Our community, Acadia is named after the iconic Acadia National Park on Mount Desert Island in Maine. This park was the creation of George Dorr, an original rusticator (today, we’d say “environmentalist”).  In 1916, after years of assembling private land contributions, George Dorr got Congress to designate the surrounding hills as Sieur de Monts National Monument. There was then no national park system in the United States.

In 1919, the park lands were designated as the Lafayette National Park, the first park in our country’s new park system. The name was a nod to George Washington’s military sidekick, General Lafayette, to commemorate American solidarity with France at the end of World War I.

The name Acadia may never have come about but for George Dorr’s creative solicitation of the Moore sisters, two heiresses of John Godfrey Moore, a Gilded Age baron of lumber and telegraph wealth.  They owned a large area known as Schoodic Bay holdings, and were encouraged by their mother to donate this land to Dorr’s new park.

But a snag soon made it all unlikely; the sisters did not like the name Lafayette.  Speculation has it that Ruth Moore, the sister who married a British officer and diplomat, Lt. Col. Arthur Lee, was reluctant to make the donation because of the French military connection.  By 1923, Ruth was the Viscountess Lee of Fareham, and with her husband Arthur and her sister Faith, they lived in England at their Chequers Estate (later to become the Camp David of Great Britain).

George Dorr, an admitted admirer of French history and culture, suggested to them a new name, Acadia.  In their writings, Dorr and National Park Service director Stephen Mather played down the Frenchiness of Acadia, emphasizing instead its likely derivation from cadie, from the same root word quoddy, which means place in Mi’kmaq language. 

However he convinced the sisters, they agreed to the new name and made the donation. Congress authorized the new lands and renamed the park as the Acadia National Park in 1929.

In Acadia, our place in Greenville, South Carolina, we are proud of our namesake. We embrace the active outdoor lifestyle that inspired the creation of the Acadia National Park, our country’s first national park.

Come discover life in balance, in Acadia! 

This week we celebrate our newest Acadian neighbors, John Hammes & Carrie Dale. They have just moved into their beautiful home in Acadia. As they are unpacking their boxes, they are also building treasure boxes at their business, Softbox Systems, a specialty packaging company for the pharmaceutical industry, located here in Greenville, SC.

We were excited to see that the very first delivery of Covid-19 vaccines in Britain and the US were shipped in Softbox containers, truly a treasure chest if ever there was one! We are so proud of their contribution, and welcome them to our Acadia community.

Thank you, John & Carrie!

We want to cheer for some of our Acadian neighbors for their heroic work and accomplishments, though they do not get the credit they deserve, much less seek.

Jim & Vickie Pascoe, the “Mayors of Acadia”, are our first residents. Since 2006, the Pascoes have been joined in Acadia by other family members Nicole & Trevor Rheem and their children. A special shout-out to Acadia’s First Family!

Keller Freeman, mother of Acadia’s developers Caleb & Mary Freeman, and her grandson John Freeman, are Acadia residents. Keller’s enthusiasm for all things Acadia, especially the Acadia Meeting House (dedicated to her late husband David L. Freeman), have earned her a warm place in our hearts; she often interrupts our work with steady trays of cookies and lemonade. She is best known as a prolific writer and historian; her seminal work on the Battle of Iwo Jima, The Shadow of Suribachi, is studied at the US Marine Academy. Her poetry collections, historical short stories, and novels are numerous and award-winning. She founded the EMRYS Foundation, supporting southern women writers. Kudos, Keller!

Jim & Jamie Kaltenbach and their girls have brought a lot of fun and joy to Acadia, and great contributions to our Greenville community. Jim’s leadership at Prisma Health’s Philanthropy Office is known to all Acadians. His direction of the Dragon Boat Festival (Go Ragin’ Cajuns!) has raised over $3.5 million to support the talented Cancer Care and Research teams at Prisma. They are making world-class innovations in cancer, and more recently in Covid, treatments. Big thanks for all your efforts and talents!

Wednesday & Sam Cooper have helped many Acadians keep their sanity during Covid. Wednesday’s expert Yoga classes offer a regular, Covid-safe outlet for what we call “house arrest.” This summer, practicing Yoga outdoors at the Pavilion, gives new meaning to “hot yoga”. Much needed and appreciated, Wednesday & Sam!

If you know other unsung Acadian heroes, we want to highlight them in our next edition.

Thanks to all Acadians!

The Acadia Community is a great place to live for not only us homo-sapiens, but also our canine companions. With four miles of walking trails, lots of sidewalks, the village green, the soccer field, and many other common areas, there are always opportunities to stretch all four legs or grab a game of fetch. Of course, we do require leashes to keep everyone safe, fur-covered or otherwise. Sometimes, though, it’s nice to frolic without constraints. The Cassie’s Run dog park- named after our developers dearly departed chocolate lab- provides just the place.

So, Acadia certainly has plenty of room for dogs, but how big is the pooch population? Quite large, as it turns out. Take a one-block stretch on Fathers Drive, for example. In the span of eight homes, there are 13 dogs. Good things often come in pairs: there are two Jack Russel Terriers, Corky and Toby, two curly-haired cuties, Tucker and Abby, two Dachshunds, JD and Bailey, and two Beagles, Zoey and Haley. There are also two sisters from other misters, Piper and Tinny, and solo-acts like Gus and Eddie. Of course, the best dog on the block is Al the Corgi; this is in no way related to the fact that he is owned by the co-developer of the community.

If you expand your search just around the corner on Acadia Avenue, you can add Toby the Husky to the mix, and just across the alley from the terrier brothers are Chester and Georgie, and there are many more to meet across all 170 families living in the community. The dog days of summer are here in Acadia, but if you can beat the heat you’ll find lots of reasons to get your tail wagging.

The Acadia Invitational – Women’s Pole Vault Competition was held July 15, 2020 in the Acadia community, Greenville, South Carolina.  Sandi Morris, the silver medalist at the 2016 Rio Olympics, set this year’s women’s outdoor world record, seen in this video, at 4.81 meters. 

You can count on one hand the number of women in the world to have ever reached such incredible heights.  And Sandi was not alone; she was joined by an international field of exceptional athletes, all vaulting well near their record heights, despite the 100 degree heat-index, Covid anxieties and social-distancing restrictions. 

Sandi’s family resides in Acadia.  They were joined by many Acadian neighbors who volunteered to build the runway, host and cheer this special athletic event.  

Special thanks to ESPN for filming and to Zenni Eyewear for sponsoring this first Acadia Invitational. 

Congratulations to Sandi Morris and all of the competitors, including Katie Nageotte, Olivia Gruver, Anika Newall, Robin Bone, Megan Clarke, Leah Pasqualetti, Ariel Voskamp, Megan Zimlich, and Natalie Uy. 

What an exciting day!  Acadia hopes to see you all again at the next Acadia Invitational!

Today is a very exciting amenity day here in Acadia. The Acadian pool is now open for the season. All Acadians are invited to relax and enjoy their days lounging by the pool unitl it closes on September 22, 2019. Please be courteous and respectful to your fellow neighbors, and most of all, have fun!

Charles Hardaway

Richard Hardaway

An exciting announcement has come to Acadia. Acadian Charles Hardaway and brother Richard Hardaway, will be the 2018 inductees into the South Carolina Tennis Hall of Fame. Charles and Richard will be the 66th and 67th members respectively. Their induction ceremony will take place on December 8th at the annual Hall of Fame Banquet on Hilton Head Island. The Hardaways were both top level high school players. They were ranked juniors at the state and national levels, and went on to have superb tennis careers in college.

We are very happy for both Hardaway brothers, and wish them the best at their induction ceremony! To learn more about the Hardaways, check out the USTA article about them here.

Acadians are traveling! Thanks to Ray & Laura, our Acadia Travel Concierge, for recently helping Acadian families plan their vacation cruises in the Caribbean, river cruises in Europe, South African safaris, and ski trips.

The world is a big, exciting place to see. Be sure to ask your Acadia Travel Concierge to show you the possibilities.

To find out more about the exciting opportunities Ray and Laura have in store for Acadians, please visit the Acadia Travel Concierge website here or call them at (207) 865-1789.

Happy travels, Acadians!

The white, fluffy ice of winter has arrived in Acadia. Yes all, it is that time of year once again. The temperature has finally dropped to its normal feeling of winter, and the snow has started to fall. It is finally the time of year for hot cocoa and brandy by the fire. Before you know it, Santa Claus will be making his annual trip around the Upstate, filling stockings and bringing presents for all to enjoy. From all of us here in Acadia, we want to wish you all a very Happy Holidays!

Greenville is a truly great place to live for any theater lovers. In fact, it has more performing arts theaters than movie theaters. The Greenville Little Theater, which has entertained audiences since 1926, is the oldest center of performing arts in the Upstate. It offers a wide variety of theatrical fare: classic musicals, suspenseful mysteries, side-splitting comedies, and much more. As a true community theater, GLT gives Greenville a space for new actors to experience the craft while still providing theater-goers with a professional experience. It certainly helps that there are so many seasoned actors in the Upstate that grace the stage, but credit must be given to GLT’s directors, Allen and Susan McCalla. The McCalla’s took the helm as Executive Artistic and Producing Directors in 1993.  Ever since, they have solidified GLT’s legacy of excellence using their own professional theater experience. Recently, their son, Sam McCalla, has joined the team as Associate Artistic Director and Resident Actor; after working for several professional theaters, he has brought even more talent back to GLT and the Upstate. Of course, no great production is possible with just the Directors, excellent though they may be. The entire team at GLT, from lighting to set design, deserves the applause at the end of a production as much as the actors.

The Greenville Little Theater holds a special place in the hearts of the Freeman family here in Acadia.  Our own Mary Freeman has performed there nearly every year since we moved to Greenville in 1995, starting with the role of Nellie Forbush in South Pacific. She will be performing yet again in GLT’s production of Hairspray, which opens this Friday, June 2^nd at 8:00 and runs until June 25^th.  Hairspray is a musical set in the 1960s, featuring comedy, romance, and chemically solidified hairdos. Those who know Mary personally know that she is a wonderful person, and many of the roles she has performed over the years help reflect this fact. On the other hand, her character in Hairspray, Velma Von Tussle, is the exact opposite of a wonderful person. Fortunately, Mary is a very good actor, so audiences should expect to have a ton of fun despising Mrs. Von Tussle. The show is sure to draw a crowd, so get your tickets as soon as possible, either online or by phone at 864-233-6238.