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The second annual Extreme Volleyball Professional’s (EVP) tour on St. Simons Island was a great success. Sponsored by many local businesses, including Hodnett Cooper and JMM Productions, the volleyball tournament was open and free to the public. Thousands of local spectators turned out at the Coast Guard Station on Saturday, August 30 for great weather, great fun, and plenty of excitement. Local resident and photographer, Roger Peterson, supplied the images below.
One of our gorgeous vacation rental homes, 5 Via Serena, is featured in the September 2009 issue of Coastal Living Magazine. The six-page story features decorating tips from the owners, Debie and Brad Weitz. Highlights from the article below –
Writer: Audrey Davidow, Coastal Living Magazine, September 2009
“Built in 1952, the 1,800 square-foot island Colonial had been moved to a different spot on the property to make room for two new, large five-bedroom villas. But the cottage’s petite size sealed the deal for the Weitzes, who wanted to simplify. Today, the new houses and this old-school charmer share a palm tree-shaded courtyard and marsh views.
Debbie soon adopted “easy living” as her beach house style mantra. “’In Atlanta, I’m constantly surrounded by so much stuff,’” she says. “’Here, I wanted to keep thinks simple and calm.”” She stuck to a neutral palette of tans and whites, with an occasional punch of blue, to keep the mood serene and emphasize the marsh views. “’I didn’t want anything to take away from that,’” explains Debbie, who prefers to add interest with natural textures such as sisal rugs, hemp throws, and petrified-wood tables.
Read the full article here: viaserena_coastalliving_0909
My Dad was here from Macon this past weekend for a visit with us here on the Island. We had not taken the St. Simons Trolley Tour in years so we thought it would be a great way to refresh our local historical knowledge and bring my Dad up to date on the vast history St. Simons Island possesses.
From the moment you board the St. Simons Trolley and Bunny passes out the peach candy saying “First I sweeten you up, and then I take your money,” you know this is going to be something special. Since 1992, the St. Simons Trolley Company has conducted the original and definitive tour of St. Simons Island. Exuding Southern charm, this genuine Southern Belle provides a hilariously funny, yet well informed narrative of life in the Old South.
The drive-by includes the Lighthouse, one of only three working lighthouses in Georgia; Bloody Marsh, site of the famous 1742 battle where the fate of the Southern Colonies was decided; Fort Frederica, the colonial town and fort settled by General James Edward Oglethorpe; Retreat Plantation, where relics from the slavery era still exist, and this is the only trolley tour on St. Simons Island that takes you inside historic Christ Church.
You will truly enjoy the entertaining and informative narrative of 400 years of island history and folklore as you ride along in the Original Vintage Green Trolley. They also point out the best places to eat, shop, and play. It’s the perfect way to see and experience island life while getting a good overview of the entire island.
The St. Simons Trolley tour is one of the most acclaimed in the South. To enjoy the island in true southern fashion, you need to experience the St. Simons Trolley.
Just off the St. Simons Island pier a huge ship, Talisman, is being partially submerged to free a barge. The ship is being intentionally flooded with seawater in special ballast tanks in order to lower its height by 20 to 25 feet. This flooding process will take several days. By Friday, the ship should be low enough to float its cargo, a dredge named Texas, off the deck and into the St. Simons Sound.
MV Talisman was built by Daewoo Heavy Industries in 2000 and is owned and operated by Wallenius Lines, the world’s largest transportation and logistics company. She is 780 feet in length and large enough to transport 5,400 cars!
Photo by Roger Peterson of St. Simons Island
Photo by Roger Peterson of St. Simons Island
Jekyll Island Golf Club is accepting registration of area golfers who may form a threesome to compete in a Local Qualifying Event, August 22, 2009, which is the first leg of a journey to earn a berth in The 2009 McGladrey Team Championship.
The field of 7+ three-member amateur teams will compete August 22, 2009 with the first and possibly second place threesomes gaining a berth in the Georgia Section Championship, to be conducted September 28, 2009 at The Legends at Chateau Elan, Braselton, Georgia. The National Championship will be conducted Oct. 26-28, 2009, returning to the renowned Pinehurst (N.C.) Resort.
The 2009 McGladrey Team Championship will feature a format change at the Local Qualifying Event level, with an increase in the course handicap for individuals.
Section Championships, hosted by The PGA of America’s network of 41 Sections, will once again feature four-player teams of a PGA Professional with three amateur partners in the bid to earn a National Championship berth. Each Section Championship offers a combined purse of at minimum $13,000, with amateurs’ compensation in the form of gift certificates.
The 41-team, 164-player field in the National Championship will compete for a $200,000 purse, with amateurs receiving gift certificates. The field will compete on three of Pinehurst’s premier layouts, opening at No. 8, and concluding the final two days on No. 2 and No. 4.
The McGladrey Team Championship is the result of a partnership between The PGA of America and RSM McGladrey, the Official Accounting, Tax and Business Consulting firm of The PGA of America. RSM McGladrey is the fifth largest accounting, tax and business consulting firm in the country when considered with McGladrey & Pullen LLP (a partner-owned CPA firm).
Katie Brown’s enthusiasm and dedication to continuing education have enabled her to become a successful Realtor in Glynn County despite market conditions. She began her career in Real Estate after earning a degree in Housing from the University of Georgia. Being a native of Glynn County, and growing up in historic downtown Brunswick the decision to return to the area after college was an easy one. Katie has once again proven her commitment to education by earning her Associate Broker’s License. She is the youngest Realtor with Hodnett Cooper Real Estate, Inc. to become an Associate Broker. To earn this accreditation, Realtors are required to have been actively licensed for 3 years, must complete a 60 hour educational course, and pass 2 examinations. If you are thinking of buying or selling, call Katie Brown (912)258-1075 and make the right decisions to maximize your property’s potential…..And it’s potential value.
Hodnett Cooper is pleased to sponsor the free showing of Grease this weekend in Neptune Park. This classic film will be displayed on a 36 foot wide by 25 foot high outdoor screen. The movie begins at dusk on Sunday, August 16. This is a fabulous, free, community event! Bring blankets, chairs, and as many friends and family as you like. We’ll see you there.
Neptune Park, located between the village and lighthouse, is St. Simons’s most popular park, where visitors can picnic, take a trolley tour of the island, fish off the pier, stroll on the pathway, or relax on a bench. Here visitors may listen to the cackling of iridescent boat-tailed grackles in the live oak canopies, or the screech of begging seagulls, or the noble silence of brown pelicans perched on the pier. One might want to examine finned trophies that lie gasping in buckets, if local fishermen have been lucky angling the deep currents that flow past the pier. The beach is best explored at low tide, when one might find whelks, horseshoe crabs, and sand dollars.
The park’s name is not in honor of Neptune, the god of sea, but Neptune Small, a slave that belonged to the Thomas Butler King family of Retreat Plantation, today the site of Sea Island Golf Course. During the Civil War, Small accompanied one of the Kings’ sons, who was killed during the Battle of Fredericksburg. Small retrieved the body from the battleground and bore it back to Savannah under very difficult circumstances. The family buried the son at Christ Church, and Small chose to return to Virginia to accompany another son for the rest of the bloody conflict. After the war, Small was given a plot of land on the plantation, located at the park, and he continued to work for the King family as a free man. When he died in 1907, he was buried in a small graveyard on Retreat Plantation.
Two exceptionally large Live Oaks are found shading the park, where visitors can use picnic tables, a playground, miniature golf, and benches and lounge chairs for contemplative views of sparkling St. Simons Sound. Neptune Park Casino has a public swimming pool open during summer. A 1.5-hour trolley tour leaves from here to other points of interest on the island, but some may prefer to see it under their own steam by using the biking/jogging path. The fishing pier is open to fishing, crabbing, and shrimping.
- Directions: From Brunswick, cross F.J. Torras Causeway. Go right on Kings Way to Ocean Boulevard. At Mallery Street, turn right to village and public parking.
- Activities: Historic touring, picnicking, bird-watching, miniature golf, swimming, fishing, crabbing, beachcombing.
- Dates: Visitor center is open 7 days a week from 9–5.
- Facilities: Visitor center, park, picnic tables, parking, swimming pool, restrooms, biking/jogging trails, lighthouse and museum, beach.
- Fees: A fee is charged for the trolley tour, Neptune Casino Swimming Pool, and miniature golf.
For more information: St. Simons Island Chamber of Commerce, Neptune Park, St. Simons Island, GA 31522. Phone (912) 638-9014. The Links Miniature Golf, phone (912) 638-0305. St. Simons Island Casino Swimming Pool, phone (912) 638-2877
Mark your calendars…The 7th Annual Georgia’s Colonial Coast Birding & Nature Festival will take place October 8th-12th at Jekyll Island and along the GA coast. Come for the weekend, just a day or a few hours. Activities span the entire Georgia Coast and will appeal to a wide spectrum of the public from the casual nature enthusiast to the serious birdwatcher. An exhibit hall,”The Rookery”, featuring conservation-based organizations and vendors, will be in the Jekyll Island Convention Center.
There will be seminars, interactive programs, field trips, boat trips to barrier islands in outstanding natural habitats spanning the entire GA coast. They will be guided by expert naturalists and biologists. The Jekyll Island Convention Center will have “The Rookery”, an exhibit hall with conservation based organizations and vendors, live raptor show, activities for children and much more. Saturday night the keynote speaker is Donald Kroodsma, author The Singing Life of Birds.”
Early registration begins August 29th online and most popular field trips will likely fill up quickly. For information please visit www.jekyllisland.com, email info@coastalbirding.org or call 1-877-4jekyll.
by Cameron Wicker, Humane Society of South Coastal Georgia
Over the weekend, a mother and her two sons found a box of five puppies on the side of the road. They brought the pups into the Humane Society. We are over capacity now, but our President, Tina Bostic, is taking care of the puppies at her home. Needless to say, they need a good home. I’ve posted the photos below…take a look, fall in love, adopt and/or spread the word.
