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ON THE TOWN The Courthouse Sessions return for the season.
8 BEYOND THE MUSIC Digging for musical gems during a pandemic.
table of contents
12 COASTAL CULTURE Shelley Tidd makes lyrical jewelry using ancient techniques.
2021 Chowder Fest cancelled amid COVID-19 restrictions The 2021Chowder Banks Fest planned for April 24 has been cancelled, according to a late January news release from the Outer Banks Seafood Festival’s board of directors. "Our desire was to bring a spring event to compliment the fall Outer Banks Seafood Festival, however with the continued need for social distancing due to COVID-19, we didn’t feel we could provide the event in a manner that would be safe
for all involved with the festival as well as the attendees while trying to be compliant with the state protocol for large gatherings." said 2020 Outer Banks Seafood Festival Chair Richard Hess. The 2021 Outer Banks Seafood Festival is being planned for Oct. 16 at the Soundside Event Site in Nags Head. Visit outerbankseafoodfestioval.org for information and updates.
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NATURE WISE Summer’s right around the corner. Learn how you can help promote dolphin conservation.
22 INNER BANKS Shine On Juicery to set up shop in Kill Devil Hills.
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COVER STORY Cape Hatteras Nation Seashore, guardian of an unspoiled shoreline. COURTESY PHOTO
CORRECTION Scott “Pickles” Lawlor’’s last name was misspelled in the Jan. 1, 2021 edition of the Coast (page 15, Inner
Banks feature “How some are shaking off a very bad, no-good year.”)
BREAK OUT THE MARKERS
S U R F
•
S UP
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ORDER YOUR SPRING BOAT VEROCK/GETTY IMAGES/ISTOCKPHOTO
Get ready to draw! Take a relaxing break and kick back with the Coast’s coloring page. Find a full-page version of this beauty on PAGE 39.
ABOUT COAST For more than 30 years, COAST has been the go-to source for information about the people, places, and things that make the Outer Banks one of the top destinations on the East Coast. The publication shines a spotlight on locals who are making their mark, and it provides current information about the latest happenings that should not be missed — from music and art, to food, festivals, fishing, and more. COAST. All local. All the time. EDITOR Victoria Bourne, victoria.bourne@ pilotonline.com, 757-222-5563 CONTRIBUTING WRITERS
John Harper, Sam Harris, Maggie Miles, Mary Ellen Riddle, Scott Sechman, Ben Swenson, Jessica Taylor ADVERTISE WITH US Find out how you can engage more readers with an integrated marketing program. John "Ski" Miller, media sales manager, ski.miller@virginiamedia.com; Elizabeth Cato, senior account executive, elizabeth.catoe@ virginiamedia.com HOW TO GET YOUR NEWS OR EVENT IN COAST Do you have an event coming up that’s open to the public, or an idea for a story? If so, we’d like to know. Contact victoria.bourne@
pilotonline.com. THINGS TO KNOW During the summer season (May-August), when Coast is a weekly publication, information must be submitted at least 10 days in advance of an event. During the shoulder season (September-October), when Coast is a monthly publication — with the exception of November-December and January-February, when two months are combined — information must be submitted at least 14 days in advance of an event. WANT TO KNOW MORE? For more information, visit coastobx.com; facebook.com/CoastOBX
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6 Friday, March 5, 2021 THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
ON THE TOWN
The Courthouse Sessions return, plus new music from Laura Martier
By John Harper Correspondent
March 9, 23 and 30
Courthouse Sessions The COVID-19 shutdown last spring left a lot of musicians struggling to find work. So, the Dare County Arts Council jumped in to help, launching a virtual performance series called The Courthouse Sessions. “It was mostly to support local artists,” says Chris Sawin, the council's executive director. “But I think we put Manteo on the map.” It also gave folks at home an opportunity to hear live music and, maybe, discover some new sounds, he adds. “We had people watching from Raleigh to California,” she says. The series name was a nod to the council's 100year-old building in Manteo that was once the Dare County Court House. Financial assistance was provided by the Town of Manteo and several local businesses. “It was very much a community thing,” says Sawin. Musicians from various camps – rock, bluegrass, folk, jam, country and even opera – played hourlong sets on the council's Facebook page, which featured a virtual tip jar. Some performed from home; others played in the council's second-floor gallery. The Rea Family, Natalie Wolfe and Tshombe Selby were among those to appear. The series took a short hiatus, but it's back. Performers in March include Nu-Blu, Ed Tupper and Friends and Gypsea Souls. Nu-Blu is an acoustic duo made up of husband-andwife Daniel and Carolyn Routh that “bends the boundaries of bluegrass,” according to the pair’s slo-
COURTESY PHOTO
Laura Martier, 58, spent last June writing new music. “It just flowed,” she says.
PHOTO COURTESY PICASA
Gypsea Souls features Amanda Williams and Brad Privott.
gan. With Carolyn on upright electric bass and vocals and Daniel on guitar and vocals, Nu-Blu mixes upbeat originals and covers, including some reimagined 1980s rock tunes. Ed Tupper is an inventive bass player who's comfortable in rock, jazz and funk genres. His “friends” include drummer Josh Martier and guitarist-vocalist John Saturley. The trio, according to Tupper, will offer a set of originals and offbeat covers. Gypsea Souls – Amanda Williams on vocals, keyboards, mandolin and ukelele and Brad Privott on guitar and vocals – traffic in inventive, harmony-filled remakes of classic rock
(Fleetwood Mac, Tom Petty), rhythm-and-blues (Otis Redding, Sam Cooke) and “outlaw country” (Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson) tunes. What: Courthouse Sessions Who: Nu-Blu, March 9, Ed Tupper and Friends, March 23; and Gypsea Souls, March 30 Time:: 8 p.m. Where: Dare County Arts Council Facebook page Cost: Free, but there is a virtual tip jar Info: 252-473-5558, darearts.org New Music — Laura Martier: “Diving for Light” Laura Martier is reluctant to use the word “chan-
neling” to describe her songwriting process last June. But the Southern Shores-based singer-songwriter was inspired, writing a song every day for a month. “It just flowed,” says Martier, 58, who's performed on the Outer Banks since 1989. “With the pandemic, I had time to digest my feelings.” The result of the writing spurt is the seven-song album “Diving for Light,” released in January on the major music platforms (iTunes, Spotify, Bandcamp, etc.). A CD should be available in March. Surprisingly, it's Martier's first solo album of all-original material. Known for her unique interpretations of tunes by artists ranging from George Gershwin to Patsy Cline to Aretha Franklin, the singersongwriter has found her own voice on the atmospheric and meditative “Light.” Produced by guitarist Matthew Wentz (of the local band Zach Mexico), who also plays on the record, it's both celebratory and cerebral, with swirling sonic textures surrounding Martier's earthy, unadorned voice. Martier's husband Dan (a
member of TR3) and son Josh (of Zach Mexico) played drums on every track; Ed Tupper contributed melodic, spacey bass lines. Her nephew Santos Sharma, who lives in New York City, contributed haunting tenor saxophone solos, and Portland, Oregon-based Dylan Hayes provided the keyboard fills. Lindsey Dilworth added essential harmonies. “It felt so natural,” says Martier of the recording process, which took place at a rehearsal space in Kitty Hawk. “Very organic.” Standout tracks include the Joni Mitchell-ish “Permission, “where Martier explores isolation, singing, “Hold the Child within me and give it love like no one else.” On the probing, midtempo “Full Heart In,” Martier gets in touch with her inner Sarah McLachlan, asking, “Where is peace/ where is joy/how do we hold on when suffering surrounds?” She celebrates sisterhood on the torchy, gospel-infused “Amazing Woman,” and evokes inner strength on the album’s title track, which she describes as “tribal”; it benefits mightily from her son and husband's
hypnotic drumbeats. She asks other weighty questions about love, peace and the earth on “Diving for Light,” but she says the answers should come from the listeners, who, like the singer-songwriter, may be trying to figure out how to navigate a pandemic and uncertain times. “We can create the world we desire,” says Martier. “It's in all of us – imagination.” For more information about Laura Martier and the album “Diving for Light,” visit martiersoundmeditation.com. John Harper has been covering the local entertainment scene for The Coast and Virginian-Pilot since 1994. He’s also written hundreds of stories on subjects ranging from history to sports and food. Harper is longtime radio broadcaster and program director on the Outer Banks and can be heard from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday and Sunday on the local Triple A outlet WVOD-99.1-The Sound. He’s the host of the popular Saturday morning flashback feature “10 at 10” and is also an award-winning wedding D.J.
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BEYOND THE MUSIC
COURTESY PHOTO
Scott Sechman has been spending time going over his old music and rediscovering the gems — and the duds — from his past.
Digging deep for inspiration during lockdown Writer and musician Scott Sechman dives into his past during the pandemic See Music, page 9
Being a columnist that writes about music in a time when live music has essentially disappeared presents a conundrum. Like all I need in my life is another conundrum. In normal times during the height of the Outer Banks offseason, finding a venue offering live music is not impossible. My personal favorite is Art’s Place Bar & Grille in Kitty Hawk, a lovely multicolored building on the beach road that features the best darn burgers in seven counties. Normally you can catch Joe Mapp coordinating his Coordinates and Monte Hooker hosting open mic nights — both musicians are institutions for us locals. But even Art’s has gone dark, musically speaking, this winter. The burgers, however, live on. That’s not to say there aren’t other venues on the beach, but how does one justify going into a restaurant or bar to hang out and listen to music when the rituals observed just going to buy groceries make you look like a member of a hazmat team. Being holed up and hunkered down presents its own challenges. My lady now works from home. Her daughter returned from Brooklyn last March. At the time the New York City area was reeling from COVID-19 and she needed safe harbor. For the most part, all three of us are together, in close quarters, 24-7. Many of us know what it’s like living with strongwilled, opinionated people — sometimes it’s best to keep your head down, mouth shut and nod. But it sure is hard when you, yourself suffer from the same personality trait. My musical colleagues on the Outer Banks are busying themselves in various ways. The aforementioned Mr. Hooker is perpetually streaming music online. He’s devised a very cool
and excellent sounding home venue and over the course of the pandemic, as weather allowed, has invited musicians to perform. The songwriters are writing. The ones bold enough to play live shows are gigging when they can. Others, like Hooker, are streaming. Me? Crickets. I need to get busy doing something. Anything. Given my lifelong love, perhaps my new endeavor should be music related? Meaning that it hasn’t been a primary focus of late. A Boomer slacker, I’ve been. My first album was recorded in fits and starts over the course of 30 years, and in my 50 years trying to be a songwriter, I’ve written a load of songs. Some are even decent, even borderline good. I realized decades ago I wasn’t going to write a Top 100 hit, but still I endure because who knows? Much like the lottery, in which the odds of winning are better than writing a No. 1 song, if you don’t play, you can’t win. I’ve decided to take all of the songs, fragments of songs or just ideas that I have digitally collected over the course of 30-plus years to try to produce my second album. But as soon as this project began, I realized what a daunting process it is. A constant swapping of ancient hard drives looking for some version of some unfinished ditty that I don’t even remember writing. Some make me cringe.
Other times I’m pleasantly surprised, but that’s not happening as often as I hoped. It’s like cleaning out a stuffed storage room or garage, there just might be a treasure in there. The problem is digging deep enough before getting disheartened. In the olden days, I hurdled headlong into recording projects like there was no tomorrow. Gotta get it done and move on to the next thing. Now that my youthful sense of immortality has given way, the realization that there may not be a tomorrow looms larger. I feel like the last 10 months have been wasted waiting for some sort of COVID miracle to occur. The future seems to hold a bit more reason to be optimistic, but these woods have proven to be deep and dark. We’re all stumbling through the best we can, hoping for a clearing ahead. And sunlight. In the meantime, I’ll be upstairs; headphones on, trying to convert what was once inspiring into something more than just orphaned, inchoate musical ideas. Wish me luck. Transplanted to the Outer Banks from the wilds of the L.A. area, singer-songwriter Scott Sechman has shared stages with Bill Medley, Tom Rush, Al Wilson and the Grass Roots during his ongoing music career. He has also contributed to Mojo and various online outlets.
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THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT Friday, March 5, 2021
Continued from 8
My first album was recorded in fits and starts over the course of 30 years, and in my 50 years trying to be a songwriter, I’ve written a load of songs. Some are even decent, even borderline good. I realized decades ago I wasn’t going to write a Top 100 hit, but still I endure because who knows? Much like the lottery, in which the odds of winning are better than writing a No. 1 song, if you don’t play, you can’t win.
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MUSIC
Friday, March 5, 2021 THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
10
JENNETTE’S PIER
Free Wi-Fi, Waves to Water challenge ramp up By Daryl Law
Jennette’s Pier
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A newly launched North Carolina initiative provides free wireless internet access in the parking lot of Jennette’s Pier thanks to the state Department of Natural and Cultural Resources. The Park and Learn project is part of a broader NC Student Connect program that aims make the internet more accessible to students in rural areas. Just look for the blue and gold Student Connect placards. The free Wi-Fi can also be accessed at the North Carolina Aquarium on Roanoke Island. “It’s important to be as supportive as we can at a time when students need resources during this pandemic,” said Larry Warner, the aquarium’s director. “This is exactly why Jennette’s Pier is here,” said pier Director Mike Remige, “to help educate the public” In another venture created to build connections for children to fishing, 60 young anglers will receive their First Fish Certificates in the mail from their 2020 catches on the pier. The program is run by Jennette’s visitor services team and administered by Lynn Fox. This spring, visitors may notice new blue fish replacement tiles embedded in fresh planks on the pier’s north ramp. Maintenance tech Sammy Thornton has kept busy rotating out the old cracked and broken tiles. A host of additional maintenance projects are also underway with hopes of having them completed by May 21, when Jennette’s recognizes its 10th anniversary since its 2011 “rebirth.” The pier dates to 1939. Battered by storms over the years it was rebuilt several times but was more or less destroyed by Hurricane Isabel in 2003 when the storm roared through the Outer Banks, lopping 500 feet off
COURTESY PHOTO
Maintenance tech Sammy Thornton has kept busy rotating out the old cracked and broken tiles at the pier
the wooden pier’s end. Jennette’s was rebuilt to the tune of $25 million and reopened in 2011, longer, taller and wider. In April, the pier’s partners at Coastal Studies Institute plan to conduct a deployment of a mock wave-powered desalination device with a crane in preparation for the Waves to Water DRINK stage competition to be hosted at Jennette’s in 2022. Sponsored by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, this Made in America Challenge pits innovative designers in
a cash competition to create a device that uses wave action to produce drinking water. Celebrating its 10th anniversary since reopening in 2011, Jennette’s Pier in Nags Head offers year-round world-class fishing and educational opportunities along the beautiful Outer Banks of North Carolina. The pier is open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. every day during the winter season. Jennette’s is the fourth facility in the N. C. Aquarium Division of state Department of Natural and Cultural Resources.
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THE SANDBAR
Sage advice on the Ledger of the Deep By Sam Harriss Correspondent
I have this candlelit image of a man sitting in his boat shack, juniper walls aged with salt spray, buoys and netting hang from the rafters. He sits stoic, pen in hand, dreaming of the perfect woman — the woman for whom he will name his boat. It's a hell of a decision, weightier even than the naming of a first child. It is Hamlet holding Yorick’s skull and contemplating death, it is Alice sitting on a toadstool deciding the right potion, it is your life and the lives of others to come after, a rite of passage for every captain and a task not to be taken lightly, for to wish a name change is to wish the unfathomable — to sleep with the fishes.
A boat’s name must withstand time and live up to the gilded letters painted with careful precision on teak, like the tile mosaics of the Vatican. It should be something you’re willing to sink or swim with when noted in your eulogy. I’ve had a boat named after me and in turn have named a boat. I’ve even requested removals from Poseidon's scroll, which holds the name of every boat that ever sailed the seven salty seas. And let me share some wise words of wrathful waves to the wharf men of our world: You hope never to have to go to Poseidon’s lair and kindly ask for an edit to the Ledger of the Deep. So, burn the Fishin’ Fools keychains, koozies and tchotchkes, and erase the name on land. Light candles and hold a
no-wake-zone vigils to appease Triton. And for everyone’s sake, try to pick a decent name, a name we can all toast, because the last thing you want is your headstone to read: Capt. Dan passed during a fatal Bow Movement adventure at sea.
Sam Harriss is the owner/founder of Camp Cocktail, a mobile bartending business on the Outer Banks. When she’s not slinging drinks from the window of her remodeled 1969 Shasta camper trailer, you might find her nosedeep in a good book, a sleeping dog by her side.
A Sailor’s Sage Advice Ingredients 4 ounces fresh grapefruit juice 2 ounces vodka or gin ½ ounce sage syrup* 2 ounces soda water Fresh sage leaf for garnish Preparation Add grapefruit, syrup and liquor to a shaker with ice. Shake then strain into a tumbler over fresh ice. Top with soda water and the sage leaf. *For sage syrup: Add 1-to-1 sugar water and a bunch of torn sage leaves to a saucepan. Dissolve the sugar over medium heat and then let steep for an hour. Strain.
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THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT Friday, March 5, 2021
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12 Friday, March 5, 2021 THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
COASTAL CULTURE
Tidd makes jewelry using time-tested technique By Mary Ellen Riddle Correspondent
For Shelley Tidd. creating chain mail jewelry is a holistic experience that marries body, mind and intuition. Unlike Medieval soldiers who wore chain mail garments to protect their bodies during battle, Tidd employs the ancient blacksmithing art to create body adornment. Guided by intuitive feelings, with an origin that Tidd shows by placing her hand above her heart, the Buxton artist fashions metal jewelry such as necklaces and bracelets. “I love the process of doing it,” says Tidd of the craft that can find her working with tiny parts while juggling multiple tools at the same time. Some of her chain mail designs, which can use Byzantine and Persian patterns, have their roots in antiquity. The earliest examples of chain mail found in Slovakia and Romania date to the third century B.C. Ancient chain mail is believed to have originated with the Celts. Resembling a modern knitting pattern, it was formed into flexible, protective garb using metals such as iron, brass and steel. But the work is not as forgiving as knitting where you can tug on yarn and unravel a section. Tidd says once past a certain point in the design, it is a difficult task to undo errors, so focus is essential. Chain mail is formed by linking metal rings to form patterns called weaves. Twenty-first century artists, like Tidd, use jump rings, a common
metal ring used in jewelry design. The 65-year-old has mastered 10 weaves thus far and is charged by both process and outcome. “It makes me feel so good,” she says. “And when I am done … oh my god, that is so cool.” Modern uses for chain mail other than jewelry design include wearing it as protection in occupations such as butchery, oyster shucking, scuba diving, animal control and high voltage electrical work. The goal is to avoid stabs, cuts, bites, flying shrapnel, splashes and electric shock. Chain mail also evolved to be used decoratively and as a symbol of status by the military and still appears on epaulettes worn by the British Territorial Army. Today’s artists create chain mail jewelry, wall hangings and sculpture. Hundreds of weave designs exist that bring variety to the creations. Mix and match them, use different colors and sizes of aluminum and brass jump rings – generally ranging from 5 to 9 millimeters – and you have endless possibilities. The metallic ring colors include turquoise, cobalt blue, red, copper, yellowgreen, emerald green, black and silver. The flexibility seen in the ancient wear plays a more lyrical role in jewelry design. Necklaces can safely move and sway, adding motion to their allure. Tidd’s work is stunning and meticulously crafted. Yet her studies are ongoing. A former ceramic artist, she is no stranger to the arts. See JEWELRY/Page 13
MARY ELLEN RIDDLE/FREELANCE
Some of the jewelry Shelley Tidd makes using a medieval blacksmithing technique.
She also created bead jewelry before moving on to chain mail. The latter venture began by poring through chain mail books. If she got stuck on a project, she clicked on YouTube and watched designers create. Then, she would work for weeks to master the design, attaching jump rings in an overlapping pattern. “I just love chain mail,” she says, “how it looks, the fact that I can look at it after I made it (and) I know how I made that. Her designs are enhanced by adding beads, intriguing clasps and charms to the woven metal chains. Tidd sets the stage by laying out all the accoutrements on a mat in steps from the beginning of the process to the end to see what color rings go together, which clasp fits the look, and what beads enhance the overall design. Again, it is all about what “feels” right.
MARY ELLEN RIDDLE/FREELANCE
Shelley Tidd showcases her handmade jewelry. ”I love the process of doing it,” says Tidd.
On one piece she may want a charm to take center stage while the woven chains play supporting parts. In another piece, the chains get the most focus and can have no charm additions. It can be a dance of contrasts pairing all the components. Some addi-
tions are matte, some shiny. Some are simple, others ornate — from a turquoise glass bead or a Swarovski crystal to a fancy fish clasp or plain circle clasp called a lobster claw. Weaves can be boxy; others are more rounded. A single necklace or bracelet
can have one or multiple chains therefore controlling the width of the piece. The chains are connected by wires – their colors another consideration. Think brass, bronze, gold, silver and gun metal, to name a few. One necklace can have as many as 300
More info Check out Tidd’s creations on Facebook under Pony Boy Fine Handcrafted Jewelry or call 252-216-8300 for more information.
me with that,” says Tidd, a programmer at Radio Hatteras where she puts together solo shows and co-programs a third by arranging songs. “I pick the next song by how it feels. It all comes down to mood.” Tidd currently has 200 chain mail jewelry pieces in her eclectic online portfolio. She says she feels lucky to have something that inspires her. “It’s something that gives me so much energy.” Mary Ellen Riddle has been writing the Coast’s art column for more than 27 years and brings to her work a BFA in painting from East Carolina University and a profound passion for the role the arts play in society.
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THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT Friday, March 5, 2021
Continued from 12
jump rings. “I get my own ideas from my own stuff,” Tidd says of how inspiration strikes. “The more you do, the more ideas you get.” Gifted with a keen sense of color, Tidd prefers working with contrasting hues such as pairing copper with cerulean jump rings and turquoise with gold. “It’s kind of like music,” she says, likening it to individual instruments coming together to form a unified song. Generally, Tidd wants her eyes to take in all the parts as a whole. But sometimes, she likes to direct the orchestra and feature solos. She will then strategically place an eyepopping charm to create a focal point or uses a subtle one to play a quieter role. This compositional dance and visual expression go on for about three hours depending on the complexity of the design. She may start several projects and go back and forth between them depending on her mood and patience. “The radio station helps
13
JEWELRY
14 Friday, March 5, 2021 THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
FYI
General beach driving rules
I
t’s fun to cut loose and drive on the sand in an off road vehicle — it’s the closest we, humans, can come to feeling like one of the wild mustangs that gallop on the northernmost beaches of Currituck County. But unless rules are followed, driving on the same beaches as those magnificent beasts can be dangerous for the driver, passengers and the horses. It’s important to understand the law — and the unspoken agreement between human and animal. Unless otherwise marked, speed limits are 25 mph and 15 mph or slower near the horses, pets, wild animals and other people. The speed limit on Hatteras and Ocracoke islands (Cape Hatteras National Seashore) is 15 mph. Here are some other important rules of the off-road world: ■ Watch for fishing lines and children playing. ■ Stay at least 50 feet away from wild horses. ■ Never drive on dunes or vegetation. ■ Obey all posted signs. ■ Park perpendicular to the water in the middle of the beach. ■ Traffic flows near the shoreline and dunes, with parked cars sitting between. ■ Tow straps, shovel, spare tire, jack and jack board are recommended, and sometimes required to be in the vehicle. ■ Open containers of alcohol are prohibited in vehicles ■ Drivers need to have a current, valid driver’s license ■ Avoid driving or parking on the wrack line. The wrack line is a line of accumulated natural debris left by a previous high tide. Wrack lines are an important food source for birds. ■ Pedestrians always have rightof-way on the beach For more information, contact the Outer Banks Visitors Bureau at (252) 473-2138 or visit outerbanks.org. Following are general beach driving rules in each area (check with each town for the latest information):
Corolla
Driving permitted after the paved road ends heading north through Corolla. Beach driving is also permitted from Oct1-April 30 at designated beach accesses. Speed limit 25 mph unless other-
Beach driving tips
FILE PHOTO
Jamie Trent goes four-wheeling on Ocracoke Island in his 2015 Land Rover LR4 with his wife Tammy and the couple’s granddaughter, Kardigan.
wise marked.
Duck
Vehicles are not permitted on our beach between May 1 and September 30. Vehicles are permitted during the other months of the year using designated private vehicular access points. There are no public access points for vehicles within the town. Driving on the dunes is prohibited at all times. ■ (252) 232-2075 ■ co.currituck.nc.us
Southern Shores No driving permitted.
■ (252) 261-2394 ■ southernshores.org
Kitty Hawk
No driving permitted
■ (252) 261-3552 ■ townofkittyhawk.org
Kill Devil Hills
Driving permitted Oct. 1-April 30 (some areas may be closed to driving due to beach erosion and unsafe conditions). Speed limit 25
mph unless otherwise marked. ■ (252) 449-5300 ■ kdhnc.com
Nags Head
Oct. 1-April 30, a beach driving permit needed ($25) Available at the Nags Head Town offices and many tackle shops. Speed limit 25 mph unless otherwise marked. ■ (252) 441-5508 ■ townofnagshead.net
■ Drive only on that portion of the beach which lies between the foot of the dunes and the ocean. ■ Proceed with caution and con-
sideration for other beach users; open containers of alcohol are prohibited in vehicles; your vehicle must have a state road registration and valid license plate; the operator must have a current driver’s license.
Hatteras Island to Ocracoke Cape Hatteras National Seashore
■ The use of off-road vehicles (ORV) on the beaches along Hatteras National Seashore is permitted year-round, with some limitations. An off-road vehicle permit program has been in place since 2012. A 10-day permit is Driving an off-road vehicle available for $50 and an annual (ORV) on the beach can be fun permit costs $120. and adventurous, but where Driving in the Pea Island Refbeach driving is permitted, there ■ uge is strictly prohibited. are general rules to follow:
■ Standard speed limit is 15 mph, ■ Signs located at the various
and drops to 5 mph when driving within 100 feet of a pedestrian. ■ Enter and leave the beach only at designated, open ramps − never between or on the dunes
beach access ramps will state if driving is permitted on that particular area of the beach. ■ (252) 473-2111 ■ nps.gov/caha/
When pulling into the access ramp, you should decrease the air pressure in your tires to 20-25 pounds. In softer sand, you may need to go lower. When you lower the air pressure, it gives the tire a wider, softer foot print which causes the vehicle to ride higher on top of the sand instead of digging down into it. Be sure to inflate your tires when returning to the roadway. Driving with under-inflated tires can be dangerous. Drive at a slow, even pace. The maximum speed limit on all beaches is 25 mph. Trying to take off too fast will cause loss of traction and bury you to the axle. If this happens, it's time to break out the jack and shovel. Try to stay in the ruts made by other vehicles, unless they are deep enough to let you bottom out. The sand in these ruts is more compact than other sand. Avoid pea gravel beds Avoid areas of the beach that may be impassable at times of high tide. Park above the high tide line. if possible, but do not block other vehicles. In the event that you do lose traction, do not spin your wheels to try to dig out of it. It only takes a couple of pumps on the gas to sink you down to your axle. The best solution is to decrease your tire pressure, shift to low range, and back out of the rut you came in on before trying to proceed. Don't drive between parked vehicles and the shoreline (except in the area north of Corolla where the road to Carova Beach is on the beach itself and the traffic lane is between the ocean and any parked vehicles. The speed limit for this area is 25 mph) Be sure and have the following items in tow: ■ Tire pressure gauge ■ Tow strap or rope (at least 14 feet long with a load strength of 20,000 lbs.) ■ Shovel ■ Bumper jack ■ Board sufficient to support base of jack (otherwise the jack may sink in the sand) ■ Flashlight ■ First-aid kit
By Jessica Taylor Correspondent
Even though the dolphins have left the sound for the winter, the Outer Banks Center for Dolphin Research remains busy crunching data, writing up results, and planning new projects for next summer. Pretty soon, we will be gearing up for our volunteer trainings to teach others how to assist with our dolphin research and educate others about dolphin conservation. As a nonprofit organization, volunteers are integral to the success of our organization. Our mission is to promote the conservation of bottlenose dolphins on the Outer Banks through research and education; neither of these goals would be possible without help. Every spring, we hold photo-identification trainings to teach volunteers the purpose and protocols of how we collect our boatbased photo-identification data on our local bottlenose dolphins. Surveys span from April through October, although we plan to extend our survey effort this year into March and November. Each survey is conducted aboard our 17-foot Mako center console research vessel, the Li’ili’i Nai’a. A survey involves checking Roanoke Sound for dolphins and photographing the dorsal fins of the dolphins we see. Surveys are standardized, meaning they cover the same area every time, and range from 4 to 8 hours, depending how many dolphin groups we encounter. Over time, dolphins acquire notches and nicks on their dorsal fins; these markings make dolphins individually distinct. The photos we collect aboard our research surveys are cataloged to build a sighting history for every dolphin in Roanoke Sound. Many dolphins have only been seen by our research team once or twice; others such as Onion, Skylar and Fatlip,
COURTESY PHOTOS
Over time, dolphins acquire notches and nicks on their dorsal fins; these markings make dolphins individually distinct
have been seen on more than 30 occasions since we began our research in 2008. Volunteers participate in data collection as soon as our survey boat leaves the dock by searching for dolphins, recording sightings, and measuring environmental variables such as water temperature and salinity. Every piece of data we record on a group is linked to each dolphin and helps us answer questions such as how many dolphins summer on the Outer Banks and how water temperature affects dolphin health. Volunteers get to learn about the dolphins firsthand and contribute to our long-term monitoring study. Warm glassy days out on the water with clear skies and playful dolphins are a pleasure, and each survey is definitely a memorable experience. There’s also an education component to our mission to promote dolphin conservation. Although much of our outreach takes place at local festivals throughout the Outer Banks, programs have also been conducted for local schools and organizations, such as the Dare County Library. We also provide outreach at the annual Coastal Studies Institute open house, where our research space is located. Although the outlook for festivals this spring remains unknown, the need for education about our local dol-
phins is always there. Volunteers teach others about how we study the dolphins, what we have learned about them, and how people can contribute to their conservation. They also conduct dolphin crafts with children to teach about dolphins and their environment. All of our volunteer trainings will be held virtually this year. Our photo-identification trainings will be held via Zoom at 3 p.m. Saturday, March 6, and at 5 p.m. Wednesday, April 7. Our virtual outreach training will be held at 3 p.m. Saturday, March 20. To sign up for any of the virtual trainings, visit obxdolphins.org. Biologist Jessica Taylor is president of the Outer Banks Center for Dolphin Research. She has a Bachelor of Science in marine science from Rutgers and master’s degree in environmental management from Duke University. She has participated in field research studies of bottlenose dolphins, humpback whales, Steller sea lions and predatory fish in Florida, South Carolina, New Jersey, Alaska and Australia. In 2008, she incorporated the nonprofit Outer Banks Center for Dolphin Research, which is dedicated to conservation of bottlenose dolphins on the Outer Banks. For more info, visit obxdolphins.org.
Liah McPherson volunteers with and is a board member for the Outer Banks Center for Dolphin Research.
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THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT Friday, March 5, 2021
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NATURE WISE
16 Friday, March 5, 2021 THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
PHOTO COURTESY JULIA SCHER
Bridge played the wonderfully warm Grandpa in the classic comedy “You Can't Take It with You.” He died at the age of 68, and was a beloved member of the arts community.
The final bow
Remembering Don Bridge, 68, a veteran of the community theater stage By John Harper Correspondent
If there was an Outer Banks Theater Hall of Fame, actor, writer and director Don Bridge would be in it. For three decades, Bridge delighted audiences as a cast member of “The Lost Colony” and Theatre of Dare, mentoring many young thespians with whom he shared the stage along the way. Sadly, he was deprived of a final curtain call late last year when he died after undergoing surgery for a brain aneurysm. Bridge was 68. He is
survived by his wife, Lisa; son, Max; daughter, Alice; and two grandchildren, as well as hundreds of admirers. “He was royalty,” says Stuart Parks, Theatre of Dare’s president. “Don was just excellent on stage.” Bridge arrived in Manteo in the early 1990s to join “The Lost Colony,” the symphonic outdoor drama penned by playwright Paul Green that tells the story of the ill-fated 1587 English settlement on Roanoke Island. His wife also joined the cast as an actor-technician. The pair had owned and operated theaters in
Durham, N.C., before moving to the Outer Banks. He gave many memorable performances in a wide range of roles, including the lovable lush Old Tom, the stoic Father Martin and Ananias Dare, father of Virginia Dare, the first English child born in the New World. Bridge approached each with love and dedication, according to Lance Culpepper, the play's associate producer. “Don was kind, gentle and a grounding presence within the company,” Culpepper says. See DON/Page 17
COURTESY PHOTO
Known mostly for his comedic roles, Bridge, left, in 2019 gave a rich and nuanced performance in the two-character drama “Tuesdays with Morrie” alongside Tim Haas, right.
In recent years, Bridge was the Storyteller, who stands in the front of the stage to provide historical facts and tie scenes together. That role gave Bridge an opportunity to share the story he’d grown to know so well directly with the audience, Culpepper says. “They connected with him because of his genuine performance and welcoming demeanor.” The versatile Bridge also appeared in more than a dozen shows for Theatre of Dare, the Outer Banks’ purveyor of community theater since 1991. Sometimes he was a lead, other times supporting; he was always up for a challenge and displayed tremendous dedication to his craft. “What I really enjoyed was watching Don slip into a character like a comfortable sweater,” says Gail Hutchison, who directed
THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT Friday, March 5, 2021
Continued from 16
Bridge in the classic comedy “You Can't Take It with You” in which Bridge played the wonderfully warm Grandpa. “He disappeared and out came the essence of his role.” Bridge was both campy and sympathetic as Pseudolus in the farce “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum.” He was a perfectly snitty Felix Unger in “The Odd Couple,” and showed off his singing and dancing skills as Fagin in the musical “Oliver!” “Don was always onpoint,” says Parks, who shared a stage with Bridge dozens of times. “We could always depend on him to get us back on scene.” Known mostly for his comedic roles, in 2019 Bridge gave a rich and nuanced performance in the two-character drama “Tuesdays with Morrie.” Based on sportswriter Mitch Albom's best-selling memoir,BridgeplayedMorrie Schwartz, a college professor dying of Lou Gehrig's disease, also known as ALS. Tim Haas, who played Al-
17
DON
COURTESY PHOTO
Bridge, front row, far left, pictured with the 1998 Theatre of Dare cast of "The Fantasticks."
bom, recalls getting chokedup by Bridge during a table read of the script. “Don was so real when he was in character,” Haas says. “Having his guidance and friendship was a gift.” Bridge was also a respected guiding hand be-
hind such Theatre of Dare productions as “Godspell“ and “Annie,” which he codirected with Jimmie Lee Brooks III and his wife, Lisa, respectively. “He was unflappable,” says Lisa Bridge, who once portrayed Queen Elizabeth
I in “The Lost Colony.” “He just wouldn't let you fail on stage.” The Bridges, one-time Outer Banks’ toy store owners, were working on a two-person show called “Love Letters” at the time of Don’s death. The pair met
on stage in 1979 in San Antonio, Texas, and were married for 39 years. It was to be Lisa’s return to the stage after a long hiatus – a full-circle kind of thing for just the two of them. “He was the love of my life,” Lisa says.
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A 2017 Yom Kippur service at the Jewish Community of the Outer Banks. Services such as this began on 2004 for the OBX community.
Bringing the Jewish community together For nearly 20 years, this group has been making a space for worship By Maggie Miles Correspondent
For many years, Jewish people who lived and vacationed on the Outer Banks had few options when it came to observing their faith with others and celebrating high holidays. They could drive roughly two hours to attend services at synagogues in Norfolk or Virginia Beach or tap a rabbi from the Tidewater area to
head south to lead special gatherings. But members of the small local Jewish community thought they could do more to serve the needs of residents and visitors alike. And so, in 2004 the Jewish Community of the Outer Banks was born. Getting started required a little ingenuity, however. George Lurie, a retired engineer, had recently moved to the Outer Banks.
He’d trained as a lay leader at his former synagogue in Pennsylvania and was a natural fit for the new effort. “I can do that,” he recalls saying when he offered to fill the role he’s now held for nearly two decades. They rented a space from the Unitarian Universalist Congregation’s church on Herbert Perry Road in Kitty Hawk and acquired Reform Judaism prayer books from a synagogue in Kentucky that was updating its collection. The goal was to make Jewish people of different
backgrounds feel comfortable. Lurie says he found their Torah on eBay. “It was residing in San Antonio, Texas, but it came from Israel,” he says, adding that it had originally been in an Israeli-built settlement in Gaza that the Israelis vacated as part of a post-war agreement. Traditionally the Torah ark — the ornamental cabinet or chamber that houses the holy scrolls — is built into a synagogue. The Jewish Community of the Outer Banks’ ark was a gift from Gomley Chesed, a synagogue in Portsmouth that
was closing. It’s 75 years old. The group painted it blue and white and attached a base and legs to make it easier to roll out for services. The eternal light, which typically hangs above the ark, is attached with an adjustable support system. “When you come from a congregation of 500 people you might say, ‘What is that?!’” says Lurie. Lurie has always skewed a bit nontraditional. Before moving to the Outer Banks and becoming lay leader of the Jewish Community, he had left the Jewish religion for about 23 years. But he
felt called to return. He married a Presbyterian woman and when their children were around 10 and 8, the couple told them it was time to go to church. The children could pick Jewish or Presbyterian, he recalls telling them, but “nothing” was not a viabl option. “So, my daughter, who was older, liked me more and became Jewish. And my son, who liked my wife more, became Presbyterian,” says Lurie. “My daughter went all the way through See JEWISH/Page 19
19 THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT Friday, March 5, 2021
COURTESY PHOTOS
Left: George Lurie leads a service in Rodanthe. Right: Hanukkah services at the Jewish Community of the Outer Banks in Kitty Hawk.
JEWISH
Continued from 18
to the bat mitzvah and even took a trip to Israel, and my son got baptized and confirmed.” Now, after 17 years as lay leader for the community on the Outer Banks, Lurie has only missed four services, and one of those was to attend his daughter’s wedding. Jane Vercruysse has been a member since 2005 when she retired with her husband to Avon from Virginia Beach. “It has been wonderful having George as the lay leader of our congregation and always having monthly and holiday services available to me,” she says. “I
think it is very important for the Jewish population of the Outer Banks to be able to reach out to other Jews in the community, to be able to worship, and to be able to celebrate Jewish holidays.” Lurie says they have 44 members. Around 6 to 12 people attend services regularly with more coming out for high holidays, including up to 10 visitors to the Outer Banks from out of town. They don’t charge for services and everyone is welcome. In fact, they have two non-Jewish couples who attend. There are six regular members who travel from Rodanthe every month, so Lurie makes a point to travel down there twice a year to lead services. Services are held on either the third Friday or
Saturday of the month and for all the major holidays, Shabbat, Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Hanukkah, Passover, Purim and Yom Hashoah or Holocaust Remembrance Day. Holocaust Remembrance Day is especially poignant. In big cities, it’s a large community event that lasts 24 hours. Lurie says he knows he can’t expect people to be involved here like they would in larger communities, so a one-hour version of the ceremony is observed in conjunction with the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of the Outer Banks. David Morris, the Unitarian minister, reads half the service and Lurie reads the other half. Then they have people come up and recite names of Holocaust victims.
“So that’s a very powerful thing, and it’s different,” says Lurie. An Elie Wiesel Essay Contest, in which local middle and high school students are asked to reflect on topics related to the Holocaust, is part of the annual remembrance. Lurie says it’s important to engage young people in the history of the Holocaust and how it relates to what’s happening in the here and now. Inspired by the insurrection on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 and clothing worn by some displaying neo-Nazi slogans, this year’s essay topic is on the rise of anti-Semitism in the U.S. and worldwide, and what state and federal governments should do about it. “I’m curious to see what we’ll get,” says Lurie.
Students and their families are typically invited to the Holocaust Remembrance Day service in April where the students get to read their essays, but COVID-19 prevents that from happening this year. Lurie has also helped young people learn Hebrew and organizes volunteer opportunities at all seven food pantries on the Outer Banks. The congregation also has a small fund made up of membership dues that are donated at the end of each year to the local foodbanks. Lurie figures the Jewish population on the Outer Banks is around two-tenths of a percent, but no matter if you are Jewish or not, the story of the Jewish Community of the Outer Banks is a testament to faith and
the human spirit. “I look forward to doing this once a month, and doing the other things, because it seems like the right thing to do,” says Lurie. “It’s a great opportunity to keep Judaism alive on the Outer Banks, so from that viewpoint I take it very seriously.”
More info Due to COVID-19 restrictions, the Jewish Community of the Outer Banks’ services will be held via Zoom at 7:30 p.m. the third Friday of each month. Visit www.jcobx.com to learn more and look for @JCOBX on Facebook.
20 Friday, March 5, 2021 THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
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COURTESYPHOTO
Amy Landes is set to open her brick-and-mortar shop in the old Pit Surf Shop & Boardriders Grill located at 1209 S. Croatan Hwy. in Kill Devil Hills sometime in April.
Shine On Juicery to set up shop in Kill Devil Hills By Maggie Miles Correspondent
Amy Landes has always paid attention to the things she’s naturally drawn to, letting her curiosity lead the way. That’s how she found her purpose in life, she says: Helping people heal their bodies with healthy, vibrant, living foods. “I have always been curious about what gives a person good health, what makes a person healthy, because there’s got to be something to it,” she says. When curiosity met inspiration, she started Shine
On Juicery, offering coldpressed juice and plantbased food to a growing list of clients. And next month, she expects to be offering her creations to a wider audience when she opens her new store in the old Pit Surf Shop & Boardriders Grill in Kill Devil Hills. But her journey starts in a less obvious place. Growing up in Northern Virginia, and attending college at James Madison University, it hadn’t yet occurred to Landes that a career pursuing healthy foods could be her path. She majored in theater, but after graduating, she didn’t know what
she wanted to do. She considered moving to California, but her family had vacationed often on the Outer Banks, so she decided to move here until she figured out her next steps. That was in 2007. We all have that moment, that catalyst for change, that experience that leads us on a new trajectory. For Landes, it was having her daughter, Isla. “(That’s’) when I started my yoga practice and started saying, OK, I’ve always been really curious about health, but now I don’t just want to do this
for me, I want to do this for her, I wanna know more about it,” Landes says. She was also a foodie and had always been inclined toward vegetables. So, she started researching, and discovered the concept of plant-based, living foods and signed up for a two-week course at Living Light Culinary Institute in Fort Bragg, California. She wasn’t observing a plant-based diet at the time; she was just curious. “It was a culinary school, but the intent of the food was to give people their most vibrant health,” Landes says. She adopted the
plant-based diet for the two weeks she was there, and at the end she realized that she felt amazing. Turns out a lot of foods she was eating regularly didn’t really suit her. Dairy, for example, which she shocked her. “And that was the one thing I always said, ‘Well, I could never be vegan because I love cheese.’ I would eat a lot of (vegetables) but I would put a bunch of cheese on it and I thought I could never do without,” says Landes. “But the things I learned when I was there was how to make nut cheese and still create some of those umami fla-
vors and things that taste really yummy but without things that weren’t really good for me.” She returned to the Outer Banks and started selling plant-based, raw, nutrient dense food at pop-ups, markets, anywhere that sounded fun. When she learned about the juice cleanse trend, her curiosity was sparked again. She decided to start offering juice floods – what Landes calls her cleanses because the juice floods the body with nutrients over the course of a few days. See JUICERY/Page 23
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Amy Landes is the owner of Shine On Juicery, which offers cold-pressed juice and plantbased food to a growing list of clients.
JUICERY
Continued from 22 She experimented by making them for a group of friends, and it went so well, they started telling their friends about Landes’ juice floods. Word got around quickly. Each time Landes tweaked the recipes to make the juices more delicious and more satisfying for a day’s worth of nutrients. Before she knew it, she had all sorts of people requesting her juice floods. Buddy Falzon, 34, owner of Food Dudes Kitchen in Kill Devil Hills, was one of her early clients. “I was in a bad place eating wise,” says Falzon. “Most of these cleanses you do, they’re good for you but they do not taste that good; like, every single one of hers tastes amazing. That’s what blows my mind about it.
That’s why I’m always going to continue to do it.” Landes says the natural next step for Shine On Juicery was to open a brickand-mortar store and she has her sights set on debuting the new shop on Earth Day, which falls on April 22 this year. Located in the old The Pit Surf Shop & Boardriders Grill in Kill Devil Hills, she’ll offer juices, smoothies and paninis. But that’s not all. “I’m offering this food, but I also offer yoga,” Landes says. “(Because) it’s more than just the food. What it’s about is increasing the light, the light that starts from inside of you. …That’s what Shine On is, the things that I have found that increased the light within me (that) I want to share that with others … that’s my purpose.” Her current juice flood clients can’t wait. “I’m super happy to hear that Amy is opening a brick-
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More info Shine On juice floods range from $67 for a one-day to $200 for a three-day, according to its website. All juice floods are made to order and must be ordered in advance for pick up Tuesday through Thursday on the second floor at 1209 S. Croatan Hwy. Kill Devil Hills. Call 252-489-7864 and look for Shine On Juicery on Facebook. Visit shineonobx.com
and-mortar juicer,” says Jessica Thai, 22, of Kill Devil Hills. “We definitely need more accessibility to healthier options on the Outer Banks, and Shine On will be providing that.” “I’ve probably messaged her four or five times to see if its open yet,” Falzon says.
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CAPE HATTERAS NATIONAL SEASHORE AND THE
GUARDIANS OF AN
UNSPOILED
SHORELINE Frank Stick was foremost among a cast of influencers who ushered the national seashore from dream to reality.
F
rank Stick’s proposal was just as poetic as it was radical: “From the sportsman’s standpoint, no section could be more desirable,” he wrote of the Outer Banks in a 1933 editorial in Elizabeth City’s The Independent. “(A)nd for the seeker of rest and the opportunity to relax body and soul under the ennobling spell of the sea or in the peaceful solitude of sun-kissed sounds, I do not know where could be found a territory comparable to it.” Stick was aiming big. He envisioned a vast national park encompassing a hundred miles of ocean shoreline, a project, he wrote, “so monumental … and far reaching in its beneficent effect upon the people of the entire nation, that it must appeal to the imagination of every individual.” It took two decades for that revolutionary idea – a coastal national park belonging to the American people – to bear fruit. But once it did, Cape Hatteras National Seashore became the country’s first guardian of unspoiled shoreline, an oasis where the natural world intersects with the human desire to be there. Cape Hatteras National Seashore, or CAHA as it’s called, stretches some 70 miles along North Carolina’s Atlantic coast, from Ocracoke Island in the south to Bodie Island in the north. The National Park Service administers the seashore, comprised of more than 30,000 protected acres, in conjunction with two other
By Ben n Swenso
Outer Banks landmarks: Fort Raleigh National Historic Site and Wright Brothers National Memorial. Eight towns and three lighthouses – most notable among them Cape Hatteras, which celebrated the 150 anniversary of its first lighting in December – lay along the national seashore’s expanse. The notion of protecting beachfront had little precedent when Stick first floated the idea in the
Above: Cattle grazing at Cape Hatteras National Seashore, 1936. Opposite: Frank Stick, left, and son, David Stick, 1953 - Aycock Brown Papers, Outer Banks History Center, State Archives of North Carolina.
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1930s. Americans had a robust National Park Service by then, but only once had lawmakers halfheartedly protected waterfront – limiting logging along certain lakes and streams in Minnesota in 1930. Stick was foremost among a cast of influencers who ushered the national seashore from dream to reality, according to Dave Hallac, park superintendent. An avid outdoorsman and commercial artist, Stick moved to the Outer Banks as he neared an early retirement, drawn by the abundance of waterfowl and other wildlife. He soon became involved in local real estate development and was aware of the perils of rapid growth. “His love of conservation grew out of preserving natural beauty and the immensity and glory he saw in natural world,” says Samantha Crisp, director of the Outer Banks History Center. “He was good about setting aside a chunk of land to develop and a chunk of land to preserve.” Stick’s proposal found warm reception; however, the lean years of the Great Depression tempered the ebb and flow of policymaking. But the national crisis turned out to be a boon, too. The federal government, using the alphabet soup of agencies created by President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal, supported projects that employed Americans. And the Outer Banks had shovel-ready work. By 1936, transient workers and young men with the Works Progress Administration and the Civilian Conservation Corps began replacing sand dunes that had been lost to erosion resulting from overgrazing. The men built fences just beyond the reach of the ocean waves. These fences caught sand, and once enough had accumulated, grasses were planted to hold the dunes in place. All along, Stick was hard at work on the minutiae that would make his dream come true. He enlisted supporters and served on a commission created to explore
Above: A view of Cape Hatteras from the lighthouse, Cape Hatteras National Seashore, 1936. Left: Southern view from lighthouse, 1957.
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land acquisition for a possible national seashore. He finessed a land donation of more than 1,000 acres at Cape Hatteras, which the state of North Carolina turned into a state park. Officials with the federal government and the National Park Service took notice. The agency was already interested in the nearby sites where the Wright Brothers first launched powered flight and Fort Raleigh on Roanoke Island, where Englishmen first attempted settlement in the New World. The park service controlled the dune construction projects and was increasingly pursuing the idea of a seashore park. In 1937, Congress passed legislation that allowed for the creation of Cape Hatteras National Seashore, but the fight to make the park a reality was far from finished. Backers had to acquire land from numerous landowners, a complicated web of transactions. Some were willing to donate their property, while others sought fair market value, or trickier still, were unwilling to sell at all. As the drums of World War II beat half a world away, land acquisition efforts
continued, but a lot of the national energy was naturally focused overseas. Funding was also a perennial concern. Conrad Wirth, a senior-level National Park Service official, shepherded a gift from philanthropist Paul Mellon and matching funds from the state of North Carolina, securing the $1.25 million needed to finally acquire all the land. In January 1953, National Park Service officials cut the ribbon on Cape Hatteras National Seashore. Frank Stick died in 1966 and his son, David Stick, carried his father’s mantle, always advocating on behalf of the national seashore and, as an Outer Banks politician, historian, businessman and philanthropist, finding the right balance between development and conservation. David Stick’s donation of his library and papers led to the creation of the Outer Banks History Center in the 1980s. “Between the two of them, they had a hand in almost everything here,” says Crisp. Their concern for the land, epitomized by Cape Hatteras National Seashore, is an enduring legacy on the Outer Banks. “This is an interesting place to live and
there are strong opinions on either side of political spectrum,” says Crisp. “But there’s one thing everyone agrees on, and that’s environmental protections for the Outer Banks and the beaches.” For nearly seven decades, the primitive character of this stretch of seashore has been preserved and the plants and animals that call the barrier islands home have been protected, while compatible recreation within the natural environment has also been permitted. That’s sometimes a challenge, according to Hallac. “We are trying to manage for today’s generation and future generations a highly dynamic sandbar, and doing that with modern conveniences, paved roads and villages in between,” he says. “Barrier islands are living, breathing, changing and moving.” But that’s what’s wonderful about Cape Hatteras National Seashore, says Hallac, both for the park service stewards, and for travelers. “Every time you go there it looks different and that’s one of the things that’s beautiful about the seashore. Visitors come expecting change.”
Above: Old Cape Hatteras Lighthouse keeper’s quarters. Opposite: Frank Stick, sitting in boat, duck hunting near the Bodie Island Lighthouse - Stick Family Photographs, Outer Banks History Center, State Archives of North Carolina.
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And come they do, by the millions. June 2020 saw the second-highest attendance for the month on record, according to Hallac – nearly 400,000 visitors that month alone. Such an influx of people wanting to experience a natural shoreline brings its own set of challenges, especially when different groups have competing priorities. In the early 2000s, for instance, off-road vehicle management within the national seashore’s boundaries became a point of contention. The park service and other advocates of wildlife conservation sought to address growing numbers of off-road vehicles driving on the beach, which negatively affected populations of seabirds and turtles. After years of back-and-forth, with defenders of off-road access warning of economic disaster, the park service issued guidelines that called for permitting and restrictions on locations and time of day for beach driving. Hallac says that being as least-restrictive as possible, along with aggressive visitor education campaigns, has proven time and again to be the key to consonance. Brooke Skakle has been Outer Banks resident for most of her life and was a Hatteras Island lifeguard for 10 consecutive seasons. She’s now administrator of the Facebook page Friends of Cape Hatteras National Seashore and says that a lot of things draw people to
Above, l to r: Visitors enjoy the view from the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse balcony, 1955. Visitors gather on the beach, 1963. A sea cliff left behind after a storm near lighthouse, 1956.
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Here people appreciate that we’re not like the northern beaches. A lot of people come here from Jersey Shore beaches where they had to pay to go to the beach, only to sit shoulder-to-shoulder with other beachgoers.” - Brooke Skakle these beaches – the untamed scenery, the abundant recreational opportunities, and the wide-openness of a thin ribbon of land at the edge of an ocean. A big part of what makes Cape Hatteras National Seashore meaningful, she says,
is the freedom of escape. “Here people appreciate that we’re not like the northern beaches,” she says, meaning not only the more densely developed Kitty Hawk area. “A lot of people come here from Jersey Shore beaches where they had to pay to go to the beach, only to sit shoulder-to-shoulder with other beachgoers.” The national seashore, says Skakle, is a wild and thriving sanctuary that simultaneously nurtures the soul of the natural world and of humanity. Perhaps its most striking attribute is its ability to
transport people to a time and place that are rare anymore, a native landscape that’s a window to the past when humans weren’t so heavy-handed and nature tamed people instead of the other way around. “Coming to this seashore,” says Skakle, “is like stepping back in time.”
Left: Hatteras Island resident Brooke Skakle, courtesy photo. Right: Frank Stick’s map and proposal for the Cape Hatteras National Seashore Project - Frank Stick papers, Outer Banks History Center, State Archives of North Carolina.
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No matter your age, coloring is a great way to relax and unwind.
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Welcome to the Coast’s coloring page!