SiP magazine
SULLIVAN’S ISLAND ISLE OF PALMS
Volume 6 | 2020
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ISLE OF PALMS MARINA
A eat place ff family fun! Offering: Boat Rentals | Boat Excursions | Harbor Tours | Dolphin Cruises Fishing Charters | Paddleboarding Rentals | Kayak Rentals
DELI Beer, Wine, Ice Groceries Souvenirs Beach supplies Apparel Tackle, Bait Fishing Supplies Boating supplies
50 41st Ave. Isle of Palms 843.886.0209 • www.iopmarina.com Marina Market 843.886.3054
Call ff ressvatiis!
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T oday. T omorrow. F orever..
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INSIDE SiP FEATURES
66 | SAFE PASSAGE Learn about Harbor Pilots, the unsung heroes who keep our waters safe. By Marci Shore 74 | COMMUNITY IN ACTION For 72 years the IOP Exchange Club has put the community first. By Kinsey Gidick 80 | POSITIVE IMAGE An award-winning Sullivan’s Island photographer looks back at a career covering The White House. By Kinsey Gidick 88 | PART-TIME RESIDENTS Dewees Islanders watch and worry over their neighbors, a nest of bald eagles. By Judi Drew Fairchild
FIELD GUIDE
16 | THE BANDERS ARE BACK The Sullivan’s Island bird banding station returns after a two-year hiatus. By Jennifer Pattison Tuohy 20 | JUST KEEP SWIMMING Scientists claim success in saving the sea turtle, but there are new challenges. By Susan Hill Smith
HISTORY SNAPSHOT
26 | SIR PETER PARKER’S VERY BAD BEACH VACATION Southern patriots thwarted British Commodore Peter Parker and his pants at the Battle of Sullivan’s. By Kinsey Gidick 30 | RIDING THE RAILS How trolley cars changed Sullivan’s Island and gave it its many stations. By Kinsey Gidick
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ISLAND LIFE
RISING STARS
34 | A GRAND DAY OUT Island grandparents share tips and tricks for keeping your youngest visitors entertained. By Holly Fisher
94 | CAPTAIN PLANET Raised on Isle of Palms, Belvin Olasov is dedicating his career to saving it. By Alli Steinke
What makes life on our islands spectacular places to visit and special places to live
The rising tides of creators and companies new on the scene
40 | BAND OF BROTHERS A basketball team that started at SIES is serving up varsity players to Wando High. By Colin McCandless
96 | CONCEAL DON’T REVEAL Dewees Islander Becky Connelly’s quest for the perfect bra led to her own business. By Jennifer Pattison Tuohy
44 | TINY FOOTPRINT, BIG IMPACT Sullivan's Island’s Edgar Allan Poe Library is a unique community gathering spot. By Colin McCandless
98 | THE REAL DILL Chris Allen of Sullivan’s Island turns a cherished snack into a craft brand. By Kinsey Gidick
48 | BEST IN SHOW Isle of Palms’ hugely successful Doggie Days event enters its 15th year of helping island residents show off their puppy love. By Colin McCandless
SIP SALUTES
Dive into the local personalities that make these islands so unique 52 | KEEPING THE BEAT GOING Dewees Islanders Jane and Carroll Savage transform a private tragedy into personal triumphs for deserving musical prodigies. By Carey Sullivan 56 | EATING A PEACH WITH BUNKY ODOM Bunky talks The Allman Brothers, music, mayhem, and the Bunky Brand. By Carol Antman 60 | TELLING TAILS Vincent J. Musi turns his talented lens on something all islanders hold dear: dogs. By Jennifer Pattison Tuohy
SIP SCENE
100 | HOME IS WHERE THE HEART IT Michelle and Darrell Owenby build their dream home on Sullivan’s Island. By Sidney Wagner 106 | SHRIMP’S A SHORE THING Three local restaurants put on their best local crustaceans. By Margaret Pilarski 112 | VIBES & VOCALS Who, what, and where of live music venues – there’s more than enough to go around. By Marci Shore
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EDITOR’S LETTER
W
elcome to the sixth annual issue of SiP, the magazine that celebrates life on the beautiful barrier islands of Sullivan’s, Isle of Palms, Dewees, and Goat. In these unprecedented and trying times, where we live has become even more precious and those who live on the islands know and appreciate how lucky they are to do so. This issue of SiP was written and produced before the COVID-19 pandemic changed everyday life so dramatically. As most businesses and activities were put on hold, we put the magazine on hold, but as the country and the state moves forward with reopening we decided to go ahead with publishing the magazine, too. While many things have changed, one thing remains the same: the special people that live here and the fascinating stories they have to tell. Within the following pages dive into the lifelong passion of Sarah Diaz, as she studies and documents migratory birds on Sullivan’s Island in The Banders Are Back (page 16). Join the Island Turtle Team in its quest to continue the huge strides that have been made in saving our sea turtles in Just Keep Swimming (page 20), and learn the true story behind how Sullivan’s stations got their name in Riding the Rails (page 30). Then, meet the harbor heroes—the men who keep our shores safe from those imposing cargo ships that pass by every day. In Safe Passage (page 66), two Harbor Pilots with roots on the islands show us how they protect them day and night. Speaking of protecting, explore the fascinating history of the Isle of Palms Exchange Club in Community in Action (page 74). For 72 years this small chapter of a national organization has helped IOP mature into the wonderful community it is today. Finally, meet some of the islands’ most talented residents. From Vince J. Musi, a photographer for National Geographic who has turned his lens on a favorite subject, our dogs (page 60); to his wife Callie Shell, whose extraordinary career documenting presidents will remind you of how precious home really is (page 80). And then there’s the incomparable Bunky Odom, an island treasure with some seriously salty secrets to share… (page 80). We do hope you enjoy the magazine, and that it can provide some light relief in what are continuing to be troubling times. Above all, SiP celebrates our communities, and we hope that reading these stories will remind you what a wonderful community you are a part of… no matter how long you’re here for.
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Jennifer Pattison Tuohy Editor in Chief
Lynn Pierotti Publisher Jennifer Pattison Tuohy Editor in Chief Alejandro Ferreyros Art Director Kinsey Gidick Deputy Editor Rob Byko Photographer Lori McGee, Marci Shore Advertising Executives Contributors Carol Antman Judy Drew Fairchild Holly Fisher Minette Hand Colin McCandless Margaret Pilarski Jason Ogden Hector Salazar Marci Shore Susan Hill Smith Mic Smith Alli Steinke Mark Stetler Carey Sullivan Sidney Wagner About SiP SiP magazine is published annually by Lucky Dog Publishing, LLC., 2205 Middle St., Sullivan’s Island, SC. SiP is mailed to all property owners on Sullivan’s Island, Isle of Palms and Dewees Island, and distributed free at select locations. Contact SiP tel. 843.886.6397 mailing address: po box 837 sullivan’s island, sc 29482 for editorial inquiries jennifer@luckydognews.com for advertising inquiries lynn@luckydognews.com www.luckydognews.com Cover Photo by Jason Ogden Breach Inlet between Sullivan’s and IOP Copyright 2020 www.sipmagazinesc.com
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CONTRIBUTORS
Carol Antman is driven by creative curiosity. Her passion for travel has led to living on a kibbutz, hitchhiking the Pan American highway, vagabonding in Europe and Central America, and camping throughout the U.S. to discover a home on Sullivan’s Island.
Holly Fisher is the founder of Fisher Creative, a marketing and copywriting firm serving clients around the country. A former fulltime newspaper reporter, she writes for publications around the Charleston area.
Rob Byko is a photographer and Realtor at Byko Realty, an agent of ERA Wilder Realty. An environmentalist at heart, Rob hopes his art inspires a protective spirit in others. Rob and his wife Karen live on Sullivan’s Island with their two rescue boxers and are committed to working with area nonprofits to improve the lives of Lowcountry residents.
Kinsey Gidick is a frequent contributor to Charleston Magazine, Garden & Gun, and Romper.com. Her work has also appeared in Alaska Air Magazine, The Washington Post, McSweeney’s, and The New York Times.
Judy Drew Fairchild is an SC Master Naturalist who lives fulltime on Dewees Island. Between birdwatching and the turtle team, she is a real estate professional and an educator.
Minette Hand is an author and photographer currently based in Charleston. She specializes in interior and portrait photography. Her most recently published book Present, In This Way, covers a roundtrip photo adventure from
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the East Coast to the beautiful states of Montana and Wyoming. It can be found locally as well as on her website.
perspective, he began capturing Charleston-area scenery from the air.
Colin McCandless is a freelance writer who lives in West Ashley. He writes for Charleston Magazine, Charleston Style & Design, HealthLinks Magazine, and Metro Magazine, among others. In his spare time, he enjoys writing poetry, traveling, and playing trivia and tennis.
Margaret Pilarski grew up around the country but has lived in Charleston for over a decade now. When she’s not exploring the islands for SiP, she directs brand strategy and content at Outline, a creative studio.
Lori McGee has lived in Charleston since 2009 and she and her husband Roger have called Isle of Palms home since 2013. Lori has been the sales manager for The Island Eye News for a decade and loves photographing island life.
Jason Ogden is a photographer specializing in aerial drone photography based on Sullivan’s Island. His love for beautiful Lowcountry views stoked his passion and seeking a fresh
Hector Salazar has more than 27 years in the video/photography business. He has worked with mid to large-sized companies helping them promote their products and services in a visually powerful and socially responsible way.
Marci Shore is a Sullivan’s local. A real estate agent with Sand Dollar Real Estate, singer/ songwriter, fiddler with various bands in the area, she is a native of the foothills of North Carolina, and graduate of Wake Forest University.
Isle of Palms writer Susan Hill Smith admits she’s biased when it comes to sea turtles - they captured her heart and attention many years ago. She hopes the Field Guide she compiled for SiP will give people an action-plan of ways they can help sea turtles survive threats such as climate change and plastic pollution. Mic Smith is a longtime Isle of Palms resident and photographer who captured up-close images of a banner sea turtle nesting season that he shared with SiP for this issue’s Field Guide. Smith is separately featured in the article Band of Brothers for his role as a youth basketball coach. “Photography and basketball are two of my biggest loves in life.”
Carey Sullivan lives in Alexandria, Virginia, but has been spending time on Dewees Island since 2004, hoping to be a fulltime Deweesian by Fall of 2021. She is the Correspondence Manager for two US Senators, enjoys running, painting, and spending time with her two dogs, Eliza and Peggy.
Mark Stetler’s life and career in photography span more than twenty years. Born in Cleveland, Stetler studied photography at the Art Institute of Atlanta, moving to New York in 1993 to attend NYU. He currently shoots for clients worldwide while based on the Isle of Palms.
Alli Steinke originally hails from New Jersey. She moved to Charleston after 13 years in Pennsylvania, suffering those blistering Northeast winters. For the past two years, she has been writing for various publications throughout the Charleston area.
Sidney Wagner is a freelance writer and marketing consultant for design-oriented businesses. She operates her own design studio providing residential and commercial interior design services. In her spare time, she enjoys art, photography, and jewelry making. As a resident of Sullivan’s Island, she can usually be found outside either paddle boarding, biking, boating, or walking on the beach.
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FIELD GUIDE
THE BANDERS ARE BACK
Sarah Diaz sets up mist nets early in the morning to briefly catch and band birds as they fly the roost.
The Sullivan’s Island bird banding station returns after a two-year hiatus, and it’s working tirelessly to understand the island’s native and migratory feathered friends. By Jennifer Pattison Tuohy Photos by Rob Byko
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Banding By The Numbers Total birds banded in spring 2020, 86 In the first 3 seasons, Diaz and her team banded for over 1,000 hours
2,542 birds have been caught and released, with 66 species recorded 26 were neotropical migrant birds —
In total,
confirming that Sullivan’s Island is being used as a stopover by migrant birds
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agle-eyed perambulators on Sullivan’s Island may spot a flash of dark pink speeding across the Station 16 beach path. No, it’s not a ruby-crowned kinglet on the hunt for a mate, it’s Sullivan’s Island’s resident bird lady — Sarah Diaz. Raised on Middle Street with the island’s Maritime Forest as her playground, Diaz, 34, has dedicated her career to her ornithological passion. You’ll find her buzzing around the accreted land most mornings in the spring and fall, catching, chronicling, and releasing the hundreds of birds who fly into her nets. A biologist by training, Diaz began banding birds when she was just 18. “I started with Will Post when I was 18 or 19 at Dill Plantation [now the Dill Sanctuary], and some sites up the Wando River,” she says. Volunteering with the Center for Birds of Prey and internships in Costa Rica followed, as did a Masters in Biology and stints in Belize and Peru. Today, she is a certified bander, able to set up and run her own station on Sullivan’s. The primary purpose of the bird banding station is to discover if the Maritime Forest and surrounding area — a rare slice of undeveloped land near Charleston’s Harbor — are being used as a stopover by migrant birds. And if so, understand how both the transient and resident birds use the forest for habitat and food. “I think with increased coastal development this area is going to be utilized more than it formerly was,” says Diaz. “Especially with the development around Patriot’s Point.” As well as helping scientists learn more about migratory birds, data from the project, which ran for one season in 2015 and two in 2016 before restarting this year, could inform any future plans for the land, which is managed by the Town of Sullivan’s Island.
A Tireless Advocate
One early spring morning, as she works quickly along with one or two volunteers to erect her super fine “mist” nets before the sun rises, Diaz reflects on how her program will help the birds she bands. “One of the things I'm going to do is track the weight of birds that I recapture within a day,” she says, “migrant birds that are refueling.” Analyzing this data will help her understand the quality of the habitat here, and assess how important it is to migrating birds. “I believe it's really good foraging habitat for birds,” she says as she looks around the scrubland just off the half-mile nature trail near Station 16. “It is important that it be preserved and not be cut down or developed. For the birds.” WWW.SiPMAGAZINESC.COM | 17
The northern cardinal is typically one of the feistiest birds Sarah Diaz bands. Most species are very calm throughout process, and the banders Kristen Lesesne, director ofthe spiritual development at IOP take Firstlots of precautions to minimize stress, but the cardinal is one that likes to bite. “You get United Methodist Church, is an IOP Clean Up Crew MVP.used to it!” says Diaz. 18 | SiP
Banding by The Birds Some of the species banded include: Painted Bunting, Carolina Chickadee, White-eyed Vireo, Cedar Waxwing, Common Grackle, Downy Woodpecker, Louisiana Waterthrush, Northern Cardinal, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Acadian Flycatcher, Barred Owl, Northern Harrier, White-crowned Sparrow, Yellowbreasted Chat, Bell’s Vireo, Swainson’s Thrush, Swainson’s Warbler, Graycheeked Thrush, Summer Tanager, Prothonotary Warbler, Northern Flicker, House Finch, Northern Parula, Greatcrested Flycatcher, Common Ground Dove, Blackpoll Warbler. To volunteer at the station this fall email sullivansislandbirds@gmail.com. Visit the Sullivan’s Island Bird Banding Station on Facebook for more information.
Of special interest to Diaz is the Chuckwill’s-widow. “I'm just really fascinated by them. They spend their winters in South America but we think they may breed here. It's thought that they are experiencing a decline due to habitat loss and other factors, so I’d love to fi nd an active nest out here.”
Do No Harm
When she bands birds, Diaz carefully releases them from the fi ne mist nets they’re trapped in and places them in a hand-made cloth bag, carrying them gently back to a table she has set up on the nature trail. There she tracks several key metrics before speedily releasing them. The morning we were with her she captured a northern cardinal, a yellow rump warbler, and an Eastern towhee in the fi rst 15 minutes. Donning some mad scientist-like goggles she examines each carefully for body fat, markers of sex and age, measures its wingspan, and then weighs it. The process usually involves a few sharp pecks at her hand as the bird objects but “You just deal with the pain,” she says. The wellbeing of the birds is always carefully monitored, the nets are checked every 15 minutes and thermometers are placed on each one and when temperature climb to 86 degrees the net comes down. Initially, the station was under the permit of the Audubon Society, but Diaz now works independently, under a non-profit she founded, the Carolina Avian Research Program. Working closely with the Town of Sullivan’s Island and reporting her results to the U.S.G.S., Diaz spends as many as 6 days a week and up to 6 hours a day in the habitat. Her goal is to run the station on a long term basis and gather as much data as she can about the birds who live in and visit her home. SiP WWW.SiPMAGAZINESC.COM | 19
FIELD GUIDE
JUST KEEP SWIMMING Scientists claim progress in saving the sea turtle, but climate change and plastic pollution pose new challenges. By Susan Hill Smith Photos by Mic Smith
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or South Carolina’s state reptile, summer 2019 broke records with a stunning tally of more than 8,770 loggerhead sea turtle nests counted along the coast, including 73 nests monitored by the Island Turtle Team covering Isle of Palms and Sullivan’s Island. Experts and volunteers credit conservation efforts that have been building since the 1980s, when the state’s first turtle teams began to protect and
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What can you do to help sea turtles survive and thrive? SIP has compiled this list of suggestions of advice from environmental advocates and organizations, drawing largely on resources from the South Carolina Aquarium and Kelly Thorvalson, the aquarium’s conservation programs manager.
THE CHALLENGE: MARINE POLLUTION Turtles can become entangled by marine debris and accidentally eat items like plastic bags, which look like jellyfish, a favorite food. HOW YOU CAN HELP Dispose of fishing lines and trash properly and help pick up what others leave behind so it doesn't get into waterways and oceans. Rely on reusable bottles, straws, utensils, bags, and containers.
THE CHALLENGE: FISHING PRACTICES Turtle excluder devices (TEDs) can prevent turtles from getting caught and dying in shrimper’s nets, but they are not universally required. HOW YOU CAN HELP Choose regional seafood. Fisheries from NC, SC, GA and the East Coast of Florida adhere to some of the strongest regulations for responsible harvesting, including use of TEDs. Support restaurants with SC Aquarium’s Good Catch program, which make serving sustainable seafood a priority.
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THE CHALLENGE: CLIMATE CHANGE Experts say sea turtle’s food sources and the ratio of male to female hatchlings may be negatively impacted. In addition, they say, rising sea levels and tropical storms can erode and flood out nesting areas while also leading people to “armor” beaches with sea walls, sandbags and other measures that can disrupt nesting. HOW YOU CAN HELP Reduce fossil fuel use, which most environmental scientists say is accelerating climate change. Support the shift to renewable sources of energy like solar power. Plant trees, which remove CO2 from the air, an effective way to counteract climate change. Support protections for natural dunes and coastline.
THE CHALLENGE: BOAT STRIKES Sea turtles face increasing risks of injuries and deaths due to growing traffic from powerboats in the ocean, marshes and other shallow brackish waters where sea turtles hang out. HOW YOU CAN HELP Slow down and enjoy the ride while taking special care to look out for turtles during spring, summer and fall. If you encounter an injured or dead sea turtle, report it immediately to SC Department of Natural Resources by calling 1.800.922.5431. Consider exploring by kayaking or paddleboarding as an alternative.
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THE CHALLENGE: LIGHT DISORIENTATION Mother turtles and hatchlings can be confused by lights on land as they try to navigate to ocean waters illuminated by the moon and stars. HOW YOU CAN HELP Remember “Lights Out for Sea Turtles.” Turn off all exterior lights visible from the beach from dusk until dawn, May through October. Close blinds and drapes on windows to shield interior lights that can be seen from the beach or ocean. Limit use of flashlights on the beach.
THE CHALLENGE: BEACH OBSTACLES Leftover chairs, umbrellas, beach trash, sandcastles and holes can hamper sea turtles in nesting season.
HOW YOU CAN HELP Take a pack-in, pack-out approach to all beach gear and supplies. Level sandcastles and fill in holes before you leave for the day.
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“
There are looming conservation issues that could undo the progress we’ve made.
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- KELLY THORVALSON
Support the cause Cape Romain National Wildlife Refuge Sea Turtle Project—created by Coastal Expeditions Foundation, coastalexpeditions.com/foundation South Carolina Aquarium’s Sea Turtle Guardian program, scaquarium.org/guardian S.C. Department of Natural Resources—Adopt a Nest program, sea turtle license plates and the state’s Endangered Wildlife Fund, portal.dnr. sc.gov/marine/turtles/support.htm
Sea turtle reads Isle of Palms author Mary Alice Monroe returns to her national bestselling Beach House series with On Ocean Boulevard, published this summer. The environmental fiction series helped draw attention to turtle teams when it launched in 2002. Sally Murphy, whose leadership in sea turtle research and protection dates back to her work with South Carolina DNR in the 1970s, released the memoir Turning the Tide in 2018.
count nests. They point out that it takes 25 to 35 years for female loggerheads to mature and enter the breeding population, so the timing makes sense, even if the 35 percent jump from the last record high in 2016, was “jaw-dropping” to Sally Murphy, one of the state’s original sea turtle champions. “After many decades of decline, scientists now are cautiously optimistic that the recovery of sea turtle populations has begun,” says Mary Pringle, Island Turtle Team Project Leader. She points out that an individual loggerhead won’t nest every season so natural fluctuations in the yearly numbers can be expected this decade, even with an overall upward trend. “The 10-year genetics research project that we participate in is showing that these turtles usually take a year off from nesting in order to rebuild their physical condition for the next time they lay up to six times in one summer.” At the same time, loggerheads and other sea turtles face alarming new threats to the survival of their species. South Carolina Aquarium’s Conservation Programs Manager Kelly Thorvalson says climate change and plastic pollution were constant topics when she attended the 2019 International Sea Turtle Symposium in Charleston, adding “there are looming conservation issues that could undo the progress we’ve made.” East of the Cooper, Island Turtle Team volunteers are seeing a direct impact from rising sea levels and weather changes related to climate change. “We are having to relocate more than half of our nests now due to higher than normal flooding during storms and even from King Tides [exceptionally high tides],” Pringle reports. And to the north in Cape Romain National Wildlife Refuge—which accounted for roughly 40 percent of the state’s loggerhead nests in 2019—Chris Crolley of Coastal Expeditions Foundation says he worries rising sea levels could eventually cause the disappearance of Cape Island, South Carolina’s most popular nesting spot. “More sea turtles, specifically loggerheads, nest there than any place north of Cape Canaveral.” SiP WWW.SiPMAGAZINESC.COM | 25
HISTORY SNAPSHOT
SIR PETER PARKER’S
VERY BAD BEACH VACATION
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Opposite Page: Sir Peter Parker, commander of the Royal Navy Squadron at the Battle of Sullivan’s Island. Photo courtesy The Trustees of the British Museum
How southern patriots thwarted British Commodore Sir Peter Parker—and stole his pants—in the Battle of Sullivan’s Island. By Kinsey Gidick
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emember the children’s book Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day? Well, that’s kind of like the story of British Royal Navy Commodore Sir Peter Parker and the Battle of Sullivan’s Island. How, you may ask, does a kid’s picture book relate to one of the characters in the American Revolution? Well, like Alexander, Parker’s escapade in Charleston harbor was a series of unfortunate events leading to an embarrassing loss for the Royal Navy. Even worse? For Parker, it didn’t last a day. It was more like Sir Peter Parker and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Spring of 1776.
For King & Country
Our story begins in Cork, Ireland, in 1775 when Parker, a hero of the Seven Years’ War, was given command of a fleet of six ships and told to sail to North Carolina to help shore up support for loyalists attempting to put down pesky Whigs, colonists who supported the American Revolution. Parker’s fleet was supposed to depart on December 1, according to The Southern Strategy: Britain's Conquest of South Carolina and Georgia, 1775-1780 by David K. Wilson, but got waylaid due to bureaucratic red tape. Rather than rally with Major General Henry Clinton, commander of the first British expedition to the provinces, in February as planned, Parker wouldn’t sail into Cape Fear, NC until April 18, 1776. Months late, on May 3, finally the rest of the commodore’s armada arrived. But more problems were to come. According to Wilson, when Parker and Clinton met, the naval commodore discovered that Clinton was inclined to invade Virginia, not the wealthy port city of Charles Town, as Parker had planned. Much debate ensued with Parker citing reports from British officials, like that of officer Patrick Tonyn, who wrote, “I dare think the battery at Sullivan’s Island will not discharge two rounds,” as reason to sail south. In spite of himself, Clinton eventually acquiesced to Parker’s persuasive arguments and an attack on Sullivan’s Island was planned. “You have to remember, this was a halfbuilt fort protected by ragtag patriots, so it’s not surprising the British thought it would be an easy victory,” says Dawn Davis, Public Affairs Officer for Fort Sumter and Fort Moultrie National Historical Park.
Beach Plans Delayed
The cocksure Parker and Clinton surely thought they’d easily overtake the small Sullivan’s Island fort. With Parker’s fleet gathered off the southern end of the island facing the fort and Clinton’s men crossing from Long Island (today Isle of Palms) at Breach Inlet, they believed this pincer movement would quickly put down the Americans. Little did they know how tricky Charles Town harbor is. Parker immediately faced a setback, his 50-gun frigate, Bristol, was so heavy, it couldn’t cross the Charles Town bar without off-loading some weight. After days of removing cannons, on June 10, 1776, it was finally light enough to meet up with the rest of the ships at Five Fathom Hole—closer, but still out of range of Fort Sullivan. WWW.SiPMAGAZINESC.COM | 27
The plan of the attack on Fort Sullivan, drawn up by Lieutenant Colonel Thomas James, Royal Artillery.
The Battle of Fort Moultrie, 1776, oil on canvas by John Blake White, 1826 28 | SiP
Fight On For more information about the Battle of Sullivan’s Island, visit Fort Moultrie National Park, which interprets the history of the American Revolution with displays and on-site discussion from rangers.
Meanwhile, Clinton was doing recon on Long Island after deciding that a landing on Sullivan’s would involve “considerable hazard.” Instead, his troops would land on Long Island, bivouac through its wilderness then cross the Breach, which intelligence reports told him was only 18 inches deep at low tide. Not so. The Breach was, in fact, a swampy mess as deep as seven feet and impossible to cross by foot. Clinton and British Army general Charles Cornwallis quickly realized the plan was a wash. “They could not force the Breach without suffering unacceptable losses,” writes Wilson. Needless to say, that made Sir Peter Parker’s spring go from bad to worse. On June 24 he attempted to close on the fort only to be thwarted by a sudden squall. By this point, the British had been floating off shore for nearly a month, hardly a surprise attack. Finally, on June 28, the winds were favorable enough to attack, but success was still outside Parker’s grasp. His mortar shells flew over Fort Sullivan’s walls, nose-dived into the sand and were “swallowed up immediately” General Wiliam Moultrie later described. Making things even more difficult, cannonballs that hit the palmetto log fort merely bounced off the spongy surface causing little damage.
Drawers at Dawn
The scrappy Americans in the fort turned all their fi repower on the commodore’s ship and that’s when it happened, the real insult to injury. As Wilson describes, a large splinter kicked up by a nearby blast tore Parker’s breeches off and “laid his backside bare… for a critical period of time, the backsides of both the Bristol and the commodore were literally hanging in the wind.” True humiliation in action. Nine hours after the fighting commenced, Parker admitted defeat and his ships pulled anchor and returned to Five-Fathom Hole. The patriot victory served as a reinforcement to the cause of independence, which the continental congress had just proclaimed as news of the win spread. As for Sir Peter Parker, aside from going down in history for losing his pants, Davis says, “Despite the defeat, he went on to have naval victories and successes including being created a baronet in 1782 and became a Member of Parliament and Commander in Chief at Portsmouth.” While Parker remains infamous today as the man who showed his arse at the Battle of Sullivan’s Island, the battle did not defi ne him. SiP
6 passenger and 8 passenger sizes available in most locations. 8pax shown in picture above!
Lightning Bugz carts are: Street Legal DAY OR NIGHT! Approved for rental inside Wild Dunes, Kiawah and Seabrook! Go 25mph and have seatbelts!
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HISTORY SNAPSHOT
RIDING THE RAILS
A Seashore Railroad trolley car on Sullivan’s Island around 1899. Photo courtesy SCE&G
How the advent of trolley cars changed Sullivan’s Island. By Kinsey Gidick
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Gone But Not Forgotten The Car Barn The Old Village was once home to a trolley car barn that kept the off duty cars. The barn was dismantled in 1960. Mule Stables The mules that ran the original “pulled streetcars” were housed on the island. The stables were located on the eastern end of the rail line. Breach Inlet Trestle Bridge To connect Sullivan’s and Isle of Palms, a trestle bridge was built in 1889. It collapsed in 1925 and was never rebuilt.
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n a busy summer’s day, it’s easy to forget that there was a time when Sullivan’s Island and Isle of Palms were lonely, wild outposts. The transformation into vacation destinations is really the story of the evolution of modern transportation and no one knows that better than Charleston County Public Library historian Dr. Nic Butler. The conversion of the islands “Could not have happened without the aid of ferries, mule-powered streetcars, and electric trolleys that carried weary people from the mainland to the invigorating island surf over the past two centuries,” Butler says in an episode of his excellent history podcast, Charleston Time Machine. So how did this trolley transformation begin? For that story, we need to travel back to the 19th century and the dawn of streetcar systems.
Full Speed Ahead
Following the Civil War, Charleston hopped on the trolley train full speed. “After several years of delay,” Butler says, “Horse-drawn streetcars began whisking Charlestonians across a network of rail lines in December of 1866.” Meanwhile, in the tiny village of Moultrieville on Sullivan’s, citizens were beginning to see the potential of automated transportation for their own needs. Tourists had been clamoring to the shore for years, first via rowboat ferries, then on a steamboat beginning in 1820. But just getting to the island wasn’t enough. To add real convenience local powerbrokers decided to form the Middle Street Sullivan’s Island Railway. In April of 1875 the company hired a contractor called M. W. Conway to lay the track and hired an agent in New Jersey to purchase a ‘dummy’ engine—a steam engine disguised to look like a passenger car. But the dummy was a flop. The newspaper reported, “The dummy engine of the Middle Street Sullivan’s Island Railroad Company has proved to be a failure, and is now laid up for repairs. Mules will be substituted.” Using the track, 12 mules worked in pairs to pull the streetcars up and down Middle Street and, suffice to say, locals and tourists alike were smitten with the service and the number of beach-going visitors began to boom.
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A postcard depicting the trolley terminal on Isle of Palms.
Going Electric
By 1897 the downtown horse-drawn rail system was being phased out in place of electric trolleys. This got businessman Dr. Joseph S. Lawrence thinking: Why not run an electric trolley line across the entire island of Sullivan’s and into the great unknown wilderness that was Isle of Palms (then called Long Island)? So, that’s precisely what he did. The captain of industry bought Long Island, rebranded it as IOP, and set to work connecting it to not just Sullivan’s but to the Old Village and Charleston beyond, forming the Charleston and Seashore Railroad Company in February of 1898. As you can imagine, the impact was felt almost immediately. Seashore Company built a bridge across Breach Inlet, then used sunken wooden piles to connect Sullivan’s to Mount Pleasant. But Dr. Lawrence didn’t stop there. He knew that to make his venture truly successful, he’d need to make the entire journey from downtown Charleston to the beach as convenient as possible. The savvy entrepreneur added a new ferry service as well so that travelers could step off the boat at Haddrell’s Point, also known as Station 1—or stop No. 1— in the Old Village and onto the trolley bound for Sullivan’s. On July 24, 1898, the inaugural ride took off. “When the trolley ran through the island on Sunday it received a perfect ovation, the like of which has never been tendered to any visitor on the island,” reported the Charleston Evening Post reported at the time. “People rushed out in the rain and those who could not get to the track just climbed to the roof and other points of vantage to see the marvelous exhibition. Just think of a trolley running through the island, such an achievement has never come within the wildest dreams of the most enthusiastic dreamer on this island.” 32 | SiP
“The electric cars rolled southeastward, past stations no. 2 through 8, and crossed the trestle bridge to Sullivan’s Island,” Butler explains. “Landing at Station No. 9 at the western tip of the island, the trolley turned eastward and continued along Middle Street through Moultrieville. At the eastern end of the town, just past the Atlantic Beach Hotel, the track jogged one block to the north (through what is now Quarter Street), to Jasper Boulevard, and continued toward Station No. 32 at the eastern tip of the island. The new trestle draw bridge then carried the electric cars over Breach Inlet to the recently-renamed Isle of Palms. The rail line continued for nearly a mile and a half eastward through a newly-cleared path of dense wilderness and terminated at the Seashore Company’s new resort complex, around the site of modern 14th Avenue.” Lawrence’s electric trolley system was a revelation that would change the islands into a turn of the 20th century vacation destination. And, in turn, allow East Cooper to become better connected to the peninsula making way for the dawn of commuting, something we still see today.
Shadow Stations
Eventually, the rise of the automobile in the 1920s would pave the way for the demise of the trolley system and by 1925 the newly formed Cooper River Ferry Commission had renovated the Pitt Street Bridge into an asphalt road for vehicles. Meanwhile, Butler says, “The trestle bridge across Breach Inlet collapsed in early 1925 and was not rebuilt.” But even 90 years after the trolley was shut down its shadows remain. Just remember next time someone asks you to meet at Station 22 or 23, they’re really referencing the old trolley stations where long ago parasolcarrying beach-goers disembarked for a day at the seashore. SiP
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ISLAND LIFE
A GRAND DAY OUT Island grandparents share their tips and tricks for keeping your youngest visitors entertained. By Holly Fisher
Linda Lovvorn Tucker, known as Foxy to the “grands,” with granddaughter, Caroline Tucker. (Right top) Tucker’s granddaughters Campbell, Tucker and Lawson play on the beach. (Right bottom) Lori McGee’s grandson Remington “Remi” getting his feet wet on the IOP beach. 34 | SiP
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ach Wednesday Carol Antman picks up her two granddaughters from Sullivan’s Island Elementary School. They walk back to Antman’s house, swapping tales or playing “I Spy” along the way. The girls, 10-year-old Lana Rose and 7-yearold Emilia, share stories and secrets: who’s having a birthday party and who got a new pet. “I know all the intrigues of fourth grade,” Antman laughs. This weekly “grandma day” is one of many occasions Antman spends with her granddaughters as she introduces them to island living and forges a bond stronger than any wave crashing on the shore of the island Antman calls home. A former teacher and art center owner, Antman has a knack for blending education and fun. She and the girls use sand to make hand molds. They create sculptures from drift wood and seashells, admiring their handiwork until the waves wash away their creations. A favorite activity for the whole family is a beach bonfire. They load a wagon with chairs, wood for the fire, and a cooler. Making s’mores on the beach is a true treat. Antman is one of several grandparents on Isle of Palms and Sullivan’s Island who use the islands’ natural beauty, beaches, and local history to create lasting memories with their grandchildren—whether they live close by or visit during the summer.
Backyard Beach
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Lori McGee and her husband Roger have two young grandchildren living nearby in Mount Pleasant. “They’ve been exposed to the fun of both islands since they were born,” McGee says.
When your backyard is the beach, the possibilities are endless. - LORI MCGEE
The McGees, who have lived on IOP for a decade, spend a lot of time on the beach with 4-year-old Kimberly and 2-year-old Remington. They build sandcastles, look for sea treasures, and fly kites. “When your backyard is the beach, the possibilities are endless,” McGee says. “Whether they’re just jumping in the waves or squealing when finding sea treasures, it’s a magical experience with the grandbabies that can’t be matched. I feel blessed we can share that with them. They love it as much as we do.” As her grandchildren grow older, McGee is already thinking about taking them fishing, crabbing, and kayaking. Sharing her love of the islands is baked into just about every activity McGee plans. Most of their time is spent outdoors — at the beach, at the playgrounds, or at Fort Moultrie. They’ll stroll Front Beach on IOP, browsing the shops and stopping for ice cream at Ben & Jerry’s. “We rarely go off the islands,” she says. “I love the hometown feel. It’s our little slice of paradise.” WWW.SiPMAGAZINESC.COM | 35
Clockwise from top left, Remington “Remi” plays with his Popi in the surf near the IOP pier. Ford Tucker exploring shells on the seahore. Linda Lovvorn Tucker in front of the Angel Oak Tree on Johns Island with her grands. Lawson relaxes in the surf. Strolling the Pitt Street Bridge. Remi enjoying playing underneath the Pier.
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Ideas for Grand Guides Need more ways to keep the grandkids entertained? Island grandparents offer these ideas: Have a picnic at Waterfront Park in Mount Pleasant. The kids will love the nautical-themed playground and you can walk the pier to admire the views. Follow the South Carolina Aquarium (facebook.com/ scaquarium) for news on the next rehabilitated sea turtle to be released at the Isle of Palms. Stroll the boardwalk at Shem Creek Park in Mount Pleasant to catch a glimpse of playful dolphins and shrimp boats. Take Charleston Water Taxi from Patriots Point to Waterfront Park in downtown Charleston. An all-day pass is $12 and you can explore downtown without worrying about parking. Have a beach bonfire. Sullivan’s Island allows bonfires on the beach. You must get a permit from the town at least 24 hours in advance, provide a deposit, and extinguish the fire by 11 p.m.
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Clockwise from top left, Lori McGee’s granddaughter Kimberly at the IOP Marina. Linda Lovvorn Tucker’s grands in the strawberry field at Ambrose Farms on Johns Island. Remi taking a swing at the IOP County Park. Ford Tucker, 3, and Caroline Tucker, 5, at Shem Creek Park. Tucker and grandfather Al Tucker, known as “Topps” to the grands, fishing. Campbell and Lawson at the Charleston Museum, in the model of the shark’s jaws.
Play + Education
IOP grandparent Linda Lovvorn Tucker loves sharing her 46 years of island living with her five grandchildren. Three granddaughters, ages 12, 7 and 8, live nearby on the island. Her other two live in Charlotte, N.C. and visit as often as they can. The beach serves as both a wonderful playground for the children and a place to instill critical environmental lessons, Tucker says. She teaches them about the loggerhead sea turtle nests and the island’s turtle team. They’ve even managed to see tiny turtle hatchlings emerging from their sandy nest and scurrying to the sea. Not only is the beach a place to romp and roam, Tucker says, it’s a great place to learn. A favorite field trip is biking to the Isle of Palms Marina for breakfast at Salt Works Dockside Deli. They talk about the different kinds of boats at the marina, burn off some energy at the playground and look down on the fiddler crabs from the dock overlooking the Intracoastal Waterway. Another must-do on Tucker’s list is a trip with Barrier Island Eco Tours. It’s a beautiful boat ride blended with environmental education. “When I talk to people coming here to visit with families, I will recommend that,” Tucker says. “If you want to pay for one thing, it’s a good investment.” Other grandkid-friendly IOP adventures include biking around the island or enjoying the IOP playground on 28th Avenue. At least once a season, Tucker takes her grandchildren to Front Beach for shopping. They love stopping at My Favorite Things for a souvenir and to chat with the store’s talking parrot, Bubba. When Tucker and her grands venture off IOP, they like to explore the parks on Sullivan’s Island. Both J. Marshall Stith Park and Poe Avenue Park have playgrounds. On a rainy day, they might head to the Edgar Allan Poe Library, located in the historic Battery Gadsden on Sullivan’s Island. “The Poe Library is so unique. It’s a great way to talk about how to reuse things and sustainability,” Tucker says. “It’s a magnificent reuse of that old fort property. Sometimes we combine a playground trip with a trip to Poe Library—it’s a great place to cool off.” Another favorite field trip is to explore Mount Pleasant’s Old Village. Tucker says they start with the playground at Alhambra Hall on Middle Street. Next, they’ll head to Pitt Street Pharmacy where an old-fashioned soda fountain serves sandwiches, ice cream and milkshakes. They’ll wind out their day at Pitt Street Bridge to watch people who are fishing or crabbing. Tucker says it’s another opportunity to reinforce coastal environmental lessons. “I’m always looking for things we can make an adventure out of or inexpensive things that can teach them or incorporate some kind of fun lesson,” Tucker says. SiP
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ISLAND LIFE
SIES Trident team line-up in the 2016-2017 season: Front row, left to right, Harris Wilson, Brody Hollingsworth. Second row, left to right, Cayden Sheets, Owen Silver, Max Opoulos, Will Virgilio, Griffin Ferraro, Tyson Smith. Back row, left to right, Harper Stephens, Griffin Rodrigues, Trey Brown, Isaiah Ludlam, Lucas Browder, Edward Reidenbach.
BAND OF BROTHERS A basketball team that started at Sullivan’s Island Elementary is now serving up junior varsity players to Wando High. By Colin McCandless Photos by Mic Smith
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Top, Tyson Smith playing for Wando High. Bottom, Mic Smith encouraging his players in the locker room.
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s a professional photographer, Isle of Palms resident Mic Smith has a keen eye for detail. Smith, a former photojournalist for The Post and Courier, has captured unforgettable images with his camera that have been featured in Life, Newsweek, Time and Sports Illustrated among others. So, he quickly perceived the potential in the Trident Basketball Association team he helped start in the 2015-16 season when his son Tyson was a fourth-grader at Sullivan’s Island Elementary School. Smith initially coached IOP Rec teams but transitioned to coaching TBA teams (comprised of Lowcountry schools) when his daughter Samantha was attending Laing Middle School. Forming the original SIES Trident team really spurred interest in basketball on the islands, Smith recalls. “It’s that whole desire of wanting to play for your school,” he says.
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They’re great young men and I’m proud to coach them and continue to develop them. - JEFF WILLMS
The team represented well, going 9-3 in its inaugural year before losing in the playoff s’ fi rst round. Next year, as fi ft h-graders, the team fi nished 11-1 and made the semis. The main contingent of island players from those teams then won the TBA championship as Moultrie Middle School sixth-graders. As seventhgraders, Smith’s team lost in the fi nals. Th is year, as eighth-graders, the core group from the original SIES team—Tyson, Edward Reidenbach and Trey Brown—might have been content playing for Moultrie again. But behind Smith’s strong encouragement, all tried out for and made the Wando High School B team. Griffi n Rodrigues, who joined Smith’s SIES team as a fi ft h-grader, also made the B team. Perhaps the most inspiring story is Ben Britton. Britton, who moved to IOP in fi ft h grade and befriended the latter four, was athletic but had never played basketball before. He was the tallest among the friends, but his game needed work, and he was cut from Smith’s SIES team. “I wanted to get better and just make the team,” remembers Britton. He dedicated himself completely to basketball, playing countless hours. Britton credits former TBA teammate Owen Silver with inspiring and pushing him every day to improve. His big break came in sixth grade when Moultrie created a Trident B team. Britton’s talent was still too raw for the A team, but he made the B Squad and accrued valuable game experience. By seventh grade, he started on Smith’s A team. Britton says that Smith taught him how to be coachable and a leader. WWW.SiPMAGAZINESC.COM | 41
Top, Trey Brown driving to the hoop for a basket. Below, Edward Reidenbach dribbling the ball down court.
He kept progressing and started for the Wando JV team this year before breaking his foot. His latest goal is to make Wando Varsity as a freshman. Fielding teams that cultivated so many talented players is no small feat, but Smith deflects the praise. “I just steered kids to basketball, their love of the game is what kept this ball rolling and turned them into great players.” And their love of basketball is sincere. Tyson, Reidenbach, Brown, and Rodrigues also play together on an AAU travel team called Lowcountry Lightning. Britton plays on another travel team called Lowcountry Storm but was practicing with the Lightning during his recovery to get more reps. The friends routinely play hoops together in their free time. Everyone but Brown, who resides in Mount Pleasant, lives on IOP. Rodrigues attributes their on-court chemistry to this familiarity with each other’s game. “We work together perfectly,” says Rodrigues. “We play as much as we can.” Tyson says the friends do everything together, but they most enjoy playing basketball. “It’s been kinda cool playing with the same kids this whole time. Seeing how we’ve improved together.” Adds Reidenbach, “It’s cool because we’ve all been together for the past five years.” Another constant has been Smith, who Reidenbach credits for elevating his game. “He’s made me a lot better. He’s pushed me.” More important to Reidenbach though is Smith’s character. “He’s just a good guy.” Tyson acknowledged it was sometimes weird having his dad as head coach, but benefits included arriving first to practice and picking up other teammates. One teammate grateful to Smith for driving him to and from practices and games is Brown. Brown says Smith helped hone multiple facets of his game and taught him how to become a better post-up player. “He taught me a lot.” Brown reflects on the “great experience” of playing with the same friends throughout their youth. “It’s amazing how we’ve kept our chemistry over the years.” Smith now serves in an assistant role since Tyson plays for the travel team and Smith felt it was time to step aside. At the helm is IOP resident Jeff Willms, a former college basketball player who had previously coached both in Kansas and overseas. “The smartest thing I ever did was fire myself,” quips Smith. Willms’ introduction to this band of basketball brothers was as sixth-graders playing for Moultrie. “They’re great young men and I’m proud to coach them and continue to develop them,” states Willms. “It’s fun to see them grow and mature.” As for youth basketball’s future on the islands, Smith says it appears bright. The most recent SIES Trident team tryout drew between 40 and 50 kids, and public courts are always packed with young hoopsters. “The kids are just playing on their own all the time,” he says. SiP 42 | SiP
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ISLAND LIFE
TINY FOOTPRINT, BIG IMPACT
Sullivan's Island Edgar Allan Poe Library is a unique community gathering spot. By Colin McCandless Photos by Hector J. Salazar
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aces are fixed in intense concentration as the players seated around the table lay down their tiles. “Four bam.” “Two dot.” “Six crack.” No, it’s not some secret code. It’s Mah Jongg night at Edgar Allan Poe Library. A group meets here every Thursday from 5:30 to 8 p.m. to play this strategy-based, tile-matching puzzle game that was originally developed in China in the 1800s and is now played worldwide. Sullivan’s Island resident Mary Muller, who has been playing Mah Jongg for 20 years, helped start the popular Poe-based group in 2013 along with 90-year old Thelma Becker, a 60-year veteran of the Mah Jongg scene. On average, there are two to three full tables (8-12 players) at Mah Jongg night, although anywhere from two to four people can play a hand. Each hand averages about 15 minutes. Bams, cracks, and dots are the names of the three suits, and there are winds, dragon, and flower tiles, as well as jokers, which are a wild card. Playing with jokers is what differentiates American Mah Jongg from the Asian version, which excludes them. To win a round, you must be the first player to complete one of the hands listed on the National Mah Jongg League’s rules card. “It’s very addictive once you learn how to play,” says Muller.
Chance Encounters
Sullivan’s Island resident Barbara Lassiter agrees. She came to Poe one Thursday evening in 2017 for a meeting to which no one showed. Lassiter was invited to play a game of Mah Jongg instead and instantly got hooked. She ordered a Mah Jongg set online that same night. Isle of Palms resident Jane Garnes, a 10-year Mah Jongg player, is having success on this night, but no one is formally tracking the hands won. Although competition appears serious, like any gathering of mutual pastimes Mah Jongg night is a social occasion replete with light-hearted banter and teaching moments for novices. “It’s a good way to meet people,” says Lassiter. “We play for fun. We don’t keep score.” Beginners and walk-ins are always welcome, and experience levels vary widely. Carol Varadi, an Isle of Palms resident who has been playing here for two years, saw the meetings advertised in The Island Eye News, a local paper, and thought it would be fun to learn. “It’s good for the brain,” says Varadi. “You have to concentrate.” WWW.SiPMAGAZINESC.COM | 45
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Mary Muller, right, Barbara Lassiter (hidden) and Jane Garnes, left, engage in a friendly round of Mah Jongg.
Games, Memoirs and Lovers, Oh My!
The Mah Jongg players appreciate the unique history of the building that hosts their hobby. Not many libraries are housed in a fortified bunker and listed on the National Register of Historic Places, but Poe is anything but your average library. It moved into its dwelling, a former fourgun battery circa 1903, in March 1977. Battery Gadsden was constructed following the Spanish-American War, explains Poe branch manager Marie Solitt. It was one of many batteries across the islands that were used in a coastal defense system. Decommissioned after World War II, the State of South Carolina gave the building to the Town of Sullivan’s Island for public use. As a result of its military past, the walls protecting these books are two-feet thick. Named for the eponymous writer who was stationed at Fort Moultrie as a U.S. Army private from 1827-8, the library is central to the island community it serves. “It’s a very special branch and beloved by the community,” says Angela Craig, Charleston County Public Library executive director. “It’s unique not only in Charleston County but in South Carolina.” Craig adds that smaller libraries such as Poe are an important asset because every community needs to use its public library differently. “It’s nice to have that public space where everyone can gather.” Poe hosts a range of dynamic programs, including the Beach Lovers Book Club, which has been meeting here for the past decade. A Memoir Writing Club convenes every Monday, typically consisting of eight to 12 individuals at various stages in the memoir-writing process who share material and solicit group critique. A small assembly of poets also meets informally at Poe almost monthly. “We host a lot of program opportunities for a branch of our size,” notes Solitt. The library holds a weekly storytime for two and three-year old’s and regular visits from kindergarten classes and is also actively involved in Charleston County’s Kaleidoscope after school learning initiative. Since the islands have a large retiree population, another service it offers is teaching seniors how to use their tech devices. “I think libraries, in general, are about literacy,” says Solitt. “Not just reading and writing. We provide services to the community.” Isle of Palms resident Tracy Snyder, who has played Mah Jongg at Poe for five years, agrees that this little library delivers a big public benefit in accommodating gatherings like theirs. “There is a sense of community,” says Snyder. “It’s a good group.” SiP WWW.SiPMAGAZINESC.COM | 47
ISLAND LIFE
BEST IN SHOW
Isle of Palms’ hugely successful Doggie Days event enters its 15th year of helping island residents show off their puppy love. By Colin McCandless Photos by Rob Byko
Opposite page: Andrea Harrison and Norma Jean Page of the IOP Rec Center run the annual Doggie Days event that brings out the island’s favorite puppies. 48 | SiP
I
sland living means a lot of things to a lot of people. For Isle of Palms residents it’s about enjoying 210 days of sunshine a year, getting out on the water, taking in harbor sunsets, and beach day afternoons. It also means, at least for a few hundred residents or so, a beautiful community to enjoy leisurely dog walks with their favorite pets. And for the past 14 years that’s what “Doggie Days at the Rec” has celebrated. This award-winning event, hosted by the City of Isle of Palms at its Recreation Center, combines responsible pet ownership with fun activities. It features a rabies vaccination clinic, microchipping, IOP dog license sales, a dog show contest, and free pet photos, while also providing animal welfare groups a chance to promote rescue and adoption opportunities.
Most Unusual
More than a decade on, the island’s pup appreciation was obvious once again on February 8, 2020, when Doggie Days at the Rec returned. With a few hundred attendees on hand, owners enthusiastically registered their canines in the dog show, featuring contest categories such as “Cutest Puppy,” “Most Attractive,” “Best Rescue” and “Most Unusual.” IOP residents Bryan and Barbara Baltimore brought Balto (named after the Disney character), their 18 month old American Tamaskan, a unique DNA mixture cross-bred to resemble a wolf. “We love this place. We love this event,” said Barbara. “This is a nice set-up.” The couple has been taking Balto to the rec center’s Bark Park dog park since he was 10 weeks old. “He knows a lot of dogs here,” Bryan said. In 2019, they entered Balto into the “Cutest Puppy” dog show category and secured his rabies vaccination. This year, Balto was aiming for top honors in the “Most Unusual” category. Lauren McGee was attending for the first time with her five-year-old pit bull mix, Happyface, a loving three-legged canine rescue who McGee had recently adopted in January after fostering him since October 2019. She entered him into the “Best Male Rescue” category. Wild Dunes resident Fran Ward, who shares ownership of three-year-old Cocoa with her grandchildren, signed up her purplescarf clad Labrador/poodle/wolfhound mix into the “Most Unusual” category. “She’s just so excited,” Ward said. WWW.SiPMAGAZINESC.COM | 49
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Doggie Days at the Rec The IOP Doggie Days at the Rec event is held every February, visit iop.net/doggie-days-at-the-rec for more information.
Highest Achiever
Doggie Days originates from when City Hall used to offer rabies vaccinations, explained IOP recreation director Norma Jean Page. Since the rec center already had a dog park, it seemed like a natural venue to host a dog-specific, community service event promoting rabies vaccinations and microchipping. They could also use it as an opportunity to educate people about adopting fosters and rescues and add in some amusements for pet owners and their dogs. “And we decided, ‘why not make an event out of it?’” recalled Page. Andrea Harrison, IOP recreation supervisor, said Doggie Days has been successful in promoting adoptions of rescues, and some pet owners have even met their future rescue dogs here. Pet Helpers and the Charleston Animal Society both regularly attend, in addition to other pet advocacy organizations. “We try to have as many rescues as we can. Almost every year dogs are adopted,” said Harrison. There are games and prizes galore, including this year’s drawing to win Charleston Battery soccer tickets and gift bags of doggie toys and treats for dog show contest winners. “We want everyone to walk away with something,” said Harrison. Doggie Days has won the City of Isle of Palms two awards, including a 2008 South Carolina Recreation and Parks Association Innovative Programming Award and a 2016 Municipal Achievement Award. The rec center also won a 2008 Municipal Achievement Award for its Bark Park. “It accomplishes so many goals,” remarked former IOP city administrator Linda Tucker, adding that it educates pet owners about licensing and tags, ensures that pets have appropriate vaccinations, and allows people to see adoption and rescue dogs. Additionally, it gives people an opportunity to take their dog to the Bark Park. Referencing the 2016 award, Tucker noted that the Municipal Association of South Carolina is always looking for unique events like this that can be replicated in other communities across South Carolina and the Southeast. “I’m here because this is such a great event,” said Tucker.
Find a New Bestie
For animal welfare organizations, it offers an opportunity for exposure and to educate and inform. Volunteer Idette Durbin of Spartanburgbased Carolina Poodle Rescue says they have been bringing a core group of volunteers to Doggie Days for 10 years. They always arrive with dog ambassadors of varying sizes such as six-year-old Daisy, a Standard Poodle who fellow CPR volunteer Patricia Flaherty adopted when she was 3. Daisy’s previous owner had rescued her from an awful situation in which she had been crated and muzzled in an apartment for 12 hours a day (standard poodles need lots of exercise). When the second owner sustained a bad financial situation, they gave up Daisy to Patricia so the dog could experience a better life. Three years ago, Daisy hated being touched, now she loves to be groomed. IOP resident Amy Scarella, founder of the nonprofit Little Black Dog Rescue, attended the event to create awareness of the dogs they have available for foster placement, which primarily consists of black dogs in danger of euthanasia. According to Scarella, there is a phenomenon known as “black dog syndrome,” in which black dogs tend to be overlooked and stay longer in shelters than lighter-colored pups. Little Black Dog Rescue, which started seven years ago in Connecticut and continued after moving here in 2018, works with shelters throughout the Southeast to save these “last chance” dogs and get them fostered or adopted. The educational component of having organizations such as CPR and LBDR set up shop at the event fits with the overarching service-oriented goal of Doggie Days, said Harrison. “This is a community service for island residents,” she explained. “We’re pet advocates. It’s just another opportunity to help pet owners.” SiP WWW.SiPMAGAZINESC.COM | 51
SiP SALUTES
Keeping the beat going Through creating Jake’s Music—a non-profit foundation that brings musical education to inner-city children—Dewees Islanders Jane and Carroll Savage transform a private tragedy into personal triumphs for deserving musical prodigies. By Carey Sullivan Photo by Mark Stetler
Carroll and Jane Savage at home on Dewees Island, where they run a a non-profit dedicated to promoting music training for underserved children. 52 | SiP
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“
Music reminds you that you have a soul. - JAKE SAVAGE
Music with Jake To keep the mission going, Jake’s Music is always looking for help from the community. If you are interested in volunteering, have a musical instrument to donate, or even better would like to partner with Jake’s Music, email jmcgsavage@gmail.com, call 202.262.7536, or visit jakesmusic.org and click on the “Get Involved” tab.
F
inding purpose in the death of a child requires a willingness to see light through the darkness. It is easy to get dragged down into the sadness and helplessness of such a tremendous loss. But sometimes, out of tragedy, there is an opportunity to bring light, not only to those who have lost but to others who need a light in their lives. Th is is the story of Jake’s Music. Jane and Carroll Savage lost their son, Jake, to Cystic Fibrosis when he was just 21. During his short life, Jake discovered a passion and gift for music. Growing up in the Washington, D.C. metro area, Jake taught himself to play guitar and started the band Auraphase, which recorded two albums and played in many venues from D.C. to Boston. The year Jake died, the Savages were just fi nishing building their house on Dewees Island. They had been vacationing for years on nearby Pawley’s Island but decided to make the peace and tranquility of Dewees Island their permanent home away from home. Around the fi rst anniversary of Jake’s death, Jane came to Carroll with the idea of a charity to promote music training for underserved children as a way to honor Jake’s memory. While she has now been retired for many years, at the time Jane was a teacher and later the director of a preschool. She knew the value of music in the development of young children and recognized there was a need to provide both the instruction and instruments to at-risk children. As parents, seeing the gift that music was to their son, who dreamed of becoming a famous rock star, it was only natural that Jane and Carroll wanted to expand that gift to reach more children. Although they never directly talked to Jake about this idea, when asked, Carroll said, “Jake loved children and he loved music, so we believe he would have liked the idea,”
Music Makes Me Happy
There’s plenty of research to show that exposing children to music builds important life skills. Music therapy has been shown to reduce anxiety and depression, increase communication skills, improve the ability to distinguish and express emotions, increase the ability to collaborate with others, improve self-image ... the list goes on. And so, in 2001, the Jake McGuire Savage Foundation—“Jake’s Music” for short—was formed. A non-profit, the foundation honors Jake’s brief life by bringing free, after-school music lessons and instruments to underserved children ages seven to 18, with the goal of developing individual skills, building self-esteem, and strengthening the communities it serves. Th is is Jake’s legacy, say his parents. His love of music combined with his mother’s love of teaching coming together to lift children up through the exposure to instruments, lessons, concerts, and artists.
Opposite, Jake Savage passed away when he was only 21. His parents chose to honor his life by celebrating his love of music and encouraging it in others.
The foundation, while based in D.C., also operates in Charleston. During the early days, Jane provided the vision for the charity and as a D.C. lawyer (since retired) Carroll managed the ins and outs of the legal and non-profit world. Above all, Jake’s Music is a family-centered organization. Jane and Carroll, their children, and their spouses run all aspects of the organization so there’s no overhead and nearly 100 percent of donations go straight to the children’s program—including music classes at Mitchell Elementary School in downtown Charleston, which launched in the fall of 2005. Running programs in two states, 500 miles apart is complicated, however, so they partnered with existing organizations such as Creative Spark in Mt. Pleasant and Metanoia and Carolina Studios in Charleston to supply the staff for the programs while Jake’s Music provides the musical instruments and instructors.
JIMMY CARROLL
Holy City Sound
Jake once said “Music reminds you that you have a soul,” and Jake’s Music wants to help people from challenging socio-economic backgrounds access resources that will help them fuel the fire music can ignite. One of Jake’s Music’s first collaborations in the Charleston area came when they learned about the history of the Jenkins Orphanage Band. Begun in 1891, and housed for many years in the Robert Mills Manor, it fostered the talents of many of Charleston’s jazz musicians and even sent a band to play at Theodore Roosevelt’s inauguration. Hoping to build on that lofty tradition, Jake’s Music collaborated with Ilene Harvey, the program coordinator for the Housing Authority of the City of Charleston, Jack McCray, the jazz reporter for the Post and Courier, and Karen Chandler of the Charleston Jazz Initiative at the College of Charleston. The result was a free picnic in the magnolia-shaded courtyard of the Robert Mills Manor during the Piccolo Spoleto Festival, which commemorated the Jenkins Orphanage Band and featured performances by children from a Jake’s Music program at Mitchell Elementary. The picnic became an annual event for many years during Spoleto and launched a series of Jake’s Music summer camps through the Charleston Housing Authority that continue today.
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A Musical Future
Jake’s Music is approaching a crossroads. After almost 20 years, Jane and Carroll are stepping away from their leadership roles and are looking for volunteers to carry on their work, perhaps by merging with another music education organization. They’re also considering phasing out of current projects and devoting all the funds to music scholarships. This potential new direction highlights one of the most recent examples of the impact of Jake’s Music. Four of the early Jake’s Music participants, who joined the program in 2009 while in fourth grade at Mitchell Elementary, were recently awarded scholarships to pursue music in college totaling $366,000. Jake’s legacy lives on in these children and the music they create. And in turn, they will magnify the light that Jane and Carroll Savage discovered in the darkness of their loss. SiP
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Eating a Peach with Bunky Odom The man behind The Allman Brothers tours, talks music, mayhem, and the Bunky Brand. By Carol Antman
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You’ve got to go onto the next thing ... You’ve gotta have fun. I’m having more fun with Bunky Brand than you’d believe. - BUNKY ODOM
Bunky outside the house in Macon, Georgia where the band Wet Willie spent many a wild night. Odom “retired” to Sullivan’s Island in 1981. Photo by Jeff Spell 56 | SiP
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Bunky Odom, left, with Butch Trucks, drummer and founding member of The Allman Brothers Band, and legendary promoter Bill Graham, playing volleyball at the Capricorn Summer Games in Macon, Georgia, in 1973. Photo by AllmanBrothersBookBySidneySmith.com
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unky Odom was in a helicopter hovering above a huge crowd at Watkins Glen, New York, feeling very overwhelmed. “It was like an ocean of people,” he remembers. One hundred thousand tickets at $10 each had sold out quickly. Another 50,000 sold before the entry gates were trampled down. Abandoned cars lined the highways coming into the tiny town of 2,700 residents. By the time Summer Jam started on July 28, 1973, 600,000 fans were camped out in the mud. It was the country’s largest one-day music festival ever. Sam Cutler, manager of The Grateful Dead, and Bunky had put together the line-up for this festival: The Dead, The Allman Brothers, and The Band. “We thought those three bands represented America,” Odom said at the time. “They were the three best American bands and they related to each other, the music related, the fans related and they all knew each other. It was a great fit.” He was 32 years old and had only been the VP of Management of Phil Walden and Associates for four years, a career he’d begun by booking bands when he was in 10th grade. “We were not really fully capable of pulling this thing off,” says Odom “We had the promoters fly Bill Graham in to be the stage manager. Graham asked the promoters to do a soundcheck on Friday, the 27th since there were so many early arrivals…the Dead played two hours. The Band came on and did an hour. The Allmans did two hours. By Friday night 150,000 people had gotten a five-hour show.” Many thought the soundcheck was better than the next day’s show. Bootleg copies of it still sell on eBay for $500. But on Saturday the bands’ long sets and signature jams began at noon and didn’t stop until 3:30 in the morning. Those who were there still brag about it. For Odom it was one of many career highlights.
Getting’ His Groove On
Odom began booking bands while still in high school in Laurinburg, North Carolina. His mom, a textile worker, encouraged him. His father, a police detective, not so much. “My grades went south as I started putting on shows at armories,” he recalls. But his passion was unstoppable. He opened Club Coachman in Bennettsville, South Carolina, when he was 18. It sold over 100 cases of Pabst Blue Ribbon beer a week and featured bands like Doug Clark and the Hot Nuts. Soon he was doing business with people from New York to North Carolina. He took a posi58 | SiP
tion with the Arnold Agency in Atlanta, which had him booking bands like Nat King Cole and Frank Sinatra into colleges and conventions. That’s when he attracted the attention of Phil Walden. A typical 16-hour workday at Phil Walden and Associates involved booking the Allman Brothers Band, Wet Willie, Chuck Leavell, Dr. John, The Marshall Tucker Band, and others. “I had calls coming in from the answering service 24 hours. They always knew where I was,” Odom remembers. Willie Perkins, The Allman Brothers’ road manager in those days, explains, “It’s no secret the band had a lot of problems with drugs and alcohol, so we found ourselves in situations that were not happy. High highs and low lows.” A notorious Rolling Stone article by Grover Lewis is full of salacious details. It tells of Bunky making several unsuccessful attempts to corral the band members for a photoshoot that ended with the exasperated photographer shouting, “Oh, screw it,” as she stomped off. For the most part, Odom prefers to leave out the prurient stories. But one endures: when the Allman Brothers’ tour manager Twiggs Lyndon Jr. stabbed a club owner to death over the unpaid half of the band’s pay. Amazingly, attorney John Condon Jr. got the charge mitigated by claiming that Lyndon was not guilty by reason of insanity from taking so many drugs. Another low point was the death of Duane Allman in a motorcycle accident in 1971. Odom was alone in the office when the call came in; he saw the ambulance speed by on the way to the hospital. It fell upon him to call Duane’s mother and Willie Perkins, who was in the Bahamas at the time. “It was a sad day for the music industry,” Odom reflects. “You can’t even speculate on what his career would have been. He was a one-take musician” “We had a bond,” Perkins remembers. “The Allman Brothers were a family and Bunky and I were part of that family.” The good times were electrifying: The hours-long jams, the enraptured fans, and the breakthrough album “Live at the Fillmore East” that catapulted The Allman Brothers to fame by overcoming the restraints imposed by FM radio’s short song lengths. Odom is also proud that in 1975, The Allman Brothers played a benefit for Jimmy Carter that provided more than $60,000 towards his election. The President remained an ardent fan, coming with his son to Gregg Allman’s funeral in 2017.
Bringin’ it to the Island
In 1981, Odom semi-retired and moved to Sullivan’s Island. In those days the island was funky and populated largely by shrimpers and outlaws. Odom felt right at home. He continued to book regional bands like Col. Bruce Hampton, Sea Level, and the Killer Whales into places like the Windjammer and Myskyns. Derek Trucks relied on him to manage his affairs until he came of age. He also founded the internet station Radio Free Charleston after prophetically envisioning the future of music streaming. “Nobody knew what I was talking about,” he says. Its logo read “Nothing Matters but the Music” and Odom personally approved every song that was played. Flexing his entrepreneurial muscle, he began a spice and crab dip company that was very popular. When long-time friend Nikki Hardin started SKIRT Magazine, he helped with distribution and she helped him put labels on his spice mixes. “Bunky is fun for sure. He is always involved in something,” Hardin says. “He bought a cement mixer to make the seasoning and put it in the kitchen at Porpoise Point.” When the company got too big, he moved to a space in the old Cigar Factory. Hurricane Hugo killed that business because “People were sitting home eating baloney sandwiches,” Odom says. Today he has another big idea, Bunky Brand. Its mission “to become a global men, women, youth apparel company offering superior design quality and value that fits any lifestyle with Peace, Love, Humor and with a little Rock'n'Roll,” Odom says. “I treat this brand like a band. We’re in the garage right now. It’s a three-year project.” But his vision is more than the merchandise: “If there’s ever going to be peace in the world, it’s going to come through music,” he says. He wants to use the business to create positive change. Graphic designer Gil Shuler is helping with marketing and is optimistic that Odom’s experience and connections will make the company a success. “I’ve always loved Bunky, he’s a cool cat. He has a million ideas. He sends me them constantly,” he says. “I believe in the future,” Odom says. “You’ve got to go onto the next thing …You’ve gotta have fun. I’m having more fun with Bunky Brand than you’d believe.”
A Life at High Volume
Outside the Wet Willie House in Macon, Georgia, there’s an ironic plaque shaped like a mushroom, the same image that The Allman Brothers members tattooed on their legs. Tourist brochures tout: “Owned by music executive Bunky Odom, the house is where the band Wet Willie lived … band members could be found rehearsing and writing songs at the house. Neighbors would often report the bands’ antics to the police, including seeing the group ‘streak’ across College Street… .” All the infamous, wild stories about hippies are now being reframed as a tourist draw, which delights Odom. “There were pigeons living in the house. Now there’s a plaque!” Odom has also molded the culture of Sullivan’s Island. Mayor Pat O’Neil says of him, “He’s an important part of the island’s character because he is a character! He’s also the only guy with a bicycle older than mine.” It’s common to see Odom riding his rusty bike around the island, the only transportation he owns these days. Stratton Lawrence, Odom’s unofficial biographer, says of him, “He truly lived a moment in history and was the secret grease behind the scenes keeping the wheels moving.” Recently, Odom and Sullivan’s Island town council member Bachman Smith co-hosted a “Seize the Island” birthday celebration. “We decided we were cosmic twins,” Bachman, who is a few decades younger than Odom, says because of their shared musical tastes and birthdays. Home Team BBQ was packed with a wide age-range of friends dancing to fabulous music. Bert’s Bar revisited. “Bunky has a way of bringing the world around him to life, especially when music is involved,” Lawrence says. In 2017, Odom was inducted into the Lowcountry Music Hall of Fame. With his customary modesty, his reaction was, “I didn’t want to do it. What for?” He was lauded by the organization’s founder Michael Davis because “He is personally responsible for many of the Lowcountry’s greatest concerts and has been a great counselor for many of Charleston’s top bands.” Throughout the mayhem, glamour, and exhilaration that accompanied the music, he worked behind the scenes to help create the soundtrack of a generation. Bands knew they could rely on him to get the job done and be a nice guy about it. It’s earned him a deep satisfaction from his life’s work: “One thing I’m proudest of is I’m very respected by musicians.” SiP WWW.SiPMAGAZINESC.COM | 59
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Telling Tails National Geographic photographer and Sullivan’s Islander Vincent J. Musi turns his talented lens on something islanders hold dear to their hearts: dogs. By Jennifer Pattison Tuohy Photo by Minette Hand Provided by Vincent J. Musi
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here’s something you need to know about Vincent Musi. He doesn’t own a dog. Why is this important? Because he lives on Sullivan’s Island. And he’s a famous dog photographer. Although, as he points out, most photographers don’t live with their subjects. This is such an important question, however, that he addresses it on the very first page of his recently published book The Year of the Dogs. “I’ve photographed many animals,” he writes, “bears, elephants, tigers, lions, sheep, and pigs . . . Incredibly some of them were even kept as pets, but I don’t have any of those either.” His road to dog photography, and to Sullivan’s Island, started in Pittsburgh where his career began as a sports photographer for The Pittsburgh Press (no, he didn’t play sports either), and continued across the country and the globe as a photographer for National Geographic. He’s photographed pet skunks in Ohio, aggressive rats in Russia, tigers in Houston, and a potbellied pig in Minnesota over the course of his three decades working for the prestigious publication, but don’t call him a wildlife photographer. “Those guys are like grown-ups,” he says. “I started out by doing things people didn’t care about, the stories that nobody wanted.” And then he turned them into things people wish they had done. “That was always my thing,” he recalls. “Give me something nobody wants. Give me something that you guys are afraid of. Then the expectations are really low.” 60 | SiP
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I love the look of it. Everybody thinks I have some $10,000 hand-painted backdrop from some artist in New York. No, it’s really just a sheet.
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That was always my thing. Give me something nobody wants. Give me something that you guys are afraid of. Then the expectations are really low.
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(Previous page) Clockwise from top left, Boo Radley, Bullet and Shug, Ellie Bou, Luka, Moose, JoJo, Clyde, and Dove, Bullet and Bliss. Photos by Vincent J. Musi
One day an editor at National Geographic handed him just such an assignment —on animal cognition. “I said I don’t even know what that is,” he says. “It was a behavior story about animals: what they knew, the science that was going into learning about what animals did.” He took the assignment with misgivings, adding his own spin and refusing the temptation to have these animals display their ‘tricks.’ Instead, he made portraits of each one, photographing them like people in a studio, with the backdrop, the lights — the whole glamor-shot deal. “We put everything from a honeybee to a 9,000-pound elephant on a seamless background and I had a new career as a guy who photographed animals.” Stories on big cats and exotic pets followed, and then the skunks. Sitting in his studio in a warehouse in the Old Cigar Factory on East Bay Street, he looks admiringly at the black seamless — a massive piece of material stretched across a backdrop support and pulled out across the floor to create a platform. “This background was made for the skunks, and when we were looking for our next project I said, let’s use that.” It became the centerpiece of a new chapter in his career, one that would allow him and his wife, Callie Shell, a photographer for Time magazine and official White House photographer for 8 years, to stay home on Sullivan’s with their son Hunter, then 16. “We thought, how can we avoid getting on airplanes? I had all this equipment and I said I’m going to become a dog photographer.” A friend lent them a spot behind Indigo Creek Pet Store in Mount Pleasant. He set up his gear, got his background in place, and was ready. “We thought, well who wouldn’t want a National Geographic guy to photograph their dogs? It turns out nobody.”
Dr. Dolittle
To get the ball rolling they invited friends and neighbors on Sullivan’s to bring their dogs in. Rue, Ellie Mae, Patsy, Ralph, Luka, Ollie, Brooklyn, Monty, Mercy, Ellie, all obliged their owner’s friend by posing on Musi’s backdrop, teaching him a valuable lesson — dogs have personality. Not the ones we give them but an individual, unique essence that he sets out to capture in every photo shoot. It’s not always an easy process, and it’s one very dependent on Shell’s ability in her role as her husband’s assistant to charm each dog. And while Musi doesn’t interact much with the dogs himself, he is the one who finds the connection and elicits the moment. “I’m looking for the image that celebrates the dog but also shows him looking different — a romanticized version of what I think that dog’s about.” Perhaps it was his time learning about animal behavior, or perhaps it’s an innate ability to connect with the creatures on his canvas (he doesn’t talk to them at all, just grunts),
but Musi’s photographs of dogs are different. They are fine art portraits that take you directly into the animal’s soul. His editors at National Geographic saw it. At the magazine’s annual meeting where photographers reveal what they’ve been working on, Musi showed his dog pictures. “They went nuts,” he says. The magazine published a story on those original dogs from Sullivan’s and gave Musi the confidence he needed to make this type of photography his focus. Then, Instagram gave him a platform. The social media site where people share photos and videos has been an unexpected ally in Musi’s career shift. He started to post his work there, first with just the name and date then, after encouragement from Hunter, started to write about them. You haven’t got this far in this article without realizing that Musi is incredibly funny, in a wry, cut to the core kind of way, and his writing reflects this. He gives a voice to each portrait without always resorting to the trope of putting words into a dog’s mouth. He shares their stories and his in heartfelt, witty vignettes. “It’s given me this outlet I just never had before. My entire life has been working as a third party — I photograph you for somebody else who hires me. It was always this tangential relationship. Now it’s one-toone. I photograph for you and I sit in my house and I write these things and Instagram is my medium.” There’s no editors, no process, no expense reports, just Musi, the dog, and his imagination. Most posts garner upwards of 500 comments in a day, “Plus another hundred that you don’t see that are direct messages or emails,” he says. “Somebody wrote to me from France yesterday and said ‘We just want you to know we bought a dog because of your account.’” He has over 35,000 followers and has, he can tell, hit a nerve. “The images resonate with a whole bunch of people that I don’t know. They write me letters every day about how they’re having their dog put down or they’re dealing with some tragedy in their life and how much these images mean. It’s an extraordinary response. I’ve never had that with any of the publications I’ve worked for over the past 30 years.” The Instagram feed caught the attention of “grown-ups,” says Musi, and a three-book deal was signed. “I don’t get it though, what am I saying about dogs that no one else is?” An agent explained it to him, “Everybody proposes these characters, these personalities for their dogs on their end. You make it real for them.” That was a pivotal moment for Musi, and he realized he could just be creative, lose the shackles of his journalistic training and write narratives that speak to the heart. “They may not be true, but I write to the photographs,” he says. “I’m trying to create something based on what you’re seeing in that picture rather than the other way around.” SiP WWW.SiPMAGAZINESC.COM | 65
SAFE PASSAGE
Adgers Wharf in downtown Charleston has served as the headquarters for the Charleston Branch Pilots Association since 1890. Dating back to the 1700s, the Adgers Wharf pier remains one of the last examples of Charleston’s original docks. Photo by Jason Ogden 66 | SiP
Island sons George Campsen and John Thomas are two of Charleston’s Harbor Pilots, unsung heroes that keep our waters safe by expertly navigating the cruise ships and cargo ships through the hazardous harbor. By Marci Shore. Photos by Kyle Killgo.
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George Campsen, IV (left), an Apprentice Short Branch Harbor Pilot, and John Thomas (right), a Full Branch Harbor Pilot for over 20 years, are both Citadel graduates and have family ties to the islands.
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SIXTEEN MILES OFF SHORE UNDER A FEBRUARY SNOW MOON THE CONTAINER SHIP SEASPAN ZAMBEZI, SAILING UNDER THE FLAG OF HONG KONG, HAS SLOWED TO A CRAWL AT THE ENTRANCE OF THE CHARLESTON HARBOR CHANNEL. IT’S AWAITING THE ARRIVAL OF THE FORT MOULTRIE, A 75-FOOT TWIN DIESEL ENGINE PILOT BOAT. A HARBOR PILOT WILL BOARD THE VISITING VESSEL AND HELP ITS CAPTAIN GUIDE THE MASSIVE SHIP SAFELY THROUGH THE NARROW CHANNEL. At over 1,100 feet in length (almost four football fields), with a registered gross tonnage of over 110,000 pounds and a 40-foot draft, the Zambezi takes over half a mile to come to a full stop. A pilot boat is required to navigate any ship entering and leaving Charleston Harbor with more than 11 feet of draft and over 100 tons gross. Their pilots, known as harbor pilots, are experts in navigating their particular harbor, and the profession dates back to the era of the Roman Empire. Before reaching the Zambezi on this clear, windless afternoon, the crew must escort a Carnival Sunshine cruise ship full of revelers out of the harbor. It’s headed south toward the warmer waters of the Bahamas. With the cruise ship safely at the end of the channel, a door opens low on the side of the hull, and apprentice Joe Ward and John Dukes, a Full Branch Pilot of 23 years, appear one at a time donning neon vests. No ladder is required for this transfer from ship to ship. With an outstretched hand from recently retired Navy veteran Captain Frank Witunsky on deck of the harbor pilot boat, it’s a seemingly easy and routine transition back onboard for the two. Rope ladders are usually employed to embark and disembark ships, which can be up to 40 feet to the deck of the largest container and tanker vessels. On days when the sea is not as accommodating as this one, the ladder can become a virtual swinging pendulum the pilots must climb as the ship continues along at 8-10 knots, day or night, wind and rain. A wave and shout out to the captain at the helm gives Captain John Smith the signal to pull away from the cruise ship, onward to rendezvous with the Zambezi a couple of miles further offshore. Ward, 39, a graduate of The Citadel, has a meal prepared that he quickly heats up. “The crew was Italian,” says Ward about the Carnival Sunshine. “They were offering us cappuccino and pizza.” Ward is in his third year as an apprentice. For the first six months, he only observed while onboard. Although mandated by the state, the Charleston Harbor Pilot Association is a privately-owned entity, and its crews work 12-hour shifts, one week on and one week off, serving the harbor 365 days a year, 24 hours a day. WWW.SiPMAGAZINESC.COM | 69
HARBOR ANGELS
(Top) The Fort Moultrie, with Captain John Smith at the helm, follows the Carnival Sunshine out of the harbor. (Below) The method of harbor pilots boarding vessels on ladders has changed very little since the dawn of harbor piloting. Photo courtesy Charleston Harbor Pilot Association. (Opposite page) Retired Navy veteran, Captain Frank Witunsky gives a hand to Joe Ward as he disembarks the Carnival Sunshine. 70 | SiP
There are just 1,200 harbor pilots nationwide, with 20 in rotation in Charleston. In addition, 15 boat captains make up The Charleston Navigation Company, all employed by the Harbor Pilot Association to pilot their own vessels. Smith and Witunsky are two of those captains. The crew offers us snacks and sodas, and points out the area below deck where there is a bathroom and beds so pilots can nap between jobs. Sunset has faded to black except for the full moon reflecting off the Atlantic Ocean. It’s an idyllic sea and night for the harbor pilots to board the Zambezi, and for guests onboard to observe. “It would have been a different story had you been out with us yesterday,” says Witunsky. “We had 35 mph winds, with 7-foot waves.” The Zambezi crew opens the steel door on the starboard side of the hull, and lowers down the 10-foot rope, flat rung, flexible ladder. Ward and Dukes carefully time jumping from the safety of the pilot boat onto the ladder. Once onboard, they verbally give instructions to the Zambezi captain to guide the ship through the ever-changing shoals safely to port. It’s a textbook boarding, and with a calm sea the two vessels gently rise and fall just feet apart. Smith steers as Witunsky is on deck to tend to the transfer. The door is located low on the side of the Zambezi’s hull, and there are only a few rungs to climb. A bright light from the visiting ship helps illuminate the ladder. Around 60 percent of Charleston harbor pilots’ jobs are performed at night. With both Ward and Dukes safely onboard, they give the thumbs up and the harbor boat quickly turns starboard out of the shadow of the colossal vessel, heading back to port. A lot of this job is all about timing, Smith says. “Being this close to a 700-foot ship going 10 knots, we take every precaution. There is so much that can go wrong.”
THE RIGHT STUFF
Decades ago harbor piloting was considered a legacy occupation. It was not uncommon for fathers to be succeeded by their sons after 35 years of service. Pilot apprentices are now selected through a rigorous pointsystem established by state regulations that reward experience, accomplishment, and stewardship. Pilots commonly stay anchored to their jobs for the length of their career, so when there is the rare opening those with extensive nautical experience and impressive college transcripts are likely to be hired. It’s a rigorous, six-year process to climb the ranks from apprentice to Full Branch Pilot, at which time a pilot becomes part-owner of the Charleston Branch Pilot Association. A prerequisite to becoming a Full Branch Pilot is the memorization of the entire chart of the Charleston Harbor, not exclusive to the tidal and current charts, the controlling depths of the shipping channel including any current obstacles and shoaling, the location of all of the buoys, and the headings from buoy to buoy. “This is the most desirable waterfront job,” Smith says with no doubt in his voice as he steers the craft. He grew up in Mount Pleasant’s Old Village, riding his bike to surf on the islands. “A lot of people don’t even realize the job we’re doing out here. Honestly, we kind of like it that way,” he says with a smile. Full Branch Pilots can make six figure salaries. But with great reward, there comes great risk. In the last quarter of a century, over a dozen harbor pilots nationwide have been killed while on the job, with the latest accident occurring last December when a New York pilot nearing retirement fell off the ladder boarding a container ship. Just a few days before our visit, The National Harbor Pilot Association submitted a letter to the federal pilotage authorities requesting changes be made to unsafe trap door platforms and ladders on some ships. Safety remains a priority, and their life vests are equipped with emergency beacons in case they fall into the water. Additionally, the boat is equipped with heat sensing cameras and ships are not moved in visibility that is below half a mile, or in winds of tropical storm strength or higher. Third Short Branch Pilot, George Campsen, 28, guided a container ship from North Charleston through the harbor last week. “Did you hear the fog horns last night? Well, that was me,” he says proudly. They started out of the harbor with over a half mile visibility, but a fog bank brought it down to zero. Relying on his knowledge of the channel and the instruments only, he guided the ship out to sea without incident. “We earn every penny we make,” he says. “It’s a highly trained job.” It takes six years of training to become a pilot, by the end of which apprentices will have boarded 1,500 ships on their own and witnessed the other 19 pilots board thousands more. “Some of the guys will let you go a little further and let you make the mistakes to learn from,” says Campsen. “Some of them will point out what you’re doing wrong before you do it.” WWW.SiPMAGAZINESC.COM | 71
Short Branch Pilot Joe Ward boards the 1,100 foot Seaspan Zambezi container ship at the entrance to the Charleston Harbor, just after sundown. Around 60 percent of harbor pilot jobs are carried out at night. 72 | SiP
Captain John Smith is a Mount Pleasant native, and grew up riding his bike from the Old Village to the islands. He is one of 15 Captains of the Charleston Navigation Company who deliver harbor pilots to rendezvous with ships leaving and entering the harbor.
CITADEL CAPTAINS
A native of Isle of Palms, George Campsen IV grew up both on the island and in the waters surrounding it. A son of a son of a sailor, his nautical roots run deep, dating back to his great, great grandfather, John Campsen, who was a German merchant ship captain. John’s son, George Campsen, was captain of the life saving station on Morris Island and in charge of operating the lighthouse in the 1890s, until he was lost at sea during a storm. His son, George Campsen II, is a local maritime legend as the founder of Fort Sumter Tours and Spiritline Cruises. When Hugo devastated the islands and damaged the Ben Sawyer Bridge in 1989, he ferried anxious residents across to see what was left of their homes. A makeshift plywood sign was constructed on the Ben Sawyer bridge that read “Thank you, Captain George.” Campsen VI, whose father is South Carolina State Senator George “Chip” Campsen III, grabbed his own claim to nautical fame early, by acquiring his boat license at the age of 7. He spent his spare time in his Jon boat in the Intracoastal Waterway close to his home. “I think at the time I was the youngest licensed boat operator in the state,” he says. A Citadel graduate like both his grandfathers, he began charting his course toward a career as a harbor pilot when just a high school sophomore at Porter Gaud. Spending as much time on the water as possible, Campsen became familiar with the shoals and currents of Charleston Harbor, driving ferries for Sumter Tours and conducting charter fishing tours. John Thomas, 53, spent his summers in the family home on Sullivan’s Island. His childhood conjures up memories of playing in the WWII prison fort on the mound behind the current Sullivan’s Island Town Hall and exploring the caverns beneath it, ghost crabs on the beach, fireflies, frogs, fishing with friends for crabs using chicken legs, and leaving the house at sunrise, and not returning home until 6 p.m. Though he has no close relatives employed in the maritime industry like Campsen, Thomas is also a Citadel graduate. A Full Branch Pilot for over 20 years, his first introduction to the profession was as a newspaper boy downtown. “Before the Internet, captains would be out on the water for two weeks at a time. The newspaper was the only outlet to find out what was going on. They were among my biggest customers,” he says. “Every Charleston kid wanted to be a harbor pilot.” Well-seasoned after 20 years, Thomas has seen guys fall off the ladder back onto the pilot boat deck, trying to board in 15-foot waves. “That’s about where we draw the line.” Technology may have advanced since the dawn of harbor piloting, but the method of boarding vessels on ladders has changed very little. Thomas says that for a while, some ships experimented with implementing mechanical lifts to help pilots get onboard. “Many of these ships are here briefly and they’ll never see us again,” says Thomas. “They may or may not keep their mechanical equipment in good working order. There were so many mechanical failures, they stopped using them.” A pilot can choose to say no to any job if he feels unsafe about boarding, Thomas says. Tethering to something, like a rock climber does, isn’t really an option either, he adds. “The boat tilts and there’s always something in the way for the line to get tangled on. It does more harm than good.” While modern ships are starting to make the doors to their ships lower on the hull to accommodate pilot transfers, rather than rely on a mechanical device, as a group harbor pilots decided to put trust in their ship captains’ abilities and put their lives in their own two hands. As a Full Branch pilot, Thomas has an unlimited license to board any boat of any size and type in the world. The Charleston Harbor Boat Association provides service to around 4,500 ships entering and leaving the harbor each year. “At the end of the day we are environmentalists,” he says. “Our obligation is to the residents of South Carolina to keep spills and accidents from happening.” SiP WWW.SiPMAGAZINESC.COM | 73
Community in Action For 72 years the Isle of Palms Exchange Club has put the community first, helping build the island we know and love today. By Kinsey Gidick Photos courtesy of IOP Exchange Club
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Americanism, Community Service, and Youth Programs. For over 100 years, those have been the pillars that have defined the National Exchange Club, a service organization founded in Detroit, Michigan, by a group of businessmen who wanted to “inspire communities to become better places to live.” Following World War II and a swell of patriotic pride, the concept took off. In 1948, the Isle of Palms created its own branch, the IOP Exchange Club, which has been serving the needs of the island community for over 70 years. You probably know the club even if the name doesn’t ring a bell. Dozens of drivers cruise past its headquarters, a white cinderblock building at 201 Palm Boulevard, daily. If that’s not enough to jog your memory, then you’ve certainly enjoyed the events the club puts on. Today, IOP Exchange Club’s 200-some members, part of an 18,000 strong national membership, organize beloved island events such as the Bud and Cecily Stack Oyster Roast and the annual IOP Connector Run.
Island Founders
Well before these gatherings became Charleston staples, the Exchange Club was working hard to make the island’s growing community a great place to live. “In the 40s and 50s it was quite a group of Who’s Who on the island,” says longtime member Sandy Stone. “The Sottiles and Longs were members. In fact, it was charter member JC Long who gave the current site to the club for free.” Long, the man behind much of the development of Isle of Palms, was instrumental in getting the Exchange Club going, but it was Frank Sottile who became the club’s first president. When the island was still just a fledgling unincorporated town with some 100 families and little city government, the Exchange Club was a valuable resource that banded neighbors together under its creed “Unity for Service, by giving of self for the betterment of our fellow men.” Barbie Harrington, a current member, and past club president, recalls when her mother played bridge at the club when she was a child. But it was more than just a social organization. As Barbie and her husband Patrick (also a former club president) explained, the club was responsible for dozens of projects that helped foster the island in its early years. Things like mosquito control where members distributed “thousands of bags filled with sawdust and soaked in kerosene and placed them in drainage ditches.” WWW.SiPMAGAZINESC.COM | 77
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Like most of the island, the Exchange Club took a hit during Hugo, but members worked hard to rebuild.
Fighting Fire and Cheering Children
The IOP also owes its gratitude to the Exchange Club for the island’s fire department. In a club history compiled for the organization’s 65th anniversary, it says that seeing the hazard of not having any means of fighting fires on the island, the club procured a fire truck from the Eau Claire, SC, fire department, and took fire control upon itself. For the island’s children, the Exchange Club also provided numerous diversions. The Nickel Carnival, for instance, was a highly anticipated annual event. “We would buy and give away little nickel or 10 cent gifts to kids in September during the festival,” says Stone. “We had games like throw the softball, bowling pins, throw darts at balloons, all sorts of different things.” Held in September, the event was sort of a homecoming, back to school celebration and everyone got involved. “The old Red & White supermarket would donate massive amounts of hot dogs, buns, ketchup, mustard, it was a big family event,” says Stone. The fruits of the fetes, and other events like the Nickel Carnival, Island Fish Fry, and Chili Cook-off, all went back into the community. As part of its mission, the Exchange Club has supported all kinds of organizations over the years including East Cooper Little League, Boy Scouts, as well as nonprofits that fight child abuse like Dee Norton.
For Creek and Country
In keeping with its mission to promote Americanism, the IOP Exchange Club has resurrected monuments to celebrate the country. In 1954 the club dedicated its first Freedom Shrine at Moultrie High School in Mount Pleasant. It has gone on to dedicate additional shrines at Stella Maris School, Laing School, and Sullivan’s Island School. Its most recent project, spearheaded by former President Patrick Harrington, was a dock off the back of the clubhouse onto the Intracoastal Waterway, which again does more than just provide club members with a pretty vantage point. The pier, with a floating dock, was designed to allow handicap-accessible water crafts launch from its connected floating dock. Built specifically with veterans in mind, the $500,000 project is intended to give those who have served a means to get on Hamlin Creek and enjoy the natural beauty of the island. It’s just another example of the countless hours, dollars, and efforts put forth by the civic group in support of Isle of Palms, and continues a pursuit member Clyde Dangerfield described in 1978. “I speak for all the old-timers when I say: We will never forget those who God had called to His side after working so hard to ensure that those who follow in their footsteps will find a far better Isle of Palms than they found.” SiP WWW.SiPMAGAZINESC.COM | 79
Positive Image An award-winning Sullivan’s Island photographer looks back at a career covering the White House By Kinsey Gidick Photo by Minette Hand Photos provided by Callie Shell
Taking pictures was a way to be around people without having to talk to them
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It’s hard to imagine now but there was a time when Sullivan’s Island photographer Callie Shell didn’t speak. The Time magazine freelance photographer, official photographer for Vice President Al Gore, and five-time presidential campaign photographer who covered President Barack Obama’s ascendance says it’s true. For a year in middle school Shell barely uttered a word. She stuttered. She was shy. “Taking pictures was a way to be around people without having to talk to them,” she says. Like Linus with his blanket, Shell used her camera as a tool to navigate social settings. “I just did it for fun. I took pictures of my friends,” she says. Little did she know the comfort prop would lead her to the White House and beyond.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu talks to Palestinian National Authority President Yasser Arafat in the Red Room of the White House. They had just finished a joint meeting on Israeli-Palestinian peace accords. It had been one year since Arafat’s friend Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin had been assassinated. Once enemies, Arafat and Rabin established a close friendship working on peace between Israel and Palestine. After talking to Netanyahu, Arafat walked over, held my hand and said “I miss by friend”—meaning Rabin. October, 21, 1996. Photograph by Callie Shell for The White House.
Shutter Lag
Perhaps surprisingly Shell, who grew up to be a professional photographer, majored in Political Science at the College of Charleston, not photography. It was still a hobby, but nothing more until another student challenged her to take her pictures beyond the quad candids. “I was sitting at the fountain at the College of Charleston one day complaining about how bad the yearbook looked and this guy said, ‘If you think you could do better, why don’t you join the yearbook staff, we do the yearbook and newspaper together,’” she remembers. Shell accepted and quickly began covering campus news. But her big local break came on October 18, 1981, the night the original Charleston Museum at Cannon Park caught fire. “I got there before anyone else and I photographed it,” says Shell. “The News & Courier ran it on the front page.” It was a wake up call. “I thought, ‘Oh, I might be able to do this.” But the curious undergrad’s wanderlust and activist spirit outweighed any idea of a professional photography career. “I thought I wanted to go into the Peace Corps, but I didn’t think my grades were good enough” she says. “I was looking for a sign.” Naturally, she sought divine intervention in the form of Sister Francis, a beloved college poli sci professor. Finding Sister Francis at her convent, Shell told her how she was interested in doing some outreach with the religious order. “All of a sudden a light fixture fell from the ceiling and cut my leg,” Shell says. Pragmatically, Sister Francis assured Shell that that wasn’t, in fact, a sign, rather some faulty electric work. But the nun did impart some advice. “She cleaned me up and convinced me that I really should pursue work with a newspaper.” Shell skipped graduation and headed to Nashville’s Tennessean newspaper.
Making Copy
Not surprisingly, the evolution from newspaper rookie to a White House photographer didn’t happen overnight. When Shell landed as a stringer at The Tennessean, her tiny CofC portfolio in hand, the head photo editor had some tough words for her. “He looked at my portfolio and said ‘These are terrible,’” she remembers. “But he told me years later, ‘Your resume showed me you could get along with people and you’re willing to do anything.’” Shell’s resume included such illustrious roles as the first female construction worker for Century 21, a waitress and a bartender. “He said, ‘All jobs that required you getting access, getting along with people, and it never occured to you that being a female meant anything.’” Shell started covering the music scene, a perfect gig for a young shutterbug fine with late nights out. Then she helped the investigative teams and got her first taste of what a free press is really all about. One day she was covering something at an area hospital when a cop approached. “He said, ‘Give me your film. You’ve got to leave,’” she says. Terrified, Shell called her editor and told him what was going on. Next thing she knows, the late John Seigenthaler, legendary journalist and the Editor in Chief of The Tennessean, gets on the phone. “He said ‘Alright, you tell them you’re willing to go to prison. The lawyers will meet you there, you have all your rights. You tell them you’re willing to go to jail.’” Needless to say, the cop overheard the conversation and let her go. “He was the best boss I’ve ever had,” she says. Shell worked for him for 10 years. WWW.SiPMAGAZINESC.COM | 83
Getting the Scoop
It wasn’t long before Shell was called up to work in one of the best photo departments in the country, The Pittsburgh Press where the burden of covering six to seven stories a day decreased to two with the addition of longer features she could spend months developing. The newfound freedom allowed Shell to develop her craft and develop some friends. “This guy came up and he was really obnoxious and cocky,” Shell says of one of her Pittsburgh Press coworkers. “He said ‘all your pictures look the same, you’re just shooting the same, you’ve wasted this whole story, you worry way too much about social issues,’ and I go ‘all you care about is sports, you’re funny but cocky. He would become my husband.” Shell began dating the cocky photographer Vincent Musi (who would go on to shoot for National Geographic, Time, Newsweek, Life, Fortune, and the New York Times Magazine). In 1999 they were married. Wedded bliss would be derailed, however, when a delivery strike stopped the presses at the Pittsburgh Press, putting the couple out of work. Just when they were about to get worried, serendipity interceded: Shell got a call from Marla Romash, then campaign press secretary for Al Gore. An old friend had passed Shell’s name onto Tipper Gore who was looking for someone to photograph the end of the Clinton/Gore campaign. “She called and ‘I was like, well, we’re not doing anything,’” Shell says. There were two weeks left of the campaign. What was there to lose? Little did Shell know that the random gig would be the making of her career. Two weeks became eight years and before Shell knew it she was watching administrations change hands. Shell says she’ll never forget the day the Clintons and Gores packed up their things to pass the torch to President Bush. “We did the inauguration and we’re standing in the Blue Room looking out the window, waiting for Bush to come in and I’m standing next to Tipper Gore and she says ‘Tell me something good. I need to hear something good,’” Shell remembers. “I said, ‘I haven’t told anyone. I haven’t even told my sister yet, but I’m pregnant.’” According to Shell, the Gores, by then something of a second family, were thrilled. In between taking the job and announcing her future son, Shell spent every waking minute with the Vice President documenting everything from casual moments with his family to major accomplishments in diplomacy. “The greatest part for me, as a poli sci major and Middle Eastern affairs minor, was watching the friendship between Rabin and Araft develop. It was so amazing,” she says. A literal fly on the wall, Shell stood back and photographed history.
(Top) President Bill Clinton plays his saxophone in a holding room at the Washington, DC Hilton Hotel before speaking at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner. May 1, 1993. Photograph by Callie Shell for the White House. (Below) Vice President Al Gore calling presidential candidate George Bush to withdraw his concession of the 2000 Presidential Election. He had called around an hour earlier and conceded, but learning that the Florida vote was in question, he took back his concession which led to a 30 days recount stopped by the United States Supreme Court. November 8, 2000 (election day was the 7th but the call was the early hours of the 8th). Photograph by Callie Shell. 84 | SiP
This guy came up and he was really obnoxious and cocky....he would become my husband
Primary Colors
So what does a White House photographer do when the administration she’s covered departs? She shoots for Time magazine, of course. Shell was recruited by the weekly news magazine to cover Bush soon after power changed hands. And she kept that up until, at around 8 months pregnant, the Air Force One doctor told her she was grounded from flying anymore. Two years after Shell and Musi’s son Hunter, today a Wando senior, was born, Shell was back on the campaign trail, this time following Vermont Representative Howard Dean. That lasted until Dean’s campaign sputtered out after the Wisconsin Primary. Time re-assigned Shell to track presidential candidate John Kerry and while in Chicago she met a rising young star named Barack Obama. Shell says the future 44th president’s charisma was so powerful, it upstaged candidate Kerry from the start. “I told my editor, he’s gonna run. He was just the intro for Kerry and people were going crazy,” says Shell. She knew she wanted to do a bigger profile on him. Time agreed and Shell did a freshman piece on the United States Senator, then followed that up with a bigger cover story. “I kept saying, ‘He’s gonna run,’” she says. Shell’s prediction proved correct. Time would later send her to cover Obama’s announcement tour, but not before her husband and son decided the family needed to move to the Lowcountry. On the Kerry stump in Charleston the family rented a spot on Sullivan’s. “They were gonna stay for a couple of days and they ended up staying the month,” she says. When Barack Obama eventually won the presidency, Shell was called in again to document his first 100 days for Time. The Obamas liked her work so much she was invited to stay on as a White House Staff photographer. The offer was tempting, but having lived it before covering Gore, Shell knew all too well that she’d be watching Sasha and Malia grow up while missing the childhood of her own son. “When I told Hunter I wasn’t going to take the job he burst into tears,” says Shell. “He said, ‘Mommy, I wanted you to make the decision you wanted to do, but I’m so glad you’re not going to take it.’” Shell has no regrets, well maybe one. “Financially, it was probably the worst decision,” she jokes. But she wouldn’t trade the choice for anything.
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It was primary morning in New Hampshire. The Obamas had been campaigning separately all week and found a rare moment of quiet together aboard their campaign bus traveling the back roads of New Hampshire. January 8, 2008. Photograph by Callie Shell.
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I answered and said to him, ‘Just curious, does anyone, when they say ‘Can you take a call from the President?’, say no? And it wasn’t like she didn’t walk away with a history book worth of images—an estimated 40,000, in fact. Including several freshman senator pieces and the entire two years of his campaign to become president. Once he became president, she photographed his first 100 days and did several stories during the next eight years. Her 15 years worth of photos of the Obamas, captured before and during their time in the White House, were compiled into two books, President Obama: The Path to The White House (Time Books) and her recent release, Hope, Never Fear: A Personal Portrait of the Obamas published last September by Chronicle Books, both intimate portraits of the presidency and all that it entails. The World Press Photo Award-winning photographer looks back at her many roles covering politics as a service to her country. And it’s clear the subjects she’s covered did too. In 2011 Shell got breast cancer. Word got back to Obama and one afternoon Shell got a call from his secretary saying “Can you take a call from the President?” “I answered and said to him, ‘Just curious, does anyone, when they say ‘Can you take a call from the President?’, say no?” Shell recalls his quick quip back: “I think Michelle does all the time.” She laughs thinking back on the moment adding that the minute she heard the president’s voice on the other line she automatically stood up. “It was so funny,” she says. Funny, and telling. Some might even say, it was the tell-tale sign of a true public servant and patriot. SiP Hope, Never Fear, A Personal Portrait of the Obamas by Callie Shell Published by Chronicle Books - $24.95
Part-time
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residents
Dewees Island is a haven for eco-conscious homeowners, who count among their number a family of bald eagles. The rare pair have been returning each spring for almost a decade. Story and photos by Judy Drew Fairchild
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For the past nine springs, Dewees Islanders have been able to watch a pair of bald eagles nest atop an old pole right in the center of the island. It is rather uncommon for eagle pairs to nest on a manmade pole on the East Coast, and definitely uncommon for them to return year after year. "In South Carolina, it seems like pairs who nest on man-made poles or towers 90 | SiP
will usually find a pine within their territory to nest in by the third year because it seems to provide a lit tle more shelter," says Emily Davis, of Audubon South Carolina at Beidler Forest. Island residents are lucky to be able to observe this pair out in the open for almost a decade.
Some years there is one chick that survives to fledge the nest; others there are two healthy young that learn to fly on their own. By the time they can fly, the eagles are as big as adult birds but lacking the white heads and tails that will be part of their mature feathers after age three. Residents first noticed them atop a nest pole in the evenings in the fall of 2011. In February 2012, it looked like the pair were taking turns incubating an egg, and by late spring of that year, onlookers were delighted with the appearance of a gray, fuzzy head squawking for food. Each year since the eagles appear in August, spend the fall building the nest, and by New Year there will be a bird constantly on the nest until the chicks hatch around Valentine’s Day.
Dewees’ Special Nursery
The nest is built of large and small sticks and often has a live evergreen branch easily visible. Nests can be quite large, 4 to 8 feet in diameter. When this pair first began nesting, the platform on the pole was only 3 feet square. After two seasons, the pole was hit by lightning several times in the summer, and the top was barely being held in place by a sliver of wood. Dewees Island community members and staff decided to lower the pole and replace the top platform with one that was 4 feet square and solidly anchored. WWW.SiPMAGAZINESC.COM | 91
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“We raced the clock as a whole team to get the entire process done between the time the eagles left the roost in the morning and when they returned in the evening,” says Lori Sheridan Wilson, Dewees Island’s Environmental Program Manager. “We were thrilled when the eagles landed on their new, larger nest and made themselves right at home.”
Fluffy Grey Heads
the parents to feed the baby from the ground without disturbance,” says Wilson. Shortly after the young learn to fly, the eagles depart for the summer, most likely headed north to coincide with times of plentiful prey. By the end of August, the adults again return to the island and begin rebuilding the nest. This eagle pair has become part of the fabric of things to watch for on the island: some
residents check on the young regularly during the nesting season, while others simply enjoy having them as neighbors on the island. “We love watching the eagles circle over our house, landing on the ‘dinner’ pole to devour a catch,” says Anne Anderson, a full-time resident of Dewees. “Observing each stage as they develop from a dark, fluffy eaglet to the distinct patterns of adulthood is one of the great joys of our house on the marsh.” SiP
When the chicks first hatch, they are not visible from the ground. Residents may hear a faint crying in the wind, and the behavior of the adult eagles changes. They begin looking into the nest and clearing out eggshells and scraps. The tiny, downy chicks are eventually visible above the nest, and the endless procession of food to the eaglets begins. As they get older, the adults may even eat on different platforms around the island. It’s not uncommon for island residents to find a golf cart traffic jam near the eagle nest if the adults have been seen delivering food. As the spring progresses, the young eaglets grow at a very rapid pace. By April, they have reached the size of the adults, and their fluffy down has given way to deep brown feathers above huge talons. The adults leave them for longer and longer spans of time and as late spring breezes arrive, the youngsters begin to stretch their wings, jumping up to test their first flight feathers. This can be a period of danger for the young birds. If the nest were in a tall tree, they would begin to “branch out,” taking small test flights within the shelter of a tree. Because the Dewees platform is so exposed, if the youngsters miscalculate their first landing, they’ll end up on the ground where they are in far greater danger from land predators like alligators, coyotes, or even well-intentioned photographers in golf carts.
Please Stop For Eagles
One year, this happened in early April, long before the young eaglet was capable of really flying. He was found wandering the road and watching residents drive by in their golf carts. The Dewees Island Environmental Resource Board worked with Wilson and the community to reroute the road so the adults could bring food to the young eagle in peace. For two weeks, residents drove the “long way” to the beach until the bird began to branch from the ground up, spending time on a porch swing and then low branches until he took off, right in front of a group of birders collecting data for the Audubon spring bird count. “We were excited about all the community support in closing down the road to allow WWW.SiPMAGAZINESC.COM | 93
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RISING STARS Catch a glimpse of islanders following their dreams into the stratosphere. Photos by Mark Stetler
CAPTAIN PLANET BELVIN OLASOV
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here are 2,876 miles of coastline in South Carolina. Over the past four years, coastal towns have experienced four major hurricanes. Many believe that these natural disasters are related to climate change, and scientific research shows that if the oceans and atmosphere continue to warm, in the next century the sea level in South Carolina could rise up to four feet. Climate activist and Isle of Palms native Belvin Olasov doesn’t want to see this happen. That’s why he’s working tirelessly to prevent it. Growing up on 29th Avenue, just across from the Recreation Department, Olasov discovered his love of nature on the barrier island, while seeing the effects of climate change fi rst hand. Living through thousandyear floods, incessant storms, and rising sea levels ignited his passion for activism, leading him to become a Field Organizer for the Conservation Voters of South Carolina, an environmental group working on clean energy legislation on the state level. “In the past six months, I’ve pushed back against a disastrous Public Service Commission solar energy pricing decision, taught students about climate change, put on a presidential town hall on climate change, and more,” he says. However, his work didn’t begin there. Olasov’s environmental protection journey wasn’t a foregone conclusion. The University of South Carolina English major started hearing more about climate change in the media and knew he wanted to help. The constant reports on ice caps melting in Greenland, ocean acidification, and massive species loss caused Olasov to worry about what the future would entail. “By the end of my senior year at the University of South Carolina, I believed the most urgent cause was climate action and was determined to do something about it,” he says. A year and a half ago his father, Nathan Olasov, died from cancer, and Olasov felt an even stronger pull to activism. The illness had put him in a dark place and to get out of it he felt the need to be involved with something that would have a positive impact. He knew how the climate was changing in his backyard so he looked for opportunities. “I volunteered with the Coastal Conservation League doing data work on restaurant plastic use and their flooding buyout inquiry with NRDC,” Olasov says. “My contact at CCL suggested I go to the Climate Reality Leadership Corps Training, so I went to Atlanta and had a weekend full of climate education and activism training.” The Global Climate Strike in September, 2019 motivated Olasov to gather a group of climate-concerned Charlestonians to put together a rally called the Climate Crisis Movement. Th is event was a defi ning moment for the young environmentalist and launched the group that became the Charleston Climate Coalition. Today, Olasov serves as cochair. The future of IOP and other barrier islands is at the heart of the organization’s work. “The ocean is heating up and hurricanes feed on warmer water,” Olasov says. “We’re seeing hurricanes that are larger, stronger, and less predictable.” What’s next for this young activist? Right now, CCC is also researching different climate solutions, from green roofs to wind power to carpooling incentives, and seeing how they apply to Charleston County. “The ultimate goal is something I'm calling the Charleston 2030 Project,” he says. “Th is is identifying what Charleston would look like by the year 2030 if it took the climate crisis seriously, and then working to make that a reality.”’ - Alli Steinke
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I believe that climate activism should be joyful. By celebrating what we have —our beaches, our forests, our not-that-manyfeet-above-sea-level town— we strengthen our resolve to fight for what we could lose.
ORGANIZATION Charleston Climate Coalition ENTREPRENEUR Belvin Olasov FOUNDED 2019 LOCATION Charleston WEBSITE facebook.com/charlestonclimatecoalition WWW.SiPMAGAZINESC.COM | 95
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CONCEAL
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DON’T REVEAL
photo of Becky Connelly at age 11 sits on her desk as a reminder of the reason she’s worked so hard for the past five years to design the perfect bra. “It’s a picture of my sister and myself, the light is shining right on me and all you can see is my nipple through my top,” she says. “Well, that’s all I see—that’s all I’ve ever seen. I’ve always been self-conscious about it.” Working in the traditionally male-dominated profession of construction, Connelly wanted to feel comfortable and at ease, but sometimes her clothing didn’t comply. At school in Boston for construction management she was one of only three girls in her class, and during her subsequent career was often the only woman in the meeting room or on the job site. “I’ve always been self-conscious about my nipples showing through my clothing, and never want to draw any attention to that part of my body,” she explains. After years of using medical tape, adhesive petals, and silicone concealers to fi x the issue, and totally frustrated with uncomfortable padding and molded bras that reshaped her figure, she decided to do something about it. “I had dreamt of my ideal bra, a thin, wireless bra with a thin concealer built into each cup,” she says from her makeshift home office in Darrell Creek. “I was transitioning back to work after my children were born and went to see a life coach who convinced me to pursue it.” With no background in textiles manufacturing or fashion design (“I don’t even know how to sew,” she admits), she sought out advice and encouragement from Charleston's free SCORE business incubator program, as well as other women designers and entrepreneurs. “It was uncharted territory, defi nitely daunting at times but I was so passionate about this bra being a solution for me that I knew it would be for other women, too,” she says. After five years and several false starts, Connelly launched Non Disclosure Apparel and its fi rst product, the Ellie Bralette—a concealing bralette for small breasted girls and women—in January 2020. Designed without wiring and completely seamless, the bralette features a small, thin, flexible piece of fabric heat-sealed into its center, designed to completely conceal any potential nipple protuberance. When it came to naming the colors of the bra—Storm, Beach, and Azalea—she drew on inspiration from her family’s home on Dewees Island. “My dad, John McLeod, built a home there in 1995,” she says. “I’ve been a part of Dewees for over half my life, and my children don’t know a time without it. It’s a magical, magical place.” She also used the island as the backdrop for a professional photo shoot for the bralette, traipsing the models all over, from Marshmallow Walk and Big Bend Dock to Lake Timacau. “They loved it there,” she says. “It did get a bit cold though, but that only went to show how well the bras work!” She has big plans for the small bra. “In the short-term, we’re looking at larger sizes of the Ellie (currently available in small, medium and large), plus a new junior style,” she says. Long term she’d like to roll out bathing suit tops, sports bras, camisoles, bandeaus, and leotards. Initial feedback has been very positive, from corporate women who wear suits and heels all day long to women just looking for something comfortable to wear around the house, “It’s all about being confident in anything that you’re doing,” she says. “And people love how comfortable it is.” The road to realizing her dream has not been easy, but Connelly says she wouldn’t change a minute. “I found myself in the process,” she says. “I mean, I’m completely obsessed with it, but it’s been nice to fi nd something to be passionate about. There were difficult times, discouraging times but just pressing on has been so worth it. I would have always regretted not doing it.” - Jennifer Pattison Tuohy
BECKY CONNELLY
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I was so passionate about this bra being a solution for me that I knew it would be for other women, too.
COMPANY Non Disclosure Apparel ENTREPRENEUR Becky Connelly FOUNDED 2014 LOCATION Mount Pleasant PRODUCTS Ellie Bralette WEBSITE ndapparel.com WWW.SiPMAGAZINESC.COM | 97
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THE REAL DILL CHRIS ALLEN
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hris Allen isn’t a chef by trade. He isn’t even an F&B veteran. He’s just a guy who really loves making pickles and got enough great feedback from his Sullivan’s Island neighbors to encourage him to make his dream a reality. Enter: Walt’s Pickle Brand. Naturally fermented, ruffled pickles sold at three locations on Sullivan’s and one spot downtown. Packaged in retro branded 32-ounce size jars, Allen’s niche product was designed to have a bold flavor and be worth a little extra coin than the classic grocery store gherkins. “I always liked pickles, and I just decided one day that I was going to try and really dial in the taste so that it was really good, but was also sophisticated enough that they could stand alone as its own course as a condiment or an extra,” says Allen, whose day job is in fi nance. He settled on natural fermentation, a process of using air to preserve vegetables, due to being unsatisfied with traditional pickling methods. “I started by trying different spices and different amounts of time for fermentation until I found the right flavor and that was it. That was the formula.” That would have been the end of the story, just another guy with a favorite recipe if it weren’t for Allen’s friends who kept pushing him to market his crispy cukes. “You hear the story every day, people were like ‘You should sell them,’” he says. Finally, in 2016, Allen took their advice and decided to get serious. But coming up with a small batch recipe at home that your neighbors enjoy is a far cry from large batch production, and Allen admits it’s been a long and costly process. “I wanted people to feel confident putting it on a bar or at a restaurant,” explains Allen. “It would be something that was strong enough to be by itself or stand next to cherries marinated in bourbon, you know, or on a skewer in a Bloody Mary.” And the truth is, you can’t ask people to pay for roughly $14 a jar of pickles, without dressing them up in beautiful branding. So Allen decided to put in the time and energy to do it right. “My grandfather’s name was Walter Spitzer. Hence, I named it after him because he was a very important figure in my childhood,” explains Allen. Walt was a self-made man who worked with his hands in construction as a home builder. “He was a very simple man but just amazing. I remember he valued really quality things,” says Allen. “Quality machinery, quality trucks he drove… .” That became Allen’s mentality too: Quality fi rst. For the packaging that meant crisp, clean 1950s oil and gasoline can-inspired branding. Next Allen found a producer, Ashland’s Gourmet in Florida, to duplicate his recipe on a larger scale. But even once Ashland’s had figured out how to increase the recipe from a gallon batch, the newbie entrepreneur had to track down a palette of cucumbers — size 2B to be exact—to make his fi rst run. No easy feat in a market where big brands gobble up massive orders of the summer vegetables each year. Eventually, however, Ashland’s Gourmet sent him six test samples and the fi nal market research commenced. At a dinner at High Thyme restaurant on Middle Street, Allen asked his neighbors to help him choose the official recipe. “We had numbers and everybody voted afterward. I'd say nine out of ten votes were for the one,” he says. “So you could say that the current iteration of Walt’s was picked by the locals.” - Kinsey Gidick
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The current iteration of Walt’s was picked by the locals.
COMPANY Walt’s Bar Pickles ENTREPRENEUR Chris Allen PURCHASED BUSINESS 2016 LOCATION Sullivan’s Island PRODUCTS Walt’s Bar Pickles WEBSITE waltsbrand.com WWW.SiPMAGAZINESC.COM | 99
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Home is where the Heart is Michelle and Darrell Owenby build their dream home on Sullivan’s Island and fill it with family, fun and art. By Sidney Wagner Photos by Minette Hand Styling by Sidney Wagner
The Owenbys enjoy playing Aggravation, a board game passed down from Darrell’s family. The game is no longer in production; however, they have custom boards his family made and they teach their friends how to play. “It is a boisterous and loud game, but lots of fun!” says Michelle. 100 | SiP
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The Owenbys forwent a formal dining room and created one large living / dining / kitchen space. Plus, the outside living room and pool area open up to the interior living room by way of large French doors, allowing for great flow during parties.
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rtist Michelle Owenby and her husband, Darrell, an entrepreneur who owns a Little Caesar franchise in Georgia, have built several homes on both Sullivan’s and Isle of Palms. “You learn a little every time you do it,” says Michelle. “You never get it perfect, there is always something you wish you had done differently but you learn a lot along the way.” For their most recent project, and their “forever home,” the Owenbys wanted to create a place their family could comfortably live in and grow into, as well as a space where they could properly entertain friends and family and display their love of art. They chose Sullivan’s Island this time, as they wanted to be around the many young families on the island. Of course, they were also drawn to the beauty of the island, but for a family with two growing boys (Noah, 13, and Nate, 15) Sullivan’s offered an authentic neighborhood feel that reminded the couple of their childhood neighborhoods in Asheville, North Carolina. Michelle and Darrell both appreciated Sullivan’s charm and unique character, which changes from street to street (and even house to house) and relish the fact that their boys can learn the history of the island woven through the environment in which they live while biking to the beach or tennis courts, or grabbing popcorn at Dunleavy’s or chips and queso at Home Team. 102 | SiP
Incorporating Art Into Your Home
“My biggest piece of advice is to buy art that moves you! If you purchase art that makes you happy or brings emotion, you will find a place for it in your home,” says Michelle Owenby. The best way to discover what art you love is by seeing as much as you can. Tour galleries, look through design magazines, do online searches or simply go shopping to see what types of art elicits emotion.
Where to Buy Art ORIGINAL ART There are so many resources available to find original art locally or online. You can work with local art galleries or shop antique stores and flea markets. Secondary market sites like Chairish sell both new and vintage pieces. Many artists sell their work directly through their websites and social media channels. Additionally, there are various online galleries like The Charleston Artist Collective, which represents more than 20 artists selling affordable, unframed original artwork. REPRODUCTION ART Online resources like Etsy or Minted are great for purchasing inexpensive art. Many artists sell reproductions of original pieces at a fraction of the cost and they have numerous framing options. Another great resource is juniperprintshop.com sells affordable oversized prints. FIND NEW ARTISTS Attending art events in your town featuring emerging artists is a great way to discover new talent and purchase art on the cheap! Shops hosting pop-up events, shows at art schools, local art festivals and farmer’s markets are just a few examples. WWW.SiPMAGAZINESC.COM | 103
A square dining table, made from reclaimed wood, was designed to encourage conversation during family meals and dinner parties.
For the interior palette, Michelle wanted the house to feel soothing and calming, so she chose all of her favorite colors: rich blues, purples, indigos, and lilacs—hues well-represented in her artwork.
How To Buy Art For Your Home SIZE AND SCALE A common mistake is to purchase art that is too small for the space. For instance, when buying art for the wall over a sofa consider a piece that is two-thirds the width of the sofa. Or go bigger! Sometimes it is fun to break the rules and do an over-scaled piece for more impact. PRO TIP If you find a piece of art or photograph you love but it is too small for your space, consider framing it in an oversized mat in order to increase the overall visual impact. 104 | SiP
COLOR People often get hung up on trying to find art that matches the colors in their space. Instead, look for pieces that you love at first sight, and do not worry if the colors match with the other pieces in your room. MIX IT UP Don’t think about the art living in just one spot permanently. Buy art when you love it, but move it around from time to time. This is a great way to invigorate your home and help you appreciate your collection.
Making a House a Home It was while building their third home in Wild Dunes that the couple discovered architect Joe Tucker of Tucker Architectural. Michelle and Darrell saw a house that stood out among the other houses in the area thanks to its proportions, symmetry, and window size so, they approached the homeowner to discover who designed it. This particular home was very classic and traditional but had “his mark on it,” says Michelle. It is difficult to achieve curb appeal with roof pitches on an elevated house, but Tucker specializes in this. They hired Tucker to create a custom plan to meet their needs while incorporating all the elements they loved about his previous designs. The couple chose a lot on a natural dune so that the home would not be fully elevated, allowing the house to connect with the outdoors. This design was unlike many of their previous homes, where they spent most of their time either entirely inside or entirely outside because the deck and pool were elevated. “My whole goal was for our home to feel like a turn of the century old farmhouse/beach house,” says Michelle With the help of Lane Baker of Saltwater Construction, the Owenbys began construction on their dream home in September 2013. While designing the interior, they knew they had to incorporate finishes that would accommodate two boys and a future yellow Lab named Yeti. Therefore, nothing could be too precious. They chose floors by Charleston One Source, reclaimed heart of pine with a satin finish installed by Elliot Brothers—a perfect choice thanks to the fact that
the more wear they take the better they look. “Our kids would skateboard in here when they were younger!” says Michelle. “We wanted the floors to look really old and suit the style of our home.” As for the interior palette, Michelle wanted the house to feel soothing and calming, so she chose all of her favorite colors: rich blues, purples, indigos, and lilacs— hues well-represented in her artwork. In some smaller spaces, like the powder room, Michelle painted the trim, wall, and ceiling the same color, enveloping it with a monochromatic look and softening the space. She worked with Spartina Cabinetry & Design to craft all the custom cabinetry, which added some additional color to the house. To make the home a welcoming space where they could entertain an intimate dinner party or a large group of guests, the Owenbys forwent a formal dining room in favor of a large living and dining space to create an inviting area for entertaining guests. They also added a guest suite off the kitchen, which included a living space (now Michelle’s art studio) so houseguests could feel comfortable in their own room while visiting. An outside living space and pool area open up to the interior living room by way of large French doors, which allow for great flow during parties. There is a pass-through window from the kitchen to the outside porch for easy outdoor entertaining and the living and dining room are essentially one large space separated by a double fireplace. Michelle found inspiration for the fireplace design from a mountain house she saw in a magazine and had ornamental ironworker Sean Ahern of Ahern’s Anvil recreate the design for them. A square dining table made from reclaimed cotton gin factory wood was designed by Michelle and built by Chris Bates of the Charleston Bay Co. Both Darrell and Michelle work from home so they initially created a small joint workspace off the kitchen. But as Michelle’s art business grew, so did the need for additional space to paint. Michelle started out just painting for fun in the nook upstairs, but as the size of her art and the demand for it increased, she moved to the dining room to paint. Eventually, when she’d outgrown the dining room, the couple decided to convert the littleused guest living space into a full-fledged art studio. Three years later, her business is booming. Michelle is now a member of The Charleston Artist Collective, an online artist community, as well as a licensed artist with Minted, an online marketplace of artists and designers. Each year she participates in the Sullivan’s Island Art on the Beach / Chefs in The Kitchen art tour, which benefits Charleston Pro Bono. In fact, her home was featured on the AOTB home tour in November 2017. “I love to donate my work. It is part of what my art is,” she says. “I feel like it was a gift to me so now I enjoy sharing that gift with others,” Michelle says. After five years in their home on Sullivan’s Island, The Owenbys have adapted well to the island life. Michelle appreciates how convenient the home is to the amenities and culture of Charleston’s historic downtown, yet as soon as she gets back home it feels like she has stepped back in time. “Sullivan’s Island makes you appreciate the simple things in life and reminds you to spend time with the people that matter most,” says Michelle. As a family, they enjoy nightly golf cart or bike rides up to Home Team for supper or combing the beach for shark teeth during low tide beach walks. “My biggest take away from all our experience building houses is at the end of the day, it is just wood,” says Owenby. “Don’t get me wrong, we are so grateful and know how blessed we are with our home. But the structure itself is not what makes a home, it is the people inside.” SiP WWW.SiPMAGAZINESC.COM | 105
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Shrimp’s a shore thing Catch a wave, catch a breeze, catch some dinner. By Margaret Pilarski Photos by Minette Hand
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or Lowcountry restaurants and their diners, it’s tender, pink crustaceans that often steal the spotlight in a perfect meal. Shrimp on grits, tucked into a buttery roll or in a Louisiana-inspired taco—they’re all bestselling bites across the islands. While South Carolina’s shrimp season typically begins around May and runs through December, island restaurants take different approaches to how they work with vendors to keep shrimp on the menu year-round. With diners increasingly more interested in their food’s provenance and how it fits into the wider region’s economy, SiP visited three spots to check out chefs’ favorite preparations and learn how their shrimp get from sea to shore to chef, and what that journey means to them.
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We’re a certified green restaurant, so reducing our carbon footprint and reducing waste and emissions is one of our main goals. - CHEF DE CUISINE WILL FINCHER
Obstinate Daughter
Local is a way of life at The Obstinate Daughter. Proof of that is the scale of the restaurant’s produce order at GrowFood, the downtown Charleston warehouse stocked with goods from local farms. Chef de Cuisine Will Fincher says the restaurant’s purchases have been known to exceed the size of orders made by Mount Pleasant’s Whole Foods. Its shrimp, though, comes from a few sources, including Sea Eagle Market, Crosby’s Market, and Abundant Seafood. And, due to seasonal fluxes, Fincher says the vendors help out between sea and plate. “We use a lot of frozen shrimp,” he says. “Luckily shrimp freezes well. We’ll buy entire pallets of the shrimp and they’ll store it for us and bring it to us in the off season.” The shrimp can be found in a variety of items on the menu, but one of the favorites is the Lowcountry Shrimp Roll, a twist on a traditional lobster roll. “We pair it with the Geechie Frites, which are fried polenta sticks that come from Geechie Boy Mill, and the bread is coming from Normandy Farms, so it’s hyper-local and highlights the good stuff that we have in the area,” says Fincher. What the restaurant brings in for the sake of its culinary creations isn’t all they do for local, sometimes it’s what the restaurant puts back out. “We’re a certified green restaurant, so reducing our carbon footprint and reducing waste and emissions is one of our main goals. We recycle, we compost, we have a three-bin system,” says Fincher. “Our compost goes to the city and goes to every revitalization project that happens in the city. So the compost that we’re producing inside the restaurant, the food scraps, all of that is going into the trees on the side of the highway or a new park. It literally goes right back into the community, into the soil.” WWW.SiPMAGAZINESC.COM | 107
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We have a responsibility that we feel like we’re trying to leave seafood for the next generations.
- CHEF CHARLES ARENA
Acme Lowcountry Kitchen
At Acme, they focus on the island classics—lots of seafood platters, more versions of shrimp and grits than you can count on one hand, and the option to top every salad with more seafood. On the Acme menu, the shrimp is even dubbed “Always Local Shrimp.” Chef Charles Arena says it’s been that way since before he even entered the kitchen four years ago. “The majority of our shrimp comes out of McClellanville from Carolina Seafood,” he says. “Acme has been working with them for a long time—Bobby, the owner, said Carolina Seafood were the only people that gave him a chance when he was trying to get only local shrimp.” The restaurant buys the McClellanville shrimp and other local or East Coast seafood in bulk and then carefully freezes them right off the boat to retain quality. Items get thawed when the kitchen is ready for a restock—a frequent occurrence when there are up to nine variations of shrimp and grits rotating on the dinner menu. The IOP Shrimp and Grits is one of the bestsellers. The iconic dish is blackened, local shrimp with smoked sausage, tomatoes, and onions over truffle cheese grits. “It’s one of my favorites,” admits Arena, who recommends pairing the spicy dish with a Westbrook White Thai, a Belgian-style beer brewed locally. The move to highlight local so frequently is a principled one, a reflection of the restaurant’s values as a member of the community. “At the end of the day, research has shown that 85 percent of the money that’s spent locally stays in the local economy. We’re just trying to keep all the local seafood vendors afloat,” Arena says. “I moved down here in ’98 and you drove by Shem Creek and it was full of shrimp boats and fishermen, now there’s very few shrimp boats and very few fishermen. We have a responsibility that we feel like we’re trying to leave seafood for the next generations.” WWW.SiPMAGAZINESC.COM | 109
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We’re so proud and happy to be part of the community on Isle of Palms.
- CHEF RUSTY HAMLIN
Papi’s Taqueria
At this Isle of Palms taco spot, Chef Rusty Hamlin’s How Ya Durin taco is the choice to make when you want fried shrimp. But if you’re like other diners, you might wonder about the taco’s name. In Rusty-speak it’s kind of like “thingamajig” or “whatsitcalled.” “Fortunately or unfortunately, for three-quarters of my life, I’ve been saying ‘how ya durin,’ like, ‘Hey, do me a favor and grab the how ya durin.’ I just get so excited when I talk and I can’t get the word ‘tong’ or ‘spoon’ out.” On his Food Network appearance in 2017 (he was a runner-up on Food Network Star), the chef was notorious for his amped-up enthusiasm and Rusty-isms throughout the season. And it’s this very personal taco that brings Hamlin’s New Orleans flair to his menu of fusion eats. The How Ya Durin is the taco version of a traditional, Louisiana-style shimp po boy, with fried shrimp, pickled chayote, cabbage, red onion and house-made remoulade all tucked inside a tortilla by Mitla, a local tortilleria that worked with Hamlin to create a custom Papi’s recipe. Hamlin says the taco’s shrimp sourcing starts local and, depending on availability, they might move outward in the region—the southern beaches of Virginia through Florida. For the Papi’s team, it’s balancing the high season of island visitors with the continuous supply of fresh catches as often as possible. “There are four or five components to each taco but I think it’s really, really important to stay consistent and fresh and that’s our mentality,” he says. Heading into year two of operation, Hamlin says the team is hitting its stride. “We have been blessed with the locals loving and supporting us over the last year and a half. The menu’s great, the drinks are unbelievable. But it reflects all of our staff. We're so proud and happy to be part of the community on the Isle of Palms. And we're all in it together, which is great. Because you need that.” WWW.SiPMAGAZINESC.COM | 111
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VIBES &
VOCALS
Doom performs at Mex 1.
Local musician Marci Shore takes a tour through Isle of Palms and Sullivan’s Island live music hotspots to bring you the lowdown on the vibes and vocals on the sea islands this season. Photo by Bain Stewart
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COCONUT JOE’S
coconutjoes.biz, 1120 Ocean Blvd., Isle of Palms, 843.886.0046
Vibe With panoramic views of the ocean from the rooftop tiki bar, Coconut Joe’s serves up breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Island Joe’s, in front of Coconut Joe’s has “funfair” foods, including funnel cakes. Vocals For its 20th season, Mystic Vibrations reggae band will be on the rooftop bar every Sunday for “Reggae on The Roof ” from 1–5 p.m. The shows feature classic rock covers by Chris Tidestrom raising the rooftop bar on Monday and Wednesday nights, Vintage Country, and other covers by Carroll Brown most Tuesdays this summer, and Classic Rock and Country covers by The Flying Kiminskis mostly Saturday and Sunday nights, and some Friday nights as well. THE DINGHY TAPROOM AND KITCHEN
dinghyiop.com, 8 J C Long Blvd., Isle of Palms, 843.242.8310
Vibe The closest thing to Key West the islands have to offer, The Dinghy is a proud dive bar that has quickly become a favorite. The kitchen slings out a tasty variety of seafood, appetizers, salads, and sandwiches, and the atmosphere is casual and welcoming. Vocals Live, acoustic folk/country classic covers. Wednesday through Saturdays 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. and some Sundays, 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. Lenny Burridge, Americana, blues, folk, pop, rock artist on Mondays, Jeff Bateman and Josh Hughett, classic rock, funk, soul, and blues, on Tuesdays, Sunflowers and Sin bring their rusty and rootsy sounds to Wednesdays, Donny Polk brings a mix of rock and country to Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays are a grab bag of different artists. Sundays feature Josh Hughett. PAPI’S TAQUERIA
papisiop.com, 1012 Ocean Blvd, Isle of Palms, 843.926.7274
Vibe Co-owned by country music star Zac Brown’s executive chef, and his songwriting partner Wyatt Durette, Papi’s proclaims it has the “best tacos on IOP.” Now in its second year, they transformed an old souvenir shop into a shiplap clad, festive space with rooftop seating that overlooks the ocean. Vocals The restaurant features a “Pop Up” Songwriters Series. Announced 48 hours before shows, follow Papi’s social media to get the latest announcements so you can grab tickets before they sell out. Most performers are Nashville songwriters who have already had some commercial success. THE REFUGE
therefugeiop.com, 1517 Palm Bvld. Isle of Palms, 843.242.8934
Vibe Gourmet fare at reasonable prices in an elegant setting. The weekend brunch menu features baked eggs and avocado, omelets, biscuits and gravy, stacks of buttermilk pancakes, and more. Vocals Local bands featured on Wednesdays for Lobster night, Evening Jazz with Todd Beals on Thursdays, and the sounds of Josh Hughett for Sunday brunch. THE WINDJAMMER
the-windjammer.com, 1008 Ocean Blvd, Isle of Palms, 843.886.8596
Vibes The ‘Jammer has survived Hurricanes and 47 summers of fun. Sip a PBR or
your favorite concoction on the back deck and gawk at scantily-clad volleyball players or just the waves. A tried and true local institution known for its late-night music scene, you never know which local legend might show up. Vocals Acts scheduled for this summer include Delta Circus (Rolling Stones Tribute), Louie D Project, Baysik, Charley Crockett, Synchronicity (Police tribute band), Mo Lawda and the Humble, The Spazmatics, and Rock the 90s. The outdoor sunset concert series will feature Raymond Baxter, The Blue Dogs, Mt Joy, Sister Hazel, Stoplight Observations, and Muscadine Bloodline. DUNLEAVY’S IRISH PUB
dunleavysonsullivans.com 2213 Middle St, Sullivan's Island, 843.883.9646
Vibe Family-owned Irish beach bar on the corner of Middle Street. You’re likely to find the same folks in the same seats at the bar as when you visited Dunleavy’s five years ago. Often given accolades for their cheeseburgers and wings. The help-yourself popcorn machine is a favorite, but they do not have fries or other fried foods. Best place on the islands for a good Guinness pour. Vocals Scheduled music is hit or miss, but at the height of the summer season you’ll find some cover artists Saturday and Sunday evenings. On the first Tuesdays of the month, there is vintage country night, featuring Carroll Brown and Bob Sachs and their band. A musical menagerie of friends often joins in for impromptu jam on Vintage Country night for crying in your beer classics. HOME TEAM BBQ
hometeambbq.com, 2209 Middle St., Sullivan's Island, 843.883.3131
Vibes Award-winning barbecue that’s gone national, with the opening of Home Team BBQ Aspen, Colorado. The Game Changer, formerly known as the Painkiller, has been a favorite since first introduced. The late-night menu might be the only place on the island you will find burgers, wings, nachos, tacos, ribs, and mac fritters until midnight. Vocals Music starts at 10 p.m. on Fridays. First Friday Funk is the first weekend of each month, featuring Junco Partner. Bands for this season include, Well charged, Illazilla, Champagne and Friends, Big Stoner Creek, Sufferin’ Moses, Night Fever, Charles Johnson Band, and Weigh Station. MEX 1 COASTAL CANTINA
mex1coastalcantina.com/sullivans-island, 2205 Middle St, Sullivan's Island, 843.882.8172
Vibe With a porch that overlooks Middle Street, Mex 1’s laid back surf vibe makes it a go-to for vacationers and locals alike. The margarita mixers are infused in-house and salads and rice bowls are island favorites. The bangin’ shrimp are a recommended addition on a salad, taco, torta, or in a brown rice bowl. Vocals Favorite cover songs ranging from reggae, rock, blues, and bluegrass, ring from the rafters every Friday night from 9 p.m. ‘til midnight, some select Saturdays, and music Friday, Saturday and Sunday over July 4. Editor’s Note: All band appearances were confirmed prior to the press date of the magazine, however, due to the COVID-19 pandemic details are subject to change.
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Let Yr pptise find yYr happy place...
“The Best MMe YY Can Make” 114 | SiP
WE The I O P Beach
“Take only memories, leave only footprints.”
We
our beaches...
We
our dogs...
We
our turtles...
...and want to keep them pristine for all to enjoy. Please respect this natural habitat and the joys of your neighbors by following these rules: Please use the recycling and garbage cans Please use doggie bags provided to dispose of waste Please don’t take any glass booles, single use plastic or styrofoam containers to the beach Please do not smoke or vape or ignite any fires (including fireworks) Please leave your alcoholic beverages at home There is no driving allowed on the beach (including golf carts!*) Don’t leave anything on the beach overnight (including yourself!) Respect the sand dunes they protect us, please stay on designated paths
… but dogs d can be disruptive to wildlife and the enjoyment of others so please leash your dog at all times except April 1 to September 14 between 5 a.m. and 9 a.m. and September 15 to March 31 between 4 p.m. and 10 a.m. During those times they can run free!
… and they th nest on our beaches between May and October, so please do not disturb them and fill in any holes you dig so they can make their way to the ocean safely. *Per state law, golf carts are allowed if they have a handicap permit issued by the DMV and are being driven by the holder of the DMV handicap placard.
If you have any questions or concerns call the Isle of Palms Police Department non-emergency number 843.885.6522. WWW.SiPMAGAZINESC.COM | 115