President Steve Stauffer rang the bell at 8:00
Kevin Courtney offered the prayer and led the pledge
Announcements:
Board Meeting tonight, Tuesday January 15 at Mangiamos
It is the last day (Jan 15) to register for the District "All Club Conference" to get the early bird discount. The Conference is March 22 to 24 so there will be more time to sign up at a higher rate. All members are encouraged to attend since the Conference is here on Hilton Head at the Marriott.
Auction - rack cards are in and they are beautiful. Continue to get donations.
Social - Oyster roast at Otto's at the end of March, watch for more details.
Ivan Bennett has twelve (minimum order) so will be ordering new VLR shirts. New members get one free, but others can order for a cost. If you are interested in getting a new VLR, contact Ivan - the color will be sapphire .
Past President Tim Ridge filled in for Sergeant at Arms Alicia Powell. He Introduced visiting Rotarians and guests and collected Happy $$.
Visiting Rotarians: Ray Ernstein, Southampton NY; Ken Nykiel, Shaumberg IL; Fred Guilfrieda, King of Prussia
Guest: Jim Keith
Speaker:
John Cunningham introduced speaker Heather Raff who talked about the Greater Island Council Parks & Recreation Survey.
The greatest thing that they have done is opened the brand new Recreational Center last week. She highly encourages all to take a tour. The second best thing has been to publish a map - Cultural Trail - Art, history & pathways. She kindly provided members with this fantastic map. She has been an advocate for parks and recreation and feel parks bring the community together. People want experiences within experiences. We have great facilities but are always trying to improve and market them. The Greater Island Committe's goal is to better life on Hilton Head Island and Bluffton. The Parks & Recreation Committee is made up of all volunteers who are community advocates and created a survey to serve the community. It was presented to the public in various ways, POA's sent it out as well as placed on Next Door and Facebook. They got 1300 responses in ten days. 54% of the responses came from Hilton Head Plantation, 10% Port Royal and lesser percentages from other areas of the Island. Karen Kline did all the analysis. According to the age demographics, the under 35 group were under represented, over 64 were adequately represented and the 55 to 64 age group were over represented. 2/3 of those living in a plantation said their recreational needs were not being met within their plantation. The top five items that were felt to be needed are : Environmental Pathways; Recreation Complex; More Piers, Overlooks and Docks; Re-purposing Golf Course Land into Passive Use; Off Pathway/Road Trail Systems. The need for a long distance pool and more pickleball courts was made known as well as resulting social exchange and experiences within experiences. How you can help: Participate; sign up to be in group; be an advocate; contact a council member. Greater Island Committee, group of forty, will stay engaged and work with the town to continue to improve our island. Some websites you might want to visit for more information about culture/recreation on the island are: www.culturehhi.org; www.bicyclehiltonheadisland.com