Hilton Head Humane Association’s HERO.
Raven-haired Bobbi Helton sweeps into a room with the stealth of a tigress, attacking the day’s tasks with unbridled energy and enthusiasm. Whether she is taking inventory, assisting customers, moving furniture or wielding a mop, she gets the job done, collecting innumerable joys along the way.
Starting as a volunteer in 2000, a beacon of light to the Hilton Head Humane Association, Helton was asked to join the board the same year. She served as vice president in 2002 and was elected president in 2003. After working seven days a week for two years at The Litter Box thrift store (a funding mechanism for the organization), in 2006, she took the position as manager and continues to work tirelessly.
A former school teacher, devoted wife and lifelong animal activist, she brings passion and compassion to her role, her service and dedication surpassed only by her love of life itself.
After 25 years with the sheriff ’s office, Toni Lytton now sits in the director’s chair for Beaufort County Animal Shelter & Control. Lytton, a native of California who lived in Hawaii after her father retired from the Marine Corps, came to the Lowcountry as a Marine wife in 1977. “Before I came here I worked for a veterinarian, but none of the vets were hiring,” she said of her career path. “I knew somebody who worked here and applied for the job and got it.”
Everything about his office has the usual corporate feel to it: an oversized wooden desk, family photos sprinkled throughout, however, visitors don’t receive the standard guest chair. It seems only appropriate that the “president’s office” would have beach chairs for visitors. When you’re the longtime owner of Shore Beach Service, green beach chairs for your guests make sense.
Want to know the history of life before the mainland bridge to Hilton Head Island? Just ask Natalie. Ever wondered about the headstones that seem to lean into the sunset along Broad Creek? Curious to know where alligators go after sunning themselves on the lazy lagoon bank or how long it takes to restore an old hunting plantation to its former glory? Just ask Natalie. Sometimes we’re all defined by what we do and when you carry around in your head the breadth and depth of knowledge about all things Lowcountry that Natalie Hefter does, you’re bound to garner a reputation as the one with lots of answers to lots of questions.
This month’s MVP award goes to Mr. James D. Collett. If there’s room on his mantle, Collett will add his MVP to a growing collection that includes, most recently, the 2008 Presbyterian Men of the Church’s Man of the Year.
At 8 a.m. on a recent Friday, the sun was just coming up over Harbour Town Golf Links. While the rest of the world was yawning and coming to life, one man was already up and facing the day with a smile that has become his trademark. Despite the hour, Earl “Happy” Mitchell already had a table of early risers at The Harbour Town Grill, in The Sea Pines Resort, howling with laughter, whipped into a chuckling frenzy thanks to his infectious energy.
Kristin Dubrowski is the executive director for CODA (Citizens Opposed to Domestic Violence), a non-profit organization that seeks to prevent domestic violence through education and care for individuals and families in Beaufort, Colleton, Jasper and Hampton counties.
Carol Bartholomew is the kind of woman with whom everyone would like to have a cup of coffee. No matter how hectic your day is, a conversation with this dynamic, compassionate woman is a lesson in prioritization. She “walks her talk.”
Capt. Fuzzy Davis has spent much of his career on the water. After many years of fishing and throwing his catches back, he decided it was time to give back to the community.
