Programs for Exceptional People’s annual Fall Gala will take place Saturday, October 8 at the newly remodeled Sea Pines Country Club. This extraordinary event presented by Harbour Health Insurance Solutions will begin at 6:00p.m. with cocktails, an exciting silent auction and live music by The Sand Piper Quartet. The evening will continue with a seated Surf & Turf Dinner. Dinner will be followed by a live auction with enticing items. Tickets for this PEP fund-raiser are $75 per person and can be purchased at PEP located at 10 Oak Park Drive on Hilton Head Island. Platinum Sponsors are Hargray Communications, CareCore National, SunTrust Bank and Bluffton Today. Live auction items will include: 1 week on Cape Cod; 1 week in Beaver Creek, Co; 1 week in Palmetto Dunes, HHI; and 1 week at Seven Springs Ski Resort in PA. Get your tickets now and help Programs for Exceptional People empower adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities in southern Beaufort County! This will be a wonderful evening! We will soon begin an “auction page” where we will keep an updated listing of all auction items with a description so that you can begin considering what you might want to win!

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http://www.celebratehiltonhead.com/article/2216/may-2011-our-town-pottery-with-a-purpose-artisnas-at-pep-show-off-their-talent-at-the-kiln

At right, Paul Green, grabs a pair of water dumbbells during a water aerobics class.

Ten PEP members meet twice a week at the pool to exercise as part of the nonprofit organization’s mission of empowering adults with special needs.

PEP’s second annual oyster roast will be held at 5:30 p.m. April 2 at Bluffton Oyster Co. in Bluffton. Tickets are $25.

Details: 843-681-8413

Read more: http://www.islandpacket.com/2011/03/15/1583017/exceptional-fitness.html#ixzz1GftJGIkq

The PEP Potters will be displaying and selling their handcrafted pottery at the kickoff of the spring Famers Market of Bluffton from 2 to 7 p.m. Thursday on Calhoun Street in Bluffton.

Visitors to the Farmers Market will be able to talk with the PEP Potters and learn how they made their bowls and chose the colors for each bowl. Each piece of pottery is made by an adult with intellectual and developmental disabilities from southern Beaufort County.

The PEP Potters get paid from the proceeds of the pottery sales and a portion also helps underwrite the pottery program in which they participate.

The PEP Pottery Program was begun by a grant from the Community Foundation of the Lowcountry.

There are currently six potters in the PEP Pottery Program. The pottery costs between $6-$15. For more information on PEP Pottery, contact Harold Watson at 681-8413 or harold.watson@pephhi.org

http://www.blufftontoday.com/bluffton-news/2011-03-12/pep-potters-return-old-town

For oyster lovers, mess is trumped by taste.

And the chance to harvest, shuck and chow down on oysters is coming to an end for the season.

There will be one more opportunity April 2.

Program for Exceptional People will sponsor the “Last Oyster Roast of the Season,” a fundraising event along the banks of the May River for an organization that aims to “empower people with special needs.”

Last year’s inaugural event helped to raise $5,000, said PEP’s Executive Director Harold D. Watson.

“We had a really good year last year, with nearly 300 people,” he said. “We’re hoping for closer to 500 this year.”

Tickets for the event are $25 and can be purchased at the Bluffton Oyster Co. at the end of Wharf Street, PEP’s offices at 10 Oak Park Drive, building C-1, off Mathews Drive, or at Walgreens at the corner of U.S. 278 and Simmonsville Road or at two locations on Hilton Head Island. Tickets will be sold through April 2 and can be purchased “at the door,” but Watson encourages oyster connoisseurs to buy tickets beforehand so enough oysters can be prepared for the all-you-can-eat event. The April 2 fundraiser will also feature live music by the Islandeers, served with a side of chili.

Beer, wine and soda will be sold at an additional coast.

“We chose an oyster roast because everyone loves oysters and it’s a chance to enjoy the scenic May River and a great chance to be outside,” Watson said.

Here is an added bonus: the grounds will be sprayed prior to the fundraiser to try and battle the no see ‘ums.

While the oyster roast fundraiser isn’t PEP’s biggest event of the year (their fall gala is) it does help to fund programs going into the summer months, Watson said.

PEP provides services to about 40 mentally disabled adults, of which about 40 percent come from Bluffton.

PEP provides skills training and programs, help clients to gain employment, use community resources, encourage independent living and offer opportunities for community inclusion and socialization, according to PEP’s mission.

“This is an important fundraiser for us,” Watson said. “We need to raise funds year round and this is a good way to try and diversify our streams of income.”

When: 5:30 to 8 p.m. April 2

Where: Bluffton Oyster Factory Park, end of Wharf Street.

Description: Listen to live music, eat fresh oysters and watch the sun set along the banks of the May River next to the Bluffton Oyster Co. while helping out Programs for Exceptional People.

Cost: $25

Details: Call 681-8413 or e-mail harold.watson@pephhi.org

Warmer water temperatures might be ideal for humans, but not for oysters. Oyster season kicks off Sept. 1 and usually wraps up by mid-May, although the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources can vary the season if conditions warrant.

Here’s a quick how-to on shucking oysters:

Hold the oyster, flat side up, in a cloth or towel, pressed firmly against the work surface. Do not try to open an oyster in midair as you would a clam. Keep your hand out of the area where the knife could slip. Place the tip of the knife in the Achilles heel (the hinge) and turn your hand as if you were turning the throttle of a motorcycle, pushing in with steady pressure until you feel the snap. Now give a full twist to make enough of an opening to slide the knife along the top of the shell, cutting the muscle. The top of the shell is now off and all that is left to do is cut the bottom muscle. Keep the oyster level at all times, so as not to lose any of the juice.

PEP Pottery On-Hand As Of 2/9/11…We have some special Valentine’s Day (hearts/red) themed pottery. Get your PEP Pottery now for Valentine’s Day or for any gift.

An important Hilton Head Island community-outreach effort celebrates 15-years of service. “Programs for Exceptional People,” known as PEP, is a wonderful non-profit organization created to offer Southern Beaufort County adults with special needs, the opportunity to experience new activities and training, along the road to the ideal outcome, hopefully becoming more self-sufficient. Mr. Harold Watson summed up the mission best when he said: “PEP is about providing opportunities for a life of independence, for a life of ability, for a life of dignity, for one of choices.”

Over 40 special-needs attendees receive help with reading, writing and social skills, the kinds of things most folks take for granted. The goal for many is to prepare for, and find, employment. Several are already working at PEP’s work activity center, processing bulk mail for several businesses.

Our thanks to all those associated with the Hilton Head Island Programs for Exceptional People initiative, from staff, to funding sources, to the actual center participants, who grow in their abilities by the day. It doesn’t get any better than making meaningful opportunities for our neighbors in need.

Copyright 2011 WTOC. All rights reserved.

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