Local landmark gets a Costa Rican makeover
By Lorne Chambers | Editor
There are a couple landmarks that just scream Folly Beach — the Edwin S. Taylor Fishing Pier, the Morris Island lighthouse, and, of course, the Folly Boat, which is technically located on James Island, but everyone knows it as the Folly Boat. Then there are some landmarks that are less ubiquitous to Folly but, nonetheless, are part of the fabric of our quirky little island. One of those is a giant chicken on wheels that’s actually a converted mobile chicken coop that has become a bit of a landmark on Folly Beach.
Known as Henny Penny, this single laying box chicken coop was designed and built by a retired engineer from Mt. Pleasant for the McClellanville Arts Council during the first annual Tour de Coop, which included a tour of chicken coups around McClellanville, a lecture on raising chickens, and chicken related art and photography. Folly resident Amanda Griffith won her in a raffle in 2013 and debuted her in the Folly Beach Christmas Parade.
Henny was a big hit at the parade and is still popular among Folly locals and visitors alike. Sitting outside their beachfront home on the East Side, Henny Penny draws a lot of attention. Some good. Some bad. Over the last year Henny Penny had withstood some damage, probably from late night revelers climbing on her giant chicken head. The most obvious damage was that her beak had broken off.
Jim Hurt, who lives in Tamarindo, Costa Rica,, visits Folly Beach fairly regularly and developed a fondness for Henny Penny. On a recent visit he spent some considerable time repairing Henny Penny along with the help of Geno Kollar, Griffith’s friend who does house restoration work in Charleston.
“While generally successful, her beak was a total loss,” said Hurt, who said this was the second time the beak has been destroyed. “The original was constructed from multiple pieces of pinewood, which I was able to put back together, but the second time around it was in complete shambles, so I decided a new beak, solid one-piece tropical hardwood was the way to go.”
Upon his return to Costa Rica, Hurt worked with local artisans who were able replicate a replacement beak from solid one-piece Pochote tropical hardwood. “We are hoping to see the beak mounted shortly and restoration completed, a gift from Playa Tamarindo, Costa Rica to Folly Beach,” says Hurt.
