The rain from the recent low pressure system was over by Saturday afternoon and Ocracoke village got some minor flooding. There was even a beautiful red sky sunset as the winds had diminished.
It may have seemed that the storm was over, but Saturday night the wind direction shifted northerly and resumed with high gusts up to 40 mph. The spring-weather 60s temperatures of Saturday have dropped to the high 40s today (Sunday, March 24).
All Ocracoke ferry service remains suspended until deemed to be safe to resume.
The National Weather Service issued a statement Sunday morning that the high surf advisory between Cape Lookout and Cape Hatteras has been extended through Monday morning.
The large, long-period swell will continue to linger into the middle of next week, resulting in persistent high surf conditions especially for the beaches north of Cape Hatteras that have created dangerous marine conditions.
The NC Department of Transportation said Sunday morning (March 24) that NC 12 remains open and passable on Hatteras and Pea Islands, with sand and ponding rainwater on the road, but the north end of Ocracoke remains closed.
NCDOT NC12 reports today (Sunday, March 24) that, “unfortunately, due to continued strong winds and overwash, we will NOT be reopening NC12 on Ocracoke Island today. We will continue working to reopen the highway at some point Monday.”
Ferry service between Hatteras and Ocracoke remains suspended.
The inner beauty of a shell is shown in this broken Scotch bonnet. Photo by Lynn Ingram
By Lynn Ingram
The instant that my bare toes touch the soft sand, I scan the beach before me for treasures. It has always been this way.
With my eyes fixed as they are upon the sand, searching for small gifts from the sea, I wonder that I have not yet tripped over a shipwreck or smacked, face-first, into another beach stroller.
Who has not walked the shore in search of perfect shells, delighting in the discovery of some pristine white and whole sand dollar, some whelk majestically formed, a tiny coquina rainbow still hinged, each half a mirror image of the other?
I, and many other shell seekers, often spot a potential treasure and bend down to capture it for our own, finding only then that its perfection was an illusion.
We discover an unfortunate crack, a tiny hole, a missing edge obscured by the sand, and we toss the shell back to the beach, resuming our search for the perfectly intact specimen.
The broken and ragged shells do not come home with us to lie upon the porch rail, the windowsill, or the bookshelf. We leave them on the sand for the tide to sweep away and to return again and again, each wave teasing away another bit of shell, enlarging the hole, deepening the crack.
That is what I always did, until one day a pen shell offered me another view.
Pen shells look like fans, simply and gracefully shaped. In fact, I had called them fan shells until my new shell book showed me my error.
The rather dull and coarse brownish exterior of these shells stands in stark contrast to the artist’s palette of pearly colors inside. Like many other pen shells I have found, this one lacked perfection. A ragged chunk of its top was missing, likely cracked off by some past rough wave.
We humans have much more in common with these broken and imperfect shells than with any perfect ones I had collected before.
Not a keeper, at first, I thought—and then I looked again. Of course it could be. Wasn’t its glistening and multi-hued inside still beautiful, even though an edge was missing? Couldn’t I still appreciate the elegance of its fanlike form?
A handful of steps later, I spied the angel wings. So appropriately named, so many of these ribbed white shells were scattered along the sand that it looked as though a flock of angels might have flown overhead and all at once dropped their wings in favor of travel on foot. (Perhaps angels enjoy beach walking, too.)
I reached for one of the angel wings and found a crater near its hinge—again, not a perfect shell. But weren’t its ridges still exquisitely spaced? Wasn’t it still a lovely and brilliant white?
I continued my stroll upon the beach, and my collection grew. There was the fig shell, with its appearance of fragility that so belies its real strength, half of it gone to expose the beauty of its inner architecture.
Were it not broken I could not see the loveliness of its interior construction, the delicate and hidden design that supports the whole.
Then there was a tiny whelk, with pieces of its outside stripped away to expose a middle fit to be a spiral staircase for the tiniest elf.
Next, I chose an oyster shell, admiring loveliness in the most ordinary and pedestrian of shells. Juxtaposed against its rough and dull exterior was an interior that gleamed pearly white.
A moon shell, long a favorite and a rare delight to find intact, showed me a new face when I found but half of one, with its gentle curves and concentric lines exposed, spiraling slowly to a tiny eye.
When I open my mind and discard old notions—a task that seems far easier near the sea than anywhere else—the sea always teaches.
This day, the lesson was in the lovely and fragmented shells I gathered.
We humans have much more in common with these broken and imperfect shells than with any perfect ones I had collected before.
Who among us has achieved perfection—of appearance, of soul, of heart, of skills, of spirit, of anything? Not I, and none among my acquaintances.
If I heed well this lesson from the shells, I will alter my perspective just a bit, adding a grace note to my view of both other people and my own self.
Instead of noting all the “missing pieces” in the faces we show to the world, I might peer through some of those cracks to see inside.
There, as I did with my ragged pen shell and broken whelk, I may see where the truest beauty lies, the beauty that exists, at its rough and real and poignant best, despite—or perhaps because of—imperfection.
Lynn Ingram lives mostly on Ocracoke with the world’s most perfect feline, Annabelle the Wonder Cat.
An aged whelk loses its perfection and becomes a spiral. Photo: C. Leinbach
High surf, winds and heavy rain expected this weekend. Photo: P. Vankevich
The latest forecast by National Weather Service out of Newport/Morehead City for this weekend (March 22) has indicated that there will be an increased rainfall, two to three inches on Ocracoke and Hatteras islands with dangerous marine conditions.
Rain will begin as soon as Friday afternoon and will be especially heavy with isolated strong thunderstorms Friday night and Saturday.
High winds with gusts up to 45 mph will be southerly Friday night into Saturday morning and northerly Saturday night into Sunday causing minor to moderate flooding that could bring overwash on NC 12.
Angie Todd is the newest magistrate for Ocracoke Island, seen here in the office inside the Hyde County Sheriff’s Office.
Text and photo by Connie Leinbach
Attaining the job of magistrate on Ocracoke is right up Angie Todd’s alley.
A criminology major in college, Angie became the second of two magistrates after Lonnie Burrus recently retired.
Gene Ballance is the other magistrate in a job that must be on call 24/7. The two work out their schedules as to who is on call when. Their office is inside the Hyde County Sheriff building on Ocracoke.
Angie was sworn in Jan. 19 and has been taking new magistrates basic-training classes to get up to speed in both civil and criminal matters that may come up.
Magistrates on Ocracoke do a variety of things: They find probable cause when law enforcement officers make arrests, issue arrest warrants and set bail bond limits.
On the civil side, the magistrate would hear small claims disputes, which could be evictions or somebody owing money. Magistrates, who are officers of the district-court division, are the only civil official in the state who can perform marriages.
North Carolina magistrates can find probable cause in some felony infractions, but not murders, which must go before a judge, Angie said.
All magistrates must be nonpolitical, she said, and that’s OK with her.
“I love it,” she said about her time in the position so far. “It’s the field I wanted to work in.”
What may be problematic, she said, is that, as with any job on Ocracoke, one knows everybody.
“So, when things happen you can feel bad for people, but (the law) is black-and-white,” she said. “Even if you’re my friend, this is what the code says.”
To get her plum job, Angie had to resign her employment position at the North Carolina Center for the Advancement of Teaching and her elected position on the Hyde County Board of Education. She had been a member of the board since 2016 and was the chair since January 2022.
“That hurt my heart and it still hurts my heart,” she said about giving up the school-board seat, “but in the end it was the right decision for me.”
Angie also has been the director of the Scallywag 5K/10K/half-marathon (April 27 and 28) and the Thanksgiving Day Turkey Trot (Nov. 28), and she will continue in those roles.
Dora Zimmerman works the merchandise table at eh N.C. Shell Club meeting. Photo: C. Leinbach/Ocracoke Observer
Update Thursday,, March 21: Due to predicted Gale Force winds on Sunday and possibly on Monday, making it impossible for club members to leave the island, the Executive Board has decided to relocate the Spring Meeting to the Swansboro area.
The N.C. Shell Club will hold its spring gathering Saturday and Sunday, March 22 and 23, on Ocracoke.
Evening meetings are held in the Community Center and are open to all.
Activities include a field trip to Portsmouth Island, speakers, and silent and live auctions. The Saturday shelling trip to Portsmouth Island is canceled due to impending inclement weather.
The following is the schedule of events: Friday night, March 22: 6:30 pm Registration, Social, Silent Auction. Pot luck food items accepted. 7:00 pm Greeting, introductions, announcements, door prizes 7:15 pm: “Birds of Ocracoke” talk by Peter Vankevich 8:00 pm Old Business and New Business 8:30 pm Field Trip announcements and waiver completion 8:40 pm Silent Auction 9:00 pm Auction ends; check out; clean up Saturday night, March 23: 6:30 pm Registration; Social; Find of the Day set up. Pot luck food items accepted. (Viewing for live auction begins) 7:00 pm Greeting, Introductions 7:05 pm Live Auction 8:15 pm Find of the Day Announcement 9:15 pm Auction ends; check out; clean up
Changes or additions to these events will be made as needed.
Monday, March 18 Ocracoke middle school baseball at Columbia, 4 pm.
Tuesday, March 19 Ocracoke Civic & Business Association meeting, 6 pm. Community Center
Wednesday, March 20 Roanoke Island Animal Clinic, 9 am. Community Center. Canceled
Ocracoke School Middle School baseball at home vs. Hobgood, 4 pm. Community Ballfield Varsity baseball at Hobgood, 4 pm.
Thursday, March 21 Ocracoke School STEAM Fair, 2:30 pm. Ocracoke School gym
Friday, March 22 Ocracoke Township Development Authority meeting, 9 am. Community Center. See agenda below. Ocracoke Oyster Company: Ray Murray, 6:30 pm
What’s Happening on Ocracoke, guests Savannah Harwood and Virginia Gallagher on Yoga. WOVV 90.1 FM and wovv.org., 11:30 am.
Ocracoke School varsity baseball at Columbia, 4 pm.
N.C. Shell Club evening meeting, 6:30 pm. Community Center. See agenda below.—Canceled due to impending inclement weather
Saturday, March 23 Fundraising fish fry for Vince Amory Beat, 2 pm until sold out, OVFD. Rain or shine. “Lost In the Stream” survival story told by Capt. Johnny Savage, 5 pm. Berkley Manor. Free admission; light refreshments. Canceled and will be rescheduled TBD. N.C. Shell Club evening meeting, 6:30 pm. Community Center. Canceled due to impending inclement weather.
Sunday, March 24 Ocracoke Preservation Society Spaghetti Dinner fundraiser, 11 am to 2 pm, Jason’s Restaurant.
Beaufort County Community College will offer a free small-business workshop on Tuesday, April 9, in the Ocracoke Community Center.
The day will be in three parts, said Jack Dugan, BCCC Small Business Center director.
From 9 a.m. to noon will be “Growing Your Small Business with Canva.” While some may already use Canva, this workshop will reveal much more to this online graphics program, Dugan said.
Lunch for all attendees is included and will be from noon to 1 p.m.
The chance to win $1,500 will be included in the afternoon workshop, “Small Business Pitch Contest” from 1 to 3 p.m. The pitches are to be about Ocracoke businesses, which can be an expanded aspect of an existing business or a new business, and it is open only to Ocracoke residents or businesses. Participants must attend the Canva workshop to qualify.
Public information sessions on Beaufort County Community College courses and programs will conclude the day from 3 to 5 p.m. Staff will have course catalogues on hand and will be ready to answer questions.
One of the appealing aspects of living on Ocracoke is meeting or hearing about a cast of characters that visit or have lived here, sometimes briefly.
Then there is the metamorphosis of, over time, becoming one. Not that that is bad. In fact, some aspire to reach the status of an eccentric or free spirit.
Philip Howard has had a life-long fascination with those who could be described in the title of this book, “Ocracoke Island Eccentrics, Innovators, and Free Spirits,” published by Black Squall Books.
He has been writing about Ocracoke history for more than 50 years. Much of his research and many colorful stories can be found in his two online publications “Ocracoke Newsletter,” launched in 2000, and “Ocracoke Island Journal,” in 2004.
His new book depicts 22 people who run the course of island history from Manteo, an Algonquian Native American who was first encountered on July 4, 1584; World War II; Bohemian culture and business types whose ingenuity had impacts on making Ocracoke what it is today.
Philip Howard interviewed on WOVV, Ocracoke’s community radio station. Photo: P. Vankevich
Those with an interest in Ocracoke history will recognize some of them: Stanley Wahab, the entrepreneur who, among many initiatives, ran the Spanish Casino in Wahab Village; Frazier Peele, who started a ferry service crossing the Hatteras Inlet in 1950; Captain Marvin Wyche Howard, the scout master of the Ocracoke’s famed mounted Boy Scout Troop No. 290; and the legendary Joe Bell.
What we realize after reading this book is how much we thought was true, was incorrect.
Take the legend of Joe Bell, a name used on the island for the wildflower Gallardia, a drought-resistant, sand-loving flower that remains in bloom in winter that goes elsewhere by several names, including Indian blanket, fire wheels and paint brush.
Born in 1850 in Washington, North Carolina, Joe Bell led an adventurous life, joining the Confederate Army by lying about his age, 14, only to be returned home once discovered; searching for gold in the Yukon; working off fishing boats; and following his father’s trade as a watchmaker and jeweler. He lived in San Francisco when the great earthquake struck in 1904 and moved to Ocracoke in 1920.
Howard notes there are variants to this legend. One is that, seeing these flowers growing out of a whelk shell at his wife’s grave, the broken-hearted widower decided to take the seeds and spread them throughout the island.
Howard says Bell, in fact, never married, nor did he plant them out of the remorse of a broken heart. He did love these plants that grew in California and when he moved to Ocracoke, he took some of its seeds and planted them in his yard.
The plants spread beyond his yard, to neighbors’ yards and eventually throughout much of the island and throughout the Outer Banks.
The legend of Joe Bell flowers will continue, in part, due to a beautiful song by Coyote, the musical duo, Marcy Brenner and Lou Castro, composed as a tribute to the strong women of Ocracoke.
Each of the people in this book has fascinating stories.
In 1940, Helene Scheu-Riez arrived on Ocracoke. A novelist, intellectual and activist in the emerging Austrian Women’s movement, she had emigrated from Austria to North Carolina in 1937, correctly fearful of the impending horrors already underway that would become World War II.
She had met Vernon Ward, a young UNC-Chapel Hill graduate and aspiring poet. Ward moved to Ocracoke and became manager of Wahab’s Spanish Casino. Together they formed the Island Artists’ Colony and hosted a two-month session for writers to get away from society and have an opportunity to write without the normal distractions of life in a big city.
Although the colony was active for just two summers, it emphasizes how the island can be a retreat for writers, especially in winter.
Others portrayed are Aunt Hettie Tom, the island midwife; The Rev. Mr. Dunn, a rum-running parson; Charles (Vera) Williams, a local girl who really was a man and who became a national news story in the early 1920s.
The book has many historical photographs that add to the writings.
For those who lament that these days they do not have time to read books, this is the one to get back into the game. Each chapter is a standalone and one is not required to read each chapter consecutively. It is a perfect companion to have in one’s vehicle and read while taking the ferries to and from Ocracoke.
I imagine it was difficult for the author to select the 22 in this book. There are many more, and Howard could easily come up with a Volume 2 and even 3 that would have equally fascinating eccentrics, innovators and free spirits.
The book is available at the Village Craftsmen on Howard Street and other stores on Ocracoke that sell books.
Philip Howard is the author of “Digging Up Uncle Evans” and “Howard Street Hauntings.”
Hyde County is looking to raise money with an increase in the sales tax and voters will have the chance to weigh in during the Nov. 5 general election.
The Board of Commissioners at their Feb. 5 meeting passed a resolution to place on the ballot a question for voters to approve a quarter of a cent increase. However, this tax would not be on everything.
North Carolina General Statute 105 Article 46 allows counties to levy this tax and under which they can exempt some items. Hyde County would exempt “unprepared foods” (groceries), gas and prescription medications.
If approved, the sales tax rate would go to 7%, up from the current rate of 6.75%.
“We’re looking for alternative revenue streams outside of the normal property tax,” said Hyde County Manager Kris Noble at the meeting.
At prior meetings, the commissioners heard presentations on Land Transfer Taxes and Meals and Beverage Taxes. Neither of those was chosen.
According to information provided by the county, raising the sales tax would significantly lessen the need to raise property taxes, although the commissioners could raise property taxes down the road.
Revenue from the additional tax will be used for administrative costs associated with fire and EMS and some revenue will go toward Hyde County Schools.
Property taxes are paid only by property owners, but this local tax would be something that everyone would pay when they purchase goods in the county.
The ballot for-or-against question will be as follows: “Local sales and use tax at the rate of one-quarter percent (0.25%) in addition to all other state and local sales and use taxes.”
To date, 47 other counties in the state have voted to levy this tax.
Additionally, the county is looking to enact fire district taxes, but it would first have to formally create fire districts.
Each district would set their own tax, subject to a cap of $1.50 per $100 of assessed property value.
According to the information about this on Hyde County’s website, in 2021-2022, the net value of real property was $931,782,426. The amount of revenue generated from each cent increase would be around $88,000 when accounting for the collection rate.
This estimate is a total county-wide. There are seven fire districts, and each has a different value of real property. So, the amount of revenue will vary between districts.
Also, the districts would not be administered countywide and so would only apply to areas where residents want the extra funding.
Just another reminder about some Ocracoke Island events starting tomorrow (Friday, March 15). Also, more businesses are opening up. See What’s Open here.
Friday, March 15 Book signing: Philip Howard signs his new book, “Ocracoke Island Eccentrics, Innovators, & Free Spirits,” Village Craftsmen, 1 pm. Prior to that at 11:30 a.m., he will be a guest on “What’s Happening on Ocracoke” with Peter Vankevich on WOVV 90.1 FM. Ocracoke School varsity baseball at home vs. Bear Grass, 4 pm. Community Ballfield. Broadcast on WOVV 90.1 FM.
Saturday, March 16 Saturday Sound Stage, Deepwater Theater, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Through a collaboration with Ocracoke Alive, Ocracoke students will explore different kinds of music, learn new instruments, and jam with musicians from the village. Continues Saturday mornings through April 13.
Memorial service for Julia Hutcherson, 11 a.m. Berkley Manor grounds. The Variety Store will be closed from 10 am to 1 pm for the service.
Sunday, March 17 Ocracoke Community Pool Association fundraiser: St. Patty’s Day soup & sandwich lunch followed by Bingo. Noon to 3 p.m. Community Center. Lunch: A variety of soups, sandwiches, salads and baked goods to eat in or take out. We will continue to serve during the games until it is gone. Bingo: starting at 1:30 with all cash prizes. Raffles: Easter basket, quilt and more. See flyer below.
