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Anmargaret Warner Awarded Fulbright to Teach in India

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It doesn’t hurt one’s career by graduating summa cum laude from a prestigious University such as Wake Forest by following up immediately with a “Fulbright” and heading off to a foreign country. Anmargaret Warner is doing just that having been accepted into the Fulbright English Teaching Assistant program. She will teach English at the Balvantra

Anmargaret Warner Awarded Fulbright to Teach in India
Anmargaret Warner 

y Mehta Vidya Bhawan Anguridevi Shersingh Memorial Academy in New Delhi, India. This assignment will be her third visit to India. She previously participated in work-study programs in high school and college. Her teaching assignment beginning in late July will be at the Balvantray Mehta Vidya Bhawan Anguridevi Shersingh Memorial Academy in New Delhi, India.

With more than 1.2 billion citizens, India is second only to the People’s Republic of China in population. Several hundred languages are spoken there and Hindi is the most widespread native language. Due to its colonial history, English is widely used throughout the continent.

“I’m attracted to India by its many contradictions – the country’s timelessness, but also relevance as a political and economic player in the world today,” she said. “I’m looking forward to soaking in as much as I can about Indian culture in New Delhi, from learning Hindi to Northern Indian cooking. I think that how many people around the world view the U.S. is shaped by what they see in movies and on TV, so I’m excited to share a wider range of American experiences with my students, colleagues, and neighbors.”

Anmargaret attended Ocracoke School till the eighth grade and graduated from Mercersburg Academy (PA).She made the Dean’s List at Wake Forrest and her degree is in English Literature and with minors in journalism and communications. She is the daughter of Howard’s Pub owner Ann Warner and the late George “Buffy” Warner and sister of Blackburn, currently an East Carolina University student and Ocracoke volunteer firefighter. How is this for a contrast from her early years as a student on Ocracoke? The size of the classes she will be teaching will be between 40 to 90 students. Ocracoke’s graduating class this year was ten students, and six graduates are projected for the class of 2015.

 

In 1945, Arkansas Senator J. William Fulbright introduced a bill in the United States Congress that called for the use of surplus war property to fund the ‘promotion of international goodwill through the exchange of students in the fields of education, culture, and science.’ The following year, President Truman signed the bill into law and the Fulbright Program has since become U.S. Government’s flagship international educational exchange program.

You can follow Anmargaret by logging into her blog at: http://anmargaretwarner.wordpress.com/.

 

 

 

Ask the Observer: Which jellyfish or jelly?

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From Greg Klein

This photo was taken at Springer’s Point. I think it is a jellyfish, but I am not sure. There were a few of them on the shore, but smaller or broken, and this was the only one I saw with the inside (body?) intact. Do you know what this is?

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Photo by Greg Klein

 

Answer:  Looking down at this  jelly does not provided  the overall  shape, but it looks like a Cannonball Jellyfish (Stomolophus meleagris). 

As for how to describe these, Wikipedia offers this eplanation:
As jellyfish are not true fish (or even vertebrates), the word jellyfish is considered by some to be a misnomer. Public aquariums may use the terms jellies or sea jellies instead. The term “jellies” may have become more popular than “jellyfish.” In scientific literature, “jelly” and “jellyfish” are often used interchangeably. Some sources may use the term “jelly” to refer to organisms in this taxon, as “jellyfish” may be considered inappropriate.

For more information about this interesting species, we are reprinting a Spotted on Ocracoke Observer column which includes another photo of one also taken at Springer’s Point.

May 2008
Spotted on Ocracoke: The Cannonball Jellyfish
Photo and text by Peter Vankevich

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Cannonball Jellyfish. Photo by P. Vankevich

 

The Cannonball Jellyfish (Stomolophus meleagris) may occasionally be seen in the waters around Ocracoke during the summer and fall months of the year when currents carry them to the shore.  The overall shape is that of a bell or cannonball from whence it gets its name. It grows up to the size of a small cantaloupe. Its color varies from overall clear to a yellowish wash and has a rufous/brown ring at the base.  Underneath, it has sticky oral arms which form into a rigid, short mound just below the bell.  Cannonballs also go by the names of Cabbagehead and Jellyball.

Jellyfish are marine invertebrates that lack basic sensory organs or a brain and consist of about 95% water. They do possess highly specialized nervous systems that allow them to perceive stimuli, such as light and odor. They may be found in all of the oceans from the arctic to the tropics. Since jellyfish are not fish, many people now refer to them as “jellies” or “sea jellies.”

Unlike other jellyfish (or jellies) that rely exclusively on currents and wind for movement, Cannonballs are strong swimmers and move by pumping water through their oral arms and catching their food which consists primarily of zooplankton including the larvae stages of veliger mollusks and red drum. They also have a much higher amount of protein than most other jellies which makes them a good food source and have also been used for medicinal purportedly for combating maladies such as arthritis in Asia. They are harvested in the waters off of Georgia and South Carolina and after a dehydration process are exported to China and Japan. Cannonballs are also an important food source for leatherback sea turtles and Atlantic spadefish.

In eastern North America, the primary range includes the Mid-Atlantic south and especially the Gulf of Mexico. With unusual currents, they may occasionally stray into the waters off of New England and as far south as Brazil.Cannonballs like other jellies may form large swarms called “blooms” consisting of hundreds or even thousands of individuals. There is concern that these blooms are increasing and may indicate an imbalance in the ecosystem; for example taking the place of  fish that have declined in numbers, or the increased presence of nutrients  in the water due to run-off from land. Although not considered to be stingers, one should refrain from touching them as there is a substance in the mucous that can cause a burning sensation if it gets in the eyes.

To play off the Wizard of Oz, for an animal with no brain, heart or bones, they, nevertheless, have an interesting story.  This photo was taken last October at Springer’s Point.

 

 

Editorial: Exercise your right to vote

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On page 7 you will find statements from the candidates for the sheriff’s Office of Hyde County and the candidates for the board of the Ocracoke Sanitary District. Although, there is not a candidate on the ballot for the school board, incumbent Dave Tolson has indicated to us that he will run as a write-in candidate. We know of no one else who will be a write-in candidate for this important position. We at the Observer strongly support the precept that all eligible citizens should exercise their right to vote. We also strongly believe that an informed citizenry will make the best decisions. So take the time to read the actual candidates statements which may help with your decision making. And, yes, be sure to vote on Tuesday, May 6 at the Community Center 7:00 am – 7:00 pm.

Ask the Observer: All things Ocracoke

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 If you  have a questions about Ocracoke, such  as, what  was that plant, bird or  turtle you saw, or a question about  Ocracoke’s fascinating  history, send  us a  note including a photo if you have one. We’ll try to answer it and post it on our  website and possibly in the print copy monthly.
Provide the who, what, when and where details, plus your contact info. We may have  some questions.


Send inquiries to info@ocracokeobserver.com and use as the subject, Ask the Observer. 

 

 

Ask the Observer from Greg Klein

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 If you  have a questions about Ocracoke such  as what  was that plant, bird or  turtle you saw, or a question about  Ocracoke’s fascinating  history, send  us a  note including a photo if you have  one. We’ll try to answer it and post is on our  website and possibly in the  hard copy monthly. Send inquiries to info@ocracokeobserver.com and use as the subject, Ask the Observer.

 From Greg Klein:

Having lived in Louisiana, I am pretty sure the first picture is of a nutria. You can see the straight tail in the photo, but he also has webbed feet. He was at the Lighthouse last Thursday and again on Friday just munching away on flowers or grass. He was unfazed by people, many of whom were walking much closer to him than we did. And he was as popular as the lighthouse while we were there.

In Louisiana there is a lot of concern about nutrias being invasive and eating away a lot of marsh grass and destroying a lot of barrier areas. They have also been accused of edging out native species. There is a scalping reward for trappers/hunters and there was even some efforts (unsuccessful) to get local chefs to put them on menus. Are nutria new to Ocracoke and is there similar concerns about them there?

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Answer:   Yes Greg, we do have have nutria on Ocracoke which is what you photographed and they are considered to be an invasive species.  We have yet to see them on any of our restaurant menus on the island and don’t expect to anytime soon.  Here is an article on nutria published in the Observer a while back.

Ocracoke Observer

August 2008

Spotted on Ocracoke: A Live Nutria

Driving from the Hatteras ferry down the Garrish highway into the village, you may very well have noticed a flattened large dead brown colored animal, a night time casualty of being hit by a vehicle.  Almost of these rodents are sure to be nutria (Myocastor Coypus), a nonnative species. Nutria are brown-colored weigh about 12 pounds (though they may be much larger) and are approximately 2 feet long that includes a long mostly hairless tail. Nutria are from South America. Outside of the U.S. nutria also go by the name coypu, especially in the Spanish-speaking world.  They were first introduced to North America in the 1930s in Louisiana for fur cultivation.  Some of them were either released or escaped to the bayous where a substantial population was established. Today it is estimated that there are more than 20 million in Louisiana alone.  Primarily herbivorous and originally believed to be effective in controlling aquatic weeds such as water hyacinth, it became obvious that their voracious appetites for native plants were having a detrimental impact on wetlands. Using historic and present day aerial photographs, it has been estimated that  nutria have been a major reason for more than seven thousand acres of wetlands that have been lost to the Blackwater Wildlife Refuge   in the Chesapeake Bay area of Maryland.

In North America, nutria are preyed upon by alligators, and juveniles may be eaten by cottonmouth moccasins, hawks, owls and eagles.   In the winter on Ocracoke, there are Nothern Harriers and Peregrine Falcons that might prey upon young nutria. Other than that, there are no other natural predators to control the population.   It seems that there has been an increase in seeing dead nutria on the road in the past year or so. If that is the case, it may be an indication that the population is also increasing on the island.

Nutria spend most of their time in water or hidden in the marshes and are most active in early morning, evening and the night. Unless you are kayaking on the sound side, or traipsing thought their wetlands habitat, the likelihood of seeing a live nutria on Ocracoke is small. So it was a pleasant surprise to find this individual at about 6:30 AM on a June morning on the marsh view observation stand of the nature trail across from the campground.

 

Ocracoke Alive

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This is the nonprofit group that sponsors the annual in June Ocrafolk Festival and the hit musical “Tale of Blackbeard,” the Latino Festival de Ocracoke, Arts Week in Ocracoke School and many other cultural activities.

http://www.ocrafolkfestival.org/ocrafolk-festival

http://www.ocrafolkfestival.org/blackbeard

Planning board lost an advocate

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To The Editor:

I was sorry to hear that B.J. Olschlegel was removed from the Ocracoke Planning Advi­sory Board last month. She was a longtime member, who had worked diligently at being well informed and constructive. With her removal, Ocracoke has lost a champion in its corner.

Unlike the County Commis­sioners and other boards that, at best, look one or two years ahead, the planning board is uniquely charged with the responsibility to look far into the future. Their job is to guide the Ocracoke Develop­ment Ordinance and the com­missioners toward the Ocracoke that we will be proud to leave for future generations.

It’s not an easy task at all, and it requires, not agreement, but disagreement; it requires argument and dispute but it also requires that those who disagree treat each other with respect. In removing BJ and creating a board more in agreement with itself, Commissioner Fletcher has done damage to the purpose of the planning board and to the future of Ocracoke.

Tom Pahl, Ocracoke

Ocracoke has to stay vigilant about many issues

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Ocracoke has to stay vigilant about many issues

By Connie Leinbach
Ocracoke can’t let down its guard.
While it was reported in last month’s Observer that the Ocracoke School would lose its art teacher due to continuing state public education budget cuts, this position may be restored by the time this issue is in print.
According to Joe McClees, one of a duo of lobbyists hired by Hyde County to promote coastal North Carolina interests, budgets submitted by both the state House and Senate have restored the Small School Funding of which Ocracoke is a beneficiary.
Funding for North Carolina Center for the Advancement of Teaching also is in both budget versions, according to Todd Vinyard, NCCAT spokesman. NCCAT, which brings teachers from all over the state to Ocracoke for seminars, is located at the south end of the island in the former Coast Guard building.
According to S. Henri McClees, the other half of the lobbyist duo, the two budget proposals are widely different. During the last two weeks of June, they hammer out the differences by July 1, and at press time, the two houses were still negotiating.
Also of interest to islanders and visitors is the continued wrangling about ferry tolls, which, according to last year’s legislation, are supposed to fund replacement boats.
Rep. Paul Tine (D-Kitty Hawk) said recently that the House’s budget took the replacement of ferries out of the “divisional” pot of money and restores it to the maintenance side of the DOT budget which funds equipment all over the state.
“We will drive other revenue,” Tine said. “The ferries are a tourist attraction which should increase interest in advertising.”
As it is now (which the Senate has not changed), the decision to enact tolls is in the hands of local folks who are part of a Rural Planning Organization that includes 10 counties in eastern North Carolina.
A complicated funding procedure (see page 19) devised last year by Gov. Pat McCrory and called the Strategic Transportation Investments divided the state into 10 regions all of whom were given $32 million with which to fund bridges, trains, airports, roads, bike and pedestrian projects and ferry replacement.
After a series of public hearings this winter, the three RPOs that have ferries in their transportation mix ignored the DOT’s request to enact or raise tolls.
In the last several weeks, members of both the House and the Senate proposed bills to eliminate all ferry tolls.
“Those bills are just sitting there,” Henri McClees explained, and will not be acted on while the budget is negotiated. “If we don’t get the House version of the budget we will just keep fighting (tolls) in January when the new session begins.”
Until then, the ferry system stays status quo and tolls cannot be increased nor additional tolls enacted, she said.
Then there’s continued concern about the Rollinson Channel—the short ferry route between Ocracoke and Hatteras.
At press time this channel still has not been dredged adequately to allow safe ferry passage. Fortunately, the Ferry Division has been using a natural channel since December, albeit it is a longer ride necessitating longer waits for visitors at the Hatteras Ferry dock.
Then there are the continuing attempts by the game fish lobby to make some prized local fish off limits to commercial fishermen further hurting the village economy.
Though it wasn’t without some pain, Ocracoke has lifeguards at the public beach this summer. The National Park Service, which owns the beach, wanted to eliminate funding these positions, and after lots of negotiations and $10,000 paid by Hyde County, lifeguards were on duty by Memorial Day.
The OCBA at its June meeting agreed to start now to make sure the NPS has lifeguards in its budget next year.
The Observer will continue to monitor these issues and report on them.

Hyde County partners with NPS to fund lifeguards

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June 2014

By Connie Leinbach

After months of wran­gling, Ocracoke has life­guards at its public beach seven days a week from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Memorial Day to Labor Day.

Early in May, Hyde County commissioners agreed to pay out of Ocracoke Occupancy Tax monies the estimated $10,000 for weekend lifeguard coverage while the National Park Service will pay for five days of cover­age provided by Surf Rescue, a private company in Duck.

Last November, Barclay Trimble, superintendent of the Cape Hatteras National Sea­shore (CHNS) of the National Park Service, had announced that due to budget constraints, he was eliminating lifeguard ser­vice on the three public beaches in the CHNS, a service the Park Service has supplied since the 1950s.

Ocracoke began to rally against this significant cutback in Febru­ary (after having to successfully fight off a third attempt to toll the Hatteras ferry.) Protest efforts by many residents and concerned friends of the island–who signed an online petition at change.org, wrote letters, called and emailed the superintendent had an impact. With additional help from U.S. Rep. Walter Jones, Trimble an­nounced that his budget could afford lifeguards for five days a week. If the other two communi­ties at Coquina and Cape Hatteras Lighthouse beaches wanted life­guards for the other two days, they would have to partner with the NPS at the tune of $10,000 each.

In mid-May, Trimble an­nounced that the summer life­guard program would resume the full seven days per week this summer at the other beaches and on Ocracoke.

“The National Park Service is pleased to be able to provide, along with local entities, this valuable service for the safety of our Seashore visitors,” Trimble said in a press release.

Also in mid-May, Don Hutson, chief lifeguard at the Ocracoke beach last year, was among sev­eral NPS employees honored for bravery in Washington, D.C., at the Department of the Interior’s 69th Honor Awards Convoca­tion. According to a NPS press release, Hutson helped rescue five swimmers caught in rip currents and personally towed four of the swimmers to shore through 100-plus yards of strong current and surf.

Dylan Bennink, who was a lifeguard on Ocracoke last year and is the island’s dock master at Anchorage Marina this year, confirmed that he also saved a father and a son last year from a rip current.

Islander Eleanor Garrish: from Dust Bowl to Ocracoke Part 2

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June 2015
Compiled by Pat Garber

Editor’s note: This is a three-part series, look for the last in­stallment in the July Issue.

Having made her de­cision to leave rural Minnesota and see what big city life was like, Eleanor lived with several different families in the Min­neapolis-St. Paul area, doing housekeeping and child care. She then found work more to her liking at the Travelers In­surance Company.

I rode an elevator to my of­fice, where I could look out the window and see the boats and ships going down the Missis­sippi River.

After three years, she took a train to San Francisco to visit a friend and decided to stay. So she wired back to her boss that she would not be returning. In San Francisco she found room and board on California Street and a job at Johnson & Higgins, Marine Insurance Brokers, tak­ing a cable car about 20 blocks to and from work.

I was in San Francisco in 1941 when Pearl Harbor was bombed. A friend and I had driven down to Palo Alto and we noticed a lot of airplane activity around Moffet Field, a military airfield. There seemed to be a lot of excitement, but it wasn’t until we got back home that we learned what had hap­pened. I remember blackouts at night. Defense officials re­quired that all lights be turned out after dark as they were concerned about submarine at­tacks by the Japanese.

During World War II, Elea­nor decided to travel farther afield.

I flew from San Francisco to the Panama Canal Zone. Uncle Ray met me at the air­port in Panama, picked up my luggage, went out for his car and it was gone (stolen). It was found by the Panamanian po­lice several days later.

Eleanor moved into a work­ing women’s dormitory on the Pacific Ocean side of Panama which, due to pests, was some­times referred to as “Termite Terrace.”

Eleanor 1 001We could stand on the deck and watch monkeys. There were many interesting wom­en from all over the United States there and I became good friends with about six of them.

She obtained a job with the U.S. government, keeping re­cords of school supplies in a big administration building in Balboa Heights. She re­members that she could look down through the windows and see ships go­ing through the canal and planes taking off and land­ing. She also had time to take trips and explore some of the area.

I recall going with my boss to a leper colony, about 10 miles away, in the government car. I saw some sad looking charac­ters. There was no cure for leprosy then. There were at least 25 men and women, crippled and disfigured.

Eleanor 2 001On another occasion she took a boat trip down to San Blas Island where a very prim­itive group of Indians lived.

As soon as we landed we were taken to a dining hall for our noon meal. The big surprise for me was seeing a big turtle on a platter sitting in the middle of the table. I don’t remember sampling it but I reckon I did.

For recreation, Eleanor and her friends went to USO danc­es. The Army and the Navy sent their recreation directors to find young women who would enjoy coming to these affairs.

I danced with lots of military men; I remember the foxtrot and waltz.

She recalls hearing Elea­nor Roosevelt speak at a USO gathering. I had gone to the dance with an army captain. We did not know Eleanor Roo­sevelt was going to be there. So it was a big surprise. I always was an admirer of hers.

Eleanor stayed in Panama for about three years. While there, she also took time from her job to visit Colombia, Ecuador and Peru. Traveling alone, she recalls often arriving at places without lodging reservations and having quite a few adven­tures, too numerous to record here.

The war in Europe ended in May 1945, but the troops could not yet go home.

We witnessed hundreds of troops at the airplane hangar on their way to more fighting. After the nuclear bombs were dropped, the war in the Pacific was soon over. My husband-to-be (Willard “Jake” Garrish) told me later that he was on a ship anchored near the battle­ship Missouri where the sur­render documents between Ja­pan and the Allies were signed.

With the war over, Eleanor decided it was time to return home. She got passage on a Navy transport, stopping overnight at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, on the way to New York City. After years in the tropics, she remembers how cold and windy it was in the Big Apple.

I had no room reserva­tions, and it was hard to get hotel rooms. A very kind lady I’d met on the transport in­vited me to stay with her till I could get a room. I spent about a week doing the usual sightseeing before returning to Minnesota, unsure of where

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