On the town: Remembering the first Heritage

When we arrived on the Bluffton scene in 1971, the Heritage golf tournament took place in November. We attended our first in 1972 on what was a cold, blustery day. Golfers were beside themselves trying to keep calm cool and collected.

Later, wise officials moved the beloved match to the spring and things have become more welcoming to the players and attendees. I remember at the first spring match, we followed Arnold Palmer, who was one of the golf course designers. He was charming and though he never spoke to anyone in the audience was always smiling and looked as if he was having the time of his life.

At the most recent Heritage, there were many Blufftonians having a grand old time, dressed to the nines in crazy clothes, sporting plaid and enjoying the whole swell affair.

At the 13th hole, DX Marketing was holding court in a Bluffton kind of way. Lowcountry Kitchen, Lori Holland, Amanda Walton, Maywood Davis, and Geist & Company pulled out all the stops. Geist Ussery designed the gorgeous floral arrangements with Maywood, Lori, and Amanda dishing out wonderful nibbles to all of the guests who stopped by to chat.

Over at the 18th, NBSC welcomed the crowd with a beautiful spread that everybody thought was one of the best on the course. The throngs of golf lovers enjoyed the lovely weather and were thrilled to hear that next year RBC has once again signed up to present what is a wonderful event for thousands.

Marathon pioneer honored

The 120th running of the Boston Marathon is now over.

An interesting tidbit I learned is that in 1966 Bobbi Gibb sent in her application to enter what is one of America's most celebrated athletic happenings. At the time, it time was a men’s only event. Bobbi got a letter back telling her that. She was told women were not physically able to compete and that the officials in charge did not want to take on the medical liability.

That letter did not stop Miss Gibb, so she hid in the bushes wearing a hooded jacket so no-one would see she was a woman. She would most likely have been arrested had they seen her.

Near the starting line she found her chance jumped out and joined the runners. The rest is history. There were more than 13,000 women signed up for this year's 26.2 mile race, quite something to ponder.

Bobbi was given a 50 year anniversary celebration in Boston for being the first woman to run the marathon. Uninvited 50 years ago, she was an honored guest this year. Women have come a long way, that is for certain, and we should all celebrate the courage of those who helped pave the way because it has not been an easy journey.

Big skulls, big trouble

Some people collect stamps, comic books, shells, many seemingly mundane objects. I saw an article in the paper that caught my eye. The actor Nicolas Cage, it seems, collects dinosaur skulls. He bought one skull at an auction and did not know it had been taken from the Gobi Desert in Mongolia illegally. A judge in New York ruled that the priceless, 32-inch long fossil must be returned to that country. Hope it gets back safely.

‘Jungle Book’ too wild?

I was looking forward to taking my three granddaughters to see the new movie “The Jungle Book,” a movie taken from Rudyard Kipling's classic stories. The children all saw “Zootopia” and loved that. Imagine my chagrin when I read a review saying the movie was too scary for children under 10 years old. It has 3-D effects that make the animals jump out of the screen at the audience. If any of you have seen it, would you let me know what you think.

Celebrate our past

Try to attend some of the fun, interesting events celebrating the 450th anniversary of the settlement of Port Royal Sound.

There are fun things to do all around Beaufort County with the big event on April 30 when the Santa Elena History Center celebrates its grand opening.

Go to www.firstshore.org and choose the "spring tour" affinity category.

Eat well in the Lowcountry

The Morris Center for Lowcountry Heritage on S.C. 17 in downtown Ridgeland is hosting a celebration of food we all love to eat.

The center will hold a community cookoff April 30 and also open a new exhibit “Roots : The Lowdown on Lowcountry Cuisine.”

Lowcountry Frogmore stew and barbeque are on the menu and if I were you, I’d be first in line.

Bluffton author Ellen Malphrus, Pat Branning and her beautiful cookbooks, Daufuskie's Sallie Ann Robinson will share the day with musicians, sweetgrass basket makers and boiled peanuts.

The Morris Center is in a charming redo of a restored Sinclair Service Station.

This story was originally published April 20, 2016 at 1:00 PM with the headline "On the town: Remembering the first Heritage."