Hilton Head People

MARTIN MCFIE
The Arts Enthusiast

Talking with part-time Hilton Head Island resident Martin McFie can feel like a treasure hunt. You’ll be chatting companionably and, then boom, without warning, you find yourself in the midst of a riveting story from the London-born expatriate’s life.

For example, a recent semi-technical and mundane discussion of immigration practices in the European Union became a brief account of McFie’s 8,000-mile solo sojourn into the deepest reaches of the vast Sahara, his only method of transportation a 1950s-era London taxi cab.

SWATI DEBROY
The Math Professor

“When people from India think of the United States, they picture New York and L.A., but when I describe the Lowcountry I like to say it’s more like ‘The Notebook,’ with the Spanish moss and everything,” said Swati DebRoy with a laugh. A native of Kolkata, India, her new home is a world apart.

ANDREW SUMMERS
The Golf Entrepreneur

For Andrew Summers, life is about the long game. During a Thanksgiving round of golf with students from International Junior Golf Academy, he described his swing as “lousy. And yet I probably scored better than all of them. A lot comes down to course strategy,” a fitting metaphor for a well-lived life.

MAYRA RIVERA-VÁZQUEZ
The Political Activist

When Mayra Rivera-Vázquez’s husband started looking for jobs in the U.S. as a federal employee, she had one requirement: the new assignment had to be near the East Coast, so she could look at the ocean and know that it connected her with her home in Puerto Rico.

“I needed that,” she said. “To know we’re joined by the same water.”

MUNJID YOUSIF
The Chef

Tracking Munjid Yousif’s background is a bit like sampling the menu at his restaurant, Olive & Fig Mediterranean Kitchen, where he crafts his dishes around the flavors of Lebanese and Greek cuisine. But just like his Lebanese heritage, there’s more to both the chef and the menu than meets the eye.

CHAMBER PARTNERS WITH SCHOOLS TO GRANT TEACHER WISHES

The Hilton Head Island-Bluffton Chamber of Commerce’s business education partnership committee helps enhance the quality of education in the Lowcountry by creating and supporting partnerships between local businesses and schools. Project Connect is a community-wide program that connects community businesses and individuals with teachers and their wish lists for classroom supplies. Since the program’s inception, over $35,000 has been used to purchase needed school supplies. If you would like to donate an item from a teacher’s wish list, contact 843-785-3673.

TAKE A BREAK: BRING IN A PERSONAL CHEF FOR YULETIDE FEASTS

During the holidays, it’s easy for the family cook to get caught up in the flurry of meal preparation and barely have time to relax with guests. Hiring a personal chef can solve this common dilemma for harried hosts.

Lowcountry personal chefs handle all aspects of putting together memorable meals, including menu planning, shopping, food prep, setting the table, serving hors d’oeuvres and presenting each course with a description of ingredients and preparation.

LOCAL REALTOR ENTERTAINS A HUNDRED OF HER CLOSEST FRIENDS

On Hilton Head Island, there are parties and there are parties. That second type is the kind that people look forward to all year long. They mark their calendars well in advance, arrange for babysitters, and watch the days roll by as their excitement builds.

Paula Traver’s annual Christmas do is just such a party. 

LOCAL WOODWORKER CRAFTS A MENAGERIE FOR KIDS

 Thirty-eight years ago John Whidden handcrafted a wooden rocking giraffe for his niece’s first birthday. 

Since then, the Hilton Head Island resident has made several more rocking giraffes, as well as rocking cows, goats, horses, pigs, a camel, a bull and a burro. He also made a couple of motorcycles, specially ordered for friends.