My Outer Banks Home - Summer 2019

Hatteras

Oyster Farmer Katherine McGlade page 4

Throwdown

Surf Classic

returns to Southern Shores

page 12

Oyster Wars of North Carolina a look back

Operation Fresh Air for pets

Summery Seafood Tacos recipes

National Lighthouse Day celebrate our beacons

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Contents PUBLISHER

Mary Ann Williams, Gene Williams

EDITOR

Greg Smrdel

ART DIRECTOR Sue Colao

GRAPHIC DESIGNER

feature 4

Kevin Groat

CONTRIBUTORS

Meaghan Beasley, James D. Charlet, Dave Fairbank, Steve Hanf, Alexi Holian, Katrina Mae Leuzinger, Rebecca Orr, Greg Smrdel, Kip Tabb

They Practically Sell Themselves Katherine McGlade, farming oysters in Hatteras Village

PHOTOGRAPHY / ILLUSTRATIONS

active life 12

The 11th Annual Throwdown Surf Classic Three local boyhood friends and their 1-day surfing contest.

12 healthcare 30

Cool Therapy Cap Treatment, Helping Cancer Patients Keep Their Hair New technology arrives on the Outer Banks.

Jenna Akers, courierjournal.com, Harper’s Weekly, Library of Congress, NC Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services, nightlock.com, NOAA Central Library, Outer Banks Hospital, Pea Island Preservation Society, Shutterstock, State Archives of Florida, Throwdown Surf Classic, Savanna Williams, wikimedia.com, wtkr.com

a look back

8

NC Oyster Wars

The battle of the Pamlico Sound.

16

Vintage Postcards of the Outer Banks A peek back to what we were sending via snail mail.

34

The U.S. Life-Saving Service Pea Island Cookhouse Museum History comes alive on the Outer Banks.

DISTRIBUTION Nick Leinweber

PUBLISHED BY

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Three Dog Ink, LLC cannot and does not guarantee the correctness of all information furnished them, nor the complete absence of errors or omissions, hence, no responsibility for the same can be nor is assumed. Three Dog Ink, LLC cannot and will not be held liable for the quality or performance of goods and services provided by the advertisers in this publication. Reproduction of any material from this publication is strictly forbidden without permission from the publisher.

Contents 28

obx community

20

I’m Just Sayin’

Quotes that Outer Bankers live their lives by.

38

Outer Banks On-Tap: The Best Craft Beers for Summer Take a trip down the beach with us to discover our favorite craft beers.

41

Celebrate National Lighthouse Day A fun and informative look at our local lighthouses.

pets & wildlife 28

Operation Fresh Air for Pets Local Fire Departments with technology for your pets.

25

38 education 22

Currituck Schools Safe with Nightlock Lockdown Devices Learn how one local student left a safe legacy for her school district.

recipes 25

Seafood Tacos Summer is here and these restaurants help you build the perfect seafood taco.

last page 44

“Release” The award winning poem by staff writer Rebecca Orr.

PHOTOS BY

STORY BY Kip Tabb NC Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services

Katherine McGlade and the Slash Creek Oyster

K

atherine McGlade is a farmer. An oyster farmer. But there isn’t all that much difference between how she raises oysters at her Slash Creek farm off Hatteras Village and any other land farmer.

SHUTTERSTOCK

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myouterbankshome.com | Summer 2019

She grows the oysters from seed. There are fast growers and slow growers and conditions are constantly changing.

“Nothing is ever the same. One year is different than the next year. One batch can be different than you plan,” McGlade said.

And then, there’s the weather.

“Of course there is the monster, the hurricane.” McGlade continues, “And not just hurricanes, but also other storms. Here on the Outer Banks we get a lot of really heavy nor’easters.

Sixty mile per hour winds sometimes more.”

“It’s very much like any farmer anywhere.

You’re growing food and you’re weather dependent,” she added.

McGlade, her husband Spurgeon Stowe, and three or four part-time workers, grow their crop of oysters on the surface of Slash Creek.

And when heavy weather comes, there is a lot of work to do quickly.

“All of our gear floats on top. You have to take it off and keep it refrigerated,” she explains.

Oyster farms that raise their crop on the bottom are not as affected by weather, but offbottom farming, like Slash Creek, has a number of advantages, including lower labor costs— they’re much easier to harvest—and have more control over environmental factors…other than the weather.

The Slash Creek farm is a far cry from the corporate world McGlade occupied for 25 years. And a far cry from her undergraduate degree in Chinese language.

katherine mcglade

|

FEATURE

“I felt I was tired of the corporate world,” she said. “And oysters and Hatteras seemed the perfect solution.

“I love salt water and I love being outside,” McGlade added.

My Outer Banks Home interviewed McGlade at her office, the front porch of a Hatteras house bordering Pamlico Sound. She, Spurgeon, and another worker, were transferring spat that had grown to be small oysters into two and three millimeter mesh containers.

It’s important to get the size right, she explained.

“If the gear is too big, the oyster will grow into it and keep growing into it, if that happens the gear and the oyster are ruined.”

In their new mesh homes, the young oysters are wheeled out to a waiting boat that will take them to the farm.

The journey from corporate America to her front porch began at the Duke University Marine Lab where she earned a Masters Degree in Coastal Environmental Management.

“The program they teach there is excellent, but it’s diversified. So you learn some biology and science, some policy, and some law. It gives you a broad picture of all things having to do with the ocean, and then you can specialize,” she said.

What McGlade decided to specialize in was oyster farming.

“I had studied a bit about the oyster industry in NC and I thought it was underdeveloped,” she said.

Citing “Maryland, Virginia, Connecticut and North Carolina…” she pointed out, “… were importing oysters from other states. I thought there was great opportunity here.”

Summer 2019 | myouterbankshome.com

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FEATURE

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katherine mcglade

Subaquatic vegetation (SAV) are the underwater grasses that thrive in the waters of Pamlico Sound.

They are an essential food for migratory waterfowl and a crucial habitat for spawning fish and crab.

As important as SAV is, the requirement made no sense. Oysters are an important part of a healthy estuarine system and in fact filter pollutants creating cleaner, healthier water.

Curious to know why a regulation that far exceeded any other state’s restrictions was on the books, McGlade asked the Corps of Engineers.

“They said to me, ‘We proposed it and they said it sounds good to us.’ They (state officials) didn’t really understand the practical implications,” she said.

Things began to change. Politicians and organizations pointed out the benefits of oyster farms.

“It’s good for the rural economy. It’s good for tourism,” McGlade explained.

“Various actors, one of whom was the North Carolina Coastal Federations, started to bring it to the attention to the politicians. Once the politicians got behind it, they started putting pressure on the Corps.”

In 2015 McGlade leased five acres in Pamlico sound and began farming her oysters.

The oyster both McGlade, and most other oyster farms use, is a triploid oyster—an oyster that is sterile.

They come from fertile parents who naturally produce sterile offspring—think of a donkey and horse producing a mule.

Oysters are an important part of a healthy estuarine system and in fact filter pollutants creating cleaner, healthier water.

Her belief was well-founded in the history of the oyster fisheries of the state. At one time, in the late 19th century, North Carolina’s oyster beds were some of the most productive in the United States. In 1897 almost 5.8 million pounds of oyster meat was landed. There are approximately 5.3 pounds of meat to the bushel. Doing the math, that would represent more than 30 million bushels of oysters.

By comparison the state’s 836,791 bushel harvest in 2017 seems paltry. The 1897 harvest, however, was not sustainable and was the high point of North Carolina oyster production. Within 10 years the harvest had fallen off to one third of that 1897 figure, and continued to fall throughout the 20th century.* Given the history of oyster harvests in the state, McGlade was right that a great opportunity existed, but there was one very major obstacle.

“It took us four years to get a permit. This state had a regional condition imposed on it by the US Army Corps of Engineers that said there was zero tolerance of subaquatic vegetation (disturbance),” she said.

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myouterbankshome.com | Summer 2019

“The reason we grow a sterile oyster is the reason why oysters were typically not eaten in the warm weather months. They were putting out so much energy to reproduce they were skinny.” McGlade continues, “But when they’re sterile, they never put out energy for reproductive material, so they stay fat and can produce 12 months a year.”

Her oysters reflect their environment. Slash Creek is close enough to Hatteras Inlet that the water is still salty. So the the oysters have a salty, slightly sweet flavor…a flavor that seems to be in demand.

“I can sell every oyster that I grow,” she said. “I was a little bit worried about that in the beginning. But they practically sell themselves.”

Next year I’ll probably be growing more than this year. We’ve been growing at a very thoughtful pace.

I would recommend that to anyone who gets into the oyster business. There’s lots of lessons to learn,” ³ Kip Tabb is a freelance writer living on the Outer Banks. He has covered a wide range of community interest stories as well as environmental and related topics.

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7

NORTH CAROLINA

Oyster

WARS The Battle for the Pamlico STORY BY

Dave Fairbank

STATE ARCHIVES OF FLORIDA

Armed confrontation, territorial disputes, financial gain, political maneuvering, habitat preservation – all over a small bivalve mollusk.

T

he so-called Oyster Wars of the 1880s and 1890s in the Pamlico Sound off of Ocracoke were a brief, intense period pitting local residents against outsiders. And on another level, opportunity against tradition and conservation.

The Pamlico Sound Oyster Wars weren’t as lengthy or violent as the identically named conflict in the Chesapeake Bay and in the waters off of Virginia – a battle between Maryland, Virginia and northern oystermen. That one lasted well into the 20th century. But it introduced issues that legislators and regulators and those who make their living working on the water still wrestle with today:

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over-harvesting, environmental sustainability, and the balance between commerce and resources.

Oysters have been harvested and eaten for generations by native populations on the North Carolina coast. Originally harvested by hand, European settlers began to make oyster tongs – long, wooden-handled, scissor-like instruments that removed oysters from underwater beds in mostly shallow waters.

Maryland oystermen working the Chesapeake Bay, which during the 1880s supplied almost half of all oysters consumed around the world, fashioned dredges that were pulled behind oyster sloops, or skipjacks, scouring the bot-

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS

nc oyster wars

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A LOOK BACK

NOAA CENTRAL LIBRARY

Left: Oyster pirates are depicted dredging at night. From “The Oyster War in Chesapeake Bay,” Harper’s Weekly, 1884; Right: In 1887, U.S. Navy Lt. Francis Winslow Jr. mapped Ocracoke’s oyster beds.

tom and bringing up thousands of oysters at a time, but also destroying oyster beds.

North Carolina law in the early 1800s required that oysters in state waters be harvested only by hand or tongs, though by 1855, dredges were permitted limited use on privately managed areas, wrote Ocracoke historian Philip Howard in a 2015 piece – the 1890 Ocracoke Oyster War. Oyster beds were worked mostly on a “first come, first served” basis until the late 1850s, Howard wrote, when the state legislature established a system for licensing and marking off coastal waters. Beds up to two acres were permitted, and the law was amended in 1873, allowing up to 10-acre sites. Finally, in 1882, all forms of oyster dredging were prohibited, in order to protect the interests of North Carolina watermen and the oyster breeding areas.

Howard went on to say that two years later, U.S. Navy Lieutenant Francis Winslow Jr., went to the Fishermen’s Convention in Raleigh and proposed a more robust, privately controlled oyster industry in the state. Given the goahead by administrators, he began a survey of oyster producing estuaries in April 1886, including the Pamlico Sound. The comprehensive 135-page report was completed in 1888 and published in January 1889 in the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey.

Demand for oysters increased through the 1880s, and in 1887 the state legislature, anticipating a commercial windfall, revised its oyster laws. Both residents and non-residents could stake claims to 640-acre sites in waters deeper than eight feet and more than two miles off shore. Dredging would be permitted on those sites, and owners of those sites were permitted to take seed oysters from public grounds for the purpose of planting on their claims. This is according to former High Point University history professor Kathleen Carter in a paper studying the Pamlico Sound oyster industry from 1880-1900.

Winslow’s report painted a tepid picture of the state oyster industry and said that public grounds were in poor condition and unimportant. Yet shortly after the report was published, he became general manager of the Pamlico Oyster Company in Ocracoke. He advertised in the New Bern Daily Journal in October 1889, seeking oysters and oyster sloops of one thousand bushels capacity. Residents surmised that Winslow sought to enrich himself with the

information he gathered rather than to help protect and manage local oyster beds. Winslow was part of a wave of oyster dredgers from Maryland and Virginia, who often didn’t adhere to territorial boundaries, and who could pull in as many oysters in an hour as a tonger could in an entire day, Howard wrote.

Tensions escalated between residents and non-resident dredgers, coming to a head in one incident in early February 1890. Approximately 40 Ocracoke natives confronted Winslow and his workers and forced them off of his oyster beds. The Wilmington Messenger published a short piece about the incident on February 5, 1890 under the headline “Civil War in Hyde County.” It began: “Ocracoke Island is in arms. Lieutenant Winslow and his oystermen have been driven from the waters before the muzzle of shot guns. It appears that Lieutenant Winslow, representing his company has been paying a certain price for oysters. The Virginia pirates came in and offered higher prices. Lieut. Winslow went to New Bern and hired a corps of oystermen. When they arrived the natives of Ocracoke Island, who have always considered the grounds theirs and have jealously guarded their prerogative, went out with shot guns and drove the lieutenant and his workman from the waters.”

The article also reported that Hyde County Sheriff J.R. Roper was called upon to arrest several of the Ocracoke islanders identified in the confrontation, but that the men resisted. When Roper ordered fellow islanders to assist in the arrests, “they absolutely refused and declared they would also resist to the death even if the whole state of North Carolina were to come upon them.”

According to Howard, Roper contacted Gov. Daniel Fowle and requested troops to suppress the rebellion. Fowle refused to send troops and said that local courts and law enforcement should handle the matter, but warned Ocracoke islanders that justice would be served. The islanders identified eventually turned themselves in, and a trial took place May 13, 1890 in Hyde County Court, pitting Winslow against five Ocracoke oystermen (B.B. Bragg, Samuel Bragg, Isaac O’Neal, Robert O’Neal, and Warren O’Neal). Though the islanders provoked the confrontation, Howard wrote, court testimony said that the islanders sought only “a peaceable interview.” It was established that both sides were armed, and both plaintiff and defendants pleaded self-defense. The jury acquitted the islanders.

Summer 2019 | myouterbankshome.com

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A LOOK BACK

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nc oyster wars

Meanwhile, the Pamlico Sound oyster harvest continued. In 1890, the sound produced 2.7 million bushels of oysters, compared to 100,000 bushels just three years earlier. The difference was that an estimated 250 dredging vessels from Maryland, Virginia, Delaware, and New Jersey were working the waters in 1890 and harvested 1.8 million bushels, according to a 1903 report by the U.S. Commission of Fish and Fisheries, and highlighted in Carter’s research paper. All 100,000 bushels in 1887 had gone to residents, and though the harvest for locals increased to more than 900,000 bushels in 1890, there was concern about depleted stocks and the long-term effects of dredging.

Complicating matters, the oyster harvest boon also meant a financial windfall for a handful of waterfront towns – Elizabeth City, New Bern, and Beaufort in particular. Elizabeth City had 12 oyster canneries in 1890, most opened by Baltimore-based companies, Carter wrote, and

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS

Above: Men gather oysters using tongs and “under difficulties.” Image: From Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper, 1879 Below: Oyster war engagement

one account said that 1,700 people out of the town’s population of 5,000 worked in those canneries. Because of this, legislators were in favor of the dredgers, and viewed them as progress.

Hyde County state senator Wilson H. (Wilkes) Lucas, an influential figure in the legislature, argued for the elimination of dredging in the Pamlico Sound, and protecting the rights of local oystermen, sometimes exaggerating or outright making up stories of violent and gun-toting northern dredgers, according to Carter. He marshaled legislation through the General Assembly in January 1891, over the protests of lobbyists and legislators from cannery towns, that prohibited all dredging on public grounds and restricted shipping oysters out-of-state to North Carolina residents only. The law also permitted the governor to use military force for a period of three months in order to remove illegal dredgers and out-of-state poachers.

Before signing the bill into law, Fowle scrambled to man and arm the patrol vessel Vesper. He called up the Pasquotank Rifles, state guard militiamen out of Elizabeth City, and borrowed a Howitzer and ammunition from the governor of Virginia. Once the gun arrived in Elizabeth City, Fowle signed the bill and the Vesper departed for the Pamlico Sound. The Norfolk Virginian reported on January 21, 1891 that, “One or two hundred vessels owned and manned by non-residents of this state, have been poaching upon the oyster beds in the lower sounds of North Carolina. … the Pasquotank Rifles … left on the steamer Vesper for the purpose of driving off the poachers and enforc-

“…if any dredgers are found continuing to ravage the oyster beds, they will be arrested, even if their boats have to be blown out of the water and their crews killed.”

–The Norfolk Virginian reporting on armed militia heading to the Pamlico Sound, January 21, 1891

HARPERS WEEKLY

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myouterbankshome.com | Summer 2019

ing the laws of North Carolina. … if any dredgers are found continuing to ravage the oyster beds, they will be arrested, even if their boats have to be blown out of the water and their crews killed.” That expedition and another out of New Bern the following month resulted in the arrest and trial of the captain and crew of only one vessel, as more than 200 out-of-state boats departed the area.

The General Assembly enacted new comprehensive oyster laws by March. Dredging on public grounds was outlawed, even by North Carolina oystermen. The season was restricted from October to May, and a new licensing system for oystermen was established. It also provided for culling of oysters taken from public grounds, Carter pointed out, so that large oysters would return to their beds to breed and to serve as anchors for immature oysters, or spat. The law also created an Oyster Commissioner with the power to patrol the Pamlico Sound.

Lucas was appointed the first Oyster Commissioner, at his own suggestion, while keeping his Senate seat. He administered the commission enthusiastically, Carter wrote, though unevenly and not impartially. Revenues from licensing and taxes were insufficient to maintain a patrol boat or to employ enough inspectors. Laws were rarely enforced on locals. In cases of

trespassing on private oyster beds, the courts often refused to prosecute, Carter wrote, and in cases where the state charged residents who tried to claim that public grounds were instead their own private oyster beds, defendants were often found not guilty.

Winslow and his business partner even filed formal charges against Lucas in 1892, Howard wrote, accusing him of inciting local oystermen and encouraging them to all but disregard laws pertaining to private oyster grounds. Winslow’s company still had controlling interest of a wide swath of oyster grounds and continued to dredge, Howard wrote, despite efforts to stop the practice.

But laws to prevent dredging were enforced more strictly, and the oyster canneries and processing plants that had sprung up in coastal towns closed.

Stricter law enforcement and the absence of out-of-state dredgers resulted in a steep decline in oyster harvests in the following years – only 40,000 bushels in the season of 1896-97, Carter wrote. In 1897, the state eased restrictions on dredging, in the belief that oyster grounds had recovered. The following season, the catch increased dramatically to more than 850,000 bushels. During the 1898-99 season, 115 dredge vessels and 950 tong boats worked the sound, Carter wrote, and pulled in a record 2.45 million bushels. A biologist who wrote reports for the U.S. Commission of Fish and Fisheries wrote that “new and extensive beds were discovered, and the supply of oysters seemed to be inexhaustible.” His observations were proven inaccurate just one year later, when the oyster harvest dropped 25 percent overall and 53 percent in areas that had been heavily dredged, Carter wrote.

By the turn of the century, out-of-state canneries and oystermen were no longer interested in the Pamlico Sound, Carter wrote, and though residents still made a living from the water, it never again reached the level of the 1890s. The Oyster Wars became a footnote in the area’s history. ³ Dave Fairbank was a reporter at the Newport News (VA) Daily Press for 30 years. He lives in Kill Devil Hills.

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STORY

Steve S IMAGE

BY

Hanf ESY

COURT

Surf wdown

Thro

Classic

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Summer 2019 | myouterbankshome.com

13

SPORTING EVENTS

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throwdown surf classic

out fun awards for things like “longest ride” or “coolest style” and “best tan.” He also remembered how it raised money for a good cause.

“We had a great day. We couldn’t stop talking about it,” Sherman recalls. “It stuck with me: ‘Man, I’d love to do this.’ I pushed it. I was like, ‘Why can’t we just do what they did here in Chicahauk?’ ” And so, in 2009, the Throwdown North of Town Surf Classic was born.

Granted, it wasn’t an instant classic. That first year saw about 35 people sign up to compete. The crowd to watch the event numbered around 60 people – mostly the moms and dads of the surfers. Breiholz wasn’t even there because of a prior commitment.

Still, thanks to a donation from OBX Bank and entry fees, the Throwdown netted about $550, which the friends decided to donate to the Surfrider Foundation.

“It turned out great,” Sherman says. “It was a good day. All the kids enjoyed it. We decided to do it again and make it a little bit better.”

The second year proved similar to the first, with modest funds going to the Outer Banks Cancer Research Center. The third year was when it really escalated thanks to more hard work and a little creativity on the part of the founders – and the help of an “angel,” as Sherman called him.

Enter Noah Snyder, pro surfer and OBX legend.

“It was a big thing having Noah Snyder come into it. He brought Hurley, who brought that pro surfer presence,” Sherman says. “All the kids looked up to Noah – we looked up to Noah.”

Suddenly, the beach was full of Hurley tents and Hurley gear, and the Throwdown started to feel like a big-time event. Breiholz had to do serious work as competition director. More judges had to come in, with “a lot of old-school Chicahauk surfer guys” like Jimbo Ward, Lynn Shell, and some of Sherman’s relatives lending their support.

The number of surfers grew and grew until the Throwdown had to drop its adult divisions so it could focus on the kids. The amount of money grew as surf shops up and down the beach donated equipment to raffle off and other sponsors came on board. The number of people flooding Chicahauk also grew as the event became a can’t-miss tradition.

At the last three tournaments, more than $20,000 was raised each year, and last year more than 2,000 people were at the beach on that Saturday.

“We get there so early in the morning, we don’t see anything,” Sherman says with a laugh. “People come over to the announcer’s table, ‘You should see this!’ I tell people I would love to be able to just go home and watch it on TV because I don’t get to see it at all.”

The growth of the Throwdown Surf Classic – they condensed the name a few years in – has made it both more rewarding and more challenging.

The Town of Southern Shores, for instance, is known for being a stickler about parking, but Sherman praised town officials, the police department and fire department for their cooperation and understanding as people park anywhere and everywhere on the streets near the Chicahauk Beach access.

Thanks to Shell, Rip Curl is now the primary surf sponsor and provides extra touches – like making all the Throwdown T-shirts that people buy during the event. Businesses like TowneBank continue to lend their support, and the surf shops and board shapers like Mike Clark love being part of the fun.

“It’s the only surf contest that has all the major surf shops on the Outer Banks – they all come together for the Throwdown,” Sherman says. “Most of them give a brand new board, and we also have several shapers down here that shape a board just for the event.”

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myouterbankshome.com | Summer 2019

Breiholz’s job as competition director only gets harder and harder as people from Ocracoke to Delaware sign up for the Throwdown. Last year saw about 170 people compete, including 78 girls and some 70 kids in the under-10 division.

“You can run 33 to 35 heats a day,” Breiholz says. “I’ve got to be creative with making sure the heats get in and things are done. We have to start so early.

If we could do this for two days, we could (expand) it.”

They’ve toyed with the idea of changing the Throwdown. Take it to Jennette’s Pier. Go back to divisions for adults by adding another day. ”I’m a threetime champ,” Breiholz modestly mentions.

But any changes like that, of course, shift the Throwdown from being “north of town” and might make it a little less like the feel-good family event founded by the three friends so long ago. Because first and foremost, they love having fun.

Sherman and Lamm spend much of the day at the announcing stand, with Breiholz on the receiving end of lots and lots of jokes.

“Since I am the only one that’s defenseless, it’s really how much they can dog me,” Breiholz says with a laugh. “They live to give me a hard time. When I don’t have a microphone, they can really let me have it.”

Is that because he’s the best surfer of the three?

“For the most part, I’d say yes to that,” Breiholz confirms. “And also, they know I can take it. I’ve got thick skin, and it’s done out of love anyway.”

Although last year, Sherman got his as well when he went out to serve as a marshall for one of the heats and lost his board in the conditions that were bigger and rougher than he thought: “I got stuck. I was feeling my age,” Sherman says.

“They were razzing me on the loudspeakers – it took me forever to get in.”

There have been plenty of poignant moments during the Throwdown, as well. Four years ago, the tournament was stopped in the middle of the day for a memorial paddle out in memory of Jason’s dad and Jimbo Ward’s son.

“It was already super small, but it was like the waves just went away,” Sherman recalls. “Everybody that could get on a board – granddads paddling out with little kids on the front, anybody and everybody – paddled out and it was the biggest ring I’d ever seen. All those things kind of make it what it is.”

Now in their 40s, Breiholz, Lamm, and Sherman watch as their kids – eight of them ranging from second grade to 10th grade – spend their days surfing and fishing, and spend the Throwdown weekend at Chicahauk Beach helping set up, sell T-shirts, clean up – whatever their dads need done. It’s not hard to picture them in another 10 to 20 years cracking jokes themselves about the old guys who turned their love of surfing into a love of serving others as the Throwdown Surf Classic celebrates one successful year after another.

“I definitely have had times during this event, it’ll bring you to tears,” Sherman says. “People say it all the time, ‘You guys don’t understand what you’ve done down here.’ It is pretty neat. It’s very rewarding. When it’s over, as tired as we are, I’d do it the next weekend.”

Sherman pauses: “I don’t know if everybody would say that,” he adds with a laugh.

The Throwdown Classic is set for September 28th this year. Parking for the Throwdown Classic is located at the Chickahauk lot, with overflow located on city streets. It is the one day a year the town allows parking without a permit. ³ Steve Hanf worked as a sportswriter for 13 years in North Carolina before finding a second career in the classroom. He currently advises the newspaper and the yearbook programs at First Flight High School and loves his life on the Outer Banks.

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jason@acs-obxbuilder.com Summer 2019 | myouterbankshome.com

15

FEATURE

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dare recycling

Vintage Postcards A Look Back at Our Past Sometimes the world moves at breakneck speed. Technology changes everyday. It’s all we can do just to keep up! But that’s why beach vacations were invented – to slow things down and…relax! Ahhhhh!

With that in mind, let’s slow things down and take a look back to the vintage Outer Banks. These are the postcards our parents sent. Ok, I’m old enough to have sent some of these too.

Bet I’m not alone...

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myouterbankshome.com | Summer 2019

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vintage dare postcards recycling A LOOK FEATURE BACK

Summer 2019 | myouterbankshome.com

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FEATURE A LOOK BACK dare vintage recycling postcards

Find it all in

Duck’s walkable village has everything you could want or need, from a sound side boardwalk to stores, galleries, and eateries.

Enjoy free live events at the Town Park and stroll along the newly completed pedestrian paths. Find it all in Duck.

Summer Events

For start/end dates and more info visit townofduck.com

Fitness on the Green

Story Time

YOGA ON THE GREEN Tuesdays 7:30am

Fridays 10:00 a.m. (on the Paul F. Keller Meeting Hall steps)

DYNAMIC FLOW FITNESS Wednesdays 7:30am HULA HOOP & PLAY Thursdays 9:00am (except July 4)

Live Entertainment

CONCERTS ON THE GREEN Thursdays 6:30pm (except July 4) MOVIES ON THE GREEN Sunset, select dates

Save the date!

The 2019 Duck Jazz Festival is coming October 12-13.

Town Amphitheater events

Visit townofduck.com for dates

VARIETY SHOWS NATURE OUT LOUD INTERACTIVE THEATER OBXTREME MAGIC SHOW

While you’re visiting Duck find all the ways to Shop, Play, Dine, and Stay at doducknc.com.

townofduck.com 252.255.1286 Summer 2019 | myouterbankshome.com

19

I’m Just Sayin W

e all have a favorite quote that helps guide our lives. Whether it helps steer our morality, success, or self-esteem, we like to apply these words and phrases in our everyday lives.

We wanted to find out some of the favorites quotes that shape who we are as a people on the Outer Banks. Perhaps there’s one here you can apply to your own life.

In the end only 3 things matter: How much you

LOVED,

LIVED

, how gently you and how peacefully you let go of things not meant for you.

VISION

Creswell, NC

Manteo, NC

To me it encompasses the things that set us on the right paths in life. Adjusting our expectations and being open to new and different things.

If you get,

GIVE.

I live by this saying because I believe you should love others as you love yourself. Little things can make a great difference in the big picture of life.

If you learn,

TEACH.

ACTION is just an ILLUSION.

20

Brittany Kanney

Melissa Tate

without

myouterbankshome.com | Summer 2019

Marsha R. Johnson Kill Devil Hills, NC

I believe God gives you dreams and visions, but it’s up to you to take action. Otherwise it just won’t matter.

favorite quotes Think

GLOBALLY. Act LOCALLY.

|

Deborah Hardy Sims-Richter Harbinger, NC

Donny King Nags Head, NC

This is common sense to me. If you didn’t learn from your first mistake, you likely won’t learn from the second either.

If you want to do something positive, getting started is often times the most difficult thing.

So just start in your own backyard and good things will happen. Life has a ripple effect.

Leslie Dawn

Kill Devil Hills, NC

LIVE a good LIFE.

I even have a sign of this hanging in my home.

It serves as a daily reminder for me to be happy living life. No matter what is thrown in my way. It helps me to push and break my own limits.

Katie Weeks Jarvisburg, NC

To me, that means do your own thing, be your own person, and don’t be afraid to stand out. All the while leave enough behind to show others the way.

I’M JUST SAYIN’

There is no education in the 2nd kick of the mule.

Ray Turner Manteo, NC

If you can find a job that you love enough that you would do it for free, and you’re good enough at it, to get paid doing it, that’s the job for you.

My father used to always say that to me. I’m one of the lucky ones to have been able to do just that.

Do not follow where the path may lead.

Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.

Live your life

LOUD

and always

HAVE FUN.

Annie Gray-Clark

Manteo, NC

In this world, just remember, your status, politics and religion don’t matter. What does matter is how you treat others on a daily basis.

In the end, only

KINDNESS MATTERS.

Gunner Pants Nags Head, NC

Life is hard enough. If you’re going to live it, you might as well have fun doing it!

Summer 2019 | myouterbankshome.com

21

JENNA AKERS

Currituck Schools Safe with Nightlock

Lockdown devices 22

myouterbankshome.com | Summer 2019

NIGHTLOCK.COM

G

enerations of students have memorialized their high school years with parting gifts, leaving a legacy of everything from ill-conceived pranks to heartfelt contributions for the betterment of their school.

Little did one Currituck County High School senior realize that her quest to keep students safe would make such a sudden and significant lasting impression: the installation of “Jenna Locks� on all the doors of Currituck County Schools classrooms and offices.

STORY BY:

Steve Hanf

HOW IT WORKS 1.

NIGHTLOCK.COM

2.

NIGHTLOCK.COM

NIGHTLOCK.COM

3.

nightlock

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EDUCATION

“I just knew I wanted to do something that would benefit every student and the teachers and staff at every school, and this was the perfect solution,” Jenna Akers explains. “I’ve had a lot of past teachers and administrators reach out to me saying that it’s so great for someone to take the initiative. It just takes one person to take the initiative to implement something like this.”

It should come as no surprise in today’s news cycle that Akers spent time thinking about school shootings and school safety procedures during her high school days. What did prove surprising to the 2018 CCHS graduate was that before she headed to Chapel Hill for her freshman year of college, Nightlock Lockdown door barricade devices had been discussed, approved, funded and installed in all 10 Currituck County Schools.

Another surprise, of course, came when Akers learned what many of the teachers at her old high school are calling the Nightlock Lockdown devices.

“A lot of the teachers go by ‘Jenna Locks,’ ” she says with a laugh.

Here’s hoping the folks at Nightlock don’t hear about that fun fact. The Michigan company devised the Nightlock system as a simple yet highly effective tool to keep people safe behind an impenetrable door. For about $50 per device, consumers get a door plate, floor plate and locking handle that combine to keep a door closed in the face of blunt force.

In videos produced by Nightlock, repeated attempts at breaking through a door by kicking it, running into it and even using tools fail time and again. That video impressed CCHS Assistant Principal Phil Walls when he did his research.

(See the video for yourself at youtube.com/watch?v=taOFk38iEHM) “I’ve never heard of a school shooting yet where anybody comes in with a sledgehammer,” Walls says. “The only point of it is to slow the school shooter down and give the police more time to respond.”

Walls has spent 25 years in education and has been a principal and assistant principal in his 12 years in Currituck. He represents the high school on the county’s school safety committee. Akers, meanwhile, spent her junior and senior year as a Board of Education junior member.

Attending all those BOE meetings got Akers thinking about ways to help the school system. She and her dad – a Currituck County sheriff’s deputy – started talking about school safety plans. Then came the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida.

“It was slow moving at first and then we knew we had to get the ball rolling faster,” Akers recalls. “I just knew there was a lot of pressure from the parents as well, to implement something that could help our school system.”

Akers met with Currituck County Sheriff Matthew Beickert to get his advice, researched a variety of products on the market, then prepared and delivered a presentation to the school board.

There were plenty of questions, of course, including on how to pay for something needed for countless classroom and office doors at 10 schools. There were thoughts of doing fundraisers, or even asking parents to consider sponsoring a door, but in the end, the Board of Education and Currituck County Commissioners found a way to pay for the devices, and they were installed before students arrived for the 2018-19 school year.

“I’m honestly proud of my school system for having it ready to go so quickly, and how the commissioners and Board of Education were able to come up with the funding so quickly as well,” Akers says. “I’m very proud and thankful for all the support I got. I couldn’t have done it myself. I had to take the initiative and allow others to help me out.”

Walls has a slightly different take on Akers’ humility about her role in all of this: “It was Jenna’s baby and she ran with it.”

When teachers arrived for the new school year, they were greeted with a demonstration lasting about 10 minutes on how the devices worked. One of the biggest fears, Walls explains, was that students might play with the device or take the locking handle, but that concern proved unfounded.

“The kids were like, ‘Whatever, there’s something new hanging on the wall, move on,’ ” he says. “The staff was very receptive and happy to have another line of defense.”

Akers is now back home for a summer of work before returning to Chapel Hill to continue her studies. She’s majoring in Peace, War and Defense as well as Arabic, with plans to enter government service in the intelligence field. The

Summer 2019 | myouterbankshome.com

23

EDUCATION

|

nightlock

WTKR.COM

19-year-old says being safe at school is “constantly in the back of your mind,” with those thoughts bubbling to the surface with news of shootings at UNC Charlotte, and a high school not far from Columbine – where it all started for American society in 1999.

“In high school, middle school, and elementary school, you run lockdown drills, but when you’re on a campus with 20,000 people you’re not,” Akers says.

“It would be interesting to see if it would ever become a reality (on college campuses).”

She also hopes officials in other school systems consider taking similar steps.

“I really wish I could implement it other places, allow other counties like Dare County and Camden County to take note of it and start having discussions about it with their own board of education,” she says.

Keith Parker, the digital communications and middle school director for Dare County Schools, says safety is a frequent topic for officials in every building, especially with a new superintendent – Dr. John Farrelly – spending the last 18 months talking with students, staff, parents and community stakeholders as part of his visioning process.

While the topic of school safety came up everywhere, most people feel safe on DCS campuses. What makes Dare different? Parker credits a combination of school resource officers in every building, locked campuses that require visitors to be buzzed in from the main office, software that looks for threats on social media, and counselors reaching out to troubled students before they become a threat to themselves or others.

“Naturally, parents want to know we’re doing everything in our power to be as proactive as possible. They also realize we’re very fortunate in this county that we have very safe campuses,” Parker says. “I can’t speak enough about the partnership with local law enforcement and how we’re able, with funding from county commissioners and local municipalities, to put a school resource officer in every school.”

And it’s more than just having officers in the schools. In April, while students were away for spring break, the Dare County Sheriff’s Department held a simulation on responding to an active shooter at First Flight Middle School.

“Local law enforcement takes this conversation very seriously, and that gives us and the public some reassurance,” Parker says. “We have explored a lot of options and are constantly doing that because the conversation continues to evolve around this topic and we have to keep ourselves educated on what’s happening.”

The evolution continues in Currituck as well, which has expanded its pool of school resource officers to every middle school and high school plus J.P. Knapp Early College, but does not yet include the elementary schools. For his part, Walls considers money spent on officers and the Nightlock Lockdown devices to be a good investment.

“We decided that it was worth it to try to keep our kids and our staff safe,” he says. “Personally, I hope they hang there and collect a lot of dust for a lot of years. The last thing I want to do is use one.”³ Steve Hanf worked as a sportswriter for 13 years in North Carolina before finding a second career in the classroom. He currently advises the newspaper and the yearbook programs at First Flight High School and loves his life on the Outer Banks.

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myouterbankshome.com | Summer 2019

S

O F O A E D

Summer means fresh local seafood, and on the Outer Banks we certainly have a plethora of it. Here are seafood taco recipes from 3 of our local restaurants that will tickle your taste buds.

Now you can make them in your own kitchen. Enjoy!

Summer 2019 | myouterbankshome.com

25

RECIPES

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seafood tacos

Miller’s Waterfront Restaurant

ShrimpTacos Ingredients:

½ lb tail off 21/25 shrimp 2 ears of corn 2 poblano peppers 4 corn tortillas Napa cabbage cheddar and Monterey Jack cheeses pico de gallo Lightly coat shrimp with blackening seasoning, and pan sear. Once almost complete, add fresh corn cut from the stalk and diced up roasted poblano peppers. Heat flour/corn tortilla in a dry pan till just brown.

Build your taco by first adding sliced Napa cabbage topped with cheddar and Monterey Jack cheeses. Add from the saute pan the shrimp and corn mixture. Finish with fresh-made pico de gallo and cilantro cream (recipe below). Garnish with chopped cilantro. Serves 4.

Cilantro Cream Ingredients:

½ cup mayo ½ cup cilantro ¼ cup buttermilk 1 green onion finely chopped pickled jalapeno to taste

1 lime 2 tsp mustard Combine mayo, cilantro, buttermilk, green onion, mustard, pickled jalapeño, and juice from a lime; blend.

Tortugas’ Lie

MahiTacos Ingredients:

1 ½ lbs mahi 3 tbsp cumin 3 tbsp chili powder salt flour tortillas red and green cabbage, chopped 8 oz shredded jack cheese cilantro, finely chopped Start with good local mahi and cube it into bite size pieces.

Put it in a bowl and lightly coat it with our spice blend, which is 1/2 cumin and 1/2 chili powder, with salt to taste. Sauté the fish until done. About 5 minutes in an iron skillet with olive oil.

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myouterbankshome.com | Summer 2019

seafood tacos

|

RECIPES

Goombay’s Grille & Raw Bar

Jamaican JerkTacos Ingredients:

1 ½ lbs. fresh yellow fin tuna, cut into 1 inch pieces flour tortillas shredded lettuce diced tomato cheddar jack cheese sour cream pickled jalapenos Toss tuna pieces in olive oil & Outer Banks Foods Jamaican Jerk Seasoning (sold at Goombays) - or other jerk seasoning, refrigerate for 1 hour.

Cook tuna in a non-stick pan to desired temperature (medium rare to well done). Serve on warm flour tortillas with cheddar jack cheese, pickled jalapenos, diced tomato, shredded lettuce, and sour cream. Serve with side of black beans and rice if desired. Serves 4.

For a lighter version, simply top the grilled Jamaican jerk tuna with this Asian Cole Slaw and serve in flour tortillas!

Asian Cole Slaw Ingredients:

2 tbsp sesame seeds 4 tbsp rice vinegar 2 tbsp vegetable oil 2 ½ tsp sesame oil 2 tsp sugar

2 cups shredded red cabbage 2 cups shredded green cabbage 2 cups shredded carrots kosher salt to taste ground black pepper to taste

Heat a small skillet over medium heat. Add the sesame seeds and toast, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned, about 3 minutes. Transfer to a small bowl. In another small bowl, whisk together rice vinegar, vegetable oil, soy sauce, sesame oil, and sugar. In a large bowl, combine shredded cabbages, and carrots, toss to combine. Add vinegar mixture and toss to coat.

Season with kosher salt & ground black pepper. Sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds.

HELP STOP HUNGER ON THE OUTER BANKS

(Mahi Tacos continued) At the same time, heat up some flour tortillas in the oven or a hot pan.

Corn tortillas are more traditional, but Tortugas uses flour tortillas because they hold up better.

SAVE THE DATE!

Build your taco using a mix of green and red finely chopped cabbage for the base.Then add a small amount of fresh cilantro and some shredded jack cheese. Finally, add the hot fish on top of that, and top with our homemade sauce. Serves 4.

Tortugas’ Homemade Sauce Ingredients:

½ cup plain yogurt ½ cup sour cream ½ cup mayonnaise 1 tbsp Texas Pete (or other hot sauce) fajita spice 2 limes 4 jalapenos, sliced

The homemade sauce is a yogurt base with almost equal parts of sour cream and mayonnaise. Mix this up in a large mixing bowl and add some fajita spice, Texas Pete for heat, and fresh lime juice for a zing. Put some jalapeños on the side so you can adjust your heat accordingly.

6th Annual

Holiday Chefs’ Challenge November 15th

DONATE TODAY! beachfoodpantry.org 252.261.2756 4007 N. Croatan Highway • Kitty Hawk, NC obxbeachfoodpantry@gmail.com

Summer 2019 | myouterbankshome.com

27

OPERATION FRESH AIR

For Pets STORY BY:

Katrina Mae Leuzinger

F

COURIERJOURNAL.COM

28

myouterbankshome.com | Summer 2019

SAVANNA WILLIAMS

SAVANNA WILLIAMS

or the past 23 years, Coastal Humane Society’s objective has been a simple one.

“Our mission is to help people help their pets and make sure they stay healthy,” says Sandra Cheeks, Coastal Humane Society volunteer and coordinator for Operation Fresh Air for Pets.

To that end, Coastal Humane works with local veterinarians and helps pay for vaccinations, emergency medical care, spaying, and neutering of pets. They also provide food for pets whose humans are having trouble paying for it. And they’re there after every big storm with emergency supplies for our four-legged friends. Last year they provided assistance to 485 families in Dare and parts of Currituck county— over 700 pets in total. And this year, they’ve found a new way to help pets on the Outer Banks— by making sure that all of our fire departments are outfitted with animal size oxygen masks to treat smoke inhalation.

pet masks

SAVANNA WILLIAMS

SAVANNA WILLIAMS

SAVANNA WILLIAMS

Top: WTKR News Channel 3 speak with Sgt. Zack Watson of the Kill Devil Hills Fire Department.

Middle: Zack works with a local veterinarian demonstrating use of the oxygen mask. Below: Patti Bourexis, a coordinator with Coastal Humane Society, stands in front of all involved in getting these expensive devices into local Outer Banks fire departments.

|

PETS & WILDLIFE

The idea for Operation Fresh Air for Pets came from Coastal Humane volunteer and founding member Barbara Britt, whose son Jon is a volunteer firefighter with the Duck Fire Department.

“She read about oxygen masks for pets and wanted Coastal Humane to donate them, but at the time we couldn’t afford it,” says Cheeks. “She passed away a few years ago, and we started talking about doing this in Barbara’s memory. It’s really Barbara’s baby.”

Ten years ago when Barbara Britt proposed it, animal oxygen masks were $200. Today, they’re only $65, and they’ve made a number of improvements to the design. Each SurgiVet Pet Oxygen Mask Kit comes with tubes that fit on the same oxygen tanks used for humans. And they have three different sized masks, ranging from kitten size all the way up to horse size.

Using them is as simple as pulling out the human oxygen tubing and plugging in the animal tubing instead. Everything fits in a convenient red tote bag, making it easy to keep all the parts together and quickly find it in a crisis. Coastal Humane is offering the fire departments up to four kits each, and most are requesting one for each fire truck.

Smoke inhalation is a fairly common occurrence during a fire, and pets are just as susceptible to it as humans.

“I’ve seen animals that have suffered smoke inhalation several times in my career,” says Glenn Rainey, Fire Chief at the Colington Volunteer Fire Department.

“Pets don’t usually hide during a fire, but sometimes they get overwhelmed and don’t run from the building.”

The Colington Volunteer Fire Department was the first to receive their kits from Coastal Humane, and Chief Rainey has been assisting them with getting kits to the other fire departments. Rainey can recall trying to use ill-fitting human oxygen equipment on animals on more than one occasion, including the time they were sticking oxygen tubes in fish tanks after the fire in the old Pet Gallery pet store in Kill Devil Hills.

And while some fire departments had animal oxygen masks already, most of that equipment was old, and deteriorating, and not always kept with the fire truck where it was needed.

Coastal Humane Society hopes to have all of the masks distributed soon. By this summer, every fire truck in Dare County, Corolla, and on the mainland as far north as Grandy should have a SurgiVet Pet Oxygen Mask Kit, should the need for it arise.

“As a fire chief, I appreciate their desire to help us do our jobs better. I’m a pet owner, so it’s near and dear to my heart,” says Rainey. “I hope we don’t ever need them, but I’m glad we have them if we do.”³ Katrina lives with her husband and their fearsome toddler. When she’s not writing, she prepares elaborate meals, cheats at video games, and plays the guitar (badly).

Summer 2019 | myouterbankshome.com

29

Scalp Cooling Therapy Treatment Helping Cancer Patients Keep Their Hair STORY BY:

Greg Smrdel

T

he statistics are staggering. One out of every eight women in the United States will be diagnosed with breast cancer. In fact, breast cancer is the second most leading cause of cancer death among women. These sobering facts are all according to The National Breast Cancer Foundation.

It seems everyone knows someone afflicted with the disease in some way or another. For me, Linda, my first wife, died of breast cancer 20 years ago this November. Some on the Outer Banks may remember Linda from the Galleon Esplanade in Nags Head. Additionally, both my daughters have also inherited the BRCA-1 gene. The gene is often referred to as the “breast cancer susceptibility gene.” When you go through something like breast cancer, it is very important to maintain some sort of normalcy in your life. This is where Jennifer Schwartzenberg enters the picture.

Jenn is The Outer Banks Hospital’s Director of Community Outreach and

30

myouterbankshome.com | Summer 2019

Development. She was diagnosed with breast cancer in February, 2017 at just 41 years old.

For Schwartzenberg who describes herself as “active, lover of life, and wearing her heart on her sleeve,” her diagnosis was “surprising, shocking, and devastating.”

“Normalcy was the number one priority on my mind,” says Schwartzenberg. “I had a seven-year-old at home that needed her mother.” And knowing that chemotherapy was in her future, “the biggest thing for me was not having to answer the question from Kaitlyn of why is mommy’s hair falling out?”

Schwartzenberg’s cancer was determined to be genetic. The type that her paternal grandmother had died from at the age of 51. Jenn would be undergoing the same chemotherapy that her grandmother had also endured years ago.

The type of chemo that makes a patient lose their hair.

Sitting in a conference room at the Outer Banks Hospital Schwartzenberg

scalp cooling cap

|

HEALTH MATTERS

THE OUTER BANKS HOSPITAL

told me, “life changed like that (as she snapped her fingers). “I needed to keep as much control over a situation that I really had no control over.”

So Jenn turned to Robin Hearne, a colleague, and the Director of Cancer Services and Chronic Disease Care at the Outer Banks Hospital. Hearne just happened to be doing some research on something that would help keep some normalcy in Schwartzenberg’s life.

Shortly before Jenn’s diagnosis, Robin Hearne had been attending a conference where she heard about the scalp cooling therapy treatment. According to Hearne, “scalp cooling has proven to be a way to help ease hair loss.”

THE OUTER BANKS HOSPITAL The treatment was FDA approved in May of 2017, and the way it works Top Left: Jenn Schwartenberg with her daughter, Kaitlyn. Top Right: Jenn is that the cap cools the scalp making the cells in the hair follicles sluggish. demonstrating use of the PAXMAN treatment at The Outer Banks Hospital..

Hearne continues, “the body’s natural reaction to cold is something called vaBottom: Jenn consults with Dr. William Guenther of The Outer Banks Hospital. soconstriction.”

According to the website MedlinePlus.

The mother of the original founder of PAXMAN, had breast com, vasoconstriction is defined as “the cancer and as a result lost all of her hair. The hair loss exnarrowing (constriction) of blood vessels tremely traumatized her, so the company went to work develby small muscles in their walls. When blood oping something to help other women with the same circumvessels constrict, blood flow is slowed or stance. The family’s business was refrigeration and after some blocked.” clumsy experiments, they came up with the cool therapy cap.

“What you have to remember,” says According to Ms Hearne, the cool therapy cap treatment is Hearne, “is that chemo is looking for rapidly a “a standard of cure in Europe.” “PAXMAN has been a great replicating cells and attacks them. Hair and company to work with,” adds Schwartzenberg. “They sent a nails replicate rapidly, but the constriction rep and a medical professional all the way here to the Outer caused by the cool therapy cap helps “trick” Banks from the UK to train our staff at the hospital on how to the chemo into leaving them alone.” use their system.”

Two years ago, there were just two com- Jennifer Schwartzenberg The treatment is pretty easy to use. Here’s how Schwartzpanies manufacturing a cool therapy cap. enberg described her process: “First I would wet my hair and One of them, PAXMAN, is based in the UK. comb it back so it’s as flat as possible. Then I would apply the conditioner that PAXMAN supplied and then would stuff all my hair into the first cap. The first cap is very similar to a swim cap, and is the cap that the hose is connected to that supplies the coolant. Then a second cap is slipped over the first. I call this one the “horse jockey” cap, because of the way it looks. It acts as an insulator to the first.”

There is some time involved in this process, but as Schwartzenberg will be quick to point out, “it is totally worth it.”

The cap is worn for 45 minutes prior to the chemo, to start the constriction process of the hair follicles. It is worn throughout the chemo application, and then for approximately another 45 minutes following the chemo.

The coolant in the first cap is somewhere between 64 to 69 degrees Fahrenheit. It doesn’t seem that cold, but when you figure that the body’s natural temperature is around 30 degrees higher, it is fairly chilly. In fact, some women complain of having an “ice cream” type headache, or what is commonly referred to as a “brain freeze,” while going through the treatment. But Schwartzenberg is quick to point out, “each person’s reaction to the treatment is different. Yes, the first few minutes I would have a headache, but nothing strong enough that I would qualify it as an ice cream headache. I was cold, but the staff just loaded me up with blankets, which made it much better.”

THE OUTER BANKS HOSPITAL

“the biggest thing for me was not having to answer the question from Kaitlyn of why is mommy’s hair falling out?”

Summer 2019 | myouterbankshome.com

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HEALTH MATTERS

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scalp cooling cap

THE OUTER BANKS HOSPITAL

Above Left: Robin Hearne. Above Right: The Outer Banks Hospital Radiation Therapy Center. Right: Dr. Charles Shelton, radiation oncologist.

“The thing to remember,” Hearne adds, “is that while you won’t experience hair loss, you will still have some hair thinning.” Schwartzenberg agrees. “I did have some thinning, but again, not enough for my daughter to question it.”

As with anything medical, cost is of a concern. The caps have a cost of approximately $500. Each treatment is about $200 (prices may have fluctuated by release time). If you have 8, 10, or 12 treatments, the cost can add up very quickly. The unfortunate thing is that the insurance companies are slow to react to approve this treatment. Though there is some encouraging news on the horizon. In 2017 Aetna Insurance stated they consider scalp cooling necessary as a means to prevent hair loss during chemo. Patients have claimed successful reimbursement for scalp cooling from Aetna, Blue Cross of California, and United Health Care. Hearne says it’s good that some areas are starting to see some coverage, “but we haven’t seen that here yet.”

Being very cognizant of no insurance coverage and the cost for the treatments, The Outer Banks Hospital Development Council have been using funds they’ve accumulated to offset the cost of this treatment. “People can apply for these funds, not with the hospital directly, but with the Development Council,” Schwartzenberg adds.

In addition to the cool cap therapy treatment, both Schwartzenberg and Hearne wanted to stress the importance of genetic testing for both the BRCA-1 and BRCA-2 gene. Schwartzenberg had the testing and has since found out, much like my daughters, she inherited the BRCA-1 gene. Those that have had breast cancer in their family’s past are highly encouraged to have the testing done. In fact, according to Hearne, The Outer Banks Hospital has recently earned a $150,000 grant for a quality improvement project to improve BRCA testing.

Curious as to how often the cool scalp treatment machine is used, I asked

THE OUTER BANKS HOSPITAL

Hearne. “The machine is used just about daily now. In fact, the one machine can accommodate two people at once. The machine has two separate hoses and two separate dials.”

Hearne also points out that they are now using the machine not only on breast cancer patients, but have also recently started utilizing it for a lung cancer patient. “The treatment, within the last year, has been approved to be used for all solid tumors.”

If you’d like to help, you can. The Outer Banks Hospital has two funds set up. According to Jennifer Schwartzenberg, “Get Pinked! is an initiative raising vital funds that supports programs, treatments, and resources for patients in our community affected by breast cancer. Through Get Pinked! the hospital has provided more than 1,850 screening mammograms for women (and men), regardless of their ability to pay, since 2011. Additionally, funds from Get Pinked! have helped to bring stereotactic breast biopsy equipment to the hospital, as well as purchase an ultrasound machine that detects breast cancer and other cancers.”

There is also a second fund set up called OBX Cancer Cares, which according to Hearne, “funds projects to encompass all different types of cancer.

³ The link to help is:

vidanthealthfoundation.com/regional-foundations/tobhdevcouncil Greg Smrdel lost his first wife to breast cancer in November, 1999, at the age of 37. His novel “Home Sweet Outer Banks Home?” is a fictional account of a young family dealing with the aftermath of breast cancer.

THE OUTER BANKS HOSPITAL

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Summer 2019 | myouterbankshome.com

33

STORY BY:

James D. Charlet

PHOTOS PROVIDED BY:

Pea Island Preservation Society

The United States Life-Saving Service

Station Pea Island Cookhouse Museum P

robably the two best known U.S. Life-Saving Service (USLSS) Stations on the

North Carolina coast are Chicamacomico and Pea Island; in fact, they may be the

two best known in America. Amazingly, they were neighboring, or “brother and sister� stations on Hatteras Island, the centerpiece of the iconic Outer Banks.

I have had the privilege of being deeply involved with both. For the former, I volunteered for 11 years and did programs and was Site Manager for another 10 years; for the latter I am currently on a team for live presentations, and have written articles and proposals.

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cookhouse museum

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BACK IN THE DAY

Above Left: Richard Etheridge and crew, circa 1896. Above Right: From left, Darrell Collins, Joan Collins, Frank Hester.

My appreciation for the Pea Island story, which was already significant, went much deeper when I interviewed my friends and colleagues Darrell Collins, Joan Collins, and Frank Hester. The meeting took place in the Pea Island Cookhouse Museum in Manteo.

Darrell, Joan, and Frank are first cousins and are the staff of the Museum; along with being direct descendants of some of the Pea Island Life-Saving Service station crew. Their great, great uncle, William D. Pugh, and their great grandfather, Joseph Hall Berry, both served with Pea Island Station Keeper Richard Etheridge. Their great uncle, Maxie M. Berry, Sr., was the last to command the station.

Darrell’s father, Frank Collins, like many of his relatives, joined the U.S. Coast Guard – as did Frank Hester, following in the footsteps of his great grandfather and other family members.

Cookhouse Construction Materials: Stations Etheridge rebuilt the original 1878 station with his crew in 1880 after a suspicious fire destroyed it. and outbuildings were usually constructed of In 1896 the aging 1880 station was again replaced. The final replacement would then be a U.S. Coast mostly locally available lumber. For the Outer Guard Station built in 1931. It was decommissioned in 1947 after continually having a mostly African Banks, this would have been live oak, AtlanAmerican keeper and crew. Joan’s father, Herbert Collins, was the one to officially and sadly close its tic white cedar (juniper) and white pine. No doors. “treated”outdoor lumber was available, so the The 1931 complex consisted of the station, boathouse, cookhouse, cistern, and a separate watchonly protection was paint. Painted wood lasted tower. In 1996, the complex was sold at auction. The station, cistern and watchtower were relocated 20 years at best and then needed replacement. to Salvo to become Hatteras Watersports. The cookhouse was bought and moved to Rodanthe as a getaway for a writer and researcher on McCarthyism. It fell into disrepair and was boarded up until 2006. The owner wanted to donate it, and have it removed from his property.

There was no village where the original Pea Island Station was located and many of the black lifesavers that worked there lived on Roanoke Island, over 20 miles away, across the Pamlico Sound. It was because of this that the African American community on Roanoke Island was contacted. There was an enthusiastic response. Soon, the Town of Manteo, under the leadership of then Mayor John Wilson, in the true spirit of the Life-Saving Service, came to the rescue.

Earlier, Darrell’s mother, Delerva Collins, had been working on a project for the town to create a park in their African American neighborhood. Moving the cookhouse to Manteo neatly dovetailed with the park idea. “The Mayor and the commissioners wanted the park to be named after my mother,” said Darrell. Today, it is Collins Park.

Frank and Joan were raised in Coast Guard families, so that was the norm for them. “I didn’t really understand the full connection until I gained more information from Admiral Rochon. I didn’t hear about our families’ continuous service until later when I was in the Coast Guard myself,” said Frank.

Joan echoed, “My father didn’t talk about Coast Guard history that much, but he loved the Coast Guard with a passion.”

Darrell’s connection also bloomed later. He became a Park Ranger at the Wright Brothers WIKIMEDIA.ORG National Memorial. “I probably didn’t realize it until I started doing research at the Park on programs, and my interest was sparked by the Kill Devil Hills Life-Saving Station’s vital asRochon: Retired Rear Admiral Stephen Rochon sistance to the Wright brothers. Then I started talking to my mama about the all-black crew (center right) of the United States Coast Guard was (at the Pea Island LSS Station).” instrumental in having the Richard Etheridge Pea The more the three first cousins talked about this subject – while sitting in the Cookhouse MuIsland LSS Station crew posthumously awarded U.S. seum – the more apparent it became how passionate, emotional and personal this all was to them.

Coast Guard Gold Medals on the 100th anniversary of There were deep family connections, long-shared histories, the emergence of the Collins Park bethe E.S. Newman rescue. He was also a vital resource coming a reality, and now the Pea Island Cookhouse Museum. The latter was a tangible artifact of for Allan Smith’s documentary The Rescue Men. their history. Of the three first-cousins, Joan pointed out, “We have 400 years of combined service (in the Coast Guard) in our family history.”

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BACK IN THE DAY

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cookhouse museum

And it goes to a new level: now they are operating the museum! They formed a new nonprofit, The Pea Island Preservation Society, Inc. (PIPSI) and became its first directors and staff.

To explain the beginning, Joan said, “Frank and Lynda (Hester) were the ones who really were involved in getting the design and layout done, and the displays that go inside.” Frank’s passion and commitment became even more apparent. “The thing that struck me at first was that this (Cookhouse) was really nice, but when I walked in, the ‘cupboard was really bare,’ and that just broke my heart.”

They all agreed that progress sometimes feels painfully slow, but to an outsider visiting the Museum for the first time it reveals a remarkable complex that quickly arose. Progress continued as funds were secured to erect a statue of Keeper Richard Etheridge. Frank informed me “The same artist (Stephen H. Smith) who did our statue also did the bronze sculpture at the Wright Brothers National Memorial.” Then Darrell added, “The artist has a way of bringing the statue to life. The statue has character.”

Next came a remarkable development. The Cookhouse Museum is located on the northeast corner of the intersection of Sir Walter Raleigh and Bideford Streets. The Town of Manteo created a roundabout there. The imposing new statue of Keeper Richard Etheridge was placed high up on the center of the roundabout, and landscaping was completed.

Following that, a boathouse replica was built. “The Herbert M. Collins Boathouse was very personal to me,” Joan said, “because at this time my father was dying. And the boathouse was named after him.” Then a genuine U.S. Coast Guard Monomoy surfboat was restored and placed on-loan to the Museum, now residing in the new boathouse.

As cozy as the Cookhouse Museum building is, it packs a wealth of displays and artifacts.

Frank pointed out a special item: “Our grandfather, Joseph Hall Berry, wrote a letter to Eleanor Roosevelt expressing why it was so important for this Station to remain.” A copy of the letter is in the Museum.

Yet, while the building, boathouse, statue, and displays are telling an important story, together it also tells a larger story. “The thing I like about the Pea Island story,” Frank says, “is that it is an American story and it provided a model for success.” Joan was in total agreement, “This Station really opened the doors of opportunity for African Americans here to enter the Service.

My father used to talk about how demanding and tough it was to get into the Coast Guard – just think of the number of African American men from this area that followed in Richard Etheridge’s footsteps.”

Joan created a power-point program in 2016 she entitled, “Freedmen, Surfmen, Heroes.”

Darrell invited my wife, Linda, and me to be part of the presentation team. The four of us have performed it several dozen times now at the North Carolina Aquarium on Roanoke Island, and at every 4th grade class in Dare County. Why are the programs held at the Aquarium? Because Richard Etheridge’s farm and land were on Roanoke Island, far from town at that time, in a location upon which the N.C. Aquarium was later built. Workers discovered the family graveyard of Richard Etheridge while tearing down a WWII Navy infirmary to make way for the Aquarium.

There is now a stately area around the family graves surrounded by an ornamental fence, American and Coast Guard flags, and sideway markers.

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Above Left: Inside the Cookhouse Museum. Above Right: A life size bronze statue of Keeper Richard Etheridge is located on Sir Walter Raleigh street at the roundabout next to the Cookhouse Museum.

The next live presentations of “Freedmen, Surfmen, Heroes” for 2019 will be at the Aquarium on July 11th and August 8th. Both are Thursdays and all dates have two performances.

One at 11:00 a.m. and the other at 1:00 p.m. and is included in the regular Aquarium admission fee.

PIPSI received further requests for presentations from Dare County, a Currituck school and the Town of Duck. It had been very well received. This makes Joan a leader of the community, just like Darrell as Town Commissioner and Mayor Pro-Tem of Manteo, and Frank as a Dare County School Board Member.

There is more: There is the Captain Richard Etheridge Bridge and dedication on Pea Island; and there are the James Melvin paintings. PIPSI has a master plan for future development. A visitor needs to discover the rest of this amazing story by touring the Pea Island Cookhouse Museum. ³ James is a speaker on & keeper of Outer Banks History & Culture. His programs include U.S. Life-Saving Service, Wright Brothers, OBX Lighthouses, The “Lost Colony,” AND he’s a freelance writer! Find him at: www.KeeperJames.com

Museum Details Location: 622 Sir Walter Raleigh Street, Manteo, NC 27954 Website: peaislandpreservationsociety.com

Hours: Changes with the season, check website.

Email: friends@peaislandpreservationsociety.com Phone: 252-573-8332

Facebook: Pea Island Preservation Society Admission: FREE, donations appreciated.

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Outer Banks

On-Tap:

The Best Craft Beers for Summer STORY BY:

Lexi Holian

V

isitors to the Outer Banks know they don’t have to look far for some of the most sought-after craft beers in the industry. Here, tropical IPAs, easy pilsners, and full-bodied ales abound alongside limited releases and brews made right here in coastal North Carolina.

Whether you are searching for a high-end bottle that you can’t find anywhere else, or a light, daytime draft to cool off with after a morning at the beach, you’re sure to find something to please your palate among these 11 local watering holes known for exceptional beer. And if you’re not sure what to order first, check out our must-try beers recommended by the brewers, bartenders, and owners themselves.

Buffalo City Jug Shop North Carolina history and outstanding beer come together at Buffalo City Jug Shop, an eclectic growler shop and beer bar in Kill Devil Hills. Established in 2015 by founder Morgan Myshin, the establishment takes its name from the ghost town of Buffalo City, a once nearby community that was known for moonshining in the 1920s.

Among 24 taps and a large selection of craft bottled beer and wine, you can often find favorites like the West Coast-style Burial Surf Wax IPA from Asheville, and a rotating sour from Wooden Robot Brewery in Charlotte. Enjoy your brew while taking in vintage video games and a vibrant collection of pop culture artwork.

Must-Try Beers:

Burial Surf Wax IPA, Wooden Robot Rotating Sour

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obx craft beers

Outer Banks Brewing Station Born out of a passion for innovative brewing and environmental consciousness, Outer Banks Brewing Station is an icon on the Outer Banks for a reason. The wind-powered restaurant and brewery is a favorite spot for live music, community fundraisers, backyard games, and nightlife. Their regularly rotating draft beers are all brewed on site – like the zesty Lemongrass Golden Hefeweizen and the German-style Kolsch. When you stop in for one this summer, keep an eye out for performances from artists like The Movement and Donavon Frankenreiter.

Must-Try Beers: Lemongrass Wheat Ale, Kolsch

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FOOD & DINING

Lucky 12 Tavern When it comes to craft beer, you will be spoiled for choice at Lucky 12 Tavern with 20 beers on draft and another 80 by the can. The restaurant and bar in Nags Head often features North Carolina brews and regional special releases, and they love to change things up so you’ll likely always find something new.

Indoors, craft beer drinkers enjoy pool, pinball, and all major sports packages on TV, and the backyard was recently redone with new games for summer. Best of all, the restaurant’s mouthwatering, New York-style pizza is served until 2 a.m.

Must-Try Beers: Victory Sour Monkey, Stone Tropic of Thunder Lager

Sweet T’s Coffee, Beer & Wine Nestled in the town of Duck just across from the sound, Sweet T’s welcomes you into a relaxing respite with coffee, wine, and an impressive selection of craft beer.

Among the stocked shelves, you’ll come across standouts like the Bell’s Official and the Catawba Evening Joe – which offers a contrast to coffee stouts and porters as a smooth blonde with notes of roast from Arabica coffee. The patio is the perfect place to have a draft in the summer, and on most Thursday nights you can enjoy beer pairings, special flights, and other beer-focused events.

Must-Try Beers:

Bell’s Official Hazy IPA, Catawba Evening Joe Coffee Blonde

TRiO Restaurant & Market TRiO may be best known for its exceptional wine, but the tasting destination in Kitty Hawk is also home to one of the largest selections of rotating craft brews on the Outer Banks with 24 taps. Whether you’re craving the perfect pairing of food and beer or a rare draft to sip while you listen to live music, there’s something for every taste here with a focus on North Carolina and Old-World breweries. While you indulge, check out the market – which shares the space – for an extensive selection of bottled and canned craft beer like the velvety Mother Earth Long Weekend IPA (perfect for a boat day) and the full-flavored Fuller’s London Pride.

Must-Try Beers: Mother Earth Long Weekend IPA, Fuller’s London Pride

Tortuga’s Lie

Just across from the beach in Nags Head, Tortuga’s is a must-visit for any local or visitor to the Outer Banks.

A wraparound bar, license plates lining the ceiling, and volleyball in the backyard are just a few of the defining features of the much-loved restaurant. While you’re dining on Coco Loco Chicken or a Bajan Burger with honey habanero barbeque sauce, choose from a variety of craft beers like the Lagunitas DayTime IPA, Mother Earth Dark Cloud, and The Duck-Rabbit Brown Ale.

Must-Try Beers: Carolina Brewery Sky Blue Kolsch, Foothills Brewing Jade IPA

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FOOD & DINING

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obx craft beers

Barefoot Bernie’s Along with world-class cuisine ranging from Caribbean to Asian to Mediterranean, Barefoot Bernie’s offers a spectacular array of craft beer. Take a seat at the curved red oak bar for a draft of Barefoot Bernie’s Beach Pail (not a typo, like a sand pail, get it?) Ale made by the local Lost Colony Brewery, or choose from craft cans like the Champion Shower Beer pilsner and the Mother Earth Endless River Kolsch. Of the bar’s 15 taps, three are rotating with at least one always featuring a local brew and one highlighting North Carolina, and in the off-season, there are tap takeovers every two weeks.

Must-Try Beers: Uinta Lime Pilsner, Heavy Seas TropiCannon Citrus IPA

Shipwrecks Taphouse & Grill Newly opened in Kitty Hawk, Shipwrecks welcomes foodies and craft beer drinkers into an elevated sports bar setting with 22 rotating taps. The space has been completely transformed from the restaurant that once existed there with a sleek gray color palette, stained metal accents, and a Graveyard of the Atlantic theme.

A well-balanced beer menu includes standouts like the Wicked Weed Pernicious IPA, the Highland Gaelic Ale, TW Pitchers’ Radler lager, and a Larry’s Lemonade that the bartender will recommend with a shot of Malibu rum. If you prefer to try a little of everything, ask one of the team members for a beer journey and get ready to experience a unique progression of flavors.

Must-Try Beers: Wicked Weed Sour Rotator, Ballast Point Grapefruit

Sculpin IPA

Fish Heads Bar & Grill At this locals’ favorite bar, you can actually drink your beer over the Atlantic Ocean because Fish Heads is located right on Outer Banks Fishing Pier. The hotspot in South Nags Head is always bustling in the summertime with live entertainment every night of the week. Enjoy happy hour shrimp, and a daily beer special from among the bar’s 33 taps and huge selection of bottled and canned beer (including gluten-free beers). While you’re there, check out brews like the Mother Earth Garden Party champagne-style IPA and Fish Heads’ own Pier Jumper pineapple Mexican lager made in collaboration with Coronado Brewing Company.

Must-Try Beers: Mother Earth Garden Party IPA, Coronado Brewing Pier Jumper

Northern Outer Banks Brewing Company When you step inside the cozy Northern Outer Banks Brewing Company, you will be greeted with an up-close view of the brewing process. At this mom-and-pop brewery in Corolla, tanks surround the taps and limited indoor seating – but don’t worry, there are plenty of seats on the patio – so you can actually see what goes into making beers like the flagship Penny’s Hill IPA and Swan Beach Honey Pale Ale. Some of the newer brews are only available on site (look out for a hazy IPA release this summer), while others are distributed in cans printed with local artwork by Zack Lobisch.

Must-Try Beers: Swan Beach Honey Pale Ale, Mexican Amber Lager

Jack Brown’s Beer & Burger Joint Between the mismatched furnishings and photos on the walls, wood pallets, board games, and a wall of taps, walking into Jack Brown’s feels a bit like walking into your friend’s basement bar – in the best possible way.

Already a mainstay for craft beer drinkers on the Outer Banks, the relatively new establishment in Kill Devil Hills is home to more than 100 beers from North Carolina and beyond. You can pair yours with one of their unique craft burgers like the Greg Brady topped with house-made mac and cheese and barbeque potato chips (you won’t find any lettuce and tomato here), and then catch some live music on the patio.

Must-Try Beers: Hi-Wire Hop Circus Rotating IPA, Tarboro Seed Spitter

Along with contributing to island publications like My Outer Banks Home, The Outer Banks Wedding Guide, and Outer Banks This Week, Lexi Holian has covered everything from Miami food festivals to St. Barth sailing for travel and hospitality brands around the world. In her spare time, she enjoys drinking craft beer at her favorite beach access in Kitty Hawk.

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L

N

IO N A T A 8.7.19

LIGHTHOUSE Celebrate the Outer Banks’ Beacons

DAY

STORY BY

Meaghan Beasley Not only do our beautiful Northern Outer Banks boast wide, sandy beaches, the honor of the First Flight, and prestigious wild Mustangs, but they are also the home to five lighthouses, all of which can be visited in a single day. Every August 7th, we celebrate the Act of Congress which, in 1789, established the support of lighthouses, beacons, buoys, and public piers. As it has come to be known, National Lighthouse Day is a time to visit and honor our historic beacons in Corolla, Roanoke Island, Pea Island, Cape Hatteras, and Ocracoke .

Currituck Beach Light Station COROLLA:

HOURS:

1101 Corolla Village Road • 252-453-4939 info@currituckbeachlight.com currituckbeachlight.com Open daily Easter through Thanksgiving; 9am-5pm

ADMISSION: $10 Adults; children under 7 free Completed on December 1,1875, the Currituck Lighthouse stands 162 feet tall and takes 220 steps to climb. The lighthouse was built with approximately 1 million bricks. If you laid those bricks down end-to-end, they would stretch from the base of the Lighthouse to the Town Hall of Duck, 15 miles to the south!

Unlike most lighthouses in the United States, the Currituck Light Station uses the original first-order Fresnel lens that was installed when it was built. A 1000-watt bulb provides a guiding light, every night from dusk to dawn, that can be seen 21 miles away. The light flashes on for 3 seconds, off for 17, in a distinctive 20-second pattern that sets the Currituck Lighthouse apart and makes it identifiable to mariners.

A keeper’s house was built on the site in 1876 to house the three light keepers and their families. In the late 1890s, a small one-room schoolhouse was built nearby for the keeper’s children. However, electricity and automation came to the Currituck Light in 1933, and by 1937, the site was taken over by the US Coast Guard (USCG). The Currituck Beach Lighthouse, the keeper’s house, and schoolhouse fell into disuse and decay. Luckily, in 1990, the Outer Banks Conservationists, Inc. took an interest in the site and signed a lease with the State to preserve the compound, making it the only privately-owned lighthouse on the Outer Banks. Today, the keeper’s house is home to year-round light keepers and their families. The schoolhouse was also preserved and, in 2012, re-opened as North Carolina’s smallest public school.

The last light keeper to serve as an employee of the Bureau of the Lighthouse, before the Currituck Light was taken over by the USCG, was Bill Tate who is famously credited for bringing the Wright Brothers to Kitty Hawk.

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OBX ATTRACTIONS

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lighthouses

Bodie Island Light Station NAGS HEAD: 8210 Bodie Island Lighthouse Road • 252-475-9501 HOURS:

Open daily, third Friday in April to Columbus Day; 9am with last climb at 4:30pm

ADMISSION: $10 Adults; $5 Seniors, children under 11, and disabled

Roanoke Marshes Lighthouse MANTEO:

Queen Elizabeth Avenue • 252-475-1750

HOURS:

Open daily spring - fall, seasonally

Most visitors don’t even realize the white building situated 40 yards off the Manteo waterfront in the Roanoke Sound is a lighthouse - it just looks like a pretty little building on a dock. In actuality, it’s a replica of the Roanoke Marshes Lighthouse which once sat at the entrance to the Croatan Sound off of Wanchese.

An initial lighthouse was built to help guide sailors navigating the sound waters in 1831, but, due to the need for extensive repairs, the lighthouse was abandoned in less than a decade. The second, built on marshland in 1858, was equipped with a fourthorder Fresnel lens and manned by a light keeper and an assistant.

While it survived the Civil War, the changing nature of our sounds left it standing in 10 feet of water and it was decided another should be built to replace it.

Located 200 feet to the south-southeast, the third Roanoke Marshes Lighthouse was built in 1877, and is the original on which today’s replica is based. It was reinforced with 80 creosote piers, keeping it stable and in place until it was decommissioned in 1955.

Standing 37 feet tall and topped with a 2’ 4” tall lens, it was the only river lighthouse in Dare County, and used a fixed white light to guide sailors. After it was decommissioned, a private citizen bought the lighthouse and was moving it to his land on a barge when rough seas knocked the structure into the sound where it was lost.

As part of the Town of Manteo’s centennial celebration in 1999, it was decided that a replica of the lost Roanoke Marshes Lighthouse would be built on the waterfront in honor of the town’s rich maritime heritage.

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Nobody loves a tall tale like an Outer Banker, and so the legend of the name of our second northernmost lighthouse, Bodie Island, is infamous.

Supposedly, the stretch of Pea Island south of Nags Head was so treacherous for sailors, the shores would be awash in bodies, prompting the necessity for a lighthouse. However, the kinder, gentle truth is that the Boddy family owned the stretch of land where the current lighthouse stands. The name was accidently changed through the years as Congress appropriated funding bills, and today we have Bodie (don’t forget, it’s pronounced “body”).

Our present lighthouse is actually the third attempt to protect vessels in our treacherous waters. The first lighthouse, built in 1847 at a mere 54 feet, was underfunded and poorly constructed; the foundation sank which led to a leaning tower of Bodie. A second lighthouse, slightly taller at 80 feet, was constructed in 1859; the funds were allocated for a third-order Fresnel lens which could be seen 15 miles away. Unfortunately, the lighthouse was deemed a potential lookout for Union troops during the Civil War and was blown up by the Confederates in 1861. Our current day Lighthouse was built in 1872 on land purchased from an Outer Banks local and former Bodie Island lightkeeper, John B. Etheridge, for $150 (about $3125 today). Standing at 156 feet (three times as tall as the original), the first-order Fresnel lens projects light to a distance of 18 miles.

A massive preservation project began in 2010 to restore the failing lighthouse; bits and pieces started to fall and its structural integrity was showing signs of failure. The lighthouse, the antique Fresnel lens, and the Keeper’s House were fully restored and reopened to visitors in 2013.

Cape Hatteras Light Station BUXTON:

46379 Lighthouse Road nps.gov/caha/planyourvisit/lighthouseclimbs.htm

HOURS:

Open daily, third Friday in April through Columbus Day; 9am with last climb at 4:25pm 2019 Full Moon Tours at 8:30pm and 9:30pm: Monday June 17, Tuesday July 16, Thursday August 15, Saturday September 14

The Outer Banks’ most well-known and recognizable beacon, with its spiraling blackand-white stripes and significant height, the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse, towers over the treacherous Diamond Shoals protecting vessels from potential hazards. Although not the original lighthouse, which was built in 1803, and doubled in height in 1853, our current light station was completed in 1870. Housing a first-order Fresnel lens, the 800,000-candle power light flashes every 7.5 seconds, which can be seen 23 miles out to sea. At 198 feet tall, Cape Hatteras Lighthouse is the tallest brick lighthouse in the U.S. and is equal to three Wright Brothers Monuments (60’) along with 3 Carova wild horses stacked on top of each other.

Aside from its famous height, its distinctive striping, and surviving an attempt by Confederate troops to destroy the tower during the Civil War, Cape Hatteras light’s most famous feat was its well-orchestrated move. Originally built a slim 1500 feet from the shoreline, rising tides and eroding sand threatened the lighthouse’s existence throughout the years. When the surf reached 100 feet from its base in 1935, a steel structure was erected nearby and the lighthouse abandoned. Luckily, dunes were built in 1936 to fight back the tides and by 1950 the Cape Hatteras lighthouse regained its light and was reopened for business. Despite these efforts, the tides still rose and at times lapped its base. It was decided in 1989 to move the light, the principal keeper’s quarters, the double keeper’s quarters, two cisterns, and the oil house. After ten years of planning and preparation, in a wondrous spectacle, the lighthouse and its outbuildings were moved 1500 feet back from the ocean over the course of 23 days.

Today visitors can visit the site, climb the 257 steps to the top, and even take a tour under the light of the full moon.

OUR STATE MAGAZINE

SPECIALS:

JUSTINKELEFAS.COM

ADMISSION: $8 Adults; $4 Seniors, children under 11, and disabled

Ocracoke Light Station OCRACOKE: Lighthouse Road HOURS:

The Ocracoke Light Station is not open for climbing, but the site and grounds can be visited daily.

The oldest working lighthouse in North Carolina, and the second oldest in the United States, Ocracoke Island Lighthouse was built on a two-acre plot bought for $50 by the federal government. It was built in 1823 to replace the nearby Shell Castle Island Lighthouse, which was located on a sandbar island in the nearby Pamlico Sound. It was needed to guide vessels between Portsmouth and Ocracoke islands. Due to the nature of shifting sands, Shell Castle Island moved over a mile from its original location before burning to the ground after a lightning strike.

Designed by Massachusetts architect, Noah Porter, the Ocracoke Island lighthouse has a distinctive white finish made from a combination of salt, lime, ground rice, whiting, and clear glue. Situated on the southernmost point of the northern Outer Banks, Ocracoke Light is petite compared to its sisters; at a mere 75 feet tall. It equals 14,400 stacked copies of My Outer Banks Home Magazine while the Cape Hatteras Light Station would equal 38,000 copies. Since the light was meant to guide mariners through the inlet, not ocean-going vessels, dramatic height was not necessary. Its light only reaches 14 miles. Thick walls, 5 feet at the base tapering to 2 feet at the top, and a position atop high ground on the island have made the Ocracoke Island Light Station a safe place for locals to ride out hurricanes throughout the years.

Restoration began in 2010 to upgrade the lantern room, which houses a fourth-order

Fresnel lens, metalwork, the windows, and the spiral wooden staircase which was rotting away. Visitors can visit the grounds, where the two-story keeper’s cottage and oil storage shed can also be found.

Meaghan Beasley is an indie bookseller at the Island Bookstore on the Outer Banks and is married to a native, who says she’ll get local status after 30 years (only 14 to go)!

Summer 2019 | myouterbankshome.com

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Release Eventually, it becomes this moment, All the past and future fusing into now.

Body gaunt, withering, retracting, receding like an orchid in drought, Mind murmur in neutral, floating on another level, Reaching into the cosmos for the redemption of release.

Wisp of your hand in mine, a sleeping hummingbird, dreaming, My heart in your veins willing you strength.

Never give up, like the flow of a good pen to paper Creating your story, yet Knowing the period will come.

Was it written in our stars, this moment of mercy, This gift from me to you?

Convergence of your need in me to grieve, relief As payment for your nurture and love, So much love that was never returned.

Is this my redemption, viewed through the bottoms of All those bottles, for all that time?

Never strong enough to lay these bones bare In offering up my soul.

And so it goes to One last moment, One final choice of mercy.

Forever searing my memory.

One final push of the button, One last rattle in your throat, A fixed point in time where Mercy and guilt mix a double-shot dagger Of stupor and loss.

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myouterbankshome.com | Summer 2019

WINNER

2019 Silver Arts Outer Banks Senior Games POEM BY

Rebecca Orr

Legends live on in Corolla.

Corolla.

Discover a land of wild wonder on the Currituck Outer Banks, North Carolina.

The legendary wild horses of Corolla, timeless historical sites, pristine remote beaches and mild coastal temperatures are just a few of the reasons why now is a great time to plan your visit.

Call 877.287.7488 for a free visitor’s guide

www.VisitCurrituck.com