Dear Island Neighbors,

I hope you are enjoying and will continue to have a happy and warm holiday season. We sure got it off to a great start on the evening of Friday, December 1, with the annual Stith Park and Fire Station lighting event. The lights on the station, Town Hall and the park are fantastic! Thanks very much to the members of the Fire Department, volunteer Fire and Rescue Squad, and all our other Town employees (Maintenance, Town Hall, Police) for getting all the decorations put together and the preparations for a safe and fun event in place. 

We were graced with another fine performance by the Wando High School Chorus led by Director Eric Wilkerson and Associate Director Stephanie Kinney, after which Islanders Dorn and Helena Kubinski flipped the switch to turn all the lights on. Thanks to Munnerlyn Pyrotechnics for a fireworks show that many folks have called our best ever. Thanks also to Santa, who accommodated a very long line of youngsters who wanted their face time (the in-person kind) with him!

And a special thanks to Fire Chief Anthony Stith for his usual great job of overseeing the whole operation!

BE MERRY, ALSO WARY
Please do remain cautious about things during this happy and busy time of year. Chief Stith reminds us to keep the Christmas trees watered and use only UL-approved lights.

Police Chief Griffin urges everyone to try to avoid having delivered packages linger in front of your house where they can be easy pickings for any porch pirates. Ask a neighbor to look after any packages that arrive when you’re not there. If leaving town, consider getting your place put on house watch by our police. To do so, download the form here and drop it off at Town Hall during regular business hours https://bit.ly/SIHouseWatch .

If it looks like we’ve got a freeze impending, you may want to consider shutting off your water before you leave. Water and Sewer Director Greg Gress suggests you learn how to shut off your water with your customer shutoff valve. You can get information at https://bit.ly/SIWDShutOff  If you do this and have a standard water heater with a tank, you should cut it off if you shut off the water to the house. 

SPEAKING OF TOWN HALL
As you might expect, with everything going on, our Town staff are as ready for a little time off as we are. While our public safety folks will continue looking after us 24/7, Town Hall will be closed beginning Friday, December 22 through Tuesday December 26, as well as Monday, New Year’s Day.

NEW YEAR'S POLAR PLUNGE
The 29th Annual Polar Plunge event, originated and promoted continuously by Dunleavy’s Pub, is now a treasured Island New Year’s Day tradition for the entire Island. The actual Plunge into the water is 2:00 PM on Monday, January 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 beverage. 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 22 ½ 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. Come on out to see hundreds of your neighbors go off their meds all at once, at a great family event.

DON’T FORGET HOW YOUR POOCH RINGS IN THE NEW YEAR
Remember that dog licenses have to be renewed annually, based on the calendar year. The 2024 Dog permits are available at Town Hall: $25 for Island residents’ dogs and $50 for non-resident dogs. In either case, don’t forget to bring your updated rabies certificate (more precisely, the dog’s certificate, unless you plan on biting anyone). 

TOWN ADMINISTRATOR SEARCH UPDATE
As noted previously, we have established a search committee for the difficult task of selecting the next Town Administrator who will follow our long-serving, Island-born Andy Benke. We have advertised the position in appropriate venues, and the committee, after establishing the parameters and procedures of our process, has made the first pass review of the received applications.

We appreciate the assistance of the Municipal Association of South Carolina, which has provided assistance from one of their staff with much experience in municipal administration to participate in our review of applications.

We continue to review the applications in a very systematic and timely manner to help Council make their decision in the most efficient and objective manner possible.

I’ll have more information soon.

See you around the Island!

Pat O’Neil
Mayor
843 670 9266
Twitter: @oneilpm1
oneilp@sullivansisland.sc.gov