TYBEE BEACHCOMBER | SEPT 2018 17
Cowboy of the Seas
Captain Royce Woodard
By Joseph M. Tarleton
Sunrise: 10/13/36 - Sunset: 7/28/18
Captain Royce Woodward was a true legend on Tybee. He was 100% Americana
and one of the hardest workers I’ve ever met. Royce was the true definition
of a Shrimp Boat Captain. I would even go so far as to say Webster himself
called the Captain
to have the proper
definition in the
dictionary. Anyone
who knew Captain
Royce would agree
that it goes without
saying he would
do anything for
you if you asked
him and wouldn’t
even bat an eye
or ask questions.
Captain Royce was
not only a wellknown
shrimper, he
was also a master
welder. If you were
dealing with a bum
engine, pretty much
any engine, Captain
Royce could get it
running if it could
run. One of my
personal favorites
about Royce was back in the day he was a boxer. On that note, if you had ever
shaken that man’s hand, you would know by the brick you just shook he was
a boxer for sure.
Royce was, without a doubt, tough as nails. In truth, he was a lover of all the
creatures on the planet - land and sea. But there was one love that was above
all and that was his beautiful wife Terry. These two were a true love story. Royce
met Terry at the DeSoto. He knew then she was his love. You see, Terry was
from Puerto Rico and Royce, being the man he was, went to her homeland, her
family, her father, to ask for her hand in marriage. I’m not sure, but he probably
went in a shrimp boat! Well, he kept going to Puerto Rico for about a year to
prove his love until her father saw that this man truly loved his daughter. Their
love created three gorgeous smart, wonderful children. Hence the name of the
shrimp boat docked at Lazaretto: Las Ninas.
Okay, dry your eyes… Once Captain Royce was out front of Tybee, dragging
the nets, catching Georgia wild shrimp, and got hung up. After getting all the
nets in he could and yelling at the crew, he figured out what he was hung up
on and got it up to the boat. Turns out it was a huge anchor. Captain and crew
pulled it up to the back of the boat and went to the Coast Guard station in the
channel. They proceeded to get the big cranes out and set that anchor down
right on the curve of Highway 80. That is the anchor that most of us see every
day.
There are many more stories about Captain Royce, who now lives in our
hearts and out at sea. Thank you, Captain, for being a mentor and the best
friend one can have. If you find yourself in the waters near the lighthouse, say
‘Hello” to the Captain. He is lounging out there with his sister, Margie. Love you
always Captain.
By Hollie Sessoms
Let Us Remember...Lest We Forget
It’s not hard for those of us who were alive on September 11, 2001 to
divide our lives into two distinct eras: Before 9/11 and After 9/11. As
brutal and painful as war can be, nothing has tugged at our national
heartstrings quite like the events of that day. Thousands of people killed
for doing something so simple—getting up in the morning and going to
work.
I was just getting back from my walk that morning and had turned on the
news while I made coffee when the towers were hit. Instead of showering
and getting ready for work, I sat in disbelief in front of my television,
wanting desperately to do something, but not sure what that something
should be. I was paralyzed by my astonishment that something so horrific
could happen in my country.
Something truly awe-inspiring happened in those days following 9/11.
Something that is hard to believe in this current tumultuous political
climate. We came together. We cried, we prayed, we mourned—and we
did it all together, as one nation. And we didn’t only come together as
Americans, we came together with the world who cried and prayed and
mourned with us.
Compassion was the order of the day. Gratitude for what we were, what
we had been, and what we still would become was thick in the air. We
saw horror unfold right before our eyes, but we also saw heroism. We
also saw sacrifice.
As the twin towers disintegrated into dust, something rose from the
ashes—the American Spirit. Even with the horrors of that day, there
was something so hopeful inside of me that this attack would make us
stronger than ever.
It seems, though, that even with 9/11 only seventeen years in the past,
we have already forgotten that bonding we felt. We have already forgotten
the hurt, we have already forgotten the healing.
This September 11th, let us take a moment and remember that day that
our lives were changed, take a moment and remember those who died in
the attacks, and those who died while rescuing people in the attacks, and
those who have died since fighting the attackers. Let us take a moment
and remember who are enemies are and who our brothers are.