Student Art Excursion
Beaufort Gazette article—August 19, 2009: "Park invites county students to explore 150-year-old lighthouse"
Read about student preparation for the coming Lighthouse Art Exhibition at the USCB Performing Arts Center October 17th prior to the presentation of a play celebrating the 150th Anniversary of the Hunting Island Lighthouse.
SCORE Oyster Reef Project News
The July 2009 issue of Southern Living has a great article on our collaboration with DNR to build more oyster habitat in Fripp Inlet. Get your copy and watch for it online at Southernliving.com.
Also of note in this issue: the SCPRT coffee table book of State Park photographs is highlighted with a photo of our marsh.
In the news:
6/27/2009: Gazette/Island Packet article on seaturtle.corg.
6/1/2009: Wonderful article in Bluffton Today!
Check it out here
http://npaper-wehaa.com/bluffton-today;see-334fJOuzup0NFK8S#vw-1;dblpg;page-14
Wall Street Journal
The word is out about the treasure at our doorstep.... Hunting Island State Park is being discovered nationally! Will the park be prepared for more visitors in the future??? http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124389291000173995.html Check it out. There is even a place for you to make comments. Positive, I hope :-) Bonnie
Nature Center Map
A large map of the ACE Basin mounted and framed
by the construction team for donation to the Nature Center.
Port Royal Earth Day - Heratage Park - April 25, 2009
Mark Roberts of The RIVER 98.7 FM
Watch for The FOHI booth! Click for more!
FOHI Communications Director at the Bluffton Rotary
LIGHTHOUSE NEWS
Thanks to Rhom & Haas, Tnemec Co., and Dunlap Inc. the repainting of our lighthouse was completed well before our 150th Lighthouse anniversary.
9/1/08: Update on Cabin Road wash out
In the news:
WSAV video on Tropical Storm Hanna
WSAV article on Tropical Storm Hanna
Beaufort Gazette, 9/6/08: Storm Erosion washes out Cabin Road
Beaufort Gazette, 8/29/08: No more money for erosion at Hunting Island
Beaufort Gazette, 8/28/08: Cabin owners hunting a solution to erosion
Beaufort Gazette, 8/2/08: Hunting Island State Park: 75 years of natural wonder
The 75th Anniversary Celebration was a great Success!
As the photos above indicate, the weather and participation at the 75th SC State Parks Anniversary weekend at Hunting Island, August 2nd and 3rd, created a wonderful success. From the opening ceremony with the Beaufort High School Voices, Buddy Lawrence's Take Pride in America award, and Don Turner, the grandson of a former Lighthouse Keeper, to the coloring and sand castle contests, and finally the portrayal of a day in the life of a lighthouse keepers family "People of the Light" by Suzanne Larson, a fabulous time was had by all.
LowCountry Weekly article. Thank you to all the wonderful Hunting Island fans who entered the essay contest. Read the entries: Part 3. Read the entries: Part 2. Read the entries: Part 1.
Special Historical Information
Don Turner, the grandson of a former assistant Lighthouse Keeper at Hunting Island Station, and his extended family joined us for the week surrounding the 75th State Park Anniversary celebration. His short address at the opening ceremony August 2nd, exemplified the way he feels about our Island and its history as it intertwines with the history of his family and the tales his grandmother told him about living here in the late 1920s.
The following is extracted from an introductory letter he sent to the Park and an interview I conducted as the family was packing to return home after their reunion and our celebration.
"James William Turner served in the U.S. Lighthouse Service as Assistant Keeper to Mr. Malloy (sp?). As nearly as we can determine, he and his wife, Juanita Herbert Turner, lived there from 1925 to about 1930. My dad was born in 1923 and was around 2 years old when they arrived. Very few records of this time exist. We have a cookbook of my grandmother's that has her name and the inscription 'Hunting Island–1929' inside the front cover. They left when he needed to start school–probably 1930. Granny always said they lived for six years at the lighthouse. Just after that, in 1931, they lived in Boston where Grandpa died of complications with appendicitis.
"Their time at Hunting Island was by far my grandmother's greatest treasure. She would retell those stories with wonderful joy, and it became a root of our family history. One story she told over and over was how my grandfather killed an alligator with a sledgehammer. Also, the only reported jumps from the top were the goats that made their way up the spiral stairs and could not climb down."
The Turner family expressed sincere thanks to the Friends and the Park staff for a memorable family reunion. Highlights of their weekend included: The Sandcastle Contest! Don's son, Bill, won second place in his age group for "Bill's House," a sand sculpture of the lighthouse and his great-grandfather's (Bill) home on Hunting Island. The handicap wheelchair! Don's brother-in-law's mother, Loretta, was ecstatic to be able to splash her feet in the Atlantic Ocean despite her disability.
Mr. Turner promised to stay in touch and to become part of Friends of Hunting Island. He will attend and help us with the 150th Anniversary of the lighthouse next year. Thank you, Don, for bringing your light to our lighthouse.
Hunting Island Lovers Fear Hanna's Delivery
Contrary to Sunday's Beaufort Gazette article, most of the park is in great shape. The groins, sea oats, sand fencing and dunes did a great job of protecting crucial areas of the park including most of cabin road.
Tropical storms Fay and Hanna did more erosion at the southern tip of the island, and about four beach front private cabins may have to be taken down. No park cabins were involved.
Keep your fingers crossed that we continue to fair well through the remainder of 2008 hurricane season.
Above you can see sand bags continue to be an environmental problem at Hunting Island. When you are walking the beach please help the marine life and our trash-busters and pick them up.
SCPRT Loves Us!
Dear Bonnie:
Last week I spent the day at Hunting Island with Park Manager Jeff Atkins, while visiting each operation I could not help but notice the positive impact of the Friends at each and every turn. The Nature Center is remarkable. The Friends should be very proud of the impact they have and continue to have on the park. Beyond the physical improvements, the volunteers and the financial support your contributions to the actual people that visit the park is profound. The visitors of the park will never forget their Hunting Island experience. You are making a difference!
The list of the accomplishments of the Friends at Hunting Island is long and remarkable; I just wanted to let you know that your efforts and the results of your efforts do not go unnoticed. You motivate us, inspire us and remind us what can be done when government and the citizens it serves come together for the greater good. Thank you seems inadequate, but thank you! Please pass my thanks and appreciation on to the entire organization. What an honor it is for the S.C. State Park Service to call you friends. I look forward to the opportunities ahead as we celebrate our 75th anniversary! of S.C. State Parks.
See you in a State Park!
Phil Gaines
Director, SC State Park Service
SC Department of Parks, Recreation & Tourism
1205 Pendleton Street, Room 251
Columbia, SC 29201
Phone: 803-734-0345
(letter received 7/2/08)
Take Pride in America & Toyota VolunTour 2008
We are proud to announce Lisa Young, Assistant Director of Take Pride in America and the VolunTour team visited us again this year on April 28th for a tour of updated projects on Hunting Island and greeting our Turtle Volunteers at training session that evening. A visit to the Sea Turtle Hospital at the South Carolina Aquarium topped off their visit.
Link to the Take Pride Blog entries on Lisa's visit in April. (Go to April 29th post...)
Click on the Take Pride Logo at bottom left to read the National Declaration.
Special Guests Tour Hunting Island
On Dec. 13, 2007 FOHI Board of Directors and Park Manager, Jeff Atkins had the pleasure of giving a tour of Hunting Island showing how FOHI has made a difference to County Council Member, Laura Von Harten and House Representative, Shannon Erickson and discussed future project plans.
L-R : Barry deSatnick; Nature Ctr Asst Interpretive Program Mgr-Desiree Bizzell; Tom Valentino; Laura Von Harten; Jeff Atkins; Rep. Shannon Erickson; Bonnie Wright and Randy Lumb.
Nature Center Classroom receives $1,000 gift from Dataw Island Garden Club
The Nature Center Classroom at Hunting Island State Park got an additional boost to its budget with the gift of $1,000 from the Dataw Island Garden Club to the Friends of Hunting Island State Park. The funds are earmarked for audio-visual equipment, which will help the rangers showcase their interpretive programs of the natural resources of the Lowcountry and the maritime heritage of the park for the thousands of school children and visitors to the Nature Center complex each year.
The Friends group raised over half of the funds necessary to build the new addition to the Nature Center. According park manager Jeff Atkins, the money raised by the Friends “…helps our State funding go much further. It is ‘the frosting on the cake’ so to speak.”
Hunting Island Special License Plate Unveiled January 31, 2007
State Representative Catherine Ceips, Past President Roberta Gunderson, & Current Friends President Bonnie Wright. They got it done!
SC State Legislature: 2005-2006 Bill 4324 & 2005-2006 Bill 5235
CLICK HERE for information to purchase your plate
Machette Flats Island
Add us to your Favorites
