DI News History - February 25, 2016

TEN YEARS AGO
In the February 23, 2006 issue we featured the City’s Wi-Fi network and its future expansion to Daniel Island. The open access wireless fidel¬ity, or Wi-Fi, system was reportedly the first network of its kind in the nation and began in down¬town Charleston with expansion across the city in the works. Surely a sign of the times, the article featured a Blackberry device and mentioned using the system from your PDA.
The National Audubon Society reported that they were still interested in and planning on establishing a wildlife oasis on Daniel Island as a long-held dream. At the time, Audubon South Carolina State Director Norman Brunswig said his organization discussed buy¬ing or leasing approximately 200 acres of State Ports Authority land on Daniel Island. Brunswig said that Audubon South Carolina worked with the late Dr. George Brumley, Jr., on a study to determine a possible site for a preserve and wildlife center when Daniel Island’s residential community was being planned. Brumley, an Atlanta pediatrician and philanthropist, was a major investor in The Daniel Island Company and a strong proponent of an Audubon site. He died in a plane crash in Kenya in 2003. Brunswig said that circumstances have changed since that original study was created. The sale or lease to the Audubon Society has not happened.
In other news, island residents and the United Methodist Relief Center were working to build an Elderly Transport (ET) house (shotgun-style cot¬tage built on a mobile-home frame) for a family in the Clements Ferry Road corridor. Because the people live in ETs rent-free and UMRC retains ownership, the buildings can be moved and reused after residents die or move to different housing. Daniel Island residents Barbara and Walk Jenner were spearheading the ET fundraising effort. Their enthusiastic 11-member group was named Cainhoy Community Cottages.
In other news, Providence Baptist Church celebrated 10 years as a congregation, having started in West Ashley in 1996. The church moved to Daniel Island in 2000.

FIVE YEARS AGO
In the February 24, 2011 issue of The Daniel Island News, the top news story was the election of new officers to the Daniel Island Neighborhood Association. Mac McBride and Al Vitalo, founding officers in 1998, took on the roles of president and treasurer.
In business news, SPARC, a software development and systems integration company that applies commercial product development techniques and experience to the federal and defense sectors, relocated their corporate office to 2387 Clements Ferry Road. Over the past five years, they have continued to grow and expand their Clements Ferry Road site.
In sporting news, the Daniel Island School Jr. Boys Ospreys won the Trident League Division III Championship.
In school news, four Berkeley County School District counseling programs were recognized as national models for success. Programs at College Park Elementary, Daniel Island School, Hanahan High, and Hanahan Elementary were “Recognized ASCA Model Programs,” (RAMP) by the American School Counselor Association (ASCA). This is the highest team recognition in the school counseling profession.