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Trick, Treat & Trail Family Fun Run and Festival on Oct. 25
Get in the Halloween spirit with a fun-filled event for the whole family!
From: Sarah Reynolds <Sarah.Reynolds@ccprc.com>
Date: August 25, 2025 at 1:00:00 PM EDT
To: Sarah Reynolds <Sarah.Reynolds@ccprc.com>
Subject: Trick, Treat & Trail set for Oct. 25: Family Fun Run and Festival at Wannamaker County Park
NEWS RELEASE
Public Contact: 843-795-4386 / www.charlestoncountyparks.com
Media Contact: Sarah Reynolds / (843) 762-8089 / sarah.reynolds@ccprc.com
Read this online: www.ccprc.com/newsreleases
Trick, Treat & Trail Family Fun Run and Festival on Oct. 25
Get in the Halloween spirit with a fun-filled event for the whole family!
{NORTH CHARLESTON} — Get ready for a spook-tacular time at the second annual Trick, Treat & Trail Family Fun Run and Festival! Hosted by Charleston County Parks, the event will be held on Saturday, Oct. 25, beginning at 10 a.m., at Wannamaker County Park.
The festival includes ghoulish music, trick-or-treating, jump castles, face painting, and a craft. A variety of vendors will be on site selling food and refreshments, including King of Pops, Donut Daddy, Miracle’s Tasty Express, and Sweet But Not So Sweet.
Check-in for the event and trick-or-treat bag distribution will be held from 9 a.m. – 12 p.m. at the Tupelo Shelter at Wannamaker County Park. The fun run begins at 10 a.m. The course closes for runners at 10:45 a.m. The course will re-open for trick or treating from 11 a.m. – 1 p.m. The Festival will be open for the entirety of the event 10 a.m. – 1 p.m. A costume contest will be held at 12:15 p.m. Registration includes a custom trick-or-treating bag, finisher medal, and candy.
Participants are invited to dress in costume. Prizes will be awarded for the best Halloween costume in the following age categories: Under 6, 6-8, 9-10, 11-15, 16-20, and 20 and up. Awards will also be presented for the best pet costume, best duo costume, and best group costumes of 3 or more. The costume contest will be held shortly after noon.
Admission to the race and event will be charged per vehicle of up to 15 people. Advance registration is $20 per vehicle and ends Wednesday, Oct. 23. If not sold out, registration will be available on-site for $25 per vehicle only until 12 p.m. Advance registration is recommended. Register for the event on the event webpage at https://www.ccprc.com/3715/Trick-Treat-Trail.
The fun run is open to runners and walkers of all levels, including beginners. Accessible parking and restrooms are available. The route includes a grass meadow and paved trails. This is a loop course with water stations and an optional shortcut route. Dogs are allowed at this event but must remain leashed and under control at all times.
This event is hosted by Charleston County Parks. For more information about this event and to register, please visit https://www.ccprc.com/3715/Trick-Treat-Trail or call (843)-795-4386.
Owned by the Charleston County Park and Recreation Commission, Wannamaker County Park is located at 8888 University Boulevard in North Charleston, SC (Hwy 78). The mission of CCPRC is to improve the quality of life in Charleston County by offering a diverse system of park facilities, programs and services. The large park system features over 11,000 acres of property and includes four land parks, three beach parks, three dog parks, a skate park, two landmark fishing piers, three waterparks, 19 boat landings, a climbing wall, a challenge course, an interpretive center, a historic plantation site, an equestrian center, cottages, a campground, a marina, as well as wedding, meeting and event facilities. The park system also offers a wide variety of recreational services – festivals, camps, classes, programs, volunteer opportunities, and more. For more information, call 843-795-4386 or visit www.charlestoncountyparks.com.
Charleston County Park & Recreation Commission / 861 Riverland Dr. / Charleston, SC 29412 / (843) 795-4386
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This post contains interesting information for any U.S.-registered boat, especially if you are considering traveling to Cuba.
Cruisers Net publishes Loose Cannon articles with Captain Swanson’s permission in hopes that mariners with salt water in their veins will subscribe. $7 a month or $56 for the year, and you may cancel at any time.
When all else fails, try journalism.
This is a weird one. The Coast Guard pulled a U.K. citizen named Miles Connors off a sailboat 40 miles south of Florida, brought him back to the U.S. and then charged him with being in the country illegally. According to the federal criminal complaint against Connors, investigators found that Connors had been in the country illegally before sailing aboard Stormy Weather with two other people, bound for Cuba. The two other people were identified only as S.V. and A.A. in court documents. Stormy Weather is a Florida registered boat owned by S.V., a Canadian who had entered the U.S. in July “on a valid non-immigrant B2 visa.” A.A. was captain of the vessel, described as a Russian-born U.S. citizen. Connors, according to the complaint, “had several previous interactions with U.S. Immigration authorities,” beginning in 2006. His first deportation happened in 2008 at a port of entry in northern New York. The complaint picks up the narrative:
The encounter with the Coast Guard happened at 11 a.m. on August 20 about 40 miles south of Marathon, Florida, the boat’s departure point. The Coast Guard was able to terminate the voyage and seize the vessel—at least temporarily—because it was determined that it did not have a Coast Guard permit to enter Cuba or Cuban territorial waters. All three people were taken aboard the Cutter Maple, which proceeded to tow Stormy Weather back to Marathon. The boat’s Florida registry—a U.S. vessel—gives the Coast Guard jurisdiction over her anywhere in the world, even though the owner is Canadian. (This should provide an example to those readers who continue to insist, contrary to all public information on the issue, that Americans can legally travel by boat to Cuba. Coast Guard form 3300 “permit to enter Cuban territorial waters” may exist, but Coast Guard officers have been instructed not to approve any 3300 application, as doing so would be contrary to U.S. foreign policy. You can’t get a permit, and going without a permit is unlawful, as the crew of Stormy Weather has learned.) So, according to court documents, Connors had left but was brought back to face charges that he had been in the U.S. illegally before he left. Connors faces up to two years in prison for illegal reentry into the U.S. The documents don’t say what penalties, if any, S.V. and A.A. may face. They were given Miranda warnings while being interviewed. If you know these people, please share their names so we can get some more answers. LOOSE CANNON covers hard news, technical issues and nautical history. Every so often he tries to be funny. Subscribe for free to support the work. If you’ve been reading for a while—and you like it—consider upgrading to paid. You’re currently a free subscriber to LOOSE CANNON. For the full experience, upgrade your subscription. |
Please see the below Proposed Notice of Change regarding an Aid to Navigation (ATON) on the Ashley River:
ASHLEY RIVER
The following change is being proposed to the aids to navigation system in the Ashley River. Ashley River Daybeacon 16 (LLNR 3645) will be permanently discontinued. Due to construction for a large marina, DBN 16 impedes the expansion of the waterfront facilities for the new marina. After reviewing the waterway and surrounding aids to navigation the Coast Guard has determined that DBN 16 will no longer be needed.
All comments should be emailed to: D07-SMB-DPWPublicComments@uscg.mil or andrew.m.engle@uscg.mil with Ashely River DBN 16 as the subject line and be received by October 19, 2025. Comments can also be mailed to Commander (DPW), Southeast Coast Guard District 909 SE 1st Avenue (STE 406) Brickell Federal Plaza Bldg. Miami FL 3313.
Very Respectfully,
MST1 Thomas (TJ) Welker
USCG Sector Charleston
Waterways Management Division
(843) 740-3180 Ext 3339
Thomas.J.Welker@uscg.mil
charlestonwaterways@uscg.mil
Makers Air and Staniel Cay Yacht Club, A CRUISERS NET SPONSOR, offer convenient flights to the Bahamas.
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SPARRING WITH MOTHER NATURE brings you aboard as we joust our way back onto the water. We’ve come a long way with a ways to go… Your support is essential. Thank you. J
If you’ve just joined our engaging little community, please read SPARS & SPARRING, my introductory piece.…. ~J Please find this interconnectedness story a pleasant diversion from boatwork. For all of us. I recounted this story at a friend’s dinner party and we could not stop raising our eyebrows. I’m not a big believer in coincidence; there are higher powers at work. This tale is not fiction. Let’s consider it the power of the universe, if you believe in such things. Or even if you don’t. A handful of years ago, I booked a window ticket on one of those bulky, world-covering Boeings from Washington, DC southeast across a large portion of the planet; a trip through both time and space to Johannesburg, South Africa. My receipt indicated no stops, seventeen hours in the air. I settled in, gazing out and about. I can never stop myself from wondering how so many people can be going to the same place from the same place at the very same time as I am. The passenger assigned next to me arrived as late as possible with an eclectic assortment of carry-ons. She settled in as well, clearly a seasoned traveler in colorful garb that emphasized her shiny, exotic, elephant-wrinkled ebony skin and regal air. A brilliantly aged African character in a tall head wrap straight out of National Geographic Magazine was sitting in 29B. I was awed, and, for once, quietly considered protocol. She leaned her cane between us, greeting me politely but not openly, socks pulled high. The standard take-off rigamarole ensued with the pilot announcing that our arrival in Ghana was estimated to be slightly ahead of schedule. Ghana? Seriously? I scanned the cabin. “You are leaving me there,” she told me in a stunning mix of accents, and then, a completely different topic, “Where’s your husband?” she asked gently while somehow also eyeing me suspiciously. I explained my rendezvous plan to no avail or approval and we settled in, she watching a movie and me reading, dozing, gazing. With barely a glance in my direction, as sunrise arrived with croissants and tea, she began to speak, the same low, lyrical tone and clear command of English I had been treated to the evening prior.
“In my country you pick your husband by his foofoo soup,” was her opening line. I raised my eyebrows, universal for that was unexpected….among other things…she continued, unphased. “Now, you remember dis,” it was a softly commanded request that I pay attention to her story, and her culture, and the importance of both.” In order to be a good husband you have to make foofoo soup. And just right. If he can’t make foofoo soup, he’s no good.” She nodded her elegant, wisened visage seriously, “I taught my son, and he married happy. I just saw him, two months, with a grandbebe.,” She went through the recipe and that, I admittedly, have lost to time, but I recall Cassava, which even as a Caterer I didn’t utilize on my traditional American menu. As she spoke the animation grew; she told of a boy who failed the test and was heartbroken, and one who excelled and was chosen, assumably to live happily ever after. I was enthralled far more by the telling, even, than by the tale. As the day brightened we landed on the beach-outlined coastline of Ghana, West Africa, a place I had never expected to be. I stood and she solemnly shook my hand upon departure; ensuring with a single finger in front of my nose that I would always remember what she had shared. Her straight, retreating back is the last thing I recall of her, shrugging off all offers of assistance. I settled back into 29A and allowed my phone to find a cell tower, regardless of the fees. Those of us continuing on were not allowed to touch the ground here, and we had a tropical two-hour wait. I went through my peeps, especially those I had lost track of and sent them a text that simply said, “The only text message you will ever receive from Ghana.” Those random messages, my favorite kind, elicited interesting responses, amusing me for days. One was something about being shanghaied on a pirate ship; and now I wonder, how’s that for foreshadowing? Upon my return to DC two weeks later I requested a long UBER ride and found myself behind the driver of a spotlessly clean older model Mercedes, remarkably reminiscent of Thailand and the gentleman I had hired there for pennies on the dollar. He peered at me in his rear-view mirror with a beautiful smile that split his strong coffee-colored face, and was careful to annunciate his words as he read the address of our destination. “Yes, thank you,” I told him, as he focused on his (I assume) lonely customer service job, the one where people aren’t interested, don’t inquire, don’t converse, preferring the comfort zone of their phone. My eyes were tired, my phone tucked away. I let him navigate Dulles International Airport traffic and hesitated for a moment or two, wondering selfishly if a conversation would be complicated as he was clearly from far elsewhere, and a bit uncomfortable, perhaps, trying to make a living in a foreign land. I had a feeling, call it intuition, six sense, whatever, that I should delve in. “Where are you from?” I inquired, an ordinary go-to, given the circumstances. “Ah. West Africa, Miss. I am from Ghana,” he glanced again in the small rear-view, to gauge my reaction, my knowledge of geography, my inclusion, my acceptance. “Ah,” I said in return. “You make good fufu soup?” The dark eyes widened. “You know fufu soup?” he was comically incredulous and expressive to hear of something from his homeland, I’m sure of it. I’m no hero, and not trying to be, but let me tell you that the connection I made with that man in that car will never be forgotten. I told him that I had just been there, and it was beautiful, and about the seemingly powerful, impressive woman on the plane. “When did you fly?” he asked, and I considered, finally producing the date. “That is my mother,” he told me, his voice mimicking hers now, “I miss her very much.” I have never forgotten. ~J Tell the world about your otherworldly connection, please.
See you next week back aboard STEADFAST. Elizabeth Beggins aren’t you pleased I talked to all those strangers?!
I so appreciate your support of my work. Have a wonderful week!
© 2025 Janice Anne Wheeler
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What’s Happening In Your Parks Aug/Sept – Charleston County Parks
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Elizabeth City sits at the southern terminus of the Dismal Swamp Canal and has the well-earned reputation of being a transient friendly town with free dockage for 72 hours.
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Cruisers’ Net Newsletter for this week has just been emailed via Constant Contact.
If you want to view the newsletter but are not signed up to receive them automatically, you can view it at https://conta.cc/3UIoeAO or see it below.
To automatically receive our emailed Fri Weekly Newsletter and Wed Fuel Report, click:
Booking window: Aug 25 – Aug 31st
Travel window: Must buy and fly by Aug 31st
Call 954-771-0330
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