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Greenville LIFE in the EAST

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Greenville: Life In The East

Fall 2020

contents Publisher Robin L. Quillon Editor Bobby Burns Contributing writers Jim Green, Melissa Glen, Kim Gizzard, Nathan Summers Photographers Deborah Griffin, Melissa Glen Regional Advertising Director Craig Springer

Advertising representatives Tom Little, Christina Ruotolo, Ken Rhodes & Rubie Smith Creative services director Jessica Harris Creative services Lora Jernigan Layout design Jasmine Blount Greenville: Life in the East is a publication of The Daily Reflector and

4 8

GLORY DAYS

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Adams Publishing Group ENC. Contents may not be reproduced without the

FROM THE EDITOR

consent of the publisher.

Glory Days ECU defensive backs Rahkeem Morgan and Justin Venable celebrate during 2009 Conference USA championship game.

Fall 2020

Football has always helped me face the end of summer. The end of beach days and weekends at the pool, a return to routines of school and the strict regimen of the workweek, and the passage of another season all could give me the blues. Then the specter of the gridiron would begin to appear on TV, in the newspaper and on the radio. The hope and promise of a good year for my favorite teams would fill the void left by summer’s departure. Yes, summer was over but there was always football to lift my spirits. Will we have football this year? It remains to be seen whether it is possible or wise to carry on. But as Nathan Summers, The Daily Reflector’s sport editor demonstrates in his column about the Pirates in this issue of Greenville: Life in the East, the interest in what it takes to make ECU a winner never wanes. The magazine is about more than football, of course. We have plenty to offer in the season of COVID, including reports on the building buzz in Washington, movie-making in Windsor and outdoor activities in Greenville and, last but not least, a remembrance of The Attic nightclub. We hope you enjoy the magazine and keep your masked chin up in as autumn greets us, football or no football.

Greenville: Life In The East

— Bobby Burns

3

East Carolina football fans react during the 2009 Conference USA championship game in DowdyFicklen Stadium.

Daily Reflector sports editor Nathan Summers offers some perspectives on the Pirates past and future.

By Nathan Summers

The Daily Reflector

T

he ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has mostly brought more questions than answers across the country, and college football is certainly no different.

East Carolina and second-year head coach Mike Houston hit the ground running with workouts on July 31 in hopes of playing at least an abbreviated season. It came after

a long break in all athletic activity due to the coronavirus, and even after some workouts resumed briefly earlier this summer, there was another temporary halt in sports due to positive tests. The virus already had wiped out spring football practices across the country.

The aim for the Pirates in 2020 is the same as it has been for five years: win, and maybe win enough to return to the bowl postseason. Doing that will mean reconstructing a defense that has been dormant, if not downright dreadful, for more than a decade, not coincidentally dating back to when the Pirates last won a conference championship.

Last year, ECU reached four wins for the first time since going 5-7 in 2015. The team’s five straight losing seasons are the same five the Pirates have been a member of the American Athletic Conference.

When ECU joined the AAC, it did so because the Pirates had figured out a way to dominate the scoreboard in Conference USA, and when teams started jumping ship for the expanding AAC, ECU got an invite along with other C-USA teams. While many of them have since adapted to the more physical, defensive league, the Pirates have not.

A little more than a decade ago, the situation was similar when ECU football suddenly captured the eye of the nation in a way that it had not in a long time, or ever. The current Pirates are trying very hard to recapture something like it.

When Pirate running back Chris Johnson zoomed past everyone on the field for a touchdown at the 2007 Hawaii Bowl, it was part of a breathless last-second victory to end the season against then-ranked and nationally known Boise State. At that point, the Pirates could have been just that, a brilliant flash of speed.

After he ran roughshod over the Broncos in Honolulu, Johnson sped off the to NFL and kept on going, running up some of the best and fastest numbers the league had ever seen. The Pirates, despite the loss of quite possibly the most talented skill player in their history, kept going too, but in an increasingly different direction.

The giant-killer mentality ECU employed to beat Boise State must have stuck, because head coach Skip Holtz put a team on the field to open the 2008 campaign that turned college football on its ear. First, the Pirates pulled off another last-second miracle when T.J. Lee blocked a Virginia Tech punt and returned it for a winning touchdown in the final ticks of the clock on opening day.

The following week, the budding Pirate defense simply erased a West Virginia team that came to Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium armed with the No. 9 ranking in the country. The Pirates went wire-to-wire against the Mountaineers in a 24-7 thumping, and they rose to No. 14 in the national rankings.

Holtz’s personality, and that of defensive coordinator Greg Hudson, became that of the team.

That meant equal measures of sweet and salty. Covering the team’s practices back then often meant catching either the tail end of a rousing, unifying post-practice speech finished off with a thunderous roar from the players, or a blistering rebuke of the team’s performance, effort and attitude. Sometimes Holtz’s dad, coaching legend Lou Holtz, would deliver those speeches. Both kinds.

Holtz and Hudson left the Pirates a winner and two-time Conference USA champion following the 2009 season, and they did it with defense. Holtz went on to take the South Florida job before a now lengthy stint as the head man at Louisiana Tech. In his time in Greenville, Holtz always offered honesty to media, fans and players, whether they wanted to hear it or not.

“It’s an ugly baby, but it’s our baby,” Holtz once told the media after the often low-scoring Pirates were able to grind out another close win. But that was the key. The wins came like they had not since the heyday of coach Steve Logan in the 1990s.

Fall 2020

Greenville: Life In The East

5

In ’08, that ugly baby knocked off UAB and UTEP in the final two weeks of the regular season to sew up the C-USA East Division title. The Pirates then trekked to Oklahoma and felled a Tulsa team that boasted the top-producing offense in the country, and did so with another dizzying defensive effort that included six first-half turnovers.

The following season, the Pirate defense continued to dominate with its punishing front line featuring eventual NFL mainstay Linval Joseph.

The ECU offense also came to life

East Carolina running back Dominique Lindsay (24) celebrate s with quarterback Patrick Pinkney during the 2009 Conference USA championship game.

behind quarterback Patrick Pinkey and wide receiver Dwayne Harris, and the Pirates sailed to another division title and a second C-USA crown, this time beating Houston in what remains the only conference championship staged in Greenville.

Even with another, very different era of winning under head coach Ruffin McNeill, who peaked with a 10-3 campaign in 2013, the Pirates’ switch to the American has been mostly unkind and without even a conference championship game appearance to date.

Whereas an offense-first, highscoring approach helped McNeill’s teams continue the Conference USA dominance, albeit without another title, joining the American in 2015 changed things quickly and left the Pirates trying

East Carolina running back Giavanni Ruffin runs over a Houston defender during the 200 9 Conference USA championship game in Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium.

to rebuild a semblance of that formerly great defensive unit.

Scottie Montgomery failed to do that in his three losing seasons, and Houston now hopes he can succeed in the ongoing reboot attempt after firing 2019 defensive coordinator Bob Trott.

Defense most certainly won championships for the Pirates the last time around, and somehow, it will need to again.

Contact Nathan Summers at nsummers@reflector.com, 252-3202134 and follow @NateSumm99 on Twitter.

Houston quarterback Case Keenum, left, is sacked by East Carolina defensive end Scotty Robinson during the 2009 Conference USA championship game in DowdyFicklen Stadium.

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Cast members from “Freedom of North Carolina,” which was previously being filmed at Sommerset Place, have moved production to Hope Plantation in Windsor following months of shutdown due to the coronavirus.

Take two: Historic film moves set to Hope Plantation Production of “Freedom of North Carolina,” a story about a family’s escape from slavery, moved from Sommerset Place because of COVID-19.

A

By Kim Grizzard

Greenville filmmaker whose set

previous film location, Hope was a working

restoration effort that began in the 1960s.

was shuttered by the coronavirus

plantation during some of the same years

“It was in deplorable condition.”

pandemic has now set his

as Sommerset, making it suitable for the

Stone, who also owned thousands

hopes on another eastern North

1863 setting of Jones’ fictional story. In

of acres in Wake County, operated his

July, he and his cast began re-shooting

self-contained plantations with the

Carolina historic site.

Director James Jones, who began

scenes of the film, which tells the story of

labor of more than 130 slaves of African

shooting scenes for the independent film

one family’s escape from enslavement and

descent. The original 1,000-acre Bertie

“Freedom of North Carolina” in 2019 at

discovery of destiny.

site was adjacent to the Tuscarora Nation

Sommerset Place in Creswell, has shifted

Historic Hope Foundation President

production to Bertie County. The move

Turner B. Sutton said the plantation, which

“Hope is unique because it is an

follows a nearly four-month hiatus due to

remains closed for tours due to COVID-19,

example of the craftsmanship and lives of

COVID-19.

Reservation.

is a perfect backdrop for the film.

not only white European settlers but also

“It definitely put a halt on a lot of things,”

The restored mansion, the former home

the African-American slaves, the Native

Jones said of the state’s decision to close

of N.C. Gov. David Stone, offers visitors a

American slaves and also free blacks and

Sommerset Place and more than two dozen

glimpse into 18th and 19th-century life

Native Americans that came together to

other historic sites in March. “It kind of

in the rural South. Built in 1803, the home

work on this location,” Gupton said.

dragged out for a while.”

was nearly lost to decades of neglect.

The property, which now consists of 45

With no indication of when Sommerset

“It was run down; there was cotton

acres, was formerly farm land for growing

might re-open, filmmakers turned their

planted up to the front steps,” Hope

wheat, corn, oats, rye, flax and cotton, as

attention to Hope Plantation in Windsor.

Plantation docent and historian Allison

well as raising cattle, hogs, sheep and

Gupton said of the property prior to a

horses.

Located about 50 miles northwest of the

8

Contributed Photos

Greenville: Life In The East

Fall 2020

“Freedom of N centers on Sa orth Carolina” rah (played by Vinetrice Re ynolds), a 14 -yearold girl who dreams of lif e beyond the plantation w here she is enslav ed, along with mother and five brothers her . It directed by James Jones. is

Hope Plantation in Bertie County.

in the project, which he believes remains timely, despite the fact that it tells a more than 150-year-old story.

“This is history,” he said. “It wasn’t a very bright history.

Foundation.

“I hope to see more people,” Gupton said.

“I hope that this (film) brings Hope some of the notice and attention that we really need right now.”

“What I am telling people through this film

“Freedom of North Carolina” is not the first

is the message that we’re all equal,” Jones

independent film to be shot at the plantation.

said. “We didn’t start out as being slaves. We

While the early film was never released,

have been enslaved.”

Sutton said the foundation welcomed this

He said “Freedom of North Carolina,” which features black and white actors in a variety of complex roles, is not designed to be a racially-charged movie.

“This is not an anti-white film. This is not bashing anyone,” he said. “All I want to do is

chance to further educate people about slavery through the art of filmmaking.

Gupton agreed. “At Hope, we really try to encourage people in their creativity and their dreams,” she said. “We’re just glad to be a part of his artistic vision.”

“I’m learning a lot about this particular

tell the truth of what has happened here in

The stop in work caused by the pandemic,

place now that we are shooting there,” Jones

North Carolina. A lot of people don’t want to

coupled with having to re-shoot scenes

said. “Within our story, we want to kind of

speak about it. Either they don’t know it or

filmed at Sommerset, has caused a significant

bring it alive.”

they don’t speak about it.”

delay in the film’s projected completion

But unlike Sommerset Place, which

Gupton said the film is already creating

had records of stories of slaves that Jones

a buzz in Bertie County, where people are

incorporated into his film, Hope Plantation

not only traveling in hopes of being cast

“When you have a dream, all you can see

will not be historically represented in

as extras but where local residents are

is the dream,” he said. “You can’t really focus

“Freedom of North Carolina.” The film will

gathering to get a glimpse of the production

on anything that’s outside of that dream.”

make no mention of Stone, who also served

in progress.

as a U.S. senator.

“Last weekend when they were filming

date. Still, Jones said stopping production was never a consideration.

Originally slated for release on Juneteenth, the film is now planned to

“The new stories that I’m now hearing

on the grounds, I did see some locals who

premiere on June 19, 2021.

from the Hope Plantation are giving me

watched the filming,” Gupton said. “I expect

“One thing I don’t want to do is rush

understanding,” Jones said. “But overall

now that the stories have hit the papers that

through this,” Jones said. “I’m not chasing

90 percent of the story is pretty much the

on the weekends when they film I will see

after money. I want to be able to put out a

same.”

more people out there.”

film that my four girls can see one day.

The central cast is largely unchanged as

Due to recommendations for helping stop

“It’s just that legacy you want to leave

well, with 40 members returning to resume

the spread of COVID-19, filming is largely

behind,” he said. “ I want it to impact people

filming. Notable additions include 8-year-old

outdoors. Between scenes, actors wear

… I want people to see it for what it is and

Yanna Buttons, who portrays Tilly. The New

masks and distance themselves from one

understand the truth of what happened here

York-based actress previously worked with

another.

and take it and be able to use it and look at

Forest Whitaker in the Epix series “Godfather

The grounds of the plantation have

of Harlem,” and Tracy Morgan on TBS’ “The

remained open to the public during the

For more information about Hope

Last O.G.”

pandemic. But loss of income from tours

Plantation, visit www.hopeplantation.org. For

Despite the unanticipated break from

and events has taken a toll on the financial

more information about “Freedom of North

filming, Jones has seen an increased interest

well being of the nonprofit Historic Hope

Carolina” visit facebook.com/freedomofnc.

Fall 2020

Greenville: Life In The East

the world differently.”

9

Improving

Washington:

A major project to upgrade downtown infrastructure will ensure historic city has strong foundation for the future.

A

By Deborah Griffin

Deborah Griffin

s the Pamlico River pounds the sidewalk-lined

commerce center, and currently is undergoing further change

shore of Washington’s Stewart Parkway, the

— in an effort to preserve the past.

sounds of progress pound downtown Main Street, one street over.

Seagulls circle overhead, their cries often drowned often out

A $3.4 million streetscape project aims cement this Southerncharmed town as an economic beacon for years to come.

by the jackhammers of development. The birds are evidence

A Big Dig

of the river’s tie to the Atlantic Ocean — the gateway which

Main Street, which runs parallel to the river, is ordinarily a

positioned this waterfront town as a vital, global seaport during

serene, eclectic mix of culture, shops, businesses and eateries.

our nation’s early history.

But revival is never quiet. In an upheaval, 1,600 feet of roadway

Washington, at times prefaced with “Little” or “Original,” was formed from a 1770s settlement called Forks of the Tar — renamed in honor of George Washington in 1776, some 14 years ahead of our nation’s capitol.

The Tar and the Pamlico meet here, forming the brackish waters the town grew up on — and grew inseparable from.

The rivers remain largely unchanged, but the waterfront has transformed over the past 250 years, from industrial port to

has been gouged to replace aging infrastructure from Gladden to Market streets.

Closed to vehicular traffic for months, sidewalks have remained open throughout much of the construction which began in late March.

According to City Manager Jonathan Russell, the timing of the construction project, which coincided with closures due to COVID-19, was fortunate.

The Downtown Washington Streetscape Project has revealed remnants of history. According to Ray Midgett, “In 1884, there were two oyster canneries on the waterfront and they produced hundreds of thousands of oyster shells. They would shuck the shells, and can the oysters. At that point in time, they started paving the streets in Washington (primarily Main and Market Streets) with oyster shells,” which the project has exposed.

(Also see historic photo 8.)

“With many downtown shops shuttered to prevent the spread of the virus, the project was much less disruptive,” he said.

Both internal and external improvements will enhance downtown, fusing it even more tightly to the nearby waterfront.

According to Russell, no major work has been made to the foundation for over 50 years. The project includes major upgrades to aging water, sewer, stormwater and electrical infrastructure.

Once the utilities work is completed, sidewalks will be widened and brick pavers will be added. Enhanced street lighting, additional benches, and the removal of 11 parking spots along the north side of West Main, will make the area more pedestrianfriendly.

The project, expected to be completed by the end of October, will conclude with no outstanding debt. The project was funded

DO YOU HAVE THE GUTS TO NEVER LOSE SIGHT OF WHAT MATTERS?

mostly through the City of Washington, according to Russell.

“I really credit the City Council for having the foresight to set up an account several years ago in anticipation of this utilities upgrade project,” he said.

“They designated a pre-determined amount to be added each year. Conservative spending, along with some good economic years, allowed us to have a pretty high rate of funding,” he continued. He said they secured some grant money in the beginning, which helped with the planning and design of the project.

The upgrades will allow for the development of additional residential options, such as apartments. Water-line improvements will lead to enhanced sprinkler systems, which will enable further development of buildings beyond the ground level, Russell said.

Many business and property owners are simultaneously restoring historic downtown edifices, which bear witness to the former glory of the town. Russell said the city is working with owners, helping them secure grants and tax credits.

Spurring Development Some organizations have already scored grants. The historic Turnage Theatre received $780,000 from the USDA for a new roof, on schedule to finish around the first of September.

Castle Island Brewery received a $500,000 Community Development Block Grant (CBDG) to restore it three-story building at the corner of Respess and Main. Work is expected to finish in November.

Russell said the final product will be worth the temporary destruction.

“We are hoping to move forward with a nice, new downtown to build upon,” Russell said. “Our No. 1 asset is our geographical location — the riverfront.”

He said the streetscape project will accentuate that aspect of

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Continued on page 14

Fall 2020

Greenville: Life In The East

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Continued from page 10 “It will be an attractive centerpiece — a destination — for residents and visitors alike,” he added.

Erin Ruyle, director of tourism and development for the City of Washington, agrees.

“From a tourism perspective, we are very excited about this project. We believe it will be a boom to the economy through increased tourism and foot traffic, while also drawing attention to the many unique gems Washington has to offer,” she said.

Some of those gems are rooted in history.

According to local historian Ray Midgett, Washington was a major ship building center that is still renowned for boat crafting: singer song-writer Jimmy Buffett recently

Washington Downtown 1916

commissioned a $3 million, 48-foot sailboat, to be built by Washington’s Pacific Seacraft.

Midgett is president of the Harbor Port of Washington Project, a group of

Fowle Warehouse 1890. Compare on page 15.

volunteers working to promote and preserve Washington’s maritime heritage and history.

Because of its location, wharfs and warehouses started springing up, even before the town had a name, said Midgett.

In the 1800s, the Port of Washington was as far inland ocean vessels could travel before the river narrowed. Ships would bring merchandise from New York City and Baltimore for local merchants to sell.

Vessels took locally produced items to places like Barbados, and returned with sugar, molasses and bananas, he said. By 1918, records show Washington had over 50 wharves.

Building On History

said, who also is a member of the Historic Port of Washington Project.

Today, tourism, entertainment and realestate have replaced the wharves of old.

Blount Rumley, 78, grew up on the shores

“As motor vehicles replaced commercial

Moss Landing, one block from downtown,

of the Pamlico. “My earliest memories were

vessels and railroads, the Washington

has multiple $450,000-$750,000 waterfront

of the waning commercial port,” he said.

waterfront was greatly abandoned as a

homes, built on prized land, once dominated

connection to the river,” Rumley added.

by oyster canneries, lumber mills, fertilizer

He remembers hearing stories about how the “sugar boat” would come in from the West Indies, loaded with tons of bulk sugar — consigned to local grocers and soft drink bottlers in Washington and Greenville.

For a while, Washington seemed to turn its back on the Pamlico, he said.

plants and shipyards.

Further out from the watery heart of the

In 1969, the town undertook a major

city, real-estate is booming, according to

urban renewal project, building the road and

Washington’s Mayor, Mac “Bear” Hodges,

“Lots of times farmers would back up to

park which currently parallel the waterfront,

who grew up here.

the docks and purchase entire truckloads of

designed to increase both pedestrian and

the sugar to feed their liquor stills,” Rumley

boat traffic.

14

Greenville: Life In The East

An agent turned appraiser, Hodges said annual sales of homes average around 800, Fall 2020

Fowle Warehouse 2020. The building, built in the early 1800s is now used for office space.

with lot sales averaging about 250.

As this picturesque, harbor-town of nearly 10,000 citizens continues to grow, it forges

Boats line the present-day Washington waterfront. Historian Ray Midgett compares the burgeoning growth of the town to what was happening in the 1900s. “Back in its day, Washington was a pretty cosmopolitan place. People came here from all over the world by ocean going vessels.”

on the foundations of old.

Russell said the streetscape project is providing the bedrock the town can continue to thrive on.

“Right now, there is a lot of economic uncertainty,” he said. “We are hoping this will be a helpful, economic boost heading into the future.

Washington’s waterfront circa 1884.

The Little Washington Sailing School’s sailboats filled the Pamlico River over the summer where ocean-going vessels used to port, bringing goods to Washington from around the world.

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Fall 2020

Greenville: Life In The East

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Danielle and Brian Metty paddle on a tandem kayak from Riverside Recreation.

Active Distancing Outdoor activities like kayaking offer returning students and year-round residents a safer way to have fun during the pandemic.

By Melissa Glen The coronavirus pandemic has greatly limited pastimes for returning East Carolina students, but the great outdoors is providing an open air alternative.

dance offerings but hopes to bring them back soon.

Owner Shavonne King Brumsey said keeping a healthy lifestyle during the pandemic is important. She said the

Thanks to a couple of local rental businesses and programs offered through campus recreation, Pirates who started back

18

Melissa Glen

business’ slogan “rested, replenished, reconnected” describes their goal for clients.

to class Aug. 10, a s well as year-round Greenville residents, can

“We are trying to encourage people to activate the river

have fun at a six-foot distance — on kayaks and other personal

and the greenways, and we are really all about seeing people

watercraft on the Tar River.

do this on a regular basis — just incorporating more physical

Here is a breakdown of what is available.

activity, more recreational activity as a part of their everyday

Riverside Recreation, a new addition to downtown

life,” Brumsey said.

Greenville at 817 Dickinson Ave., offers single-vessel kayaks,

The business is taking extra precautions due to the virus.

tandem kayaks, stand up paddle boards and motorized paddle

Along with getting to Greenville Town Common 30 minutes

boats. The business has put a hold on its yoga, trapeze and

before each reservation to sanitize all equipment, the

Greenville: Life In The East

Fall 2020

company is only allowing tandem kayaks and motorized paddle boats to be rented by families or people who have been in quarantine together.

Now, we use a different, stronger cleaner and then wipe down everything with sanitizer...”

The company’s hours are limited to Friday, Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Anyone interested in renting can book packages hourly either online or by calling the store.

Packages include paddles, dry bags and safety gear. Brumsey said along with setting up the equipment, the service makes sure that all people feel prepared before going out on the river.

“We get a lot of first-time guests that have never been on the river before, so we have staff that will go out with them just to make them feel more comfortable and give them a little tutorial before,” she said.

Riverside Recreation also has someone take photos of every group that goes out on the river and shares them at the end of the trip.

“We try to offer that complimentary service, so that they can disconnect and focus on the experience of making memories

Shavonne King Brumsey, owner of Riverside Recreation, works at the store’s 817 Dickinson Ave. location.

and not having to worry about taking a selfie,” Brumsey said. “I think it’s a great way to get out and just kind of press pause on everything going on in the world and just be able to relax and connect with nature.”

Knee Deep Adventures is a kayak and paddle board rental service in Greenville that offers physical activity at a safe distance.

Employees of Riverside Recreation set up a tandem kayak for a reservation at Town Common.

Fall 2020

Greenville: Life In The East

19

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Greenville: Life In The East

Fall 2020

The Metty family paddle on the Tar River in kayaks from Riverside Recreation last week.

The service has seen an increase in business since reopening

conditions,” Curtis said.

ECU Campus Recreation & Wellness will still be providing many

from the initial shutdown, owner Kelsey Curtis said.

“We have remained busy every weekend since we’ve reopened,” she said. “In fact, we now have to take reservations farther in advance since we run out of availability on some weekends.

Curtis said the business has always tried to set the “gold standard” when it comes to keeping equipment clean, but it has enhanced its methods since the COVID-19 outbreak.

activities to students even though indoor facilities will remain closed for now.

According to Jenny Gregory, the assistant director for communication and promotions, Blount Recreation Sports Complex and the North Recreational Complex will be open for use.

Both outdoor locations will provide group exercise classes.

“Now, we use a different, stronger cleaner and then wipe down

North Recreational Complex will offer walking trails, a 19-hole disc

everything with sanitizer,” she said. “We also began to sanitize all

golf course, some intramural activities and equipment rentals, as

accessories such as paddles and dry boxes.”

well as two Friday Floats hosted by the Adventure Center.

Along with better sanitization, Curtis said the company has

When indoor facilities do reopen, Gregory said group classes will

also limited group sizes to 20 or less, as well encouraging masks

be cut off at a capacity of 10 people each in studios and 25 each

when people are not 6 feet apart. The business has stopped using

on the basketball courts. However, virtual classes will continue.

shuttles and moved to contactless payments and waivers.

Knee Deep offers half-day, full-day and overnight rentals.

Customers also can sign up for kayak and SUP lessons and kayak repairs.

Students will have to make a reservation to enter the facilities and wear a mask upon entrance and answer a few questions after having their temperature taken.

She also said all the weight room equipment has been spaced

While most places have put in-person yoga classes on hold due to COVID, Knee Deep Adventures offers SUP yoga classes in

out 10 feet apart and signage has been hung throughout the building to maximize social distancing.

the river as a safer alternative to guests. Curtis said whether a

“We here at Campus Recreation & Wellness are excited to be

beginner or an intermediate paddler, Knee Deep Adventures works

able to open again once North Carolina moves into Phase 3 and

to provide safe fun for its customers.

gym restrictions are lifted,” she said. “We are taking every safety

“Our staff and guides consist of trained, experienced paddlers and provide information on local paddle routes and we as river

Fall 2020

precaution we can to ensure a safe and healthy atmosphere for all our students and members.”

Greenville: Life In The East

21

Greg Humphries of the band Dillon Fence in 1994

Guitarist Gibb Droll in 1995

Attic

remembra nce Singer, songwriter Edwin McCain in 1994.

Set list from Sex, Love and Money performance in 1994.

Set list from Dahli Llama performance in 1993 Doug Jones of Cravin’ Melon in 1994

William Shepherd of The Amateurs 1994

When music was live, Greenville’s renowned club The Attic offered a shutterbug a chance to be a concert photographer.

By Jim Green

A

nyone who knows me knows

the national acts would make their own

is commonly known as the three-song rule

of my passion for music and

decisions — he could not grant me approval

— photographers have the first three songs

concert photography.

for them.

in which to take photos.

I would collect albums

I was OK with that, and within hours, he had

When the band returned some six months

(and later CDs) and peruse the music

my list for February.

later, I took small posters created with my

magazines, marveling at the talent of the

I started concert photography in the film

photos of them to the club. They graciously

photographers who were able to capture

days, so I allotted a certain amount of shots

allowed me backstage again and signed

my favorite artists.

for each act I photographed. I tried to use the

some of them, and I could shoot the whole

My passion for concert photography was

available light but quickly found I needed to

show again if I desired.

further stoked in the early 90s when a

use flash. I apologized to each band ahead

Over time, the staff at The Attic got to know

friend suggested I talk to management at

of time for the use of flash and tried not to

me pretty well and never made me wait

The Attic in Greenville to see if I could get

have it pointed directly at them as much as

in line to get in, particularly during the

my foot (and camera) in the door.

possible.

winter months. Oftentimes someone would

In the winter of 1993, this is where my

The first Attic show I photographed was The

recognize me with “Are you the guy that

concert photography started.

Stegmonds. The following week, it was The

made this poster?” It made me happy that

In January of that year, I set up a meeting

Amateurs, then Dillon Fence and Sidewinder.

not only the bands, but patrons of the club

with one of the club’s owners, Joe Tronto,

I developed an admiration and love for

and staff liked and appreciated my work,

inside the club, which at that time was

certain bands that I photographed them

and Tronto used some of the band posters

located at 209 E. Fifth St.

more than once. In fact, out of the 100-plus

to promote their return.

I had done some research and was full

shows I shot at The Attic between 1993 and

In early 1996, I started branching out and

aware of the venue’s history — how it

early 1996, more than a quarter of them

sought approval to photograph national acts

started upstairs from Fiddler’s Three in a

were acts I shot at least twice or three times.

at bigger venues. The first non-club shows

building owned by Bob Saieed (who just

Some of them (Dillon Fence; Cravin’ Melon;

I photographed that year were Amy Grant,

passed away in June) in the early 70s, then

Sex Love & Money; The Amateurs; Dahli

Alan Jackson and LeAnn Rimes in Raleigh at

moved to Fourth Street, was destroyed by

Llama and Egypt), I photographed every time

what is commonly known as Walnut Creek

fire in 1984 and then relocated to Fifth

they played.

Amphitheater. When I moved to Raleigh in

Street.

I consider the height of my photographing

2000, those shows and others in the area

At the time of my meeting with Tronto, I

shows during that time were the two

were more and more frequent — in fact,

had never been to The Attic — only heard

occasions Cry of Love performed at The

some of the bands that once played The Attic

stories of some of the great artists that

Attic — Jan. 29, 1994 and Aug. 11 of that

I was able to photograph in a larger venue

played there.

same year.

years later (Dave Matthews, Hootie & The

I was nervous. Honestly, I felt I was walking

The band was red hot and supporting their

Blowfish, The Allman Brothers, Great White

onto hallowed ground.

album “Brother.” I remember telling Tronto

and The Black Crowes, among others).

I pitched to Tronto my idea: to photograph

I would do whatever I had to in order to

I returned to this area in 2013, and I was sad

as many of the artists I could, then design

photograph them.

to learn The Attic closed in late 2001-early

small to medium-size posters of those

Joe relayed that information to the band,

2002.

artists and give them to the venue to

and I can recall meeting them backstage

Other clubs may have replaced it, but

advertise those artists when they returned

before the show. Lead singer Kelly Holland

nobody can replace the memories I have of

— all at my own expense.

graciously said, “Do whatever you want man.

The Attic.

Tronto seemed to like the idea but was

You’re cool.”

I look back with fondness and am honored

honest from the beginning. He suggested

The band allowed me to photograph both

and appreciative Joe Tronto gave me my

I give him a list of the artists I wanted to

shows, and while there may have been

start in music photography and those bands

photograph in advance and then he would

others with cameras in the club, I was the

allowed me to work with them.

submit my requests to them for approval.

only one in the photo pit — the area between

It rocked, it rolled and I will never forget the

He said he didn’t expect any problems

the stage and the crowd. I could do whatever

experience.

from the regional touring bands, but that

I wanted and didn’t have to adhere to what

Fall 2020

Greenville: Life In The East

23

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