‘Welcome Home’ T-shirts hot sellers

Hilton Head Island’s “Welcome Home” sign is enjoying its new life as a T-shirt.

The first 500 T-shirts featuring the sign were printed late Tuesday afternoon and sold out on Wednesday. A check for $7,500 — every penny of the $15 cost per shirt — was cut for the Deep Well Project, a nonprofit scrambling to meet social services demands left by Hurricane Matthew.

On Thursday, 800 more T-shirts were printed, said Bob Gossett, creator of Hilton Head’s unofficial seal, the Salty Dog T-shirt. His company created the “Welcome Home” shirt in conjunction with sign creator Byron Sewell.

From now on, Gossett will recoup expenses, but $10 per T-shirt will go to Deep Well.

Sewell created the sign and put it in the median at the foot of the bridge minutes before the floodgates opened to worried islanders returning after almost a week of hurricane evacuation.

Many did not yet know of the destruction around the corner in their neighborhoods. But they said the sign brought a lump to their throats and lifted their spirits.

The shirts are available at the three Salty Dog T-shirt stores and the Sea Pines Montessori Academy.

And now they are available online through the Salty Dog website.

Also, Sewell is to make an appearance with the sign next Tuesday, Oct. 25. He is to be at the Farmers Market at Sea Pines Center, which runs from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. weekly.

“Byron will meet people, sell and sign shirts for Deep Well and allow photos with the sign,” said market organizer Pam Ovens.

This story was originally published October 21, 2016 at 10:02 AM with the headline "‘Welcome Home’ T-shirts hot sellers."