VIRGINIA TELLS HER STORY

by Phyllis Conrad

Most of you who live on Fripp Island know me. You see me standing on the porch at Phyllis Conrad’s house waving to everyone. I have a very happy life, as my only job is to make people smile.

I first started coming to Fripp in 1992 from Hilton Head where I lived with some of the Conrad’s friends. Every summer when the Conrad family arrived from Oklahoma for their 2-week vacation, I came over for my vacation as well. I used to be seen on the beach lying on a beach towel or standing with my usual wave. In 1995 I played Ginger of Gilligan’s Island in the 4th of July parade.

When the Conrad’s bought their house in 1997, they invited me to come and live with them. I brought my extensive wardrobe and settled into my life here. For the most part it has been a blast. My wardrobe is fun as I have outfits for all the major holidays as well as other seasonal things. I even have 2 mink coats for those rare winter blasts.

I have attended 3 weddings. The first one was on Fripp, and then I went to one in Charleston, and then to Chattanooga. I went to Florida in 2003 with Phyllis to her high school reunion. There were more pictures taken of me than any of her classmates.

One of the scariest days of my life was a few years ago when I was kidnapped off the porch and dumped in the woods over in Fiddler’s Trace. My kidnappers didn’t know how to handle me and dropped my arms close to home. I wasn’t discovered for a couple of days. Fortunately some workers did find me and knew where I lived so I made it home very battered and bruised. I had to be patched up with a lot of skin-colored duct tape.

A couple years later I was again removed from my spot on the porch and gently walked up the street a few houses and set up in a driveway. There was no harm done this time.

And just a couple of weeks ago, a young man approached me and tossed me from the balcony of my home. A few pieces of me remained and the rest was taken. This time, I was under surveillance with a home security camera that was purchased by some kind neighbors after those other kidnapping incidents. The photos and surveillance footage was shared on social media and people searched for answers about my disappearance.

Only a few days later, the young man drove me back to my home and returned me along with a note of apology and financial restitution. I’m so grateful that he did the right thing, and I am back where I belong, unharmed. And I am grateful for the love and support of the community in helping me get home. I hope that this never happens again. You can see as a result of these incidents, I’ve gone through some changes over the years.

As I said at the beginning, my only job is to make people smile, so if you “Frippers” have family or guests on the island who want to wave at me, just call Phyllis. She will get me set up.

Pictured first: The original Virginia Pictured second: An earlier version of Virginia Pictured third: This was just before Virginia was taken recently. Everything was returned except her hat.