Savannah rejects new stadium plan; Sand Gnats consider leaving

Via WJCL

A decision by the Savannah City Council could make the Sand Gnats an away team if an agreement is not reached with the team’s owners soon.

Alderman Van Johnson said, Thursday that the price tag for a new stadium – around $35 million – just isn’t feasible right now.

He said that the city doesn’t feel like this is the most important things happening right now so the city rejected a proposed report.

But Hardball Capital’s Jason Freier – the owner of the Sand Gnats – said historic Grayson Stadium is too old and outdated for the Sand Gnats to continue another year at the location.

So the city paid $55,000 for a study to determine if a new stadium would be best for Savannah.

The study said a stadium at the Savannah river landing could work for the city.

However, City Manager Stefanie Cutter didn’t think that location was best because the city doesn’t already own it. She suggested building a stadium at the Canal District instead.

On Thursday, city council members rejected the the report completely and will look for future options for baseball in Savannah.

Meanwhile, there aren’t any immediate plans to build a stadium in the Canal District.

For several weeks, the team has pushed the city for an answer. Now that they have one – and not one they wanted – there are serious questions about whether the team will stick around.

It is Time for the Hilton Head Oyster Festival

The Hilton Head Oyster Festival will be held on November 8 and 9, 2014 at Shelter Cove Community Park from 11:00 am-5:00 pm on both Saturday and Sunday. 

The festival highlights steamed, fried and stewed oysters along with other delicious food for non-oyster eaters. 

There will be live entertainment, kid zone, marshmallow roasting and a TV to watch football.  

Admission is $6, children 10 & under are free

For more information, go to http://www.islandreccenter.org/vc.php?ID=419.

Hidden Gems: Mepkin Abbey

In the latest edition of South Carolina Living, I saw an article on Mepkin Abbey, a Trappist Monestary (one of only 16 in the U.S.) located in Moncks Corner. 

The Abbey is a community of Roman Catholic monks established in 1949 on the site of the historic Mepkin Plantation located on the Cooper River, north of Charleston.

Founded by the monks of Gethsemani in Kentucky, the brothers of Mepkin belong to the worldwide Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance popularly known as Trappist.  Their most famous member was Thomas Merton, the writer, poet, mystic, social activist and student of comparitive religion. 

Following The Rule of St. Benedict, the monks at Mepkin Abbey devote their lives to prayer, spiritual study, work and hospitality. However, the Abbey is open to the outside world.  For those interested in visiting,  the Abbey provides a peaceful setting for reflection and contemplation for an hour or for multiple day retreats.

For more information, go to the Abbey website at www.mepkinabbey.org. 

Arts-in-the-Barn

Enjoy an afternoon of arts & landscapes! Set amidst the splendor of Widgeon Point Preserve - one of the most beautiful destinations in Beaufort County - will be art by some of our regions best artists. Art and artists from Four Corners Gallery along with the Plein Air Society will be on site. 

Date: Sunday, Nov. 4, 2012 2:00 to 5:00 PM 

Location: Widgeon Point Barn, Lemon Island, Okatie, SC

Admsiion: Free

For additional informaiton, contact Katherine Royal at info@openlandtrust.com

Kigre asks US Supreme Court to hear Hilton Head dispute

Via The State 

A Hilton Head Island business wants the U.S. Supreme Court to get involved in its eight-year legal battle with the town.

Kigre Inc. has asked the court to hear its appeal of a ruling in June that upheld how the town collects business-license fees.

The S.C. Supreme Court ruled the town does not violate the U.S. Constitution's interstate commerce clause by charging Kigre a fee based upon its revenue. Kigre, a laser-component manufacturer on Marshland Road, has argued it should not have to pay the full amount since most of its revenue is from out-of-state customers.

Town officials have defended the practice, citing previous state court rulings that affirmed municipalities can impose the fees -- no matter where the sales occur.

The town will respond to the petition within 30 days, Alford said. It could be six months before the Supreme Court decides whether to hear the case.

Chances of the court taking on the dispute are slim. The court receives about 10,000 petitions each year and hears only 75 to 80, according to its website.

Picture of the Week

                                                 Harvesting Sweetgrass, Hardeeville, South Carolina

SC's ACE Basin a refuge amid urban sprawl

via WJCL and the AP

Amid sprawling development from Charleston and Hilton Head Island, a group of landowners, companies, nonprofits and government agencies set out 25 years ago to conserve a quiet corner of South Carolina.

Their success story is the ACE Basin — an area the Nature Conservancy has called one of the world’s last great places — and which gets its name from its three main rivers.

The basin drained by the Ashepoo, Combahee and South Edisto (ACE) rivers comprises 1 million acres of landscape including timberland, swamp and farmland as well as barrier islands and beaches.
Because of the effort, which includes working with property owners to limit development through conservation easements, the basin looks much as it did 250 years ago. The area has large waterfront plantation homes, some dating to the days of the colonial rice culture, many of which are now used as hunting lodges.

There are also small farms, cabins and mobile homes scattered along the dirt roads winding through the basin intersected by The Ace Basin Parkway, U.S. 17, a gently curving four-lane blacktop where one can drive for miles seeing only forest, small homes and marsh vistas.

More than 150 property owners have now placed conservation easements on their land in which they agree to forever limit development. In return for doing so they generally receive tax credits. The first easement in the basin was placed by media mogul Ted Turner on his former Hope Plantation property back in the 1980s, Lane said.

For more information, go to http://www.acebasin.net

Fall 2014 Edition of the Hilton Head Our Town Newsletter Available

The Fall 2014 edition of "Our Town" newsletter is now available on the Town of Hilton Head website.  Please visit the link below to view the newsletter in pdf format.

http://hiltonheadislandsc.gov/publications/newsletters.cfm

Notice of Hilton Head Public Hearing: Community Needs Assessment

Notice of Public Hearing

Community Needs Assessment

Notice is hereby given that on Thursday, November 13, 2014 at 6:00 p.m., at the Benjamin M. Racusin Council Chambers of the Town Hall, at 1 Town Center Court, the Town of Hilton Head Island will hold a public hearing to solicit public input on community needs and priorities for housing, public facilities and economic development. As required by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the Town of Hilton Head Island is in the development stages of a five-year Consolidated Plan for the period of 2015-2019. The Consolidated Plan outlines goals and priorities the Town of Hilton Head Island will follow over the next five years for the use of Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds. This process includes a Housing and Community Development Needs Assessment. At this public hearing the Town of Hilton Head Island will provide the activities that might be undertaken to meet identified needs, including the estimated amounts proposed to be used for activities that will benefit persons of low and moderate income.

The public hearing and the matters to be discussed are subject to the provisions of the Town of Hilton Head Island's Citizen Participation Plan, developed in anticipation of participation in the HUD CDBG Program, providing for the participation of the citizens of the town in the planning and implementation of community and economic development projects involving CDBG funds. The Citizen Participation Plan is available for review at Hilton Head Island Town Hall, 1 Town Center Court, Hilton Head Island, SC 29928, 8:00am - 4:30pm, Monday - Friday. Persons with questions or comments concerning the public hearing or Citizen Participation Plan may contact Marcy Benson, Senior Grants Administrator at 1 Town Center Court, Hilton Head Island, SC 29928. Or by phone at (843) 341-4689 or at TDD phone number (843) 341-4720 or by e-mail at marcyb@hiltonheadislandsc.gov.

The Town of Hilton Head Island does not discriminate on the basis of age, color, religion, sex, national origin, familial status or disability in the admission or access to, or treatment or employment in its federally assisted programs or activities. Marcy Benson, Senior Grants Administrator, 1 Town Center Court, Hilton Head Island, S.C. 29928 has been designated to coordinate compliance with the nondiscrimination requirements contained in the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's regulations. She may be reached by phone at (843) 341-4689 or at TDD phone number (843) 341-4720 or by e-mail at marcyb@hiltonheadislandsc.gov.

Conde Nast Traveler ranks HHI No. 27 island in world

Conde Nast Traveler ranked Hilton Head Island No. 27 on its list of the world's top islands, according to a news release. The magazine attributed Hilton Head's ranking to its beaches, golf courses and resorts.

More than 76,000 readers cast votes to create the 30-island list, the release said.

The No. 1 island was Palawan in the Philippines.

Kiawah Island was No. 2. The Isle of Palms finished No. 28.

See the full list: http://www.cntraveler.com/galleries/2014-10-20/top-30-islands-in-the-world-readers-choice-awards-2014/4

Savannah Book Festival reveals emerging, best-selling authors for 2015 event

The Savannah Book Festival organizers revealed the lineup of authors for the 2015 festival today. 

Headliners this year are Janet Evanovich, author of the bounty hunting Stephanie Plum mysteries, satirist writer P.J. O'Rourke, and mother and son authors Anne and Christopher Rice. 

Evanovich will kick off the festival Feb. 12 and O'Rourke will be the keynote speaker Feb. 13. Anne and Christopher Rice will close the festival Feb. 15. The main day of the festival is Feb. 14, when the bulk of the authors will be presenting and signing their current and previous books. 

For more information, go to http://www.savannahbookfestival.org/

Hilton Head Mayoral Forum to be Hosted at Sea Pines

CSA will be hosting a Mayoral forum this Friday afternoon. Come out and get to know the candidates and where they stand on the issues.

When: Friday, October 24

Time: 4:00 PM

Where: Sea Pines Community Center on Lighthouse Road in the Sea Pines Shopping Center

The forum will be rebroadcast on the Beaufort County Channel Sunday, October 26th at 8PM on Time Warner Channel 63 and Hargray Channels 9 and 113. 

For more information contact CSA (843) 671-1343.

2014 Bonfire

Wine, Dine and Silent Auction to benefit capital replacement projects in the Sea Pines Forest Preserve.

Friday, November 14; 4.30-7.30PM at Fish Island.
Tickets available at CSA, 175 Greenwood Drive or seapinesbonfire.org.

Upcoming Sea Pines Events

Yacht Club of Hilton Head Island Regatta Weekend

Harbour Town Cup: Saturday, October 25

Calibogue Cup: Sunday, October 26
Viewable from Harbour Town in Calibogue Sound beginnng at noon


Stan Smith Thanksgiving Tennis Academy

Thursday, November 27;  9AM-Noon
Friday, November 28; 9AM-Noon
Saturday, November 29; 9AM-Noon

Stan Smith Thanksgiving Tennis Exhibition and Happy Hour
Friday, November 28; 2.30PM

Location: Smith Stearns Tennis Academy, Sea Pines

Hilton Head Town Council Meeting

The Hilton Head Town Council meets on October 21 at 4PM. 

The full agenda can be found here.

New business topics to be discussed include:

Consideration of a Recommendation – Coligny District Improvements:

Consideration of a Recommendation that Town Council approve the Conceptual Master Plan for the Coligny District Redevelopment, prepared by Wood+Partners, dated October 1, 2014.

Public Hearing on the proposed amended and restated development agreement between Shelter Cove Towne Centre LLC, Shetler Cove II LLC, and the Town of Hilton Head Island.  

Picture of the Week

Sunset Hilton Head

Source: sunrisehiltonhead.com

Ruins of Callawassie sugar mill recognized as historic site

Via The Island Packet 

The ruins of a tabby sugar mill on Callawassie Island have been added to the National Register of Historic Places, the island announced Wednesday.

The Callawassie Sugar Works, constructed as early as 1815, gained designation as a site of statewide interest in June. Although only the foundations of the sugar mill and boiling house remain, the ruins shed light on what likely was the only operation of its kind in South Carolina.

According to the Library of Congress, the ruins are the only known example of a sugar-processing facility built from tabby in South Carolina.

Unlike cotton, indigo and rice operations on the island, the sugar mill was not a successful venture, according to research by tabby expert Colin Brooker, compiled for the register application by Callawassie resident Francesca Denton.

The sugar mill joins 101 other island sites on the National Register of Historic Places. "Callawassie Island has a very long-standing and interesting history," Estes said. "This is just one piece of it."

Charbar Headed to 2014 World Burger Championship

via The State

                                                                     The Dirty South Burger 

Charbar Co. is known locally for having the best burgers on Hilton Head Island, and now the restaurant is gunning for the title of best burger in the world.

After winning a qualifying competition in Orlando, Fla., last weekend, Charbar Co. clinched a spot in the World Burger Championship competition to be held at the World Food Championships in Las Vegas in November.

The restaurant won with its signature "Dirty South Burger," a perfected combination of fresh ground beef, pimento cheese, candied jalepenos, porkbelly confit and barbecue marmalade.

"Everything that we do is from scratch," right down to the buns, said Charbar Co.'s CEO Nick Bergelt. "That was the primary distinguishing factor."

Out of 16 competitors, Charbar Co. was the only non-Florida restaurant at the Barks and Burgers competition in Orlando. Bergelt and his team had to convert the 6,000 event attendees who had no clue who they were into Charbar Co. fans for the People's Choice Best Burger award.

"At the end of the day, taste was the only thing we had to rest our laurels on," Bergelt said. "And it paid off."

Now, the restaurant's crew will head to the World Burger Championship, where 50 of the world's best hamburgers and their cooks will compete for a $10,000 prize.

Surprisingly, the competition circuit is relatively new for the Charbar Co. team. The Barks and Burgers event was the restaurant's first out of town competition, although it's done well in one particular event at home. On Oct. 4, Charbar Co. won First Place & People&'s Choice Best Burger at Hilton Head's Burgers and Brew Festival for the third year in a row.

"That was the extent of it," Bergelt said, "but we knew that ultimately the goal was to compete on a world scale."

The 2014 Savannah Film Festival

It is time for the annual Savannah Film Festival.

The Savannah College of Art and Design presents the yearly event, attended by more than 40,000 people. 

The eight day schedule is filled with cinematic creativity from both award-winning professionals and emerging student filmmakers and is host to a wide variety of competition film screenings, special screenings, workshops, panels, and lectures.

This year’s festival runs from October 25 through November 1. 

For more information, visit the official Savannah Film Festival website.

Hilton Head invests in tourism app

HILTON HEAD ISLAND, SC (via WTOC) -

An app will soon be available for tourists in Hilton Head but it comes with a hefty price tag, $100,000 to be exact.

The town of Hilton Head is shelling out the money with the plan to build an app that will list events, restaurants, hotels, stores, and many other things prevalent to the area.

The Hilton Head Island-Bluffton Chamber of Commerce Visitor and Convention Bureau will receive the money in hope of the app becoming a digital welcoming center for tourists.

The Halifax is the company that will be building the app, the company is based in Nova Scotia.

The roll out for the app should happen in the spring of 2015.

St. Vincent's Academy Tour of Homes 2014

This year’s tour of homes promises to be a fascinating look inside 7 residences in Historic Savannah, as well as the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist, and the Convent of St. Vincent de Paul. Certainly, the centerpiece of Savannah's fall tour is the elegant tea served on the grounds of the Convent. Come and see for yourself why attendees call this this the "best tour in Savannah."

Where

St. Vincent's Academy

207 East Liberty Street

Savannah, GA 31401

For  more information, contact

St. Vincents Academy Tour of Homes & Tea 2014

912.819.8833

Photo of the Week

      Presbyterian Church at Hilton Head Interior C 1970

         Lucille Hasell Culp, 1921 - 2007

HHI Town Council Adopts New Land Management Ordinance and Zoning Map

Town Council adopted a new Land Management Ordinance (LMO) and Official Zoning Map on October 7, 2014.  Please visit the town website for more information and to view or download the new adopted documents.

http://hiltonheadislandsc.gov/misc/lmo.cfm

Kensington Park: Savannah's 1950s suburb is latest addition to official list of American historic treasures

The Savannah neighborhood of Kensington Park recently earned a place on the National Register of Historic Places, the official list of America's historic treasures.

Featuring single-story ranch houses with carports and green lawns spread out along streets that wind in confusing arcs, Kensington Park seems a world removed from the oak-shaded squares of downtown Savannah and its mansions and row houses built between the Colonial period and the Civil War. 

The Savannah most outsiders and tourists know is a full two centuries older than Kensington Park. But the younger neighborhood's nearly 400 homes still pack a certain time-warp factor, having changed little in the decades since young professionals began seeking out places to raise families away from the core city.

Why the historic designation? In part because their streetscapes and architecture are such a radical departure from Savannah's older communities. The uniform lot sizes and strict north-south, east-west grid pattern that Savannah's streets had followed since its founding were shattered by Kensington Park, where homes were set back from the street to make room for larger front yards, sidewalks were eliminated and streets curved along U-shaped paths and ended in cul-de-sacs. 

Here are a few views of Savannah’s newest historic district:

For more information, go to the Kensington Park Comunity Association website. 

Selected Activities October 6-12, 2014

Foreign Affairs - Around the World in Art

Monday, Oct 6, 2014 - Saturday, Nov 1, 2014

The Society of Bluffton Artists presents "Foreign Affairs - Around the World in Art" by Virginia MacKenzie, a truly versatile and creative artist. The show will be on exhibit from October 6 through November 1 at the SOBA Gallery. As the name implies, all the works of art are depictions, along with stories, of some of the international destinations Virginia has visited. When you view this fascinating show, you will be transported from the Eiffel Tower to the Great Wall of China; from Machu Picchu, Vietnam, and the Amber Room in Catherine's Palace to the Leaning Tower of Pisa; and many more. The paintings are in every art medium from acrylic to oil to watercolor to wax, even showcasing Virginia's special talent with fiber art. She has personally seen all of these places in her travels to over eighty countries.

Contact

Society of Bluffton Artists

msease@argray.com

8437576586

Event Location

SOBA Gallery

corner of Church and Calhoun Streets

Bluffton, SC, 29910

http://www.sobagallery.com/

Shelter Cove Farmers Market

Tuesday, Oct 7, 2014 - Tuesday, Oct 28, 2014

The Shelter Cove Farmers Market will feature local produce vendors, artisans, crafters, food vendors, and much more. We will also have live music and during the summer months the market will close with the FIREWORKS Display over the Harbor. The market will have extended hours from 4pm-9pm from June 17th-August 12th.

Contact Lacey Van Tonder
lacey.simoneau@islandreccenter.org
843.681.7273

Event Location

Shelter Cove Community Park

39 Shelter Cove Lane

Hilton Head Island, SC, 29928

http://islandreccenter.org/vc.php?ID=434

Starting Family Research 

Wednesday, October 8, 2014

A two-session class for beginners in genealogy research.

Hilton Head Symphony Orchestra

Sunday, October 12, 2014

Bernstein and Shostakovich Shostakovich's Soviet trauma reveals the reality of Voltaire's Utopian fantasy.

Leonard Bernstein
Overture to Candide
During the McCarthy era of the early 1950s, Leonard Bernstein and playwright Lillian Hellman decided to use Voltaire’s satirical novel Candide as a vehicle to make a political statement. According to Hellman, the novel attacks “all rigid thinking…all isms.” Bernstein thought that the charges made by Voltaire against his own society’s puritanical snobbery, phony morality and inquisitorial attacks on the individual were the same as those that beset American society – especially creative artists in all media.

Franz Liszt
Piano Concerto No. 1 in E-flat major
Franz Liszt was a man of paradoxes and extremes who could only have flourished in the Romantic period. He was both superficial showman and a contemplative artist, mystic and hedonist, genius and poseur, saint and sinner. He broke many a commandment and many a heart, exhibiting incredible flamboyance in his virtuoso piano performances before adoring audiences, yet longing for a life of religious asceticism. He fathered numerous illegitimate offspring but ended up taking minor orders in the Catholic Church with the right to the title Abbé Liszt. He witnessed first-hand the cultural and musical transformation of Europe but unfortunately never wrote his life’s memoirs, being “too busy living it.

Dmitry Shostakovich
Symphony No. 5 in D minor, Op. 47
Volumes have been written about Dmitry Shostakovich and his ambivalent relationship with the Soviet regime. Much of this writing is based on after-the-fact statements whose authenticity and veracity is often difficult to verify. What is clear is that the composer was a true son of the Russian Revolution and, as teenager, a true believer. But in his late 20s he became caught up in the Stalinist nightmare.

Contac Mary Ann Rebish

mrebish@hhso.org

843.842.2055

Event Location

First Presbyterian Church

540 Wm Hilton Parkway

Hilton Head Island, SC, 29926

Admission Details: $25, $40, $50

Photo of the Week

                       Constantine Manos: Kids Playing in the Backyard,  Daufuskie Island, 1952.

Concert and Benefit Auction to Honor Benjamin Racusin, Hilton Head's First Mayor

Lase week, we reported the induction of Hilton Head's first mayor, Benjamin Racusin, into the HHI Hall of Fame. Now you can be a part of the celebration of Racusin's significant contributions to our comunity. Racusin will be honored at a concert Oct. 16 at The Sonesta Resort in Shipyard Plantation.

The concert will celebrate Racusin's induction into the Hilton Head Island Hall of Fame by the Rotary Club of Hilton Head Island. Racusin served a two-year term as mayor when the town was incorporated in 1983. He died in August 2013.

The event begins with a 6 p.m. ceremony, featuring appetizers, a cash bar and a silent auction. The induction starts at 7:30 p.m. A concert by The Fabulous Classics follows.

Tickets are $60. Those who purchase a table of 10 receive a 10 percent discount. Tickets can be purchased at Burke's Pharmacy, BNC Bank in the Village of Wexford, the Hilton Head Island-Bluffton Chamber of Commerce or at www.hiltonheadrotary.org.

Information: 843-686-4100 or rdroberts29926@hargray.com

Absentee voting for Nov. 4 election begins Monday in Beaufort County

Local absentee voting for the Nov. 4 general election will begin Monday in Beaufort County.
Absentee voting will open at 9 a.m. at the Beaufort County Board of Elections and Registration’s offices in Beaufort, 15 John Galt Road, and Bluffton, 61-B Ulmer Road. It will remain open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. every weekday before the election and until 5 p.m. on Nov. 3, the Monday before the election.

Voters are required to present one of the following forms of current and valid photo identification at the polls: S.C. driver’s license, S.C. Department of Motor Vehicles identification card, S.C. Voter Registration card with a photo, U.S. passport, or federal military identification with a photo.
Bluffton voters will decide on national, state and countywide offices.

For more infornmation, go to scvotes.org or bcgov.net/vote.

First Friday Art March: A Program by Art Rise Savannah

Join Art Rise Savannah at their First Friday Art March on 10/3 from 6-9 PM. For more information, go to

www.artmarchsavannah.com/events or @artrisesav

Hands Across the Bridge, Presented by the Maye River Gallery

October 1–November 30, 2014 (Reception October 8th from 5-7pm) 

Artists from the Maye River Gallery in Bluffton will exhibit ‘over the bridge’ for the first time at the Coastal Discovery Museum. 

Go to www.mayerivergallery.com/ for the schedule of artist demonstrations.

First mayor to be inducted into Hilton Head Island Hall of Fame

From Hilton Head Monthly 

The Rotary Club of Hilton Head Island has announced that the 2014 inductee into the Hilton Head Island Hall of Fame is Benjamin M. Racusin, Hilton Head Island’s first mayor.

The Hall of Fame was initiated in 2012 to permanently enshrine the visionary people who have had a lasting and extraordinary impact on the community of Hilton Head Island. Racusin certainly fits the mold as he led an amazing life, giving service to his community and his country as a leader, a statesman, a former military officer serving in China with the OSS/CIA and as the distinguished first mayor of the Town of Hilton Head Island.

Racusin passed away on Aug. 11 on Hilton Head Island at the age of 98. He was preceded in death by the love of his life, Helen Schuler Racusin, in 2011. The two were members of the Seabrook and Fraser Health Center community for 15 years.

In 1942, he answered Uncle Sam’s call and was assigned first to the Army Air Corps in Miami Beach as an athletic noncom. In December 1944, after extensive training at Officers’ Candidate School, he was recruited to volunteer for duty in China and left for the Far East and Pacific areas with the Office of Strategic Service (OSS), the predecessor to the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).

He returned to Shanghai in December 1946, where he met his bride-to-be, Helen Schuler. They married three months later. When Helen took her discharge from the military, she joined her husband at the OSS. They both had successful careers with the CIA, ending as training officers in 1971. The couple decided to retire to Hilton Head Island.

In May 1983, a referendum to incorporate Hilton Head Island was passed by more than 60 percent of the votes cast. A group of islanders asked Racusin to run for mayor.

“I told them, ‘No, I really don’t want to do it,' ” Racusin said. “Helen and I had a little dog at the time, a schnauzer named Dee Dee. Holding a cookie in our hands, we’d trained her to roll over and play dead. So when this group insisted I run for mayor, I said we should let Dee Dee decide. So I asked, ‘Dee Dee what would you rather be, mayor of the Town of Hilton Head Island or a dead dog?’ I held the cookie up and down she went,” Racusin said. The group did not accept Dee Dee’s decision, and Racusin won the election.

On Aug. 5, 1983, Racusin and his Town Council took their seats and the Town of Hilton Head Island was born.

Racusin's lasting legacy is his selfless service to his country and to Hilton Head Island. His long and colorful life of action and dedication to improve the lives of others is cause for remembrance and celebration.  He was passionate about philanthropy and those unsung heroes who made huge differences. 

Racusin’s contributions and legacy will be celebrated at the Legends of the Lowcountry Hall of Fame Induction and Concert at 6 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 16 at The Sonesta Resort and Spa in Shipyard Plantation.

He will be memorialized with a bronze plaque and kiosk at the Hilton Head Island Hall of Fame exhibit overlooking Jarvis Creek at the Coastal Discovery Museum at Honey Horn Plantation.

Hilton Head Mayor Laughlin's October 2014 Article as seen in Celebrate Hilton Head Magazine

You may also view the article at the link below.

http://www.hiltonheadislandsc.gov/council/mayorart.cfm

Telecommunication Improvements on the Island

Prior to my election as mayor, many expressed having difficulty making cell phone calls from inside their homes or having to go outside to get a signal. Increasingly, residents and visitors resorted to driveways and decks to make and receive cellular calls. The number of complaints at the front desks of the island’s major hotels and conference centers were increasingly related to the lack of cell phone coverage.

Previous town councils strictly limited cell towers because of their appearance; but smartphones and tablets became mainstream, and we had to change our approach. Residents and visitors demanded to be plugged in. Town Council identified the quality of telecommunications as one of its primary priorities and with council's support, a citizen created and led a telecommunications taskforce focused on this issue. We worked with this group to form cooperative relationships with decision makers of cell phone companies such as AT&T, Verizon and with others in the telecommunications industry and to promote improvements in service. The companies informed us that our permitting took too long and our setback requirements were sometimes so large that sites could not even be located.

These standards were appropriate when they were put into place. At that time, the design of towers could have been much more intrusive than the single monopole style used now. Towers were often more like 200-300 feet tall and made of lattice steel structures or with guyed wires stretching hundreds of feet out to each side of a tower as an anchor, all with very large equipment at the base enclosed by a cyclone fence. Tower designs and engineering have improved. Now, towers can safely be designed to be disguised like trees or steeples, even palm trees. Therefore, we decided to make expedited LMO amendments, first, to address the critical issues. Recently, we made changes with the LMO rewrite that better facilitate the installation of new infrastructure that is needed to have quality service here. We have also continued work with the telecommunications taskforce to raise awareness of this issue and to promote investment in the island’s infrastructure with these companies.

Since that time, major carriers have installed over a dozen new wireless sites as well as major network upgrades. Investments by AT&T and Verizon alone, who serve over 80 percent of the wireless calls on Hilton Head Island, have totaled over $10 Million and included support for island-wide LTE coverage. This is just a drop in the bucket for what will be needed moving forward as the number of smartphones and devices increases and technology will inevitably change. We will change with the demands, so that you don’t have to resort to driveways and decks.