Wednesday, Nov. 29 NPS researchers report on the Ocracoke pony herd, 1 p.m. Community Center. See story here.
Storm water assessment meeting, 3 pm. Community Center. See notice below.
1718 Brewing Ocracoke: Island Trivia, 6 to 8 pm
Ocracoke Planning Advisory Board, 6:30 pm. Community Center
Friday, Dec. 1 Informational estate planning seminar with attorney James Wynn, 2 pm. Community Center
Ocracoke School JV & Varsity basketball at home vs. Albemarle Cougars, JVs tipoff 3:30pm, followed by Lady Dolphins, approx. 4:30 pm and Boys Varsity, approx. 5:30 pm Games will be broadcast on WOVV, 90.1 FM and wovv.org
Ocracoke Oyster Company: Ray Murray, 8 pm
Saturday, Dec. 2 Ocracoke School Varsity basketball at home vs. the Croatan Cougars, Lady Dolphins tipoff 11 am, followed by boys varsity, approx. 12:30 pm. Games will be broadcast on WOVV, 90.1 FM and wovv.org
Looking ahead: Thursday, Dec. 7: Santa arrives at the Variety Store, 4:30-6:30 pm
Saturday, Dec. 9: Community Cookie Exchange, Ocracoke Community Library, 1 pm
Sunday, Dec. 10: Community Christmas Concert, 7 pm. Community Center
Friday, Dec. 15: Island Celebration: judging of holiday lights on homes and businesses, 5:30 pm
Candidate filing for the March 5 primary election will begin at noon on Monday, Dec. 4, and will run for two weeks ending at noon on Friday, Dec. 15.
The Hyde County elections office in Swan Quarter is open on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 8 a.m.to 5 p.m.
Anyone interested in filing for a seat that will be on the ballot for the primary election will need to file their forms during this time.
The following local seats will be on the ballot:
County Commissioner – Fairfield District
County Commissioner – Ocracoke District
County Commissioner – Lake Landing District
Board of Education At-Large (two seats)
Elections staff will be in Ocracoke at the county office located in the Ocracoke Community Center from 1 to 5 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 12 to assist any Ocracoke residents with filing candidate filing forms for seats in the primary election.
Staff members will also be available to issue voter IDs to any voter by request during this visit.
For information on the 2024 North Carolina elections, click Ballotpedia here.
Hyde County EMS is offering free Vial of Life packets to all Hyde County residents. program is a simple way for residents to ensure that vital medical information is readily available to EMS personnel when every second counts during emergencies.
Participants in this program will receive two stickers, a plastic bag, and a form to record their medical information on.
The form includes your medical history, daily medications, demographics, doctor and emergency contact.
One sticker goes on the door to the home. The other sticker goes on the Zip-loc bag where the form is stored. The bag is then attached to the resident’s refrigerator.
Having the first sticker on the door alerts the fire and EMS personnel to look for the bag and they will know exactly where to look.
“We encourage all Hyde County residents, especially those with chronic medical conditions, seniors, and families with young children, to participate in the Vial of Life Program,” said Christopher Pereira, EMS deputy chief of operations.
Key benefits of the Vial of Life program include the following:
Rapid access to critical information: When EMS responders arrive at your home, they can quickly retrieve your Vial of Life containing your medical information, allowing them to make informed decisions about your care.
Improved patient safety: By having access to your medical history, EMS can administer appropriate treatment, potentially reducing risks and complications during emergencies.
The Vial of Life packets are available from the Ocracoke Volunteer Fire Department, from EMS personnel, local churches and the health department.
For more information, contact Mike Caton at 252-945- 4364 or by email: james.caton@hydecountyems.co.
Ocracoke Island was without phone and Brightspeed internet access for seven hours on Monday.
By Connie Leinbach
An internet and phone fiber outage for seven hours on Ocracoke on Monday gave the community the chance to test the Tekniam backup system.
Randal Mathews, Ocracoke’s Hyde County commissioner, said that the outage occurred around 7:30 Monday morning when NCDOT cut the phone and Brightspeed fiber optic cable along the shoulder at the entrance to Hatteras Village (Dare County).
“The outage impacted approximately 1,000 customers south of Avon including Ocracoke,” said Gene Rodriguez Miller, Brightspeed public relations director. “We immediately dispatched repair crews and service was restored that same day, Nov 20.”
For just this reason, wireless service from Tekniam, based in Lenexa, Kansas, has been in a trial stage in a small area of Ocracoke village since August of 2022.
Mathews, a retired Century Link technician, was in a Tourism Development Authority (TDA) meeting Monday morning in the Community Center when a few islanders came by for his help getting onto the system, which is in several locations along Irvin Garrish Highway, he said.
In addition to the module at the Community Center, Tekniam modules are in place at the Hyde County sheriff’s office, the Ocracoke Volunteer Fire Company, Ride the Wind Surf Shop and Harborside Motel.
Another module will soon go on top of Little Rituals in Spencer’s Market, Mathews said, adding that although the Pirates Chest roof has a module, it is not working properly at the moment.
“Today showed some of the bugs to work through,” he said, because “it’s not a question of ‘if’ we’re going to have outages but when.”
Monday’s outage showed that some of the signals at the buildings are better while outside than inside, but he and Tekniam are working on improving that, thanks to a $842,000 grant from the state Department of Public Safety to Hyde County, which also will be used to expand the system throughout the village.
Mathews previously received $25,000 from the TDA and $90,000 from the Ocracoke Occupancy Tax Board for the project.
Mathews also said that cell phone users need to enable WiFi calling on their phones before an outage occurs.
In these outage situations, the Tekniam system can only be used for email, text messaging and phone calling and cannot be used for streaming services, and at this point, Tekniam is only available in emergencies for backup when a fiber is cut.
The sheriff deputies and EMS were not affected because they use a system, supplied by the state EMS, Mathews said. However, islanders need to be able to call 911, which is available through the Tekniam system.
“You need to be close to the modules,” he said about using the service.
You also need a password.
When an outage occurs, islanders can go to any of the buildings listed above and search for HYCO. The password for that is: SilkBeauty3.
Another access line is: OINC-BIZ. The password for that is: TEKbiz456!
Mathews is working on getting the HYCO access open without needing a password.
The Ocracoke United Methodist Church posted on Facebook that the church has Starlink available and that the doors were open.
In March and May of 2022, two similar outages occurred due to digging accidents and one occurred in March this year.
Correction: This story was corrected from an earlier version to note that NCDOT, not a contractor, cut the fiber optic cableoutside of Hatteras Village, affecting Hatteras Village and Ocracoke.
Monday, Nov. 20 Ocracoke Tourism Development Authority: 9 am. Community Center.
The Holiday Boat Parade will be at 5:30 pm Friday, Nov. 24; rain date Nov. 25. Photo: C. Leinbach
(Virtual) Superintendent’s District Parent Advisory Council. Hyde County Schools invites you to a scheduled Zoom meeting. Topic: Superintendent’s Parent Advisory Council Time: Nov 20, 2023, 7 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada) Join Zoom Meeting https://zoom.us/j/99877964579?pwd=bHdpT3VPK0VwOVVxQ3pHRzM1NkRSUT09 Meeting ID: 998 7796 4579 Passcode: D07L20
Tuesday, Nov, 21 Ocracoke Civic & Business Association, 6 pm. Community Center. See agenda at bottom.
Wednesday, Nov. 22 Bake sale, 1 pm. Ocracoke Volunteer Fire Department. Proceeds benefit the Ocracoke United Methodist Church.
Back Porch market open at 1 pm. (Not open Friday.)
1718 Brewing Ocracoke: music by That Guy Shane, 7 pm
Thursday, Nov. 23 Turkey Trot 5K, starts at 8 am at 1718 Brewing Ocracoke.
Variety Store open from 7 am to 1 pm for the holiday.
Friday, Nov. 24 Holiday Boat Parade, 5:30 pm around Silver Lake harbor. Rain date: Nov. 25
Deepwater Theater: Thanksgiving Ocrafolk Opry Show, 8 pm, featuring Martin Garrish, Dallas Mason, Fiddler Dave, Gary Mitchell, & Jenny Hargrove. $20 Adults/$10 Kids. Tickets info at ocracokealive.org.
Saturday, Nov. 25 Holiday Market/small business Saturday, 10 am to 3 pm Berkley Barn.
Sunday, Nov. 26
Church services Life Saving Church Ocracoke Assembly of God, 11 am 459 Lighthouse Rd.
Ocracoke United Methodist Church, 11 am 71 School Rd.
Stella Maris Catholic Chapel, 3:30 pm. 95 School Rd. Follow dirt road to the left after the Methodist church rec hall.
Monday, Nov. 27 Ocracoke School varsity basketball at home vs. Northeast Academy For Aerospace and Advanced Tech Basketball Griffins (NEAAAT), Lady Dolphins tip off, 4 pm followed by the boys, 5:30 pm. Games will be broadcast on WOVV, 90.1 FM and online at WOVV.org
Vertical grates prevent carp from entering the lake but do not block the passage of native fish or crabs. . Photo: Abby Valine/USFWS
Reprinted courtesy of CoastalReview.org Staff Report Using the recently announced $1 million grant from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, large numbers of common carp will soon be removed from Lake Mattamuskeet, making room for freshwater fish including largemouth bass, crappie, catfish, sunfish and striped bass.
“Lake Mattamuskeet is the centerpiece of Hyde County,” said Kendall Smith, refuge manager at Mattamuskeet National Wildlife Refuge. “It has provided a prime source of outdoor recreation for years and continues to be treasured even in its impaired state.”
The invasive carp in Lake Mattamuskeet compete with native fish for the natural resources, destroy the natural aquatic habitat, and degrade water quality by muddying the waters and uprooting aquatic plants. Their destruction also negatively impacts migratory wintering waterfowl that feed on the plants.
The funding will help the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service improve the natural environment of the 40,000-acre Lake Mattamuskeet and its four outlet canals. Combatting aquatic invasive species, like the carp in the lake, protects wildlife, improves water quality, supports the community and restores the natural ecosystem and habitat, officials said.
The Fish and Wildlife Service partnered with the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission to get rid of the carp that block sunlight the underwater plants need to grow and uproot necessary vegetation for other wildlife.
Several years ago, barriers were installed at the lake’s four tide gates to keep adult carp from entering the lake, but the carp still in the lake must go.
The carp will be removed using large-haul seines, baited traps, pound nets and herding methods to move carp into nets successfully. Once netted, carp are extracted from the lake.
“Removing a large amount of the carp and keeping the population low will improve water quality by increasing sunlight and decreasing the sediment they stir up, which clouds the water,” Smith said. “Better water quality will allow underwater plants to grow, providing a healthier habitat for birds and fish and a better experience for our neighbors and friends who enjoy Lake Mattamuskeet.”
Fresh caught fish get sorted into baskets for later packaging. Photo: C. Leinbach
By Connie Leinbach
Every day, the Ocracoke Seafood Company sends about 4,500 pounds of locally caught fish off to places beyond.
Sometimes Shane Mason gets up at 3 a.m. to drive the refrigerated truck on a four-plus-hour run to drop off the previous day’s catch to Jeffrey’s in Hatteras.
Monday, Wednesday and Friday are big market days, he said while icing down fish brought in by one of several local commercial fishermen, packing them into boxes and loading them onto pallets.
From Jeffrey’s, the Ocracoke catch goes all over, especially to New York and overseas.
Locally, restaurants and individuals can partake in that bounty by purchasing fish and shellfish in the retail area of Ocracoke’s “fish house,” as it is known.
This operation is helping to keep the island’s few commercial fishermen working and there’s been a renewed interest by the fishermen and the community to revitalize the business, said Stevie Wilson, vice-president of the board of directors.
“Because of the changing regulations restricting catches on fisheries there’s less and less commercial product being caught, making it increasingly difficult for the fish house to function and to maintain the status quo,” Wilson said, noting that special interests, through legislation, are slowly eliminating access to fresh, local seafood.
Burdensome regulations is causing the number of commercial fishermen to shrink “because opportunity is shrinking and opportunities are shrinking because of regulation. We’ve got to adapt and overcome before it gets us.”
So, the board is looking to do things that provide opportunity to sustain local fishing and create jobs on the water. An advisory board of local businesspeople will be tapped for their expertise.
Every time a customer goes into the fish house for some fresh fish or shellfish for dinner, they are helping the commercial fishing industry, Wilson said.
The “back door” has always been the fish house’s goal – to provide livelihoods for commercial fishermen.
“The retail helps keep that back door open,” Wilson said.
Hardy and Pattie Plyler pose with Maddie Payne during their retirement party in September after having worked at the fish house for decades. Photo: C. Leinbach
To get seafood that can’t be locally sourced they attempt to source within the state, but scallops aren’t locally sourced.
“We don’t have scallop boats on Ocracoke, but everyone loves scallops,” he said. “The retail is going to promote the local industries first but there can be a variety of seafood.”
Hardy and Pattie Plyler retired from the business in September and were feted with a well-attended party in the fish house.
“Hardy Plyler gets a lot of credit for all of the hard work he did for many years,” Wilson said.
Susie O’Neal, who used to own Native Seafood, is the new general manager.
Native Seafood, while having sold fresh fish, also had value-added items such as fish and crab cakes, casseroles and pies.
O’Neal hopes to add some of those items back into the Ocracoke fish house offerings, noting that the Ocracoke United Methodist rec-hall kitchen will be upgraded to an inspected kitchen in which she and others can make prepared foods for sale.
“The value-added items are not just pre-made but house-made which means local ingredients, local recipes,” O’Neal said. “That’s a huge difference to me. You can get pre-made crabcakes at Food Lion but not Ocracoke Seafood Company crabcakes or drum fishcakes.”
Wilson said the new fish house is an opportunity for not just the fishermen but for the community.
“Because we can make this anything we want it to be,” he said.
Morty Gaskill, right, prepares to unload his daily catch. Photo: C. Leinbach
Gaskill’s catch ride the conveyor belt into the fish house. Photo: C. Leinbach
Gaskill sorts and weighs his catch as general manager Susie O’Neal looks on. Photo: C. Leinbach
Shane Mason packages fish for transport off island. Anna Rucker-Gaskill is at right. Photo: C. Leinbach
Dylan Bennink is among the dozens of commercial fishermen who bring their catch to the fish house. Photo: C. Leinbach
Elizabeth Dyer is ready to sell fresh seafood at the Ocracoke Seafood Company, aka the fish house. Photo: C. Leinbach
Hurricane Lee offshore in mid-September created spectacular skies and big surf on Ocracoke. Photo: C. Leinbach
One of the reasons Ocracoke is special is that when someone, including visitors, has a crisis, islanders will pitch in to help.
That’s what Dan and Pam O’Sullivan of McLeansville discovered in mid-September when a rogue wave captured their car keys.
The two had rented a car for their four-day Ocracoke vacation.
They had locked their car and put their cell phones and the key fob in a waterproof pouch to take onto the beach just beyond the Pony Pen.
This was while Hurricane Lee was far offshore creating big surf.
“There was about a two-and-a-half-foot wave that came up to my thigh and to my wife’s tummy and knocked us both down,” he said. “It took the bag that had the phones and the key. I mean, it sucked it back out.”
Some people on the beach offered to drive them back to the Pony Island Inn where they were staying so that they could work on the problem.
“The people at the Pony Island let me use their phone and a portable one,” Dan said. “They were just so nice.”
First, they called Enterprise Rental Car to try to get another car.
After a series of back-and-forth phone calls, including one in which Enterprise suggested they call an Uber, Enterprise just didn’t get where they were.
“I was promised a car I think four different times that never showed,” Dan said.
They’d heard about Jesse Spencer’s beach towing business, and he was able to get into the car to get their stuff out.
Enterprise even sent a flatbed tow truck to pick up their stranded car – but didn’t bring one for them to drive, Dan said.
After more go-rounds with Enterprise, the couple finally hired the island’s local “taxi,” Javier Rivera, to drive them up to Kitty Hawk to get another car.
In an amazing act of prescience, Dan had, a few years back, opened an account at the First National Bank “just in case.”
“Judy Garrish was outstanding,” Dan said about the bank manager who helped them get money out of their account.
At one point, Cathy Perez, a server at the Pony Island Inn, offered to drive them somewhere, but they declined thinking Enterprise would send a car.
As the ordeal unfolded, they became celebrities of sorts.
“The whole island heard about it,” Dan said.
But he was upbeat about the misadventure.
“The islanders were outstanding,” he said.
He and Pam thank all on Ocracoke who helped them.
This story illustrates islanders’ understanding of what it means to live here because we know that you just can’t “get an Uber” or dash off to Walmart at midnight if you need something.
In this season of thanks, we are fortunate to live in a place where the community jumps in to help folks in need.
John Manning drove the “taxi” for pilots flying into Ocracoke to eat at Howard’s Publ. This photo was in an Our State magazine article about Howard’s Pub in 2009. Photo by Stacey Haines.
John Wallace Manning Jr, 78, died on Oct. 1, in the Currituck Health and Rehab Center in Barco, Dare County, where he had resided since April 2022, after living for 30 years on Ocracoke Island. Born on June 26, 1945, in Hanover, New Hampshire, he was a son of the late Leona “Nidi” (nee Wierum) and John Wallace Manning Sr.
After graduating from high school in 1963 he spent two years at Borromeo Seminary, Wickliffe, Ohio.
He enlisted in the Army, serving from 1965 to 1969, with tours in Vietnam and Germany. In 1972, he graduated with a BA in communications from Ohio State University. In the Cleveland area, John drove for the Jones Transfer Company, earned a glider pilot license, joined his late brother, Michael, in a silver jewelry-making venture, developed carpentry skills, and painted striking wall graphics.
In his love for the Great Lakes, he spent a summer as a crew member on an iron ore freighter.
“John had great stories about the Great Lakes,” said islander Randal Mathews. “He was friends with the son of one of the men who was on the Edmund Fitzgerald when it went down.” John moved to Ocracoke Island around 1990, where he established a wood-working shop to make sand-blasted signs for area homes and businesses. Some of the beautiful signs now gracing the island are his legacy. He was a long-time member of the Ocracoke Volunteer Fire Department.
Later, he spent several years working for Howard’s Pub and was the “taxi” driver for pilots going to lunch there.
“We shared a love of airplanes and jets,” Mathews said. “He would call me when he knew the Navy pilots or Marines were coming to Ocracoke. John loved classic cars, trains, airplanes and especially people. I never got tired of his stories about Cleveland.”
After 30 years of a life he loved, John suffered a stroke in 2019. When he needed additional care, he moved to the Barco care facility.
John is survived by six sisters: Susan Purcell (James), Seattle, WA; Martha Membrino (Joseph), Cooperstown, NY; Maureen, NYC; Mary Purcell (Joseph), Singapore; Jane Tushar (Daniel), Sammamish, WA; and Elizabeth (Michael “Casey” Ryan), Avon, OH; and by 13 nieces and nephews and 29 great-nieces and great-nephews.
A private family service will be held. Donations in John’s memory may be made to the Ocracoke Volunteer Fire Department, P.O. Box 332 Ocracoke, NC 27960, where John served as firefighter and later as captain.
Monday, Nov. 13 Ocracoke School Honor Roll assembly, 8 am, school gym
Ocracoke School JV & Varsity basketball games at Albemarle
Tuesday, Nov. 14 Ocracoke Preservation Society fall meeting begins with a potluck dish to share at 6 p.m. in the Community Center. The meeting will follow, beginning with an overview of the Society’s activities and finances as well as the slate of candidates for offices and the board of directors for approval. The Society will also announce its annual Cultural Heritage and Historic Home/Structure Award winners. Attendees will hear about the society’s perhaps most ambitious project, the Historic Island Inn & Commons building. This meeting is open to the public and is an opportunity to become a member or renew membership.
Wednesday, Nov. 15 Roanoke Island Animal Clinic sees patients in the Community Center. For appointments, call 252-473-3117.
1718 Brewing Ocracoke Island Trivia, 6-8 pm
Ocracoke Waterways Commission,6:30 pm. Community Center.—Canceled
Thursday, Nov. 16 Ocracoke School JV & Varsity basketball games vs Eastern Christian Home School, school gym, first game tips off at 3:30 pm.
Friday, Nov. 17 Sea turtle, marine mammal stranding training 1 to 2:30 p.m. – Live Marine Mammal Stranding Response Training 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. – Sea Turtle Stranding & Patrol Training Ocracoke Volunteer Fire Department conference room
Ocracoke School varsity basketball games vs Carteret at home, school gym Lady Dolphins varsity, 4 pm. Boys varsity, about 5:30 pm
