Newspaper Page Text
JSlflND€R_
• Dave Barry - 8
• Editorial
Back Talk - 20
• Health -14
• Movie Review
Hellboy II: The Golden
Army-12
• Pet Page -13
• Pew News -18
Surfin’
the News
Published by Permar Publications • P.O. Box 20539 • St. Simons Island, Ga. 31522 • 912-265-9654 • ssislander@bellsouth.net
July 21, 2008 Established 1972 Vol 36 Issue 29
Liberty Harbor honors unsung WWII heroes
Top: The Surrency sisters
from Ware County shared
their memories at the
Mariner's Memorial Park
dedication last week.
From left: Nanelle Sur
rency Bacon, Carobeth
Surrency Highsmith and
Lauree Surrency Hires.
Right: Congressman Jack
Kingston, third from left,
introduces Col. Tom Full
er, left, Nannelle Surren
cy Bacon, and Nicholas
Brissey, 2008 Merchant
Marine Academy gradu
ate, to the crowd.
Islander staff photos
Mariners' Memorial Park dedicated July 7
By Pamela Permar Shierling
School system
institutes new
registration process
The Glynn Comity School
System has instituted a new
centralized registration pro
cess for parents who are
enrolling their child in school
in Glynn County for the first
time. Parents will now visit
a central registration location,
as opposed to visiting individ
ual schools, to register their
child or children
"The new process will help
us to improve the accuracy
of our student data," said Dr.
Mike Hall, Glynn County's
chief technology officer. "This
is particularly important with
regard to data that is reported
to the state for accountabil
ity purposes. With centralized
registration, there are only a
Turn to Page 7
School registration
Casino pool on
SPC agenda
The Glynn County Commis
sion's application for a Dept,
of Natural Resources' (DNR)
permit to build a new swim
ming pool facility in Neptune
Park on St. Simons Island will
be heard by the DNR's Shore
Protection Committee (SPC) on
Thursday, July 24.
The committee meeting is
open to the public and will be
held at 9:00 a.m. at the Stellar
Conference Center at 144 Ven
tura Dr. in Brunswick, just off
SPUR 25.
According to Glynn County
Commissioner Uli Keller (Dist.
2) the Shore Protection permit
is the last step in getting ready
for pool construction.
"The pool design is complete
and the bid documents are
ready to go," said Keller, "We're
just waiting for the DNR per
mit." □
Correction
In the July 14 edition of The
Islander, in an article on page
2 titled "United Way of Coastal
Georgia announces 2008 Live
United campaign goal of $1.5
million" the Star Foundation
was inadvertently left out. The
Star Foundation is one of the
18 approved agencies who will
receive United Way funding
this year. □
Glynn County
election results
By Matthew J. Permar
With a number of local
races on the ballot, local voter
turnout was about average for
Glynn County last week for
the General Primary at just
under 27%.
Key local races included two
state senate seats, three state
house seats, four county com
mission seats and four board of
education seats, along with a
number of constitutional offic
es including District Attorney,
Probate Court Judge, Superior
Court Clerk, Sheriff, Tax Com
missioner, Surveyor, Coroner
and Chief Magistrate.
Note: The results in this
article were rounded to the
nearest whole percent.
In the races for Glynn Coun
ty Commission, Amy Calloway
pulled 63% of the Republican
vote to upset incumbent Carl
Johnson for the Dist. 1 seat.
With no Democratic opposi
tion in the November General
Turn to Page 5
Election results
Annual Kingfish
Classic to be held
July 31-August 2
By Jake Harrison
Between 600 and 750 ama
teur and professional fisherman
from all over the Southeast will
participate in the 2008 Golden
Isles Kingfish Classic (GIKFC)
next week, all with the hope of
landing the ‘big one” that will
push them into the winner’s
circle and earn them the grand
prize.
The annual fishing tourna
ment will be held Thursday,
July 31 through Saturday,
August 2.
Approximately 150 boats
will compete in this year’s tour
nament. The teams fish from
7:30 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. on Friday
and Saturday.
The Classic, held at Gas
coigne Bluff Park on St. Simons
Island, is a non-profit organiza
tion which has raised $294,000
for local charities and children's
organizations since its incep
tion in 1995.
Turn to Page 11
Kingfish Classic
It was a moving event, but
the best part of the Mariners'
Memorial Park dedication last
week were the stories the Sur
rency sisters and Col. Tom Full
er shared of their days working
in the Brunswick ship yards
in the 1940s during the height
of the J.A. Jones Construction
Company's liberty ship project.
On Monday July 14 U.S.
Congressman (Dist. 1) Jack
Kingston introduced the speak
ers by way of a short history
of Brunswick's Liberty Ships.
"These ships," Kingston said,
"were welded, not riveted and
they were run by boilers."
"At one point as many as
15,000 workers participated in
the building of these ships in
the Brunswick shipyard," he
said. "Liberty Ships carried
75% of the materials needed
to fight World War II, and one
in 26 Merchant Marines died
during war, the highest fatality
rate of any branch of the ser
vice during WWII."
Brunswick resident Col.
Tom Fuller was 14 years old
and drove a truck for a food
vendor who serviced the ship
yard workers.
"I tried to join the Navy but
was turned down because I
was too young," he said. "But
by driving that truck I could
help the war effort."
"My father was a WW I
veteran and encouraged me.
I wanted to be a soldier so I
joined the Army and finished
Turn to Page 5
Mariners' Memorial Park
