David Lauderdale: Hilton Head, Bluffton futures should be shaped by pillars who got us here
Hilton Head Island Mayor Alan Perry knew what he was talking about when he talked Thursday about the toil and sacrifice of those who established the trajectory and values of a community.
He lived it, with his late parents Charles and Patsy Perry creating a printing business on the island, and then giving, giving and giving some more to nonprofits, other businesses and community institutions such the Island Recreation Association.
The mayor made his remarks in helping the Rotary Club of Hilton Head Island acknowledge 10 new inductees in the Hilton Head Island Hall of Fame.
Bluffton also honored two of its pillars last week in naming H.E. McCracken Sr. and H.E. “Emmett” McCracken Jr. to the Wall of Honor at Town Hall.
H.E. McCracken was the face of public education in southern Beaufort County for 50 years. And Emmett, after being reared here and spending a career in the military, came home to leadership roles at the town and county levels as the area grappled with sudden, massive change. Emmett has been a trusted voice of reason, with good humor to boot.
On Hilton Head, the new inductees were called “pillars” of the community for making lasting contributions.
With this quick look at them, in alphabetical order, maybe we can, as the mayor said, better appreciate our past, but also more clearly see our future.
Todd Ballantine was a leader in establishing environmental protection as a core community value. He used his books, newspaper columns, clever artwork, nature tours, lectures and consultant work to teach about Hilton Head Island’s unique and fascinating natural environment, making it interesting to residents and visitors of all ages.
Jonathan Worth Daniels, whose co-founding of The Island Packet newspaper in 1970 gave the community a “gathering place” to share and promote its many endeavors and big personalities. It also provided a way for waves of current issues to be hashed out, and a bully pulpit for the wide array of opinions during a crucial era of community growth. His front-page columns helped establish a personality and agenda for the community long before there was a Town Hall.
Timothy C. “Tim” Doughtie, who set Hilton Head Island apart as an activist for community standards to fight against “ugly.” He succeeded with the passage of county and later town ordinances prohibiting billboards and tightly regulating signage. At the same time, he set a beloved tone for the community with his humor and widespread volunteerism.
Walter M. Greer, who became Hilton Head Island’s only full-time artist when he moved to the island in 1960. He became a longtime champion of the arts as a teacher, lecturer and colleague to many artists who followed him. And he sensitively and wisely documented the people and places of the much-overlooked Gullah community he discovered here.
James Benjamin “Benny” Hudson Jr., a true character who was a leading face and voice of Hilton Head Island to the outside world in the decades preceding the first bridge to the mainland. He was a leader in the commercial fishing industry who in 1968 opened the island’s first tourism-oriented seafood restaurant, then a simple harbinger to a multi-million dollar industry on the island today.
David Jones, who as the island’s first Black representative to Beaufort County Council and a serial entrepreneur was a respected leader and bridge builder in the community. But his most lasting contribution was as president of the Hilton Head Fishing Cooperative, which not only gave Gullah fishermen a greater slice of the commercial fishing economic pie, but was a key factor in casting the die for the island forevermore. The Cooperative joined the ultimately successful grassroots and corporate opposition to a BASF petrochemical plant proposed for the banks of the Colleton River in 1969. His Captain Dave shrimp trawler became the symbol of that courageous opposition when it sailed from the island to Washington, D.C., where David Jones delivered to the U.S. Secretary of the Interior petitions signed by tens of thousands, a mess of fresh shrimp and an eloquent statement for the environmental protection of the Port Royal Sound.
Richard A. McGinty, who in 1954 became the first architect on Hilton Head Island, fostered a feel for the coming development that would become known worldwide as “the Hilton Head look” — homes of natural colors blending unobtrusively with the trees, including expansive glass and screened porches to bring the outside in and the inside out. He used his Clemson University undergraduate degree in mechanical engineering to help place roads, traffic circles and new buildings on the island, beginning two years before the first bridge.
Joseph B. “Joe” Fraser Jr., who as the steady and calm ballast to his vociferous brother, Charles E. Fraser, assured the success of their family’s Sea Pines company in the 25 years that it established the identity of modern Hilton Head Island. As the inaugural chairman of the Heritage Classic Foundation, he brought stability to the island’s PGA Tour event that still pumps $100 million-plus into the state’s economy annually, has given tens of millions of dollars to charities and local scholarships and in many ways defines the island.
J. Edward “Ed” Pinckney, whose early work in fleshing out the plan for Sea Pines to integrate development with nature set the standard for the art of landscape design would make Hilton Head Island special. It started his long and influential path to becoming known as the “father of modern landscape architecture in South Carolina.”
Gregg Russell, whose guitar, personality and talents as a nightly performer under the Liberty Oak at Harbour Town in Sea Pines for half a century have established the island as a family-friendly, clean, fun place to visit. With style, humor and class, Russell has helped brand Hilton Head. His entertaining interaction with children and their parents now stretches across multiple generations in families that have built this pleasant anchor into their family lore.
David Lauderdale may be reached at lauderdalecolumn@gmail.com.