If you’re on Ocracoke for the holiday, please join us at the Ocracoke Community Center on Friday November 28th for the annual Ocrafolk Festival Fundraising Concert. Doors open at 7pm and the show starts at 7:30. Tickets are available at the door for $15 Adults, $7 kids.
A cornucopia of local and regional talent featuring Donald Davis, Molasses Creek, Coyote, the Ocracoke Jazz Society, Rodney Kemp, Aaron Caswell, Molly Lovejoy, April Trueblood, John Golden & Jef the Mime will be sharing stories and songs in a fun-filled performance for all ages.
All proceeds go to support the 10th annual Ocrafolk Festival, June 5-7 2009.
Ocracokers Survive Freezing Temperatures and Actual Snow Flurries! In November!
Okay, so we don’t have any photos to prove it…. Trust us, it really happened. Really. The temperature dropped down to 30 degrees overnight, and a fine misting of snow came down around 10am on November 21st.
Pirates Invade Springer’s Point!
They marched somberly down Lighthouse Road to the entrance to Springer’s Point, then made their way through the twists and turns around ancient live oaks and cedars until they arrived at the sandy beach near Teach’s Hole. This wasn’t a rowdy band of swashbucklers out to pillage and plunder – it was a group of mourners come to honor their dead.
On the 290th anniversary of the Battle of Ocracoke, in which the infamous pirate Blackbeard lost his head, fifty-eight pirate re-enactors gathered to commemorate their fallen brethren. With mournful sea chanteys and eloquent elegies they eulogized the long dead souls of the battle’s victims. A cannon was fired to commemorate Blackbeard, followed by the firing of small arms for the eleven pirates and eleven Navy sailors who also died on November 22, 1718.
Blackbeard’s Crew, a piratical living history troupe based in Hampton, Virginia, teamed up with Blackbeard historian and author of The Last Days of Black Beard the Pirate Kevin Duffus of Raleigh to organize the “Pirate Memorial.” The public was welcome to attend, and a large crowd, mostly islanders, followed the pirates out to the beach in spite of the bitter cold to witness the memorial service.
After a suitably serious ceremony, the pirates headed back to the village and fetched up at the Back Porch restaurant, where the rum and ale did flow. The Back Porch crew was waiting for them with authentic piratical delicacies such as pulled pork and salmagundi (a salad-like mixture of meats and anchovies and veggies and nuts and capers and lemons and oh, anything else the cook had lying around dressed with oil and vinegar.) After supper, the party continued in the pirates’ suite at (where else?) Blackbeard’s Lodge.
That ol’ Rumgagger Captain Rob even made an appearance at the soiree, earning several rounds of “Hip! Hip! Huzzah!” for reciting his poem “A Pirate’s Christmas.”
Will they be back next year? Kevin Duffus hopes so. He’d like to see the event grow with local support, as they head toward the 300th anniversary in 2018.
Molasses Creek Performs at the 25th Anniversary of the Elizabeth II
While the pirates were busy sacking Ocracoke village, Gary, Kitty, Fiddler Dave, Lou Castro, and Gerald Hampton of Molasses Creek escaped up to Manteo, NC to perform at the 25th Anniversary Commemoration of the Christening and Launching of the Elizabeth II. On Friday, November 21 the group performed for a private party of crewmen, shipbuilders and volunteers at the Roanoke Island Maritime Museum on the Manteo waterfront (the site of the original launching of the representative 16th century vessel).
On Saturday morning after the opening ceremony, a bagpipe-led parade brought visitors across the bridge to Festival Park when more festivities awaited ~ a clam chowder cookoff, and a Molasses Creek performance. Fiddler Dave was especially excited about the weekend as his first encounter with the Outer Banks of North Carolina occurred in the summer of 1991 when he served as a living history interpreter aboard the QEII.
Here is a bit more information from the Roanoke Island Festival Park website at www.roanokeisland.com
The ship (Elizabeth II) was constructed in the early 1980’s to commemorate America’s 400th anniversary. Shipbuilders used the designs of vessels from 1585 to build the Elizabeth II. It was constructed on the Manteo waterfront by a team of builders, lead by Mr. O. Lie-Nielson and was moved to what is now known as Roanoke Island Festival Park where it is the star attraction as visitors board the vessel and help set the sails, plot their course and swab the decks! Measuring 69 feet long and 17 feet wide and drawing 8 feet of water, Elizabeth II was funded entirely through private donations. Her decks are hand-hewn from juniper timbers. Her frames, keel, planking and decks are secured with 7,000 locust wood pegs. The first Elizabeth was one of seven vessels that were part of Sir Walter Raleigh’s Military Expedition to North America in 1585. Thomas Cavendish, who mortgaged his estates in England to raise money for the venture, captained it. Looking at her today, quietly and serenely in the water, one can almost envision that earlier landing with the eager settlers coming ashore to start life anew in this strange and abundant land.
Ocracoke Dolphins Win First Two Games of Season!
You couldn’t go anywhere on Ocracoke last week without hearing some talk about Friday night’s high school basketball team. Ocracoke is the smallest public school in the state, and has a limited pool of eligible players for its one and only team sport. Last week, the boys’ team started with five boys to play the whole evening. Their opponents, the Bear Grass Bears, had a busful of boys to represent their team. And yet… Ocracoke won by 2 points! As if that weren’t impressive enough, they won with only three players on the court! By the middle of the third quarter, two of the Dolphins had fouled out, making the contest three against five. The three triumphed, amid tumultuous applause from the local crowd, many of whom screamed themselves hoarse in excitement. After the game, local folks drove around honking their car horns in celebration, letting their neighbors who hadn’t been at the game know just how much fun they missed.
We have to add a word about the Lady Dolphins, who also played well against the Bears, and showed off how hard they’ve been working. The crowd endured an anxiety-producing last quarter, as the girls lost the seven-point lead they’d had at halftime, and ultimately ended up losing by three points.
Everyone was looking forward to meeting the Bears again on Bear Grass the following Friday – and the Dolphins won again by 3 points with only four players! The Lady Dolphins were disappointed to lose again to the Bear Grass girls’ team, but spirits are still soaring about the boys’ 2 – 0 season.
Café Atlantic Raises Over 5K in Brunch Fundraiser
The Café Atlantic Restaurant served brunch for one day only this year. On Sunday, November 9, the Café was packed with local folks who wanted to enjoy the delicious choices on the brunch menu and help one of their fellow islanders. The special brunch was a fundraiser for Jason Daniels, who has recently begun treatment for non-Hodgkins lymphoma. Café owners Ruth and Bob Toth donated all the food, the kitchen and serving staff donated their time, and all proceeds from food, non-alcoholic beverages and tips went to Daniels.
“We served 226 people,” said Bob. “It was the most we’ve ever done.”
Bob reported that food sales totaled $2442, with the tips and donations topping that at $3075. The total was $5517, plus some sealed envelopes that he delivered to Daniels unopened.
“Folks waited so long,” Bob said. “We want them to know it was worth it. We really raised a lot of money.”
When the Café opened at 11 am, there was a line clear out to the road. Some people waited up to two hours for a table, but thought that the good food and the good cause were well worth it.
“We were flabbergasted by the turnout,” said Bob. “People were so generous with the tips. We were really happy with it and had fun doing it.”
Daniels is Ocracoke’s chief deputy, and his wife, Jennifer, is a teacher’s aide at Ocracoke School. They have two sons, Jacob, almost 2, and Jonah, who was born October 27th. An account for donations has been set up for them at East Carolina Bank.
Christmas is Coming!
Don’t forget Soundside Records when you’re making your lists and checking them twice – CDs from Ocracoke artists make perfect stocking stuffers.
If you happen to be on Ocracoke during the month of December, please feel welcome to join us at our holiday celebrations. And this isn’t all – we’ll update this list next week with more fun stuff to do.
December 6th Pictures with Santa!
Santa Claus will be at the Variety Store from 10 – Noon, collecting toys to benefit Hyde County children. Please bring a new, unwrapped toy or $4 to get a photo with Santa.
December 9th OPS Wassail Party
The Ocracoke Preservation Society will be hosting their annual Wassail Party and Community Christmas Tree Lighting from 5 – 7pm at the OPS Museum. All are welcome to enjoy the hot, delicious wassail and yummy cookies during this free event.
December 11th Ocrafolk Christmas Concert at the Community Center
The annual Ocrafolk Christmas Concert will be held at the Community Center this year, with free admission. The show starts at 7pm and will feature local talent including some of our youngest musicians. Everyone is welcome to attend this free event.
December 13th Friends of the Library Cookie Swap
Ocracoke FOL welcomes you to join them for their annual Cookie Swap at 11am at the Ocracoke Library. Bring 2 dozen cookies (or more!) to share and take home an equal amount of assorted cookies. Drinks will be provided by FOL, and music will be provided by the Ocracoke School Music Club.
December 14th Children’s Christmas Party
Books to Be Red is hosting their 10th annual Children’s Christmas Party at the Community Center from 3 – 4:30pm. Kids of all ages are invited to come out and enjoy holiday games, crafts and treats at this free event.
December 18th Ocracoke School Holiday Program
The kids in grades pre-K through high school welcome the community to their holiday spectacular starting at 7pm in the school gym.
December 19th Christmas Caroling
Meet at the Methodist Church at 5pm for Christmas Caroling throughout the village. The church will also host a chili supper for carolers later in the evening.
Philip Howard’s Book is Finally Here…
And it’s selling like hotcakes! Find out more about it at Philip's page at Soundside Records. Order your copy for Christmas! We’ll tell you all about next week!
Happy Thanksgiving!
