Blanche O'Neal Styron

The Ocracoke Methodist Church was packed yesterday afternoon for the funeral of Blanche O'Neal Styron. (For regular readers of this journal, please note that this is NOT my cousin Blanche who lives across the lane on Howard Street.)

Blanche Styron was born in 1922. She and her husband David moved north after they were married, but returned to their island home in the early 1960s. For many years Blanche was the driving force behind the Methodist Church and the Ocracoke School. She was outspoken and forthright, but I never knew a person who was offended by her frankness. She always told it like she saw it, but was never judgmental. It was OK if you disagreed with her. She'd let you know exactly where she stood, but she never shunned you or disowned you if you didn't agree with her. As so many people said during the funeral, she was a delight to be around, because she always tempered her 0pinions with good humor. After the funeral Ernest Cutler, former school principal, remarked that he often heard this from Blanche when she was president of the PTA: "I'll need three volunteers...you, you, and you!" We all agreed that a building at the school or the church should be named after Blanche. So much that was accomplished here on the island in the '60s, '70s, & '80s we owe to Blanche.

As so often happens here on the island, Blanche died at home with her son, daughter-in-law, and grandchildren by her side.

The last time I visited with her she kept me entertained for more than an hour with stories and tales from long ago. I treasure every moment I spent with her. If only we all could be so forthright!

Our latest Ocracoke Newsletter is an account of the 2008 Portsmouth Island Homecoming. You can read it here.

Good News

According to island chatter (and a notice on the chalkboard, I'm told) the Community Store is scheduled to reopen at 6 a.m. on Thursday, May 1. Island native, James Paul, and his wife, Susan, are leasing the building and will be running the business. The outside of the building has been repaired, restored, and repainted. It really looks good. I have not been inside yet, but those who have, report that it looks terrific. I'll be there Thursday morning, of course, and will give a report myself (maybe even with a few photos). If you don't live on the island, be sure to stop by on your next visit. The freshly painted pizer (porch) is there, inviting you to sit down and enjoy a relaxed few minutes (or more) chatting with folks.

In case you missed it earlier, I have published a history of Ocracoke's general stores (with a focus on the Community Store) in our September, 2006 Ocracoke Newsletter.

Our latest Ocracoke Newsletter is an account of the 2008 Portsmouth Island Homecoming. You can read it here.

Molasses Creek & Garison Keillor

Fiddler Dave and Gary Mitchell left this afternoon, headed to Greenville, NC. They will be opening for Garrison Keillor's show, "Lake Webegone Days" tomorrow evening at the Wright Auditorium on the East Carolina University Campus. This is part of the S. Rudolph Alexander Performing Arts Series.

The performance starts at 7:30 p.m and I understand it may only be available to SRAPAS subscribers. This may not be accurate information, so if you are interested in attending please check the following web site, East Carolina SPARAS Website or call 328-4788 for more details. Tickets are $20 to $45.

Our latest Ocracoke Newsletter is an account of the 2008 Portsmouth Island Homecoming. You can read it here.

A Rose is a Rose...

This morning I was greeted by this beautiful rose in my yard. Just thought I'd share it with all of our island friends. Enjoy.



Our latest Ocracoke Newsletter is an account of the 2008 Portsmouth Island Homecoming. You can read it here.

Morning Adventure

I missed most of the rain. I was off-island for much of the last several weeks, but Amy (and just about everyone else on the island) told me how wet it's been. I did get back home last Friday and was able to get to the Portsmouth Island Homecoming (see the link at the bottom of this post) on Saturday. Luckily, the weather on Saturday bordered on perfect. But then it rained again the next several days, sometimes in torrents. Everything is still wet outside, but it's slowly drying out.

Right now it is bright and sunny with temperatures in the low 70s. It was the perfect day to take a little adventure with Lachlan. We wandered down sandy paths, stopped to look at a turtle (I didn't recognize the species), played in the sand, found our way to the water's edge, & discovered a hermit crab. Lachlan decided to explore the woods on his own and I let him go. Barefooted, he climbed over branches, logs, and thickets, then disappeared down a narrow path. I thought he'd be right back, but he wasn't, so I set out after him. He was nowhere in sight. I called out, only to hear a quiet lament: "I've lost my way."

So we scrambled back to a convenient spot and ate a banana.

Our latest Ocracoke Newsletter is an account of the 2008 Portsmouth Island Homecoming. You can read it here.

Portsmouth Homecoming

We have published our latest Ocracoke Newsletter, an account of the 2008 Portsmouth Island Homecoming, Honoring the Life Savers. To read the newsletter, see many photos, and follow links to Friends of Portsmouth Island, just click on the photo below:

Oh, No!

Saturday morning Amy, David, Lachlan, and I, along with other family, friends, and many others lined up on the floating dock at the National Park Service Visitors Center waiting for a ride to Portsmouth. Lachlan was looking forward to his very first visit to the island. Many times we had looked at distant Portsmouth from the shore of Springer's Point. This would be an exciting adventure!

Several boats were running back and forth, ferrying hundreds of folks to the island for homecoming. As one boat would load and head for Portsmouth, another would soon be pulling up to the dock to take another group.

Three-year-old Lachlan, of course, was unaware of the grand plan. We inched our way to the head of the line, but the couple in front of us were the last to board the boat lying along the dock. The captain shoved off and slowly backed away, leaving us standing there with no other boat in view.

It was then that we all heard Lachlan's half-whispered, plaintive moan: "Oh, no!"

Our latest Ocracoke Newsletter is a reprint of the eulogy given at the funeral service for island native Muzel Bryant who died in February at the age of 103. You can read it here.

Honoring the Life Savers

Organizers of yesterday's Portsmouth Island Homecoming estimated that more than 400 people graced the once vibrant village with their presence. The theme of the day was "Honoring the Life Savers." Among the restored Portsmouth Island buildings is the imposing Life Saving Station, one of only a very few of the nation's historic USLSS structures still standing and in pristine condition.

The Station was open to allow visitors access to all of the rooms, including the sleeping quarters (with beds and trunks). But everyone's preferred destination was the tower. Up two steep flights of steps (really permanently installed ladders), the lookout tower afforded a grand view of the village, surrounding marsh and creeks, Pamlico Sound and beyond, and Ocracoke across the inlet.

Outside on the wrap-around porch I felt a special connection to this place as I read my grandfather's name on the list of brave and dedicated surfmen who had served at this station.

Friends of Portsmouth Island put together a program that included a hymn sing at the Methodist Church, brief speeches by representatives of the National Park Service and the US Coast Guard, local music, and a reading of Portsmouth Island history. The highlight of the afternoon was a demonstration of the historic "beach apparatus" and an authentic life saving drill, complete with Lyle gun and breeches buoy.

We'll be posting photos sometime in the near future.

Our latest Ocracoke Newsletter is a reprint of the eulogy given at the funeral service for island native Muzel Bryant who died in February at the age of 103. You can read it here.

Portsmouth Homecoming

This Saturday, April 19th is the Portsmouth Island Homecoming. If you've never been it's about time you went. The day always has a magic to it. You can wander the island and easily imagine the way things used to be there and on all of the coastal Carolina islands not so long ago. You'll hear great stories, meet folks you are guaranteed never to forget and the food....non better. Bring your camera, a sense of humor and your appetite ( something to share also). Philip will be going so for those who can't go I'm sure he'll have a tale or two to tell next week. For ferry reservations (private) from Ocracoke to Portsmouth phone Capt. Rudy Austin at 252-928-4361.


Our latest Ocracoke Newsletter is a reprint of the eulogy given at the funeral service for island native Muzel Bryant who died in February at the age of 103. You can read it here.

Monday Blues (maybe green)

The Village Craftsmen is not open on Mondays this time of year so I took the opportunity yesterday to do a little cleaning and painting. The VC's building has been here for give or take thirty years and I believe that's the last time the front door was painted. A colony of spiders had taken up residence on the front porch and was making for great Ghost Walk ambience. So I dragged out my ladder, bucket, two brooms, paint, hammer, drop cloth, rags, paint brushes, screw driver, stirrrrers, water bottle, grapes and some peanut butter pretzels. I was ready. I brushed and banged, swooshed and swished , sipped and nibbled. Now there are five columns holding up VC's porch roof but only was ever painted. Don't ask...I haven't a clue. So, I repainted it too. It looks swell. The old paint was kind of a yellowy pea green and the new a lovely deep rich green. It looks great on the column and the door, my pants, shirt, hands, left ankle and ahhh yes....my hair. It'll all need a second coat. That will be next Monday's job. I had Frank drive the wrong way down Howard St. on the way home to show him the paint job. Blanche (Howard ) Jolliff was out by the graveyard raking leaves. It was just starting to sprinkle as we stopped to chat a minute. "What are you doing out here working in the rain"? I chided Blanche. She gave me her slow, sweet smile. "Well, you know Jude, as a friend of
mine used to say, there's always something to do around the plantation". I guess that about sums it up.

Our latest Ocracoke Newsletter is a reprint of the eulogy given at the funeral service for island native Muzel Bryant who died in February at the age of 103. You can read it here.

Ocracoke Information

Lately I've been receiving a lot of inquiries regarding happenings on the island. The Ghost Walks, the ceremony at the British Cemetary, the Ocrafolk Music Festival , music on the island, who's open when etc.. While we're more than happy to answer your questions, I encourage you to go to the links on our website
www.villagecraftsmen.com
for the Ocracoke Civic and Business Assoc. ,Ocracoke Preservation Society, Molasses Creek and others to get first hand information. We do make the reservations for the Ghost and History Walks here at Village Craftsmen. You can email us at info@villagecraftsmen.com or call us at 252-928-6300 Tues - Sun 10AM-5PM. Tours are scheduled Tuesday and Friday evenings at 7:30 and reservations are recommended. They are great fun. Don't get me wrong, I always enjoy talking or emailing folks but sometimes I just don't have the information you need right at hand. We look forward to seeing you whenever you come during the season. PS The sun is shining today!


Our latest Ocracoke Newsletter is a reprint of the eulogy given at the funeral service for island native Muzel Bryant who died in February at the age of 103. You can read it here.

"Right Spiffy"

I believe "Spring Spiffing" is in human DNA. I believe it's totally out of our control, like some horrible addiction. But it's not horrible at all, it's fun. Dallie has been painting in the shop and sewing lovely thingys for tables and showcases. Next Monday I'll scrub Village Craftsmens front porch and paint the front door. I bought flowers for the front and wonderful new merchandise for the shop. Jaren is busy putting the new items on our website. Kimberly is working both here and at the Hemp Shop with Frank "spiffing" there. The azaleas, camelias and wisteria in the Hemp Shop yard are breathtaking again this year and if the sun ever comes out again I'm sure they'll be even prettier! The island is humming with sawing and hammering - or is that the rain? And so the work continues, until we can truly say, " My, my don't things look right spiffy".





Our latest Ocracoke Newsletter is a reprint of the eulogy given at the funeral service for island native Muzel Bryant who died in February at the age of 103. You can read it here.

Black Squall

Black Squall You can read the story here.Our latest Ocracoke Newsletter is a reprint of the eulogy given at the funeral service for island native Muzel Bryant who died in February at the age of 103. You can read it here.

April Showers

Philip called from Indiana a few minutes ago to tell me how lovely the weather is there today. He is sitting in Lou Ann's back yard reading, in the sunshine. It's been raining here for a week and a half and we're not expecting a break until Thursday. For a person who hangs their laundry outside to dry that is a very serious state of affairs. Frank and I are wearing outfits we haven't worn in years....and for good reason. Actually, with the drought we had last year, the rain is most welcome, even if we do have to roll up our pantlegs, take off our shoes and wade in the driveway to the kitchen steps. It reminds me of when our boys were small and I taught them to wade in puddles. Does that make me a bad mother? Anyhoo...the flowers will be blooming soon enough and the sun shining on the cedars wet with ra
indrops sparkling like diamonds.



Our latest Ocracoke Newsletter is a reprint of the eulogy given at the funeral service for island native Muzel Bryant who died in February at the age of 103. You can read it here.

Where'd he go now?

The sorrowful moaning of the foghorns woke us this morning early. It was cool yesterday but overnight a front came in, a warm one and with it the sea fog. I thought I heard the Cedar Island ferry leaving early but then thought better of it considering the conditions. I came to work as usual and normally by ten or so Philip and I touch base. He asks whether I have bank or mail to go and we just talk for awhile. About 11:30 I realized , with Jaren's help, that I hadn't heard from him so I called his cell phone and left a message. About an hour later I got a call from him " somewhere" about to get off at an exit on his way to see Lou Ann in Indiana. "I woke up at 5" he said, and thought, "I could leave this morning!" And so he did. I gave him the devil, of course, for not leaving me a note or something but I'm really thrilled that he can just take off when he wants and not worry about Village Craftsmen. He's earned it. And after all, Frank and I did have a wonderful month in Aruba........



Our latest Ocracoke Newsletter is a reprint of the eulogy given at the funeral service for island native Muzel Bryant who died in February at the age of 103. You can read it here.

Doxsee Clam Factory

We meet the most interesting people here on Howard Street. Yesterday I was called over to the Village Craftsmen and introduced to John & Margie Doxsee. John's great-grandfather was James Harvey Doxsee from Islip, NY. In the early years of the twentieth century (ca. 1900 - 1920) he moved his prosperous clam factory from New York to Ocracoke. Many islanders (all of whom have since died) worked at Doxsee's, which was located across the "ditch" from the old Coast Guard Station (now the NCCAT campus). The factory, which processed and canned clams and clam juice for a national market, moved to Marco Island, Florida after the operation became unprofitable on Ocracoke.

John's cousin, Bob Doxsee, publishes a web site about the family and their clamming businesses. You can read more here. Unfortunately, although he has photos of the clam factories, he does not have Ocracoke photos. However, the Ocracoke Island facility is clearly visible in the 1917 village panorama. You can see that picture in the Village Craftsmen on your next visit.

Maybe I'll do more research and publish a monthly newsletter about Doxsee's sometime soon.

Our latest Ocracoke Newsletter is a reprint of the eulogy given at the funeral service for island native Muzel Bryant who died in February at the age of 103. You can read it here.

Camping & ORV Lawsuit

Hello again to all of our readers. This is Philip. I've been off-island for almost two weeks and Jude has been keeping you up to date on island events. I had a last-minute invitation to join Captain Rob sailing on the Schooner Windfall in Florida Bay. We sailed for several days with Rob's son Emmet, and mutual friend, Bill Monticone. Bill & Emmet are still traveling back to Ocracoke on the boat, and I drove Rob's car home. It was a fun mini-vacation. I stopped in central Florida to camp and canoe, and then spent several days on Edisto Island in South Carolina.

On my last camping day I noticed that the "campers" next to me were settled into the largest bus-type RV imaginable. It had four pull-out rooms (two on each side), and two satellite dishes on the roof (with blue lights). They were pulling a vehicle larger than the car I was driving. Meanwhile I was setting up my temporary home, the smallest backpacking tent in the campground. I had neglected to bring a pad or air mattress, so I made do with a flattened cardboard box. I also didn't have a pillow, but I found some bubble wrap that I covered with an old shirt. I could only imagine my neighbors relaxing in their jacuzzi while I walked on the beach or read my latest book, Last Child in the Woods, by candlelight.

Several readers have asked about the recent lawsuit calling for restrictions on ORV use on Hatteras and Ocracoke Islands. Many others have followed this issue more closely than I have, and a Google search should lead to many articles about it. Irene Nolan, who publishes the Island Free Press, an on-line Outer Banks "newspaper," has written a helpful article. You can read it here: www.islandfreepress.org. The hearing is set for Friday.

Our latest Ocracoke Newsletter is a reprint of the eulogy given at the funeral service for island native Muzel Bryant who died in February at the age of 103. You can read it here.

A Return to Quiet

The past two weeks the island was like summer, folks everywhere. But today it has returned to it's lazy day feel. There are just a few folks around and the weather can't make up it's mind what it wants to do. The sun peeps out for a minute and the next it's pouring buckets. Call me crazy but I think that's spring! An old friend I haven't seen in a year or so stopped by and we had time to sit a spell and catch up on news of our friends and families. I hear there's no Bridge ( the card game) tonight so instead of soup and sandwich there'll be time for shrimp. Not a bad trade off.