Current Events Week of 3/9/15
Tuesday, March 10th:
Develop an Emergency Response Plan for your business at a training workshop at 10am at the Ocracoke Community Center. More info here.
Everyone's invited to the OPS Spring Membership meeting, 7pm at Deepwater Theater. Free desserts! Just bring yourself! Come out for a wonderful presentation by NC State professor and linguist Walt Wolfram. Walt will tell about writing his latest book, Talkin' Tarheel, which he and Jeffrey Reaser published last year. Walt is also the author of Hoi Toide on the Outer Banks, the definitive work on the Ocracoke Brogue dialect. (Read an article about Walt's visit to Ocracoke School in 2012 here.) Walt continues to be a great friend to Ocracoke and OPS, and he really enjoys talking to people about the way people talk.
Wednesday, March 11th:
Transformation Zone Pre-School Storytime, 9:30am at Ocracoke Assembly Church classroom. Two, three, and four year-olds are invited to join Leslie Lanier for stories, snacks, crafts, and fun!
Dajio Restaurant opens for the season! Welcome back, crab mac 'n' cheese! March hours will be dinner only, Wednesday – Sunday, 5 – 9pm.
The Ocracoke Occupancy Tax Board will hold a regular meeting at 7:00pm in the Ocracoke Community Center. The public is invited to attend.
The purpose of the meeting is to discuss fireworks for the Fourth of July celebration and potential changes to the Board’s current tourism promotion methods including a potential increase in occupancy tax rate and/or creation of a tourism committee. The Occupancy Tax Board will also discuss setting a date for the annual appropriations request meeting in April.
Please come out to show your support (or lack thereof) for fireworks. The proposed pyrotechnic show would take place on Wednesday, July 1st, and cost about $31,000 of Occupancy tax funds. Find out more here.
Thursday, March 12th:
Pre-K registration, 9am -11am in the school multipurpose room. Children who will be 4 by 8/31/15 are eligible to register. Call Lisa at school office 928-3251 for more information.
Ocracoke Planning Advisory Board Meeting, 5:30pm at the Community Center.
The Hyde County Office of Planning and Economic Development will hold a public meeting at 7:30 p.m. in the Ocracoke Community Center to continue discussion of potential tourism promotion strategies for Ocracoke Island. This is in regard to the proposed Occupancy Tax increase and creation of a Tourism Development Authority. More information here.
Friday, March 13th:
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It's the 2nd Friday the 13th we've had in 2015. It's a good thing we're not superstitious! But maybe we are, because there are no Ocracoke events planned for this inauspicious day.
But across the sound in Swan Quarter, they're hosting a Fishermen's Forum. All are welcome!
Saturday, March 14th:
Pony Island Restaurant opens for the season! Serving breakfast, 7am – 11am. Salsa Cheese Eggs!
Ocracoke Youth Basketball League holds their tournament today! Come out to see all the little young'ns play basketball. I love Youth Basketball because it's okay to cheer for both teams!
SmacNally's opens for the season! Enjoy the sunshine and a cheeseburger in paradise.
And don't forget pie for dessert. It's Pi Day of the Century! Pi, as you no doubt remember from middle school math class, is a mathematical constant and the ratio of a circle's diameter to its circumference. Not just one circle, all circles. It's an irrational number that goes on into infinity. Pi Day is celebrated annually by math geeks everywhere on March 14 (3.14), but did you know that the next two numerals in the sequence are 1 and 5? This is the only day this will ever happen. (3.1415). If you happen to be looking at your clock at 9:26:53, you will also experience the thrill of the exact moment when Pi is expressed by the calendar and clock to 9th decimal point! My household agrees that the only day that possibly equals this one was March 14, 1592. But back then, they did not have t-shirts to commemorate it.
How will you celebrate? I'm making a cherry pie, which I usually only do at Christmas, but this is a chance of a lifetime.
And while you're thinking of sweets, don't forget to order your Krispy Kreme doughnuts! You have a good excuse – your purchase and subsequent gluttony will benefit Ocracoke School's 4th grade class! Call Trisha Ballance at the school, 928-3251, and please place your order by March 16th!
Girl Scout cookies have landed on Ocracoke! Yum! If you didn't get a chance to pre-order your cookies from a Girl Scout, you can call Sundae at 921-0283 and she'll hook you up!
Sunday, March 15th:
Beware the Ides of March!
Looking ahead:
Ocracoke Library Book Club will meet next Tuesday, March 17th to discuss A Bookman's Tale: A Novel of Obsession by NC native Charlie Lovett. Check it out of the library, or pick up a copy at Books to Be Red (and get a special Book Club 25% discount!) The library's hours are Monday – Friday, 3 – 7pm and Saturday, 9am – 1pm. (Stop by and meet the new community librarian, Mary Bryant) The Book Club will meet on Tuesday, March 17th at 7pm at the library Get your copy today!
Even better, the author, Charlie Lovett, will be on the island for the Ocracoke Friends of the Library Annual Membership Meeting on March 24th at 7pm at the library. Everyone is welcome!
Pastel Workshop with visiting artist Dan Curry. Dan will hold a plein aire (outside) pastel workshop on the best weather day among March 20th, 21st, or 22nd. The class will take approximately 3 hours. For more information, contact Dan at 570-637-5028. He's been working with the after school program, and will also do pastel classes with the Ocracoke Alive Arts Partnership at Ocracoke School.
Mark your calendars: Ocracoke Child Care is holding a big fundraiser on Saturday, April 4th at the Community Center. It’s a Clam Chowder Cook-Off and everyone can join in the fun! Enter your clam chowder in the traditional (Ocracoke recipe) or non-traditional category, or just come out to taste the entries. Don’t like clams? There’ll be hot dogs and baked goods, too. Music and performances by community members and OCC children will make the Cook-Off a fun and family-friendly event. Check out OCC's new website for registration information!
Later that evening, come out to the Community Center for a Dance with the Ocracoke Rockers! Teresa and Albert will be working the door, shaking you down for donations as you go into shake a leg. There’ll be beer, too – for a donation, of course.
Remember to check this page and/or the Ocracoke Current calendar for updates and additions to Current Events!
