Page 4 The Shoreline June 2009
PKS Monitoring Usage Apparent
By Charlie McBriarty
There is evidence that electricity
conservation in Pine Knoll Shores is
occurring. As contrasted to the "high" usage
month of February,
the month of March
had a decrease of
nearly 11%, while
the April usage
dropped another
approximately 7%.
By factoring in degree
days where there
was a potential for
heating or cooling,
the data reveal that
Pine Knoll Association
By Bud Daniels
Tip of the Month
Seal the Deal. To avoid losing cool
air in the summer make sure to caulk
and weather strip your windows and
doors'where they meet the wall. This can
also be done in places where plumbing,
ductwork and electrical wiring pass
through exterior walls, floors, ceilings
and over cabinets.
the citizens of PKS
are making efforts to monitor their usage.
Congratulations, this is good news for each
of us and for the environment.
The situation is likely to change during
the month of June with the on-set of warm
weather. While this may mean the heat
themostat is tumed off, as the temperature
rises the coolness of the air conditioning
beckons. An alternative to premature
air conditioning is
judicious use of the
ceUingfan. In warmer
weather, a ceiling fan
creates a wind-chill
effect, making you
feel much cooler.
However, this is only
usefulwhensomeone
is in the room, since
fans will not actually
cool the room. So the,
last person to leave a
room should remember to turn it off, since
there is no reason to use electricity when you
don't need it.
The June 'Tip of the Month" offers another
method of redudngyour heatingandcooling
costs this month.
Pam's Pick for the End of the World
By Pam Hanson
No "chick lit" this month! I took a
dive into a really interesting apocalyptic
thriller set in the mountains of North
Carolina, specifically Black Mountain,
North Carolina. An idyllic place with a
small college town atmosphere where
neighbors laiow each other and life is
truly Southern and peaceful.
A fictional tale. One Second After, by
author William Forstchen, tells of very
real threat to our county. This book was
cited on the floor of Congress and in
the halls of the Pentagon months before
its publication. The Wall Street Journal
warned the doomsday weapon of choice
in this tale could shatter America and
send it spiraling to a place worse than
the Dark Ages.
Retired officer John Matherson leaves
the hubbub of Washington to take his
cancer stricken wife back to her hometown
in the mountains. After her death, John
stays to raise his two daughters as a
single parent, realizing that's what his
wife wanted for them.
As he is speaking with a buddy in
the Pentagon on his cell phone, the line
goes dead. John thinks nothing of it and
assumes his friend will call back. The
dishwasher won't work, the lights don't
come on. Perhaps sunspots disrupting-
the grid he guesses. After all, remember
the electrical outages in California and
New York?
Then he gets word from his daughters
and mother-in-law, who hike back to the
house after their car dies that all traffic on
Interstate 40 is stopped. He is stunned!
John reluctantly recalls a project he was
assigned to research after 9-11 on the effect
of an EMP, Electro Magnetic Pulse. This
device is the perfect way to take down the
United States or any country dependant
on technology without firing a shot, or
messing up resources with radioactive
fallout, by effectively knocking out
anything with a computer chip.
Done in the style of Alas Babylon and
On the Beach, One Second After asks the
hard questions: How long does it take
society to fall apart? In this novel it takes
approximately 60 days. Imagine no food
being shipped, no medicines, no vehicles
working except pre-computer era vehicles,
no communications, no resources and no
help from the government or anyone else
because EVERYONE in the country is in
the same predicament. How long would
you survive? How would you protect
you and yours?
The annual Pine Knoll Association
(PKA) general membership meeting will,
convene Friday, June 19, at the Pine Knoll
Shores To wn Hall at 7:00 p.m. While there
are no major financial or facilities issues
pending, this is an excellent opportunity
for members to meet neighbors and other
PKA members and to be an active part
of the Association by voting for directors
for the 2010-2012 term. The membership
will have the opportunity to meet the
candidates for the four director positions
that are to be filled and to have dialog
with the incumbent directors. Members
■ have received a proxy ballot and profiles
for each of the nominees for the vacant
director positions. If PKA members are
unable to attend the general membership ■
meeting, they can exercise their voting
. rights by mailing their proxy ballots prior
to June 16. At the meeting, the 2009-2010
budget will be presented; the directors
will report on the status of and long
‘range plans for the association's parks,
waterways, marinas and amenities; and
votes will be tallied for filling the four
vacant director positions. The annual
assessments were due by June 1. Dues
received after June 30 are subject to a
$25 late fee.
A special recognition and thanks go to
Jack Cummings, Reid Strader, and Gerry
Walters, who are rotating off the board.
Each has provided unique guidance and
leadership to our organization and our
community, both as directors of PKA and
as community volunteers and neighbors.
Even though they will not be serving as
directors of PKA, they will continue to
be active members of our organization
and volunteer program.
The PKA Director of the Month is
Richard Belanger. Rick and Donna, his
wife of 40 years, moved to Pine Knoll
Shores in2006 and hit the ground running.
Rick is active in Habitat for Humanity,
as a PKA volunteer and director, and
enjoys boating, golfing and biking with
his wife. Rick's 33 plus years of experience
and expertise in management positions
in engineering, supply management,
software project management in the
power generation industry and in home
repair in his native Cormecticut have
been great assets to the Association. He
has provided draft drawings of the many
improvement projects and has researched
and become our resident expert on the
gates and gate repairs for the entry gates
at Ocean Park and Brock Basin.
There are currently a few available boat
slips and kayak racks at the association's
marinas. PKA members interested in
renting slips or kayak racks can contact
Kathy Kimel, association secretary, at
252-240-1717 or at pka@ec.rr.com.
Turtle Time
By Peggy Sagmiller
The 2009 sea turtle nesting season in
Pine Knoll Shores is here! Volunteers
are needed to walk the beach early in
the morning to discover the turtle crawls
(tracks) made the previous night. If you're
lucky, you might even see the mother
turtle heading back out to sea!
Volunteers are also needed to baby-sit
the nests until they hatch. The hatchlings
must be protected from predators and
pitfalls on the way to the ocean. Ghost
crabs, feral cats, rodents, opossums, and
raccoons all eagerly await the hatch.
Dogs running loose on the beach will
dig into nests. As hatching time nears,
the ammonia odor given off by the nest
strengthens, alerting predators. The
pitfalls can be footprints, seaweed, sea
grass, large shells, and large holes dug
by humans that were not filled in. Any
one of these can prevent hatchlings from
making it into the ocean.
Sea turtles can begin nesting as early as
mid-May and continue through August.
Hatching can take anywhere from 50
to 90 days. The time is determined by
temperature, rainfall, overwash, sand
type, and nest depth.
If you live in Pine Knoll Shores and
would like to be part of the excitement
and discovery with the Sea Turtle Project,
we would love to have you! Anything
you want to do will be appreciated. To
become a volunteer and leam more about
the program, please call Peggy or Gene
Sagmiller at 222-0237. We are looking
forward to the 2009 season!