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Crowds enjoy seafood, fun
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NEWS-TIMES
EREN TATARAGASI, SHANNON KEMP, HELEN OUTLAND
MOREHEAD CITY — The smell of funnel cakes, cotton candy and fried foods wafted through the air as children and adults began to crowd the downtown streets Friday evening before the rides and vendors were fully up and running at the 22nd annual N.C. Seafood Festival.
But more important than the amusement is the promotion of local seafood, something James Gaskill of Ocracoke lives and breathes.
Mr. Gaskill is in town this weekend with the Ocracoke Working Watermen’s Association, a full-time fishing group and promoter of all things Ocracoke. This is the association’s second year participating in the festival.
Mr. Gaskill, 65, is one of the Working Watermen who got a community fish house up and running on the island a little more than a year ago.
They provided fresh shrimp for Friday’s seafood festival grand opening where members of the U.S. Navy, Morehead City Council, including Mayor Jerry Jones and Town Manager Randy Martin, as well as Sen. Jean Preston, R-N.C., met to sample the region’s finest, and check out Texas Pete’s newest, zestier seafood cocktail sauce.
And Saturday Mr. Gaskill and the other Working Watermen cooked up Drum Fish Cakes in the chef’s tent, a new feature at this year’s festival where area chefs throughout the weekend cook up a seafood delight.
“Drum fish cakes are an old Ocracoke recipe,” Mr. Gaskill said about the Working Watermen’s specialty. “Everyone planted their gardens with potatoes and young onions in late February, early March, and the Drum Fish, also known as Reed Fish, they can stay in cold water and they’re the first to show up in the spring. And when they came, everything was ready.”
Entertainment was also on tap, and the first musical performance kicked in Friday night with Robert McDuffy and G.E. Cooper who played some laid- back boat music to a modest crowd of children and adults. Then the attention shifted toward the main stage where the ’80s cover band The Breakfast Club put on an exciting show.
Clear skies and balmy temperatures greeted visitors Saturday, where artists and food vendors filled the downtown streets. Everything from yard sculptures, paintings and jewelry to alligator bites were for sale, as well as Thai noodles, crab cakes, shrimp burgers and even pina coladas. Many booths are sponsored by nonprofit groups as a way to raise funds.
Meanwhile, chefs from all over the county charmed the crowd with masterful specialties under the chef’s tent.
Chef Jerry Frivance of Sharpies Bar and Grill in Beaufort cooked up his Oyster Polenta Barry Nash, while Sabrina Varnum from the N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries spoke about the crucial role oysters play in state estuaries.
“North Carolina has the largest, most productive estuarine system on the East Coast,” Ms. Varnum said.
But because of habitat loss, disease and pollution the state’s oyster population decreased but is back on the upswing thanks in part to projects through the state Division of Marine Fisheries, such as oyster shell recycling.
When individuals and restaurants turn in their oyster shells, staff and volunteers put the shells back in the water so oysters can attach to them and grow naturally.
Oysters are critical in keeping the waters clean and in promoting other sea creatures including crab, fish and shrimp.
Further down the street amid the screams and laughter of children riding the Paratrooper, the Scat, Sea-Ray and others, Mario Mills was steadily and calmly operating the controls for the giant swinging pirate ship – Sea-Ray – with colleague, Daniel Ememin.
“It’s just fun,” Mr. Ememin said of operating rides at fairs and festivals.
They got no complaints from festival patrons Shaine Taylor, 13, Paige Nyberg, 13, and Callie Jones, 15, all of Beaufort Middle School, who happily rode the rides.
One hour into the festival and the teenagers already tried the Super Shot drop tower, the Paratrooper, the Sea-Ray and Scat.
Paige said her favorite ride was the Scat – a ride that stands its riders up against a cushion inside a spinning cage, which spins around in circles until feet lift off the floor.
But for Shaine, the Super Shot was her favorite – a ride that goes straight up in the air and then drops its riders into a free fall stopping only feet before the ground.
“You just go up and up and then you’re dropped – it just takes you heart beat away,” she said.
But rides were just one of the things that had children and teenagers laughing and screaming. There were games where “you always win a prize.” Knock the bottle over, get the ball into the bucket, pick the winning floating duck… and maybe, just maybe, a person could win a giant blue stuffed Care Bear instead of just a little bracelet.
Another new feature was the traveling touch tank thanks to the N.C. Aquarium at Pine Knoll Shores. Henry Martin, 3, from Atlantic Beach, and his brother Jake, 6, were able to reach in and touch one of the coast’s small spotted rays.
“Their mom is a marine biologist so they are all about it,” Todd Martin said of his two sons who were busy staring through the clear sides of the touch tank watching the rays swimming around.
Laurie Streble, outreach coordinator with the aquarium, said the touch tank was a hit.
“Everybody’s loving it,” she said.
But for local Tracey Williamson of Bettie, it was the local artists and vendors and just walking around that made the festival a favorite.
She and her two daughters, Ava, 8, and Chloe, 7, were checking out the pink and purple, striped and spotted headbands at Brooks Boutique – a first-time vendor from Cary.
“Some people say it’s so expensive, and it is,” she said. “But for me it’s just walking around looking at the vendors and having a good time that I enjoy,”
She also said she liked the idea of supporting the locals who came out to sell things.
The Southern Outer Banks and Outdoor Expo did not go unnoticed Saturday morning. Held inside the new 40,000-square-foot warehouse at the N.C. Port, it was the largest indoor boat show in Eastern North Carolina.
Representatives from 12 boat dealerships representing several dozen manufacturers put their best boats forward and visitors were impressed.
James Patterson, sales representative for 70 West Marina in Morehead City, said their boat sales have remained stable despite the economy and fuel prices.
“What we are finding is people still want to enjoy the water and they want quality boats,” he said. “However, they are changing their buying habits and the way they use their boats.”
Buyers tended to agree. They tend to be a little more frugal, going for a smaller package than they would have a year ago.
Julie and Ed Kinsey, from High Point, checked out a 20-footer.
“We don’t plan to give up our enjoyment of the one thing that brings us to the coast,” Mr. Kinsey said. “We are just being smarter about how we are going to purchase a boat. Do we really need a 40-footer for what we enjoy?”
Far from being a sport boat, the 540-foot-long guided missile destroyer USS Gonzales docked at the port on Friday.
“We have really looked forward to being here,” said Combat Systems Officer Brian Maynard during tours Saturday. “We have just spent six months in the Mediterranean and we are glad to be home and really enjoying meeting the community and providing tours of this great ship. Everyone here has been so nice to us.”
Not only was the ship open to limited tours but the crew had been allowed to bring family members along for the ride from the home port in Norfolk, Va.
April Hess, a middle school math teacher from Venice, Fla., joined her daughter, Ensign Monica Hess, anti-terrorism security officer, for the trip. Mrs. Hess’ pride in her daughter was apparent.
“Monica spent one summer in a summer camp at Annapolis Naval Academy and she was hooked,” Mrs. Hess said. “When she decided this was her career path, I let her spread her wings.”
Security on the ship was very tight. As anti-terrorism officer, Ensign Hess continually scanned those boarding the ship. The ship carriers highly sophisticated armament, radar and navigation equipment.
“We are young, but we have a tremendous responsibility to our country and our ship,” she said.
From the battleship tourists could make their way to the Yesterday/Today exhibit and the chance to see and hear the way life was in Carteret County when living off the water, shrimping, fishing and boatbuilding were the only ways of life, supporting families for 150 years.
“This is our opportunity to focus on that heritage in Carteret County and share it with everyone,” said chairman-elect for the 2009 Seafood Festival Rachel Carlyle. “It is important for all to understand our seafood industry, past and present and the huge role it plays environmentally, economically and the development of our coast.
Ms. Carlyle, who is also a member of the N.C. Coastal Federation, said the fishing industry is under pressure and what happens with it relates directly to what will happen in other areas of the county.
The festival is only in town for one more day and the hours today are 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The big event of the day is the Blessing of the Fleet, which takes place at 10 a.m. at the N.C. Port.
There will also be free tours of the USS Gonzales and Coast Guard ships at the port and the festival rides and vendors will be open all day with music played at all stages.
MOREHEAD CITY — The smell of funnel cakes, cotton candy and fried foods wafted through the air as children and adults began to crowd the downtown streets Friday evening before the rides and vendors were fully up and running at the 22nd annual N.C. Seafood Festival.
But more important than the amusement is the promotion of local seafood, something James Gaskill of Ocracoke lives and breathes.
Mr. Gaskill is in town this weekend with the Ocracoke Working Watermen’s Association, a full-time fishing group and promoter of all things Ocracoke. This is the association’s second year participating in the festival.
Mr. Gaskill, 65, is one of the Working Watermen who got a community fish house up and running on the island a little more than a year ago.
They provided fresh shrimp for Friday’s seafood festival grand opening where members of the U.S. Navy, Morehead City Council, including Mayor Jerry Jones and Town Manager Randy Martin, as well as Sen. Jean Preston, R-N.C., met to sample the region’s finest, and check out Texas Pete’s newest, zestier seafood cocktail sauce.
And Saturday Mr. Gaskill and the other Working Watermen cooked up Drum Fish Cakes in the chef’s tent, a new feature at this year’s festival where area chefs throughout the weekend cook up a seafood delight.
“Drum fish cakes are an old Ocracoke recipe,” Mr. Gaskill said about the Working Watermen’s specialty. “Everyone planted their gardens with potatoes and young onions in late February, early March, and the Drum Fish, also known as Reed Fish, they can stay in cold water and they’re the first to show up in the spring. And when they came, everything was ready.”
Entertainment was also on tap, and the first musical performance kicked in Friday night with Robert McDuffy and G.E. Cooper who played some laid- back boat music to a modest crowd of children and adults. Then the attention shifted toward the main stage where the ’80s cover band The Breakfast Club put on an exciting show.
Clear skies and balmy temperatures greeted visitors Saturday, where artists and food vendors filled the downtown streets. Everything from yard sculptures, paintings and jewelry to alligator bites were for sale, as well as Thai noodles, crab cakes, shrimp burgers and even pina coladas. Many booths are sponsored by nonprofit groups as a way to raise funds.
Meanwhile, chefs from all over the county charmed the crowd with masterful specialties under the chef’s tent.
Chef Jerry Frivance of Sharpies Bar and Grill in Beaufort cooked up his Oyster Polenta Barry Nash, while Sabrina Varnum from the N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries spoke about the crucial role oysters play in state estuaries.
“North Carolina has the largest, most productive estuarine system on the East Coast,” Ms. Varnum said.
But because of habitat loss, disease and pollution the state’s oyster population decreased but is back on the upswing thanks in part to projects through the state Division of Marine Fisheries, such as oyster shell recycling.
When individuals and restaurants turn in their oyster shells, staff and volunteers put the shells back in the water so oysters can attach to them and grow naturally.
Oysters are critical in keeping the waters clean and in promoting other sea creatures including crab, fish and shrimp.
Further down the street amid the screams and laughter of children riding the Paratrooper, the Scat, Sea-Ray and others, Mario Mills was steadily and calmly operating the controls for the giant swinging pirate ship – Sea-Ray – with colleague, Daniel Ememin.
“It’s just fun,” Mr. Ememin said of operating rides at fairs and festivals.
They got no complaints from festival patrons Shaine Taylor, 13, Paige Nyberg, 13, and Callie Jones, 15, all of Beaufort Middle School, who happily rode the rides.
One hour into the festival and the teenagers already tried the Super Shot drop tower, the Paratrooper, the Sea-Ray and Scat.
Paige said her favorite ride was the Scat – a ride that stands its riders up against a cushion inside a spinning cage, which spins around in circles until feet lift off the floor.
But for Shaine, the Super Shot was her favorite – a ride that goes straight up in the air and then drops its riders into a free fall stopping only feet before the ground.
“You just go up and up and then you’re dropped – it just takes you heart beat away,” she said.
But rides were just one of the things that had children and teenagers laughing and screaming. There were games where “you always win a prize.” Knock the bottle over, get the ball into the bucket, pick the winning floating duck… and maybe, just maybe, a person could win a giant blue stuffed Care Bear instead of just a little bracelet.
Another new feature was the traveling touch tank thanks to the N.C. Aquarium at Pine Knoll Shores. Henry Martin, 3, from Atlantic Beach, and his brother Jake, 6, were able to reach in and touch one of the coast’s small spotted rays.
“Their mom is a marine biologist so they are all about it,” Todd Martin said of his two sons who were busy staring through the clear sides of the touch tank watching the rays swimming around.
Laurie Streble, outreach coordinator with the aquarium, said the touch tank was a hit.
“Everybody’s loving it,” she said.
But for local Tracey Williamson of Bettie, it was the local artists and vendors and just walking around that made the festival a favorite.
She and her two daughters, Ava, 8, and Chloe, 7, were checking out the pink and purple, striped and spotted headbands at Brooks Boutique – a first-time vendor from Cary.
“Some people say it’s so expensive, and it is,” she said. “But for me it’s just walking around looking at the vendors and having a good time that I enjoy,”
She also said she liked the idea of supporting the locals who came out to sell things.
The Southern Outer Banks and Outdoor Expo did not go unnoticed Saturday morning. Held inside the new 40,000-square-foot warehouse at the N.C. Port, it was the largest indoor boat show in Eastern North Carolina.
Representatives from 12 boat dealerships representing several dozen manufacturers put their best boats forward and visitors were impressed.
James Patterson, sales representative for 70 West Marina in Morehead City, said their boat sales have remained stable despite the economy and fuel prices.
“What we are finding is people still want to enjoy the water and they want quality boats,” he said. “However, they are changing their buying habits and the way they use their boats.”
Buyers tended to agree. They tend to be a little more frugal, going for a smaller package than they would have a year ago.
Julie and Ed Kinsey, from High Point, checked out a 20-footer.
“We don’t plan to give up our enjoyment of the one thing that brings us to the coast,” Mr. Kinsey said. “We are just being smarter about how we are going to purchase a boat. Do we really need a 40-footer for what we enjoy?”
Far from being a sport boat, the 540-foot-long guided missile destroyer USS Gonzales docked at the port on Friday.
“We have really looked forward to being here,” said Combat Systems Officer Brian Maynard during tours Saturday. “We have just spent six months in the Mediterranean and we are glad to be home and really enjoying meeting the community and providing tours of this great ship. Everyone here has been so nice to us.”
Not only was the ship open to limited tours but the crew had been allowed to bring family members along for the ride from the home port in Norfolk, Va.
April Hess, a middle school math teacher from Venice, Fla., joined her daughter, Ensign Monica Hess, anti-terrorism security officer, for the trip. Mrs. Hess’ pride in her daughter was apparent.
“Monica spent one summer in a summer camp at Annapolis Naval Academy and she was hooked,” Mrs. Hess said. “When she decided this was her career path, I let her spread her wings.”
Security on the ship was very tight. As anti-terrorism officer, Ensign Hess continually scanned those boarding the ship. The ship carriers highly sophisticated armament, radar and navigation equipment.
“We are young, but we have a tremendous responsibility to our country and our ship,” she said.
From the battleship tourists could make their way to the Yesterday/Today exhibit and the chance to see and hear the way life was in Carteret County when living off the water, shrimping, fishing and boatbuilding were the only ways of life, supporting families for 150 years.
“This is our opportunity to focus on that heritage in Carteret County and share it with everyone,” said chairman-elect for the 2009 Seafood Festival Rachel Carlyle. “It is important for all to understand our seafood industry, past and present and the huge role it plays environmentally, economically and the development of our coast.
Ms. Carlyle, who is also a member of the N.C. Coastal Federation, said the fishing industry is under pressure and what happens with it relates directly to what will happen in other areas of the county.
The festival is only in town for one more day and the hours today are 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The big event of the day is the Blessing of the Fleet, which takes place at 10 a.m. at the N.C. Port.
There will also be free tours of the USS Gonzales and Coast Guard ships at the port and the festival rides and vendors will be open all day with music played at all stages.
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taildrag wrote on Oct 5, 2008 6:06 PM:
Let's hope we can preserve what is left of our great but pressured maritime heritage! "