Friday’s event moves from Beaufort Academy gym to Okatie Ale House in Bluffton
By Mike McCombs
The Island News
Florida Gov. and Republican Presidential candidate Ron DeSantis will visit the Lowcountry on Friday, June 2, when he makes a 9 a.m. top at Okatie Ale House in Bluffton.
DeSantis, 44, announced his candidacy May 24. In his second term as Florida’s governor, DeSantis served three terms in Congress and is a U.S. Navy veteran.
Those wishing to attend the event are asked to register online at https://bit.ly/45zeWv1. Check-in will open at 8 a.m., and according to the event page, the event will end at 10:30 p.m.
Okatie Ale House is located at 25 William Pope Drive in Bluffton.
This event is being run by the Ron DeSantis Campaign. Anyone wishing to volunteer for the DeSantis Campaign Event, text the campaign at 239-898-5516.
Originally, when the campaign stop was announced on Friday, May 26, Beaufort Academy was the announced host. But on social media, that was already in doubt Friday night, and by Saturday, word had spread that BA would no longer be the host for the DeSantis visit.
Though, at least one Republican organization continued to send text messages about the Beaufort Academy appearance, those who tried to register for the event saw a message that the location was still “TBA” or “to be announced.”
By Monday, the DeSantis campaign announced the Okatie Ale House as the new venue, and there appeared to be an official statement from BA administration to parents:
Families,
Many of you may have heard in the past few days about a visit by the DeSantis campaign to Beaufort.
Beaufort Academy received a call from their team wanting to rent our team for the event. Beaufort Academy has for years made its facilities available to the Beaufort community for any number of different civic, religious and political purposes through an arms length business transaction and facilities rental policy.
This was actually part of the reason the USDA considered and awarded Beaufort Academy the recently announced loan.
We had concerns over the ability of our facilities to appropriately and safely accommodate the number of individuals who may arrive on campus as a result o the visit. A mutual decision was reached that our facility will not be used for this event. As always, Beaufort Academy is dedicated to serving our families and community at large.
Respectfully,
Beaufort Academy’s Head Of School and Board of Trustees
Mike McCombs is the Editor of The Island News and can be reached at TheIslandNews@gmail.com.
