PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE  

The League Board members and I want to wish you all a happy, healthy and prosperous New Year!  Once again our league members continue to participate in League events and as importantly, contribute as volunteers. We are successful because so many of you understand that volunteerism is the key to all of our accomplishments!

We have much to celebrate and while the work of the League will continue throughout the new year I want to recognize our successes. Our newsletter contains more information on these events and some wonderful photos. The yearly Swing FORE the Symphony Golf Tournament was extremely successful again this year. With “Fun” and support for the HHSO as our theme, and 35 of you volunteering to make it all happen.

Our Musicale events continue to offer exceptional performances and are attracting even more interest and attendance.   We have even been able to arrange a second performance of the popular March 23 Musicale.  “American Songbook and Show Tunes” will also take place on Saturday, March 22 5:00-7:00 at the home of Anne and Bill Millhaem. 

As a result of everyone’s efforts to date, The League has already met its pledge to the HHSO.  In fact, we are on target to make it another banner year of support for our favorite orchestra.

I am so pleased to announce that we are bringing back this year a wonderful League event! I hope that you received the announcement of the return of the Kitchens of Note scheduled for Sunday, March 30, 12:00-4:00 in the Port Royal community on Hilton Head.  We will tour six absolutely gorgeous kitchens, with a glimpse of these homes.  The event includes sampling various “amus-bouches” or “small bites” offered by a select group of very talented local chefs.  Some of the restaurants and their chefs already on the menu include Cactus Cantina, Chez George, and Michael Anthony’s. As you can see, the Kitchens of Note Committee led by Linda Moloney and Anne Millhaem has been hard at work!  Tickets are already on sale through the HHSO/League/Events web site.  I hope to see you there!

As always – thank you for your support and participation!

Terry Hicks
President
League of the Hilton Head Symphony Orchestra

LEAGUE VOLUNTEER HIGHLIGHT
Becky Hauk – Volunteer Coordinator/Record Keeping

Originally from St. Louis, Becky and her husband, Bill, have been coming to the Hilton Head area for approximately 40 years and moved full-time to Bluffton in 2022.  Beginning her career as an elementary school teacher working with students with learning disabilities, Becky’s volunteer involvement with the Saint Louis Symphony Volunteer Association and the Junior League of Saint Louis introduced her to the world of fundraising.  Along with serving as the chairman of the Saint Louis Symphony’s Junior Division and Board Member of the Symphony’s Volunteer Association, Becky chaired and/or held leadership positions over the years in most of the organization’s fundraising events.

She has worked in fundraising and development for the University of Missouri-St. Louis, Washington University in St. Louis, and Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. As a volunteer and development professional, Becky has helped nonprofit organizations achieve their fundraising goals for over thirty years.  She currently works part-time as a nonprofit search consultant, helping nonprofit organizations find fundraising professionals. In the Bluffton/Hilton Head area, Becky is on the Board for the Junior League of Savannah Lowcountry Sustainer’s group and recently joined the Board of the Lowcountry Autism Foundation.

KITCHENS OF NOTE

An exciting “return” opportunity for members of the HHSO League and our community. This delightful event is making a fresh comeback in 2025. Kitchens of Note was consistently a sold-out occasion starting in 2013 through 2019. Attended by tour guests and volunteers with upscale tastes and lifestyles from the Hilton Head/Bluffton/Okatie area, attendees will see six fabulous kitchens, each with a chef from a popular local restaurant on-site serving delicious appetizers or small plates of his/her creation. These chefs represent the area’s finest restaurants and it is a wonderful opportunity to taste marvelously prepared culinary samples in a fun, unique way. Our host location this year is the oceanfront neighborhood of Port Royal on Hilton Head Island – one of the Lowcountry’s finest residential communities.

This is sure to be a sellout event! Tickets are on sale now!

“Swing FORE the Symphony” Golf Tournament

On Tuesday, November 12th, the League staged its fourth Swing FORE the Symphony golf tournament fundraiser at the Moss Creek Club. It was a beautiful day from beginning to end! One hundred and twelve golfers participated along with 30+ additional reception attendees and a sea of volunteers.

We had so much fun on the course, playing a step-aside scramble, with games galore – team low gross and low net, a closest putt competition (the winner left his putt on the edge of the hole), closest to the line for men and women, and hole-in-one competitions on each of the Par 3s (a 2-year BMW lease, a new Club Car, $10,000 cash, and golf clubs plus patio sets). And each foursome could “rent-a-pro” to hit a tee shot for them (he helped my team to its only natural birdie of the day!).  Lunch was a burger-and-hot dog grill on the 10th tee – which could be smelled from two holes away! The cookout was proclaimed as one of the day’s highlights.

At the Reception, we had wonderful food, including sliced tenderloin that was raved about. There was plenty of room for dining, though some overflow onto the terrace was needed. And plenty of room for our silent auction.

The Silent Auction was bountiful, with over 70 items up for bid, including 17 top golf courses, staycations, restaurant certificates and in-home entertainment with catering.

The Live Auction was extremely successful, with a fabulous golf and dinner package (Long Cove Club plus Bowdie’s Chophouse), two of Charles Sampson’s acclaimed pig pulls, and a sailing plus gourmet lunch experience.

We had an extremely hard-working committee who scoured prizes and sponsorships galore. Specific kudos to Mike Kling, co-chair and on-line registration developer, Bill Millhaem, our treasurer and tracker-of-all-things, Joyce Prange, auction item procurer extraordinaire, Nancy Millette, our F&B manager, Terry Hicks, over-seer of a thousand volunteers, Anne Millhaem, breakfast coordinator, and Tom Barreca, our Moss Creek inside-golf guy. Carol Gyllenhoff, Becky Hauk, Beth Harwood and Bob Cherichella secured or donated great items for our auctions. Thank you to all for your outstanding efforts.

The bottom line… despite the headwinds previously noted, we were tremendously successful. We had slightly fewer golfers and we lost a couple of significant sponsors, but we made up for those with more hole sponsors, more “smaller” sponsors, and slightly lower costs for the reception. And we delivered a great product with more prizes and more fun!  At the end of the day, we “netted” over $56,000 and beat our 2023 event by $100. Our success will go a long way to helping the League meet its financial commitment to the Symphony.

Thank you to everyone who participated or pitched in to make Swing FORE the Symphony a great success!

LEAGUE MUSICALE

Thanks to the generosity of League members Stan Cooke, Linda and Ray Moloney, and Peggi Moon and Bill Hutchinson, the League of Hilton Head Symphony has been able to offer three wonderful Musicale for over 175 music lovers this season.  

In December, the holiday Musicale was a lively program of seasonal musical treats performed by oboist Kelly Mozeik and pianist Tom Hicks. At each Musicale, a terrific variety of hors d’oeuvres was donated by Musicale attendees. A team of volunteers also work hard to organize these events.

If you would like to join the volunteer team, please contact Carol McCarthy at c.mccarthy3562@gmail.com. 
There are four Musicale scheduled for Winter/Spring 2025. Be sure to take advantage of the opportunity to attend a Musicale if there are reservations available. 

Eileen Durkin and Carol McCarthy