By Mike McCombs
It’s hard to remember just what life was like before the NIXLE alert came through to my phone from the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office at 7:51 p.m., Wednesday evening, Nov. 6.
“Public’s help sought concerning escaped primates in Yemassee …”
Let’s see … I remember, I think I was having dinner with my girlfriend, … and I know, maybe, we’d just had an election, I think. Maybe even a pretty big one.
It’s all a fog.
Apparently, around 1 p.m., Wednesday, a caretaker at Alpha Genesis Primate Research Center in Yemassee failed to properly secure an enclosure and 43 of the 50 female rhesus macaque monkeys contained within … suddenly weren’t.
Forty-three monkeys. That seems like a lot. I mean, at least to be roaming around free in Beaufort County.
“The Yemassee 43.”
I like the sound of it. It’s got a historic feel to it.
Initially, however, the public had no idea that many monkey’s were loose. The NIXLE simply said the Yemassee Police Department was working with Alpha Genesis staff in an effort to locate “several escaped primates.”
I am certain 43 is a lot more than several. If you’re not sure, try reading these two statements.
“I had several cups of coffee this morning.”
“I had 43 cups of coffee this morning.”
See what I mean. That will affect your day.
We got an inkling how serious things really were when it was updated the next morning that there were 40 escaped monkeys. Eventually, a more accurate count of 43 was released.
Imagine that employee’s next job interview.
“Well, why did you leave your last place of employment?”
“I accidentally set several monkeys free.”
“Several?”
“Well, … 43.”
(At press time, 32 of the 43 monkeys had been recovered safely with 11 still on the loose.)
Unlike the last mass escape from Alpha Genesis – 19 monkeys in 2016, all recovered by the end of the day – the world has taken notice. It seems everyone is talking about the monkeys.
ABC. NBC. CBS. CNN. The New York Times. NPR. Saturday Night Live. Rolling Stone, Stephen Colbert. Jimmy Kimmel.
Twitter … I mean X … was going ape.
“This is literally the plot for Rise of the Planet of the Apes.” “Did not have this on my 2024 bingo card.” “I’ve seen this movie and now it’s happening.”
All over social media, everyone was talking about the monkeys.
Nathan Callender lives on Lady’s Island. He owns Dustbone, a small company that makes T-shirts, hats and bumper stickers. And he’s the artist for Shellring Ale Works in Port Royal.
Callender, doing what artists do, thought he’d have a little fun with the monkey business and designed a T-shirt. Pictured on it is a nefarious-looking monkey, wearing a labcoat, sneakers and a stethoscope and the words “Lab Monkey 5K Freedom Run, Nov. 6, 2024, Yemassee, SC, Hosted by Alpha Genesis Research Facility.
The T-shirt took off, posted and shared all over Facebook and sold at Dustbone.com. (At least for a guy that makes his T-shirts in his garage.) Callender has almost 400 preorders for the shirt with about half coming from outside of Beaufort County.
But Callender said something initially didn’t sit right with him.
“All this was … it’s a time of self reflection … and then it didn’t feel right doing it without giving something back,” he said.
So Callender is giving $10 from every $25 shirt he sells to the Hampton County Animal Shelter.
“I figured Yemassee is in Hampton County and I should help out,” he said.
Then things got even crazier.
“Nick said, ‘Hey, why don’t we do a real run?’” Callender said.
Nick was Nick Borreggine, owner of Shellring Ale Works. Callender agreed.
“It’s rare that an opportunity presents itself to do some good,” Callender said. “It just took off. It just really resonated with people.”
Borreggine got with the folks at Grounded Running to set up a race. It’s scheduled for 2 p.m., Sunday, Nov. 17 and will start and end at Shellring.
The race will cost just $20 and runners will get a Shellring beer and one of Callender’s T-shirts.
Runners are encouraged to wear costumes – monkeys, lab workers, bananas – and there will even be a contest.
Stephen Noble, of the Beaufort Track Club, will run the race dressed as a monkey, and whoever can finish the 2-mile course ahead of him will win a prize.
“It’s been fun man. It’s just fun,” Borreggine said. “The way that (Callender) took the current news and made that jump to the freedom run. People just share memes all day long. It definitely has been a welcome distraction.”
And it’s still for a good cause — $10 from each race fee will go to Born Free USA, a national charity that is dedicated to rehoming monkeys from various situations.
“When it comes to animal testing, I mean, it’s 2024, we’ve come so far, there’s got to be better ways of doing things,” Callender said.
And Borreggine and Callender agreed this has been a welcome distraction, given the state of current events.
“If we can’t get together and put our differences aside to help some dang monkeys …,” Callender said. “I guarantee you, there’s going to be monkeys of all different political persuasions running side-by-side, next to each other on Sunday.”
Mike McCombs is the Editor of The Island News and can be reached at TheIslandNews@gmail.com.
