Mount Pleasant sweetgrass basketmaker devasted after basket stand was damaged

MOUNT PLEASANT, S.C. (WCBD) – A drive along Highway 17 in Mount Pleasant and you’ll see many sweetgrass basket stands along the roadside. It’s a Lowcountry tradition woven in rich cultural history, passed down for generations.

But one Mount Pleasant man, Eugene Gilliard, said he is devastated after his family’s basket weaving stand was severely damaged after being hit by a truck.

“I started in 1990,” Gilliard said. But basket weaving goes back generations in Gilliard’s family. It’s something he and his mom bonded over.

“I started sowing baskets, and then my mom passed away, so now I have to,” Gilliard told News 2. But on December 13th, the stand he learned to weave under, was nearly destroyed.

“Next thing I hear- boom,” Gilliard recalled.

A truck crashed into the stand after being struck by another truck.

Eugene’s neighbor, Marcus Lockwood said he watched it all unfold. “These are the boards right here that came off the stand,” Lockwood said as he showed the damage.

The truck that caused the crash allegedly left the scene, and left Gilliard heartbroken, as he thought about his mom and her legacy.

“It makes me feel like I lost my mom again,” Gilliard said.

Eugene says he filed a police report and made an insurance claim; however, he was told that the truck would be responsible for damages. But since the truck is unidentified, Gilliard was left with paying to fix his stand.

His insurance company said it would be $5,600 to fix, something he says he can’t afford right now. But he’s not bitter: “I forgive you. You will have to deal with God with that,” Gilliard said.

Gilliard is hopeful that he will be able to repair his stand in the future and feel that strong connection to his late mother once again.

“It would heal it because I know my mom would be back there with me,” Gilliard said.