Charleston County

FROM BIKE RENTALS TO BEACH PARK MANAGER

GOING FROM THE GROUND UP AT CHARLESTON COUNTY PARKS

By: Nicholas Krueger, Social Media Coordinator, Charleston County Park and Recreation Commission

Charleston County Parks has been fortunate to be home to many long-lasting and growing careers. From managers to parks directors all the way up to our executive director, dozens of CCPRC staff started out as interns, part-time or entrylevel staff at the parks. One such person is Folly Beach Assistant Manager, Joey Crawford (below). Joey was born in Philadelphia, but quickly became a son of the Lowcountry after his dad’s job moved to the old Navy base in North Charleston. He grew up in Mount Pleasant and made Palmetto Islands County Park one of his favorite spots for adventures. Staff at the park quickly took notice and he landed his first job ever at Splash Island Waterpark at age 15. “They all knew me anyways,” Joey said. “It was pretty funny. The manager said ‘instead of us having to kick you out at the end of the night how about you be the guy who comes and works?’ We just rode our bikes there and that was basically my introduction to the agency.” A self-described “nerd,” Joey graduated from Academic Magnet High School before attending the College of Charleston while also working at Palmetto Islands as a part-time aide helping with the gate, boat and bike rentals, dog park, trails and the waterpark. He quickly realized a 9-to-5 corporate office job wasn’t for him. “I always dabbled around thinking about accounting or something like that,” he said. “But I was spoiled by the parks because there is some office work but you also get to be out and about.” After he graduated from CofC in 2009, Joey applied for a full-time position at the Folly Beach Pier and was named operations manager helping run fishing tournaments, pier dances, a gift and tackle shop, and beach parking. Joey plays a key role in helping the agency manage the busy summer beach seasons and was recently promoted to Assistant Manager of the Folly Beach parks, where he helps oversee roughly 120 part-time employees during the summer months. He’s especially proud of how the staff has managed the past two summer seasons during the pandemic and the ongoing construction of the Folly Beach Pier. “I’m really proud of our staff and everybody from retirees all the way down to high school kids and everybody in between,” he said. “They’ve all done a great job.”