“Super Dave’s Parking Lot Bash, Honey” to pay tribute to longtime Folly resident
by Jenny Peterson | Current Staff Writer
Folly Beach is beloved not just for its Bohemian surfer vibe, but for the unique characters that make up the fabric of it. David “Super Dave” Beltzhoover was in that number.
A resident for more than 20 years, he would wake up every day, play beach volleyball and then show up at exactly 2 p.m. for his shift at a parking lot behind Rita’s Seaside Grill, always with a huge smile on his face and donning a Folly Beach T-shirt, his personal preferred uniform.
“He loved welcoming people and being an ambassador of Folly,” said his daughter Hailee Zuniga, with whom he was very close. “He worked seven days a week. It’s what he loved to do and that filled his life. He was a very simple man. He had fifty Folly Beach T-shirts, lived in a rented house and had a little old golf cart.”
Haillee recalls how her dad, originally from Pennsylvania, first moved to the area working in construction following a hurricane, rebuilding the Folly Beach community.
“Super Dave” first lived on James Island and eventually moved into an apartment on Folly Beach behind the Circle K and then into an apartment on East Ashley Avenue and thrived as a parking lot attendant.
Hailee visited her dad every summer since she was eight years old on Folly Beach, staying at the Folliday Inn hotel on West Ashley Avenue.
Her next trip to Folly Beach is a heartbreaking turn of events: it will be to attend a community event celebrating the life and legacy of her dad, who tragically died in late April at age 61 following a fire at his apartment.
“This was the most horrible thing that could ever happen ever in my life,” Hailee said.
The tragic loss left a huge hole in the Folly Beach community among those who knew Super Dave and shared a smile with him on a daily basis. Memorials were left at his home: photos, flowers, tributes to his favorite NFL team, the Chicago Bears, and even his preferred beverages that got him through his shifts—yellow Gatorade and Circle K coffee.
“He just knew everybody on Folly, he couldn’t go into a place without someone saying, ‘Hey, Dave,’” Hailee said.
The official name for the community event, slated for Sept. 7 in the Rita’s Seaside Grille parking lot, is “Super Dave’s Parking Lot Bash, Honey” and there will be BBQ, stories swapped and music by the Shakin’ Martinis.
“He loved meeting people; he called everyone ‘honey,’” Hailee said.
From 12-4 p.m., the community is welcome to come celebrate and honor the life of a true Folly Beach personality who lived life with wholehearted enthusiasm. There will be sweet treats and printed photos from throughout Super Dave’s life.
“We’re going to hang photos on a clothesline so people will be able to walk around and see his life,” Hailee said.
The family is working on ways people can donate to Surfers Healing, one of Super Dave’s favorite non-profit organizations, in his honor.
Hailee said the outpouring of love and support for the family following the tragedy further cemented Folly Beach as the supportive and close-knit community her father loved so deeply.
“When we came down there, people and restaurants brought food to our house. I was distraught, and people just kept coming to where I was sitting outside my dad’s house, bringing flowers and putting a hand on me and saying, ‘We love you,’” Hailee recalls. “Nobody let me feel alone the whole time. It was magical.”
“Super Dave’s Parking Lot Bash, Honey” will be held in the parking lot behind Rita’s Seaside Grill on Saturday, Sept. 7 from 12-4 p.m. There will be BBQ a beer truck and music with The Shakin’ Martinis from 12:30 -3:30 p.m.
