Community Connection

ROTARY CLUB HOSPITAL AUXILIARY

ROTARY CLUB OF HILTON HEAD ISLAND NAMES SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENTS

Each year the Rotary Club of Hilton Head Island selects two students to receive a scholarship of $4,000 per year, offering each student $16,000 in scholarship support. Jehanne Marie Arnal from the Heritage Academy and Harper Krimm from Hilton Head Christian Academy are this year’s winners. Arnal will attend The Citadel’s Tommy and Victoria Baker School of Business where she will major in business with a focus on entrepreneurship. Harper will attend Anderson University, majoring in music with concentrations in voice and commercial music.

HHCS HONORS OUTGOING ARTISTIC DIRECTOR

The Hilton Head Choral Society held a farewell dinner at Sea Pines Country Club for Artistic Director Tim Reynolds, who retired after 20 years at the helm of the Choral Society. In attendance were HHCS members past and present and friends. The farewell dinner planning committee consisted of Phyllis Duffie, Margie Lechowicz, Judy Tiano, Tim Reynolds, Janice Creech and Madonna Muller.

FOUNDATION FOR EDUCATIONAL EXCELLENCE RECEIVES DONATION

The Foundation for Educational Excellence recently received a contribution from the Rotary Club of Okatie for its 2022-23 fall grant awards. Each year the Foundation gives innovative educational grants to teachers and schools throughout the Beaufort County School District.

VOLUNTEERS BUILD OYSTER REEF AT HARBOUR TOWN GOLF LINKS

A new oyster reef along the 18th fairway of famed Harbour Town Golf Links —on the banks of Calibogue Sound—is a joint effort of The Outside Foundation, The Sea Pines Resort and The South Carolina Department of Natural Resources. More than 700 bags of oyster shells, each weighing about 20 pounds, were transported to the shoreline then put in place at low tide. Several local groups pitched in, including members of Hilton Head Boy Scout Troop 222. The bags created a man-made reef that will serve as a habitat for larval oysters, where they can attach and grow.

THE HOSPITAL AUXILIARY DONATES $20,000 FOR USCB NURSING SCHOLARSHIPS

The Hospital Auxiliary presented $20,000 in nursing scholarships to USCB. The scholarships are intended to attract new students and help address the shortage of nurses in the Lowcountry, a news release said. During the past 30 years, the Auxiliary has donated over $850,000 in scholarships through proceeds from its Annual Hospital Auxiliary Invitational Golf Tournament held in November at Harbour Town Golf Links and Wexford Golf Club.

BLUFFTON’S K-9 TEAM RECEIVES DONATION

The Town of Bluffton accepted its first donation for one of its three newly established charity funds. Bluffton resident Samantha “Sam” Boyd gave $20,000 to the Bluffton Police Department Benevolence Fund, with $10,000 earmarked specifically to better equip Bluffton’s K-9 program. The remaining $10,000 will be used for miscellaneous police programs.

HILTON HEAD CHORAL SOCIETY

PAL’S ANNUAL ONLINE AUCTION SCHEDULED FOR AUGUST

Palmetto Animal League’s Bid for PAL Online Auction is set for this month. The auction, at www.PALauction.org, benefits PAL’s no-kill adoption center in Okatie. Bid for PAL begins 8 a.m. Aug. 4 and ends 8 p.m. Aug. 7. The auction allows people to shop the Lowcountry without leaving their couch. Auction items include golf rounds, restaurant certificates, relaxing getaways, clothing, jewelry, home décor, and more.

HILTON HEAD ISLAND- BLUFFTON CHAMBER LEADERSHIP CLASS GRADUATES

The Hilton Head Island-Bluffton Chamber of Commerce graduated 19 local professionals from its flagship Leadership Program. This is the 37th graduation class: Lauren Albrecht, Hilton Head Insurance & Brokerage; Anna Almeida, Elite Resort Group; Brittani Anderson, J Banks Design; Jason Ashley; Henry Criss, Palmetto Breeze; Megan Gorden, Gotham Events; Brandon Greenplate, Brandon Greenplate Real Estate; Brent Lett, Synovus Bank; Kimberly Lewis, Pinnacle Financial; Frederick Lowery, Island Recreation Association; Natalie Majorkiewicz, Town of Bluffton; Adam Martin, Haig Point; Lawrence Melton, Island Funeral Home; Joan Richardson, Carey & Company; Corey Smith, Fraser & Allen; Mark Stanley, Palmetto Breeze; Corey Tuten, Palmetto Electric; Harrison Williams, Shelton Law Firm; Sally Zuniga, Tio’s Latin American Kitchen. This year’s class installed the Bluffton Library Park, which is a series of interactive/reading installations along a walking path.

BY VICKIE MCINTYRE PHOTOS SUPPLIED

AN ISLAND INSTITUTION

SIGNE’S HEAVEN BOUND BAKERY & CAFÉ CELEBRATES 50 YEARS

BY AMY COYNE BREDESON | PHOTO BY ROB KAUFMAN

It all started in August 1972, when a young mother from Guilford, Conn., decided to open a food emporium in Harbour Town, selling fresh juices, protein drinks, salads and sandwiches to residents and visitors of Hilton Head Island.

Now 81 and just as hardworking as she was five decades ago, Signe Gardo is celebrating 50 years in business.

The oldest continuously owned restaurant in Hilton Head history, Signe’s Heaven Bound Bakery & Cafe was originally called Signe’s World. Gardo added chocolate chip cookies and banana bread to her menu, and soon became an island favorite.

“Years ago, Charles Fraser said the two most popular things in Harbour Town were the lighthouse and Signe’s,” Gardo said. “And that was great coming from him.”

Her staff was made up of teenagers from Sea Pines Academy and college kids at home on break. They wore long blue skirts, lacy white cotton aprons and white-striped shirts.

With a small oven that could only bake 12 cookies at a time, customers would stand in line down the steps of her shop, which was in a former lighthouse keeper’s cottage.

Gardo got so busy that she had to start baking cookies and bread in her home kitchen on Plantation Drive in Sea Pines.

In 1983 Signe’s moved out of Harbour Town to its current location on Arrow Road.

Gardo has since expanded her menu to offer breakfast and lunch. She began offering take-home Thanksgiving dinners in the 1980s and daily dinners in 2015.

One thing has remained the same through the years — Gardo’s heart for serving people. She loves her customers and will go out of her way to make them happy. She makes

Gardo pictured in the 1970s

PHOTO COURTESY SIGNE GARDO

everything from scratch, and all her recipes are original.

Signe’s has been featured in several national publications, including The New York Times, Bon Appetit, Southern Living, Destination Wedding Magazine, and The Wall Street Journal. She was named “Best of Wedding Cakes in the Southeast” by the wedding planning website The Knot in 2008 and 2009.

Even celebrities sing Gardo’s praises. Years ago, Rachael Ray featured her on Food Network’s “$40-A-Day.” In the episode, Gardo taught Ray how to make Blackberry French Toast. Ray absolutely loved it.

“That was a big boost,” she said. “I had Rachael Ray groupies, and they came for what she ate. And she ate blackberry French toast, so blackberry French toast was a hit. And that helped put us on the map.”

Gardo recently baked a red velvet birthday cake for Craig Melvin of NBC’s 3rd Hour of the TODAY show. The cake was decorated with palm trees and an alligator with a golf ball in its mouth.

A self-described introvert who would rather remain behind the scenes, Gardo works 12-14 hours a day and still takes the time to say hello to customers.

Island visitors often stop by Signe’s to catch up with the Hilton Head legend. Former brides ask for pictures with the woman who created their wedding cakes. Gardo has even baked wedding cakes for three generations of the same family.

Gardo became a Christian in 1977. She said her secret ingredient for success is Jesus.

After becoming a single mom, she prayed for a Godly man who would love her and her two young daughters. She prayed that prayer in October 1977 and was married to her new husband, Tom Gardo, in February 1978.

Between the two, they had four daughters. The girls would help Signe bake the cookies, which she sold for 35 cents apiece.

Signe recalled one of Tom’s little girls saying, “Daddy’s smart. He married the cookie lady.”

Signe has no plans for the future of her shop.

“And that’s the fun part,” she said. “I haven’t been given marching orders. I think 81 is pretty good. We’ll just keep doing what we’re doing until we don’t.”