This past weekend we had the annual CharlestonFishing.Com oyster roast at James Island County Park. This event started several years ago with some members of the site wanting to get together, have some oysters, and meet some of the people they interact with, through the site, on a regular basis. Each year this event has continued to grow in attendance with people coming from all over the state to meet up, eat some really good food, and talk fishing.
When I first came up with the idea for our website I was really just looking for a way for people to be able to access all of the information they needed for fishing in our area, in one location on the internet.
Today I can say one of the things I enjoy the most about our site is hearing the stories of how people have made life long friends through the site. I have people routinely tell me that one of their best fishing buddies and friends is someone they met while posting on our forums. This aspect and evolution of the site was on full display Saturday at the oyster roast. There were many familiar faces that I have seen for years, but I was also happy to see many new faces that were greeted with warm welcomes. There were people who came alone and others that brought their entire families out for the day. I was also overwhelmed by people’s generosity. There were people who paid for bushels of oysters, who were not even able to make it to the roast. Many people showed up with not one tray of food, but four or five trays of food.
To say that I saw the site becoming a community that cares for each other, helps each other in times of need and even offers up prayers for each other, would be stretching the truth on my part. I did think that there would be some people that would meet and possibly fish together, but really thought that would probably be about the extent of it. I am really blown away by the community that has become a core part of our site and appreciate just how this community makes the site valuable to so many people in so many ways beyond