<em>Photo above: Phyllis Aston, Sue Nicol, with Elvah Donald. Photo by Bob Sofaly.</em>
<h3>By Lanier Laney</h3>
Thanks to the wonderful philanthropic efforts of the<b> Port Royal Sound Foundation </b>and thanks to all the hard work of people like Board of Trustee Chair <b>Michael Long </b>and Trustee <b>Dick Stewart</b> and many other very generous individuals. They successfully raised 3.7 million dollars to build and staff the beautiful new Maritime Center and Aquarium on Lemon Island, just over the bridge on the Broad River. Admission is free to all in Beaufort County and they also have all kinds of water safety kayak and boating classes.

This past weekend they had their first fundraising gala to fund the ongoing day to day of the center and future expansion and a great time was had by all!! The event’s principle speaker and host was <b>Jacque Cousteau</b>’s grandson <b>Phillipe</b>. The silent auction had some incredible items in it—that a friend from Palm Beach exclaimed “were better than any silent auction that we’ve ever had in Palm Beach!” <b>Vic Varner </b>and his wonderful band entertained beautifully all evening. <b>Plum Productions </b>and <b>Amazing Event Rentals</b> did a great job pulling it all together. Big thanks go to all the attendees, sponsors, volunteers, staff, and Board of the Center and Foundation for making this such a successful event! For more information on all that’s going on there, go to portroyalsoundfoundation.org.

<em>Photos by Bob Sofaly.</em>

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