Features

 By John Nelson 

Of course, we all know Forrest Gump’s beautiful city of Savannah. Ga., with its midnight gardens, as well as the river that flows between Georgia and South Carolina, but a savanna is different.

The South Brunswick Islands Shrine Club is hosting a fish fry Saturday, June 13, at Shallotte Point Volunteer Fire Department. 

Shriners will begin serving the food and cold beverages at 11 a.m. at the fire department at 4126 Pigott Road.  Individuals can choose between a fish or shrimp plate that comes with slaw, hushpuppies and a drink. A plate costs $10.

The fish fry is held in conjunction with the 32nd Annual Shriners Flounder Tournament, which is held Friday and Saturday, June 12 and 13. 

The inaugural Southport Songwriter Festival (S2F) for songwriters and music lovers is scheduled for Friday-Sunday, June 19-21, at various venues throughout the city. The festival is being presented by Front Porch Productions, created by Grammy Award-winning songwriter Louisa Branscomb.

OCEAN ISLE BEACH — A roomful of residents turned out to hear proposed plans to build another traffic-circle roundabout, this time at N.C. 179 and N.C. 904/Ocean Isle Beach Road.

Several had concerns at the May 21 public meeting at Ocean Isle Beach Town Hall, along with complaints about the newly opened roundabout at Old Georgetown Road and N.C. 904/Four Mile Road.

This Saturday in the park will be another pickin’ and singin’ celebration.

The 12th annual Mostly Bluegrass Spring Festival, scheduled from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. in Riverside Park in Shallotte, will feature variegated vocal and acoustic skills of four North Carolina bluegrass bands, along with an all-day music jam open to anyone who wants to sing or jam on a bluegrass instrument.

“We bring a variety of groups,” Jim Caulder, president of the Shallotte-based Mostly Bluegrass Society, said.

Last Saturday, May 9, the West Brunswick High School Show Choir traveled to Atkins A & T High School in Winston-Salem to win third place in the state finals of the William Peace University North Carolina Show Choir Competition.

The choir, one of eight high schools in the competition, will present its award-winning performance at a free spring concert at 7 p.m. Thursday, May 21, in Odell Williamson Auditorium at Brunswick Community College.

Admission is free, and the public is cordially invited.

 By John Nelson

Let’s be bees — busily buzzing bees. If I were one, this is where I would be.

Flip-flops are totally acceptable and so is dancing.

Those are just two of the highlights at the fourth annual Flip Flop Ball to benefit Novant Health Foundation Brunswick Medical Center this coming Friday, May 15.

The ball launches with cocktails starting at 6:30 p.m. at the Brick Landing Plantation clubhouse, 1882 Goose Creek Road in Ocean Isle Beach, following by a casual, fun evening of dinner and dancing starting at 7 p.m.

Shirts are required, flip-flops are optional, but a beach attitude is a must, organizers say.

Not only does spring bring flowers, it has also reaped an array of events celebrating the oral and written word. Following is a roundup of what’s on tap in coming days and weeks.

‘Frosty the Yellow Frog’

Sunset Beach author Anne Giordano has just published her third children’s book.

At 10:30 a.m. Friday, May 8, she will read a copy of “Frosty the Yellow Frog” to children at the Museum of Coastal Carolina in Ocean Isle Beach.