Cover Stories

Bringing a Celebration of Celtic Culture Back to Myrtle Beach by Melissa LaScaleia For the past few years, the Saltwater Highland Games were a hugely popular festival held annually every March in Myrtle Beach. This year, the organizers chose not to host the event. That’s when N.S. Promotions & Events stepped up to the plate, and … Read more

by Melissa LaScaleia Every December, American Red Cross teams up with other non-profits to assist in sending care packages to our military troops stationed overseas. The arm of the Red Cross responsible for this is the Service to the Armed Forces division, or SAF. Karen Levinson is the team leader for the local Myrtle Beach division; … Read more

Serving the Horry and Georgetown Communities During Hurricane Florence and Beyond by Melissa LaScaleia American Red Cross is a nearly two-hundred-year-old non-profit organization that has over 300,000 volunteers nationwide and provides disaster relief on large and small scales, as well as other community support services. Before, during, and after Hurricane Florence hit the Southeastern coast … Read more

A Family First Unincorporated Community by Melissa LaScaleia Carolina Forest is a family-centered community located between the cities of Myrtle Beach to the east, and Conway to the west. All addresses which fall under the 29579 zip code are designated as part of Carolina Forest, the fastest growing unincorporated part of Horry County. Long ago, … Read more

Bringing Awareness About Deafness To Our Community by Melissa LaScaleia Michael Sokolik began the non-profit organization, Beach Society For the Deaf, as a way to build greater awareness of the existence of deaf people in the Myrtle Beach community, and to help foster greater inclusion for them. He has a small team of people who … Read more

It’s More Than a Name Change For Us by John Jobson We are happy to announce that we, Properties At The Market Common, have established higher goals and expectations in 2018 than we envisioned just eighteen months ago when we opened our new office on Farrow Parkway.  That was an exciting time for us, and … Read more

The Man Making Strides in the Realm of Entertainment by Melissa LaScaleia For Jerry Dalton, founder and organizer of the Myrtle Beach International Film Festival, there isn’t a better location in the world for a film festival than the Market Common.  He prefers it even to Sundance’s location in Park City, Utah.  Here the weather … Read more

The Upcoming 10th Annual Dragon Boat Festival Is Poised to Make A Splash April 28 by Melissa LaScaleia It’s a year of tens.  Not only is it the tenth year anniversary of the Market Common, but also of the Dragon Boat Races—the annual festival that is held by Ground Zero Ministries in the Market Common … Read more

Latoya Goes Viral by Melissa LaScaleia Latoya Grayson became acquainted with the homeless 74-year-old Mr. James Lee when they had an encounter at a restaurant where she offered to buy him chicken wings. “He was so friendly and appreciative and I was so happy to help him,” she says of the meeting. The next day, … Read more

The Blue Angels and More Landing in The Market Common April 28 -29 by Melissa LaScaleia The Wings Over Myrtle Beach air show is coming to the Market Common for the first time this April with plans to become an annual event.  Organized and executed by Air Force veteran John Cowman, it will feature performances by … Read more

Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day Here by Melissa LaScaleia There’s a great way to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day this year in the Market Common— with Irish Fest.  Mike Shank envisioned and organized the start of the festival here nine years ago. Mike owns his own company called Festival Promotions.  He has been organizing and promoting popular … Read more

Empowering The Girls of The Grand Strand by Melissa LaScaleia Girls On The Run is a national, 501(c)(3) nonprofit, after-school program dedicated to the empowerment of elementary and middle school girls in the Grand Strand area.  Girls are taught fitness in a creative way that inspires them to be the best versions of themselves, is … Read more

Local School Celebrates International Cultures by Donna Parker St. James Middle School will be celebrating international cultures on February 22, 2018, from 5:30 pm until 7:00 pm at our Multicultural Fair in the Commons Area. SJMS staff and students within our school family will have booths set up for families to peruse and experience various … Read more

The Insider Mission Is What We Do Best By Melissa LaScaleia Since the Insider’s inception one-and-a-half years ago, we’ve been committed to informing community members and visitors to our community about what’s happening in and around our neighborhood. Every month, we bring you information about local events, local non-profits, and introduce you, within our pages, … Read more

Dave Vail is the man responsible for helping organize the vendors at the Holiday Bazaar in the Market Common. “It takes 2 hours to get everybody set up and spaced out accordingly,” he tells me. “This will be the third year I’m doing this. And this is the fifth year for me working for Waccamaw … Read more

Introducing: The Market Common November Holiday Bazaar Photo Gallery! Take a gander at all the beautiful faces inhabiting and visiting the Market Common! To see what there is to do around the Market Common, visit: www.marketcommonmb.com Also, take a peak at our Events page. Here, you can take a look at our calendar formatted to … Read more

The Bicycle Trails in Our Market Common Community Did you know that there are bicycle paths that weave their way over, about, through and around the entire Market Common?  Some of them connect, and others truncate abruptly.  We, at the Insider decided to find out the rhyme behind the reasoning for their existence, and where … Read more

Stay Empowered About Health Share It With Those You Love By Shelby Smith Staying healthy and feeling great in the latter years of like is a continuing priority for the seniors in our community as well as those close to them. South Carolina has over 1 million seniors aged 65 and older— 20% of the … Read more

On Myrtle Beach’s Past, The Pickleball Craze & Life by Melissa LaScaleia “The first time I ever heard of pickleball,” Bill Hunsberger, the 81-year-old champion tells me, “was four years ago when they introduced it at my local YMCA.” Bill lives in Hagerstown, Maryland, but he’s no stranger to Myrtle Beach. His grandfather was William … Read more

Another Tango Comes to Life At Coastal Dance Studio by Melissa LaScaleia Market Common has been placed officially on the stardom map. This past August, the production company, G It’s Entertainment, filmed Another Tango at Coastal Dance Studio on Deville Street. G is based in Murrells Inlet and films all over the country— but the majority are produced in South Carolina. Christian Brunetti is … Read more

How the Market Common Celebrates our Country’s Independence by Melissa LaScaleia Independence Day is the quintessential American holiday marked by outdoor relaxation, barbecues, picnics, fireworks, and fun. This is the time to celebrate our country’s birth and the freedoms that we enjoy as Americans, with family and friends. This July, we share the personal reflections … Read more

The Do’s and Don’t’s of Waterfowl Dining Habits by Melissa LaScaleia We all love our feathered friends: the ducks, geese, and swans, who with their graceful charms enhance the beauty of the waterways in the Market Common and make any outing to the area that much more pleasurable. Interacting with wildlife is just plain fun, … Read more

An Annual Summer Tradition Returns to the Market Common by Melissa LaScaleia The advent of June brings with it the return of Movies Under the Stars, the weekly outdoor summer movie tradition held in Valor Park in the Market Common. Every Friday night all summer long, friends, couples, families, and singles (some with animal friends), … Read more

Where Nature and Community Meet by Melissa LaScaleia Rows of raised-bed garden plots, pregnant with possibilities, line the corner of Pampas Drive and Meyers Avenue, waiting expectantly to be filled. The Market Common District Community Garden used to be located behind the Base Recreation Center, but was moved to its current location last year when … Read more

An Annual Fundraiser Celebrating Community and Fun by Melissa LaScaleia The Ground Zero Dragon Boat Festival began on the big lake in the Market Common nine years ago as a fundraiser for Ground Zero Ministries, a local non-profit 501(c)(3) Christian organization that offers a safe space for teenagers and pre-teens to gather and hang out … Read more