Way to go, Johnny!

Harry Kicklighter says it should have happened long ago. I, and probably thousands of Jekyll Island golfers, would have to agree.

Kicklighter was referring to his friend and colleague, Johnny Paulk, who will be inducted into the Georgia Golf Hall of Fame in January. The announcement appeared in this morning's Brunswick News. 

Paulk was among the very first people on Jekyll Island with whom I worked after moving here in August 1998. JIA was planning a celebration in recognition of 100 years of golf on the island. The event was to be a blowout, complete with a tournament (played in costume with hickory shaft clubs and gutta percha balls) and dinner at the Jekyll Island Club Hotel. 

I had the pleasure and privilege of working with Johnny to help plan the media tour for the event. I haven't worked directly with Johnny for several years. Yet every time I run into him it's as though I just saw him five minutes ago.

No one would argue that Johnny is Mr. Jekyll Island golf. He came to the island in 1968, when the current golf clubhouse and courses were being built. As head pro and director of golf--positions he held until 2006--he helped organize hundreds (thousands?) of golf events for visiting business groups, associations and other organizations. 

The most well-known of these is the annual Georgia-Florida Invitational, which brings scores of golfers to Jekyll Island for several days of fun and fellowship prior to the big game in Jacksonville. 

His contributions to golfdom aren't limited to the coast, however. 

Since 1979, Paulk has served as an announcer at the Masters in Augusta. He began as a greenside announcer at the ninth hole, and moved to the 18th hole in 1998. There, he has had a front seat view to some of golf's greatest finishes. 

Paulk says the Georgia-Florida and The Masters are "two highlights" of a long and distinguished career, one that has not gone unnoticed.

In 2007 he was presented with a "Faithful Service Award" by Gov. Perdue. In 2003 he received the Georgia PGA's first "President's Award" for service and contributions to the game. That same year, the state senate passed a resolution making March 27 "Johnny Paulk Day" in Georgia. Other kudos have included the "Governor's Award" in 1985, three Georgia PGA "Public Merchandiser of the Year" awards, and a "National Merchandiser of the Year" award from PGA of America, as well as two Georgia PGA Eastern Chapter "Golf Professional of the Year" awards and a southeast region "Professional of the Year" award from Spalding.

They say that behind every successful man is a woman, and Johnny Paulk will be the first to tell you that's true. His wife, Virginia, has been at his side every step of the way and she is as well known and beloved among golfers as he.

Even though he has retired as Jekyll Island's director of golf, Johnny isn't resting on his laurels. He can be found most days in his office at the Jekyll Island golf clubhouse, where he continues to manage the pro shop retail operation and organizes golf tournaments.

Kicklighter, the current director of golf, says that people expect to see Johnny when they come to play golf on Jekyll Island, and that they worry when he's not there. That aspect -- the thousands of friendships created over a 41-year career -- is Paulk's greatest legacy.

Congratulations, Johnny and Virginia. You deserve it.

So long, old friend. Godspeed.

If things have gone as planned this morning, Dylan the sea turtle has been returned to the wild and is (I hope) happily exploring her new home in the waters off Jekyll Island. I suspect she had plenty of friends to see her off and wish her well.

Dylan's release marks the end of a chapter in a story that began 10 years ago, about the same time I came to the Georgia coast. She and a sibling, Bob, were rescued as hatchlings and were being cared for at what was then Coastal Encounters Nature Center (now Tidelands Nature Center). Cathy Tobler and Georgia Graves, who ran the center, were among the first people I met. (I still run into Georgia here and there on the island -- hi, Georgia!)

Dylan responded very well to the care and attention, which was considerable. She grew so much, in fact, that she was moved briefly from Jekyll Island to the Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta where she made thousands of new friends, aquatic and human. She returned to Jekyll Island last May, as one of the first residents of the Georgia Sea Turtle Center. 

Her residency was not intended to be permanent. Rather, the staff at the Sea Turtle Center began preparing Dylan for life on her own, independent of humans. When her carapace, or upper shell, reached more than 50 centimeters long and she could hunt and capture live food, it was determined that she was ready.

Thus began the preparations for her release. Newspapers throughout Georgia and, I presume, the rest of the country have been telling Dylan's tale in preparation for this day, which has been called "bittersweet" in some headlines. There were even rumors that ABC's "Good Morning America" would be covering the event. 

In this day of what seems to be a never-ending stream of bad, depressing or simply depraved news stories, it's nice to read a story that has some heart and soul.

I wasn't there for Dylan's release, just as I wasn't there when she was rescued. Nonetheless, I and countless others, have some connection with this magnificent creature. 

Take care, Dylan. Safe travels. God bless you.

If you want to know more about Dylan and her friends at the Georgia Sea Turtle Center, just click here. They do great work and are worthy of your support.