Car surfing in Pville
The year was 1983, and as you can imagine, there was not a lot for teenagers to do around Bluffton and Prichardville. Of course, there were no outlet malls or Walmart’s, no Putt Putt or bowling alley. But what they did have was woods and land.
High school teenagers have always been into cars, especially boys, and this story is no exception. When you get bored teens, ample land, and cars, you can only imagine what types of fun and amusement can be thought up.
Off Gibbet Road in Pritchardville, there used to be a lot of open fields. And as we all see now, when there are open areas of land, that usually means development is coming. There was a handmade lake being dug with the plan for houses to be built around the lake. Houses on the water always go for more money, everyone knows that! Mr. George Dixon grew up in that area and knows that old “pit” all too well!
“I’ve always loved cars and my family owned a mechanic shop on Montgomery Street in Savannah from 1973-1984 called Dixons Amoco. We were always getting cars that would come in and out of the shop, so I grew up enjoying them.
“In 1983 we were seniors at McCracken High in Bluffton and a few of my buddies would go out to this pit that they were digging that would later become a freshwater lake. Well, as you can imagine when you had a huge sandy mud pit and teenagers with cars, we had to go in!” Dixon continues. “Surprisingly we never got stuck or hurt, but we’d drive to into this pit, and we’d have a great old time! Kids would “car surf” or get on top of the hoods and roofs while the driver would be doing donuts or figure 8s all around the mud and sand!”
“I had a 1964 Chevy Biscayne, and my buddy Roger Ward had a F150. I can’t remember some of the other cars that we had down there, but what a fun time! It made for some great memories.
So if your ever out by Thomas Lake in Pritchardville, just remember that the developments and the lakes were not always there, and the song lyrics “They paved paradise and put up a parking lot” may just come to your head.
Paul Tollefson is the Director of Tennis at the Hampton Hall Club in Bluffton. He found his love for the Lowcountry in early 2002 after graduating high school and unsure of what career path he was destined towards. After moving from Hilton Head to Bluffton he became enthralled with the history of the town and the people and cultures that called it home for many generations. He has found a passion in writing and enjoys being able to share the stories and pictures of long-time locals. He is the co-creator of the Facebook page “Bluffton Then and Now.”
