What's inside this issue?

• BHA's Operation Re-Forest — We Forest is coming soon! Order your trees by January 5, 2024.
• BHA 2024 Board candidate resources — forum recording and biographies.
• BHI Transportation announces a deadline of March 31, 2024, for accepting the 2-part ("old") paper ferry tickets.
• BHA's 2023 Annual Report packets — mailing soon.
• Don't miss — December Island Report.
• Events
• BHA quick links (ARC and BHA committees) and Board meetings.
• Handy Bald Head Island website links.

BHA's 5th Annual

Operation Re-Forest — We Forest

Want to order trees?

Signup deadline is Friday, January 5, 2024

Simply fill out the survey to order trees — click HERE.

BHA's 5th annual “Operation Re-Forest — We Forest” is coming soon! BHA began this operation in 2019 to help mitigate Bald Head Island’s tree losses from previous storms, such as Hurricane Florence in 2018. According to BHI Conservancy’s survey estimating Hurricane Florence’s damage to trees on Bald Head Island, “Scaled-up total loss of trees was a median of 4,000 trees lost for Bald Head Island proper, not including the Coastal Reserve, with an additional 1,000 trees lost on Middle Island.” Because trees, native vegetation and their root systems help with water drainage and wind protection, BHA kicked off “Operation Re-Forest — We Forest” in 2019 as a way to help mitigate BHI’s tree losses.

BHA will order trees and bring them to Bald Head Island for planting January 10-11, 2024. Property owners can pick up their ordered trees on January 11 at Public Works.

BHA encourages property owners to participate in “Operation Re-Forest — We Forest” in one of four ways:

• Take advantage of BHA’s bulk order cost and Island delivery to plant trees on your own lot.
• Plant trees as part of your tree mitigation with the Architectural Review Committee (ARC).
• Plant a tree on your own lot to honor a loved one.
• Purchase a live oak tree in honor of a loved one to be planted on BHA Common Area.

Plant a Tree!

Live oak trees cost $200 each, whether you pick up and plant a tree on your own lot, pick up and plant a live oak tree on your own lot but also want to include it as an Honor Tree or simply want to purchase a live oak Honor Tree and have BHA plant it on BHA Common Area. Yaupon Hollies and Wax Myrtles are also available, each $50.

If you want to take advantage of BHA's bulk rate to purchase trees and plant them on your own lot, ARC review and fees are waived for this operation only, but you must fill out the tree survey to order so that ARC has a record of landscape changes (click HERE). Property owners should be aware of utility easements and lot line locations, in addition to contacting "Call 811 before you dig."

Sub-association Neighborhoods

In some BHI neighborhoods, property owners do not own the land around their home.

If you live in a neighborhood with a sub-association, contact your president or representative about your interest to plant a tree (click HERE and view page 5 of the document). Your representative can fill out the tree survey.

Online "Operation Re-Forest — We Forest" Map/List

Check out the Operation Re-Forest — We Forest map and list of honorees on BHA's website HERE.

BHA 2024 Board Candidate Resources

Forum Recording and Biographies

BHA hosted its inaugural Board Candidate Forum on Monday, December 11. The forum was held in-person and online via Zoom, and also recorded. The forum was managed, timed and moderated by Vicky Janowski, Editor, Greater Wilmington Business Journal and WILMA Magazine. Visit BHA's web page for the forum recording and the BHA 2024 Board candidate biographies by clicking on the button below.

The 2024 BHA Board candidates are:

• Michael Bumarch
• Bob Keiger
• Chris Parrish
• Elizabeth (Betty) Robinson
• Steve Smalley

BHI Transportation

Announces Deadline of March 31, 2024,

for 2-part ("Old") Paper Ferry Tickets

According to BHI Transportation's announcement:

Bald Head Island Transportation will STOP accepting two-part (“old”) paper tickets after March 31, 2024. "Old" Bulk 40 tickets (only) may be exchanged for a coupon code through March 31, 2024.

Starting April 1, 2024, only QR-coded “new” tickets and transferred or newly issued passes will be valid for ferry boarding.

Click HERE for the announcement. Click HERE for BHI Transportation's website.

BHA News

BHA's 2023 Annual Report Packets

BHA will be mailing its 2023 Annual Report packets to members soon. Watch for your mailing in a white, catalog envelope, which will contain your unique voter registration ID on the front cover, proxy, voting details and more.

Don't miss!

• BHA Annual Report Packets, Annual Meeting and Voting.
• BHI native plant feature of the month — Yaupon Holly.
• ARC — holiday meeting schedule and ARC applications moving to online only January 1, 2024.
• Monthly ARC Quiz — online applications.
• President's Letter.
• 5th Annual Operation Re-Forest — We Forest.
• An overview of BHI's shoreline protection program.
• Monthly contributors — the Village of BHI, Old Baldy Foundation and the BHI Conservancy.
• Plus much, much more!

Due to flooding in BHA's Association Center,

all activities are being temporarily relocated during renovations. For the latest updates, check our online event calendar for location information.

Thank You from the Public Service Auxiliary (PSA)!

The Public Service Auxiliary (PSA) is the 501c3 vehicle for collection of contributions for the BHI Public Safety Department to supplement the Village budget. In the fall of 2023, the PSA had its annual Chili Supper Feast and Public Meeting, with chili take-out available. This year, there was a wide variety of chili available — vegetarian, white chicken chili and chili verde, among others. All the chili was cooked and contributed by BHI homeowners.

The PSA was able to collect almost $6,000 in chili dinner contributions from those who joined the PSA to eat at the Public Safety Complex. That included several large donations from homeowners and even one outside organization honoring the lifesaving work of our Public Safety officers.

In addition, Jules Showalter organized her latest Pub Crawl and was able to contribute another $6,000 to Public Safety from participants and Island individuals and businesses.

The PSA greatly appreciates everyone's support! Please consider joining us for the next Chili Supper in the fall of 2024. And remember that our PSA organization also has multiple committees (Transportation, Supply, Traffic Control, etc.) that help our PSA volunteers in case of an on-Island emergency. We invite all homeowners to join us.

You do not have to be a full-time resident to offer help. For information, email Cam McIntyre at cammacnc@gmail.com.

Wishing Everyone a Merry Christmas

and Happy New Year!

BHA Office Closed

For Christmas and New Year's Holidays

BHA's office will be closed for the Christmas holiday December 25-26. The office will reopen with its regular hours of 9:00am-4:00pm on December 27. The office will be closed for New Year's on January 1, with the office reopening on January 2.

Yoga Classes

Re-starting in 2024

Relocated to BHI Bottle Shop

Re-starting in 2024, yoga classes are taught by Pam Moulin on Mondays and Wednesdays, 11:45am-1:00pm. The new location is BHI Bottle Shop (2 Maritime Way). Thank you to Jordyn Matthews for donating space in the Bottle Shop for yoga classes!

Pam has 36 years of experience as a fitness instructor and 19 years of experience as a yoga instructor, and she's been teaching yoga on Bald Head Island for 13 years. All levels are welcome. Classes are $20, and participants must bring their own yoga mat. Pam requires that all participants show proof of vaccination against Covid-19. For all new participants, it's strongly suggested to email Pam beforehand (and let her know of any physical limitations) at pammoulin@ec.rr.com.

Village Chapel of BHI's Angel Tree

Due to the overwhelming generosity of the Bald Head Island community, all 150 of the 2023 Angel Tree tags have been claimed! The Village Chapel Community Outreach team asks that if you would like to donate directly to Brunswick Family Assistance, donation boxes can be found at the Village Chapel, Jules' Salty Grub & Island Pub and Salty Paws. Your donation will directly benefit those in need this year. Thank you!

BHI Community Care

Do you need assistance?

Your Island Friends are here to help!

BHI Community Care is in association with Project Longevity. For help or to volunteer, email Joan Maggio at JoanMaggio.BHIcare@gmail.com.

BHA's Board of Directors invites property owners and others to join its monthly public meetings in person or remotely via Zoom. Board meetings are typically held the second Friday of each month beginning at 11:00am EDT. Agendas, approved minutes of previous meetings and a link to the current monthly Zoom meeting can be found on the meeting information web page. Click on the link below to learn more.

(NOTE: the meeting location is TBD.) The next BHA Board meeting public session is scheduled for Friday, January 26, 2024, at 11:00am.

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