#smileatstrangers

My name is KJ Kearney and I’m a native and current resident of North Charleston, SC.
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HISTORICALLY BLACK - I graduated from one of the greatest HBCUs to ever exist, South Carolina State University (@scstate1896) where I played football and was a member of the University’s very first Honors Program class.
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I HAVE MY OWN DAY (KINDA) - In 2018 I wrote a proclamation for RED RICE DAY which was approved by the City of Charleston. The proclamation was created to formally recognize the culinary contributions of my enslaved ancestors to the city.
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(RETIRED) SNEAKERHEAD - I was an avid collector of sneakers. At one point, I had about 200 pairs in my possession. That’s still low to other sneaker enthusiasts but hella higher than most people (BONUS: my favorite sneaker color is grey).
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SUBJECT MATTER EXPERT - This year I was given the exclusive “EXPERT” badge at the Charleston Wine + Food Festival (@chswineandfood) because of my knowledge on Gullah Geechee culture and cuisine. Even hosted an event for them called “Soul Stroll”. You should have been there—shit was lit!
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BLACK FOOD MATTERS - So the purpose of #BlackFoodFridays is to encourage everyone to support Black owned restaurants, chefs, caterers, and producers every Friday. That’s why I’m always shouting out different restaurants and food creatives on this page.
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NONPROFIT LOADING - Because of the support I’ve been given, in such a short period of time, I have been able to donate meals to essential workers in both Charleston and North Charleston. 125 to be specific. And it’s part of the reason why I’m starting a nonprofit to help facilitate this work.

Nicole here with Meeting Charleston. With more than a decade of experience in the Lowcountry, Emmy award-winning meteorologist Josh Marthers, the man helps you plan for the day ahead each morning on News 2 Today, joined us for an interview. For obvious reasons following the hurricane scare in the fall of 2019 we were very excited about having Josh on the show. He’s funny and smart and charismatic and we have so many similar interests. We loved having him on. 

Turns out the first ¼ of the interview has a loud and obnoxious unexplained popping sound. After sending the file to 4 different sound geniuses our only option was to cut it completely. The rest of the interview is just as good or better than the beginning, but we are missing some quality Marther’s insight and we are saddened by that. 

This interview has been long awaited and the delays stem back to October. Without further adieu , here is Josh Marthers!!! 

Founded by husband and wife team, Scott and Sara Gayle McConnell, Tradesman opened as the first brewery on James Island in April 2014 and became part of the growing Charleston beer community. Scott and Sara Gayle had extensive home brewing experience, which fueled their dream of starting their own commercial brewery.  Co-Owner Chris Winn joined the team in January of 2015 with years of brewery experience and a love of local beer.  The new facility is capable of producing almost 2500 barrels of beer annually, and plans to sell draft and canned beer in Charleston, Columbia, Greenville, and Hilton Head/Bluffton/Beaufort. 

The tasting room (Center for Beer Outreach & Education) will be be open soon for further exploration Monday-Thursday 12-8pm, Friday and Saturday 12-10pm 4:30-8pm, and Sunday 12-6pm

“BREWSTER”: Sara is the VP of Ops for Brewster an acronym for Building Relationships Empowering Women Striving To Exist Responsibly.

UNION CLUB: They have a “union” complete with dues and secret meetings.

GROWLER CLUB: Which one is your favorite?