I can’t recall exactly when I heard about Farmer B “Brent” Wearren and the cool things he was teaching the kids at May River Montessori about gardening and nutrition. I filed it away somewhere. A few months ago, when Jevon and I were at Delisheeyo, talking about January content, it reappeared in my consciousness. The January issue is always heavy on health and wellness content so I asked Blake Wearren, owner of the restaurant, for his dad’s number and we put the story in motion.
As we were loading pages to the printer, Cheryl Ricer, who wrote the story, sent a text late on a Sunday night. “Have you heard about the Wearren family?” My heart sank – which is honestly an interesting study in itself. When someone leads with that, it’s almost never good. The percentage of times the news is good after a text like that is 10% or less. But, I digress.
At this point, most of the Lowcountry knows that someone backed their car into the front of Delisheeyo at 2 a.m. on a Sunday morning, causing damage that made it unclear how long they would have to be closed. As someone who has insight into the food and beverage biz on Hilton Head Island, let me state that you do not want to have to close the week between Christmas and New Years. That’s when your entire revenue for the month of December comes in. But wait, there’s more.
Later Sunday morning, as Blake and his wife, Maddie, were dealing with issues at the restaurant, they got word that their entire house was up in flames. Yes – within the same 8-hour time period.
The Wearren Family
“What should we do?” asked Cheryl. I knew what she meant. You don’t want to run a story about a business that could potentially be closed for the entire month it’s featured in the magazine – but the flip side was what an incredible opportunity to get the word out that this family could use some help. You can find that story on page 50 – and if you are so moved, there are details on how to help them recover from this dual tragedy.
It wasn’t my plan to talk about this in my editor’s note, but things don’t always go to plan, do they? So, here’s the bit about what else is in this issue: an in-depth story about a nearby oyster and clam farm; healthy recipes to start your year off right; the birth of Staying Power, a new series about long-standing businesses on the island; a feature about a woman who runs 100 miles routinely just for “funsies”; and a closer look at Mahjong.
Happy New Year, my friends – I’m looking forward to all the new adventures to come in 2026!
Maggie Washo
Publisher/Editor-in-chief
