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The “Horry six” region is on its way.

Last week, the South Carolina High School League (SCHSL) announced the new region placements for the 2024-2026 two-year window. With Myrtle Beach and North Myrtle Beach moving up to Class 5A, the league has finalized Region VI-5A, which includes all six Horry County teams and no other outside members.

The new region features all six 5A schools in Horry County: Carolina Forest, Conway, Myrtle Beach, North Myrtle Beach, Socastee and St. James.

As the reclassification process carried on in the realignment year, many believed the new “beach region” would include either West Florence or a combination of West Florence and Sumter. Friday’s announcement said that would not be the case, officially confirming that the region would include all Horry County schools.

The SCHSL Executive Committee will meet next week to hear appeals on region placement. Teams had until 1 p.m. Tuesday to submit an appeal.

Mickey Wilson, head football coach at Myrtle Beach, is one of the first coaches in the area who will experience the changes. Both Myrtle Beach and North Myrtle Beach will make the leap to 5A in the fall and will now face the four schools already in Class 5A in region competition.

Wilson, like many coaches, did acknowledge the challenges that will come with moving up to Class 5A when it comes to the team’s non-region scheduling. In the past, most of Myrtle Beach’s non-region competition was fairly simple to schedule: book a handful of the 5A Horry County teams for those dates, creating an easy partnership.

Now, that ability goes away and non-region scheduling — with limited options locally — has become a challenge.

Still, Wilson says a “beach region” will be a positive development across the board.

“I’m excited about it,” Wilson said. “I think once we get past the non-region scheduling and get everything figured out, I think being a beach region and having those natural rivalries already, I think now there’s going to be a little more incentive on those games now.”

The potential for higher attendance in region games is another element of the change that Wilson is excited.

“This is going to be fun. It’s going to be exciting. And I think now we’re going to play in front of bigger crowds,” Wilson said. “Before, we might play [further away schools] and they didn’t bring anybody down to watch the game. So now, I think we have an opportunity for our kids to play in front of bigger crowds, which I think will make it more exciting.”

West Florence and Sumter are set to be included in Region V-5A, which includes Blythewood, Lugoff-Elgin, Ridge View, Spring Valley and Westwood.

In Class 1A, Carvers Bay and Hemingway are additions set to join Green Sea Floyds and others in Region VI-1A.

In Class 3A, Marlboro County is set to replace Manning in the new Region V-3A, which Aynor and Loris are assigned to. Manning will head to Class 2A.

WRESTLERS CROWNED REGION CHAMPS

Four area wrestling programs competed in individual region championships on Saturday, leading to a large contingent of Horry County wrestlers winning region titles at their respective weight classes.

Aynor and Loris competed in the Region VII-3A championships at Aynor High School, while Myrtle Beach and North Myrtle Beach competed in the Region VI-4A championships in Hartsville.

Here are champions from each school:

FRIDAY NIGHT BASKETBALL

Just two weeks remain in the regular season schedule for Horry County hoops programs. On Friday, we’ll see another round of girls/boys basketball doubleheaders around the area:

Aynor vs. Waccamaw

Carolina Forest vs. Sumter

Conway at Socastee

Green Sea Floyds vs. Hannah-Pamplico

Loris vs. Georgetown

Myrtle Beach vs. Wilson

North Myrtle Beach vs. South Florence

THIS AND THAT

Monday marked the first day of official practice for spring sports across the state, with teams allowed to participate in their first scrimmage/jamboree on Feb. 5.

Aynor wrestling won the region team title last week with wins over Loris (39-33) and Georgetown (74-5). Aynor has now won five region titles in a row.

With the new SCHSL realignment, it is believed that Class 5A will be split into two sections with postseason competition consisting of two championships (due to the large gap of attendance numbers from the top to bottom of the group. The SCHSL has yet to announce this potential change — county athletics officials say they expect to receive more information in the coming weeks.

Hannah Strong Oskin is the executive editor of MyHorryNews. Reach her at 843-488-7242 or [email protected]. Follow her on X @HannahSOskin.

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (WMBF) - A Grand Strand business is celebrating one year since making Myrtle Beach its home.

Lucid Coast Candle Bar’s owner Chase Masters said it all started with a candle-making hobby at home during the pandemic.

“From there we just kind of kept growing,” he said. “We did local events, we eventually started doing the City Market in downtown Charleston for a little bit just to help expand even more and then last January we got lucky.”

That luck is what he said landed him in Myrtle Beach a year ago.

“It’s really nice to see like bringing life back to downtown and being able to be a part of it,” said Masters.

Inside Lucid Coast, you can shop for a variety of 100% natural soy candles, room sprays and soaps.

Masters said it’s all centered around a coastal theme, making them fit right in at the beach. He also says it’s also easy on their pockets.

“We like to think of ourselves as like an affordable option so anybody can come and either make a candle or check out non-toxic products that aren’t going to break the bank as well,” he said.

Some parents also said the business also become a safe space for their kids within the last year.

“Being able to come to an area that we know is safe and that you know people are expressing themselves it’s important for us to teach our children to express themselves,” said Kate Boucher, who lives in Carolina Forest.

Whether it’s a candle-making workshop or a celebration for all ages, Boucher said it’s given her all the reasons to continue coming back following a gathering for her son’s recent 10th birthday.

Up-and-coming businesses like Le Manna Bread Bakery told us it’s inspired them to continue the growth of the heart of Myrtle Beach.

“Many years ago about, 70-75 years, there was a bakery located in the same place so what we would like to do is to continue with the baking tradition in this area,” said Gus Pena, a co-owner of Le Manna Bread.

Pena and his business partner, Frank Rodriquez, said they’re looking to open up in the Arts & Innovation District next month, offering an international variety of options from pastries, breakfast, brunch and more.

Masters said Lucid Coast Candle Bar also had a hand in giving back as after every purchase, a portion is donated to their nonprofit.

Masters is now looking forward to what the remainder of 2024 has to offer.

“Super excited about it, we couldn’t have picked a better place for our business. I’m super excited to see the area grow and find ways we can collaborate with the businesses coming in as well.”

Lucid Coast Candle Bar will host an official anniversary celebration on Feb. 10.

Stay with WMBF News for updates.

Copyright 2024 WMBF. All rights reserved.

Jack Thompson hitchhiked to Myrtle Beach when he was just 13 years old, and he’s been documenting the history of the area through his camera lens since.

Now at 87, Thompson said he’s taken more than 100,000 photos of the Myrtle Beach area. Three warehouses hold the photos he's taken over the decades.

At the Myrtle Beach Train Depot last week, Thompson and another longtime resident, restaurant owner and author Dino Thompson, told stories of a long-gone but fondly remembered landmark of Myrtle Beach — the Ocean Forest Hotel.

“We miss it because it was the biggest, grandest thing at Myrtle Beach,” Dino Thompson said. “We gave directions by it. It was our Taj Mahal.”

Thompson and Thompson spent an hour telling stories and sharing photos of the Ocean Forest to about 200 attendees – a full house at the historic venue. The event was hosted by Friends of Chapin Memorial Library. Stories included how the building came to be, when the hotel served liquor during prohibition and how parts of the hotel were salvaged before it was demolished.

Jack Thompson said the hotel’s history is vital to Myrtle Beach.

“That building is what started Myrtle Beach. Myrtle Beach was actually a little fishing village when the Woodside brothers came and bought Myrtle Beach and started building the Ocean Forest,” Jack Thompson said. “In that process, they had 500 workers who came from everywhere.”

And those workers brought their families and girlfriends with them for the job. The hotel took six years to construct, opening in 1930, and those that constructed it became the founding citizens of Myrtle Beach, Jack Thompson said. But on Friday, Sept. 13, 1974, the historic hotel that took six years to construct was razed in six seconds.

Designed by renowned architect Raymond Hood – who also designed the 30 Rockefeller Plaza and Radiator Building in New York and the Tribune Tower in Chicago – the Ocean Forest went by many nicknames: the Sandcastle on the Sea or the Million Dollar Hotel. Locals just called it The Hotel. The 10-story, 202 room, neoclassical hotel had unique features like a working lighthouse on top and saltwater faucet taps.

It was designed well and also built well, Dino Thompson said, adding how the decision to demolish the hotel was made and how pleas from residents fell on deaf ears. He said when he spoke to Bill Hutchins from the demolition company, Hutchins told him that the Ocean Forest was the finest constructed building he’d ever examined for demolition.

Located halfway between Miami and New York, Dino Thompson said many of the famous big bands of the '30s and '40s, including Harry James, Woody Herman and even Billie Holiday, would play at the Ocean Forest between shows.

“For room and board, they would play at the marine patio,” Jack Thompson said. “You could hear that beautiful music from the leading bands of the era drifting through the air and serenading the 200 Myrtle Beach residents there were at the time.”

The event ended with a poem read by the city’s first ever poet laureate Bo Bryan. Appointed in January, it was the poet’s first public address on behalf of the city. The poem was titled “Organized For Beauty.”

“The Ocean Forest, a masterpiece of humankind, surviving in flight upon the arrow of time. The million dollar hotel, an icon of the Gilded Age. Disappeared, glorified, immortalized by dynamite. You might envision downtown Myrtle Beach as air and spirit to the Ocean Forest,” the poem reads. “A blank canvas for decades now upon which somehow, somewhere to conjure a new masterpiece to surprise the world the likes of even the Sydney Opera House, an Eiffel Tower even. A dynamite dream too large for us, you might say. But then remember we are not as small as we used to be. Perhaps our time is now to renounce the redneck riviera, organize the downtown bricks for beauty and bury dirty myrtle now and forevermore.”

Exciting new experiences await those traveling to The Beach this year

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C., Jan. 30, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- South Carolina's Grand Strand is ringing in the new year with a host of all-new activities, experiences and culinary delights. With over 60 miles of stunning beaches and 14 unique communities, the Myrtle Beach area invites travelers of all ages to try something new and exciting at The Beach this year.

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"Our ever-evolving destination continues to see exponential growth, innovation and advancement in terms of diverse offerings and experiences for all," said Karen Riordan, president and CEO of Visit Myrtle Beach. "We look forward to welcoming visitors to The Beach who are looking for year-round relaxation and adventure paired with sunny skies and Southern hospitality."

New developments in Myrtle Beach include:

Events & Attractions

Food & Drink

Lodging & Transportation

For more information on what's new in Myrtle Beach, visit www.visitmyrtlebeach.com.

Editor's Note: Images and renderings related to the 2024 new developments and events in Myrtle Beach can be found HERE (credit: Visit Myrtle Beach).

About Myrtle Beach, S.C.Myrtle Beach isn't just a beach. It's The Beach. Popularly known as the Grand Strand, Myrtle Beach is one destination made up of 14 unique communities that stretch 60 miles along the northeast coast of South Carolina. Families, couples and those in search of a warm welcome will find more than just a day at The Beach when they come together to connect and enjoy vibrant entertainment and family attractions, including world-class golf, shopping and fresh coastal Carolina cuisine. From the moment you arrive, you'll find you belong at The Beach – Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. For additional information on tourism offerings in the Myrtle Beach area, go to visitmyrtlebeach.com or call (888) Myrtle-1.

SOURCE Visit Myrtle Beach

North Myrtle Beach is getting two new, national-chain restaurants, as both have been expanding through the greater Myrtle Beach region in recent years.

A Dairy Queen and Dunkin’ Donuts are slated to open in North Myrtle Beach next to the Zips Car Wash at 4404 Highway 17 South. Construction hasn’t started yet; only a construction sign announcing the project stands on the property.

The buildings will be done in either June or July 2024, said Majid Adwan with Pyramids Construction LLC. Adwan, a project manager for the Wind Flower Townhomes development in downtown Myrtle Beach, added that both stores will have a drive-thru and will probably be in operation in September 2024, the total square footage being 10,000.

Adwan added that the two separate buildings will have six total units, four without a current proposed occupant. The two new stores come after both national brands have added multiple locations across the Grand Strand in recent years.

Diary Queen opened new locations in 2020 and 2021, and in 2015 the fast food chain added eight stores in the Myrtle Beach area as part of adding 75 eateries throughout South Carolina.

Dunkin’ Donuts added sites in recent years, too. In October 2023, Dunkin’ added a location near TPC Golf Course in Murrells Inlet.

Surfside Beach will soon have a new ice cream shop, town officials confirmed Monday.

A Dairy Queen Grille and Chill will sit at the corner of 10th Ave. and U.S. 17 Business across from Wild Water & Wheels, a water park and go-kart racetrack.

It will be the burger and ice cream spot’s only location in Surfside.

There is no Dairy Queen sign at the location, but construction is underway at the property.

The food chain only has a few shops in the area. There is one in Myrtle Beach on South Kings Highway, another one in Carolina Forest on Orchard Drive and one in Pawley’s Island. It opened last year.

There is a host of ice cream places that have already set up shop in the area, including The Ole Fashion Ice Cream Parlor, Santorini Gyro House and Homemade Ice cream and Meyer’s Ice Cream Parlor.

The restaurant is known its various blizzard options.