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Tybee Island ready to soak up Beach Bum Parade
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The 2010 Tybee Island Beach Bum Weekend is right around the corner, May 21-22. This year’s festivities include the much anticipated Beach Bum Parade, and new this year is the EVP Pro Beach Volleyball Tour.

The Extreme Volleyball Tour (EVP) and the Greater Savannah Sports Council have partnered to host the EVP Savannah Open at Tybee Island. The Beach Bum Parade will take place May 21 at 6:30 p.m. with the EVP Pro Beach Volleyball Tour/EVP Savannah Open at Tybee’s South Beach on May 22 from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. and is free to the public. The EVP Savannah Open at Tybee Island will be featured on the Beach Sports Network (BSN) in a 30-minute show format highlighting the competition and location. The show will air throughout the summer on regional sports networks across the country. For more information visit www.EVPTour.com or www.TybeeVisit.com.

What is the Beach Bum Parade? It is a water fight parade each year on Tybee Island that celebrates the beginning of the tourist season. The parade includes up to one hundred parade entries and their “water warriors” vs. the hundreds of locals and visitors lined up along Butler Avenue. The parade attracts beach bums of all ages.

If you aren’t the type that enjoys getting wet, it is a good idea on the night of the parade to stay indoors until the parade is over. Do not drive around Tybee that day with your windows rolled down or without locking your car doors. Also make sure to head out to the island early as parking is limited on the island. Wrap anything you do not want to get wet in a plastic bag.

Water balloons, buckets, and pressure washers are not to be used and are considered dangerous. No ice water. Restrict your targets to parade participants and on-lookers only.

Do not attempt to aim your hose or water gun at a police officer, unless you want to be heavily fined or possibly go to jail. Residents and visitors are asked to use common sense in choosing and soaking your targets. It is illegal to open car doors or homes to spray inside. Open windows may be fair game, but people close up for a reason. Please do not abuse them! By following these few guidelines everyone can have a great time.

It all started approximately 23 years ago when a softball team called the “Beach Bums” was challenged to a game by “Pier 1,” another Tybee softball team. It was the North End playing the South End. Lo and behold, it was the first game the Bums ever won (and it wasn’t even a league game). After the game, the Bums and Pier 1 drove up and down Butler Avenue with police escorts as the teams bombed each other with water balloons. Before they knew it there was a mini water fight in the making. Since then, it has become the annual Tybee Island Beach Bum Parade.

Because softball was taken so seriously back then, the Beach Bums softball team was created to lighten things up. You had to be at least 40 years of age and have a good sense of humor to be a Bum. At the games they would sometimes dress up as women, wear funny costumes, throw stink bombs on the field, and were known for indulging and playing at the same time.


Savannah, Richmond Hill, Tybee ready for July 4 celebrations
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The Savannah Waterfront Association will hold its annual 4th of July celebration, including fireworks, Monday on River Street from 4-10 p.m.

VIP seating for viewing fireworks will be available for active and retired military and will be on a first-come, first-served basis.

The Hypnotics will perform from 8-10 p.m., including a patriotic set during the fireworks to complement the show.

The fireworks sponsored at 9:30 p.m. Guests are encouraged to park off of River Street since the Savannah-Chatham Metropolitan Police Department will close the street from 6 p.m.-3 a.m.

Savannah-Chatham Metropolitan Police are gearing up for this weekend’s July 4th and First Friday festivities; and ask the public to be mindful of traffic conditions in the Downtown area.

In anticipation of potential road delays, Metro will increase traffic and foot patrols in the Downtown festival area, starting Friday afternoon. Officers also will patrol Hutchinson Island in greater force to assist with traffic flow, prevent bottle-necking and help move motorists safely. To ensure safety and help minimize delays, motorists are asked to be vigilant, patient and co-operative.

Public parking lots on River Street will close on Monday at about 3 a.m. until early Tuesday afternoon. River Street will close to vehicular traffic Monday at 3 p.m. and will reopen early Tuesday morning.

All traffic and parking laws will be enforced on in Downtown Savannah and Hutchinson Island. Vehicles parked in the roadway, or in a manner that obstructs traffic will be towed at the owner’s expense. Please note that parking vehicles on the Truman Parkway and Talmadge Bridge also is dangerous and illegal.

Interstate 16 will be available to drivers leaving the firework show. To leave Downtown, traffic originating from points beyond Bay Street will be directed away from Martin Luther King Boulevard to other routes, such as Whitaker and West Bay streets. Westbound traffic on Bay Street will be directed to East Lathrop Avenue to access I-16 via Louisville Road.

Police recommend use of city parking garages, where drivers will be given maps for the easiest Downtown exit routes following the firework display. Motorists are encouraged to plan ahead, expect delays and heed posted signage. The key components of the traffic plan include:

Prohibiting traffic from turning southbound onto Whitaker from Bay. Westbound traffic on Bay Street will be directed to alternate routes to I-16 through East Lathrop and Louisville Road, or through Garden City.

Parking garage traffic will be routed southbound on MLK, Whitaker and Price streets.

Alternate routes to I-16 are West Gwinnett and 37th streets. Price Street also can be used to get to 37th Street, which will take traffic to westbound I-16.

Additional signage will be deployed to assist drivers in locating the alternative routes to I-16.

Traffic may be heavy along Highway 80 for those leaving Tybee Island’s fireworks display. There is a slight potential for shallow coastal flooding due to King Tides July 4.  At this time, this flooding is not expected to close Highway 80. Remember if there is shallow coastal flooding:

Traffic headed toward Wilmington Island via President Street should flow as usual.

Also please remember that the city curfew law remains in effect for this event.  All persons 16 years of age and under must be off the streets at 11 p.m. unless accompanied by a parent or legal guardian. Officers will be enforcing this ordinance.

As always you can stay up to date with the latest on the Festival, road closures and other related updates by following the Twitter feed @SCMPD, Facebook or www.scmpd.org.

Richmond Hill will host 4th of July events Saturday, starting with Star Spangled Cars and Coffee from 9-11 a.m. Car owners can bring in a car and interact with other automobile enthusiasts. Visitors can bring the family to view the cars and tour the Richmond Hill History Museum, formerly the Henry Ford Kindergarten. Admission to the event is free and coffee can be purchased for 25 cents with a $1 donation to the museum. This event will take place at the Richmond Hill History Museum located at 11460 Ford Ave. 

Fort McAllister will hold its 4th of July celebration Saturday from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. with living history programs including demonstrations of Civil War drills and rifle and cannon firings. Visitors can participate in old fashioned games including sack races, an egg toss, wheel barrow races and a Civil War-era baseball game. Fresh watermelon will be available.  Admission for this event is $8 per adult (18+), $5 per Youth (6-17), under 6 are free. For more information, call (912) 727-2339.

Richmond Hill will kick off its annual Red, White, and Blue Independence Day Celebration at J. F. Gregory Park located at 521 Cedar St. For more information, visit www.richmondhill-ga.gov or call (912) 756-3345.

Tybee Island changed the date of their annual  fireworks from Sunday, July 3 to Monday, July 4. The Independence Day celebration will held be at the Tybee Island Pier and Pavilion with a fireworks extravaganza. It will be held from 9:30-10 p.m.