Page 4 ' Th'e Shoreline Sept6mbei? 2009
Exceeding
Expections
Continued from page 1
expectations. Congratulations are in order
to everyone who made an individual effort
to use less electricity. The challenge in the
future is to continue to conserve.
"Body Surfing"
Continued front page 1
might even be propelled into the sand
under the water, but our outstretched
arms took the blow.
With the invention of styrofoam came
the boogie boards. If you look at adults
on the boards, they are well up on the
board (as their body weight needs a lot
of flotation), their heads towards the
board's very front, and their arms are
mostly behind the position of their head
on the board, with their hands next to
their head on either side so as to hold on
to the board. If you miss or catch a wave
right, this is no problem. But if you are
"early" and if the waves have some size,
energy and curl, the boogie board can
lead to disaster.
Falling off the face of a wave on a
boogie board and being driven into the
water and ocean floor mean that it is the
boogieboarder'sfacenotarmsthathitsthe
sand first. Suddenly, the physics change,
and the mass times velocity puts all the
stress on the neck of the boogie boarder,
specifically the C-2 vertebra. This is also
known as the "hangman's vertebra," as
it is the one that snaps and causes quick
death by severing the spinal cord at the
brain's medulla—the auto-musde control
This year's National Night Out, with
more than 2,000 people in attendance,
was a huge success. Held at the Coral
Bay Shopping Center, Atlantic Beach, the
event was co-sponsored by the Atlantic
Beach and Pine Knoll Shores police and
fire departments and funded entirely
by donations. With free hot dogs and
pizza, even the adults, had a good time
and there were fantastic prizes awarded
throughout the evening. There were
The progress of this campaign was
recorded in The Shoreline throughout this
past year. Each report was accompanied
by a "Tip of the Month," designed to
facilitate the process of conserving
electricity. Because of the success of the
campaign, the 12 Energy Tips are listed
on a page 14 as a guide for use to continue
saving energy throughout the upcoming
year.
center as in heart, lungs etc. Even just
damage to this vertebra often results in
death or paralysis. Wilmington, North
Carolina rescue data rate boogie board
injury as a major killer and crippler at
area beaches.
A Piae Knoll Shore resident and an
Atlantic Beach visitor both have suffered
this injury in the last month. So far both
have survived and are undergoing long
and uncomfortable recoveries in halo
and upper body casts. The Atlantic
Beach person had to have rods surgically
implanted in the neck.
If one is lucky to make it out of the
water with knowing hands helping,
fuU recoveries are possible but far from
certain. Helpinghandsthatarenottrained
caneasilyrotatetheneckandpermanently
damage the C-2 spinal cord.
So, be very careful body surfing on a
boogie board. If you find yourself in front
of a wave, let go of the board and get y our
arms in front of your head. It is a good idea
to practice this move on a normal wave. It
needs to become a reflex action. Your very
life may depend on that split second. Little
kidstypicaUyfitfurtherbackontheboards
and their smaller, lighter bodies result in
less impact momentum should they get
ahead of a wave, but boogie boarders of
all ages need to use this ocean toy with
full appreciation of its dangers.
plenty of activities for kids of all ages
including face painting, a number of
inflated slides and rooms for the yoxmger
ones to jump around. Ahardball pitching
trainer and the infamous "beer goggles"
caught the attention of the teens. Both the
Atlantic Beach and the Pine Knoll Shores
Police and Fire Departments were well
represented with equipment, persormel
and displays.
Alice
the Queen
Continued front page 1
family and friends, soldiers during
World War II and campers during the
summers from Camp Morehead across
the sound. It was my pleasure to contact
Sammy Doughton and Ruth Bailey, two
of her visitors from Morehead City, who
shared their memories of Alice.
Sammy Doughton is a local historian
from Morehead City and Raleigh. She
sent me a copy of Alice Hoffman's Last
Will and Testament and explained how
she came to know her: "My connection
with Mrs. Hoffmanbeganin 1942, when
my mother was invited to play bridge
with her at her home. I went along too
and talked to Nicolo [unknown] and
Gabby [Alice's French companion].
Mrs. Hoffman asked me to come to see
her in my sailboat. I told her that as she
had no pier I could not walk through
the heavy undergrowth that was full
of rattlesnakes. She then said, 'I'll build
you a pier,' and she did. I went up there
many times."
Ruth Bailey lives in Morehead and
was known for her lovely voice. She
remembers being invited to come and
sing for Alice, and Alice sometimes
sang along with her. She told me that
Mrs. Hoffman kept a car and chauffeur
in Morehead, and he would be sent
to pick up Ruth when Alice wanted
her to visit. They had no piano music
because the damp climate and lack of
an available piano tuner forced Alice to
send back the piano she purchased for
her Bogue Banks home. She evidently
couldn't stand to play anything but a
well-timed piano. Some actions show
her generosity and good nature and
some her perfectionism and strong-
willed nature.
In one of Jan Rider's four articles
about Alice Hoffman published in The
News Times were interviews with Alice's
companion, Gabrielle Brard, and her
superintendent, Ira Guthrie. Gabrielle
relates that while Alice laughed off
rumors about her life here on Bogue
Banks, she took criticism about her
litigations very seriously and tried
desperately to explain the truth of the
matter in her will. Her will states,
"Payment of all 'just' debts should be
made. I use the word 'just' advisedly
for none of the debts which have been
collected through litigation have been
owed by me." It was Miss Brard's belief
that people tried to take advantage of
Alice because she was a woman. In one
very serious case, Alice was forced to go
to court to retain the title to her Bogue
Banks property. She claims that money
she put in the hands of two Morehead
City attorneys to pay the taxes on her
property was not used for this purpose
and caused her to come close to losing
it all.
This brings us to the impact that Alice
Hoffman had on the development of
Pine Knoll Shores. Alice spent the last
twelve years of her life living in her
home here on Bogue Banks. We know
of her passion for preserving the natural
environment she loved and enjoyed,
and it is likely that she imparted this
spirit of preservafion to her family and
eventual heirs. They probably would
have been influenced by Alice and, for
sure, would have been influenced by
President Theodore Roosevelt. Kathleen
Guthrie, speaking to Pine Knoll Shores
Women'sClub, quoted fromhismessage
to Congress on December 3, 1907: "To
waste, to destroy our natural resources,
to skin and exhaust the land instead of
using it so as to increase its usefulness
will result in imdermining in the days of
our children the very prosperity which
we ought by right to hand down to them
amplified and developed."
We can thank Alice Green Hoffman
for leaving a legacy to heirs that
would result in this carefully planned
Pine Knoll Shores community with its
stringent restrictions and covenants, so
we as residents can live here today as
"Kings" and "Queens" of our domain.
Footnote: This concludes this four-part
series of articles by Barbara Milhaven on the
life and times of Alice Green Hoffman one
of the earliest and perhaps most influential
settlers of what is now Pine Knoll Shores.
In IS/Temoriam
Jack Cummins
Walter Kane
26* Annual National Night Out
By Tom Powers