HIGH: 84
LOW: 63
Half off tickets to
Motown-inspired concert
SUVS GOING GLOBAL
After starting out as all-American vehicles,
small SUVs popular on international level 8A
Weather, 4B
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TUESDAY, October 28, 2014
beaufortgazette.com
Established in 1897
75 cents
IN DOWNTOWN BEAUFORT
50 years
CELEBRATING
Hilton Head couple have volunteered
for Coast Guard Auxiliary for half-century
Free
holiday
parking
gauged
Parking contract
expires Nov. 4,
making future
of program murky
By ERIN MOODY
[email protected]
843-706-8184
DREW MARTIN • Staff photo
Free holiday parking in downtown
Beaufort will be up for consideration
when Beaufort City Council meets today
— just days before a contract with the
city’s current parking manager expires.
Typically, parking meters are marked
with bows and tags to inform motorists they can park free for two hours in
any of about 450 spaces. Motorists also
can pay for additional time.
In recent years, the free parking has
started the Friday after Thanksgiving
and continued through New Year’s
Day as a way to entice people to do
their holiday shopping downtown.
However, if the program is enacted
this year, it’s not clear how the rules
will be enforced.
Mary and Henry Pratt, who have volunteered in the Coast Guard Auxiliary together for the past 50 years, pose Monday
in their Hilton Head Island home.
Please see PARKING on 7A
By MATT McNAB • [email protected] • 843-706-8125
H
enry and Mary Pratt have spent more time volunteering in the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary than
most people have spent in their paid careers.
For 50 years, the Hilton Head Island couple have assisted
local flotillas and held nationwide leadership roles. In fact,
Henry Pratt served as commodore for two years.
The Pratts were recently honored for their half-century of
service by Flotilla 10-11, the local Hilton Head auxiliary unit
both belong to. The couple are still active members of the
auxiliary, which uses personal boats to participate in rescues
and train others to help save lives.
The Pratts, sweethearts at Emory & Henry College, married in 1963. They joined the auxiliary in September 1964 at
age 24 after being recruited during a boating course in Washington, D.C.
Henry rose through the elected ranks after that, and in 1989,
he was named national commodore, in charge of 34,000-plus
members. The nonpaid position took the Pratts around the
country to meet with auxiliary flotillas. Mary worked as an
administrative assistant for the auxiliary’s elected officials,
including her husband.
Please see 50 YEARS on 7A
IN AFGHANISTAN
Marines
close out
mission
By ROBERT BURNS
The Associated Press
his focus on foreign policy issues. “I worry about 3 million
on the next attack if these nutjobs can get weapons of mass
destruction. So yes, I am very
much worried about what happens over there.”
WASHINGTON — The Marines’
handover of Camp Leatherneck to the Afghans
is more than a signal
that America’s longest war is ending.
It is a reminder that
the Marines’ battlefield gains were tempered by losses: 378 killed,
nearly 5,000 wounded.
Camp Leatherneck is the sprawling
base in Afghanistan’s Helmand province from which the Marines surged
against the Taliban in 2009.
The keys to Leatherneck were turned
over to Afghan authorities Sunday in a
ceremony that also marked the handover of Camp Bastion, an adjacent British-run airfield.
Helmand province was the epicenter of President Barack Obama’s surge
against the Taliban. The Marines
Please see DEBATE on 7A
Please see MARINES on 7A
NOV. 4 ELECTIONS
Graham, Hutto face off in Senate debate
MORE ON THE NOV. 4 ELECTIONS
By JAMIE SELF
The (Columbia) State
Graham
Hutto
COLUMBIA — In the only debate Republican U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham agreed to before
the Nov. 4 election, Democratic
state Sen. Brad Hutto emphasized the starkest contrast between the two candidates.
While he respects Graham,
Hutto said the second-term
incumbent spends too much
time on television, acting like a
“secretary of state” and “always
wanting to put boots on the
• Lieutenant governor candidates debate each other’s experience. 4A
• Read questionnaire answers from lieutenant governor and U.S. Senate
candidates. 7A
• Go to bitly/bc-elections for information on all Election Day races.
ground everywhere.”
“If that’s the senator you
want, you need to vote for Sen.
Graham,” Hutto said Monday
before the S.C. Chamber of
Commerce in Columbia.
Hutto said he would focus
more on South Carolina’s needs
and less on foreign conflicts.
DEATHS, 4A
u|xhGIGGDy50001ozX
Harmon Morgan Jr., 78
William Cunningham, 79
Sheila Korhammer, 78
Philip Sanda, 71
The men were cordial for the
most part. However, Hutto took
one swipe at Graham, accusing
him of “fear-mongering.”
“He’s good at: ‘The sky is falling. The sky is falling,’ ” Hutto
said.
“Three thousand died on
9/11,” Graham said, explaining
William Andrews Jr., 95
Marcia Bechtold, 62
Bud Garrity, 68
Merlin Keller, 73
Joseph Pagan, 61
Frances Reebe, 69
Ann Ruckser, 56
Rebecca Smith, 74
Theodore Terry, 77
INSIDE TODAY’S BEAUFORT GAZETTE
QUOTE OF THE DAY
In a delayed game,
Whale Branch shuts out
Garrett Tech 21-0. 1B
“Humor is also a way
of saying something
serious.”
T.S. Eliot