Hilton Head People

Tennis has played a huge role in Realtor Ken Oliver’s life — on the court, in business and in love.

Thanks to one of the best men’s tennis players of the 20th century, you might say Ken and Susie Oliver’s courtship began on the court.

When Donna Taylor’s son, Evan, cut himself with a knife and needed seven stitches, she knew she had to help the Culinary Institute of America student get back into the kitchen.

“I hurt for him, watching him bandage and glove (his wound) and have to go to work and rub that knife blade again,” she said of her son. “I was trying to find something to protect his hand so that he could keep working.”

It’s been said that necessity is the mother of invention. That’s not always the case in the automotive industry, where invention is often the byproduct of vanity, such as fancy trim packages or tires that look good but do nothing to improve the ride.

Elongator is the exception, conceived 20 years ago in Bluffton by a guy who knew his pickup wasn’t doing the job like it should.

COFFEYKUBEC LAW FIRM OPENS

Law firm CoffeyKubec, LLP has opened on Hilton Head Island with three attorneys: Maureen T. Coffey, Ed Kubec and Leighanne Kubec. The firm specializes in civil litigation, criminal defense, business law, personal injury, family law, immigration law and special education law. Coffey previously worked for 18 years as municipal court judge for the Town of Hilton Head Island. Ed Kubec started his law practice in Los Angeles, where for 15 years he represented performing artists and companies in the entertainment industry. Leighanne Kubec specializes in the education rights of special needs student.

Mike Monroney might not be a household name. But his legacy is written on every car window at every new car dealership across the country. The late Oklahoma senator wrote and sponsored the Automobile Information Disclosure Act of 1958, requiring that every new car carry a window sticker showing every option it carries, every feature and every bell and whistle bolted onto it at the factory. While most of us refer to it as a window sticker, the real gearheads call it by the name that honors that legacy: a Monroney label.

Charles Wohl is the Don Ryan Center for Innovation’s new vice president of innovation, leading the business incubator and entrepreneurial ventures, and he came to Bluffton both to step back and to shake things up.

“On my bucket list was to move back to a coastal environment,” he said on why he took the job and moved to the Lowcountry from Texas last summer. But it’s a sure bet he’s not going to kick back and take it easy.

Winter in the Lowcountry might not bring with it the snow and harsh weather that other parts of the country experience, but it does bring fewer bugs to the area — though the sand fleas seem impervious to all but the harshest weather conditions.

It’s a nice break from spring and summer, when the area is swarming with mosquitos and no-see-ums, and fire ants, cockroaches and mole crickets come out to ruin your outdoor spaces and give everyone a bad case of the creepy crawlies.

Lamb & Gray Architects, LLC launches in the Lowcountry 

New firsm Lamb & Gray Architects, L.L.C. is comprised of Amanda Lamb (AIA, NCARB), April Gray (AIA, NCARB) and Lydia DePauw. With over 45 years of combined experience in architecture, Lamb & Gray’s current work includes high-end residential projects in award-winning properties including Palmetto Bluff and Spring Island. They are members of the Hilton Head Area Homebuilders Association and the Hilton Head chapter of the American Institute of Architects. 

A CENTURY-OLD BIKE TRAVELS THE PATHS OF HILTON HEAD

When I moved to Hilton Head Island in 2012 and discovered its fabulous bike paths and beaches, I decided to restore an old bike that once belong to my father so I could cruise around town. But first, I took it for a ride down memory lane.