A Reel Good Cause

Usually, when you hear the name “Comen” associated with a cancer charity, you think it’s spelled with a “K.” Not this time.
Kyle Comen, the owner of  the new South Side Bait and Tackle located on Savannah Highway near Dodge’s Chicken, is turning the store’s grand opening into a charity event to benefit a local prostate cancer foundation. Held from 11 a.m. until 2 p.m. on Saturday, March 12, the grand opening of Southside comes as a welcome to relief to fisherman and boaters living around Red Top near Bulow Landing and Limehouse Bridge where South Side Bait & Tackle recently opened it’s doors.
Offering performance wear, tackle, marine supply, live and frozen bait, Southside is Comen’s second tackle shop,;the first was Bohicket Creek Bait and Tackle on Seabrook Island.
Comen, who was born and raised in West Ashley, says the new shop is “home.” Located literally five minutes from where he lives along with his wife and son.
“During the chaos of moving my shop from Seabrook, my father-in-law passed away from prostate cancer,” said Comen. His father-in-law, Ret. U.S. Army Lt. Col. Michael Bunting, had been diagnosed with the disease 18 months prior.
Bunting’s passing was “quick and dramatic,” said Comen, who is hosting the event in his honor.
Comen realized that breast cancer gets a whole month, as does lung cancer, but not prostate cancer. “With most of our client base being male, this just makes sense.”
A host of local and national businesses have jumped in with donations. Local barbecue mavens Home Team BBQ will be doing catering inside the business, and Coca-Cola has donated drinks.
But the real draw, or perhaps the “reel” draw, will be the equipment manufacturers have put up for auction.
“We will be auctioning and raffling away Penn Rods and Reels, Shimano stuff, Atlantic Drift Apparel, Simms, and Umpqua apparel and flies,” said Comen. “Heck, even Interstate Batteries is giving me a battery to give away, and Hawaiian Tropic gave me a gift basket full of $300 worth of merchandise. And Pelagic Gear really stepped up, too, from the beginning.”
Other items raffled off were donated by Okuma, Pelagic, Buff, Land & Sea, Carrot Stix, J&R Liquors, Coastal Claws & Paws Grooming, and Pirates of Charleston. Any donations collected plus a portion of the day’s sales will be donated to the Prostate Cancer Foundation. If you can’t attend the grand opening on Saturday, March 12, Comen asks you to consider making a contribution online at pcfnews.org.
South Side Bait & Tackle is located at 3874 Savannah Hwy., Ste 8. For more information,
call 203-6561  or visit  www.southsidebaitandtackle.com.