Hold Fast to What Is Good

Denard and Elma Carawan, 1961. Middle Prong Rd. Photo courtesy Monica and James Roy Carawan

   The Carawan's are coming together on Saturday to celebrate family.  There will be plenty of parents, siblings, aunts, uncles, cousins, extended cousins, and cousins who are twice removed congregating at the Denard Carawan home place on Middle Prong Rd. Food, laughter and fellowship will abound.  But have you ever really thought about why families gather and celebrate each other?
     I don't know the history of when the Carawan's started getting together each summer.  It probably began way before my time but I do know that they have been gathering up Middle Prong Rd. for as long as I can remember.
     They gather at their ancestral home - the home of Denard Carawan, on land that was purchased more than a hundred years ago. On land that has been passed down thru generations and I hope will continue to be passed down.   It's home to them. It's a place that they always return to.
     The children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren have been left a treasure.  I'm sure the land would be worth a little something if they ever sold it, but it's a different kind of treasure that I talk about.  They are family. They are bound by love. They are bound by their story.
    The biggest thing I love about this family gathering is that they continue to share dinner at the home place.  Dinner on the ground. Yes, if it rains, they'll either go to the church fellowship hall or over to Hobucken to the community center, but having their family reunion at their ancestral home makes it even more special.  Folks gathered on the porch, sitting in lawn chairs, chatting with each other, swatting away the flies is part of the story. 
     I miss families having their family reunions at home.  I understand the convenience of air-conditioning and facilities, but if it was good enough for our families in the past, why can't it still be good enough for us today?  By not continuing the traditions of our ancestors, we take another piece of history away from our children and grandchildren. 
     Denard Carawan's grandchildren, great-grandchildren and other young folks will get to experience what a real family gathering is all about.  Yes, they will probably complain, "it's hot" or" the mosquitoes are bad".  I challenge their parents to tell them like our parents told us, "go play", and turn away and keep on visiting.  The kids will find something to do - we did!
      Family gatherings remind us of what we have in common.  We also have an opportunity to learn from one another. Generations impact one another.  You hear stories you've never heard before.  Who would have known that a certain person had a certain brewing device located in back of the field.  Or who would have thought Denard Carawan's hogs took away baby bottles. Those stories bring out the character of a different time in life.  A time when "all was good with the world."  A time, when the Primitive Baptist Church just down on the corner was a big part of growing up on Middle Prong Rd.  and every other part of the Island.
     A family is a story.  It's a breathing, living, loving, working and dying story.  It has a million plot-twists.  Some of it is mystery, some of it is real.  Sometimes its dark and sometimes its a journey in light.
     So Carawan family, when you gather on Saturday, love each other. Be generous with food and memory. Do justice to the remarkable men and women who caused you to be there. Honor your cherished elders. Show faith in the next generation to keep your traditions alive. Show them where you came from because it will be much easier for them to understand how to walk their own path. Hold fast to what is good!

Carawan Grandchildren , circa 1970's. Photo courtesy Shawn Carawan

Photo courtesy Monica & James Roy Carawan

Photo courtesy Monica & James Roy Carawan

George M. Jarvis and His Boat Building Days

The following pictures and story is submitted by the late George M. Jarvis's daughter Patty Jarvis Loftin of Beaufort, N.C. who compiled his boat building history in 2008.  Through conversations with her Daddy and Momma, she was able to put together a small booklet of pictures and memories of the many boats that he built.  Nina Voliva Jarvis now resides with her daughter Janet in Beaufort and would love to hear from folks from home.  Her address is 1201 Live Oak St., Beaufort, NC 28516 or give her a call at 252-504-2504. 
                         All pictures are property of Patty Jarvis Loftin and posted by permission. 

George M. Jarvis

In the fall of 1991, Daddy, Mama and Penny went to White Lake, NC to do repairs on this ferry boat.  It was a tour boat for the lake and owned by Charles Dubose. The family went down to spend Thanksgiving with them on the lake that year. The 2 pictures below were taken December 23, 1991.

 

This boat was built for Murphy Hopkins. It is 38 feet long.

 It was built in the yard at 79 Fulford Point Road.

 

 

The B & G was built in 1987. It was owned by Bill & Glenda Gilgo.

 

 

The beginnings of the boat Daddy built for Gilgo.  It was 36 feet long.

1987

 

These are more pictures of the B & G owned by Gilgo.

Summer 1987

The Capt Weddell (83’) was built before the Angel Dawn(84’). In these pictures they are docked side by side in the Bayboro harbor on Hwy 55. The Capt Weddell was built on a lot near the road as you enter Bayboro, NC coming from Lowland.  At 75 feet long,it was among the biggest boats Daddy built. The propeller was 50 inches high.

The is the Miss Carolyn L built for Ray Lupton in the lot next to Fred & Pearl Lewis’ store, later Adrian Watson’s store on the corner of the Horne Road.  The year was 1981. It was 51 feet long. Daddy felt this was the most attractive cabin he ever built.

Mr. Bill Everett, son of Jesse Everett

The Cliff & Chris was built for Connie Ballance. It was 55 feet long.

  Also, see the make shift ladders daddy built.  Quite creative. 

The Telstar was started under the shelter.  It is 32 feet long and was built for Ray Hopkins.  It was named after the satellite Telstar.  Daddy  was especially pleased with the flare of the bow.  He thinks this boat may be in Belhaven today.

The children were always fascinated by the BIG BOATS daddy got to “build and play with”.

 This is the Captain Weddell. Joshua at 3 years. 1983

Eric Shane gets in on the action. This is the same boat as below.  It was built in the summer of 1982 in the side yard at 79 Fulford Point Road, before daddy built the shed.

 

This is a 32 foot boat that was sold to George Bateman or Ray Rhoden. After Ray  it went to AE Watson, Danny Malone and then Scooter.  It is strip planked. Daddy, Lee, Barbara, Shannon, & Glen. Father’s Day 1982

 

Daddy built this boat for Scooter Leary.  January 4, 1990. The ribs of this boat started out up side down.  It took 7 or 8 men to come and turn it over.  Carol Ross was one who helped.

This is a boat that daddy and Earl Sadler owned together.  Daddy did not build this boat. 

This picture was taken August 31, 1974. The Little Lil

 

 

An interesting note: Mr. Jesse Everett would bring his tractor to help daddy launch his boats.

Daddy would go in the woods and cut down a good size tree and make an axle to put wheels on.  I’m amazed it worked.  Smart thinking! This boat was built for Guy Ireland at 38 feet.

Bits and Pieces

Daddy built his first boat on a dare.  Darrell Gray Potter told him he couldn’t do it so he got to work to prove him wrong.  He talked with Uncle Richard Howerin about how to get started.  When Daddy would get stumped, he would go to Uncle Richard for advice and he would come and help him.  (Uncle Richard gave daddy his first hand cranked drill.)  The boat was a 16 foot skiff.  He built it in about 4 months.  He painted it white.  There was no motor, just oars.  Later Wilber Lewis bought it and put an outboard motor in it and used it for crabbing.  He paid around $200.00’s for it.  Uncle Richard was a first class boat builder.  He worked for Barbour Boat Works in New Bern during World War II.

Another boat daddy built was 24 foot long. Uncle Jamie Jarvis would go fishing with daddy in this boat. He put a 6 cylinder Studebaker car engine in this one.  He sold it to Freeman Ireland for his son, Edwin for about $200.00.

When daddy was around 55, he and mama went to stay in Bettie.  They rented

a little trailer from the Golden's.  Daddy worked for Ted Lang in Harkers Island building “plugs” for fiberglass molds for about 2 years.

When people would ask daddy to give them a $$$ figure on the building of a boat, he asked them how long and how wide they wanted the boat to be.  This would tell him what size the propeller would be as well as how to set the keel up to build the boat.

Other boat jobs people hired

Daddy to do….

In Pamlico daddy planked a 80 foot boat for Eugene Newcom and decked it over.  It took him around 1 1/2 months to complete the job.

In Arapahoe, daddy worked on a boat for Milton Bisegal.  He was a musician, violin I believe.  He put in the dash and did inside work on the cabin.  He put up partitions down below the wheel house.   It is a 50 foot boat.  This boat is in storage at Bock Marine near the Core Creek Bridge.

He cut a stern out of a boat owned by Nelson Lee, replacing it with a ramp.


He replaced the sides and keel in a boat near Oriental.

Clifford Lewis (mama’s step-grandfather) built a boat owned by Hyman Hopkins.  Daddy built a cabin and new chine plank on it.  He learned how to do the chine plank from Uncle Richard Howerin when he gave him pointers on daddy’s first boat.  The boat is about 32 feet.  The name of the boat is Roxie and is currently dry docked at Carol Grays. 


In Oriental Bowen Carawan had him cut the stern out and put in a ramp.

Christopher Fulcher, who is from Carteret County, had daddy work on 3 boats for him over the years.  Christopher  has a fishing business in Oriental.  Daddy built a bulkhead and put in bunks on one boat.  On another he put in sleeping quarters in a steel haul. 

He built a small cabin for Casper Ireland.  

Over the years, Guy Ireland bought 4 boats from daddy.  They weren’t special orders but ones he’d take a look at that daddy was in the process of building. These boats were 28, 36, 40 and 50 feet long.

He put in new floor timbers for Carol Gray Potter at Mill Landing.  Also worked on another boat for him.

Etles Heneries and Clifton Lupton were working on one in Hobucken.  They were having such a time getting it right, they asked daddy to come finish it.  While working on this boat daddy dropped his square overboard.

And the list goes on….

This is NOT all the boats daddy built or worked on, but some of the ones he could think of.  As I often look back, I marvel at the ability he had to do all this.  To build a boat from nothing more that a “paper bag blueprint” and a good eye is truly a gift from God.  I am so very proud of his hard work ethic and his fine workmanship.  I’m thankful, as I see how it has been passed down to his children, and his children’s children.  It is a pleasure to see what God has accomplished through the work of his hands. 

I know we all can say that we love him and thank him for sharing his love for us, the water, and the creative use of his hands.

Patty

December 2008

This picture was taken in Hickory.  Barbara is just a baby.

1951

 Mama is 16 in this picture.  It was taken by Eric Campen.

 Several friends were getting ready to take a swim..