A tribute to those folks who call Goose Creek Island home. This collection of stories, memories and current events remind us of who we are and reflect the spirit of our coastal way of life.
Goose Creek Island
is located where the river meets the sound meets the sea.The mix of freshwater and saltwater provide a
unique and diverse home to fish, birds, animals and the people who live
here.
In celebration of National Estuaries Day on Saturday,
September 29th, I will list six reasons that make Goose
Creek Island an
exceptional place to live.
6.The wetlands.
Over hundreds of acres of tidal wetlands encompass Goose
Creek Island. The
wetlands are critical habitats for fish, shellfish and waterfowl.The protected areas of the wetlands provide
food, cover, spawning grounds and nurseries for these species.The wetlands are also a filter of the Pamlico
Sound shoreline.It slows
the flow of pollutants from upstream sources that traverse Pamlico
River and other surrounding bodies
of water.
Photo courtesy Shirley Mayo Ireland
5.The tributaries. Goose
Creek Island has
over 35 miles of shoreline within its tidal tributaries.These tributaries are home to many species of
animals. Hard crabs, oysters, terrapin turtles and other aquatic creatures
find the brackish waters and shoreline a necessity to their survival. The
shoreline also provides many kayakers and paddlers the unique opportunity to
view the secluded and natural shores of Pamlico Sound.
Photo courtesy of SandyBottoms Sea Kayaking and Other Adventures Blog.
4.The landscape. While
the tributaries of Goose Creek Island
lie within the estuaries of Pamlico River
and Sound, the creeks and cuts provide the island with different landscapes to
its geology.Furtile soils, tall pine
forests and the flat lowland marshes are favorable to many species of animals
including great blue herons and the black bear.
Photo courtesy of www.iluvbeaufort.com
3.The waterfowl.Thousands of ducks, geese, swan and other migratory
birds spend their winters on the edges of Goose Creek
Island.They stop here to feed and rest during their
annual migrations along the Atlantic Flyway.
John Blanton and his Oyster Creek ducks. Photo courtesy Shirley Mayo Ireland.
2.The seafood.Goose Creek
Island has produced millions of
pounds of seafood.Within its
tributaries, well known Island fishermen have plied its
waters for the succulent blue crab, the popular wild caught shrimp, and the
briny eastern oyster.Croakers, trout
and other fish were also important to the seafood industry of the Island.
Photo courtesy Shirley Mayo Ireland
1.The People.Goose Creek
Island is home to more than 400
full time residents, and over 200 households.Many former residents continue to maintain ancestral homes here.There are commercial fishermen, farmers, tug
boaters, hunting guides, teachers, retirees, and homemakers who make up the
human landscape of Goose Creek Island.Many of those residents are sensitive the
natural resources that make up the Island
watershed.The residents and former
residents also call this place “home”.And home is where the heart is.One can see it in the post office, see it riding down the street, see it
looking out over Jones Bay
when you cross the bridge, and see it in the spirit of the people who live,
work and worship in this little slice of heaven.
Casper Ireland. Photo courtesy of Shirley Mayo Ireland
Photo courtesy New Bern Sun Journal. From the 2006 Homecoming Play, "The Come Here's Are Coming"
The Annual Goose
Creek Island Homecoming will be held October 18th - 21st at the Goose Creek Island Community Center. This year's Homecoming Play titled "That's What I
Think" will begin on Thursday Oct. 18th at
7:30 pm and will continue on Friday, Oct. 19th and Saturday, Oct.20th at 7:30 pm as well.
Folks are encouraged to attend the Thursday night show when the
attendance is not as large.
The Concession Stand will open at 5:30 each night serving hot
dogs, nachos, a variety of soft drinks, popcorn and lots of
desserts. There is plenty of seating space in
lounge area so come early and enjoy good food and fellowship with
your friends, relatives and neighbors! Also enjoy a Goose Creek Island
picture presentation in the auditorium on the big
screen prior to the play.
Come back on Sunday, October 21st and join us for the Goose
Creek Island Worship Service at 10:30 am. Worship service will be followed with lunch in the
air-conditioned auditorium. Please bring a covered
dish and beverages to share.
For many years, I have had the privilege of a unique friendship with a lady from Harkers Island. Her name is Karen Willis Amspacher (pronounced Ams - packer). She is descended from a long line of Harkers Island, Cape Lookout and Diamond City fisher folk. I came to know Karen from my early days with the N.C. Fisheries and her early days at the beginnings of the Core Sound Waterfowl Museum and Heritage Center. We have worked together on many projects over the years that include the N.C. Seafood Festival, the Core Sound Decoy Festival and Waterfowl Weekend, the N.C. Commercial Fishing Show, and the list can go on and on.
And of course, I am now working with her on another project called Saltwater Connections. I was invited to Hatteras Village this weekend to work with her at the village's Day at the Dock event. This event celebrated its Island watermen and was a wonderful event. Children's activities, educational displays, seafood cook-offs,
demonstrations, a Blessing of the Fleet, and an evening Waterman's Dinner rounded out the weekend's activities. Four women from Smith Island in the Chesapeake Bay were invited to come down to Hatteras and demonstrate the art of crab-picking and provide intimate details of their lives living on an isolated island in the middle of Chesapeake Bay.
Below is a short video of their crab-picking demonstration. They sat to a table "picking and singing", trying to provide visitors with a small glimpse of what REAL Island women do. The only thing they were missing were blue aprons and mounds and mounds of the crustaceans to pick.
Click the Play button in the middle of the video to play. Video courtesy of Heidi Hewitt Merkley.
Later that evening at the Waterman's Dinner, one of the ladies named Janice Marshall (in the white hat in the video) spoke to the watermen and their families. She explained the geography of where she lives...only accessible by boat, a one-room school house for their children, and of course, every Island child has a skiff and outboard. But, she also explained that the Island women are the backbone of their community. Yes, their husbands all work hard on the water crabbing and oystering, but it is the women on the island who shed the soft crabs, box them up for market, pick the crab meat, fix the daily meals, handle the day to day activities on the Island.
But it is also the Island church that brings them all together. They work hard Monday through Saturday, but on Sunday, it is the day for the Lord. At the conclusion of the evening, Janice and two of the other Smith Island ladies, ended the dinner with a poignant, picturesque and powerful story of the women picking crabs, watching a storm come up the bay, knowing their husbands and sons are out there crabbing or their children out in their skiffs....and they begin to sing...."In the dark of the midnight have I oft hid my face, while the storm howls above me, and there's no hiding place. 'Mid the crash of the thunder, Precious Lord, hear my cry, keep me safe till the storm passes by...." It was so powerful of story and song, that not even the strongest fisherman there could resist a tear. It so reminded me of the wonderful women on Goose Creek Island who have also worked along side their husbands. I could vividly see Beulah Ross, Katie Lewis, Nina Jarvis in these Smith Island women...wives of watermen, who worked at the crab houses, worked in the community, worked at home and worked to serve the Lord. It is these Island traditions that Karen and I are so passionate about preserving. The days of picking crabs in Lowland and Hobucken may be long gone, but we can still continue to remember those days, those people, and those special memories of days gone by.
I am very proud of my heritage. I am proud of Goose Creek Island and it's people. This journal is my way of preserving some of our Island heritage and culture. The people who live on island's have a unique sense of place. It's different than other localities. The way of life of our Island grandparents and parents was very different compared to our lives today.
I used to define my community as a place. It was made up the houses that surrounded mine, the store that we all shopped in, or the churches we all attended. But it's not the location that makes a community, it is the people in it. The Goose Creek Island community is made up of people who you can turn to for guidance, support, and friendship. We laugh and cry with everyone in our community. Some live close by, yet some in our community live far away. Many I will never meet face to face, but they are just as important to our community as those who continue to reside there.
The people in our communities were molded by our ancestors who were young once. They started families, lived and worked hard, had happiness and sorrows, and were of strong faith. They were more than names and dates written in family bibles. These folks lived! They were the many lives that made Goose Creek Island what it is. It is a privilege to share these iconic images of these hard working men and women.
Charlie Jones ran a grocery store in Hobucken. If an Island resident couldn't drive or didn't have a way to get to his store, all they had to do was make a phone call and he graciously delivered your groceries to you. (In the photo, Charlie Jones, Steven Jones, and Edmond Jones)
Vernell Ballance was the Island diesel mechanic. His knowledge of engines and all those things mechanical were most appreciated throughout the Island and seaports up and down the coast. Vernell greeted everyone with his jovial "picking" and a quick smile.
Alex Mason worked for Harbor Packing Company in Lowland. He had seen his share of hard crabs, shrimp, and fish unloaded at its dock. He was always one to greet a child with a hot steaming crab claw.
Herman Pate was a boat builder. He built his first boat in 1927 and on the shores of the Intracoastal Waterway, he rolled out many commercial fishing boats for Island fishermen and beyond.
Catherine Mason was the smiling face at Harbor Packing Company in Lowland. She ran the little store within the fish house and was the company secretary.
Joshua Potter, Sr. was a hardworking cotton and tobacco farmer. He toiled in the Island's rich soil all of his life. Many Island children and adults worked for him "in tobacco".
Even a skinny kid named Bones McKinney, who lived with Jonah Lewis, worked in the cotton and tobacco fields up Middle Prong Rd. did pretty well as the Head Basketball Coach of the Wake Forest Demon Deacons. He was always proud of his roots.
Many of today's fishermen will tell you that Capt. Merritt Watson was one of toughest fishermen around. He was also one of the most faithful members of Lowland Church of Christ.
I think Carrie Lewis earned more riches in visiting with all of the Island women than she earned selling her Avon products. Her visits brought great joy to many young girls and teenagers, who hoped to receive one of her little lipstick samples that she often gave.
It is any body's guess how many lives Ms. Ruth Mayo touched in all of her years teaching at Hobucken School.
Two mothers who had seen their share of triumphs and tragedies, Melissa Lewis and Mary Henries were women of strong faith, who led by example, and both lived to the age of 102 and 99.
You see, the many lives that made up Goose Creek Island reflects in our lives today. We all learned what hard work was...nobody was exempt. These men and women bestowed upon us that together as a community we all prosper, through the good and the bad. It is these faces above, that shared, provided, touched, taught and prayed that our Island home will always be a place to call home. Mechanics, mothers, teachers, boat builders, fishermen, and farmers.... these are all just occupations. Their real job was providing a sense of family and community spirit.
Many thanks to the contributors of these photos. From the Goose Creek Island Album on Facebook.
Beverly Foreman Brousard, 58, died Sept. 9, 2012, at Vidant Medical Center, Greenville. She worked for Ashley Daniels Seafood Co., Cryotech Industries, and J & D Enterprises.
Her
funeral will be held 2 p.m., Wednesday, Sept. 12, at Goose Creek Island
Primitive Baptist Church with Milton Lupton officiating. Interment will
follow immediately in Lowland cemetery.
She is survived by her husband, D.G. Brousard; sisters,
Linda M. Lupton and Sandra M. Rice, both of Lowland and Patsy E. Irsik
of New Hope; children, Donald Rowe and Angela Danette Brousard; and two
grandchildren. She is preceded in death by her parents Jesse and Cleora Foreman and a son Kevin Foreman.
The family will receive friends and relatives anytime at the home, 896 Horne Rd., Lowland.
In lieu of flowers the family suggested memorial contributions be made to Bryant Funeral Home, PO Box 99, Alliance, NC 28509.
Arrangements are by Bryant Funeral Home & Crematory, Alliance.
Because this is the beginning of a new school year, I have chosen Pamlico County High School teacher and former Goose Creek Islander, Shawn Carawan to be my Islander of the Week.
Shawn catching a prize "old drum" out in Pamlico Sound.
When Shawn Carawan left Lowland to go to college at North Carolina State University, he never forgot where he came from. The only child of Duckie Carawan and the late George Carawan of Lowland, he graduated from Pamlico County High School in 1993 and received his bachelors degree and earned his masters in Agricultural Education from N.C. State University. Shawn was Pamlico County High School Teacher of the Year in 2011.
His wife Tamara and him stay busy raising their 3 boys, Ethan, Luke, and Levi. .
GCIJ: Why did you deserve to be Teacher of the Year?
SC: I don't really know why. I guess I was their last choice. (laughing)
GCIJ: What are some of the perks of having attained the status of Teacher of the Year?
SC: Please note there was no pay raise involved. But I did get my picture on the wall at school and a plaque in my office.
GCIJ: Who will star as you in the Hollywood movie about your life?
SC: Zach Galifianiakis.
GCIJ: What was your favorite thing to do growing up on Goose Creek Island?
SC: Hanging out with my friends and going bass fishing. We had a lot of good times on the Island. There was a bunch of us and we always had something to do. We could make our own fun.
GCIJ: The Carawan Family Reunion was a few weeks ago. What's the best part of the reunion?
SC: The best part of the reunion is seeing family that haven't seen in a while and catching up.
GCIJ: What was the best thing to eat at the reunion?
SC: Desserts!!!!
GCIJ: Because you are an agricultural education teacher, I have to ask this question. What is grown at the funny farm?
SC: (Laughing)...Nuts, of course.
I love old houses. I don't have a clue how to build one or the knowledge of how to calculate the necessary materials to even begin constructing one. Salt treated, knotted pine, galvanized nails, these are all words I've heard Uncle Jesse Foreman speak when he would remodel or work on a house. The craftsmanship and the quality of it's construction is a story all by itself. However, that's not why I love old houses.
The numerous old houses on the Island have a story to tell. There is history in those houses. Standing on the threshold of some the Island's older homes, one can picture a Grandma sitting on the porch, bonnet on her head, with a pan of beans and her feeble hands shelling them. One can hear the screen door slam as the grandchildren come running out of the house, only to disappear to the woods to play.
You look inside the door. You notice the banister that leads up the stairs. One can imagine how many generations of hands have run down it. You notice the thin sheets of wavy glass in the windows. You wonder how many times has a Grandfather looked out to check the weather. In the kitchen, you see the kitchen table with it's chairs neatly surrounding it. There's a sugar dish sitting there. I then imagine the many times the family has gathered to break bread, but not before giving thanks.
On one of my recent trips to the Island, I stopped throughout and took pictures of the old houses. Some were in remarkable shape while others have succumbed to overgrowth and the elements of time. Some of the homes I could identify who it's former residents were, yet some I couldn't recall. Each one of these houses was "home" to an Islander. And no matter who lived or owned them, they all contributed greatly to what the Island is today.
Several homes had the same architectural appearance. Note that the porch construction on these homes below all bear the same resemblance.
The Tildon Potter home. Middle Prong Rd. Lowland
Unknown owner. Located at the end of Hobucken Rd, after the pavement ends. Now a hunting camp.
The homes pictured below also bear some resemblance to their construction. The windows on the second story are all narrow and near the chimney.
The former Midgette home. Horne Rd. Lowland
The former Cooledge Ross home. Horne Rd. Lowland.
Several homes on the Island still showed the detached kitchens. Some are in remarkably good condition while others are falling victim to time and the elements.
The former Albert and Mollie Campen Home. Horne Rd. Lowland.
The former Buell Potter Home. Main Rd. Lowland
Unknown owner. Upper Spring Creek Rd.
Unknown owner. Main Rd. Hobucken.
Unknown owner at sharp curve on Schoolhouse Rd. Hobucken
But these homes are beautiful to me. These homes provide me with a sense of place and a time where people had a perspective on life. They may have contributed a small part to the story of Goose Creek Island but their importance is so much bigger. The homes still stand there, most have changed, yet unmoved, while the world around it has changed. Museums display artifacts and history books contain pictures. But stepping into one of the Island's older homes is like stepping back in time. You can touch the history. You can spiritually interact with the home and with it's former occupants to connect time and place.
These older homes have memories. Memories that can not be washed out from the tide of a hurricane or the wild growing vines that overtake it's structure. I hate it when I see an old home being torn down. These homes have character. They are reminiscent of days gone by. They just feel "right" to be a part of a community. There was love and care in these houses. The hands that molded that banister or gently hammered the trim around those thin glass windows, were also the hands that have guided each one of us to be good stewards to our community.
