Fest celebrates past

Four children leaned in around Walter Rhett as he made a face, pretending to be a human head found in a hatbox in a story he said dates back some 80 years to a Horry County evidence room.

"I'm trying to tell stories of heritage aimed at children," Rhett said, a historical consultant and storyteller for the first Sol Legare Historical Festival, held July 19 on James Island. "In (a) community, we find those voices, events, etc., that inspire us and connect us as human beings."

For Rhett, buildings have their own oral histories. "When they're lost, their voice is lost," he said.

Retelling and representing the past was an important part of the Saturday event organized to pay tribute to the 145th anniversary of the Battle for Sol Legare and raise awareness and funds for a historic building on the brink of collapse: Old Sol Legare Lodge Hall.

Seashore Farmers Lodge No. 767 was established almost 100 years ago to provide for a black community of farmers and fishermen who didn't have the money for insurance or burial. Holiday celebrations, meetings and other community events were held at the lodge hall on Sol Legare Road.

The lodge's fifth and current president, Edward Wilder Jr., has lived at Sol Legare all his life. His forefathers and parents farmed and fished to "keep their heads above water."

Now, he says, 30-40 active members, of about 100 members total, meet every month and continue the ways of their predecessors.

"If someone is sick, we visit our sick; if someone died, we'd counsel the family. ... We do whatever we can do," said Wilder, a masonry contractor.

In a grass lot nearby, Dale Henry and four other Civil War re-enactors pitched tents and talked about the importance of the Sol Legare battle that took place July 16, 1863.

It was the fight that gave the 54th Massachusetts Regiment, one of the first units of black soldiers in the U.S. Armed Forces, their "baptism of fire," said re-enactor and 54th Mass Company I co-founder Joseph McGill.

Henry, a Civil War re-enactor visiting from Ohio with his wife and grandchildren, said he'd done some re-enacting at home to "recall history." Two of his great-grandfathers were part of U.S. black troops, he said.

He joined Company I at the festival. "It's amazing, the history involved in the lodge and the particular area," Henry said.

While children bounced in a jump castle blown up on a basketball court, the lodge member who organized the festival, James Island Town Councilman Bill "Cubby" Wilder, displayed a painting of the lodge by Bruce Faw, a West Ashley resident. Faw, who will donate a portion of the sales to the restoration, felt called to the lodge's old charm after seeing a picture of the building in The Post and Courier a few days earlier.

He also introduced a handful of politicians who attended the event: James Island Town Council members Leonard Blank, Parris Williams and Joe Qualey; Mayor Mary Clark; James Island Public Service District commissioners Eugene Platt and Inez Brown Crouch; District 3 Constituent School Board Chairman Charmaine Wilder; S.C. Rep. Wallace Scarborough, R-Charleston; and Anne Peterson-Hutto, Scarborough's Democratic challenger for the S.C. House District 115 seat.

Some spoke in support of the lodge hall restoration.

Despite the support, finding the money will be an uphill battle. The current restoration estimate is $450,000, and the Sol Legare Foundation is seeking a second estimate. James Island Town Council has budgeted $50,000, and the town has applied for an additional $95,000 grant for the restoration.

Sol Legare wants companies and individuals to donate and volunteers to help with labor.

But for now? "Sustain what we have, and by the grace of God we hope this (restoration) will happen," said Edward Wilder.

Reach Anna Harmon at 937-5002 or aharmon@postandcourier.com.