Happy New Year from all of us here at Soundside Records!

Excuse us while we thaw out our frozen fingers so we can type some more… At the end of January, Ocracoke experienced one honest-to-goodness cold snap, keeping us all hunkered down next to our inadequate heat sources. We don’t expect much sympathy from folks in the frozen north, but we have had a very cold January so far, with many days and nights dipping below freezing, even down into the 20s. Brrr!



We even had an Ocracoke Blizzard! Ocracoke snow is usually nothing more than a few teasing flurries, but this time the snow fell and stuck! On Tuesday, January 20th, while two million people braved freezing weather to gather on the National Mall and witness the Inauguration of President Barack Obama, here on the island a winter storm blew in bringing overcast skies, bitter cold winds and about 1.5 inches of snow. Wednesday morning was bright and clear and the sunshine melted too much of it, but shaded spots stayed white until Thursday, when temperatures in the 40s melted all the rest. It was pretty while it lasted!



So, how do we stay warm when the bitter winds blow? Here are a few of our island secrets:

Pickin' and Singin' at the Community Store…



We gather around the toasty fire in the old potbellied stove at the Community Store, which has been luring islanders in from the cold since 1918. Proprietors Susan and James Paul have been hosting musical gatherings on Friday nights this winter at 6pm. Everyone is welcome to join in the fun ¬– so if you’re on the island, come on out and bring an instrument, or just help with the singing. Bringing your own chair is a good idea, too, unless you want to sit on a milk crate! You’ll see lots of familiar faces from the Soundside Record family, and other musical friends from on and off the island.



Catching Up on All the Movies We Haven’t Seen…



Susan and James have also opened a second business down on the harborfront, in the old cedar-shake house adjacent to the Community Store. Fantastic Flix opened at Thanksgiving, just in time to provide DVD and video game rentals to help us survive the long winter.

Fantastic Flix also rents DVD players and Wii, Xbox and PS 2 video game consoles. They sell camera supplies, small electronics, film, memory sticks, batteries, universal remotes, digital cameras, telephones, and alarm clocks – and candy! What would a movie-watching experience be without Dots or Junior Mints?

Improving Our Minds with the Help of Great Literature…



Ocracoke Friends of the Library is sponsoring a series of Book Talks this winter in an effort to expose us to some culture – and it seems to be working!

Over thirty eager readers gathered in our little library on January 15th to discuss Madame Bovary with scholar and librarian Willie Nelms. Willie traveled from Greenville, NC, where he is the director of a library, and more importantly, plays bass with the Tar River Boys bluegrass band. Our sources also discovered that he’s a Molasses Creek fan, too, so we gave him a warm welcome to the island.

Willie gave an engaging and learned talk about Madame Bovary, focusing on the life of author Gustave Flaubert, and then opened the discussion to the group. A lively debate ensued about the book, with strong opinions offered about the characters of Emma Bovary, her husband and lovers, and the writing style of Flaubert.

(For those who wished they had the Cliff notes, Ocracoke librarians Ingeborg Frye and Ann Borland snuck in a showing of the 1949 film version of Madame Bovary the night before the Book Talk. Deepwater Theater was the venue, and they plan to show movies to go with the books in the series, when available.)

The Book Talk series is provided by a grant from the North Carolina Humanities Council, the NC Center for the Book, and by matching funds from Ocracoke Friends of the Library. For each book, a different scholar will visit our library and lead the discussion. Copies of the books are available now at the library, so if you’re on the island and need a little culture, you can join the Book Talk fun.

February 5th 6:30pm The French Lieutenant’s Woman by John Fowles.
February 26th 6:30pm End of the Affair by Graham Greene.
March 19th 6:30pm Morgan’s Passing by Ann Tyler.
April 9th 6:30pm A Mother and Two Daughters by Gail Godwin.
For more information contact Ingeborg Frye at 928-4436.

Rehearsing for an Old Time Ocracoke Variety Show…


On Saturday, February 28th, extroverted islanders will take to the Community Center stage to entertain their friends and help to raise money for renovations on the Methodist Church Rec Hall. The show will start at 7pm and there will also be a bake sale, with all proceeds benefiting the Rec Hall building fund.



The show is open to all types of local acts: songs, stories, dancing, poetry, skits – whatever they can come up with. Organizers Marcy Brenner and Lou Castro (a.k.a. Coyote) are hoping to revive the old Ocracoke-style variety shows from years past, which had the reputation of always including some O’cockers in drag. In any case, you’ll be sure to see some familiar Soundside Records and Ocrafolk Opry faces at the show: Martin Garrish, Jamie Tunnell, Sundae Horn, Rob Temple, and, of course, Marcy and Lou, are among those who’ve already signed up.



The Rec Hall building was originally part of the WWII Naval Base on Ocracoke, and was moved to the church property on School Road in the late 1940’s.

It has served the community in many capacities over the years. As well as being used by the Methodist Church, the Rec Hall has also been a temporary classroom for the school, a meeting place for community organizations, and a place of worship for the Catholic community. The Rec Hall is rented out to the public for showers, birthday parties, wedding receptions, etc., and was the venue for a delicious Thai Moon-catered dinner during the 2nd annual Ocrafolk School. The Rec Hall recently got a new roof, and funds being raised now will go toward a new foundation for this historic and much-loved building.

Soundside Records Unveils its New Website!



Fiddler Dave has been telling his wife Amy, "It's almost ready. . . I think I'm almost done now!" since the end of December. Last weekend, the small dream came true when he uploaded the fancy new Soundside Records website. Check it out at www.soundsiderecords.com.

Ocrafolk School Announces 2009 Classes
The 2009 Ocrafolk School is now accepting registrations for our next session Oct. 25-30, 2009 here on Ocracoke Island. This year's classes include

Island Photography ~ Ann Ehringhaus
Exploring Songwriting: Finding the Voice of Your Heart ~ Marcy Brenner
Island Cooking ~ Debbie Wells
Ocrafolk Sampler: Ocracoke’s History, Seafaring Traditions ~ Philip Howard & Capt' Rob Temple
Vision in Clay: Pottery ~ Rhonda Bates and Wes Lassiter

You can take a look at www.ocrafolkschool.org for more information and registration, or contact Gary Mitchell at gary@ocrafolkschool.org if you have specific questions that are not answered on the website. As the Ocrafolk School becomes more well known each year, it becomes more important to register as early as possible!

Ocrafolk Festival Now Accepting Artisan Applications for 2009
The 2009 Ocrafolk Festival is now accepting artisan applications. All interested parties can visit www.ocrafolkfestival.org for information and a listing of last year's artisans.
***

Whew! December was a blur of fun, festivities and food! Some highlights were… well, just about everything!!


Kids gather for a community Xmas party


An Ocrafolk Christmas Concert


The Ocracoke School Christmas Program




Santa arrives at the day care on the Fire Truck


Ocracoke Library Cookie Swap & Concert








Ocracoke Preservations Society's Wassail Party




Decorations around the village




Ocracoke Methodist Church Pageant


An Oyster Roast Fundraiser at for the Working Waterman's Association


Baby Dee and Free Moustache









Ocracoke is such a fun place to be for any holiday that’s it’s hard to imagine folks having as much good cheer anywhere else. But we know that First Night in Williamsburg, VA must be a great place to be because our own Molasses Creek was there! Gary, Kitty, Fiddler Dave, and Lou Castro were joined by Marcy Brenner and Gerald Hampton for three packed houses at the Phi Beta Kappa Hall and a midnight show at the grand finale in the football stadium (temperature was 27 degrees. Whew!) Molasses Creek will return to Williamsburg on August 22, 2009 for a special Rotary Club fundraising concert at the Kimball Theater.

We have a bunch of new projects to tell you about in the upcoming posts!

Meanwhile, wherever you are, try to stay warm and remember, if you're lonesome for Ocracoke, listening to some music from Soundside Records can help banish the winter blues!

Upcoming Molasses Creek performances
Saturday, March 7, 7:30pm
Molasses Creek at ~ Music Across the Sound
Mattamuskeet High School, Swan Quarter, NC
Molasses Creek will partake in a variety show featuring performers from Ocracoke Island and mainland Hyde County.

Saturday, April 4
8:00pm Molasses Creek with Carolina Still and the Barnraisers
Turnage Theater, Washington, NC

Saturday, April 11
7:30pm Molasses Creek at ~ Ocrafolk Festival Easter Fundraising Concert
Ocracoke Community Center, Ocracoke Island, NC
Fundraising Concert with a host of Ocracoke Performers!

Ocracoke Votes!

November 4th was a big day on Ocracoke, just as it was across the U.S. About seventy percent of Ocracoke’s registered voters came out to cast their ballots at the Ocracoke Community Center. Ocracokers cast 305 votes for Barack Obama and 143 for John McCain, and Obama also won in the unofficial, but educational, mock election held at Ocracoke School.

The entire Ocracoke High School accompanied the three eighteen year-old seniors, Robert Chestnut, Michelle Frye and Emma Lovejoy, to the polls so they could vote for the first time ever!



And You Thought We Were Joking About The Poison Ivy!

Something’s got to turn yellow and orange and red around here. The Virginia creeper puts on a nice show, too, but Toxidendron radicans is even prettier. It’s rather nice of the poison ivy to light itself up every fall so we know where we need to do some heavy pruning, if only it weren’t so lovely to look at.



Ocracoke Welcomes the Return of Bryan Bowers



On Wednesday, November 19th at 7:30 PM, Deepwater Theater is holding a special concert with Bryan Bowers, a master autoharpist, songer/songwriter and storyteller. Bryan has played on and offstage with Ocrafolk musicians, and some other folks you may have heard of such as Jerry Garcia, David Grisman, Emmylou Harris and the Dillards. Earlier on Wednesday (4 PM), Bryan will hold a autoharp workshop at the theater for all interested in finding out more about this unique instrument. On Tuesday and Wednesday, Bryan will also be performing for some of the students of Ocracoke School. Find out more about Bryan at his website at www.bryanbowers.com.

Prepare Yourselves for the Publishing Event of the Season…



Coming soon… Philip Howard’s first (but certainly not his last) book will be rolling off the presses sometime this month. This long-awaited compilation of Ocracoke folklore is titled Digging Up Uncle Evans: History, Ghost Tales and Stories from Ocracoke Island. Next week, we’ll have a full review of the book, and a short interview with Philip himself. In the meantime, you can read the first chapter on the Black Squall Books website at www.blacksquallbooks.com.

The Ocrafolk School Was So Much Fun, We’re Going to Write About it Again!



The Ocrafolk School was back for its second year and even better than before!

“The folk school was just as fresh this year and just as magic,” said returning student Margo Babb.

The Ocrafolk School offered five different classes this year during the week-long session. Pottery with Rhonda Bates and Wes Lassiter, Basketry with Judith Saunders, Island Cooking with Debbie Wells, Watercolor Painting with Mary Ellen Golden and the Ocrafolk Sampler (island ecology, history and maritime lore) with David Senseney, Philip Howard and Rob Temple.

Everyone thought that the class they took was the best, and all claimed bragging rights for having the most fun. As another returning student, Jo Ann Hummers, put it, “The sense of community is really a treasure!”

Painting



Mary Ellen’s class learned the basics of watercolor painting “with grace and ease” in their Ocrafolk School studio on the second floor porch of the Soundfront Inn. The view from the porch is nothing less than spectacular, and the space gave them plenty of inspiration and natural light.

Each of the seven students learned about mixing colors, removing color from the paintings in progress, and why the right kind of paper can make all the difference. (Mary Ellen swears by 140 lb. Arches brand paper.) The class was comprised of three total beginners and three more experienced painters, and all of them were proud of the paintings they completed.

During one afternoon’s painting session. Jane Srail was hard at work on her “view from the porch” painting, but paused to laugh, “My husband thinks I’m at home cleaning the house!”

Basketry

The students in Judith’s basketry class worked on projects big and small, and very diverse in technique and materials

Norma Sigal signed up for the basketry class two years in a row.



“It was so much fun last year,” she said. “And I wanted to come back and learn some more techniques from Judith – she’s such a great teacher.”

Susan Smart came to the class with a specific goal: to make a basket out of oak strips that she cut years ago. She had wanted to make a basket from scratch, and had split and then peeled strips from oak logs. With Judith’s help, she created a large, rustic basket made from all wood (no reeds or grasses) out of her oak strips and some Ocracoke cedar that studio assistant Amy Howard contributed.




“It was twenty years in the making,” Susan said, looking very pleased with her effort.

One of the students enrolled in Judith’s class was unable to attend due to health problems. Sue Lauderman and her niece, Terri Large, took the jewelry class together last year, and came back for more, signing up for different classes this time in basketry and pottery. When Sue took ill, the basketry class got together to make her a group basket; each member of the class worked on the basket and added her own touch. It was presented to Terri on the last day of the folk school, filled with goodies and mementos of Ocrafolk School for her to take to her Aunt Sue.

Cooking



Soundfront Inn was the place to be around 2pm every day, when the cooking class served up a late lunch spread that was nothing less than amazing. One cooking class meal included roast chicken, cranberry stuffing, crab cakes, baked winter squash, scallops with Berber spices, a tossed salad, Joyce O’Neal’s light rolls, and more. Dessert was chocolate bourbon torte and caramel flan.

As the class enjoyed its repast, they called out dished they would be sure to make again at home. The bok choy, sweet potatoes, Old Drum, clam chowder and Ocracoke fig cake (with and without cream cheese icing) were among the favorites.

The cooking class also spent an afternoon visiting the Fish House and learning all about Ocracoke’s wonderful local seafood. And they provided the grand finale breakfast of the week, a tasty feast of huevos rancheros, hash browns, and sourdough pancakes. The cooking class was quite smitten with their food, and many claimed to have the expanded waistlines to prove they’d feasted well.

Pottery



In Wes and Rhonda’s pottery class, the students (all beginners) learn the three ways to make something out of clay: handbuilding (pinch pots and coli pots), slab work, and throwing on the wheel. The class learned how to mix glazes, and load and unload a kiln. During a mid-week field trip to Wes and Rhonda’s Red Drum Pottery Studio in Frisco, the class was thrilled to glaze and fire raku pots.



The also made face jugs, each of which had its distinct (weird) personality. Face jugs are a North Carolina tradition dating back to the 1800’s and possibly earlier in the Catawba Valley. It’s believed that slaves made face jugs to ward off the devil, but another theory is that the faces were intended to scare children away from the jug’s contents – most likely moonshine. Some of the antique face jugs are worth tens of thousands of dollars these days! Wonder what our Ocrafolk School jugs will be worth in 100+ years…





The pottery class was so enamored of their instructors they made up a cheer about them to present at Friday morning’s show-and-tell.

“Wes! Wes! He’s our man! If he can’t do it, Rhonda can!”

The Ocrafolk Sampler



The Ocrafolk Sampler class had the good fortune of having not one, not two, but three (!) instructors to teach them about Ocracoke ecology, history and seafaring traditions. Retired biology teacher David Senseney led the group in expeditions to go kayaking, clamming, seine-netting and hiking across the island from sea to sound.

After David plum wore them out, Philip took over and led discussions about Ocracoke’s history and culture. The class met in Philip’s historic home, and learned about the Ocracoke Lifesaving Service (and watched a video of the lifesaving re-enactment at Chicamacomico) and looked at old maps of the island. Philip shared a traditional Ocracoke fig cake (that he baked himself) and led a walk down Howard Street to see the old family cemeteries. Philip is a fine raconteur, and enjoys telling a tale, especially if it’s about one of his notorious Howard ancestors!



Capt. Rob Temple took the class back in time to the days of wooden ships and iron men. He shared stories of the sea, sang sea shanties, and taught the class some marlinspike seamanship (traditional rope work). He prepared an almost-edible meal of hardtack, and helped them learn the ropes aboard Windfall.

And it wasn’t all about the classes!



The total experience of the Ocrafolk School included sailing on the schooner Windfall, a guided tour of the OPS Museum, breakfasts at the Flying Melon Restaurant, dinners at the Flying Melon and Capt. Ben’s Restaurant, carryout from Thai Moon, and a shrimp boil supper at Soundfront Inn, attending a special Ocrafolk Opry performance, and enjoying a farewell breakfast prepared by the cooking class. Whew! All that in one week! Where do I find more information? At www.ocrafolkschool.org of course!

Welcome, November

November has a bad reputation for being a gray and chilly month, but today dawned sunny and warm. Is there ever a more perfect day than one that’s warm in the sunshine and cool in the shade, with a nice high in the 70s and low in the 50s? It’s going to turn blustery and rainy in a few days, but we can enjoy November’s beauty while it lasts.

And who says we don't have good fall color on Ocracoke? We’ve got Virginia creeper and poison ivy vines turning all sorts of beautiful shades of yellow, red and gold, and the island's pyracantha shrubs can rival any leaf show. The pyrachanthas, which have tiny white flowers in spring, erupt in cascades of brilliant orange berries in the fall. Pyracanthas attract songbirds and are fast-growing and salt-tolerant – what’s not to love except maybe their inch-long rash-inducing thorns? But hey, nobody’s perfect, and the pyracanthas help to make autumn on Ocracoke a beautiful sight.



Happy (Belated) Halloween!

One of Ocracoke’s favorite traditions is the annual Ocracoke School PTA Halloween Carnival, which always includes games, food, Quizo, a bake sale and cake walk and spook walk. The highlight of the carnival is the spectacular Costume Parade!


















Ocracoke’s Schooner Windfall Places 3rd in Schooner Race

Ocracoke’s own schooner Windfall, and her captain, Rob Temple, competed in the 19th annual Great Chesapeake Bay Schooner Race on October 16-18th. The race, which benefits the non-profit Save the Bay Foundation, runs a course of 127 nautical miles from Fell’s Point in Baltimore, Maryland to Portsmouth, Virginia. There are parties, educational programs and nautical celebrations at both ends of the race. In Baltimore, Captain Rob presented his Rumgagger program to group of local sixth graders, and showed them the ropes on board his schooner.

The GCBSR was created by a challenge from the Norfolk Rebel to the Pride of Baltimore, and has grown over the past nineteen years making it the largest all-schooner sailing race in the world. A record number of fifty-six schooners competed this year, but Windfall was the only one from North Carolina. Windfall finished third in her class, with an elapsed time of 15 hours and 18 minutes. Captain Rob Temple was quite pleased with her performance.

“She sailed faster than ever – during the race I saw her hit speeds I’d never seen before,” he said, while imbibing large quantities of free beer at the awards party in Portsmouth. “We even finished ahead of several of the larger boats. I was proud of my vessel and proud of my crew.”


Windfall’s crew pose with their 3rd place plaque: Emmet Temple, Captain Rob Temple, Philip Howard, all of Ocracoke, and Steve Musil of Colington, NC. Not pictured: Frank Phelps of Washington, NC.


Schooners were everywhere during the event’s Parade of Sail

Pinch Pots, Turk’s Heads and 11 Pounds of Butter!
The Second Annual Ocrafolk School Was a Huge Success

Following a show-and-tell session on Friday morning, the participants of the 2nd annual Ocrafolk School reluctantly bid farewell to their teachers and classmates as the week of fun and learning came to a close. Although all the classes had plenty to brag about, the cooking class outdid the rest when they announced they had cooked with (and consumed) eleven pounds of butter during the week!


Soundfront Inn

Five classes were offered this year: Pottery, Basketry, Cooking, Watercolor Painting and the Ocrafolk Sampler (island ecology, history and maritime lore). Next week we’ll have a full story about the Folk School’s happenings, but these pictures offer a peak at the good times had by all.


To the delight of her students, Debbie Wells pours the yummy batter of Chocolate Bourbon Torte into the pan in the sunny, warm kitchen at Soundfront Inn



Carol Doty and Terri Large are gettin’ muddy in the pottery class


Fiddler Dave shows off the bread he’s baking for the Shrimp Boil potluck at Soundfront Inn. Dave was the assistant to chef Debbie Wells in the cooking class



Painting in progress


Second-year folk school attendee Margot Babb is happy to accept praise from artist and instructor Mary Ellen Golden


Linda Driskell works on the base of her “cat’s head” style basket

That's all for this week!