News Blog - October 2011

The Kinnakeet Civic Association will have its monthly potluck dinner and annual meeting on Wednesday, Nov. 2, at 6 p.m. at the Avon Volunteer Fire Station.

The dinner and meeting will honor Veterans' Day and Kinnakeet veterans. Those who attend are asked to bring a salad or side dish to share and pictures or other items of Kinnakeet military history to display. KCA will provide the meat and beverage. The annual membership meeting will follow the dinner.

For more information or to volunteer, call Robin Ames at 252-885-4768.

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The Hatteras Island Arts & Craft Guild will have an art and craft show on Friday and Saturday, Nov. 25-26, at Cape Hatteras Secondary School on Highway 12 in Buxton. The show will feature work by local artists, artisans, photographers, and craftpersons. Seven original works of art will be raffled to benefit local high school students. Admission is free and lunch and snacks will be available.

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Third Annual Bike the Light will be on Saturday, November 19th! The event has been rescheduled from its original date of October 1. This all age's event is a fun filled, zany bike ride that helps the Kiwanis Club raise money for Children's charities and programs on Hatteras Island.Registration is $5 and includes a Bike the Light t-shirt. Registration begins at 9:00am and the ride will start at 10:00am. For more information about pre-registration, please contact Laura Heitsenrether at laurah@chec.coop or 252-995-7083.

The 8K bike ride begins at the Cape Hatteras Secondary School. Bikers will enjoy the scenic ride to the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse and then ride back to the school for refreshments and a prize ceremony. Registration is $5 and includes a Bike the Light T-shirt. Registration begins at 9 a.m. and the ride will start at 10 a.m.We'd love to see you there!

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The Ocrafolk School, a fall 'camp for grownups, is accepting registrations for its fifth year of week-long workshops and activities for adults. Classes with space still available are "Island Cooking" with chef Debbie Wells, "The Ocracoke Sampler" with local historian Philip Howard, Capt. Rob Temple, and Ranger Dave Frum, "English Paper Piecing (hand-pieced quilting)" with Debbie Block , and "Exploring Ocracoke Music" with Gary Mitchell of the band Molasses Creek.

This year's other offering, "Island Photography" with Ann Ehringhaus, is full and currently taking registrations on a waiting-list-only basis. All classes are limited to six to eight students, and the registration deadline is Oct. 3. Debbie Wells is a local chef of renown, originator of Ocracoke's popular Back Porch Restaurant and author of its cookbook. Her "Island Cooking" class will emphasize local seafood, other meats, some old-time Ocracoke specialties, vegetables, Mexican day with guest chef Eduardo, and lots of desserts. Every year students have a special outing, which has included a "garage lunch" with locals, a visit to the local fish house, and a clamming trip.

"English Paper Piecing" is an old method of hand piecing quilts. By basting fabric onto pre-cut pieces of heavy paper and joining the pieces together with a simple hand stitch, you can create a quilt top of any size or design. After learning the basic method, each participant will work on a design of their choosing using squares, diamond, triangle and/or hexagon shaped pieces. No experience necessary but a love of fabric, color, and quilts will help you to enjoy this class.

Ocracoke Island is known for having quite a vibrant music scene. In the "Exploring Ocracoke Music" class, students will spend the week "behind the scenes" exploring and visiting the musicians, rehearsals, recording studios, history, venues and local radio that make it all happen. No musical experience is necessary, but certainly welcome.

Philip Howard, eighth generation islander, joins Capt. Rob Temple and ranger Dave Frum to bring alive Ocracoke history in the "Ocracoke Sampler" class. Students will hear island stories, see 50-year-old Ocracoke home movies, be guided through ancient family cemeteries, read original U.S. Life-Saving Service shipwreck logs, sail on the schooner Windfall 2, sing sea-chanteys, listen to traditional ghost tales, tour a preserved maritime forest, and much more.

The school, which began in 2007, is held yearly the last full week of October and includes workshops which explore island history, culture, food, art, music and crafts through hands on activities. In addition to the classes, students participate in group meals, music and other events throughout the course of the week. The Ocrafolk School is sponsored by the private non-profit "Ocracoke Alive."

For more information, e-mail gary@ocrafolkschool.org, call 252-928-4280 or visit www.ocrafolkschool.org.

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The Miss Hands of Love Benefit Pageant will by on Saturday, Oct. 29, beginning at 2 p.m. at Cape Hatteras Secondary School. The pageant benefits the non-profit Hands of Love organization, which last year raised almost $5,000, which provided 200 food baskets for Thanksgiving , Christmas, and Easter and "sparkle" baskets for children at Christmas, 150 Easter baskets, and backpacks for the Little Grove school supplies drive for families in need.

Organizer Kim Martin says she expects the need for help will be even greater this year because of Hurricane Irene's damage to homes and businesses and the lost income for many islanders. Because of the hurricane, the $60 fee for the pageant is being waived. Instead, there will be Hands of Love calendars for sale for $10. The calendars will feature each winner and each contestant and ads are available for $25, $50, and $100 to help sponsor a contestant and raise funds.

Admission this year will be $5 for adults and $2 for students. Children 5 and under are free. Or those attending can donate five items, such as canned goods, toys, school supplies, hygiene products, etc.

There are age divisions for all - from birth up to adult They include:

BABY MISS - Age birth through 18 months
TODDLER MISS-19 MONTHS-3 YEARS
LITTLE MISS - Age 4-6 years
LITTLE MISS - Age 7 - 9 years
JR. TEEN MISS - Age 10 - 12 years
TEEN MISS - Age 13 - 15 years *
JR MISS- AGE 16-18 YEARS
MISS - Age19 & UP **
MRS- MUST BE MARRIED AGE 19 & UP

For more information or an entry form, please call Kim Martin at 996-0919 or email her at wvgirl2030@aol.com. You can also check the Hands of Love Facebook page or the website at http://www.handsofluv.com/index.html.

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The Hatteras Island Cancer Foundation will sponsor its eighth annual Fun Run on Saturday, Oct. 8, at 10 a.m. at Sun Realty in Avon. The 5K will be through Kinnakeet Shores Soundside. The rain date is Sunday, Oct. 9. Everyone is invited to come and walk, run, or just join in the fun and festivities for a good cause.

The entry fee is $25 for adults and $15 for children 18 and under. Your entry fee will include a Fun Run T-shirt. You can download an entry form by clicking here and send it with your entry fee to P.O. Box 421, Hatteras, North Carolina 27943, Attn: Fun Run. Or you can register the day of the race. Registration will begin at 9:15 am. The Fun Run is a 5k run -- 3.1 miles.

The foundation is urging all participants to wear pink in support of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. The person who is judged the most "pinked out" will win a prize. There will be music by Jamie Markley, lots of fun for the kids, barbecue by Darrin Callahan sold by the container or sandwich, a bake sale, a white dove release by Hatteras Doves, prizes, removable tattoos, pink hair extentions by Terry Lorenzo and much more.

The foundation helps Hatteras Island cancer patients pay for treatment not covered by insurance and also aids them with travel for treatment. Also, this year the foundation will make a donation to the tri-village flood victims. Participants are asked to bring a canned food for the tri-village's food pantry.

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*Because of transportation issues for folks on the southern end of Hatteras Island, organizers of the Really, Really Free Market have decided to open up a second location at the Avon Volunteer Fire Department. This second market will be open on Saturdays from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. from Oct. 8 until further notice. The Salvo market will continue every day at the St. Waves Plaza location from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. until further notice.

With two markets open, more volunteers are needed. Please call Jenn Augustson at 216-6558 to sign-up or for other quesThe same folks who brought you the Really, Really Free Market one weekend a month in Avon are now bringing you the Really, Really Free Market every day in Waves - along with a new group of volunteers. The Really, Really Free Markets began several years ago under the leadership of Jenn Augustson and the Kinnakeet Civic Association.*

The idea for the market springs from the current worldwide trend toward being "green" - reusing and recycling goods we no longer want or need. Avon's Really, Really Free Market, on the first Saturday of each month, was a popular gathering place for people in need and people who had stuff they no longer needed. The market usually focused on a different theme each month - back to school clothes for kids or holiday decorations.

Really, Really Free Markets work like a big flea market where everything is free. You give away what you bring - for free - and claim what you want - also for free. Even services could be exchanged - of course, for free. After Hurricane Irene hit Hatteras Island on Aug. 27, sending a tidal surge from the Pamlico Sound through the island's villages, the supporters of the Really, Really Free Market found a new reason for their work.

Rodanthe, Waves, and Salvo were the hardest hit villages, but the soundside of Avon, especially in Kinnakeet village, was also underwater. Market organizers and a small army of dedicated volunteers saw a need and filled it. Space was donated to the group by the owner of St. Waves Plaza in Waves.

Volunteers began collecting things that people needed - everything from clothing to bedding and baby supplies to pet food. It works much like the monthly market. It's like a big thrift shop, but everything is free - to everyone. And the organizers emphasize that they mean everyone on Hatteras Island is welcome -those whose home and belongings were lost or damaged and those who had no damage but are suffering economically by the loss of income for weeks now.

"One of the biggest things I'd like to get across is that the RRFM is for EVERYONE on Hatteras Island," says volunteer organizer Jennifer Johnson of Hatteras village. "Right now, going to Nags Head to buy shoes or clothes for a child who has outgrown what they have can be a 12-15 hour ordeal. People can come to the Free Market to 'shop' for whatever they need, and to avoid feeling 'guilty' for taking anything, they can leave some cash for the Food Pantry in our donation box. "All of us who live on the island have been affected economically and emotionally, even if we have been lucky enough to have escaped property damage," Johnson adds. The Really, Really Free Market is open seven days a week from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m., Johnson said.

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