A lookback at the BBC

In 1995, Bluffton had its very own TV station, the BBC, Bluffton Broadcasting Corporation. Its elegant studios? A janitor’s closet in the back hallway of what once was Bluffton High School.

Laverne Ward was the owner, operator and instigator of this enterprise. He had the equipment, but no programs.

So, we did what Blufftonians do. We got together one night in the school auditorium and decided who was to do what.

Tuesday night’s program, and this is what I read on one of those nights way back then:

Eleven years ago, on Aug. 30, 1984, two busloads of Beaufort County citizens went to the state capital, Columbia, for a very special cause, for a very special reason. That occasion was a meeting of the board of the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control. On the agenda that day was a proposal to identify creeks and rivers in the Beaufort County area as pristine and give them the protective designation of SAA.

There was a long table in the boardroom, and the DHEC board members sat around it, with the rest of us standing behind them, leaning against the walls and blocking the doorways. Sixty or so of us waited to see if months and years of work would result in our waters being declared SAA.

Adrenaline was running high.

The chair, Dr. Moses Clarkson of Columbia, wanted to wait for the missing board member, Dr. Douglas.

We wanted the board to vote. It was iffy.

Only a small portion of the board members came from the Lowcountry and understood our fragile system of rivers and estuaries.

We waited patiently and anxiously, whispering among ourselves.

Then a murmur went around the room: “You have a quorum, vote; you have a quorum, vote.”

being tardy.

The vote was taken. Yes.

The Colleton River, Maye River, Okatie River and Cooper River from New River to Ramshorn Creek were now declared pristine, the first SAA waters in South Carolina.

A cheer went up around the room and echoed up and down the hallway.
Neighbor hugged neighbor as we all realized the finalization of a dream.

Except, was it?

We had started trying to protect the rivers prior to BASF coming in from Germany and wanting to put a phosphate plant on Sawmill Creek. BASF backed off, and then came Chicago Bridge and Iron. They Armageddon-scraped the earth and put in giant concrete pilings for a commercial dock.
More petitions, more meetings, more work to try and save the rivers. Chicago Bridge and Iron left.

Then came Victor B. Porter and his luxury high-speed boat plant. Here we go again with meetings at the Rec Center gym and petitions and candlelight vigils at the end of Sawmill Creek Road. This time, the economy’s downturn saved the rivers from pollution. No boat buyers, no boat building.

Carol Mays and Mary O. Merrick got 3,000 names on a petition requesting river protection. A proposal by Laura McIntosh, Lou Dufresne and Tom Taylor was presented to the local planning committee. From there, it went to the Beaufort County Joint Planning Commission of Beaufort, Bluffton and Hilton Head, but was never brought to a vote.

This proposal has been modified, but it is basically the same proposal that is being presented to the County Council today.

Let’s see: If we started in 1967, this is 1995.

How many years?

We are getting weary. Some of us, like Carl Mays, have moved away. Some have died. Some have too many responsibilities to become personally involved.
But all of us stand firm in our conviction that if our waters, our rivers and creeks, that life source that binds us all to this Lowcountry of South Carolina, if these waters are not cherished, if these waters are not protected, then we lose that part of our way of life that makes living here so very special and creates that ...

Bluffton State of Mind.

Annelore Harrell’s journey is a tapestry woven with experiences and extraordinary accomplishments. At 92, Annelore’s energy and zest for life continue to inspire.