Color Hair Salon near Johns Island, SC

JOHNS ISLAND, S.C. (WCSC) - A woman neighbors describe as a staple of the community has a new home thanks to a group of volunteers.

Sea Island Habitat for Humanity celebrated another closing on Johns Island Friday, handing over the keys for the second house they completed this year to Clareatha Matthews.

Matthews says she has been waiting for this day to come. She previously lived in a trailer right behind her new home for almost 40 years. On average, trailers are only supposed to last 10 to 15 years.

Matthews is an active member of the community and has been a resident of John’s Island since 1989. She is involved in multiple Bible studies and has worked at the John’s Island Subway for 20 years now.

“Oh my god today means so much to me. I have been blessed and truly blessed for this day. I have been waiting for this day,” Matthews says.

The project to build her home began in September. When a new homeowner is picked, they are required to work a certain amount of “sweat equity” hours by working with volunteers to help build their own home. Matthews was required to work 300 and volunteers say she continued to come out and work on her house even when her required hours were completed.

“She is just a staple. She is a very active part of this community, and she was also very involved in her habitat sweat equity hours. Continuing to come out and help work on her house even after she finished her hours,” Construction site supervisor Kali Tanguay says.

She also said that they have seen some new homeowners in the past fall short on their hours or not want to commit, but that Matthews went above and beyond.

Her friends and family came out to celebrate and help Matthews move in. Her daughters said their mother worked three jobs when they were growing up and that she never complained. They said that she deserved this greatly.

“We owe our entire life to Habitat for Humanity. It’s very special because my mom is such a dependable, hardworking, and deserving lady and it’s good to see her just totally happy,” Matthew’s daughter, Veronica Huggins, says.

Sea Island Habitat for Humanity completes an average of five to six houses per year and they are hoping to see that number continue to grow.

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A newly proposed hotel would be one of the first on Johns Island if it comes to fruition.

New Leaf Builders is proposing a 55,000-square-foot lodging, with an unspecified number of guest rooms, according to plans reviewed last week by the city of Charleston's Technical Review Committee, typically the first official stop in the permitting process.

The hotel is part of a larger mixed-used development to be called Jubilee. It includes 65 residential units, three restaurants and retail and office space.

The 3.27-acre property at 2935 Maybank Highway is just west of River Road. It was annexed into the city in 2017.

New Leaf did not respond to requests for comment about its plans last week. The company, which is headquartered on Johns Island, not far from the Jubilee site, builds homes in several residential developments in the Charleston region and in the Wilmington, N.C., market, according to its website.

The first hotel on Johns Island is well on its way. The Dunlin is set to open this summer at Kiawah River, a master-planned development off Betsy Kerrison Parkway. The luxury Auberge-operated boutique inn will offer guests 72 rooms, 19 villas, riverfront dining and a full-service spa, among other amenities.

MLK Day at IAAM

The International African American Museum is once again offering free admission, this time as part of a public celebration on Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

Registration for a timeslot is required for the waiver for tickets that are good from noon to 5 p.m. on Jan. 15. Local vendors, food trucks and other activities will be on the grounds of the IAAM, which opened its doors in June.

Earlier this month, the waterfront museum next to the Charleston Maritime Center offered free admission to commemorate Emancipation Day on Jan. 1.

Tennis (jobs), anyone?

The 2024 Credit One Charleston Open is less than 90 days away, and organizers are courting would-be volunteers to ensure the women's professional tennis tournament runs smoothly.

The annual WTA 500 event is a big visitor draw, attracting more than 90,000 attendees to Daniel Island each spring. It returns March 30-April 7 to Credit One Stadium.

Organizers are looking to recruit 350 volunteers to fill all sorts of roles, from ushering to maintenance, as well as 100 ball-crew members. The perks for the unpaid gig include tickets to a match, meal allowances and event apparel. Training and orientation sessions are required.

The tournament is run by The Charleston Place owner Ben Navarro's Charleston Tennis LLC and Beemok Sports & Entertainment.

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The Dunlin, the first commercial hotel on Johns Island proper, has set a check-in date.

Management just opened up bookings for after the planned Aug. 1 grand opening of the luxury Auberge-operated property, which will include three food-and-beverage establishments.

Located within Kiawah River, a 2,000-acre master-planned resort development off Betsy Kerrison Parkway, the boutique lodging will have 72 guest rooms, 19 villas, riverfront dining and a full-service spa, among other amenities.

The signature restaurant will be Linnette’s, which will focus on coastal cuisine with wood-fired dishes from a locally sourced seafood menu. A riverside lounge will serve tapas, while poolside dining will be available at The Cove.

The property’s starting rate is $749 per night for guesthouse rooms.

Michael DeCanio, general manager of The Dunlin, said the demand for Auberge Resorts Collection properties in the South is high, and management thought Johns Island was “the perfect location” with an “authentic agriculture heritage.”

“The property feels worlds apart from city life, but for guests who wish to head into Charleston to explore or enjoy a meal, they have that option,” DeCanio said.

He said the hotel’s spa, rentable event space, restaurants and bars will be open to the public.

Gatherings, both large and small, are expected to be an important source of business for the property, which will have several space options geared toward group travelers.

“There is an incredible demand for weddings as well as corporate events and celebrations,” DeCanio said.

Charleston City Councilman Jim McBride, who represents Johns and James islands, said while the hotel is outside of city limits, his biggest focus is it will impact residents.

"The good that it will bring is around 150 or more jobs for the island, and at least one nice restaurant,” McBride said in a statement. “It’s on the upper end of quality as a luxury hotel, and it will incorporate a lot of green space."

He also said he's not overly concerned about a traffic issue as he expects most guests will stay within the resort or within the nearby area, such as Kiawah and Seabrook islands.

Charleston County Council member Jenny Costa Honeycutt said most of the accommodation demand for Johns Island historically has been absorbed either by the peninsula — about 20 miles from The Dunlin — and by nearby vacation rentals and hotels on the more-intensely developed Kiawah and Seabrook.

Also, in some cases the infrastructure isn't in place, she said.

Named for a shorebird, The Dunlin is the first but possibly not the last lodging to land on Johns Island.

New Leaf Builders filed plans late last year for a 55,000-square-foot hotel with an unspecified number of rooms as part of a mixed-used project called Jubilee. The development is proposed for 2935 Maybank Highway, just west of River Road, and is still in the early approval phases with the city.

New Leaf could not be reached for comment.

CHARLESTON COUNTY, S.C. (WCIV) — Clean-up efforts are underway after vandalism resulted in a 60-gallon diesel fuel spill on Johns Island, officials with Charleston Water System said Monday.

The diesel fuel spilled into a stormwater ditch behind homes along Colonel Harrison Drive that leads to the Stono River. Residents initially discovered and smelled the fuel spill over the weekend. The South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control was called on Sunday to help with the spill.

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Vandalism causes 60-gallon diesel spill on Johns Island: Charleston Water System (WCIV)

Read more: "Successful oil spill cleanup in Charleston by Coast Guard, no marine life threats."

“Our contractor cleaned up a portion of the spill, immediately called in a professional environmental remediation company, and notified SC DHEC and the EPA’s National Response Center,” said Mike Saia, Charleston Water System's public information administrator. “It may take several days for them to recapture all remnants of the fuel.”

This is the third instance of vandalism to contractor equipment in recent weeks, and the Charleston County Sheriff's Office is investigating.

“I mean it is a very, in depth vandalism. It's not just a rock through the window. It’s someone who came out here to destroy this 200-something thousand-dollar machine,” said Chad Hunter, owner of Hunter Landworx Construction, the contractor onsite.

Hunter showed up to his Johns Island job site Monday expecting to quickly finish a project he’s been working on since October. Instead, he found his machinery completely vandalized.

“There are wires in there, cut and hidden like that. We wouldn't be able to find it if we didn't see that all the fuel around it, my guys would've gotten in the machine. He put rocks and all in our engine to try to blow the engine up,” Hunter said.

But the damage doesn’t stop there.

Read more: "Suspicion arises over two Colleton County mobile home fires in three days."

The vandalism led to a 60-gallon diesel fuel spill into the surrounding area along the Stono River. Charleston Water System owns the construction project, and its staff says they’ve never seen damage this bad.

“We don't see a lot of vandalism. If we do, it's very, very minor, and easy to repair. But this is a different situation because not only did the person damage the equipment related to the job, but they've also damaged the environment,” Saia said.

Saia said they were able to soak up as much of the liquid fuel as possible and the Coast Guard confirmed to CWS that the spill didn't reach the river.

Now, Hunter must pick up the pieces.

He said the damage to his machine alone will cost a few hundred thousand dollars and his crews are now behind on all their current projects.

“We're out here to clean up somebody's mess as well as take time from our family and slow down the project. I mean, it's hurting everybody, the neighborhood, everything around us is just getting messed up from one person,” Hunter said.

“One hour's worth of work is causing weeks of fix-up.”

News 4 has reached out to CCSO for more information.

California-based Auberge Resorts Collection plans to debut its first planned luxury hotel in South Carolina come 2024 in the form of The Dunlin, located within the Kiawah River master-planned community on Johns Island.

In partnership with real estate developer The Beach Co. and private investment and management company McNair Interests, the project is set to have a January groundbreaking.

“The Dunlin will offer an unforgettable escape where guests can immerse themselves in the pristine natural setting of Johns Island and the culturally rich attractions of Charleston,” Auberge Chairman Dan Friedkin said in a statement.

The Dunlin property will include 72 cottage-style guest rooms and suites and 19 villas, as well as a main lodge and porch, great rooms and a library lounge. Amenities encompass a pool with cabanas, full-service spa, community farmstead, and access to the community’s Spring House riverfront swim and fitness facilities.

A riverfront restaurant with outdoor deck will also be available, as will two event spaces, including a 10,000-square-foot indoor-outdoor event hall.

“We are pleased to partner with Auberge Resorts Collection to create The Dunlin, which will be one of the most remarkable new resorts in the country,” Beach Co. CEO John Darby said. “Auberge has a terrific track record of creating the most unique hospitality experiences in the world, and this endeavor’s intimate setting will bring highly personalized service with a coastal experience inspired by the local environment.”

Built into the Kiawah River community, which puts emphasis in natural surrounding elements, The Dunlin will consist of 2,000 acres of land with 20 miles of riverfront nature trails and marshlands. Guests will be able to participate in nature excursions on the property, including fly fishing, crabbing and boating, as well as paddle boarding, hiking and biking.

Architect Robert Glazier was chosen to design the resort, and Amanda Lindroth of Lindroth Design will lead the interior design of the property.

Construction financing was provided by United Bank’s Charleston offices.

Auberge Resorts Collection has 22 other hotels and resorts across the globe, recently winning accolades from Travel & Leisure’s 2021 World’s Best and Conde Nast’s 2021 Readers’ Choice awards.

The Charleston County School Board just can’t catch a break.

For once, none of the board members have done anything that anyone could reasonably criticize — yet they are still in the middle of a simmering controversy.

And they have to sort this mess out next week.

The trouble here is unfortunate: An excessively large committee of school officials and community members recently recommended christening the district’s new River Road school as Johns Island Elementary.

Which is only a problem because just about everyone really wants to name it after local civil rights icons Esau and Janie Jenkins.

Now, there are no villains in this story. No one set out to slight the Jenkins family. On the contrary, by most accounts this is actually the result of a well-intentioned attempt to avoid disrespecting anyone.

Unfortunately, the result is a generic, homogenized name that many board members say would be a wasted opportunity to honor a nationally acclaimed legend in education.

Last year, the district set up a naming committee for the new school, which will open in August 2025. Following preliminary discussions, the panel took its first tally in the fall, allowing members to vote on two names that would move forward for consideration. Esau Jenkins Elementary came out on top by one vote.

But then everybody got to talking.

See, Johns Island has a rich history — and a long line of African American residents who’ve done a lot of good in the Lowcountry. We’re talking about community activists like Bill Saunders, John and Mattie Washington, Hermina Traeye.

These are folks who worked to end segregation, help their fellow citizens engage in public discourse and bring civil rights to this country. For instance, Traeye was a nurse famously involved in the Charleston hospital workers’ strike; Saunders helped broker its resolution.

Esau Jenkins worked with many of those folks and, a lot of people would argue, led their efforts. He set up the first local citizenship school so African Americans could pass the literacy tests required to vote back in the day, started the island’s famous Progressive Club, founded the district’s Haut Gap school, hosted Martin Luther King Jr.

He and his wife, Janie, bought a Volkswagen van to drive students to school, because they knew education was the key to everyone’s success. As Jenkins drove students to downtown schools, Janie taught them to read.

It’s such a powerful story that part of their van ended up in the Smithsonian.

Most old-timers will tell you Jenkins is a local superhero, and the island's most famous native son. The bridge between Johns and Wadmalaw islands bears his name, as will a new senior housing complex that just broke ground.

Maybe that’s why some committee members started talking about honoring other locals from the Sea Island’s history. A little competition developed, and most folks understandably wanted no part of taking sides.

So they fell back on a district policy that says, in general, school names should reflect their geography. In fairness, many Charleston schools do just that: You’ve got James Island, North Charleston and Ladson elementary schools, and neighborhood schools like Stiles Point, Belle Hall and Oakland.

But the district also has nearly two-dozen schools — about a quarter of its facilities — that are named for somebody: A.C. Corcoran, E.B. Ellington, Mamie Whitesides, James B. Edwards elementary schools, just to mention a few.

In recent years, the district has named a middle school after local philanthropist Jerry Zucker and a high school after longtime Wando principal Lucy Beckham. Both of which were appropriate, worthy candidates for such an honor.

The Johns Island committee, however eager to avoid controversy, has only stirred up more. As The Post and Courier’s Valerie Nava reports, the committee received letters supporting the Jenkins name from a majority of Charleston County Council.

No pressure or anything.

Johns Island School Board member Darlene Dunmeyer-Roberson suggests the board thank the committee for its work, take its recommendation to name various rooms in the school after local residents such as Saunders, the Washingtons and Traeye — and officially name the school Esau and Janie Jenkins Elementary.

In other words, the board should make the hard decision the committee sidestepped.

“They’re only making a recommendation,” Dunmeyer-Roberson said. “It’s up to the board to make a final decision.”

She’s correct, but things are rarely that easy at 75 Calhoun St. — even though, when the board first discussed this in February, there seemed to be majority support for the idea.

Several board members say all the names brought up in the committee’s debate are worthy of honor, but Esau and Janie Jenkins should have the school named for them because education is their legacy.

And this is really not that complicated.

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