Hilton Head News

Danielle Adams of Coastal Carolina Hospital has earned the Daisy RN Award for Extraordinary Nurses. Adams began her nursing career at Coastal Carolina Hospital in June 2018. She works in the Medical-Surgical Unit. Adams was nominated for the award by her colleagues. 

The Town of Hilton Head was awarded more than $378,000 by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to assist low- and moderate-income families affected by COVID-19. The funds are specifically earmarked to address the prevention, preparation, response and recovery efforts related to COVID-19. To receive funds, the town submitted its 2020-2024 Consolidated Plan for the Community Development Block Grant Program, which HUD accepted. 

The Beaufort County School District will temporarily adopt a full-virtual educational model when the school year begins Sept. 8. Superintendent Frank Rodriguez said the decision is in response to the rise in coronavirus cases. Rodriguez said he hopes to return to face-to-face instruction. “But before that can happen safely, conditions must be safer than they are today,” Rodriguez said in early August. The final day of classes is set for June 17. 

S.C. Gov. Henry McMaster lifted coronavirus business restrictions for cinemas in July, and Park Plaza Cinema on Hilton Head was ready last month to welcome patrons to its theater. The theater initially reopened with private screenings of DVDs brought from home, but on Aug. 21 the theater debuted four new movies. McMaster’s order requires 50% occupancy and face masks or coverings for admission. 

With the November elections approaching, the Beaufort County election board is looking for 300 new poll workers. Workers would be paid $165 both for training and working the day. For more information, visit beaufortcountysc.gov/vote/. 

Arthur Anastopoulo of Pensacola Beach, Florida and Paul Pittman of Florence will be 2020 inductees into the South Carolina Tennis Hall of Fame. Anastopoulo was one of the state’s best junior and college players during the 1970s. Pittman is a long-time volunteer who has been instrumental in the development of the Florence Community Tennis Association. 

The Town of Hilton Head Island has relaxed temporary sign regulations through Sept. 7. Temporary signs will be allowed without a permit. Each business is permitted to have one sign per street frontage; each sign should be no larger than 18-by-24; and each sign must be located on the same site as the business. Banners (no larger than 24-by-48) are permitted to be located on buildings. 

The City of Beaufort was awarded a grant of $188,500 from the South Carolina Historic Preservation Office to restore windows at the Carnegie Library Building that were damaged by Hurricanes Matthew and Irma. During the hurricanes, water intrusion damaged the building, including many of the 29 windows. 

In August, Kamala Harris accepted the Democratic nomination for vice president at the Democratic National Convention. She is familiar with the Lowcountry. Last fall, as presidential candidates made their way through Beaufort County, Harris made a campaign stop at University of South Carolina Beaufort amid a standing-room-only crowd.

Matt Clancy, chief of the City of Beaufort Police Department, died after a long battle with cancer. He was 56 years old. In 1997, Clancy joined the Beaufort Police Department as a patrol officer, criminal investigator, investigative lieutenant, and deputy chief. In 2009, he was promoted to police chief.

COASTAL DISCOVERY MUSEUM PROGRAM GIVES STUDENTS AN EDUCATIONAL EXPERIENCE

A program that launched for the first time during the 2019-2020 school year to help young students spread the word on how to help with local conservation efforts leapt into action when everything suddenly came to a halt more than halfway through the school year.

Conservation in the Classroom was launched by the Coastal Discovery Museum, a Smithsonian affiliate, as a way for students, teachers and the Hilton Head-based museum to work together to educate the youth on local conservation efforts.

DR. VANDERSLICE REMEMBERED FOR KIND HEART, PASSION FOR HELPING CHILDREN

Whether he was cracking jokes to provide levity to patients in the operating room or leading his family on another adventure, Dr. Rick Vanderslice seldom took the expected path.

Dr. Vanderslice, who died last month after a two-year battle with cancer, was the founder of The Urology Group on Hilton Head Island in the mid-1990s and a founding partner of the Outpatient Surgery Center. He was well-regarded for his work in the medical field at home, serving on the board of Hilton Head Hospital and receiving the Circle of Care Award from the Volunteers in Medicine Clinic, but he found a new passion with the first of a dozen or so medical mission trips to Tanzania in 2006.

FOOD LION DONATES $3,000 TO SECOND HELPINGS

Second Helpings received $3,000 from the Food Lion Feeds Charitable Foundation to buy fresh food for some of its agencies that are most impacted by the increased need for food during the coronavirus pandemic.

Established in 2001, the Food Lion Feeds Charitable Foundation provides financial support for programs and organizations dedicated to feeding the hungry in the communities it serves. 

Carey F. Smith, Hilton Head Island’s first town manager, died July 5. He was 77. Smith served as town manager from 1983, when the town was first incorporated, until 1988. Current town manager Steve Riley said many of Smith’s programs and policies are in place today.

Longtime Lowcountry journalist David Lauderdale announced his retirement after 43 years in newspapers. Lauderdale wrote in an Island Packet column that July 31 was his final day at the newspaper.

A columnist and senior editor for The Island Packet and The Beaufort Gazette, Lauderdale won two McClatchy President’s Awards for journalism excellence, and was honored with the 2016 Hilton Head Island-Bluffton Chamber of Commerce’s Alice Glenn Doughtie Good Citizenship Award for his “selfless community service in the spirit of brotherhood.”