home

Ferry across the Neuse early one morning. This commuter ferry between Minnesott Beach and Cherry Branch, and another across the Pamlico River from Aurora to Bayview, have been free for decades. Last year, though, the Legislature voted to charge a toll. Today, the short session of the Legislature opens and some local residents are traveling to Raleigh in hopes of persuading lawmakers to repeal the toll. For more on the TollFreeFerry effort, click here.

Wednesday May 16, 2012

11:13a Update from the Legislative Building: a delegation of folks from Oriental, including Greg Piner and Larry Summers, presented petitions with 1500 signatures to the office of the Speaker of the House tis morning. That’s the petition that calls for the Legislature to not impose the tolls on our local commuter ferries…

And we can’t let any more of this day — May 16 — pass without noting that 150 years ago today, the steamer Oriental ran aground and sank off of the northern Outer Banks.

Stop by the Oriental History Museum later this week (it’s open Fri-Sun) to see the exhibit on the Oriental and a cool collection of compasses. (Navigation error may have been a cause of the wreck…)

7:01a Chance of rain, in particular, this afternoon, according to the Oriental Weather Forecast. We could use it. Lots of clouds have been looming in recent days, but as you can see in the graphs from the Oriental Weather station, we haven’t gotten much.”:weather-station/oriental-weather-station

Some area residents are on their way to Raleigh this morning for the opening day of the Legislature. They’re planning to meet with lawmakers and ask that the General Assembly repeal last year’s vote to slap a toll on the Minnesott and Aurora commuter ferries. Even if you don’t travel up there, you can pitch in. TollFreeFerry.org has info and easy links for contacting lawmakers on particular committees.

For the story on how Pamlico County ferry riders got in to this predicament — of having the free commuter ferry facing the prospect of tolls — click here.

Also in What’s Happening the Oriental Town Board meets tomorrow at 11 and could approve that land swap near South Avenue. In the deal, the Town gives up 13,900 square feet of right of way on and near the harbor, and gets from Chris Fulcher 55 feet of harborfront, 4,500 square feet of land and a dock that may have to be rebuilt. The public may comment at this meeting.

Some residents have suggested the Town should have negotiated for at least one more dock, water rights for maneuvering room for visiting boats and more land. The Mayor has said the Town could not have gotten any more from Fulcher. It is not clear that that was vigorously pursued.

The Town Manager and a Town Commissioner have said that the Town’s rights of way had no value, a position that was taken in to the negotiations. The Town did not have its right of way land appraised in advance of this deal, nor was an appraisal done of how much those rights of way add to the value of Fulcher’s land holdings.

This has lent a sense that the Town did not negotiate well. If the deal goes thru, Fulcher would own a continuous sweep of riverfront and harborfront land from Wall Street to the small lot he is giving the town next to the Oriental Marina’s fuel dock.

Tomorrow’s meeting starts at 11a.There are a number of letters on the Land Swap in TownDock.net’s Letters section.

Tuesday May 15, 2012

On this day in 2004, about a hundred people gathered on the shores of the Oriental Duck Pond to watch a dragon be launched. For almost 8 years, the dragon remained there, nose swinging into the winds. It — we never did establish gender — was tough, riding out two hurricanes — Ophelia and Irene — and many nor’easters. Sometimes when the dragon tipped over, its humans would row out and prop it back up.

This past weekend though, just two days shy of that May 15 anniversary, the dragon couldn’t be righted. Its keel was gone. The dragon was taken from the water for the first time since 2004. It’s now with Gary Gresko, the sculptor who brought it to life 8 years ago from a mixture of ferro-cement, broken bits of bottle glass, and lots of spirit. Gary says a keel-transplant is planned as are a lot of topside touch-ups.. We’ll have more on that and how you can help defray the costs.

Meantime, here’s a link to our May 2004 story about the launching. For another 2004 story, about how the dragon came be, click here.

Today’s cover photo shows Greg Piner working to right the dragon this weekend. In recent months, Greg’s been a key player in working to stop the tolls on our local ferries. Tomorrow, Greg and a number of other local folks travel up to Raleigh to make that case as the Legislature reconvenes for its short session. They could use more help in Raleigh. The website, TollFreeFerry.org has details on how you can do that.

Perchance to dream… At the Pamlico Library today, you can take part in a project about dreams. Go ahead, be part of creating some art… There are a couple of sessions. One in mid-afternoon and another after working hours.

Monday May 14, 2012

5:50p Town Hall says the Mayor says the public may comment at the Thursday, May 17, 11a meeting. (See below.)

4:50p Two pieces of news to pass along this afternoon.

First, a followup on this morning’s home page story of whether the Town would be holding a meeting on the land swap this week.

An emailed release from Town Hall – sent just over an hour ago – says that the Special Town Board meeting on the Fulcher land swap is set for 11a on Thursday, May 17. It’s not clear from the Town Hall release if, as stated at last week’s meeting, there will be an opportunity for the public to give its comment at the May 17 meeting. We’re checking…

Second, if something looked a bit off in the Harborcam shot today, there’s no need to adjust your computer screen. The Duck Pond Dragon is in fact, not there. The Dragon had to be taken away for some TLC this weekend. It appears that — there’s no tender way to say this — the dragon’s lost its bottom. Oriental has one of the few dragons in the world with a keel, which is what’s kept it centered and afloat.

The dragon’s been taken back to sculptor Gary Gresko, who years ago brought it to life with a combo of ferro and bottle glass. (The dragon’s also in for some touch-ups of more glass.) It’ll likely cost something to do this, and if you’d like to contribute, we’ll have details soon on how you can help out.

10:26a What a lovely weekend. Organizers for Saturday’s Art on the Neuse say they had a good turnout for the art fest.

There may be a meeting this week of the Town Board regarding that land swap on the harbor. This is the meeting where the Board wants the Town Attorney Scott Davis to attend and where it says it would take comments from the public. It’s also the meeting where the Board could vote to approve the land swap.

Since the winter, there’s been no formal session for taking public comment on the deal in which the Town would give up about three times as much Town right of way on and near the harbor and in exchange get one of the parcels Chris Fulcher owns on the harbor.

Mayor Sage told the Parks and Rec Committee last week that this special Town Board meeting could happen on Thursday May 17. However, nothing’s been officially posted by Town officials, which by law have to give the public 48 hours advance notice anytime the Town Board meets.

Our lovely spate of clear, mild weather gets a wrinkle. Precip — or chance of it — is in the forecast for a few days.

In addition to meetings about land swaps, much going on this week. If you would like to help lobby against the tolls on our local ferries, Wednesday is the opening of the Legislature in Raleigh. Some folks are driving up to meet lawmakers face to face. (Or you can send off emails or make phone calls on that issue…)

Cap off your week with some timeless satire from the Marx Brothers. The Old Theater’s Friday Flick is ‘Duck Soup’. It’s the final FF for the season… On Saturday, the Pamlico Community College Foundation holds its annual golf tourney at Minnesott. It’s to raise scholarship funds and money for other projects at the school. Call Melody Henry – 249-2272 – to register. Click here for more details.

Sunday May 13, 2012

Word reaches us from New Hampshire that Paul Knudson has passed away.

Paul composed music and wrote hundreds of works in his life. A number of the original compositions first hit the stage here in Oriental and Pamlico County. Two years ago, it was “Falstaff”, and a few years before that, an operatic treatment of the ancient Greek play, “Lysistrata.”

Paul, who was 81, died last Monday in New Hampshire where there was a funeral on Friday. He was 81. Our condolences to his wife and daughter and family.

For the story on the ‘Falstaff’ production, click here.

Saturday May 12, 2012

As predicted, a lovely day for an arts show. Art on the Neuse is going on on the harbor thru this afternoon and clear skies and temps in the 70’s are on tap.

Stop on by. This is now the one arts fest of the year in Oriental and the Pamlico County Arts Council jumped in to keep it going.

For years, Ellen Demko was a part of Oriental’s arts community. When she lived in Oriental — in the house with the pink roof on Freemason Street — Ellen worked glass in to beautiful irridescent creations. You can see her work still, adorning ears and necklaces around town. A few years ago, Ellen moved back to the Midwest. We got the sad news today that she passed away on Thursday in Cape Girardeau, Missouri — another river town. Ellen was 85. Our condolences to her family…