November 23 edition

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POSTAL PATRON LOCAL

NOVEMBER 23–29, 2023

WWW.YOURISLANDNEWS.COM

PRESORTED PERMIT NO. 97 BEAUFORT, SC 29902

COVERING BEAUFORT COUNTY

LOWCOUNTRY LOWDOWN

LOLITA HUCKABY

Give thanks for open spaces while we’ve still got them

Retired Gunnery Sgt. Carl Barr, left, past AMVETS Post 70 commander, teaches Boy Scouts from Troop 201 and Girl Scouts from Troop 100 where to stand while holding the Stars and Stripes during the American Flag Retirement Ceremony on Saturday at AMVETS Post 70 in Port Royal. Several hundred flags of all sizes were retired during the ceremony. Bob Sofaly/The Island News

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BEAUFORT t’s Thanksgiving, the season to give thanks and although there are many concerns some of us harbor about the future of this beautiful place we love, there is reason to slow down and reflect. Sure, there’s the ongoing effort to “re-imagine” Ribaut Road as a two-lane mosh pit with traffic circles and the cry for a third bridge to eliminate traffic congestion coming off Lady’s Island, but let’s put those concerns aside and give thanks to the voters of Beaufort County who supported funding a new program to preserve open space. A major reason this corner of the Lowcountry is so beloved is because of its natural beauty. And while the antebellum homes and moss-draped oak trees are lovely (and the predominate feature in almost any tourism promotion of the area), it’s the open spaces, where we can still look out to the marshes and rivers that under attack by development, in constant jeopardy of disappearing behind condo towers or property-line-to-property-line mansions. For those readers who might not have been around last year, the Beaufort County Council was pondering another penny sales tax referendum to continue its Rural and Critical Lands program. The government-sponsored program started in 2000 is credited with protecting, through purchase or acquisition of development rights, more than 29,000 acres. The program is something of an extension of the non-profit Beaufort County Open Land Trust started in 1971 as South Carolina’s first land trust organization which was created by concerned citizens who wanted to preserve beautiful

SEE LOWDOWN PAGE A4

Goodbye ‘Old Glory’ Veterans, Scouts give retired flags fitting farewell

By Bob Sofaly The Island News

segments of the U.S. Constitution were read aloud. “We had a Flag Retirement CeremoPORT ROYAL ny and retired several hundred flags n a ceremony just as somber and today of all different sizes, from storm emotional as a funeral for a veterflags to the mini-flags used at the an, more than a dozen members National Cemetery,” said Jim Colwell, of AMVETS Post 70 and about the same number of Boy and Girls Scouts a National Executive Committee gathered to say farewell to hundreds of member for AMVETS and former U.S. Marine said. American flags during a Flag RetireColwell said the ceremony takes ment Ceremony on Saturday. place at least once a year at either Each flag was treated with the utmost respect before finally being laid to rest on a bed of hot coals while SEE FLAGS PAGE A6

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A worn and tattered American flag is placed on a bed of hot coals and destroyed by fire as prescribed by Congress in 1942. Bob Sofaly/The Island News

Lowcountry Pride Festival a success in Port Royal

Vivienne Yates, 14, of Hilton Head Island, dances while listening to Campfire Tyler’s music during the Lowcountry Pride Festival on Saturday, Nov. 18, 2023, at Live Oaks Park in Port Royal. This is the first year that the festival has been held in Port Royal. Amber Hewitt/ For The Island News

Special Pull-Out Holiday Gift Guide

By Delayna Earley The Island News Lowcountry Pride held its annual Lowcountry Pride Festival in Port Royal for the first time on Saturday, Nov. 18. Angela Wright, co-chair of Lowcountry Pride, a group focused on a safe, supportive and empowering environment for the local LGBTQ+ community, said that the first festival was held in 2019 in Bluffton but moved to Port Royal this year because this is where most of the sponsorships were.

Wright said they estimated between 800 and 1,000 people were going to come and said that she is pretty sure they got close to that number, if not surpassed it. “This is probably our second biggest Pride (Festival),” Wright said. “Other than our first festival in 2019.” Lowcountry Pride primarily serves Beaufort County, but Wright said that Jasper County does not have a Pride Festival either, so the Port Royal location seems to be a good central location for all of

Beaufort and Jasper counties. The festival, which was held at Live Oaks Park in Port Royal, saw hundreds of people come out and enjoy the local vendors, music, and food. The biggest highlight of the day for Wright was all the positive feedback that they received. “Everyone’s been very happy with this,” Wright said. “It seems to be exceeding expectations, and we’re really glad to hear that.”

SEE FESTIVAL PAGE A5

SPORTS

EDUCATION

INSIDE

USCB’s men triple up on triple digits.

BCSD parenting expert named National Parent Educator of the Year.

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Lowcountry Life A2 News A2–6 Business A7 State News A10 Arts A11 Sports B1–2

Education Health Voices Military Directory Legals

B3 B4–5 B6–7 B8–9 B10 L1–8

AT THE MARITIME CENTER Maritime Marketplace Saturday, December 2nd 10am-2pm Shop for holiday gifts!

Full house? Bring your family to the Maritime Center! FREE ADMISSION

Daily Programs Tuesday Talks, animal programs & more! Sign up on our website

Open: Tuesday-Friday: 10am-5pm Saturday: 10am-4pm | 310 Okatie Highway | PortRoyalSoundFoundation.org


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