11 www.ReadMPM.com | www.MountPleasantMagazine.com | www.MountPleasantPodcast.com For me, July is special for several reasons. At the top of the list is the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Four of the 56 men who signed this treasured document had ties to the Carolina coast, two of whom were among the youngest to sign. Edward Rutledge and Thomas Lynch Jr. were just 26 at the time. Thomas Lynch Jr. was born on Hopsewee Plantation just over 40 miles up the coast from Mount Pleasant. The other South Carolina signers were Thomas Heyward Jr. and Arthur Middleton. This time of year, I usually reflect on the words Benjamin Franklin said in the room filled with the 56 men getting ready to sign the Declaration of Independence: “We must all hang together, or, most assuredly, we shall all hang separately.” I just think that it is so courageous to believe in something for which you might have to give your life. Yes, the Declaration of Independence is our country’s founding document, but for me it was also the mindset represented by the people who were in that room — independent-thinking people — who started our country down the road of free enterprise and entrepreneurial innovation. Those same ideas expressed in that room by the signers of America’s founding document live on to this day, inside every small business in Mount Pleasant, Charleston, up the coast and throughout the country. This is why I also have love and respect for the Carolinas and those who call it home. I’m not saying Carolinians are willing to be hanged for their beliefs, but I do believe they are bold, adventurous and free-spirited. Whether you’re a resident or a visitor, you didn’t just happen upon the Carolina coast. Your desire to explore brought you here where signers of the Declaration of Independence once lived along with heroes of the Revolutionary War — where some of the first victories in the American Revolution happened. Yes, it is a special place: yesterday, today and tomorrow. Unapologetically yours, Bill Macchio Publisher • Publisher@MountPleasantMagazine.com publisher’s note Summer Edition • VOL. 15, ISSUE 4 PUBLISHER BILL MACCHIO PUBLISHER@MOUNTPLEASANTMAGAZINE.COM MANAGING EDITOR ZACH GIROUX EDITOR@MOUNTPLEASANTMAGAZINE.COM ART DIRECTOR DANA COLEMAN PRODUCTION MANAGER BETHANY LONG BRAND AMBASSADOR STACEY MCLOUGHLIN STACEY@MOUNTPLEASANTMAGAZINE.COM DIGITAL DIRECTOR ALLYAH HARRAR ALLYAH@MOUNTPLEASANTMAGAZINE.COM DIGITAL/WEB EDITOR GEORGE CONKLIN COPY EDITOR COLIN MCCANDLESS SOCIAL MEDIA/EVENT COORDINATOR ALYSSA FRANCO THEDIGITALTOUCHCHS@GMAIL.COM AD DESIGNER KIM HALL BETHANY LONG WRITERS MARY COY • KATIE FINCH • ALLYAH HARRAR WILL HAYNIE • CARI LAWSON • CLARK LEACH COLIN MCCANDLESS • SARAH ROSE ANNE TOOLE • BROOKE WATSON PHOTOGRAPHER MARK STAFF INDEPENDENT MEDIA CONSULTANTS STACEY MCLOUGHLIN STACEY@MOUNTPLEASANTMAGAZINE.COM SARAH ROSE SARAH@MOUNTPLEASANTMAGAZINE.COM ALLYAH HARRAR ALLYAH@MOUNTPLEASANTMAGAZINE.COM PAUL SMITH PAUL@MOUNTPLEASANTMAGAZINE.COM ADMINISTRATION & BOOKKEEPING GINGER SOTTILE BOSS DOG REGGIE DISTRIBUTION/DIRECT MAIL U.S. POST OFFICE • HARRIS TEETER • CVS Mount Pleasant Magazine is published locally by a team of independent contractors. Mount Pleasant Magazine is published six times per year by Media Services, Inc. 1013 Chuck Dawley Blvd., Mount Pleasant, SC 29464 Copyright © Media Services 2025. All rights reserved. Reproduction electronically or in print format without the expressed written consent of the publisher is strictly prohibited and a violation of U.S. copyright laws. Inquiries to: Mount Pleasant Magazine P.O. Box 22617, Charleston, SC 29413 843-881-1481 A Special Place Yesterday and Today
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