“In Philadelphia, the same day as the British landing on Staten Island, July 2, 1776, the Continental Congress, in a momentous decision, voted to “dissolve the connection” with Great Britain. The news reached New York four days later, on July 6, and at once spontaneous celebrations broke out. ‘The whole choir of our officers . . . went to a public house to testify our joy at the happy news of Independence. We spent the afternoon merrily,’ recorded Isaac Bangs.’” (David McCullough, “1776”; NY: Simon & Schuster, 2005)

A conversation about the Port Royal Sound Foundation with director Jody Hayward

Interview and Photos by Mark Shaffer

On a breezy Saturday in mid-May a mob of people gather at the old Lemon Island Marina in the shadow of the 170 bridge at low tide. The once derelict property has recently been transformed into the Port Royal Sound Foundation Maritime Center. Today an unprecedented number of volunteers have turned out to build a huge oyster reef along the shoreline of the Center’s Chechessee river waterfront. Made of bagged oyster shell, recycled crab traps and specially designed concrete blocks, the reef will serve as a living research project and classroom as it rebuilds a strip of long lost marsh habitat. It is also a metaphor for what the non-profit Port Royal Sound Foundation is all about, says Director Jody Hayward.

Watercolor Paintings by Pat Wilund at the SOBA Gallery

The Society of Bluffton Artists Gallery is pleased to welcome Pat Wilund as the featured artist August 3 through September 5. Pat will be exhibiting a body of new watercolor paintings she has named “To Pour or Not to Pour.” In this work Pat experiments with traditional and non-traditional methods of painting the backgrounds for her subject matter.

(pace, Miles Davis)

In most temperate and tropical climates, green – rich, dark, delicate, dappled green – is the default color. It is the color which signifies a plant’s healthy relationship to the sun, the soil, and the water. Other colors are introduced most often as the garden plants go about trying to reproduce. Whites, reds, yellows, pinks, and purples are gloriously placed against that textured backdrop of green.