Hilton Head Monthly Voice Voice of the Lowcountry 
Allegiant recently announced four new nonstop flights to the Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport. Flights from Indianapolis and Pittsburgh begin April 8. Baltimore flights start April 29, followed by flights from Lexington, Kentucky, on June 2. One-way rates for all four flights will dip as low as $39.
Monthly celebrates local businesses and communities with the 2015 Readers’ Choice Awards, the “best of the best” places to shop, dine and live, as voted by you, our readers.
We received 8,726 electronic ballots in our eight-week Readers’ Choice promotional campaign, intended to identify the top businesses in a wide range of categories. Want to find the best of the Lowcountry? You will find it here. The list of categories and winners is extensive. As you read over the list, we’re sure you will recognize your favorites among the many categories. We also expect you will find some unexpected and unknown venues. We encourage you to examine the list and visit these reader-selected winners to judge for yourself. And, if you don’t see a business or community listed here you think is deserving, be sure to vote in the 2016 Readers’ Choice campaign.
The Hilton Head Area Chapter of the Military Officers Association of America and American Legion Post 49 will host a fellowship luncheon immediately following the annual Veterans Day ceremony held at the Shelter Cove Veterans Memorial at Shelter Cove Community Park.
“The members and auxiliary members of each organization will combine for this luncheon so that we can continue to enjoy the camaraderie of prior military service,” said Mike Danoff, president of the Hilton Head Area Chapter of the MOAA.
FINDINGS REBUT SKEPTICISM OF ARTS DETRACTORS
A recent study undertaken for Community Vision Hilton Head Inc., a local volunteer organization proposing development of a worldclass local performing arts center on Hilton Head Island, has found that such facilities are having a positive economic impact on similar communities across the United States.Funded solely by members of the nonprofit organization, the study was conducted this summer by University of South Carolina Beaufort researcher Catherine Moorman, who previously has worked on projects for the RBC Heritage Presented by Boeing PGA Tour golf tournament, the Hilton Head Island Motoring Festival & Concours d'Elegance, and other South Carolina events.
LEGENDARY GOLF COURSE ARCHITECT RETURNED TO THE ISLAND FOR A SPECIAL DEDICATION CEREMONY
Traditional bagpipes rang out as members of Long Cove Club on Hilton Head Island gathered near the 18th green of the private championship course last month for a dedication ceremony honoring worldrenown golf course architects Pete and Alice Dye. The Dyes were honored for the impact they have had on golf and golf course architecture and were recognized for their creation of Long Cove Club’s nationally acclaimed golf course. The dedication ceremony included remarks by Bobby Weed, golf course architect and former construction crew chief for the Long Cove Club course project in 1980, and David Ames, one of the founders of Long Cove Club. They spoke of the Dyes’ comprehensive work in golf course design and, in particular, complimented them on their “spectacular design” of the Long Cove Club golf course.
As Hilton Head Island’s dilapidated Pineland Station shopping center comes down, new details are being released for its replacement, a new shopping mall called Sea Turtle Marketplace. Original plans for a gas station at the center of the shopping center have been scrapped. New plans unanimously approved by the town’s Design Review Board call for seven new buildings, new paths to U.S. 278 and a new parking lot.
It’s a little-known fact that Hilton Head Island is home to two of the three locked harbors on the East Coast of the United States.
Most visitors to the island have heard of a lock or canal system, like the Panama Canal, but aren’t sure how the systems work or what they are.
A lock system is a combination of gates and a chamber that allows a vessel to go from one water system at one level to another system a different level.
When the Great Recession slammed into Hilton Head Island in 2008, it zeroed in the island’s primary revenue sources: Real estate and tourism. The malaise sent the number of visitors plummeting and, more importantly, property values tumbling. Local business people scrambled to try to stop the free fall.
Throughout 2009, local business leaders arranged meetings to sound the alarm that Hilton Head wasn’t alone in battling the outgoing economic tide. Tony Fazzini, then president of Hilton Head Hospitality Association, was among the first to invite community leaders to open discussions about what they were experiencing. The talks also were intended to help the association, representing primarily food and beverage businesses, plan its direction, said Ann-Marie Adams, former executive director of the association.
