Sunset Jamz weekly event on Mosquito Beach connects the community
by Jenny Peterson | Staff Writer
Every Tuesday, community preservationists welcome everyone to come out and enjoy historic Mosquito Beach in James Island with a weekly sunset concert and community gathering, with local music, food vendors and kids’ activities.
Just four miles from Folly Beach, the Mosquito Beach Sunset Jamz event welcomes all ages to its storied marshfront living room from 5-9 p.m., with several performers playing sets, vendors serving ribs right off the grill, other local vendors selling homemade treats, homemade products and more.
The event is BYOB, pet-friendly and attendees are welcome to bring blankets and chairs, or lounge on the wooden Adirondack chairs and benches spread throughout the gathering area.
The Mosquito Beach Historic District is on the National Register and the Sunset Jamz event is at the tip of the rural road, with plenty of parking.
Attendees are welcome to simply take in the 180-degree view of the marsh and enjoy the music, with a stage set up near a bright turquoise beach shack, or dive into the fascinating local culture of the “floating city” of the Quaponda tribe.
Food vendors gather at SC's Mosquito Beach. Gullah women taught them to cook.
MOSQUITO BEACH — A breezy Tuesday evening has brought a crowd of close to 100 people to this small stretch of land between Sol Legare Island and the footsteps of Folly Beach.As the sun starts to set, a woman wearing a pink dress steps onto an outdoor stage next to a man with a curly mullet. The band Sally & George starts serenading the crowd, many of whom are sitting in picnic chairs next to beer-filled coolers they brought from home.Dogs chase balls, children play basketball and couples take selfies near the golden-hued water. The mood is light, and the crowd appears to be living in the moment, taking time away from their phones to enjoy the scenic backdrop.
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There is food, too. Lots of it.
Sheltered by a blue tent, Hugo Forrest tosses cubes of breaded shark into a portable fryer to cook until they’re golden brown. Jasmine Stovall sells chilly bears, M&M's and pickled eggs at a table she calls Jazzy’s Snack Shack. Next to Stovall under a tall palm tree, her cousin Adrian Wallace pulls pork ribs off a smoker facing the water where, during the day, he picks oysters for Bowens Island Restaurant.
These individuals and other food and craft vendors who set up at a new event called Mosquito Beach Sunset Jamz don’t have fancy websites or widely followed social media handles. They don’t need them.
Those who live in the Mosquito Beach community, once part of an 800-acre plantation where enslaved laborers cultivated Sea Island cotton, know where to find them.
The food, music and revelry are just part of the storytelling taking place at the weekly event, which kicks off at 5 p.m. Tuesdays. Every person who attends Sunset Jamz can learn about Mosquito Beach’s culture as the economic center for the Gullah diaspora.
Halo Quaponda and Gennie Kent chat at Sunset Jamz at Mosquito Beach on June 20, 2023. Sunset Jamz happens every Tuesday night over the summer and raises money for restoration efforts on Mosquito Beach. Laura Bilson/StaffBy Laura Bilson lbilson@postandcourier.com
Fried pork, fresh produce
Willie Heyward greets me at the entrance to Sunset Jamz, where attendees are asked to donate $10 to the newly formed Gullah Convention and Visitors Bureau, founded to preserve and upgrade the Sol Legare neighborhood, among other community-driven initiatives.I was introduced to Heyward — who goes by Halo Quaponda — by Willis Quaponda Tant, one of more than 1,000 members in the Quaponda tribe that Heyward leads. Established in 1988, the tribe celebrates four native Gullah-Indian women and welcomes people of every race, culture and religion, Heyward said
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Next to the welcome booth sit coolers of fresh kale, kohlrabi, beets and carrots, picked from farmland run by Sidi Limehouse and cleaned by members of the tribe. For now, fresh produce is a small part of the event, sometimes referred to as the Mosquito Beach Farmers Market, but there’s plenty to go around.
None of this would be possible without Gail Scott.
A native of James Island, Scott learned to cook from her grandmother. As a kid, she recalls making okra soup, baked macaroni, stewed chicken and collard greens, lessons she has passed on to her two kids and others in the Sol Legare community.
Hand-breaded fried shrimp and fries are offered at Sunset Jamz at Mosquito Beach on June 20, 2023. Sunset Jamz happens every Tuesday night over the summer and raises money for restoration efforts on Mosquito Beach. Laura Bilson/Staff
By Laura Bilson lbilson@postandcourier.com
When plans for Sunset Jamz were still in their infancy, Scott started cooking pork chop sandwiches and selling them on Mosquito Beach Road. Proceeds from the fried chops — topped simply with lettuce, tomato and mayonnaise — helped get Sunset Jamz off the ground.
The success of the small operation also helped Heyward and other leaders in the community realize there was an appetite for good food on Mosquito Beach.
“I started doing it and they started buying,” Scott said. “Every Tuesday night it was a big hit.”
Mosquito Beach — an island, next to an island, within an island — has a history as an entertainment district.
In 1922, seafood merchant George Creighton Varn leased 2 acres at the western end of Mosquito Beach Road and established the Unity Oyster Co. of Charleston. “The factory,” as it came to be known, employed local men, women and children, and included a dozen or so huts in which some of the shuckers lived. The commercial activity helped transform Mosquito Beach into the community’s economic center.