By Delayna Earley
The Island News
Snoopy and Woodstock have made their way back to their home on Lady’s Island.
The beloved holiday decoration was returned on Tuesday, Nov. 28, by a person dressed in a Grinch costume riding on a four-wheeler.
The person responsible for the decoration’s return has identified solely as “The Grinch,” and when reached for comment, they proceeded to answer in character.
The holiday season is steeped in tradition, and one that the residents of Lady’s Island have come to love is seeing the entire Peanuts gang set up in the island of the roundabout on Sam’s Point Road.
The decorations went up right after Thanksgiving, but it was not long before Snoopy and Woodstock went missing.
There are two parties responsible for the Peanuts Christmas decorations, one puts up Charlie Brown, Linus and decorates and the tree with the iconic single red ornament, and the other puts up Schroder playing the piano, Snoopy and Woodstock with Snoopy’s house – and new this year are the three girls – Peppermint Patty, Sally and Lucy.
Charlie Brown and Linus seem to have made their debut between Thanksgiving Day and Friday, Nov. 24, and the other characters followed shortly after on Saturday, Nov. 25, but Snoopy and Woodstock were reported missing sometime between 7 a.m. and 8 a.m. on Sunday, Nov. 26.
The party who puts up Charlie Brown, Linus and his tree is still a mystery to The Island News, but the Lady’s Island residents who made, painted and put up the other characters spoke with us and wish to not be named.
Although the two parties work together to put the Peanuts scene up every year, they have not met one another. But the family that has made the missing decoration is very interested in meeting up with those responsible for the Charlie Brown decoration.
Several posts were made about the missing decorations on Facebook which drew a lot of upset comments from locals who have come to love and appreciate the annual appearance of the beloved characters.
“Replacing a lost creation is like replacing a lost pet. You don’t want to give up hope with the first one before trying to fill the void with a new one,” the decoration’s creators said.
While the family responsible for Snoopy and Woodstock are grateful that the decoration has been returned, they are worried that the antics of “The Grinch,” shown in a video posted originally to a Facebook account for a “Jacob Burger,” will encourage others to pull their own pranks on the Peanuts gang.
“We don’t want to, but if we can’t trust that the decorations will be safe then we will have to pull them down,” the decoration’s creator said.
“The Grinch” admitted to taking the cartoon dog and his bird friend home with him to “Whoville” so that they could be seen by the town vet, “Cindy Lou Who.”
When the decoration was returned, it was wearing a protective dog cone and had a bandage on its head.
“The Grinch” also said that he and Santa would be visiting the traffic circle very soon again and would be bringing something in Santa’s sack.
Will this be the continuation of a prank, or an attempt to add to the festive nature of the roundabout?
Snoopy and Woodstock’s creator hopes that it is the later so that the actions of one will not ruin everyone’s holiday fun.
Delayna Earley formerly worked as a photojournalist for The Island Packet/The Beaufort Gazette, as well as newspapers in Indiana and Virginia. She can be reached at delayna.theislandnews@gmail.com.
