9th Annual Harvest Tour coming soon to four homes near you!
With close to 10,000 card-holding patrons now registered at the Daniel Island Library - a nine percent increase over last year - it’s safe to say the facility has become a “best seller” when it comes to serving the island’s literary needs.
An event that has helped the library significantly enhance its offerings is the popular Annual Harvest Tour of Homes on Daniel Island. The 2016 tour will take place on Saturday, October 22, from 1 to 4 p.m., and will spotlight four varied island residences and several local authors, including four from Daniel Island.
The homes
This year’s featured properties include two in Daniel Island Park and two in Smythe Park. One home overlooks the picturesque Ralston Creek and features unique furnishings, spectacular outdoor patios, an “infinity” pool, and interior design touches reminiscent of movies set in the 1930s. Additionally, the stump of the tree that provided the wood flooring in the home is embedded into the floor of one of the rooms.
Another property on the tour is located on Oak Overhang Street on the island’s south side. The home offers calming, cool colors and a “wonderful” family art collection, said Harvest Home Tour Co-Chair Mary Ann Solberg. Also featured is the studio of acclaimed international photographer Peter Finger, who owns the home with his wife, JoAna.
“In addition, their home is a minimalist arts and crafts home,” added Solberg. “And we’ve never really had that type of home on the tour before so that makes it very exciting!”
Also in Smythe Park, tour-goers will be invited to visit a family home on Pierce Street that is bursting with inspiring decorating designs.
“If you’re looking for decorating ideas, it is very interesting!” said Solberg. “They made an elevator shaft into a little office, reminiscent of an English phone booth! And the children’s rooms are adorable…The house is just fabulous and has beautiful views of the Wando River from the upper deck.”
The final property, in Daniel Island Park, is also a family home. According to the home description provided on the tour’s website (www.harvesthometours.com), “three centuries of furnishings and art live compatibly with an active young family.” The property also features a tennis court, games court, and a pinball machine room.
‘It’s the ultimate family home,” continued Solberg. “And the views are phenomenal.”
All in all, the properties combine to make the 2016 Harvest Tour a “not to be missed” event, said Solberg.
“We have an incredible variety in homes here on Daniel Island, and it is a community that is a real literary community,” she added. “I don’t think this event could be held in a more perfect place.”
The impact
Sponsored by the Friends of the Daniel Island Library (FOTL), the Harvest Tour of Homes fundraiser has featured 36 homes and generated more than $100,000 since it began in 2008. According to Solberg, the event has impacted the library in “amazing ways.”
“It’s a different library than it would have been if we had not had the tours,” she said. “The first few years, the Berkeley County Library budget was cut dramatically, so we have really supplemented the budget and allowed the library to order the books and equipment they wanted…Even though the county now has a larger budget, there are still things the library can’t afford – so we provide those for them!”
Among the items purchased by the FOTL with tour dollars are additional computer work stations, furniture for the library and community meeting room, early literacy and general collection resources, a parking lot book drop, additional shelving, a display case for island artifacts, an outside reading garden with benches, and multiple book club kits.
“We are so grateful for their support,” said Tim Boyle, Daniel Island Library Branch Manager. “They’ve helped us with big ticket items…It’s great to be able to plow (those funds) right back into things that people can use right here in our community.”
“Daniel Island is really a reading island,” added Solberg. “There is a tremendous number of people here who read for enjoyment quite consistently. People are always checking out books and asking for suggestions. Tim has a real grasp of his clientele and makes wonderful suggestions.”
The book club kits have been extremely popular and well received, said Boyle. They now have about 120 kits available and can create more when requested. Kits include five copies of a book and multiple discussion questions.
“We now have a budget for book club kits,” he added. “And we can put together a kit if someone requests one. I did two just yesterday!”
“The kits are becoming more and more popular,” added Solberg. “When we first started, it was really a national innovation and it is spreading like wildfire now! More and more people are moving to the island, and starting more and more book clubs, even a lot of couples’ book clubs.”
Solberg is also proud of the library’s new outdoor garden and reading area, a space that is being utilized by patrons of all ages.
“Every day, it’s more beautiful,” she added. “We constantly add to the garden and it’s just my love. I don’t think I have ever been there that I haven’t seen a mother, a small child, or a father, reading. And that was our goal – to not only have a beautiful outdoor space for the library, but to be able to check out books and immediately enjoy them in their surroundings.”
Solberg and Vicki Danziger, her Harvest Tour co-chair, plan to meet with Boyle after this year’s event to find out how to best utilize the 2016 proceeds. Already, Boyle has a wish list started. He’s hoping for some new shelving for juvenile media, an honoraria fund for speakers, kits for summer reading books, games, and more. Solberg said the FOTL also plans to continue to enhance the garden and maintain it, buy additional book club kits, and increase their donation for e-books, an area that is growing “by leaps and bounds,” she said.
“We know that they have a constant need of materials,” Solberg continued. “So we support the things we started there, and then there are always new things to consider…They will always be grateful for anything we contribute.”
For additional information on the tour, including how to obtain tickets, please visit www.harvesthometours.com.
Want to go?
9th Annual Harvest Tour of Homes
Saturday, October 22, 1 to 4 p.m.
Proceeds benefit the Daniel Island Library
Tickets are $20 each if purchased by October 21 at the following locations: Island Expressions and Egan’s Spirits on Daniel Island; Zinnia in Mt. Pleasant; or from any House Tour committee member. On the day of the tour, any remaining tickets will be available at the Daniel Island Library on Daniel Island Drive for $25 beginning at 11:30 a.m. Each home will also have a supply of tickets during the tour for $25. Children 10 and older will be admitted with a ticket when accompanied by an adult. For additional information, please visit www.harvesthometours.com.
Meet the authors!
The following authors will be stationed at featured homes during the Harvest Tour to offer signed copies of their books and answer questions:
Becca Bessinger and Kris Manning (illustrator) – “My Own Little Piece of Sky”
Owen Duffy – “The Artichoke Queen”
Michael Ferrara – “Land of a Million Elephants”
Mike Glasgow – “Feeding Charleston”