Phyllis Mauney: retired Marine, career musician and, most likely, the Lowcountry resident who has played harp for the higher number of presidents.
Retired U.S. Marine Corps E-9 gunnery sergeant Phyllis Mauney has never fired a weapon, but she wields a mean harp.
The 57-year-old Bluffton resident, who moved to the area in 2005, joined the Corps in 1978 after auditioning for “The President’s Own” U.S. Marine Band. After years with the Marines and performing with symphonies, she’s now a freelance harpist. But she doesn’t carry her harp around in a hip holster; it’s a 75-pound, 46-string load that she delivers and sets up by her diminutive self. “It fits nicely into my van, but sometimes I call on a friend to help,” she says.
For the past 10 years — four of them at the Quarterdeck — Jodi Bassani has worked directly in the heart of the Heritage. Bassani isn’t much of a golf fan herself, but she’s probably served some of the game’s most famous players — although it’s hard to know for sure, since she rarely has a free second to look up long enough to see who she’s serving. This year the Quarterdeck will be staffed as usual: four bartenders at the main bar and two at outside bar, with portable bars on the patio and a handful of servers walking around to handle demand. Bassani talked about what it’s like trying to hold down the fort amid patrons hopped up on golf buzz, and how crazy the scene could be if people think this year will be the Heritage’s last.
Whether you’re a singledigit handicap, a hacker or just a Heritage fan, you know that golf is an essential part of the island’s identity and economy. But golf is also the topic of much debate in the environmental community.
When the garbage truck pulls up to your Hilton Head Island home to pick up your recyclable trash on April 1, it won’t be an April Fool’s prank: It’ll be Republic Services inaugurating its new franchise agreement on a timetable that coincides nicely with Earth month.
For a place so reverent of natural beauty that even the stop signs used to blend in with the landscape, the absence of a bona fide outdoor farmers market on Hilton Head Island seemed downright ludicrous to islander Rebecca Smith.
If Tanger Outlet Center Hilton Head I looks brand new to you, it isn’t. Sure, you may have seen the mall completely leveled last winter. You may have noticed it being totally rebuilt, from the sewer ines to the buildings to the parking lots. But those involved with the $50 million transformation will tell you — quite proudly — that’s it’s far from new.
The preceding pages covered large-scale lifestyle changes, which, admittedly, can be hard to make. So here’s something easy instead: Repurpose an unwanted, underused old T-shirt by turning it into a reusable tote bag, with just one quick seam and some quick scissor work.
Artist Pam Johnson Brickell teaches workshops in nature journaling as a means of remembering ‘time spent in places you love, soaking up the slower side of life.
