Pine Knoll Shores will celebrate its golden anniversary

We’re gearing up to say: “Happy 50th anniversary to the Town of Pine Knoll Shores, N.C.” A big gathering is scheduled for April 23, on the grounds at Town Hall. 

This milestone occasion deserves some ink between now and then. 

The town was incorporated 50 years ago by an official act of the North Carolina General Assembly on April 25, 1973. 

The very next month, Pine Knoll Shores had a newsletter. It was created by citizens Betty Doll and Mary Hammon, who reasoned: “Residents and prospective homeowners needed a way to get to know each other, share ideas and learn about what was going on in their newly formed community.” 

“By June 1973, the newsletter had a name, Pine Knoll Shore-Line. Over the years, the Shore-Line evolved from its beginnings as a mimeographed newsletter to today’s professionally printed newspaper, The Shoreline.” 

According to an “about us” online account, “The Shoreline is still managed by volunteers…and then and now, helps make the town a community and gives it a recorded history.” 

The current editor is Janie Price, who has been at the helm since 2014. Price was recently selected as the 2022 winner of Pine Knoll Shores’ Ken Jones Public Service Award (named in memory of the late Mayor Jones) in recognition of her meritorious service to the community. 

Charlie Rocci, town clerk, reported: “Janie Price continues to see the value of a real hands-on newspaper.” 

Amen to that. The Shoreline is a shining example of community journalism at its best, trying to be a force for unity while seeking to be objective, fair and respectful.

Pine Knolls Shores is both oceanfront...and sound side.

 

In 2019, Phyllis Makuck of the Pine Knoll Shores History Committee analyzed the content of back issues of The Shoreline from 1974. She reported: “In 1974, almost every Shoreline devotes considerable space to introducing newcomers, to the good work of volunteers and to the beauty of the natural environment – to tides, shells, birds and wildflowers. So, we can feel Mary Doll’s pain” in an editorial from September. 

More than anything, Doll wants” to make our Town hum happily,” Makuck said. 

Doll wrote: “We all have our one little life to live. Do we have time really to study the dark gloomy aspect of everything, dwelling on what seems to us to be the inadequacies of others? Anyway, sometimes those who are the target of complaints are not even aware of it; so then, isn’t it the growler himself who suffers the most, bogged down in his own mumblings?” 

“Cheer up, you guys! Go catch a fish or watch a sunset. Let’s keep ourselves channeled and be the rare community where dreams can be accomplished.” 

“Hum happily,” would be a good theme for the town’s upcoming 50-year anniversary event in Pine Knoll Shores. 

Today, there are about 1,403 permanent residents of Pine Knoll Shores on Bogue Banks in Carteret County. The town is situated between Atlantic Beach and Indian Beach…a place where dreams are still being accomplished. 

The centerpiece of Pine Knoll Shores is the Theodore Roosevelt Natural Area, a 292-acre forest owned and maintained by the State of North Carolina. It is one of the few remaining maritime forests on North Carolina’s barrier islands. 

In 1971, it was donated to the state by the grandchildren of President Theodore Roosevelt as a living memorial to the 26th president’s dedication to conservation. 

The property also contains the North Carolina Aquarium at Pine Knoll Shores, which opened in originally opened in 1976 and was tripled in size in 2006.

Church Mice...part 2

The Rev. Karl Zorowski of St. Peter’s United Methodist Church in Morehead City, N.C., is the creator of “Church Mice,” a Christian cartoon ministry that emphasizes that “God really does love you.”

Here’s another dose of Rev. Zorowski’s comic strip humor. Enjoy.

Oysters are ‘what’s for dinner?’ in coastal N.C.

Have you heard? Coastal North Carolina is the “Napa Valley of Oysters.” 

The significance is that the quality of oysters raised by North Carolina’s marine aquaculture (mariculture) industry is considered to be superb – just like the fine wines that originate in California’s famed Napa Valley near San Francisco. 

Linking North Carolina oysters to the Napa Valley wines was first suggested in 2016 by Rowan Jacobsen, author of “The Essential Oyster: A Salty Appreciation of Taste and Temptation.” His book opened a lot of eyes and ears and tickled the taste buds of oyster lovers to give coastal North Carolina oysters a try.

 

There are a lot of players involved in a collaborative effort to ensure that America eats more North Carolina oysters, ranging from generations of native oystermen on up to the state’s governor who is the chief cheerleader for economic development. 

Gov. Roy Cooper has begun a tradition of observing an annual, week-long “shellebration” of oysters in October. The governor’s office says that North Carolina’s shellfish industry contributes more than $27 million a year to the state’s economy, providing more than 530 jobs. The goal is to generate $100 million in business with 1,000 jobs by 2030. 

Oystering along North Carolina’s coast has a winding history. Perhaps it’s best to start on North Carolina’s southern boundary in Brunswick County. 

It was here that food writer Liz Biro became acquainted with the Coleman family of Calabash. The late Virgil (Tinky) Coleman once told her: “We ate oysters because we had to. We were so poor down here. There just wasn’t no money.” 

During the Great Depression years in the 1930s, Biro said, “people followed a dirt road to find Curtis Coleman cooking oysters just plucked from the Calabash River. His fishing boat was powered not by a motor but by Coleman’s hands on a polling oar.” 

“He served no cocktail sauce or drawn butter, just oysters cooked outside on a makeshift grate over an oak fire.” 

Virgil Coleman recalled: “He’d steamed ’em just right, you know, where they wouldn’t shrink up, where they’d be juicy.” 

“I can remember shucking oysters for people. They’d give me a nickel or a dime, and a nickel or a dime back then was real big.” 

Virgil Coleman said he used to hear people wondering who in the world ever “ate the first oyster? Well, I always wondered who ate the first egg….” 

These and other oyster stories are waiting to be told all along the “North Carolina Oyster Trail.”

 

Created in 2020, the oyster trail provides tourism experiences that are designed to educate the public about the benefits of oysters…and to help sustain and grow North Carolina’s oyster-related businesses throughout the coastal region. 

The oyster trail also highlights upscale North Carolina restaurants that offer oysters to their patrons as specialty dishes. Eat them year-round any way you can – raw, steamed, fried, grilled, roasted or stewed.

 

The primary sponsors of the oyster trail are North Carolina Sea Grant, the N.C. Coastal Federation and the North Carolina Shellfish Growers Association (NCSGA).

 

As background, a National Sea Grant program was established by the U.S. Congress in 1966 as a federal/university partnership between the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) within the U.S. Department of Commerce and 34 university-based programs in every coastal and Great Lakes state in the nation. Its purpose is to build and maintain healthy coastal environments and economies.

 

North Carolina Sea Grant became operational in 1970 and is headquartered at North Carolina State University. It functions as a multicampus program within the University of North Carolina system. Sea Grant has offices in Manteo, Morehead City and Wilmington. It has gained prominence as one of the premier state-level Sea Grant initiatives.

 

The Coastal Federation was established in 1982 as a member-supported, nonprofit organization. It is based in western Carteret County in a community known as Ocean. The Coastal Federation has 16,000 supporters who are invested in leaving a legacy of clean water for future generations.

 

The NCSGA was founded in 1995 to represent the interests of the many people involved in the shellfish industry and to pursue a united agenda that encourages the growth of a prosperous shellfish industry. 

Today, the North Carolina Oyster Trail offers more than 75 unique “tourism experiences” that are “connecting travelers, foodies and outdoor adventure lovers to the magic of the North Carolina oyster,” boasts Jane Harrison, coastal economics specialist for North Carolina Sea Grant and lead coordinator of the trail.

 

Jane Harrison

NCOysterTrail.org displays an interactive map of where to buy and eat local oysters and how to tour a shellfish farm in order to learn more about the art and science of growing oysters. 

Many North Carolina oyster producers are now growing their oysters in cages that are floated or are suspended off the water bottom. As the oysters grow, they are periodically sorted according to size and are transferred to other cages to reduce crowding. 

Ryan Bethea owns and operates Oysters Carolina. He grows oysters on 5.25 acres that he leases in Westmouth Bay near Harkers Island. When interviewed recently for an article in Our State magazine, Bethea said an oysterman’s job is “basically moving a bunch of sharp rocks with food in them. I touch them eight or nine times before they leave the farm,” he says.

 

Ryan Bethea

The oyster trail’s website says that Oysters Carolina “offers farm-to-table, same-day delivery anywhere in North Carolina for free. Its award-winning oysters are consistently rated among the saltiest in the country.” Oyster farm tours are available on request. 

Where else does the oyster trail lead? Peruse the map feature on the trail website to find out. There are several locations within Carteret County: 

Hoop Pole Creek Oyster Company in Atlantic Beach “is a family run shellfish farm growing oysters and clams near Atlantic Beach. Tour the farm via kayak and sample shellfish while learning about the ecology and history of Bogue Sound.” 

Roysters NC near Beaufort is a family-owned oyster farm in the North River. “Schedule a boat tour to visit a cluster of four shellfish farms in and around North River and Wards Creek. Bring-your-own kayak tours are also available upon request. Explore the waters and what grows in them between Beaufort and Harkers Island.”

 

Down East Mariculture Supply Co. near Smyrna “offers you an opportunity to see and touch shellfish from its initial life stages. From April to October, tour the oyster hatchery and nursery and learn about the importance of protecting our waterways, the role oysters play in a healthy ecosystem and how oysters make their way from their nursery to your favorite restaurant. Optional kayak tours allow visitors to explore the natural beauty of Jarrett Bay and the protected marsh that serves as a nursery to a variety of small marine life, including a couple of oyster farms along the way.” 

Island Time Excursions on Harkers Island with Capt. Ricky Dodson tours oyster farms in the North River as well as trips to Shackleford Island within the Cape Lookout National Seashore to see the wild horses or to go shelling. 

Seavisions Charters in Beaufort provides tours to “the only N.C. oyster farm on a sandbar, Sandbar Oyster Company.” Its owners are “shellfishly motivated.” Here visitors can “experience a hands-on, interactive oyster farm tour, sample oysters onsite and take some home.” 

Crystal Coast Oysters in Morehead City offers direct oyster sales and delivery. Their oysters are “handcrafted near the mouth of the Newport River between Morehead City and Beaufort. Named ‘Fatbellies,’ these oysters are buttery with a punch of sweetness.” The company “will ship oysters overnight directly to your door – free for N.C. addresses.” 

Hooper Family Seafood in Smyrna specializes in clams. “The Hoopers will show you how to harvest and grade these shellfish. You can even try your luck with the bull rake. They have a wonderful spot on the water and can steam up clams to taste.” 

Science by the Sea in Beaufort “provides eco-adventures with a choice of three modes of transportation: kayak, stand-up paddleboard and a flat-bottomed bateau cruise. Tours depart from the historic Beaufort waterfront and visit the four islands in the Rachel Carson Reserve. Visitors can observe diverse habitats and estuarine creatures, including oysters, that dwell in these waters.” 

Additionally, two local restaurants are currently listed on the oyster trail.

 

Blackbeard’s Grill and Steam Bar in Beaufort “is dedicated to serving fresh, local seafood. Enjoy the golden-fried or steamed N.C. oysters while watching a video about oyster harvesting. The restaurant owners fished eastern N.C. waters most of their lives and are committed to serving the freshest seafood from their friends, family and other harvesters in their area.”

 

Catch 109 in Morehead City “offers modern cuisine focusing on high-quality ingredients and a creative menu” featuring “seafood from local waters. Enjoy N.C. oysters raw or steamed, charbroiled or prepared Rockefeller-style with creamed spinach and applewood smoked bacon.”

 

Writing for the Coastal Federation, Hannah Ross said oysters comprise a “superhero species.” 

“It may sound too good to be true that one, palm-sized organism could filter water, provide habitat, secure the coastline and be a delicious, nutritious powerhouse on the plate. But it’s not a gimmick – the oyster does it all,” she said.

Oyster experts delve into the ‘R’ month rule of thumb

Can you really only eat oysters in “R” months of September through April?

Southern Living magazine recently asked Sheri Castle of Chapel Hill, N.C., to check it out. She’s a highly respected cookbook author, recipe developer and cooking teacher. 

“The rationale behind skipping oysters during the warmest months was to avoid oysters that might not taste good or, even worse, be unsafe to eat,” Castle reported. “Back when we had only wild oysters, summertime was a factor on several fronts. Wild oysters spawn in the summer when the water is warmest.” 

“In many places, oyster season closed during that time period to give the oysters opportunity to reproduce, yielding a more generous and sustainable oyster harvest later in the year. Another factor is that spawning oysters are small, watery and have an unpleasant off-taste.”

 

Christine Gallary

Christine Gallary of San Francisco, who is “editor-at-large” for the popular Kitchn food-focused website, drew a similar “R” month assignment. 

Rowan Jacobsen, author of “A Geography of Oysters,” confirmed that when spawning, oysters tend to “get soft and rank.” He said that prior to refrigeration, “it wasn’t safe to eat raw animals in wooden barrels that had baked all day on the docks.”

 

“Oysters have to be refrigerated the moment they come out of the water and stored at that temperature all the way to your plate,” Jacobsen said. 

“Most oysters still taste much better in fall and winter than they do in summer,” he said. “Oysters taste best out of cold water, so I say to follow the frost line – southern oysters in late winter and early spring, northern oysters in fall.” 

He encourages everybody to feel comfortable “eating oysters from anywhere” during the holidays – from Thanksgiving through New Year’s Day. 

Castle said that “times, and oysters, have changed, and now it’s perfectly all right to eat oysters in May, June, July and August. The United States has made huge strides in the safe and sustainable harvesting of oysters.” 

“The popularity and availability of farmed oysters has surged,” she said. “Cold water farms can produce edible oysters year-round. On farms in warmer waters, the oyster breeds are often triploids, which means they are sterile, similar to seedless fruits and vegetables. Oysters that never spawn cannot suffer the flavor and quality issues caused by summertime spawning.” 

C.J. Husk, who is the brand ambassador and “oyster dude” at Island Creek Oysters in Duxbury, Mass., told Gallary that “these days, the ‘R’ in oystering stands for refrigeration.”

C. J. Husk

 

Chris Sherman, company president at Island Creek, said the best way to store raw, unshucked oysters at home is to place them in a bowl in the refrigerator.

Chris Sherman

 

“Cover them with a damp dish cloth so they don’t dry out. They don’t have to sit on ice, but make sure the refrigerator temperature is around 38 or 39 degrees. For the best result, eat oysters within a week of harvest.” 

The old “R-Rule” is simply out of style, stated Tyler Chadwick of Carteret County, N.C., founder and owner of Carolina Gold Oyster Company, located north of Beaufort on Merrimon Road. Today’s technology and research have made it safe to consume oysters in the “non-R months.” 

Tyler Chadwick

“Let’s move into the now and future in the world of oysters. Enjoy oysters every month of the year,” he said. 

Ryan Speckman, a seafood distributor based in Raleigh, said what really seals the deal is that there’s been a tremendous upswing in the number of chefs who are willing to put oysters on their menus year-round.

Idaho’s Island Park claims to have ‘longest main street’

Humana offers its elderly health insurance policy holders online classes to promote healthy “senior living.” A recent webinar, “Name That State,” stressed the value of keeping one’s brain active. 

The facilitator asked a series of trivia questions about the 50 United States. One that stumped me was: “Which state has the longest Main Street?” 

The correct answer was Idaho. How can that be? There are only a few cities in Idaho that anybody’s ever heard of – namely Boise, Pocatello, Moscow and Sun Valley. The entire state has fewer than 2 million people living among all those potatoes. 

But come to find out, there is a place in Idaho known as Island Park, nestled in the southeastern stub of the state, near Wyoming and Montana, which claims to have the “longest main street.” It’s a 36.8-mile stretch of U.S. Route 20, with a dog leg on State Route 87 that curls over the top of Henrys Lake.

 

Henrys Lake

As one might suspect, alcohol was involved. The City of Island Park was incorporated in May 1947 to meet a state law requiring that all businesses that serve or sell alcoholic beverages be located within incorporated municipalities. 

Owners of all the businesses located along U.S. 20 corridor who desired licenses to offer alcoholic beverages to tourists who were visiting nearby national parks – Yellowstone and Grand Teton – put their heads together and drew city boundaries. They created a “community” of sorts that extends from Last Chance to Henrys Lake near the Montana border.

 Island Park is long and skinny, following the path of the highway (like a gerrymandered voting district). Island Park has only 166 residents. 

Island Park contains one of America’s premier calderas. Scientists at National Geographic explained: “A caldera is a large depression formed when a volcano erupts and then collapses. During a volcanic eruption, magma present in the magma chamber underneath the volcano is expelled, often forcefully.”

 

“When the magma chamber empties, the sides and top of the volcano collapse inward.” The Island Park Caldera is U-shaped and measures 18 miles wide by 23 miles long. 

The territory was discovered by fur trappers from Missouri who were led into the wilderness by Andrew Henry. The hunting party established Fort Henry in 1811 on Henrys Fork, a tributary of the Snake River. 

The first true settler in the territory was Gilman Sawtell, who built a lodge on Henrys Lake in the late 1860s. He was described as a “jovial woodsman whose principal business was spearing trout, packing them in ice, hauling them off in wagons and disposing of them at handsome prices to the busy population, who haven’t time to fish for themselves.” 

Next came Richard Rock, who everybody called “Rocky Mountain Dick,” a legendary buffalo skinner. He filled his corrals at Henrys Lake with bison, bears, black-tailed deer, mountain goats, moose and elk. He sold these animals to parks and preserves nationwide. 

George Rea was third in line. He operated the first cattle ranch and trout farm in Island Park and was a successful hunting guide. Rea’s most famous customer was President Theodore Roosevelt, whom Rea guided on several occasions through Island Park as well as Yellowstone. 

In olden days, a wild west stagecoach line carried tourists back and forth (about 30 miles) between Henrys Lake and Yellowstone.

Stagecoach rides have been reactivated for the pleasure of Yellowstone visitors.

 

These days, the Island Park watering holes stay busy year-round. In winter, they cater to cross country skiers and snowmobilers…as well as the Henrys Lake “cold-footers.” The cold-footers bore holes in the ice to fish for savory bass, trout and whitefish. 

We’re itching for spring…to play some ‘backyard games’

One of the featured groupings of forever postage stamps currently being offered by the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) is labeled “Backyard Games.” These stamps whet the appetite of all who are itching for spring weather and the opportunity to “play outdoors.” 

This sheet of stamps contains eight scenes, depicting activities played on green grass. They are badminton, bocce, croquet, horseshoes, tetherball, frisbee, cornhole and…baseball. With a hard ball? Isn’t backyard baseball a sure-fire recipe for broken windows?

 

Don’t blame illustrator Mick Wiggins. His original sketch depicted a white wiffle ball and a yellow plastic bat. That image, however, presented trademark concerns for the USPS legal department. Wiffle Ball balls and bats “belong to” Wiffle Ball, a company headquartered in Shelton, Ct.

 

Wiggins explained that his plastic ball’s holes were round and not Wiffle Ball oblong. The USPS lawyers feared Wiggins’ drawing still could be troublesome to JUGS Sports of Tualatin, Ore., manufacturer of baseball pitching machines and plastic, practice baseballs with round holes.

 

The conundrum caught the attention of Brett Rudy, whose blog is titled “Baseball Is My Life.” He interviewed Wiggins at his studio in Little Rock, Ark. 

Wiggins said he was honored to have been selected by Journey Group, a graphic design agency in Charlottesville, Va., to create the artwork for new postage stamps. He said revisions are expected; it just “comes with the territory” when working on postage stamp projects. 

To accommodate the agency executives, Wiggins next gave them a baseball with authentic red stitching. Someone at the agency made the stitches white…perhaps to infer the ball had been altered from having a hard cover to become plastic again.

 

Wiggins said it looks odd for the players in the frame to be playing “real baseball without mitts.” He pointed out that the loopy flight of the original ball shown in the stamp did not change. It’s a quirk that philatelists (stamp collectors) will notice and value. 

Wiggins’ Backyard Games’ scenes key in on the dominant element of each game, which is positioned in the foreground. Players are rather small and serve as supporting characters. He described his colors as “dusty and warm…creating a nostalgic glow.” 

Most of the games depicted have been around for many years. The newest game is cornhole, which is a modern bean bag toss game that is portable, capable of being transported from the backyard to the beach or a tailgate party parking lot.

 

Sports historian Peter Jensen Brown gives credit to Heyliger Adams de Windt of Fishkill, N.Y., as the primary inventor of cornhole in 1883. He was Harvard-educated and a descendant of U.S. president John Adams and John Quincy Adams. 

In the late 1880s, a wooden toy manufacturing firm named Morton E. Converse & Co. of Winchedon, Mass., obtained the rights from de Windt and began producing “Faba Baga” games. (“Faba” is Italian for “bean,” while “baga” just sort of sounds Italian.)

 

Over the years, the game evolved to become cornhole, with the 6-inch by 6-inch fabric bags filled with a pound of field corn. Today’s boards have a single hole that’s 9 inches in diameter. The front edges of the boards are located 27 feet apart. It’s pretty simple. Just toss your bag into the hole.

 

Jamie Graham of Hamlet, N.C., was 15 years old when he first tried cornhole at a family reunion in 2014. It was fun, and he was a “natural.” Graham “turned pro” the following year. He won the world cornhole tournament championship in 2020…and a big wad of money.

 

From the backyard to the bank.