Joye Hanrahan again presented a beautiful and delicious tea at Ashantilly! Guests were treated to a feast of delectable goodies, serenaded with lovely piano music by Mert Kennedy, greeted with gorgeous floral arrangements by Bill Bolin, and given a special letterpress printed card memento. Everyone had a great time!

This year’s author was Thornton Wilder.? Buddy Sullivan led a tour of historic ?downtown Darien, “Our Town.” ?This program is part of the The Big Read: Coastal Georgia Reads Thornton Wilder, an initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with Arts Midwest. Over 100 people followed Buddy through downtown Darien and all were impressed with his knowledge of local history. Many who were not able to attend have requested that Buddy repeat the tour at a later date. Stay tuned for scheduling information!

A lovely Open House on December 2nd was held at Ashantilly Center. A beautiful tree from Webster’s Tree Farm, piano music by Wayne Tate, and special decorations by Michael Angel of The Shops at 107 Broad in Darien and by Don Sambursky formerly of Lord and Taylor in New York made this a VERY special event! Delightful refreshments including mulled wine and hot apple cider plus delicious finger food from the Board and members added to the festivities.
If you want to see the decorations (although slightly drier now) come by Wednesday, December 5th between 4 and 7. Some Board members will be at the house to greet you. Enjoy the pictures!

The Georgia Literary Festival held the weekend of November 9-11 was the first time this event has been held on the Georgia coast. Ashantilly was privileged to host Buddy Sullivan and sell his books. Taking Bill Haynes’ first letterpress to demonstrate the art of printing gave our table an extra boost!
Rumor has it that the Festival may return to Jekyll and if you are a reader, don’t miss it!

The first run of Christmas cards are now ready! Using one of Mr. Haynes’ wood blocks, Nicolas Silberg and Sara Blocker printed a first run of cards. They are now available at Ashantilly at a minimum charge of 5/$10. Get yours before they are gone!

ARCHAEOLOGY ON THE LOWER ALTAMAHA: THE ELIZAFIELD AND EVELYN PLANTATION SITES
SUNDAY, OCT. 21
3:00 to 5:00 pm

Dr. Kevin Kiernan will update us on recent excavations and research into the early dwellers along the lower Altamaha. A reception will follow.

DONATION: $15 members/$20 Nonmembers

For more information or to reserve your seat, click here

Board member David Dickerson has designed a new approach for the Hwy. 99 entrance. With help from Wayne Owens, he is installing the new sign. It looks great! Thanks to these hard workers!

One of Ashantilly’s Board members has handmade this beautiful ladies purse. We are selling raffle tickets at $5 per ticket or 3 for $10, with the winner to be announced at our Christmas Open House on December 2nd. Contact us for more information! 912 437-4473.

Tim Rutherford selected six Bourbons for participants to experience. Starting with 4 Kentucky Bourbons, Tim explained the individual differences and requirements to be labeled a Kentucky Bourbon. The next selections were contemporary Bourbons made outside of Kentucky. Very interesting and great fun!