| From HomesOnFrippIsland.com Monthly Newsletter By Rita Riley @ RE/MAX 843-838-0806 March 29th, 2008 www.HomesOnFrippIsland.com rileys@islc.net Everything feels a little different this year – with Easter coming so early and not even close in date to Passover. 1 Our island is full of Easter guests - & it also turns out to be Spring Break for a lot of children. It’s been a fairly breezy month (sometimes difficult for biking) - & you’ll have to check your yard for debris. The traffic this week gives us plenty of practice for the upcoming season - for driving our cars without being able to pass because of the 2-3 carts ahead of you! In just 2 months we’ll be in full season & there won’t be many 25 mph opportunities! It’s alligator mating season, so it was appropriate that FIPOA sent a notice to all canal homeowners to post a sign “no swimming in the canal at any time.” Our Sunrise Easter Service here on Fripp was held in the Pavilion (center island) tent at 6:30 AM with close to 300 attending! This year the sunrise wasn’t quite as spectacular (as previous years) because it was a little overcast till about 7:30. However, this setting is truly dramatic as the Resort provides the tent & has the ocean-side rolled up to show the spot-lighted crucifix with the shroud off to the side & during the service watch the colors of the sky & water…it is truly stirring especially with all the birds chirping. The All-Faiths Chapel choir from the Community Centre was in magnificent form (led by Dee Black). They presented 3 beautiful hymns in full harmony & were joined at times by the congregation. Rev Jerry Hammet did his usual superb presentation. He portrayed the role of Simon Peter (garbed in fisherman’s cos-tume) from the time this fisherman first met Jesus all the way through to the Crucifixion and the Resurrection. Chuck (my husband) was part of that choir but we couldn’t stay for the Beach Club breakfast because we rushed off to the Holy Cross Catholic Service (on Sea Island Pkwy) which was at 8 AM where we are both in that choir. This too, was standing-room-only. I also read about the Beaufort Waterfront Park Easter Sunrise Service where about 200 worshipers gathered and the Rev Eric Spivey (of the Baptist Church of Beaufort) told the story of Jesus’ Resurrection as if he were a journalist reporting live from Jerusalem that year. The water ocean temperature is 63-65º & it’s not too bad to walk in – but I saw nobody really braving it yet. The Easter weekend had quite a beach crowd: sunbaskers, beach-bums & walkers. Chuck was fishing off our dock & neither he nor the neighbor across the canal caught anything till Dennis got a 17” spot tail 3/27.. We had 2 clients visit who were really anxious to ‘catch’ but it was a week ago when we had a strong north easterner –(which we know is a detriment to fishing). Not to be discouraged, the 11 year old hung in there till the cold got him. In the near future, as the water temp comes up, we’ll be back into spot tails, trout, flounder, crabs & finally shrimp. (More about crabs under “Fishing”). By the end of this upcoming month, it’ll be that time of year where we have the Loggerhead Turtles laying their eggs. That season goes from May 1st to Sept. & is a very special time here because Fripp is a wild life nature preserve. Speaking of water temperature, the Cabana Club pool has been in the 79-84° range and there were plenty of folks having a great time. It has been open for the entire month & twice we enjoyed a fabulous few hours with our grandsons (ages 7 & 9). There were so many swimmers in the pool it looked like summer – but getting out was freezing! Then we took them for private tennis lessons! We (grandparents) were playing on the next court & paused occasionally to watch & cheer. Rte 21 SHOULD be completed soon. The $13 Mil project (3.3 miles from Chowan Creek bridge to Tom Fripp Road) will be ending in a few weeks. It looks pretty good - especially the intersections. Our Fripp Tarpon paving got postponed, but should be finished within a week or so. Then we can get going on the water-tower beautification plan at the fire station. The biggest controversy this month is the Wal-Mart which was proposed for Lady’s Island. Finally, on 3/24, there was a packed meeting regarding this development wherein the Beaufort zoning board upheld last month’s decision to block the project. All 5 members of the Zoning Board of Appeals voted unanimously against a Wal-Mart Supercenter. The original plan for the site was a multi-use, multi-story business complex on the 26 acres on Rte 21 near the Airport Circle dump. The plan had called for 21 buildings-the largest being 70,000 sq ft with trees scattered throughout the plan. However, the Wal-Mart proposal included a large parking lot with a huge 195,000 square foot store behind it. Other big local news this month is that the Port of Port Royal is back on the market after the buyer pulled out of the $25.9 Mil sale (would redevelop the 316-acre site at the end of Paris Ave). Most of us are familiar with Port Royal for its shrimp boats, small antique stores, and especially the Dockside Restaurant. The Gazette 3/19, states that the buyers backed out of their agreement with the State Port Authority because of lack of financing- even after they received 3 extensions. Perhaps the real reason was because their proposed project got turned down. The permit application was for a 450-boat marina & a 1,200-foot dock! The marina would include a 250 slip dry-stack facility & a 228 wet-slip marina & dock. Negative public comments were concerned with shoreline erosion, navigational hazards & reduced water quality. Four yrs ago the state ordered the Ports Auth. to sell the port- now many residents/stores of the town are naturally disappointed. 1 Don’t get this Port in Port Royal mixed up with the Jasper County Port which the State Gvt is pushing. The governor 2 has his eyes on the revenue which would help his spending! According to a Sunday Gazette at the end of Feb, investors have dumped more than $364,000,000 into economic development on the GA side of the Savannah River in anticipation of a shipping port in Jasper County, SC. The $450,000,000 giga-port will be a joint shipping terminal for GA & SC – one of the largest in the nation! Already the Port of Savannah is the 4th largest in the country in terms of containers – so you can imagine the substantial increase in HUGE international container ships (& the possibility of disasters & oil spills) & their “diesel dust” contributing to extremely poor air quality. That doesn’t even begin to touch on the questions about infrastructure, environmental impact and transportation routes…. and traffic. There’s even some plans to spend money on a new road between the port site & I 95 (paid for by whom?)... AND, can you imagine the impact of 5000 people PER year moving to the area & the schools, etc that will be needed. Although we’re not immediately next to the port area, we should all feel responsible to be sure that the plans include environmental safeguards which will affect us. I’m not sure I like it, but the line in that article which caught me was, “Efforts are also being made by the Lowcountry Economic Network to change the perceptions of the county from a tourism haven to one inviting for industry.” On 3/7, a Gazette article reported the Bft-County-developer $61 Mil land purchase of 5000 acres in Jasper County (near the planned port) on either side of Rte I95 & 17. About 2000 acres will be an industrial park & the rest residential or commercial develop-ment. As for safety, we’ve all read about the Charleston poor air quality from the container ships. Also, we’ve read plenty about the 900’ container ship oil spill (53,000 of gallons of oil) in San Francisco Bay last Nov which killed birds & closed more than a dozen beaches. Then, at the end of Jan. 08, the S.Koreans had their worst-ever oil spill when a barge slammed into a supertanker leaking almost 80,000 barrels of oil into the coastal waters. “It jeopardized the ecosystem and affected the livelihood of the residents in the area…which included popular beaches” (..look out Hilton Head & Fripp! ) Just one spill could wipe out our entire beach-oriented tourism industry for YEARS. Sorry, you really needed this worry! Last Sun. an article appeared in the Gazette forecasting a possible freeze (similar to the one last year which reduced the PEACH CROP from 60,000 tons to only 8,000 tons). SC ranks 2nd in the nation for size of peach acreage. Some nights did get very cold lately– but so far, this year, we are OK. However, the cost of our bread is way up! An article in the Gazette mid-month explained that the price of WHEAT has more than tripled during the past 10 months – and they expect 80% of grocery prices will spike also-because wheat & other grains are used to feed cattle, poultry, & dairy cows. They explained, “Poor wheat harvests in Australia & parts of Europe & the US have caused China & other Asian countries to buy up more American crops, - especially attractive because of the weak US dollar. At the same time, the Am crop is shrinking because of federal incentives to grow corn for ethanol & skyrocketing gas prices make it costlier to get any wheat to market.” The price of our S C gas is now at $3.15-3.20. There have been several suggestions for saving money at the gas tank: 1) only fill up in the early morning (the colder the ground the more dense the gas), 2) do not squeeze the trigger of the nozzle to a fast mode – use slow - to minimize the vapors, 3) fill your tank when half full/half empty – (less air occupying the empty space & gas evaporates faster than you can imagine. 4) Do not fill up when the station is getting it’s supply as some dirt from the bottom may be stirred up. Also, if you don’t want to put money into the coffers of Saudi Arabia, purchase from Sunoco, Conoco, Sinclair, PB P /Phillips, Hess or ARCO….they do not import from the Mid East. The big event in March (other than Easter this year) was St Patty’s Day (the 17th). Savannah already had its Irish Festival Feb 16th & 17th at their Civic Center. Savannah is known to have the second largest Saint Patrick’s Day Parade in the entire USA & my daughters did that scene a few years ago. It starts with a Mass at the Cathedral of St John the Baptist at 8 AM and the parade at 10:15 which lasts and lasts! They go up Abercorn Street then Broughton & E Broad to Bay and down Bull St – in all it’s about 40 blocks. Every year it causes congestion - with about 400,000 visitors arriving in the city - adding to the nearly 200,000 people who live there. However, this year they changed the date because of the 17th falling during Holy Week and so it wasn’t SO mobbed. It turned out to be really cool and very windy (for several days). In fact, a tornado hit in downtown Atlanta during that weekend. That storm traveled north of here - it went past the N Augusta & Columbia areas. One of our Fripp owners had a tree fall on their residence in N Augusta. A story on March 17 reported “68 homes destroyed after 15 weekend tornadoes rip across SC…& insurers estimate property damage at $13 Mil.” A later report changed that figure to $30 Mil , then $43 Mil - with more than 11,000 claims - mostly from fallen trees. Our PSD Mgr, Ernie Wilson, attended the Public forum in Feb on the future of our drinking water & talked about it at the PSD meeting this month. The BJWSA (our water supplier) & the SC Dept of Natural Resources held forums updating the public on the challenges & plans for maintaining the drinking water. They supply 14-17 Mil gallons of water a day for Bft County & the Hardeeville area at this time of year…. & the growth in these counties isn’t slowing (& that’s without a Jasper port!). They are working on a 50-yr plan to identify water sources other than the Savannah River. We’ve been lucky here, but most of the states have been in a drought, particularly Atlanta area. This region-wide drought is significant because rain conditions in GA & NC affect water flow to the Sav River, impacting our water supply. If Atlanta begins taking water from the Sav River (now prohibited but under consideration with the water crisis)...that would further deplete our supply. Also Savannah is expected to double its size over the next 25 yrs. So, they are looking at alternative water 2 supplies including probably the ocean & including deep groundwater…& the potential for using stormwater as a water 3 supply source particularly for irrigation (which accounts for up to 70% of summer water consumption). Dean Moss, (Gen MgrBJWSA) pointed to seasonal differences in water use that strain the system. Last July, they supplied 45,000 customers with 500/gal of water per day…& in the winter months that figure falls to about 200 gal/day…The difference he said is all irrigation. Changing landscaping habits to rely more on native vegetation & using treated waste-water for irrigation would be a great help. Coincidently, I just read in the Gazette on (3/19) that Israel is suffering the worst drought in decades & will have to stop pumping from 1 of its main source of drinking water (Sea of Galilee) by the end of summer. It stated, “the water problem stems from population growth & rising prosperity that has seen an increase in lawns & gardens”…. in addition, this winter was the 4th in a row with low rainfall (50% of the average). They presently have 2 desalination plants that supply 1/3rd of water needed. Three other plants, scheduled to be completed by 2013, will double that amount. (Although costly, perhaps WE will need to consider some desalination plants near here). Atlanta, is having their 72nd Annual Atlanta Dogwood Festival April 4th-5th-& 6th at Lenox Square (off Peachtree Rd between Lenox Rd and Loop Rd). This is a weekend filled with arts, live music and family fun. It’s become one of the Southeast’s favorite Springtime traditions. More than 200 artists from around the country exhibit in 12 categories. Some of this countries top painters, photographers, sculptors, leather & metal craftsmen, glass blowers more will participate… for more info go to www.dogwood.org. Coming soon is the 4th Annual Hilton Head/Savanna Equestrian Exposition & Fund Raiser at the Rose Hill Plantation on Hwy 278 in Bluffton scheduled for March 30 (rain-date April 6th) at 11:30 AM. It includes an afternoon of Barrel Racing, Dressage, Hunters/Jumpers/Saddle Seat, Carriage Driving, Dash for Cash (races), Drag Fox Hunt, Rainbow Parade of Horses and at 2:30 an Exhibition Polo Match. Tickets are $15 & includes parking – free admission for children under 12 & military personnel & dependents. At nearby Port Royal is the Soft Shell Crab Festival scheduled for April 19th from 12 till 5 PM on Paris Island Avenue. – featuring a wide variety of seafood. Also music of at least three live bands. (More about the crabs under “fishing”). With Spring we have some great cultural festivals coming up. The first one is March 20th to April 5th in Savannah GA & includes 12 venues. The program covers 17 days of the largest musical arts festival for Georgia & is one of the most distinctive cross-genre music festivals in the world. It includes regional appearances by renowned artists in jazz, classical, blues, bluegrass, gospel and other styles of American and international roots music. For a list of performances, ticket information, and the 12 venues & parking map – go to www.savannahmusicfestival.org. Also, it’s not too soon to be thinking of the Spoleto. Just a little north of here, (Charleston SC), we have the 17-day long festival offering opera, music, theater, dance and special events. It’ll be May 22-June 8th. It’s not too soon to be purchas-ing tickets. You can go to www.spoletousa.org and plan your fun. There are 2 operas-both of which sound great. Amistad (by Anthony Davis) - an extraordinary (& historically true) story of a slave ship taken off the coast of Long Island in 1939 by the US Coast Guard. It tells of enslavement, rebellion and the eventual trial. The other opera is by Rossini and is La Cenerentola - the story of Cinderella but adapted with an evil stepfather who relegates Cinderella to the status of disdained scullery maid while he fritters away her inheritance on her vain stepsisters. If you like music, dance (including the Boston Ballet), jazz, and so much more, there are 9 venue locations and a VERY busy & exciting schedule. The Fripp Food Court had their grand opening with a free Members-Only event. Happy hour at the Beach Club included hors d’oeuvres sampling of the items being offered by the Food Court. Drinks were available at the Ocean View Sports Bar upstairs. There was a wide selection including pizza, chicken fingers, sandwiches, roll-ups, desserts (even ice cream) & all quite delicious. The Food Court not only looks good - but should do well based on the taste of the offerings! Romeo this month (3/11) was a Cincinnati Chili thanks to Buck Matthews, Glenn Hergert & Bill Busher (all previously from Ohio). Great luncheon - & the men so enjoy their monthly get-togethers. The Community Centre Dinner (3/19)–corned beef and cabbage – sold out fast. Special thanks to Rita & Harry Merrill and their crew of workers for a truly great dinner. Page Miller (the new Pres) presided & the Comm Centre choir led us in several Irish melodies. We are seeking items for the upcoming ‘Treasure Sale’..so check your closets, cabinets, & garage. Speaking of the Centre, there will be a Friends of Music presentation of the Yankee Celtic Consort concert 3/30 at 5 PM. F I Garden Club meeting was 3/5 on ‘Low Maintenance Gardening on Fripp’ with special guest speaker Laura Lee Rose from the Clemsen Extension. Dot Steele (Pres) led the meeting and Linda Ashby gave the Tip of the Month covering the cleaning of plant leaves. Laura was enjoyable (& very informative) & went over the 9 principals for good gardening including 1) the right plant for the right place, 2)Drought tolerant plants, 3)Fertilize appropriately, 4) Mulching, 5) Attrac-ting wildlife, 6) Garden pests, 7) Recycling, 8) Reduce storm water run-offs, & 9) protecting the waterfront property. She then covered a myriad of questions! The next meeting will be 4/2 at the Fire Station with our Naturalist Jackie Eckert. 3 F I Women’s Club 3/19 meeting consisted of a brief business meeting with the election of officers for next year 5 (Nancy Richman-Bonnie Combes-Micki McCormick, Lorraine Tarczynski, Jane Cuff & Sara Thompson). Shelia Tindale is leading a group of women on April 4th on the “Love-Tie project” for our military troops in Iraq. They are also collecting old cell phones for the soldiers. This was followed by a well-organized Fripp Island Tour of Homes (6) headed by Phyllis Conrad. Thanks goes to the owners of 522 Porpoise Drive (Assaf home built in 2007 with almost 5000 sq.ft), 720 Sword-fish (Hathaway home built in 2006 with 4234 Sq.ft), 614 New Haven (Gooby condo orig from 1981 & completely remod with 1990 sq.ft.), 705 Whiting (Barrett home just completed ’08 with over 5000 sqft & a swimming pool), 4 Spyglass (Dukes home built in 2006 with 4400 sq.ft) and 521 Remora Drive (Smith’s home built in 2005 with almost 3000 sq ft displaying spectacular antiques). The next Women’s Club meeting is an April 9th luncheon ($16) with a choice of chicken or salmon & entertainment by the Sea Island Sound Quartet. Tennis – On 3/9 we had such a great evening with friends watching the Madison Garden (NY) Sold-Out (almost 20,000 fans) spectacular exhibition match with Roger Federer & Pete Sampras. For 2½ hrs, it was delightful to see these 2 pros actually ENJOYING their game & smiling & Roger barely winning! Also, coming up in Charleston – on Daniel Island – is the Family Cup Tennis Tournament. at the 10,000 seat stadium of the Family Circle Tennis Center. This will be the 35th Anniversary action-packed week with a program from April 12th through April 20th. It is the premier event on the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour. For tickets, or more information, go to: www.familycirclecup.com. As for our own Fripp Club, Troy McMullen continues to ‘make us proud.’ At the end of Feb we hosted the USTA Clay Court Championships & had participants from SOOOOO many states & they enjoyed our hospitality. Our courts were in fine fiddle as Troy had just added toppers and the Clubhouse looked great also. Our mixed doubles winners were Chuck Riley (1st) and Rich Combes (2nd) for the men & Carol Patty (1st) & Rita Riley (2nd) for the women. The Spring Men’s League is not quite finished yet - results will be next month. Golf – the Sea Rescue tournament just passed 3/8 and the Member-guest coming up. Also there will be our Masters here matching the time of the famed Augusta National Golf Course Masters April 7-8th practice and play April 10-11-12-13th . Zach Johnson will be the defending his title from ‘07 (last year ended with 11 under par) but will find tough competition with Tiger Woods. This event is always the first full week in April….and it is about 2.5-3 hrs away from here. Also, April 14-20th is the 40th Annual Verizon Heritage Tournament at the famed Harbour Town Golf Links in the Sea Pines Resort on Hilton Head. (There’s a $5.5 Mil purse). This is of special interest for us because Hilton Head is quite close and also, this is the only PGA Tour event in South Carolina! Fishing – it hasn’t been a great month off our dock with the water temperature so low (but it’s getting up there). However, in just 3 weeks we’ll be getting into the soft shell crab season & there will be the festival in Port Royal. People come from miles around.These are the same crabs we eat as hard-shell crabs -but in April they are molting. In order for a hard crab to grow, it must periodically shed its old shell (molt) in order to grow a larger shell. Following a successful molt, the crab’s new shell is extremely soft. After 2-3 days in the water, the new shell fully hardens and is about 1/3rd larger in size. The smallest crabs shed every 3-5 days & juvenile crabs about every 10-14 days – those 3” & larger every 20-50 days. Experienced crabbers can quickly spot crabs about to molt. Five-10 days before molting, a narrow white line appears just within the thin margin of the last 2 joints of the swimming legs. A few days before shedding, the peeler crab’s narrow white lines give way to a red line, & white wrinkles appear on the blue skin between the wrist & upper arm. The actual molting lasts for only a few minutes as the crab pushes out the rear of the old shell. The resulting soft crab, which is limp & wrinkled, will swell to normal shape & usually increase in size 25-35%. The crabs we catch all summer & fall off our dock are hard shell crabs & we cook them live but have stored them in the 1st level refrig which renders them inactive & easier to prepare for the steamer. The King Mackerel Tournament is Fri 4/25 (meeting & cookout) & Sat April 26th from sunrise to 5 PM. Money prizes for Wahoo, Dolphin, & Mackerel. Entry fee $250/boat (per 4) & each additional person $60. Captains must attend 6-7PM meeting on April 25th. Call Lewis at the Marina for more details 843-838-1517. The Audubon Club filled the Community Center with their meeting March 13 when Steven Schnabel (The Education Director for the Center for Birds of Prey in Charleston.) presented several LIVE Raptors to us. He talked of the fascina-ting world of the wonderful birds plus the rehab, research, & education at the center in Awendaw SC. They treat approx 400 birds/year there. He brought along a hawk, vulture, eagle and owl. Unfortunately 1-8 of all species are in danger of extinction in the next 100 years. The program March 27th featured Patty Richards Kennedy (Director of the Palmetto Bluff Conservancy) discussing the challenges of maintaining ecological integrity & protection of our natural resources in the development of our coastal environment. Thanks, Pete Richards, for doing an excellent job with publicity. A branch of Catholic Charities & some St Peters Church parishioners are opening a Thrift Store (to benefit needy children whose parent is incarcerated). The store is located on Robert Smalls Pkwy (Rte 170) past Lowe’s and right next to the former Ace Hardware. They are in need of merchandise: clothing, furniture, household furnishing, etc. Also, they need volunteers to help with the operation of the store (379-5330). Call Jim Hyland 812-3078 for more info. 5 All the meetings this month were long! They include: Fripp Island Property Owners Assoc (FIPOA), Fripp Island 6 Public Service District (PSD) and the Resort Club Advisory Board (CAB). The FIPOA meeting was 3/8. (The next meeting is the Annual one & will be Sat 4/12 @ 9AM in the Comm Centre).The items covered included: 1) The Fiddler’s Trace Lake maintenance policy regarding trimming. There is presently NO exist-ing policy. There are those who feel it should (& those who feel it shouldn’t) be trimmed especially around the center island. After a very lengthy discussion, the matter was deferred to the May meeting once all the owners around this lake provide their input. 2) FIPOA ’08 survey results will be reported at the annual meeting, 3) The Deer Program with HSUS (here till 3/31) reports that essentially the numbers indicate less deer & their health is good. Perhaps they all moved to my end of the island – it sure looks like more! (We had requested one of the team to speak at our Garden Club meeting 4/2 but they changed their mind). 4)#1 & # 29 beach accesses were closed for safety purposes and getting repaired. Posts & yellow rope have been installed the length of Access #8 - (#10 will be next week). 5) The schedule of Rules & Regs Violations & Fees effective as of 4/8/08 is available. Fees have been revised upward. They cover: traffic, parking, animal control, property appearance, wildlife protection, public safety & littering 6) Paving of Tarpon should be complete the end of March & Marlin has already been started, 7) The Wahoo lots (@ the intersection at Bonito were questioned- & the answer was that the Resort can’t go ahead with adding 4 lots there without an OK from Davis Love III because this is a ‘signature’ course. (Regarding this: An email forwarded to me by a neighbor, which came from the St. Simons Davis Love people stated, “We were originally contacted a year or so ago about the possible addition of lots in and around #16 green. We did not feel the plan at that time was acceptable for several reasons, with safety being one of our biggest con- -cerns & communicated that with the owners at Fripp.” 8) Another question was re the proposed condos at Sea Glass & it seems the developer has added 8 parking spots but didn’t decrease his request for 86 units. A DRT meeting is coming up. PSD meeting was 3/11 and covered: 1) The report by Ernie Wilson, Manager, from the forum on drinking water he had attended (previously covered), 2) the monthly report was routine with nothing new, 3) report of the inlet bridge speeding check device, 4) a long discussion on the landscaping at the sewer plant (or installation of a wall), 5) another long discussion on the center-island water tower beautification project with regard to ‘giving away’ water & the legal ramifications. They could ‘trade’ the water for the services which will be provided in the maintenance of the area by the FIPOA who will be recipient of this area, 6)The changing of services from Wilbur Smith for the Inlet Bridge Maintenance to (HGBD) Hussey, Gay, Bell & DeYoung Inc. with some clarification & modification to their contract. Both companies bid and HGBD was lower. They also offered better ‘sounding’ equipment & reporting in the event that there are adverse affects to the bridge pilings (especially if Hunting Isl removes some sand). The next meeting will be April 8th. The CAB 3/17 meeting covered: 1)the signs (& placement) for the Beach Club downstairs dress code, 2) the fitness center possible move to the front of the island – presently on hold because the owners of the building are in Reorganizing of Fripp Group LLC (Chap 11) & their permission is needed to make modifications to the chosen area. 3)Computer system failures at the bars & restaurants, new computer system due in April 4) Ocean Point pool opening 8 AM for exercise not resolved 5) Club survey underway 6) theme for the 4th of July parade = “under the sea” 7) Olympic pool still closed 8) Cabana Club heated pool open & at 79-84º & the fountain pool still not open 8) The Food Court opened & looking good & tasting great – Fri Grand Opening Happy Hour was a big success. Open daily 8AM-9PM 9) USTA held Clay Court Championships – courts & clubhouse in good condition & everyone praised Troy McMullen for wonderful hospitality 10) The F I Masters Tour. is 4/13. Twenty-three teams played in the Sea Rescue Tournament on 3/8. 11)Club Member/Guest Tournament to be held on Mother’s day weekend. 12) much discussion on Trail Fees with only 125 controlled capacity and 2-3 members waiting even though they paid the $20,000 initiation 12) The Marina Boathouse will be open 7/wk for dinner 5:30-9PM & the Beach Club dinners are Wed-Thurs-Fri-Sat PLUS the upstairs Ocean View Bar open 7 days 5:30 till 12 PM. 13) the Easter Breakfast and Buffet 14) the Sat Prime Rib night special has had 80 diners. 15) use of Savannah’s for Members-Only – or a fee. 16) No additional trash receptacles are planned for the beach. Newsletters & fliers – I have recently received several copies of competitive fliers sent out to Fripp owners. One reason I produce this newsletter is to solicit business, -naturally. However, since I’ve been an experienced agent at Re/Max, I don’t spend a lot of space promoting myself or my website www.HomesOnFrippIsland.com which allows you to see all Fripp properties on any day PLUS tons of information such as I have in these newsletters. Most importantly, when you look at the SOLD Yearly or Quarterly spreadsheets I have been enclosing, you see 3 price columns: The Original Price, the Ask-ing Price when a contract came in, & the Sold Price. Agents can easily ‘get a listing’ by overpricing a property - & it sits on the market until the Seller lowers the price to the Asking Price when sold and then finally the Sold Price. Without that info, there are many times it appears that an agency sold at 95-100% of asking - when in reality the original asking price may have been so high that it actually sold at less than 90% or even below an 80% ratio (see the Feb 08 Realty Yours). |