Dine with celebrities, raise funds to buy books for children

A World Book Day Celebrity Gala to benefit Libraries for Kids will be held from 5 to 9 p.m. April 22 at Martin Family Park, 68 Boundary St. in Bluffton.

Cocktail attire is suggested.

Music will be provided by The Chiggers, the 2020 recipient of the Readers’ Choice best local band award.

There will be a celebrity or local hero with his or her guest at each of the dinner tables. Celebrities will have pre-assigned seats but ticket buyers will not, which means that after ticket buyers choose a table, the celebrities will find their table number and join them.

The following is a list of local celebrities who have made a commitment to attend.

• Arthur V. Martin, Ph.D., 2021 Nobel Peace Prize finalist

• Cassandra King Conroy, New York Times & USA Today bestselling author

• Dr. Bobbi Tenwolde, first woman born and raised in Bluffton to become a family practice doctor (member of the first graduating class USCB-Bluffton; has done medical mission work in Africa and in the U.S.)

• Chief Bruce Kline (Lady’s Island), Twotime winner of an award for best firefighter, a hero who has risked his life to save others.

• Sallie Ann Robinson, Gullah chef, author, tour guide, TV personality, sixth-generation native Daufuskie Islander, and former student of author Pat Conroy

• Pat Branning, award-winning Southern cookbook author

• Dennis Stokely, celebrity hairdresser who traveled with Paula Abdul and who continues as “stylist to the stars”

• John Warley, award-winning Southern author and Citadel graduate

• Robert Gwaltney, award-winning debut Southern author, advocate for early childhood literacy, and vice president of Easter Seals North Georgia

• Monty Jett, renowned local radio personality, announcer, and emcee for 40-plus years

• Ken Francis, South Carolina children’s author

• Dana Ridenour, retired undercover FBI agent and award-winning author

• Susan Beckham Zurenda, award-winning Southern author

• Capt. Woody Collins, popular retired

Please see LIBRARIES on page 33A

LENT from page 30A be featured the fourth week. Rev. Lannon is Rector of Grace Anglican Church and is a graduate of the University of Arizona, having studied Communications and Religious Studies, and of Trinity School for Ministry with a degree in Systematic Theology and Ethics. Ordained in 2007, Nick has pastored churches in Jersey City and Denville, New Jersey; and Louisville, Kentucky. Rev. Lannon is author of “Life is Impossible...and That’s Good News.”

March 29: The featured speaker, the Rev. Dr. Jonathan Mumme, Professor of Theology at Hillsdale College, previously taught at Concordia University Wisconsin (2014-2021) and Westfield House in Cambridge (2012-14). Working in systematic theology and in the history of doctrines and ideas, his research focuses primarily on ecclesiology, Martin Luther and Reformation studies, and theology and society. Mumme is co-editor of “Feasting in a Famine of the Word of God” (2016), “Luther at Leipzig” (Brill, 2019), and “Church as Fullness in All

Things” (Lexington/Fortress, 2019).

About Saint Luke’s Anglican: The mission of Saint Luke’s Anglican on Hilton Head is “To know Christ and to make Him known.” The vision of the church is that as a family of believers, its parishioners will continue growing in the love of Jesus, sharing the joy of worship, and serving the community and beyond.

On Oct. 22, 2022, the Rev. Dr. John D. “Jady” Koch was instituted as the seventh rector of St. Luke’s Anglican Church. Rev. Koch is a graduate of Washington & Lee University (2000) and Trinity School for Ministry (2007). He earned his Doctorate in Systematic Theology at the University of Humboldt in Berlin, Germany, in 2014. Having served in churches in Berlin, Vienna and in Louisville, Kentucky, Rev Koch is excited to have been called to Saint Luke’s Anglican and has been implementing new programs since his arrival. For more information and to register, visit stlukeshhi.org or call 843-785-4099.