Community Connection

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HILTON HEAD CRAFTERS

COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF THE LOWCOUNTRY AWARDS MORE THAN $345,000 IN GRANTS TO LOWCOUNTRY NONPROFITS

In its first competitive grant cycle of the 2022 fiscal year, Community Foundation of the Lowcountry awarded $345,401 in grants to seven nonprofit organizations. The funds were awarded to Hilton Head Island Deep Well Project ($122,300); Hilton Head Regional Habitat for Humanity ($85,000); Mental Health America of Beaufort/Jasper ($18,351); Programs for Exceptional People ($18,000); Second Founding of America (formerly Reconstruction Beaufort) ($30,150); Second Helpings ($12,000); and Volunteers in Medicine ($59,600).

HILTON HEAD ISLAND CITIZENS RECOGNIZED FOR COMMUNITY SERVICE

Karen Bittman, Carol Clemens, Mike Kelly and Mike Rudy received the Hilton Head Island Mayor’s Honored Islander Award in recognition of their service and contributions to community organizations.

“Our community is filled with amazing residents who unselfishly give back to help our organizations and others who live here,” said Hilton Head Island Mayor John McCann.

Bittman has been a volunteer with the Deep Well Project and participates in the All Saints Church Garden Tour; For 15 years, Clemens has been tutoring Hispanic children at the Boys and Girls Club and serving as an interpreter for Hispanic patients at Volunteers in Medicine; For more than 30 years, Kelly has cooked food sold at sports concession stands for the Hilton Head Gator football program. He also built a concession stand at a local high school; Rudy volunteers with the local chapter of the Knights of Columbus. He spearheads the organization’s annual spaghetti dinner and golf tournament.

BORASKY’S CIRCUS RAISES FUNDS FOR POCKETS FULL OF SUNSHINE

Local golf group Borasky’s Circus donated proceeds from its golf tournament to Pockets Full of Sunshine. The event, which featured 48 participants, was held at Dolphin Head Golf Club (with lunch provided by New York City Pizza). More than $5,000 was raised.

STAN SMITH EXHIBIT

HILTON HEAD PLANTATION CRAFTERS RAISE MONEY FOR HOSPICE CARE OF THE LOWCOUNTRY

Hilton Head Plantation Crafters hosted its 26th crafting and bake sale to benefit Hospice Care of the Lowcountry. The event generated over $16,000 in donations. The crafters began in 1980, and in 1995 Hilton Head Plantation Crafters partnered with Hospice Care of the Lowcountry and began holding annual craft and bake sales with all proceeds supporting the nonprofit organization. To date, these combined sales have generated over $260,000 in donations to Hospice Care of the Lowcountry. To learn more about Hospice Care of the Lowcountry, visit to hospicecarelc.org.

SEA PINES RESORT ADDS PICKLEBALL COURTS

Six pickleball courts are part of the racquet sports’ offerings at Hilton Head’s Sea Pines Resort. Courts are available to resort guests and non-guests. Pickleball had a 650% increase in participation over the past six years, according to the USA Pickleball Association.

NEW EXHIBIT HONORS TENNIS LEGEND STAN SMITH

The Smith Stearns Tennis Academy is honoring Stan Smith’s illustrious tennis career and leadership. Staff members of the Smith Stearns Tennis Academy, in collaboration with the staff at The Shops at Sea Pines Center, created the Stan Smith Exhibit. Learn about highlights of Smith’s professional career, which made him a tennis legend on and off court and for Hilton Head Island. Smith won the U.S. Open Championship in 1971 and Wimbledon Championship in 1972.

HILTON HEAD SENIOR LIVING COMMUNITY CELEBRATES 25TH ANNIVERSARY

TidePointe, A Vi Community, a Hilton Head-based senior living community, celebrated 25 years of operation in October. The celebration at TidePointe’s clubhouse featured a tapas presentation and entertainment by local jazz band, The John Brackett Trio. Two residents — one of whom is 101 years old — and four staff members were recognized for their 25 years with the community.

WAHHI LUNCHEON

FOUNDATION AWARDS 19 GRANTS TO TEACHERS AND SCHOOLS

The Foundation for Educational Excellence awarded 13 Innovative Teacher Grants and six School Resource Grants to teachers across Beaufort County from 14 different schools. The grants totaled more than $26,000. This year’s learning projects range from producing a musical to creating a South Carolina fence garden and from cooking classes for Special Education high school students to a composting program at Bluffton Elementary School. For a list of all winners, visit foundationedexcellence.com.

WAHHI CELEBRATES RESILIENCE IN THE ARTS

The Women’s Association of Hilton Head Island held its first indoor luncheon in two years on Dec. 9 at the Sonesta Hotel to celebrate “resilience in the arts” with a panel discussion that took the members behind the scenes to learn how live performances have survived and now thrives in the new normal. The panelists included Myla Lerner, Tony Award winning Broadway Producer and the President of the Board of the Lean Ensemble Theater in Hilton Head; Ron Tucker, President and CEO of the Beaufort Film Society; and Jordan Ross, Captain of Live Acoustical Taming and Talent Acquisition at the Roasting Room in Bluffton. Robyn Zimmerman, WHHI-TV host, moderated the panel. Women also donated over 200 toys for The Children’s Center and Bluffton Self Help.

LOW COUNTRY KAPPA DELTA AND SIGMA CHI ALUMNI CHAPTERS TO HOST BEACH WALK TO BENEFIT CAPA

The Low Country Kappa Delta Alumnae Chapter and the Hilton Head Sigma Chi Alumni Chapter are hosting a benefit Beach Walk starting at 10 a.m. March 19 at Coligny Beach Park on Hilton Head Island. The Beach Walk will be followed by an optional, socially-distant picnic at Lowcountry Celebration Park. A minimum donation of $10 per person is suggested. All donations will benefit CAPA (Child Abuse Prevention Association) of Beaufort. For more, call 843-384-4612.

THE SYMPHONY HAS BECOME A LOWCOUNTRY MAINSTAY

WORLD CLASS

HILTON HEAD SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA CELEBRATES 40 YEARS

BY AMY COYNE BREDESON | PHOTOS SUPPLIED

In 1982, a woman named Pat Rose posted handwritten notices titled “Chamber Music Anyone?” around Hilton Head Island, inviting local musicians to a meeting to discuss forming a chamber orchestra.

About 20 people attended that meeting in February 1982, and the group performed its first concert just two months later at Christ Lutheran Church on Hilton Head. The Hilton Head Community Orchestra was incorporated as a nonprofit arts organization the following year.

Forty years later, that small community orchestra has become the world-class Hilton Head Symphony Orchestra, employing more than 100 musicians to perform classical music, pops and jazz for the people of Hilton Head and beyond. The organization not only provides entertainment for music lovers; it offers educational programs to youth, hosts an international piano competition and has helped brand the Lowcountry as an arts and cultural destination.

“The symphony has become — and it’s been this way for a very long time — a mainstay of cultural life on Hilton Head Island,” Hilton Head Symphony Orchestra President and CEO Alan Jordan said. “And in recent years, it’s becoming more of a mainstay of cultural life in Bluffton.”

In 1990, the orchestra began performing at First Presbyterian Church on Hilton Head, which offers seating for 1,000 people. While they still perform at the church, the orchestra also plays at venues around the island and in Bluffton — indoors and outdoors.

One of its newest venues is the orchestra’s headquarters, SoundWaves, located at 7 Lagoon Road. The 7,300-squarefoot facility opened in 2018 and holds staff offices, as well as space for concerts and rehearsals. In the summer, the HHSO offers an intensive chamber music institute for youth at SoundWaves.

When the COVID-19 pandemic shut down events around the world, the local orchestra launched SoundWaves Streaming Live, a free Monday night series of more than

50 live streaming performances, which were watched by tens of thousands of viewers.

After a whole year with no live in-person concerts, the orchestra hosted its first concert in April. A small orchestra performed an outdoor pops concert for a socially distanced audience of about 450 people at Lowcountry Celebration Park on Hilton Head. Jordan said the pops concert was a huge success.

In October, the orchestra performed its first indoor concert since the beginning of the pandemic to a limited audience at First Presbyterian Church.

HHSO has been cautious throughout the pandemic. Jordan said because the orchestra has an audience that’s predominantly susceptible to complications from COVID-19, the organization requires proof of vaccination for performers, staff, volunteers and audience members. Masks are recommended but not required.

In November, the orchestra was able to finally play again for a full-capacity audience at First Presbyterian. For many of the musicians, it was their first chance in a year-and-a-half to make music with their colleagues.

Holiday Pops is the HHSO’s most popular offering and this season’s concerts moved many in the audience to tears.

“I heard musicians say they looked out at the audience and saw people weeping for joy,” Jordan said. “They were just so happy that they could have this experience again.”

In addition to celebrating its 40th anniversary, the Hilton Head Symphony Orchestra is celebrating John Morris Russell’s 10th year as music director.

“That’s a pretty extraordinary feat in itself,” Jordan said. “Hilton Head and the Hilton Head Symphony have been really fortunate to have this partnership with John.”

Russell simultaneously serves as the principal conductor of the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra and the principal pops conductor of the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra. The maestro earned a GRAMMY nomination with the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra in 2019.

Jordan said Russell has done extraordinary things to raise the artistic standard of the local orchestra and has brought exciting programs to the Lowcountry.

The orchestra is looking forward to playing full-scale orchestral music with larger audiences in the new year, starting with the fourth Orchestra Series program Jan. 9-10 when the 2020 Hilton Head International Piano Competition winner, Kevin Chen, will perform Camille Saint-Saëns’ Piano Concerto No. 2.

For more information on HHSO or its upcoming events, visit hhso.org or call 843-842-2055.