Sea Turtle Hospital News With cooler weather and a major renovation project in Sea Turtle Bay rapidly approaching we needed to get our flippers in gear to make sure every patient cleared for take-off made it to the beach ASAP. On October 12th with a glorious Carolina blue sky and a friendly ocean, we bid a fond farewell to our last graduates for 2022. Three juvenile greens, Belle, Magenta and Jazzberry Jam were the...
BURGAW- For decades, tourism has trailed agriculture as the second leading industry in Pender County. The friendly rivalry between the Pender County Extension Office and the Pender County Tourism Office has been good-natured. The county extension director, Mark Seitz, serves as an ex-officio on the Pender County Tourism Development Authority Board. “When I reviewed the figures of our agriculture and timber...
The Public is Invited from 11 a.m. – 3 p.m. In the early 1900s, when schools were segregated the community of Canetuck petitioned the county school board three times for a school building. The families, mostly sharecroppers, and laborers raised $1,226 toward a school building. Benjamin Franklin Keith and his wife, Lily, donated four acres to the school. Philanthropist Julius Rosenwald, of the Sears and...
CURRIE – The Battle of Moores Creek Bridge, the first victory for the Patriots over Loyalists to England’s King, happened in the darkness of February 1776. On Nov. 19 visitors can journey back to that dark morning of the Revolutionary War as the staff of Moores Creek National Battlefield presents its annual Candlelight Tour. “Hear the history from John Grady, Colonel Caswell, Flora McDonald, and...
Tickets are on sale now BURGAW – Tickets to the Burgaw Holiday Tour of Homes are on sale now, the Pender County Historical Society announced today. The Burgaw Holiday Tour of Homes is set for Dec. 3, from 3-7 p.m. Tickets are $15 per adult and $5 for children ages 5 and under. “We will feature eight homes, the Burgaw Train Depot Museum, and a church on this year’s tour,” said Jeanette...
There’s no need to drive to Raleigh to see quality performances. On Nov. 5, Diamond Rio’s tour will stop in Surf City to kick off the inaugural Surf City Live concert. With major sponsorship from Corona Seltzer and a variety of local sponsors, Surf City Live “will bring concerts back home,” said Surf City Councilman Jeremy Shugarts. “Surf City seeks to expand events during the months...
The last nest laid on Topsail has hatched and hopefully a good portion of those babies made it out to the Sargasso Sea where they’ll spend the next year or so. Our recent admits have been victims of entanglements with fishing gear, mostly nets, and boat strikes. Some will be with us over the winter but thankfully most of them are short-timers that we will release soon along with several patients already given their...
BURGAW- The two-time nationally awarded Ghost Walk: Ghosts of Pender’s Past returns for a hauntingly good fifth season. For two nights, Oct. 21-22, the Burgaw Cemetery, located at 400 N. Wright St., will be alive with ghosts, haints, and pirates who tell no tales. Tours start at 6 p.m. nightly. “We have new ghost stories that will cause you to look under the bed at night,” said Stephanie Key, art...
There’s a hidden gem in Pender County, standing at the corner of W. Bridgers and N. Dudley, filled with a treasure trove of information and local history. This gem is the Pender County Museum, operated by volunteers of the Pender County Historical Society. “The historical society celebrated the 100th anniversary of the house in 2017,” said Jeanette Jones, a board member and former president of...
Willard is home to a destination that sings in color. That’s how David Johnson describes the gardens and nursery at Johnson Nursery, “will be singing in color.” The business is growing at 985 Johnson Nursery Rd., just off Interstate 40. One of the largest commercial growers in the state, Johnson Nursery opened a retail garden center with a beautiful variety of 1,400 varieties of annuals, perennials,...
Sea Turtle Hospital News Nesting season officially ended on Aug. 31, but even though your chances of seeing a mama nesting are pretty much gone there is another component of the circle of life that’s just as interesting and done early in the evening – a nest analysis. A minimum of seventy-two hours after the main hatch Topsail Turtle Project volunteers gently begin excavating the nest and removing the...
The Gardens of Southeastern North Carolina is a non-profit company dedicated to improving lives, cultivating inspiration, offering a variety of experiences, creating jobs, and generating income for the community. The public is invited to join us on October 22nd, 2022 at the Gardens of Southeastern North Carolina for our first annual Fall Festival! Doors open at 10 a.m. and the cost of admission is FREE! The Gardens...
It all started with a cup of coffee. On Memorial Weekend in 2010, Tracey Shugarts and her husband, Jeremy, opened a little coffee shop in Surf City called The Daily Grind. “Originally, we thought this would be a seasonal, May through August, business,” said Tracey. “We never closed after the first summer – except on Christmas Day.” In a time when it seems coffee shops are sprouting...
HAMPSTEAD – True Blue Butcher and Baker opened two weeks ago in Hampstead, in the former Pretzel Man bakery, 13865 US 17. The True Blue Butcher and Baker location is another of the growing and highly successful endeavors by Chef Bobby Zimmerman, a former Landfall chef. In 2016, Zimmerman started True Blue Butcher and Table on Military Cutoff Road. Next, he opened True Blue Butcher and Barrel on Greenfield...
We enjoy all aspects of our work at our hospital. We’re intimately involved with every turtle that comes through our building, whether they’re with us a few days or several years. But the best part of our work is the day we get to send them home. On an overcast, humid morning three of our fully rehabilitated patients got their second chance at a long and happy turtle life. Kemp’s “Turtledove”...
Pender County residents and visitors have an additional travel option. It’s called RideMICRO. And it is perfect for a resident who needs to get to a doctor’s appointment, college classes, or shopping. It’s perfect for tourists who aren’t certain where they are going, or don’t have a rental car large enough for the multi-generational vacation. “RideMICRO is a WAVE Transit service,”...
Brandy Wians and Garrett Shaver had a fresh idea. On Jan. 7, the couple opened Salt Marsh Market, offering unique and delicious foods, beer, wines, and more to our local retail landscape. “The store turned out better than we envisioned,” said Brandy. “In the last seven months, we have added to our selections.” Salt Marsh Market offers a wide variety of local products. They have added shelving...
Henderson Field Airport, FAA identifier ACZ, is located in northern Pender County. Visitors to Pender County/Topsail Island are discovering this hidden treasure. Corporate jets, government agencies, and the flying public utilize Henderson Field Airport daily. Vacationers traveling from up north to Florida have discovered Henderson Field Airport offers a 24-hour pilot lounge and more competitive fuel prices than...
There’s a place where Pender County meets Bladen and Sampson counties. It’s a quiet place along the Black River. It’s a place for primitive camping. It’s a place to fish or launch a kayak. The place is Black River Camping Ventures, located on the sandy banks of the Black River. With 12 primitive camping sites, it is the perfect place to kick back and enjoy nature. “We opened in 2020,”...
By the time you read this most of our senior interns will have left us, each taking a different path in their future. The good news for our regular staff is that two of them will be staying on for a bit to help us through the next few months. Of course nobody, other than our turtles, gets to walk out of our doors with just a wave of their flipper. When they were chosen for our program they were told that successful completion...
SEA TURTLE HOSPITAL NEWS It’s been a busy summer with patients of various sizes and species cycling through our hospital. Many of them have been incidental catches from coastal waters and depending on where, or how many hooks were involved they’ve been short-timers ready to go home after a few days of TLC and breakfast. When a small Kemp’s arrived from Oak Island with a hook in her mouth we thought,...
Tuesday, June 14, was homecoming, or more accurately, home-going for 10 rehabilitated sea turtles: one loggerhead, two Kemp’s, and seven greens. Nine of these critters were victims of cold stunning, Kemp’s “Magic Potion” being the exception. His decision to choose a quick snack on a baited hook landed him in our hospital for a month. This was our first public release for the year and sea turtles...
BURGAW – With the rising cost of gasoline, it’s time to explore our Pender County backyard for things to do and see. Recently we examined the free activities available. This week we are going to explore the more inexpensive activities that abound in Pender County. Let’s start with Topsail Beach. At the south end of Topsail Island is Serenity Point. It’s a great place to go shelling. The south...
Nesting turtles are coming ashore - how you can help The ladies are in the house – or actually on the beach. After a bit of a late start those turtle moms are finally here and our Topsail Turtle Project volunteers are out at dawn looking for signs of nests. As of this writing we have nineteen verified nests on the island. Topsail is pretty much loggerhead territory, but the past few years have seen a green...
By Tammy Proctor, Pender County Tourism Director This may show my age, but I remember my father grumbling when gasoline went above $1 per gallon. Dad didn’t grumble much, but our family station wagon was a guzzler. It’s my turn to complain. With gasoline inching closer to $5 per gallon in our region, I think twice about extra trips in the car. For summer fun and entertainment, you do not have to travel...
