Brian Lookabill is the voice of the Aiken Horse Show.

During the event, which began Friday and continues through Sunday, he introduces the horses and riders competing to the spectators who gather in Hitchcock Woods to enjoy a local tradition.

But according to Lookabill, that’s only the “basic gist” of what he does as the announcer.

Lookabill said it also is important for him to “make sure that everybody knows about the history of the Aiken Horse Show and everything that makes it so special.”

Those who listen to Lookabill will learn that the event began in 1916 and is the largest fundraiser for the Hitchcock Woods Foundation, which is responsible for the preservation and management of one of the nation’s largest urban forests.

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“It’s a very cool gem of a location,” Lookabill said. “There is no other venue anywhere that I’ve been to that’s like this. I love the fact that it’s a natural setting. The horses and riders have to adapt to the countryside. The countryside doesn’t adapt to the horses and riders. There’s a lot to be said for that old-fashioned kind of horsemanship.”

In addition, some of the classes offered are different from those at many other equestrian competitions.

“It is one of the very few shows that that has a very strong foxhunter component,” Lookabill said.

There also are sidesaddle classes, a costume class, a family class and many other options for participants.

In addition, the tailgating opportunities and the lunches in the big white tent help make the Aiken Horse Show fun for attendees.

“I could go on and one about the things that are special,” Lookabill said. “It’s hard to pick my favorite one. But I have to say that when I enter the woods each morning … there’s just a magical feeling to this location that you can’t get anywhere else. You almost feel like you are going back in time.”

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Lookabill, 47, was born at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., and remembers living “in a bunch of different places” while growing up.

“We had horses in Pennsylvania that were trail horses,” Lookabill said. “I was comfortable around horses and I spent a lot of time around horses, but I didn’t do anything from a competition perspective, to be honest with you. I had friends in elementary school who talked about going to horse shows, and I thought that was the weirdest thing in the world.”

When Lookabill was a teenager, his family moved to Aiken. He met JP Godard here and they became best friends.

“I actually worked for his father quite a bit doing construction jobs, equipment operation and things like that,” Lookabill said. “I also went to horse shows with JP. We traveled around doing horse shows together, and that’s how I got involved.”

In addition to announcing, Lookabill is a horse show judge and manager.

“I’ve got some other businesses that sort of grew out of that, but those are the main things that people know me for,” he said.

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Lookabill and his fiancee, Martha Tosh, live in Kentucky and operate a company (New Direction Events) together.

Godard and his wife, Megan, are the founders of Equus Events, which manages hunter and jumper shows.

“I still have a lot of family in Aiken, so I like to come back to visit,” said Lookabill, who is getting married April 6 at the Green Boundary Club.

In addition to the Aiken Horse Show, Lookabill works at such local events at the Aiken Charity Horse Shows in May, Aiken Fall Festival and Grand-Prix Eventing Showcase at the Aiken Horse Park Foundation’s Bruce’s Field.

He has been the Aiken Horse Show’s announcer for several years.

“I am proud to be part of an event that does a great deal to preserve the forest here,” Lookabill said. “It’s also a wonderful time to be here because Aiken is in full bloom.”

Leslie Clark is back in business in downtown Aiken.

Her new store, Indigo Bleu, opened Feb. 24 at 120 Laurens St. N.W.

Clark previously owned the Artisan Market, which she closed last summer because of a big increase in rent after the Hayne Avenue building it was located in was sold.

Larry and Connie Shepard started the Artisan Market in 2015 on Laurens Street, and it was in several locations in downtown Aiken during its existence.

Clark said she became the owner and operator of the Artisan Market in 2018 or 2019.

Indigo Bleu is similar to the Artisan Market, where customers could purchase handcrafted pottery and furniture, original paintings and more.

They also had the opportunity to participate in workshops.

At Indigo Bleu, however, there is a bigger emphasis on encouraging patrons to explore the creative process.

“We are broadening that part of it,” Clark said.

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Indigo Bleu has a classroom area, where instructors will be teaching skills such as felting and jewelry making.

People also can arrange to take classes with a group of their friends or associates.

In addition, Indigo Bleu has a DIY (do it yourself) Bar, where “pre-packaged projects” that individuals can complete without assistance are available, Clark said.

“The bisqueware kit comes with glazes and instructions,” she continued. “You create whatever you want it to look like, and the people who do the pottery in my store will take it to their kiln, fire it and bring it back to you.”

Another project Clark plans to offer involves turning a stack of old books into a home décor item using paint, clay and other materials.

“We’re going to keep coming up with different things,” Clark said.

Indigo Bleu also sells a variety of art supplies.

At the Artisan Market, Clark’s canine companion, Scout, accompanied her to work. And the dog is with her again at Indigo Bleu.

“This is really very much a social kind of store,” Clark said. “People can come in and ask me questions like how do I paint this, how do I do that, how do I choose a color? We can sit down at a table and work things out.”

A store offering Aiken-inspired clothing, accessories and gifts is scheduled to open downtown early in 2024.

The merchandise will feature the city’s name on it, have an Aiken theme or reflect the local lifestyle in some way.

“We’re going to try to have a little something for everybody,” said Sarah Dodge, who is the owner of True Aiken at 311 Hayne Ave. S.W. “We’re doing a bunch of custom-designed T-shirts, sweatshirts and hats. We’ll have some custom glassware. An artist is doing a hand-drawn map of Aiken for us, and we’re going to have it on ceramic mugs, tea towels, tote bags and things like that.”

Customers will also be able to shop for vests, throw rugs, pillows and much more.

“We’ll have stuff that you won’t find in a regular gift store,” Dodge said. “We won’t just be a T-shirt shop.”

Dodge, who is a dressage horse trainer, and her husband, Jason Hays, who is a farrier, live on a farm in Windsor with their son, 12-year-old Ryder Hays.

Jason and Ryder have been helping get True Aiken ready to make its downtown debut.

“They’ve been painting and doing a little bit of remodeling work,” Dodge said.

The family moved to South Carolina from Colorado approximately four years ago.

“When we were going back and forth visiting, we thought, ‘Oh wouldn’t it be great to have an Aiken sweatshirt or some sort of Aiken gift,’ but they were hard to find,” Dodge said. “The downtown shops had a few things, but in Colorado, if you go somewhere like Keystone or Vail, there are whole stores about those places. I was like, ‘Aiken could have a store like that,’ so we started putting some ideas together.”

Dodge and her husband considered a pop-up shop concept before deciding to look for a brick-and-mortar location for the new business.

“There was a great little space available, so I thought, ‘Let’s just do it and jump right in,’” Dodge said.

True North had a tent in the Village of Shops at the Aiken Fall Steeplechase Championship in November to introduce its wares to area residents and visitors.

Editor's note: This story has been updated to reflect that the South Carolina Department of Transportation has agreed to pay for the mistake it made when it prepared bids for an Aiken County Transportation Committee project.

The Aiken County Transportation Committee won't have to pay over $87,000 to correct a South Carolina Department of Transportation mistake after all.

Four department officials asked for and received $87,736 from the transportation committee to complete improvements to the intersection of Jefferson Davis Highway, Sudlow Lake Road and Langley Dam Road.

But, instead the department will cover the cost, S.C. Sen. Tom Young Jr., R-Aiken, said Wednesday evening.

The four department employees asked the county transportation committee for the money to correct a mistake made when the department prepared a bid package for the project.

The Aiken County Transportation Committee is one of 19 counties that use the department to manage road improvement projects. The remaining 27 county transportation committees manage their projects themselves.

The Jefferson Davis Highway project includes offsetting the turn lanes on Jefferson Davis Highway to make it easier for drivers to see oncoming traffic as they try to turn left onto either Sudlow Lake Road or Langley Dam Road.

But when the South Carolina Department of Transportation began accepting bids for the $800,000 project, not all of the project was included in the information provided to potential contractors. Specifically, concrete medians costing $87,736 were left out of the information.

Department employees Bobby Usry and Alex Bennett provided two different explanations for why the medians were left out.

"They were left off the plans, they were left off the summaries and quantities. Therefore, they did not get bid on," Usry said.

But, Bennett said the department's "letting prep group" didn't process the sheets with the concrete medians as it prepared the project for bid.

Usry added the medians are necessary to tie the drainage system together.

Chairman Johnny Beam called for an investigation into how the Department of Transportation left the concrete medians out of the project.

"Somebody needs to get an answer out of Columbia how they messed that up," Beam said.

He added he had asked the Department of Transportation officials several times if there was enough money to fund the project, only to be told yes, there is enough money and there could be some left over.

Usry, Bennett and two other department employees then asked the committee to fund the additional cost.

During a public comment period, an Aiken County resident asked Usry and Bennett why the county transportation committee should fund a Department of Transportation mistake.

"This was a CTC-funded project prior to this going to bid," Usry said.

The Department of Transportation's budget is $2.44 billion.

Beam also asked Bennett what the department would do if the county transportation committee didn't have funds to cover the cost.

"I don't know, that question's a little bit above my pay grade," Bennett said.

Several members of the transportation committee suggested the Department of Transportation could find the money to fund the medians.

Regardless, the county transportation committee voted unanimously to fund the request.

But, that won't be necessary.

Young said he confirmed late Wednesday afternoon the department would pay for its mistake.

AIKEN, S.C. (WRDW/WAGT) - From recent rent prices to personal reasons, several local businesses in Aiken were forced to close in 2023.

Cyndi’s Sweet Shoppe and Fuse Aiken are just two that had to say goodbye, but there’s an old saying that says “When one door closes, another one opens.”

With multiple new businesses popping up across the city, they’re ready for your support.

The new businesses include restaurants, clothing stores and a place to get your furry friend all nice and clean.

“I’m sorry to see some of the businesses go, but I’m happy that we’re being almost this rejuvenation of restaurants and different types,” said the owner of Whiskey Alley and the Red Door, Chad Jajczyk.

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Different types of restaurants are also coming to town.

In just a few weeks, Asian cuisine will hit Laurens Street at The Red Door. On Saturday, Salty Tomatoes will open its doors, serving up anything from sandwiches to scallops.

“My favorite thing is probably the smoked Gouda grit bowl, personally. And then at lunchtime we have sandwiches, flatbreads, homemade soups. Everything we make from scratch,” said Salty Tomatoes Executive Chef, Beks Crans.

Salty Tomatoes will open on Saturday. Their hours are 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily.

The Red Door hasn’t set an opening date just yet, but they say it will be opening in the next couple of weeks.

On the south side of East Gate Drive, a new approach to dog grooming will make its way to Aiken. They’re opening is on Friday.

The owner calls it the Jiffy Lube of dog grooming.

“Go over to Publix, do a little bit of shopping. Come back 45 minutes later, your dog is ready to go home. And part of that process is us educating dog parents on the health of their dog, anything they may need to take them to keep them healthy and keep them living longer,” said owner of Scenthound Aiken, Charlie Hartz.

They will be open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sundays.

If you’re looking for unique, Aiken-themed gifts, you can stop by True Aiken downtown.

“I would love for our business to be known as a place that you just must visit if you come to visit Aiken, or if you have friends and family coming to Aiken,” said owner Sarah Dodge.

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