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Events in and around Beaufort

Billy Keyserling

New City Manager to be Announced at April 14 City Council Meeting

After reviewing 82 resumes, consulting with a panel of former city managers from the Municipal Association of SC who also reviewed the resumes, City Council narrowed the list to three finalists.  Tuesday (March 31st) City Council interviewed the impressive finalists and the new City Manager will be appointed at our next meeting which is April 14th.

 

A Good Friend to Beaufort Falls

Betsey Robinson was A Very Strong yet Gentle Woman

 

I am very saddened by our loss of Betsey Robinson, a friend to those who knew her and to those who never had the opportunity to know her. 


 
I was fortunate to have had a special friendship with Betsey (and of course her partner Bill).  During my tenure in the SC House of Representatives,  up and down the road with me to Columbia for two years.  She had a mission she pursued with tenacity, patience and passion  and I was glad she gave me the opportunity to do my little part to help her move it forward.  

 

After losing her son to a gun accident, Betsey was determined to make sure that other families would never suffer like hers when they lost a minor,who was the victim of a gun that had not been stored safely.

 

While I feel a little awkward writing about this tragedy upon her passing, this small part of her life demonstrated her love for her son, her family and even more importantly her love for the many young people who fall unnecessarily because guns are not stored safely and often get into the hands of minors.

 

Week after week, Betsey knocked on legislators' doors asking them to support a measure that would have required guns to be stored safely.  She never advocated gun control, rather she passionately pushed for gun safety and the accountability of adults to store firearms out of the reach of children.

 

Betsey never challenged the right to own guns. But she felt passionately that with that right comes a personal and community responsibility.

 

For this women of brave tenacity, it was a trying challenge. Doors were shut in her face by legislators who did not want to hear her story. But that did not stop her because she was seeking what was right and something she knew because it was so close to her heart..

 

On Thursday evenings when we returned to Beaufort she shared her frustration that some would not even listen to her. But,  by the next Tuesday,  when we returned to Columbia for the week's legislative session Betsey was enthusiastic, hopeful and ready to go back to work.

 

In the end we were not able to pass the legislation, but many people learned about gun safety and I would like to think that through her tireless advocacy some children have been saved.

 

Betsey made other often larger than human contributions to our special hometown, some of which are outlined in the following obituary. 

 

Betsey will always have a place in my heart and my head for her brave fight to save children.  Thank you Betsey!

 

The following obituary is extracted from the Packet/Gazette and can be found on line should you care to share the story of this wonderful community spirited woman who will be deeply missed.

 

Elizabeth Reynolds Robinson

 

Elizabeth "Betsey" Reynolds Robinson Elizabeth "Betsey" Reynolds Robinson, wife of William "Bill" Robinson passed away surrounded by family in her home Sunday, March 29, 2015. 


 
Betsey was born in Charleston, SC on August 19, 1945, the daughter of Dr. Thomas Willard Reynolds and Lola Anderson Reynolds. She enjoyed a wonderful childhood in Charleston. She graduated from Bishop England High School in 1963 and Winthrop College with a degree in English and Communication in 1967. 


 
Betsey married Bill on February 3, 1968. Betsey and Bill had 4 children, Clark, Carrie, Reyne' and Reynolds. They moved to Beaufort in May of 1973. 


 
She volunteered as the financial assistant to the pastor of St. Peter's Catholic Church in Beaufort and directed the Bazaar for several years... She was instrumental as a volunteer for the St. Peter's Capital Campaign to raise funds for its new sanctuary and campus on Lady's Island. In 1995, she co-directed the events celebrating the 150th anniversary of the St. Peter's Parish and was named Catholic Woman of the Year .From 1997 - 2005 she was the communications director for St. Peters and started the Church's first quarterly newsletter. She was a lecturer at St Peter's on Sunday mornings throughout the years. 


 
Betsey was awarded the Caritas award in 2008 for her service and stewardship to the church. She was the American Heart Association Representative in Beaufort for many years. In the 70s and 80s she taught middle school English and Drama at Beaufort Academy and was the yearbook advisor. Betsey taught English at the Technical College of the Lowcountry in the late 80s. In 1980, Betsey served on the first Board of Directors for Friends of Caroline Hospice and then as a volunteer and Board member over the last 35 years. 


 
In 1989, her son Reynolds was tragically shot and killed at the age of 13. In the following years, Betsey devoted herself to Gun Responsibility in Every Family (GRIEF) and to lobbying the SC legislature to pass a gun responsibility law. Ultimately, the law did not pass, but she succeeded in raising awareness throughout the state with regards to gun safety in the home. One of her great joys was reading books and reading to children in particular, which she did throughout her life. Betsey was a long-standing member of the Ladies Unlimited Investment Club, enjoyed playing bridge with friends, traveling with Bill, and spending time with her children's families. 


 
Betsey was predeceased by her brother Thomas Willard Reynolds, sister Sarah Reynolds Fosberry and son Thomas Reynolds Robinson. Betsey is survived by her husband William Clark Robinson, sister Katherine Reynolds Manning of Summerville SC; son, William Clark Robinson, Jr. (Carol) of Lady's Island, SC; daughter, Caroline Robinson Horne (Richard) of Mt. Pleasant, SC; and daughter Elizabeth Robinson Gallup (Jim) of Evans, GA. Betsey will also be missed by her 12 grandchildren Reynolds Clark Robinson, Caroline Grace Robinson, Olivia Porcher Horne, SarahAnne Sullivan Horne, Laura Elizabeth Horne, Paul Sheppard Kelton, Matthew Thomas Kelton, Elizabeth McKeown Kelton, Anderson Reynolds Gallup. John Tyler Gallup, William Bryson Gallup and Thomas Nolan Gallup.

 

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made in her name to the T. Reynolds Robinson Scholarship at Beaufort Academy, 70 Sams Point Rd, Lady's Island, SC 29907.

 

A Holiday with A Mission 

 

A few weeks ago, I received an invitation from the Mayor, of a small city in Valencia, Spain, to visit his City to discuss a potential relationship between Ribarroja del Turia and Beaufort to celebrate the importance of the newly found special relationship between our two countries.

 

The invitation came through Don Alvaro Amarda, the Spanish Count who recently visited Beaufort, and who is a direct descendant of the founder of Santa Elena and serves on the Board of the Santa Elena Foundation in Beaufort.

 

I will go to Madrid, Barcelona and then to  Ribarroja del Turia where we will  meet with the Mayor and his staff.

 

I am combining this visit with a trip I have always wanted to take to Spain, of course at my own expense. 

 

I am looking forward to having dinner with the Count in Madrid, then visiting Barcelona and ending our journey with a two day visit to Ribarroja del Turia  as the guest of the Mayor and his city.

 

While many cities throughout the world have "sister city"  relationships, many are little more than paper agreements that produce little more than a mention in news release or on a letterhead.

 

If we are to pursue a partnership with another city, I would hope our communities and their's will make it vibrant with visits back and forth between our respective residents and businesses and that,  one day it will mature into a cultural exchange like what launched the world renowned the Spoleto Festival in Charleston.

.

An Special Opportunity to Share our New Found History with the World.

 

I hope you are excited as excited as I am by the news that major US historians agree that Santa Elena on Parris Island was the first settlement in North America.  I believe it will be fun for the people of Beaufort and Port Royal to be rewriting history that has heretofore acknowledged Jamestown as the first settlement on the continent.

 

I am also excited that the Beaufort County Council is making room for the Santa Helena Foundation to establish an interpretive center in the Bay Street Courthouse until they can build on their dream site on Port Royal which is closer to Parris Island and the original site.

 

I want to become engaged in this unfolding of history and hope you will too.

 

For more information about this exciting and important undertaking go to http://santa-elena.org/  to learn how you can participate.

 

I am looking forward to meeting the Count and the Mayor and learning more about Spain. You can be sure I will report back to you on my return.

 

The Mayor

               
Ribarroja del Turia

 

 

New Education Opportunity Comes to Beaufort. Neighborhood Outreach Connection now has the seed money but will need 

for all of us to chip in to sustain a program that has 

proven to achieve results. 

 

 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Tuesday, March 31, 2015

 

District awarded grant to provide tutoring

Services for at-risk students in Beaufort

 

BEAUFORT - At least 100 at-risk students from high-poverty neighborhoods in downtown Beaufort will receive after-school tutoring services, thanks to a $163,500 innovation grant award announced today by the South Carolina Education Oversight Committee.

 

The tutoring will be coordinated by the "Neighborhood Outreach Connection," which already provides similar services for children in the Hilton Head Island and Bluffton communities.  NOC's after-school and summer tutoring services in Beaufort will be provided at two public housing complexes, Parkview Apartments and Marsh View Apartments.  Other services will include preschool outreach and adult education.

 

More than 80 percent of the children in those neighborhoods have family incomes low enough to qualify children for free or reduced-price lunches.

 

"NOC's track record at Hilton Head and Bluffton is a strong one," said Superintendent Jeff Moss.  "The focus in Beaufort will be to increase student achievement and family engagement while reducing the achievement gap.  Our data indicate the NOC is successful at doing that."

 

The successful grant initiative is the culmination of two years of planning among the school district, the Board of Education, NOC, Beaufort County Adult Education, Beaufort Mayor Billy Keyserling, the City of Beaufort and several of its agencies, the Beaufort County Housing Authority and Atlantic Housing Authority, which manages Parkview Apartments.

 

"This truly was a collaborative, community-wide effort," said Board of Education Chairman Bill Evans.  "Our challenge now is to build momentum for continued funding so we can sustain the project."

 

After the district was chosen from 37 applicants to be one of eight finalists, three representatives went to Columbia for in-depth interviews: Evans, Moss and Narendra Sharma, founder and director of NOC.

 

"They were very interested in our model of providing services in the neighborhoods we provide, and that we pay district-trained teachers to do it," Sharma said.  "Based on the judges' questions, we had the feeling that something good would come out of it."

 

Sharma said the Beaufort initiative has raised more than $12,000 in funds to sustain the project, and if another $38,000 can be raised, a $50,000 matching grant is available from an anonymous out-of-state donor.

 

Mayor Keyserling said the project fills an important gap in the downtown Beaufort area left by the closing of the Boys and Girls Club.

 

"The data from existing NOC programs clearly demonstrate that young people who get extra attention and help - and receive that help in a safe place - improve not only academically but socially, too," Keyserling said.  "And that helps to build a stronger sense of community in our neighborhoods.  I can't think of a better investment."

 

Beaufort was one of five school districts to be awarded 2015 South Carolina Community Block Grants for Education, a matching grants program designed to encourage sustainable partnerships among school districts and community groups.  The other four winners were Charleston, Clarendon District 1, Colleton and Jasper.

 

A seven-member review committee, composed of representatives from the business and education committee appointed by the EOC, made the final decision on grant recipients after interviewing representatives from eight finalists. The independent grants committee placed priority on districts with higher percentages of students living in poverty.  The impact of the innovative programs will be measured and reported publicly so that lessons learned could be replicated in other districts in the state.

 

"We are so pleased to recognize these districts for their innovative projects focused on helping children learn," said Dr. Allison Jacques, Assistant Dean for Assessment at the University of South Carolina School of Education and chair of the grants committee. "Our hope is that these projects become models of how schools and communities can unite to handle challenges and create positive outcomes for students and families."

 

In its grant announcement, the EOC said that the proposed downtown Beaufort program, "which operates outside of regular school hours during the afternoons, weekends and during the summer, includes evidence-based practices aimed at improving achievement, attendance, family engagement and behavior.  An innovative part of the program is that it takes place in the neighborhoods where the children and families live, alleviating the need for additional transportation costs."

 

The $163,500 awarded to the district was the full amount requested, the EOC said.