‘Stewards of Daniel Island’ set to retire
Wed, 12/01/2021 - 9:08am
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DIPOA duo Barbara McLaughlin and Larry Whetsell to begin new chapters
By:
Elizabeth Bush
They’ve been called the “Stewards of Daniel Island” and the “heart and soul” of the community.
From festive community events both traditional and new, to seasonal décor to mark the holidays, to well-kept neighborhoods, pools, streetscapes and ponds — you can see or experience the fruits of their labors almost every day.
In their respective roles at the Daniel Island Property Owners Association, Barbara McLaughlin and Larry Whetsell have been a part of the fabric of this island community for almost as long as the modern-day development has existed — McLaughlin for 21 years and
Whetsell for 19.
But these dedicated pillars of POA service are retiring. Whetsell’s last day was November 29 and McLaughlin’s will be at the end of December. The Daniel Island News caught up with both recently to reflect on their time here and what their jobs have meant to them over the years.
McLaughlin first joined the POA staff in 2000 as an office manager but has spent the bulk of her tenure as the manager of community services.
“What appealed to me was that my entry position with the DIPOA had similar job description duties to other positions that I had worked at in the past,” noted McLaughlin. “I also saw the potential for career advancement opportunities, as it was a brand new industry for me, which was extremely exciting. I was thrilled to be given a ground floor opportunity to work for a new and emerging company. I will always love being able to say that I was employee No. 6 with the company!”
Another benefit to taking a job on Daniel Island — McLaughlin’s commute from her Mount Pleasant home was just 10 minutes.
“And it didn’t hurt that it is a beautiful location to come to work to every day,” she added.
In those early days, McLaughlin was as much a pioneer on the island as some of the community’s first residents. There were only about a hundred homes here when she started. The only neighborhood pool at the time was in Scott Park. The only school on the island was Bishop England, which relocated here from downtown in 1998, and the only place to get groceries was Tecklenburg Market & Café.
“Looking back now, there was so much growth that took place in such a short period of time,” said McLaughlin. “... Working at the DIPOA, I was always aware of what the grand vision of Daniel Island was going to be, and it’s been fun and exciting to be a part of helping that plan come to fruition.”
One of McLaughlin’s primary duties at the POA has been planning all of the community’s special events and activities — an experience she described as the “best part” of her job.
“Creating events that people wanted to bring their families to where they could meet their neighbors and make new friends, creating that sense of community,” McLaughlin continued.
“...Over the past 20 plus years, my hope was to create events that became annual traditions for families to build memories around, such as the Holiday Festival, Concert in the Park, our July 3rd event and others, and I hope that I achieved that,” she added. “I always considered it to be a continuous circle. Our real estate agents sold the vision to our residents and our office helped deliver that promise and made it become a day-to-day reality.”
Whetsell was lured out of retirement into his POA job in 2002. After a 35-year career in ship repair, he and his wife, Teddi, relocated to Daniel Island to retire. His good friend and tennis partner, Jerry Simmons, was head of the DIPOA at the time and asked Whetsell if he would like to work part time installing mailboxes for new residents.
“I intended not to work,” said Whetsell. “I just wanted to read, ride my bike and play tennis!”
But the new post would bring some retirement income, so he decided to accept. Like McLaughlin, his POA duties would quickly expand. Soon he was working full-time, overseeing landscape companies that maintained the POA common properties, as well as pool maintenance, street cleaning, litter control, and a host of other “handyman” tasks.
“It’s been good. I’ve enjoyed it. And I’ve been able to dress like this all these years,” said a smiling Whetsell, pointing to his golf shirt.
Whetsell evolved from what he described as “a maintenance guy” to a maintenance supervisor and then maintenance manager. He was also the only staff member who lived on the island, meaning he was basically on call 24/7.
“I enjoyed the people and the laid back lifestyle,” he said. “But one of the things I had to do living here is if I went to Publix to get groceries it was always a zig zag (journey). I would go through the neighborhoods and look at this and look at that. Seldom did I go straight to the store and back. I would always incorporate it into looking at something.”
About six years ago, Whetsell semi-retired and switched back to part time. Since then he has been managing code enforcement, which involves making sure all of Daniel Island’s community standards are met by residents and businesses. Whetsell and McLaughlin report they take a “kind and friendly” approach when it comes to communicating with residents and business owners.
“We make a good team!” Whetsell said. “... I could not have done this job without Barbara. The communication is outstanding. Every obstacle we have, we discuss.”
There have been challenging times to navigate over the years, such as the economic downturn of 2007 and 2008 and the recent COVID-19 pandemic, but all in all both McLaughlin and Whetsell have remained steadfast in their commitment to provide the highest level of service to the community.
“I would say it would be a much easier job if we didn’t try to always put in a 110 percent effort!” Whetsell said.
As for their retirement plans, Whetsell, who will be moving up to Summerville with his wife this month, hopes to do some traveling. Among the things McLaughlin is looking forward to is learning how to play pickleball, spending more time with family, and being able to “sleep until the crack of nine sometimes!”
But they say they will always look back on their time on Daniel Island favorably, not just because of the place it is — but the people who make it special.
“It’s the people,” added Whetsell. “If I had to work with bad people, I would’ve left a long time ago. ..It’s been wonderful. It’s a great place to live. I don’t know of a better community in the Charleston area…It would be hard to duplicate this anywhere.”
“I will miss working beside Jane (Baker) and our wonderful staff at the DIPOA, especially my ‘partner in crime’ Larry Whetsell,” said McLaughlin. “I’ve been able to love my job because we all collaborate so well — everyone shares the same vision and is dedicated to the mission ... I have always appreciated the beauty of coming to work every day. Everyone has tough times during their career, but I truly feel blessed to have been given the opportunity to work in such a beautiful community.”
A fond farewell to Barbara McLaughlin and Larry Whetsell
Several residents, community members and co-workers who worked with Barbara McLaughlin and Larry Whetsell of the Daniel Island Property Owners Association over the years expressed their thoughts on the pair’s retirements.
“Barbara and Larry were and still are an enormous part of the heart and soul of the Daniel Island community. Barbara came on board early on and took on the challenge of launching community programming and helping with the early resident communications. She has always viewed her role in helping the Daniel Island community flourish as a personal mission. The energy with which she approaches all efforts big and small is unrivaled. She’s an amazing person and the Daniel Island community is beyond fortunate to have benefitted from her passion and energy.
Larry is just as amazing. He has always treated Daniel Island as if the community were an extension of his backyard. Taking care of a community of this size is a huge undertaking and for years Larry captained those efforts while never shying away from diving into projects using his own two hands. It’s impossible to say where we would be without Larry. He built the foundation of a well-oiled machine. Combined, Barbara and Larry have impacted an incredible number of residents and businesses throughout the community. Daniel Island would not be Daniel Island without them.”
— Matt Sloan, president, DI Development Company
“I have worked with Barbara through the city of Charleston’s special events committee and she is absolutely a wonderful and delightful person to be affiliated with! She cares about her community and the programs they offer as well as the events that may have been permitted through the city approvals. She always made me smile when she came to meetings (in person and still on Zoom!) as she is just one of the most upbeat, positive people I know! I have enjoyed our friendship (because that’s what it developed into) for over the last 10 years and wish her nothing but the best in her new journey!”
— Stella Fruit, City of Charleston facilities superintendent
“Daniel Island is one of the best master planned communities in the country not just due to the extraordinary vision of the developers, planners, engineers, marketing team and builders but also due to the stewards of the island, its common areas and property maintenance standards. Barbara McLaughlin and Larry Whetsell are chiefly responsible for that dedicated stewardship over the last two decades. Their incredible spirit of teamwork, work ethic, humor and empathy will be sorely missed by all members of their POA family and the greater Daniel Island community. We send them into their next chapter of life’s adventure with love and sincere appreciation.”
— Jane Baker, president, Daniel Island Property Owners Association
“I can’t begin to tell you how much Barb cares about this community. All of us; even those she never met. Her dedication to this island isn’t always something you see but I assure you it affected you at some point. Running the pumpkin walk is an undertaking I never expected to own and quite frankly without Barb driving the POA involvement, as well as reminding me each August that I was in fact still managing this, I likely would have let it fall off the radar. But seeing y’all through her eyes made me stick around. Her care and thoughtfulness to the community will be missed - trust me when I say her love touched you, too!”
— Becky Howard, Daniel Island Pumpkin Walk organizer
“What makes Daniel Island such a wonderful place to live and raise a family is its tremendous sense of community. This was created over many years and Barbara McLaughlin and Larry Whetsell both played a significant role helping to make Daniel Island what it is today. I applaud and thank both of them for their hard work and dedication to our community and wish them both well in their retirement.”
— Gary White, former Charleston City Councilmember
“Loved working with these two on many Daniel Island events over the years. Larry always made sure we had everything we needed, willing and able to fix a problem. Barb took great pride in getting things right so others could enjoy themselves. She was a great mentor as an event manager, and loved what she did. It was a pleasure to have the opportunity to work so closely with them both over the many years.”
— Rona Bobey, community volunteer
"If you were writing a history of Daniel Island's evolution as a community – not just new neighborhoods, parks and trails – but the development of a community spirit and a place to call home, Barbara and Larry would be among those who played significant roles. Their dedication to the idea that Daniel Island should be the best place anywhere in the world to live, work, and raise a family has been evident in their work at the POA all these years. I'm honored to have worked alongside them for seven years, and join all of Daniel Island in wishing them well in their retirements."
-Jimmy Bailey, former vice president of community services for the Daniel Island Property Owners Association
“I've had the pleasure to work with both of these fine individuals over the past15 years. Like each of us, Larry and Barb have unique and different strengths but the one great asset they share is that of responsiveness. Anytime I came in search of help from the POA the answer was always, ‘Give it to me. I'll handle it.’ And they did! So, my friends, my very best wishes for an exciting next chapter in your lives. You'll be sorely missed!”
-Bob Sauer, community volunteer
“You go to other very, very beautiful nice communities throughout the city and throughout the region and you do not see what you see on Daniel Island and it's because of Barbara and Larry. It just doesn't exist in other places…It just speaks to the level of attention to detail and just how meticulous Barbara and Larry and Jane (Baker) and all of the folks who represent the interests of Daniel Island residents are –in making sure the integrity, the Daniel Island brand and quality of life and all these things that you're promised when you invest in living in this community, are there. It’s not just lip service.”
-Marie Delcioppo, former Charleston City Councilmember
“We have known Barbara McLaughlin and Larry Whetsell for over 15 years. They have made Daniel Island the oasis that it is today. Every time we drive onto the island it feels like we have entered a small town, leaving the hassle behind. In a great part this has been because Barbara and Larry have served the community with hard work and kindness. As we have been part of trying out various social events like Thank Goodness it’s First Friday (TGIFF), holding fundraisers at Pierce Park Pavilion, playing music for various Daniel Island social events, we could always count on them for ideas, support, and help. So much behind the scenes work has made the island run as well as it does with award winning social activities and pristine neighborhoods. All things must pass, but it is sad for us to think that they won't always be here ready to help. We will miss them dearly.
-Walter and Barbara Jenner, longtime Daniel Island residents