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by Andrea Marroquin
Due to the popularity of “The Holidays in History” tour offered the past several years, the Jekyll Island Museum has expanded what was just a weekend program into a showcase for virtually the entire month of December. “The Holidays in History” tour will provide snapshots of celebrations of the Christmas season in America through time.
Tours will begin at the Jekyll Island Museum on Stable Road with a guide shepherding small groups of guests through the centuries by tram. They will venture throughout the 240-acre Jekyll Island National Historic Landmark District, richly decorated for the season.
“This tour will be really special,” promised John Hunter, the Director of the Jekyll Island Museum, a division of the Jekyll Island Authority. Guests will hear the carols that were popular in each period and encounter one costumed interpreter performing reenactments of how the holidays may have been celebrated, at different period-decorated cottages in the historic district. Along the way, meaningful customs of each time will be revealed.
“Our costumed characters will change frequently and will be a daily surprise,” Hunter said. “Guests will see the entire district and enter two of the cottages. But which cottage interiors they visit will also change on a daily basis. This enables us to be responsive to those guests who want to come back for a variety of experiences with us.”
Through the course of December, guests might witness a Victorian Christmas at Club Cottage in the year 1890. They might hear about the Jekyll Island Club’s seasonal celebrations inside historic Faith Chapel, built in 1904. They might take their revelry into a rustic hunting retreat at Moss Cottage in the year 1905. They might experience an Edwardian holiday season at Mistletoe Cottage around 1910. Or they might participate in festivities at Indian Mound Cottage in the year 1917.
“Jekyll Island is an ideal backdrop for this program,” Hunter explained. “Our history is so rich and our historic buildings span a very broad time range. The homes will be all decked out for the season. It is really fun to see history come to life here. This is a truly heartwarming and memorable program.”
Along the pathway through time, visitors hear holiday tunes of the past in celebration of the eras they travel through, from Victorian times through the Jazz Age. They also interact with a period character along their travel route.
Meet John Eugene or Alice Dubignon, filled with holiday spirit, during the time when their family owned Jekyll Island in its entirety. Bump into Head Housekeeper Minnie Schuppan, or Club Superintendent Ernest Grob, readying a cottage for the Club Members’ arrival. Share popular Christmas carols with a member of the Rockefeller staff. Or exchange Christmas greetings with a Club Member or Guest on their way out for a round of golf or preparing Faith Chapel for a Christmas party.
Hunter explained that the museum possesses an array of costumed characters to draw from as well as a talented crew of interpretive guides. Experiences will vary throughout the month of December and no two tours will be the same.
“We promise guests that no matter what day they come, they will glean an overview of how Christmas celebrations have evolved through time and experience the sights, sounds, customs, and pleasures of holidays past. We hope that this tour will help to spread the sentiment of the season and bring those joys into our guests’ holidays today and in the future,” Hunter said.
The Holidays in History program is offered daily, December 6-31, 2009 at 11:00 am, 1:00 pm, & 3:00 pm, except December 24 and 25. The rate for this special seasonal tour is $16 for Adults, $7 for Children 6-12, and Free Under 6.
Coming back to sneak a peak inside some of the museum’s other decorated cottages? Hoping to meet a different costumed character? The Jekyll Island Museum offers a special discounted rate of $5 per person for a “second day” tour, so that guests can visit multiple cottages during the course of their stay. For more information contact the Jekyll Island Museum at (912) 635-4036.
To view a YouTube video sneak preview of the tour, visit http://www.youtube.com/user/JekyllIslandMuseum
St. Simons Island’s beaches are limited to the southern end of the island in a band stretching 4 miles from Gould’s Inlet on the eastern side to King Creek on the southwestern side. The beaches have experienced tremendous changes since the beginning of the island’s recorded history, and continue to erode and accrete as a response to the effects of wind, waves, tides, and storms. Taylor Schoettle’s study of the beaches in A Naturalist’s Guide to St. Simons Island is an excellent primer on the subject. Not many sea turtles nest on St. Simons Island for reasons not entirely understood but probably due to the island’s mix of currents, sand quality, width of beach, rock seawalls, beach orientation, and development. From 1994–1998, an average of only one sea turtle has nested on St. Simons a year, compared with 74 on Sea Island, which has roughly the same length of beach.
St. Simons Beach, the area between the King and Prince Beach Resort and fishing pier, through the years has been assaulted by currents, tides, and storms and has eroded significantly. If not for the placement of the Johnson Rocks in 1964, naturalist Taylor Schoettle believes the beach would have retreated all the way to the brick county buildings behind Neptune Park. In the 1920s, the beach extended out to the wings of the present pier, and the old pier extended the length of the new pier from that spot. In the 1920s, people could drive their cars on the beach from the pier to the King and Prince, something that would be unthinkable today. At low tide, beachcombers can walk to the King and Prince, but at high tide, much of the beach is submerged as waves crash on the seawall known as the Johnson Rocks.
Rainy weather canceled the official Veteran’s Day parade and celebration on St. Simons Island. However, a few of the truly dedicated decided to proceed anyway. Rain or shine, the patriotic marched on. Local resident Roger Peterson captured the moment with a few of photos below.
We are so thankful for all of the men and women in uniform who bravely serve our country. On a personal note, my little brother is now home from Iraq. For the first time in two years, he will spend Thanksgiving and Christmas with his family!
On November 5, 2009, Congress passed a bill extending and expanding the housing tax credit. The bill is awaiting the President’s signature. In order to help you better understand the new legislation, we are posting a comparison chart provided to us by the National Association of REALTORS.
The expiration date for the tax credit will move to April 30, 2010. First time buyers who have not had an interest in a principle residence for three of the past five years are still eligible for the credit, which is still a maximum of $8,000 for married couples and $4,000 for separate filers. A tax credit is now available for homeowners, who have consecutively resided in their primary residence for five of the last eight years. The maximum credit amount is $6,500 for married couples, and $3,200 for those filing separately.
The credit is available for home purchases up to $800,000. Income limits have been raised to $125,000 for single buyers and $225,000 for married couples.
Local market conditions are improving, as purchasers scramble to take advantage of the best buyers’ market in two decades. The expansion of the tax credit into the “move-up” market is expected to further fuel a housing recovery, as inventories continue to shrink and interest rates remain artificially low. The prevailing perception amongst buyers and the media is that the housing market has bottomed out and is on its way to stability and upward price movement.
This small park provides a panorama of the eastern marshes of St. Simons Island, while it informs the visitor of the Battle of Bloody Marsh. Though it was a relatively small engagement, the outcome had a tremendous influence on the future course of Georgia. An exhibit explains the engagement and a plaque honors Oglethorpe’s resolve to keep the Georgia territory in the hands of the British empire.
Geologically, the high ground of the park is the Pleistocene (35,000 years ago) shoreline of St. Simons Island, which existed before Sea Island and East Beach were formed to the east 5,000 years ago. The “Bloody Marshes” filled the lagoon created by the younger, sandy barriers. Marsh species display zonation, with Live Oaks on the highest, driest ground, cedar at the woodland edge, and marsh elder and groundsel trees by the edge of the marsh, going down to saltwort, glasswort, bunch grass (Spartina bakeri), salt meadow cordgrass (Spartina patens), and needlerush. Wading birds, such as herons and egrets, are observed fishing the shallower open waters of the marsh, which drain into Postell Creek and enter the ocean at Gould’s Inlet.
In 1739, Britain declared war on the Spanish, called the War of Jenkins’ Ear. Jenkins was an English smuggler who had his ship boarded by the Spanish off the Florida coast. When the Spanish couldn’t find any contraband, Jenkins testified to the English House of Commons, one of the officers grew angry and sliced off his ear. This outraged England, which had been spoiling for a fight with Spain for years. In the vulnerable southern colonies of America, Oglethorpe decided to act first, and laid siege to Spanish-held St. Augustine in 1740, but he was unsuccessful. Two years later, the Spanish sailed past the guns of Fort St. Simons and landed near Gascoigne’s Bluff with approximately 2,000 men supported by 50 ships. Flanked and outmanned, Oglethorpe abandoned Fort St. Simons and withdrew his 900 troops along Military Road toward Fort Frederica.
The first action of the day occurred within sight of Fort Frederica at Gully Hole Creek, where a force of Scottish Highlanders, English Rangers, and Indians led by Oglethorpe repulsed an advancing regiment of 200 Spaniards, causing them to retreat. Back in camp, the Spanish commander and governor of Florida, Manuel de Montiano, learning of the defeat, sent several hundred troops up the military road to cover the retreat. Meanwhile, Oglethorpe’s men waited in ambush near the road, and at the last possible moment, the Scots and English rangers opened fire on the unprepared Spanish troops, causing anywhere from 100 to 500 casualties, depending on whose account one believes. The marshes reportedly “ran red with blood.” The Spanish returned to the south end, and after contemplating the situation for a week, destroyed Fort St. Simons, boarded their ships, and left the Georgia coast for good, ensuring that Georgia and the territories to the north would be of British heritage and speak the English language. The military clash passed into the history books as the Battle of Bloody Marsh.
- Directions: From Brunswick, cross F.J. Torras Causeway. Go left on Demere Road. Bloody Marsh Monument is located on the left after the Demere/Frederica intersection.
- Activities: Historic touring, bird-watching, nature study.
- Dates: Visitor center is open 7 days a week from 8–4.
- Facilities: Park, exhibit shelter, audiotape.
- Fees: None.
When their investment club ended a year and a half ago, members of the disbanded group soon realized how much they missed the time once shared with friends.
A few years ago, investment club member Sally Essig received a prayer shawl when she was ill. Because the special gift had given her a wonderful sense of comfort, she decided to propose the idea of a prayer shawl group to her friends. “About half of the ladies could knit, but al wanted to participate,” explained Mrs. Essig. “So, I taught the girls to knit, and it has been a real learning process for all. Now there are 3 women and we meet once a month. Some knit four shawls a months and some knot one a year. The spirit is there, and special prayer is abundant for each shawl.”
The members are all busy women who are either working at their vocations or are very active volunteers. Among the members there are two retired teachers, two real estate agents (including Hodnett Cooper’s own Alice Barlow), three nurses, a psychologist, a publisher, an accountant and a pharmacist.
For more information contact Sally Essig at 912-638-0971.
Just for fun, the Hodnett Cooper team donned an interesting array of Halloween Costumes on Friday. We saw everything… from a vampire to a doctor. A $100 prize went to the most original costume, “Mamma.” We had a blast dressing up, and our guests and clients enjoyed the fun.
