Ocracoke: An extraordinary community

As another year closes, we reflect, in this season of thanksgiving and hope, on what it is about Ocracoke that’s so unique.

One of our late friends, Bill Jones, once said that he came here for the beach and stayed for the community.

New resident, Ben Knight, noted in a recent story that he wants to raise his daughter in this “extraordinary community.”

Is it?

All kinds of people with varying degrees of education, skills and professional accomplishments visit and live here in what seems like a non-hierarchical environment.

Many of the recent residents note the instant rapport they establish with many of the islanders, both from the ancestral families and newcomers.

“I’ve never lived in a place like this,” said Steve Brook, who with his wife, Jeanne, moved here in 2023. He’s lived in several places, including Canada and England.

“I’ve never felt connected to a community like I do now,” he said.

Native islander Albert O’Neal said he’s never wanted to live anywhere else. He’s OK with the slower lifestyle without the trappings of more developed places.

There’s about zero crime, he said, and “I will not live anywhere else.”

Another native, Trudy Austin, has lived here all her life and has worked in the Variety Store for the last 43 of those.

“People from all walks of life come together in this community,” she said as she gazed at the crowd attending the Holiday Market held Nov. 29 in the Ocracoke School Commons.

Austin meets lots of people at the Variety Store and when selling her fig preserves at various events.

She tries to explain to people why she doesn’t want to live elsewhere.

One either “gets it”—Ocracoke—or they don’t because “it can be a hard way of living.”

But that “it” is hard to put into words.

“It’s more like a feeling like when you come to an event like this,” she said. “Everyone who comes to stay, they bring something to the community.”

Elizabeth Dyer said on Ocracoke, one can get to know people on many different levels—through their work, their families and how they respond to stress.

Not all small communities with long-standing families are like Ocracoke, she said.

“But if you show up and make nice and contribute, people will be happy you’re here,” she said.

Ocracoke School Principal Jeanie Owens agreed.

“People who don’t have kids show up for the basketball games,” she said. “They care about our kids. We have people who show up for everything we do.”

Postmaster Celeste Brooks said that Ocracoke could be the definition of “community”—people helping each other.

There may be a touch of a social hierarchy here, she said, but when it comes to need, that disappears.

Kathleen O’Neal, who came to Ocracoke as a college student in the 1970s and married the late islander Ronnie O’Neal, said Ocracoke wasn’t always like this.

“If you weren’t from Ocracoke or related or going with somebody from here, it was different then,” she said.

She was among the cadre of college students back then who provided summer labor for the restaurants and motels.

“I couldn’t understand the brogue; they couldn’t understand me,” she said. “It’s changed over the years. Now, it’s much more welcoming.”

Raul Espinoza Ibarra, who’s been here about 25 years, felt the welcoming vibe when he arrived.

He experienced Ocracoke’s generosity when his house was destroyed by fire in 2017 and he received an outpouring of support regardless of nationality.

“People come together when needed. As long as you’re a good person, people will appreciate that,” he said,

He also noted that kids can ride their bikes to school here.

“They’re safe,” he said. “You can’t really do that somewhere else. I feel like it’s those little things make Ocracoke unique.”

Lori Rich, who lives part of the year in her small Vermont hometown, said the people there are all Vermonters.

“There are a few people that come in from the outside, but not like here,” she said, “where we have an eclectic array of people coming from all over.”

Maybe because it’s an island everybody jumps in to help, she said.

Of course, Ocracoke is not Shangri-La. But what place is?

Ocracoke sometimes has contention among residents and struggles with its problems.

Nowadays, a constant worry is overwash on NC12 at the north end and getting on and off the island, even when the ferries are running on time—for doctor’s appointments, for interscholastic sports games, or business.

Everything is either very close or too far, one person quipped.

Another struggle is conveying to lawmakers that the NC Ferry System does not serve just island residents but also the hundreds of thousands of people who visit year-round.

Ocracoke is different from any other shore point in North Carolina and thus not always understandable to everyone who comes here.

So, the island may not be for everyone, but it is for those who choose to stay.

To them, “It’s an amazing place,” Austin said. “It’s an amazing feeling.”