If you’ve never seen the Holiday light display that Jekyll does each year, you’ve missed out on a treat. The holiday festivities kick off on Saturday, November 29^th, in the historic district. The annual Christmas Tree Lighting festivities begin at 4:30 with a line up of local talent including dancers, musical ensembles and The Fred McKinnon Band. At dark, the massive evergreen will be lit and bring your children to put in their order to Santa and Mrs. Claus at Crane Cottage. They convey Santa and the Mrs. in on a fire truck, so bring the children and grandchildren and then take a ride and admire the handiwork of the crew’s light transformation (complete with Santa in a sleigh pulled by a team of dolphins!!) .  

Nashville based Soles4Souls facilitates the donations of both new and used shoes to aid the hurting and needy worldwide. It is estimated that Americans have 1.5 billion pairs of unused shoes lying in our closets. This charity can use these shoes to make a tangible difference in someone’s life. Here at Beachcomber Properties, we want to participate in this cause and ask that you clean out your closets and come by our office at 539 Ocean Blvd. in the Village on St. Simons Island to drop off your “gently worn” shoes. These donations can include shoes for men, women and children, casual, sport shoes or dress shoes. 

We hear regularly from the news media the state of the real estate market nationally and perhaps about a given region, but if you are here in Southeast Coastal GA, your interest is exclusively right here unless you are entertaining a move or purchase of a 2^nd home or property elsewhere. I believe buyers and sellers are sick and tired of the commonplace answer “Well, the Market is a little slow” or “Properties aren’t moving as quickly right now.” Instead of vague statements they really want definite statistics and information, even if those statistics aren’t heartening, we all want real figures and specific info. 

On November 25^th at 4:30 pm, the public is invited to a ceremony at St. Andrews Picnic Area on Jekyll Island in remembrance of the survivors of the slave ship, The Wanderer, that landed on Jekyll 150 years ago. One of the speakers at the ceremony will be author Erik Calonius, whose book “The Wanderer” The Last American Slave Ship and the Conspiracy That Set Its Sails.” Mr. Calonius, a former Wall Street Journal reporter, became interested in the Wanderer about 7 years ago during a visit to a museum on Jekyll Island. A painting of the ship set in motion his quest to find out as much as he could about this vessel. The ship began as an extremely luxurious racing yacht built in 1856, but was refitted with an enlarged cargo capacity and was sent out to the Congo and filled with 480 slaves. The Wanderer returned to the U.S. and landed the 400 surviving slaves on Jekyll on November 28, 1858. This was in violation of federal laws banning importation of slaves. The federal case that ensued from this event was heard in Savannah’s U.S. Customs House. As the Wanderer case played out in Savannah, another slavery related situation happened that made national news---John Brown’s seizure of the armory at Harpers Ferry, VA. Mr. Calonius’ view is that these two happenings were integral in the timing of the Civil War conflict.