To the Editor:

Words cannot capture our gratitude. The Bluffton Area Community Association and the Back to School Fun Day Organization would like to express a heartfelt thank you to the Town of Bluffton, businesses, churches and individuals who supported us this year (again).

Without your continued support, partnership and contributions in one way or another, this event would not be as successful as it is. We gave over 300 families free backpacks filled with school supplies at our seventh annual Back to School Fun Day held Aug. 5 at the Oscar Frazier Park and Field of Dreams.

We offered two educational sessions to parents and guardians from the Bluffton Police Department (SRO) and Beaufort County Drug and Alcohol (prevention department).

The following vendors were so excited to provide free services and information to families: Beaufort Jasper Comprehensive Dental mobile unit, Walmart Vision Center, Hilton Head Hospital Wellness, Beaufort Memorial Wellness Mobile, Black Chamber of Commerce, Bluffton Fire Department, Bluffton Police Department, Technical College of The Lowcountry, BlueChoice HealthPlan of South Carolina Medicaid, Consumer Credit Counseling Services, the Mitchelville Project of Hilton Head, Beaufort County Drug and Alcohol and Beaufort County Library Bookmobile.

To all of our volunteers, you made the difference and we say “Thank you” for your time, talent and the gift of giving. We thank God for all the blessings He sent our way.

Together, we are helping families, one event at a time.

Sharon Brown, Lenora Grayson, Shirley Kinlaw and Vanessa Wallace White

Back to School Fun Day Organizers

To the Editor:

There appears to be a rejuvenilization of adults over 40 transpiring in America. Too many college students’ mental and maturation development has stalled at the level of an adolescent by political correctness, sending them scurrying away into university safe spaces whenever confronted with any semblance of common sense or reality, as a frightened child would, hiding in a closet with a teddy bear.

But what I’m talking about is the incessant onslaught by the media’s, television advertising’s and Hollywood’s juvenile attitude towards adults. Most ads seem to require either talking animals, puppets, cartoons or kidspeak by adults about products for grown-ups.

As a kid, I giggled at these on Saturday morning. With school out, movie time is in, but try finding one or two serious films out of 10 at the theater. It’s mystifying watching many adults laughing hysterically at coming attractions of movies intended for 6-year-olds. Cute? Yes. Belly laughs? Hmm.

Pharmacy shelves are stocked with Gummy Bear adult aspirin and myriad supplements in candy form. Adult coloring books are in (I must reveal I have taken up that sport). Zombie outfits, adolescent video games and hopscotch are not for children anymore.

It’s great and healthy to be young at heart, but with the rate this mindless childhood regression is occurring, we’ll need not fear for our children’s development. We’ll be our children.

Either this nation is in trouble, or I’m just a cranky old party pooper.

Don Maresca

Bluffton

To the Editor:

Polo for Charity, coordinated by The Rotary Club of Okatie, will soon be here. As newly elected president, I want to express on behalf of our club, the gratitude and great appreciation we have for our community.

You rallied to support the 2016 Polo for Charity event last fall – right after a major hurricane. Thank you.

The charity event was planned for late October, but no one projected that a major hurricane would hit just weeks before the polo match.

Our sponsors, patrons and members of the community enthusiastically stayed committed to the match regardless of the challenges.

I am happy to report that we raised over $20,000 to support Moss Creek Marines’ Paws 4 Vets program and for victims of Hurricane Matthew.

We would like to acknowledge last year’s corporate sponsors: Engel and Volkers Real Estate and Property Management; Lang Capital; Bluffton Center for Dentistry; J&S Construction; the Law Office of Barbara McFadden; C. Parker Cook, Jr.; Hilton Head Landscapes; Haig Point; John Mosca, CPA; Palmetto Electric; the Salty Dog Café; and our valued media sponsors.

This year’s Polo for Charity will be held Oct. 22, and soon we will be approaching local businesses to sponsor another exciting Sunday afternoon of tailgate parties and high-intensity polo competition.

We look forward to working with many of you to make this year’s event a fun day of tailgating while raising awareness for worthwhile charities in our area.

Tony Leister

President, Rotary Club of Okatie