Island Features

July 2, 2009

Ocracoke museum offers Porch Talks and
new Backyard Kids’ Talks this summer

By SUNDAE HORN

What do quilts, pirates, duck decoys, and World War II all have in common?

They are all important parts of Ocracoke’s heritage that kids can learn about at the Ocracoke Preservation Society Museum this summer. Each Monday in July, there will be a special Backyard Kids’ Talk geared toward the museum’s young visitors, with “make-and-take” projects for the children to do.

The first, on July 6, will feature quilting, and kids will learn about Ocracoke’s unique Cracker pattern.

On July 13, kids will hear pirate stories and tales of Blackbeard – both talks will feature craft projects as well.

Carol Dillon will visit OPS from her home in Buxton on July 20 to talk about being the real Taffy from the book “Taffy of Torpedo Junction” by Nell Wise Wechter. Wechter used Carol as the model for Taffy when she wrote her classic story of intrigue and suspense, based on Hatteras Island during World War II.

Children who participate will be able to take home a copy of “Taffy,” provided by the Ocracoke Friends of the Library.

The last Backyard Kids’ Talk, on July 27, will feature ducks and decoys, and kids will paint and take home a silhouette duck head.

Earlier this year, Ocracoke Arts Council approved a grant to provide funding for the new Porch Talk program at the museum. Although OPS has hosted family-friendly Porch Talks every summer since the museum first opened, none before have focused on hands-on participation for kids. OPS administrator DeAnna Locke is happy to be adding a children’s component to some of this year’s presentations.

“Children are welcome at all of our Porch Talks,” DeAnna said. “But I hope these activities will encourage even more participation.”

The Backyard Kids’ Talks are geared toward children age 4 to 10, with adult supervision. They begin at 10:30 a.m. and last about 1 1/2 hours.

“I’m very excited for the programs to start,” DeAnna said. “I hope there’ll be tons of children!”

DeAnna, who has worked for OPS for two years, developed the idea of programs for children and worked on securing a grant to help with expenses.

“I do believe that it’s these hands-on learning experiences that bring history to life for children,” she said. “If we provide something tangible for our young visitors to take away from the museum, then they’ll leave with their own piece of Ocracoke’s heritage.”

The Ocracoke Arts Council grant will pay for materials for the hands-on activities and for any advertising costs for the Kids’ Talks, as part of its Heritage Crafts program. All Kids’ Talks and Porch Talks presenters are volunteers, whose efforts help to make the museum a great place for visitors and locals to learn about Ocracoke’s past and present.

The new Backyard Kids’ Talks that will be added this year are just another part of a long OPS tradition of informal and informative gatherings to celebrate Ocracoke’s history and culture.

The museum opened its doors for the first time in the summer of 1991. It was open only part-time back then, but hosted the first Porch Talks with book signings by local authors and a presentation on Ocracoke seashells that year. Early Porch Talk volunteers included the director of the Elizabeth II project at Roanoke Island, a hurricane specialist, members of the U.S. Coast Guard, and staff from the Chicamacomico Lifesaving Station. Local Porch Talk volunteers were Larry Williams, who told stories about old Ocracoke, and James Barrie Gaskill and Rex O’Neal, who gave presentations on commercial fishing.

Even before the Museum was a reality, OPS provided heritage exhibits and demonstrations. In July, 1983, OPS hosted Ocracoke History Days, a three-day long exhibit held at the Berkley Center over Independence Day weekend. More than 900 people visited History Days, which included displays on the Coast Guard’s role on Ocracoke, shipwrecks and ship models, fishing and hunting, hurricanes and weather, quilting and other needlecrafts, World War I and World War II on the island, Ocracoke map, deeds and wills, island livestock (including the wild ponies), and antiques. There were also lectures and slideshows about Ocracoke’s “olden” days.

The History Days event was so successful that OPS offered it again 1984. This time, hoping for some cooler weather, it was scheduled for October. In spite of the off-season timing and the presence of Hurricane Josephine offshore stirring up the weather, more than 500 people attended. New exhibits at the 1984 History Days included Ocracoke seashells, National Park Service, and old home movies.

Museum visitors will recognize the History Days displays as laying the groundwork for what would become the permanent exhibits, and many of the topics from those days are still presented in the Porch Talks.

Over the years, the Porch Talks have become much-anticipated and well-attended events for visitors and residents alike. Their focus has ranged from book signings (local and off-island authors) to entertainment (storytelling and music and the Rumgagger) to nostalgia (Mounted Boy Scouts) to wild Ocracoke (shelling, birdwatching, ponies) to conservation and preservation efforts (North Carolina Coastwatch, saving the Fish House) with liberal doses of history and culture (Portsmouth, World War II, British Cemetery, figs, quilts, square dancing).

For several years, Ben “Blackbeard” Cherry would perform at the museum on the afternoon of July 3, drawing crowds of 150 or more, according to former OPS administrator Julie Howard.

Other popular Porch Talks featured local people.

“Earl O’Neal and his panel of ‘native oldsters’ were regular entries on my calendar every year. People seemed to enjoy history talks from the locals. Philip Howard’s square dance demonstrations were enthusiastically attended,” Julie said. “And last, but not least, the 1950s Mounted Boy Scout troop was very popular, but it got harder and harder to get them all together.”

Donald Davis, a professional storyteller who makes his home on Ocracoke, offers two week-long storytelling workshops on the island each June. His students get some practice telling stories to an audience at Porch Talks. These storytelling workshops have become some of the most popular talks, bringing good-sized crowds every time.

DeAnna has lined up a good variety for this summer’s Porch Talk series, including talks about the Ocracoke wild ponies, the old mailboat Aleta, Portsmouth Island, pirates, sea songs, the U.S. Lifesaving Service, the Ocracoke Brogue, growing up on the island, oysters, figs, island photography, and Museum tours with a local guide. There will be a Porch Talk offered most Tuesdays and Thursdays at 11 a.m. The Porch Talk schedule will be posted weekly at the post office and on community bulletin boards, or you can find out more at www.ocracokepreservation.org.