In addition to a trip to Portsmouth Island to seek shell treasures, the North Carolina Shell Club will have two shell auctions during their spring meeting Friday and Saturday, March 20 and 21, in the Community Center.
The club typically has its spring meeting on Ocracoke, and after shelling during the days, regroups for meetings in the evenings to which the public is invited.
The following activities are planned, and nonmembers are invited to attend:
Friday, March 20:
6 pm: Pizza social (optional) at the Ocracoke Community Center. $8 per person; drinks provided; RSVP required by March 12: Maria Lloyd, beachblessings108@gmail.com
6:30 pm: Registration and social greetings; view Silent Auction items.
7 pm: Club updates
7:40 pm: Guest speaker: Chester Lynn.An Ocracoke native and resident, Chester will share Ocracoke and Portsmouth stories (including Portsmouth Scotch-bonnet shelling). He is also an expert in the Ocracoke dialect and the fig trees that are common on Ocracoke and Portsmouth. The earliest record of Chester’s ancestors on Portsmouth was the 1790 census, and he can trace his lineage back to two of the men who sailed with Blackbeard.
8:15 pm: Break; Silent auction
8:30 pm: Field-trip logistics; silent auction ends
8:40 pm: Meeting adjourns
Saturday, March 21:
8 am to 1 pm: Shelling trip to Portsmouth Island(weather permitting). Club members and their guests only. Cost TBD. Boat departure from the Park Service dock next to ferry landing will be announced at the Friday meeting. Do not have to sign up; first come-first served. Will collect fees at the dock when loading.
4:30 – 6:30 pm: Group Dinner (optional); Howard’s Pub; no host, each guest responsible for their meal.
6:30 pm: Registration and social at the Community Center
7 pm: Club updates and “Finds of the Day” announced
7:15 pm: Oral auction begins
9 pm: Meeting adjourns
