The Hyde County Board of Commissioners will meet at 6 p.m. Monday, May 3.
The Hyde County Board of Commissioners will hold their monthly meeting at 6 p.m. Monday, May 3, in the government services center in Swan Quarter and online.
Due to COVID-19 safety precautions, public attendance at Hyde County Board of Commissioners Meetings will be provided electronically. The meeting will be available to watch via Facebook Live or listen to via a phone dial-in for those without reliable internet access. Video of the meeting will also be posted to its website, http://www.hydecountync.gov as soon as possible following the meeting.
The commissioners are accepting public comments for all meetings and hearings via a web submission at https://forms.gle/qWzxU8EXfaQDahWp6 or by leaving a voicemail at 252-926-5288. Submissions must be received at least one hour prior to the start of the meeting for the first public comment period. Submissions submitted after that and prior to the second public comment period will be read or played during the second public comment period. Comments on Facebook are not considered public comments for the meeting as they are not always monitored.
The live stream will begin when the meeting is called to order. You do not need to be a Facebook member to view the live stream. Viewers can access the county’s Facebook page by going to the following website https://www.facebook.com/HydeCountyNC.
To use the dial-in option, call 605-562-0400 or 717-275-8940, enter the following access code 882 1001, and press #. These are not toll-free numbers but you are typically not charged for long-distance when using a cellular phone.
The agenda is below and background information is available on the Hyde County website here.
A basket of primitive duck decoys. Photo: Connie Leinbach
By Connie Leinbach
Duck decoys made on Ocracoke are some of the most unusual ever crafted.
That’s the assessment of Chase Luker of New Holland on mainland Hyde County. Luker was among two dozen decoy carvers and sellers at the Third annual Ocracoke Waterfowl Festival held April 17 in the Berkley Barn and grounds, sponsored by the Ocracoke Island Decoy Carvers Guild.
“We’ve been waiting to have something like this,” he said about the lack of festivals since the COVID-19 pandemic hit more than a year ago. “There are 500 active collectors and 50,000 interested in seeing them.” A hunter education coordinator for the N.C. Wildlife Commission, Luker noticed the duck hunting traditions of this part of the world when he moved to Hyde County 15 years ago.
“The best decoy makers today live on the coast of North Carolina,” he said.
And the old Ocracoke decoys were different from others.
With Jack Dudley’s book ‘Mattamuskeet & Ocracoke Waterfowl Heritage,’ Chase Luker shows how Ocracoke decoy carvers saw a bird shape in the crooks of cedar branches.
“The decoys here are other-worldy,” Luker said, pointing out pictures of primitive Ocracoke-made decoys in a book of decoys by Jack Dudley of Morehead City. “They don’t look like brants, but they look like decoys.” Dudley, a retired dentist, also has a Facebook page.
“He came here and did dental work in exchange for decoys,” Luker said. Old time carvers would find a forked branch of cedar and in it saw the bird they wanted to carve, he said. Or they carved decoys from old ship masts.
“See how rough they are,” Luker said, showing a curious visitor a rough-hewn decoy.
Among the purveyors was Tom Reed of Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina, a third-generation antique decoy dealer who owns American Sporting Classics.
“Tom is what I call one of the big hitters,” said islander John Simpson, president of the Ocracoke Decoy Carvers Guild which produces the festival. “He is nationally renowned for collecting and organizing decoy shows. He told me this is one of the best he’s been to for sales and also for just being community oriented.”
Reed featured antique decoys by Lem and Steve Ward of Crisfield, Maryland, who were two of the most prolific carvers on the East Coast. One of the brothers’ decoys was priced at $8,000.
Tom Reed shows the signature on an $8,000 decoy by Steve Ward of Crisfield, Maryland. Photo: C. Leinbach
The waterfowl festival was a morale-boosting success as it was the second public event on Ocracoke since the COVID-19 pandemic struck the world in early 2020, causing the island to be closed briefly last spring. All large events were canceled, including the OVFD Firemen’s Ball, Ocrafolk Festival, Blackbeard’s Pirates Jamboree and many other events.
Casey Arthur. Photo: P. Vankevich
“This was great for the community — we needed this,” said Vince O’Neal, one of the founding and current guild directors. “It was so nice to get out and see people.”
Casey Arthur of Stacy, Carteret County, was in his niche as he worked on his latest decoy between greeting visitors. A long-term member and director of the Core Sound Decoy Carvers Guild, he is a frequent visitor to Ocracoke and was an advisor in the formative stages of the Ocracoke guild.
“This is a wonderful event for both us carvers and those who love the art,” he said.
Inside the barn, this year’s featured carver William Nathan Spencer of Ocracoke took center stage. Not only is he skilled at making duck and goose decoys, but he also enjoys carving smaller-size shorebirds such as Sanderlings and Piping Plovers made from single piece of wood, which were popular with browsers and shoppers.
Featured carver Nathan Spencer with wife Janet. Photo: C. Leinbach
“More people showed up than I expected,” said Simpson about the event. “I thought maybe three or 400 would be a decent turnout. We didn’t do admissions, but we figured about 700 people.”
About 24 vendors set up their displays and many said this was one of their best sales events, Simpson said.
President of the Ocracoke Decoy Carvers Guild John Simpson. Photo: P. Vankevich
Proceeds from vendor fees, merchandise, baked goods, raffle ticket sales and baked goods “baked by the whole island” go back to the community in the form of scholarships, Simpson said.
Simpson will be the featured carver next year with his signature duck–a pintail.
As he observed the bustle of customers and vendors he mused about the lure of hand-carved decoys.
“It’s an everyman art,” he said about this folk art. “Carving comes from a different place, a personal place.”
Peter Vankevich contributed to this story.
Island carver Eddie O’Neal corners the festival. Photo: P. Vankevich
If one were to look at names of our birds of North America and get a chance to rename them, the Ring-necked Duck would be a top candidate. Watching one in a marsh, even with high-powered binoculars or even a spotting scope, the faint chestnut collar on its black neck is often impossible to see, which is why the above photo by Mary Parker Sonis is so remarkable.
But it caught the attention of 19th century biologists looking at dead specimens which provided the name. But what catches the attention of those observing them in their natural habitats is a black bill tip bordered by a prominent white band. Hence its informal name of “ringbill.”
The female, like many duck species, is brownish to be inconspicuous to would-be predators during nesting and also has a black bill tip and paler white band.
This diving duck is in the genus Aythya related to the Redhead, Greater and Lesser Scaup and nests in small, wooded ponds in boreal forests and prairie regions of the upper United States and throughout much of Canada.
From fall into early spring, they can be found, sometimes in large numbers, throughout North Carolina in waters with adequate subaquatic vegetation such as beaver ponds, lakes, and reservoirs with forested shorelines.
Best time to see: Early fall into winter.
Where: Possible in the sound and small ponds on the island; less likely in the ocean. The pond approaching the Hatteras ferry dock can be a possible location. This bird is not that common on Ocracoke. On the Outer Banks, Pea Island Wildlife Refuge is a better location to see them and the Mattamuskeet/Pungo lake areas on the mainland.
Listen: The Macaulay Library at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology has a variety of recordings. Soft-spoken, they make a series of short, high, grating barks or grunts. Females also make a high peeping call. Clickhereto listen.
Gov. Roy Cooper briefs the press on the latest COVID-19 trends.
As of today (April 30), the state of North Carolina will lift the outdoor mask mandate, but indoor masks are still required in the continuing COVID-19 pandemic.
Gov. Roy Cooper said in an April 28 press briefing that the state’s metrics and key indicators remain stable that masks are still strongly recommended outdoors by N.C. Department of Health & Human Services in crowded areas and higher risk settings where social distancing is difficult.
The new capacity for indoor gatherings increases to 100 people, and to 200 people for outdoor gatherings.
A new executive order also relaxes parts of North Carolina’s mask mandate that has been in effect since last year. While masks are still required indoors, they no longer will be required outside, though they are still “strongly recommended” for crowded areas where social distancing isn’t possible.
Hyde County ranks among the top counties in the state for percentage of population vaccinated, said Misty Gibbs, Hyde County preparedness coordinator, with 48.2% of residents receiving first doses and 38.5% fully vaccinated.
Cooper said if at least two thirds of North Carolinian’s get vaccinated, more restrictions can be lifted. At this point, 39.2% percent of those 18 and up have been fully vaccinated. The free vaccines are now available in pharmacies and doctors’ offices.
“We have more work to do to beat back this pandemic,” Cooper said. “Let’s work hard in May and get as many people vaccinated as we can before summer gets here.”
The Hyde County Health Department announced today (April 30) that COVID-19 cases are going down again. The current numbers are listed below and there are no noticeable trends.
Total cases 681
Active 5
Recovered 668
Deaths 8
The Ocracoke Health Center has vaccines. Call them at 252-489-3622 to schedule an appointment, or the Hyde County Health Department on the mainland at 252-926-4200.
William Daniel “Bill” Gaskill Sr. of Ocracoke died April 27 at his home.
He was the husband of Alda Vann, at home.
Born Dec. 6, 1939, by one of the island midwives, he was a son of the late Thurston and Helen Gaskill.
Ever the optimist, he fought his battle with Merkel Cell Carcinoma with a positive attitude and a desire to beat it. He was blessed to have so many family members and friends supporting him and was surrounded by loved ones when he passed peacefully.
Bill grew up on Ocracoke fishing and hunting with his father and enjoyed being a part of Ocracoke’s mounted Boy Scout Troop 290. He joined the U.S. Coast Guard at the age of 17 and began a 20-year military career.
In 1962, he married the girl he had loved since he was a child. He always said the happiest day of his life was when he married Alda Vann O’Neal. Son Danny was born in 1963, followed by his daughter Doreen in 1966. When he retired in 1976, he brought his family back home to Ocracoke. He then worked for the NCDOT Ferry Division and then retired for a second time.
Never one to be idle he could often be found helping someone with a problem when he was not fishing, clamming, or enjoying the sunset. He was an amazingly smart person who could do everything from building a house to fixing a car.
He always took the time to enjoy the simple things, and always made time for helping friends, family, and sometimes strangers. If Bill Gaskill did not have the tool you needed, there is a good chance it did not exist. He would lend out his tools, and most of the time stop what he was doing to help. He will be missed by people of all ages and especially his family.
Bill was preceded in death by his brother Thurston Fuller Gaskill and son Danny Gaskill.
In addition to his wife, he is survived by daughter Doreen Gaskill Robinson; sister Annie Lou Gaskins; grandsons Ansley and Eldon Robinson; granddaughters Chrisi Gaskill and fiancé Charles Temple; and Katelyn Gaskill and husband Dustin Taylor.
A graveside service will be held at 2 p.m. Saturday, May 1, in the Ocracoke Community Cemetery. Everyone is welcome to attend.
The family requests that in lieu of flowers, donations be sent to the Ocracoke United Methodist Church, PO Box 278, Ocracoke NC, 27960.
The family would like to express their sincere gratitude to the many people who helped in so many different ways during Bill’s illness.
Twiford Funeral Homes, Outer Banks is assisting the family with arrangements. Condolences and memories may be shared at www.TwifordFH.com.
The Ocracoke lighthouse after a storm. Photo: P. Vankevich
From our news services
Cape Hatteras National Seashore (Seashore) will seek site preservation ideas for the Ocracoke Light Station, aka the Ocracoke Lighthouse, at two public meetings in May.
The meetings will gather public input on how to sustainably preserve the historic resources at the Ocracoke Light Station in the wake of recent storm damage and in consideration of future impacts from climate change and sea level rise while providing visitor access to the site.
An in-person meeting will be held from 1:30 to 2:30 p.m. Thursday, May 6, in the Berkley Barn at Berkley Manor, 58 Water Plant Rd.
The virtual meeting will be held from 6 to 7 p.m. Monday, May 10.
Online Meeting Link (best option for viewing online presentation from computer or smartphone)
Audio Only: 202-640-1187, 38403551# (best option for people with poor or no internet coverage)
Audio only attendees will not be able to view the presentation, therefore, all attendees are encouraged to use a computer or smartphone to connect via online meeting link.
Once a range of preservation ideas are gained and refined through the public meetings, the Seashore will move to the next phase, which will include assessing compliance needs under the National Historic Preservation Act, National Environmental Policy Act and other environmental regulations.
The public is invited to submit comments on the preservation ideas presented at the meetings and described in the newsletter until May 28.
The COVID-19 pandemic is not over, and Hyde County is experiencing an uptick in cases, the Hyde County Health Director said recently.
“We need the public (and those who are positive cases) to adhere to public health standards,” said Luana Gibbs, health director, in a Friday press release.
As of Friday, the health department recorded 15 positive cases in the county. Out of 680 cases since case tracking began in 2020, 657 have recovered and there have been eight deaths. As of April 16, there were 22 positive cases, but as of the end of March, there were two cases.
The first area of Gibbs’s concern is contact tracing.
The health department is currently using Carolina Community Tracing Collaborative (CCTC) to perform case investigations and contact tracing.
“If you receive a call from this organization and you do not answer, they will identify themselves as calling on behalf of the Hyde County Health Department and ask you to call the statewide call center at 844-628-7223,” Gibbs said. “Please follow all of their instructions. This is imperative so that information can be given to help slow the transmission of the virus.”
The second area of concern, Gibbs said, is adherence to the orders patients are provided for isolation and quarantine.
Legal action can be implemented when cases and contacts do not follow the guidelines they are given.
“This is not the route I wish to take when people do not comply, but it is a route that is available and I have used this in the past,” she said. “Please, just comply with directions and get through your isolation period. We do not want a spike in cases, any more loss of lives or severe sickness. We want to get done with COVID so we can go back to how we lived in 2019.”
The Hyde County Health Department is offering COVID-19 vaccines to anyone 18 years of age and older.
To schedule an appointment, please call 252-926-4467.
Hyde County is seeking a parttime liaison for Ocracoke.
According to the job description, the liaison would work with different people to help Hyde County accomplish a common goal to provide services to the citizens of Ocracoke.
The liaison will facilitate communications between the citizens of Ocracoke and various county departments while working to connect those citizens with the county resources they need.
The Ocracoke liaison will have the following responsibilities:
Maintain office hours regularly on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 8 a.m. to noon at the Ocracoke Community Center. During this time, the liaison will assist residents with all questions in regard to Hyde County Departments and assist residents in obtaining the information needed in regard to county services.
Issue all Ocracoke re-entry passes. Applications and renewals are completed year-round by mail and online. Applications may also be filed during office hours.
Be responsible for hosting the Ocracoke side of all Hyde County Board of Commissioners meetings including the regular meeting on the first Monday of each month, special called meetings and emergency meetings. Attendance at other meetings may be required throughout the month.
Set up the room including placement of chairs and tables, set up and test the teleconferencing equipment prior to each meeting and operate the equipment during the meeting. The employee is responsible for the take down of all chairs and tables, storage of teleconferencing equipment and locking the facility.
Will keep meeting minutes for some meetings and will be trained and appointed as a deputy clerk to the Board of Commissioners.
Assist the Hyde County Public Information Officer each week with the publication of the Hyde Happenings and other public information as directed by the PIO.
During major events the liaison will support the emergency manager in holding Ocracoke Control Group meetings including meeting minutes and will attend all meetings. The liaison will also assist the PIO with press releases and the clerk and emergency manager with State of Emergency Proclamations.
Work with the Hyde County Grant Administrator and islanders to accept, process and update grant applications for housing and other individual assistance after disaster events. The liaison will be asked to complete intake, gather information and acquire photos of damaged homes.
Work in the Emergency Operations Center on the island after a disaster to process temporary entry permits for vendors, service workers and others as directed by the emergency manager and instructed by the public information officer.
Submit the application and your resume either by mail or to Tracy Gibbs, HR Director, County of Hyde, P.O. Box 188, Swan Quarter, NC 27885, or email her at tgibbs@hydecountync.gov.
This view of N.C. 12 at the north end of Ocracoke shows the south side of the road beginning to buckle into the sand. Photo: C. Leinbach
Captain Jason Daniels of the Hyde County Sheriff’s Department urges all motorists driving north to the ferry terminal to be mindful of the compromised road in the area protected by sandbags.
From all of the ocean over wash in the last year, the side of N.C. 12 closest to the sandbags is beginning to cave in, Daniels said.
Those driving north should be aware of this and those driving from the terminal to the village should be aware of those driving northbound through this area.
Although visitors are beginning to arrive back on the island, Daniels had little to report in the way of infractions from Feb. 16 to March 15.
“A few traffic stops and DUIs,” Daniels said.
The Ocracoke Volunteer Fire Department also had a slow month with four medical responder calls.
Recently, the island’s fire department got some good news as it achieved a district rating of 5, down from its previous rating of 6, which is a good thing.
“The smaller the number, the better,” said Dick Jacoby, president of the Ocracoke Fire Protection Association, which is the fundraising arm of the company and which keeps all of the company records. “For a volunteer fire department a 5 rating is phenomenal.”
This lower rating means that island businesses may see a rate decrease, Jacoby said. Homeowners already received a rate decrease when the OVFD received a 6 rating.
The Ocracoke Volunteer Fire Department building. Photo: C. Leinbach
The fire department recently finished weekend firefighter training, which is periodically needed to retain a good rating.
Training includes working with the water company, hose and fire hydrant testing and more. State law requires inspections of rural fire companies to check for proper staffing levels, sufficient equipment and maintenance, communications capabilities and availability of a water source.
The OVFD has about 26 active members and can always use more, Jacoby said.
“We need more who have more time during the season to respond to calls,” he said.
The annual Firemen’s Ball, the major fundraiser for the company typically the Saturday of Memorial Day Weekend has been canceled but next year’s date is set for May 28, which will be the fifteenth event.
This year, the OVFD will offer tickets for a chance to win the Ocracoke Strong sign that hung at the Variety Store after Hurricane Dorian in September 2019 and was a beacon of hope for everyone on the island. It was donated by Tommy Hutcherson, Variety Store owner.
To purchase a chance to win this iconic sign, click the following Ocracoke Strong Sign.
The Variety Store sign, after getting ripped off by Hurricane Dorian on Sept. 6, 2019, became ‘Ocracoke Strong.’ The Ocracoke Volunteer Fire Department is auctioning it this year as a fundraiser. Photo: C. Leinbach
R.N. Lucy O’Neal, gives a COVID-19 vaccination at the Ocracoke Health Center’s vaccine clinic April 13. All residents who want a vaccine need to call the health center on Thursday, April 22, to get in on the last shots available. Photo: C. Leinbach
By Connie Leinbach
The Ocracoke Health Center today is urging all residents age 18 and over on Ocracoke who want a COVID-19 vaccine to call on Thursday (April 22) as the last first-dose vaccines for a while will be administered on Friday.
That number is their COVID-19 hotline: 252-489-3622.
Mandy Cochran, R.N., said that because of the low demand in Hyde County, the batch of vaccines here now will be the last for a while.
“Friday will be the last day we’re administering first doses just for the foreseeable future,” she said. “We’re not sure when we’ll be getting more.”
Cochran said when health centers order vaccines from the state, those doses have to be used within seven days.
“There’s currently just not enough demand on Ocracoke,” she said, and there’s not enough demand on mainland Hyde nor the surrounding counties. “There’s a chance that in the coming weeks that we will have some on hand but right now we are not going to have any more first doses.”
If the health center receives more vaccines, they would likely come via the federal government program to which the center is applying, she said.
So far, Ocracoke has administered about 1,300 shots, or to about 650 people, though not all of those people are from Ocracoke, she said.
She said the health center has been calling its patients aged 18 to 21 to get vaccinated.
“We’ve been trying,” she said. “So, if anybody still wants a vaccine, please call me tomorrow.”
According to the N.C. Department of Health & Human Services COVID-19 vaccine dashboard, 3.65 million people in North Carolina have received first doses of a two-dose vaccine and 2.7 million people have been fully vaccinated.
To date, the state has administered over 6.5 million vaccines; 47.1 percent of adults aged 18 and over are at least partially vaccinated; and 35.8 percent are fully vaccinated.
More than 76 percent of people 65 and older have had at least one shot.
According to the weekly totals, 386,295 vaccines were administered the week of April 12 and 67,309 doses were given the week of April 19.
The dashboard also shows that 1,963 new COVID cases were reported today; 1,200 reported on Tuesday; and 1,380 reported on Monday.
Hyde County health department reported on Friday that Hyde has 22 active COVID-19 cases up from 18 as of April 9.
The NCDHHS COVID-19 dashboard reports 97 total cases for Ocracoke.
Nevertheless, Gov. Roy Cooper in a press briefing today noted stable trends and vaccination success and said the state may lift mandatory social distancing, capacity and mass gathering restrictions by June 1.
“Although we are making progress, we haven’t beaten COVID-19 yet,” he said. “Vaccination is the best way to beat this pandemic, protect one another, boost the economy and make it possible for restrictions to be lifted.”
The state anticipates lifting the mask mandate and easing other public health recommendations, once two thirds of adult North Carolinians have received at least one vaccine dose and if trends remain stable.
Cooper plans to issue an executive order next week outlining safety restrictions for the month of May.
Cooper said businesses should continue to follow voluntary health recommendations and North Carolinians should continue to take safety measures in order to boost the economy, keep children in schools and protect each other.
Those measures include the Three Ws: wear a mask, wait 6 feet apart, and wash hands often.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released statistics showing that North Carolina is among the states with the fewest deaths and fewest job losses per capita.
The Hyde County COVID-19 case count as of April 16, 2021.
