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White bellflowers and Asian lilies. They’re part of the bouquets available Friday morning at the Stillwater Farms flower stand, on Stillwater Lane, off Silverbrook Road. Click to see the full picture and more.

8:14a Power went out at The Piggly Wiggly in Oriental at 5p last night. It is still out this morning, the store is closed.

Apparently a large breaker failed, stopping one leg of power. This is preventing the back-up generator from working too.

Owner Billy Flockhart is at the store – he says a replacement part is on the way (coming from Burlington, NC). An electrician will install that when it arrives – Billy hopes to reopen at 3p today.

4:17p Tonight, after a delay due to a burn ban, the Pamlico County Arts Dragon burns.

Doors open at 6:30p at The Silos. The burn starts at sundown.

La Cocina del Coqui serves Cuban fare at the Brewery, 4-8p. Eugene Wheeler (one half of YardSail) performs 6-8p in the beer garden.

Saturday is the Oriental Farmer’s Market, 8-11a. Los Gordos food truck serves 5-8p at the Brewery and NottaBand performs 6-8:30p.

Sunday, visit Lou Mac Park for Oriental United Methodist’s riverside service, 8:30a. Paddle for Parkinson’s Research at 9a, leaving from the Wildlife Ramp on Midyette St. Black Panther plays at The Old Theater at 3p.

Broad Strokes gallery is open all weekend, featuring June artists of the month Charlie and Susan Frye.

Mariposa serves fresh baked goods Saturday, Sunday, & Monday 7-11a, and charcuterie & wine flights in the evenings, 3-9p. ‘Second Sunday Soup’ is on offer from 11a-2p, serving chilled soup, gazpacho, with homemade bread and focaccia.

It’s all in What’s Happening.

Oriental’s waters tested clear for bacteria this weekend, according to the Sound Rivers’ Swim Guide. Not all waters passed the test. Read the full Swim Guide results here.

10:45a If you are approached and asked about registering for the upcoming November election, be cautious.

An incident at the Piggly Wiggly and the Grantsboro Walmart has Oriental Police Chief Bill Wichrowski issuing this notice:

If you’re out and about today, please be on the lookout for a Black Jeep Gladiator. Last seen in the Oriental area and had a black male, black female, white female, and Spanish female occupant. They are approaching people trying to get their social security numbers and personal information.

If seen, stop and identify the occupants and get any information from them regarding their employer. We need to verify they are legitimate. Thanks

Contact the Oriental Police Department at (252) 249-0369 or the Pamlico County Sheriff’s Office at (252) 745-3101.

9:57a Fresh wild caught Alaska salmon, available in Oriental? Doug Sligh writes in:

Some of you may remember an opportunity that originated with Melinda Penkava and Jeff Styron (Garland Fulcher Seafood) about ten years ago. Mel announced on TownDock.net that she was going to place an order with Jeff for fresh Chinook salmon and invited others to join in. She warned us it would be more expensive than farmed Atlantic salmon, and she was right. But there is nothing quite as good as grilled or sauteed Chinook salmon.

The Chinook season in Alaska is now open and Jeff is looking to place an order for us – the price will be $28 per pound.

If you are interested in ordering fresh Chinook salmon, send an email message to Doug Sligh at mapdls@gmail.com with Salmon in the subject line and your name, phone number, and the number of pounds in the body of the message. Jeff expects delivery in mid-July.

9:40a The Dragon Burn tonight… is for the year of the horse. Artist Laura Turgeon was inspired:

More about tonight’s Dragon Burn here.

11:00a The County has called another Special Budget Meeting for Friday afternoon, June 12 at 3:30p in the courthouse annex.

Taco Loco Food truck is serving at Triton Boat Yard today for lunch.

This evening, join the Wednesday Night Sail on the water at Oriental Marker #1SC at 5p. It’s Open mic Night upstairs at the Silos, 7p.

9:03a At last night’s monthly Town Board meeting, Commissioners opened, and then continued the budget hearing without a vote until the end of the month, pending ongoing budget legislation in the General Assembly.

Commissioners heard from residents regarding the pecan tree at Lupton Park, and spent time discussing the reports, the expert opinions, and the legalities involved. They voted that the tree be removed.

A full meeting report is coming.

12:55p Tonight is the monthly meeting of the Oriental Town Board, 6p at Town Hall. On the agenda, a public hearing on the town budget, a tree, traffic, parks and the usual discussions of running a small town. The public is invited.

That tree the board will be discussing is a Pecan Tree at Lupton Park. Letters have been written in from the Oriental Tree Board, and citizens. Like life, there are differing views on a tree. Read more here.

Wednesday Neuse Neighbors holds their monthly coffee hour, a get-together for folks to learn more about the organization. Neuse Neighbors defines itself this way:

The coffee hour is 9a, Oriental Town Hall.

11:53a A pecan tree in Lupton Park has a few residents stirred up. Decay has rendered it a liability.

Dr. Bob Miller, former chair of Oriental’s Tree Board, Emeritus Professor of Urban Forestry at the University of Wisconsin, and the man who helped write the actual textbook on trees in urban spaces, Urban Forestry: Planning and Managing Urban Greenspaces, says the tree needs to come down.

Some residents disagree.

They want to maintain the tree as long as possible.

A letter from the Tree Board explains where things currently stand. Read it here.

1:52p Sunny weekend ahead, highs near 90. There’s live music, an artists’ reception, and the Brewery is open for summer Sundays.

Tanja’s German Street Food is at the Brewery tonight, serving Döner sandwiches, 5-8p. Hoff ‘n’ Finch perform live in the beer garden, 6-8:30p. Down the road, Mac McWilliams performs on the Bantam Stage at the Red Rooster, 7p.

Pick up fresh greens Saturday morning at the Oriental Farmer’s Market on Saturday, 8-11a. Meet artists Featured Artists for June, Charlie & Susan Frye, at Broad Strokes Gallery’s Artists’ Reception, 2-5p. At the Brewery, it’s Taqueria San Luis, 4-8p and Packhouse plays live, 5:30-8p.

The Brewery is now open Sundays (now til Labor Day weekend). All About Churros serves on site, 2-6p.

Mariposa serves fresh baked goods Saturday, Sunday, & Monday 7-11a, and charcuterie & wine flights in the evenings, 3-9p.

It’s all in What’s Happening.

West Marine has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. While the nationwide chain is expected to continue with about 200 stores, they are closing 59 West Marine locations as part of restructuring the business.

Among those is the West Marine in Oriental.

Store manager Ann Fetter tells TownDock that the store will be open, normal hours, through the end of August. After that, the store will close.

The West Marine in Oriental first opened in 2004.

Oriental is fortunate to have a locally owned marine store, The Provision Company, which has been a part of town since the mid 1980s: theprovisioncompany.com.

Next door to the West Marine, is locally owned Seacoast Marine Electronics, providing marine electronics including a showroom of Raymarine and Garmin gear.

Village Hardware, also locally owned, carries a significant stock of marine supplies.

The Sound Rivers Swim Guide tests local waters for bacteria and lets you know whether or not those waters are safe for swimming. This week, two sites failed. Once of them is Pierce Creek in Oriental.

From the Swim Guide: “A ‘Swim Guide fail’ means elevated levels of fecal bacteria, which can come with increased risk of gastrointestinal illness and skin infections for pets and humans alike.”

Read the full press release here.

4:07p If you see Dick Koepp today, it’s Happy Birthday #80:

Many people only know him and Josie as they ride through town daily at 9a and 4p

There is another Special Meeting on the horizon – this one from County Commissioners.

Pamlico County Commissioners have called a Special Meeting to discuss the County Budget, scheduled for Monday, June 8 at 5:30p at the courthouse annex in Bayboro.

8:53a Sunny and high near 80 today, north winds 10-15 mph with gusts up to 25.

Today you can grab a taco, catch a special town meeting, sing your heart out, or take an evening sail on the Neuse.

Here’s the timeline of Wednesday’s events:

11a: Taco Loco Food truck sets up to serve at Triton Yachts
1p: Special Meeting at Town Hall on Property Tax Assessments
5p: Wednesday Night Sail starts at Oriental Marker #1SC
7p: Open Mic Night at The Silos

6:27a Mayor Sally Belangia has called a Special Meeting at Oriental’s Town Hall for Wednesday, June 3 at 1p.

Town has received new information from Pamlico County on the recent property tax assessments. Some residents found their proposed annual property tax had increased two or three times what it had been. The deadline to submit a timely appeal was May 11.

Commissioners and the Mayor will discuss the new information regarding property assessments, including appeals that have been granted and the resulting impact on the proposed budget.

This meeting is open to the public.

9:18a The sun comes up every morning. And every June 1st marks the first official day of Hurricane Season. Welcome. Hurricane Season is with us through November 30.

The Tropical Storm Outlook is updated four times a day (sometimes 8x a day during storms) in TownDock’s Hurricane Center.

Usually there isn’t anything going on on June 1. Usually is more difficult to define in recent years, but indeed the message this morning is good:

“Tropical cyclone formation is not expected during the next 7 days.”

The storm names for 2026:

NOAA (and others) are predicting a milder hurricane season for 2026. But it just takes one.

Should a storm form and head this way, you can count on TownDock.net to track & report on that storm. We have stayed in town (we’re not very smart) and reported in real time on every hurricane, since 2002.

• Hurricane Center

7:26a 70% chance of rain today. High near 80. S winds 5-10mph.

On the Neuse, winds are at 5-10 knots.

There is a Small Craft Advisory in effect for Tuesday. Winds will be out of the east around 10 knots tonight, becoming NE 15 To 20 knots after midnight with gusts up to 30 knots.

Broad Strokes Gallery holds their bimonthly Open Studio, 9a-noon. You must register if you’d like to participate, but it’s free to stop by and watch local artists at work.

Get on the water on Bow to Stern’s fleet of Typhoons any Monday afternoon at 3 & 5p. For more info & to register, click here.

Pamlico County’s Board of Commissioners meeting is tonight at 7p at the County Courthouse. Agenda and documents are here.

8:50a Water levels snuck up to almost 2 feet above “normal” yesterday. There are coming back down a bit this morning, and will drop more this evening (south winds forecast).

• Oriental NC Forecast
• Neuse River Marine Forecast
• Oriental Water Level Gauge
• Oriental Weather Station

Ten years ago Oriental had become a “food desert” – no local grocery store. Then Oriental’s Piggly Wiggly opened – this week Oriental celebrated a decade of the Piglet.

A partly sunny day ahead, small chance of thunderstorms this afternoon.

• Oriental NC Forecast
• Neuse River Marine Forecast

3:55p Wine tastings, live music, and painting with Charlie Frye.

Friday night Ken Belangia, Kim Brookshire and Shawn Aldridge play the Brewery Beer Garden 6-8p, Capone’s: A Taste of Philly serves 4-8p.

George Bailey plays down the road at The Red Rooster Pavilion starting at 7p.

Get fresh eggs Saturday morning at the Oriental Farmer’s Market, 8-11a. Sample Malbec wines from Argentina at Nautical Wheelers at 2 & 3p.

A Taste of Philly food truck serves from 5-8p at the Brewery while TerraTones plays, 6-8p.

Join Charlie Frye at Nautical Wheelers for a Paint & Wine afternoon, 3-5p. Limited to 10 participants – tickets available online or at Nautical Wheelers.

The 5th Sunday sing happens at 6p – this time at St. Peter the Fisherman Church. All are welcome.

Mariposa serves fresh baked goods Saturday, Sunday, & Monday 7-11a, and charcuterie & wine flights in the evenings, 3-9p. They will be closed Saturday evening for a private event.

It’s all in What’s Happening.

If you’re looking for this week’s Sound Rivers Swim Guide for local waters, you can find it here.

2:54p From the Pamlico County Sheriff’s Dept:

See below…

2:36p The Angry Lobster is serving tonight at the Brewery, 4-8p.

Have children or grandchildren hanging around this summer? Send them to The Children’s Theater Workshop for two weeks in June / July.

Your kiddos learn acting fundamentals like how to tell a story through word, movement, and emotion. They get to perform their new skills on stage at the end of the two weeks.

Registration is open for all grades. $25 per participant, scholarships are available. Find out more here.

10:40a Go back a decade and Oriental was briefly a “food desert.” No grocery store.

That was solved by owner Billy Flockhart stepping up and opening Oriental’s Piggly Wiggly, known locally as “The Piglet.” We likely have the best little grocery store there is.

Today the store celebrates 10 years. Stop by and join the celebration, and take in a free meal. More here.

8:45p The Pamlico County Sheriff’s Office is seeking a missing person:

The press release from the Sheriff’s Dept is here.

9:03a Tomorrow, the Oriental Piggly Wiggly celebrates ten years in Oriental. You’re invited to the party.

Jim Kellenberger is at the grill, serving up hot dogs, hamburgers, baked beans, coleslaw, chips, sodas, and water – all free.

You can also win a prize – a Piggly Wiggly gift card, a grill, merchandise, hats, shirts, sunglasses, and other items.

It happens Thursday, May 28 in the Piggly Wiggly parking lot 11:30a-1p, under the big tent at the Pig.

Here are the Piglet deals for May 27-June 2.

10:22a It’s Memorial Day.

At noon, Chris Mele plays Taps from the Oriental Bridge in tribute. The Oriental Harbor Marina docks offer a nice viewing / listening spot.

Because it’s a federal holiday, Town Hall, First Citizens Bank, and the Post Office are closed today.

4:19p There’s no major events happening this weekend, but that doesn’t mean it’s quiet. Take in live music, visit the art gallery, or pick up some flowers or fresh eggs at the Oriental Farmer’s Market.

Tonight at the Brewery: Taqueria San Luis, 4-8p with NottaBand playing live in the beer garden 5:30-7:30p. cancelled, due to weather Patrick Bliss, plays live down the road at The Red Rooster starting at 7p.

Saturday morning is the Oriental Farmer’s Market on Hodges, 8-11a. All About Churros serves at the Brewery 5-8p, Noah Jackson Cobb performs 5:30-7:30p.

Mariposa serves fresh baked goods in the mornings and wine & charcuterie boards in the evening, Sat, Sun & Mon, 7-11a and 3-9p. Broad Strokes Gallery features their May Artists of the month and are open all weekend: Fri & Sat 10a-5p, Sun 11a-4p.

It’s all in What’s Happening.

Sound Rivers’ Swim Guide starts again this weekend. From now through Labor Day, volunteers test the waters of the Lower Neuse for bacteria. Pierce Creek was not included in the first test of the summer.

Find out more about the Swim Guide and which waters are tested, here.

10:30a Storm names for 2026 include some Oriental royalty. Fay. Sally.

A “Hurricane Sally” does sound kinda scary.

While TownDock crew is dubious of predicting an entire storm season, NOAA does go for it. There’s good news today.

Today NOAA has predicted a below average hurricane season.