Newspaper Page Text
Page 12, October 21,2024, The Islander
The future of the
St. Simons pier
Those of us fortunate enough to
have grown up on St. Simons Island
back in the 1950s and ‘60s - and there’s
still more than a few us around - know
full well the wonderful place Mallery
St. once was.
Today the commercial area of Mal
lery St. is most often referred to as
the ‘pier village,’ but to those of us old
time islanders it was either just ‘the
pier’ or ‘the village,’ not both at the
same time.
This was back when the pier was
the island’s main shopping area with
a grocery store, two hardware stores,
a barber shop, two drug stores (where
we sat for hours reading comic books
and the owners were fine with it), a
couple five and dimes, one motel, one
hotel, one restaurant, one maybe two
bars and the Tastee Freeze, where a
lot of us worked at a tender age.
Now the ‘pier village’ is a tourist
haven with nothing but gift shops and
restaurants - so many restaurants.
Strother’s Hardware and Roberta’s,
the Davis family’s women’s clothing
store, are the only remaining original
businesses from the era of my youth.
I grew up with both the Strother and
Davis families.
Back in the day the July 4th Sun
shine Festival was a not-to-be-missed
event for locals.
The festival games were all inside
the Garden Room of the now-demol
ished ‘New Casino’ building and at
9:00 when they set off the fireworks,
everyone gathered on blankets in
Neptune Park and ooued and aahed.
And you knew everyone around you
because they were your neighbors and
classmates at St. Simons Elementary
School.
Then there’s the pier itself - it used
to be all wood, until they replaced it
with the cement monstrosity it is now.
I still miss the long, pitched wooden
roof.
Back then you could also climb over
the ends of the pier to a ledge and then
crawl through a gap in the structure
and sit, completely hidden from view,
on the inside of the ledge under the
pier deck just feet above the water. It
was great at night watching whatever
happened to swim by in the light of
the street lamp on the end of the pier.
I’ve never used this word in Back Talk
before, or to describe anything for that
matter, but it was magical.
I wonder if today’s kid know about
this, if they still climb down there or if
the ledge is even still accessible.
Like I said, over the years the pier,
and the entire island, have changed
drastically, which brings me to the
ultimate topic of this missive - the fu
ture of the pier.
There’s an article on Page 6 I wrote
this week about more proposed chang
es to the pier - this time in the form of
Publisher The Islander EDITORIAL
someone who wants to add four resi
dential units, one on the second floor
of the former Blue Water restaurant
and three more on top of the single
story building two doors down from
Blue Water. The second floor of the
latter will have to be built.
The plan for this started at the Is
land Planning Commission (IPC) back
in June when it was deferred to Au
gust and then deferred again to last
week’ meeting.
Last week it was heard and recom
mended for approval by the IPC on
Tuesday and ended up on the County
Commission’s agenda on Thursday.
Fortunately us old time islanders
have a comrade on the commission in
Cap Fendig, a born and raised island
er, who is concerned about density is
sues all over the island.
Fendig asked for, and got, support
from his six fellow commissioners
to defer this issue again for more
evaluation.
The primary issue with putting res
idential on Mallery St. second floors is
parking - parking has been a problem
all along Mallery since the 1970’s or
‘80s at least and residential property
use brings traffic that stays. Commer
cial use traffic comes and goes.
I’m as strong a proponent of private
property as there is, but you don’t
build a strip club in the middle of a
neighborhood.
I appreciate the full commission
agreeing to give this proposal more
consideration.
Thank a nurse
If you’ve ever been in a hospital and
are survived - Thank A Nurse!!!
I had a one day, out-patient proce
dure last week at the Southeast Geor
gia Health System and I wish I could
remember the names of all the nurses
that took care of me but they were
all great, starting with the one who
prepped me - she was extremely effi
cient and pleasant, putting me ease.
She even noted I had lost some weight
since my last weigh-in at the doctor’s
office and got me a smaller gown.
There were three in the OR all of
whom were great as well. One of them
had on an Alabama jersey, so we got
along famously.
Finally, the two who spent the most
time with me were Tosya and Tiffany
in post-op.
I know their job is to take care of
and keep an eye on their patients after
the procedure, but these two women
were superlative, keeping me compa
ny and my spirits up.
Everyone has opinions about medi
cal care, but I cannot say enough good
things about these nurses and my
doctor.
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Don’t forfeit your own Tailgate Party by watching the grill instead of the game.
Pass the ball to Three Little Birds for easy pickup or delivery so you can get in on the
action! After game’s end, load up your armchair quarterbacks for a huddle at The Nest
to discuss the post-game highlights over some tantalizing tapas and drinks.
GEORGIA SEA GRILL
COLLECTIVE ©
