Roof Repair in Summerville, SC

After more than 80 years in the community, southern comfort food restaurant Eva’s on Main closed its doors for good after its last day of business Wednesday, March 19. Whitney Easler, who owned Eva's with her husband, Ray, said not to despair — the deli-style Italian restaurant taking its place, Nonna's Olde World New York Deli and Specialties, will forge its own legacy.

“I think they're going to pour as much love into their business as we did,” Easler said. “This is not new for them. They have years of experience working in the food and beverage industry.”

Eva’s on Main was established in 1944 and had been at 129 S. Main St. since 1952. It was named for Eva Hinson, who operated the business with her husband, Eddie, before he retired and gave her control of the restaurant, according to the Eva’s on Main website. With Eva at the helm, the restaurant took her name. The website also states that Eva was known for peeling potatoes and snapping beans in a rocking chair in the kitchen, as well as making desserts from scratch.

The Easlers took over six years ago when the restaurant went up for sale.

“It's southern comfort food served with southern hospitality, and we're all about family, about making you feel at home when you come in,” Easler said. “When you come in and eat at Eva's, you are always going to find somebody else that you know who’s sitting at the table next to you, and I just love to see the customers striking up conversations with each other. It's just such a family environment and just so comfortable.”

Easler explained she and her husband wanted to keep tradition alive at Eva’s but add their own style.

“We tweaked it a little bit, made it our own to a degree, kept old recipes,” Easler said. “Two of the girls that work in the kitchen with us today worked for Eva back in the day when they were young girls, and they're still here with us.”

On its final day of operations, the restaurant was busy with customers. Passersby stopped on the sidewalk to get their last pictures of the sign. Reporters captured the scene. For Easler, saying goodbye was a tear-inspiring process.

“We've realized, too, that, as Eva knew herself, you put a lot of hard work into running a restaurant if you're an owner-operator, and so it took up a lot of time,” Easler said. “It was worth it, and we've thoroughly enjoyed it, but we were ready to spend more time with our family.”

She extended her thanks to the community.

“Thank you to this community that just supported us from day one as soon as we walked in the door,” Easler said. “We knew that we made some little changes and made it our own, so we got past that transition, and the local businesses here, the individuals who work in town hall, just everyone has been phenomenal. The folks at the chamber of commerce, the folks at Summerville DREAM. We are so grateful for these neighbors here because they really have carried us through.”

SUMMERVILLE, S.C. (WCSC) - The Town of Summerville is considering annexation and rezoning a section of land to support a potential townhome development.

The town’s planning commission is meeting on Monday for a public hearing and to vote on a request from the landowner and developer to annex and rezone a property, which is currently part of Dorchester County and zoned for single-family residential use.

This nearly five-acre property is located off Bacons Bridge Road at Crestwood Drive.

If the town moves forward with the request, the annexation would bring the property under the Town of Summerville’s jurisdiction and rezone it for multi-family residential use, allowing for more housing units to be built.

Town officials say that about an acre of the property is wetlands, so only about four acres of the property is developable land.

The Town of Summerville’s Director of Planning, Jessi Shuler, says that the development is still in its early stages, but current plans suggest it will include 20 to 30 townhomes.

“It can vary depending on meeting our other requirements because we do have obviously stormwater requirements and parks and open space requirements that they will have to meet. Then they will have to build a road and so it just kind of varies as to how many they will actually be able to fit, but right now it looks like it will be somewhere between 20 and 30 units,” Shuler says.

She says the development plans so far have gone to the town’s technical review committee, but they haven’t submitted their plans yet to the design review board which is the next step.

Shuler says that the landowner and applicant haven’t discussed their reasons as to why they are seeking annexation into the town rather than remaining in Dorchester County.

Summerville resident and Board Member of the Bike and Walk Summerville, a nonprofit 501(c)3, Chris McClure, says he sees this potential development as a positive opportunity for his community.

“The lack of housing is very apparent to anybody who pays rent within the local area. I recently was looking for an apartment and there was nothing that I could find that was under thirteen or fourteen hundred,” McClure says. “The fact of the matter is we do need to build more housing. People want to live here, they’re going to find a way to live here even if it’s like renting for a little bit then finding a unit.”

This property is located near the Sawmill Branch Trail and McClure says the development could help create a more connected community, providing more opportunities to bike and walk the trail.

“When we don’t allow townhouses and apartments to be in the walking, biking, downtown kind of connected areas what ends up happening is that we push them out and we push them farther. We push them in areas where there are two-lane roads and ditches on the sides and guess what happens? Well, they have to have jobs, they have to work, they have to live in Summerville still and now 100 percent of those people are now dependent on a vehicle for all of their trips,” McClure says.

Shuler says whether the planning commission denies or approves the annexation and zoning request at Monday’s meeting the proposal will still move forward to the planning and development committee of council in April. That committee will then make a recommendation to the town council who will have final approval.

The planning commission ended up recommending that this request be denied.

Copyright 2025 WCSC. All rights reserved.

A South Carolina man's lifelong dream of becoming a firefighter came true, kind of.

Doorbell camera footage captured the moment Chip Googe’s lawn quickly went up in flames on Saturday. Googe said on Facebook the fire sparked after his neighbor’s landscaper hit the concrete with a tool.

He said a spark landed in the dry grass in front of his Summerville, South Carolina home, causing the large flames.

The fire came after the South Carolina Forestry Commission issued a statewide red flag alert, saying wildfire conditions in the state were optimal.

“The combination of wind, low relative humidity and dry fuels is very favorable for wildfire ignitions, so we ask that people who don’t have to burn to hold off until these conditions subside,” Fire Chief Darryl Jones said in a press release.

Watch as flames ignite dry grass in home's front yard

In footage captured on Googe’s Ring camera, the flames grow in a blink of an eye.

“The wind was no joke and spread it fast!” Googe said.

He then grabs a hose to attack the fire, which he eventually puts out. He said there was no damage to the house. In the same post following the incident, Googe joked about finally becoming a firefighter.

“So glad my dreams of becoming a fireman came true!” he said.

Fernando Cervantes Jr. is a trending news reporter for USA TODAY. Reach him at fernando.cervantes@gannett.com and follow him on X @fern_cerv_.

SUMMERVILLE, S.C. (WCSC) - Summerville leaders are looking to incorporate a new educational opportunity in the community designed to empower local youth and teens.

The Town of Summerville is moving forward with installing a STEM lab in the Rollins Edwards Community Center.

This is an initiative the Town of Summerville’s Facility Manager Brandon Yeager says he is very passionate about bringing to the community.

“Year after year we have continued to add new and exciting programming. Our attendance continues to grow and we’re trying to reach the community in every way we can, so adding the STEM lab just gives us just another reach into programming that we can offer” Yeager says.

Yeager says the STEM lab would offer hands-on opportunities through various different programs such as robotics, coding, music, along with art, photography, and esports.

Yeager says a lot of their current programming is targeted towards ages 6 to 13. He says while the STEM lab would be available to all age groups, they hope it will target a demographic they don’t usually reach which is ages 13 to 17.

He says not only will the STEM lab help youth learn more digital skills, but also expose them to different career opportunities.

“Technology is a vital part of our lives today and we really want to give access to everyone, but also give an opportunity for just safe instruction, so helping people navigate online interaction,” Yeager says. “It’s helping them discover a new passion for themselves. I believe it’s our responsibility to give as many opportunities to the community that we can.”

He says that a lot of their programs are through third-party contractors, so this would be one of the biggest independent initiatives in the town.

“We feel like the STEM opportunity will give us a chance to reach maybe those hard to reach teens. The teens that don’t normally get out into the community and participate in these events, but when there is esports going on and coding classes and some really cool computer labs going on, we’re hoping we will reach those teens,” Summerville Town Council Member Tiffany Johnson-Wilson says.

The cost for launching the STEM lab is $50,000 which would include 10 computer stations, chairs, and transforming the existing multi-purpose room to function as a computer lab.

The town is currently looking for corporate sponsors to help fund the initiative.

If you’re interested in supporting you can contact byeager@summervillesc.gov or 843-514-7384.

Copyright 2025 WCSC. All rights reserved.