On June 4 Sun City residents have an opportunity to learn the many ways to “Discover the Low Country.”
The Sun City Fishing and Hunting Club is sponsoring its second annual Discover the Low Country event in the Pinckney Hall Ballroom on June 4 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. It is free and open to all Sun City residents. Here you will discover great tours, trips and events for you to enjoy with your family, friends, neighbors and members of your Sun City clubs and groups. More than 750 residents attended last year’s event, which was so popular that it has become an annual happening. This year, Discover the Low Country will be three times larger, with 57 exhibitors showcasing their services, resources and
DiscoverTHE LOW COUNTRY
programs for Sun City residents.
Exhibitors include natural resource agencies, Sun City clubs, tour and excursion companies, including Kelly Tours and Vagabond Cruises, and the Hilton Head, Savannah and Beaufort chambers of commerce.
Also joining the event will be charter companies, outfitters, Lowcountry museums and performing arts groups, including the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force and May River Theatre, as well as media companies and first responder organizations.
With educational exhibits and handouts, there will be plenty of information whether you are interested in photography, actively taking part in these activities or simply getting out to enjoy the area. Stop by and see if any of these are for you.
Discover the Low Country evolved from an idea Chuck Volpe had two years ago. He was a new Sun City resident and recognized that the area was one of the greatest regions in the country. Its abundant natural resources, wildlife, history, culture and cities seemed unique.
There were many places, activities and organizations to truly discover the Lowcountry. He envisioned and carefully planned an event where Sun City residents could easily learn about all the area has to offer. That vision became a reality with the Discover the Low Country event.
“As former president of the Fishing and Hunting Club, I know you will love the outstanding exhibits and you will learn about many new opportunities to celebrate everything we love about our home here in the beautiful South Carolina Lowcountry,” said Terry Deyo of the
Sun City Fishing and Hunting Club.
Chuck is the Fishing and Hunting Club’s president and promotions director.
The club provides seminars, charters, tournaments, outings and social events for its 400 members. Activities include lagoon fishing, saltwater charters, surf fishing, shooting and hunting, oyster roasts, shrimp boils, fish fries, Oktoberfest and a holiday dinner party at Riverbend.
The Fishing and Hunting Club welcomes members with or without experience. Women are encouraged to participate and enjoy the club’s events.
For more information about joining, contact Chuck Volpe at chuckvolpe46@ yahoo.com.
SCVA Plans Memorial Day, Flag Day Programs
BY JOE TURINO Contributor
Patriotic music, touching tributes, moments of reflection, and stirring reminders of sacrifice and service will soon bring the Sun City community together as the Sun City Veterans Association, or SCVA, prepares two of its most meaningful annual events honoring America’s veterans and the nation’s enduring spirit.
Announced by SCVA Commander Al Richter, the organization’s Memorial Day ceremony will be held Monday, May 25, at 10 a.m. in Magnolia Hall, with overflow seating available in Pinckney Hall. The annual Flag Day observance will follow June 12.
The Memorial Day ceremony promises a moving blend of music, military tradition and heartfelt remembrance. Featured participants will include the Bluffton Brass Quintet, conducted by Pete Stephenson; the Sun City Singers, directed by Nancy Laws with Debbie Ratcliff on piano; the SCVA
Color Guard, led by William Field; the Bluffton High School JROTC Color Guard; and the SCVA Marching Unit, led by retired Lt. Col. Michael Chorney. Retired Lt. Col. Carl Trovato will serve as master of ceremonies.
Highlights of the program will include the posting of the colors, the national anthem, invocation, an Armed Forces service songs salute, tolling of bells for departed SCVA members, wreath laying at the Veterans Monument, and the playing of “Echo Taps” by Larry Hyatt and Charlene Gorrell.
Serving as keynote speaker will be Maj. Gen. John F. Hussey, USAR (retired), whose distinguished 34-year military career included service in Desert Storm, Bosnia, Iraq, Afghanistan and Guantanamo Bay. Hussey commanded the 306th Military Police Battalion at Abu Ghraib Prison. A highly decorated officer, he earned numerous honors, including the Defense Superior Service Medal, Legion of Merit with Oak
Leaf Cluster, and Bronze Star with two Oak Leaf Clusters.
Now a Beaufort County resident, Hussey also holds a doctorate in criminal justice and authored the book “Inside the Wire: Guarding America’s Enemy Prisoners in the Global War on Terror from Abu Ghraib to Guantanamo Bay.”
The spirit of patriotism will continue June 12 when the SCVA hosts its annual Flag Day ceremony, moving ahead of the traditional June 14 observance to avoid conflict with Sunday religious services. Information on the program was provided by SCVA Program Manager Al Breininger. The event will begin at 10 a.m. in Pinckney Hall.
The Flag Day ceremony will celebrate 250 years of American history and the evolution of the nation’s flag through music, historical tributes, audience participation and community involvement. Participants will include the Sons of the American Revolution, or SAR; Daughters of the Ameri-
can Revolution, or DAR; the Civil War Round Table; marching units; and JROTC students.
Patriotic selections, including “Yankee Doodle Dandy,” “When Johnny Comes Marching Home Again,” “Over There” and “God Bless the U.S.A.,” will help bring different eras of American history to life, while audience members also will join in singing “You’re a Grand Old Flag” and “God Bless America.”
Additional highlights will include a JROTC reading titled “Honor Our Flag of Red, White and Blue,” recognition of the Army’s 251st birthday and Women Veterans Day, a video presentation titled “Old Glory,” and the presentation of eight American flags to new Sun City residents. Together, the two ceremonies are expected to once again highlight the pride, patriotism, remembrance and powerful sense of community that continue to define both the SCVA and Sun City Hilton Head.
Why older homes often cost more to insure
BY GARY SMYTHE Contributor
One of the questions I hear more and more from buyers and homeowners throughout Bluffton and Hilton Head is: “Why is the insurance quote so high on this house?”
Many people assume insurance companies simply charge more because a home is older. While age does play a role, it’s usually not the age alone that affects pricing. Insurance companies typically looking much deeper than the year the home was built. What insurers really care about is risk. An older home often comes with a greater likelihood that certain systems may fail or cause damage. For example,
an aging roof is more susceptible to leaks and storm damage. Older plumbing systems can increase the risk of water damage claims. Electrical systems in older homes may not meet modern standards, and older HVAC systems may be more prone to failure.
In many cases, insurance companies are evaluating what’s called the “effective age” of the home rather than just the actual age. A 30-year-old home with a new roof, updated plumbing, modern electrical systems, and newer HVAC equipment may actually receive more favorable treatment than a newer home with original aging components.
Roof age has become one of the biggest factors in insurance pricing today, especially in coastal areas like ours. Some insurance carriers may surcharge homes with older roofs, limit coverage, or even decline coverage entirely depending on the roof’s age and condition.
Plumbing is another major consideration. Certain materials, such as older polybutylene piping, have become red flags for many insurers because of their history of leaks and failures. Electrical panels and outdated wiring can also affect insurability.
Location also matters. Homes in coastal regions naturally face higher exposure to wind, hurricanes, flooding, and severe weather. That means two identical homes could have very different insurance costs simply based on location.
Construction quality and mitigation features can help offset some of these concerns. Impact-resistant windows, hurricane shutters, newer roofs, and updated systems can sometimes lead to credits or improved pricing.
For buyers, this is why obtaining insurance quotes early in the process has become increasingly important. Two homes at the same purchase price can have dra-
matically different annual insurance costs depending on the age and condition of their systems.
For homeowners considering updates, improvements like a new roof or updated plumbing may not only help with maintenance and resale value but could also improve insurability and reduce long-term insurance costs.
As the insurance market continues evolving, understanding how carriers evaluate homes is becoming just as important as understanding mortgage rates or property taxes.
Gary Smythe is a local Real Estate Agent with William Raveis Real Estate specializing in Bluffton and Hilton Head Island.
My formerly beloved, once-extremely-reliable putter is now upstairs in the attic. To be more specific, it’s tucked away in the attic’s timeout corner, a very dark, remotely isolated, dishonorable space reserved exclusively for misbehaving golf equipment in need of rehabilitation. Admittedly, the attic environs can be rather unwelcoming, but there stands my putter, shamefully hiding between a few of its long-lost buddies: my long-ago beloved fairway-finder driver, my previously cherished high-launch 3-wood, and my
That’s golf
once highly revered lob wedge. Outcasts all. Betrayal by a golf club on the course means there will be a reckoning, and my hope is that their well-deserved attic seclusion will reawaken their vitality and that they, one day, individually or collectively, will miraculously find their way back into the peaceful comfort of my bag.
My transfer of a club from golf bag to attic often involves an intermediary stopover for those suspected unruly actors (most notably fairway metals and long irons), analogous to being placed on injured reserve status: permitted to ride the team bus to the game, yet never to be called into play. Lacking confidence these dubious laggards will be able to perform when needed, I have reserved a small section of my bag for them, so they stand handsomely posed with matching head covers and shimmering steel heads, camouflaged among the embattled members of my active club roster.
The Seabrook #4304
Downsize without sacrificing quality or independence.
Estate
opportunity in
welcoming community. No
What is it about golf that causes us to have this love-hate relationship with our equipment, to lose confidence following a single failed shot? A wicked slice, a flubbed fairway wood, a thinned long iron, a chunked wedge, a yanked putt: the list of isolated blunders that suddenly jettison our games into a downward spiral is, unfortunately, rather lengthy.
Fascinating, captivating, frustrating, intriguing, ever-challenging. Perhaps it can best be simply described as, “That’s golf!”
As elusive as the answer may be, we may find some comfort in knowing that no player, regardless of skill level, is immune from these sudden reversals.
At this year’s Masters Tournament, through the first three rounds of play, the previously trustworthy driver of Rory McIlroy found only 50% of fairways. Golf’s history books are filled with inexplicable equipment failures leading to meltdowns: Greg Norman at the 1996 Mas-
ters, Jean Van de Velde at the 1999 Open Championship, Phil Mickelson at the 2006 U.S. Open, a small sampling of golf’s sudden reversals resulting in agonizing losses.
Fortunately, McIlroy was able to tame his driver’s unruliness in the final round, increasing his driving accuracy to a more respectable 72% of fairways hit. There’s no doubt his rediscovered precision helped him become only the fourth player in Masters history to repeat as back-toback champion.
Rest assured, Rory, if your driver starts to misbehave and go rogue once again, I’ve got plenty of room up in the attic.
Rich Bernstein is a resident of Sun CityHilton Head. Rich has been experiencing the joy, challenges and frustrations of golf since his selection as the 6th player on his 5-player high school golf team.
Seabrook #5309
RICH BERNSTEIN
BY CHRIS ROOSA Contributor
Looking forward to eighty?
I was in my 50s when we retired. I biked 10 miles daily, rode my horse most days, and lifted 80-pound bales of hay and 50-pound bags of feed like it was nothing. I also walked 4 miles three days a week. I had the energy of a 20-year-old and was trim and toned.
But time moves on, the years creep by, and before you know it, you are old. I am in my 80s now. Those activities I once did do not seem that long ago, yet in reality, we are talking about 25 years ago.
First, you break a hip in your 60s. Hip replacement. Your first introduction to the “kindergarten” of old age. The hip mends, but now there is a slight limp to your once-sexy stride.
You gradually notice your knees are not feeling like they once did. Actually,
they hurt. Off to the orthopedic doctor, where you hear those famous words: “Bone on bone. You need both knees replaced.” More metal in your body. You are now at the point where you set off alarms at airports. You get to have your old body searched because of all that new hardware.
In your 70s, you begin to see bugs floating in front of your face. You spend a lot of time swatting at them. But during your next eye exam, you are informed they are floaters and you have reached the magical age for cataract surgery. Not a big deal, in all honesty. But unless you spend thousands for the suggested lens, you find you can see colors vividly and distance at 20/20, but you can no longer see well enough to read. Reading glasses are now a necessity.
By your mid-70s, it is time to fall again. You guessed it. Another hip replacement.
Oh, and a broken wrist. New metal in hip No. 2, plus metal in your wrist. The good thing is you do not limp anymore. Now you walk like a penguin and waddle back and forth.
Do not get discouraged. There is more. Now your husband is deaf but refuses to wear his $6,000 hearing aids. “What?” becomes the most-used word in the English language inside your household. Remember when your toddler asked, “Wuz dat?” all day long? Trust me, this “what” becomes just as annoying as that toddler.
For the ladies, you lose the tails of your eyebrows. Maybe they are on your pillow. Meanwhile, men grow bushy eyebrows and long nose hair. Both sexes share thinning hair. For women, they make a colored powder now that you can sprinkle on your scalp to hide the shine. Actually, they make it for men, too. But
that limits playing golf or baseball because if you sweat, the product runs down your cheeks and drips onto your jersey.
If you women had long, thick lashes, forget it. They turn into short, sparse stubs. You were probably trim once. Gone. Get used to never seeing your feet again or clipping your own toenails.
In your 80s, your teeth start cracking and falling out. Figure about $8,000 to replace one tooth in today’s dental market. Personally, I do not have a tooth in my mouth worth eight grand.
However, I have saved the best for last. While they are busy drilling for a new metal post in your mouth, your plumbing starts to leak. But that is a whole new article and not for the weak-minded.
Chris Roosa is a resident of Sun City Hilton Head.
BY JOE TURINO Contributor
Sun City Bocce Club rolls strong as neighbors come together
There’s something happening on the bocce courts in Sun City, and it’s bringing neighbors together in a way that’s both simple and powerful.
The Sun City Bocce Club has grown into one of the community’s most active and welcoming groups, built around a game that is easy to learn yet rich in connection. At its core, the club reflects the community itself.
“The Bocce Club is made up of a number of leagues,” said President Roy Powers. “And the leagues are mostly neighborhood leagues where they get together once a week.” Those leagues are formed entirely within Sun City neighborhoods, giving residents the opportunity to play alongside neighbors while strengthening ties across the community.
That neighborhood model continues to drive growth.
“We’ve grown rapidly over the years,” Powers said. “We’re up to 64 leagues now with more than 2,100 members.”
While many neighborhoods participate, others in Sun City still have the opportuni-
ty to organize teams as interest builds.
Powers has led the club for about eight years, stepping into the role after first organizing play in his own neighborhood. A Rhode Island native who moved to Sun City in 2015 after 73 years up north, he admits bocce wasn’t part of his background.
“I saw people playing, but I never played,” he said.
That quickly changed.
“We had so much interest that we ended up having more than 60 people play,” he said.
Play is organized into three seasons — spring, fall and winter — with eight-week sessions that keep courts active throughout much of the year. During peak times, more than 1,800 residents participate weekly, often filling all eight courts.
Access to the game is part of what makes the club special. Like all Sun City clubs, bocce reflects a community that values participation and inclusion. Residents who are not club members are still welcome to play.
“They can come over anytime. If there’s a court available, they can play,” Powers said.
Bocce balls are available at the courts,
allowing residents to simply show up and enjoy the game.
For those who want to plan ahead, Sun City’s Chelsea reservation system provides an easy option. Residents can visit the Logo Building in Town Square near the tennis courts, use their CAM card number and email address, and reserve court time in advance, especially when family or guests are visiting.
While the game itself is straightforward — players roll their balls toward a smaller target ball called the pallino — its history spans thousands of years.
Early versions date back to ancient Egypt as far back as 5000 B.C. The game was later refined by the Romans and embraced in Italy, where the modern version took shape. Bocce made its way to the United States in the late 19th and early 20th centuries through Italian immigrants, eventually becoming a popular social and recreational pastime.
Beyond weekly play, the club hosts seasonal tournaments and social gatherings that bring players together in new ways. Powers recalled one member, 74, winning her first sports trophy.
“She was excited,” he said. “It’s nice to see that.”
For those considering getting involved, joining the Sun City Bocce Club is simple: Go to the Sun City Resident Central website, select “Groups,” then scroll to and click on “Bocce Club.”
In the end, the appeal of the Sun City Bocce Club comes down to something simple.
“Most of the people, it’s a completely social thing,” Powers said. “They come down and they’re talking with people and enjoy meeting new people.”
And in a community built on connection, it’s not just about how close you get to the pallino — it’s about how close you get to each other along the way.
JOE TURINO
From left to right are Mark Bijas, Ray Colby, Linda Pickwick, and Tom Shea, members of the Sun City Bocce Club at play representing Sun City’s Basket Walk neighborhood.
