Nondenominational Church in Folly Beach, SC

South Carolina is famous for its beaches, but I didn’t know them. Folly Beach, which I discovered looking for escape from a dark, grueling New York City winter, advertised exceptional surf breaks and beach town tradition. Yeah, I thought, Folly Beach! Brilliant water, four-generation family beach houses, surfer subculture, and only one bridge on and off the island; my Southern friends were surprised I’d found it.

I missed kicking off the new year with the “Bill Murray look-alike” polar bear plunge, for which one dresses like a favorite Murray character and runs into the ocean. Motto: Freeze your balls off! No matter, I was just happy to find it was 20 degrees warmer than New York, and empty except for year-round people and diehard surfers. End to end, Folly is only six miles of wide beaches broken and protected by a series of jetties, and I planned to walk them all.

My rented house faced “The Washout,” a long beach break that got rowdy during storm swells and on windy days when the blow whipped up classic, rolling surf. A 20-minute walk up the beach was the Lighthouse Inlet Heritage Preserve with nesting sites for threatened loggerhead turtles. A local said you could find shark’s teeth there, but I never really looked. Off the beach, was marshland and maritime forest with stopover and winter roosting sites for flyway birds including the endangered piping plovers that I saw.

If I walked west, I would end up at Folly Beach County Park, acres of bone-white sand and scrub dunes bordered by the Atlantic Ocean and the wide (at that point) Folly River. A day-tripper magnet between Memorial Day and Labor Day, it was now almost deserted except for people walking with dogs (only allowed in winter).

I had been warned about the weather, but on some of my best days the rain would come and go several times, leaving a freshness on the magnolias that perfumed the salt air coming off the water. My backyard had magnolias, too, and two stands of 60-foot palmetto palms with large fronds, as well as hemlocks with dense green umbrella tops— excellent nesting cover for the robins, mockingbirds, and woodpeckers that fed on the palmetto cones and seeds. A swinging back gate opened onto wetlands that rose and fell with the tide.

By the time my month was up, the lessons of Folly would stay with me in the specifics. The birds and the trees and the long beach walks, learning the tides, the endlessly changing rhythms of the Atlantic. The way the sun would rise over the wetlands just outside my back gate, where early one morning I saw a family of raccoons, perhaps heading for the preserve.

Driving north over the Folly River Bridge at the end of my month, I knew that hordes would descend all summer and surfers would complain it was too crowded just to go left. But those high-season inconveniences weren’t my concern. For a month in the middle of winter, Folly was the perfect beach.

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Terry McDonell is a media executive, literary editor, and published author. He has won numerous awards for his editorial work at various magazines and websites and has written and produced for film and television. Known for his acclaimed book The Accidental Life, McDonell returned to memoir with his most recent book, Irma: The Education of a Mother’s Son.

This article appears in the Winter 2023 issue of Southbound.

On New Year’s Eve weekend, I visited Mr. John’s Beach Store on Center Street on Folly Beach. I have been visiting Mr. John’s Beach Store since I was a child staying at my grandparents’ home on East Arctic Avenue in the summer. Yet this visit was different. It was a farewell visit.

Mr. John’s Beach Store has been a fixture on Folly Beach since 1951. The affectionately coined “mayor of Folly Beach,” Paul Chrysostom, took over the family business started by his parents, John and Rachel Chrysostom. They were esteemed, respected and beloved members of the community; John was a bookkeeper, accountant and Greek professor, and his wife, Rachel, a pharmacist.

For many of us who recall the old days on Folly, Mr. John’s was the last stronghold of memories that can never be replaced. Mr. John’s, which recently was sold, was the heart and soul of Center Street.

I recently read an article on the WCSC-TV website that quoted Folly Beach Mayor Tim Goodwin as saying: “When people come to me and say, ‘I want Folly Beach to be like it was,’ I look at them and say, ‘What do you remember Folly Beach being?’”

Given that Mayor Goodwin moved to Folly Beach in 1998, I would like to respectfully answer his question.

Folly Beach was a vibrant, magical, exciting, warm and lovable place. It was naturally community oriented. The sleepy beach. Some even called it the poor man’s beach.

But rest assured, there was nothing poor or wanting about Folly.

It was overflowing with riches, treasures that could never be measured materially. I don’t even remember the word tourist; everyone was welcomed and seen the same.

When I was growing up in the 1960s and ’70s, visiting Folly was like entering a portal into an enchanted world.

A horse that belonged to a neighbor was stabled in our backyard.

My grandfather gave the Bruggemann family next door our backyard garage to stable their horse, Nosy.

The family’s daughter, Nancy, in turn, gave me rides on Nosy on the beach. It was a young girl’s dream.

The boy next door was my first crush. It was a time of innocence and sweetness that can never be duplicated.

Cars could drive on the beach, horses pranced along the streets, and neighbors never locked their doors for the simple reason that our neighbors were not considered neighbors. They were family.

Folly wasn’t “funky.” It wasn’t branded. It wasn’t marketed. It was what it was.

The Sanitary Restaurant on Center Street had a lunch counter that sold soft-serve ice cream sundaes and the best sandwiches and comfort food.

The Pavilion had wooden benches, hotdogs and hamburgers, and the amusement rides twirled with the echo of children’s laughter in the air.

We used to walk an eternity over the big sand dunes to get to the beach.

Many times, we would swim in the gullies by the old groins even if folks were there crabbing.

My grandfather George Manos would go out in the wee hours of the morning with his big net and bring in buckets of fish for my grandmother Virginia to clean and cook.

The front porch was an open door that called to passersby: “Come on up. The table is full.”

Generosity and hospitality flowed like the ocean. And at night, we would be lulled to sleep by the sound of her waves.

Goodbye, Mr. John’s Beach Store.

You will always be in my heart. This is what Folly was like — in all her beauty, simplicity and wonder. A reminder that the greatest gifts of life are priceless.

Jackie Morfesis is a Charleston writer, speaker and community advocate.

FOLLY BEACH, S.C. (WCIV) — City of Folly Beach officials said erosion along the shoreline is a crisis.

After a recent storm hit, some beachfront property owners were surprised. Now, they may have to foot the bill for some of the erosion renourishments come 2024.

"It's getting to the point where another big storm could be putting damage to the actual structure," said Eric Lutz.

Lutz is the director of public works with Folly Beach, and he said it is becoming a crisis.

Read more: "Idalia's aftermath: Folly Beach grapples with worst erosion since Hurricane Matthew."

Folly Beach residents face footing the bill for erosion crisis following recent storm (WCIV)

"This new scarp is fresh, and you can tell because it's a vertical face," Lutz said. "Over time, it'll flatten out, and the wind will blow it around. But this is all from the most recent storm. It gives it that verticle cut."

City leaders don't expect beach renourishment to be finished until next spring -- renourishments that property owners may have to pay for.

"Anywhere that is eroded behind the renourishment line, which runs up and down the whole island, individual property owners are responsible for filling in and giving a backstop to the project," Lutz said. "The Army Corps is not allowed to put any sand landward of the line."

Property owners were faced with the same decision in 2018. Letters were sent to 43 of the 300 beachfront properties in Folly.

They can allow the city to work with the contractor to fill in the area behind the line, and they pay for it at the rate of the city.

Read more: "Coastal damage assessment after heavy storms: Folly Beach experience mixed impact."

Owners can also have the option to truck in beach-compatible sand on their own and do it on their own, which is more expensive.

The third option is to give the property to the city, and they do it for free, but then the property belongs to the city.

"This was put on us by the Army Corps," Lutz said. "It's part of their contract. If we weren't to take care of it behind the line, then they would not be able to renourish in front of that property anymore. So there's a pretty good incentive to get it done."

The city said in 2018, all the property owners chose to pay the city to do the work. They said it is cheaper, but this time around, they are still waiting on a final price tag.

The areas behind the line will be resurveyed next week. The Army Corps of Engineers will then put the contract out to bid and should have the final numbers by the end of January.

FOLLY BEACH — A Folly Beach city councilman with just under two years left in his term his calling it quits. His reasoning?

That four-letter word called love.

Councilman Eddie Ellis will leave behind his seat on the barrier island’s governing body on March 30, the City of Folly Beach announced Jan. 2 on Facebook.

Ellis told The Post and Courier in a written statement the sudden resignation is because of love — he plans to move to Missouri to be with his long-distance girlfriend.

He plans to deliver a formal statement at the Feb. 13 council meeting, a date significant for its proximity to Valentine’s Day.

“I thought Feb. 13, the day before Valentine’s Day, would be a great time to tell the public my reason for resigning, but my announcement has created quite the stirring of the pot. So I will comment in short — I am resigning in the name of love,” Ellis said.

The pair met on the Fourth of July 2018, Ellis said. His girlfriend, an insurance broker named Diane Finnestead based in St. Louis, spent 14 months on the island throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Ellis has served on the Cty Council for a combined 16 years. He ran for reelection in 2020 but did not win.

In 2022, he chose to run again, a move he said Finnestead supported, as Ellis was not ready to leave the community he’s served for years, nor the landscaping business he’s owned and operated on Folly Beach for the past 28 years.

Ellis secured another term in the 2022 election, though following the 2023 election cycle he made up his mind to resign. He cited witnessing a division in the community erupt over limiting short-term rental licenses on the island as a catalyst.

“As the campaigns proceeded in our past election, I witnessed a continuation of political ugliness in a community divided over the short-term rental issue. It wasn’t the same in my election of 2022,” Ellis said.

Folly Beach Municipal Clerk Wes Graham said Ellis notified the city he was considering resigning but did not provide a formal notice or timeline until Jan. 2 when he officially submitted his letter of resignation.

Folly Beach Mayor Tim Goodwin said the resignation came with little explanation.

“I didn’t expect him to resign,” Goodwin said. “He’s worked hard for the citizens of Folly Beach and he’s always done what he thought was the best for the citizens of Folly Beach, so you know, I hate to see him go.”

Ellis will stay on council until March 30. According to the Charleston County Board of Voter Registration and Elections, a signed letter of resignation from Ellis is needed before information on a special election will be released.

“We will be updating the community with more information as soon as it is available. We do know that Charleston County will run the election and can answer all election-related questions,” Graham said.

Several municipalities in the Lowcountry, including Folly Beach, underwent an election cycle in November. Folly Beach elected one new face to the council in the November 2023 election, Chris Bizzell.

Folly Beach’s roughly 2,100-person population is expected to head back to the polls in April to elect another council member to fill Ellis’s seat for the rest of the term, which expires in November 2025.

Goodwin said he’s not looking forward to the city going through another election season.

“We just went through the election. I hate to go through another one,” Goodwin said. “It creates so much tension, like every election does everywhere,” Goodwin said.

NORTH CHARLESTON — To continue efforts to become the Coast Guard’s “operational center of gravity” on the East Coast, officials broke ground Jan. 26 on its new $160 million campus.

This 64-acre site along the Cooper River — just south of the former naval base that closed in 1996 — will house an administration building and redesigned 1,100-foot concrete pier.

Construction is expected to begin later this year and be completed in 2026.

“This Charleston campus will have improved infrastructure that translates into more productive personnel and more efficient operations,” said Capt. Neal Armstrong, the commanding officer of facilities design and construction.

The 51,500-square-foot administration building will provide training and conference room space, and additional rooms dedicated to cutter ship support.

Sustainability is a priority, so the new facility will achieve net-zero energy usage and a net-zero carbon footprint, Armstrong said.

The current Pier November will be replaced with a pier more than three feet taller to enhance durability during coastal storms. It will provide utilities to support five national security cutters and a 90-ton crane, which is critical for dockside maintenance, Armstrong said.

During the design and construction phases nearly 60 subcontractors will support the two main contractors on the project, Whiting-Turner Contracting Company and RQ Construction LLC, providing work for nearly 900 people.

Commandant of the Coast Guard Adm. Linda Fagan, who spoke at the groundbreaking ceremony, said every Coast Guard mission begins and ends at a shore facility. When the ships are not at sea, they need a base that can provide necessary maintenance, she added.

The missions conducted at Base Charleston are vital to protecting national security and economic prosperity, Fagan said, adding that the new campus will aid in “lifesaving work,” including patrolling the waters for smuggled narcotics.

FOLLY BEACH, S.C. (WCIV) — A beautiful day of beach-goings went on Thursday following a night of rising tides on Folly Beach. While those beachgoers were busy having fun Folly leaders were busy uncovering a sad truth about Tropical Storm Idalia's impact: Sand on the beach could become a dwindling commodity.

“This is actually the worst erosion we’ve seen since the passage of Hurricane Matthew back in 2016," said Nicole Elko, the Coastal Consultant for the City of Folly Beach.

Wednesday night's unusually high tide was a challenge for the beach.

Read more: Second Lowcountry tornado confirmed in North Mt. Pleasant.

“So we are five years since our last renourishment. So, we weren't very prepared going into this hurricane season with sand on the beach," said Elko.

Idalia's impact caused up to 15 feet of dune loss in some spots. Even higher numbers in others. With three months left in Hurricane Season, Folly could see even more erosion before the next renourishment happens.

Elko tells us, “We won't have any sand on the beach for Hurricane season and we will be extremely vulnerable for the next month or two.”

Efforts are underway to work with the Army Corps of Engineers to hopefully speed up the renourishment timeline. The work could start in the Winter or as late as March 24.

Read more: INTERVIEW; Mayor Crawford Moore assesses damage at Edisto Beach.

With an Emergency Declaration approved by President Joe Biden on Thursday, the Army Corps of Engineers could go in and help local spots like Folly Beach impacted by Idalia.

Jeff Livasy, the Chief of Civil Works for the Corps Charleston branch, said "What we anticipate doing from this event is looking at the storm damage and then we will be asking if we can basically, incorporate that into our ongoing activities and say, 'okay, we anticipated, you know, a set number or, you know, so many cubic yards of loss from Hurricane Ian.

"We now quantify that we got a little bit more from this hurricane are we eligible for the funding from last year or can we get additional funding and just keep the same efforts going but at an increased quantity."

Meanwhile, a number of folks were enjoying the change in weather over the 24-hour span. Some families and even beach-goers going solo were busy using metal detectors searching for "treasures." More importantly was just the chance to enjoy a great day of surf and sand regardless of the erosion status.

“It’s the perfect day. Like I don’t think we’ve had a better day this entire summer. It’s still catchable waves and it’s like 70 degrees all day," said surfer Georgia Myrick

Read more: Charleston leverages storm cleanup to discuss future resilience amid rising sea levels.

WCIV