Tuesday, June 9: Ocracoke Preservation Society Porch Talk (Tuesdays & Thursdays): Tom Pahl: Restoring and maintaining historic structures on Ocracoke, 1 pm Island Inn Commons: Live music featuring Lou Castro and DeAnna Locke, 7 pm Ocracoke Oyster Company: Bryan Mayer, 7 pm 1718 Brewing Ocracoke: Barefoot Wade, 7 pm
Wednesday, June 10: Mini Bar at Ocracoke Coffee: Live music, 6 pm Ocracoke Oyster Company: Bryan Mayer, 7 pm DAJIO: Ray Murray, 8-10:30 pm
Thursday, June 11 Ocracoke Preservation Society Porch Talk: Ruth Toth signs new editions of her Atlantic Café cookbook, 11:30 am. Hyde County Commissioners to adopt 2026-2027 budget, 1 pm. Hurricane preparedness Community Forum with NOAA weather professionals, 1:30 pm. Community Center. See story here and flyer below. Mini Bar at Ocracoke Coffee: Brooke + Nick, 6 pm DAJIO: Lou Castro & David Tweedie, 6-8 pm. Ocracoke Oyster Company: That Guy Shane, 7 pm
Friday, June 12: The Ocracoke Township Tourism Development Authority Board of Directors meet, 9 am. Community Center. “What’s Happening on Ocracoke” interview on WOVV 90.1 FM. Ocracoke School graduation, 4 pm. School gym. Mini Bar at Ocracoke Coffee: Kate McNally, 6 pm Ocracoke Oyster Company: Gin & Salt, 7 pm 1718 Brewing Ocracoke: Ray McAllister Band, 7 pm
Saturday, June 13: Mini Bar at Ocracoke Coffee: Live music, 6 pm Ocracoke Oyster Company: Ray McAllister Band, 7 pm 1718 Brewing Ocracoke: Kate McNally, 7 pm DAJIO: Akasha Band, 8-11
Sunday, June 14 Church services: Ocracoke United Methodist Church, 11 am Ocracoke Life Saving Church, 11 am Stella Maris Chapel: Sunday Mass time at 4:30 pm but it is important to confirm because a priest may not be available to visit the island. Go to Masstimes.org and type in the zip code 27960, look for Our Lady of the Seas. DAJIO: Smooth Jazz Sundays with Sam on Sax, 6-8 pm 1718 Brewing Ocracoke: Open mic, 7 pm
A tent gets installed for the first event in the Island Inn Commons event space.
Text and photos by Connie Leinbach
Debbie Wells feels like she’s going at warp speed all the time.
As interim manager of the new nonprofit, the Ocracoke Commons Visitor & Cultural Center, she is overseeing the daily management of the Commons garden and the completion of the Island Inn renovation.
Formed in May, the goal of the new organization is “to preserve, educate, promote and enhance island culture by offering a community gathering place to be enjoyed by visitors and residents alike.”
With the renovation of the building set to be completed in September, the group aims to open the doors to the Visitor & Cultural center next spring. It will provide general island information for visitors, be available as a rental space and showcase and support a variety of local artisans.
In the meantime, the Commons will start hosting free “Music in the Garden” events the evenings of June 9 and July 8. See flyer below.
Also, starting at 4 p.m. on July 3, the group will host a fundraising fish fry and open house.
While the Ocracoke Preservation Society (OPS) owns the Island Inn building and property, this newly created OPS subsidiary will manage the garden and building. It recently received a $58,700 grant from the Ocracoke Occupancy Tax Board to support start-up and operating costs.
Wells has taken the helm to form a board of directors and get the entire project done.
Both the garden area and inside the building will be available for events, such as weddings.
Inside renovations to the Island Inn continue.
The first one, a rehearsal party, was held May 16 in the grassy area.
While the garden area is still being finished, more fundraising bricks will be added around the building.
Inside the building, the first floor will be a visitor center during the week and then be quickly transformable for gatherings or meetings for about 70 people.
The walls could exhibit temporary art shows as Wells hopes to start First Friday (of the month) art shows once the building is done.
Painting the building interior will harken back to its roots, with off-white and three different colors for the trim, the chair rail and the wainscoting, Wells said.
There’s also a catering kitchen.
Upstairs has three office areas, with one being for the Commons and an L-shaped area that can be used for board meetings and a dressing room for bridal parties, Wells said.
For downstairs lighting, there will be 12 hanging globes, and the Commons is looking for sponsors for them for $1,000 each.
Shelves above the windows will feature decoys and “things of that nature,” she said.
“It looks really great,” Wells said as she ushered a visitor around the incomplete building. “We’ve come a long way but we still have all the final plumbing, electric, painting and a special floor for the kitchen,” she said.
The newly refurbished building will also have screens in the windows.
“There could be at least two full months, maybe three, out of the year that we would have the building completely open to air,” she said she said as she gazed out from the second floor onto the garden. “I’m not that into climate control. I mean, the view from in here is just so fabulous.”
Built in 1901, the building has a long history of nurturing and supporting the community. Originally built as a Lodge for the Odd Fellows organization, it has been a schoolhouse, coffee shop, motel, and restaurant.
During World War II, it was used by the U.S. Navy.
The new board of directors consists of co-chairs Heather Johnson and Lisa Landrum; treasurer Tim Gwaltney; secretary Jennifer Garrish; and board members Bob Kornegay, Paige Bennett, and Raul Campos.
Once the building construction is complete, the final major install of the garden to tie the entire property together will begin.
The National Weather Service in Newport/Morehead City will hold a community forum on hurricanes at 1:30 p.m. on Thursday, June 11, in the Community Center.
A meteorologist with the National Weather Service will give the presentation on hurricanes and their impacts on Eastern North Carolina.
The forum will cover why you should never just focus on just the category of the storm, what the hurricane path track means, the various impacts tropical cyclones can bring and why you should NEVER let you guard down, even after the storm passes.
It will cover the hurricane outlook for the season while emphasizing it only takes one storm to make an impact on your life.
A question-and-answer period will follow the presentation.
If you have any problems signing up or questions about the forum, please email Erik Heden at erik.heden@noaa.gov.
The 2026 Atlantic hurricane season runs from June 1 to Nov. 30, with forecasters predicting a below-average season due to the influence of a strong El Niño. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration expects eight to 14 named storms, including three to six hurricanes and one to three major hurricanes.
Sponsored by Hyde County Emergency Management, the forum is free and open to all, and the NWS would like attendees to reigster here.
NCDOT Board of Transportation members and various state and local officials visit the sandbag area at the north end of Ocracoke on May 5. NCDOT photo
By Connie Leinbach
At this time, the North Carolina General Assembly still has not passed a budget for the current fiscal year, making it the only state in the nation without one.
The state is currently operating on funding levels from the 2023 budget cycle. During this extended impasse, the General Assembly passed targeted “mini-budgets” to handle immediate, critical needs like Medicaid funding.
Gov. Josh Stein’s budget has a funding line for ferries within the Highway Fund, with an increase of $31.7 million, bringing the total appropriation to $93.638 million.
Against that backdrop, in a rare appearance, members of the North Carolina Board of Transportation on May 5 visited Ocracoke and the upper Outer Banks to view the transportation challenges the region is facing.
North Carolina Department of Transportation Secretary Daniel Johnson talks with Justin LeBlanc and Kris Cahoon Noble. Photo: C. Leinbach/Ocracoke Observer
The Ferry Division needs at least $85.5 million a year for operations, said Justin LeBlanc, executive director of Ocracoke Access Alliance, which is lobbying for more funding for the ferries and the hot spots along NC12.
The group had more than 70 people, including Transportation Secretary Daniel Johnson, 17 of the 20 board members, all 14 district engineers, other NCDOT personnel and county and island representatives, said Hyde County Manager Kris Cahoon Noble, who helped organize the visit.
The group arrived from Hatteras that morning on the Ocracoke Express passenger ferry. After a luncheon at the Berkley Barn, they rode in trams for a tour of Ocracoke village and then departed for the Hatteras ferry.
On the way, they stopped at the sandbag area to view this “hot spot” along NC12, said Tess Judge of Kitty Hawk, the District 1 representative on the board.
When she got onto the board last year, she got to work on getting the full board to visit the Outer Banks.
NCDOT Board of Transportation Chair Tony Lathrop. Photo: C. Leinbach/Ocracoke Observer
They take two trips a year around the state, and last June they visited the Hurricane Helene damage in western North Carolina.
“Needless to say, you know what we see on TV when we’re looking at the storms and the devastation, but boots on the ground is a different thing,” she said. “And I’m telling you, I left Western North Carolina with my heart in my mouth. When I go to other areas where I’m able to see what other people are dealing with, and I think that’s exactly what you know the board saw when they were here.”
Hyde County Commissioner Chair Randal Mathews helped host the visit and went with the group to the north end of Ocracoke, and that Judge’s position on the board was key to the board’s visit.
“It’s a pretty special thing to get them here,” he said.
After their visit, Board Chair Tony Lathrop posted the following statement:
“The meetings and site visits highlighted both the importance and complexity of maintaining transportation infrastructure in one of North Carolina’s most unique regions. Conversations throughout the week focused on coastal resiliency, the long-term future of Highway 12, ferry operations, hurricane recovery progress, and the financial planning required to support infrastructure needs across the state.”
Also, the board made a resolution to support Stein’s proposal of $24 million for non-recurring expenses.
According to a video clip on the Ocracoke Access Alliance’s Facebook page, the board specifically asked that the money be new funds, not just moved from another section of the NCDOT budget.
Because the Senate’s initial version of the budget has proposed a toll on the Hatteras ferry while the House’s version does not, the OAA has proposed that if the Legislature wants to toll all the ferry routes, then it should fully fund the Ferry Division for operations and maintenance.
“I think it was great to have them there and to begin to get some champions and allies within there,” LeBlanc said about the BOT visit. “Thank you to Tess Judge and all BOT members for recognizing the important economic and safety impacts the whole state receives with reliable ferry service.”
Hyde County Manager Kris Noble is with Tess Judge, NC Board of Transportation District 1 representative, and Hyde County Commissioner Chair Randal Mathews at the May 5 Board of Transportation visit to Ocracoke. Photo: C. Leinbach/Ocracoke Observer
This graphic shows the area of Sloop Channel that will be dredged in the next month.
From Hyde County
Recently, the NC Ferry Division announced temporary schedule adjustments on the Hatteras – Ocracoke route to accommodate a critical dredging project in Sloop Channel (federal designated channel). The temporary changes affect two early morning departures and three late evening departures each day. This dredging project is being conducted by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers through a private contractor and represents a significant investment in maintaining and improving one of the most important transportation corridors serving Ocracoke Island.
For many years, Sloop Channel has been maintained at a width of approximately 100 feet. Through the collaborative efforts of Hyde County and the Ocracoke Waterways Commission, permits were secured to expand the channel to 200 feet. This wider channel will improve navigation, provide additional room for vessels to safely pass, and help deliver longer-lasting dredging results.
To make this expansion possible, Hyde County successfully secured North Carolina Shallow Draft Navigation Channel Dredging Funds to pay for the additional non-federal portion of the project.
The USACE contractor is utilizing a hydraulic pipeline dredge, which is widely recognized as one of the most effective methods for removing large volumes of sediment and restoring channel depth and width.
While this method provides the best long-term results, it requires significant workspace within the channel while operations are underway. It is also important to note that it has been quite a while since the area has been addressed with this type of equipment. There was no pipeline dredging performed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) in the Hatteras ferry channels between 2013 and 2026.
Since then, alternative sidecaster and shallow-draft hopper dredges, like the “Miss Katie,” have been used used.
After evaluating several alternatives, including more extensive ferry service interruptions, it was determined that the current amended schedule would provide the least disruption to residents, businesses, workers, and visitors while still allowing the dredging contractor sufficient time to complete the work safely and efficiently.
Full daily shutdowns of the route were considered but would have created substantially greater impacts to the traveling public.
The amended schedule also serves an important safety purpose. The northern end of Sloop Channel is extremely narrow, and providing dedicated dredging windows reduces the potential for ferry vessels to come into contact with dredging pipelines, anchors, floating equipment, or other project infrastructure, a challenge that has occurred during previous dredging operations in Rollinson Channel, while also improving safety for passengers, crews, contractors, and equipment.
While the timing of the project coincides with the beginning of the tourism season, the dredging contract was awarded and scheduled through the federal process, limiting local flexibility regarding construction timing.
Recognizing the importance of this work, local, state and federal partners have worked together very closely over the past two weeks to identify the most practical approach for balancing transportation needs with long-term channel improvements.
Hyde County appreciates the patience and understanding of residents, businesses, commuters, and visitors during this temporary inconvenience.
The benefits of this project will extend well beyond the construction period, helping ensure safer, more reliable ferry operations and a more resilient transportation connection between Hatteras and Ocracoke for years to come.
Hyde County remains committed to partnering with state and federal agencies to maintain and improve the transportation infrastructure that is vital to the communities and economy of Ocracoke Island.
Monday, June 1: Hyde County Board of Commissioners, 1 pm. Community Center. Livestreamed on Hyde County Public Information Facebook page. All commissioners’ meetings changed to 1 pm. A public hearing on the proposed budget will be held during this meeting. On Thursday, June 11, the budget is expected to be finalized and adopted. See agenda below.
Fishing is hot on Ocracoke as seen with this 42” Red Drum Griffin Wells caught fishing the Sound on May 15 with Tradewind’s mullet. Photo courtesy of Tradewinds Tackle.
Wednesday, June 3: Zumba class, Community Center, 6 pm. Mini Bar at Ocracoke Coffee: Island Trivia, 6-8 pm Ocracoke Oyster Company: Ray Murray, 7 pm 1718 Brewing Ocracoke: Barefoot Wade, 7 pm Deepwater Theater, School Road.Molasses Creek, 8 pm
Thursday, June 4: Donald Davis Storytelling workshop performance. Click here for details at OPS, 10:30 am MiniBar at Ocracoke Coffee: Brooke + Nick, 6 pm Ocracoke Decoy Carvers Guild meeting. 7 pm. Community Center. Ocracoke Oyster Company: Barefoot Wade, 7 pm 1718 Brewing Ocracoke: Allegra & Page, 7 pm DAJIO:Lou Castro & David Tweedie, 6-8 pm.
Friday, June 5: “What’s Happening on Ocracoke” interview on WOVV 90.1 FM the Ocrafolk Festival, 11:30 am Ocrafolk Festival at the Berkley grounds. Click here for schedule. MiniBar at Ocracoke Coffee: Kate McNally, 6 pm Ocracoke Oyster Company: Gin & Salt, 7 pm DAJIO: Allegra & Paige, 8-10:30 pm
Saturday, June 6: Ocrafolk Festival at the Berkley grounds. Click here for schedule. Ocracoke Oyster Company: Ocracoke Rockers, 7 pm MiniBar at Ocracoke Coffee: music TBD 1718 Brewing Ocracoke: Ocrafolk artists, 7 pm DAJIO: Allegra & Paige, 8-10:30 pm
Sunday, June 7: Church services: Ocracoke United Methodist Church, 11 am Ocracoke Life Saving Church, 11 am Stella Maris Chapel: Sunday Mass time at 5:30 pm but it is important to confirm because a priest may not be available to visit the island. Go to Masstimes.org and type in the zip code 27960, look for Our Lady of the Seas.
Ocrafolk Festival on the Berkley Manor grounds. Click here for schedule.
Sweet Megg of Postmodern Jukebox and Cirque du Soleil will be among the new artists at this year’s Ocrafolk Festival.
A stilt walker, a typewriter poet and a wandering magician will bring some different energy to this year’s Ocrafolk Festival, June 5 to 7, on the Berkley Manor grounds.
The wandering magician is 15-year-old Eli Logan, said David Tweedie, the festival executive director.
Poet and teacher Kevin Devaney will set up a little stand and will create poems for customers on the spot.
His partner, Poppy, is a henna artist, and will be doing henna tattoos.
A stilt walker named Lanky Lou will roam the grounds.
The festival will also feature some new musical energy.
One of those is the Kathleen Parks Trio. She is a Celtic and American fiddler and singer-songwriter. “She does an amazing job of playing the fiddle and singing at the same time,” Tweedie said. “It’s fascinating to watch that.”
Sweet Megg is one of the lead singers for the band Postmodern Jukebox. She’s been a lead in Cirque du Soleil’s “Songblazers: A Journey into Country Music” show.
“So, we’re really excited about what she might be bringing,” he said.
Rhonda Robichaux & Meaux, originally from New Orleans, “blends blues and soul and funk and samba and all sorts of stuff.”
Another youth, Asher Brinson, a 16-year-old left-handed picker and singer-songwriter from Newport, is on the lineup.
Dear MiriBella and the Pigkickers is an up-and-coming sibling bluegrass band whose music is rooted in the Blue Ridge Mountains; and a Celtic band, Jenny and the Weasels, from Eastern Tennessee, also will perform.
Among the returning artists, the Foreign Landers, International Bluegrass Music Award winners who debuted last year, will enrich their sound with two more musicians.
The Rev. Robert Jones and the Jeff Little Trio will return.
Along with popular island storyteller Donald Davis, Jasmine Cardenas, who is a Latina storyteller, will make her Ocrafolk Festival debut.
She’s been selected by UNESCO and International Theater Institute as an emerging theater artist for World Theater Day, Tweedie said.
Local performers include Martin Garrish and the Ocracoke Rockers; Molasses Creek, who are the festival hosts; Brooke+Nick; Katie Mitchell and Daniel Bradley and John Lea, who are the Playin’ Possums; and the Ocracoke Student Ballet Folklorico.
Saturday night activities will happen at Ocracoke Coffee and at 1718 Brewing Ocracoke.
Youth 17 and under are admitted for free; and residents, property owners and businesses can sign up for free tickets.
“Even if they think they’re not sure whether they’ll be able to make it to much of the site, it just makes things a lot easier if they sign up fort hat ahead of time,” Tweedie said.
For more information, the schedule and tickets, visit www.ocracokealive.org, and follow the links on the ticket page.
The box office will be moved to the back entrance of the Berkley property off Water Plant Road, Tweedie said. Sponsors and the volunteers will check in there, and folks will come to pick up their pre-order tickets at that location.
Donald Davis with well-wishers at a storytelling performance. Photo: P. Vankevich/Ocracoke Observer
By Peter Vankevich
Ocracoke Island storyteller Donald Davis will lead two weeklong storytelling workshops on the island, scheduled for May 30 to June 7 and June 14 to 21.
Each workshop concludes with a free public performance featuring selected participants sharing stories developed during the sessions.
The public performances are scheduled as follows:
Thursday, June 4, from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. at the Ocracoke Preservation Museum. Limited bench seating is available, and attendees are welcome to bring chairs or quilts.
Saturday, June 20, from 10 to 11:15 a.m. at the Books to Be Red lawn. Guests are encouraged to bring chairs or blankets.
The workshops have become an Ocracoke tradition. Davis first began offering storytelling workshops here in 1998, and except for 2020 during the Covid pandemic, two sessions have been held each June.
Many attendees return each year, including one attendee who has participated every year since the beginning.
Those enrolled this year are traveling from across the country, including California, Texas, Utah, Wisconsin and Alabama, along with a few local residents, according to Trisha Davis, administrator for Donald Davis Storyteller Inc.
DuPre Sanders performs a story at the Oracoke Preservetion Society. Photo P. Vankevich/Ocracoke Observer
Several former participants have gone on to perform at the National Storytelling Festival and other major storytelling events nationwide.
Donald Davis has been a guest on WOVV’s “What’s Happening on Ocracoke. Photo: P. Vankevich/Ocracoke Observer
The workshops attract people from a wide range of professions, including teachers, writers, librarians, clergy, trial attorneys, community leaders, and others interested in improving communication skills and exploring personal stories.
Davis has long been a familiar presence on the island and is always a featured storyteller at the annual Ocrafolk Festival, scheduled this year for June 5 to 7.
Originally from Waynesville, Haywood County, Davis is known for stories rooted in his Southern Appalachian upbringing and inspired by family traditions, community life and everyday experiences.
His storytelling is described as a blend of humor, warmth, and emotional honesty.
A graduate of Davidson College and Duke Divinity School, Davis served for 25 years as a United Methodist minister.
Although retired, he continues to assist the Ocracoke United Methodist Church. Prior to her appointment there, pastor Desiree Adams attended one of Davis’s storytelling workshops.
“That was tremendously helpful for me,” she said in a 2023 interview. “He’s been influential and a mentor in this process, in many ways.”
Davis is the author of 19 books and more than 50 original recordings. His most recent book, “How They Linger: Stories of Unforgettable Souls,” published in 2024 by Parkhurst Brothers Publishers, is a nonfiction collection of personal stories and reflections about memorable people he has encountered throughout his life. The book is available at the island’s Books to Be Red, 34 School Road.
He has received both the Circle of Excellence Award and the Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Storytelling Network.
Dredging that begins May 30 in Sloop Channel in the Hatteras Inlet prompts a temporary schedule change inn the Hatteras-Ocracoke ferry route.
HATTERAS – The N.C. Ferry System’s Hatteras-Ocracoke vehicle ferry route will be switching to an alternate schedule May 30 as a critical dredging operation gets underway in Sloop Channel.
Sloop Channel provides the entryway to the route’s South Dock terminal on the north end of Ocracoke Island.
As of May 30, the schedule will be as follows and note that the runs end at 8:30 p.m. from Hatteras and 9 p.m. from Ocracoke:
The dredging operation, performed by a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers contractor, is expected to take about one month to complete, depending on weather conditions.
Once the dredging is complete, the Hatteras vehicle route will return to its full summer schedule.
For real-time text or email updates on weather or mechanical delays, sign up for the Ferry Information Notification System at www.ncdot.gov/fins.
Hyde County manager Kris Cahoon Noble has recommended a 2026-2027 county budget with no tax increases.
In her Budget Message she said the recommended amount is $24,578,535 with a general fund budget of $20,288,078.
General Fund dollars fund essential programs and services for daily life in Hyde County: human services, public safety, education and various general government operations.
The largest share of General Fund revenue comes from property taxes, which are assessed on the value of real estate, personal property and motor vehicles.
“This budget does not increase the property tax rate and allocates resources to maintain current levels of service,” Noble said.
The property tax rate will remain 92 cents per $100 valuation with no increase.
No appropriations from the general fund balance will be required to balance the budget, she said.
The budget process begins with department managers proposing their requests. Following workshops with the department heads and revisions, the budget is then adopted.
A public hearing will be held at 1 p.m. Monday, June 1, during the regular monthly meeting of the Hyde County Board of Commissioners.
The adoption of this budget and setting of the tax rate for the 2026-2027 fiscal year is slated for 10 a.m. Thursday, June 11.
A primary decrease in the budget includes the payoff of the 2010 Qualified School Construction Bond for school improvement projects.
Total property taxes to be collected are estimated to be $14.33 million, up from $13.77 million last year.
Estimated sales tax to be collected is $2.3 million, up from $2.07 million last year.
The primary increases within the budget consist of continued employee and benefit costs, insurance, utilities, and cost of goods increases.
Other increases include partnering with Hyde County Schools in athletics and mental health. There are recommended increases for all county volunteer fire departments.
Typically, in North Carolina, counties and municipalities work together to provide services. Counties are responsible for providing services heavily guided by state law: public health, social services, public education, emergency services, tax assessment and collection, Register of Deed services, court facilities, public safety and elections.
Municipalities typically provide services such as police, fire protection, water and sewer, sanitation, planning, zoning and streets.
Hyde County is in a unique position, having no incorporated townships. Because of this structure, the Hyde County government provides services of a broader nature than most counties.
For budget data and the budget message, visit www.hydecountync.gov. Click on Departments and then on Finance.
