Nestled Amongst the Live Oaks on Jekyll Island.

For decades, we have been celebrating life and love on our breathtaking stretch of beach on Jekyll Island. Weddings, group events, family reunions, anniversary celebrations and more are special affairs at the Beachview Club Hotel. Experience our Concierge style champagne check in, daily housekeeping, turndown service and our award-winning exceptional service level. Named as Best of Georgia Winners for 2021 & 2022 and most recently awarded Unique Hotel of the Year for the State of Georgia, the team at the Beachview Club is eager to serve you.

Dear friends,

It is always such a pleasure to introduce a new issue of this prestigious magazine, which touches on all the things that make Jekyll Island special. However, this issue is bittersweet.

With my recently announced retirement comes serious reflection. Fifteen years ago when I began my responsibilities, no one could have envisioned the turnaround this island would experience. What a privilege it has been for me to shepherd the completion of large world-class facilities like the Convention Center and Camp Jekyll as well as more intimate ones; we have all witnessed a transformation on Jekyll Island!

The JIA has tried to be methodical by enlisting professional guidance with numerous plans and studies to preserve, guide, manage, and limit development for the benefit of this unique island. Through the years as a Jekyll resident, I’ve walked along the beach or ridden my bike through the historic district and watched magnificent sunrises and sunsets, always pondering what might be next.

I am honored to have worked with outstanding Board members, Governors Perdue, Deal and Kemp, members of the State Legislature, private and public sector investment partners, and our island hotels and business owners—all who have shared in the vision to revitalize Jekyll Island. Of utmost importance, I thank the outstanding Authority staff for its dedication. The work these men and women do is evident across the stories you will read in this issue, as with every issue of 31•81. I am particularly proud of the work we've accomplished to bring about a new era for Jekyll; confident the island is in good hands. The staff is wholly committed and exceptionally qualified to assure Jekyll's character remains intact.

So, as I prepare to close my door and step away as Executive Director, I am fortunate to be retiring in this place I already fondly call home. You may very likely still see me around, riding my bike to catch a sunset!

Executive Director, Jekyll Island Authority

Dale Atkins chairman Baxley, GA

Mark Williams commissioner, dnr Atlanta, GA

Joy Burch-Meeks Screven, GA

Robert “Bob” W. Krueger vicechair Hawkinsville, GA

Ruel Joyner Savannah, GA

Dr. L.C. “Buster” Evans Bolingbroke, GA

William “Bill” H. Gross secretary/treasurer Kingsland, GA

Glen Willard Richmond Hill, GA

Joseph B. Wilkinson St. Simons Island, GA

The People Who Keep Jekyll's Wonders Intact

Once not too long ago, almost unimaginably now, a group of developers received the go-ahead to erect a SeaWorld-type tourist magnet on the beaches of Jekyll Island. If, somehow, the project would have come together, the island almost certainly would be unrecognizable today.

In this issue of 31•81, The Magazine of Jekyll Island, Tony Rehagen has the story of the ill-fated Sea Circus (page 64), which was scuttled by, perhaps as much as faulty financing and sloppy management, a burgeoning environmentalist movement. The people who recognized the true value of Jekyll Island stepped up to put a stop to that nonsense.

Throughout its storied history, people have come to define this place as much as its sublime beaches and leafy forests. Among them: outgoing Jekyll Island Authority executive director Jones Hooks (page 19), who is retiring after managing the island through a remarkable renaissance, all while honoring a commitment to protect the natural beauty that makes it unique.

Elsewhere in this issue, Josh Green writes of the ever-evolving natural look of the island in the face of climate change (page 32); Mary Logan Bikoff examines the roots of Asia-influenced culture on Jekyll (page 40); and, if too much nature and history don't appeal, Jacinta Howard has some ideas on how to do absolutely nothing while you're on-island (page 48).

Change is part of Jekyll Island. It always has been. But because of the people who cherish it and care for it—like those who objected to a SeaWorld clone, like those who give their time and effort to keep the beauty and history of the place intact—the best parts of the island remain. And, thankfully, a Sea Circus isn't among them.

Allison Entrekin is a freelance writer and executive editor of Southbound. Her work has appeared in USA TODAY, Travel + Leisure, and Garden & Gun. In 2019, her environmental-travel writing for Southbound took home the bronze award at the prestigious Lowell Thomas Awards.

Andy Lovell is a printmaker and illustrator based in the UK whose work revels in the elemental nature of landscape. His prints are widely collected. www.andylovell.co.uk

Tony Rehagen is a freelance writer and former senior editor at Atlanta. His work has appeared in The Boston Globe, The Washington Post and POLITICO, among others. His work was anthologized in Next Wave: America’s New Generation of Great Literary Journalists.

Your Beachside Getaway On Jekyll Island