Keep South Carolina Wild

Surviving My First Wild Summer’s Night Auction & Wild Game Feast


My name’s Kristin, and I was hired back in March as SCWF’s new Manager of Development and Events. I’m a Columbia College alum who majored in Writing for Print and Digital Media, so with our Wild Summer’s Night Auction & Wild Game Feast recently behind us, I wanted to bring you a blog post on exactly how my first auction went. 

Many thanks again to all of the donors, corporate sponsors, board members, volunteers, and other supporters who made such a successful auction possible! 

Planning the Auction:

The Wild Summer’s Night Auction and Wild Game Feast, held at Seawell’s in Columbia, is SCWF’s biggest fundraiser of the year, bringing in about 400 people and a large chunk of our total operating budget. The first I heard of the auction was during my interview at the beginning of March, so it’s been on my mind for quite some time. I knew that as Manager of Events I’d have a big role in planning it, and I definitely had some jitters about going into the process. 

Everyone in the office helps out with the auction, but my first major responsibility was securing the items to be auctioned off. Most of the meat for the wild game feast and the items we auction off are donated to us, so there were quite a few people we had to reach out to in the months leading up to the event. The first thing I did was contact past donors to see if they’d be willing to donate again. This was really nerve wracking for me because I didn’t have any experience asking people for things like that.

I was pleasantly surprised, though, by how many people not only were willing to donate, but also were eager to do so. It never ceased to amaze me when I’d ask for a donation and be met with an excited “I’d love to donate!” By the time the auction actually rolled around, we had over 80 auction items that included weekend getaways, paintings, gift packages, gardening packages, kids packages, and pretty much anything else you could think of.

Pre-auction set up picture of some of our packages.

In the weeks leading up to the auction, we also spent our time confirming the wild game donations and arranging for them to be in the right place by the right time, marketing the event so people would actually show up, arranging corporate sponsors, planning raffles, and setting up our mobile bidding system. I constantly felt like I’d done so much and so little all at once, which was an interesting feeling. Though we were busy, the event planning is my favorite part of my job, and it was actually kind of exciting to have so much to do within so little time. (Don’t remind me I said that next year when we’re planning the 2018 auction).

Day of the Auction:

The whole staff essentially worked around the clock getting last minute details in place in the days leading up to the auction, so I was somehow both relieved and horrified when auction day finally arrived. We had set everything up the day before, so I was able to use the morning to make sure all our ducks were in a row. We had an awesome group of volunteers (and our intern, Max) who made set-up smooth sailing for everyone. It was a huge help to everyone, but to me, especially, since they had done this before and didn’t need much directing. Being able to trust that I could give someone a task and it’d be done (and done correctly) while I worked on something else was a huge weight off my already exhausted shoulders.

Some of our check-in volunteers, and our Director of Education (standing in the pink shirt) Sara Green. Photo credit: Ray Nelson.

Right on time, at 6 p.m. guests started arriving. From there, the night was a complete whirlwind. I thought the week leading up to auction went by quickly, but it was nothing in comparison to the auction itself. I found it really neat how much went on at once during this event; there were raffles, live-music, tons of food, an open bar, guest chefs and speakers, and of course, the silent and the live auctions.

Just like with set-up, our volunteers really came through to help run the event seamlessly. We have a very small staff, so if it weren’t for the volunteers we wouldn’t be able to pull something like this off. My predecessor, Harley, was a huge help as usual because she knew how the auction had been run in the past, so she was there to help me with things I would’ve never thought to prepare for (who knew table assignments were so hard? I now remember exactly why we’re skipping assigned tables for my upcoming wedding).

Director of Education Sara Green and former Director of Development Harley Carpenter. Photo credit: Ray Nelson.

We even had my friend Preston come perform for us this year. Of all the positive feedback I got about the auction afterwards, the most I heard about was how great Preston was. Everyone was super impressed with him and he helped make the event event better.

Preston performing. Photo credit: Ray Nelson

Even with all the help, I was running around all night. Right before the silent auction ended I finally had a chance to sit down and enjoy some of the food, and I’m so glad I did. The wild game feast was incredible. We had fried gator, catfish, chicken marsala, quail perlo, mustard fried venison, venison chili, pulled pork, mac and cheese, coleslaw, and probably more than I didn’t even see.

L-R: Me, John Green, Will Green, and my fiancé, Ian Loughlin. Photo credit Ray Nelson.

It’s over already? 

Before I knew it, the live auction was finishing up, people were checking out, and the night was over. The staff at Seawell’s is incredible; they handled all the clean up outside of what was ours to take home, and they were pleasant and easy to work with. The event was over at 10 and I was at home, eating a Sonic blast in bed by midnight (no ice cream has ever tasted so good).

I have to admit, the planning was stressful. So it was both a pleasant surprise and a “wait…that’s it?” kinda feeling when it all went by so quickly. By the end of the night, we’d raised over $37,000 (after expenses) for the organization and that was an amazing feeling.

There are things I will suggest be done differently next year, and definitely some things I am more prepared to handle next year. Overall, though, I feel accomplished with what we were able to do this year. I’m very fortunate that my first job out of college put me in a position I wanted to be in—doing something I love for a cause I care greatly about—and surrounded me with coworkers who made the (many, many) extra hours less stressful, and maybe even almost enjoyable 😉

A version of this blog has been cross-posted to my personal blog, The Donut Runner.

Sea Wall Removal to Protect Sea Turtles

CHARLESTON & BEAUFORT COUNTIES, SC – Today, the South Carolina Federal District Court ordered “immediate removal of all sea walls from Harbor Island and Isle of Palms, and orders that these temporary sea walls remain removed during the sea turtle nesting period while this action proceeds.” On Friday, August 11th, Judge Norton heard oral arguments on two pending motions before the Court at the Federal Courthouse in Charleston. Today’s order resolves both motions in favor of the plaintiffs, South Carolina Wildlife Federation (“SCWF”) and Sierra Club, who are represented by the South Carolina Environmental Law Project (“SCELP”).

The South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (“DHEC”) had moved for dismissal of the case, citing an obscure legal doctrine known as Burford abstention for the argument that the case should be dismissed in federal court and resolved in state proceedings instead. In the order, the court found “DHEC’s abstention argument unavailing.” Instead, the court explained that the plaintiffs’ Endangered Species Act violation is a serious cause of action in which the federal court has an “unflagging obligation to exercise its jurisdiction.”

After denying DHEC’s motion to dismiss, the court granted SCELP’s motion for a preliminary injunction. In doing so, the court expressly found that SCWF and Sierra Club “are likely to succeed on the merits of their ESA take claim.” The court found that false crawls caused by the experimental sea walls constitute a take because they “lead to a ‘significant impairment’ in the sea turtles’ breeding patterns.” The court also recognized that the continued use of these experimental sea walls is causing irreparable harm, that it is more equitable to have them taken down while the case is pending than to allow them to remain, and that removal of the seawalls is in the public interest. As the court states: “The sea walls were designated by the South Carolina General Assembly to be research structures and authorized by DHEC for a one-year period. Certainly, it cannot be unforeseen that the sea walls would need to be removed after the research study ended.”

Steve Gilbert, a biologist and the Special Project Manager for SCWF, states: “These Wave Dissipation System (WDS) devices were designed specifically for relatively quick removal during turtle nesting season to reduce or eliminate the harassment of sea turtles by forced ‘false crawls’ (failed nesting attempts) that brought about this suit. Unfortunately, the walls have remained in place for longer than the initial year for which they were authorized for study and they continue to block turtle nesting post study. The study clearly demonstrated that the WDS were not effective for their design purpose and caused more erosion and loss of sand then control areas. They were however effective in causing numerous ‘false crawls’ by turtles. It is important to note that no Incidental Take Permits under the Endangered Species Act for the turtle harassment were sought or granted. The judge’s ruling to require their removal during turtle nesting season is a welcome relief to this situation.”

Chris Hall, Chair of the SC Sierra Club Chapter, states: “I think that the DHEC staff report reflected that these structures do not work, and we have supported the DHEC staff recommendations throughout this process. The DHEC Board blocked the sound decision-making of staff, which is how we ended up with these illegal sea walls continuing to block sea turtle nesting for a third season. This order is a critical step towards good science and law on the protection of sea turtles.”

Michael Corley the SCELP attorney, who argued both motions for SCWF and Sierra Club on Friday, states: “I felt we had a very strong case for a preliminary injunction because of the urgent need for removal during the current nesting season and the favorable law on ESA takes. It feels great to be validated by federal court. We look forward to seeing the walls come down.”

The plastic seawalls were erected after legislative “approval” (via a budget proviso) as a temporary exception to the general ban against seawalls by reason of their experimental nature. These experimental seawalls were installed at Isle of Palms and Harbor Island in 2015 and the thorough study conducted by the Citadel under DHEC supervision reached unequivocal conclusions about the experiment: the structures did not work and actually, like many other seawalls before, worsened erosion in the affected areas. However, the DHEC Board authorized and re-authorized the continuation of the sea wall experiment, compelling our clients to seek relief from federal court.

SCWF Contact:  Steve Gilbert

Related articles:

Isle of Palms seawalls must come down because of turtle nesting, judge rules.
Post & Courier, 08/14/17

Court orders removal of seawalls to protect rare turtles.  
The State, 08/14/17