President’s Update – November 19, 2025

December comes from the Latin decem, meaning “ten,” as it initially was the 10th month of the Roman calendar.

December brings many holidays and observances, including Saint Nicholas Day (the patron saint of children). Bodhi Day celebrating Buddha’s enlightenment, Hanukkah, the eight-day Jewish festival of lights, Kwanzaa, and Christmas. Also, National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day, Winter Solstice, and last but not least – New Year’s Eve. It also has an astronomy highlight this year on December 13, when the Geminid meteor shower is the most active shower of the year.

For the Association, it brings us to the end of a year and looking forward to a new one and our future.

• TLA has worked very conscientiously on a budget for 2026 – focusing on maintaining our assets and being fiscally responsible as well as making sure we do not jeopardize our future success. The 2026 budget will be approved in December.
• TLA has been beta testing its new website and will soft launch it in December, giving members the opportunity to weigh-in.
• TLA has set up a Micromobility Task Force to discuss access and usage of motorized vehicles on our paths.
• TLA hosted its annual Elected Officials Roundtable with Community officials exchanging information and noting areas of interest of our residents.
• In December, The Landings Community Leadership Council (LCLC) will hold a final meeting for 2025 and looks forward to building on our success in 2026, as we forge our island paradise for the next 50 years.
• TLA participated in the Annual Meeting of The Landings Real Estate Company (TLREC). As you know, TLA (and as a result the community) is the sole shareholder of TLREC. Branigar set up the company to conduct year-round local and national marketing of the community to support the preservation and enhancement of Landings’ property values. Significant marketing dollars are spent to bring buyers to our community - all to the benefit of your housing values.
• I thank the 100 volunteers who participated in Catch-the-King to develop a baseline Sea Level Rise Map for our community. The volunteers collected more than 5,300 data points, complete with photographs, providing essential information to help shape a Resiliency Plan for our future.

For me, it brings to an end my term as President. It has been my pleasure to work with a very dedicated Board and staff, and I thank them ALL immensely. Things don’t just happen – people make them happen. I appreciate the willingness of all our community members who give freely of their diverse ideas to improve and maintain The Landings.  We have accomplished much, but as is everything in life, resting on the past does not prepare us for the future. As Benjamin Franklin said, “Without continual growth and progress – such words as improvement, achievement, and success have no meaning.”

General Oglethorpe landed on the bluff of the Savannah River in 1733. His mission was to establish a defense against the Spanish. He established a fort on Skidaway Island where Landings Harbor Marina is now located. In those early years, residents and visitors traveled to the island by ferry or small boat from Parkers Ferry on Isle of Hope. Later, two small wooden bridges connected our island to the mainland. The first, built in 1858 for island farmers to move their crops to market, was burned by retreating Confederate forces to prevent its use by the Union Army. During the Civil War, earthen batteries had been established here to defend the southerners from northern attacks and to provide protection and elevated positions for cannons or artillery. One of those batteries is preserved on the island at Landings Harbor. Another bridge was built in 1870 but lasted only a short time before being destroyed by a “mysterious fire”. The Diamond Causeway Bridge (also known as the Roebling Bridge), which had been in use since the 1950s was the original bridge over the Skidaway Narrows. Note: The Skidaway Narrows was dredged in World War I to make the Intracoastal Waterway and deepened in WWII.

Subsequently, a drawbridge was opened in 1972 in that location, and the current bridge was finally completed in 2014. We certainly have an interesting past – and think little today of how our island was accessed in those early years.

The New Year brings new resolutions. We all have at least one bad habit that needs to be changed. Please make a New Year’s resolution to respect others and promote the safety of all of our residents. Follow the Rules, stop at stop signs and red lights, follow speed limits…be respectful.

Also, make a resolution to be positive. Positive thoughts create positive things. Kindness is free. As Abraham Lincoln noted, Folks are usually about as happy as they make their minds up to be.” Coming together is a beginning, keeping together is progress, and working together is success.

As you begin 2026, please be engaged in our community and in life. I am a fan of the Lee Anne Womack song and her phrase: “And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance…I hope you dance.”

Please – DANCE!

Patty Morgan
2025 President, The Landings Association