The May print edition of the Messenger is available in full by clicking below. Enjoy!
To read the full print version of the April edition of the Murrells Inlet Messenger, please click below. Enjoy!
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The March 2013 print edition of the Murrells Inlet Messenger is available in full to view online. Please click below, and enjoy!
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By Tim Callahan
They pay people a lot of money to give what the Van Rooyens of Murrells Inlet freely give: advice on staying married.
“The secret is communication,” said Maria “Mitzi” Rooyen, who has been married 64 years. “Everyone has arguments. He would say, ‘Let’s forget about it,’ and I would say, ‘No, let’s talk about it.’ You don’t want something to fester.”
“If something is going on, we talk it out,” Peter said.
Another key to marital happiness for the Van Rooyens has been the kitchen table.
“We had breakfast and diner at the table as a family,” said daughter, Franny, who was visiting from Baltimore. “We still sit around the table and talk.”
They also have a son, Jacob Peter, who lives outside Fayetteville, N.C.
Keeping busy has been another tool the Van Rooyens use to stay happy in their mid-80’s.
“We volunteered at Brookgreen Gardens, the Chamber of Commerce, the hospital, and St. Michael’s.”
“We’re involved with people,” Peter said.
Mrs. Van Rooyen also walks three miles in the morning.
Peter was working in a coal mine and Mitzi as a seamstress in Holland when they caught each other’s eye.
“He would walk by the shop where I was sewing in the window every day with a group of men and look in at me,” Mitzi said. “He asked one of the men if he knew who I was and then he wrote me a letter.
“And that’s the end of the story,” Peter said.
The couple immigrated from Holland in 1954. Peter studied to become a civil engineer and ended up working for 23 years at National Steel in Weirton, W. Va. He retired 27 years ago. They had been to Myrtle Beach several times on vacation and thought this would be a good place to retire. They decided to move to Murrells Inlet and were glad they did.
“It has been wonderful, for us,” said Mitzi. “We’re not money rich, but we are happy rich.”
By Tim Callahan
Editor/Publisher
It’s hard to believe but it has been three years since the first issue of the Murrells Inlet Messenger was printed and distributed to stores and businesses in Murrells Inlet, Garden City Beach, Litchfield and Pawleys Island.
We have also published a book, “Murrells Inlet: Memories, Memoirs and Miracles,” a compilation of most of the stories printed in the Messenger from February 2010 to September 2011. A second volume may be in the works sometime this year.
And, due to our success, we appear to have stirred up interest in Murrells Inlet from other papers. But, as one loyal advertiser told us, “you have a niche only you can fill.”
Our niche is we aim, as our HIS Radio ad states, to “encourage, inform and inspire the community.” We build up and don’t tear down. We print good news, and we share the Good News.
So, I guess we are different from other newspapers. And, as we march into our fourth year of publication, we commit to keep our niche, which has struck a chord in the community. Not with everybody, but with enough people to keep us going and growing.
Along those lines, and as a free publication, we could not go and grow without our advertisers. We would like to take this time to thank our regulars and ask that you support their businesses: Edward Jones and Brenda Varnum, Drunken Jack’s, Pawleys Island Mercantile, The Counseling Center of Georgetown, Get Carried away Southern Takeout, the Dennis Smith Law Firm, Backyard Birds, ASAP Computers, HIS Radio, Grace Church Waccamaw, Anderson Law, Metzel Home Improvements, Lee’s Inlet Apothecary, Lee’s Inlet Kitchen, Seven Seas Seafood Market, Georgetown Hospital System, Merchant’s Tire, Darden’s Jewelers, Palmetto Heritage Bank, Christ Church, Professional Rehabilitation Services, Castaways, Safe Homes, Young Veterinary Hospital and the Hot Fish Club.
And, finally, as we stated in our first issue in February 2010, we want to say again, “We’re in this together, Murrells Inlet.”
Send us your news. Call or email about ads. Let’s continue to work together to build up the inlet and its people.
By Tim Callahan
Susan Tyler had a vision in 2005. She envisioned a Christian halfway house in Georgetown County for women coming out of jail, a gateway to spiritual, emotional and educational success and productivity.
But, that’s all it was, a great idea. Her needs were great and seemed impossible to fulfill: land, a building, a vehicle, furniture, office supplies, time, prayer and money.
Miracles happen.
Last month, after eight years of working and waiting, Martha’s House was dedicated to the Lord. “The Lord kept me going,” Tyler said.
“When God gives you a vision, he gives you the provision for that vision,” Tyler said. “It is a double wide mobile home on 12 acres, which were both donated. The inside was redecorated by an interior designer who also donated their time, and all the furniture was donated.”
She said they have room for three women but are hoping to expand the trailer to accommodate seven women.”
The house is needed, Tyler said, because without it many women will return to an environment that got them in jail in the first place, surrounded by temptations to drink or drug again.
Tyler was never in jail but she was a drunk, she said, and “certainly did enough things to get me in jail.” She has been involved for years in a prison ministry. She watched some women give their lives to the Lord, get out of prison, but then do something to be put back in prison. She wondered how that could be.
By talking to inmates she found they were often overwhelmed by the thought of freedom. In jail, almost all decisions were made for them. As a result, they were afraid to reenter society, hounded by questions like where will I live? How can I get a job? Can I stay straight?
That is how Tyler got the idea to provide a safe place [also important as some of the women come from abusive homes] where they can work out these questions with other women like themselves, guided by Martha’s House staff.
For about six months, the women will receive instruction in things like positive parenting skills, managing finances, etc., all preparing them for reentry into society.
Most importantly, “the women will receive spiritual nurturing that will provide the environment for each resident to experience God’s unconditional love and the power to live a victorious Christian life,” Tyler said.
Tyler experienced that love herself after bottoming out with her drinking. There is a reason for everything and Tyler believes that experience prepared her for this ministry.
Why is it called “Martha’s House?”
“Martha represents any woman who has lost her way in life for any reason,” Tyler said, “and yet still has great value and potential in the eyes and heart of God.”
“We believe that through the ministry of Martha’s House, that valuable lives can find restoration and healing, not only in this area but, in time, across the country,” she said.
The Martha’s House board of directors includes: Alvilda Meyers, Libby Ellenburg, Susan Mitchell, Linda Porter, Rick Russ, Dixie Tindal, Tyler and Joe Young.
For more information, call (843) 237-4222 or visit www.marthashouseinc.com
The Ann Howe continued charter fishing off the coast of Murrells Inlet with Capt. Mac Oliver (who was semi-retired) and Capt. Ira Vick at the helm during the 1950’s and early 1960’s, running daily trips from the dock at Oliver’s Lodge.
Capt. Ira Vick
Visitors from all over would come to enjoy the bounty of black sea bass, grunts, and sailor’s choice (all bottom dwelling species) that the Ann Howe targeted. Typically leaving at 8 a.m. and returning around 4 p.m., the Ann Howe would take up to 25 to 30 anglers out to waters ranging from 50 to 60 feet deep and let them fill their baskets. The twin diesels would push the boat around 10 knots, so the ride out and ride back in was usually less than two hours each way. Fishermen could rent rod and reels, bring their own, or use the handlines provided for free.
Several of the local boys learned to run fishing boats under the guidance of Captain Ira, checking the water levels and the oil levels every morning before the passengers came aboard, including Sam Vereen, Tommy Sing, Chappy Chaplin, Bug Strickland and Wayne Strickland. Some of them also worked in the restaurant at Oliver’s Lodge when they came back from a day of fishing during the summer season.
During the winter months when charter fishing died off, the locals would go commercial fishing for black sea bass, using traps to take advantage of the fish moving closer to shore and the prices that would tend to get high around the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays (mainly due to the northern markets where fresh fish was shipped). Fishermen, including Capt. Ira Vick and Capt. H.C. Strickland, would venture offshore during calmer days to catch fish for the markets, sometimes staying overnight while traps were set and brought back in. Typical practice was to look for a good bottom where the fish were congregating using a rod and reel, and when plenty of fish were biting, set the traps, baited with any type of fish available.
On one such trip, Capt H. C. Strickland, with mates Mike Strickland and Ed Cribb (who also lived at Oliver’s Lodge) found the black sea bass thick across a small area and, over the course of the day, loaded more than 4,000 pounds of fish into the cockpit of the Ann Howe. The traps were so heavy that they could hardly be pulled off the bottom with the help of a block and tackle (pulled in by hand), but once they came up in the water, the swim bladders of the fish decompressed and started floating the traps to the surface. Many of the traps were so full that the metal mesh of the trap deformed under the weight and the traps had to be straightened out before they could reset them. Toward the end of the trip, all of the coolers and boxes were full of fish and the ice had been used up, so they blocked off the back of the cockpit and dumped the fish on the deck.
The Ann Howe was sold to Capt M.G. Caughman around 1963 or 1964, and he used the boat for commercial fishing in the winter time. He ran charter trips during the season and would usually troll for topwater species like tuna, dolphin, mackerel and wahoo on his other boats (including the albacore and the wahoo). Shortly after he bought the Ann Howe, he was hired by Jeff Hunt in Columbia to run the Top Cat, a fast fishing boat with a half tower, and eventually moved to Columbia, while traveling all over the southeast and Bahamas fishing.
During this time, the Ann Howe fell into disrepair due to lack of use. The boat was pulled up onto Woodland Landing during an extreme high tide so they could work on the bottom and the running gear, and was destined to stay on that site until around 1972, when the hull caught fire and last remnants were left covered with creek mud. During the last years of the Ann Howe’s life, it was used as a clubhouse for creekrats (who spent hours sailing and exploring the high seas) or a subject for artists. Numerous paintings of the Ann Howe beached at Woodland Landing hang on residents or visitors walls to remind them of Murrells Inlet.
(Copyright © 2012 by Steve Strickland. Used with the author’s permission.)
Major League star Orlando Hudson visited Murrells Inlet and his friend, Chris Harrison, recently.
By Tim Callahan
Garden City’s Chris Harrison made quite a catch.
He caught a major leaguer and reeled him into Murrells Inlet in December.
Four-time Gold Glove award winner and two-time All-Star Orlando Hudson spent an afternoon at Jersey Mike’s signing autographs for Harrison, his former neighbor and diamond mate at St. John’s High School in Darlington, S.C.
Growing up on the same street, Harrison played shortstop and Hudson second base in high school and they remain friends to this day. They also have something else in common: they raise funds to help those with autism. In fact, Hudson has his own foundation, C.A.T.C.H., Curing Autism Through Change and Hope, a non-profit organization that enables children with autism to enjoy a normal active life through the funding of outlets for proper therapy, education, and extracurricular activities. Through grants to schools and other non-profit organizations that support the fight against autism, the C.A.T.C.H. Foundation is building a strong force to defeat the growing developmental disorder.
Now a member of the San Diego Padres, Hudson visited Jersey Mike’s and signed baseballs for $1 apiece, while Chris donated $1 for every regular size turkey sandwich sold and $2 for every giant sandwich sold, with all the donations going to S.O.S. Health Care Inc./Autism.
Formerly in the amusement industry, Harrison provided some entertainment for the crowds, including a fire truck for kids to play on and a guy walking on stilts making animal balloons.
But, the main attraction was Hudson.
“Orlando is a great friend and a great player who loves to help children,” Harrison said.
“He also has a very loud mouth and loves to talk,” Harrison joked.
Harrison loves the community and gives back regularly.
“I love the people and surfing,” he said.
He is engaged to Cassie Murray and has two children: Kristen, College of Charleston, and Brent, Winthrop University.
He has been in the restaurant business for nine years.
Hudson, 35, lettered in baseball, basketball and football in high school. He was drafted but chose to attend Spartanburg Methodist College, where he earned a associate’s degree. He was drafted again in the 43rd round in 1997 by the Toronto Blue Jays. He made his major league debut in 2001 and won his first gold glove in 2005. He was then traded to the Arizona Diamondbacks where he won two more gold gloves. He was named an All-Star in 2007. In 2009, he was traded to the Dodgers and earned another All-Star berth and gold glove. After a stint with the Minnesota Twins, Hudson is now a Padre.
He has played in both the Future’s Game and the World Cup, helping lead the U.S.A. to a silver cup.
Hudson, renowned for lunging catches and diving stabs, shines on and off the field, Harrison said.
For more information on S.O.S. Healthcare/Autism, visit http://scautismhelp.com
By Steve Strickland
MI History Project
The Ann Howe was a wood charter fishing boat that was built by Luther Smith in the 1930’s at his home near Sunnyside. Luther collected the wood from the live oak trees that were cut down during the construction of Highway 17 around 1933 and used the strong curved limbs to make the ribs for the frame of the boat. He started the construction of the boat after 1935 and completed the boat around 1941, just in time for World War II, where it was placed in service with the Army Air Corps.
Due to the length of time it took to build the boat, it was often called “Luther’s Folly,” and when asked if he were about finished with the boat, Luther would reply “and how,” which is how the boat got it’s name (Ann Howe).
Luther Smith ran the Ann Howe from the dock at Smith’s Landing after World War II, taking passengers for hire out to the blackfish banks (approximately 15 to 20 miles offshore). Navigation was performed using a compass heading and a watch to determine when they were close to the fishing grounds. When a good bottom was found, a cork float with a black flag tied to a bamboo stake was dropped over, using an old flywheel as an anchor. Typical fishing gear consisted of a handline with four hooks that the fisherman would send down and pull back up until they caught their fill. The catch of the day was typically black sea bass, grunts and snappers but, occasionally, a dolphin (mahi) would be caught on the top. These were usually thrown back because Capt. Luther told the mates that the fish was not any good to eat. Orange peels or tin foil would be used on the hook to start with to catch bait that could be cut up to attract larger fish. A number of local boys worked for Luther as the mate, including Earl Smith, Tommy Chandler, Bill Chandler and Buddy Martin. In the late 1940’s, Sam Barwick came along and worked for Luther, running the tackle shop and selling tickets while Luther ran the boat. Sam also ran the boat on trips when Luther was not able to go. Luther would allow the locals to go out for free on days when he did not have a full boat of paying customers.
The Ann Howe was sold to Capt. Mac Oliver in the early 1950’s and he moved it to his dock at Oliver’s Lodge and fished from there for several years. During this time, other local boys like Sam Vereen (Mac and Miss Teeny’s nephew) served as mates on the boat. Navigation to the fishing grounds continued to rely on a compass and a watch, with Clorox jugs and a weight to mark good fishing bottoms.
During one trip offshore, Capt. Mac suffered a heart attack and still made it home and, afterward, he had Capt. Ira Vick run the boat. Capt. Ira was a true seaman, and because of his skill and nerve, the Ann Howe survived Hurricane Hazel by riding the storm out in the channel out in front of Oliver’s Lodge. Roosevelt Pickett remembers watching the Ann Howe during the storm from the front porch of Oliver’s Lodge, and when the storm surge came up into the yard and waves washed under the Lodge, they could see Capt. Ira standing at the helm with the bow pointed into the wind. He tied the boat to a channel marker and kept the boat running into the wind, trying to keep slack in the line. At the peak of the storm, the motors were running wide open and the boat still pulled on the line tied to the channel marker. When the storm was over, the wood piling was pulled over at an angle from the force of the wind and the waves, but the Ann Howe was intact and ready to fish another day.
To be continued . . .
The January 2013 print edition of the Murrells Inlet Messenger is available for viewing online. Click below. Enjoy!
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