Jan. 5, 2016 • Volume 19, Issue 1 • Complimentary • www.blufftonsun.com
INSIDE • New Miss Bluffton winners 12A • Boys & Girls Clubs honor long-time supporters 16A • Interested in nonprofit board service? 22A • Bluffton Business Awards finalists 24A • Tips for loving your hair 43A • Begin training new pup now 44A
Safety is focus of new U.S. 278 frontage road By Gwyneth J. Saunders CONTRIBUTOR
Nervous parents and Sunday drivers will find their commutes on U.S. 278 near Buckwalter Parkway in Bluffton a bit easier and much safer by this time next year. The traffic congestion near St. Gregory the Great Catholic Church will abate with construction of a frontage road that connects the church campus with the entrance to the Bluffton Township Fire District headquarters and the entrance to Berkeley Hall at the Buckwalter Parkway intersection. A new, full traffic light planned for the fire station entrance will give eastbound drivers heading to church and school a
safer way to cross the highway than waiting for a break in the traffic. “It’s difficult to get in here, but the police force has done a really good job on Sundays,” said St. Gregory pastor Monsignor Ronald Cellini. “It’s during the week we worry. We have three Masses every day. Just regular weekday traveling is dangerous, and Saturday night. With the new lights and all the development on the property, I think it’s just going to be a nice flow.” The project was officially underway following the Dec. 15 groundbreaking ceremony at St. Gregory. It was a plan 10 P H OTO B Y G W Y N E T H J. S AU N D E R S years in the making, as noted in remarks Participating in the readings for the groundbreaking ceremony at St. Gregory the Great Catholic made by state Sen. Tom Davis, RChurch are, from left, the Rev. Matthew Gray, parochial vicar; Monsignor Ronald Cellini, pastor; and Please see ROAD on page 6A
sixth grade students William Lemire and Katie Lyons, assisted by the school’s Latin teacher Rich Fagon holding the microphone.
Bluffton builder hopes tiny homes will make a big impact By Dean Rowland CONTRIBUTOR
South Carolinians will long remember the devastating flooding early last October that washed away bridges, swelled creeks and rivers, displaced hun-
dreds from their homes, forced road closures, caused fatalities and wreaked billions of dollars in damage. Some residents are still living the nightmare that struck the Midlands and Lowcountry on Oct. 4 in the 1-in-1,000year natural event, living in temporary
shelters and hotels. Ben Kennedy usually thinks big when building homes, but recently he downsized his dreams to think small…as in “tiny homes.” “My realization (at the time of the flooding) was there was going to be a need for housing, and there was
going to be a lot of people displaced,” said Kennedy, a Georgia native who owns Brighton Builders in Bluffton, a high-end builder of residential homes and upscale renovations. Please see TINY on page 10A