...maybe we all need to reflect on Ronnie Tatum's story and throw him a parade at least to say thank you. Ronnie is one of a few Vietnam Veterans born and raised on Tybee Island. and folks, he is now shrapnel free. you know him. he is your neighbor of 55 years. bullets couldn't take him out but he suffered shrapnel wounds in the 1968 Tet Holiday offensive in Vietnam. a Savannah plastic surgeon relieved him of that hot metal from his chest and stomach recently. This Marine Corps Corporal is your 24/7 regular guy Infantry ground pounder who asks for little recognition. he is reflective about his 4 year experience and says he just wants to..."sit on his front porch like an old dog and help other people." he is hardly old folks and keeps his Marine appearance fit. he fought for his country, earned an honorable discharge and now his own body is free from the hurt it cost him to stand-up, 36 years ago. thanks, Ronnie...

...top guns from City Hall on Tybee's Beach just north of The Curve where parts of the old sea wall loosed and barnacles injured two swimmers. City Manager Bob Thomson and Public Works Director Billy Pye personally warned beach goers of the erosion danger. good to see them on the scene handling the deal. they ordered in the heavy equipment operated by Jimmy Bostwick and his crew planted three warning signs. even former mayor Pat Locklear waded in the water to alert swimmers to possible injury. check out those signs and take a little musical cue from Nancy Sinatra...keep your bare feet made for walkin' away from that area...

...some ten years of reflection this month for Tybee's grocer, Mike Hosti. it was august 16th, 1992 when a lightening strike and fire put him totally out of business for 18 months. Mike was visiting friends in New York when he got the phone call. ironically, he was watching BACKDRAFT. a movie about firefighting, when the blaze kicked in a back room. luckily, no one was hurt. two employees were closing up when the fire started. in fact, the clock froze at 5 minutes after 9pm. it was fed in on a water line. " it was so hot, it melted wine bottles." he remembers. you might not know that Big Mike gave away perishable goods right away to needy organizations so they could be put to use. his Hobart Scale and stainless steel shelving survived. then starting over...this time doubling the size of the old Tybee Market. on march 11th, 1994, Mike opened his doors. he said folks kept asking him when he would be ready because they were tired of fighting the long lines at convenience stores.Mike fought lawsuits over the new building expansion and years, as he says, of tight money, tough times. better times now.drop by and share your memories of that time with the Big Guy. Tybee Market has been a part of Island life since 1934... you know folks, it still is.

...there is Tybee connection to the Wayland Brown saga. he is the ex-priest from Saint James accused of molesting a youth while a Catholic seminarian in Maryland years ago. you might remember the headlines earlier this summer describing the accuser wearing a wire when he went to talk to Brown at his Savannah digs in April. that recording was turned over to police and Brown's ticket was punched to Maryland to face charges. well folks, Brown worked as the accountant of record on the Atlantic Star based at Lazaretto Creek. the gambling boat, like Brown, is no longer in circulation.
that operation bellied up last year.

...Himself, our Police Chief, has strong feelings on a suggestion being floated that all municipalities kick in $ 152,000 dollars to help maintain Chatham County Jail. Jimmy Price says NO. Jimmy says it is a matter of math in that 60 to 70% of people taken to County Jail from Tybee are not residents but tourists. and as he says, we are already taxpayers out here anyway.

... the Council's Jason Buelterman took on the editorial types at Savannah Morning News asking them to do their homework by reading the meeting notes of last June on the 50-grand still missing in action in last year's Water&Sewer Budget. if so, the Bay Street Rag would have discovered that the Council didn't write it off as claimed by the paper. as this summer's melodrama plays out, the City is ordered to 'fess up and tell all in August. about time. perhaps it's not TYBEE NEEDS A SHOVEL as the Morning News editorialized. could just be that good newspapering starts with homework. still talk of an investigation into the whole matter. meanwhile, folks, Greg McLean, Tybee's Finance Director, was quietly pinkslipped. City Hall says NO connection. peace in our time?
Buelterman knows all about homework because he assigns it to his Johnson High students.And coming soon, he promises, the start of his Youth City Council for Tybee young people.

...rumors are ripe on this one that Chatham County is talking seriously with Tybee about plans to give the pier/pavilion to us provided that security and maintenance is the mainstay in the deal and the concession franchise is workable. Mayor Walter Parker tells me he is talking with Commissioner Billy Hair and the roadblock involved for a transfer was the previous Council saying NO unless security and maintenace be addressed. this is where it gets hot as The Breeze has word of a primo candidate to run a restaurant and provide the needed services. there is a strong rumor that architect renderings are drawn and it is just a matter of time. this could be close, folks. Dean Morrison runs the concessions now and is said to be interested in ponying up a bid himself. as far as money making is concerned, Parker asks if anyone knows of a public pier on a beach on the Atlantic Ocean that can't make money? this story is aching to break with a lot of tight lips right now.

...no secret that political signs all over Tybee are reminding us there must be election soon. it is primary season and headliner Burke Day wants your vote. the GOP State Rep is running in the 126th District and two time City Councilperson, Phil O'Dell is up as a Democrat in the new, huge, 124th.Post 2. Burke points out the Tybee primary vote is traditionally low so he is out to find
what the voters are talking about. Phil is running a campaign aimed at meeting the needs of north Tybee, especially beach conditions. he argues that two beach people in the State House means twice as much money and twice as much representation. look for letters from Burke and Phil before the August 20th vote.

...just shootin' the breeze with outside diners at the popular 14th&Butler eatery, Sting Rays. look for an inside version there soon as the owners are completing construction of a bar and table seating layout in what was the Tybee Surf Shop. check it out. looks good.

...and the sounds coming from Nathan Hefner continue to charm the music crowd at D J's Piano Bar on the South End. Nathan is back later this summer to sing classic material that covers about 70 years of great tunes. heard his tape and folks, he is worth checking out. Nathan has been singing publicly since age 3 and playing the keyboard before he turned 6. he's done gigs with the Smothers Brothers and the ever popular Lettermen.

...seated together at the Shrine Club for the APBA powerboat races in July...THE BIG THREE. that's Uncle Bertie Hubbard of Rascals, Smilin' Jack Flanagan of Crab Shack fame, and Dapper Chuck Vonashek of Skippers. glad to report first hand that no fighting broke out and the boys shared binoculars. also seen, Race Sponsor Bonnie Gaster and Administrative Aide Bob Edleman, Husband Buddy Blauth with Mortgage Mistriss Lin Walsh, Claire Price, Hunter House Chef Espy and his lovely lady, Mary, Maria Watts, Corky&Rita Butler, Jane Coslick&Joe Inglesby, and the De Vivo's, Paul&Paula.

great time. great race.and the Shrine Club Staff was super!
probably will see y'all soon...

...just shootin' the breeze.