2007 Year in Review: East Cooper

World record

Larry Owens set a world record in May by flying 66 kites, 33 on each string, on the Isle of Palms. The stunt was part of a kick-off party for Cricket Communications Inc., a wireless phone service provider. But Owens said he didn't accept any money for coming out to the event. And when he does get money for a show, all proceeds go to his favorite charity, the Make-a-Wish Foundation. Guinness World Records does not have a category for double-stack kites.

The American Kitefliers Association verified the event as a record to the best of its knowledge.

Marking basketmakers

In the past year, researchers from Clemson University and the College of Charleston began working to place the sweetgrass basketmaking communities dotted around the East Cooper region on the National Register of Historic Places. Funded with a $34,000 grant from the National Park Service and managed by the S.C. Department of Archives and History, the research team is studying the history and land use of neighborhoods as they relate to the tradition of sweetgrass basketmaking. Sites listed on the register will not offer protection to the areas except if federal money is used for projects, such as road widening or extensions. In those cases, register status will require assessment and evaluation of the project.

Rejoicing over sea turtle's rescue

Cape Romain, a giant sea turtle in the S.C. Aquarium's rescue program, underwent surgery June 20 to remove his left front flipper. A Fish and Wildlife Service crew found the turtle May 17 off Cape Island in the Cape Romain National Wildlife Refuge, offshore from McClellanville. A crab trap had entangled the reptile, winding around its left flipper and leaving a deep gash that had become infected. Dr. Jose Biascoechea led the medical team for five hours at Birds and Exotics Animal Care, his Mount Pleasant practice. Six weeks after the turtle was released to the sea, he was riding the Gulf Stream off North Carolina.

In this photo, Biascoechea inserts a tube into Cape Romain's throat so the turtle can breathe during surgery, as Kelly Thorvalson (left), coordinator of the sea turtle rescue program at the S.C. Aquarium, assists.

Winning a voice

President of the Awendaw Community Action Group, Sam Robinson, rallies the troops during an April meeting. Robinson was chairman of the group, but is now an Awendaw Town Council member. The community group - half black and half white - formed in the fall of 2006 in response to the White Tract development, a proposed 400-home subdivision on 325 acres that would have doubled the town's population. Town Council rezoned the property to allow for planned development despite residents' protests and an 800-signature petition submitted last August. Since then plans for the White Tract have fallen through, but the council did move forward with a planned unit development called Fenwick at Bull's Bay, which further upset the group. Robinson and Nell Daniels, who is also a member of the group, ran for two Town Council seats Nov. 6 and won by a 200-vote margin.