Chiropractic Care in Goose Creek, SC

A brand-new park opened in Goose Creek on Friday with the focus of being “a park built for everyone.”

GOOSE CREEK, S.C. (WCSC) - A brand-new park opened in Goose Creek on Friday with the focus of being “a park built for everyone.”

The $9 million project, Central Creek Park, hopes to be inclusive towards everyone with volleyball and basketball courts, a splash pad, a food truck pavilion and pickleball courts.

Over 26,000 square-feet, ‘Debra’s Playground’ will offer a wide range of accessible activities for people with physical or visual disabilities. The surfacing is all wheelchair accessible, and the equipment is based on sensory items for everyone to enjoy.

Families who include children with disabilities were the first invited to play at the park after this morning’s ribbon cutting. Nicole Valentine, mother to her special needs daughter, says other parks have never really been concerned about including all the different aspects of sensory play before.

“It’s never really kept in mind the heart of all children to be fully inclusive, and even down to having the fence around for those kids who love to run,” Valentine says. “It’s very important and it does so much for parent’s safety concerns to be able to just come here, and you almost get a little bit of relief watching your children play and not be so stressed out.”

The City of Goose Creek hosted a tribute to the donors of the park ahead of the ribbon cutting ceremony. Goose Creek Recreation Director Crystal Reed addressed the city and sponsors after working for months on the development.

“Central Creek Park sets our community apart and creates opportunities to remove barriers, increase self-esteem, develop community culture where everyone benefits from health, fitness and social connections,” Crystal says. “Thousands of children and adults across Berkeley County of all abilities have benefited from our therapeutic recreation program over the past several years; because of you, we just raised the bar with Central Creek Park.”

Parents of children with special needs say that it means the world to them to see their children experience a park they can truly enjoy. Kathy Kackley, parent to Trista Kutceher, travel the U.S. together promoting inclusivity in parks and compared other parks to Central Creek Park.

“There’s something here for everyone; there’s something here everyone can do,” Kackley says. “We like to be inclusive in our play and in our life, and we are very appreciative that Goose Creek has stepped up and has a place for everybody to play together.”

Goose Creek Assistant Recreation Director, Nicole Herrera Murray, explains how the city worked to choose specific pieces of equipment for special needs children to use. After planning and researching for months, she says Friday was a dream come true.

“I’ve been dreaming of this day for a really long time. It’s really amazing to see everyone enjoying and hearing the screams behind us is just everything that I’ve ever wanted,” Murray says.

The public is invited to join in on the fun Friday from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. or Saturday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at 47 Old Moncks Corner Rd.

Copyright 2022 WCSC. All rights reserved.

GOOSE CREEK, S.C. (WCSC) - Christmas came early for a young man in Goose Creek but not before a couple of Grinches got in the way.

After realizing he dropped more than $1,700 in cash while riding his motorcycle down Highway 52 as he was headed to the store, 20-year-old Kyle Kons got to his destination Wednesday afternoon only to find his money missing. He retraced his steps to see several cars pulled over on the side of the highway - people were grabbing his cash and driving off.

“By the time I got there, the last car was pulling off,” Kons says. “I felt hopeless. I thought ‘I’ll never get this money back.’”

Kons says he had just bought a car with the cash and had put the leftover money in an envelope from the bank.

“I thought my front jacket pocket was zipped up all the way, but I guess not,” he says. “I thought I had felt something fall out and hit my leg, but I didn’t question it because nobody behind me was stopping.”

“My heart sunk. I felt like I was the laughingstock of the town,” Kons says. He says he moved to Goose Creek last year for his career in the Navy. He’s currently a Petty Officer.

In a Facebook post of his own in the group, Kons wrote, in part:

“I didn’t realize my money was gone until I arrived at Walmart, and by the time I got there, the last car was scooping up my money… I ask people to be decent human beings and return the money to the owner. I earned that money that you got for free.”

In addition to expressing his frustrations, Kons left his phone number on the post to see if anyone had extra work, so he could earn some money during the Christmas weekend.

He says he never would have thought the community would use his phone number to find his payment apps, like Venmo, CashApp and Zelle, and gift him his money back… and then some.

“I came home from work Thursday, and I had $300 in my account,” Kons says. “I was like ‘no way,’ and it was maybe five people total at the time sending money and saying ‘this sucks but have a great Christmas.’ I was so touched, like, oh my gosh, thank you, thank you, thank you!”

Kons says most of the payments appeared to be coming from other military members in the area. The payments ranged from a couple of dollars to $250.

In total, Kons tells us he’s been sent over $2,000 through the payment apps, and he doesn’t want to get any more notifications or payments.

He spent Friday with his roommates, John VanTatenhove and Tyler Roton, picking up litter on Highway 52 where he lost his money as a way of giving back to the Goose Creek community.

Copyright 2022 WCSC. All rights reserved.

GOOSE CREEK — A historic property in the Charleston suburbs soon could be transformed into a new housing development.

Beazer Homes paid $4 million on Dec. 19 for the 37.5-acre parcel that once housed the Oaks Plantation Golf & Country Club off Red Bank Road. The previous owner was Mims Amusement Operating Co., which held the site for more than 50 years.

The homebuilder’s spokeswoman did not have updated information to share on Dec. 20 on a construction time frame, but the Atlanta-based company plans to develop the site into 89 single-family housing lots, according to plans presented to Goose Creek officials. The city annexed the land in 2021.

The country club building, which suffered a devastating fire in 2008, was demolished in 2020, a year after the longtime private facility closed at the end of The Oaks Avenue.

The Oaks Plantation Golf & Country Club dates to the founding of the country. It was the site of Declaration of Independence signer Arthur Middleton’s 18th-century rice farm, which was established by a land grant in 1678.

The former yellow-colored Oaks Plantation house was built in 1892 for Maine businessman Edwin Parsons, whose family also once owned Woodlands Mansion in Summerville.

In 1956, the Oaks Co. Inc. paid $125,000 for the plantation house and the 140 acres of land surrounding the home.

It became the Oaks Plantation Golf & Country Club after Harold Mims, the owner of a now-defunct, coin-operated amusement business, bought the property in 1964. The main home was used for weddings and other events until the fire heavily damaged the site 14 years ago.

The plantation home, grounds and golf course shut their doors to the public in March 2019. The property’s land use allows single-family homes.

A Beazer Homes representative previously said the company was drawn to the property because of its close proximity to “commuting corridors” and the mature trees and ponds that make up the former club.

Home sales across every housing market in South Carolina plummeted by double digits in November as higher mortgage interest rates and escalating prices pushed would-be buyers out of the market.

The decline marks the 12th consecutive month for lower housing transactions across the Palmetto State.

Residential sales plunged more than 28 percent last month compared to November 2021, according to data from the S.C. Realtors Association.

In November, 7,029 homes changed hands at a median price of $320,000, up nearly $35,000, or 12.1 percent, from a year earlier. The median price is also down $9,000 from the record set across the state in June of $329,000.

So far this year through November, 99,679 residences have sold across the state at a median price of $315,000. Volume is down 10.9 percent while the price is up 16.7 percent compared to the first 11 months of last year.

For comparison, from January through October 2019, 91,309 homes sold at a median price of $218,000.

The outgoing president of the state Realtors group said the pace of sales is stabilizing to pre-pandemic conditions, but prices remain elevated because of low inventory, higher borrowing costs and overall inflation.

Looking ahead, Cindy Creamer, an agent with Dunes Real Estate on Hilton Head Island, said, “Higher interest rates will have more of an impact now” and “it’s going to be tough” for first-time homebuyers.

On a bright note, she cited a report from the National Association of Realtors that said Charleston and the Greenville/Spartanburg area are among the top places in the U.S. that are poised for continued housing growth in 2023.

“I think we will be holding our own in South Carolina next year,” she said.

From the coast to the mountains, home sales were off 18.5 percent to more than 46 percent as no market was immune to the decline in transactions.

Charleston, the state’s largest market by volume, posted a 33 percent drop in closings. Myrtle Beach, the second-largest market in terms of sales, slipped nearly 37 percent. Columbia saw a decline of almost 27 percent while Greenville was down 18.5 percent.

Hilton Head slid 35 percent while Rock Hill dipped 21 percent.

Pricewise, every metropolitan area in South Carolina posted increases from nearly 6.5 percent to almost 12 percent. Myrtle Beach saw a 19 percent spike over the same month a year ago. While sales were down in October, the median price came in higher at all major markets in the state.

As for rising prices, which continue to put homes out of reach for many would-be buyers, Creamer said sellers “need to get a little more realistic” with the market.

“Overall, prices may readjust another 10 percent, but I don’t think they will be drastically cut,” Creamer said.

Hilton Head Island continued to lead the state with the highest median price of $499,480. Rock Hill, in the growing suburbs of Charlotte, ranked second at $400,000 and surpassed Charleston, which dropped to third highest at $394,900.

Beaufort came in at $370,000, Myrtle Beach at $318,930 and Greenville at $303,240.

Several areas reported median prices between $250,000 and $300,000, including Aiken, Anderson, Columbia, North Augusta and Spartanburg. Those below $250,000 were regional offices in Florence, Gaffney, Greenwood and Sumter.

Along with elevated home prices is the higher cost of borrowing, though mortgage interest rates have fallen in recent weeks.

Home loan financier Freddie Mac reported Dec. 22 the average rate on a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage edged down to 6.27 percent. The average rate on a 15-year note, popular for refinancing homes, rose slightly to 5.69 percent. Both rates were near or below 3.0 percent at this time last year.

“Rates have declined significantly over the past six weeks, which is helpful for potential homebuyers, but new data indicates homeowners are hesitant to list their homes,” said Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s chief economist.

“Many of those homeowners are carefully weighing their options as more than two-thirds of current homeowners have a fixed mortgage rate of below 4 percent,” he added.

Riding an eight-game winning streak, the Goose Creek Gators rose to No. 2 in the Jan. 3 Class AAAAA poll by the South Carolina Basketball Coaches Association.

The 13-1 Gators are playing as well as anybody in the state since dropping their lone game by a single point almost a month ago. Included in the torrid stretch are three victories in the Roundball Classic Dec. 28-30 against Lucy Beckham (63-53), Forsyth Country Day, N.C. (75-65) and Paul Laurence Dunbar, Ky. (60-52).

Gators coach Blake Hall believes the tournament experience at North Charleston Athletic Center prepared his team for region battles around the corner.

“That’s the great thing about the Roundball,” Hall said. “For 20-plus years, it’s been bringing in those teams from outside the state. You get coaches with different concepts and players on different levels. I’m very pleased with the last three days. Forsyth is as talented a team as we will see all year. We played Dunbar, a well-coached team from Kentucky that is coached by (former South Carolina State coach) Murray Garvin.”

After one final non-region clash against Summerville on Jan. 6, the doors swing open on Region 6-AAAAA play at Berkeley on Jan. 10. The improved Stags are guided by former Gators assistant Matt Mullins.

With five wins as of Jan. 3, the Stags have celebrated as many victories this winter as they did all of the last two seasons. The Gators then host defending league champion Cane Bay Jan. 17 and Wando Jan. 20 before capping the first rotation through the region slate Jan. 24 at rival Stratford.

“Region games are region games for a reason,” Hall said. “Teams get up to play each other, or at least they should. It doesn’t matter who the region champion was last year or who is back from last year. It’s a new year. We’ve just got to continue to sharpen our blade and worry about our product. The rest will take care of itself.”

In the Roundball, senior guard Elijah Dates lit up opponents for 64 points in three games, including 30 against Forsyth. He also dropped in 19 and 15 against Dunbar and Beckham and earned most outstanding player in the event.

Sophomore guard Shane Potts also reached double figures in all three games for the Gators, chipping in 13, 12 and 17. Freshman guard Ja’Quell Brown tallied 11 points against Forsyth and 10 against Beckham. Senior guard Brandon Burgess scored 12 points versus Beckham.

“I think we’ve shown a lot of growth,” Hall said. “We’ve had to go most of the season without our most veteran, most talented guy (senior forward Justin Britt). The guys have learned how to find a way to win games. The guys have had to play bigger roles in that time. We’re hoping that as he works his way back into playing shape, we can start to work him back in and not disrupt anything. We don’t want him to come back and feel like he has to do everything.”

Britt has been out with an injury, but is expected to return in region play. He was a preseason top five senior in the state after averaging 13.5 points as a junior. He also paced the Gators in rebounds, steals, assists and blocks in 2021-22.

More Lowcountry basketball teams ranked inside the top 10 as the new year dawns are Summerville’s boys (AAAAA, No. 6), Ashley Ridge boys (AAAAA, No. 8), Stratford’s girls (AAAAA, No. 1), Summerville’s girls (AAAAA, No. 4), Wando’s girls (AAAAA, No. 9), Fort Dorchester’s girls (AAAAA, No. 10), North Charleston’s boys (AAA, No. 8), Philip Simmons’ girls (AAA, No. 4), Oceanside Collegiate’s boys (AA, No. 3), Woodland’s boys (AA, No. 9), Bishop England’s girls (AA, No. 4), Military Magnet girls (A, No. 1) and Cross’s girls (A, No. 9).

The Forbush girls basketball team poses for a group pic during a break in the action at the Carolina Invitational, which concluded on Friday evening, in Charleston, S.C. (Photo courtesy of Steve Workman)

Both the Forbush and Starmount girls basketball teams tested themselves in a pair of holiday tournaments late last week.

And each team found forms of success.

Forbush claimed a runner-up finish at the Carolina Invitational in Charleston, S.C. after a 2-1 performance.

The Falcons dropped a tough 39-23 decision in the championship game of the Ashley River bracket on Friday evening to 5A Stratford, which was the eight-ranked South Carolina school in the state, according to MaxPreps.

They’re also currently ranked fifth in 5A, according to the South Carolina Basketball Coaches Association.

The Knights (13-3) held Forbush to just six field goals in the game and nine secondhalf points.

Despite being held scoreless in the second half, Natalie Scott led Forbush with six points while Katie Furno and Carrie Vestal added five apiece. Scott added a three assists and a pair of steals.

Mallory Chapman and Mariah Livingston both recorded a pair of blocks on defense and finished with 11 and 10 rebounds, respectively. Chapman also finished with a trio of steals.

The Falcons reached the finals thanks to a furious fourth quarter rally in a 41-34 win against Oceanside Collegiate Academy.

Down 22-19 after three quarters, the Falcons (10-4) outscored the Landsharks (6-5) by 10 points in the final stanza. Forbush scored more points in the fourth (22) than it had in the previous three quarters combined.

Like the championship game, Chapman turned in a production performance. The sophomore finished with 13 rebounds to go along with seven points, four steals, three blocks and drew a trio of charges. Livingston added 11 boards.

Furno paced a balanced scoring attack with nine points and Brooke Davis added eight points while Vestal finished with six. Despite being held to just one field goal, Scott contributed five steals and a trio of assists.

In the opener last Wednesday, the Falcons broke open a tight game in the second half with a 44-35 win over Goose Creek.

Chapman notched a double-double as she tied Vestal for the team-high in scoring with 11 points. She also added 12 rebounds, five steals and three blocks.

Livingston paced Forbush on the glass with 13 rebounds and also finished with five points.

Davis and Emily Eads added six and five points, respectively.

Starmount joined fellow Northwest 1A Conference member Mount Airy, along with four other teams in the Chick-fil-A Holiday Invitational at North Surry last Wednesday and Thursday.

The Rams started off on the right foot with a 57-48 win over Surry Central in the opener.

Starmount held an eight-point lead after one quarter (14-6) and was ahead 29-23 at

halftime.

In the second game, the Rams and the Greyhounds went back and forth before North Surry held on for the 48-46 win despite going nearly the last four minutes without a basket. But the Greyhounds went 7-of-9 from the free-throw line in the span.

North Surry (6-4) extended the lead to as many as four late before Amelia Vanhoy knocked down a basket at the buzzer.

Vanhoy, a senior, finished just shy of double figures with nine points; Morgan Pinnix paced the Rams, who will play three games this week (it culminates with a battle against Elkin on Friday), with 13 points and freshman Molly Swaim chipped in 12.

Layken Mathis had eight points and Emma Smith finished with four.

Sade Badgett led the Greyhounds, who hosted Mount Airy on Tuesday and hosts West Wilkes on Friday, with a game-high 16 points. Sarah Mauldin and Kalyn Collins added 10 and nine points, respectively.

— Cory Smith of the Mount Airy News contributed to this report.