The meeting was called to order by President Lynn King. She welcomed all to the meeting at the Palmera Inn & Suites as well as those attending via Zoom.
Kevin Courtney offered the prayer and led the pledge to the flag
Announcements:
Finance - Rotary dues have not increased, however starting October 1, we will resume including meal charges for all, in attending in person or not. This is necessary to "help stabilize the club financially and help us engage and attract members" - Lynn King.
Kristin Keller gave an update on the raffle. The tickets have been proofed and we should have the tickets by next Tuesday, October 20. Members will be receiving 10 tickets each to be responsible for selling (more is encouraged). The raffle will be held on Tuesday November 24th.
Lynn has a few of the special Rotary masks available at $10 each
Christmas Party - is a possibility and research is being done for the right venue to enjoy socially-distanced fellowship. More info to come.
Julie Camp Tome introduced her guest - Joe Echols
Sergeant at Arms, Suzi Oliver collected Happy $$
Speaker:
Suzi Oliver introduced Dr. Jean Fruh who is the Executive Director of The Outside Foundation. She has been with Outside HH for 15 years and has served in many capacities, including: kayak and paddleboard instructor, retail manager, internship supervisor, teambuilding facilitator and guide. She created and fostered Outside Hilton Head's internal, staff-led sustainability initiative "The Green Team". She is a South Carolina Master Naturalist.
photo credit - Barry Davis
She spoke about the projects of the Foundation. The Foundation's focus is on getting kids outside as well as protecting the environment. The "kids in Kayaks" program's goal is to get every middle school child in Beaufort County out kayaking. It provides education about the salt marsh. Groups of 40 to 50 students go on a 2 hour kayak tour led by a professional guide. This program has about 1,000 seventh graders participating in a year. There is a "learn to paddle" program which is offered to the Boys and Girls club and this gets them out on paddle boards. "Waterway Clean ups" is another project. There are kayak based clean ups of the waterway as well as beach and park clean ups. The next one is to be held on November 9 from 11am to 4pm at Shelter Cove Marina. It is free and a great family activity. Reservations are necessary and can be made by calling 843-686-6996. Since 2014 over 500 volunteers have participated. Beach cleanups are held the second Saturday of every month. The Keep the Broad Creek Clean Water Festival is held in August. Another project is the "Recycling Program". The community based oyster shell recycling program began 3 years ago and has been very successful and is recognized as a model program. Currently there are 15 restaurants participating - they scrape the shells into buckets and they are picked up every Tuesday. When oysters are harvested, it is important to put the shells back in for continued oyster growth. This year they are planning to build 5 reefs. The 2019 HHI Oyster Fest recycled 5.8 tons of shells which were saved from land fill. By comparison the 2018 fest saved 3.7 tons from the land fill, so the results are growing. All the shell stays here in the area. In and hour or hour and a half 100 to 200 bags can be filled so it is a great volunteer activity. 400 bags of shell will attract 100,000 larval oysters, so it is an important effort to keep our oyster beds productive.
You can read more about what the foundation does by visiting www.outsidefoundation.org