I enjoy free time and strolls in the woods behind my house. Around the yard, I have found odd objects, oyster shells, match box cars, old brick, spoons and forks and a lego or two. I even discovered a new room in the house, my back porch!

Don’t forget gifts for Mother’s Day! Gifts should be easier to get since stores and restaurant have reopened in Irmo for outdoor dining. Husbands, if you want a pleasant romantic stroll with your wife in the Irmo Town Park, you will have to wait. The town has not reopened the park yet but will announce when it will be reopened.

State parks have reopened with social distancing and limited visitors. Each park’s capacity is posted on southcarolinaparks. com in the Travel Advisory section. When a park reaches capacity, the gates will be closed until people leave. Playgrounds are closed until June 1 due to the difficulty of cleaning the equipment.

High School seniors are being celebrated in creative ways. The Chapin Eagle Club and the Town of Chapin started the Eagle Banner Project to decorate the town with pictures of graduating senior athletes. Seniors at Irmo, Dutch Fork, Spring Hill, and Chapin Highs decorated their cars for a parade at their schools to pick up graduation supplies.

Congratulations to Roger Mize of Chapin High. He has been selected as the South Carolina Association of Student Council Advisor of the Year. He was one of 8 finalists for the national award.

The Greater Chapin Community Foundation has awarded $18,600 in grants to 14 local nonprofit organizations to health and wellness nonprofits who are providing critical services to our citizens during this covid-19 outbreak. The Chapin We Care Center, Free Medical Clinic of Newberry, Lifebridge of SC, Chapin American Legion Post 193 were just some of those recipients of grants.

Please send your news to me at Liesha. Huffstetler@gmail.com