Ossabaw Foundation Meeting A Great Evening.

Nearly 100 people turned out on chilly night to for Ossabaw Island Foundation Annual meeting last night. We went to see Buddy Sullivan give a presentation and get the scoop on what's happening on this awesome piece of the coast.
A little background inf0 about Ossabaw..

• It is the third largest barrier island on the Ga coast at 26,000 acres
• Was designated Ga's first heritage preserve in '78
• Has over 200 archaeological sites and supported human activity for over 4000 years
• Ossabaw derives from the Guale (Wally) Indian word in the Muskogean or Creek language that means “yaupon holly bushes place”
• Served as an internationally-renown interdisciplinary "think tank" in the 60's, 70's and 80's
• Is the only island in Georgia and perhaps elsewhere reserved exclusively for educational and scientific purposes

As well as the annual meeting it was Sandy Wests' 96th birthday, so we all sang 'Happy Birthday' to the last remaining member of the Torrey West family to live on the island.

Restoration of several of the slave houses has been completed to their pre 1860's state. The island now has a comprehensive weather station as well as two deep water wells with sensors providing numerous amounts of data. The whole island has 'connectivity', with the implementation of several telescoping 100' towers. This all enables students and researchers to download real time data from just about any location in the world. It's all part of maintaining Ossabaw Island as a pivotal and unique island for research and study. There were over 230 turtle nests on Ossabaw this last nesting season..the third highest on the Ga coast.

A new marina and condos will not be built at any time in the future. Ossabaw will never be developed.