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Oriental lost one of its finest early this morning. Grace Evans has passed. She was 91. Grace loved and knew Oriental in a way that is unlikely to be equaled. More on her marvelous life will be coming, but meanwhile read the story of Grace’s 90th birthday party.

8:48a The Oriental Farmers’ market is looking fine this morning – spring/early summer has a way of fostering that.

You’ll find plants & herbs & more good things… it’s all on Hodges Street a few steps from the harbor.

• Oriental NC Forecast
• Neuse River Marine Forecast
• Pamlico Sound Marine Forecast
• Weather Radar

4:35p Anita’s Taqueria is serving at New Village brewery at 5p. And in the Beer Garden, big Jim Kohler plays the blues.

This Saturday, you can play golf for a good cause: The Superball Golf Outing takes place at Minnesott Beach and Golf Club.

Registration is at 8a, shotgun start at 9a. Hosted by Mt. Vernon Lodge #359 on Ragan Rd to benefit the NC Masonic Home for Children. Find out more about how to tee up here.

Also on Saturday, HeartWorks and the Pamlico County Arts Council get together for Chalk the Walk For artists, families, and friends. Show up at HeartWorks at 709 Main St. in Bayboro from 9:30 – noon and create your own chalk sidewalk mural.

The weekend also has live music, art classes, a dinghy race on the water and more. The weekend’s events are all in What’s Happening.

9:39a FlounderFest is less than a month away. Fireworks, movies, music, and the parade are all happening Friday and Saturday, July 2 & 3.

The FlounderFest Parade wants you: your enthusiasm, your creativity, and your spirit. This year’s theme is Finding ‘Flounder’. Get together with your club, your business, or your group of friends to come up with a float, a walking group, dance routine, or other creative element to add to this year’s parade.

Have questions? Talk to Marsha Paplham at Marsha’s Cottage at 252-675-5142. Or, if you’re ready, click here to register your parade entry.

5:20p From Sue Kinner:

The repairs to the ferry BAUM have been completed and Coast Guard has released her to return to service.  Cherry Branch Ferries are now on schedule and on time.

11:23a There’s no music at the Brewery this evening.

There is, however, a new brew to taste: Welcome back, Back! Seasonal house ale.

And for those looking for something creative to do this weekend, you can try an art class at ArtWorks: Understanding Color with Paula Rozov.

9:43a Rain on & off today. You can see it cruising by on weather radar.

Cherry Branch / Minnesott Beach Ferries will be running only ONE boat today:

4:19p The Pamlico County Health Department needs your feedback. They’re working with Health ENC – a nonprofit working to improve health in Eastern North Carolina.

Click on the relevant link below. Answer a few questions, and help them build a profile of the health issues – access to healthcare, healthy lifestyles, mental health – present in the region.

Those issues become the health priorities for the next three years for Health ENC and inform government, public, and private organizations on what health needs to address in a given community.

• Health ENC Survey in English
• Health ENC Survey in Spanish

You can find out more about Health ENC here.

11:20a Dick Flaherty passed away last week at his home in Oriental. He had been the chairman of the Planning Board, active with the Old Theater, and tutored students at HeartWorks. Dick served in the Air Force and traveled to every continent except Antarctica.

A celebration of life ceremony will be held at Lou Mac Park, Thursday, Jun 17 at 3p.

9:47a Sixteen year old Will Pickard is a student at Pamlico County High School. He is also one of 100 students just selected (nationwide) to join the 2021 Washington Youth Summit on the Environment.

Will says he likes almost everything about science, except having to study the same thing over and over again in school. He’s thinking of studying math later on, saying he likes that “there’s only one answer.”

In August, he’ll travel to George Mason University in VA for the summit. Will and the 99 other students will spend a week on campus gaining “an insider look at environmental science, policy, and conservation issues.” Will has a connection to Oriental – his father is Scott Pickard, yacht broker at St. Barts Yachts and his step-mother is Laura who works for the KIPP Foundation.

High in the mid 80s. SW winds around 10 mph and a chance of rain later today.

3:55p A replacement commissioner was sworn in, and budget issues were on tap. Here’s the report from Oriental’s June town meeting.

This Sunday, June 13, ODC (Oriental Dinghy Club) is having a one day open regatta.

This event is putting dinghy back into the Dinghy Club (ODC more often is racing larger boats). The open regatta is focused on dinghy racing… read on.

8:16a OK, the sun’s not super~shiney. But we get a thermal reward… no sweatin’ for the next week. Partly cloudy and high mid 80s today… no forecast high in the next week is predicted to get higher than mid 80s. June can be brutal hot… this is fine.

While summer psychologically kicked off with the Memorial Day weekend, the first official day of summer is Sunday June 20, 2021. That would be the summer solstice… the longest day of the year (in the northern hemisphere).

• Oriental NC Forecast
• Neuse River Marine Forecast
• Pamlico Sound Marine Forecast
• Weather Radar

2:49p Rains have dropped the temperature by more than 10 degrees in the last hour, from 85 to 73. Take a look:

A tenth of an inch of rain has fallen today, but Oriental isn’t out from under the rain clouds yet. You can check out the rainy radar view here.

9:01a There’s an opportunity for artists to display their work at the Village Gallery:

High in the mid 80s, 50% chance of rain. SW winds around 10 mph.

Need some summer reading material? Friends of the Library is having a book sale today. Bring your bag, fill it with books, and give them a donation. The Books Sale starts at 10a at the Pamlico County Library at 603 Main St. in Bayboro.

Wine Tastings are back at Nautical Wheelers. Taste wines from Spain, Germany, and California at 2p & 3p. Find out more about the wines here. Nautical Wheelers is at the corner of Broad and Main Streets.

It’s flower month at The Village Gallery. Their artist’s reception is from 2-3p today and celebrates Gallery artists and their flower themed works.

Later tonight, Ken Belangia plays in the Beer Garden at New Village Brewery from 6-8p. Flirting with Fire Mobile Wood-Fired pizza starts serving at 4p.

Yesterday’s rains dropped 2.15 inches of water on the village. Today it’s partly sunny with highs near 85, with little chance of rain.

3:12p Oriental’s annual weekend music event, the Ol’ Front Porch Music Festival, is on for October 8-10, 2021.

It’s a weekend of music on the porches of Oriental. Local, regional, and national bands play a mix of Folk, Bluegrass, Americana, Country, Gospel, and Jazz.

To help raise funds for this free weekend festival, OFPMF has commemorative buttons for sale at shops and restaurants throughout town.

Tonight, Carl’s Hot Spot BBQ is serving at the brewery (they only take cash) and Daniels & Stratton are playing at the Red Rooster.

8:29a There’s a small craft advisory on the Pamlico Sound until 5p, sw winds are at 15-25 kt. No advisory on the Neuse, sw winds are at 10-15 kt.

Rain likely throughout the day. High will reach 80, and winds are at 10-15 mph.

Despite the weather, there is plenty going in town tonight: wine tastings, live music, and the Friday night food truck at New Village. It’s all in What’s Happening.

• Oriental NC Forecast
• Neuse River Marine Forecast
• Pamlico Sound Marine Forecast
• Neuse River at Oriental Water Level Gauge
• TownDock streams NOAA Weather Radio Online

3:28p High wind for today: 31 mph at 2:22p. Check out the TownDock.net Weather Radar to get a better look at the weather moving past Oriental.

Do you know where you can and can’t fish in the Sound? Fishing guide “Baldheaded” Bobby Brewer shares his tips for staying out of the bombing targets, even when the markers are down.

SV Blue Moon was in the shipping news, from marketing yacht flying Croc shoe ads to a new life as a Nantucket charter vessel. Read about her new life with a crew of two humans and a dog.

And if you missed last weekend’s live music at Silospalooza, you can see all the fun at this link.

Silos bartender Michelle Sherman behind the Red Rooster bar, Saturday night.

If you think you’ve missed a story, check the left side of the front page for all our recent stories. Still can’t find something you’re looking for? Go to ‘Search TownDock’, also on the left hand side, above the radar.

9:46a If you were up early, you may have heard the rain this morning. It put down just under half an inch of rain according to the Oriental Weather Station.

The hour-by-hour doesn’t predict more than a 50% chance of rain again until later this evening. Mostly cloudy today. S winds are at 10 mph, becoming 10-15 later this afternoon. High near 80.

3:52p About 900 people live in and around Oriental. But there’s around 3,000 boats. And in Oriental, there’s one opportunity after another to get those boats out on the water.

In June, the Oriental Dinghy Club hosts the Oriental Open Regatta – a dinghy race for boats under 20.’ Don’t have a small boat? You can charter one from Bow to Stern for the race. And if you don’t know how to sail those smaller boats, Bow to Stern can help you out there, too.

If you’re looking for other sailing opportunities, check out Oriental’s sailing organizations: the Neuse Sailing Association, the Sailing Club of Oriental, and the Oriental Dinghy Club.

Maybe you’re looking for a little help sailing your own vessel? John Rahm of Third Wave Sailing (and the Captain’s Blog) offers private sailing lessons aboard your boat.

Tonight, and every Wednesday night in the summer, is the Wednesday Night Sail, a casual race around the marks.

The waters off Oriental provide year round sailing conditions. There’s more than one way to take advantage of it.

10:39a Need some quiet time? Oriental Mindfulness Meditation (OMM) can provide. Meet at the Perry-Griffin Community Center at 300 High St, Fridays at 8a starting July 9.

Find out about more about OMM, and what to expect of your quiet time, here.

8:58a Music, food, and lots of dancing. It happened at last Saturday’s eighth annual Silospalooza. See pictures from the event here.

Longtime Oriental resident and Chairman of the Oriental Planning Board Dick Flaherty passed away last night. More information coming when available.

It’s forecast to be a rainy day (off and on) with a high near 80, and more rain to come over the next few days.

7:33p At tonight’s Town Hall meeting, Commissioners nominated former Oriental Commissioner Sandy Winfrey to fill the vacancy on the Town Board.

Commissioner Martin Barrow moved outside Oriental town limits in May and could no longer serve. Sandy Winfrey has the required ethics training (all Commissioners must complete ethics training) and is familiar with town procedures. He was sworn in at the meeting. Winfrey’s appointment is temporary. Elections for Oriental’s Board of Commissioners will be held this November.

7:10a Sunny and high near 80. Enjoy it while you can; there’s rain in the forecast the next several days:

• Oriental NC Forecast
• TownDock.net Radar
• Neuse River Marine Forecast
• Pamlico Sound Marine Forecast