Time and Tide
55 years ago
th* W?fi ^r'' anc* our “Not Exactly News” editor had advised
e public that there would be two frosts in the month of April. In support
° s sta|ement a local citizen had explained, “There was thunder in
February. The WB&S had added another round-trip to Wilmington to its
daily bus schedule; a group of Army and Navy personnel had paid a visit
to Orton Gardens; and the Bolivia graduation exercises had been consoli
dated into the commencement ceremony.
On the political front, Southport mayor John Ericksen apparently was
going to succeed himself in office, being unopposed in the election. The
season s first strawberries had appeared on Tabor City markets; Miss Lou
Cox and master Ralph Mollycheck had both celebrated their sixth birth
days; and according to “Our Helpmate,” soybeans are both heathful and
delicious.
45 years ago
It was April 16, 1953, and there were apparent prospects of Southport
getting a fish cannery. The citizens of Southport, U.S.A., had given a
bench to the citizens of Southport, England, to be erected in the city park
in commemoration of the Coronation. Kirby Sullivan had returned from
active duty with the Army in Korea and was soon to resume the practice
of law in Southport; the U. S. Coast Guard was issuing port security cards;
and the Bolivia Lions Club was sponsoring an all-night gospel sing.
There was a meeting scheduled on the upcoming Monday to establish a
Ground Observer Post in Southport; our “Not Exactly News” editor had
noted that Ben McDonald was broadcasting from Clinton; and he had also
given Dinah Shore a plug for her movie upcoming at the Amuzu Theater.
35 years ago ’ ...... • - • - •
A pretty photograph of Orton Mansion was on the front page of the Pilot
for April 10, 1963. The Raleigh Times had given editorial endorsement to
the bill to provide a visitors center at Brunswick Town and Fort Fisher; a
municipal election was being advertised for Southport on May 7; and can
didates were beginning to line up fpr the primary election, which was
scheduled for the following month.
25 years ago
In the Pilot for April 11, 1973, there was a front-page story about
prospects that the Robert Ruark classic, The Old Man and the Boy, might
be made into a movie. A scout from a Hollywood movie studio had been
, in Southport to see if local surroundings would be suitable for filming. A
front-page photo was a close-up of an azalea blossom, a commodity which
was big in the news that week.
Party fishermen had spectacular success on the previous Saturday catch
ing bluefish on the Cape Fear shoals; we had a picture page captioned
“Orton in the Spring” featuring the plantation gardens in full bloom; and
the two tennis courts on the Garrison had been lighted and were available
for night play.
20 years ago
A group of South Carolina fishermen had held an informal tournament
in the waters off Southport during the previous weekend and had brought
in hundreds of pounds of big bluefish. That story was reported in the Pilot
for April 12, 1978. When the visiting fishermen had cleaned and packed
all of the fish they could use, -Pappy Stubbs had taken a truckload into a
residential area of town and had given more fish away. Twelve boats par
ticipated, with catches ranging from 91 down to 19 fish, with an average
weight of ten to 12 pounds. The lead in “Waterfront” that week was “The
day the world, turned to big bluefish.”
15 years ago
The Southport Lions Club was planning the first annual Prince O’Brien
Benefit Golf Tournament, to be played at Oak Island Golf Club. That was
an interesting item on the sports page of the Pilot for April 13, 1983. The
State Bureau of Investigation was advertising a toll-free number for
reporting suspicious activity which possibly might be linked to drug traf
ficking.
The editor praised Dosher Memorial Hospital volunteers in a local
observance of National Volunteer Week; the Winn-Dixie store at Live Oak
Village Shopping Center had been named the top store in the eastern
North Carolina district and we had a photo of the entire staff; and our
sports section reflected the fact that spring activities were in high gear at
Brunswick County schools.
10 years ago
The weather for Easter weekend had been so warm there had been sun
bathers on the beaches of Oak Island and we had a picture to prove it on
the front page of the Pilot for April 6, 1988. At Bald Head Island the
relighting of the beacon on Old Baldy had been a highlight of the holiday
weekend.
The City of Southport had requested Rep. David Redwine to introduce
legislation to create a no-wake district along the waterfront and the
. Intracoastal Waterway adjoining the Southport yacht basin and Southport
Marina; Leila Pigott had been installed as president of the Southport
Garden Club, and we had a photo of all the new officers; the South
Brunswick baseball team had reached the finals of the Seashell tourna
ment in Wilmington.
5 years ago
It was April 7, 1993 - Easter week ~ and among the upcoming com
munity activities was the fourth annual Robert Ruark Foundation Chili
Cookoff on Saturday. An egg hunt for those youngsters who’d missed the
parks and recreation hunt the preceding weekend was one of the featured
events. A new elementary school for the Leland area was being considered
by the board of education in its budget planning; the possibility of Yaupon
Beach sewer serving Long Beach development was being discussed; and
state Rep. Dewey Hill was talking about establishing a lock-and-dam sys
tem for the Waccamaw River.
Citizens were being assured that forest foliage, burned brown by salt
from the early March storm, would recover nicely; four bulldozers were
working daily to help restore dunes battered in Long Beach by that storm;
and the Bald Head lighthouse, closed for repairs, was soon to be reopened
for visitors, and we had a photo that week showing what they would see.
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Continued from page 1
at 5215 East Beach onto rails for
transport to another location. It too
has lost the battle to erosion. It rep
resents an additional loss of a once
valuable property in a town that,
despite record construction levels, is
fighting to keep its tax base even
from year to year.
Chocks sit out in front of a home
two lots west of 5215 East Beach. It
will be the next to go.
Long Beach is losing its front row
of homes to erosion at a record pace
this'year.
Few see the losses as clearly as
Long Beach Parks and Recreation
director Tina Pritchard, who has
monitored property loss along East
Beach Drive in her dual capacity as
a town employee and as the “Turtle
Lady,” coordinator of Oak Island’s
Turtle Watch program. Long Beach
currently is seeking federal funding
for design and construction of a Sea
Turtle Habitat Restoration project
which will bring desperately needed
new sand to the most critically erod
ed area of the town’s beachfront
between 58th and 19th streets along
Rp.ar.h.
It Will be lip to Congress to decide
if much-needed aid comes to this
stretch of beachfront.
“It’s just amazing to me as you go
down this street just how far we’ve
moved the sand fences back,”
Pritchard said, casting a gaze down
East Beach. “We’ve been trying to
create a dune with trucked-in sand.
But people stop me and ask, “Aren’t
you the turtle lady? Where are they
going to nest?”
Pritchard said turtles probably will
nest, but will deposit eggs in unpro
tected areas, creating yet another
dilemma for Turtle Watch volun
teers this year.
“Where are we going to relocate
the nests?” Pritchard asks. “There is
nowhere to go.”
In the last six years, as erosion has
taken dunes, 19 turtles have been
turned back as they attempted to
cross East Beach Drive. In search of
dunes in which to deposit their eggs,
the turtles keep moving inland,
sometimes winding up in traffic.
Two loggerheads have been killed
by vehicles in that period.
And, if the toll of erosion is dev
astating to the turtle population, it is
just as crushing to private property
owners and to those seeking public
access along East Beach.
To date, 36 beachfront homes
between 19th and 58th streets have
been moved off East Beach. Five
more have been condemned, includ
ing one that was sold — cheaply — to
the Town of Long Beach for addi
tional public access.
Seven public beach access facili
ties have been removed in the same
project area between 50th and 19th
streets. Accessways at 49th Street,
52nd Street, 55th Street and 58th
Street have been virtually eliminat
ed, but are now classified as “walk
on” accessways.
“We’ve removed the steps,”
Pritchard said. “With erosion the
way it is, we can’t hold the steps
anymore.”
Holding the Long Beach cabana in
place has been a fight this year that
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Beach crews have waged
va lant'y- 1° fact, the home immedi
ate y east of the cabana has been
condemned, undermined by erosion.
ne town this year purchased
"eavy equipment which allows
31 y sand-pushing in critically
eroded areas of East Beach, though
t rat effort will have to be abandoned
w en l°ggerhead turtle nesting sea
son begins in two weeks.
Oceanfront homeowners on East
Beach have been desperate to find
solutions to their rapidly disappear
jag property. Coastal regulations in
North Carolina allow these critically
threatened property owners permits
to place sandbags for two years to
stem erosion. But, Pritchard said, a
sandbag contmrtnr rpr**»r*tK/
not complete a job on East Beach.
The sandbag company said there
was not enough sand out there to fill
the bags,” Pritchard said.
The Sea Turtle Habitat
Restoration Project is under design
now by the U. S. Army Corps of
Engineers, although the $3.5-mil
lion federal fuunding share for actu
al construction remains uncertain.
The changing beachfront has made
it difficult, however, to even design
the project.
“Because of the changing dynam
ic of the beachfront, the project has
been hard to design. The beachface
keeps changing,” Pritchard said.
“Plus we want the project to protect
the habitat for at least five years. If
it had just been a nourishment pro
ject, it would have been easier to
design.”
As envisioned by corps engineers,
the project calls for construction of a
100-foot berm the length of the pro
ject area, terminating in an eight
foot dune.
That’s a lot of sand to put between
existing property lines and the
ocean.
While the Sea Turtle Habitat
Restoration project may bring new
sand to this critically eroded area of
East Beach, the rest of the Oak
Island beachfront remains under
siege. West Beach — west of
Middleton Street -- used to be con
sidered safe from erosion. But, this
year a beach platform built as part of
a handicapped access project at 57th
Place West was lost to erosion.
“We found most of it down at the
Point,” Pritchard said.
Meanwhile, the once-proud
oceanfront cottages continue to
leave East Beach on rails.
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