Fall leaves in the mountains of North Carolina
A Different Kind of Ocracoke Surf Fishing
by Fiddler Dave
I just returned from a morning on the beach with Philip Howard and Lachlan. The temperature climbed to mid-sixties today and is supposed to get up to seventy tomorrow. Despite a windy storm passing through over the weekend, visitors (especially a lot of surf fisherman) are here to try their luck. We arrived at around 11:00 at one of the beach access points north of the campground. Philip just had an undercoating applied to his new car, and wanted to kick some sand up into it. We drove about halfway down the sandy lane to the beach and then parked the car and walked the rest of the way.
The air had a clarity to it this morning only found in the fall when the sun is getting lower in the sky. Soon after we came over the dune line, we noticed several pods of dolphins circling schools of fish off shore. About 15 minutes after we arrived, two trucks drove up the beach, one hauling a surf boat on a trailer behind. After scoping catch possibilities these fishermen from Collington backed up their dory into the surf and dumped it off the trailer into the breakers. Then one fellow pushed the boat out deeper into the incoming waves and the second waited until a swell raised the vessel and then carefully lowered a motor (which descended out the center of the boat).
The dory charged quickly out through the surf into the deeper water, feeding out the buoyed net which had one end anchored in the sand. The two fisherman made a wide pass encircling where they thought the catch would be most promising, and then drove the skiff back to shore and beached it in the sand. The net now formed a large loop with both ends anchored on shore. Working from both sides, the fishermen used the trucks to haul the net back in by hooking the line under the truck and dragging it back the dune line. They repeated this action until the net was drawn in and they could examine the catch.
There were a wide variety of fish drawn in, although this particular catch only consisted of a few drum, spots, butterfish, rays, and one pufferfish. The smaller fish were tossed back into the surf while the larger were gathered into a laundry basket. The whole process probably took less than an hour. Pretty fascinating to watch!
On Ocracoke Island
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Halloween Carnival and Spook Walk
Cowboy Lachlan at 2 1/2
Ready for the Halloween Carnival
Last Friday the Ocracoke School held its annual fall (Halloween) festival. The afternoon began with a ghostly parade around the school circle. The fund-raiser continued with a teacher dunking booth (despite the chilly rain), carnival games, a spook walk down Howard Street which featured traditional Ocracoke tales, and some incredible Mexican food provided by many of our local Hispanic families. The evening wrapped up with Quizo (the Ocracoke BINGO). The night always brings the community together in support of the school.
Ocracoke teacher Flavia Burton
Ocracoke teacher Charles Temple trying to beg funds
to cure his hookworm at the School Fall Carnival
Ocrafolk Festival Featured in November Issue of Our State Magazine
Our State magazine showcased the Ocrafolk Festival as well as nine other North Carolina storytelling events in its new issue “Tell Me a Tale.” The article highlights some of our local stars (Donald Davis, Rodney Kemp, Philip Howard, Capt Rob Temple, Bob Zentz, and John Golden), as well as some of our choice events like the Ocracoke Square Dance, the community potluck, the fundraising auction, fig cake bake-off, waiter/waitress competition, and boat building. For more information on the magazine, visit www.ourstate.com. For more information about the festival, visit the website at www.ocrafolkfestival.org. Next year’s event is scheduled for June 1-3, 2007. Hope to see ya there!
Soundside Records Holiday Special
Soundside Records is currently running a holiday special that will make it easy to get Ocracoke recordings for everyone on your holiday list. For every three albums that you purchase, you can choose a fourth one for free! Just visit the Soundside Records website at www.soundsiderecords.com and take a listen to your choice selections. It is a great way to spread the Ocracoke charm this season!
Soundside Records Adds Ann Ehringhaus’s Photographic Works
Ann Ehringhaus has been one of the most active Ocracoke photojournalists since she first arrived on the island in 1971. She is responsible for most of Molasses Creek and Ocrafolk Festival’s press materials and has a beautiful eye for capturing fleeting magical moments in the Ocracoke community. Soundside Records now offers her book “Ocracoke Portrait,” a collection of 64 duotone photographs accompanied by choice quotations from subject interviews. Also available are two of her postcards -- one entitled “Howard Street,” and a second collaborative “poster” work with Gretchen Sigmund featuring Polaroid transfer images from the Ocracoke.
Off Ocracoke Island
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Ocrafolk Opry Visits Kanuga & West Jefferson
Kanuga Lake
Kanuga Chapel
The inside of Kanuga Chapel
The week of October 14-19 Fiddler Dave and Gary of Molasses Creek headed to the mountains south of Asheville to the Kanuga retreat center near Flat Rock. Dave and Gary were musicians in residence at the Episcopal center, providing Ocraccoke Square Dance instruction, workshops on fiddle & guitar, songs and tales from a small island, and fireplace picking throughout the week. On Thursday, they were joined by Miss Kitty of Molasses Creek, and Lou Castro and Marcy Brenner of Coyote for an evening concert.
Eagle Rock near Kanuga
After packing up on Thursday evening, the troupe headed for West Jefferson (near Boone), for Friday residencies in the schools of West Jefferson and an evening concert of the Ocrafolk Opry on Saturday night. The concert bill for Saturday included Molasses Creek with special guest Gerald Hampton, Coyote, Katy Mitchell, and storyteller Rodney Kemp of Morehead City.
Everyone enjoyed the trip to the mountains during peak leaf season, the fine family style feasting at Shatley Springs, and incredible Cuban food at Isabel's of West Jefferson. Katy Mitchell also celebrated her 18th birthday during the Saturday night concert. She is currently a freshman at Appalachian State in Boone.
Before returning to the island, Molasses Creek stopped off to visit the frescos at St. Mary's Episcopal Church near West Jefferson. The frescos were created by artist Ben Long between 1974 & 1977. Ben studied the art of creating frescos in Italy. They are truly amazing and worth an extra journey. Find out more at the church website at www.ecva.org/exhibition/acs/commun_1.html
St. Mary's
A mosaic in the basement of the church
