Opinion Page
THE BRuiNSWICK&BEACON
Edward M. Sweat! and Carolyn H. Swcott Publisher*
Edward ii. Sweait Editor
Susan lnher Weirs Editor
Terry Pope .S'fa// Writer
J-hnny ( en 11? /".Vii/wT
Mary Potta Office Manager
Cecelia Gore Advertising Representative
Tunimio Galloway Typesetter
Sieve Anderson Pressman
Mill McGownn Photo Technician
('lyde anil Mallie Stout. Jint iiallou ('imitation
I'agc 4-A Thursday, September 12,1985
It's Clean-Up Time
Along The Highways
State Department of Transportation crews and prison inmates
will be out in force this week during their annual fall
clean-up campaign, picking up trash along state-inaintained
roads in Brunswick County.
But the campaign isn't for state employees and prison inmates
only. DOT encourages community groups to join the effort
and provides free trash pickup bags for those who do. The
lnral DOT m;iintf?n;inrp nffiro InrntnH nn Mnlhnrrv Qtrnot in
Shallotte.
With all this support, why not round up a few friends and
neighbors and give a quick facelift to a stretch of roadway in
your neighborhood sometime during the week or corning
weekend.
It will Ire worth the effort.
GUEST EDITORIAL
Isn't Someone's Life Worth
The Expense Of Lifeguard?
HY ALI.AN HILL
The beaches of the South Brunswick Islands appear to be
relatively safe for swimming. It does seem this way since
drownings are rare. Only when we have a tragedy such as the
one this past summer at Ocean Isle do we think about hiring
lifeguards.
I to nil to strongly disagree with the theory that the
presence of parents is sufficient to guarantee the safety of
youngsters playing and swimming in the ocean.
From my experience as a lifeguard at Carolina Beach for
two years, I get a little nervous about what I see at beaches
sometimes, particularly at unprotected ones. Although the
great majority of parents keep a very tight rein on children in
the water, there are a few quite innocent errors that can turn a
holiday into a tragedy. Many of them simply do not know of
the dangers that a lifeguard is trained to see.
This past summer, in only a lialf dozen visits to the beach,
I pulled eight people from the surf who were in life-threatening
situations. My wife rescued two I spent a couple of hours one
day walking a short stretch of beach warning parents that the
particular spot they were taking their children into was a
dangerous offset. Not only have 1 seen parents let their
children go straight into dangerous situation, but 1 have seen
parents go right in with them. Among these are:
Offsets; the surf crosses a sandbar and converges at a
shallow channel to rush back to sea. The current is impossible
to swim against. Most people do not see these currents (they
are visible), and do not know to swim parallel to the beach to
escape, if they can swim. Most of the time a non-swimmer will
simply find that he/she is suddenly in deep water and going
further out rapidly.
Bafts/floats; 1 call them baby-drowners. Non-swinuners
especially should never be allowed to use a raft or float at the
beach. As a good swimmer, I will never use one. even at a
nnoll T)m?. i-.i J
i m uvuu' iniyuuii^ uui i ncy do provide h wuv
for children to net in over their heads. Just how safe is a raft if
the child falls off and the wind or current takes the raft away?
These things also find the nearest offset and drift into them
quite effectively. And there's always the wind blowing them
out to sea with their cargo.
Carrying tlx1 child; look at it this way. are you really being
a responsible parent if you pick up a child and walk into the
ocean until it's over the child's head? You could end up responsible
and sorry!
Is even the trivial expense of hiring just one lifeguard ai
an area beach for the summer season, or all of them, worth someone's
life** Kven if all he/she did was warn people of the
dangers that do exist Wouldn't it be nice if that's all the
lifeguard ever got to do"
HOW TO SUBSCRIBE TO
THE BRUNSWICKfcBEACON "
fOSt OMK1 IO* 410
VKAUOtn NO?TH CrfUKXiHA
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ANNUAL SUtSCtlMlO* RATU IT MAIL: V omH
I lf? i'VA??* < K 3 <3 3*4 I
!>??%?*> ?a Cd'o1'^ T Ji 3 33 a
B (\i?? >.1# ?f>.' ^ c?(Uux) TO <X i?X B
Cl >>! < m4 !? ?? H AWM U4^M
A Ho**+
A AtVv-*?t
| City Ski*
L_ !
A
A Pe
Wouldn't you love a sneak peak at
the proposed Transportation Improvement
Plan that will be
presented to members of the State
Transportation Hoard next month '
I would . .. because I think we'll
see some significant changes in
priority for Rmnswick County projects.
Over the long-term those
changes might not mean a whole
lot?it's true Transportation
Secretary Jim Harrington says
T.I.P. priorities are good only as long
as they remain on the list and the list
is subject to change annually, if not
more frequently.
The four-laning of U.S. 17 through
Brunswick County has been the butt
of many a DOT joke when it comes to
the Transportation Improvement
Plan, with sections moving up and
! WHAT)
_ \
ill
iff,
KEEP,
I
Is The
To the editor:
My husand and 1 are two of the
thousands of people who bought land
near llolden Beach for our retirement
Now that the west end is closed.
most of us are riding up and down
the east end looking for a parking
place There are none on the west
end.
It is my opinion that must of the recent
(Mies that have been made on the
Tak
To the editor:
Mere it is time to renew my
subscription and 1 would like to say 1
enjoy reading your paper 1 would
like to throw in a few comments if
you don't nund
We have vacationed at Holden
Beach for eight years now and have
recommended it to many of our
friends which gave il business over
the years
Acclimati;
line at the popular books in environmental
education several years
auo *?s on a method the author called
acclimatisation Plus approach
encourages) students to become
aware ot their natural surrounduuts
b> becoming a part of a habitat
This would involve puttinie iwieself
into the role of the plant or animal beint
studied and trytnit to experience
what it tiuttht feel tike to be that plant
or animal
An example of this is to lie down in
tall >:rass and try to crawl through as
rabbit or other small animal would
No doubt there will be tunnels and
passageways between the clumps of
trass The sky will look different
?? > ? i? U H? X ?iiu UIT * ? > w uir
Undsoapc wtl! take cm a new dimension
The grass w\U provide protection
(rum the hawks and owis
overhrad and will appear as a sharp
contrast to a road or plowed fjekl
You get a different feeding tor
brwensedge hnarpatchrs. and open
trails'
Another example a in a pond or a
stream where >vu can become a tan
Or ani dree to the hnttum. surface,
and the clunh jp or. a a* .or a dock\
ak At TIP Mi<
0k
^ V CI iPy-?i-4
Usher
sv-r-n '
down, yo-yo fashion, in priority from
year to year. It all seems to depend
on whose politics are in favor in
Raleigh at that particular time.
A crystal ball?or a direct line to
Raleigh?would be nice. But lacking
either one, my suppositioas are just
that?guesses.
Well, my guess is that Brunswick
County developers will have the bigwll
itbe
I f
III p
jf t
tfAUpm ofr
p
vmsM/c
LETTERS TO
Pot Calling
cast end arc to accommodate the
condominiums that the real estate
people want to build there They have
made no provision (or the public.
Anyone who is looking (or lots to
buy now certainly w ould not want to
buy any place- that they cannot park
ami go to the water. Surf City has a
nice parking lot at one end o( their
beach and that's what we need on the
e A Good L<
By reading your paper (or the past
year It lias shown us what Hoiden
Beach really is It is not the best kept
secret on the (Cast Coast as it might
think
It is becoming over-crowded, rude,
and money-hungry. Take a good look
at yourself Hoiden Beach
All 1 read in the paper is about your
bickering about one thing or the
other- constantly ! There isn't all the
zation?Becor
to*) 8,7/
HP* Faver
to (eel the sun Or y ou can become a
muskrat. or a fish, or an otter, or a
water snake Or a raccoon in a
marsh, looking for clams and
oysters
On the beach we might become
thmt crabs. using circles drawn in
it* sand for holes We cold venture
out in search at (and and activity
haie Inssies with other crab&. steal
somecr* else's circle, or scurry back
to our own' It may be unpractical to
imitate a mole crab or a roqmna at
the water's edge bat we oauid try to
be like a sanderbng fasl-sSeppiiryt rust
in (root ol the oevcvenmg wait
Acvhmatisaboc is or* more attempt
at helping peop&e become
more aware ci their surroundings
and the ueed to preserve suitabk
ght Yield Sur
gest voice this year. Why? Because
they represent growth and growth
represents new money, new voters.
Brunswick County is one of, if not the
most, rapid-growing areas of the
state. Much of that growth is permanent,
but we're also beginning to
malrp a hiu imnarf nn thp st^tp <;
tourism industry?some of it on our
own and some due to what's called
"Grand Strand overflow."
In any case. Brunswick County is
beginning to warrant all the attention
we've begged for for years?but
some folks may not like the outcome?say
the communities between
Supply and Winnabow who've been
waiting to see a four-lane highway.
Face it, most of the activity in
Brunswick County these days is taking
place in a small area south of
?
I < /
U GOMA
X $SML
THE EDITOR
The Kettle I
west end of Holder) Beach.
I read in the Beacon about people
tearing dotvn sand dunes. None of us
want to tear down or litter anyone's
property. We are just as proud o!
??JJ -? -
iiuiui-n oeacn as me Homeowners liv
inn there.
But all of us have seen houses being
built on the beach and the sand dunes
being pushed away and dug into by
Dok At You
fighting at the other beaches arounc
you
Whereas you ased to be a place ti
get away from it all you are now i
place to Jast run into more fighting
and feuding
You are no longer the peacefu
relaxing vacation spot we once en
joyed You are overdeveloping anc
expanding so that you are no longer;
nice quiet place
riing Part Of
habitat areas for the wild thing
around them Perhaps we won't nee<
to crawl through the grass or slithe
rS
^I
SOMETIMES TT HELPS I* pet tmi
iiL'rvu ?t At ??rM arcnad at.
I <
Shallotte
and adjoining the South
C arolina line.
This, I suspect, will be reflected in
priorities set in the upcoming
Transportation Improvement Plan.
What does that mean? Higher
ratings for the Shallotte bypass, on
which rieht-of-wav acquisition will
resume in the spring; for the fourlaning
of U.S. 17 from Shallotte to the
South Carolina line, and for a newhigh-rise
bridge to Sunset Bridge.
Maybe the state will even consider
paving Georgetown Road, though its
population is presently sparse.
In any case, stay tuned. As activity
at the high-rise bridges to Holden
Beach and Ocean Isle Beach winds
down, things should be picking up to
the south and west.
C'est la vie.
(VI
ill
Ip
mnJ.
Black? 1
certain real estate developers. Now
that's the pot calling the kettle black!
i All I am asking for is not to bother
i anyone, just a decent place to park
and enjoy whst God hss given.
My hat is off to the elder Mr.
Holden and for what he has given to
Holden Beach.
I Blanche C. Koonts
lexington
rself
I If all I am allowed is a house with a
certain beach area with no accesses
> and not allowed to go about the island
i and enjoy it fully, then I will stay at
! home or find somewhere else to vacation.
Wake up and take a real good look
I at yourself before it is too late.
, Mrs Eric Klinn
SandyviUe, West Virginia
A Habitat
s u^the marsh; but we do need to think
j awareness as we enjoy the pleasures
r of life where land meets sky and sea!
fefixfliSSEL
*0*0 ?' Ma * >U
**irt? ta Ok Mtsul't rttt U gala a arw
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