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<p><strong>Carteret Street UMC to host annual closet sale</strong><br> Carteret Street United Methodist Church will hold its annual spring closet sale 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday, May 3 and 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday in the Fellowship Hall at 408 Carteret Street. Gently used and nearly new fashions in all sizes, jewelry, handbags and shoes are available for men, women and children. Proceeds support the mission work of United Methodist Women. For more information, call Sally Fordham at 843-812-3311.</p>
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<p><strong>Spring activities at Hunting Island State Park</strong></p>
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<p>There are fun, interesting and educational activities every day hosted by Park Ranger and Lowcountry Master Naturalist Megan Stegmeier.&nbsp;</p>
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<p>Mondays: Secrets of the Salt Marsh, 4 p.m.</p>
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<p>Tuesdays: CCC Video, 1 p.m.; Beach Walk, 3 p.m.</p>
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<p>Wednesdays: Alligator Talk, 11 a.m.</p>
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<p>Thursdays: Feeding Frenzy, 3 p.m.&nbsp;</p>
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<p>Saturdays: Creatures of the Night (owls, raptors, bats), 2:30 p.m. (May 11, 25).</p>
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<p>For a description of these programs and a complete calendar of activities, go to southcarolinaparks.com/hunting-island and click on “Programs &amp; Events.”</p>
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<p>All are invited to attend these free events, though there is an entry fee to Hunting Island State Park and reservations are needed for lighthouse programs.</p>
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<p>For more information, call 843-838-7437 or go to the Friends of Hunting Island website and the Facebook page: FOHI Sea Turtle Conservation Project.</p>
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<p><strong>Port Royal hosting Air Show After Dark</strong></p>
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<p>The Beaufort Regional Chamber of Commerce, in partnership with Beaufort County, the Town of Port Royal, and the Chamber's Military Enhancement Committee, is proud to host Air Show After Dark from 6 to 9 p.m. Saturday, April 27.</p>
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<p>This free event following Saturday's MCAS Beaufort Air Show will feature meet-and-greet time with the Blue Angels and other air show performers, musical selections by the Parris Island Marine Corps Brass Band and a fireworks display to end the evening. The festivities will be hosted at the Port of Port Royal.</p>
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<p>Food will be available for purchase at an eclectic mix of food trucks on site. Port Royal neighborhood restaurants will also be open as normal.</p>
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<p><strong>Tour historic Fort Fremont</strong></p>
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<p>Travel back in time to the 1890s and the Spanish American War at 10:30 a.m. Saturday, April 27, &nbsp;</p>
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<p>at the St. Helena Branch of the Beaufort County Public Library at 6355 Jonathan Francis Senior Road, St. Helena Island. Learn the history, see a scale model of Fort Fremont as it stood in 1898 and take a guided tour of the remains of the fortifications. The tour lasts approximately two hours.&nbsp;No reservations are necessary and it’s free and open to the public..</p>
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<p>For more information, call the St. Helena Library at 843-255-6487 or visit fortfremont.org.</p>
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<p><strong>Royal Pines holding community sale</strong></p>
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<p>Royal Pines will be holding a community yard and garden club sale on Saturday, April 27 from 8 to 11 a.m. The rain date will be Saturday, May 4.</p>
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<p><br>
<strong>YMCA to offer CPR classes</strong></p>
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<p>The Wardle Family YMCA, located at 1801 Richmond Ave in Port Royal, offers CPR classes for community members on Saturdays from 8 a.m. to noon on the following dates in 2019: May 11, June 8, June 22, July 20, August 17, September 7, September 19, and November 23.&nbsp;</p>
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<p>Cost is $35 for this YMCA-certified course and those interested need to register at the Y as space is limited and filled on a first-come, first-served basis. Questions? Contact Lou Bergen, Aquatics Director to register for this class. Call the Y at 843-522-9622 or visit beaufort-jasperymca.org</p>
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<p><strong>YMCA Puppy Plunge&nbsp;</strong></p>
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<p>YMCA’s Puppy Plunge will be held from 9-11 a.m. on the third Saturday of the month (weather permitting) at the Y outdoor pool (1801 Richmond Ave., Port Royal). Pups can splash, swim and play in our safe, enclosed outdoor pool area. The cost is $10 per pup and all proceeds benefit the Y’s Learn to Swim program, which teaches local children and adults to swim at a reduced cost or for free. Dogs must be well-behaved, current on all required vaccines and leashed until inside the pool area. Owners must be present at all times and humans are not permitted to swim in the Puppy Plunge. Visit beaufort-jasperymca.org or call 843-522-9622 for more information.</p>
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<p><strong>Get moving with Beaufort Track Club</strong></p>
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<p>Join the Beaufort Track Club at the Beaufort High School track from 6:30-7:30 p.m. each Tuesday night for an open community track workout. Beginner, intermediate, and advanced workouts are posted each week to ensure that you are getting the workout that you need.</p>
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<p>Visit the Facebook page “Beaufort Track Club” for more information.</p>
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<p><strong>Alligator talk at the Port Royal Sound Foundation</strong></p>
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<p>Join the Port Royal Sound Foundation for its Tuesday Talk series and learn all about local alligators from 5:30-7 p.m. April 30 at the Port Royal Sound Foundation Maritime Center in Okatie.</p>
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<p>Tom Murphy, a wildlife biologist with more than 40 years of experience working with alligators, will present information on the research he has conducted while working for S.C. Department of Natural Resources. He’ll talk about how alligators function in their environment and relay information on his recent work with alligators inhabiting golf course ponds.</p>
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<p>RSVP is required for this event. Tickets a $5 per person, free for those under 16. Call 843-645-7774 for more information.</p>
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<p><strong>Lowcountry Ladies Luncheon</strong></p>
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<p>The next Lowcountry Ladies Luncheon will be back in Bluffton on May 3 at the Oak Terrace at Rose Hill. The Luncheon event is intended to help support local women owned businesses and to help women network in effort to grow personally and professionally.</p>
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<p>Registration is now open, and seating is limited. Tickets are $30 each and can be purchased online at Register lowcountry-ladies-luncheon. Interested vendors are to contact Laurie Brown at laurie@auntlauries.com for pre-approval. Vendor display tickets are $45 and include lunch. Vendor spots typically sell out, so register early.</p>
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<p><strong>Birthday for the Birds coming to Port Royal</strong></p>
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<p>The Town of Port Royal will celebrate the 7th Birthday for the Birds from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. May 4.</p>
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<p>This one-of-a-kind event showcases Beaufort County’s wonderful natural resources, the Port Royal Rookery and Wetlands, along with the incredible wildlife within.</p>
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<p>Representatives from the Fripp Island Wildlife Department will be onsite as they showcase many inhabitants of the wetlands including alligators and other species. Master Naturalists will be there to escort you educationally through a tour of the boardwalk through the wetlands, answering any questions.&nbsp;</p>
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<p>There will be a Scavenger Hunt, wildlife tattoo stickers, local school children’s artwork, a Birthday Cake and did we mention Kazoos to play in the background as you tip your bird hats?&nbsp;</p>
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<p>For more information or to volunteer, call Kate Hamilton Pardee at 508-221-7355 or email <a href="mailto:garyh2otreatment@gmail.com">garyh2otreatment@gmail.com</a> or <a href="mailto:capecodh2o@comcast.net">capecodh2o@comcast.net</a>.</p>
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<p><strong>Biologist Folk headlines HBF Dinner and a Lecture</strong></p>
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<p>Lowcountry biologist Travis Folk will return to the Verdier House Dinner and Lecture Series at 5:30 p.m. Monday, April 29 with a program on recent investigations into the famed South Carolina rice fields and the historic economic and ecological forces they set in motion. The presentation at 801 Bay Street will focus on the recent mapping of the extent of the fields by Folk and biologists from Nemours’s Foundation and Clemson University, Ernie Wiggers, Rob Baldwin and Daniel Hanks.</p>
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<p>The rice fields of the ACE Basin were once bottomland hardwood forests covered in giant cypress trees. The thousands of acres that were cleared by slave labor resulted in a habitat that benefits coastal South Carolina today, making it an ecological mecca for game animals, songbirds, reptiles and amphibians and unique plant material.</p>
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<p>“Dinner and a Lecture” is open to Historic Beaufort Foundation members and non-members. The lecture series features a wine and hors d’oeuvres reception from 5:30 to 6 p.m., followed by the program until 7 p.m. Audience questions will follow. Admission to the lecture is $15 or $25 per member of member couple, respectively, and $20 of $30 per non-member or non-member couple,&nbsp; respectively. Seating is limited, call 379-3331 for reservations. Dinner and beverages are offered at a discount for attendees. Call Saltus River Grill at 379-3474 directly to make dining reservations.&nbsp;</p>
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<p><strong>Christian Women holding luncheon</strong></p>
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<p>The Beaufort Christian Women’s Connection hosts its Welcome Spring luncheon from 11:30 a.m. until 1 :30 p.m., Thursday, May 16 at Sea Island Presbyterian Church, 81 Lady’s Island Drive, Beaufort.&nbsp;</p>
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<p>Our guest speaker, Norma Jean Baxter, will speak on “Where to stand when the bottom drops out”. There will be a ‘surprise’ guest feature. $18 covers the cost of your lunch and program. Reservations are requested by Friday May 10. Call, text or email Marti Myers at 843-321-0962 or <a href="mailto:puddlesportia@gmail.com">puddlesportia@gmail.com</a>. This is our last luncheon until next September. Please join us and bring a friend! <br>
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<p><strong>Poets set to read work at Conroy Center</strong></p>
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<p>From 5 to 6:30 p.m. on Saturday, April 27, 10 writers from “Archive: South Carolina Poetry Since 2005” will perform a free public reading of their work at the Pat Conroy Literary Center located at 905 Port Republic St.</p>
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<p>“Archive: South Carolina Poetry Since 2005” is the first major anthology of South Carolina poetry in more than a decade, featuring 46 contributing writers in a 200-page volume documenting 13 years.</p>
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<p>This National Poetry Month special event will feature poets Fred Bassett, Michael Bassett, Susan Baukhages, Emily Davis-Fletcher, Jacquelyn Markham, Quitman Marshall, Frances Pearce, Emily Rosko, Warren Slesinger, and Olivia Stiffler.&nbsp;</p>
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<p>Copies of Archive will be available for sale and signing after the reading.</p>
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<p>For more information, visit <a href="http://www.patconroyliterarycenter.org/">www.patconroyliterarycenter.org</a>.</p>
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<p>Parish Church of St. Helena to hold Old Sheldon Church service<br>
The Parish Church of St. Helena will host a service of morning prayer and a picnic beginning at 11:30 a.m. Sunday, April 28 on the grounds of the Old Sheldon Church ruins in northern Beaufort County.</p>
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<p>This is a Parish Church tradition since 1925. The guest preacher for the day will be Rev. Ken Weldon, Rector at St. John’s Anglican Church in Florence, S.C.<br>
The public is invited to join with parishioners of St. Helena’s for this annual event. Plan to bring a picnic lunch, folding chairs, and bug spray.&nbsp;<br></p>
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