‘Yacht Cove strong:’ Hilton Head memorial honors 11-year-old as neighbors fight for change

Hilton Head neighbors gathered around a new bright blue bench last Wednesday to honor the 11-year-old girl who was known as “a big sister to all the kids in Yacht Cove.”

The bench was dedicated to Charli Bobinchuck, who was struck and killed in the crosswalk on U.S. 278 outside the community in June.

It bears the words “#love peace ukelele hug,” which Charli’s parents, Bryan and Daisy, said she chose to describe herself and incorporated into a necklace she made last year.

Neighbors in Yacht Cove pooled together to donate the bench. Daisy said it sits under a tree that Charli loved to climb and where neighborhood children play outside.

“Our neighbors wanted to further preserve her memory and give all the kids a spot to go and think about her,” Daisy said.

The day after their first Christmas without Charli, the neighborhood unveiled the new memorial to Bryan and Daisy.

“We have an amazing little community here in Yacht Cove,” Daisy told The Island Packet. “So much love, so much kindness, (we’re) surrounded by all the people.”

Bryan called the bench with Charli’s words inscribed on it “a message from her.”

A community working for change

Since Charli’s death, those who knew her have tried to make changes on the island.

Yacht Cove neighbors have marched in and out of Hilton Head Town Council meetings asking council members to add lighting and clear signage to the intersection where she was hit.

The island’s dangerous crosswalks as a consequence of rapid development, neighbor Heather Rath told the Island Packet.

“You can’t as a town have all these developments put in all over the island without a plan to make everyone coming out of those areas safe,” Rath said of planned communities that all empty out onto U.S. 278 on Hilton Head.

Since Charli’s death, Bryan developed a crosswalk sign prototype that he asked council to consider twice — it’s a sign that lights up when activated by a pedestrian. Town staff has developed a plan for the intersection that does not include the lighted crosswalk sign.

“I’ve been assured and then reassured that (crosswalk lighting) is going to happen, but red tape is red tape,” Bryan said.

Bobinchuck said he was most recently told that the plan for the Yacht Cove intersection will be discussed at the next Town Council meeting. The issue of un-signalized crosswalks is on the agenda for the Jan. 7 intergovernmental and public safety committee meeting.

But Bryan is skeptical.

“If there’s any frustration, it’s in the lack of a timeline,” he said. “You get word that something is going to happen and you think it’ll happen sooner than it is.”

Others like Frank Babel, chairman of the Bicycle Advisory Committee, has lobbied for better speed control and lighted crossing points all along U.S. 278 for pedestrians and cyclists.

But Daisy has memorialized Charli outside the walls of Town Hall by focusing on what her daughter loved.

She started “Charli’s Critters,” an organization where she brings animals such as small snakes and lizards into schools to teach kids about Hilton Head wildlife. That work is funded by a charity she started in Charli’s name with the Community Foundation of the Lowcountry.

But closer to home, Bryan, Daisy and the Yacht Cove community have a place to go and remember their “true island girl.” The new bench will serve as a meeting point, a play place and a reminder of how loved they are, Daisy said.

“We call ourselves Yacht Cove strong,” Daisy said. “And I’m extremely grateful for our community.”

This story was originally published December 31, 2018 at 5:00 AM.