One Hilton Head first family, made boxing into the family business; which included the Cohen brothers, all of whom were trained as professional boxers. Recognized as the Southeast Heavy Weight Champion, his career brought him friendships with some of the top boxers in his day.
By Luana M. Graves Sellars Photo Credit: Mike Ritterbeck In a world where we need
Courage has many faces. Usually, courage is motivated by a steadfast desire to achieve an objective, or it is motivated by fear of failure. Regardless of the motivation, courage tends to emerge at just the right time; at the exact moment when an extraordinary response is needed. For the Bligen’s, time after time and situation after situation, the family faced difficult challenges, and it was their courage and strength that allowed them to survive and prevail.
It’s not often that you have the opportunity to spend time with a centenarian; it’s a chance to pause and to take notes. Time with her is a chance to peek behind the historic curtain and receive first-hand knowledge and unexpected details from someone’s past. Still active and clear in her memories, Mother Ethel Rivers comes across as if she’s decades younger. It’s only when she starts to share her rich past that you realize how much of a rare island treasure that she is. She, however, doesn’t think so.
At first impression, Kaylon “Poona” Ford is a shy and unassuming person. He admits that he doesn’t enjoy talking about himself, sometimes twisting his hair to show it, but after some prodding and persistence, eventually, he comes around. Born into the cultural and generational legacy of Hilton Head’s Gullah community, he has deep family roots here. Nicknamed Poona by his grandmother, Cynthia Williams, who remembers that she nicknamed him Pooh Bear, because he was “always a fat baby”. As he aged, the shortened version, of Poona stuck with him.
After the war, having an army pension was almost a life and death matter for these newly freed slaves. Many soldiers had to obtain witnesses to help them verify who they were, and that they were in fact veterans of the Civil War. Matthew Jones, one of the early residents of Historic Mitchelville, was one of those soldiers.
The Bible says, “Honor a physician with the honor due unto him…” and Dr. Hector Esquivel has lived a life of service that deserves the highest honor and respect.
