It's Friday July 25, 2008
News From The Village Updated Almost Daily
After Croakerfest, it’s the biggest event in the Oriental summer: The Rotary Club’s 16th Annual Tarpon Tournament is scheduled for July 25-27.
Try your hand at catching (then releasing) the tarpon. There’s $22,000 in prizes. Proceeds from the event, which now takes place at Whittaker Pointe Marina, go toward a scholarship fund for Pamlico County students.
The Rotary is also looking for folks to volunteer as observers to spend a day (or two) out on the boats to independently confirm the catching of tarpon. For more contact Paul Miller at 252-249-1443 or email to orctarpon@hotmail.com.
Oriental’s Farmers’ Market brings you locally grown, locally made goods every Saturday, including this Saturday July 26th. The market runs from 7:30 to 10:30am at the Wit’s End on Hodges Street, next to the Duck Pond.
Among the items that’ll be for sale this week: basil, eggplant, lemon grass, other fresh herbs grown without chemicals. Also, more eggplant, sweet, mild, and hot peppers, watermelons, Mattamaskeet Sweet onions. Blueberries from Bridgeton. Fresh blue crabs. Cut flowers. Bread. Crumbcake. Cookies. Wooden bird houses and cutting boards. Chico bags. Ben Casey’s book, “Dismal?”. Check in here at What’s Happening for updates as farmers let us know what they’ll be selling.
Also, if you have something locally grown or locally made, you can join the market! There’s no charge to sell. But just let us know — at 675-0180 — that you want to take part.
BBQ and Bluegrass. As part of its annual Tarpon Tournament, the Oriental Rotary Club is serving up a BBQ dinner and an outdoor concert by The Lawson Creek Bluegrass Band Saturday July 26 at Whittaker Pointe Marina. Dinner starts at 6pm. Tickets for the dinner are $10 and available thru any Rotary Club member.
This Saturday, you can learn more about how hurricanes are forecast and what may be in store this year. Meteorologist John Cole of the NOAA office in Newport talks to the Pamlico Amateur Radio Society this Saturday morning July 26. The ham radio folks will be holding their regular monthly meeting starting at 9 and they expect the session on hurricanes will begin around 9:30am or a bit later. It’s happening in the Back Room at Brantley’s and is open to the public.
Circle 10 Art Gallery’s guest artist of the month is Martin Henry who makes metal sculptures for the home and garden. His work is noted for the colors and patinas he uses. The gallery is at 1103 Broad Street. Regular hours for the gallery are: Wednesday through Saturday 10am to 5pm. and Sunday from 1pm to 4pm. Call 252-249-0298 for more info.
The Sailing Capital of NC now has a place in town where kids learn to sail. The Bow-to-Stern Sailing School’s Youth Sailing Camps are now underway. It’s where kids, 7-15, are learning to sail, using Optimist class dinghies (that was a community effort in itself.) The week-long sessions of classes are all day, from 9a-5p, Mondays thru Fridays. Sign up now for classes in upcoming weeks. Cost is $200 a week — with a 20% discount for siblings — scholarships are available.
If you want more details on the sailing camps or would like to register for it, call Jim at 252-474-6000. For more info, download the Youth Sailing Clinic flyer – click here.
To register your youth sailor just download these forms:
Youth Sailing Registration Form
The Pamlico County Library has one more bug-related movie to show as part of July’s kid-oriented “Catch the Reading Bug” summer reading program. The movies, which have been showing at 2pm on Mondays, are for all ages – adult as well as children. Last movie in the series is “How to Eat Fried Worms” on July 28. It’s free and showing in the Library auditorium.
You can see a selection of Sue Henry’s paintings thru the month of July at M&M’s Restaurant. The recent work includes tight focuses on boat parts — booms, masts, bows — as well as New Zealand waves. The work is in the main dining room at the restaurant on South Water Street. You can’t miss the boom….Oriental’s Planning Board holds its monthly meeting on Tuesday July 29 at 7pm at Town Hall.
The Wednesday night sailboat race is part of summer in Oriental, so why not be a part of it? Boats rendezvous at Oriental Marker 1 each Wednesday (weather permitting), for an impromptu race around the government marks. No need to register, just show up. Start time is 1730 GPS time. The course is which ever is more upwind, Garbacon or Adam’s Creek as a weather mark and round the other as a leeward mark – then finish at Oriental “1”. Channel 72 is used for communications. Social at the Tiki Bar afterwards. Any questions email Joe Valinoti at joesail1@gmail.com.
The Town Board meets a few days before every monthly meeting to go over the agenda. This month’s Agenda Meeting is happening on July 31at 4:30pm at Town Hall. As with all Town Board meetings, this one is open to the public.
The Oriental History Museum is raffling off a sea chest made in the old captain’s tradition. Buy a raffle ticket — they’re $5 each — and help the history museum raise funds to continue the work it’s been doing. The chest is hand-carved of antique pine and is 30” long, 16” deep and 20” high, with “Oriental” across the front. You can see it — and buy tickets — at the Oriental History Museum. While you’re there, check out the additions that folks have been making to the museum. Museum hours are: 11a-3pm Friday, Noon-4pm Saturday, 1-4pm Sunday. For more info call 670-9318.
Oriental Town Board meets Tuesday August 5 at 7pm at Town Hall for its regularly scheduled monthly meeting. The board is to continue deliberations — and potentially the public hearing — on Conditional Zoning, a rezoning arrangement that could, among other things, let developers put business operations — and more densely built condos than are currently allowed — in residential neighborhoods.
Some home-grown playwriting and acting are yours to see August 8-10 when five local high school students present their play, “Happily Ever Never” at Oriental’s Old Theater. Shana Hoff, one of the writers and actors says it’s about a girl who lands in a theme-park and finds the characters are not what they seem. Admission is $5 to get in. Friday and Saturday performances are at 8pm, the Sunday matinee is at 3pm.
A poker face and a tuned-up outboard will be good to have on August 9th for the 2nd Annual NSA Dinghy Poker Run. The event, sponsored by Neuse Sailing Association starts at 11am on the steps of the Provision Company, then hits the water and 7 hands of seven-card stud, To get to the hands of poker, you take a dinghy to: Deatons, the Town Dock wharf, Dewey Point Beach, Katherine Wilson’s dock, Ken Embry’s dock, Pecan Grove before the final hand at the Tiki Bar. It’s $10 a hand and the 50-50 split of the proceeds will go to Oriental’s First Responders. For more info contact Chip Ackerman at 919-616-5869. More sponsors are welcomed.
Fore! Play golf for a good cause. Pamlico County’s Domestic Violence Task Force is holding a golf tournament on Saturday August 9 starting at 9am at Minnesott Golf Course. Cost is $200 a team. Top three finishers will win prizes, and if you manage a hole-in-one, you win a 21-foot Bayliner. There’ll be a BBQ dinner afterward — and you don’t have to know a birdie from a bogie to eat. Tickets for the dinner are $7 and you can buy them most weekday mornings from June at The Bean.
Second Sunday in August means the Fay and John Bond are setting out hundreds of watermelons for y’all to come eat. They’ve been bringing Bertie County melons to their yard to share for decades and they’ll do it again Sunday August 10. Come by their place in the mid-to-late afternoon and get a slice of watermelon and tradition. They’re at the corner of Ragan Road and Neuse Drive. Oriental holds its second annual Fall Celebration of Fine Art on Saturday September 13 from 9am-4pm. It will take place on and around the Oriental Marina. Last year 60 painters, sculptors, potters, jewelers, woodcarvers, metal workers and other fine crafts artisans had their works on display. If you are an artist who’d like to take part this year, contact the Eastern Carolina Artists Association’s Judy Wayland at 249- 1505 or Marlene Miller at 249- 2827. Entry fee for artists is $25. For the public, the event is free. Click here to get a copy of the registration form for the 2008 Celebration of the Arts
The Pamlico Musical Society starts its 2008-2009 season on September 27 with a classical piano concert by Valntina Lisitsa. The performance, at Oriental’s Old Theater, begins at 7:30pm.
The Pamlico Musical Society holds its 2nd or 3rd annual (it’s hard to keep track) Oriental Folk Festival on October 17-18 at Oriental’s Old Theater. On Friday, October 17 Little Windows will be opening for Tracy Grammer and on the next night, Saturday October 18, the line-up will be Noah Paley and Susan Werner. Details on tickets coming.
Mark the calendars, paddlers! The 2008 Pamlico Paddle has been set for Saturday, October 18 at Spring Creek, a tributary of the Bay River. After a scouting trip there, Karen Prince of Paddle Pamlico reports it’s the most pristine place she’s seen in Pamlico County, with pocosin, native pine and oaks, wild flowers and waterfoul impoundment areas. The start time is 10 am at a place called Alice, on the Bay River. There will be three trails — a 4 mile beginner, a 5.5 mile intermediate and a 7.5 mile advanced. Registration fee is $35 and for that you’ll get a map, t-shirt and box lunch. Volunteers will help unload and load kayaks and canoes and help with the launching. Registration forms available soon right here. For more info contact Karen at 249-1850 or at info @ pamlicopaddle.com If you’re coming from away, make a weekend of it in Oriental — this coincides with the Oriental Folk Festival.
The 2008 Etchells Class Atlantic Coast Championship will be happening in the Neuse River/Pamlico Sound on the weekend of October 24-26. River Dunes is hosting the race of the 30-foot Etchells which are built for three and among the lightest and fastest sailboats. (Local Etchells racer Henry Frazer recently placed near the top in the national event.) Races will be on Saturday and Sunday, with start times around 9am. River Dunes invites the public to watch the boats set out from its Grace Harbor. (To see the race itself, you may want to head out in a boat of your own…)
The Oriental Express Bicycle Club invites anyone with a bike to join them for their Recreational Ride on Saturday mornings. It winds it’s way through th Old Village and on to the Dolphin Point area. It’s about 8 miles and the pace is very undemanding. Conversational you might say. Just show up with bike and helmet and you’re off!
In addition to their Saturday morning recreational ride in Oriental, the Oriental Express Bicycle Club also goes on longer and faster rides. These are ‘no-drop’ rides focused on fitness and fun. For more info, including the days, locations and times, check out the Bicycle Club’s web site. or call Kathryn Garcia 249-0119 or John Hanley 249-1188.
Handy with a hammer and nails? Pamlico County Senior Services needs more volunteers to help build handicap access ramps at the homes of some of Pamlico’s older residents. Senior Services provides the materials while volunteers led by Tim Balfour construct one ramp every month. Contact Tim at 745-3247 to offer a hand for the next project.
Go take a walk! The Oriental Walking Group sets out on a series of organized walks through the village on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Meet up with walk leaders Gary and Pat Leonard at Lou Mac Park for a 9am departure. Oriental’s a great town to walk around and the walking group may help you stay disciplined about getting fit. Pedometers and water bottles provided by the Flexfit program of Heartworks. Call the Leonards for details at 249-0138 or just show up.
Those drummers you heard during the Running of the Dragon don’t limit themselves to New Years Eve. The Oriental Drum Circle meets most Wednesdays for a session of West African style hand drumming. This is at Town Hall from 7-8:30pm every Wednesday except the last Wednesday of the month. Anyone who wants to play or learn about this style is welcome. Bring your own drum or percussion instrument. If you don’t have one, come anyway, cos they have a few extra drums on hand to try out. For more info, contact Doug Carmichael at 249-2363.
The Pamlico Amateur Radio Society meets at Brantley’s Village Restaurant on the last Saturday of every month at 9am. The group includes cruising and liveaboard hams, those interested in the Amateur Radio Emergency Service , weather watchers active in SkyWarn and those who are just generally interested in amateur radio. All hams and those interested in amateur radio are welcome. Call call Tom Corwin at 249-1590 (KI4NSP) for more info.
Friends of the Pamlico County Library meets the first Thursday of the month at 11am at the library on Highway 55 in Bayboro. This is the group of folks who help sustain the library. For info, call 745-3515.
Oriental Rotary Club meets every Monday at the Oriental Steamer starting at 6:45pm. The club does good things throughout the community….from scholarships to road clean-up. For info about the club and meetings contact Ed Braun at 745-3462.
The Oriental Woman’s Club holds its meetings on the first Tuesday of the month at 1pm at the clubhouse at 1007 Gilgo Road. Guests are welcome. For further information contact Nancy Miller 249-1443.
Find a bargain, help Hospice of Pamlico County. The Hospice Thrift Shop on Highway 55 in Bayboro is open from 10am-1pm on Saturday, Monday, Thursday and Friday, and 10am- 4pm on Tuesday and Wednesday. The shops proceeds help support Hospice which supports those who need help and support with terminal illnesses. Donations of clothing, costume jewelry and housewares can be dropped off at the shop during open hours.
Cool stuff, good deals, great cause. The Habitat for Humanity “HomeStore” on Hiway 55 in Alliance is a thrift store that focuses on the home — furniture, lamps, paint, doors, building supplies — and uses the profits for Habitat’s effort to build affordable homes in Pamlico County. For more info on how to donate items to be sold at the Home Store, call the store at 745-1106.
