Fripp Island In The Beginning - Chapter II
When young developer Jack Kilgore brought his wife and three sons to Fripp Island in 1962 he had to build a bridge to get there. Some 35 years later, his son Glen remembers the good old days.
My days were spent riding mini bikes, swimming, fishing, crabbing, horseback riding on the beach, and watching construction workers do their thing. Summers always meant tourists and the opportunity to meet new kids. I really enjoyed sharing my Lowcountry playground and teaching them how to crab. In turn, I learned about their homes. Because I was constantly encountering new people, I was able to develop social skills I might not otherwise have found as an island dweller.
The nights on Fripp Island were every bit as special as the days. There were many times my parents would pile us in the Bronco for sea turtle sightings on the beach. In fact, Fripp Island was one of the first barrier islands to develop a sea turtle program. We contacted the University of South Carolina and, with their assistance, built four large ocean tanks to house the young sea turtles. After the eggs hatched, the turtles were moved to the tanks and raised on a steady diet of fish for about six weeks. Then we would release them into the ocean with a weight roughly triple their "birth" weight. I'd say over a four year period we probably release close to 500 turtles.
(And while a lot of people on Fripp today may not appreciate this story Jack Kilgore also introduced squirrels to the island. It's true! Before 1968, squirrels were not to be found there. My father acquired two female and tow male squirrels from Florence county, South Carolina and released them to go forth and multiply!)
Then there were the night time noises. Thunderstorms and Katydids. If you've ever experienced a summertime thunderstorm at the beach, you know they tend to be LOUD! I suppose this is a result of the thunder echoing off the ocean, but when you are six years old, it's just plain scary. Those storms would roll in around midnight and there were many times when all four boys ended up in bed with Mom and Dad. These were the only instances in which you could put my entire family in one room without anyone talking. While I know there have been many transformations on Fripp Island over the years, the severe storm that has greeted us this Friday afternoon proves that some things never change!
Of course, in the absence of loud thunder, there were the katydids. We normally were able to leave the windows open in the spring and early summer to enjoy the smell of salt air and listen to the ocean. But first, we had to get used to the chorus of katydids. When we first moved to Fripp Island and opened the house up, we were greeted by what sounded like thousands of tiny chain saws! Next, we heard a shot gun go off and ran to the window to find out the source of the commotion. There's my dad, in his boxer shorts, shot gun in hand, yelling at those katydids to "BE QUIET!" And they did. Until my dad walked back in the house and shut the door. We grew to enjoy listening to them and welcomed the noise as a sign of the approaching spring and summer. And, of course, nothing is more sooting than the steady voice of a chuck-wills widow at night.
Yes, we had lots of adventures on Fripp Island. There was the time a 10-ton whale, the likes of which I had never seen, washed up on the beach. And there were the FBI agents vacationing on the island who decided to engage in their own high speed chase after an afternoon of imbibing. There was the night the golf shop burned like a Roman candle, before Fripp was fortunate enough to have its own fire department, and the day a jet from the Air Station broke the sound barrier and shattered all the windows of the Lai Tai Inn.
Probably the most memorable experience came in March of 1967. A low pressure system had developed off the coast of Fripp and we awoke to find the whole island under water. The entire front nine of the golf course was flooded and there were palmetto logs floating down the street. Surprisingly, the waters rose from the back of Fripp Island and not from the beach, as you might expect. Although we had encountered many near misses with hurricanes, there was no advanced warning for this occurrence.
On Fripp Island we were 20 miles from Beaufort. The closes thing to shopping for us was Grady Russ's General Store on St. Helena Island. Of course, for four mischievous boys, the main attraction at Grady's store was the ten monkeys housed in a large cage. My brother Greg could never resist the temptation to squirt those monkeys with the water hose...resulting in 10 highly disgruntled monkeys. And always, as if on cue, Grady would stomp out and yell, "Boys, stop squirting those monkeys!" We loved it.
Our next shopping opportunity was not until Lady's Island. There was a small Red & White store in what is not Steamer's Restaurant, and across from that was Blocker's Gulf Station. We affectionately called the old gentleman who ran it "Grump." After that, there was not much until you hit downtown Beaufort, which looked very different than it does today. The waterfront was comprised mostly of old docks, fuel drums, and, of course, the infamous "Yacht Club" overlooking the Beaufort River. Luthers, which is now Bananas, was the only pharmacy. I swear there was merchandise left over from the Civil War on those shelves! There was also Edward's, Lipsitz Department Store, Scheins, Beaufort Hardware, Fordham Hardware, Harry's Restaurant and the Breeze Theater.
Harvey's Barbershop was on Bay Street, and still is today. I will never forget Mr. Furman "sit down and let me give you a real haircut" Harvey. Thirty years ago, if you were luck enough to land in Mr. Harvey's chair for a haircut, you could probably wait six months for your next one. And I also remember a nice man who worked for Mr. Harvey known simply as "Super." I never even knew his real name! Today, I find great pleasure in taking my own son to Harvey's for his haircuts with Furman's son, Ray. Ray now co-owns the shop with his brother, Johnny Harvey. My visits for a haircut always bring back wonderful memories.
Yes, both Beaufort and Fripp Island were very different thirty years ago. Not necessarily better, just more innocent. Growing up here was magical for me and I've never forgotten those special days. It was those wonderful memories that coaxed me back here to live with my wife and tow children six years ago. Ironically, though it was real estate development that brought my family to Beaufort County all those years ago, it is the fast pace of development in Beaufort today that concerns me. As anyone who lives here knows, Beaufort is a unique and beautiful place. Made up of over 300 islands, 80 percent of the county is surrounded by water. It is truly an ideal place to raise a family, and our goal should be to preserve it for our children so that, one day, they are able to tell stories of their own wonderful experiences growing up in the Lowcountry.