Bennetts Point St. Paddy’s Parade Keeps Rolling

They don’t make as much noise about it as they once did, but residents and visitors at Bennetts Point had as much fun as ever at the annual St. Patrick’s day parade and celebration held on Saturday.

Several hundred people showed up for the parade of siren-blaring fire trucks and decorated boats and golf carts, all filled with green-clad children tossing candy, followed by a big meal and great music beside the waters of Mosquito Creek.
Leading off the parade as grand marshal was longtime resident William “Bootsie” Brown. He and his wife Virgie were chauffeured by Jerry Baldwin in Baldwin’s Thunderbird convertible.
After the parade, people of all ages, from 2 to 92, enjoyed barbecued chicken, catfish stew, chicken perlow and other dishes in front of the bandstand. Every year, proceeds from auctions and donations go to the local fire department and to a fund for community needs.
Bennetts Point’s own guitarist and record producer, Emmy-nominated Joe Taylor, rounded up three extraordinarily talented musicians to take the stage with him and they kept the crowd entertained for hours. With her big-time voice, Louisiana-born singer-songwriter-guitarist Shelly Waters presented an amazing range of Southern rock, country and soulful sounds, accompanied by Taylor on guitar, Woody Lingle on bass and Josh Birmingham on drums.
And there was just enough breeze coming up the creek to keep the sand gnats down to only a few dozen bites per person. – Charles Rowland (The Colletonian)