SUMMERVILLE, S.C. (WCSC) - The S.C. Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism recently granted nearly $34,000 to bring more people into Summerville.

The town, acknowledged for its charm, history and its people, wants to make sure everyone gets to experience some of the Summerville way.

“It feels good to be able to show off our hometown to people who can come visit and vacation here,” Town of Summerville Public Information Officer Chris Makowski said. “And to really see the beauty and the people that are here.”

Summerville sees a record number of visitors, sitting at around 250,000 every year and housing more than 50,000 permanent residents.

The town hopes to boost the statewide economy by encouraging tourism and development in the area.

The community shared their thoughts on the funding and what they hope to see come out of it.

One family, planning to move to the area in just a few weeks, was ecstatic.

“As far as bringing tourists in, I do feel like it’s worth it,” future Summerville homeowner Whitney Mourlam said. “It’s just a gem, and it’s worth coming inland a little bit to check it out.”

“It’s a great location, like a little way from the touristy feel but you can really blend in and feel like you’re a local right away,” future Summerville homeowner Mark Mourlam said. “We want to grow our family down here and live everything Summerville has to offer.”

One long-term resident said he enjoys seeing his town thrive, but worries about what it could mean for traffic, infrastructure and the cost of living.

“I’ve watched the growth, and it’s terrific how fast and how large this place has gotten,” Summerville Homeowner John Calvert said. “But you can only build so many apartments and so many subdivisions. We’re running out of space!”

There are no specific projects or plans for the grant.

The Town of Summerville says they want to allocate the money toward marketing campaigns through social media, magazines and the local visitor center, to name a few.

Copyright 2023 WCSC. All rights reserved.

SUMMERVILLE — Jacob Limehouse, 26, and his wife do not want children and had already discussed Jacob getting a vasectomy. Then the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in late June 2022, allowing states like South Carolina to seek to ban or severely restrict access to abortion, and that sealed it for them.

“That definitely added to the desire to get it done,” Limehouse said.

After doing what he felt was a lot of research, much of which downplayed the risk from the procedure, he went in for a vasectomy on Jan. 9. What followed was a trip to the emergency room and a week at Summerville Medical Center battling severe complications that have left him with lingering pain and extensive medical bills.

Limehouse wasn’t alone in his newfound interest in vasectomies. Immediately after the Dobbs decision by the Supreme Court, the search for information on vasectomies hit a five-year high on Google Trends, according an article in the journal Fertility and Sterility. In many states, particularly those which banned or severely restricted abortion in the wake of the decision, interest in vasectomies took off, according to an analysis by The Post and Courier.

In Michigan, where a temporary injunction blocked a 1931 law that banned abortion except to save the life of a mother, inquiries about vasectomies at one clinic increased 225 percent compared to the year before, according to a study in the Journal of Urology. Another study at 10 academic medical centers spread across the country found an overall 10.9 percent increase in vasectomy interest among patients compared to a slight decrease the year before. The rates varied across the centers and were higher in states where bans or restrictions were enacted, the authors found.

In Ohio, where a ban on abortions after six weeks is on hold, the number of inquiries at one large clinic increased 22.4 percent in the months after the decision compared to the year before, according to a study in the International Journal of Impotence Research. More of those men, like Limehouse, tended to be younger and childless compared to those who sought vasectomies the year before, the Ohio study found, which lines up with the experience at other clinics.

Not every clinic is seeing an increase.

“We’re seeing roughly the same number of vasectomy consultations,” said Dr. Tracy J. Tipton of Urology Associates of Charleston. Because the practice sets aside a certain number of slots for vasectomies, the wait to get in has increased over the last several years, particularly during the pandemic, but is back down to about four to six months, he said, what it has been for the last couple of years.

While weighing the impact of the abortion ruling and surge of interest in vasectomies, there were also concerns about how the procedure was being portrayed on social media, according to a Perspective in the Journal of Urology, which is published by the 23,000-member American Urological Association. Particularly troubling were suggestions that vasectomies were a “solution” to contraception concerns and that the procedure was easily reversible, the authors noted. But reversal procedures are “technically challenging and expensive” surgeries that insurance companies are not likely to cover, the Perspective found.

Tipton of Urology Associates in Charleston said reversals are rarely covered by insurance and not likely to work if many years have passed, so he counsels his patients to consider a vasectomy as permanent.

“I try to tell them, yes, technically this is reversible but you should think about this like an irreversible procedure,” he said. “If you are on the fence, maybe we need to think about this a little bit more.”

‘It could happen to you’

The risks involved might also be downplayed on social media. When Limehouse did his research, he found the complications were portrayed as “super minor,” mainly swelling, bleeding at the surgery site and some persistent pain that could last a month. He got similar counseling about complications at the clinic.

On the afternoon he headed in for the procedure, “I wasn’t nervous at all,” Limehouse said. “I had read so many positive stories. I couldn’t find a negative story, to be honest.”

The whole thing took maybe 20 minutes under local anesthesia, he said, then he rested for five minutes before heading home.

But almost immediately, there was a lot more swelling than he expected, even when applying ice packs. Then he got nauseous, then dizzy, then tried to make it to the bathroom.

“The next thing I know, my wife was standing over me, trying to wake me up,” Limehouse said. It was the first time in his life he had ever fainted.

His wife, Marissa Christine Wiggins, called her parents for advice. When the nausea continued and Limehouse passed out again, they took him to the ER at Summerville Medical Center. Limehouse said he was only semiconscious then but Marissa told him he was extremely pale. He was rushed back for tests and a CT scan and eventually admitted for syncope, fainting or passing out, after his blood pressure dropped significantly when he stood up, according to Limehouse’s medical records.

The CT scan found a suspected blood clot just under 3 inches in diameter above his left testicle and swelling throughout the area but nothing else remarkable, the records showed. When he was again administered a test for syncope by standing for several seconds, “I passed out in the nurse’s arms,” Limehouse said.

His hemoglobin level, which measures the red blood cells that carry oxygen, and hematocrit level, which looks at the percentage of red blood cells, appeared normal at first but began dropping. A few days later, when his hemoglobin dropped to about half the normal range, nurse Ellen Patrick flagged it, records show. The urologist who performed the vasectomy, whom Limehouse does not want named, came in to perform surgery and removed the blood clot. But Limehouse said neither he nor his family was told about the clot.

Summerville Medical Center did not provide a relevant response for comment or make the nurses, whom Limehouse credits for getting the care he needed, available for comment.

Months later, he is left with some pain and a load of medical bills from his stay. He started a GoFundMe to seek help.

Still, “I don’t regret getting the procedure,” Limehouse said. “I’m happy I did it. But I regret the little research I did.”

Overall, the rate for serious complications for vasectomies is low, with infections and hematomas or lumps from blood clots, in the 2-4 percent range, according the World Journal of Men’s Health. But it is something to keep in mind, Limehouse said.

“What’s the old saying? It could happen to you,” he said.

Trump is speaking Monday afternoon at Sportsman Boats in his first visit to South Carolina since the Silver Elephant Gala last month.

SUMMERVILLE, S.C. (WCSC) - Former President Donald Trump took the stage at a campaign event in Summerville Monday predicting a record-breaking win in the South Carolina Primary as he campaigned for a second term as commander-in-chief.

Trump is speaking Monday afternoon at Sportsman Boats in his first visit to South Carolina since the Silver Elephant Gala last month.

He told the crowd that his last two years in office were the best two years South Carolina boat builders and South Carolina businesses have ever had, saying that boat builders couldn’t make the boats fast enough.

“When I left the office business was roaring like a 400 horsepower Mercury outboard motor,” Trump said. “But then the economy slammed into a pile of rocks known as crooked Joe Biden.”

He promised to end Biden’s “war on American energy” and reclaim energy independence.

“In other words, we will drill, baby, drill,” he said.

Trump said he won South Carolina twice by record numbers and pledged to do it again.

“We did phenomenally here. We’ve always done well here and we’re going to do it at a level that nobody’s ever seen,” he said. “So we broke the record twice. We’re going to break it a third time. We’re going to break our own record.”

He said he intends to “take back our country and we’re going to make America great again.”

Before Trump’s speech, South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster told the crowd he went into the State House about a month after Trump went into the White House.

“And South Carolina has been booming ever since,” he said. “But then in January 2021, everything changed.”

McMaster said his administration has had to fight the Biden Administration “every day.” He cited the Biden Administration’s COVID-19 vaccine mandates for military personnel, and accused it of destroying the nation’s borders and the nation’s energy independence.

“From 2016 until now, [the Biden Administration] has been doing anything and everything they could, legal, illegal, ethical, unethical, unheard of, unprecedented, to do one thing: That includes two bogus impeachments and full-of-baloney indictments to do what? To stop one man, to stop our man from being president of the United States,” McMaster said.

Gov. Henry McMaster praised former President Donald Trump Monday at a campaign event held in Summerville.

Dorchester County deputies said earlier on Monday that Trump’s visit to Summerville would cause delays on Highway 78 from Summerville east of Berlin G. Myers Parkway to Jedburg Road at Mallard Road. Drivers in the area are asked to search for alternate routes if they don’t live or work along Highway 78 and are encouraged to use other entrances to neighborhoods in the area.

Traffic delays are expected to last through about 5 p.m. Monday but the delays could be extended.

Dorchester County deputies are warning of traffic delays ahead of former President Donald Trump’s visit to the Lowcountry.

Copyright 2023 WCSC. All rights reserved.

Get ready for a taste of Italy right in the heart of Historical Downtown Summerville. The 2023 Summerville Italian Feast is back, and it promises to be an unforgettable day of cultural celebration, delicious cuisine and community togetherness. The event, which started in 2012 with 11 vendors, has grown to 87 vendors this year.

The 2023 Summerville Italian Feast is 11-a.m.-6 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 8, at Hutchinson Square in downtown Summerville.

“Indulge your senses in the rich flavors of Italy as we pay tribute to Italian-American heritage,” according to a press release. “With over 87 local craft and food booths, as well as a delectable lineup of food trucks, you can savor your favorite Italian dishes just like mama used to make. From mouthwatering pasta dishes to scrumptious cannoli and everything in between, your taste buds are in for a treat.”

In addition to the food, the 2023 Summerville Italian Feast will showcase the talent of students from Dorchester District 2 schools who will entertain the crowd with performances.

One of the more significant aspects of this event is its charitable mission. All proceeds from the Summerville Italian Feast will benefit the Dorchester School District 2 Educational Foundation. Your attendance and participation in this celebration will directly contribute to educational programs and initiatives within the community.

The Dorchester District Two Board of Trustees voted Monday, Sept. 25, on the recommended process to follow over the next several months to rezone school attendance boundaries beginning with the 2024-25 school year.

“The natural question would be why is this process necessary in Dorchester School District 2,” said Dr. Shane Robbins, superintendent of Dorchester District 2. “The simple explanation is our strong academic reputation and our community’s appealing quality of life means we have welcomed thousands of new families in a short amount of time.”

Robbins said new growth and housing developments in part of Dorchester County have produced increased enrollments in some of the district’s facilities and now require the board and administration to consider setting new attendance zones to relieve overcrowding at Beech Hill Elementary, Sand Hill Elementary and William Reeves Elementary. Additionally, East Edisto Middle School, Ashley Ridge High School and Summerville High School are nearing capacity.

“The overcrowding at these locations just happens to coincide with a lower enrollment in other portions of Dorchester School District 2,” Robbins said. “We will rezone attendance boundaries because crowded classrooms create unsafe environments and make it difficult to provide the high-quality education that is a cornerstone of our community. We also understand the importance of maximizing our resources (facilities) for the taxpayers of Dorchester County.”

Several key dates have been identified as part of the rezoning process over the next year:

Nov. 7-14 – public engagement: District officials will collect feedback and answer questions during public meetings and an online process.

Dec. 11 – board meeting for public engagement: The meeting agenda will include a public comment opportunity and the results from the public engagement in November.

Jan. 8, 2024 – final board vote: Anticipated board vote on the recommended map for rezoned school attendance boundaries.

Summer 2024 – rezoning takes effect: The new maps for K-12 school attendance boundaries will determine where students are zoned to attend school based on their home addresses.

Visit www.ddtwo.org/rezone for more information. Robbins said the website will be updated as the rezoning process moves forward.

SUMMERVILLE, S.C. (WCBD) – Summerville unveiled its new drone program on Wednesday but some in the community are not thrilled about the new public safety initiative.

The town held a live demonstration for the new drone program, during which a man said he had some questions and concerns related to how money would be allocated along with privacy issues.

“You read in the newspaper and different things about how bigger cities are defunding their public safety department. Well, I want to say this- we are not defunding our public safety department, we’re funding them,” said Summerville Mayor Ricky Waring during Wednesday’s event.

Summerville presented two new drones, which make up the town’s first drone program. They plan to use them for search and rescue missions.

Mayor Waring even mentioned how they could help locate a missing child much faster, possibly preventing tragedies similar to a drowning that happened earlier this year.

But one gentleman in the audience spoke up and asked Mayor Waring for more specific numbers. How much is the town currently paying to use helicopters in searches versus how much will the new drone program cost?

“I was fire chief for 25 years … and we’ve called in helicopters numerous times over the 25 years, numerous times,” he said in response to the man.

“Well give me, numerous is just a very broad term,” the man responded. “It’s squishy, doesn’t mean anything.”

“What do you want?” Mayor Waring asked.

“I want specifics, I want once every six months we call in a helicopter and that helicopter cost $50,000 and this drone program is worth $1,000. You know, something in that realm would be actually real specific information,” the man said.

When Mayor Waring said the man didn’t understand public safety, words got a bit heated.

“He doesn’t understand public safety,” said Mayor Waring during the demonstration.

“I tell you what, thank God you’re not running again,” he replied.

The town’s operator also flew the two drones on demonstration flights to show everyone its capabilities. The drones have technology on them to help find people at night.

Drone operators said with the two batteries they have, they can keep the drone in the air for at least an hour and a half, but since the drone battery could be recharged, it could basically be used for many hours in a row if needed.