The National Weather Service in Morehead City continues to monitor the potential for severe weather tonight (Sunday) into early Monday morning. A strong line of showers and thunderstorms is expected to push into Eastern N.C. Sunday night.
At this time, the weather service says it looks like the best chance for strong to severe storms will be between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. The main threats with the storms will be damaging winds, and brief heavy downpours with localized flooding. An isolated tornado will also be possible within the line of storms.
Aaron Gallaher, owner of Plum Pointe Kitchen inside 1718 Brewing Ocracoke, will serve free samples of his menu Saturday (April 14) from 5 to 7 p.m. Photo: C. Leinbach
By Connie Leinbach
In anticipation of opening next Friday, the Plum Pointe Kitchen in 1718 Brewing Ocracoke will offer free eats for sampling today (Saturday) from 5 to 7 p.m.
Owner-chef Aaron Gallaher will offer several items hors d’oeurves-style to patrons in the brewery.
“These will be test items for tasting,” Gallaher said Friday as he and one of his staff, Claire Senseney continued to get the kitchen ready. Islander Chris McDonald also is on the food team.
Plum Pointe is a separate food concern inside the craft brewery. Gallaher expects the kitchen to open for business Friday, April 20. Hours will be from 5 to 9 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. Brewery hours are noon to 9 p.m.
Among the items for patrons to sample on Saturday will be bacon-wrapped shrimp with chipotle cream cheese, scallops ceviche and Vietnamese wings.
“They’re off the chart,” Garick Kalna, owner of 1718 Brewing, said about the scallops and the wings. “I’m super excited about it. The zucchini noodle is fantastic.”
Gallaher also will have beef sliders with caramelized onions and bleu cheese, pork sliders with Asian slaw and Korean barbecue sauce, drunken chicken sliders, fried plantains and sweet potato chips.
The name of the new eatery derives from Blackbeard, the same as the name of the brewery: 1718 is the year Blackbeard was killed off Ocracoke on Nov. 22, and this year is the 300th anniversary of that event. Plum Point, a narrow strip of land along the Pamlico River near Bath, Beaufort County, is the purported location of Blackbeard’s homestead.
Gallaher is excited about his new venture. A long-time bartender at Howard’s Pub, Gallaher has been on Kalna’s team since brewery construction began 2015, and he has a background as a chef.
He began as a dishwasher at the age of 18 in a five-star restaurant, the former Café Iguana, in Fayetteville.
“I started out as a dishwasher and four months later I was the head cook,” he said. “It had an 80-item menu with 30 items that changed weekly.”
His two-year stint as a chef kick-started his love for good food.
“I’ve always been experimental with food,” he said.
Kalna appreciates that, noting that though two separate entities, Plum Point Kitchen and 1718 Brewing look forward to working together.
“We want food that’s not available elsewhere on the island,” Kalna said.
A view of the inside of 1718 Brewing Ocracoke. Brooke Doane serves customers. Photo: C. Leinbach
Ocracoke, NC—The Ocracoke Civic & Business Association is seeking a full-time executive director and a part-time bookkeeper.
The OCBA is a non-profit corporation on Ocracoke Island, NC., organized primarily to further the common good and general welfare of residents of and visitors to Ocracoke within the meaning of Section 501(c) (4) of the Internal Revenue Code. The OCBA provides marketing for Ocracoke Island, opportunities for contributors to improve their businesses and limited advocacy for island interests under contract with the Ocracoke Travel & Tourism Development Authority.
Job description for Executive Director: The Executive Director of the OCBA functions as the Chief Executive Officer of the corporation. In this capacity, the Executive Director is responsible for administration of the overall operation of the corporation, including: reviewing and evaluating the results of program activities, overseeing finances, ensuring that contractual obligations are being fulfilled; assisting the President and Board of Directors in setting policy and program goals for each year.
Successful candidates will have strong organizational, administrative, and financial management skills as well as be comfortable in a hands-on role, willing to do the essential tasks necessary to meet the goals of the OCBA.
The Executive Director provides leadership and performs the following:
Execution of OCBA-Ocracoke Travel & Tourism Development Authority (OTTDA) Contract:
Oversees and implements all travel and tourism-related marketing as required and detailed in the OCBA-OTTDA Contract for such services (available upon request), including:
Submits to OTTDA for approval, which approval shall be in OTTDA’s sole discretion, an annual, detailed line item budget, and any subsequent amendments thereto, detailing the way the funds furnished by OTTDA to OCBA will be utilized during the then current fiscal year;
Provides quarterly reports and an annual report in writing to OTTDA concerning all travel and tourism related marketing as well as promotional activities and expenditures performed hereunder;
Produces and submits to OTTDA for approval a Strategic Marketing Plan for OTTDA, through sub-contract with a professional marketing firm approved by OTTDA, which approvals shall be in OTTDA’s sole discretion;
Upon approval of said Strategic Marketing Plan by OTTDA, implements said Plan;
Maintains, supplies, and staffs, as appropriate and as may be reasonably directed by OTTDA within budgetary restraints, a presentable Visitor’s Center in Ocracoke Village;
Markets and promotes any travel and tourism-related events identified and approved by OTTDA, such as 4th of July events and Blackbeard’s Pirate Jamboree;
Annually produces and distributes the Ocracoke Walking Map;
Insures that Ocracoke Township events identified by OTTDA are properly advertised and publicized utilizing, among other things, social media, including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, and other formats or media;
Sufficiently maintains and refreshes, as necessary and appropriate, the http://www.visitocracokenc.com website as well as its integration with http://www.visitnc.com and any other appropriate digital or electronic platforms, including those identified by the OTTDA; and
Executes any other activities, programs, or initiatives reasonably deemed by OTTDA to be in furtherance of the purposes and intentions described by the OCBA-OTTDA contract for travel & tourism-related marketing.
Other Related Marketing:
Manages online SEO (search engine optimization);
Develops and maintains a positive public image of Ocracoke through media releases;
Serves as public relations contact for all travel writers;
Represents Ocracoke Island in a cooperative local, regional, and statewide promotional efforts; develops and maintains a positive relationship with the business community and maintains public awareness of tourism issues and advertising opportunities;
Commits to maintaining and strengthening industry knowledge by attending industry conferences, establishing professional networks and participating in industry development organizations;
Supervises and participates in familiarization tours for journalists, travel agents and tour operators;
Attends TDA/OCBA Board Meetings and assists in planning and coordination of special and annual events, including: 4th of July and Blackbeard’s Pirate Jamboree; and
Provides current and updated information to the press.
Administrative:
Ensures effective implementation of any OCBA-sponsored events;
Develops and maintains partnerships with local non-profit organizations, the local business community, surrounding communities and regional marketing organizations;
Develops and implements strategy for OCBA contributor recruitment, retention and expansion using GrowthZone Software. Maintains database of contributors, descriptions and online presentation of those businesses. Trains businesses on utilizing marketing tools available;
Prepares monthly reports on ad negotiations and placements, basic inquiry data and website and social media statistics and audience analysis;
Manages the Administrative Assistant to include: assignment of their duties, day-to-day tasks and supervision of their work;
Works with the treasurer to create a yearly budget; monitor expense vs. budget; budget for events. Supervises bookkeeping function and reviews and authorizes all expenditures. Works with the treasurer and the Board of Directors of the OCBA to prepare yearly grant request to Occupancy Tax Board, typically due end of March;
Picks up mail; checks; deposits; approving bills. Treasurer will continue to do bookkeeping for 2017-18 (to include paying bills, deposits, payroll);
In partnership with the OCBA Board, Serves as the face and voice of the Organization (to contributors, community, press, etc.);
Liaisons with the community and outside agencies/organizations/press people; and
Interacts with contributors and board members.
QUALIFICATIONS: Required:
Candidates must be able to reside on Ocracoke full-time on Ocracoke within 3 months of taking position;
Marketing experience—10+ years’ experience in marketing or equivalent;
Degree – bachelor’s or above in Marketing or related field;
Computer skills/software: Word, Excel, QuickBooks; email; social media;
Experience working with budgets; managing expenditures, purchasing, & bookkeeping;
People/customer service skills—ability to interact with contributors, board members, visitors, travel writers, etc.; and
Ability to speak articulately and confidently in public as well as private settings
Preferred:
Experience managing a business; working in or managing a nonprofit; experience working with boards of directors/volunteers; experience organizing events.
Job description for part-time bookkeeper:
The bookkeeper for the OCBA is responsible for working with the Treasurer to manage the bookkeeping of the organization including managing accounts payable and receivable, bank deposits, reconciliations and other finance-related duties.
The essential functions include, but are not limited to, the following:
Maintaining records according to generally accepted accounting principles including the recording of general journal entries, accounts payable, accounts receivable, cash management and reconciliation of bank statements;
Applying strong accounting skills, including A/P, A/R, purchasing backup, journal entries, and all bookkeeping through financial statement preparation;
Participating in activities needed to support the Board of Directors financial oversight of the organization: and
Performing other duties as assigned
MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS (KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, AND ABILITIES):
Candidates must reside on Ocracoke;
Two or more years of office or bookkeeping experience;
A high-level of proficiency in the use of QuickBooks or related programs;
Strong knowledge of bookkeeping practices and procedures;
Accuracy and attention to detail is absolutely required, as well as a track record of reliability, confidentiality, and conscientious work habits;
Proficient in Microsoft Office, specifically Excel, Word and PowerPoint;
Ability to work independently with little supervision;
Ability to organize and prioritize effectively;
Attention to detail with exceptional level of accuracy;
Ability to interpret data; and
Ability to adapt and work efficiently in a rapidly changing dynamic environment with deadlines.
Interested applicants for the above jobs should send their resume and cover letter by April 25, 2018, to: Ocracoke Civic & Business Association, P.O. Box 456, Ocracoke, NC, 27960, or electronically to info@visitocracokenc.com.
The Ocracoke Occupancy Tax Board on April 10 reviews the nonprofit project proposals for funding for the 2018-2019 year. Photo: C. Leinbach
In Ocracoke Alive’s Deepwater Theater show, “Dingbatter’s Guide to Ocracoke,” one of the skits is “The Reappearing Local.” It spoofs how, during their stay, visitors might see a worker in several different businesses.
This skit could equally apply to residents who serve behind the scenes, many on multiple boards—both nonprofit and government–which often intersect.
In Hyde County, the only government is the county’s Board of Commissioners. There are no incorporated municipalities in the entire county. Ocracoke’s only local elected official is our county commissioner. County employees–the county manager, assistant manager and others in various departments–of course work on behalf of Ocracoke as well as the mainland, but it falls to islanders to handle some of the tasks done in larger communities that have larger resident pools and more paid governmental employees.
Among these important boards are the (elected) Ocracoke Sanitary District, that oversees the municipal water issues, an elected island representative to the county’s Board of Education, the appointed Mosquito Control Board (which handles those relentless pests, standing water and drainage), the Ocracoke Advisory Planning Board and the Occupancy Tax Board (OT) which divvies out money from the occupancy tax coffers to support nonprofit projects.
Last year, the county commissioners authorized two more volunteer boards: The Ocracoke Waterways Commission (which addresses critical access issues via the Hatteras Inlet and Ocracoke’s harbor) and the Tourism Development Authority (TDA). When the commissioners last June raised the occupancy tax rate by 2 percent (for a total 5 percent tax on all lodging rooms and houses), they authorized the TDA to manage this added revenue.
While the OT board reviews, applications submitted by nonprofits seeking funding for specific projects from the 3 percent fund, it is advisory only: The county commissioners must approve their allocation plans, which, in recent memory, have always been approved.
But the TDA is its own independent authority and can spend the 2 percent monies however it wants for tourism promotion according to its authorizing state legislation. The TDA been developing a plan with the Ocracoke Civic & Business Association (which is tantamount to a visitor’s bureau) to spend these new funds to market the island.
Late last fall, yet another committee formed to explore how the Island Inn could be saved from possible commercial development and put into community hands.
This group accomplished its goal when the nonprofit Ocracoke Preservation Society took a big leap and agreed March 22 to purchase this iconic building and property for community use. Specifics are still to be determined, but Hyde County has agreed to purchase the vacant lot across the street on which to install a new building to house the EMS services.
Among other island nonprofits are the Ocracoke Health Center, the Ocracoke Volunteer Fire Department, the Ocracoke Youth Center, which oversees and fund raises for the island’s ball field, the Ocracoke Foundation, which owns Community Square, WOVV 90.1 FM, the island’s community radio station, and Ocracoke School Booster Club.
Ocracoke Alive produces the Ocrafolk and Latino festivals, Arts Week in the school and community theater shows. OcraCats oversees control of the island’s feral cat population. Still other groups raise money and produce events for the island churches, school activities, the library and more.
We don’t have room to list all the island nonprofits but suffice it to say that much work goes on throughout the year to make this little island vibrant, all while retaining its non-commercial feel.
These islanders take seriously their membership on these (largely) volunteer boards. They do it out of dedication and commitment to the community, and we salute them for stepping up and for their hard work. Through their dedication, they improve the island community and deserve both our thanks and admiration.
Ocracoke Preservation Society president, Ken DeBarth. Photo: P. Vankevich
Basnight Construction workers set up orange construction fencing around the new septic field in Community Square. During construction, pedestrians have access to businesses. Photo: C. Leinbach
By Connie Leinbach
Parking on Ocracoke is always a problem and it got dicier the last several weeks as the Community Square lot has undergone renovation.
Long needed, the Ocracoke Foundation, which owns the square, in February began the project to upgrade the waste water systems for businesses in the square.
Plans were to have all the work done by Easter, which was April 1, but that deadline passed, and completion is still several weeks away.
“Nothing happens on Ocracoke the way you plan it,” said Scott Bradley, foundation president. “This has been an incredibly complicated project. It will improve water quality in Silver Lake and benefit the whole community.”
The project involved removing the old macadam and installing an underground wastewater system before repaving. Huge backhoes and other equipment from Basnight Construction populated the square for several days in the demolition.
“Then we had four nor’easters in four weeks,” Bradley said.
Although the foundation had wanted concrete installed that could absorb rainwater (pervious concrete), the logistics of getting this type of concrete to the island forced a change of plans.
“When it came time for the concrete, that company backed out,” Bradley said.
So, the engineer had to redesign the paving plan, which took a few more weeks.
But Bradley said today (April 10) that Hatchell Concrete of Manteo, is scheduled to begin the repaving on Monday (April 16), which “should take two to three weeks depending on weather and other unknowns to completion, including all time required to properly cure the concrete.”
In an email, Bradley noted that the new design has standard concrete in the drive lane and the parking areaswill have the water-absorbing paver stones. When complete, the 15-foot by 60-foot septic area in the middle will be grassy, as will a few areas along the edges of the parking lot adjacent to buildings.
In the meantime, the square is torn up with piles of debris all over; the newly installed wastewater system still needs power and to be tested before it’s operational, which should be in two to three weeks.
These waste water access holes will be paved up to their edges and cars will be able to drive over the lids, said Ray Abbott, Basgnight Construction foreman. Photo: C. Leinbach
Pedestrian safety in the construction zone and lack of highly visible signage directing visitors to the NPS lot has concerned business owners.
“It’s dangerous and confusing,” said Marcy Brenner, of Coyote Music Den, which is a year-round business along with the Community Store. The Den, where they help to promote musical and literary artists, is her and her husband, Lou Castro’s, life dream.
“It’s frustrating. Every season there’s some kind of disaster—whether a hurricane, power outage, road closure—and we already have our first disaster.”
She said she wrote a letter to the foundation board describing the impact to businesses andlack of timelines.
Basnight crews today installed orange-webbed construction fencing around the area only.
He noted that the businesses—the Community Store, Coyote Den, Trixie’s Fineries, The Fudge and Ice Cream Shop and Kitty Hawk Kites—are open and that a few parking spaces are available.
“If people want to get to the businesses, they’re getting to the businesses,” he said.
While Easter weekend was one of the best in recent memory with warm, sunny weather, rainy and raw weather has returned in the last few days.
But it’s still the off season and “people aren’t here now,” Bradley said.
Until the work is complete, visitors to the square are urged to park at the NPS lot at the south end of the village near the ferry terminalsfrom which they will have to walk a little farther.
Additionally, the Ocracoke Youth Center has OKed for visitors to park behind the Village Thrift across from the square.
Overall, once complete, Community Square will lose about six parking spaces, further reducing “downtown” short-term parking.
Other nearby shop owners say their parking areas are for their staff and customers. One, who declined to be identified, noted that there have been several fender-benders and animals hit by visitors leaving their cars there all day.
Parking on the island is an educational thing, noted Tim Parker, whose business T.J. Outfitters is across from Community Square, and who constantly educates visitors about parking.
“People who don’t know the island expect to see the acres of parking like in the rest of the world,” he said.
Fresh scotch bonnets are the ‘finds of the day’ which Toni Boldy and Jan Reaves, members of the N.C. Shell Club, found on Portsmouth during their yearly spring meeting on Ocracoke. Scotch bonnets are the North Carolina state shell.
Text and photos by Connie Leinbach
“You walk the beach and you find treasures,” said Jan Reaves about her avocation of shell collecting.
That about sums it up for the members of the North Carolina Shell Club, shell nerds who make a yearly two-day visit to Ocracoke at the end of March each year.
Most come for the special trip to Portsmouth Island and 34 members made the trek. Few people, especially at this time of the year, spend time in search of interesting shells on one of the remotest islands in North Carolina. So, beachcombing can yield some of the best finds, including shells that make the record books.
That was the case for Stephanie Bain of Youngsville, whose find of a large jingle shell on Portsmouth has been deemed the largest recorded jingle shell in North Carolina at 1.96 inches.
It was Bain’s and her husband Phil’s first trip to Ocracoke and first time to a club meeting, having just joined during their visit to the island.
Stephanie Bain, left, her husband Phil and Ed Shuller, official shell club measurer, talk about her jingle shell find on Portsmouth.
“I found people who are as crazy as I am about shells,” Bain said about the group.
Official recording of the largest shells, using strict measurement criteria, is part of the shell club’s mission.
After shelling on Friday and Saturday, the group gathers in the evenings at the Community Center to display their finds, have silent auctions of shells from all over the world and listen to speakers. These meetings are open to all.
Islander Dave Frum regaled the group Friday night with stories and history gathered from his many years working for the National Park Service in maintaining Portsmouth village.
On Saturday night, Doug Wolfe of Beaufort gave a slide presentation of the bird-watching trip he and his wife, Nancy took to Thailand. Although this was a birding trip, he kept his eyes open for shells that he photographed and described. They also saw one of the world’s rarest birds, two Spoonbill Sandpipers.
Also on Saturday night, members of the group displayed their “finds of the day.”
Toni Boldy of Newport News, Va., and Jan Reaves, of Williamston, S.C., tied for that honor, both having found colorful specimens of the state shell—scotch bonnets—on Portsmouth.
“You can’t find these in Kill Devil Hills,” Boldy said. “I squealed a little when I found the big one.”
Boldy found two and Reaves found three whole scotch bonnets. From their unweathered, brown-striped colors, they appeared to be fresh.
Toni Boldy and Jan Reaves with their scotch bonnets.
“These were some of the best Scotch Bonnets I have ever seen to come off either Ocracoke or Portsmouth Islands,” said Everett Long, club president. “The colors were just perfect. Fresh dead with the operculums still attached. Great finds.”
Reaves said she’s never found any scotch bonnets in South Carolina, although she has found white ones on Sanibel Island, Fla., which is another prized shelling location.
“We’re very nature oriented,” said Reaves’ husband, John, about the club. Their many forays scavenging beaches has resulted in more than 920 species of shells in their home collection.
“Our winter project is cataloging them all,” he said.
But scotch bonnets are what everyone hopes to find during their trip, said Vicky Wall of Mayodan, the club secretary, who tries to make the Ocracoke trip every year.
“I love the history and that there are still places so remote that you have to get to them by ferry,” she said.
More information on the club can be found on their website and on their Facebook page.
This jingle shell found by Stephanie Bain made a new state record for size at 1.96 inches. Photo courtesy of Stephanie BainMembers of the N.C. Shell Club culled these barnacles on a piece of flotsam found on Portsmouth Island March 24.
Springtime blooms along Lawton Lane. photo: C. Leinbach
Updated April 9; 2:27 p.m., deleting the OCBA civic affairs meeting, which has been postponed to a date TBD.
Monday, April 9 Community Center: Tourism Development Authority 3 to 5 pm; Hyde County ABC Board, 6:30 pm Ocracoke Bar & Grille: Kate McNally, 7 pm
Tuesday, April 10 Ocracoke Community Center: Hyde County School Board, 2 p.m.; Occupancy Tax Board, 7 pm Coyote Music Den: Music Jam, all ages & levels, 6:30 to 8:30 pm. No charge; donations appreciated. Gaffer’s: Texas Hold ‘Em Poker, 7 pm
Wednesday, April 11 Coyote Music Den: Word Play, 7 to 8:30 pm. No charge; donations appreciated. Ocracoke Bar & Grille: Kim France, 7 pm Gaffer’s: Team Trivia, 7 pm
Thursday, April 12
Ocracoke Preservation Society Open House, Come see new exhibits and check out the gift shop, 49 Water Plant Rd., 4 to 5:30 pm Ocracoke Bar & Grille: Kate McNally, 7 pm
Friday, April 13 Gaffers: Alcohol Training Class by the ABC Commission, 9 am April 13, Ocracoke High School Prom, Community Center Coyote Music Den: Martin Garrish & Friends “Playing Your Ocracoke Memories” with special guests. 8 pm (doors at 7:30) Gaffer’s: Live Music TBA
Saturday, April 14 Ocracoke Oyster Co.: Martin Garrish, 6 pm Gaffer’s: Live Music TBA
Sunday, April 15 Ocracoke Bar & Grille: Kim France, 7 pm
Reide Corbett. Photo courtesy of Institute for Coastal Science and Policy (ICSP), East Carolina university
Sea level rise is happening. The “why” is far less important for the Ocracoke community than the “how.”
Dr. Reide Corbett, an expert on the implications of sea level rise for the Outer Banks, will talk on this subject at 7 p.m. Monday, April 16, in the Community Center.
Sponsored by the Ocracoke Civic and Business Association and the Ocracoke Waterways Commission, Corbett will address the science of sea level rise and how it is likely to impact the Outer Banks, including Ocracoke.
Corbett is program head of the Coastal Processes Program with the UNC-Coastal Studies Institute and is a professor in the Department of Geological Sciences, Institute of Coastal Science and Policy, East Carolina University.
Corbert obtained his Ph.D in chemical oceanography (geochemistry) from Florida State University. To read about his extensive resume and the studies has conducted, click here.
Joyce and Ken Gordon loved fishing on Ocracoke, whether offshore or on the beach. Photo courtesy of Joyce Gordon
Editor’s note: The Observer posted an obituary for Ken Gordon in December (click here), but since then, the family discovered another side to their beloved husband, father and grandfather described in this profile.
By Connie Leinbach
Joyce Gordon is discovering unknown facets of her late husband.
James Kenneth Gordon was 82 when he died unexpectedly the afternoon of Dec. 28 in the couple’s home on Back Road.
It had been a typical day for Ken, as he was known. He’d visited the Fish House (Ocracoke Seafood Company) for his back-room coffee klatch, then came home. He got on his exercise bike for a bit, then went to sit in his recliner while Joyce was on the sofa.
Presently, she heard some odd sounds coming from him. When she went to check on him, he was gone.
Later that night when the couple’s four children and families arrived they discovered several poems Ken had written stashed in the drawer of the table beside his recliner.
“I never saw this side of him,” Joyce said while perusing the papers that held this other, literary side of her husband. “I have no idea when he wrote them.”
Actually, she had seen one of the five poems, but not the others—hand-written tributes to the island they both loved.
“To me, this was so different from the man I knew,” she said. “He was macho and didn’t want to show that side.”
The couple had spent all but 15 of their 82 years together having met in grammar school and then dating while both were in ninth grade in Winston-Salem.
“We graduated high school on a Friday and got married on Sunday,” Joyce said.
Their family grew while Ken ran his dry-cleaning business, Klean Rite Cleaners in Winston-Salem, and Joyce worked as a medical assistant in a doctor’s office.
Joyce is one of those who has instantly bonded with Ocracoke.
“I loved it the minute I got here,” she said. The family vacationed on the island, getting to know many locals.
“He was a very outgoing person,” Joyce said of Ken. “He never met a stranger. He’d go up to people and talk to them, but that’s not me.”
Ken Gordon
Ken would go to the Fish House at 5 a.m. and make coffee for the men-only gathering, said Ronnie Vann O’Neal.
“I’ve never met anyone as good natured as him,” O’Neal said, noting that the group loved to get Ken going about politics. “We liked to pick on him.”
Ken was never at a loss for words.
“If it went through his mind, it came out his mouth,” Joyce said.
In the winter, when the Fish House turned off its water, Ken would tote gallon-jugs of water for the coffee, O’Neal said, but the klatch ended with Ken’s death.
Retiring in 2003, the couple moved to the island. Along with working in local businesses, fishing and enjoying the beach year-round were high on the couple’s priority list.
“We got to live our dream,” Joyce said.
Although Ken disdained organized religion, his poems reflect his passion for the beach as God’s handiwork.
And Joyce now cherishes these mementos. “Man, I didn’t know you were a poet,” she said as she gazed fondly at the poems in her hands. “I read them every day.”
In addition to Joyce, Ken is survived by children Debi Servidio of Winston-Salem, Cindy, wife of Richard Carpenter, of Advance, James Kenneth Jr, of Appamattox, Va., and Lisa, wife of Steve Loos, of Winston-Salem; 10 grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren; his sister, Jean, as well as numerous nieces and nephews.
After Ken Gordon died, Joyce discovered four hand-written poems below about the Ocracoke. The first one, which was published in the April print issue of the Observer, is Joyce’s favorite.
A wild fire on the Hyde-Dare County border in April 2016. (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service)
The National Park Service has scheduled several public information sessions this month aimed at educating the local communities on the risks of wildfires.
The session on Ocracoke will be held from 2 to 3 p.m. Monday, April 16, in the Community Center. At these sessions, the National Park Service (NPS), North Carolina Forest Service, North Carolina Coastal Reserve, and the Fish and Wildlife Service will discuss:
Risks of wildfires
Steps to prevent or minimize damages from wildfires
Advantages of maintaining fire boundaries
How fire boundaries are created
Information on becoming a “Firewise” community
Staff from each agency, including National Parks of Eastern North Carolina Superintendent David Hallac, will be available to answer questions and address any concerns.
Meeting locations elsewhere and dates are as follows:
Dare County Administration Building, room #238 (954 Marshall Collins Dr, Manteo) Wednesday April 18, 6 to 7:30 p.m.
Nags Head Town Hall, community meeting room (5401 S Croatan Hwy, Nags Head) Thursday April 19, 6 to 7:30 p.m.
Cape Hatteras Secondary School (48576 Hwy 12, Buxton) Monday April 23, 6 to 7:30 p.m.
Kill Devil Hills Fire Department, training room (1634 N. Croatan Hwy, Kill Devil Hills) Thursday April 26, 6 to 7:30 p.m.
The sessions are being conducted in areas where NPS has a boundary with the local community.
