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Yeah. We had a great time. Had dinner reservations at 6 for Hamptons. Nice night to sit outside. Had a very leisurely meal and cocktails. Finished hmjust in time to walk next door to catch the show. Great, young opening act warmed up the crowd. Then about an hour of Henry Cho. After the show he hung around and mingled with the crowd. It was only a little after 9 so there was plenty of time to go out afterwards. But we’re old so we went home. A great night downtown.
As a side note, we had box seats in the balcony and shared it with a couple from Columbia. They had rarely ever been to Sumter and thought it had a terrible reputation. They were thoroughly impressed. They had dinner at Sidebar and we’re going to check out the brewery afterwards. If the Opera House can keep pulling in recognizable talent like this, Sumter would be a great date night town.
Sounds like you guys had a great time, and happy your friends from Columbia enjoyed themselves. Unfortunately for me, I had a prior commitment already, I would have loved to hang down there.
Yeah, Sumter still have much work to do to turn around that terrible reputation image, it's not great but not as bad as it once was. And age is nothing but a number, you guys are not old and I'm pretty sure I'm right there with you in that regards.
Yeah. We had a great time. Had dinner reservations at 6 for Hamptons. Nice night to sit outside. Had a very leisurely meal and cocktails. Finished hmjust in time to walk next door to catch the show. Great, young opening act warmed up the crowd. Then about an hour of Henry Cho. After the show he hung around and mingled with the crowd. It was only a little after 9 so there was plenty of time to go out afterwards. But we’re old so we went home. A great night downtown.
As a side note, we had box seats in the balcony and shared it with a couple from Columbia. They had rarely ever been to Sumter and thought it had a terrible reputation. They were thoroughly impressed. They had dinner at Sidebar and we’re going to check out the brewery afterwards. If the Opera House can keep pulling in recognizable talent like this, Sumter would be a great date night town.
Yeah.. the bad part is most of the news that trickles up to Columbia from Sumter is negative.. Shootings and Robberies are all that some of the networks talk about in Sumter. I almost wished they had a bureau down here to cover local stuff.. but maybe there is no demand or interest...I believe Sumter is almost entirely in the Columbia TV Market but none of the Stations hail "Columbia -Sumter" I thought that WLTX did a years ago.. but maybe there was just no need or demand to continue.
Sumter could benefit from advertising more (as a City) in Columbia, Florence and maybe even Charleston markets as people begin to look for day or even weekend trips. The Opera House should certainly continue to pull music and comedy acts to help with that draw....
Yeah.. the bad part is most of the news that trickles up to Columbia from Sumter is negative.. Shootings and Robberies are all that some of the networks talk about in Sumter. I almost wished they had a bureau down here to cover local stuff.. but maybe there is no demand or interest...I believe Sumter is almost entirely in the Columbia TV Market but none of the Stations hail "Columbia -Sumter" I thought that WLTX did a years ago.. but maybe there was just no need or demand to continue.
Sumter could benefit from advertising more (as a City) in Columbia, Florence and maybe even Charleston markets as people begin to look for day or even weekend trips. The Opera House should certainly continue to pull music and comedy acts to help with that draw....
It is, and you won't be seeing Columbia-Sumter on anything anytime soon. I just don't believe that's in their interest to share anything with Sumter, and no one from Sumter seems to even care as well, it's like just stick with the status quo.
It is, and you won't be seeing Columbia-Sumter on anything anytime soon. I just don't believe that's in their interest to share anything with Sumter, and no one from Sumter seems to even care as well, it's like just stick with the status quo.
Now that I think about it.. I dont think I have even seen a Sumter based business advertise on a Columbia Station! Both cities are like oil and vinegar. They just dont want to mix. LOL Both cities seem not to want to have anything to do with each other and maybe there is no mutual benefit. I recall an radio station the BIG DM 101. FM used to hail Sumter -Columbia and advertised heavily in both. That was in the 80s and 90s not sure if they do it now. Ironically, I dont think Lexington or Cayce-WestCo show much love either... The Midlands is the Balkans....
I guess we can blame the Wateree River and the "swamp". I remember being in high school and trying to find something to do on the weekend.. I suggested to my friends that we ride down to Sumter.. and they said they didnt want to ride "down to the swamp" Maybe that is the view on both side of the river....Columbians dont want to go to the swamp and Sumterites dont want to go through the swamp. The Lizard Man was in Lee County.. but we didnt want to find his cousin.
Yeah. We had a great time. Had dinner reservations at 6 for Hamptons. Nice night to sit outside. Had a very leisurely meal and cocktails. Finished hmjust in time to walk next door to catch the show. Great, young opening act warmed up the crowd. Then about an hour of Henry Cho. After the show he hung around and mingled with the crowd. It was only a little after 9 so there was plenty of time to go out afterwards. But we’re old so we went home. A great night downtown. .
We went to see it and he was hilarious! We were in the front row!
I didn’t realize he mingled after the show, otherwise we wouldn’t have left so quickly! Was it in the stage or in the lobby area? Anyway made for a great Sat night. We moved to Columbia in 2020 and hadn’t checked out Sumter yet. definitely want to explore more, seems like a cute little town!
Now that I think about it.. I dont think I have even seen a Sumter based business advertise on a Columbia Station! Both cities are like oil and vinegar. They just dont want to mix. LOL Both cities seem not to want to have anything to do with each other and maybe there is no mutual benefit. I recall an radio station the BIG DM 101. FM used to hail Sumter -Columbia and advertised heavily in both. That was in the 80s and 90s not sure if they do it now. Ironically, I dont think Lexington or Cayce-WestCo show much love either... The Midlands is the Balkans....
I guess we can blame the Wateree River and the "swamp". I remember being in high school and trying to find something to do on the weekend.. I suggested to my friends that we ride down to Sumter.. and they said they didnt want to ride "down to the swamp" Maybe that is the view on both side of the river....Columbians dont want to go to the swamp and Sumterites dont want to go through the swamp. The Lizard Man was in Lee County.. but we didnt want to find his cousin.
That radio station actually originated right here in Sumter, but they got too big for Sumter and moved to Columbia. They broadcast from Sumter for many years before moving to Columbia, but many people today have no clue of that history.
I just personally felt that Columbia never had any real interest of sharing the spotlight here in the Midlands with anyone. Unlike other regions of the state, whereas Charleston, even though it's the principal city of the low country, other cities are often mentioned in the same breath, like I always hear Charleston-North Charleston, or Mt Pleasant, Summerville and Goose Creek. So when you talk about Charleston, all these places are synonymous for the most part. Same for upstate, it's Greenville-Spartanburg, And it's usually Florence-Darlington for the Peedee and I have even heard Florence- Myrtle Beach. But no such thing in the midlands, we don't play like that here.
That radio station actually originated right here in Sumter, but they got too big for Sumter and moved to Columbia. They broadcast from Sumter for many years before moving to Columbia, but many people today have no clue of that history.
I just personally felt that Columbia never had any real interest of sharing the spotlight here in the Midlands with anyone. Unlike other regions of the state, whereas Charleston, even though it's the principal city of the low country, other cities are often mentioned in the same breath, like I always hear Charleston-North Charleston, or Mt Pleasant, Summerville and Goose Creek. So when you talk about Charleston, all these places are synonymous for the most part. Same for upstate, it's Greenville-Spartanburg, And it's usually Florence-Darlington for the Peedee and I have even heard Florence- Myrtle Beach. But no such thing in the midlands, we don't play like that here.
Right which is interesting... Maybe Columbia feels that we are the Cap City... period. Maybe that meant something years ago but now, unfortunately many Cap Cities are no longer or maybe never have been the principal city in a state. All of those twin cities you mentioned are certainly closer to each other than Columbia and Sumter.. but I think "the swamp" is a physical just as much as a psychological barrier. Sumter and Columbia are more similar than they care to admit.. Both have HBCUs, major military installations, demographics, among other things. The other issue is both are "major" cities surrounded by much smaller satellite towns and cities. This creates a natural tension between the principal city and these minor ones versus say Charleston or Greenville where the satellite communities are closer in size in terms of population? So if that is the relationship you have with the cities that are close to you.. then it only gets worse the further you get away. Sumter , I think has a better rep/relationship with its satellite towns like Mayesville, Pinewood, and to some degree Bishopville and Manning. I think that is because these towns depend heavily on Sumter for a variety of thing and certainly for shopping and entertainment. That may be questionable in Columbia if you are looking at Lexington, West Columbia/Cayce in particular
Right which is interesting... Maybe Columbia feels that we are the Cap City... period. Maybe that meant something years ago but now, unfortunately many Cap Cities are no longer or maybe never have been the principal city in a state. All of those twin cities you mentioned are certainly closer to each other than Columbia and Sumter.. but I think "the swamp" is a physical just as much as a psychological barrier. Sumter and Columbia are more similar than they care to admit.. Both have HBCUs, major military installations, demographics, among other things. The other issue is both are "major" cities surrounded by much smaller satellite towns and cities. This creates a natural tension between the principal city and these minor ones versus say Charleston or Greenville where the satellite communities are closer in size in terms of population? So if that is the relationship you have with the cities that are close to you.. then it only gets worse the further you get away. Sumter , I think has a better rep/relationship with its satellite towns like Mayesville, Pinewood, and to some degree Bishopville and Manning. I think that is because these towns depend heavily on Sumter for a variety of thing and certainly for shopping and entertainment. That may be questionable in Columbia if you are looking at Lexington, West Columbia/Cayce in particular
The swamp certainly keeps us from growing together physically, but in today's world, there are other ways to forge community relationship and promote each other. But things are much more competitive now compared to years ago, and it's pretty much every man for themselves, it's like we do us and you do you. And after the impact of COVID on our communities, things are even more competitive as we try to recover and get back to normal.
Sumter is not far at all from Columbia, it may have seem that way back in the day, but by today's standards, it's really not far at all. Suburbs around the country are much farther out from their principal city, than the drive between Sumter and Columbia. The average commute time in SC is 24.6 minutes, from my house, I'm well into Richland County in 25 minutes.
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Ironically, I dont think Lexington or Cayce-WestCo show much love either... The Midlands is the Balkans....
