Criminal Defense Attorney inDrayton, SC

SPARTANBURG — Ren Wagner knows the ins and outs of event planning and floral arrangements.

In 2014, she helped renovate an old barn for her son’s wedding. After the wedding, she and her husband began to rent out the barn space on their farm property in Moore for events.

Because of the success of renting out the space, the couple started a full-service event venue at The Forevermore Farm. The farm has two barn venues and a flower shop, Forevermore Farm Florals, that offers on-site and off-site wedding and event florals.

“I love pulling the vision together, whether it be flowers, wedding setups or helping make a bride’s dreams come true,” said Ren Wagner, owner of Forevermore Farm Florals and co-owner of The Forevermore Farm.

Wagner is planning to expand by opening a store in Drayton Mills Marketplace in Spartanburg. Forevermore Farm Florals And Gifts is set to open Nov. 1. Customers can stop by for the grand opening from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.

The store will sell floral arrangements, plants, containers, home fragrances, gift baskets, mugs, candles, throws and stuffed animals. Customers can also customize or buy pre-made gift baskets.

There will be an on-site florist and refrigerators that will have grab-and-go florals. Wagner said that within the new store she will have a room for wedding floral consultations.

“Our arrangements go anywhere from $8 to $75,” Wagner said. “We get our flowers from all over the world, so there’s not really a flower that I can’t get.”

Forevermore Farm Florals also does floral arrangements for parties, funerals and businesses. Wagner said she’s branching out into home interior design.

Wagner and her husband purchased their 116-acre farm property in the late 1990s. She used to be a nurse before she got into event planning and opened a floral business. Wagner said she started her floral business after seeing a need to offer flowers to clients who were having events at The Forevermore Farm.

For Wagner, the desire to expand comes from wanting to leave a legacy for her family and build community with people in Spartanburg.

“I just want to be a part of something positive, and this is the best way I know how to do that,” she said.

The University of South Carolina Dance Program will present Wonderland, a dance theatre version of the classic tale Alice in Wonderland, February 9–11 at Drayton Hall Theatre.

Show times are 7: 30 p. m. nightly, with an additional 2 p.m. matinee performance February 11. Admission is $15 for students, $20 for USC faculty/staff, military, and seniors 60+, and $22 for the public. Tickets may be purchased online at sc.universitytickets.com or at the door. Drayton Hall Theatre is located at 1214 College Street, across from the historic USC Horseshoe.

Choreographed and directed by USC Dance associate professor Jennifer Deckert, Wonderland is a contemporary reimagining of Lewis Carroll’s beloved story that fuses dance and whimsical production design to tell the story of a young girl’s adventures through a strange fantasyland. Alice’s journey through the rabbit hole takes her into the depths of her own psyche, where she must find inner strength to survive a bizarre and dangerous world that just gets “curiouser and curiouser.”

Deckert says her take on the oft-told tale is that Alice’s adventure is really an internal battle with her own insecurities.

“I think the world of the show lives inside Alice’s mind,” says Deckert. “It’s a dive into the magical, absurd, and scary parts of our subconscious and the voices that control us.”

She adds that Alice’s odyssey mirrors the creative process that was undertaken to bring Wonderland to the stage.

“Creation requires you give up yourself,” she says. “You literally jump in and explore things of beauty while being confronted by voices that tell you you’re not good enough or you don’t belong. In the end, it’s all about pushing through that and saying those voices don’t matter. Wonderland is about Alice’s journey to confront those voices of doubt.”

While the original story’s iconic characters, such as the Mad Hatter, Queen of Hearts, and Cheshire Cat, remain in the narrative, Deckert says the production purposely veers away from the familiar imagery of Disney’s version of the story. In fact, she says the unique visions of the show’s designers have inspired her choreographic interpretation.

“I guided all our designers away from the sometimes carnival-like perceptions of Wonderland and its characters and toward a more sophisticated and nuanced interpretation. For instance, many of the costumes have been built upon the idea that in our dreams we often see pieces instead of full images. And rather than setting the story in a realm of marble floors and columns, our Wonderland exists within nature.”

“ The creation of this work and my movement vocabulary has actually been driven through collaborations with the designers just as much as their designs have been influenced by the story. This entire piece is being built almost from the design up or, at the very least, hand-in-hand with the design.”

Creating the fantastical world are second-year MFA design students Andrew Burns ( costume design), Ashley Jensen ( scenic design), and Lorna Young (lighting design). A cast of 18 dancers embody Wonderland’s eccentric characters, led by sophomore dance education major Bailey Brown as Alice.

“I hope this production inspires a bit of child-like inquiry and playful reflection,” says Deckert of her dreams for this original work. “And a belief that anything is possible.”

For more information on Wonderland or the dance program at the University of South Carolina, contact Kevin Bush via email at bushk@mailbox.sc.edu or by phone at 803-777-9353.

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She once doled out uppercuts. Now she gives haircuts.

But Ashley Rushing is still tough — covered in tattoos all the way up to her neck and a blue-green pixie cut, she's opened up the Bareknuckle Barbershop in Drayton Mills Marketplace, the name a nod to her MMA fighting career.

Once known as Doll Face in the MMA world, Rushing fought for a little more than a decade, starting with an amateur career at a North Carolina gym. She began her professional career when she moved to South Carolina and fought in two professional fights with Invicta Fighting Championships, a women's MMA organization.

But she's always had a passion for cosmetology, too, and has worked as a cosmetologist for about 15 years.

"My family's always done hair, so I've kind of always been around it," Rushing said.

When Rushing broke a lower vertebrae ending her fighting career, she decided to focus on hair full time which led to the opening of Bareknuckle Barbershop.

She co-owns the shop with Tyler Maupin, who isn't a stylist, but works on the business and financial side. He created the name and helped with the design for the shop.

Artist Leon Wilkie created the logo - two fists (or bare knuckles) grasping a pair of scissors. The shop also displays some of Rushing's belts from her fighting career.

However, Maupin and Rushing don't go way back. Maupin was just a client of Rushing's when she worked at a different Spartanburg barber shop before opening up her own.

"I scheduled an appointment with her when she worked at the Black Derby (in downtown Spartanburg)," Maupin said. "And then she noticed that I was coming in every week and then we just started talking."

Rushing and Maupin opened up shop Aug. 1, behind Dray Bar & Grill, and business has been successful for the almost two weeks since they've opened, they said.

Bareknuckle Barbershop hasn't faced too many challenges due to COVID-19 either, Rushing said. It opened after Gov. Henry McMaster reopened salons and barber shops in South Carolina.

"I think with men's grooming, it's always gonna be around," Rushing said. "Men have to get their hair cut."

And if this barber shop isn't tough enough for you yet, there's a whiskey tap right when you walk in.

"So I give complimentary beverages with all services," Rushing said pointing to the tap and a beer fridge next to it. "So when guys come to check in they literally help themselves, pour themselves (a drink), grab whatever and just hang out.

Rushing found she prefers doing men's cuts and women's pixie cuts over a traditional women's color and highlights that can take hours at a salon.

"I didn't like standing behind someone's head for four hours," Rushing said. "I've only had my barbers license for about a year. But when I got into barbering, and started shaving, I got super addicted."

There's no specific demographic that comes into the shop, co-owner Maupin said, mostly men of all ages, races and ethnicities come to Bareknuckle Barbershop.

"Ashley really works with all types of ethnicities and hair," Maupin said.

It may seem like a drastic career change, but to Rushing, her life is pretty simple.

"That's it," she said with a laugh. "Just an MMA background and hair."

Contact Genna at gcontino@gannett.com or on Twitter @GennaContino.

Established in 1738, Drayton Hall is an icon of colonial America architecture and identity and a National Trust Historic Site. The main house remains in nearly original condition after seven generations of family ownership, the Revolutionary and Civil Wars, and devastating hurricanes and earthquakes. The main house was never modernized with electric lighting, plumbing or central heating or air conditioning and is unfurnished, allowing the beauty of its architectural details to become the focus for visitors. Surrounded by ancient live oaks and bordered by the historic Ashley River, the entire site — including the historic grounds with its broad vistas, vanished structures and rare period features — serves as a testimony to American history.

You can visit Drayton Hall and enjoy its wide selection of guided house tours and programs, including the annual Distinguished Speakers Series. But before you plan your next trip, take the virtual tour in the slideshow above.

A big night in Charleston Monday night for the South Carolina Coaches for Charity annual gala presented by the Fisher DeBerry Foundation. A record crowd was reported for the 14th annual event held at the Marriott. They were on hand to hear from Shane Beamer, Dabo Swinney, Maurice Drayton, Buddy Pough, Shawn Watson, Clay Hendrix and Gabe Giardina.

Each coach used the event to meet and greet fans, raise money for a selected charity, and to honor an individual for their good work in the community.

Matt Smith of SportsTalk was in Charleston and was able to sit down with Beamer and Drayton separately for exclusive interviews Monday night.

Shane Beamer with Matt Smith

Maurice Drayton with Matt Smith

Another USC target will come off the board this week. DT Liam Andrews (6-5 260) of Brookline, MA will make his commitment announcement on Friday. Andrews made official visits to USC, Penn State and Wisconsin, and those are his final three. He also visited each school unofficially earlier in the year. Andrews also plays offensive tackle, but he has let the schools know he only wants to play on the defensive line in college. Projections by the recruiting networks are all for Penn State.

USC target WR Jonathan Paylor, who had been looking at July 28th for a commitment announcement, told The Wolpacker of the On3 Network that he’s pushing that back to sometime in August. It’s still USC and NC State the top two, and he might visit both again before announcing.

Talking season got underway Tuesday in the Upstate as Clemson held its annual media outing and open house inside the Allen N. Reeves Football Complex on campus. Head coach Dabo Swinney and his assistants visited with the media to discuss the upcoming season. The football staff also gave reporters the opportunity to tour the facility and play games in the players’ lounge and village while kicking around the hot topics of NIL and the transfer portal.

Clemson’s new offensive coordinator Garrett Riley and second-year defensive coordinator Wes Goodwin were big hits with the assembled crowd, as each took nearly thirty minutes to break down their respective units.

Clemson DC Wes Goodwin — Media Day Press Conference

Clemson OC Garrett Riley — Media Day Press Conference