2007 Newsletter
Dear Friends and Family,
This holiday card comes to you bearing highlights of the year 2007 of the Beasley~Forrest household. Yes, the major event of our year was going from two single surnames to a double~joined surname. Stuart, my Scottish beau, came for three visits, and on the fourth visit at summer’s end, he stayed for good.
One highlight, during Stuart’s visit in late January, we had the time of our lives at our first oyster roast. It was a fundraiser for the Beaufort Historic Foundation held at the Beaufort Yacht Club at sunset on the Intracoastal Waterway. The weather was crisp and clear (glove and ear muff weather) and the hot steamy oysters with everyone gathered round picnic tables and bonfires, digging into those fresh Lowcountry gems and slugging the steamy, briny mollusks down with cold beer was heavenly.
After Stuart’s permanent arrival, we worked diligently the next six weeks planning our commitment ceremony. On Oct. 6, Mother Nature blessed us with a beautiful clear, warm night with scarcely a gnat or mosquito, the evening of our outdoor wedding. It was an intimate gathering of 20 guests including the bagpiper. We said our vows beneath the undulating branches of a 700-year-old live oak tree in the front lawn of “The Oaks” (pictured above) overlooking a beautiful high-tide salt marsh just before sunset. It was a truly magical, memorable evening for us, with Stuart and our best man in full Scottish regalia, and a bagpipe recessional thru Beaufort’s historic Old Point neighborhood, which led us to the reception in the garden of arists Eric & Suzanne Longo. Good food and drink, tiki-torches, party lights, poetry, toasts, and great company.
In other news, Brenda completed her Mermaid de Liberté this spring, which lived for six months in front of the post office, along with 30 other mermaids that graced the parks and streets of Beaufort. In October, Liberté sold for $2100 (a fundraiser for the Beaufort Arts Council), her financiers assuring her future in Beaufort. Her scales were made of 1500 Liberty stamps from around the globe.
This fall we were docents for the BHF Fall Festival of Homes , which allowed us to tour them all on our “off” shift for free, all three days. Friday was the candlelight tour of the historic district, Saturday included some of the area plantation homes, and Sunday featured kitchen tours where area chefs served autumnal soups and hors d’oeuvres.
Brenda continues to enjoy her challenging work as Catalog Librarian for Beaufort County Libraries, and editor of the Statue of Liberty Club newsletter. Stuart, who has a Ph.D. in Information Technology, has been doing some volunteer work with our IT department at the library as well as a few computer consulting and catering jobs until his paperwork comes through for something permanent. We are very much enjoying our slower-paced life 10 miles from Beaufort the out in the country on St. Helena Island, only 10 miles from the Hunting Island State Park beaches. After a days work of gathering and burning brush from the MANY trees that surround our yard, we are rewarded with campfires in our new fire pit in the backyard. Weekend mornings find us reading the latest selection for book club over coffee on our covered deck with Suki warming our laps, and the gift of beautiful weather and scenery that surrounds us. Come see!!
Our very best wishes to you in the new year!
With Love,