SUPER SATURDAY: Runaway Runway, River Rocks, Gamecocks’ spring game, Open Studios, Mud Run make for super day (+ video)
Trashy fashion makes a statement at Runaway Runway show
Siobhan Gordon’s runway dress has been three or four years in the making – if you count the time it took the designer, Statia Huffstetler, to collect the hundreds of neon-colored fishing lures that made it.
Huffstetler’s husband is a competitive fisherman who won a tournament on Saturday, and Gordon and Huffstetler were hoping that would mean good luck for them, too, in Saturday’s Runaway Runway recycled fashion show.
“It’s a passion for her,” Gordon said of Huffstetler’s design talent.
In its eight years as a fundraiser for the Columbia Design League, the sustainable fashion show has seen some interesting and unexpected – is anything really unexpected here? – design materials, from bicycle parts and yogurt containers to aluminum cans and phone books.
This year’s 50 designs featured shower curtains, metal vegetable steamers, feminine hygiene products, mussel shells, computer motherboards and ... a birth pool? Right, a birth pool.
Huffstetler designed two dresses in the show: Gordon’s swingy, revealing fishing lure and ornament hook dress and a sexy fairy-like look made of recycled jewelry pouches worn by Heffstetler’s best friend from college, Merri Beth Lumpkin.
Lumpkin, a first-time model, was feeling a bit shy and excitedly nervous before the show. But when she hit the runway with lights flaring, cameras flashing and music thumping, she was glowing, confident and looked anything but, well, trashy.
“I feel beautiful,” she said, twirling her sustainable skirt.
Sarah Ellis
Rockin’ the groove at River Rocks
It was a jam band, hula hoop, paddleboard, tie dye, Italian ice kind of day by the Congaree.
Some 2,000 people were expected at the River Rocks festival along the Columbia Canal, where music, water sports and a family-friendly atmosphere drew people to one of the city’s most popular natural assets.
The annual festival is a fundraiser for the Congaree Riverkeeper organization, which works to protect and improve water quality, wildlife habitat and recreation on the Congaree, Saluda and Broad rivers in the Columbia area.
Lounging on a blanket with their golden retriever, Remmy, damp from an afternoon romp in the river, Brett and Jenny Kline attended the festival for the third time, with 6-month-old Parker along for the first time.
“We like the music, the atmosphere,” Jenny Kline said. “It’s such an eclectic crowd, and everybody’s very friendly.”
Brett, who moved to Columbia 17 years ago, used to enjoy taking advantage of the recreational waterways in the Lowcountry when he lived there. Jenny comes to the riverwalk a lot to walk. They hope to be spending a lot more time on Columbia’s waterways in the future, as they’re treating themselves to a pair of kayaks for their anniversary.
With the smooth jams of Greensboro, N.C.-based The Mantras drifting from across the lawn, the family took in the festival’s laid-back atmosphere.
“It’s a good way to spend your afternoon, just relaxing and having a good time, having some beverages and listening to music,” Jenny Kline said.
Sarah Ellis
Fans revel in USC’S spring feathers
Early morning rain gave way to a sun-splashed Saturday afternoon that had several thousand faithful South Carolina football fans flocking to Williams-Brice Stadium for the Gamecocks’ annual Garnet and Black spring game.
Josh Timmons was in place along Key Road well before the noon kickoff. He had his grill set up to provide typical tailgate fodder for the 10 or so family and friends that had gathered with him. The group was enjoying Bloody Marys and the fellowship that comes along with tailgating.
“We come every year,” the Charlotte resident said. “It’s fan friendly and it gives you a little football fix waiting on September to get here. There’s really no better way to spend a Saturday afternoon.”
South Carolina allowed several of the younger players such as quarterback Connor Mitch and defensive end Marquavius Lewis to showcase their talents in front of the estimated crowd of 22,580. That was the reason Ryan Montgomery decided to attend the game for the first time in five years – the Gamecocks will have several new faces playing prominent roles in the fall and he wanted to see first hand what to expect.
“A lot of these players really haven’t been given an opportunity to play yet but we’re going to have count on several of them this year,” Montgomery said. “Hopefully they will show what they can do in front of a crowd.”
Chris Dearing
Open studios give artists exposure
Nancy Butterworth sees art in ordinary textures, from cabbage leaves to brake pedals to meat tenderizers.
The textures turn into patterns that turn into glazed, hand-crafted pottery pieces – delicate bowls, plates and vases in overlapping greens, blues, browns and reds – at the hand of Butterworth, who works from a backyard studio at her Shandon home.
“I find it really important for people to see that it doesn’t have to be intimidating. You don’t have to get a master’s from Alfred (University) to try pottery,” said Butterworth, who learned her craft through a Columbia Parks and Recreation class. “People have a lot more creativity than they think they do, and I think people need to express that artistic part of themselves.”
Butterworth opened her pottery studio and her home Saturday for the Columbia Open Studios tour, a weekend-long self-guided peek into 41 local artists’ creative spaces hosted by 701 Center for Contemporary Art. Butterworth’s pottery is regularly on display and for sale at Artizan gallery downtown and will also be featured at Charleston’s Spoleto festival next month.
“People are going to come, they’re going to see what you do, and they’re going to tell other people,” she said. “You’re going to have exposure, and you’re going to find out if what you make is something that people want to buy or not.”
The Open Studios tour continues Sunday from noon to 6 p.m. For more information and a guide to the studios, visit www.701cca.org.
Sarah Ellis
Little bit of mud, anyone?
An early light drizzle and appropriately sluggish soil provided the perfect prelude to a morning of muddy maneuvers for the hundreds at Saturday morning’s South Carolina Ultimate Challenge Mud Run.
For the better part of four hours, expert and amateur competitors took to the 6.2-mile all-terrain course at The Leatherneck in Gaston and crawled, swam, climbed and jumped their way through 36 military obstacles that featured mud holes, walls and trenches.
“It always feels good to finish,” said Noel Hilton of Blackville shortly after crossing the finish line to complete his fourth mud run.
Hilton had planned to sit out this year’s event but was called in at the last-minute to fill in on the “Two Men, a Lady and Mark” team when another member (Mark) had to pull out.
“I’ve done it with these guys before,” Hilton said. “I was actually supposed to be working, but I took a vacation day.”
The competitive teams began at 8:30 a.m., followed by the non-competitive groups.
For many, like Jason and Robin Koon of Chapin, Saturday’s event provided the perfect family affair. The two were competing with their boot camp group from the Northwest YMCA and called in in their 18-year-old daughter, Emily, when another spot came open on the team.
“This is the first time for the two of them,” Jason Koon said. “I haven’t done it in about four years.”
He said his advice to the two was to simply avoid any obstacles they didn’t feel comfortable with, but his wife made her intentions clear early on.
“We’re not here to win,” Robin said. “We just want to survive and finish.”
Saturday’s challenge had the expected minor casualties.
“It’s OK. They’re still running,” one competitor said as he sat and watched with his angle taped after crossing the finish line. “I’m sitting here drinking water and eating a chicken biscuit.”
Bertram Rantin
This story was originally published April 11, 2015 at 2:08 PM with the headline "SUPER SATURDAY: Runaway Runway, River Rocks, Gamecocks’ spring game, Open Studios, Mud Run make for super day (+ video)."