Dear Island Neighbors,
I hope y’all had a great Christmas and are on your way to a healthy, happy, peaceful and rewarding 2023.
For this episode of “As The Year Turns,” we’ve got a number of items.
Town Hall New Year’s Day holiday observance
Since Jan. 1 is a Sunday, the holiday will be observed with Town Hall closed on Monday, Jan. 2. The usual garbage and yard debris collection schedules will be unaffected. Of course, all public safety and other essential functions will be fully staffed over the holiday weekend. … and then some: See the next item.
New Year’s Day Polar Plunge
The 28th Annual Polar Plunge event, originated and promoted by Dunleavy’s Pub, is now a treasured New Year’s Day tradition for the entire island. The actual plunge into the water is at 2 p.m. on Sunday, Jan. 1, but folks will begin gathering and celebrating hours before that. Many of our Island restaurants will be participating with special outside service for food and beverages. Please be careful driving through the commercial district, and remember that many more folks than usual will be milling about very close to Middle Street. Station 22½ seaward of Middle Street will be closed to vehicular traffic. Please recall that the “Reason For The Freezin’” is to raise funds for the Special Olympics. Come out to celebrate with neighbors and strangers, enjoy food and beverage, but please bring cash to contribute to the many Special Olympics volunteers. If you plan to actually join – vs. watch – the plunge, here is a tip from painful personal experience: Wear some kind of dunkable footwear. Running barefoot over hard-packed little sand ridges gets painful quickly, especially in the cold. Wear your wackiest costume. (Tom P.: I know you don’t need encouragement) Come on out to see hundreds of your neighbors go off their meds all at once at a great family event.
Possible IOP Connector reconfiguration concepts
You may recall that the South Carolina Department of Transportation re-striped the Connector a couple years ago, and that those changes have not been universally applauded. Recently, SCDOT representatives made a presentation to the IOP City Council to show several possible reconfigurations to address issues with the current layout. Mayor Pounds and his Council graciously invited us to attend that presentation, which is summarized here: bit.ly/ IOPConnector. SCDOT will be soliciting public comments on all this in the near future, so stay tuned.
Vehicle Identification tags for emergency re-entry to the island
Those island decals we’ve become accustomed to having on our windshields, designed to identify residents so they can re-enter the island in the event of an emergency, have outlived their usefulness. We are replacing them with tags to be hung from your inside rearview mirror when needed. They are issued per licensed resident in each household, with verification of their Sullivan’s Island address on their driver’s license. Nonresidents may have up to two per property with verification of ID and one of the following: real estate closing statement, property tax bill or tax return. Proof of partnership must be provided for properties owned by an LLC or other entity. Get yours now. Whenever the need for them arises, you will be very occupied with other urgent things.
Charlie Post 5K and 15K Run and Walk
It’s hard to believe this is the 39th annual occurrence of this run/walk event, always in a time of the year with wildly unpredictable weather – and tidal – conditions, but here we are. It’s happening Saturday, Jan. 28, at 8:30 a.m. Over the years, we’ve had gale-force winds, blinding fog, frigid cold, stifling heat – for January – ultra-high tide that put a half-foot of cold water over part of the course. … you name it. Last year we got to check what may have been the last open weather box: a few flakes of snow. While that admittedly doesn’t sound like much of a sales pitch, especially the snowflakes, this really is a very interesting event right here in our neighborhood. And part of the proceeds go to our Fire and Rescue Squad. For more info: charliepostclassic.com. I hope to see you there.
Dog tag renewal time
If you’ve got a pooch, don’t forget it’s time to renew Fido’s town license. Info is at bit.ly/ SIDOG.
See you around the island, and here’s to a wonderful 2023 for all of us.
Mayor Pat O’Neil
843-670-9266