The Quiet of the Island Night and Morning

    

     There's something magical about the night when you are on an Island.  It's 8:30pm and I'm heading to Goose Creek Island.  My best friend Shirley Mayo Ireland wanted me to come spend the evening with her.  Our jobs and lives are busy, so when we can find a few moments to get together we make the most of it.
     The weather is mild tonight, a slight, salty southwesterly wind coming off the sound.  The numerous bugs and insects are dotting my car windshield.  As I come out of Mesic, heading towards the Island, I do not pass a single car. There's some kind of serenity about approaching the Island.  It's almost like the hustle and bustle of our daytime activities come to pause in the evening on the Island. Time slows down.
     As I make my way towards Springs Creek Bridge, I keep my eyes open for bears.  I look for the tell tell signs of water across the road.  I pass over the bridge and on towards Lowland.  I round the curb approaching Potter Bridge and cross the Potter Ditch.  I reminisce that this bridge bears the name of my ancestors.   I wonder who dug this ditch? When was it dug?
     I make the turn on Middle Prong Rd.  Here is where my ancestors lived.  Potters, Carawans, Lewis' and even currently my namesake Foreman.  I see Larry is home tonight staying with Uncle James.  That's good.  Uncle James is getting up there in age but he's still strong and continues to keep busy.
     It's dark; I mean it's really dark but every star in the sky is clear and bright.  I strain to look further down the road for any signs of life.  All is dark at the church, at Uncle Jonah's and beyond towards Uncle Denard's.
     I pause in Shirley's driveway for a moment and take in the quiet of the night.  It has an inviting feel. You can hear the crickets chirp. A frog grumbles every now and then I listen.  Then I imagine.  Is this how it felt to live on Middle Prong Rd. so long ago?  Darkness. Quietness. Peace. Without the sounds of a television or cars traveling on the roads.
     We had a wonderful visit and stayed up way to late, knowing we had work in the morning.  But it was so worth it to be home on my Island, even for just a few hours.
     I wake early.  As I gather my things and make my way to the car, I stop to listen again.   I  listen to see if I can  hear the sound of a lone shrimp trawler humming along the shores of the creeks, heading home from a night of shrimping.  I only hear it in my mind and but feel it in my heart.
     The morning light is starting to filter through the trees at the end of Prong Rd.  I look east towards Pamlico Sound.  Everything is still silent, peaceful.  I reminisce to the days of my ancestors beginning their work day in the quiet of the morning.  Before long the birds will begin their morning prayers and the Island will come to life with school buses and workers leaving the Island for their day of work.
     I am blessed to say that I grew up on an Island.  There's just something about an island.  You can't describe it to an outsider.  You've got to experience it.  It has to do with this serenity of knowing that this is your home.  Maybe it has to do with the knowledge that all of those on an island are all in this together.
     There's not many places in this world where you can witness the solitude of a fishermen leaving the dock at sunrise to go pull crab pots. Or have a natural alarm clock of the dawn chorus of seagulls awakening from their slumber. Or witness a beautiful Pamlico Sound sunrise or a Goose Creek sunset.  This is what I call real Island time.

Mid Atlantic Christian University Honors the late Hilda Sadler Watson

Mid Atlantic Christian University (MACU) is the former Roanoke Bible College in Elizabeth City.  The story below is from MACU Spring 2013 Messenger. Reprinted with permission from MACU. Photos courtesy Mid Atlantic Christian University, with permission.

Honoring a Saint and Longtime Friend of Mid-Atlantic

The late Hilda Sadler Watson

  

Hilda Sadler Watson loved Mid-Atlantic Christian University. But even more, she loved the Lord, her church, her husband, and her friends and family.

Her obituary in March 2011 told only part of her story: married to Roy Watson 69 years; faithful member of Lowland Church of Christ; graduate of Hobucken High; active in community activities, projects, and clubs; showed interest in others and their welfare; partnered with Roy in their R.E. Mayo Seafood Co. and was his helpmate during his 27 years of blindness; devoted to every member of Roy’s family; and so much more.

MACU President Bill Griffin and his wife, Trish, spent seven years in part-time ministry with Lowland Church of Christ, where Roy and Hilda worshiped. He recalls the many times they enjoyed the Watson’s hospitality in their home and around their table.

During those years, the college was working to improve the library under the leadership of Trish Griffin. Mrs. Watson developed a love for the library then that lasted for decades. Ever the entrepreneur, she donated her “flower commission” to buy new books for the library. She earned the commission by acting as an agent assisting county folks who wished to purchase flowers from a florist in New Bern. Her love for and patronage of the library led to a significant gift from the Watsons in the late 1990’s. As a result, the new library in the Blanton Center was named the Watson-Griffith Library.

Bob Moulden ’73, one of many young preachers-in-training blessed by the Watsons, reminisced about his weekend ministry at Lowland during his sophomore year at MACU:

“I’ve never known a more devoted couple [than Roy and Hilda Watson] in my life. Devoted to one another, and devoted to the Lord and His church. They began putting their fingerprints on my spiritual life that [first] weekend and continued for years. Their priorities and principles helped shape much of who I am today. Their wisdom has proven reliable, even through the changing times.”

He recalled that Hilda was knowledgeable and intelligent, yet humble and simple, a super good cook with the gift of hospitality. “In her home you were treated like royalty, but you felt like family.”

“Few people, if any, have ever held stronger ties to Mid-Atlantic Christian University. She supported the school and spoiled many of her students. . . . It would be hard to properly assess her impact on the lives of the many young preachers, and their wives, who passed through the pulpit at Lowland. Her good example. Her unwavering devotion. Her hard work. Her undying resolve.”

Brother Roy Watson recently honored the memory of his beloved Hilda with a gift of $1,000,000, the largest gift in the university’s history. With gratitude the university accepts this gift in Hilda’s honor and to the glory of God. We are grateful for Sandra Foreman Rice, Roy’s long-term bookkeeper, who has been instrumental in this process. 

The university has used the gift to strengthen the faculty and staff, debt management, support the library through the Mid-Atlantic Foundation, and to strengthen the school’s financial position during these difficult years.

Roy Watson told President Perkins that he “grew up when the college started,” so supporting the college has always been a part of his and Hilda’s life. Roy added, “When the college is strong, so are the rural churches in eastern North Carolina.” He is pleased to support the college in memory of his wife. “It is the right thing to do. Hilda would want me to do this.”

As one would imagine, Brother Watson’s Bible is full of quotes from sermons and marked up. It guided Roy and Hilda for years. President Perkins noticed a particular entry: “Good vision includes the ability to see what another person can become.”

Thank you, Roy and Hilda. You have seen in our students the great things they can become and do for the cause of Christ.

If you would like to send a gift to the Mid-Atlantic Foundation fund in memory of Hilda Watson, please contact Sandra Perkins, Foundation Director, at 252-334-2003, or by email at sandra.perkins@macuniversity.edu.

L-R; Scott Carter, Bobby Waters, Norman Miller, Roy Watson, Bill Griffin, Myron Elliot

 

Roy Watson

Goose Creek State Park and Goose Creek Island

     A few months ago, I learned that my 3rd Great Grandmother Melissa O'Neal Carawan was buried in a small cemetery in the Goose Creek State Park just outside of Washington, N.C.  She was the first wife of Bernard Carawan.  Also buried within this small cemetery is that of her son-in-law J.T. Campen who was married to Sarah Carawan.  There are also two unmarked graves as well.
     Story has it that an epidemic (thypoid or yellow fever) was ravaging the southside of Pamlico River in 1882.  Melissa succumbed to the epidemic first on December 1st and her son-in-law followed on December 14th.  It is told that the family buried their loved ones at Ragged Point, Pamlico River to prevent possible contamination of drinking water supplies and/or to prevent more folks from contracting the illness. I have had difficulty finding any historical notations about an epidemic, however, my theory is that diptheria is a possible culprit to their demise.
     Below are pictures of the cemetery and the information sign on Live Oak Trail, Goose Creek State Park where the cemetery lies.  Isn't it ironic that the name Goose Creek State Park has a relationship with Goose Creek Island.  Maybe more research can help me determine why the state chose this name, who owned the land, did Bernard have any connections with the land where he buried his wife and son-in-law.  That is the beauty of history; the more we learn, the more questions we have.
     If you don't have any plans this weekend, travel over to Washington and get you a Bill's Hot Dog and then go on to Goose Creek State Park and visit the little cemetery of Goose Creek Islanders.