, all of a sudden, everybody was out.

So we kind of started scrambling a little bit we're like we have to we have to figure out where to get peanuts so we were driving all over the state just to find enough peanuts to keep things rolling and so you know, we're hoping and praying that this coming season this coming harvest in the fall that a lot of that it's going to turn around So we actually spend about 16 to 17 hours every time we make peanuts, you et the ingredients the base ingredients in the pot, you get it going you get them boiling for part of the time, you simmer for part of the time a big part of it is is salt to water ratio and the amount of time you don't want them to firm because the you're crunchy you don't want them to soft because then they're mushy.

So getting all of that right and then at that point once I get the actual original salted peanuts done, what we do is we move on to getting our flavors ready.

Brittany: For Adam and I we really wanted to introduce boiled peanuts to a Younger generation.

We make some really funny Tic Tock videos and that's really helped us gain a following here in the upstate.

Younger generation always want something new and fresh.

What we did was we introduced new flavors to really hit that younger generation.

Adam: And some people will turn their nose up at flavors and some people won't try the salted original to save their life just because they want the excitement.

Brittany: Our most really popular crazy flavors dill pickle people love the dill pickle flavor.

We've done a Guinness boiled peanut for St. Patty's Day and then we've done for July fourth crowd of course barbecue flavor as well.

Carla: I was introduced to them at a little street fair thing and I was like oh my gosh barbecue or Cajun and I started buying them and I was like man these are really good.

And then when I started following them on social media and started seeing their reveals of these different like outlandish, crazy flavors and so it's an excitement every week to see like what's gonna be the reveal what's gonna be the new flavor Am I gonna like it or not?

But I have I have tried everything and I haven't found anything that I don't like yet.

Brittany: It's really important for us to show our kids you know what hard work looks like.

We want them to see us working really hard at something that we're passionate about.

Adam: For them to understand the whole process of what it means to work hard.

And then also, while we're working hard to love what we're doing, and so that that's something we want our kids to see us do, and understand and be able to know that that's something they can grasp as well.

Brittany: What we think we do differently is we really try to take it a little bit more upscale with our packaging.

We have these really adorable craft cups that we put our peanuts, and then we also do peanut blites.

So what that is, is it small snack sized cups of different flavors, because I think what I've seen is people want to try the new flavors, but they don't want to get this this huge thing of course until they get addicted right.

♪ Segment ending ♪ Beryl Dakers: In the aftermath of the COVID 19 pandemic, we are experiencing shortages in many of our daily products.

That's due to disruptions in the supply chain, and a shortage of truck drivers.

With longer waits on products and supplies were forced to recognize the important role of truck drivers, in our economy.

Let's meet Lola, one of the few female drivers in this male dominated trucking industry.

She shares with us her passion, her experience and her advice as an essential worker during the COVID 19 pandemic.

♪ Lola: I was about eight years old.

And my family was traveling from New York to Massachusetts.

And I saw this lady truck driver get out of her truck.

And she was blonde and a tiny little thing and everything and I was like fascinated ever since then.

And for the rest of my life.

All I ever wanted to be was a truck driver.

I'm like if that lady can do it, I can do it too.

Oh, my name is Lola, Lola Silas, I am a professional truck driver here at Hunter, I mainly take containers from the rail yard over to the terminals to the ports.

A typical day runs 12 hours.

And I will go back and forth picking up from the rail yards taking them to the port and then vice versa.

Oh yeah, I mean, just like every human being we do get tired.

I mean, I work 70 hours a week, you know, but I love what I do.

I love being a truck driver, I do it with a lot of passion.

This is a great job.

For anybody that hates being in an office, this is a great opportunity, I couldn't think of anything else I'd rather do.

Prior to becoming a truck driver, I used to work as a cashier and I went to En Tech and my job was Puerto Rico to become a professional truck driver.

The training was for three months, six days a week for 14 hours a day of intense training.

Actually, this is hard work.

The first year is going to be really really hard, the pay is going to be low, you're going to get the worst runs.

But if you stick with it, it's gonna pay off, I promise you.

My biggest challenge in my job are the four wheelers.

Which are the cars, most people mistakenly believe that because we have 18 wheels, we have 18 breaks, and we can break at the drop of a dime.

We can't, I leave a space between me and the vehicle in front of me on purpose.

That's a cushion in case that car brakes.

I have enough space to safely stop my vehicle and not hurt anybody.

But people think like oh, she's not paying attention.

I'll just scoot in there.

And you just cut my distance.

So I have to keep backing up.

And it's very dangerous when people do that when they see that space.

And they just come and cut in this very dangerous please don't.

I wish they didn't do that.

What do I like most about my job is the people.

You meet so many people from so many different backgrounds, I have great co workers, we help each other out.

It's wonderful.

Yeah, that's a great job for women, especially now when I started was really really hard for me to get into the trucking industry.

But now it is so easy.

It's a great opportunity.

You work independently.

You're in your truck by yourself.

You're safe.

I can tell you this that I do earn more than a person working in a factory.

I really love my job.

I wish we had more women.

My work in itself did not change.

What did change was the hours when everything shut down, like the world was very scared.

It really dropped considerably.

That really hits the pocket, because nothing else stops, you know, you still have to pay the rent, you still have to pay the car payment, you still have to pay the insurance, you know, and that concern.

So but either way, by the grace of God, I was able to pay all my bills, you know, because I never lost a day of work, I did lose hours.

So I just tightened my belt a little bit.

My work is really important, especially during these times, many people depend on us just the same way we depend on doctors and nurses and scientists, they depend on us to keep America running to keep the supply chains, because if we stop, then who's going to bring it to you, who's going to bring it to America basically you know we can't do it without the drivers.

For me, it really breaks my heart to see so many humans dying because of an invisible monster.

The whole world is suffering by this and it really hurts me.

Some of us believe that this isn't a conspiracy theory.

Some of us believe that, you know, this is another country's fault.

Some of us believe that this is just a bunch of BS, whatever it is, just just protect yourself.

Just just protect yourself.

I for example, the mask over my face, it drives me nuts, especially I wear glasses, it drives me crazy.

My glasses fogs up, it's very annoying, but you know what I'm going to put it on, it's just 15 minutes while I go to the store, you know, and if it's gonna protect myself, or make somebody else comfortable, if it makes them safe, I'm gonna do it.

That's my fellow person.

I really don't care for it, but somebody else does.

So you know what if I can make another person comfortable, so be it and it might just help me I don't know.

You know, washing your hands.

Just take the time, wash your hands, take extra precautions to protect yourself, protect your family, protect your fellow co worker, it's here, it doesn't matter who made it, how it got here, it's here.

And I don't want it to stay.

And I'm sure that you don't want it to stay.

So let's put it we'll put our little grain of sand.

Maybe we can actually not only flatten the curve, but we can actually make it disappeared.

Yes, just a sense of pride for me.

Especially everything that I've gone to become a truck driver as a female driver, you know, and that now I'm needed that I am actually considered an essential worker, that I did not lose a day of work, or that's a lot of pride.

That is a lot of pride.

I can't forget that i'm a girl.

Girls love this.

Beryl Dakers: Changing directions now, metal fabricators cut shape, position and align different types of metal.

They typically work for construction and manufacturing companies, while the metals they work with are used to build structures.

But metal fabrication as art can be a unique mode of artistic expression.

Unlike sculptures produced through casting, fabricated sculptures are shaped and assembled by welding or by using fasteners, thus resulting in large and technically complicated artworks.

Let's meet Chris Stuyck.

My name is Chris Stuyck.

I'm a metal artist, and I own Stuyck Company.

Stuyck Company was established in 1998.

We were helping out contractors at that time, and also doing some unique art pieces as we could afford.

And slowly through time, we started making enough money and headway and reputation that we could start focusing more and more on artwork.

My company's been lucky in that we've we've networked and a lot of people think highly of what I do so we've been invited to make wonderful pieces that celebrate South Carolina.

We have built the Hootie and The Blowfish Monument at Five Points.

We've built a wonderful gazebo for Hampton Preston Mansion.

We have things at the zoo that we've made.

We have a lot of stuff along the River walk.

We have lines of park furniture.

We like to build stuff that's artistically pleasing site specific and functional more than anything else.

I think what attracted me most towards metal, steel and steel for one would be its permanence.

Its use in our society for just about everything we we deal with from day to day, it makes our cars that makes our, our lampposts it makes everything under the sun that we use, we even put our fruits and vegetables in cans made of steel.

When you look at art, and you look at metal, in art, the people who do it, they want a certain permanence, they want a piece that lasts, the ages, the eons, that's gonna be there, they don't want a temporary piece.

I've also found that metal is very predictable metal shapes stay the same.

You can alter them, you can make interesting, wonderful pieces out of them.

Metal artists know this, and they build their work, to rust or to not rust, to have a presence about a permanence.

You never see a dainty metal piece out in public, or less, perhaps jewelry, if you want to go that way.

But that's a whole different style of metal art.

We work with other artists as well.

It's vital as an artist to communicate with other artists, because everybody has a viewpoint, everybody has an idea.

And they're usually usually helpful in the creative process.

People who collaborate in my art pieces, we just have fun with it, try not to take too much credit for it, we just go at it.

Great fun.

Will: My name is Will Brian, I'm the founder of Public Works of Heart, we believe that all communities should be beautiful.

And we use public art to make that happen.

My background is in graphic design.

So I traditionally work in a 2d, two dimensional medium, in print or in digital.

So it was wonderful working with Chris because his background obviously, is in metal sculpture.

And so he has a wealth of knowledge and was able to help teach me, helped me think about things that might work in two dimensions, but don't work in three dimensions, and be able to overcome some of those hurdles before they ever happened in the design process.

The piece that I'm sitting on right now is the butterfly bench in the Casey River Arts District, here at the entrance of the Casey River Walk, which leads to the Congaree River.

And so the whole concept behind this was we wanted to celebrate the nature or the the natural setting around here.

And we wanted it to be really whimsical and fun.

So it needed to be beautiful.

And all of the designs and everything are in it are just kind of meant to reflect the organic nature of the flight of a butterfly, or the falling of leaves or the flow of water, that are all part of this specific community.

And it's turned out really, really great.

So one of the unique things about creating public art with steel is just that it's public.

So it needs to be safe for everything from toddlers all the way up to senior citizens, everybody in between.

And so you have to think about the way you design and everything from the size of the holes that are within it or the edges and how soft they are.

Or you know how much something bends or sticks out because you don't want somebody to be able to get hurt on it while at the same time.

It needs to be beautiful, it needs to be functional and needs to be safe.

So one of my favorite pieces here in the Casey River Arts District is the light diamond, it's over seven foot tall and completely stainless steel, it turned out fantastic.

Since it's stainless steel, the sun shines brightly and reflects the surface of it during the day.

At nighttime as it gets dark, a light sensor turns on the lights on the inside of it.

And it actually reflects the metal from the inside out through the the holes and the designs within it.

So it's a very different experience during the day versus at nighttime, which is kind of the concept of it between the suns and the moons all the way around it.

Chris: I kind of enjoy all my pieces I've done.

My art that I've made, they use it, they come to me and say they like it.

I usually ask how they're interacting with it, because that's important to me.

I put a whole lot of thought and effort into what I do.

It's important to me that whoever looks at whoever comes to see it comes back and looks at it again.

That is the ultimate compliment.

Beryl Dakers: A totally different kind of art comes to the floor as we reprise the story of an artist to used her art form to battle the social isolation caused by COVID 19 pandemic, photographer Kimberly Case saw this moment in time as an opportunity for introspection, and for self expression, using her gift to bring a sense of calm and stability to these uncertain times.

Kimberly: I really like a warm, calm vibe, a vintage look, just whatever I do whatever I shoot, usually I end up giving it somehow this vintage look, I would describe my technique is rich and warm.

I like some shadows.

I'm not, you know, afraid of that.

And I'll use that in my compositions.

But I've always enjoyed the arts, I've always loved crafting and sewing and painting and just dabbling and whatever, you know, came to hand.

I got into costuming, I love wardrobe.

I'm such a fan of vintage clothes.

I have quite a collection of my own.

So I got into costuming.

And one of this little group I was in, we were going to have a photo shoot.

And it was so much fun.

It was such a circus.

I just loved it and just about did anything I could do to stay involved with the studio.

And one day, one of the owners handed me a camera during a photo session for a family.

And that was just all she wrote.

If people ask me, they say, I love your war work, I love your pic pictures, can you take my portrait, but I don't want to wear a costume.

And I say you don't have to.

If you can get your picture taken at my studio, you don't have to wear a costume.

But if you want too, I can help you out.

You know when it was obvious that the world was going to start shutting down for COVID, I was sent home from my day job to to work at home.

But I could still come to the studio.

And then I saw at the Koger Center for the Arts put out a call for art.

They said that they knew artists were still out there doing their thing.

And they wanted to know what we were up to.

So I sent my little portfolio of madness that I had been working on and into them.

And they chose me as the main winner of their competition.

Therefore, I won a big exhibit at the Koger Center, which is there now it's over 70 pieces of art that I've worked on during COVID.

So today, we are hanging the 1593 project, my series that I did, I call it in the time of COVID.

It's kind of a journey through COVID of mostly self portraits, and there's a few still lifes in here.

A lot of its reacting to the images or reacting to what I was seeing in the news or what I was feeling personally.

So this is what I produced.

Lauren: We thought back to history of 1593 when the Bobonique Plague was in Europe, and all of the theaters shut down.

And we created the 59 free project, which was a call for art for South Carolina artists.

And we received submissions from all over the state.

We received musical scores, plays, dances, animation, photography, oil paintings, sculptures, pretty much anything you could think of we received, which was really fantastic to see the the scope of the artistry in South Carolina.

Janet: When I heard about the 1593 project, the one piece with the four sections to it had already been completed.

And the title of the whole series is nothing stays the same.

People give different interpretations of it.

I've heard somebody say it looks like a bunch of huts I'll put there together.

One woman just said, Oh, it looks like a portal or a doorway to something.

And I thought that myself too.

And I thought, Should I add anything else?

But then think No, just leave it up to somebody's imagination, what might be through that doorway.

So it seemed like all the changes that were coming about as a result of COVID and isolations to seem like the perfect item to enter.

Kimberly: If you look at the whole series, there's a wide range of people that I show in the self portrait series.

You know, some of them are real serious, but some were wacky.

Some of 'em are 100% me.

Some of them are just a little bit me.

Some of the characters are portrayed were not me, like I'm not a nurse.

But I did feel the weight that all the health are workers, struggle with, you know On the TV, you couldn't help but see it and kind of internalize that and then brought that feeling out with an image of me as a nurse.

I do feel like, I know what I want to do now.

I know that I want to make art for people, either using myself as a subject using props for a still life or using a client as the subject, but I want to give people the art they want.

I want them to see something familiar, something they can relate to.

Just a piece I want them to feel richness and texture.

If you can feel those things.

I just want them to feel comfort.

You know, there's enough stress and that might be one of the things I learned in COVID is you don't know what other people are going through.

And, you know, maybe one thing art can do, in some cases I to bring comfort and reassurance that things are okay and you have the strength to get through it.

Beryl Dakers: For more stories about our state, and more details on those stories you've just seen, do visit our web site at, PalmettoScene.org.

And of course, don't forget to follow us on social media, Face book, Twitter, and Instagram at SCETV #PalmettoScene.

For all of us here at ETV and Palmetto Scene.

I'm Beryl Dakers.

Good night, and thanks for watching.

♪