TYBEE BEACHCOMBER | SEPT 2017 35 the timing was brutal. Out of the 26 entries, 20 made it in time and had all of the necessary paperwork and scenes included in their film. The first weekend of August the movies were all reviewed and shown at the Children’s Theater on Victory Drive. I went to the final showing with the awards ceremony afterwards. I didn’t see everything, but the movies I did see were impressive. There are a lot of hard working crazy people out there willing to lose 48 hours of sleep to dive off the deep end. It was a true eye opening experience! Unfortunately, The Sweet One did not win any awards. However, for our first venture out of the gate, we were all impressed with our group effort. We had some tough competition. Some of these people were nine or more years in; some were SCAD students and some were professionals that have been doing this for years. What I learned from this experience will last a lifetime: Do something you normally would not do. Sign up for something that is interesting. Meet people you might never meet if you didn’t just take that step. I have made lifelong friends with not only everyone on our project, but people I met at the awards ceremony. I have sweated, bled and cried for something I would not have cared about a month ago, but would now cheer to the rafters to support along with all my new friends! So to all the cast and crew of The Sweet One and to everyone we met throughout this process: Next year we are all in and we are going to kick ass!! GAME ON!!! By Ron Goralczyk I have no idea how many phones we have recovered since we started Breezy. I do, however, remember the first phone I found. Funny thing is that it wasn’t left in a Breezy. I was on Jenny, our original golf cart, crossing over Butler on Jones and there was a light rain coming down. I noticed what looked like a smart phone on the center line on Butler. I pulled over and retrieved the phone. Wow! It was an iPhone 4 with no protective case, and much to my surprise, no damage. It was unlocked so I called the last number that had called it. It was the husband of the owner’s phone, and they were in Savannah eating at a restaurant. I told them I would be cruising around the island all night and to just call me when they got close and I would meet them. We met up at middle Chu’s and I told them where I had found their phone. The husband then asked me where their camera bag and camera were. I told them that I had only found their phone. He didn’t believe me. I believe that was the first time I used our motto without saying Go Breezy. Now I am far from perfect, but when it comes to taking my phone to go drinking with me, I am batting a thousand. It is always lying next to my empty wallet somewhere in my home. But I have lost a phone on a Breezy shift. I had a terrible habit of leaving my phone on top of the cab and driving away. One night I was dispatching from the car, so I had my phone and the Breezy phone stacked on top of each other rolling down Butler. It is always shear panic until you find them still on top of a vehicle. One evening I was taking a group of five to a house party on Whitemarsh - four adults and one teenager. The teen was whining about being in such tight quarters in the back seat. I told him I would put him in the trunk but it was already occupied by some bodies I had forgotten about the night before. I said I was surprised we couldn’t smell them yet. I turned right onto 80 from Polk St and accelerated. We all heard a banging sound coming from the trunk area. The teen asked, “What was that?” I replied, “It must be the occupants in the trunk I told you about.” As we neared the Lazaretto Bridge, I realized my phone was not on my lap. Crap! That banging sound was my phone rolling off the car. I had one of the passengers call it. It rang, which was a good sign. I had hope because it was in a protective case. Leigh went on the computer to locate it and told me where it was showing on 80. We pulled to the shoulder and I could hear it ringing. Come to find out if your phone gets run over by a car, no protective case will help. It was crushed, still ringing and pinging, but crushed. Joey is a different story when it comes to phones. He has already admitted destroying the Breezy phone in last month’s Beachcomber. For the record, he has lost or destroyed a Galaxy 6, 7 and the brand new, just released, Galaxy 8 in the last 12 months. But that’s a story for another day. Joey’s story started at a music fest in New Orleans. He and his crew were coming out of the French Quarter where he found a Galaxy 6 lying in the street. When they returned to the house they were staying at, he put the found phone in his suitcase and that was the last time he had given it any thought. Two weeks went by and I was moving the suitcase when the phone fell out. It was dead so I plugged it into a charger and turned it on. It was locked, but the picture on the screen saver was an unmarked white Crown Vic sitting in a driveway that appeared to be on Tybee. A couple days went by when I heard it ring. I answered, “Hello, this is Ron with Breezy and I found your phone.” No reply and then the call was disconnected. About an hour or so later I saw some TIPD cars at my next store neighbor’s house - the house next to the beach, not to my west (the TIPD are at my west side neighbor’s house often, but again that’s another story). Anyway, they were at the house next door for 15 minutes or so, then they went to the house right behind mine. I had a pool tournament to get to so I went on about my own business. The next afternoon I saw my neighbor and asked what was up with the police activity. He explained to me that a phone had been stolen from New Orleans that belonged to a detective and it was being traced to 14th St. Really, you don’t say? I delivered the phone to the police station and explained the rest of the story. Now we have the bus and there are a lot more chances of things being left behind. I was dropping a group off on the south end and Carter, one of the passengers, said, “Ron if I am ever in one of those Taxi Tales... I’ll frame it!” An hour or so went by and I was nonstop running from one end of the island to the other. Dispatch called and said, “Carter thinks she left her phone on the bus.” I told Leigh I would look for it as soon as I got everyone off the bus. I went to the rear, calling the phone, looking under and around all the seats. No phone. Then it hit me that while we were waiting for the rest of the passengers, Carter had popped her head out of the sun roof. Did she leave it on top? I mean, what were the chances that her phone rode up there for an hour? Let’s just finish with she got her iPhone7 and I got a story! Rest assured that if you leave anything behind, other than your dignity or pride, we will do our very best to return it to you. Never drink and drive! Go Breezy! 912-665-9988
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