Monthly Columnists

When I stepped on stage at King Dusko in Charleston in 2012 to perform with my rock band, I didn’t know that McKenzie Eddy, founder of the small bar and performance space, was from Hilton Head Island. And I knew nothing of her past life running a record label in New York City.

Dear Reader,

In September, we bit our fingernails as we stared down yet another hurricane, hoping our collective will would change Irma’s mind. We watched as she decimated the vulnerable Caribbean and then barreled straight up Florida. Then, even as many of us had evacuated, the fierce storm drew further west, to our relief. It was certainly an emotional time that stung more with the fresh memory of Hurricane Matthew.

In 1967, it was The Summer of Love. What is it now?

A half-century ago, the hippie movement reached a milestone when roughly 100,000 people converged in San Francisco’s Haight-Ashbury neighborhood for the Summer of Love. The cultural movement of the “flower power people” promoted peace, love, sharing, caring, meditation, anti-consumerism, suspicion of government, “dropping out,” the use of mind-altering drugs and Vietnam War protests. The creative works developed during that period — songs, poetry, art, fashion — are instantly recognizable and still reverb to this day. The greeting “peace” and the peace sign — holding up the index and middle fingers in a V — have been passed on to the next generations. The peace symbol, adopted from Britain’s Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament in the 1950s and ’60s, has become one of the most globally recognizable marks. Ultimately, the outpouring of resistance against the war in Vietnam helped turn the tide and end the direct involvement of U.S. troops in that conflict.

“Meet me on top of the hill.”

On a lull between summer showers, I direct Nicole Arnold to the cylindrical tower atop Fort Greene Park, overlooking Brooklyn and toward Manhattan’s skyline beyond. Though we’ve met over video chat, Nicole’s wide smile is larger in person. She has earthy skin, auburn hair and looks out from patient eyes. We hug like old friends, even though I’m nine years older and we didn’t grow up together. We’re both Hilton Head Island expats, and we share other traits — a love for travel, an openness to strangers. It’s the real reason I reached out to Nicole after the amazing cross-country bike tour that made her famous in the Lowcountry last summer.

Pictured from left to right: Mary Ann Kent, Majka Yarbrough, Anuska Frey, Cathy Flory and Rebecca V. Kerns

Dear Reader,
As the cooler winds of fall return to the Lowcountrywe say goodbye to summerand turn our eyes inward as we present our annual City Guide issue. As I’m sure yours is as well, our calendar is full to the brim with autumn social events.

A September tradition here at Monthly, it offers a chance to take stock of who we are as a community –the places we call home and the people we call neighbors. And this year we’ve pulled out all the stops. You’ll hear from Hilton Head Island Mayor David Bennett and Bluffton Mayor Lisa Sulka in exclusive interviews outlining all that is right with our region. We’re sharing the efforts underway to preserve the cultural heritage of the area’s Gullah people and update you on the Town of Hilton Head Island’s visioning process.

It’s the time of year when I misspell ‘days’. We’ve crossed the solstice, that midpoint in the earth’s lap around the blazing sun, and when’s the last time you checked in on New Year’s resolutions? I think we all can relate to slacking the rope during the hottest months. And there’s nothing wrong with that. But for those of us who are trying to push through past year mediocrities into our best selves, here are a few things I do to stay motivated in the mind-numbing heat.

Dear Reader,
As this issue hits the streets, we’re getting settled in our new offices on Westbury Parkway in Bluffton. We’re excited about our new location in the heart of the Lowcountry. But please know that our team members still will be on Hilton Head every day, to serve your needs and keep their fingers on the pulse of the island.

A Father and Son Reflect on the Smartphone Revolution

MARC FREY
mfrey@freymedia.com

The first iPhone went on sale at 6 p.m. Friday, June 29, 2007, “and suddenly the world was in our pocket.” The device created the i-generation: i-centric and i-absorbed. It created a new cult and culture. A new language (apps, clicks, texts, likes, selfies, swipes). It turned us into an always-on society. It brought us the term FOMO, or fear of missing out. Millions started to measure their self-worth through clicks and likes. The urge to check the latest news became uncontrollable. We were consumed with capturing and sharing every moment with anyone who would “follow” us. The iPhone changed the way we communicate and the way we interact with each other, like breaking an engagement via text. While they seem to connects us, smartphones often leave us feeling empty and alone — even when we feel naked without them.

Over video chat, sitting on the porch of his Chicago apartment, enjoying a rare pristine summer day in the Windy City, Hilton Head native and percussionist David Agee told me about his life’s unexpected turn. He’d just wrapped up his last semester teaching percussion at Fenwick Park High School, and was spending the week saying goodbye to friends before starting his new adventure. Agee, who uprooted to Chicago eight years ago to pursue his love of music, recently joined the Navy and is heading to boot camp. He joked, “I never thought I’d be graded on pushups in order to play music.”

It’s high summer in the Lowcountry, the time of year when happiness smells like sunscreen and locals joke that Hilton Head Island might sink from the weight of all the visitors. So much fun is packed into the long days that end in soft, golden evening light.

July is when the staff at local restaurants, bike rental companies, charter fishing boats and other businesses work long hours to make sure that every customer’s experience is top notch. Here at Monthly, we too worked hard on this issue to bring you the very best of Hilton Head Island and Bluffton people, events and opinions.

These aren’t my lungs,” he told his theatre classmates. It was 2013 and Brennen Reeves was facing an eager audience, speaking of an illness without a face. No one knew. Brennen, who was born with the progressive lung disease, cystic fibrosis, has fought for every breath. As a child, doctors told him he’d wouldn’t live until 18 unless he traded the old pair for the new. Not only did he survive a double lung transplant, he would invoke his own story in a oneman play entitled “Breathe. A True Story.” These are his lungs, now.

This spring, I was honored to sail with veterans as part of the “Warrior Sailing Program” during the venerable Charleston Race Week. I met some of the most high-spirited young women and men you can imagine, and no matter if they lost their eyesight, a leg, or got shot several times, they demonstrated dignity and a positive attitude I sometime miss among their more self-absorbed peers. If their smiles and can-do attitude could resolve conflicts, then this is all it would take to make this a more peaceful planet! It could be reasoned that their sacrifices have made this a better world or made America a safer place, but the question that came to my mind is how much say did these young citizens have in deciding how invading Afghanistan and Iraq was going to benefit us?