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Community Connection
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KIWANIS CLUB MC RILEY
HERITAGE CLASSIC FOUNDATION AWARDS SCHOLARSHIPS
Eleven outstanding Beaufort County seniors were named Heritage Classic Foundation scholars for the 2020-2021 school year. Due to COVID-19 safety concerns, the scholars received their awards by mail and met Heritage Classic Foundation Scholar Committee chairman Scott Richardson and other committee members during a video conference. Recipients from Beaufort High School were Abigail Chiaviello and Caleb Henry; Bluffton High School winners were Karina Dorris and Penelope Roman-Gomez; the Hilton Head Christian Academy recipient was Shelby Dorth; Hilton Head Island High winners were Thomas Hughson, Joseph Hutchinson, Niklas Kronlein, and Julia Kubec; Holy Trinity Classical Christian School’s recipient was Elizabeth O’Neal; and the May River High School winner was Taylor Gilmore. Next fall, 41 Beaufort County college students will receive Foundation grants of a total of $178,000. A total of $4.63 million will have been awarded to 353 students after the 2021 distribution.
WEXFORD FOUNDATION AWARDS GRANT TO MEALS-ON-WHEELS
Meals-on-Wheels, Bluffton-Hilton Head has received a new grant from the Wexford Foundation. Narvel Weese, director and grants coordinator at Meals-on-Wheels, Bluffton-Hilton Head, said the grant award will “help continue a 40-year history of providing hot, nutritious meals to our most vulnerable citizens.” In 2019 and 2020, the meal program provided 18,463 and 27,389 meals, respectively. This year Weese estimates 33,000 meals will be provided. “The Wexford Foundation’s grant award is more important today than ever,” Weese said.
KIWANIS CLUB SUPPORTS THE CHILDREN’S CENTER
The Children’s Center received a generous donation from the Kiwanis Club of Hilton Head. The Children’s Center thanks Kiwanis President Chief Bradley Tadlock and former Children’s Center Board Member Dick Wiles. The funds will help The Children’s Center to continue to serve families in need of early education services and high-quality childcare for their children.
UNITED WAY AND BANK OF AMERICA PARTNER TO HELP NONPROFITS
Bank of America and the United Way of the Lowcountry partnered to help the community. Bank of America contributed more than 61,500 masks, 84,000 gloves, and 2,400 bottles of hand sanitizer to 20 Lowcountry nonprofit partners. The PPE is in addition to 175,000 masks, 73,000 gloves, and 1,720 bottles of sanitizer distributed last year, a news release said.
MC RILEY ELEMENTARY SCHOOL RECEIVES ATHLETIC EQUIPMENT DONATION
The American Heart Association said MC Riley Elementary School received an
AHERN
athletic equipment donation from Southern Coast Heart Ball sponsor Enmarket. The American Heart Association’s Move More initiative, which encourages physical activity for better physical and mental health, kicked off in April.
DON RYAN CENTER LAUNCHES HEROES INITIATIVE
The Don Ryan Center for Innovation was awarded a 2021 Relentless Challenge Grant from the South Carolina Department of Commerce Office of Innovation. It plans to use the funds to launch the DRCI Heroes Initiative, which will help active and retired veterans, police officers, firefighters and emergency medical personnel become entrepreneurs.
BERKELEY HALL CLUB EMBARKS ON $5.1M MASTER PLAN
Berkeley Hall Club in Bluffton is embarking on Phase I of the private golf community’s master plan. The reimagined clubhouse features construction of a 4-Seasons Veranda, a renovated mixed grille dining venue and kitchen upgrade, according to a news release. Construction began with a groundbreaking in April.
The exterior is expected to be completed by the fall, with full occupancy and use by spring-summer of 2022.
“Phase I is an important aspect of assuring Berkeley Hall is in harmony with our membership,” said Adam Kushner, General Manager and COO.
WOMEN’S ASSOCIATION OF HILTON HEAD AWARDS COMMUNITY GIFTS; PRESENTS STUDENT AWARDS
The Coastal Discovery Museum will receive $20,000 to fund the construction of a garden labyrinth, and The Sandbox Children’s Museum will receive $2,500 for its new facility at the Lowcountry Celebration Park, thanks to gifts from the Women’s Association of Hilton Head Island as part of its 60th anniversary. The gifts are in addition to the seven grants awarded this year from the WAHHI Charitable Fund, totaling $10,500. Through its Youth Community Service Award Program, WAHHI awarded five students $1,000 for their community service. Recipients were, Ella Brooke Simons and Grace Weismantel (Hilton Head High School); Madison MacCabe (Hilton Head Christian Academy); Emma Drury (May River High School); and Jack Paul Barney of Hilton Head Prep.
HILTON HEAD ISLAND ADDS TINY FREE ART GALLERIES
The Town of Hilton Head Island’s Office of Cultural Affairs announces, in partnership with the Arts Center of Coastal Carolina and the Art League of Hilton Head, has debuted tiny free art galleries around the island. The tiny art galleries feature local art, “whimsical, miniature pieces” that fit right in the palm of your hand, a news release said. Public galleries can be found at the Arts Center of Coastal Carolina on Shelter Cove Lane and the Shops at Sea Pines Center.
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Beaufort resident and Airports board member Dan Ahern received the Wright Brothers Master Pilot Award, recognizing 50 years of safe piloting. He is a full-time flight instructor based at Beaufort Executive Airport on Lady’s Island.
BEAUFORT MUSEUM HIGHLIGHTS HISTORY
The Beaufort History Museum has added features at its refurbished Arsenal. The museum recently mounted “wayfinding” signs in the courtyard of the Arsenal that tell the story of the Beaufort Arsenal and its militia units over the past 223 years. The Arsenal was built in 1798. The city of Beaufort has replaced old windows, installing new bathrooms, and repaired the upper and lower roof. The Arsenal is located at 713 Craven St.
[ MAY 2021 LOWCOUNTRY ] BUSINESS & FINANCIAL JOURNAL
PIANO MAVEN: JEFF HERRIN KEEPS THE COMMUNITY IN TUNE ON THE MOVE SMART FINANCES: MAKE THE RIGHT RETIREMENT DECISION
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BY TIM WOOD | PHOTO BY ROB KAUFMAN
He is one of the most revered musical technicians in the South, the behind-thescenes secret weapon for local staples like The Jazz Corner, The Hilton Head Symphony Orchestra and the Hilton Head International Piano Competition to industry titans like George Shearing, Harry Connick Jr., and Bruce Hornsby.
If you want the best sounds coming from your keys, Jeff Herrin is your first and only call.
“My 140-IQ cousin taught me this skill, and at first I hated it because it felt too hard to master,” said the owner of Bluffton’s Herrin Piano. “I stuck with it and I realized it was a gift given to me to understand the subtleties and the nuance behind the sound. There’s something about a piano. To sit down at a finely-tuned grand piano, to hear the string vibrate the sound to your ear perfectly, there’s just nothing like it. Four decades into this, it still thrills me every day.”
The Baxley, Ga., native made his way to Savannah in the 1980s, intent to focus on church music ministry. But the more he was exposed to piano tuning, the more he wanted to learn. During his time at Armstrong Atlantic University, he went for higher training that led to his becoming the area point person for tuning pianos ahead of concerts.
Herrin’s Lowcountry story began when he served as music director at Central Church in the mid ‘90s. He met his wife, Jennifer, at the church and the couple married in 1997 and moved to Rose Hill.
His legendary status took root on the island on the night of the 1999 opening of The Jazz Corner. He was paid to spend the day at the venue tuning a nine-foot concert piano for first-night headliner, British icon George Shearing.
Herrin impressed Shearing that night, but it was just one of countless accolades from industry titans. He’s tuned for Bruce Hornsby at Sea Pines, Marvin Hamlisch before an Arts Center concert, three times for Harry Connick, Jr. before Savannah concerts, and even tuned for Bob Dylan.
“I’ve been fortunate to be the right man in the Rolodex at the right time,” Herrin said. “They’ve all been happy with the results, so that doesn’t hurt in terms of staying atop the Rolodex. I feel like I’m the best I’ve ever been right now through experience.” Hilton Head International Piano Competition piano supplier Steinway has called on him to tune the pianos at most of the host families’ homes and at the competition. He will be tuning again this year for HHIPC’s Bravo Piano! Festival, set for June 4-12 throughout Bluffton and Hilton Head. “That’s been a joy to be part of the competition,” he said. “To be part of the next generation carrying on the magic of this centuries-old instrument, it’s an honor.” The Herrins have consistently expanded their piano empire. Jeff went from tuning and tech services to providing piano moving services and piano rentals for concerts and events. In 2014, he and Jennifer opened up a retail location in the Okatie Riverwalk complex, in part to sell clients’ pianos he had tuned through the years. The business moved to a larger location in Bluffton’s Sheridan Park in 2018, where he sells everything from a $450 weighted key digital piano to a $38,000 used Steinway Model L (a new one can fetch $90,000).
The industry has changed massively. The U.S. dominated pianos with 200 manufacturers in the 1970s to just two today as Asian makers like Kawai have become the gold standard.
“I adore Kawais. The tone is sweeter than others and it has tuning stability. Year to year, they stay in tune better than any other piano,” Herrin said.
Wouldn’t that be bad for business?
“My goal is not to have to tune them year to year,” he said. “I love the music and the geniuses who dare make the music, so I want them to have a long-lasting experience.”
Herrin is providing services that many of his first-time customers figured they’d have to go to far-flung places like Atlanta to receive. He hopes that one of his three children Joel, 20; Julia, 19; and Jenna, 16 – will want to carry on the family legacy (Julia, a piano performance major at Auburn and Miss South Carolina contender, is the current best hope).
“The piano is timeless, it’s a soothing masterpiece,” Herrin said. “You find the right piano and keep it tuned, it plays like new 50 years in. I take great pride in being the goto piano man that keeps them sounding new.”
