The Oriental dragons welcome visitors to town

Did you know that Oriental in Pamlico County, N.C., is sanctuary for dragons? 

The town’s love affair with dragons began with the arrival of seasonal residents Joe and Besty Cox in the early 1960s. They were attracted to the sailing that the area offers.

The town government’s webmaster said Joe Cox was a famous artist and an art instructor at North Carolina State University in Raleigh. 

Joe had the bright idea that a place named “Oriental” should celebrate New Year’s Eve with a dragon like those used to celebrate “Chinese New Year.” He set out to design and construct one that was 40 feet long.

Every year since on New Year’s Eve, the streets of Oriental fill up with people who come to watch the “Running of the Dragon.” It’s a noisy crowd, banging big spoons on pots, beating drums, blowing whistles, honking horns, hollering, whatever it takes to convince the spirit of the dragon to keep their new year safe and secure.

Nowadays, visitors delight in finding dragons all over town in all seasons. There’s one that lives at the Duck Pond near the town harbor, and it’s not uncommon to see a great blue heron standing on the dragon’s head to get a better view of the fish in the pond.

 

An ultra-secret Dragon Protection Society oversees the dragons’ lairs, making every effort to keep them safe from harm. 

The town provides courtesy bicycles for tourists to seek out several “nesting areas” for baby dragons. The eggs are brightly colored and appear to be hard as rocks. 

One of the highlights of summer in Oriental is the annual Oriental Dragon Boat Race & Festival on the Neuse River on Aug. 11-12. Teams of 20 paddlers race in custom-built boats that feature dragonheads to raise money for their favorite charities.

 

Several thousand spectators are anticipated. For details, go online to orientaldragonboat.com. 

Extend your weekend in Oriental by laying over to attend the Aug. 13 watermelon cutting on the lawn, hosted by Fay Midyette Bond and her family. It’s free and open to the public. Everyone is invited to stop by the house at the corner of Neuse and Ragan streets at 4 p.m. 

Enjoy a slice or two of watermelon and partake in the fellowship and conversation. The watermelon cutting is a family tradition that began in 1969. Folks love to chat a bit with the family matriarch. Fay Bond is creeping up on her 100th birthday this September. 

Fay is full of spunk…and is still winning medals in Pamlico County’s Senior Games, according to Lorraine Yaeger, public relations coordinator for Century 21 Sail/Loft Realty in Oriental.

 

“Fay enjoyed working for Sail/Loft Reality with Joe Gwaltney, founder of the business,” Yaeger said. “She would show people homes and then bring them back to the office where Joe would ‘close the sale.’ Fay could always tell who was going to be happy in Oriental and who wouldn’t be.” 

Everyone in town refers to Fay Bond as the “Turtle Lady,” because she regularly feeds the snapping turtles who live in the creek that runs alongside her house. There might be 50 of them that swim up when she rings the dinner bell and beckons: “Turtle, turtle, turtle.” 

But why? “I feed ‘em to keep ‘em away from my garden,” she laughingly told a television news reporter.

The turtles are in for a big treat after the watermelon cutting. They will get to feast on all the watermelon rinds after the big party on the lawn…just like they do every year.