What’s in SC’s booth at the Great American State Fair: Golf, sweetgrass and rocking chairs

COLUMBIA — Visitors can play putt-putt, mail themselves a postcard or relax in a rocking chair in South Carolina’s booth at the Great American State Fair.

The free, two-week event in Washington, D.C., which started June 25 and ends July 10, is part of President Donald Trump’s Freedom 250 celebration, commemorating the country’s founding 250 years ago. Saturday will mark the semiquincentennial anniversary of the Second Continental Congress adopting the Declaration of Independence.

Every state was invited and has an official booth and banner, but 11 declined to send official delegations to decorate and run their booths. In some cases, businesses or local governments showed up after their governors declined to participate. Pennsylvania’s booth was manned late after its U.S. senators got involved.

South Carolina’s participation was never in question. When the White House reached out earlier this year, Gov. Henry McMaster asked the state’s parks department to take the lead on organizing the event.

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The fair “provides an opportunity for states to come together in our nation’s capital and celebrate the people, history, and traditions that make each one unique,” McMaster said in a statement to the SC Daily Gazette.

“We are proud to represent South Carolina on the National Mall and give visitors a glimpse of what makes the Palmetto State so special,” McMaster said.

The state Department of Parks Recreation and Tourism had about two months to get the booth put together, said Devon Harris, who organized the event.

“It was a pretty quick turnaround,” said Harris, who oversees consumer services and marketing for the agency.

All told, the decorations, branded promotional items and staff cost $500,000, said Jayne Baker, agency spokeswoman.

Harris and her team wanted to make sure they represented the entire state, “not just golf, not just beaches, not just mountains,” she said.

She also wanted the booth to convey the Southern hospitality associated with the state and show off some of its history and activities.

And she wanted to distract visitors from being in a tent, making them feel as though they were walking around a small room instead.

Cornhole boards and beanbags draw visitors into the booth, where they can hit a ball on a putting green, meant to “highlight our world-renowned golf courses, of course,” Harris said.

A bookshelf in the back of the booth shows off cookbooks full of Southern delicacies and novels penned by South Carolina authors.

On display are sweetgrass baskets — the state’s official Lowcountry handcraft — representing the longstanding and treasured Gullah Geechee tradition.

Alongside those sit pieces of traditional Catawba pottery, created by members of the state’s only federally recognized Native American tribe, and Edgefield pottery, a traditional type of glazed stoneware created using clay from that area.

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A bicycle, representing the state’s networks of trails and outdoor activities, sits in front of a large postcard where visitors can get their photo taken. Photographs of different parts of the state show off a diversity of ecosystems and cities, Harris said.

Rocking chairs sit throughout the booth, inviting visitors to relax for a moment and take in the greenery the parks department brought to make the place feel more homey, Harris said. The intention is for people to “come in, sit down, have a rock,” Harris said.

“We wanted to make sure that space felt welcoming and inviting and open,” she said.

Staff from the parks, commerce and natural resources departments welcome visitors, answer any questions and “try to have a good time with the guests that walk in,” she said.

Although news coverage has shown the event as sparsely attended amid a heatwave, with bands performing to handfuls of people and booths sitting empty, the South Carolina section has seen a steady stream of visitors, Harris said.

The department doesn’t have a tally of attendance. Over the first six days of the fair, when Harris helped work the booth, she saw only positive reactions to the state’s setup, she said.

Some people who lived in or regularly vacationed in South Carolina stopped by, excited to see the Palmetto State represented.

“Probably one in every five people would say, ‘This is the best booth,’” Harris said.

As people left, they could take a branded keychain, pair of sunglasses or balloon. A fan favorite was a small fan that plugs into a cellphone, which was a big hit among people looking for relief from the record-breaking heatwave hitting Washington, D.C.

After all, South Carolinians know how to deal with the heat, Harris said.

The experience doesn’t end at the door. Anyone who stopped in could fill out a postcard, which parks department staff will mail out once they return to South Carolina, as though they really traveled down the Atlantic coast.

Of course, seeing the booth isn’t quite like coming to the state. The ultimate goal is for people who saw something they liked in the booth to plan their next vacation to the Palmetto State, Harris said.

“We always welcome people to visit South Carolina and hope this celebration inspires even more Americans to experience our great state firsthand,” McMaster said.