roofer in Knightsville, SC

SUMMERVILLE, S.C. (WCBD) – It was 1973 when Shirley McGreal, then living in Southeast Asia, saw beady bright eyes staring back at her from between the slats of a wooden crate.

The eyes belonged to a gibbon — a primate native to the region — who had fallen victim to the dangerous world of the pet trade, where gibbons were being sold into homes, zoos, or labs, only to later be discarded.

In 1977, McGreal created the International Primate Protection League (IPPL) in Summerville as a gibbon sanctuary. The now 47-acre property remains nestled in a quiet area of the Lowcountry that is illuminated by the sounds of the primates singing to one another.

Meg McCue-Jones, the Compliance and Outreach Manager, explained that the land was a sod farm in the late 70s and started taking in the gibbons that needed help soon after.

One of the sanctuary’s residents, Gibby, is one of the oldest known living gibbons at over 60 years old.

Like most of the gibbons at the sanctuary, his life started off rough.

McCue-Jones said that Gibby was wild caught, and “with every gibbon wild caught, they shoot mom out of the tree, hoping baby falls, and then they take the baby.”

He was first sold into the pet trade in by a Bangkok dealer, but that was just the beginning. Gibby went to labs at Hofstra University and the State University at Stony Brook.

Researchers embedded electrodes in his skin as part of a locomotion project.

The electrodes and thin wires were inserted into his muscles and connected him to a suit that would measure his muscle movements. McCue-Jones explained that this was obviously not an ideal situation on any aspect, whether it be a human or animal.

At 44, Gibby made it to his first sanctuary, but the conditions were hard on his body. In March of 2007, just four years after his arrival, the IPPL reached out to the sanctuary to relocate not only Gibby, but several other gibbons.

For Gibby, like the other 29 at the sanctuary, Summerville is his last stop. McCue-Jones says that the sanctuary is their forever home.

But with the pandemic, their home has become more difficult to manage.

With fear of COVID-19 spreading to the primates, volunteers were no longer allowed to assist with the many daily tasks necessary to keep the place running.

From hosing the outsides of the enclosures, to raking, food prep, and even assistance inside the office—the staff was left with mounting responsibilities.

The economic impacts of the pandemic left donors and community partners reeling financially, but the bills at the sanctuary remained steady.

As a non-federally funded organization, the IPPL relies heavily on donations to meet the needs of the animals.

Stacy Lambert, a Senior Animal Care Giver, said that since a lot of their population has started to reach geriatric ages, their vet bills are getting bigger as they are having more interventions and medications, different procedures, and checkup appointments with Dr. John Ohlandt.

While expensive, their system of care has proven to work.

Lambert says that in the wild, gibbons usually live about 30-35 years. However, in captivity, gibbons living into their 40s is normal. However, the IPPL has quite a few gibbons that are up in their 40s and 50s while, of course, Gibby is 62.

Although the interventions from the IPPL show the ability of the sanctuary, McCue-Jones said all those at the IPPL ultimately wish there was not a need for them at all, and that the gibbons could live freely in the wild.

McCue-Jones said, “as Shirley has spoken of before, if you really think about it, do humans need sanctuaries, should we have them? Should we be treating the animals this way?”

To send the Gibbons a care package full of nuts, click here.

To donate to the IPPL’s missions and day-to-day operations, click here.

To send specified items needed by the IPPL via Amazon, click here.

Dorchester County is continuing with its plans for a large-scale rezoning effort to stop the over-building of additional apartment complexes and townhomes.

At a County Council meeting Monday, members voted and approved the rezoning of dozens of parcels of land from multi-family residential to mostly single-family. Under single-family zoning, property owners aren't allowed to build apartments or townhomes.

Knightsville LLC is a property owner with plans for building townhomes that was exempt from the rezoning ordinance after filing a complaint in county court. County officials say there have also been some additional complaints from residents about the rezoning.

"The complaint from Knightsville LLC held more significance because of the level of investment involved," said Kiera Reinertsen, the county planning and zoning director.

In 2004, the county's zoning ordinance was amended and led to an increase in approvals of multi-family zoning.

After hearing complaints about traffic, infrastructure and flooding during the organizing of its 2018 Comprehensive Plan, the county announced mass rezoning plans for multi-family spaces.

According to officials, most of the property owners under the rezoning project already live within single-family spaces. The project will help bring property owners who have spaces for commercial use into compliance. Using a property for commercial use is not permitted in a single-family residential district.

The project will also help balance population densities and available county infrastructure.

Some of the multi-family areas highlighted for rezoning include property southeast of Ladson Road toward North Charleston and between Ladson Road and Central Avenue in Knightsville.

In April, Knightsville LLC filed a complaint in the county court over proposed rezoning. The owner had purchased three parcels of land off of Central Avenue in Knightsville with the goal of building townhomes.

In the complaint, the owner alleged that the rezoning plans undermined and violated their investment-backed expectations and denied them the right to pursue a planned development project.

During the Monday meeting, attorney Ellis Lesemann spoke on behalf of Knightsville LLC. He said they paid just under $1.1 million for the land in 2019. He also argued that there is enough infrastructure in place to develop the project.

"They've been incurring permit fees, legal fees, engineering, doing a wetlands delineation and going through other types of carrying costs to bring that project forward," he said.

Lesemann said his client learned about the rezoning plans for their property in February. After a Monday executive session, the council agreed to exclude property under Knightsville LLC from its rezoning ordinance.

"We were pleased to be able to resolve the matter with the county," Lesemann said.

Future approval of multi-family zoning will be based on the county's available infrastructure and future land use.

Health

The area above Central Avenue in Knightsville is next on the county's list of mass rezoning. The county's planning commission is scheduled to meet on Oct. 8 to review proposed rezonings.

A County Council public hearing is expected to follow on a later date. Officials say property owners impacted by the rezoning should've already been notified.

Many owners have likely received a flier on their property notifying them about the rezoning.

A Grayco Hardware & Home and Parker’s Gas Station are coming to the Knightsville Crossing Shopping Center next year. After Mr. K’s Piggly Wiggly closed in 2017, the building that served as the centerpiece of the shopping center has sat vacant on the corner of Orangeburg and Central Avenue.

Kevin Rogers, a developer with Knightsville Enterprise LLC, purchased the retail site from Jim and John Kersting, owners of Mr. K’s Piggly Wiggly. According to county records, the property was purchased for $3.2 million. There are pre existing tenants that will remain in place including two restaurants, a nail salon, UPS store and H & R Block. Rogers said the addition of Grayco and Parker’s will help bring the shopping center back to life.

While both of the incoming companies have multiple stores, Rogers said each one has a family- owned feel.

“It’s a nice thing to see and be a part of,” Rogers said. “Nothing wrong with big national outfits but sometimes there’s a little bit of a difference that customers feel when you walk into a store that’s run by the owner.”

He was impressed with Grayco, which originates in Beaufort and has stores in Savannah and Hilton Head. And Parker’s has over 50 stations throughout Georgia and South Carolina that Rogers said are “well-run, attractive looking stores.”

Nathan Richardson, vice president of real estate and development for Parker’s, said in an email that the Parker’s at Knightsville Crossing will feature a brand-new store design, which is inspired by Lowcountry vernacular architecture. The store will have a parged brick facade, metal roof, bracketed louvers, window details and nearly 4,800 square feet of retail space.

“Summerville is a growing community, and we’d like to be in the path of growth,” Richardson said. “We hope to build 5 or 6 new stores in Summerville in the future.”

Madelyn Robinson, director of administration and economic development for Summerville, visited one of the Grayco Hardware & Home stores in Hilton Head. She said she was also impressed by Grayco and the store will fulfill a need for that type of retail in the Orangeburg Road and Central Avenue area. She said it’s great that the property will no longer be sitting vacant.

“I think both of those businesses coming into Summerville, they’re not represented in Charleston area,” Robinson said. “Their first foothold they’ve chosen is Summerville. That speaks highly of our community, instead of us being second choice, we’re first.”

Robinson said the area surrounding the Knightsville Crossing Shopping Center is growing and opportunities for commercial growth are strong.

In the coming months, the 10-acre shopping center will get spruced up with overall landscaping improvements, sign replacements, lighting upgrades and new sidewalks. Rogers said he expects Grayco to be open in the spring of 2019. Representatives from Parker’s said the gas station will be open for business in the summer of 2019.

There were smiles, cheers, high-fives and even a few tears as Knightsville Elementary bid farewell to its fifth-graders on May 26 -- the last day of school for Dorchester District Two.

Knightsville Elementary traditionally has its fifth-graders parade through the school in celebration of graduating from elementary school, but this year the school had a special twist on the tradition: they invited back 2017 high school and college graduates -- also Knightsville Elementary alumni -- to return to their old stomping grounds wish the fifth-graders good-luck as they set off for middle school.

Drew Massey, graduating senior at Summerville High, called it nostalgic.

"It's weird to come back 10 years later," she said.

Massey was one of approximately 25 returning graduates who participated in the walk. Summerville High graduates donned their signature green caps and gowns. A handful of Clemson University and University of South Carolina graduates also participated.

The returning students spoke to fifth-graders in their classrooms prior to the parade to offer words of encouragement and students also heard from college professors from Charleston Southern University and The Citadel.

Massey said she wanted to participate because it felt special.

"I saw a lot of them (students) crying," she said. "I think they thought it was special too."

The entire school lined the hallways, along with parents, faculty and staff, to watch all the graduates weave through the building. Younger students awarded the graduates with cheers and high fives along the way while the school played "Pomp and Circumstance" over the intercom.

Teachers wore little graduation caps as well and, if they still had them, they were invited to wear their old graduation robes.

Principal Claire Sieber referred to the returning graduates as the "continuance of the legacy of learning that started here at Knightsville."

"You have empowered our fifth-graders to rise on and continue their education. I'm looking forward to all that the future will hold," she said.

The idea to invite the former Knightsville Elementary students back was Assistant Principal Carey Hodge's idea. Hodge said she had seen a similar event in her former hometown.

Sieber and Hodge said they wanted to have a community connection with the fifth-grade parade this year. With the response they got, Sieber said she anticipates this will be a tradition going forward.

Hodge said their focus for the last couple of weeks has been words of encouragement. She said they have been working on coordinating the event for three months.

Hodge said she thinks the Knightsville Elementary students really enjoyed it.

"I'm seeing tears of...joy and miss -- they're going to miss us. I know it's very bittersweet for them," she said. "But it's always a great thing when kids don't want to leave."

"Above all we just want them to love, learn and lead," she said.

Driving from Moncks Corner to Knightsville Elementary every day is a long drive, but Melissa Odom says it is worth it.

Odom is in her third year teaching third grade at Knightsville, and her fourth year total teaching at the school, having spent the first year teaching second grade.

Odom started teaching in Anderson before moving to DD2, where she first taught at Eagle Nest Elementary for five years. This is her 14th year teaching.

Growing up, Odom worked with kids and could not picture herself doing anything other than teaching. She is from Mt. Pleasant originally, and graduated from Wando High School in 1998. At Wando she was a teacher cadet, and knew from there she wanted to teach.

Odom went on to Anderson University to study elementary education. After her time spent working in Anderson, Odom decided to move a little closer to home.

Odom said she loves being in the classroom.

“Year to year it’s a goal of mine to form a strong relationship and bond with my students, as well as watching them and helping them grow in preparation for their life and education,” she said.

Last school year Odom was a Teacher of the Month and was also a finalist for Teacher of the Year. In fact, she has been a finalist for Teacher of the Year at her previous schools as well.

This year Odom is teaching math, science and social studies. She teaches two classes with a combined total of 41 students.

Odom said she cannot think of any worst experience she has ever had teaching, but she finds the best thing about her profession is she learns more from her students every year; they teach her not just educational things, but things about life as well, she said.

Her favorite thing about Knightsville Elementary is how it is such a tight community; everybody is just a friendly face, she said.

“It’s just one big tight-knit community within our school – teachers or students, new faces or old faces,” she said.

Odom has been married to her husband Daniel for 10 years. They have a 4-year-old son named Hayden and another 2-year-old son named Jonathan. The family has two dogs: a 5-year-old lab named Gauge and 10-year-old cocker spaniel named Harley.

Odom said she is very close to her parents, who are still in Mt. Pleasant, and said that outside of school her family enjoys spending time together. She also likes being outside and doing things like going on a run, boating and going to the beach. One of her favorite pastimes is going crabbing.

Odom’s life goal is to try to live life to the fullest every day and be the best teacher for her students, colleague for her coworkers and mom, wife and daughter to her family.

“I just want to be the best I can be every day,” she said.