Turkey Trot proceeds to benefit Ocracoke School
Ocracoke Island’s Thanksgiving Eighth Annual 5K Turkey Trot will begin at 8 a.m. Thursday, Nov. 24, at 1718 Brewing Ocracoke.
Registration will end at 11:59 p.m. Nov. 22.
This is still a fun, relaxed race, but is timed. All participants will receive a shirt and a medal.
Start your morning off by taking a run, walk or stroll through Ocracoke Village, celebrate your finish with friends and then head off to enjoy your Thanksgiving feasts.
All proceeds will be donated to a fund to replace the floor in the Ocracoke School gym.
From massive flooding from Hurricane Dorian in September 2019, the school was destroyed and is in the process of being rebuilt.
While there’s an acceptable floor in place in the school gym, it is far from perfect, and the school wants to replace it, said Angie Todd, tournament director and Hyde County Board of Education chair.
Oyster tasting at Native Seafood Nov. 25
Native Seafood will hold an oyster tasting event from noon to 4 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 25, in the parking lot of their store along Irving Garrish Highway.
This is an event to taste raw oysters, said Susie Scott O’Neal, owner of Native Seafood.
“I love oysters,” she said, especially raw.
So, she has invited several eastern North Carolina oyster growers to bring their oysters to sample. Those include oyster farmers from Ocracoke, Hatteras, Cedar Island and mainland Hyde.
Admission is $10 per person and covers condiments, amenities and a cup of clam chowder.
Oysters to taste will be individually priced per each grower and attendees will be able to buy oysters by the bushel if they want.
Steamed shrimp also will be available and the store will be open, she said.
“We probably will be roasting some oysters, too, for those who don’t want raw,” she said, “but tasting the raw oysters is the point.”
O’Neal noted that this is the traditional time of the year along the eastern shore to have oyster roasts, and she remembers her parents taking her to oyster roasts.
Plus, it’s after turkey day.
“I feel we’re missing something around Thanksgiving that focuses on seafood,” she said. “It’s peak oyster time and I want to promote the North Carolina Oyster Trail and oyster farming.”
No tickets will be sold ahead of time.
Pattie Johnson Plyler of the Ocracoke Seafood Company said the Ocracoke Working Watermen’s Association, which operates the seafood store, will not hold an oyster roast this year.
“Oysters are just too expensive, and we can’t afford it,” she said.
The last oyster roast was held in December 2018.
Boat Parade on Silver Lake
The holiday boat parade will be at 5:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 25, on Silver Lake. This isn’t sponsored by any organization, and it doesn’t spend any money. There are no prizes. It’s just for fun.
Organizer Sundae Horn said the parade will go if there’s a light rain, even for the hour from 5 to 6 p.m. If it’s a total rainout, the event might be postponed to Saturday evening. Wunderground is predicting rain for Friday (Nov. 25) with a 40% chance at 5 p.m.
Holiday Market to be held in Berkley Barn
The Ocracoke Civic & Business Association will host a Holiday Gift Market from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 26, in the Berkley Barn.
This event allows Ocracoke businesses, restaurants, and individuals to sell anything from gift certificates to hand-made goods to larger items. You do not have to have a business to sign up, but you are responsible for your transactions.
Island businesses wishing to participate should click on this link to sign up (deadline Nov. 18).
