The Eleuthera Winter Residents Reception, hosted by the Ministry of Tourism, Investments & Aviation (MOTIA) during the afternoon of Thursday, March 7th, was held in Governor’s Harbour at the Leon Levy Native Plant Preserve, under its open-air pavilion – surrounded by nature trails and a plethora of local flora and fauna.
The reception at The Preserve saw some one-hundred plus residents enjoying the event held in their honour, with live music, catered hors d’oeuvres and drinks, and selected local vendors, like the famed Emily Mavis Munnings of Savannah Sound showcasing her designer straw creations; Eleuthera author and owner of Enchantment Gift Shop in Green Castle, Sherelle Wallace, highlighting her publications; along with other partners, like Octis Organics; the NUA Insurance team; and the Eleuthera Sustainability Council.
Joy and Larry Stovich, originally out of Texas in the U.S.A., who sat, enjoying the ambience and atmosphere of the gathering at The Levy, shared their Eleuthera experience, saying, “We live here full time in South Point. We visited the island back in 2018 and fell in love, and knew that this was where we would be as our retirement spot. It has been really nice. We don’t know a lot of people. We moved here still during the pandemic, so we didn’t get to meet a lot of folks. So, it’s kind of nice to meet people, other than just the people on our street. This is the first time we have been here [to the winter resident’s reception].
When the couple was asked about what had given them the confidence to take that leap of buying a home on the island and deciding to spend the rest of their time here, Joy explained, “We knew we wanted some place with beautiful water, tropical weather – not where we were. We looked for years. We traveled all around, and went to many, many places. We saw Eleuthera, and saw actually a realtor on one of the television shows – and actually saw on that show, the house that we ended up buying, on tv. And on our first trip here, we just knew that we didn’t need to look anymore. We are enjoying our time here immensely, everyday.”
Preston Young, General Manager with the Ministry of Tourism, with responsibility for Eleuthera and Abaco, commenting on the afternoon, said, “The day was awesome. We had an opportunity to bring in some of our local stakeholders to the meeting this year. It ensured that we were able to have our stakeholders intermingle with our winter residents. What we are trying to do here is to build a community around closer collaboration, so that we can all work together to make sure that our tourism product in Eleuthera is enhanced. That is the main focus. A lot of our winter residents are not very knowledgeable about a lot of the things that go on in our communities. So, bringing in community leaders here – they are able to have a one-on-one to engage us – and get to know who are the key players within the community.”
Pleased with the number of second home owners and winter residents who chose to take part in this year’s reception, Mr. Young added, “We had an excellent turnout. We used a different strategy this year. We looked into our database, which is excellent information, and ensured that we had the people from last year. We tried also to engage a lot of new people. So, going forward our database will be our greatest assest, so we can continue to reach out to our winter residents. When we are having events on the islands, we will let them know in advance – so they can plan for them around their trips to Eleuthera. We will also enlighten them on events we are going to have in the future – or any major projects that we will be investing in. A lot of them really have an interest in this island – a vested interest, because they live here at least half of the year. So, I’m sure many of them will be happy to join us and collaborate with us, to see how we can all work together to make Eleuthera the best island in the Bahamas.”
One of the specially invited local leaders on Thursday afternoon was Central Eleuthera Administrator, Rochelle Anderson, who shared her excitement in seeing so many winter residents and second home owners at the reception. She highlighted the work that the ministry of Tourism was doing to bridge the gap between the local and visitor communities. The administrator also extended a thank you to all the visitors, and second home owners for choosing the island of the Eleuthera as their sanctuary away from home. “Your presence enriches our communities and strengthens our bonds. Thank you for embracing our culture, supporting our local businesses, and contributing to the beauty of our islands.”
“If you look around Eleuthera, you will realize that we have an awesome product, but we are trying to do some things to improve the tourism product here on the island,” said MOT GM Young, as he introduced members of the the Eleuthera Sustainability Council (ESC), during the course of the afternoon program.
ESC leader, Bekera Taylor, joined by Paul Johanneson, spoke to the gathered audience about their efforts on the island, sharing information about the vision and work of the council, and explained how winter residents could get involved in some of the upcoming projects. Johanesson, following the presentation, explained, “We have a host of projects involved with sustainable tourism, environment and economy, that’s our focus. We are off to a good start. We are getting our non-profit status, so people can start donating to us, while getting tax credit. Being here today is about visibility, as we get started with our projects.”
“The last two years,” he added, “have been about getting organized. We have formed a co-op, because that was the most affordable way to get in business. The next step is getting non-profit status, coming within the next month or so – and then from here to start rolling out our projects. We are also involved in getting the Hatchet Bay Caves out from underneath the umbrella of Antiquities, and now it is folded into the Seahorse national park at Sweeting’s Pond… Our focus in 2024 will be an anti-littering campaign for the entire island, putting together an information center at Sweeting’s Pond, and getting something done about the Palmetto Point dump site. We have our work cut out for us.”
