Light On The Past – July 2010

Fort Screven’s Batteries

By Sarah Jones

July 2010:

I’d like to start this article by correcting a fact in May’s article – Atlantic Avenue was known as the “Entrance to the Ocean.”

Atlantic Avenue also runs parallel with Tybrisa.

Last month I wrote about the establishment and beginning of Fort Screven Georgia. This month I would like to write in a little more detail about three of the six batteries that line the north shore of Tybee Island.

These batteries are the reason that Fort Screven was built. They were the first line of defense for the city of Savannah.

Battery Brumby

Battery Brumby was the first built on Fort Screven. It was started in 1897 and completed in 1898. It was the only battery in service during the Spanish American War. The Battery is named after Lieutenant Thomas M. Brumby, who served wit hthe United States Navy durning the Spanish American War. He was Admiral Dewey’s Flag Lieutenant in the Battle of Manila Bay.

The Battery had 4 8 inch guns with a range of 10 miles they were mounted on disappering carriages. Today this Battery has been divided into several different lots, gun pits 1 and 2 are the Tybee Lite Shrine Club, gun put three is managed by the Tybee Island Historical society and is in the process of being secured for guided tours and gun pit 4 is a private residence.

Battery Garland

Battery Garland, completed in 1899, was armed with one 12-inch rifled gun mounted on a non-disappearing carriage and required 47 men and two officers.

The Battey was named for Brigadier General John Garland who served in the war of 1812, the Seminole Wars, the Mexican War and the Civil War.

This battery currently houses the Tybee Island Museum.

Battery Fenwick

Battery Fenwick was completed in 1900 and was armed with two 12-inch guns. The guns had an effective range of seven to eight miles and were removed in 1942.

The battery was named in honor of Brigadier General John R. Fenwick, 4th Artillery U.S., who served in the War of 1812.

Today this battery has been converted into a private residence.

Below left are photos of these batteries as they once appeared:

Until next month,

Sarah

If you have a subject you’d like for me to write about email me at tybeelighthouse@yahoo.com

Sarah Jones is the Assistant Director of the
Tybee Island Light Station on Tybee Island. She and her husband Casey live here year-round.

Vicki Lyn’s Bootcamp Adventures – July 2010

Bootcamp Update – July 2010

By Vicki Lyn Butrym

I hope everyone is having a fabulous summer.   It seems as though winter went so slow with the cold and now that summer is here it is going by too fast!   I told myself today that I need to enjoy this summer weather before it turns back into winter before I know it.  I know with my choice of career right now that my busy season is now.  That is the one downside to living on a tourist island; we have to work during the hot summer months while everyone is coming here to vacation.  I have to keep telling myself this is seasonal.  If I want to eat this winter I must not turn down any opportunities for the summer income.

I am glad that Tybee is having a great year, but to know we are getting more tourists because of what is happening in the Gulf is sad.  I can’t even imagine if that happened to us.  I just hope that some of these companies here on the island will take some of that profit and donate it to help clean up the beaches in the Gulf.  Karma always comes back at you.  I wish I could volunteer to go help, but I have too much responsibility right now to leave.  In a few more months I might be able to squeeze some volunteer time in.

In September I will be leaving for Maui on my volunteer vacation!! We will be clearing the trails at the Hawaii Nature Center located in Iao Valley on the island of Maui and contains over 35 acres of lush tropical rainforest. From what I understand we will be hiking a mile in everyday to get to the work location.  The Center hosts environmental education classes, guided interpretive hikes, nature adventures, earth care projects, and more. Their weekend and community programs have reached more than 25,000 island families a year on O’ahu and Maui. Iao Valley in central Maui, 900 feet above sea level. Trails wind through the rainforest, following the Iao Stream, ending at a lookout point where you can view the famous monument Iao Needle. The historical town of Wailuku is only two miles from Iao Valley.  I am so excited and I am sure you will hear all about it when I return.

I have to admit I have not been so good with Boot Camp this summer.  I am not advertising the way I should and we just took 3 weeks off due to people’s vacations and my little trip up North.  Once again we had to start all over again and man can I feel the difference in my energy level.   So if you are thinking of coming to Boot Camp and think you need to be in shape before you come, you are wrong.  Every Monday morning I feel like I am starting all over again.  It seems like we get into a good routine and feel strong and healthy and then things pop up for one reason or another you have to stop that routine.  After 4 years waking to my 5:30 alarm I guess it just comes natural that no matter how much time I have taken off, I still get up and keep on trucking.  So set our alarm and meet us out there and try it with us.  The skyline is so pretty this time of year and the sunrises are gorgeous.  I need you guys to motivate me!!!!

I wish I had some advice for some of my old boot campers on getting back into the routine.  I keep getting phone calls saying , “Vicki Lyn, I miss you guys and I want to come back, so I will see you Monday”, but then they never come.   I have one person who was coming faithfully all the time and she was feeling great, then winter came and she didn’t.  I have heard her say since January, every month she is going to start back up, but I have only seen her once this summer.  I know she feels unhealthy and sluggish and I know that she was doing so good when she was coming.  I understand how hard it is to start back up again but you have to start somewhere.   I get phone calls all the time and people seem so excited about it, but then bamm, they shut the alarm off and roll over and go back to bed!!!!  So my advice to you is put the alarm on the other side of your bedroom so you actually have to get out of bed to shut the alarm off.  You might just find yourself saying, well I am up so I will stay up.

Belly Dance Classes have stopped for the summer, but will return this fall.  I think with everyone’s busy summer schedule that it was not working out.  I will keep you posted on the new schedule for this fall.  You don’t have to be fit and trim to take belly dance classes, so please get that out of you head and come try it when classes start back up again.

Everyone please be safe this summer and don’t be in such a hurry that life flies right by you.  I am sitting here today saying where did April, May and June go?  Here we are in the middle of July all ready.

So enjoy and try to slow down a bit to enjoy the time you have today.

Vicki Lynn

Vicki Lyn Butrym’s Fitness Boot Camp Class is offered to all on Monday – Friday, “In Loving Memory of Paul. W. Butrym.”

Contact Vicki Lyn at 912-598-3009, or vickilyn62@gmail.com.

Your Monthly Bill – July 2010

A Tour Not to Be Forgotten: The Tybee Sewage Treatment Facility

By Bill Gillespie

by Bill Gillespie

Do you know where our waste goes when we flush our toilets? Do you know how it is treated and disposed of safely? I do now — thanks to George Reese and Gary Campbell from the City of Tybee’s Sewage Treatment Facility, on Polk Street, North Beach. They were great hosts and tour guides, and I found the visit extremely informative and interesting.

Are you wondering why am I writing about this? Well, I wanted to tell the citizenry about the great progress that has been made by the City through treatment facility improvements and upgrades, but more importantly, to assure folks that recent and past North Beach closures are not tied to human fecal coliforms from the City’s waste treatment facility.

The Tybee Sewage Treatment Facility goes through rigorous state compliance inspections, and has the necessary credentialed and certified operators.

The Tybee Facility is well maintained, modern, and includes updated monitoring software and brand new odor containment measures. The bad smell sometimes observed over the past year has been almost eliminated. A new smell containment housing removes sulfur-containing compounds, as well as the inorganic gas, hydrogen sulfide, which cause the nasty smells. The neighbors are most appreciative of the new addition. The objective of the sewage treatment facility is to collect our waste and produce a disposable effluent without causing trouble or harm to the natural or human environment. Sounds simple, but it isn’t.

Our waste is pumped to the Polk Street facility where it is treated and processed. Solid waste is broken down naturally by aeration, filtration, settling, and bacteria. Visually, the river of churning waste, waterfalls and settling ponds are a little like Willy Wonka’s Chocolate River, but not. After several cycles, the water is filtered through ultraviolet (UV) light to kill any remaining harmful bacteria. Bio-solids – called “sludge” are removed from the waste water, oven dried, and then taken to the County Landfill.

Ultraviolet light is used instead of chlorine, iodine, or other chemicals to kill the bacteria and other harmful pathogens. Because no chemicals are used, the treated water has no adverse effect on organisms that later consume it, as may be the case with chemical treatment methods. UV radiation causes damage to the genetic structure of bacteria, viruses, and other pathogens, making them incapable of reproduction.

The treated water is monitored and quality controlled prior to its final release in to the Savannah River. The State Board of Examiners for the Certification of Water and Wastewater Treatment Plant Operators and Laboratory Analysts inspects the facility and personnel. The State Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and the Environmental Protection Division (EPD) routinely check the water, normally weekly at a minimum.

No current records link any of the North Beach closures to the Treatment Plant. The City of Tybee is working with DNR and EPD to identity the real beach closure problems, i.e. bird waste (really), failing Savannah River area septic tanks, ship waste release, or other. Tybee obtained a grant for further study and testing, so more information will be forthcoming.

So next time you flush the toilet, think about the wonderful process of waste removal. Be proud of your up-to-date treatment facility, and the fact that you probably do not smell it anymore! And finally, think twice before you flush anything other than TP, or waste.

You’ll be doing your community a big favor! The system was not designed for trash, diapers, rags,
prescription medicine, paint and chemicals.

Happy flushes!

Bill

You may contact Bill Gillespie at william.gillespie@us.army.mil

Roving Reporter – July 2010

A Jump To Remember!

By Lauri Kinkel

When we first arrived at Sky Dive Walterboro, I asked myself “why on earth are you doing this, Lauri?”  I then remembered the conversation I had about 3 months earlier with Scarlett.  She sugested we go skydiving for her 30th birthday and I, three vodka bay breezes later said sure, let’s do it!

I pretty much forgot about our plan until the the middle of June when I got a message saying we needed to reserve a time “to jump.”  I thought of every excuse possible about why I couldnt go but then decided if Scarlett, Will, Isak and Britt were brave enough to do it then I needed to too!  Plus I promissed Scarlett I would and she said she would only do it if I did.   I’m so glad I did.  It is a truly amazing experience!

We could only go one person at a time since we had a video taken.  Will went first,  then Scarlett, then me.  Isak and Britt passed on the video and jumped together after waiting a couple hours for a rain storm to pass.

The plane ride up takes about 20 minutes and you  climb 10,000 feet before you take the plunge.  The plane door opens and you scoot out to the edge with your instructor strapped to your back,  count to two and jump!  You travel thru the air at 130 mph and I honestly felt like I was going to die for the first 5 seconds of freefalling.  Then you stabilize and get your bearings and the fear completely goes away.  The sound of the air as you descend is all you hear ‘til the instructor pulls your chute and then it gets completely silent and you fly around at a much slower speed while taking in the scenery.

After the freefall, flying around is completely relaxing.  It’s just you, your chute,  the instructor and the panarama of the earth below.  Feeling your feet touch the ground is the most relief I have felt in a long time.

I’m so glad I did this with my best friends!  It was a bonding experience, one I will never forget…  and probably won’t do again  – LOL

Roving Reporter & Photographer
Lauri Kinkel
Lauri Kinkel is a freelance photographer and advertising sales representative who lives on Tybee year-round.

Out of the Box – July 2010

An Unsung Hero

By Mary Anne Street

Mary Anne Street

Last week, Oprah had a hairdresser on her program who coifs the stars. He’s French (that helps) and he has a flair for hair. He also charges around $750 for a cut, shampoo and style. That is outrageous, but he’s completely booked and you have to wait in line to get him.

Kevin Grant (pictured below) charges $12 per shampoo and style.  Yes, you read that right–$12; of course, you have to be in a nursing home.  Kevin has a successful salon of his own in Savannah called KG’s Salon & Productions. He charges $55 and up for shampoo, sets, and so forth. He’s busy, and he has 3 assistants working with him—Ciera, Glenice, and Clrona. But he gives his time to nursing homes, doing the grooming for those who can’t afford regular salons and/or can’t get out to have their hair done.

My mother is in Oceanside Nursing & Rehab Center (912-786-4511). She’s limited in what she can do—she’s in a wheelchair and can’t walk, she has diabetes, and on and on. Her ONE pleasure is getting her hair fixed once a week. She’s lucky—she’s got family who helps with expenses, but many people get an “allowance” from Social Security and it’s very small, making it difficult to afford the “extras.” One shampoo and set could wipe out a person’s entire monthly stipend.  Kevin to the rescue!!

I asked Kevin why he does it, why he devotes so much time helping these people.  “I took care of sick grandparents,” he said. “I spent lots of time with them and I saw their needs and how much doing my grandma’s hair made her spirits rise, and I just wanted to do that for other elderly people.” He contracts to eight different nursing homes, spending a few hours at each per week, cutting hair, shampooing hair, setting hair, giving perms—just about anything residents need in the way of grooming.

And Kevin gives so much more than the hairstyles. “I feel so old and ugly if I don’t get my hair done,” said one resident; “Getting my ‘do’ makes me feel pretty and part of the world.” My mother says it’s about the only thing that she has some “control” over. “I can get my hair done and feel like a real person, and pay for it myself; I even give him a tip.” Kevin gives residents a tie to the world beyond the nursing home walls, and for many who have no family, no outside contacts, no way to feel good about themselves, Kevin gives humanness, kindness and a way for them to feel beautiful.

When asked what motivates Kevin to continue, he said he actually learns many things from the residents. “My mom always said I was an ‘old spirit’—I love the stories of the past, the way of life, the ways of another time. I can listen to these people, hear their stories, and it’s fun and interesting to me. They get to share their stories and I get to hear them—a win-win for all of us.”

Kevin’s been doing this work for ten years and when I asked him how long he’ll continue, he said, “I love what I do and I guess I’ll continue until I become a senior.” He’s now 33. Kevin is one of those un-sung heroes we never know about; one that makes a difference in many lives.

We thank you, Kevin.

Mary Anne

Mary Anne lives on Tybee with husband The Tybee Handyman. Contact her at:  MaryAnne@tybeevacationremtals.com

Next Page »