Sea Levelers Become Revelers
COOL DRINK ON A HOT DAY
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(Continued from page 1)
business, started the hospital in 1953
because of his continuing devotion to Sea
Level and its people.
The facility is located at the eastern
end of state route 70 between the highway
and Nelson's Bay, which is visible from
the hospital's solariums. On one side of
the hospital is a large group of
white-washed tables which form a
pavillion where the fish fry is held each
year.
On the other side, to the north, is the
community cemetary, where Sea Levelers
have been buried since before the Civil
War. People with names like Taylor,
Salter and GaskiN sleep beneath the
granite markers shaded by willow oak
trees.
Breezes which blow up whitecaps on
the bay rustle branches hung with
Spanish moss and make the warmest day
seem cooler. And in winter, temperatures
average eight to 10 degrees warmer than
in the Piedmont due to the proximity of
the ocean.
Apart from the commercial fishing of
shrimp, mullet, oysters, flounder and
menhaden, the hospital is the main
industry of Sea Level. It is staffed largely
by natives, but also includes
"foreigners"-people who come from
somewhere other than the Outer Banks.
The people who are native to the area,
those who work in Sea Level Hospital,
man the fishing boats or haul in the surf
nets off the Core Banks are a breed apart
from the rest of North Carolinians.
Most Sea Levelers are descendants of
the original English who settled along the
Outer Banks and fished the southern end
of the "Graveyard of the Atlantic" for a
living. Their Liverpool brogue is
unmistakable.
"They are an independent and
intelligent group, with a particular
interest in education," said Jack Johnson,
administrator for the hospital. "Almost
everyone here owns his own home, and
except for those who work in the
hospital, they are largely self-employed.
Also, as a group, they are healthy and live
long lives. For example, Maltby Taylor,
the father of D. E. Taylor, was 103 years
old when he passed away earlier this
year," he added.
The hospital itself is similar to many
well-equipped community hospitals of
comparable size. It has 100
employes —including three general
practitioners, a surgeon, a radiologist and
a physician's associate. It maintains
emergency and operating rooms, a clinical
laboratory, physical therapy facilities and
has plans to initiate an inhalation therapy
service soon.
When the hospital opened its doors in
1953 it had 20 beds. Since that time two
additional wings have been added, the
first in 1957 and a second in 1963,
bringing the total bed capacity to 88.
D. E. Taylor's gift to the people of Sea
Level was clearly a labor of love.
"He allowed only the finest materials
to be used in the building of his
hospital," Johnson said, "and when he
turned it over to Duke University, so that
it would have the benefit of association
with the medical center, he included a
half-million dollar endowment and 1,500
acres of land nearby.
"People who staff our hospital, and all
Sea Levelers, feel a real debt of gratitude
to Mr. Taylor, and I think that helps us
with our work. What we try to do here is
to have the best small community
hospital in the state through Duke's
leadership and help. We want to become a
model for other hospitals," he said.
THE BAND PLAYED ON
f
SEAFOOD BY THE BUSHEL
Dr. Stuart Sessoms represented the
medical center at the groundbreaking
ceremonies.
TRY IT, YOU'LL LIKE IT. HONEST!
AND HE CAN COOK, 7iOO/-Jack
Johnson, Sea Level Hospital's
administrator, lent a_ hand to the men
who performed the kitchen duties.
HOT SAUCE
MOMENT OF PRAYER—Monroe Gaskill, chairman of the Board of Advisors of Sea
Level Hospital, gave the invocation at the groundbreakmg for the aged mariners' new
home.
(Photos by David Williamson)