Mount Pleasant Magazine Nov/Dec 2020

27 www.ReadMPM.com | www.MountPleasantMagazine.com | www.VOICEofMPpodcast.com traveling to different states. Although he wasn’t able to spend a lot of time with us, he always made sure we had the best life. We had so many friends who loved him, they would call my Dad “Dad.” I never realized how many people he affected and impacted until now. Love and miss you, Dad! MELISSA MAGWOOD I am Melissa Magwood, the youngest of Wayne’s four daughters. Growing up on Shem Creek is a childhood that I would never change. We were raised in a neighborhood called Shemwood that backed up to Shem Creek, about a mile from the family business, CA Magwood Jr. and Sons, where the family sold their fresh seafood catch. Dad worked long, laborious hours, leaving the dock around 4 a.m. and not returning until sundown most days. We lived close enough to walk or ride our bikes up to the dock to see dad. My favorite way to go was when Tara and I were old enough to drive our own boat up the creek to meet him. Dad got us a little five or six-foot fiberglass dinghy called “The Dink.” We would hook up a little trolling motor to the back and cruise down the creek to Magwood’s Seafood, thinking we were the coolest kids! There are many other memories that I treasure about growing up on the creek. If Dad returned from shrimping early enough in the day, he would pull us behind a speed boat on the hydro slide. We would occasionally go crabbing, oyster picking or fishing. Dad was not the best at fishing with a rod and reel in his hand. I loved to joke with him and tell him he needed to stick to shrimping because he was the best at that. If we had the chance to go flounder gigging with him, that was a real treat. Since gigging is done at night, we would get to stay up late, past our bedtime. The childhood memory that tops them all is going shrimping with dad on “The Winds of Fortune.” I went from early childhood up until just last year. Dad enjoyed teaching us how to do everything from driving the boat to pulling up the outriggers. We most often would pick up the shrimp from the back deck, which allowed us to sort through all the aquatic creatures. Occasionally, if we caught something super-cool and unique, we would place it in a bucket and bring it home to our saltwater aquarium. The most exciting part of shrimping was the ride back to Shem Creek, when the dolphins would take formation at the bow. They would guide the boat while jumping out of the water and putting on a show for us. Tara and I would sit on the concrete cleats at the bow and peer down at the water in pure joy. Our unique childhood is something that I will cherish forever. Not everyone gets to experience the beauty of growing up in the small, quaint community of old Mount Pleasant. Shem Creek will always have a special place in my heart for many reasons. I will always wish that I had more time with Dad to continue building these memories. JENNIFER MAGWOOD RAY It’s hard to pick my favorite memory of him because when I think back on my youth, it was filled with recollections of him and growing up here in Mount Pleasant. I recall riding down Coleman in the back of his rusted old pick-up, going from the house to the dock and up to our grandma’s for lunch. Another fond memory is playing on the boat and at the dock or taking the boat up to the island for family cookouts. One year he bought Tressy and me a hydro slide at the end of the school year and took us out to learn to ride. He taught us to roller skate, and we spent many weekends at the old roller rink off of Highway 17. I think the Blessing of the Fleet is going to be the hardest. Dad helped start the one in Mount Pleasant. It has been a family occasion every year — helping him paint the boat and get it ready; helping plan and organize the festival at the park; the family riding on the boat. The next event is going to be hard with him not having a boat in the parade. I am just not prepared to face him not being there. ROCKY MAGWOOD, NEPHEW I am forever grateful for the time that Uncle Wayne and I had together. The countless hours — a lifetime, really — spent together: hauling, dragging, fixing engines, sewing nets and helping others. We navigated up and down the Eastern seaboard, from Cape Canaveral, Florida to Virginia Beach, Virginia. I learned so much from him. I remember how well-known and welcomed he was in any port we visited. You would often hear the familiar refrain, “that’s Wayne Magwood with the Winds of Fortune.” He received these warm receptions because he never met a stranger. If anyone ever needed a hand in anything, he was always there. He told me and showed me how important that was because he lived it. No matter the precarious situation — of which there were many! — or impending storm, I always felt safe with Uncle Wayne. We could be in the middle of the ocean with no land in sight, and I knew that I was okay. He had a deep respect for Mother Ocean, and she for him. He taught me the importance of that. Uncle Wayne’s influence is one of the reasons that I became a strong and hardworking man. He might be gone, but his legacy endures in the many lives he affected, especially mine. I promise to make him proud. history