Importance of Dandridge/Island News relationship with veterans
[I’m] writing [as the] recently retired Commander of the Washington Light Infantry (WLI) of Charleston (1807).
As a step in closing out my duties, I have turned over many of my active contacts to newly elected Commander, Col. John Powell, Jr., USMC Reserve, retired.
One important contact is Wayne Larry Dandridge, writer of the Veterans Administration-based (VA) articles you frequently publish. [Virtually all of] the WLI membership of some 200 [are] veterans of military service. We are principally Charleston and Lowcountry residents.
The VA is a vast source of important medical and other related information meaningful to veterans, but also often a complex maze for finding programs and other resources available to American veterans. Larry Dandridge has dedicated his retirement efforts to dissemination of VA facts and options to a wide range of individuals and veteran organizations. His articles for The Island News have been provided to me and forwarded to WLI members for several years.
Certainly, the benefits of your association with Larry have helped an uncountable number of veterans and their families, and I trust your relationship with him will continue.
— Col. Dale L. Theiling, former Washington Light Infantry Commander
Thumbs Up suspending programs – what’s next?
After 30 years of service to hundreds of families in Beaufort, the board of directors of Thumbs Up Inc., has voted unanimously to suspend, temporarily, its year-round tutoring and mentoring programs as of May 30. We are committed to continuing the legacy of our founder, Sister Mary Trzasko, who dedicated her life and ministry to helping elementary school students who were falling behind in school due to a lack of academic support at home. In short, we are re-organizing, and will have no program this summer.
This decision was a difficult one, and was strictly a financial one. Following the difficult COVID years and the retirement of much-loved director Rosalyn Brown, we were fortunate to name Dr. Christopher Thompson our Executive Director in 2023. A gifted educator and innovator, Chris greatly expanded the scope of Thumbs Up to include middle schoolers, a program for parents, and he led us to become a Freedom School in the summer, worked with students in their schools, etc.
Unfortunately, our fundraising could not keep up with our increased expenses, and although we own our Center on Hamar Street and have no debt, we simply could not afford to retain Chris’ service. A native Beaufortonian, a pastor in charge of two churches, and a college professor, I know that Chris will continue to find ways to serve his community. We are grateful to him for his work at Thumbs Up.
I speak for the board when I say “Thank You” to our many loyal donors and volunteers who have helped sustain and grow Thumbs Up over the years. Our local churches have been wonderfully supportive (St. Peter’s, Carteret St. Methodist, St. Mark’s Episcopal, the Unitarians, and the Parish Church of St. Helena, to name a few), as have the many volunteers from town and Dataw Island.
We also want to thank the Coastal Community Foundation, the United Way of the Lowcountry, and 100 Women Who Care for their past support. And I cannot say enough about Dan and Margot Silva, who for the past dozen years have organized the annual Classic Car Show at Habersham on the first Saturday of each December as a fund-raiser for Thumbs Up!
What’s next? The board is committed to returning to Sister Mary’s core mission of providing a safe and happy learning environment for two hours after school, where volunteers (often retired teachers) work one-on-one or in small groups groups, developing reading and math skills for students in Grades K-4. We also intend to have a summer program, to help reduce “learning loss.”
We have no time table yet, as we are in discussions with partner organizations and educators. We will also be seeking additional funding to allow us to offer a first-class program to our young scholars. If anyone reading this would like to support our efforts — financially or otherwise, I would be delighted to hear from them. My email is jrutter@islc.net.
— J. Wood “Woody” Rutter, Board Chair, Thumbs Up, Inc., a 501(c)3 organization
I’ve been quiet
I want to say I love The Island News. I used to write frequently but haven’t lately.
I want to welcome columnist Tim Newman. I enjoyed his comments even though I didn’t agree with everything he wrote. I was a moderate republican for first 30 years of my voting life. Then Republicans went crazy. It started with Attorney General Republican John Ashcroft of Missouri where I grew up. [He would not allow] the parents of Nancy Cruzan who was a vegetable hospitalized for 17 years were not allowed to pull the plug on life support advocated by seven different doctors. This eventually led to bankruptcy and divorce. Nancy later passed.
My reaction was the Republican Party, self-called the party of small government, fiscal responsibility, and strong defense, could impose its will in family matters?
Then [they] went to policing the bedrooms of Americans, rights of women, and gays and transgenders. I had enough. I started voting split ticket, then later, I went to straight ticket Democrat. If Republicans return to small government and fiscal responsibility I will return.
Cell phones and driving — The Charlston City Paper. For six years of my life, I drove a big truck coast to coast. While in Pennsylvania, a car passed me with a young woman driving while sitting Indian style, a cell phone in her ear, the other hand talking — no hands on the wheel or feet on the floor. Sometime later I ran into a backup. Other truckers were talking about a wreck on the CB radio with a body bag being removed. Car went into the median and struck a tree. When I passed the wreck site, it was the girl in the car that passed me.
— Don Cass, Beaufort
Thanks
I wish to thank you for your efforts to inform veterans of the benefits available to them and their families. Especially Larry Dandridge’s articles on the benefits available to veterans. This service is much appreciated.
— Michael R. Cortright, Veteran Service Officer, S.E. Division Marine Corps League
