IslandVibesIOP.com 4 the plastic eggs. He wasn’t too happy though when he found out they were filled with sand and not peanut butter. We put all of our eggs in one basket – literally and metaphorically – and it paid off hoppily! Island Vibes Vol. 4, Issue 4 April 2026 PUBLISHER BILL MACCHIO PUBLISHER@ISLANDVIBESIOP.COM ASSISTANT TO THE PUBLISHER JAZZY JORDAN ASSISTANT@ISLANDVIBESIOP.COM MANAGING EDITOR ZACH GIROUX EDITOR@ISLANDVIBESIOP.COM ART DIRECTOR BETHANY LONG ART@ISLANDVIBESIOP.COM COPY EDITOR COLIN MCCANDLESS BRAND AMBASSADOR SONYA BUCKHANNON SONYA@ISLANDVIBESIOP.COM PHOTOGRAPHY RACHEL BASYE COOPERRIVERPHOTOGRAPHY@GMAIL.COM DIGITAL MANAGER ALLYAH HARRAR ALLYAH@ISLANDVIBESIOP.COM SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGER ALYSSA FRANCO THEDIGITALTOUCHCHS@GMAIL.COM WEB EDITOR GEORGE CONKLIN CONTRIBUTORS RYAN BUCKHANNON • MARY COY LAURA FOGARTY • ALLYAH HARRAR L.C. LEACH III • COLIN MCCANDLESS KIMBERLYN NAYLOR • PHILLIP POUNDS SARAH ROSE • KRISTI SELLERS SALES REPRESENTATIVES STACEY MCLOUGHLIN STACEY@ISLANDVIBESIOP.COM ELLEN KERR ELLEN@ISLANDVIBESIOP.COM ADMINISTRATION & BOOKKEEPING GINGER SOTTILE BOSS DOG REGGIE DISTRIBUTION ISLE OF PALMS • WILD DUNES • GOAT ISLAND • DEWEES ISLAND • U.S. POST OFFICE • HARRIS TEETER • CVS • FOOD LION ASHEVILLE/HENDERSON AIRPORT ALL SC WELCOME CENTERS DIRECT MAIL VIA US POST OFFICE Homes on Isle of Palms and Sullivan’s Island Affluent neighborhoods rotated monthly Charlotte, Raleigh, Greensboro, Asheville, NC Buckhead, Druid Hills, Decatur, Atlanta, Georgia Island Vibes is published locally by a team of independent contractors. Island Vibes is published 12 times per year by Islands Publishing LLC. 1013 Chuck Dawley Blvd. Mount Pleasant, SC 29464 Copyright © Islands Publishing LLC. All rights reserved. Reproduction electronically or in print format without the expressed written consent of the publisher is strictly prohibited and a violation of U.S. copyright laws. Content, including editorial, advertising or comments, that threatens, harasses or degrades others may be revoked or refused from print and online publication at the sole discretion of Island Vibes. Inquiries to: Island Vibes P.O. Box 22617, Charleston, SC 29413 A South Carolina Press Association Award-Winning Publication! FROM THE TEAM From the Publisher Community comes first HugoMagazine.com About the Cover Hoppily ever after By Zach Giroux Editor’s Note Farewell my friends… It's with a heavy heart and bittersweet emotions that this will be my last issue as the managing editor of Island Vibes. After three glorious years of building this newspaper from the ground up, I’m proud to say this has been one of the greatest endeavors of my journalistic career. Although it saddens me to be leaving one of the most beloved publications I’ve ever managed, it’s reassuring to know that the brand we’ve built and the team around it will carry on the positive vibes to which our readers have become accustomed. There’s no ‘I’ in team, but there is in IOP, and let me tell you this publication takes an island of people to breathe life into these pages. In Happy Easter! For our April cover, our production crew at Island Vibes made a colorful decision to veer off the traditional path of Easter egg hunts and take a more egg-citing approach. Our original game plan was to invite the Easter Bunny to our photoshoot, but he came down with a last-minute illness. No worries, folks, it was just bad allergies caused by all of the “yellow snow” (pollen) in the air. We needed a backup plan, so our photographer Rachel Basye called in a addition to our wonderful staff, readers and advertisers, I’d personally like to thank all of the locals for their unwavering support and passion for our community. Before I depart on my next editorial adventure, I’d like to name a few people, places and things I’m going to miss the most: • Brainstorming and bickering at team meetings • Planning and executing out-ofthe-box photoshoots • Delivering the paper hot off the press • Seeing the smile on a resident’s face when they read the paper • Shaking hands with a business owner who advertises • Celebrating the launch of a new issue at our island socials Let’s raise our glasses and cheers to the written word, all things journalism and the pursuit of a story worth telling. Onward through the fray! Positively yours, Zach Giroux Editor In my book every issue of Island Vibes is special. It’s special for many reasons; top of that list is community and second is positivity. Speaking of community, last week Island Vibes was working on getting this issue to the printer and I received a phone call from a friend. He told me about Naish, the son of a mutual friend, who lives in Wild Dunes and recently passed from multiple myeloma. Everyone at Island Vibes embraced the idea of telling Naish’s story even though we were almost ready to go to press. 'To know Naish is to love him;' thanks to our lovely storyteller Laura Fogarty and the Island Vibes publishing family, you can get to know him too. Read his story on Page 22. There are a good number of island residents who did not experience living through Hurricane Hugo. When talking to the Isle of Palms Recreation Center about the upcoming IOP Hurricane and Resilience Expo, see Page 16, we touched on the more you know about hurricanes, what to do and how to do it, the safer you’ll be. That’s what the Hurricane and Resilience Expo is all about by teaching attendees the best way to prepare, protect our properties and the entire community. To better understand the destruction a hurricane can cause, visit www.HugoMagazine.com. This is the time of year I always remember what a vacationer said to me one time when I asked “What was the best thing about Isle of Palms?” Their response: “The locals.” Positively yours, Bill Macchio Publisher four-legged favor from her fur child Cooper – a precious 11-year-old chocolate lab-pit mix. Although he had a bum ankle and wore an adorable little boot for support, Cooper had no issue opening up Photo by Rachel Basye
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