News & Upcoming Events

The days are lengthening...the temperature is rising...islanders are busy painting, fixing up, and otherwise getting ready for another season...and a few visitors can be seen relaxing on the Community Store porch. And my calendar is quickly filling up. Below are a few upcoming events and some news you might be interested in if you live on the island, or if you are just visiting:

NPS Campground
Visitors to Ocracoke may like to know that the Ocracoke campground is scheduled to open on April 1, and will stay open through Halloween.

Islanders and visitors alike may want to take advantage of the following upcoming activities:

Gardening Class
This afternoon, Friday, March 11 @1:30pm at the Ocracoke Community Center.
The indoor portion of the class should last around 1 1/2 hr.

Topics to be covered in the class:

 Soil sampling

 Soil amendments(fertilize, compost, etc)

 Vegetable planting dates

 Starting plants early

 Tools for gardening

 Container gardening

 Rose Care

After the indoor portion of the class, we will move to several spots on the island for demonstrations of what we have learned.

This is a free class brought to you by the N.C. Agricultural Extension Agency. Mac Gibbs, the Extension Agent for Hyde County, will be teaching the class and will be available for questions or visits after the class.

Know Your Park: Wrecks and Reefs of the Battle of the Atlantic
Presentations to be held Monday, March 14th, 7:30 pm at the Fessenden Center in Buxton and Tuesday, March 15th, 7:30 pm at the Ocracoke Community Center.

The National Park Service Outer Banks Group Know Your Park citizen science program series continues with presentations from nautical archaeologist Dr. Nathan Richards and education specialist/researcher John McCord. These programs are free and will last approximately 1 hour.

The presentations will focus on the recent research and filming of German U-boats and Allied and merchant vessels sunk during WWII off of the Outer Banks. In addition to locating and documenting these shipwrecks, the Battle of the Atlantic research team has been collecting data on the fish and other marine life that live on the reefs now growing on the sunken vessels. Using a super high-resolution video camera, the research team shot digital video of a variety of these shipwreck sites on dives ranging from 80 to 250 feet. The video was recorded in 4096x2048-pixel resolution—about four times better than the best high definition television picture—giving the researchers an incredibly clear view of the details of the shipwrecks and the abundant marine inhabitants.

In 1942, the Germans aimed to sink U.S. merchant ships that were carrying supplies to England. U.S. and Royal Navy ships patrolled the coast to protect them and, when necessary, take on the Germans. One of the most overlooked engagements of World War II, this battle claimed 80 ships and hundreds of lives.

Our latest Ocracoke Newsletter is the story of a 1911 wedding on Portsmouth Island. You can read it here: http://www.villagecraftsmen.com/news022111.htm.