Coastal Companion

Your ultimate guide to the coast

The Winners – Hilton Head Island Concourse d’Elegance 2009

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The premier winners, the coveted ‘Best of Show’ and ‘People’s Choice’ awards along with the two recently established honors ‘Most Outstanding Car – Pre-1948’ and ‘Most Outstanding Car – Post-1948’ were chosen today for the prestigious Hilton Head Island Concours d’Elegance & Motoring Festival, held at the historic Coastal Discovery Museum at Honey Horn.

concourse2Sunday’s Concours d’Elegance top honor, “Best of Show,” was awarded to a 1933 Rolls-Royce Coupe owned by Frank & Milli Ricciardelli of Monmouth
Beach, NJ.  First Owned by Sir Hugh Cunliffe-Owen, Baronet of Brey, County of Berkshire, Chairman of British American Tobacco Company and Director of Midland Bank, this car is a one off example with a PII Continental High Speed Chassis.  It was built specially for demonstration purposes. Other
significant awards on Sunday included “People’s Choice” awarded to a 1932 Packard Opera Coupe owned by Grace Clark of Yonges Island, SC.  The car was restored by her father 17 years ago.  Most Outstanding Car – Pre-1948 went to John W. Rich Sr.’s 1914 Renault EF and Most Outstanding Car – Post 1945 went to a 1957 Ford Thunderbird owned by Vernon Smith.  Philip Capossela, Event Chairman for the Hilton Head Island show, said, “we certainly had a tremendous show this year with more entries.  This year’s top honors were well deserved and we’re proud to have them in the Hilton Head Island Concours d’Elegance & Motoring Festival’s history book.”  Added to that sentiment, Dr. Paul Doerring, one of the founding members of the Hilton Head Island event, stated, that “because we are able to display such outstanding cars, we had to showcase more of our remarkable entries with additional top awards over the past two years.  We’re proud that selecting a single “Best of Show” has becoming nearly impossible.”

councourse3Saturday’s top honors for the Car Club Jamboree were the “Best of Show Award” given to a 1967 Ferrari owned by Reinhold Preik, “People’s Choice
Award” given to a 1958 Porsche 356A Speedster owned by Ray Morgan, and the Chairman’s Award awarded to a 1950 Chrysler Town & Country Woodie Wagon owned by Aiken Ryan.

More than 600 automobiles made their way to the Hilton Head Island, SC/Savannah, GA Lowcountry this weekend to participate in the 8th
anniversary event. Dennis Gage of the SPEED Channel’s My Classic Car was on-site filming the Savannah/Hilton Head Speed Classic track event on
Savannah’s Hutchinson Island for his 2010 season.  Plus, Gage, was on-hand to select his favorite motorcycles from the Motoring Midway including “Best
Midway Motorcycle” awarded to a 1966 Honda CA 77 owned by William Aldrich of Lake City, FL and runner ups H.C. Morris for his 1967 Triumph T120TT and Robert O’Kelley for his 1970 Norton Commando S.  Michael Spezia, Executive Director and CEO of The Gilmore Car Museum in Hickory Corners, Michigan, served as the 2009 Honorary Chairman.

Carolyn Vanagel, Executive Director for the Motoring Festival today remarked, “The event was better than it’s ever been – higher quality, more
variety, larger exhibits – , the crowds were engaged, and I think we have had a record year.  There was a lot of excitement on the show field.”
Vanagel stated that the combination of the four glorious events, the Savannah/Hilton Head Speed Classic, the newly established Motoring Midway, the Car Club Jamboree and, of course, the pinnacle, the Concours d’Elegance, as well as the increased number and variety of sponsors, all helped to boost this year’s success.

Positioned as one of the last Concours in the national annual show circuit, the Hilton Head Island Concours d’Elegance & Motoring Festival has quickly
climbed the ranks among national Concours events.   In just eight short years, Hilton Head Island is already considered by many as being among those elite USA events with the likes of Pebble Beach, Meadow Brook and Amelia Island.
Hilton Head Island Concourse d’Elegance 2009 – our previous post

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Hilton Head Island Concours d’Elegance & Motoring Festival

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This event is something for car enthusiasts of all kinds. It’s a great opportunity to watch beautiful cars in both Hilton Head, South Carolina and Savannah, Georgia.

The festival kicks off already on Thursday Oct 29th in Savannah with the preparations for the race and there’s also a Happy Hour reception for drivers and fans at Johnson Square 5pm-8pm.

The Savannah/Hilton Head Speed Classic takes place at the newly renovated track at Hutchinson Island on Friday and Saturday.  The Speed Classic offers vintage racing and hot lap rides at racing speeds in the latest and greatest sports car models. So plan to spend a full day.

Then on Sunday it’s time for the Concourse d’Elegance at Coastal Discovery Museum in Hilton Head Island.
150 vintage cars and motorcycles (all Pre 1980) are competing for various prizes and awards. Also at the museum The Motoring Midway: From Memory Lane to the Fast Lane.  This is a two-day  exhibit with  interactive displays featuring both the new and the old,  including bikes of all kinds, new vehicle displays and much more.

Hilton Head concourse d’elegance takes place Oct 29 – 31. For more information visit www.hhiconcourse.com

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Charleston, SC – No. 2 Top American Destination

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For the seventeenth consecutive year, readers of Condé Nast Traveler magazine designated Charleston a “Top 10” travel destination in the U.S. Charleston was honored with the No. 2 slot – topped only by San Francisco. This ranking maintains Charleston’s spot as the No. 1 east coast destination.

“It’s an honor to continue ranking so highly among the most notable destinations in the U.S.,” said Frank Fredericks, Marketing Chairman of the Charleston Area Convention & Visitors Bureau. “This designation shows that our visitors continue to be extremely pleased with their experience in Charleston. Whether their primary interest is culinary, heritage, culture, or recreation, the Charleston area offers a multitude of reasons to visit – and to keep coming back.”

In other local rankings, Kiawah Island was lauded as the No. 1 island in North America, while The Sanctuary at Kiawah Island Golf Resort took home top honors as No. 1 resort in the mainland U.S.

A number of the top 100 hotels in the U.S. are located in the Charleston area. Properties honored include: Charleston Place Hotel, The Sanctuary at Kiawah Island Golf Resort, Market Pavilion Hotel, John Rutledge House Inn, French Quarter Inn and Planters Inn.

Mayor Joseph P. Riley, Jr. stated, “Charleston is a distinctive destination, offering history, architecture, the arts, incomparable food, beautiful hotels and inns and unique recreation opportunities. I consistently hear from visitors that Charleston is their favorite place to visit and repeat visits seem to be the norm. Our human scale architecture combined with the natural environment of rivers, marsh and ocean offer a level of comfort and ease which we love to share. We are honored to have been at the top of the travel list for so many years.”

Condé Nast Traveler, whose credo is “Truth in Travel,” is a monthly publication that caters to the experienced, discerning and frequent traveler. Condé Nast Traveler’s correspondents, as far as possible, travel anonymously. The magazine has an audience of 3.1 million. For more information and details on this year’s Readers Choice Awards visit http://www.concierge.com/cntraveler/.

Charleston Pineapple

Town of Mount Pleasant Children’s Day Festival – Charleston, SC

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It’s all about the kids, at least at the 22nd Annual Town of Mount Pleasant Children’s Day Festival in South Carolina. This festival takes place on Saturday October 18, 2009, from noon to 5 pm at the Park West Recreational Complex.

Here you will find anything that a child would want at a festival including climbing wall, inflatables, face painting, petting zoo, pony rides, clowns and more.

There will also be special performances by local dance and gymnastics academies, karate schools and cheerleading squads. But wait, there’s more. Also unicyclist and juggler Mark Lippard, King of Kazoo Rick Hubbard, and Roarks Reptiles will participate.
Kids always have a great time at the Mount Pleasant Children’s Day Festival, and parents like the fact that admission and parking are free.

Concessions will be available for sale, with proceeds benefiting participating local East Cooper schools. The theme of this year’s festival is “Space and the anniversary of Man’s First Walk on the Moon.”

For more information, please contact Su McManus-Frost at 843-884-8517 or visit the website at www.townofmountpleasant.com.

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