Pier project vital to Surfside Beach

I am originally from Charlotte, North Carolina, and have had the privilege and enjoyment of fishing on Surfside Pier for nearly 50 years.

When I retired 25 years ago, I decided to make the Surfside Beach area my home, which allowed me even more time to enjoy the pier. I recently had my 81st birthday and have had open heart surgery and cancer. Catching and eating fish are two of my favorite things to do. We have about 40 members in a fishing club known as “Surfside Pier Float Fishing Association” that was formed in 1982.

I have attended three Surfside Beach workshop meetings and expressed my feelings about what would work best for the pier. It seems that it all is up to FEMA.

I have a lot of friends who live here and other places who call me for updates on the pier. I started telling them several months ago that we would probably be fishing on Surfside Pier this fall. Then it was changed to the spring of 2018; now The Sun News tell us we will be lucky to see it done by 2019. I hope I’m still alive!

I pray that the mayor and town council will find a way to get our pier back. I have seen three piers destroyed. It has never taken more than a year to finish one.

I think Surfside is in trouble. There are three months of vacation time left this year; people may choose not to come to Surfside Beach the next two years.

This story was originally published July 1, 2017 at 3:15 PM with the headline "Pier project vital to Surfside Beach."