Located in the Atlantic Ocean, just off the southern coast of Georgia, Jekyll Island was once an exclusive resort area for American millionaires in the late 1800s and early 1900s. The state of Georgia now owns the island and has opened it to everyone.

Visitors come from around the world to enjoy the peaceful environment offering beautiful beaches, hiking, fishing (requires a license), golfing, tennis and wildlife viewing (65 percent of the island is a nature preserve). A tour of Millionaires’ Village is one of the highlight attractions. Horseback riding is available on Jekyll Island and nearby St. Simons Island.

This year we hope to have Family Day at the Summer Waves Water Park and to offer a bus tour to St. Augustine, Florida. This city, “founded forty-two years before the English colony at Jamestown, Virginia, and fifty-five years before the Pilgrims landed on Plymouth Rock in Massachusetts,” is “the oldest permanent European settlement on the North American continent” (www.oldcity.com/history-information.cfm).

Temperatures on Jekyll Island range from 60 to 75 degrees Fahrenheit (16 to 24 degrees Celsius), with the possibility of rain. Major airports for arrival and departure are Savannah, Georgia; Brunswick, Georgia; and Jacksonville, Florida. A rental car is advised. There is a $3 toll per vehicle every time one enters the island; one-week passes may also be purchased. For more information on Jekyll Island, go to www.jekyllisland. com/index.html.

Expected attendance is 1,200