Carmie Prete, left, and Mickey Baker, right, after their marriage ceremony Tuesday, Dec. 2, conducted by Magistrate Gene Ballance. Photo courtesy of Mickey Baker.
Carmie Prete and Mickey Baker made Ocracoke and Hyde County history when they were married on Tuesday, Dec.2, in their home on Ocracoke Island by Hyde County Magistrate Gene Ballance. They are the first gay couple to be legally married on the island and in the county. Marriage equality became legal in North Carolina on Oct. 10. “We decided after the mid-term elections to just do it,” Mickey said. They are 30-year residents and business owners on Ocracoke and have been together for 45 years. “We have Edie Windsor to thank for the privilege of a legal marriage,” Mickey said. Windsor’s lawsuit against the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which banned same-sex marriage, went all the way to the Supreme Court where she argued her case March 27, 2013. The Supreme Court decided in her favor on June 26, 2013. Please visit www.ediewindsor.com to learn more about the woman, her relationship with Thea Spyer and her Supreme Court fight. Witnesses to Mickey and Carmie’s ceremony were close friends Cynthia Mitchell and Pat Garber. Following the afternoon ceremony, many well-wishers stopped by or called as word spread. Cynthia and Pat had prepared a splendid dinner in which the main course was the famous spinach lasagna from the Cafe Atlantic Cookbook, which over the years was the women’s favorite dish. The festivities continued the following day. “We would like to thank, along with Cynthia and Pat, our friends Scott Bradley, Kelley Shinn, Jude Wheeler and Silas Trethewey, who ceremoniously took it upon themselves to lovingly and riotously decorate our beach car, drive us through town in a celebratory parade only to end up on the beach for a champagne sunset!” said Mickey and Carmie. A dinner was then prepared by Kelley at her home, also attended by Connie Leinbach. “The wedding events were both historical and hysterical……and enjoyed by all,” Mickey said. “We would like to also thank this community of Ocracoke for all the love and warm wishes we have received.”
Beach celebration. Photos courtesy of Mickey Baker.
Abandoned or unattended boats left anchored in Silver Lake for extended periods of times can be a serious safety issue. Sometimes these boats–left to avoid paying docking fees–are derelict and have neither a current registration nor mast lights. Should these boats unmoor in a storm they could cause serious damage to other boats, docks and people.
The problem surfaced again when on the weekend of Blackbeard’s Pirate Jamboree (Nov. 1), a nor’easter caused two boats to break their moorings. At the height of that nighttime storm in 50 mph winds, dock owners had to secure other peoples’ boats–also a dangerous activity.
Part of the problem on Ocracoke is that no enforcement agency seems to want to tackle the problem of stationary boats that may be in violation of boating regulations. The coastal town of Beaufort has enacted an ordinance for such boats and Brunswick and Dare Counties used their political clout to get legislation especially for them. If word gets out that Ocracoke has derelict/abandoned boats in its harbor, it may discourage legitimate boats owners from mooring here. This, in turn, could harm the island’s economy.
We know that sometimes our local officials eschew enacting more rules, but of greater concern is safety. Who does one call in the middle of the night when a loose boat is banging against someone’s property?
Byron and Norman Miller, from experience, anticipated a problem and luckily were able to secure someone else’s loose boat. Fortunately, neither man was injured this time, though Byron told us he once fell in trying to secure a loose boat.
We urge the Ocracoke Advisory Planning Board and the county commissioners to take a look at what others are doing and take the necessary steps to ensure the safety of Silver Lake
Sydney Austin shoots for a score against Perquimans High Saturday, Dec. 6, in the Ocracoke School gym. The Lady Dolphins won 63-45.
The Lady Dolphins have a four-game winning streak with two victories over the weekend. On Friday evening, they won away beating the Columbia Wildcats 53-31. On Saturday, they won at home against the Perquimans Pirates by a score of 63-45. They are now 3-0 in their conference.
The boys’ teams lost both games, 67-62 against Columbia and 55-51 to Perquimans and are now 1-2 in conference play.
The next games will be this coming weekend as the Dolphins host the Ocracoke Holiday Tournament. On Friday (Dec. 12), The girls (4-2) will play First Flight at 5:00 p.m. and the boys (1-5) will take on Gateway Christian at 7 p.m. Saturday’s schedule will be determined based on the outcome of Friday’s games. These are nonconference games.
The middle school season kicked off on Thursday (Dec 4) with away games at the Manteo. The girls fell to the Redskins 34-16 and the boys lost 47-24. The will be on the road again, Monday (Dec 8) at Mattamuskeet.
If coverage can be provided, the middle school games will be broadcast on WOVV (90.1 FM on the island and online wovv.org).
Friday, Dec. 5. 6:51 p.m.
By Connie Leinbach
At a raucous meeting last night, islanders asked the Ocracoke Planning Advisory Board about recent actions they took to enforce the Ocracoke Development Ordinance. About 20 residents attended the meeting in the Ocracoke Community Center where Daphne Bennink and Tom Pahl took issue with letters they received recently from Hyde County Building Inspector Jerry Hardison. “There’s a lot of noncompliance all over the island, yet this board is concerned about two properties,” Bennink said Thursday night. “This reeks of something other than enforcing the ordinance. This is personal vendetta.” Pahl, who spoke at length, said because he and B.J. Oelschlegel were on the Planning Board when it enacted the controversial travel trailer ordinance, they are being singled out. “The message is: ‘don’t cross us,’” he said, adding that he’s willing to go to court over the citation. The letters said that Pahl, who co-owns Ocracoke Restoration Company with his wife, Carol, and B.J. Oelschlegel, who co-owns Ocracoke Lightship Realty with Bennink, are in violation of a section of the ordinance dealing with residential properties as home businesses. The Planning Board is in the process of reviewing the entire ODO, which addresses population density on the island. At its Nov. 6 meeting, the board got to the section dealing with home-based businesses. According to the group’s Nov. 6 minutes, section 36-183 (g), Board Member Jerry Midgett said the rule that “business owners must occupy commercial businesses of 400 sq. ft. or less in residential buildings” is not being enforced. The board then passed Midgett’s motion that this be enforced. The minutes further say: “Corky (Pentz, board chair) thinks Inspector Hardison should contact the county attorney first.” Hardison sent letters to Pahl (dated Nov. 17) and Oelschlegel saying they were in violation of this section by not living in these businesses. Hardison also said Thursday night that he sent a third letter to someone else about a set-back violation but did not identify that person. At its October meeting, the Planning Board meeting, the group unanimously agreed to eliminate the travel trailer ordinance saying the Coastal Area Management Act (CAMA) and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) rules adequately govern the use of travel trailers as residences. Moreover, the Planning Board was adamant that the ODO’s rule limiting one travel trailer per 5,000 square-foot lot was unfair since property owners can erect a duplex on that size lot. Thus, the entire ordinance should be revoked. At the Nov. 3 Hyde County Commissioners’ meeting, Pahl advised against eliminating the travel trailer ordinance but the commissioners approved the Planning Board’s recommendation. “I spoke at the (November commissioners’ meeting) and a week later I get a letter from Jerry Hardison,” Pahl said. “I think he was ordered to do this. It’s selective enforcement to two people who used to be on the (Planning) board.” Midgett responded: “You knew it was a residential lot when you bought it.” Midgett also wondered if the board was “ever going to enforce any of (the ODO).” He suggested there be a list of what is being enforced and what isn’t and take out what’s not being enforced. Pentz said Ocracoke needs an enforcement officer, and that it is too much for Hardison to do both building inspections and enforce the ODO. Pahl also said the board has “a high purpose of looking ahead 10 to 20 years for Ocracoke.” Hyde County Manager Bill Rich, who attended last night’s meeting, said a lot of the ODO wording is unclear. He had been chair of the Planning Board when the travel trailer ordinance was enacted. Rich said even County Attorney Fred Holscher is not sure what the wording means and that he, Hardison and Holscher will review it before further action on the letters sent to Pahl and Oelschlegel. “Is it just the owner or can anyone else live in the house?” Rich noted, adding that the original intent of the rule must be determined. “If our attorney can’t figure out (the wording) we need to change it. We need to change it to what’s best for Ocracoke—to accommodate everyone on Ocracoke.” Rich also said he will ask for a part-time enforcement officer next year. Interested persons can read the disputed sections of the ODO online at the Hyde County website here: Sec. 36-183. – Home occupations. (a) Single-family and two-family residences may contain up to 400 square feet of floor area for business and or commercial use. This provision is intended to allow the limited production of saleable goods such as jewelry, pottery and art, sales of goods and limited professional services to the public from the main residence. (f) Any and all aspects of the commercial activity shall be contained in the 400 square feet. (g) Any commercial entity that claims the 400 square-foot residential exemption shall be inhabited by the business owner. Section 36-176 that deals with outdoor signs will be reviewed at a future meeting. After the review of the entire ODO is made and changes recommended, it will be sent to the North Carolina School of Government for crafting into a final document. The entire community will then be able to review it and make comments before the county commissioners approve it, Pentz said.
Leonard Meeker Photo from the United Nations Dag Hammarskjöld Library
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December 4, 2014 By Peter Vankevich
Leonard Carpenter Meeker, after a long period of declining health, died peacefully on Saturday, Nov. 29, in his home on Ocracoke Island, attended by his wife Beverly and son James. He was 98. There will be no funeral. A celebration of his life will be held next spring on what would have been his 99th birthday.
Leonard had a long, distinguished career in public service, diplomacy and social justice law. He served as the Legal Adviser to the U.S. State Department under President Lyndon B. Johnson from 1965 to 1969 and as Ambassador to Romania 1969 to 1973.
After leaving government service, for many years he was both a lawyer and the director of the International Project at the Center for Law and Social Policy in Washington, D.C. In his work there, he traveled to countries in Africa and Latin America to assist local lawyers in promoting and protecting human rights. He also served as a board member of the Union of Concerned Scientists, a nonprofit science advocacy organization.
His love of Ocracoke began in 1952, when he and his childhood friend, Charles Runyon, who also worked at the State Department, first visited. Their passion for the island was due in large part to its outstanding opportunities for swimming and sailing and its unspoiled natural beauty. Both of them ended up buying property and on the island.
In 2002, Leonard moved full-time to living here on Windmill Point, in the last house that is seen as one leaves Silver Lake harbor by ferry. He was active in the community, including having chaired the Ocracoke Planning Advisory Board for many years.
A disciplined man, Leonard believed in physical fitness and as long as his health allowed, Leonard swam in the ocean every day he could.
“Sometimes three times a day,” Beverly says. “He would jog to the beach.” He would surprise onlookers and lifeguards alike by swimming laps for a half hour or more outside the breakers, she says. He got to know the lifeguards at the public beach through the years and became and remained close friends with many of them.
Born in 1916, he grew up in Montclair, New Jersey. Leonard was a graduate of Deerfield Academy (1933), Amherst College (1937) and Harvard School of Law (1940). He began his legal career in the General Counsel’s Office of the U.S. Department of the Treasury and in the Office of the Solicitor General, which handles the federal government’s litigation at the Supreme Court.
In 1942 he entered the U.S. Army as a private, and was discharged as a first lieutenant in 1946. During his period in the Army, Leonard was selected for service in the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), the wartime intelligence agency. One of his assignments was traveling throughout China to assess the impact should the communists assume power. After the Army, he joined the State Department’s Office of the Legal Adviser. He was named assistant legal adviser for United Nations Affairs in 1951, deputy legal adviser in 1961, and legal adviser of the State Department in 1965.
One of the highlights of his career includes his involvement in the Cuban Missile Crisis, a 13-day confrontation in October 1962 between the United States and the Soviet Union over Soviet ballistic missiles deployed in Cuba. Leonard drafted a top secret memo (now declassified) titled “On Legal Aspects of Declaring a Blockade of Cuba.” He presented his views in what he characterized as a “tense meeting” on Oct. 19, 1962, attended by the Kennedy administration’s top officials — including Dean Rusk, Robert McNamara, Robert Kennedy, McGeorge Bundy, C. Douglas Dillon, Paul Nitze, Theodore Sorensen and Dean Acheson.
In his analysis, Leonard was not convinced of the legality of a blockade and was certain that the United Nations Security Council would not approve it. He held hope that the Organization of American States (OAS) could bring forth a chance of legitimacy, but in his view, it would be very difficult to get the requisite two-thirds vote to pass such a resolution. Instead, Leonard suggested the United States describe its actions blocking the shipment of missiles to Cuba as a “quarantine.” Whereas a “blockade” would have been perceived as an act of war, a “quarantine” was not. This helped defuse one of the most serious international crises of the modern era.
In commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the Cuban Missile Crisis in October 2012, Leonard gave a standing-room only presentation titled “President Kennedy and Cuba” at the Ocracoke School and Public Library. By way of introduction, it was pointed out that the nation could watch a special that evening on the Cuban Missile Crisis broadcast on PBS, or go to the home page of the Kennedy School of Government website to see it as the lead topic. Instead, many Ocracokers that evening heard a first-hand account of what went on in one of the most important meetings in American history. The lecture can be heardhere.
While Leonard was fond of telling amusing anecdotes about his career as the ambassador to a communist country “behind the Iron Curtain,”—especially his interactions with its head of state, Nicolae Ceaușescu and his wife, Elena–he did not consider this tenure as an ambassador as the most significant work of his long and distinguished career.
The historical importance of his legal/political analyses has been sustained. As recently as October, he was cited in an article written by Armin Rosen and published byBusiness Insider on how the United States reacted to China’s first nuclear test 50 years ago.
An interview with Leonard Meeker is included in the United Nations Oral History collections of the Dag Hammarskjöld Library and can be heardhere.
Leonard’s wide interests also involved art of which the French Impressionists were a favorite genre. An accomplished painter, a collection of his oil paintings is hung in his house in Ocracoke and scattered among family members and friends. His radio was always tuned to classical music, Beverly says, and among his favorite classical genres were Baroque and 20th-century music, especially Charles Ives.
In 2007, Leonard published a reflective, in-depth, three-volume set of his views on life, “Philosophy and Politics,” “Experiences” and “Stories.”
A man of great personal skills, Leonard loved to receive visitors and was both an entertaining conversationalist and skillful listener. He enjoyed answering the many questions posed by the curious. Eschewing the formalities of title, he was simply called “Leonard” or “Len” by his many friends on Ocracoke Island.
In 1947, he married Christine Halliday, who died in 1958. In 1969 he married Beverly Joan Meeker. In addition to Beverly, he is survived by his six children. From his first wife, Christine, they are Richard Halliday Meeker, of Portland, Oregon; Charles Carpenter Meeker, of Raleigh, North Carolina; and Sarah Louise Meeker Jensen, of Los Angeles, California. His three children with Beverly are Eliza Ann Hunt Meeker, of Paris, France; Dr. James Edward Weeks Meeker, of Portland, Oregon; and Benjamin Chester Gilman Meeker, of Bloomfield Hills, Michigan.
Portrait of Leonard Meeker. 2005. Photo by Oliver White.
Leonard’s final years on Ocracoke were made more enjoyable by the loving care and attention provided him by his wife, Beverly. During this time, he continued to enjoy cocktail hour, entertaining his many friends on an upstairs screened in porch, where there were splendid views of Silver Lake harbor, the Ocracoke Light, Pamlico Sound and the daily show of an Ocracoke sunset.
This year, his life was enhanced by an incredible cast of helpers. Amanda Cochran and Megan Aldridge provided remarkable nursing care pretty much around the clock. They were joined by Janet Anthony during Leonard’s last weeks. Calvin Hanrahan provided “range of motion” physical therapy three times each week. Under the care of hospice, Dr. Erin Baker was his guiding physician; Carrie Jones, RN, his nurse; and Linda Fulford and Deborah Williams, his aides. Ann Ehringhaus greatly helped his comfort with Reiki. In short, Ocracokers contributed mightily to Leonard’s final months.
“One of the great surprises of my life,” says Leonard’s oldest son, Richard, “was arriving on Ocracoke on a Sunday afternoon to find my father, well into his 90s, Skyping with my sister Sarah — in French! He was tremendously supportive — and proud — of all of us children. He especially appreciated Charles’ nearly three decades of elected public service in Raleigh, the last decade as mayor.”
Deputy Sergeant Jason Daniels and newly elected Hyde Ccounty Sheriff Guire Cahoon. Photo by C. Leinbach
By Connie Leinbach Newly elected Hyde County Sheriff Guire Cahoon visited Ocracoke on Thursday in one of many visits he said he will make to the island during his tenure. Cahoon won the election Nov. 4 with 1,394 votes over Tim Weston, who received 342 votes. “I appreciate the support y’all gave me here on the island,” Cahoon said during a brief interview accompanied by Deputy Sergeant Jason Daniels. Cahoon will be back on the island the weekend of Dec. 12 and 13 during the Holiday Basketball Tournament. He will help at the Cub Scouts Pancake Breakfast Saturday morning in the United Methodist Women’s rec hall, beside the church on School Road. In addition to making the rounds, Cahoon is conferring with Daniels and the other deputies about ongoing cases. One of them is the so-called “peeping Tom” that began recently. Earlier in the week, Deputy Rob King said that the deputies received a call Nov. 24 about an intruder on a roof near First Avenue and Cemetery Road. “We made an active search of the area,” Daniels said, and though they have not made an arrest, they are still investigating. Since then, several others island residents have made reports of earlier instances “of a similar nature,” Daniels said. Anyone with any information or who has had similar instances are asked to contact the sheriff’s office. Also, any time anyone notices anything suspicious or out of the ordinary should not hesitate to call the office 252 928-7301, no matter what time of the day or night, Daniels said. “We will come by,” he said. “Even if it’s a (seemingly) little thing, call.”
Pat Garber will be autographing copies of her newest book PAWS AND TALES at Books to be Red this Saturday (Dec 6) from 12:30 to 3 p.m. There will be light refreshments during the book signing.
Her presence is part of Take Your Child to a Bookstore day. There will be activities at the store for children starting at 9:30 a.m. 34 School Rd.
Cape Hatteras National Seashore, Wright Brothers National Memorial and Fort Raleigh National Historic Site announce the second of two “drop by” workshops designed to encourage local interest in the 2015 summer seasonal hiring process. The Outer Banks Group hires approximately 82 summer seasonal employees each year. The next workshop will be held at:
The Manteo Library on Dec. 4, from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.
The workshop is designed to assist interested persons in understanding the application process and to match their interest and skills with the appropriate positions. Applicants may “drop in” anytime during the 8-hour workshop to obtain information. Positions are full-time and generally last from April through October. For the 2015 summer season, the following positions may be available:
Visitor Use Assistants – Perform fee collection and visitor information services at various in-park contact stations including lighthouses, campgrounds, entrance stations, and permit offices.
Biological Science Technicians – Perform a wide range of natural resource management and monitoring activities involving shorebirds, sea turtles, and habitat restoration.
Interpretation Park Rangers – Perform a wide range of information and education services including, but not limited to, working visitor center desks, presenting interpretive programs, and interacting with park visitors in public use areas.
Maintenance Workers – Perform grounds maintenance and custodial duties throughout the parks.
For more information, these positions are advertised and announced at www.USAJobs.gov. Announcements are usually open 7 – 14 days and applications must be completed online by the closing date of the announcement.
For information on the Outer Banks Group national park sites, visit www.nps.gov/caha, www.nps.gov/wrbr, www.nps.gov/fora; Twitter: @CapeHatterasNPS, @WrightBrosNPS, @FortRaleighNPS; or call 252-473-2111.
The Hyde County Board of Education meets Dec. 2 in the Ocracoke Community Center. At the table, from left, are Dr. Randolph Latimore, Myra Chandler, Aleta Cox, Thomas Whitaker, David Tolson and Randy Etheridge.
3:50 p.m. Dec. 3, 2014
By Connie Leinbach Ocracoke residents voiced their disapproval yesterday about the Hyde County Board of Education, who met in the Community Center here, for their monthly meeting seeking pay raises.
This was in response to an item on the Hyde County Commissioners’ agenda Monday night from school Superintendent Randolph H. Latimore Sr.
The commissioners tabled the request until the Jan. 6 meeting since Latimore did not arrive on the Ocracoke side of the meeting until close to the end of the meeting and could not explain the request. They asked that both Latimore and Kenneth Chilcoat, the district’s financial officer, attend the January meeting.
Nonetheless, Ocracoke Commissioner John Fletcher noted that the district already has $30,000 in its budget that goes to school board members’ salaries.
“They have enough from what Hyde County already gave them,” Fletcher said. “If there’s extra money, it should go the kids and not to administration.”
Hyde County Manager Bill Rich explained in the meeting that Latimore had sent him a letter dated Nov. 28 noting that school board members receive $42 for the monthly meeting and the chairman receives $50 per meeting. Latimore asked for the members to receive the same as the county commissioners, or $353 per meeting and the chairman $470, for a total of $22,944.
In addition to its monthly meeting, the five school board members “may have up to two or three additional meetings per month for personnel matters, policy work sessions, or other items that may necessitate the Board to meet in advance of its regular meeting,” Latimore said in his letter.
However, the county commissioners want to discuss this more.
“If they’re serious enough to ask for (a raise) they need to come in and explain,” Rich said in an interview today (Wednesday). “We need to know about the where it’s coming from in their budget and where (this money) is going to come from next year. The flow of funds needs to be examined and explained.”
Hyde County awarded the school district $1.288 million for this year, down from the $1.425 million the district had requested. The entire school district budget is $11 million.
Rich also noted in today’s interview that when the county commissioners approved this budget it had included a $10,000 donation for the Ocracoke Community Park. However, the school board declined in September to fund that request saying it was not part of school district property.
Islanders in attendance at Tuesday’s school board meeting let it be known that the school board’s timing was off.
“It’s concerning that the school board wants more money for themselves when in the past year you cut teacher’s aides and cut out the art program,” said Leslie Lanier. “If there’s money in the budget, it needs to go back to the arts program.”
David Tweedie, president of Ocracoke Alive, a nonprofit arts organization, noted that his organization stepped up to provide arts courses when they learned all art instruction would be eliminated from the roster of academics.
The group is having to do its own fundraising to pay the $8,000 it will cost the group to pay for the 17 weeks of classes for pre-K to eighth grade.
“It’s hard for me to understand you’re asking for a raise when we are breaking our backs to come up with $8,000,” he said. He noted that according to the National School Board Association website, 75 percent of small school boards across the nation receive no salary.
Sundae Horn, owner of the online newspaper the Ocracoke Current, also expressed concern that in the face of hard budget times administrators are looking for a raise.
“I can’t understand how administrators can give themselves more money when there are other programs suffering,” she said. “You didn’t give money for our ball field and the Ocracoke Day Care has to close (for three months) and come up with about $20,000 to reopen in March.”
The school directors did not comment on the islanders’ comments.
The Hyde County School Division is the second smallest school division in North Carolina.
The Mary Frances House on Creek Road is on the OPS Historic Homes Tour Dec. 6. Photo by Ruth Fordon
Historic buildings “Down Point,” or on the south side of Irvin Garrish Highway, will be on the Ocracoke Preservation Society’s Historic Homes Tour from 3 to 5 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 6.
“Down Point” refers to the area of the village toward Springer’s Point, and this year’s homes will be along Lighthouse Road, Creek Road and Silver Lake Drive.
All of the tour homes will be clearly marked with a banner out front.
While the homes can be visited in any order, this year’s buildings start at the Island Inn and down Lighthouse Road to the Thaddeus Gaskins house owned by David Senseney; to Michael and Paula Schramel’s home, originally the James Henry Garrish house and the Nathan Spencer House where the Javier Rivera family lives.
The tour continues down Creek Road with a stop at the Mattie Midgette Cottage owned by Lynn Russell and Donna Inkster; the Clarence Scarborough House owned by Norman Miller and the Mary Frances House owned by Tracy Smith.
Around the corner to the right on the Silver Lake Drive the last stop is the Castle B & B, originally built by industrialist Sam Jones.
Proceeds from ticket sales benefit the OPS and can be purchased or reserved at the OPS Museum during their opening hours, Monday to Friday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Saturday, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., or by calling 252-928-7375.
Ticket are $15 for non-members and $12 for OPS members.
Gumbo will be available for $6 per serving to benefit Ocracoke Child Care on the porch of Corkey’s Store along Creek Road, across from the Mary Frances House.
OPS also needs volunteers to help with decorating, hosting and clean-up. To help, call Amy Howard, OPS director at the above phone number.
Roxy’s Antiques on Ocracoke and Ocracoke Restoration
will have a “Ye Olde Holiday Christmas Stroll” between their stores, from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, Dec. 6 and 7. Roxy’s is located in Spencer’s Market and Ocracoke Restoration is at Howard Street and Fig Tree Lane.
Both shops offer an eclectic assortment of vintage gifts and antiques. Visitors will partake in Mexican hot chocolate, Grandpa Fiore’s Italian Pizzelles and yuletide music. Both shops will offer discounts on all antiques as well as shipping.
Santa will make appearances on Ocracoke
The first one will be at the Ocracoke Variety Store from 3 to 5 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 11. Children can visit and have their photos taken with Santa. No money or toys needed.
Santa also will be the star of the Santa Breakfast at Topless Oyster, from 8 to 10 a.m., Saturday, Dec. 13. All are welcome and breakfast will be donated by Topless. Proceeds of breakfast sales will benefit Ocracoke Child Care.
Finley Woolston and his Joyful Band of Singers returns to the island for another Christmas concert at 7:30 p.m Friday, Dec. 19, in the United Methodist Church.
Beach celebration. Photos courtesy of Mickey Baker.
