The Beat is back and hungry for more.

Story and Photos by Mark Shaffer

Charles Kuralt once wrote that in America, “You can find your way across this country using burger joints the way a navigator uses stars.” A lot has changed since Kuralt wrote that line. There are far fewer of those stars thanks to the relentless flood of corporate fast food. Back in the day a burger was something made by hand and served up at hometown diners and drive-ins with names like Ruth’s and Big Al’s. My own hometown burger joint (Ruth’s in Hartsville, SC) has been family owned and operated since 1945. Located just a few blocks from the high school, it’s still the first place anyone looks for truant students.

Easter, which celebrates Jesus Christ’s resurrection from the dead, is Christianity’s most important holiday. Lately I've found myself reminiscing about the church that I grew up in, the churches that I've worked for, and Easters past. Recollections of Easter dresses, little white gloves, Easter bonnets and palm frond crosses quickly come to mind.

“Across the country, shopping became a complicated and often frustrating experience. Even with coupons for rationed goods and the patience to wait in long lines, there was never quite enough to go around. Everyday items were now hard to come by—laundry soap, facial tissue, cotton diapers, thumbtacks and even hair curlers.

First Presbyterian Church Hilton Head Island will present two programs in the series “Stories of Grace, Given and Received,” at 6:30 p.m. on two consecutive Wednesdays. April 19 and 26. The first program, on April 19^th, will feature U.S. Rep. James E. Clyburn talking about his book, Blessed Experiences: Genuinely Southern, Proudly Black.  Then, on April 26^th, novelist Cassandra King Conroy and Jonathan Haupt, executive director of the Pat Conroy Literacy Center, will speak on the subject: “A Generous Lowcountry Heart… Building on the Legacy of Pat Conroy.”