APRIL 11,2018
Life & Style
BERTIE LEDGER-ADVANCE
The fabric of Bertie County since 1832
Festival season kicking off
“Whan that Aprille
with his shours soote
...” is how Chaucer be
gins the Canterbury
tales, writing in Mid
dle English. Modern
translation is “When in
April the sweet show
ers fall.” We have had
enough of the sweet
showers of April and
March in Bertie County.
Let us dry out and get
moving with spring and
see some of those May
flowers that come after
April showers.
The rain did not skip
the Roxobel AgFest on
April 7. The good folks
who planned the event
failed to be deterred by
the weather, and put
on a wonderful parade
Chamber Chatter
kA
Lewis Hoggard
and event despite rain
and low temperatures.
Good music and food
were abundant with
the Roxobel Fire De
partment doing a great
job on the BBQ chick
en as is normal. The
chamber was proud to
help sponsor the event
although 1 personally
was unable to attend
because of a prior com
mitment in Raleigh.
April really starts the
festival and event sea
son. Plow Days is com
ing on April 21. Always
fun to see the mules
and horses working the
land. Those Percheron
horses are truly beauti
ful animals. It is worth
attending just to get
close and touch such
a majestic beast. Once
again, good food is
available and presents
a chance to step back
50 or 75 years and to
see how things were
done on the farm and
in the home. This event
occurs in Askewville off
of White Oak Road.
The next weekend is
the fourth year of the
Lost Colony Festival
at the Roanoke Cashie
River Center. Come
out and hear lectures
about the colonists,
the archaeological digs
and the Indians.
See artifacts, demon
strations and find out
what the future holds
for the area. Also pon
toon rides will be avail
able down the Cashie
River, so come out on
April 28.
In May, we will have
the Tee & Sea. Seafood,
golf, music and a good
cause is what you will
find at Tee & Sea. The
Windsor Fire Depart
ment always does a
great job.
The Saturday follow
ing the Tee and Sea, go
to Bunn’s BBQ to cel
ebrate their eightieth
year of operation.
The White Oak band
will be playing the mu
sic and a good time will
be enjoyed as we honor
our most iconic restau
rant.
The first day of June
will bring the Sage Fes
tival back onto King
Street in Windsor. We
love to promote Clary
Sage which is a big part
of agricultural business
in the area.
Also we love to high
light Avoca, Inc. and
what they mean to our
economic well-being
through their employ
ees and their growers.
Moonshine is sched
uled to headline as
usual, and we look to
have another wonder
ful time as we go back
onto King Street for the
third time in six years.
Never say nothing is
going on around here!
Lewis Hoggard is Ex
ecutive Director of the
Windsor/Bertie Cham
ber of Commerce. He
can be reached via
email at windorbertie®
gmail.com.
The secret may be getting out
It seems our Roanoke
River Trail is not such
a well-kept secret as it
used to be. Word seems
to be spreading. As you
may have heard, we
had reservations for
an all-time high of over
1400 overnights on our
camping platforms in
2017.
For some locals it is
still hard to believe that
people from all over
North Carolina — as
well as other states —
find out about our trail
and make reservations
to travel with family
and friends to have this
unique outdoor experi
ence.
As a matter of fact, we
are expecting a group
from Canada in the next
few weeks. They made
their reservations for
a five-night stay on the
Roanoke Buzz
Carol Shields
river months ago. If
you happen to run into
them, or any other of
our campers, please
extend a little extra
portion of local hospi
tality.
You might ask your
self, “What is the at
traction?”
Well, some of our
campers report they
come because they
yearn for the chance to
be close to nature - to
see how many different.
birds and other wildlife
they can find.
Some report seek
ing peace and quiet. A
woman who camped
on the trail told me that
during a recent two-
night stay, once they
left the dock, they nev
er saw another human
being. There just aren’t
that many remote re
treats anymore.
Others say they like
the challenge. Just like
packing for any kind
of get-away, you have
to plan and pack ev
erything you will need.
Anything you forget,
you just have to make
the necessary adjust
ments for. The outdoor
experience we offer is a
test of a camper’s abil
ity to plan for varying
conditions as well as
an opportunity to “roll
with the punches” for
things like changes in
weather that can be un
predictable.
Some say this is an
experience that has
been on their bucket
list for years. Maybe
they knew someone
who did it, or they read
an article and thought
when the time is right,
they might check this
out. 1 remember the
sense of accomplish
ment 1 felt after 1 finally
camped on a platform.
It was a big check on
my bucket list.
And speaking of our
secret’s getting out, the
March 2018 edition of
Our State Magazine has
a story about a couple
of sisters who came to
“paddle for pie.” The
sought-after pie they
paddled the Roanoke to
sample was the home
made pie only available
during the first few
months of the year at
Cypress Grill in James-
ville — one more of the
many sweet pleasures
found along our river.
As time goes by, it
seems the value of an
authentic experience
increases.
We are grateful for all
the ways our partners
work together to add
value to the authentic
experience that our
visitors find here.
For all these reasons,
and many more — we
continue to work with
local and regional part
ners to find new ways
to connect folks to our
Roanoke River Region.
By working together,
we are building our
brand to draw an ever
increasing number of
visitors and revenues
to our region.
If you have additional
thoughts about how
we can share our big
“secret”— please be
in touch. We’d love to
hear from you!
Carol Jones Shields is
the Executive Director of
Roanoke River Partners,
Inc. You can contact her
at (252) 798-3920 or
director@roanokeriver-
partners.org. You can
learn more about Roa
noke River Partners at
WWW. roanokeriverpart-
ners.org.
Health department sets schedule
WINDSOR - The Bertie
County Health Depart
ment scheduled the
following clinics for the
month of April.
There is a fee, based
on income, for most
clinics. Immunizations
and General clinics are
held every day and
other clinics are by ap
pointment only.
Sexually Transmit
ted Disease (STD) and
other Communicable
Disease services are
free. Appointments for
STD services may be
required.
Clinics include:
Wednesday, April 11
Bertie: General
Thursday, April 12
Bertie: General, WIC
Friday, April 13
Bertie: General, Pedi
atric Primary Care AM
Monday, April 16
Bertie: General, WIC
All Day, Women’s Health
Services, Prenatal AM,
New Prenatal PM
Tuesday, April 17
Bertie: General, WIC
Wednesday, April 18
Bertie: General, WIC
All Day
Thursday, April 19
Bertie: Adult Health
AM, General, WIC
Friday, April 20
Bertie: General
Monday, April 23
Bertie: Women’s
Health Services, Prena
tal All Day, General
Tuesday, April 24
Bertie: Child Health
PM, General, WIC
Wednesday, April 25
Bertie: General, WIC
All Day
Thursday, April 26
Bertie: General
Friday, April 27
Bertie: General
Monday, April 30
Bertie: General,
Women’s Health Ser
vices, Prenatal AM
a
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