Although fall is in the air on Ocracoke, the air is still rather humid and warm. The island has received a good bit of rain in the past week and now has quite a few mosquitoes (which are appreciated by the birds and bats). Gabrielle passed through on the 9th. The mainland received a bit more rain, but aside from wind not much happened here. The lifeguards packed up and headed home, most of the turtle nest are through, and kids have headed back to school on and off the island. Our visitors are now comprised of families with small children and single couples.
As Deepwater Theater comes to a close, the Ocrafolk producers focus all efforts toward the first annual Ocrafolk School, scheduled for October 21-26. Registration deadline is October 1st, so if you think you might be interested then read more details below and contact us. It will be wonderful!
In this blog, you can read about Roy Parson's fascinating life, Marcy and Lou (Coyote)'s new baby, and take a listen to three new releases by Soundside Records artists.
Roy Parson’s Eulogy
Around 7:15 PM on September 1, 2007, Roy Parsons passed away at his home on Ocracoke Island. Roy turned 86 this August and had been in and out of the hospital since June. He made several appearances at the Ocrafolk Opry early on in the summer. We will all miss his generous spirit and exciting tales of his adventures on and off Ocracoke. Roy Parson’s family asked Gary Mitchell to create and deliver this eulogy at Roy’s funeral.
Roy Parsons was born on August 17, 1921, one of James and Mary Elizabeth Parsons 12 children. He is survived by his wife of 57 years, Elizabeth, daughter Edna Mae and son-in-law Howard Edman of Columbia, SC; sons Roger Lee and Leonard Steve, five grandchildren-Beverly, Matthew, Amanda, Christian and Leslie , and one great-grandchild. He was preceded in death by a son, James Leroy.
Roy loved his home of Ocracoke, and he was always ready to tell a story about growing up here. He was a curious child, was always into something, always trying something new, always ready for a new adventure.
A couple of his boyhood pals told me that Roy once took them hunting over at Mayo’s Hill, but he didn’t have any shells for the old cobbled-together gun, so Roy suggested they go ‘borrow’ some eggs from Jake Alligood’s chicken pen and sell them to Mace Fulcher at the Community Store to raise some money. They thought that sounded like a real good idea, so they snuck over to the pen; Roy carefully lifted the hen’s back sides and the boys removed the eggs, then went over and sold them to Mr. Mace for 2 cents each, which gave them just enough money for 2 shotgun shells. When they got back to Mayo’s Hill a little while later, a flock of Brandts flew by and Roy fired the old gun, but it blew up and covered his face with black powder. Maybe he learned his lesson.....but maybe not, cause he did kill 2 Brandts with that one shot.
His music career started at 14 with a Sears & Roebuck guitar he ordered, and I’m told his broadcast career began by singing into the stove flue at “Clemmie’s Ice Cream Parlor” with the sound coming out the top of the chimney (I guess he got a black face there too). Later on, with advances in his technological prowess, he actually built his own radio station at his home. Roy said that cars would be lined up in his driveway, and down the street out front, just to receive his broadcast.
Like many of the young men on Ocracoke in the 1930’s and 40’s, Roy traveled up north looking for work and adventure. He always seemed to find adventure! On his first day in New York City, still just a teenager, Roy found a room to rent in a boarding house and paid the landlady 2 dollars. He left his clothes, shaving stuff, and civil service papers in the room and told the landlady he was going out to eat, and she said the door would be open when he returned.... “I never did find that place again” Roy said. He even got help from the police, but still no luck. “All the houses looked the same and they’re all painted the same color....woulda taken me 5 weeks to knock on all those doors and ask, do I live here?”
Somehow he came out of that on his feet, met some musicians, and traveled all over the northeast and mid-atlantic playing music and finding new adventures, including a stint with “The Barney and Bailey Circus” (as he called it) at Madison Square Garden.
In between music gigs he worked on dredges around Philadelphia, and eventually returned to Ocracoke to work for the legendary Sam Jones at the Castle, and for Col. Egan at the Berkely Center. He cooked and took care of maintenance and repairs on these 2 historic Ocracoke landmarks. About this time Roy fell for his lifelong companion, Elizabeth, at Williams Bros. store where she worked. I was told by Della that he came in “looking like Clark Gable in that blue suit; Elizabeth handed him that hot-dog, their hands touched, and it was true love”. Roy built themselves a home from material salvaged from the old Navy base, and they have lived and worked there ever since their marriage in 1950.
As a young father, Roy enjoyed taking his younguns out fishing and clamming at Teach’s Hole, and in later years he’d occasionally sneak over to Roger Lee’s to watch cowboy movies and drink Gatorade.
Roy wasn’t born with much, didn’t have much education, but he certainly made the most of what he had. He was a self-taught man; an excellent carpenter and craftsman, auto mechanic, cook, entertainer, husband and father. He was never afraid to learn something new, even taking up the saxophone at the age of 80. He also worked as a night watchman at the Cedar Island Ferry terminal into his 80’s. My friend and mandolin player Gerald Hampton wrote an instrumental song in remembrance of one of those nights a few years back.....
There was a thick fog, and the Cedar Island Ferry was not able to safely pass through the channel out at the Lehigh, so the Captain meandered northwards a few miles up on the back side of the island. Late in the evening, Jerry Gaskill, head of the NC Ferry Division, called the Ocracoke Terminal to find out what was going on. Roy, being the only one on duty at the time, responded, “I guess the Captain is feeding the ponies”. Gerald’s song is entitled “Feeding the Ponies”.
Roy and I got to know each other through our love of music. He grew up listening to Jimmy Rogers, Gene Autry, and other early country and cowboy singers. He was always the best-dressed man at our shows in a beautiful cowboy shirt, boots, string-tie, and fancy belt buckle. We worked together for over 10 years performing in Ocrafolk Opry shows, both here on the island, and on the mainland including a show at historic Thalian Hall in Wilmington. Audiences loved Roy everywhere he performed. He was a masterful yodeler, he knew exactly how to get the most out of a story, and his comic timing was perfect. He always enjoyed meeting and talking with the audience after a show, and they loved it too.
A couple of years ago a group of our local musicians decided to take Roy on a trip to Nashville and the ‘Grand Ole Opry’. I asked him if he’d ever flown before and he said, “Oh yeah, I flew with Bill Cochran from Hattras to Ocracoke one time. Bill told his wife to ‘go get that Coleman can of gas outta the shed’, and he poured it into the top of the wing of that Piper Cub and said, ‘that oughta be enough’ and we took off. Bill said the tide was high and there werent much beach to land on, so I’d have to jump out, so as soon as the wheels touched down I threw out my bag and jumped out after it......... Yeah, I’ve flown before”.
When we got to the Grand Ole Opry, we enjoyed a backstage tour with Opry legend George Hamilton IV, and Roy was also recognized from the Opry stage that night for his contribution to the music of eastern North Carolina. It was a wonderful trip, and a very special time for all of us.
When we were recording the first “Ocrafolk Music Sampler” album, Roy stopped suddenly and said “You know Gary..., music is good!” I immediately knew that that was the perfect intro for our very first recording of the musicians of Ocracoke. Roy was featured on several other recordings, including his own CD, “Songs and Tales of Ocracoke Island”.
He once said, “You gotta grab-a-hold of life if you want life to hold on to you”. Roy did that. He kept on singing, entertaining folks, and working on his beautiful boat models right up until the end.
Everyone I’ve talked with about Roy says the same things,
“He was full of love”...”he was a good guy”...”he loved to make people smile”...”he made me feel good to be with him”... (and one of the most common) “he never said a bad word about anyone”.
Roy was one of the best examples of Jesus’ teachings of anyone I’ve ever met. “Love your neighbor as yourself”
...that was Roy...... “Judge not lest ye be judged”...that was Roy.
Roy radiated love to EVERYONE he came in contact with, 0
and what better thing could you say about ANY person’s life.
I’m extremely privileged to have known him.
---Gary Mitchell
(Cards can be sent to his wife Elizabeth Parsons at PO Box 1, Ocracoke Island, NC 27960)
Marcy and Lou of Coyote Adopt!
Marcy and Lou celebrate the arrival of their adopted daughter Charlotte Nemesia Castro on August 7, 2007. She weighed in at 6 pounds 14.8 ounces and measured 21 inches long. Baby Charlotte (named after Marcy and Lou’s mothers) is pictured in the outfit that Marcy’s two older sisters, Linda and Judi, picked out for her to come home in back in 1963.
Charlotte is now eating up a storm and acclimating to frequent serenades from island musicians. Although she has not yet appeared on stage at Deepwater Theater, she has occasionally given a performance during the Opry from her cherised spot on the pew in the back row.
New releases from Soundside Records
Three new recordings have just been released and are available now through Soundside Records.
Bob Zentz ~ Closehauled on the Wind of Dream
Listen to sample here
More info at Soundside Records
Sea Chantyman, Bob Zentz, has just finished an album featuring the poetry of C. Fox Smith which he has set to music.
"I first discovered C. Fox Smith’s poetry in the bottom of an old sea chest at The Mariner’s Museum in Newport News, Virginia, and immediately became a fan. These delightful maritime tales were told by one who had experienced life aboard the tall ships during the great “Age of Sail” – not a salt-encrusted “shellback,” but a Victorian Englishwoman, inspired by the likes of Masefield and Kipling with words magically crafted and literally screaming out form the page to be sung!
Much of the singability of these lyrics stems from the author’s great love of English traditional folksong, especially sea shanties. Biographical info on Ms. Smith is scanty, and most has been assembled and maintained by a small cadre of loyal fans, scholars and speculators, most specifically Joyce and Danny McLeod, Alan Hardy, Charlie Ipcar and Jim Saville
By the time of her death on April 8, 1954, Cicely had published some twenty books of poetry, fourteen books of nautical non-fiction, and ten children’s books as well as a numerous articles, stories and poems for a bevy of English magazines. Though she and the tall shops have passed, both have resurfaced, returned and remain with us today, “closehauled on the wind of dream.”'
Skye Zentz ~ Legitimate Bohemia
Listen to Sample Here
More info at Soundside Records
Bob Zentz’s daughter, Skye, has also just released a new album entitled Legitimate Bohemia. Although Skye has inherited her parents incredible gifts for songwriting and musicianship, her distinct musical personality and songwriting perspective welcomes Soundside listeners into the next generation of Ocrafolk talents. Joined by an impressive list of guests, Skye’s first release is both fresh and funky, mature enough to please the older folkies and new enough to excite her peers.
Donald Underwood Thompson ~ The Ocracoke Sessions
Listen to Sample Here
More info at Soundside Records
The final release, “The Ocracoke Sessions,” comes from Bluesman Donald Underwood Thompson. Donald hails from Kinston, NC. He first joined the Ocrafolk Festival in 2007 after Molasses Creek heard him perform at a festival in Eastern North Carolina. This spicy album includes both original and traditional blues seasoned with a healthy dose of Ocrafolk guests.
Ocrafolk School Schedule Updates
The Ocrafolk School will hold its grand opening session October 21-26, 2007, inviting participants to join week-long workshops in arts, crafts, cooking, music, local history, and sailing, in a relaxed island setting.
Local and regional instructors will welcome adult students of all skill levels to participate in hands-on learning experiences. Courses offered are “Jewelry Making” with Kathleen O’Neal; “Basketry: Materials and Techniques” with Judith Saunders; “Island Cooking” with Debbie Wells; “Music and Stories of the Sea” with Bob Zentz; “Island Photography” with Ann Ehringhaus, “Model Boat Building” with Jimmy Amspacher; and “An Ocrafolk Sampler: Ocracoke’s History, Seafaring Traditions and Island Ecology” with Philip Howard, Rob Temple, and David Senseney.
In addition to the courses offered, each day will include group meals, music, stories, walkabouts, and more. The Ocrafolk School’s mission includes preserving local culture, promoting appreciation of Ocracoke’s natural resources, and bringing creative people into the community. The Ocrafolk School will offer workshops during Ocracoke’s shoulder season every fall.
Director Gary Mitchell and the volunteer Ocrafolk School board have decided to focus on one week of classes in their first year of operation. Classes that were originally scheduled for October 28- November 2, 2007 have been canceled or moved to October 21-26th. Local historian Philip Howard, schooner captain Rob Temple and retired biology teacher David Senseney have combined their classes into one “Ocrafolk Sampler” workshop. The class will
combine Ocracoke history, local seafaring traditions, and island ecology. Participants will hear Ocracoke ghost stories, sail on a traditional gaff-rigged schooner, take a walk on Ocracoke’s wild side from the beach to the marsh, and learn to appreciate Ocracoke as more than a tourist
destination.
Classes are limited to 6-10 students; the registration deadline is October 1, 2007.
For information about the Ocrafolk School, please visit the Web site at www.ocrafolkschool.org
The workshops cost $495 per week including group meals and evening activities. Housing is the responsibility of the students, but contact the Ocrafolk School for recommendations. Some classes will have additional fees for materials. A discount of 50% off tuition will be offered to Ocracoke’s permanent residents after the registration deadline of Oct. 1.
For more information about Ocracoke Island, please visit www.ocracokevillage.com
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Upcoming Performances
October 6 -- Molasses Creek will perform at the grand opening for the Cabarrus Arts Council Davis Theater in Concord, NC. The Davis Theater is in the former Historic Cabarrus Courthouse. The theatre was created when the courthouse was renovated in 1983 but it lacked amenities necessary for performances. A gift from Roy and Sue Davis will help fund its transformation into a state-of-the-arts theatre for major performances. For more information contact the Cabarrus Arts Council at 704-920-ARTS (2787) or info@cabarrusartscouncil.org
October 7 -- Molasses Creek, Coyote, the Ocrafolk Opry, and the Barnraisers will appear at the NC Seafood Festival from 12-4 PM on the Coastal Stage. The festival cranks up on Friday night on the Waterfront in Morehead City. For more schedule information visit http://ncseafoodfestival.org.
