Best Moving Company in Hilton Head Island

Here are some upcoming arts and cultural events in Beaufort County to enjoy.

“In the Heights,” the Tony-winning best musical

When a winning lottery ticket, a power outage, and romantic tension shake up the neighborhood, the long-time friends and neighbors make discoveries about each other and themselves.

Featuring an exhilarating score by Lin Manuel-Miranda, this fresh and revolutionary musical combines Latin rhythms and dance to tell a captivating story about what it means to chase your dreams as you cling to your roots and to celebrate the community from which you grew.

Bluffton Village Festival, known as “Mayfest”

This is one of the area’s favorite festivals because it has something for everyone, such as food, arts and crafts, music, and entertainment.

Two stages — the main stage in Martin Family Park and a second on Bridge Street — will provide a variety of entertainment. Admission is free.

Look forward to the Derby Hat parade, the Country Project, the Pie-Eating Contest at Dubois Park and the infamous Ugliest Dog Contest starting at 1 p.m. at Heyward House.

Terpsichore by Hilton Head Dance Theatre

Don’t miss Hilton Head Dance Theatre’s annual production of both classical and contemporary dance. It’s always an audience favorite!

“The Versatile Jazz Band,” by the Lowcountry Jazz Band

The 17-member Lowcountry Jazz Band will present jazz favorites about love, standards arranged by the gifted composer Wally Menard and newer arrangements of jazz classics, all with engaging introductions.

The Jazz Band with vocalist Robin Lind is a subgroup of the Lowcountry Community Concert Band under the auspices of the Osher Life-Long Learning Institute and is directed by Mary Woodmansee Green. The concert is free; an offering will be taken to support the band’s purchase of music and equipment.

Swing into Summer concert

Hilton Head Big Band, under the direction of Pete Stephenson, will premiere “Where is Freedom?” by musical theater writers Luanne and Kristen Rosenfeld. The new song, arranged by Richard Orr and performed by Amber Thornburg, will be featured at the Swing Into Summer concert benefiting the Junior Jazz Foundation. The foundation helps ensure young music students get the instruments, lessons and opportunities they need to keep music alive on Hilton Head for the next generation.

“America Sings!” by the Hilton Head Choral Society

A celebration of the American spirit! Join the chorus, the Atlanta Symphony Brass Quintet, and a special guest speaker in an all-American musical program including a tribute to the men and women of our armed forces, current and past. Celebrate the Memorial Day weekend with the HHCS.

Artists of HOPE works on display

Artwork produced by The Artists of HOPE, a group of local cancer patients and survivors, is on display on Hilton Head. Many of the paintings are available as part of a silent auction to raise funds for the H.O.P.E. Life Cancer Recovery Fund which provided the art therapy to this group.

Looking ahead to summer

Ben Wolfe and his Southeastern Summer Theatre Institute have two amazing musicals planned at the Seahawk Cultural Center on Hilton Head. For more info, go to HHISummerMusicals.com or call 866-749-2228.

Nancy Wellard may be reached at [email protected]

HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. (WSAV) – May 18 is International Museum Day, and wouldn’t you know, Hilton Head has several museums that you can enjoy while visiting the island. The following is a list of four museums on Hilton Head that you can go to in order to recognize the impact that museums have on the community.

The Coastal Discovery Museum was opened in 1985 and was officially recognized as a Smithsonian affiliate in 2015. Their mission is to inspire people to care for the Lowcountry. You can read about their strategic plan through the link here.

The Coastal Discovery Museum has 68 acres of outdoors to explore and 2,000 square feet of indoor exhibits to learn from. According to their website, admission to the museum is free, though some events do require reservations.

The museum is open Monday through Saturday from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. They are located on Honey Horn Drive and they have events every weekday for you to enjoy. You can check out their calendar on their website through the link here.

Established in 2003 by Louise Miller Cohen, a Native islander, The Gullah Museum of Hilton Head Island is focused on the preservation, restoration and revitalization of Gullah history. According to their website, they are dedicated to “maintaining Gullah customs, traditions, language, stories, songs and structures,” on the island. You can read more about their history and mission through the link here.

The museum is by appointment visitation only, so you’ll have to book online if you would like to visit. However, your admission fee includes a guided tour.

Admission is $20 per person, and you can find more information through the link to their website here. They are located on Georgianna Drive a short drive away from the Boys and Girls Club of Hilton Head Island.

According to the Sandbox Children’s Museum website, in the early 2000s, a group of moms realized the need for “a community space to provide educational play for preschool- and elementary-aged children and their families.” It took several years of hard work and fundraising but eventually, they were able to create this space for families in the Lowcountry and the museum opened its doors in 2005. The Sandbox Children’s Museum now has one location in Bluffton and one location on Hilton Head.

The mission of the Sandbox Children’s Museum is to provide an environment for children to learn and explore that is inclusive and safe. This exploration is to happen with their peers and caregivers through hands-on discovery that is paired with “imaginative play that cultivates their physical, social and cognitive development.” You can read more about their mission statement and history through the link here.

The Sandbox Children’s Museum has plenty of indoor exhibits for your child to enjoy playing with. Their museum is designed for children up to the age of 12, including a two-story “sandcastle” and a model shrimp boat.

The museum is located on Nassau Street and admission is $10 per person aged 1 to 64. Individuals 65 and older need only pay $7.50 for their admission. They are open every day of the week for three-hour general admission sessions. For more information on how that works and how you can buy your tickets, you can visit the link here.

The Harbour Town Lighthouse is just over 50 years old and still standing strong. According to their website, the museum’s mission is to ensure that all of those who visit the lighthouse “have a memorable experience that they will cherish for years.” You can learn more about the history of the lighthouse, as well as the ways the museum has contributed to the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s, through the link here.

Each level of the lighthouse has historical information to go along with it. You can learn about the history of the island all while climbing to the very top of the red and white structure.

Admission to the lighthouse is $5.75 per person and children who are under 5 are free. The lighthouse is open from 10 a.m. to sundown every day. You can find more information about admission by visiting the link here.

A ready-to-eat sandwich company is expanding into South Carolina and is investing millions in a new operation, according to Gov. Henry McMaster’s office.

E.A. Sween Company announced plans to set up shop in a facility in Greenwood County, the governor’s office said in a news release. The company is investing $38 million and will create 300 jobs, according to the release.

The company’s plan marks the largest number of jobs created in Greenwood County since 2013, Greenwood County Council Chairman Chuck Moates said.

“When an industry leader like E.A. Sween Company locates in South Carolina, it’s further proof that our state’s business-friendly environment and talented workforce offer companies the recipe for success,” McMaster said in the release.

Founded in 1955, E.A. Sween Company is a private company that produces and ships sandwiches and other ready-to-eat products across the U.S., the governor’s office said. Its brands include Deli Express, Market Sandwich, San Luis Burritos and Simply Delicious Bakery, and it sells more than 100 million sandwiches annually, according to the release.

When the new facility in South Carolina is fully operational, the company said it expects to produce an additional 75 million sandwiches a year. The facility, which will be at 5730 Highway 25 North in Hodges, is expected to be up and running in 2023, the governor’s office said.

“From the moment we first visited the community, we knew it was a perfect fit,” E.A. Sween Company President and CEO Tom H. Sween said in the release. “South Carolina is a place where people, partnerships, relationships and opportunity matter to everyone we came across.”

The Coordinating Council for Economic Development has approved job development credits related to this project.

Those interested in applying for a job can visit the company’s careers page.

“E.A. Sween Company’s decision to locate their newest facility in Greenwood shows that the Upstate continues to be a key location for food and beverage companies,” Upstate SC Alliance President and CEO John Lummus said in the release. “Our region’s proximity to consumer markets and logistical advantages, combined with an available, trained workforce, makes Upstate South Carolina an ideal location as companies look for an East Coast location.”

This story was originally published May 18, 2022 12:45 PM.

FRIPP ISLAND, South Carolina – You can practically see Hilton Head from the tip of Fripp Island.

From the map, I’m pretty sure I could swim between them. But it’s an hour and a half by car. And that’s the way Fripp likes it, cut off from the rest of the tourists in South Carolina’s Lowcountry.

There are no grocery stores on Fripp, a 6.5-square-mile private resort off the coast of Beaufort, between Charleston, S.C., and Savannah, Georgia. There are no outlet malls, no hotels, no mini golf and no crowds – at least when we rented a house with friends for spring break.

Fewer than 1,000 people live on the island year-round, though the population swells to about 5,000 during the summer months.

Many of those are families on vacation: plunging in the Atlantic Ocean, jumping in the pool, playing tennis, playing golf, bicycling, fishing, paddleboarding, golf carting or just lounging under the shade of palm trees.

Fripp offers a few restaurants. But if you want to paint the town, you can drive 30 minutes west to Beaufort, recently voted best small town in the South by the readers of Southern Living magazine (which generally serves as my travel and daydreaming guide). There you can wander the mansions of the Spanish-moss-draped historic district, a kaleidoscope of charming boutiques on Bay Street and the sun-dappled patios of restaurants along the Beaufort River.

We spent one day in Beaufort, which I had visited eight years ago on a girls weekend. But the rest of our week passed in a golden haze on Fripp.

Why Fripp?

We chose the island simply because of an incredible house we found on Vrbo with a pool, hot tub, waterslide and fire pit. At 12 hours away, the destination was just within the range of a one-day drive, though if you want to fly you can, to the Savannah and Charleston airports. When people asked where we were going, and I said, Fripp, most looked confused. “What?”

The name is not for the perfect abundance of possible puns, many of which grace mailboxes: Fripp Floppin’, Fripp-a-dee-doo-dah and A Long Strange Fripp.

The island is named after Johannes Fripp, a 17th-century swashbuckling privateer or a British sailor who protected the area from Spanish attacks, depending on who you ask. Legend says that pirates hid treasure on the island. But for much of its history the island was used primarily for hunting, as was the appropriately named Hunting Island to the north. Hunting Island is now a 5,000-acre state park, with trails, a beach and an 1875-built lighthouse currently closed for repair.

A bridge from Hunting Island to Fripp was built in 1961. Over the next decade, the Ocean Point Golf Links, racquet club, marina, houses and condos were built, all part of the Fripp Island Golf & Beach Resort.

The island remains private and unincorporated, with many of the homes rented directly through the resort itself. You must pass a security gate to enter the island, and to use any amenities, including the two golf courses, four pools, kids’ activities or restaurants, you must buy a $35 club card good for a week, for each family member 13 and older.

But once you’re on Fripp, you may never want to leave the paradise of palm trees, far removed from the everyday world.

This is a place where your calendar is completely free, where your biggest question is beach or pool – and the answer is, both. Where you can set up the Risk board and play all week long. Where there’s no point in packing dressy dangly earrings because you’ll wear only swimsuits and T-shirts anyway.

The island is bigger than I expected, with space to spread out and deer everywhere. But it’s compact enough that you can park your car for the week and travel on bikes or golf carts.

We mostly stayed put. We stocked up on groceries in Beaufort and cooked dinner every night, sharing kitchen duties so it made clean-up easy. We shared kid-wrangling duties, too, so while the kids hung out with their friends, the parents felt like they actually got a vacation.

We whiled away our days spotting dolphins and an alligator, riding golf carts, picking up shells, swimming and playing football on the sand. We lazed away our evenings cooking dinner, sitting in the hot tub, playing cards and telling stories around the fire.

That’s not to say we had no plans. We shopped and lunched in Beaufort one morning and rented boats. I took a tennis lesson and was absolutely glowing with compliments and helpful tips. We hit balls on the driving range. We paddleboarded. We boogie-boarded. We visited the Hunting Island lighthouse. And my 9-year-old daughter and I took a surfing lesson through Nalu Paddleboarding, a shop located at the Fripp Marina.

She was a natural who popped up on her first try, even turned around to wave. I was definitely not, but thanks to the patience of our instructor, I did manage to stand up a few times on the board. More importantly, I felt invigorated trying something completely new.

Completely new, completely chill. Frippee-ki-yay!

If you go:

Check Vrbo or Fripp Island Resort to search for houses and condos.

Prices depend on amenities and location, though you can get anywhere on the island easily by bike or golf cart.

During summer months, expect to pay $300 or more a night for a two-bedroom condo.

Houses vary from sleeping four to 16. A 14-person, house, for example, could cost about $600 a night.

Note to readers: if you purchase something through one of our affiliate links we may earn a commission.

New SC law changes rules just before June 14 primary

From staff reports

In-person absentee voting for the June 14 primaries was to have started Monday in Beaufort County, but because of a new law, the option no longer exists in South Carolina.

Governor Henry McMaster on Friday, May 13, signed into law legislation passed by the General Assembly that establishes early voting in South Carolina.

In-person absentee voting has now been replaced with a two-week early voting period. The period, for the June 14 primaries, runs from May 31 to June 10. Any voter can visit an early-voting location in Beaufort and vote like they would at their polling place on Election Day.

To help prepare for the upcoming elections, the Board of Voter Registration and Elections of Beaufort County issued a release informing voters of all their options to vote.

Polling Place on Election Day

Polls are open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Check your polling place at scVOTES.gov before leaving to vote.

Bring your Photo ID (or voter registration card if you do not have a Photo ID).

Early Voting

Any voter can visit an early-voting location in Beaufort and vote like they would at their polling place on Election Day.

Early-voting for June Primaries (June 14) is May 31 to June 10. Polls are open from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.. Polls are closed Saturday and Sunday, June 5-6.

Early-voting for June Runoffs (June 28) is Wednesday, June 22 to Friday, June 24 at the same hours and locations as the primaries.

Bring your Photo ID (or voter registration card if you do not have a Photo ID).

There are currently three (3) Early Voting Centers: Beaufort (Main office), 15 John Galt Road, Beaufort, S.C. 29906; Bluffton (Satellite office), 61B Ulmer Road, Bluffton, S.C. 29910; and Hilton Head (Satellite office), 539 William Hilton Parkway, Hilton Head Island, S.C. 29926.

Absentee (by-mail only)

Absentee voting allows qualified voters to cast a ballot by mail prior to Election Day. In-Person Absentee Voting is no longer authorized by law.

Qualified voters include:

Voters with disabilities.

Voters 65 years of age or older.

Members of the Armed Forces and Merchant Marines of the United States, their spouses, and dependents residing with them.

Voters admitted to hospitals as emergency patients on the day of an election or within a four-day period before the election.

Voters who, for one of the following reasons, are unable to vote in person on any day of the early-voting period or on Election Day: Employment obligations; Attending sick or physically disabled persons; Confined to a jail or pretrial facility pending disposition of arrest or trial; or Absent from their county for any reason.

To vote absentee:

Request an absentee application by phone, mail, or in person.

Complete, sign and return the application by mail or in person. New applications will be issued soon based on the new requirements. The old application will continue to be accepted through May 31. After May 31, only new applications meeting current requirements will be accepted. The deadline to return a new application is June 3.

You will receive your absentee ballot in the mail.

Vote and return your ballot to the Board of Voter Registration and Elections of Beaufort County office by mail or in person no later than 7:00 p.m. on Election Day. Be sure to sign the voter’s oath and have the return envelope witnessed. There are no changes to the witness requirement in effect for the June Primaries. Witness requirement changes in the law go into effect in July. Photo ID will be required to return your ballot in person. Ballots returned by mail should be mailed no later than one week prior to election day to help ensure timely delivery.