MYRTLE BEACH — Area residents are invited to honor local photographer Jack Thompson and celebrate his birthday Friday during a reception in his honor.
The reception will be from 4 to 7 p.m. at the Myrtle Beach Train Depot at 851 Broadway St., and will feature a display of some of his photographs.
Thompson is considered by many to be “unofficial chronicler of South Carolina’s Grand Strand” and received a proclamation Sept. 11 during the City Council meeting declaring Friday to be “Jack Thompson ‘Remembering Myrtle Beach’ Day” throughout the state – a proclamation made by the S.C. General Assembly earlier this year as well.
Thompson said the recognition was an honor.
“I have had the pleasure of coming before 60 years of City Council in Myrtle Beach, knowing those great old guys and women who’ve directed the city that I love,” he said during the Sept. 11 council meeting after receiving a standing ovation from all in council chambers.
Mayor John Rhodes presented Thompson with the proclamation, saying the area has been blessed with his presence.
“With his photographer’s eye, Jack Thompson has captured significant events in our city’s history, providing a chronicle of Myrtle Beach’s transformation, growing as it has from a small vacation destination in the early 1950s to the East Coast’s premier Oceanside resort today,” Rhodes read from the proclamation.
Councilwoman Susan Grissom Means also praised Thompson during the meeting.
“[Thompson] is such an asset to our community and he’s done so many wonderful things,” she said.
Thompson began taking photos of the Grand Strand in 1951, when he was 13 years old, according to the resolution from the S.C. House of Representatives.
“Someone asked me, ‘Jack, how many pictures do you have?’ ” Thompson said at the council meeting. “I said, ‘How many stars are in the sky?’ And every picture deserves a thousand words.”
Council relaxes deadlines for paying parking meter violations
The Myrtle Beach City Council passed an ordinance Tuesday extending the amount of time given to those who receive parking meter violations to pay their fines. The ordinance brings the City Code in line with changes to the state law, said city spokesman Mark Kruea.
The new ordinance gives violators 30 days from the date of issue to pay a parking citation before being charged a $10 late fee. Previously violators only had seven days to pay the citation. If the citation still is not paid after 45 days, a second late fee of $15 will be added to the fine.
The city then will send notice requiring payment within 15 days of the date of the second notes.
If the fines are not paid after 60 days, a warrant for parking violations may be issued, the city may invoke any remedy permitted by law for debt collection or the vehicle may be impounded.
Don’t forget, parking meters are not in effect from Oct. 1 to April 30.
Celebrate the arts Tuesday
Four local artist organizations will celebrate anniversaries with a reception Tuesday at the Train Depot.
The arts organizations being recognized include Art in the Park, Carolina Master Chorale, Long Bay Symphony and F.G. Burroughs.-S.B. Chapin Art Museum celebrating their 40th, 30th, 25th and 15th anniversaries, respectively.
The County Council recognized the four organizations with a proclamation at Tuesday’s council meeting.
“In their own way, each of these four entities has enhanced our quality of life, broadened our perspectives, educated our children and enlivened our beings through sound and vision, art and music,” Kruea said, reading from the proclamation.
The reception will be held from 4 to 6 p.m. Tuesday at the Train Depot.
Contact MAYA T. PRABHU at 444-1722 or follow her at Twitter.com/TSN_MPrabhu.
