NEWSTHE BRUNSWICK GOLDENISLES.NEWS Monday, May 15, 2017 42¢ OR LESS HOME DELIVERY * $1.00 NEWSSTAND Volume 115, Number 208 BRUNSWICK • ST. SIMONS ISLAND • JEKYLL ISLAND • SEA ISLAND HISTORIC TOUR MISSILE TEST PLAYOFF SOCCER Jekyll Island cottage is open for North Korea tested a missile that Frederica boys advance LIFESTYLES, 1C WORLD, 8A SPORTS, 1B tours through May ew “unusually high” Jake Myers to state semi nals Shrimp blessings O cials: strong and a tourism season Spanish galleon on the horizon By LINDSEY ADKISON [email protected] The heat is on and the beaches are sizzling — that means one thing for Brunswick and the Golden Isles — summer has almost arrived. And with it, tourists are also on tap, already arriving in droves at local hotspots like St. Simons and Jekyll islands. Ofi cials are expecting this tourism season to be ex- ceptional. That’s good news for those who depend on the inl ux of patrons to i ll the area’s shops and restaurants, fueling the $1 billion local industry. It was one of the main topics discussed at a recent meeting of tourism ofi cials and partners, all of whom were hoping to hear positive news from Scott McQuade, president of the Golden Isles Convention and Visitors Bureau. Overall, good news was what they received. McQuade said this year i scal year — 2016 to 2017 — is tracking three percent ahead of previous years. He is optimistic that the year will outperform the 2015 to 2016 i scal year, which was an all-time record. “Looking at our lodging pace report for summer de- mand, the tourism economy looks strong. We anticipate Please see SEASON, 5A board the Georgia Bulldog and l anked by the Knights of Columbus, above, St. Fran- Acis Xavier Catholic Church Father Timothy McKeown blesses the shrimpboat Captain Snapper during the Girls getting 79th annual Brunswick Blessing of the Fleet Saturday. The festival drew big crowds at Sidney Lanier Park in Bruns- in on summer wick. On Sunday morning, the tall ship El Galeón, at right, sails into the Brunswick River, enroute to the Bruns- learning at CCGA wick city dock at Mary Ross Waterfront Park. The 160 foot long vessel will be at the dock at Mary Ross Park through By LAUREN MCDONALD Tuesday, and will offer tours. The ship [email protected] is a replica of the 16th century mer- College of Coastal Georgia will host its i rst Girls chant ship sailed by Pedro Menendez. of Summer program this July, offering middle school Bobby Haven/The Brunswick News photos girls from Glynn and McIntosh counties a chance to spend their summer learning on a college campus. The program will replicate the framework of the annual Boys of Summer program and will target rising sixth- and seventh-grade girls who may have Norwich enterprise zones to be combined academic needs, as recommended by their school counselors, or those who may benei t from academi- By DEBORAH BAYLISS — is to encourage businesses to stay, from Fifth to Second streets,” Hunter cally-enriching campus experiences. [email protected] move to, or expand in depressed areas, said. “The other zone (Norwich Street The free academic program is being supported by thereby helping to revitalize them. South), runs from N to Gloucester the college’s minority outreach program, and funds Brunswick ofi cials are hopeful cre- Enterprise zone subsidies often in- (Street). We’re i lling in the gap from have been provided by an anonymous donor. ating one enterprise zone to offer busi- clude a variety of corporate income tax N to Second Streets and making Nor- “We are thrilled to be able to host this program ness incentives in the Norwich Street credits, property tax abatements and wich Street one zone instead of adding through the generous support of our community part- corridor will inject some new life in the other tax exemptions and incentives another one and making it three zones.” ners who understand the importance of the initiative once thriving area of the city. to encourage businesses to locate in A resolution to create one zone called in our community,” said Jason Umfress, the vice “We want to extend the Norwich low-income areas of a city or county. the Norwich Street Enterprise Zone is president for student affairs and enrollment manage- Street enterprise zones to i ll the gap Most states and the federal govern-expected to be introduced for approv- ment at CCGA. that is not currently included in the ment have their own versions of enter-al at The Brunswick City Commission Floyd Phoenix, the director of the minority out- zones,” said city planner John Hunter. prise zones. meeting on Wednesday. reach program at CCGA, said the addition of the The intent of enterprise zones — “We currently have two zones on The current gap area is home to Girls of Summer program is a point of pride both for geographic areas in which businesses Norwich Street. One of the zones is can qualify for a variety of subsidies Norwich Commons which stretches Please see ZONE, 5A Please see GIRLS, 5A DAYBREAK INDEX: Worth knowing Worth knowing Local 2A Sports 1B Co ee Break 3A Scores 3B WEATHER The Jekyll Island Turtle Crawl Oglethrorpe Elementary School’s Life 1C 6 5652510471 8 State 3A triathlon drew its largest eld ever stock market team was honored Editorial 4A Advice 3C FOR CUSTOMER SERVICE High 87, Low 66. this past weekend in the event’s 15 recently for winning its region Obituaries 6A TV 4C Nation 5-6A Comics 6C CALL 265-1104 Sunny Monday. 8A year history. Local, 2A championship. Co ee Break, 3A World 8A Classi eds 7C DOUBLE the credit. HALF the time. ZERO the tuition. Start your college career in high school with Move On When Ready @ Coastal Georgia For more information: www.ccga.edu/mowr (912) 279-5776 BUD S D A $ 09 Y G 2 the GOLDENISLES.NEWS Around Isles CHEAPEST PRICE REPORTED IN THE GOLDEN ISLES Page 2A // The Brunswick News // Monday, May 15, 2017 AS OF PRESS TIME Turtle Crawl draws its largest ever turnout By BUDDY HUGHES [email protected] Saturday’s Turtle Crawl Triathlon featured a lot of irsts for Veit Honle. The German native who is an ath- lete on the cycling and cross country teams at Savannah College of Art and Design was racing for the irst time in America. It was also his irst time swimming in the ocean. Perhaps more importantly, he was also the irst triathlete to cross the inish line. “It wasn’t too bad,” Honle Veit Honle was the irst person to cross the inish line Saturday said. “I thought maybe there during the annual Jekyll Island Turtle Crawl. would be more waves, but I just felt good right from the ed three times in the Turtle that’s always good.” beginning.” Crawl and also competed in For Lowery, the scenery Competing in the sprint tri- Bobby Haven/The Brunswick News photos triathlons in Jacksonville. and the competition make for athlon — which consists of a Triathletes are silhouetted against the early morning sun as they emerge from the water to transition Coming to Jekyll is “by far” a great event. 600-meter swim, 14.5-mile to bicycling during the annual Jekyll Island Turtle Crawl Saturday. his favorite triathlon. “A lot of people show up bike ride and a 5-kilometer “It’s just a nice course,” for it, so there’s (plenty of) run — Honle was the irst out SEE THE RESULTS said. “It was perfect condi- Stroud said. “Everything’s competition,” Lowery said. of the water, the irst back to tions out there. The water was organized well and the “And I like the island — it’s the transition after his bike Visit www.jekyllisland.com/signatureevents/ calm, barely any headwinds course is pretty lat, real sopretty.” ride and eventually the irst turtle-crawl-weekend and follow the links to ind complete on the bike. It felt good.” athlete to inish. results from this weekend’s races. Along with a calm day on Honle did have some com- the Atlantic, the waters were TURN OLD GOLD INTO CASH! pany on the course as he ran also nice and warm. But across some of the athletes RECYCLE OR TRADE YOUR OLD JEWELRY end, with proceeds from Sat- thought I would do the sprint Stroud admitted that once FOR SOMETHING SHINY & NEW competing in the interna- urday’s sprint and internation- this time,” Lowery said. athletes get into their swim, tional triathlon portion — a al triathlons and Sunday’s 5k So what keeps bringing they don’t really notice the 1,500-meter swim, 29-mile and 10k races beneitting the athletes back to the Turtle water temperature. bike and a 10k run. Georgia Sea Turtle Center. Crawl? Well, the conditions “You can never really tell, CASH OR “On the bike, I had a lot While some like Honle help. but the water here is typical- TRADE of international (triathlon) were new, the race also at- “It was absolutely perfect,” ly pretty warm,” Stroud said. FREE APPRAISAL athletes that I could chase,” tracts its fair share of repeats. Lowery said. “Smooth swim, “Once you get going — you SHOP LOCAL! Veit said. “The run was a little Tom Lowery of Gainesville, not much wind on the bike. It don’t really feel it anymore.” lonely, but it felt good.” Fla., participated in the inter- was a little hot on the run, but Stroud has participat- SHOPS AT SEA ISLAND • 600 SEA ISLAND ROAD #16 ST. SIMONS ISLAND, GA 31522 • 912-634-9060 Honle’s irst-time at the national triathlon four years I’m not complaining.” triathlon was relective of a ago.