Dog days of summer
By GARY WILLOUGHBY
Aiken SPCA executive director
For those of you who enjoy going out to dinner and being able to bring your dog out with you, we’re happy to announce the third Dog Days of Summer to benefit the Aiken SPCA.
This year, the venue has changed, but the purpose is still the same: helping raise funds to feed our dogs and cats while feeding ourselves at the same time.
This year, Rose Hill Estate, one of Aiken’s most treasured and historic destination spots, is offering the Aiken animal-loving community the opportunity to dine out with our pets beginning Wednesday, June 2, and every Wednesday evening thereafter for the duration of the summer.
There also will be a room at Rose Hill dedicated to displaying information and materials about the new shelter project and available naming opportunities for anyone interested in knowing more about it. If you want to purchase a brick or tile in memory or honor of a loved one or pet, you can learn more about it at Rose Hill all summer long. A portion of all proceeds from the Wednesday dinners will go directly to benefit the animals waiting for their permanent homes at the SPCA shelter. And with nearly 200 hungry mouths to feed right now, every little bit helps.
Built in 1900, Rose Hill is the first property in Aiken listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and is the most originally intact former Winter Colony estate.
If you have visited Rose Hill, you already know it as a quintessential expression of old Aiken and Gilded Age architecture. If you’ve not yet had the chance to enjoy this beautiful Aiken gem, come out and join fellow animal lovers on Wednesday evenings.
Rose Hill Estate is located at 221 Greenville St. in downtown Aiken between Barnwell and Edgefield avenues, just north of Richland Avenue and a little east of Laurens Street. Use the parking lot at rear located at the corner of Greenville and Edgefield.
Dining begins 5 p.m. and will take place in the Beer Garden and courtyard by the Stable Restaurant. Bring your pet. Menu will be casual fare, and no reservations are needed. However, if planning to bring a large group, give the staff a heads up. Call Rose Hill at 648-1181. For more about the SPCA, visit www.aikenspca.org or call 648-6863.
Donations needed:
As we enter the beginning of kitten season now, we are in desperate need of canned cat food. Any brand is fine and you are welcome to bring it to the shelter at 401 Wire Road or at our thrift store at 404 Richland Ave. E., whichever is more convenient. We also have donation bins at SuperPetz on Whiskey Road and Boots, Bridles & Britches on Pine Log Road. We are also always in need of Whiskas dry cat food, Pedigree dry dog food and any brand of canned dog food.
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Renovation formed stables into now-restaurant, bar
Rose Hill Estate has parked a new eatery in the stables to go with the historic bed and breakfast.
The Stables Restaurant and Bar opened last fall after extensive renovations to make the outbuilding a warm and habitable space for diners, with a full commercial kitchen, patio and pavilion, a beer garden and separate off-street parking. Work on The Stables began in 2005, according to Rose Hill owner Steve Mueller.
“I always tell people that every square inch of it needed some level of attention – changing the terrain outdoors, the floors, the walls, the heating and air, adding the kitchen,” he said. “While we were working on the building we did buffets in there, to get people used to thinking of it as a dining space. I looked up online for historic estates with stables restaurants, and there’s only the Biltmore and one in the Hudson Valley in New York that I could find. So for visitors, it’s a joy to see something that’s Old Aiken.”
The renovation to the stables is part of the long-term vision for the property Mueller and his co-owner, mother Eva Mueller, had for Rose Hill when they bought the estate in 2002. At the main house, the upstairs is given over to bed and breakfast lodgings, and on the first floor, there are rentable spaces for meetings, receptions and parties. The Muellers always planned to have a separate restaurant on the property. Full Details……
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Independence Day celebration, cookout proceeds will go to Fisher House fund
For the second consecutive summer, Rose Hill Estate will honor America and its Armed Forces with a day-long Fourth of July celebration.
This year’s Fourth of July event will bring together various indigenous American musical styles – country, blues, Beach Music and gospel music – and will once again raise money to support the Aiken County Veterans Council’s Fisher House fund. Admission is by donation.
Special guest speaker for the day will be retired U.S. Army Col. Ted Spain, former commander of the 10th U.S. Military Police Brigade in wartime Baghdad, Iraq.
While stationed in Iraq at the start of the ongoing war, Spain commanded a team of 4,000 MPs tasked to keep the peace in the violent region.
The day’s entertainment will feature Rhonda McDaniel, the 2008 Carolina Beach Music Association’s Best Female Vocalist and winner of the 2008 CBMA Award for Best Solo Album for her first self-titled CD. A resident of McCormick, McDaniel has scored three No. 1 hits on the Carolina Beach Music charts: “Falling,” “Why Am I Crying?” and “Left With A Broken Heart.”
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