The festival has donated nearly $1.2 million to local charities.

MONCKS CORNER, S.C. – Celebrate The Season is back for a 13^th year of warming hearts, creating special memories, and supporting local charities. Celebrate The Season’s Holiday Lights Driving Tour takes place daily from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. from Nov. 24 through Dec. 30 (closed Dec. 24 and Dec. 25). In addition, Holiday In The Park festivities will take place on Fridays and Saturdays from Dec. 8 through Dec. 23.

Admission is only $10 per vehicle, with all ticket proceeds being donated to local charities. Visitors will enjoy Celebrate The Season’s mile-long Holiday Lights Driving Tour, where festive displays with thousands of colorful LEDs complement the natural scenery of Old Santee Canal Park. Visitors can enjoy the driving tour as many times as they like on the day they purchase their ticket.

Due to the success of last year’s event, Old Santee Canal Park has extended Holiday In The Park festivities, which take place from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. over three weekends – Dec. 8-9, Dec. 15-16 and Dec. 22-23. Bring your family and friends to get into the holiday spirit with food, local entertainment, holiday gift vendors, free visits with Santa, and many other activities. Entry is included with admission to the Holiday Lights Driving Tour. More information is available at www.celebratetheseason.org.

All the brilliantly colored LED lighting displays are powered by 100% Santee Cooper Green Power, which is Green-e Energy certified and meets the environmental and consumer-protection standards set forth by the nonprofit Center for Resource Solutions. Learn more at www.green-e.org.

Since 2011, Celebrate The Season, presented by Berkeley Electric Cooperative and organized by Santee Cooper and Old Santee Canal Park, has donated nearly $1.2 million to local charities, including the Coastal Community Foundation’s Giving Back to Berkeley Fund.

Santee Cooper

Santee Cooper is South Carolina’s largest power provider, the ultimate source of electricity for 2 million people across the state, and one of America’s Best Midsize Employers as named by Forbes. Through its low-cost, reliable and environmentally responsible electricity and water services, and through innovative partnerships and initiatives that attract and retain industry and jobs, Santee Cooper helps power South Carolina. To learn more, visit www.santeecooper.com and follow #PoweringSC on social media.

MONCKS CORNER, S.C. – (Thursday, February 1, 2024) – Berkeley County has been awarded a $1 million US Fish & Wildlife Service grant from the SC Department of Natural Resources to help fund the County’s Mega Boat Landing project, which is a partnership with Santee Cooper. The funding was announced at the Berkeley County Council meeting on Monday, January 22, 2024. See full meeting video HERE.

The Mega Boat Landing project is taking place at the former Atkins Boat Landing/Lions Beach site, located at 933 Broughton Road in Moncks Corner. The site, currently undergoing construction, spans approximately 14 acres on Lake Moultrie. Project plans include renovating and expanding the property to include the following improvements:

Santee Cooper is heading the design and permitting the project’s marine elements, including the docks and breakwater. Berkeley County Engineering is permitting the design plans in cooperation with the Town of Moncks Corner and the SC Department of Health and Environmental Control. Work on the land/parking lot is being conducted by Berkeley County Roads and Bridges.

Total cost of the project is approximately $6.5 million. In addition to the $1M grant from SC DNR, project funding stems from the Berkeley County Delegation “Water Recreation Funds,” Berkeley County Accommodations Tax Funds, and SC state budget appropriations. Additional costs are being offset by work performed in-house by Berkeley County and Santee Cooper.

On March 22, 2021, Santee Cooper’s Board of Directors approved a long-term gratis lease to Berkeley County for the project. The project is expected to be complete by summer 2025.

“County Council and I are incredibly grateful for this state grant and look forward to this project inching closer to wrapping up. We excitedly anticipate that special day, in the near future, when the County and Santee Cooper can offer the public an additional location to enjoy outdoor recreation, along with providing our other overly used boat landings some much-needed relief. Aside from local daily use, we are excited of the prospects to attract the largest freshwater fishing tournaments in the world to Berkeley County and our world class fisheries.” -Johnny Cribb, Berkeley County Supervisor

“The Santee Cooper Lakes are an incredible asset for the people of South Carolina. This funding marks the next step in the construction of the Mega Boat Landing, which will be a notable addition to the lakes when it’s completed. We’re proud to be part of this project with the County; it not only will be a gathering place and resource for local residents but also will stimulate the economy by bringing additional anglers, tourists and events to Berkeley County.” -Jimmy Staton, Santee Cooper President and CEO

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– Prepared by the Berkeley County Public Information Office –

MONCKS CORNER, S.C. (WCSC) - WakeUp Carolina is a nonprofit organization that offers resources to families and individuals struggling with addiction and they recently opened a facility in Berkeley County after the area saw high numbers of overdose deaths.

WakeUp Carolina is based out of Mount Pleasant, but in 2023, Berkeley County saw record high numbers of overdose deaths and the organization saw a need for change, so they opened a new facility off of East Main St in Moncks Corner in February.

WakeUp Carolina provides harm reduction resources such as NARCAN training and fentanyl test strips, as well as support groups for families and individuals dealing with addiction or suffering from loss as a result of overdose. The organization also acts as a vessel for finding resources for recovery among other efforts to improve the issue of overdose and addiction in South Carolina. WakeUp Carolina’s whole foundation is based on the idea that no family will ever have to go through loss and overdose alone. The founder of the organization lost her son to an overdose and wanted to provide support to others in every way that she could.

Dean Stephens, the Director of Development for WakeUp Carolina’s new facility says that this first month of being open could not have gone any better than they had hoped and that the community has been extremely welcoming. One thing they have said all along about this facility is that the community will dictate what goes into the space and what is needed, and Stephens says that is exactly what they have done with the furniture that is currently filling the space.

Stephens says that they plan to bring the things their Mount Pleasant location offers to Berkeley County, but they also want to hear what the community needs so they can create a safe space for the people who need it.

“We listen. And we’ll listen to what the community wants. Because for us, we’re not going to tell people what they need or what they want. We’ll sit back and listen to what they need, what they want, what they tell us, and then we’ll create programs groups, and things like that, and partnerships I think is a big word too, to create partnerships within this community to help people who may want our help,” he says.

Stephens says he believes that addiction and overdose are things that impact everybody at all levels and he is excited to create more partnerships in the community to build and grow. He says that they have already been working with the local school districts, churches and local mental health departments to expand their outreach and engage with community members, and he has high hopes for the future as these partnerships are created. They just want to create a safe space for the community.

He says it means so much to him to be a part of an organization that does so much.

“We toss around words like blessing and gratitude, and I really mean those two words when I say them here in Berkeley County that we feel like it’s a blessing that we’re here. And we’re grateful that you know, we have the resources and the tools to be able to open up these doors and share with anybody who wants to walk in these doors,” Stephens says.

To commemorate the official opening of the facility, they will be holding a ribbon-cutting ceremony Monday at 4 p.m. It will take place at their new facility at 325 E Main Street in Moncks Corner and the community is welcome to attend. This will kick off their community outreach, but Stephens says they have already been so welcoming and are excited for what’s to come.

“The community has been amazing, truly. And when people find out what we do, and the services that we provide, and the reach that we’ll have here in Berkeley County, it’s been, it’s been so welcoming,” he says. “We are here to help the individual, the family, the community.”

Copyright 2024 WCSC. All rights reserved.

MONCKS CORNER, S.C. (WCSC) - After days of planning workshops and community feedback, the town of Moncks Corner’s 2024 Comprehensive Plan draft is ready to be brought to the council.

Officials say it’s sort of like a bucket list for the town, and the more than 100-page plan boils down to addressing nine key elements: population, economic development, cultural and natural resources, community facilities, housing, land use, transportation, and resiliency.

The law requires a comprehensive plan every 10 years and to update it every five years. Moncks Corner is at the five-year mark, but decided it was time for a whole new plan.

“We’ve gone from about 6,000 residents to around 15,000 in 20 years,” Mayor Thomas Hamilton said. “So, it’s been a big jump for a small town like Moncks Corner and we don’t want to lose the Lowcountry’s Hometown feel. That’s why we’re being proactive.”

Due to future growth pressures, part of the draft focuses on how to maintain a small-town feel that appeals to both future and current residents.

“The Lowcountry continues to expand, and we hope to absorb some of that but absorb it in a responsible manner, so our current residents don’t feel left behind and that we actually enhance their quality of life from what they already expect from us,” Moncks Corner Community Development Director Justin Westbrook said. “Great fire service, police and recreation services, and that we also add to it for our future residents.”

The mayor said results from a community survey have guided the town to focus on providing outdoor activities residents can enjoy.

“Parks, pickleball, tennis,” Hamilton said. “Things that we can bring value and to have from our residents to be able to do in Moncks Corner instead of getting in their car and going to Goose Creek or North Charleston.”

Westbrook understands that planning and executing are two different things, and said that this is not a book that will collect dust on the shelf.

“You start saving for your retirement now and when you get there it may not be exactly what you envisioned because maybe you can afford more or maybe you have to scale it back a little bit, but this is a book that helps keeps us on that road map to which we’ve already collected the community’s voices, and will hopefully continue to use as we move forward,” he said.

The next step is for the town council to consider adopting this plan, which they will discuss at their February 20th and March 19th meetings. Members will be able to make recommendations to tweak or change certain things as they see fit.

To take a look at the draft, click here.

Copyright 2024 WCSC. All rights reserved.

MONCKS CORNER, S.C. – Despite several delays, Slim Chickens officially opened its doors to the public Monday in Moncks Corner. The restaurant is located next to Tractor Supply at 451 North U.S. Hwy 52. This is the first restaurant along the South Carolina coast for the Arkansas-based chain.

Along with giving Berkeley County residents a new option to grab a meal, the new Slim Chickens restaurant is helping to boost the area’s economy with the creation of more than 75 new jobs, representatives for the chain told The Berkeley Observer.

Larry Chandler, a multi-unit Firehouse Subs owner, is behind the opening of the popular chicken chain’s third location in the Palmetto State. The restaurant chain opened its first South Carolina location on Garners Ferry Road in Columbia last year. Its second location opened in the Upstate in Fort Mill in April 2023.

Tana Lee is the restaurant manager for the Moncks Corner location.

For Chandler and his nephew, Jody Chandler, who is also a co-owner, this is their first time embarking on opening their very first Slim Chickens.

Larry has been in the restaurant business for nearly 40 years and owns 38 Firehouse Subs restaurants in South Carolina and North Carolina – the largest amount of locations in the Firehouse Subs system.

According to the pair, they decided to partner with Slim Chickens after experiencing the delicious food and southern hospitality firsthand, which is exactly what they say they strive for at their Firehouse Subs restaurants.

With the opening of the new Moncks Corner Slim Chickens, it now shares the same stretch of highway as several other chicken-focused restaurants, including Chick-fil-A, Bojangles, Popeyes, KFC and Zaxby’s.

According to Larry, while he has humble respect for his fellow local restaurant owners in Moncks Corner, he believes Slim Chickens will easily stand out in the restaurant scene because of the brand’s different offerings from its competitors, like chicken & waffles, 17 different sauces, and crafted desserts.

Slim Chickens, which launched in 2003 by founders Greg Smart and Tom Gordon, has over 235 locations in the United States, United Kingdom and Turkey and over 1,150 locations in development.

Slim Chickens locations are also planned for Florence, Myrtle Beach and Charleston, QSR Magazine reports.

For more information on Slim Chickens, visit slimchickens.com.