Granite Countertops in Pawley's Island, SC

Push and pull. Ebb and flow. These are the cadences of the ocean — and the rhythms that have governed Brian Henry’s life. The boy who grew up in southern Louisiana’s Cajun country before relocating to bustling Atlanta, now lives in the heart of the “Hammock Coast” that his efforts helped nickname so appropriately.

What started as a call from a tiny rustic inn on the ocean, luring in a couple looking for something more and less at once, has now become a lifelong legacy in the making for Brian Henry and his bride, Sassy. A leap of faith has led to thriving businesses, a mayoral seat and advocacy for an unspoiled oasis along a pristine coastline.

When people meet the Henry’s now, they see success. They see a power couple with political clout, they see one of the most famous pimento cheese companies in the U.S. (Palmetto Cheese) and they see owners of a thriving beachside bed and breakfast. What they don’t see, however, is the journey past and the future ahead.

The story starts for the Henry’s when each were born with a little something extra that made the go-getters want to better the world around them. That sauce is more secret and steeped in mystery than whatever makes that famous cheese sing so well (my mouth waters thinking about it).

The story that affects us, the fellow coastal South Carolina residents, begins at the Seaview Inn some 20 years ago when the Henry’s decided to leave the corporate cityscape to nurture a charming inn with no air conditioning, no television and perfect ambiance.

“We took over the Seaview Inn, and it was all slamming screen doors, rocking chairs and good Southern food,” Brian Henry reminisced. “That’s where the pimento cheese started. It was served as an app there.”

What he didn’t say yet was that everything actually began at that little inn. However, as the delightful recalling of his path to becoming mayor of Pawleys Island progressed, he realized just that.

After the Seaview was sailing smooth seas and their two small children were attending school, the Henry’s found themselves looking for their next opportunity to grow. That’s when Brian Henry asked Sassy, “What are you passionate about?”

“I’m passionate about my cheese,” she answered.

Sassy Henry, who revolutionized the Southern classic pimento cheese with flavors of cayenne pepper, draws from a traditional Georgian holiday cheese and whole shreds of textured cheddar. She teamed up with her husband to market the Pawleys Island vacationer’s favorite, which now rests on shelves in 9,500 stores in 40 states.

About a decade after the commercial birth of the South’s favorite cheese, Brian Henry felt what he calls “a pull, not a push” to become mayor. A respected town business owner and family man who was known to care about the future of the island, he decided to run for the seat at the urging of other townspeople who hoped to keep Pawleys Island the wonderful hideaway it is. He won.

“I was never interested in politics,” he remembered, “I’ve just always been involved. If you care about something being better, you can’t just sit on the sidelines and watch. You have to get in there.”

So, he got in there. He now speaks with pride about the amazing Fourth of July celebration that is “true Americans,” and about the founding of organizations that can keep big box stores and over-development out of Pawleys Island.

“The goal for the island is to maintain,” Henry offered. “Like the bumper sticker on my truck says, ‘love it and leave it alone.”’

Though sameness is the path to success for the island itself, the Henry’s still strive for more growth on the business front. The two are in the process of expanding their small Pawleys Island business Get Carried Away Southern Market into Mount Pleasant, where they hope to establish a flagship store for a future franchise. The business currently focuses on scrumptious Southern catering and take-out made easy. The Henry’s aren’t sure what the future holds for this venture, but once again, they are doing it together under a sky, not a ceiling.

Reflecting on all the accomplishments, Brian Henry recounted with a nostalgic tone, “Seaview was the genesis. This all happened because we bought that inn 20 years ago.”

Perhaps the inn is the energy source, embodying the soul of Pawleys Island itself. That is a soul of humility, simplicity and staying power. Just never forget, it is a soul powered by the force of all the Atlantic, which comes in and fades back every single day.

By Lorna Hollifield

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MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. - The place that calls itself "Golftown, U.S.A." is starting to get its mojo back.

Recently, the Charleston Post & Courier reported that Myrtle Beach is in talks with the PGA Tour to bring elite professional golf to the area for the first time.

Myrtle Beach Chamber of Commerce CEO Karen Riordan confirmed the two sides are working towards an agreement to bring the tour to town for at least a four-year stint, with the first event, tentatively called the Myrtle Beach Classic, to play out in May of 2024.

No host venue has been named as yet, but the leading candidate would seem to be the Dunes Golf & Beach Club, the Robert Trent Jones, Sr. design that has anchored the area golf scene since it opened in 1948. Recent renovations overseen by Jones' son Rees have updated bunkering and stretched the course out to more than 7,400 yards. It was a stout test when it co-hosted the PGA Professional Championship in 2014; Michael Block's winning score of 2-under par that year was the highest since 2005. In addition, The Dunes has hosted PGA Tour Q-school finals (1973), the Senior Tour Championship (1994-1999) and three U.S.G.A. championships: the U.S. Women's Open (1962), the U.S. Senior Women's Amateur (1977) and the U.S. Women's Four-Ball (2017).

Other area courses with the potential to host the infrastructure and crowds a PGA Tour stop would bring would be the Dye Club at Barefoot Resort (perennial host of the Monday After the Masters pro-am) and TPC Myrtle Beach (which hosted the 2000 Senior Tour Championship soon after it opened). But The Dunes would be the strongest choice.

The addition of a PGA Tour event - especially one that becomes a pillar of next year's revamped schedule - would figure to bump Myrtle Beach up from #11 on our list of the world's top 100 golf destinations.

Nearly four and a half years after original architect Jack Nicklaus returned to the course to offer suggestions for its improvement, Pawleys Plantation Golf & Country Club in Pawleys Island, S.C., will embark upon a four-month renovation project this summer, as the course turns 35 years old. Nicklaus associate Troy Vincent will lead the project with the primary goal to bring a bit more playability to a layout that has long been regarded as one of the most demanding in resort golf.

In addition to restoring the course's greens to their original sizes after decades of shrinkage, Vincent will reduce some of the bunkering, including several large, tough-to-maintain expanses of sand that primarily ensnare - and enrage - high handicappers. The remaining bunkers will be rebuilt with the state-of-the-art Capillary Concrete drainage system, which prevents washouts after big rain events. Vincent will also oversee some significant tree removal, which will help the course breathe and make maintenance a bit easier.

"Pawleys Plantation has been a fixture in the Myrtle Beach area since its opening in 1988," said Vincent. "When completed, you can expect larger greens, less bunkering and more native areas that will be playable."

Other updates at Pawleys Plantation include clubhouse renovations, including new outdoor dining areas overlooking the 18th green.

Pawleys Plantation is one of 21 Myrtle Beach-area courses owned and operated by Founders Group International (FGI). Grande Dunes Resort Club, another FGI property, received a similar renovation last year, as well as its own clubhouse upgrades. And Pine Lakes Country Club, the area's oldest course (originally opened in 1927), is maturing in the wake of its own renovation in 2021.

Some other area properties are tentatively scheduled for updates this year, with a focus on clubhouse renovations at River Club and Willbrook Plantation Golf Club in Pawleys Island, as well as some bunker work at the Arthur Hills-designed PineHills Course at Myrtlewood Golf Club and Long Bay Club, the area's other Jack Nicklaus Signature course.

In golf-adjacent Myrtle Beach news, Tiger Woods will bring his putting-centric "golfertainment" concept PopStroke to town soon. Per longtime Myrtle Beach golf beat journalist Alan Blondin for On The Green Magazine, the new location will be situated at the area's Broadway at the Beach shopping, dining and entertainment complex and will open sometime in 2023, not far from Myrtle Beach's Topgolf location.

PAWLEYS ISLAND, S.C. (WMBF) - Pawleys Island town council has voted unanimously to increase the golf cart permit fee to $25 effective immediately.

The reason for the increase according to Mayor Brian Henry is the increased workload for town administrators.

“We’ve got two administrative employees that are balancing a significant workload, more so than they have in the past, and enforcement. We have law enforcement officers out on the streets every single day,” said Henry.

The town paused the distribution of permits until the vote for the new fee. The old fee was $10 for the year.

“Carts with no decals, we did issue a significant amount of summons last year, parking summons for vehicles with no decals. If we do find one that is unoccupied and parked illegally, we put a boot on it,” said Chief Mike Fanning of Pawleys Island P.D.

Before the vote, residents were able to give their opinions on the increase.

“I can understand why you want more money, but there are other ways to go about it. You could try the cars parking here coming from out of town. You could charge less if it’s done online or in person,” said Wayne.

“If we’re doing this to generate revenue, we’re missing the big picture. You could be generating a lot more revenue by people coming and going off this Island on a regular basis,” said Rick.

While some residents didn’t mind paying the increase, they wondered if outside-the-town golf cart owners would have to pay.

“I have no problem paying golf cart fees, my understanding is the golf cart fee is for carts driven by the owners. I believe there are many golf carts that are on the Island that park at the beach that are not driven by the owners,” said John Batiste.

“In addition to current rules, maybe come up with best practices for users, especially the renters and rentals. Publish and share them,” said Chuck Supple.

For more information on the fee and other requirements visit https://www.townofpawleysisland.com/

Copyright 2023 WMBF. All rights reserved.

PAWLEYS ISLAND — Town Council moved Feb. 13 to retain Columbia-based Coastal Science and Engineering for the next three years to monitor the town’s beaches following a 2020 beach renourishment project.

The town retained CSE for post-project monitoring in 2021 and 2022 as well. The permit requires the town to have its beaches monitored for erosion and the project’s effectiveness for five years after the start, Town Administrator Daniel Newquist said.

The work in the $116,870 contract includes surveys of the beach and inshore sands that received renourishment, plus aerial photography and annual reports.

“It’s a very useful report, truthfully,” Newquist said of CSE’s annual reports on beach conditions. “They’ve been very helpful in assisting the town with post-storm documentation that we can utilize for (Federal Emergency Management Agency) purposes and such. It’s kind of, I think, a logical contract for us to maintain.”

The proposal Town Council members considered on Feb. 13 includes an add-on task: a post-storm survey after the damage from Hurricane Ian in late September.

CSE’s 2022 annual report drew from an August survey, prior to Hurricane Ian’s landfall near Georgetown. The report contains a brief section on Ian near its end, and CSE assessed the beach in the days following the storm.

CSE Vice President Steven Traynum submitted a report on Ian’s damage to the Pawleys Island beach on Oct. 6. Traynum’s report found that the renourishment project “served its purpose” in protecting the island from sustaining even worse damage than it did during Ian.

“Without a project, CSE believes many homes along the south end would have been severely damaged or collapsed, damage to the road surface of Springs Ave(nue) may have been severe, and damage would have been much greater along all areas of the island,” Traynum wrote.

Newquist said the timing of the 2022 survey work was “critical” for analysis of the beach post-Ian.

“We need to kind of prepare for the next renourishment and whether that needs to occur sooner rather than later,” Newquist said. “Their survey work will really dictate what kind of outlook we have.”

Newquist said it is still too early to tell whether renourishment will need to happen sooner than expected because of Ian. He noted that emergency renourishment was not recommended by CSE.

Sand fencing and vegetation installed after the renourishment project saw damage during Hurricane Ian, according to CSE’s 2022 report. However, it also states that storm water levels did not top the crests of the renourished sand dunes.

Suits by property owners at Prince George claiming they were damaged by the effects of a beach renourishment project at Pawleys Island should be dismissed because none of them appealed the state permit for the work, an attorney for the state argued in court last week.

An attorney for two of the owners said that argument was flawed because the state didn’t provide proper notice of the permit application.

The virtual hearing before Circuit Court Judge Paul Burch was the first time the arguments had been aired since Bud and Melesa Watts filed suit last May against two state agencies, the town and its contractors saying that the renourishment project caused Pawleys Creek to migrate along the beach in front of their oceanfront property in Prince George.

At the time, Pawleys Inlet had moved 300 feet. “The situation has become much worse,” Merritt Abney, the couple’s attorney, said. “My clients have lost property forever to the ocean.”

Following the Wattses suit, another group of Prince George owners filed a similar suit. The Prince George Community Association filed suit in January, saying the erosion threatens its property as well as that of its members.

The town completed the $14.8 million project in March 2020. It obtained a permit from the state Department of Health and Environmental Control to put 1.1 million cubic yards of offshore sand on the beach from the south end parking lot to north of First Street. The Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism helped fund the project. It was designed by Coastal Science and Engineering and carried out by Marinex Construction. All were named in the suits.

All the plaintiffs cited a 2010 study prepared by Coastal Science for the Prince George association that proposed ways to mitigate the migration of Pawleys Inlet due to beach renourishment. The study was commissioned after Georgetown County proposed building a groin to trap sand in front of the south end parking lot.

The suits say that DHEC failed to require the town to mitigate for the impact of its renourishment project on adjacent property owners as required by its own regulations. The erosion was no surprise to the defendants, Abney said. “No plan was put in place.”

PRT moved to dismiss all three suits, saying that it is not a proper party to the suits because it only provided funding, but also citing the failure of any of the plaintiffs to challenge the permit.

“None of the plaintiffs participated in the permitting process,” Walker Humphrey, attorney for PRT, told the court. “We wouldn’t be here if DHEC didn’t issue the permit.”

The law provides for appeals of permits first to the DHEC board and then to the Administrative Law Court. That court’s decisions can be appealed to the state Court of Appeals.

“Each of the plaintiffs had a full and fair opportunity to be involved in the process,” Humphrey said. “They could have avoided the harm” that they claim resulted.

Since there was no challenge, the permit was deemed to be proper and PRT funded a portion of the project, fulfilling a mandate included in budget provisos adopted by the General Assembly, he said.

The suits are “a collateral attack” on the permit, Humphrey said, and allowing them to go forward “would substantially frustrate the permit process.”

Abney, who argued for all the plaintiffs on their common issues, said “the Wattses received no notice of the application to DHEC at any time.” The administrative remedy outlined by Humphrey, “was not available to the Wattses.”

He also argued that PRT is a proper party to the suits because it helped fund a project that caused harm. The plaintiffs have all asked the court for an injunction requiring that Pawleys Inlet be restored to its location before the renourishment. PRT could help fund that without a mandate in the legislature since it would be correcting a mistake, Abney said, and would “complete the project in the manner it should have been done in the first place.”

Humphrey disputed the claim that the property owners were entitled to receive “direct notice” rather than notice by publication. “If they didn’t pick up the newspaper on those days, that doesn’t allow them to avoid that administrative process,” he said.

But if they believe DHEC failed to follow the notice requirement, Humphrey said the solution would be for them to file those administrative appeals now.

“This case should not be pending in Circuit Court,” he said.

The judge asked both attorneys to prepare proposed orders. “I may have to take them both and come up with something,” Burch said.

He also heard a request from Abney to require the town of Pawleys Island to be more specific in its response to a request for documents related to the renourishment. Abney said he asked for all communications about the project and only received emails included in the in-box of the former administrator, Ryan Fabbri. But the town identified others who were involved in the project.

“We gave him everything that we had, that the town had,” said Mark Buyck III, the attorney representing the town. “He was given a scad of emails.”

“They’ve searched one person’s inbox,” Abney said.

The judge told the attorneys to reach an agreement.

“As long as y’all have been around, you can get together and come up with something that will work,” Burch said.

Georgetown County Board of Education: First and third Tuesdays, 5:30 p.m., Beck Education Center. For details, go to gcsd.k12.sc.us. Georgetown County Council: Second and fourth Tuesdays, 5:30 p.m., Council Chambers, 129 Screven St., Georgetown. For details, go to georgetowncountysc.org. Pawleys Island Town Council: Second Mondays, 5 p.m. Town Hall, 323 Myrtle Ave. For details, go to townofpawleysisland.com. , .

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