Dear Island Neighbors,
A MAJOR RESCUE BY OUR FIRE AND RESCUE FOLKS
OK, I’m cribbing from the release by Town Administrator Joe Henderson, but this bears repeating:
At 4:43 p.m. on Saturday, May 16, Sullivan’s Island Fire & Rescue received a call reporting multiple swimmers in danger of being swept out to sea near the beach at Station 16. Crews arrived on scene five minutes later, immediately launched a jet ski rescue, and brought seven people safely back to shore while they were holding onto a rescue board pulled by the jet ski.
Another victim, a 23-year-old male, was unconscious and not breathing when rescuers reached him, removed him from the water, carried him to shore, and placed him in the recovery position on the beach, where he regained consciousness and began breathing again shortly afterward. EMS personnel were brought onto the beach, and firefighters assisted with transporting the patient to the awaiting ambulance for transport to MUSC, with a firefighter driving the ambulance and an escort provided by Chief Anthony Stith.
As remarkable as this response was, it’s just another day for our fine Fire & Rescue staff and volunteers.
In a related vein, Town Council voted on May 19 to issue a request for proposals for an external review by professionals of our Fire Department’s procedures and operations. Chief Stith has said repeatedly that he welcomes this review as a means to make our department even better.
This process will take a few months to do it right, with the resulting report made public. In the interim, I ask all of you to turn to reliable sources of town information and to ignore what you might hear from anonymous bloggers and other keyboard warriors.
READY OR NOT, HERE COMES THE 250TH ANNIVERSARY OF OUR PART OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION
Hopefully you’ve noticed the flags popping up on the telephone poles around the island, our Fire Department’s customary way of marking the approach of Independence Day. This year, the flags have company: banners honoring the 250th anniversary of our nation’s founding, and the important battle that contributed to it.
Carolina Day, honoring the Battle of Sullivan’s Island, which represented the first major Patriot victory over the British fleet, is Sunday, June 28, but the celebration starts that Saturday. Since this will be the 250th anniversary of that victory at the site of what’s now called Fort Moultrie, it’s fitting that there will be big events there for the occasion.
Our neighbors at Fort Sumter/Fort Moultrie National Park have a very impressive set of patriotic and educational programs planned for that weekend, June 27-28. You can learn all about them at https://www.nps.gov/fosu/planyourvisit/carolina-day-2026.htm (or just Google “Carolina Day 2026 NPS”).
Please be aware that large numbers of people are expected to visit the island for these important activities. Park Superintendent Brad Shattuck and his team have been working with the town and other agencies for months to collaborate on the logistics, to make it a positive experience for all concerned. For example, the Park Service will open its field behind Battery Jasper for parking. There will also be shuttle bus service from two locations in Mount Pleasant to make it possible for folks to attend without parking hassles and to reduce the number of cars on the island (thank you, Mayor Haynie and staff!).
Please watch for more information on this special occasion at the town website and in local news media, such as “Know B4 You Go” beach-related information at abcnews4.com.
GET YOUR HOME IN THE 250 SPIRIT!
To help the island get into the anniversary spirit even more for Carolina Day and Independence Day, resident Heather Polke is organizing a decoration contest for homes and businesses. (Heather also hosts the “Sullivan’s Island Positive News and Local Happenings” Facebook group.)
She invites you to decorate your place with red, white and blue as creatively as possible to celebrate our nation’s 250th birthday. The contest kicks off with entries as early as June 1, with winning decorations chosen July 3.
The contest is open to all homes and businesses on the island. To enter, submit your name, address, phone number and email address. You can drop that off at Heather’s house at 2525 Atlantic Ave., Sullivan’s Island. She’ll have a separate drop box just for the contest.
Heather says, “Let’s come together as a community to celebrate 250 years of American spirit by proudly showing our patriotism and making Sullivan’s Island shine red, white, and blue.”
If you wish to donate items for prizes or have questions, contact her at Hpolke0826@gmail.com.
TRAFFIC, WHAT TRAFFIC?
No, you’re not hallucinating. Traffic to, from and on the island is heavy and getting heavier. Our Chief of Police Glenn Meadows and Deputy Chief Monty Anders have provided some recent traffic counts.
For the period April 2-28:
- 294,908 total inbound vehicles recorded (Ben Sawyer Bridge/Causeway and Breach Inlet Bridge)
- Daily average of almost 11,000 vehicles ... equal to a daily average population surge of almost 22,000 people (using a moderate occupancy rate of two people per vehicle)
- Ben Sawyer Bridge handled 69% of all inbound traffic
- Saturday is consistently the peak day, with multiple Saturdays exceeding 13,800 combined inbound vehicles (about 27,600 people!)
See you (and lots of other folks) around the island!
Pat O’Neil
Mayor
843-670-9266
oneilp@sullivansisland.sc.gov