AC repair inDarien, GA

By using this website, you accept the terms of our

By Pat Foster-Turley September 30, 2022

Lots of my readers probably get the Harris Teeter weekly emails and they have a feature, “Meet our Fishermen.” And when it comes to shrimp specials, lots of the time they feature one Boone or another up in Darien, Georgia. Darien is only about an hour north of us by distance but it is decades away from Fernandina in time frame. It is still a small coastal fishing town, with active shrimp, clam, sturgeon and other fisheries in full operation, if you know where to look and are lucky to time it right.

Well this time we sure timed it right. We were in Darien, celebrating our 45th anniversary. We go there often to get away from the Fernandina Beach hubbub and I have developed a usual routine. After breakfast I go for a walk around the historic district, past old churches and groomed public parks. This time I was on my usual walk when I noticed a number of cars passing me and heading down a small road towards the water—Boone Dock Road. So I decided to follow them. The further I got down this dirt lane the more obvious the sound of machinery was in front of me. When I arrived at the dock I saw why. A shrimp boat was unloading their catch and all hands were on deck to receive it.

The ground crew was fine with my presence there, camera and all. I happily watched many pounds of beheaded shrimp being lifted from the hold of the boat in a large bucket on a pulley and dumped onto a conveyer belt that moved the product to the weighing station, where set amounts were then packaged for shipment. This particular boat was out fishing for six days, and presumably they beheaded the shrimp while still out at sea.

This was Boone’s fish dock, so I asked how many of the guys working there were Boones. And it turned out that most of them were! A regular family operation, the Boones, have been in the fishing business in south Georgia for four generations or more. One brother Greg, was manning the important weighing station, and another, Walter answered my questions. It turns out Walter is the head of Walter’s Caviar, in a nearby building, and he offered to show me his wares too.

And what a tour it was! Walter posed with some cans of his expensive caviar, extracted from wild caught sturgeon. Online the price of a small tin (4 ½ ounces) costs $139, a luxury for sure. Walter has paid up to $10,000 or more for a single large female sturgeon loaded with roe but he can sell the cured and packaged eggs (the caviar) for three or four times that amount.

Walter regaled me with stories about one of his relatives, Sinkey Boone, who in 1967 developed the first turtle extruder net to protect sea turtles from the shrimp trawls. This family also developed a thriving business catching jellyfish in a special net they developed for this purpose. Until recently they dried this catch and shipped tons of it to China, but now, Walter says, shipping is too expensive so they have stopped harvesting them. Inventing apparently runs in the family. Walter himself is a successful inventor and entrepreneur, having invented and marketed the Senoob (Boones spelled backwards) flare launching gun that can shoot arrows, bullets, flares, you name it, with about 120,000 sold per year.

After my interesting morning with the Boones I walked back to the hotel along the water’s edge, past shrimp boats and a few tour boats docked there. Along the way I admired the old tabby building that is being restored at great cost in the historic area.

Back at the hotel the only real decision we had to make is where to head for lunch. There are a number of fish camp/seafood restaurants in the area, all specializing in one type of seafood or another. There is Skippers, right on the water in Darien, which has a great oyster bar with their own take on oysters Rockefeller. Further up the road past Crescent is The Fish Dock at Pelican Point where they process clams. A bit further south of Darien is Mudcat Charlies, the best place ever for fried oysters. All of these places offer fresh wild caught shrimp and fresh fish and, of course, beer!

If you are looking for a quick getaway you can’t go wrong with Darien. Check it out and you won’t be disappointed.

Pat Foster-Turley, Ph.D., is a zoologist on Amelia Island. She welcomes your nature questions and observations. patandbucko@yahoo.com

DARIEN, Ga. (AP) — Descendants of enslaved people living on a Georgia island vowed to keep fighting Tuesday after county commissioners voted to double the maximum size of homes allowed in their tiny enclave, which residents fear will accelerate the decline of one of the South’s few surviving Gullah-Geechee communities.

Black residents of the Hogg Hummock community on Sapelo Island and their supporters packed a meeting of McIntosh County’s elected commissioners to oppose zoning changes that residents say favor wealthy buyers and will lead to tax increases that could pressure them to sell their land.

Regardless, commissioners voted 3-2 to weaken zoning restrictions the county adopted nearly three decades ago with the stated intent to help Hogg Hummock’s 30 to 50 residents hold on to their land.

Yolanda Grovner, 54, of Atlanta said she has long planned to retire on land her father, an island native, owns in Hogg Hummock. She left the county courthouse Tuesday night wondering if that will ever happen.

Other news

Georgia Medicaid program with work requirement has enrolled only 1,343 residents in 3 months

“It’s going to be very, very difficult,” Grovner said. She added: “I think this is their way of pushing residents off the island.”

Hogg Hummock is one of just a few surviving communities in the South of people known as Gullah, or Geechee, in Georgia, whose ancestors worked island slave plantations.

Fights with the local government are nothing new to residents and landowners. Dozens successfully appealed staggering property tax hikes in 2012, and residents spent years fighting the county in federal court for basic services such as firefighting equipment and trash collection before county officials settled last year.

“We’re still fighting all the time,” said Maurice Bailey, a Hogg Hummock native whose mother, Cornelia Bailey, was a celebrated storyteller and one of Sapelo Island’s most prominent voices before her death in 2017. “They’re not going to stop. The people moving in don’t respect us as people. They love our food, they love our culture. But they don’t love us.”

Hogg Hummock’s population has been shrinking in recent decades, and some families have sold their land to outsiders who built vacation homes. New construction has caused tension over how large those homes can be.

Commissioners on Tuesday raised the maximum size of a home in Hogg Hummock to 3,000 square feet (278 square meters) of total enclosed space. The previous limit was 1,400 square feet (130 square meters) of heated and air-conditioned space.

Commissioner Davis Poole, who supported loosening the size restriction, said it would allow “a modest home enabling a whole family to stay under one roof.”

“The commissioners are not out to destroy the Gullah-Geechee culture or erase the history of Sapelo,” Poole said. “We’re not out to make more money for the county.”

Commission Chairman David Stevens, who said he’s been visiting Sapelo Island since the 1980s, blamed Hogg Hummock’s changing landscape on native owners who sold their land.

“I don’t need anybody to lecture me on the culture of Sapelo Island,” Stevens said, adding: “If you don’t want these outsiders, if you don’t want these new homes being built ... don’t sell your land.”

County officials have argued that size restrictions based on heated and cooled spaced proved impossible to enforce. County attorney Adam Poppell said more than a dozen homes in Hogg Hummock appeared to violate the limits, and in some cases homeowners refused to open their doors to inspectors.

Hogg Hummock landowner Richard Banks equated that to the county letting lawbreakers make the rules.

“If everybody wants to exceed the speed limit, should we increase the speed limits for all the speeders?” Banks said.

Hogg Hummock residents said they were blindsided when the county unveiled its proposed zoning changes on Aug. 16. Commissioners in July had approved sweeping zoning changes throughout McIntosh County, but had left Hogg Hummock alone.

Commissioner Roger Lotson, the only Black member of the county commission, voted against the changes and warned his colleagues that he fears they will end up back in court for rushing them.

Two attorneys from the Southern Poverty Law Center sat in the front row. Attorney Anjana Joshi said they had “due process and equal protection concerns” about the way the zoning ordinance was amended.

“In our view, this was not done correctly,” said Joshi, who added: “We’re just getting started.”

Located about 60 miles (95 kilometers) south of Savannah, Sapelo Island remains separated from the mainland and reachable only by boat. Since 1976, the state of Georgia has owned most of its 30 square miles (78 square kilometers) of largely unspoiled wilderness. Hogg Hummock, also known as Hog Hammock, sits on less than a square mile.

Gullah-Geechee communities are scattered along the Southeast coast from North Carolina to Florida, where they have endured since their enslaved ancestors were freed by the Civil War. Scholars say these people long separated from the mainland retained much of their African heritage, from their unique dialect to skills and crafts such as cast-net fishing and weaving baskets.

Hogg Hummock earned a place in 1996 on the National Register of Historic Places, the official list of the United States’ treasured historic sites. But for protections to preserve the community, residents depend on the local government in McIntosh County, where 65% of the 11,100 residents are white.

DARIEN, Ga. (WTOC) - The Georgia Department of Transportation hosted a public information open house in Darien today for their plans to reconstruct the Darien Bridge.

It’s the main connection between Darien and Brunswick along Highway 17 and business owners and people who live in Darien have stressed the importance of it staying open during construction.

Last month, GDOT released their preliminary plans for the reconstruction of the Darien Bridge. This open house served as an opportunity for people who live in the area to get their questions answered about the plan.

It was a packed house in Darien City Hall as people showed up to see the renderings of the construction plan.

“We’re particularly grateful that GDOT is listening to the members of our community and understand how important it is to keep our businesses open and traffic going across the bridge, so I think we’re going in the right direction,” said Bill Barton, a resident of Darien and a member of Darien Planning Commission.

Previously, Darien city leaders say they were told GDOT would be shutting down the Darien bridge for years while it’s reconstructed. Last July, GDOT confirmed that they would be keeping the bridge open to traffic. However, the preliminary construction plans still have a potential 30-day closure to connect portions of the bridge.

“I drive back and forth over the bridge three to four times a week at least, because I work in Brunswick. So, them doing half of the bridge at a time is really important to me actually being able to actually cross over,” said Katie Hay-Malopo, a resident of Darien.

GDOT representatives say construction on the bridge, built in the 1940s, is necessary.

“We’re coming up on about 80 years of life, generally bridges have roughly 50 years of life, especially as they were designed back in that time, so lots of things have changed. Modern vehicles have changed. Weights have gone up on these vehicles that are going to and from the bridge. It’s definitely safe for travel, but it’s been eyed for replacement for several years,” said Kyle Collins with the Georgia Department of Transportation.

Many residents came to the meeting to voice their concerns.

“My biggest concern is how are they going to slow traffic down coming off of the bridge? Right now, nobody slows down even though there’s a 35 miles per hour speed limit,” said George Bigham, a resident of Darien.

While GDOT is taking public comment now, construction isn’t expected to start until 2026.

If you were unable to make it to the meeting, you can still submit comments to GDOT online until January 31st.

Copyright 2023 WTOC. All rights reserved.

DARIEN, Ga. (WTOC) - The Georgia Department of Transportation has released their preliminary construction plans for the Darien Bridge, that’s the one that connects Darien to Brunswick along Highway 17.

The bridge is an important part of the Darien community.

We now have a better idea of what construction on the Darien Bridge will look like. Local business leaders in Darien say that it remains critical that the bridge stay open through the duration of the project.

The bridge, originally built in 1944, needs repair, according to GDOT, who says it will continue to deteriorate if left as is.

“We have a huge workforce that travels from Darien to Brunswick, and vice versa. For our businesses, that could be hugely impactful for them to not be able to get quickly to work,” Darien-McIntosh Chamber of Commerce President/CEO Kat Hoyt said.

WTOC reported in July that the bridge would remain open during construction - welcome news for the community, after the state previously had planned to keep it closed for years.

“It was a huge sigh of relief. When I was able to read that they had changed it from 3-5 years being closed, down to maybe 30 days, that’s a big deal. It makes a huge difference in terms of our businesses.”

The construction plan includes building the west portion of the bridge first, and gradually moving traffic from the old portion to the new portion. They plan on closing the bridge for no more than 30 days, when traffic will be diverted to I-95, according to the plan from GDOT.

“It’s going to be a little different. When there’s construction on any roadway, there’s an impact. But, at least people will still be able to access them easily, and not be completely shut off.”

The construction plan also includes other things the community has been asking for – like a pedestrian and bike path - as well as a platform to use for Blessing of the Fleet, a McIntosh County tradition of blessing the shrimping boats for the commercial fishing season.

“I’m hoping that by expanding the bridge, you’re going to be able to connect those two areas of town. So, our natural resource area and Altamaha watershed, with the downtown Darien, that it just becomes a very cohesive experience.”

Construction isn’t expected to begin until 2026.

GDOT has scheduled a public information open house for the construction plan for Thursday, Jan. 12 from 4-6 p.m. at Darien City Hall at 106 Washington St.

Please click here to view the preliminary construction plan. There, you can also provide feedback on the posted plan.

Copyright 2022 WTOC. All rights reserved.