Our local Glynn County newspaper, The Brunswick News, recently ran a very interesting article about an organization working out of our neighboring McIntosh County, the Altamaha Riverkeeper. This article featured one of their CoastKeepers, Wendy Galan, and her reflections on her first year with the Riverkeepers. This group was founded to protect one of our most vital natural resources, the Altamaha River which is Georgia’s biggest river, including its tributaries the Ocmulgee, the Oconee and the Ohoopee. They monitor pollution throughout the waters and also land-based actions impacting the waterways and wetlands. 

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. 

Our area boasts a strong awareness of the arts with numerous galleries featuring our many local artists who have landed in this picturesque area. Cheryl Fisher, a REALTOR® in our office, is pleased to invite anyone to come view her husband’s watercolor display at the Brunswick Library. Bob Fisher is the featured artist for the month and his work will be on display through October 31^st. Perhaps it is due to the natural beauty that is so prevalent with the marsh vistas, ancient, moss draped oaks and sandy beaches. Nevertheless, for a relatively small community, you can enjoy local artist’s talents, musical concerts and community theatre. 

A local group, The Island Players, has  been bringing live theatre to Coastal GA since 1956. Their productions are held at the Island Casino Theatre in the Village on St. Simons Island and have given local talent a venue for so many years. I am including a link to the group’s website, if any of you would like to see what productions are planned and when. Their next production is Annie Get Your Gun beginning October 31-November 16^th.

 http://www.theislandplayers.com/perform.html

By the way, our real estate office is also located in the Village Area, and I would love to have you come by and check us out, too! We are so pleased to meet new friends and have area maps available. Our sister company, Beachcomber Buggies is right next door and the electric gem cars are a fun and easy way to cruise the Island. 

This is a Sanderling, who like many of us enjoys chasing receding ocean waves!

Prime birding season in the Golden Isles of GA has arrived as the summer heat begins to subside leaving us with wonderful weather. In my humble opinion, October and November offer some of the most pleasant times in the Southeast’s outdoors. From the end of summer through fall, hundreds of species of shorebirds are passing through on their way to warmer climes. In the Golden Isles, some 370 species of birds are available for viewing. I am putting a link below to the Georgia DNR, if you’d care to review the sites along this trail, with several of them right here in our locale. 

Of course, if you do come to the Glynn County and the Golden Isles, I sincerely hope you’ll give me a call!

I have never received as much response from a blog article than my June 18^th post and then my response posted June 20^th on the topic of the revitalization project on Jekyll Island. Just last week, the Jekyll Island Authority Executive Director, Jones Hooks, sent an email update on information that was shared at their 9/15/08 board meeting. They had contracted an independent research firm, Bleakly and Associates, to do a study analysis on the visitation numbers. According to this report, the island visitation peaked in the 1988-89 time period with approximately 2.1 million guests visiting Jekyll. Regrettably since that time, there has been a steady decline in visitation. Last year only 1.49 million visitors came to Jekyll which is down roughly 23% from the 1988-89 figures.