Hair Salon inFolly Beach, SC

FOLLY BEACH (WCSC) – Business owners on Folly Beach say they are excited to welcome back a New Year’s tradition for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic began.

The city’s flip flop drop will be held on New Year’s Eve along Center Street.

“We’re very excited to have that happen again,” Rita’s Seaside Grill Manager Tayler McBarron said.

Charlotte Goodwin, the brainchild of the event and the mayor’s wife, said the event has helped make Dec. 31 the busiest night the local businesses will have throughout the year.

McBarron said she expects to have at least 100 more customers for this year compared to 2020, when the event was held virtually.

“All the bars had to be shut down and all alcohol off the tables by 11 o’clock,” McBarron said. “So we couldn’t even celebrate New Year’s at our restaurant with people in it.”

Folly Beach Council Member DJ Rich owns Planet Follywood, a local dive bar off Center Street.

He said the flip flop drop helps bring in people across the Lowcountry to Folly Beach.

“Events like this are always better when they’re in person,” Rich said. “You know, you just get more of a feel. You’re more in the spirit, things of that sort. You just have a lot more fun when it’s in person.”

Goodwin, meanwhile, added that this year’s drop will be the 11th time it’s held.

“People are excited. We’ve had people walking by, and they’re just looking, saying, ‘Oh, they’re excited,’ and we’re going to be here to see them.”

Although the pandemic has taken its toll on the Lowcountry, business owners said they are excited to have a holiday tradition come back.

“It’s one of our favorite events of the year, and because it’s in the offseason, and it’s just something that’s very unique, very community oriented,” Rich said. “You’ll see people from the community of all ages come out.”

Organizers will be closing Center Street at around 10 p.m. to prepare to welcome the new year.

Copyright 2021 WCSC. All rights reserved.

Who said fun is for the birds? Sometimes, it involves birds. Check out the bird walk on Folly Island. There’s also a look at history at the Charleston Museum, some music that’s not for the birds but for fish, a performance by Michael Bolton and a parade on Monday’s holiday.

In other words, plenty of activities to enjoy this weekend.

Lighthouse Inlet bird walk

What: Participate in a bird walk that will focus on the incredibly diverse northeast end of Folly Island. Once the home of a Coast Guard station, this Heritage Preserve protects maritime forest, beach, dunes and marsh habitats for wildlife. This site boasts one of the largest bird lists in South Carolina.

When: 8:30 a.m. Jan. 14

Where: Lighthouse Inlet Heritage Preserve, 1750 E. Ashley Ave., Folly Beach

Price: $9

More Info: 843-795-4386, bit.ly/3znJ50t

Conversations with a Curator: Early Days Gallery

What: Celebrate the Charleston Museum’s 249th birthday with a tour of the museum’s earliest collections.

The Early Days gallery reflects the Museum’s long history from its founding in 1773 to the late 20th century. Join Curator of Historical Archaeology Martha Zierden in the Early Days gallery for the story of the museum’s institutional history and a closer look at some of its earliest antiquities.

When: 10:30 a.m. Jan. 14

Where: The Charleston Museum, 360 Meeting St., Charleston

Price: Free with admission

Taste of Folly

What: Celebrate Folly Beach’s eclectic beachside cuisine this weekend. The annual event will feature a cocktail competition on Jan. 14 at the Tides and a family-friendly Center Street festival on Jan. 15 with live music, hot-dog-eating and oyster shucking contests, cooking demonstrations and more.

When: 7 p.m. Jan. 14 & 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Jan. 15

Where: Various venues, Folly Beach

Price: $5-$24

More Info: visitfolly.com/taste-of-folly

Off-Road Duathlon

What: Traverse scenic trails at Laurel Hill County Park in the Off-Road Duathlon. This beginner-friendly course consists of a 2-mile run, a 7-mile bike, then another 2-mile run.

When: 8:30 a.m. Jan. 15

Where: Laurel Hill County Park, 1251 Park West Blvd., Mount Pleasant

Price: $55

Saltwater Sounds

What: The Charleston Symphony joins the South Carolina Aquarium to present Saltwater Sounds, an engaging and educational musical performance for young people. Enjoy the beautiful oceanic sights and the sounds of great music in front of the Aquarium’s largest exhibit, the Great Ocean Tank.

When: 10 a.m. and 11 a.m. Jan. 15

Where: South Carolina Aquarium, 100 Aquarium Wharf, Charleston

Price: Free with admission

More Info: bit.ly/3zkTCK0

What: The Mex 1 team will fill the front parking lot with 40,000 pounds of snow for regional and national amateur snowboarders to showcase their best tricks and skills. There will be fun for everyone with live music from the Strawberry Squad, visual effects from Lazer Catcher and multiple outdoor bars and vendors.

When: 5 p.m. Jan. 15

Where: Mex 1 Coastal Cantina West Ashley, 817 St. Andrews Blvd., Charleston

Price: $15-$20, Free for ages 12 & under

More Info: bit.ly/3FTJH0o

‘Steel Magnolias’

What: Truvy’s beauty salon in Chinquapin, La., is where all the ladies who are “anybody” come to have their hair done. Filled with hilarious repartee and revealing verbal collisions, this play is a touching look at a cast of marvelously amiable characters.

When: 3 p.m. Jan. 16

Where: James F. Dean Theatre, 133 S. Main St., Summerville

Price: $25, $20 military/senior/student

More Info: 843-875-9251, bit.ly/3ivaJS3

Michael Bolton in concert

What: Join Michael Bolton for an evening of timeless hits and a musical journey through pop, rock, soul, standards and even classical.

When: 7:30 p.m.

Where: Gaillard Center, 95 Calhoun St., Charleston

Price: $46-$120

More Info: 843-242-3099, [email protected]

Karaoke Sunday

What: Sing your heart out at the Tin Roof karaoke night every Sunday from 9 p.m. to midnight.

When: 9 p.m.

Where: Tin Roof, 1117 Magnolia Road, Charleston

Price: Free

More Info: 843-571-0775, charlestontinroof.com

What: Watch Charleston’s annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day parade on WCBD, Channel 2. Because of COVID-19′s rapid spread, the event will be virtual.

The parade route, filmed in December, will start at the Citadel and travel around Hampton Park.

When: Noon Jan. 17

Where: Televised on WCBD, Channel 2, Charleston

Price: Free

More Info: 843-722-1644, ywcagc.org/mlk-celebration

For Bluffton Today

Three people are facing fines and restitution in the form of community service work with the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources’ sea turtle program after they filmed themselves digging up a loggerhead nest on Folly Beach last summer.

The incident occurred during the peak of South Carolina’s sea turtle nesting season in July.

In early September, DNR officers in Charleston County were provided with a copy of a Snapchat video that appeared to show two young men digging up a sea turtle nest marked with the highly visible orange tape and signage used by members of DNR’s Marine Turtle Conservation program staff and volunteers.

Marine biologists with DNR’s Marine Resources Division oversee a well-established network of volunteer groups up and down the coast whose members spend countless hours each summer during nesting season walking the beach to identify and protect the vulnerable nests.

The video sent to DNR showed a nesting site marked with an orange DNR sign and two individuals digging up — and later attempting to replace — the eggs from the nest. One egg was smashed on the ground during the video, which was being filmed by a third individual.

Officer Freddie Earhart led the investigation into the source of the video. Earhart was able to identify and locate the three individuals involved. On Sept. 5, Earhart and officer Courtney Angotti-Smith made contact with the individuals, who were all under 21 and were vacationing with family at the time.

A meeting was set up with all three suspects and their parents, at which time the young men made voluntary statements confirming their involvement and that they were aware such actions were against the law.

The suspects admitted that some of the eggs were damaged and they tried to rebury the eggs, which resulted in additional damage. Marine Turtle Conservation program coordinator Michelle Pate, using data collected by the Folly Beach turtle watch team, was able to confirm that out of 90 eggs remaining in the nest, 71 did not hatch.

While they could have been charged for each egg disturbed, based on the cooperation of the suspects, five summons for unlawful taking of loggerhead turtle eggs were issued to the three suspects (two each for the individuals who dug up the eggs and one for the individual who filmed them). These charges can carry jail or fines of up to $2,000, as well as restitution.

DNR will recommend that all of the individuals be required to dedicate community service time to working with DNR’s Marine Turtle Conservation program so they can learn first-hand about how much work goes into protecting sea turtles in South Carolina.

DNR’s sea turtle program began in 1977 with beach management research and in-water tracking of post-nesting loggerheads. The program further developed in the early 1980s with the formation of the nest protection and stranding volunteer networks along the coast of South Carolina. Today, the program provides training and support to more than 1,300 volunteers across the coast who protect nests and document sea turtles that wash ashore.

“Educating residents and visitors about how they can provide a positive outcome for sea turtles on our beaches is a never-ending endeavor,” Pate said. “Volunteers involved with conservation work in South Carolina have contributed countless hours to this task.

“Our volunteers engage with the coastal community daily during the season to share their excitement about the natural world and our impact sharing the beach with wildlife that need these beaches to survive. Education provides a pathway to inform and foster stewardship, and combined with boots-on-the-ground work, ensures the continued protection and successful recovery of sea turtle populations.”

Those decades of research and hard work supported by Turtle Network volunteers in South Carolina’s coastal communities have paid off. Recent years have seen turtle nest numbers rebounding, though much remains to be done. It was a successful nesting year for South Carolina’s sea turtle population, with 5,649 nests laid in 2021.

Because nesting exacts a high energy toll on the large reptiles, female sea turtles do not come ashore to lay eggs every year. This pattern results in nesting fluctuations from year to year; 2019 broke all records with 8,795 nests, but 2018 saw just 2,767 nests. Overall, sea turtle nest numbers across the Southeast have trended up over the past decade, making biologists across the region optimistic that these threatened reptiles are beginning to recover after several decades of conservation efforts.

“I applaud the work of our officers in conducting this investigation in a thorough and prompt way,” said Col. Chisolm Frampton, deputy director for DNR’s Law Enforcement Division. “Hopefully, giving these individuals a chance to make amends by working with the dedicated staff and volunteers who work with our turtle protection program as a part of the Community Service component of their punishment will make a lasting impression on them about the importance of this work and why all of us, as South Carolinians, need to support it.”

FOLLY BEACH, S.C. (WCBD) – Folly Beach city leaders are discussing how to make a busy street safer for people walking biking or driving close to the beach and now, they are looking to hire traffic engineers to help implement these changes.

Arctic Avenue runs 15 blocks parallel to the water and has restaurants, homes, parking lots and the Folly Beach Pier itself. Local residents say these changes are needed quickly as the area keeps growing.

“This is where accidents are happening and we need to put some type of stop,” says Gregory Bunn, who works at Rita’s on Folly Beach.

Bunn has lived in the area for almost 8 years and he says the busy summer months brings heavy car and foot traffic, especially the first five blocks of the road.

“I’ve seen plenty of people almost get hit. I’ve had friends definitely get hit, not seriously injured but enough to merit it as an issue,” says Bunn.

The City of Folly Beach is seeking help from traffic engineers across the Lowcountry to work on how well traffic and safety conditions move down Arctic Avenue. Aaron Pope, the city’s administrator says they want pedestrian, car and foot traffic looked at between January and April, as well as during the busy summer season.

“Do we need to increase parking spaces, sidewalks, or change it to one lane?” Pope says.

Bunn says he thinks crosswalks to signal drivers of when people are crossing the streets would be the most effective for the area.

“From personal experience, I have been stuck in-between the two lanes with a car that see’s the lights or just doesn’t care about them,” says Bunn.

Bunn says as the Charleston area grows, city leaders should keep accommodating with the change to keep Folly Beach at its safest.

“There’s going to be more and more people here every year, and its been that way since I was a kid. You can’t have it be one permanent static thing, it will have to change each coming year,” Bunn says.

Folly Beach City Council hopes to have the traffic engineers report completed by the end of the 2022 summer season.

FOLLY BEACH, S.C. (WCSC) - High tides at Folly Beach that led to flooding and erosion this past weekend reached eight and a half feet, Folly Beach Officials said.

Photos taken on Wednesday show the waterline up against the dunes. The dunes along the beach were put in place to protect the seawater from rushing further inland, Folly Beach Coastal Consultant Dr. Nicole Elko said.

Rising sea levels and climate change are to blame for the tidal flooding, Elko said.

“We are experiencing bigger spring tides – that’s what they used to be known as,” Elko said. “Nowadays, people call them king tides, so these are our larger tides that occur during the new moon, particularly during this time of year.”

For every dollar spent on beach restoration, six dollars get put back into South Carolina’s economy because of increased visits to the state’s beaches and parks, officials said.

South Carolina’s accommodation taxes help fund beach restoration efforts, officials said.

“The past weekend’s flooding event was very impactful to the beach and dune system,” Elko said. “The higher waters drove large waves over and flooded the entire beach system, and the dunes were also overtopped.”

Elko added that the dunes helped retain the encroaching water that threatened the nearby marshland and inland communities.

“Previous dune and beach restoration projects have increased the elevation of the beaches and dunes on places like Folly Beach,” Elko said. “So while the dunes are eroded and while the beach went underwater during the storm, we didn’t have those waves and flooding impacting the infrastructure, so these natural projects actually are protecting and serving as flood mitigation.”

As the sun started to set and the tide receded, the extent of the erosion on Folly Beach came into view.

The roots of trees, previously battling waves, were visible, and the wounds created by Mother Nature have scarred the shoreline.

Cale Shipman calls West Ashley home during the winter.

“I feel lucky to be able to spend my winters here, and [flooding] is a big issue for all of these coastal areas, whether it be Charleston or anywhere along the coast,” Shipman said.

Shipman and his wife Marcia spent Wednesday on Folly Beach admiring the waves and discovering what was left behind after the tides rolled in.

“I think these king tides that we’re experiencing this week are unusual in the fact that they’ve had so many of them in a row,” Shipman said.

While the systems in place on the beach held up, those who ventured out on Wednesday witnessed Mother Nature’s power.

Copyright 2021 WCSC. All rights reserved.