Entertainment

The fall, 1979, issue of Sea Chest, a non-profit, educational project of the students of Cape Hatteras School, included Caroline Smith's interview with Portsmouth Island native Steve Roberts (b. 1901). He related his memories of young people's entertainment.

"We'd go to one house at night and play the organ and sing .... Most of the music was spiritual music. Once in a while a new song would come down. There was one by the name of  'Redwing' that we sang a whole lot [Redwing was a popular square dance tune on Ocracoke].... The old folks would sit around in their chairs and listen while the young folks played and sang....

"They used to sing sea songs, too... [and] square dances was the word most people wanted to hear....

"The captain of the Coast Guard Station was a good man and he'd let the man who handled the horses take the wagon -- it would take about 35 of us to take it across the beach to the strand -- and we would have a nice time, just singing and riding. Especially if the moon was full. It was pretty with the moon shining on the ocean."

[In other news, if you are triskaidedaphobic you might want to stay home today.]

This month's Ocracoke Newsletter is Allie (Teenie) Scott's 1968 story of Simon Garrish, Jr. and the US Life-Saving horse, Sambo. You can read it by clicking here: www.villagecraftsmen.com/news042116.htm.