Tag: education

As head of publishing for Atlanta Magazine, Sean McGinnis lives in a hotbed of happenings. Day in and day out, he is on the phone, on the road and on the go capturing the ins and outs of what is currently creating headlines in the state’s capital city and beyond.

But for a few blessed days, maybe a week or more if he plays the luck card right, he makes his way down with his family, or even on a solo trip, to Georgia’s most enchanting barrier island. As an added bonus, those days spent beachside can occasionally double as work trips, or triple as pleasure trips, work trips and prime opportunities to serve in his distinct role as Vice Chair of the Jekyll Island Foundation Board.  

For more than five years, McGinnis has served on the JIF Board, striving alongside his board partners to help keep the state park as pristine as possible. Even before being invited to join the board by past members, McGinnis had his eyes on the island, collaboratively launching 31• 81, the Magazine of Jekyll Island, several years ago, as well as developing friendships and business contacts island-wide.

Once any needed business is set aside, his dream Jekyll agenda involves the simpler sides of life, beginning with a beachfront view of the sunrise. Well, first, he admits, it starts with a cup (or two) of coffee, then the sunrise. Caffeine in hand, he would make his way out for a dawn-tinted walk on the beach, waiting for the sun to peak and come over the horizon. It is a great reminder “you’re not in Atlanta anymore,” he said.

With the coffee and sunrise checked off his agenda, that dreamy day would unfold with a fishing excursion, then digging in, fingers first, to some signature peel-and-eat shrimp, accompanied by the tunes of “whoever’s playing that evening on the (Wharf) dock,” he said, quickly adding: “And never having to change out of shorts, a beat-up T-shirt and some worn out flip flops.” 

Long before those flip flops were worn out and such dreamy days became more regular on his calendar, though, McGinnis had a keen interest in Jekyll Island. When the idea of becoming a JIF board member was presented to him, he was quick to agree.

Sitting on the JIF board, and prior to the many phases of much-needed renovation which have swept through the Island for more than 15 years, McGinnis recalls holding fond memories of Jekyll. However, he admits some of those memories include the Island when it needed a breath of fresh, though slightly salty, air. Back then, he said, he saw the grand potential just waiting to sprout again on the Island, to revamp it into its yesteryears of glitz and glam.

“I don’t actually remember the first time I was introduced to Jekyll Island, but it was definitely prior to the revitalization plan. Back then it felt dated and (in) need of updating, for sure,” he said. “Years later, I remember coming back and staying, and seeing the new Convention Center and Beach Village coming to fruition. (I) couldn’t believe the progress that was made. All the while, (the island remained) walkable for miles on an undisturbed beach.”

Now, fast-forward through those years, months and days of change into its current state of beachside shine, and McGinnis finds the island to be a top bragging post for his publication. The impact of a new Jekyll had such an impact on McGinnis, that “when we decided to launch a new travel publication that we call Southbound, I knew I wanted to spotlight Jekyll Island on the cover. It’s still one of my favorite covers we’ve ever done,” he said.

During his stays on Jekyll, both pre- and post-revitalization, McGinnis knew the Island to be a second home, a place for relaxing and reviving away from the metro maze of Atlanta, both years ago and now.

“I found it was becoming a ‘retreat’ for me,” he said. “It offered everything I was looking for in a coastal getaway. Nowhere else could you find wide open expanses of beachfront and marsh that was undeveloped. Every time I enter the Jekyll causeway, everything changes, and I feel like I’m home.”

As a more modern, renovated Jekyll Island has unfolded in the past decade or so, that unique feeling of solace and untapped beauty has not faded, a marvel McGinnis credits to the meticulously planned blueprints developed by past, and present, Jekyll Island leadership.

He especially is excited to further showcase to readers and Island guests the responsible vision of a fresher Jekyll Island through the reopening of the now-renovated Mosaic, Jekyll Island Museum, as well as a new annual fundraising getaway and gala weekend the Board is planning, which will serve to distinctly promote and celebrate Jekyll as it was, as it is, and for what it is continuing to become. This gala, he said, is set to be an “important, sustaining annual event that promotes the Island to new potential patrons while raising awareness for JIF’s core mission of Conservation, Preservation, and Education.”

Six hours is a long time to sit side-by-side with six siblings, in the heat of a Georgia summer. Each stretch of mile seems longer than the next. Each hour feels twice as long. Each second ticks, ticks, ticks away until… there it is! The gently arched entryway to Jekyll Island, that leisurely paradise on Georgia’s coast which was once the luxurious vacation landing for some of America’s industrial millionaires.

“As a kid, that six-mile causeway seemed like 100 miles. We always had a great week here, fishing, bike riding, swimming, shark tooth hunting,” said Mark Williams, the new Executive Director for the Jekyll Island Authority. “I can remember driving by all the residential houses and thinking, ‘those must be the luckiest people in world to get to live here year-round.’”

Despite having traveled through those historic gates annually for years, the grandeur of it all was never lost on Williams. He considered the island a genuine state treasure during all those childhood vacations. He continued to hold the same admiration for Jekyll during his nearly 14 years serving three state Governors as Georgia Department of Natural Resources Commissioner, and during his years serving in the Georgia General Assembly.

By the time he gracefully entered his 60s, his perspective on life shifted a bit, as the wisdom of his life lessons learned thus far took a new hold. With little pause for soul-searching, he saw an opportunity worth reaching for, when now-retired Jekyll Island Authority executive director Jones Hooks announced his exit from the role after more than 15 years of successfully leading Jekyll Island revitalization efforts.

“When Jones Hooks announced his retirement, it seemed as though this potential opportunity and timing collided, which is rare. (The) JIA has been under great leadership with Jones Hooks. The island re-vitalization has been phenomenal (during) the last decade and a half,” Williams said. “The island is bound by (Georgia) law over its developable acreage, and that is a good thing. I see my role not as overseeing future development but overseeing improvements to these developed areas.”

This commitment to maintaining the island’s character led Williams not only into the JIA leadership venture, but also to turning his attention to the intricate realities of keeping the island shining. This is where the Jekyll Island Foundation steps in. Its role is to raise funds for key Island projects, with a focus on Jekyll conservation, preservation and education, that otherwise could not be completed through JIA budgets alone.

“We are a busy island and getting busier each year, so we (need) to keep our amenities up to what our nearly four million visitors and our residents have come to expect from us,” Williams said. “The Foundation is critical in supporting the mission of the JIA and is beginning to plan its first ever annual fundraising gala to further support this mission. I am so excited to see the planning come to fruition, and to celebrate the 25-year mark for the Foundation.”

To learn more or keep up with Foundation projects and activities, follow us on Facebook and Instagram, or visit our website.

It’s not an uncommon response to what is a common question: “What is an ideal day like for you when on Jekyll Island?”

For island-dwellers and well-acquainted guests alike, the answer for many is nearly as old as the state park itself: sunset walks on the beach and general quiet time away from the daily grind are likely common answers to this common question. Ember Bentley’s answer isn’t too far off the mainstream line of thought. But the way she says the words, with such dreamlike ease, it feels as if the moment is occurring right then.  

Take a breath, and now, envision an ideal Jekyll Island day. What would this look like for you?

Bentley is quick to answer. That day starts with coffee in-hand, taking a sunrise walk on the beach. Then with coffee complete and the morning breeze still intact, the day shifts to a morning bike ride. With the cardio casually complete, she would ideally head to brunch at The Pantry, then spend an afternoon by the pool at Jekyll Island Club Resort.

To wrap up a calm afternoon, she and her family would head back beachside, for a sunset stroll, taking in one of the many reasons she fell in love with Jekyll in the first place. On this ideal day, she can even picture the perfect conversation: talking about the lives of the people who owned the homes in the historic district, who could have easily been forgotten if it weren’t for the thoughtful preservation work ongoing.

Bentley, who currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Jekyll Island Foundation and has just been appointed Chair for a two year term, knows the island as well. After all, she has been coming here most of her life.

“I can still remember the sunrise one morning during camp in 5^th grade,” she recalls.

While her memories of the island are solid, her ideas for its future likewise carry the confidence of a player on a winning team. Thankfully, Bentley and her teammates on the Foundation Board are all striving to see Jekyll move forward with respect to its unique history and belief in its even more dazzling new future.

Looking ahead, Bentley and the Foundation Board have a laundry list of goals to achieve. Those include focusing on specific Jekyll Island Authority-directed projects and ensuring long-term viability of those projects. That in itself is no easy task, especially with a major milestone for the Foundation about to occur.

“We must be laser-focused on our mission and what the Foundation was created to do,” she said. “The 25^th Anniversary of the Foundation will occur next year and I’m excited to be working on ways to celebrate this milestone.”

Bentley credits Jones Hooks, who served as executive director for the JIA for 15 years, until he retired this year, with providing a solid footing for the Foundation.  To hear Bentley put it, Hooks repaved the way for Jekyll island’s brilliant future by making the impossible, possible. He not only served to keep the Island on a forward track of progress, but he did so in a way which filled any room, or beach, with brightness, she said.

“Jones is the king of hospitality, and he has a way of making you feel like the most important person in a room,” Bentley said.  She is quick to compare Hooks with another formidable Georgia leader, former First Lady, Sandra Deal. 

“I had the honor of serving as Mrs. Deal’s assistant for four and a half years. As a former teacher, she loved encouraging children to read because she knew that it was the key to unlocking learning,” Bentley said.

As such, Bentley added that Deal was also known as a staunch advocate for Camp Jekyll and its 4-H Learning Center, which now bears Deal’s name. When the reimagined 15-acre Center reopened its doors on Feb. 1, 2017, it signaled that the Sate Park Island is constantly improving, which is a signal Bentley and her crew on the Foundation Board know they will continue to see.

“Seeing (Former First Lady Deal’s) delight as she cut the ribbon on the Sandra Deal Learning Center at Camp Jekyll was a special moment,” Bentley said, noting she served as Chief of Staff to Deal. “The Governor was happy he was able to pull off an early birthday surprise. Of course, she didn’t feel deserving of it, but she was so proud. She believed that the kids are our future, and she wanted every child to have the opportunity to learn and experience camp.”

Bentley has a similar education-based passion. She is currently the Chief of Staff and Government Relations Officer of Middle Georgia State University and serves as a key member of the president’s leadership team.

She was also Executive Director of the Georgia Forestry Foundation and Deputy Commissioner for International Relations for the Georgia Department of Economic Development.

These days, Bentley continues to follow Deal’s example of servitude and leadership throughout the state.

Aside from the Foundation, she sits on 11 Georgia-based committees and boards, and is a graduate of Leadership Georgia, Protocol Partners and the Georgia Academy for Economic Development.

On top of these achievements, Bentley manages to raise a daughter with her husband, Will, in Macon. As if these tasks weren’t enough, she and her family also own and operate a cattle farm in Thomaston. 

After hearing her brilliant list of achievements and leadership throughout her beloved Peach State, those early morning walks with a coffee in hand do sound perfect for slowing down and making time for the quiet moments in life, especially the ones she finds when on Jekyll Island. Those mornings of Zen, walking quietly beachside, with a well-deserved cup of coffee, followed by continued rest and relaxation by the pool, sound more than well-deserved.  

For more information about the Jekyll Island Foundation, visit jekyllislandfoundation.org.