McClellanville News
McClellanville Transformed into a Winter Wonderland…for a Brief Moment
February 13th, 2010 McClellanville News Daniel Bates Comments
As we walked out of T.W. Graham’s restaurant Friday night the snow had just began to fall in McClellanville. By 9pm the power had gone out and the snow had started to accumulate. We passed the time reading books by candlelight and awoke to a cold house (still no power) and a blanket of snow covering everything. This was the first real snow since the Christmas after Hugo in 1989, so this was quite a rarity.
We built a quick snowman and went to explore the village. A few children and adults were venturing out. Snowmen spotted the land but by the afternoon they were nearly all that remained; a brief reminder of the snow that was. We spent the day with my parents playing Scrabble and talking around the fire and were actually a little dissappointed when the power finally returned in the late afternoon and our excuse to hangout melted away.
Here are just a few of the pictures that I took around McClellanville. The parade of snowmen is at the end. Which is your favorite? If I missed yours and you want to have it included you can email it to daniel (at) mymcclellanville.net
McClellanville Rallies Behind Idea of New Environmental Charter School for the Area
February 12th, 2010 McClellanville News Daniel Bates Comments
Last night, an impromptu group of more than 50 people crowded into McClellanville’s Town Hall to hear more details on what it would take to create a new charter school in the area. McClellanville and Awendaw, at the northern tip of Charleston County, make up public school district 1, being a rural area with lower student numbers they are served by only a public elementary and high school (McClellanville Middle School closed last year) both with traditionally low test scores that Charleston County school district has failed to improve. Attendance at the local private and public school has diminished in recent years as many parents have transfered their children across district lines to Mount Pleasant schools in an effort to save money and provide the best education possible.
Those parents showed last night that they still desire a strong local school and that a charter school is the most likely candidate to achieve their goals. Charter schools are publicly funded and free to attend. They are open to everyone and are required to meet the same test standards as a public school, but are allowed to be managed by a committee of community leaders and parents rather than the county school district board. Charter rules can also include details such as more strict behavior policy, requirements for parental involvement, and an educational focus or specialty. All of these topics will be on the plate during the planning phase of the charter school, but the idea of school have an environmental aspect that would be incorporated into its curriculum seems to be appealing to many considering the vast and rich natural resources in the area.
Charter school funding is based on the number of students that attend the school and is traditionally paid by the county school district, but state funding has also become available from the South Carolina Association of Public Charter Schools. A charter funded with state money also has the benefit of be able to accept children from other counties, an important feature with Georgetown and Berkeley counties just 10 to 15 miles away. A future site for school has not yet been decided though the vacant McClellanville Middle School in the center of town seems a likely candidate if it could be purchased, leased, or borrowed from Charleston County.
As it stands now, public support is the most important thing to start the ball rolling for this cause. Last night was the first of many public meetings aimed at educating the public and gauging support. Next Thursday, February 18th, the group will meet at the Awendaw Town Hall at 7pm to hopefully garner their much needed support. If you are interested in having your child attend this school if created, participating on the steering committee, or offering some other skills, you are asked to visit the Cape Romain Environmental Charter School’s website at CapeRomainSchool.com and fill out the contact form or print out this questionnaire and mail it in. The deadline for the charter school application is May 1st and there needs to be support from the entire McClellanville/Awendaw community in the next month in order to proceed. Results from the application could be known in as little as 60 days and the school could be ready for students the following the school year. This is an important cause for the future of the entire area, because without good educational opportunity current families may leave the area and new owns will not consider it, hurting the economy of the area.
November means Oysters in McClellanville
November 4th, 2009 McClellanville Events, McClellanville News Daniel Bates Comments
I’ll go ahead and say it. I don’t like seafood. Yes, I grew up in McClellanville, “the seafood capital of the world”, but the taste of crabs, clams, shrimp, fish, and oysters has never really been that appealing to me. I try not to open with this point, because most seafood lovers write me off as crazy, but I can’t help my taste buds.
All that aside, I’ve got to say that I love a good oyster roast. It’s such a great excuse to get bundled up, go out and see friends you haven’t seen in a while. There are also, of course, OYSTERS and if you enjoy those slimy boogers (yes, I said it) then you’ve got a lot to look forward to this weekend.
In addition to the Village Museum’s Annual Oyster Roast, which is always a blast, Thornhill Farms will also be holding “Local Music on the Farm” benefit with oysters. No need to choose, because they’re on different days. The Village Museum Oyster Roast which is held under the Town Hall is Saturday, November 7th at 6pm and also includes great home-made deserts, soups, and chilis (which I usually consume a dozen or so bowls of). It’s free to museum members or $20 donation at the door. BYOB and BYOOK – that’s Bring Your Own Oyster Knives for those that haven’t been to many roasts.
Thornhill Farms event will be Sunday, November 8th from 12-5pm and feature live music, barbercue and oysters. Proceeds go to benefit the Adaptive Gardens of the Lowcountry and the cost is $25 for adults and $10 for children. All the details are on the images and you can click them to see a bigger picture. If I can kick this nasty cold, I’ll see you there.
For those of you that weren’t “born and raised”, oyster season couldn’t be easier to remember. The rule of thumb is that oysters are only harvested (and therefore consumed fresh) in months with an “R” in them, so starting around SeptembeR and going to ApRil oysters are typically harvested. Small batches of oysters can be cooked on a baking sheet in the oven or broiler until the pop open. The preferred local method, however, is to wait until the weather gets a little colder for a good excuse to break the cabin fever. Build a rip roarin’ fire (outside) until you’ve got a nice stock pile of coals and then place a sheet of metal (a rusted sheet of tin or slab o’ steel work well) over the coals. Shovel on the oysters and cover with a dampened burlap sack or towel and cook for around 15-20 minutes or until they’ve all popped open. Around here you don’t even have to send out invitations, people just wander from out of the woods with oyster knives in hand.
It doesn’t matter if you harvest them yourself, have them delivered, buy them at a market, or pay a professional as long as you’re getting local Bull’s Bay Oysters and enjoying them with friends, it can’t go wrong.
The Election that Never Was and an Important One You Can’t Control
November 2nd, 2009 McClellanville News Daniel Bates Comments
This is a reminder NOT to go out and vote this November 3rd if you live in McClellanville. No I’m not encourage you to avoid your civil duties, just trying to save you some time. You see no one is opposing our current mayor or four council member and there are no referendums to be voted on so after checking with the appropriate governmental agencies, the Town has decided to skip a costly election process that wouldn’t have resulted in anything anyway.
While I’m happy that McClellanville’s politics are politics as usual. I’m hoping for a great turnout and a turnover of the incumbent mayor in the Awendaw election. Even though McClellanville residents can’t vote, we all have something at stake in the results. With the Charleston Metro area sprawling wildly and a new stop light emerging on the Northern outskirts of Mount Pleasant on a weekly basis, Awendaw has emerged as a barrier between McClellanville and this growth. It’s also a natural connection between the wildlife that calls the Francis Marion National Forest and Cape Romain Wildlife Refuge home.
With these important features, Awendaw’s take on growth is crucial, and the voting record of the mayor and the two more seasoned council members have indicated that not only do they support the rampant growth and over development of the area but they seek to silence any opposition and shape the racial composition of the town through selective annexation. So I’ll still be watching the polling results next Tuesday and I hope that if elected the new council members and mayor will serve their constituents and those effected by decisions well.
McClellanville: 20 Years after Hurricane Hugo
September 21st, 2009 Featured, McClellanville News Daniel Bates Comments
Hurricane Hugo - September 21st, 1989
It’s hard to believe it’s been 20 years since Hurricane Hugo muddied McClellanville’s timeline. The town has made an amazing comeback and it’s finally to the point that you don’t hear that four-letter word in everyday communication now. I certainly couldn’t say that 10 years ago. Time was still measured in terms of “before Hugo” and “after Hugo”, but that past is becoming more and more distant. This anniversary will come and go and my phone will cease to ring from reporters who read my first article about Hugo looking for an interview, maybe a before and after article or a “Where are They Now” piece to catch America up on what the little Village that could has been up to. They want me to point them in the direction of the best scoop, the biggest tear-jerker, or most triumphant return from despair. Well the truth is that’s the whole Village, that’s McClellanville.
A grim reminder of those who lost their lives in Hugo.
Everywhere you look there is someone with a story to tell, though you may not hear it if you shove a microphone in their face. No, they aren’t all stories to be told on the evening news; they’re meant to be told around dining room tables and shared with the intimacy of friends who will understand why you still tear up just thinking about it or why your face turns stiff with stoicism. People who did not evacuate survived through the fears of night by clinging to loved ones even as the water rose around them and praying only to have day break on the fear of the well being of other friends and family and the sadness of the destruction. There were no phone line (or cell phones for that matter), no water, and no power – trees and debris littered the land as far as one could see and a layer of mud and dead fish covered everything. People walked everywhere and passed along news of survival to those they met in the street. No one rested until they knew that everyone was OK and through the grace of God just one life was lost in McClellanville.
Much of the McClellanville shrimp boat fleet was grounded when the water receded
People didn’t just lose their house though, they lost their boats and in turn their livelihood, but the thing that brought them to tears that morning as the sun rose was seeing their wedding album infused with saltwater and mud. It wasn’t that their coffee table was missing it was that their great-grandmother’s coffee table was missing. I was nine at the time and I remember things through the eyes of child, but I grew up more in those few months following the storm than many people do in a lifetime. It sounds odd to say that we (my family and I) were spared because the water only came up to the baseboards in our house and a tree only fell on our boat, but when I looked at others that had seen the water rise to the baseboards of their second floor and trees fall on their houses, I realized that we were. We, like many others, made our house livable and began helping others who were far worse off.
A young Daniel Bates helps out at the ARA gym
Now on the verge of the 20 year anniversary, Hugo is a distant but indelible memory to many but with the flash of a picture, mention of a word, or a certain smell in the air comes a flood thoughts and the emotions that were associated with it at the time. Oddly as I’ve poured over these images and clips of our ravaged town I held myself together, but found myself in tears when thinking about the amazing love poured out by thousands of volunteers that put their own lives on hold to travel across the US and give of themselves. After spending a day throwing half of your worldly possessions on to a garbage pile in your front yard or mopping pound after pound of mud out of your house a smile and a warm bowl of soup was the most precious gift you could receive. Absolute strangers gave and gave until massive 18-wheeler trailers were filled and one after another they arrived with food, clothing, supplies, and volunteers to aid in the rebuilding efforts until the Archibald Rutledge Academy Gymnasium was literally about to burst at it’s seams. Some of these people still stay in touch and care greatly for the people they helped and return to visit the town that they met on it’s worst day and I know that their generosity has humbled us all to see the care and selflessness that our fellow man can give when moved to do so. I’d like to offer a special thanks to the residents of Ocean County, NJ for the gracious outpouring of supplies and volunteers, the West Virginia coal miners who cleared the roads, the town of Beaufort, and the many, many others who worked along their side.
Thank You to all those who volunteered in the months and years following Hurricane Hugo
And still to many more who have moved here since the Hugo, it is just a word, because they have no true knowledge of the events that transpired during and after Hugo in this sleepy village and that, to me, is the most important reason that we memorialize these events, so they will not be forgotten but live on as an important part of the history of McClellanville. Camera’s weren’t as prevalent as they are now and most people had their hands too covered in mud to worry about taking pictures, but the ones that did snap a few shots give us a wonderful ability to look back at these events through eyes not blurred with tears and share our stories with those around us. The following images were taken by my late grandfather, William Baldwin, and McClellanville resident Jim Yergin.
If you haven’t already visited the Town Hall to see Hugo:The Storm in Black in White by the Village Museum you should go. Bud Hill has put together a great collection of images from the storm and opened up his scrapbook of Hugo newspaper clippings to the public and it is truly worth your time. SCETV has also been rerunning their old Hurricane Hugo pieces and a new one entitled The Big Picture: Hurricane Hugo – 20 Years Later with past scenes of McClellanville and interviews of a few residents. Please feel free to pass this along to all you know and love and leave your comments.
* Legal Notice – Copyright 2009 by MyMcClellanville.net – You are free to republish portions or in entirety with credit given to individual photographers noted on the slides and MyMcClellanville.net (link must be included if published on the web).