Okra Strut Finally Finds Home

IRMO, S.C. (WOLO) — Years of debate about where to hold Irmo’s Annual Okra Strut have come to an end with the purchase of 14 acres to construct a new park that will house the decades-old festival. In a 3-1 vote at Irmo’s town council meeting Tuesday, council members voted to approve the purchase of 14.3 acres on East View Rd., of Lake Murray Blvd. A new park will be constructed to include picnic shelters, an amphitheater, walking trails and a playground. That same location will double as the permanent home for the Strut. Festival organizers struggled nearly four years to find a permanent spot. The ongoing argument had threatened to rid the town of the event altogether. Mayor Hardy King, who has long opposed the festival because he says it loses money each year, was the only one who voted against the purchase of the land. A location for this year’s event, slated for September 28-29, has not been chosen.