How Daufuskie Island won a piece of Olympic history 20 years ago

As the 2016 Summer Olympics flame makes its way through Rio de Janeiro this week, The Island Packet and The Beaufort Gazette are looking back to 1996, when two locals took part in the historic relay.

Catherine Campbell of Daufuskie Island and Patricia Pinckney of Beaufort were among 5,500 non-Olympians chosen 20 years ago to help carry the Olympic flame to Atlanta.

A story that ran in the Packet and the Gazette at the time focused on Campbell’s role, which Daufuskie residents said was a particular honor for the small sea island.

Read more, from the archives:

Feb. 18, 1996 — “Daufuskie woman to carry Olympic flame”

Tiny Daufuskie Island got an Olympic-sized boost Thursday.

Daufuskie teacher Catherine Campbell was named one of 5,500 “community heroes” and 800 Olympians nationwide to carry the Olympic flame to Atlanta this summer.

“I’m tickled to death,” Campbell said Thursday night after returning from a news conference in Columbia and getting drenched in rain.

She said the designation was an honor that has the whole island ecstatic: “Daufuskie is so often overlooked,” she said, “and if we are recognized it usually has a hint of negative. Everyone is just aglow on this island. Just aglow.”

The torch relay begins April 27 in Los Angeles and will cover 15,000 miles through 42 states before ending during the opening ceremony in Atlanta July 19.

Former President Jimmy Carter, country music superstar Garth Brooks and NBA center Shaquille O’Neal are torch carriers, but most of them are ordinary folks.

South Carolina has 47 torch carriers, including Patricia Pinckney of Beaufort and Lee Swofford of Hampton.

June 26, 1996 — “Daufuskie woman carries flame”

When Daufuskie Island teacher Catherine Campbell carried the Olympic torch in Columbia Tuesday, more than 40 people from her hometown were ready to cheer her on from the sidelines.

Several Daufuskie residents charted a bus to Columbia to watch Campbell bear the torch. Campbell, who left for Mississippi following her torch run, could not be reached for comment Tuesday night.

Campbell earned the honor after her sister-in-law Christina Bates wrote a letter to the Olympic committee last year.

She described how Campbell, originally from Eastover, helped start a daily boat run so that Daufuskie children attending Hilton Head Island middle and high schools could commute between the islands. Most of these children were living with friends or relatives on Hilton Head during the week, she wrote.

As a single parent, Campbell wanted her daughter to be home with her during the week, Bates said.

“She really got that school boat going,” said Bates, 44.

Campbell, who is spending the summer working on her master’s degree in education and administration at the University of Mississippi, teaches at the school on Daufuskie during the year.

“She’s a wonderful teacher, who makes the kids have fun while learning,” Bates said.

Susan Sissler of Daufuskie also spoke highly of Campbell.

“She’s the backbone of our community,” said Sissler, who helps out at Daufuskie’s only school. “She lives for these children.”

“Many of Campbell’s students run two kilometers with Campbell every school morning, so they were ready to show their appreciation for her by enduring a three-hour bus ride so they could watch her carry the torch in Columbia Tuesday.

“Oh, we’re going to be right there, running with Miss Catherine,” said Caeli Labish, 9, before they left.

This story was originally published August 1, 2016 at 10:26 AM with the headline "How Daufuskie Island won a piece of Olympic history 20 years ago."