The Beauty of Callawassie Starts on the Causeway

On a brisk and sunny Fall morning crossing the causeway onto Callawassie Island at high tide can truly be a breathtaking experience. Beautiful pink blooms of Muhley grass, billowing and delicate, stand at attention as guardians of the roadway, surrounding marshlands and navigable waters. The serenity of the moment is captivating.  “My shoulders relax and a content smile is pasted on my face especially when I’m a passenger so I can enjoy the whole vista the causeway has to offer.” says resident Janet Matlock.

The native ornamental grass sometimes referred to as sweet grass comes in many varieties and changes colors throughout the year.  Green in Spring and Summer; reddish pink in the Fall; and golden brown in the Winter. Callawassie's is a Florida variety that sways in the breeze and is extremely beneficial in holding the soil along the causeway.

Several years ago a Callawassie resident was shopping in the Charleston market and befriended basket weaver Joe Forman, nicknamed “Basket Case”!  Joe’s mother, Mary Foreman Jackson, Gullah by heritage, taught him the art of basket weaving. His mother is an acclaimed and highly talented basket weaver who has her works placed at an impressive list of worldwide museums. In fact, Jackson’s baskets are so highly regarded that when prominent figures visit South Carolina, they are presented with one of her baskets as a remembrance of the event.

Joe, trying to find his calling, moved away from Charleston for many years. He worked “up North” as a letter carrier but found himself yearning to come home. He has been weaving baskets ever since. Joe is one of the few men preserving the art of sweet grass basketry, an art that expresses the Gullah culture and heritage of his ancestors.

In the spring of 2010, Joe was invited to Callawassie to pull the grass to use for his art. Joe and two others came in the late Spring of 2010 and harvested the sweet grass for half a day. We are inviting Joe to return again this year.

Who knows what magnificent baskets Joe might create or where they may find homes. What we do know is that near and far a part of Callawassie Island is being shared.  In that, we can take pride.

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