Fowler Photo Gallery

I dug through boxes and envelopes full of photographs yesterday and found three pictures with Fowler in them. I know I have others, but can't locate them. I hope you enjoy these.

This is my dad, Lawton, on fiddle, and Fowler on guitar. They are jammin' in Don Wood's "living room" (you probably can't see it, but there's a drill press behind my dad, and other tools scattered amongst the furniture):



Here are Fowler (on the left) and my dad enjoying a watermelon out on Jack Willis' dock:



(click on photo to view larger image.)

This final photo is one of my favorites. From left to right are David, me, Fowler, and Rob. Lachlan is in the front, standing on our crock of homemade Ocracoke meal wine.



Our latest Ocracoke Newsletter provides more information about the majestic live oaks on Ocracoke Island. You can read it here.

To read about Philip's new book, Digging up Uncle Evans, History, Ghost Tales, & Stories from Ocracoke Island, please click here.

Fowler

Ocracoke Island has lost another venerable native. Fowler O'Neal died at home on Tuesday. He was 87 years old.

Fowler was the quintessential islander, having worked on the water most of his adult life. He was a ferry captain when he retired. He sported numerous tattoos (no Celtic patterns or new age symbols for him), and his speech was peppered with colorful words and phrases. Fowler was a tinkerer. He owned several boats and could repair an outboard engine, lawnmower, or automobile transmission. He built his modest home on Fig Tree Lane when he married Chloe, and I'm sure he did all of the plumbing and electric work himself. I know he helped me when I was building Village Craftsmen in the early 1970s. In fact, I thought of him often as I was tearing down the chimney he and my father helped construct.

Fowler was a man who knew who he was. And he was totally without pretension. Although he was friends with politicians and off-island people with money and power, Fowler never pretended to be anyone other than himself. He was most comfortable in bare feet with his khaki trousers rolled up to his ankles, walking his dog, sitting on his outdoor swing with Chloe, or driving his rusted pickup truck through the village. Fowler had a fluid sense of time, and would stop to talk without a thought or worry about anything else. He read frequently and was incredibly smart, a man who knew more from experience than most of us will ever know from books. Above all, Fowler liked to laugh. He often got tickled telling me stories of his younger days on Ocracoke and Portsmouth Island. He especially enjoyed recounting antics and adventures he shared with my dad. Although Fowler hadn't taken a drink for decades, he loved to supervise our occasional brewing of traditional Ocracoke meal wine.

Fowler chose to spend his last days at home with his family. I'm sure he coudn't countenance the thought of being in an antiseptic hospital room surrounded by strangers.

Fowler O'Neal was an ambassador for old-time Ocracoke, a friend to all, and a model of self-assurance. He will be missed. Farewell neighbor!

A memorial service will be held on Monday, February 02, at 1 pm in the Methodist Church.

Our latest Ocracoke Newsletter provides more information about the majestic live oaks on Ocracoke Island. You can read it here.

To read about Philip's new book, Digging up Uncle Evans, History, Ghost Tales, & Stories from Ocracoke Island, please click here.

Guidelines for Comments

Hello to all of our faithful readers. Since I began this journal, in 2004, I have not thought it necessary to impose any rules for posting comments. However, a number of readers have found some recent comments unhelpful and antagonistic. I prefer to think of them as unnecessarily challenging.

As most of you know, I am happy to answer thoughtful, well articulated questions. So these are my new guidelines:

• Comments & questions should address published posts or other topics of interest regarding Ocracoke Island or the Outer Banks.
  
• Comments should be limited to one or two issues and be phrased in polite, civil language.
• Comments should be written in complete, easy to understand English sentences.
  
• I reserve the right to delete any comments that I find unhelpful, unnecessarily challenging, or objectionable in any way. This is a personal journal. There are ample opportunities, for people who are interested, to publish blogs with their own thoughts and comments.

Our latest Ocracoke Newsletter provides more information about the majestic live oaks on Ocracoke Island. You can read it here.

To read about Philip's new book, Digging up Uncle Evans, History, Ghost Tales, & Stories from Ocracoke Island, please click here.

Live Oaks, Part II

Last month's Ocracoke Newsletter was about the many remarkable live oaks on the island. Several folks asked about the largest trees, and how to locate them. This month's Newsletter concentrates on the six largest Ocracoke oaks, and includes more information about them, where they live, and directions for finding them. I have also created three simple maps that will help you locate and identify these six trees, all of which have been registered with the Live Oak Society.

Click here to go directly to our January, 2009 Ocracoke Newsletter.

Our latest Ocracoke Newsletter celebrates the majestic live oaks on Ocracoke Island. You can read it here.

To read about Philip's new book, Digging up Uncle Evans, History, Ghost Tales, & Stories from Ocracoke Island, please click here.

Sixty

That's right. It's sixty degrees here today. And the sun is shining, drying out the village after several days of light rain, mist, and fog. It's the perfect day to get a few outdoor chores finished. I've already carried a truck load of branches to the public chipper. Next, I'll load up the smaller chips and fragments from the chimney into 5 gallon buckets and spread them in the low places in the road. By late afternoon I'll be ready for a walk on the beach.

Our latest Ocracoke Newsletter celebrates the majestic live oaks on Ocracoke Island. You can read it here.

To read about Philip's new book, Digging up Uncle Evans, History, Ghost Tales, & Stories from Ocracoke Island, please click here.

Chimney Man

For the past several days I have been tearing down a chimney. We haven't used it for many years, and it is in the middle of the display space at Village Craftsmen. In fact, the top had already been knocked off the last time we re-roofed the building. So I started the attack on Saturday. After about twenty minutes of beating on it with a sledge hammer I was about to give up (it was solid concrete block, with a little bit of decorative brick work), since I couldn't see any progress at all.

Finally I noticed a small crack. After it widened a bit I began driving a heavy chisel into the crack, then a crowbar. It was tough work, but finally I was rewarded with just a large pile of rubble.

I wondered why I hadn't hired someone to tear down the chimney. Then I remembered a conversation that my brother and I had recently. Neither one of us remembers our parents ever hiring anyone for anything. My mother took care of the house and the cooking (she was a typical stay-at-home mom of the 1950s). My father was a welder. After work he tackled whatever jobs needed to be done. He cut our hair (even gave my mother permanent waves, and I never went to a barber until college), painted the house, tuned the car, added a new kitchen to the house, repaired the furnace and appliances, even killed chickens for supper. My brother and I cut the grass and helped do other household chores.

So I guess that's why I didn't hire someone to do a job I was capable of doing myself. But maybe I should have; it was a lot of work for a senior citizen!

Here's a photo of Chimney Man wielding his sledge hammer:



And one of Chimney Man taking a much needed break:



Our latest Ocracoke Newsletter celebrates the majestic live oaks on Ocracoke Island. You can read it here.

To read about Philip's new book, Digging up Uncle Evans, History, Ghost Tales, & Stories from Ocracoke Island, please click here.

Ferry Schedules

The NC Department of Transportation has issued an announcement that will be of interest to many of our readers. The ferry division is making changes to its Ocracoke and Swan Quarter schedules in order to meet U.S. Coast Guard requirements of no more than a 12-hour work shift per day, per crew member, per vessel. Following are the changes which are in effect from January 21, 2009 until May 18, 2009. when the heaviest tourist traffic begins:

Departures from Cedar Island & Ocracoke: 7:30 am, 10:30 am, 2 pm, & 5 pm.

Departures from Swan Quarter: 10 am & 5 pm.

Departures from Ocracoke: 7 am & 1 pm.

There are no changes to the Hatteras Inlet schedules.

Our latest Ocracoke Newsletter celebrates the majestic live oaks on Ocracoke Island. You can read it here.

To read about Philip's new book, Digging up Uncle Evans, History, Ghost Tales, & Stories from Ocracoke Island, please click here.

Ping Pong

There's a new wintertime activity available for islanders and visitors to Ocracoke. Every Thursday evening at 7 o'clock the Community Center will be open for ping pong. Tom Pahl discovered a ping pong table stored away next to the stage and brought it out. It is in nearly new condition, with a new net. There was even a box of paddles and balls. So if you're a veteran ping pong player, or just want to learn, come on out for an evening of fun and exercise.

I hadn't played in probably 40 years, but I did win a couple of games last night (OK I also lost big time once; got to perfect my spin!). It was great fun.

Our latest Ocracoke Newsletter celebrates the majestic live oaks on Ocracoke Island. You can read it here.

To read about Philip's new book, Digging up Uncle Evans, History, Ghost Tales, & Stories from Ocracoke Island, please click here.

Pineapple Chess Pie

A reader recently requested the recipe for Jude Brown's southern chess pie. She was happy to share it. Jude even provided some history. Why is it called chess pie? No one seems to know, but there are three suggestions:

• It is a corruption of chest, which is where the sugar was stored (a pie chest)
• It is a corruption of just ("it's jest a simple pie.")
• The pie was brought over to the US by folks from Chester, England

Here is the recipe:

1 stick of butter, softened
3 eggs
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp vinegar
1 1/2 c sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 TBS corn meal
1 c pineapple (canned and drained)

Beat the eggs, then blend everything together and pour into an unbaked 8" pie shell. Bake at 350-400 degrees for approx 1 hour (Jude generally bakes hers at 375 degrees for 50 minutes.)

Jude says the vinegar is added to cut the sweetness. And she points out that traditionally this was a pie baked by simple southern folk who used other ingredients as they were available (lemon juice, chocolate, peaches, pears, etc.).

Enjoy! It's delicious.

Our latest Ocracoke Newsletter celebrates the majestic live oaks on Ocracoke Island. You can read it here.

To read about Philip's new book, Digging up Uncle Evans, History, Ghost Tales, & Stories from Ocracoke Island, please click here.

Steel Trawler

Thirty years ago it was commonplace, especially in the colder months, to see a dozen or more trawlers, both wooden and steel, docked in Silver Lake Harbor. Nowadays it is much less common. Some time ago, however, I had an opportunity to speak with a member of the crew of a large steel trawler. They had just arrived with a boatload of green tail shrimp, and they were offering them for sale at $3.00/pound. I climbed on board to see some of the prettiest, large shrimp I had ever seen. I pulled out my money, and he weighed out the shrimp. Into a plastic bag they went.

Back home I popped the heads off (my hands were aching from the cold by the time I was finished), and packed them in heavy plastic bags. Most went into the freezer, but I left a small bag out for the next day. If you've never tasted shrimp fresh from Pamlico Sound (if all you've ever known is pre-packaged shrimp from Thailand), and you finally have an opportunity to feast on the real thing you'll never want to eat imported shrimp again. I guarantee it!

PS: I understand that there will be no picking and jamming and the Community Store this Friday night, but that it will continue again "soon." Look for notices in the store.

Our latest Ocracoke Newsletter celebrates the majestic live oaks on Ocracoke Island. You can read it here.

To read about Philip's new book, Digging up Uncle Evans, History, Ghost Tales, & Stories from Ocracoke Island, please click here.

January Snow

Ocracoke didn't get a lot of snow yesterday, but it sure was fun to see it coming down. I'm guessing we got about a half inch. I took the first two pictures yesterday afternoon as it was snowing. This morning Howard Street and the trees didn't have much snow on them, so I took the other two photos to show you a little of what it looked like at about 9 am.

Be sure to click on the photos to see full size images.









Our latest Ocracoke Newsletter celebrates the majestic live oaks on Ocracoke Island. You can read it here.

To read about Philip's new book, Digging up Uncle Evans, History, Ghost Tales, & Stories from Ocracoke Island, please click here.

Inauguration

I watched today's historic inauguration with David and Lachlan (Amy is off-island). I was reminded of how emotionally moving it is to live in such an extraordinary country. In spite of all of our differences and a sometimes inglorious past, the foundations of our society and our government are remarkably sound. Our constitution, which President Obama and Vice President Biden pledged to preserve, protect, and defend, is the bedrock of our democracy. No US president is ever asked to give allegiance to any other document, ideology, or entity.

The peaceful and civil transfer of power that we witness at every inauguration is truly to be celebrated. Every glimpse of our flag flying in the breeze, and every strain of one of our patriotic songs brought tears to my eyes. I am proud to be an American!

On a very local note -- another remarkable event is unfolding outside my window. The trees, fences, and tombstones are wearing a soft mantle of snow, and it is still coming down, swirling off the roofs and branches. I must go outside to witness this rare event before daylight is gone! As you might imagine, Howard Street is beautiful beyond description during a snow storm.

Our latest Ocracoke Newsletter celebrates the majestic live oaks on Ocracoke Island. You can read it here.

To read about Philip's new book, Digging up Uncle Evans, History, Ghost Tales, & Stories from Ocracoke Island, please click here.

Dinner

Have you ever been invited out to dinner, and when you sat down the table was covered with newspapers, there were no dishes, and you were expected to eat with your hands? If you live on the coast maybe you've had this wonderful experience.

I arrived right at 6 o'clock. Another couple were right behind me. After wine and/or dark beer, and hors d'oeuvres (crackers, goat cheese, & chutney) we spread an old vinyl tablecloth on the table and covered it with newspapers. Next came cookie trays piled with steaming oysters fresh out of the oven. They were barely cracked open, just the way I like them. Saltines were laid out on the table, along with bowls of homemade cocktail sauce (with a touch of horseradish). Oh yes, I brought a plate of deviled eggs. We dug in with our knives, plucked the succulent oysters from their shells, dipped them in sauce, spread them on crackers, and savored the taste of those fresh Pamlico Sound oysters. Juice soaked into the newspapers and the shells were tossed into plastic buckets on the floor.

The other guests had brought a southern pineapple chess pie, which we enjoyed along with freshly made oatmeal cookies and coffee after we had had our fill of oysters. I was ready to slide under the table, but we sat there for another hour and a half chatting, telling stories, and laughing.

Ah....coastal living at its best!

Our latest Ocracoke Newsletter celebrates the majestic live oaks on Ocracoke Island. You can read it here.

To read about Philip's new book, Digging up Uncle Evans, History, Ghost Tales, & Stories from Ocracoke Island, please click here.

Sunday Morning

It sure has warmed up this morning. I left the water dripping at Village Craftsmen last night, and when I walked over to check I noticed that the ground didn't crunch under my feet like it did yesterday. But it's not as sunny. I think we may get a little rain today. I'm hoping to get another walk on the beach after lunch, but if not, it would be a good day to do some serious reading.

I had a table full of dinner guests last night around my large lazy Susan table, and I have two invitations for dinner tonight! Island life, even in the winter (or maybe, especially in the winter) is mighty good.

Our latest Ocracoke Newsletter celebrates the majestic live oaks on Ocracoke Island. You can read it here.

To read about Philip's new book, Digging up Uncle Evans, History, Ghost Tales, & Stories from Ocracoke Island, please click here.

Jam Session

A fire was roaring in the pot bellied stove in the Community Store last night as island musicians gathered 'round. The old wooden floor and a round antique metal Texaco sign (with lettering worn off where folks had walked over it for decades) testified to the many islanders and visitors who have crossed the store's threshold over the years. Last night folding chairs and upside-down milk crates served as seating for musicians and spectators alike.

Without much talk or introductions the tunes rang out --Tennessee Waltz, Down Yonder, Under the Double Eagle.... David was there with his fiddle. Leonard played banjo. Marcy brought her mandolin, Lou, his Dobro. April even came down to the island from Hatteras with her guitar and bass. Tom sat in the circle with his saxophone and clarinet. I had my dancing man. When tunes were familiar (You Are My Sunshine, Puff the Magic Dragon....) everyone sang. It was a great night to call Ocracoke home.

Our latest Ocracoke Newsletter celebrates the majestic live oaks on Ocracoke Island. You can read it here.

To read about Philip's new book, Digging up Uncle Evans, History, Ghost Tales, & Stories from Ocracoke Island, please click here.

Weather

It seems like the weather is on almost everyone's mind this morning. Although it's not as cold on Ocracoke as it is in the mid-west (where the wind chill has created "feel like" temperatures in the 30s & 40s below zero, and in some places even lower), it felt cold to us when we woke up. Right now it's about 29 degrees, but the wind chill here is about 19 degrees. Most of our houses and other buildings are raised up on piers or pilings, which makes our water pipes exposed. I have built boxes around my pipes (with 100 watt light bulbs inside), or wrapped them with heat tapes, so I've not had any frozen pipes.

Right now it's bright and sunny with about a 15 mph breeze. I believe I'll catch up on some office work, answer a few emails, bundle up, run out to the post office, and then take a half hour stroll on the beach. I'll let you know if I find any noteworthy seashells.

Our latest Ocracoke Newsletter celebrates the majestic live oaks on Ocracoke Island. You can read it here.

To read about Philip's new book, Digging up Uncle Evans, History, Ghost Tales, & Stories from Ocracoke Island, please click here.

Sunset

Ocracoke is famous among residents and visitors for our outstanding sunsets. Tonight I was treated to a welcoming sight.

I have been off island again for a few days (I carried Lou Ann back to her mid-western town where right now the snow is blanketing the ground and turning it into a Norman Rockwell-like scene, and where it is about 35 degrees colder than here on the island!), and then I went to the NC mountains to visit my son and his family. I arrived back home on the 5 pm ferry this evening. Driving down the island I was struck by the magnificent sunset. The horizon was a rich magenta, and above it were layered all of the colors of the spectrum -- orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet.

The sand dunes were crowned with the past season's sea oats, and they and several hundred feet of wooden sand fence stood silhouetted against the darkening sky, along with cedars and pine trees on the sound side. For twenty minutes I drove south marveling at the fiery sky and the occasional glimpse of familiar ocean waves peeking through breaks in the dunes.

I only wished Lou Ann could have been with me to be welcomed home in such a spectacular way.

Our latest Ocracoke Newsletter celebrates the majestic live oaks on Ocracoke Island. You can read it here.

To read about Philip's new book, Digging up Uncle Evans, History, Ghost Tales, & Stories from Ocracoke Island, please click here.

Friday Night at the Community Store

I've been gone a few days -- drove Lou Ann back to the midwest (where the temps plunged into the teens and snow piled up a foot or more). I have to admit that real wintertime scenes out there are beautiful, both her quintessential small town with snow swirling around the monument in the town square, and the surrounding woodlands with their evergreens and naked disciduous trees competing for best snow-covered photo op.

Back home on the island the temperatures were considerably milder, but still it's winter. Leonard, our local banjo player sent me this news while I was gone:

"Philip, something new this year on the island: the Friday night jam session at the Community Store. In addition to the usual suspects -- Gary and David, Lou and Marcy -- there were April Trueblood, Wes Lassiter, Bobby Raborn, another young lady on mandolin (friend of April's), and myself. Plus about 20 people hootin' and hollerin' -- all of us crowded around the potbelly stove (with a real fire in it). We played from seven until nine. Great fun and we're gonna do it again next Friday."

There's no question! I'll be there this coming Friday, even though it is my poker night. Maybe I'll leave a little early, or maybe I'll just get to the poker table a little late. But I do wish Lou Ann were still here to enjoy Friday Night at the Community Store with me.

Our latest Ocracoke Newsletter celebrates the majestic live oaks on Ocracoke Island. You can read it here.

To read about Philip's new book, Digging up Uncle Evans, History, Ghost Tales, & Stories from Ocracoke Island, please click here.

Mad Mag

Margaret Eaton was born in the late 1800s in Rockland, Maine. Ocracoke native John Simon Howard (John Sime) was captain of a schooner that plied the waters off the eastern seaboard, and he was at anchor in the Rockland harbor when Margaret was only fifteen years old. By all accounts Margaret was beautiful, talented, and exceptionally intelligent. John Sime, who was about two decades older than Margaret, found himself immediately attracted to her.

No one alive remembers the exact circumstances of their encounter, but some stories suggest that John Sime carried Margaret back to Ocracoke against her will. Along the way they were married, and Margaret remained on Ocracoke. In her later years Margaret became increasingly peculiar. Stories survive of some of her antics. It is said that she chopped off one of her own toes with a meat cleaver. Others tell of the time she branded her forehead with a hot iron. My father remembered her standing alone and silent, in a long white dress, late at night in graveyards near her house. It has even been reported that she cooked a cat for dinner one night.

After John died, island neighbors came together to build a little house for "Mad Mag" on a small sand hill in Paddy's Holler. I've heard that the house was so close to the foot path that folks passing by often walked up on her porch as they went by. Mischievous children would sometimes bang on the side of her house which would bring her out yelling invectives. This only served to encourage her reputation for craziness.

Still today, folks walking late at night past family cemeteries along some of the sandy lanes on Ocracoke will catch a glimpse of an unusual apparition in the far corner of the graveyard. Not infrequently the image is of a woman with long gray hair, dressed in an antique white dress. "Mad Mag," you might hear the passers-by whisper, as they hurry down the lane.

Our latest Ocracoke Newsletter celebrates the majestic live oaks on Ocracoke Island. You can read it here.

To read about Philip's new book, Digging up Uncle Evans, History, Ghost Tales, & Stories from Ocracoke Island, please click here.

Between the Sound and the Sea

Yesterday I posted the lyrics to one of our favorite island songs, Paddy's Holler, written by island native Walter Howard, and performed by Molasses Creek. Leonard left a comment directing readers to an Internet web site where several of Edgar Howard's tunes are posted, including Paddy's Holler. Edgar and Walter were brothers who played the vaudeville circuit in the 1920s & 1930s with celebrities such as Milton Berle, Gene Autry, and Al Jolson.

You can click here to go directly to the web site, rhapsody.com, where they have posted the entire Folkways album, Between the Sound and the Sea, released January 1, 1977. This album features sixteen tracks of traditional Outer Banks music by local artists, including a number of Ocracoke natives (Elizabeth Howard, Edgar Howard, Jule Garrish, Maurice Ballance, and my father, Lawton Howard).

Thanks to Leonard for alerting us to this on-line collection of North Carolina's coastal music! I hope you enjoy listening to Edgar playing his banjo, and singing Paddy's Holler and other tunes, and listening to the other Outer Banks musicians (some of whom are very quirky).

Our latest Ocracoke Newsletter celebrates the majestic live oaks on Ocracoke Island. You can read it here.

To read about Philip's new book, Digging up Uncle Evans, History, Ghost Tales, & Stories from Ocracoke Island, please click here.

Paddy's Holler

Molasses Creek's recent performance at Williamsburg's First Night Celebration reminded me again of Walter Howard's most well-known island song, "Paddy's Holler." Many of our readers know and love this fast-paced tune. So I decided to print the lyrics, along with a few comments in brackets, to clarify the local history.

Paddy's Holler
Written by Walter Howard

Many, many years ago I can truly tell you so
There was a spot that wasn't worth a dollar
Where the folks were gay, so the people say
Everybody called it Paddy's Holler [the Ocracoke village area, roughly parallel to, and between, the Back Road & Howard Street, from about the intersection of Fig Tree Lane and Back Road, past the back yards of houses now facing Back Road, then turning on a foot path behind the Methodist Church & Howard cemeteries and joining Howard Street and Lawton Lane, and/or continuing past the back of the Health Center to the schoolhouse] .

'Twould put us all to shame how the holler got its name
Legends have been told by the millions
But the one that I like best was no doubt told in jest
Told by ol' fiddlin' Wid Williams [Ocracoke's most celebrated old-time fiddle player]

Wid was on a spree; he had fiddled all night free
And they had to hold him up by the collar
But like a knight of old he grew mighty bold,
And hollered out "Hooray for Paddy's Holler!" [Some local sources suggest that Paddy's Holler was named after a Philadelphia tap room popular with Ocracokers who had moved up north to work in the early 20th century]

Now in the olden days nobody offered praise
For anybody livin' up the holler
As the years rolled by , moved in on the sly
Now it's "Mrs. Jones" of Paddy's Holler. [Mrs. Jones would be Mary Ruth Kelly Jones, the first wife of early island developer and eccentric millionaire, Sam Jones. She was the grand-daughter of George Gregory Howard, island sea captain who built the large house with widow's walk that backs up to Howard Street.]

Paddy's Holler, Paddy's Holler
Why, they come from near and far to Paddy's Holler
And the town was in a lurch, 'cause when they'd go to church
They'd all have to pass through Paddy's Holler [one early Methodist Church was located on Howard Street, where "Dicey's House" sits today, and the present Methodist Church, completed in 1943, is also located in the Paddy's Holler area.]

The Howards, the O'Neals, the Burruses, the Peales
Why they've all found their way to Paddy's Holler
Choicest spot in town, nobody seems to frown
When someone hollers, "Let's go up the holler!"

They built a naval base just to give the subs a chase [the WWII Navy Base was built where the NPS Visitors Center is today]
So everybody there could earn a dollar
When Uncle Sammy came he put 'em all to shame
Paved the only road through Paddy's Holler. [Ocracoke's first paved road was a one-lane concrete strip starting at the Navy Base, turning where the Anchorage Inn is today, turning again down the Back Road, through Paddy's Holler, then turning across from the fire hall, and "T-ing" at the end of the road. From the "T" the Navy added short aprons, and there they dumped spent ammunition shells, hence the local name "Ammunition Dump Road," though it is officially called "Sunset Blvd."

Paddy's Holler! Paddy's Holler
They come from near and far to Paddy's Holler
It's the choicest spot in town, nobody seems to frown
When someone hollers, "Let's go up the holler!"

Now folks down there were kind to the sick and blind
So everybody ponied up a dollar
To build a little home for Maggie all alone [Maggie is "Mad Mag Howard," wife of John Simon Howard, sea captain, who took Margaret Eaton from Rockland Maine, when she was only fifteen years old, married her, and brought her to Ocracoke. She became legendary for her quirky, odd, and very peculiar habits, hence her local name, Mad Mag.]
Livin' on a hill in Paddy's Holler.

But one was mighty bold, his heart set on gold
His mind was on the almighty dollar
Some said "listen here, don't put that line post there!
'Cause that's the choicest spot in Paddy's Holler!"

I hope you enjoyed this tidbit of local history reflected in one of our most popular songs.

Our latest Ocracoke Newsletter celebrates the majestic live oaks on Ocracoke Island. You can read it here.

To read about Philip's new book, Digging up Uncle Evans, History, Ghost Tales, & Stories from Ocracoke Island, please click here.

Twelfth Night

I suppose I should have wished all of our readers a happy Twelfth Night yesterday, since Twelfth Night is the evening of the fifth of January. It precedes Twelfth Day (that's today, the sixth of January), the eve of the celebration of the Epiphany (the Adoration of the Magi, or Wise Men). Twelfth Night is the last day of the Christmas season, the night of January 5-6 (hence the "Twelve Days of Christmas" which are December 25 - January 5 [or in some traditions, December 26 - January 6] not the day after Thanksgiving to December 25, as popular culture would suggest). Twelfth Night has traditionally been observed as a time of merrymaking.

On Ocracoke, at least one Twelfth Night Celebration was held on Sunday evening (OK, there was a bit of fudging there) with several dozen islanders getting together for food, drink, and a bit of mild merrymaking. It's always a fun way to end the holiday season. Here is a web site with some history and a few suggestions for a Twelfth Night Celebration:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twelfth_Night_(holiday)

I thought you might enjoy the following photo of Lou Ann and me. It was taken on Christmas Eve (not on Twelfth Night) by Ocracoke's Methodist minister, Joyce Reynolds.



Happy Twelfth Night!

Our latest Ocracoke Newsletter celebrates the majestic live oaks on Ocracoke Island. You can read it here.

To read about Philip's new book, Digging up Uncle Evans, History, Ghost Tales, & Stories from Ocracoke Island, please click here.

First Night (By Lou Ann)

There were plenty of things to do on Ocracoke for New Year’s Eve. There was the dance at the Community Center or even the tally rally for the bird counters. (I hear that is always quite a party with great chili and key lime pie!) However, we decided to follow Molasses Creek to Williamsburg Va.

I have been a Molasses Creek groupie since the first time I heard them several summers ago. In fact, within a span of three weeks, I went to six of their shows! (They were doing two a week in those days.) I just could not get enough of their music.

So, Philip and I packed the car including leftover ham sandwiches and ginger ale and headed towards Williamsburg. The weather was windy and grew progressively colder as I constantly put my hand on the window to check the temperatures. I double checked my winter clothes in the back seat…gloves, hats, scarves, loden green cape. Yes, I definitely know how to pack for cold weather.

It was still daylight with bright sunshine and a gorgeous blue sky when we arrived in Williamsburg. We quickly had dinner and made our way over to the William and MaryCollege campus where First Night was to be held. We bought our buttons and scanned the program. There were over 50 presenters, but we had only eyes for Molasses Creek. We circled their times and then worked our other events around them.

We had to wait in line for their performance and then squeeze through the crowd to find seats. We knew we were going to the front row with center seats, at least we hoped. Alas, we were rewarded with our efforts. It was great fun having Molasses Creek come onto the stage with a roaring crowd. We both looked behind us several times with pride! (We should have worn T-shirts with their name and logo, or just the statement that we personally know them and know them well!)

Their show was just wonderful! When they were finished, there was thunderous applause in the audience. They disappeared back stage to prepare for another show as they had a very busy evening.

We continued on our way to hear the gospel singers, the German polka band where we ate salted pretzels and danced the Chicken Dance. We enjoyed group after group as we studied our map and braved the cold for each new adventure. By 11:30 it was time to go out to the stadium where Molasses Creek was already playing. I can’t imagine how they could play a single note in that cold!Between songs they were jumping up and down. They ended the concert just before midnight as we all counted down to New Years and then the lights went out for the fireworks!We huddled on the bleachers and I was glad that I know how to dress warmly as it was freezing!

We all hung out in Gary and Kitty’s room afterwards as we pooled our snacks and drinks. We told them how wonderful they were and how beautiful Kitty and Marcy looked on stage. (They really did!) We told stories and laughed as we ate all the snacks.

By 3:00 a.m. we made a circle of friendship with our arms around each other, sang Auld Lang Syne and wished each other a Happy New Year. We meandered off into the darkness to our own rooms and slept away the first night of the New Year.

Lou Ann


Our latest Ocracoke Newsletter celebrates the majestic live oaks on Ocracoke Island. You can read it here.

To read about Philip's new book, Digging up Uncle Evans, History, Ghost Tales, & Stories from Ocracoke Island, please click here.

2009

The entire staff at Village Craftsmen wish all of our readers the very best New Year, full of happiness, joy, peace, love, and prosperity. We all are looking forward to an improving economy, and in the meanwhile we are continuing to celebrate our family, friends, community, nation, and planet. We hope they all grow stronger and healthier in 2009.

A hearty thank you to everyone who has continued to support local and small town organizations and businesses throughout the country. And a special thanks to all of our faithful Village Craftsmen customers, both long-time visitors to Ocracoke, as well as recent discoverers of our beautiful island. We're looking forward to seeing you all in the coming year.

Out latest Ocracoke Newsletter celebrates the majestic live oaks on Ocracoke Island. You can read it here.

To read about Philip's new book, Digging up Uncle Evans, History, Ghost Tales, & Stories from Ocracoke Island, please click here.