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JANUARY 6–12, 2022 WWW.YOURISLANDNEWS.COM
LOWCOUNTRY LOWDOWN
PRESORTED PERMIT NO. 97 BEAUFORT, SC 29902
COVERING BEAUFORT COUNTY
12TH ANNUAL PELICAN PLUNGE
LOLITA HUCKABY
You thought 2022 was going to be a new year?
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BEAUFORT ew calendar year means new starts, right? If only that was true. City of Beaufort officials had hoped to start 2022 with an updated Comprehensive Plan on the books, a plan to help guide development in the coming 10 to 20 years. The County Council has adopted its plan, so has the Port Royal Town Council. Not so for the city. The City Council has to give two votes on the proposed document before it becomes law. But because a number of questions were raised about the plan since it was first presented in July, the Municipal Planning Commission spent almost half-dozen hours last month reviewing the proposals and making suggestions. So instead of giving the first vote of approval at the Dec. 14 Council meeting as scheduled, the plan is still before MPC for review and recommendations before it goes to City Council. That might happen next week, at the Jan.11 City Council meeting but the Council has other left-over issues to deal. For example there’s a new negative perception of the whole planning process which popped up during the holidays with news the Community and Economic Development Director David Prichard’s wife is now an employee of 303 Associates, Dick Stewart’s development firm which has big plans for the city and is involved in at least three lawsuits involving the city. The word “perception” is coming up a lot after 303 Associates posted pictures of its Christmas party on Facebook and there was Prichard and his wife, Vanessa, who works as a leasing agent for 303. A spokesman for the S.C. Municipal Association told the Beaufort Gazette her employment was not
SEE LOWDOWN PAGE A6
Hundreds of people of all ages sprint to the surf line to begin the annual Pelican Plunge on Saturday at Hunting Island State Park. Missing was the typical bitter cold as a crowd of roughly 500 people, mostly clad in shorts and flip-flops, waited to charge into the surf. Photo by Bob Sofaly.
Atlantic Ocean or bust
After a year off, Pelican Plunge returns to Hunting Island By Mike McCombs Hunting Island State Park’s 12th annual Pelican Plunge was the biggest yet as more than 500 people rumbled down the beach and splashed into the Atlantic Ocean on New Year’s Day, raising roughly $5,000 for the Friends of Hunting Island (FOHI). Friends of Hunting Island
Marketing Director Linda Miller confirmed there were more than the roughly 450 plungers that participated in 2020 and said the group, “doubled what we did in 2019.” The Pelican Plunge was canceled last year in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. Miller said the reasons for the
New Year’s Baby!
Welcome Sylvie Elliott, the first baby born in Beaufort in 2022. Weighing in at 8 pounds, 7 ounces, little Sylvie arrived at 7:47 a.m., New Year’s Day at the Beaufort Memorial Collins Birthing Center. Congratulations to parents Kimberly and John Elliott of Beaufort. Sylvie also has a 3-year-old big brother. Photo by Charlotte Berkeley.
big crowd Saturday were simple. “It was a beautiful day,” Miller said. “The water temperature was warm, too. It was like 62 (degrees). But our numbers improved by twofold (over 2019) mostly because people were anxious get back to it.” The Pelican Plunge is one of
SEE OCEAN PAGE A5
Beaufort’s Stanley named to US team for Junior World Championships By Mike McCombs To say 2021 was a surprising year for Beaufort’s Dade Stanley would be an understatement. After his freshman year at Clemson University, Stanley, then 19, who had not competed all year and had barely even trained, swept the Snatch and Clean & Jerk and set a personal record with an Overall total of 306 kilograms July 1 to win gold in the 89-kilogram weight class by 10 kg at the USA Weightlifting Junior National Championships in Detroit. As the days dwindled in 2021 and 2022 crept near, Stanley may have pulled off an even bigger upset. In early December, Stanley was invited to compete as a funded athlete for the United States in the
HEALTH
ARTS
INSIDE
Kick off new year with ‘body makeover’ at BMH LifeFit Wellness.
Beaufort Art Association presents a memorial exhibit of the photography of Larry Kay.
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Lowcountry Life A2 News A2–6 Health A7–8 Sports A9 Voices A10–11 Military A12–13
New exhibits, new name, same great maritime center !
the organization’s biggest annual events. Proceeds benefit the nonprofit in its work to support the park’s environmental efforts, including its sea turtle conservation project, which protects the sea turtles who nest on Hunting Island each year.
Directory Classifieds Games Arts Faith Legals
IWF Junior World Championships in late April or early May in Hersonossis, Greece. (The Junior Worlds were originally scheduled for March but were delayed a month in December.) Dade “Dear Dade, Stanley First off, let me say congratulations on making the 2022 IWF Junior World Championship team in the 89kg weight class,” his invitation letter read. Stanley was admittedly “baffled.” “I wasn’t expecting it at all. My training has been so minimal over
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Visit us in 2022 to see our new exhibits including:
Snakes | Alligators | History Gullah Culture and much more!
Open: Tues-Fri: 10am-5pm Sat: 10am-4pm | FREE ADMISSION! | 310 Okatie Highway | (843) 645-7774 | PortRoyalSoundFoundation.org