SPT OKI Fall 2023 Edition - Premiere Issue

FALL 2023

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COMPLIMENTARY

Hello!

WE’RE SO EXCITED TO MEET YOU

S OU THP ORT'S NINJA WA RRIOR

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REMEMBERING A LE X ZEL AYA

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LONERIDER

More remarkable care, closer to home Novant Health Brunswick Medical Plaza is now welcoming patients in Bolivia.

At Novant Health, we provide quality care in convenient locations to ensure you and your family get the world-class care you deserve. Our newest medical plaza, on the campus of Novant Health Brunswick Medical Center, is now open with expanded access to a range of outpatient medical services and clinics, including: • Family medicine

• Urology

• Heart and vascular care

• Surgical care

• Cardiac rehabilitation

• Infusion services

We are proud to provide remarkable care to the growing communities in Brunswick County.

Novant Health Brunswick Medical Plaza 257 Hospital Drive NE Bolivia, NC 28422 Find the location most convenient for you at NovantHealth.org/Locations © Novant Health, Inc. 2023 7/23 • ECA-1437364

“It was absolutely amazing!

It was clean and just the perfect place to relax with the sound of the ocean.”

CHLOE E. — 5-STAR GOOGLE REVIEW

The Beach House Motel & Suites offers 22 renovated ocean view guest rooms and suites in the heart of Oak Island.

500 Ocean Dr., Oak Island, NC 28465 (910) 278-5644 | www.beachhouseoki.com

RELENTLESS

Lindsey Jenkins Broker/REALTOR®

910-368-9626

Collective LindseyJenkins5@gmail.com CRCI Board of Directors Member The Foundation of Brunswick Community College Board of Directors Each office is independently owned and operated

NO W OPE N

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PREMIERE ISSUE — FALL 2023

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VOLUME 1, ISSUE 1

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FEATURES

DEPARTMENTS

IN EVERY ISSUE

32 MUSIC & MEMORIES

36 THE PUB SCOUT

10 PUBLISHER’S NOTE

With Big Love Vinyl, Doug Ausbury shares his love of music with the people of Oak Island.

42 RAISING CHAMPIONS

For the Jenkins family of Oak Island, team spirit starts at home.

54 FLOODED WITH LOVE

After surviving the 2018 flood and spending more than a year exploring America, the Rooks family finds that all roads lead home — to Oak Island.

64 A SEASONAL GETAWAY

For a vacation that checks all the boxes, book a stay at SeaSons at the Point, an Oak Island oasis created by and for family.

74 THE HEART OF A WARRIOR

For 71-year-old Southport resident Ginny MacColl, life’s greatest goal is redefining what aging looks like — and so far she’s crushing it.

80 LESSONS FROM THE TAN MAN

Oak Island beach icon Alex Zelaya, who passed away in June 2023, is remembered as an inspiration.

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SPT OKI Magazine

Lonerider at Oak Island offers treasures like a relaxed atmosphere, good food and a nice variety of brews you can enjoy in an idyllic spot on the water.

51 COMMUNITY

Once More Bookstore in Southport supports the Margaret & James Harper, Jr. Library in Southport and G.V. Barbee, Sr. Library in Oak Island, funding youth and adult educational programs, facility improvements and various community outreach activities.

60 AROUND TOWN

Up Your Arts’ campaign to revive Southport’s City Hall into a community arts center is coming into sharper focus.

70 DINING OUT

Chef Ashley Davis realizes a lifelong dream with the opening of Southern, A Gathering Place Kitchen & Bar in Southport.

12 CONTRIBUTORS 17 ACROSS THE COUNTY 18 SBM OVER THE YEARS 20 ONLINE EXCLUSIVES 22 TAGGED 23 WHAT’S HAPPENED 26 WHAT’S HAPPENING 29 SPIRITS 30 WHAT’S COOKIN’ 84 FACES & PLACES 87 SNIPPETS 93 BUSINESS PROFILES 95 TIDE CHART 97 ADVERTISERS INDEX 98 CAPTURE THE MOMENT

PHOTO BY MEGAN DEITZ

PHOTO BY CAMERON SMITH

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PHOTO BY MATT MCGRAW

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— ABOUT — Fall 2023 Issue — Volume 1, Issue 1 CEO/PUBLISHER: Justin Williams DIRECTOR OF BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT: Sandi Grigg

Publishing Quarterly

COPY EDITOR: Molly Harrison

25,000 copies printed each issue

CONTRIBUTING GRAPHICS: Liza Barry Teresa Kramer Samantha Lowe Elizabeth Dale Niemann

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PUBLISHED BY: CAROLINA MARKETING COMPANY, INC.

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SPT OKI Magazine

COMPLIMENTARY

About the cover: Photographer Katie Dorsett-Dye of Katie D Photography captured our cover image at the McGlamery Street access on Oak Island. Read more about Katie in our Contributors section on page 12.

Hello!

WE’RE SO EXCITED TO MEET YOU

S OU THP ORT'S NINJA WA RRIOR

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Volume 1, Issue 1

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FALL 2023

Fall 2023

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SPT OKI — The Magazine for the Southport Oak Island Area

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Carolina Marketing Company, Inc. strives to bring correct, accurate information that is published in the magazine. However, Carolina Marketing Company, Inc. cannot be held responsible for any consequences resulting from errors or absences. Carolina Marketing Company, Inc. also cannot be held responsible for the services provided by any and all advertisers in our publications.

All material in this magazine is property of Carolina Marketing Company, Inc. and may not be reproduced without authorization from the publisher. SPT OKI — A Carolina Marketing Company, Inc. publication is published four times per year and is distributed to residents and businesses in the Southport Oak Island area, to subscribers and to select areas of New Hanover County, NC. Interested in back issues, subscriptions or advertising?

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for the Southport Oak Island Area PUBLISHER’S NOTE ISSUE 1

ISSUE 1

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COMPLIMENTARY

COMPLIMENTARY

ISSUE 1

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COMPLIME NTARY

It’s Finally Here!

Seaside

Retreat

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10 BEST EATERIES IN SPTOK I

p. 65

CAPE FEAR PARROT SANCT UARY

OAK HOME — — ISLAND

FARM-F RESH VEGETABLES, FRUITS AND MORE

women bring These designing style and a unique coatsal southeastern sophistication to North Carolina.

Well, it only took 10 or+ so years, but we did it!

Jenkins family of athletes – whose son Walker just signed with the Minnesota Twins at age 18 – to Ginny MacColl, a 71-year-old local who competes Back in 2005 I founded Carolina on American Ninja Warrior High quality. Timeless. Direct mailed.

Marketing Company and (among many other things). launched North Brunswick You’ll learn more about Up Magazine, which focuses on the Your Arts’ efforts to save Leland area. After living in Southport City Hall, find out Brunswick County for a while, I what’s happening around town realized how geographically and so much more. focused the pockets of the county And don't stop here with SPT and communities are, so in 2008 OKI Magazine. We have a we launched South Brunswick newsletter you can sign up for Magazine. This magazine online, and we publish online originally was meant to cover exclusive content on our website, Ocean Isle Beach, Sunset Beach, LifeinBrunswickCounty.com, Holden Beach, Calabash and and through our social media on Shallotte, but as I started moving Instagram and Facebook. So along with it, I decided to include please follow us: the Southport and Oak lsland Q southportoakislandmagazine areas as well. and E sptoki.

I knew that one day we would launch a magazine that If you want stories on the other exclusively covered Southport and Oak Island (as well as areas of Brunswick County, Bald Head Island), but it took a while to get there. Timing, subscribe to our Brunswick the way we were delivering the content and my own life's Bundle. That is all three challenges early in the last decade put the project on hold, magazines in our county for one and all the while I knew we were missing out on a ton of year. Information for that is on our site or at this QR code. good content. I did not know what I would eventually call Thanks for reading our magazine, and please let our this magazine, but last year I landed on SPT OKI Magazine advertisers know that you saw them here. All of us at Justin@CarolinaMarketingCompany.com — and here we are.

Carolina Marketing Company appreciate your support!

I am so excited for you to be holding this premiere issue.

With the help of our staff, the community and our LifeinBrunswickCounty.com/OKI advertising supporters, we have put together a great issue for you. On the following pages you’ll learn the stories behind local businesses like Lonerider in Oak Island, Big Love Vinyl Justin Williams in Oak Island, Once More Bookstore in Southport and Owner/Publisher  publisher@lifeinbrunswickcounty.com Southern, A Gathering Place Kitchen & Bar in Southport.

You’ll meet some of the area’s fascinating people, from the  JustinW13 North Brunswick Magazine WATERFRONT DINING |

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North Brunswick Magazine

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SPT OKI Magazine

PHOTO BY MATT MCGRAW

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CONTRIBUTORS

Megan Deitz

Katie Dorsett-Dye

CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER I turned my love of photography into a full-time career in 2003 when I began traveling up and down the East Coast as a sports photographer. Today, I specialize in portrait and commercial photography but can be found fueling my true passion for landscape and wildlife photography through my travels around the world. My work can be viewed at megandeitz.com.

CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER I am an award-winning photographer based in Oak Island. Born and raised in North Carolina, I developed a passion for photography from a young age. My business, Katie D Photography, specializes in both landscape and COVER PHOTOGRAPHER family photography. I am deeply rooted in the Oak Island community and actively contribute my skills and services to local events, charities and fundraisers, using my art to make a positive impact.

My dedication to my clients, love of my craft and deep connection to the natural beauty of Oak Island are the driving forces behind my continued success.

Q megandeitz_photography | E megandeitzphotography

Matt McGraw CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER

Kurt Epps

I started out in newspaper world, shooting the NBA, NCAA and MLB in the Midwest. Those were awesome experiences that paved the way for my style of photography today. I started shooting weddings in 2002, and now I average around 50 weddings a year, along with about 150 family photo sessions a year. With McGraw Photo Consulting, I am also a photo consultant, primarily in the dental business. I love traveling, and I love what I do for a living.

I am a retired English teacher, a veteran of 37 years in the high school classroom, and I have also served as an adjunct professor at the college level. I’m a multiple award-winning writer and have won national recognition for my coverage of the craft beer industry, in which I’ve been immersed since 1996. An expert at beer and food pairing, I emcee dinners, host public and private tutored beer tastings and evaluate and review beer bars, breweries, brewpubs and pubs, as well as restaurants with good beer menus. I encourage the responsible enjoyment of beer, and my favorite quote comes from Jim Koch of the Boston Beer Co.: “All beer is good; some beer is better.” My mission as The PubScout is to locate and write about the “better.”

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SPT OKI Magazine

PHOTO BY MATT MCGRAW

CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Annesophia Richards CONTRIBUTING WRITER After spending a decade as an English teacher in Florida, I moved to Wilmington in 2014 to be closer to family. I now spend my time freelance writing, working as a school interventionist and raising two very energetic children. I love exploring all that makes North Carolina such a beautiful state and travelling as much as my family and time allow! My writing appears in various local area publications. In my free time I tend to read or go for a run, and I also love competing in creative writing contests. I’ve received awards for several pieces of flash fiction. My ability to tell a good tale is a talent that I use nightly when tucking my kids in with a bedtime story.

PHOTO BY CLT PHOTOGRAPHY

CONTRIBUTORS

Randi Jo Rooks CONTRIBUTING WRITER A lifelong lover of words, people and stories, I am so grateful to share my writing with others. I am a homeschooling mom of three. My husband, Brandon, and I were UNCW sweethearts (one Yankee, one Southern Gentleman) and have called Brunswick County home for the last 16 years (except for that one year we spent RV-ing around America!). We love living on Oak Island, enjoying God’s creation and encouraging others in their faith and family life.

Casey Lauren Townsend CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER In addition to being a local photographer under the name CLT Photography for the last 15 years and co-owner of Waterway Music and Education, I am a happy wife and homeschooling mother of two children. My husband, who is from Brunswick County, introduced me to “might could” and strawberry picking. Together, we have lived in every corner of Brunswick County, making friends who are like family along the way. My love of storytelling through photos was inspired by my late grandfather, who always had the video camera out and captured what was most important: friends and family. This candid style is what I hope to contribute to the magazine.

Brenda Torrey CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER I am a professional photographer with more than 30 years experience. My photos have been on billboards, magazine and book covers, a National Park Service challenge coin and throughout a United States Navy ship. For many years I dreamed of living in a town where I could walk to the beach, stores and restaurants and now I'm living my dream on Oak Island.

Premiere Issue — Fall 2023

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SPT OKI Magazine

ACROSS THE COUNTY D LIFEINBRUNSWICKCOUNTY.COM

Check out what's going on in the Leland area with our sister publication North Brunswick Magazine.

Take a look at what's happening in Ocean Isle Beach, Sunset Beach, Holden Beach, Shallotte and Calabash with our sister publication South Brunswick Magazine.

K View online at LifeinBrunswickCounty.com/nbm

K View online at LifeinBrunswickCounty.com/sbm

U R N S T H AT B E N E F I T T H E S TAT E ’ S A RT I F I C I A L R E E F P R O G R A M .

FINALACT ACT AAFINAL of ervice SService     

T H O S E W H O S E RV E D , C O N T I N U E TO S E RV E .

A WALK

The Bayberry carries the fallen heroes memorial markers to an artificial reef off the coast of Wilmington.

the artificial reef, which is located on a 160-acre site about 5 miles out from Carolina Beach.

“The state guys (NCDMF) have been great, they want to see this thing succeed,” Marcinowski said. “If we start expanding, we estimate we can get 2,000 Veterans on that reef site. They will help us expand that site or create a new reef.”

The organization usually holds memorial services around Armed Forces Day, the third Saturday in May. The memorial process is typically a three-day event. First family members place the Veteran’s remains in an aluminum aquatic urn. Then they can attach mementos or leave handprints in the wet cement of the outer marker.

On day two, a ceremony is held in which full military honors are rendered for each Veteran, usually at Summer 2023

North Brunswick Magazine

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Quiet Side A

Take a walk on a beautiful, uninhabited barrier island with the Bird Island Reserve Stewards.

STORY & PHOTOGRAPHY BY ED BECKLEY

Abutting Sunset Beach’s opulent abodes and many peopled places lies an Eden lush in beauty and seclusion. Sandwiched majestically between the Atlantic Ocean and rambling maritime thickets and salt marsh, Bird Island is “a place for poets, painters, lovers and loners,” wrote the Raleigh News & Observer more than 30 years ago.

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A WALK ON THE QUIET SIDE

WHAT’S NEW

OUTDOORS

SPORTS

Roving for Rover

Paddle Up Riverwalk Rentals at Belville Riverwalk Park helps people get on the water and connect with the natural world.

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Play Ball!

Dr. Lauren Gallagher and her team at Coastal Care Mobile Veterinary Services think outside the box when it comes to caring for pets.

BY ANNA BETH ADCOCK | PHOTOGRAPHY BY MATT MCGRAW

With warm weather comes great responsibility — to be out and about in the sun and on the water, of course! Riverwalk Rentals in Belville is here to help with that.

With a mission of getting people outside and active, the business rents single and tandem kayaks, premium fishing kayaks and inflatable standup paddleboards and offers many other gear options like GoPros and fishing gear.

Paddlers can pick their own adventure. Choose from two-hour to full-day lengths of rental time and launch onsite from the dock or take your rentals on the go

Panacea Brewing Company, Wilmington’s only kombucha brewery, is celebrating seven years in business.

Men’s Senior Softball is popular in Brunswick County, and they’re always welcoming new players.

STORY & PHOTOGRAPHY

BY JOHN L. CARDILLO

D

BY JO ANN MATHEWS

BY JOHANNA COLBURN PHOTOGRAPHY BY MEGAN DEITZ

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When veterinarian Dr. Lauren Gallagher decided to start her own practice, her intent was to have a traditional office with a street address. Instead, her office moves daily and can be found all along the streets of southern Brunswick County.

“My vision was not this,” Dr. Gallagher says with a smile, gesturing at her Coastal Care Mobile Veterinary Services (CCMVS) office – a 26-foot mobile unit she calls The Rig. “My intent was to have a fixed-location practice. I even had a building!”

Summer 2023

been privately owned many times. It remained virtually untouched for hundreds of years, except for a fish camp on the South Carolina side from the 1920s until 1954, when Hurricane Hazel wiped the entire island clean of mostly all things made by man and God. Time and nature rebuilt the island, populating it with rich flora and fauna. When the owner, Janie Price, planned a 15-lot development in the 1990s, several Sunset Beach residents objected.

They included Bill Ducker, who became a co-founder of the protesting Bird Island Preservation Society (BIPS), and chairman of its steering committee.

Left, Bird Island Preservation Society Co-Founder Bill Ducker points the way to the Kindred Spirit Mailbox; right, visitors gather for a tour on a Wednesday morning in summer.

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North Brunswick Magazine

FERMENTATION STATION

ROVING FOR ROVER

Dr. Gallagher performs a pre-surgical exam on a feline patient.

Summer 2023

Danny Kallick enjoys playing softball, and so do about 300 other Brunswick County men who are at least 50 years old. As president of the Brunswick County Men’s Senior Softball League, Kallick is reaching out to new residents, nonresidents and those not familiar with the league, which organizes teams in the spring and fall.

“We are always looking to recruit new players to help strengthen and grow the league,” he says.

From 15 to 20 men comprise a team, and the 2023 Tuesday spring league included 10 teams. The spring league plays 14 weeks, two games a week or a double header, starting the last Tuesday in March and going through June. It ends with playoffs and awards. The fall league begins in September and goes through the third week of November, also with playoffs and awards.

Sign-up is year-round.

Rather than being assigned a team, some of the neighborhoods throughout the county developed their own team, such as Sandpiper Bay in Sunset Beach, the Bandits at Ocean Ridge Plantation in Ocean Isle Beach,, Winding River in Bolivia and the Jimmies and the Gators from St. James Plantation in Southport.

There are teams with sponsors, including TLC (Total Lawn Care, a business in Sunset Beach), Coastal Tire in Shallotte, the team Kallick is on, and Humana.

Larry Long of Calabash is on the TLC team and says he joined the league “a long time ago.” Since the league started in 1996, he says he could have been on

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PHOTO COURTESY OF BRUNSWICK COUNTY MEN’S SENIOR SOFTBALL LEAGUE

FINAL ACT OF SERVICE

PADDLE OUT

That’s when a band of Sunset Beach preservationists joined forces to save the place from planned development. They succeeded, with the State of North Carolina putting it under its wing as a dedicated nature preserve around the turn of this century. Today it continues to be a state-protected land for visitors to enjoy and study. It is kept pristine by a couple of dozen local volunteers, who lead educational nature walks on its beautiful grounds. They’re known as the Bird Island Stewards.

The boundary between the Carolinas lies on the west end of Bird Island near the Little River jetty. Until 2001 the island had

ON THE

the North Carolina Department of Marine Fisheries (NCDMF) and began laying Veterans to rest in 2019.

Twenty-three remains have been placed on AR-372.

Marcinowski hopes to place nearly 2,000 Veteran remains on

BY CHRISTINE R. GONZALEZ | PHOTOGRAPHY BY BILL RITENOUR

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n a May 20 ceremony at Battleship Park in Wilmington, the founder of Veterans Memorial Reef suggested that deceased Military Veterans could still perform one last act of service to others.

“These fallen heroes are about to continue their duty to their nation,” said Veterans Memorial Reef (VMR) Founder Thomas Marcinowski. “By placing their ashes on an artificial reef off the coast of Wilmington, their placement will provide an augmentation to increase our dwindling ecosystem.”

Marcinowski, a retired U.S. Army Major, had an unusual idea that is taking hold. The ashes of Veterans are placed inside an aquatic urn, encased in a marker with an indelible plaque, then placed, facing sunrise, on an artificial reef.

He and fellow servicemen Joe Irrera and Alex Cupernall launched the nonprofit Veterans Memorial Reef in 2019. VMR was granted access to artificial reef AR-372 by

CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

THE VETERANS MEMORIAL REEF B U R I E S V E T E R A N S AT S E A I N A Q U AT I C

Brunswick County Men’s Senior Softball League is for men age 50 and older and is all about having fun and making new friends on the field.

PLAY BALL!

Premiere Issue — Fall 2023

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FROM OUR FILES D LIFEINBRUNSWICKCOUNTY.COM/SPTOKI

Throughout the years in SBM We've covered the Southport Oak Island area for years in our sister publication South Brunswick Magazine. Take a look at some of our coverage and view these articles online at LifeinBrunswickCounty.com/sptoki

FREEFALLIN’

ONE IF BY LAND; TWO IF BY SEA

PHOTO BY GENIE LEIGH PHOTOGRAPHY

STATION OAK ISLAND US CGC BAYBERRY

CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

Based at Cape Fear Regional Jetport, Skydive Coastal Carolina changes lives through the thrilling adventure of skydiving.

PAWS AND EFFECT

By Rich O'Donnell

By Kathy Blake

By Kathy Blake

The only U.S. Coast Guard Station in Brunswick County, Station Oak Island works to coordinate the safe passage of maritime traffic and protect North Carolina’s southeastern coast.

At Never Ever Boards on Oak Island, selling skateboards, paddleboards and surfboards helps owner Matt Troetti give back to the community.

At Cape Fear K9, Mike Chambers teaches old and young dogs new tricks.

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SPT OKI Magazine

PHOTO BY MEGAN DEITZ

PHOTO BY TIMOTHY WOOD

By Beth Klahre

By John Cardillo

A WOMAN OF MANY HATS

PHOTO BY DOC LIBERTY

Solar Brewing Company brings the craft brewery experience to Oak Island.

A VOICE OF NASA

RIGHT ON TARGET

PHOTO BY LEIGH ROBERTS

BREWING AT THE BEACH

CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

PHOTO BY LEIGH ROBERTS

FROM OUR FILES D LIFEINBRUNSWICKCOUNTY.COM/SPTOKI

By Carolyn Bowers

A recipient of the Governor’s Volunteer Service Award, Ann Hollingsworth serves the South Brunswick community in her signature style.

While a student at South Brunswick High School, Bolivia native Shaneequa Vereen never imagined she’d one day be a live mission commentator on space launches.

Throw Baxe Axe House and Board Game Lounge hits the spot as a fun place to play and hang out in Southport

GUIDED BY LOVE

CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

By Teresa McLamb

PHOTO BY JENNA KAZMIERCZAK

By Annesophia Richards

SAVING THE TREEHOUSE IN THE OCEAN

By Beth Klahre

By Melissa Slaven Warren

Artist Missy Tripp Ronquillo keeps the good vibes alive through art at Pescado Y Amor studio in Oak Island.

With a new nonprofit named FPTower Inc., the owner of Frying Pan Shoals Light Station seeks help with preserving the historic tower 32 miles offshore.

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ONLINE EXCLUSIVES D EXTRAS YOU WILL ONLY FIND ONLINE D LIFEINBRUNSWICKCOUNTY.COM/SPTOKI

THE PROS AND CONS OF WIND ENERGY Locals gather to hear about the proposed wind farm off the Brunswick County coast.

By John Cardillo

The proposed wind energy project to be built off the shores of Brunswick County was the topic of a late February session held at the St. James Community Center and attended by nearly 100 local residents. Both the pros and cons of moving ahead with the massive project were presented. | CONTINUE READING ONLINE

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BENEFIT CONCERT Synchronicity, featuring a flutist, pianist and vocalist, performed in Southport on August 5 to raise funds for Brunswick Partnership for Housing.

DISTINGUISHED GRAND MARSHAL North Carolina 4th of July Festival announces Colonel Chad Blacketer as the 2023 Parade Grand Marshal.

The NC 4th of July Festival Committee welcomed Colonel Chad Blacketer, Commander, 596th Transportation Brigade, Sunny Point, N.C., as its Grand Marshal for 2023. | CONTINUE READING ONLINE 20

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“Songs for a Summer Evening,” a classical and traditional concert, was held at St. Philip’s Episcopal Church, 205 E. Moore Street in Southport. A reception followed the concert. All proceeds from the freewill offering benefited the Brunswick Partnership for Housing, which provides transitional housing for families in need. | CONTINUE READING ONLINE

CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

Musical trio Synchronicity performed a benefit concert for Brunswick Partnership for Housing on August 5.

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ONLINE EXCLUSIVES D EXTRAS YOU WILL ONLY FIND ONLINE D LIFEINBRUNSWICKCOUNTY.COM/SPTOKI

From the stylish imagination of Southport resident and Wilmington native Heather Newsom comes Sienna’s, a women’s clothing and gift boutique new to the waterfront streets of Downtown Southport. Located next to Trolly Stop, the shop opened its doors on June 3, 2023, offering coastal boho styles with a dash of glam, fit for women of all shapes and sizes. | CONTINUE READING ONLINE

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PHOTO BY MEGAN DEITZ

SIENNA'S Beyond offering a substantial array of clothing size selections, Sienna’s boutique features shoes, accessories and chic gift items.

DRIVE-THROUGH SCHOOL SUPPLY DRIVE Dosher Memorial Hospital collected school supplies for Communities In Schools of Brunswick County on August 3.

CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

The third annual Operation School Supplies at Dosher Memorial Hospital was held on August 3.

The community was invited to drop off new school supplies at the hospital front entrance, and the supplies were donated for the benefit of students served by Communities In Schools of Brunswick County. Participants were able to drive through and drop off donations without having to leave their cars. | CONTINUE READING ONLINE

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OUTER BANKS BOIL COMPANY OAK ISLAND NOW OPEN North-Carolina based Outer Banks Boil Company, an experience driven, seafood takeout and catering company that specializes in signature seafood boils, opened on June 30.

Outer Banks Boil Company focuses on providing vacationers and locals with a dining tradition that is as relaxed, laid back and fun as the beach communities they serve. Oak Island, another one of the great, family focused, American beach towns, is the perfect location for the newest Outer Banks Boil Company location. | CONTINUE READING ONLINE

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CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

The new location is conveniently located in the Publix Shopping Center on E. Oak Island Drive.

Premiere Issue — Fall 2023

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TAG, YOU’RE IT!

Tagged Keep showing us your Southport Oak Island spirit — share your moments, stories and snapshots by tagging Q #sptoki #lifeinbrunswickcounty @southportoakislandmagazine E #sptoki #lifeinbrunswickcounty @sptoki

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WHAT’S HAPPENED

equipment, climbing over a wall and through a tunnel to rescue a victim, the bike rodeo and, of course, popsicles. The sobriety test taken with special impairment goggles was also a big hit.

BHI Conservancy had an educational booth, and volunteers and staff also offered booths with information about the Vial/ File of Life program, the Knox Box program, hurricane preparedness, medical equipment, fire equipment and all the vehicles and apparatus the department has to work with.

CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

Coastal Home & Lifestyle Showcase Held in Oak Island’s Middleton Park Southport-Oak Island Area Chamber of Commerce held its Coastal Home & Lifestyle Showcase on May 13 in Middleton Park on Oak Island. Almost 300 attendees connected with local businesses that specialize in home maintenance, outdoor living and healthy and active lifestyles. Chuck Hawkins of Oak Island won the $200 drawing from the chamber. Nowcat and Music Mafia Radio provided a perfect mix of music during the event. The chamber’s next business expo–style event will be the Coastal Consumer Showcase on Thursday, February 8, 2024, at St. James Community Center.

BCC Southport Center Dedicates Donna Mandell Creativity Cove Brunswick Community College (BCC) Southport Center recently dedicated the Donna Mandell Creativity Cove in honor of Donna Mandell, a Southport resident and artist. Students of all ages will use the new outdoor destination to explore and grow their love of the arts. After Mandell’s passing last year, her daughter, Michele Mandell Cherry, donated the funds on her behalf and worked with Southport Center and The Foundation of BCC to develop the new space. Children from a Brunswick County Parks and Recreation program were the first to use Creativity Cove, using the space to paint handthrown, bisque-fired bowls for donation to Empty Bowls, a grassroots movement by artists worldwide to fight hunger.

Mandell's family members, arts community representatives and BCC administration, faculty and staff joined the children.

On May 11 a team of more than 30 Keller Williams agents and staff members from the Oak Island office joined forces for the annual RED Day to contribute to a community cause. The KW team pulled on their work gloves and brought their rakes and shovels to support Brunswick Partnership for Housing (BPH).

BPH is renovating a four-unit building at 250 E. 11th Street, Southport, to serve homeless families and individuals in need of transitional housing. The building is expected to open for clients this summer.

Bald Head Island Public Safety Day Bald Head Island’s Public Safety Day on May 13 was a huge success. Held at the Department of Public Safety, the event was organized by Public Safety volunteers and Public Services Auxiliary members. The day started with a 3.2-mile race (for Station 32), which Public Safety Officer Chip Sudderth ran in full gear! Kids enjoyed the training course, trying on fire

CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

Keller Williams Cleans Up for Brunswick Partnership for Housing

Nonnie's Baking Co. Opens in Southport

Southport-Oak Island Area Chamber of Commerce held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for Nonnie’s Baking Co. on May 4.

Nonnie’s Baking Co. specializes in custom wedding, birthday and special occasion cakes and offers individual sales of cupcakes, cookies and rice crispy treats in the shop. The new bakery is located at 1517 N. Howe Street, Suite 5 in Southport (you’ll find it on the Robert Ruark Drive side of the plaza behind Famous Subs & Pizza).

BCC VP Selected for National Commission on Student Success Brunswick Community College (BCC) is proud to announce the appointment of Dr. Kevin Lee, vice president of academic affairs and chief academic officer at BCC, to the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) Commission Premiere Issue — Fall 2023

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WHAT’S HAPPENED

Brunswick Supply House Opens in Oak Island

on Student Success. Lee is one of only two dozen individuals selected for this role with AACC and will serve a three-year term spanning July 2023 to June 2026. The commission focuses on student access, success and organizational transformation.

The commission also examines degree completion and twoyear to four-year transfer. In addition, it looks at cutting-edge innovation with proven outcomes and ways to improve student success while providing affordable, high-quality technical assistance in areas that support students in every way possible.

Business North Carolina has officially recognized Brunswick Electric Membership Corporation (BEMC) as one of the state’s top employers. BEMC made Business North Carolina’s annual list of Best Employers, which highlights companies that rank highest in motivating their teammates and attracting good employees. BEMC was certified following a survey that polled its employees on a variety of essential workplace topics, including organizational health, engagement, leadership, worklife balance, training, pay, benefits and social responsibility.

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Dosher Participates in County Active Event Training Drill On June 15 Dosher Memorial Hospital participated in a multiagency active event training drill to enhance the preparedness of local first responders and medical personnel.

Participants in the scenario-based drill included Brunswick County Sheriff ’s Office, Brunswick County Emergency Services, Brunswick County Schools, Brunswick Community College, Brunswick Novant Hospital and Dosher. The drill began at Town Creek Elementary School and Town Creek Middle School with a simulated active threat situation. Dosher’s participation in the drill included the receipt of 17 role players portraying mass casualty victims into the Emergency Department, who were transported from Town Creek to the hospital by bus. Dosher utilized the drill to practice emergency response management and review the use of the Incident Command System (ICS) with hospital personnel and other participating agencies.

CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

BEMC Honored as One of the Best Employers in North Carolina

Southport-Oak Island Area Chamber of Commerce recently held a grand-opening ribbon-cutting ceremony for Brunswick Supply House. Brunswick Supply House, located at 5216 E. Oak Island Drive in Oak Island, is an HVAC/R supply house selling HVAC/R supplies and materials to individuals and professionals.

CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

As the nation celebrated its 247th anniversary of independence, members of the Brunswick Town Chapter National Society of Daughters of the American Revolution (NSDAR) participated in the Southport Fourth of July festivities, which have been celebrated in that town for 231 years.

Southport first celebrated the nation's independence in 1792 as the Festival of Free Men, and the city has since continued over two centuries with the N.C. 4th of July Festival, remembering the sacrifices, while celebrating freedom. This year, one of the early chapter Regents, Mrs. Jean Myers, who lives in an historic home on Moore Street in Southport, was able to join the DAR members as they prepared for the parade. Myers was the first chapter regent when Brunswick Town DAR formed during the 1976 Bicentennial. Myers is in her 90s now and still vibrant with patriotism.

CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

Brunswick Town DAR Participates in Southport’s Historic Patriotic Parade

WHAT’S HAPPENED

GFWC Donates $1,500 Toward Student Scholarships

space additions on Oak Island and Long Beach Road and the construction of a brand-new 8,000-square-foot Emergency Department on the corner of E. 9th and N. Howe streets in Southport.

The General Federation of Women’s Clubs of the South Brunswick Islands (GFWC-SBI) recently presented Brunswick Community College (BCC) with two checks for scholarship funds. One check for $1,000 was given for nursing scholarships and another for $500 was given for the general scholarship fund. The GFWC-SBI is a chapter of the General Federation of Women’s Clubs (GFWC), one of the world’s largest and oldest non-denominational, non-partisan, international volunteer service organizations for women.

CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

New Hope Clinic Earns a Gold Rating from the NAFC Quality Standards Program

The National Association of Free and Charitable Clinics (NAFC) Quality Standards Program has awarded New Hope Clinic with a 2023 Gold Rating. By self-attesting that the organization has certain policies and procedures in place, it is able to highlight its commitment to providing quality care to patients. The NAFC's mission is to ensure the medically underserved have access to affordable healthcare, and its members are dedicated to ensuring that patients receive quality healthcare. NAFC Quality Standards elements include policies and procedures related to the following areas: Administrative, Clinic/Pharmacy Responsibilities, Credentialing and Privileging Systems, Patient Care and Risk Management Systems.

Dosher Breaks Ground on Phase 1 Master Facility Plan

Dosher Memorial Hospital held a community cookout and 93rd birthday party on June 10 at the hospital’s back entrance.

More than 450 guests enjoyed a cookout lunch, music and the camaraderie of friends, neighbors, Dosher staff, members of the Dosher Trustees, Dosher volunteers, Dosher Foundation board members and hospital leaders. The speaker program concluded with a ground-breaking ceremony to celebrate the commencement of hospital and clinic expansions that will occur through Phase 1 of Dosher’s Master Facility Plan. Upgrades in the next three-year period will include expansion of Central Sterile, the hospital lab and the hospital pharmacy, provider

CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

Bald Head Island Dredging Update

Coastal Dredging Inc. completed dredging of the Bald Head Island marina channel entrance and the bypass area in May. Coastal Dredging returned in July for additional dredging maintenance and to place sand farther down the beach (cell 2) in front of Row Boat Row.

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WHAT’S HAPPENING

Classic Cars Rock n’ Roll Cruise-In October 28 The annual Classic Cars Rock n’ Roll Cruise-In car show will be held in the heart of downtown Southport on October 28 from 10 am to 4 pm. It features much more than the array of gorgeous and vintage automobiles. Activities and attractions will also include live music, contests, food and more.

CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

Information: oak-islandnc.com/southportclassic-cars-rock-roll

U.S. Open King Mackerel Tournament

U.S. Open King Mackerel Tournament October 5 to 7 With headquarters at Dutchman Creek Park in Southport, the U.S. Open King Mackerel Tournament features stiff competition and tons of prizes for anglers.

The multiple-day fishing tournament is a great way to explore the expansive waters of the Cape Fear region while landing some big cash prizes along the way. The tournament, which has been held since 1979, has a guaranteed prize structure as well as room for roughly 400 boats who want to join in the action.

performers, singers and songwriters.

The season kicks off with Don’t Stop Believin’ – The Journey Tribute. Other shows in the line-up include performances by bands playing hits from Michael Jackson, John Denver, Bob Seger, Queen, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Diana Ross and The Supremes, and Johnny and June Carter Cash.

Information: pledgethepink.com/oki

The Brunswick County Intercultural Festival will include music, dance and an International Village as well as craft and food vendors at Riverwalk Park. There will also be concerts at Odell Williamson Auditorium.

November 18 The second annual golf outing will be held on Saturday, November 18 at the Oak Island Golf Club. There will be a shotgun start at 9:30 am with four-person teams, mulligans, raffles and several contests throughout the day. Golfers will be provided with lunch and awards.

October 19 to 22

October 13 & 14

Information: (440) 596-9673, oiwr.org

Winterfest Festival December 1 to 9

Southport Wooden Boat Show

Information: bcifestival.org

Kicking off on October 19, Odell Williamson Auditorium’s 2023-24 season includes an eight-show line-up that pays tribute to some of the most legendary 26

SPT OKI Magazine

CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

Odell Williamson Auditorium 30th Season Shows October 19

A little bit of history and a lot of fun, the Southport Wooden Boat Show is entertaining for all ages. This annual event celebrates the craft of wooden boat making and the history that has tied Southport to the water for generations.

It’s held at the Old Yacht Basin from 10 am to 4 pm.

Oak Island Water Rescue Team Fundraiser

Pledge the Pink

Brunswick County Intercultural Festival

Information: usopenkmt.com

November 4

Information: southportwoodenboatshow.com

Information: (910) 755-8513, bccowa.com

Pledge the Pink is the second largest multi-day breast cancer event in the country and will be celebrating its 13th anniversary this year. Participants will meet at Middleton Park and walk, run and crawl 33.1 miles over three days.

Southport Wooden Boat Show

This nine-day-long annual festival highlights the community spirit of Southport. It features a wealth of activities including a cookie contest, the Southport Christmas Flotilla, Winterfest Tea, Pet Pictures with Santa, holiday movies, a Christmas parade, a craft festival and so much more. It is a great way to enjoy the holiday spirit while taking in everything Southport has to offer.

Information: downtownsouthport.org/ winterfest

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Premiere Issue — Fall 2023

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UNLEASH YOUR DOG’S GREATEST POTENTIAL At Cape Fear K9, we pride ourselves in using a variety of proactive training methods that are focused on positive reinforcement and reward to ensure your pup or dog learn in the most effective and enjoyable manner.

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PRIVATE LESSONS: 4 Different Training Packages BOARD & TRAIN: 5 Different Board & Train Packages

910.233.3554 Cfk9llc@gmail.com •

www.capefeark9.com 28

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ARCHIE SPELL ARCHIE SPELL THE COIN GUY THE COIN GUY

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SPIRITS

It’s Tequila Thyme

I

Reposado tequila, cava and fresh thyme come together for a sophisticated tequila experience.

BY SANDI GRIGG

I am typically not a tequila drinker, but this herb-inspired cocktail blends tequila and sparkling cava for a thyme-infused alcoholic pop that I love. Rather than using a flavored substitute or artificial thyme flavor, I prepared this drink with home-grown thyme. In my opinion, fresh ingredients are what make a drink a true cocktail.

Around the office I am known as the plant lady because I love growing all types of plants, succulents and herbs. Before my thyme burned up from the summer heat, I selected a few sprigs that inspired me to create this spirit, which finishes similar to a seltzer.

This recipe uses reposado tequila, which basically means “rested” in Spanish. Reposado tequilas rest anywhere from two months to a year before they are bottled. Reposados take on a gold hue from the aged oak or white oak barrels in which they are aged. I used the Don Julio brand, which I found in my local ABC store. You can use any brand of tequila you prefer, but make sure to use the reposado.

This cocktail also uses cava, which is a sparkling wine from Spain. It may be white (blanco) or rosé (rosado). Cava goes so well with tequila, and for this cocktail I used the Freixenet Sparkling Cordon Negro Brut Cava, which I found in my local grocery.

Tequila has a reputation for causing trouble, but the elegant flavors in this drink will bring about your sophisticated side.

Admittedly, I am a little fickle where cocktails are concerned.

But you’ll see, once you take a sip of this wonderful drink, you will be sold too.

TEQUILA THYME POP Makes 2 drinks

INGREDIENTS: 3 Tablespoons lime juice 4 sprigs fresh thyme ¼ cup simple syrup 1/2 cup reposado tequila Ice Cava as needed to top off glass 2 sprigs of thyme to garnish

METHOD: Pour the lime juice into a cocktail shaker and drop in the thyme sprigs. Bruise the thyme using a muddler to release the flavor and aromatics.

Add the simple syrup and tequila, then add ice until it almost fills the cocktail shaker.

Cover the shaker and shake 15 seconds to mix ingredients.

Using a strainer, split the fluid equally into two chilled glasses. Top each glass with cava and garnish with a sprig of thyme.

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WHAT’S COOKIN’ WITH SOUTHERN SANDI

Quick & Easy

Meat & Taters

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The all-in-one sheet pan technique works well for steak and potatoes too.

BY SANDI GRIGG PHOTOGRAPHY BY JAMES STEFIUK

If I were to ask my family what they want for dinner every night, they would likely reply, "Meat and taters.” That’s not at all what I want to cook every day, especially a week day, but some days are actually meat and tater kind of days.

I don't eat or cook a lot of red meat, but the cooler fall evenings have a way of making me crave a good steak. However, at the end of long and busy weekday, I don’t want to go through the trouble of firing up the grill, steaming broccoli and boiling potatoes. I want a quick and healthy meal that’s a cinch to clean up, and this all-in-one sheet pan steak and vegetables dish is it!

You might be wondering how a steak will taste being cooked in the oven on a sheet pan, but I am here to tell you that it turns out mouthwateringly perfect. The dry-rub marinade locks in the flavors, and with only one flip under the broiler it comes out super tender. It is important to place the steak on the pan when the pan is already hot so it starts to sear the outside of the steak as soon as it touches the pan.

In this recipe, I have offered a window for cook time on the steak because some like their steak rarer than others. When I made this recipe, I was feeding my little one and got distracted, so I cooked the steak a bit longer than my Substitute broccoli or add personal preference; to be sure it was well asparagus, brussel sprouts or done, but to my surprise it was still tender and mushrooms. Potatoes not tasty. The aroma of the rosemary, balsamic in your diet? Try carrots, and garlic as everything cooks is divine, and cauliflower or when it is done cooking the colors from the sliced parsnips. steak, broccoli and potatoes make for an impressive presentation.

Typically, I cook and my spouse cleans. But with this dish, I offered to cook and clean. It was a very quick and easy preparation and clean up. So, the next time your family asks for meat and taters, think of this easy sheet-pan recipe. You won’t even be disappointed if you have to clean up.

Make it your own!

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Q Southern.Sandi

Sheet Pan Balsamic Flank Steak Serves 4

INGREDIENTS 1½ lbs. flank steak 2 cups broccoli florets 1½ lbs. mini medley potatoes, halved 4 garlic cloves, sliced 1 Tablespoon freshly chopped rosemary plus 3 sprigs 1 Tablespoon balsamic vinegar 1½ Tablespoons olive oil 1 Tablespoon paprika 1½ teaspoons onion powder 1½ teaspoons garlic powder salt and pepper

METHOD In a small bowl mix garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, chopped rosemary and salt and pepper; reserve 1 teaspoon of dry mixture for vegetables.

Rub the dry spices all over the flank steak and set the steak aside to marinate.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. On a large sheet pan, scatter the broccoli, potato halves, sliced garlic and rosemary sprigs. Drizzle the olive oil and balsamic vinegar over the vegetables then toss to coat. Bake 20 minutes.

Push the cooked vegetables to the edges of the sheet pan and place the seasoned steak in the middle of the hot pan. Sprinkle the remaining 1 teaspoon of dry mixed spices over the vegetables and cook it all under the broiler for 5 to 7 minutes. Remove from oven, flip the steak and broil for another 5 to 7 minutes or until steak reaches desired doneness.

Have a recipe request for Southern Sandi?

Shoot a message to sandi@lifeinbrunswickcounty.com

Cut the steak into thin slices and serve with the vegetables.

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With Big Love Vinyl, Doug Ausbury shares his love of music with the people of Oak Island and Southport.

C

Mem

MU

SI

BY BETH A. KLAHRE

D

s e i r O

&

Dream big, we tell our kids. A Forbes report on a recent nationwide survey on what kids want to be when they grow up showed that the most popular answers were doctor, teacher, scientist, chef, professional athlete, firefighter and astronaut. Only 10 percent hold their dream job today.

Doug Ausbury, owner of Big Love Vinyl in Crossroads Gathering Place on Oak Island, is in that 10 percent. While packing during his last move, he unearthed his 11th-grade composition about owning a record store, four paragraphs about his dream job.

Ausbury has fond memories of music in his childhood years. He bought his first record album, a Van Halen record, at Sears, Roebuck and Company when he was in seventh grade with his paper route money. He also rode his bike to his local Camelot Music store to buy records.

“I also remember sneaking out of church early so I could get to

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CO N T R IB U T E D P H

OTO S

Happy Big Love Vinyl customers (clockwise from top): Samantha Franklin, Alexa Robbins and Matt Thorne. Opposite page: Big Love Vinyl owner Doug Ausbury

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OT OB

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. KL

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a radio and hear Casey Kasem reveal the number one song of the week,” Ausbury recalls.

Ausbury became completely entrenched in music during high school.

“I would put on the worst clothes I could find and take my dad’s station wagon and a flashlight to a large downtown Dallas record company’s dumpster in the middle of the night,” Ausbury recalls. “I would come out with treasures — records, cassettes, promotional material for albums, posters and cardboard replica album covers. I would take everything to a Dallas record store where that stuff was gold. I would trade for store credit and walk out with stacks and stacks of records.”

The credit was the blank check Ausbury needed to explore all possible musical genres.

It also offered him a deep dive into music, lyrics, artwork, band members and producers.

Over the next two years, he amassed a collection of 2,000 records. He kept them in stacks in his bedroom.

“I became an encyclopedia of all things music, digesting and learning everything from the liner notes of the albums,” he says. “Now I am the person everyone wants on their music trivia team.”

A lot happened since that 11thgrade writing assignment — college, careers, marriage and kids. Ausbury’s Premiere Issue — Fall 2023

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PHOTO BY DOUG AUSBURY

Mike Jones at his church. Jones was about to open a vendor marketplace in Oak Island. He and his wife, Bre, and co-owner Katie Clegg enthusiastically welcomed Big Love Vinyl into Crossroads in March 2023. The shop is a 34

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PHOTO BY BETH A. KLAHRE

collection of new, pre-owned and collector records and accessories. There are more than 3,000 albums awaiting new caretakers in the shop along with 1,500 on the website.

Caretakers?

“Here’s how I see it,” Ausbury says. “I have 4,000 records in my personal collection, not for sale. I don’t see myself as someone who just owns them, but someone who is the caretaker of them. At some point, they will be passed along to the next caretaker. When I take a record out of Big Love’s inventory, pack it up, put someone’s name on it and ship it, this person now becomes the caretaker.”

Ausbury posts website sales on social media with a nod to The Beatles: I say goodbye. You say hello.

The shop at Crossroads is a new kind of fun for Ausbury.

“Being able to curate my own record shop is an adrenaline rush,” he says. “I get to figure out what others want to listen to from jazz to country, soundtracks and Japanese presses. I love the constant work of curation.

Helping people find music they love is a great feeling.”

A lot of records pass through Ausbury’s hands.

INTO THE “There is a place for every one of them,” GROOVE? he says.

If he does not keep it for his personal Big Love Vinyl collection, Ausbury will put the record Crossroads online or in the shop. About twice per Gathering Place month, he donates albums to Once More 128 Country Club Drive #42, Oak Bookstore managed by Friends of the Island Library Southport & Oak Island or to Habitat for Humanity Restore, both m (910) 408-2610 located in Southport. “It’s my way to give Open every day of back,” he says. the week, but hours vary.

“Come in and enjoy the walk down memory lane," Ausbury says. "Connect with Big Love online is music again on a deeper level. Music and always open: K bigloveyvinyl.com memories . . . that's big love.” 

first job out of college was recruiting mystery shoppers to enter stores to evaluate customer service experiences and compiling data to present back to the clients. He worked for a large hospital, being groomed for hospital administration. At one point he was laid off. With a one-year old and three-year old in tow, he took the opportunity to launch a business in digital marketing, developing and optimizing websites, riding on the successful launch of Google that same year.

Fast-forward 25 years.

“During COVID I acquired too many records, nearly a couple thousand,” Ausbury says. “My wife, Kim, who is a professional organizer, came into my office stacked floor to ceiling with records. I’m 6 foot 5 and not hard to miss, yet she called out ‘Are you in there?’ I decided it was time to go through every record I had ever acquired.” Over a weekend in December 2020, Ausbury built a website and opened his online shop, Big Love Vinyl, named after the song by Fleetwood Mac and 1 Corinthians 13:13.

Last year Ausbury met

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Premiere Issue — Fall 2023

35

The Blessing (Not the Curse)

of Oak Island Lonerider at Oak Island offers treasures like a relaxed atmosphere, good food and a

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nice variety of brews you can enjoy in an idyllic spot on the water.

BY KURT EPPS, THE PUBSCOUT

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PHOTOGRAPHY BY KATIE D PHOTOGRAPHY

PHOTO BY KURT EPPS

PHOTO BY KATIE D PHOTOGRAPHY

Unless you’ve been on a 10-year-long safari with no access to television, you must have heard of the infamous TV show on The History Channel called “The Curse of Oak Island.” It’s about two brothers with (apparently) unlimited financial resources who’ve been seeking — for more than a decade — a buried treasure supposedly hidden by the Knights Templar on Oak Island off the coast of Nova Scotia.

When I went to Oak Island, North Carolina, I looked for Laginas (named Pete and Marty) but found only lagoons. I looked for gold but I only found amber. I looked for huge drilling rigs but found only

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pilings — with birds perched on them. In short, none of the trappings or people from that long-running TV show “The Curse of Oak Island” were here.

Of course, that could be because one Oak Island is up in Nova Scotia, and this Oak Island is down here in N.C. But make no mistake, there is treasure here as well, especially if you’re a beer lover who enjoys a relaxed atmosphere, good food and a nice variety of brews in an idyllic spot on the water.

The place is called Lonerider. It’s on 57th Street up at the west end of the island, and it occupies the beautiful location that once was home to the much-loved Oak Island Fish House back in the

PHOTO BY KATIE D PHOTOGRAPHY PHOTO BY KATIE D PHOTOGRAPHY

PHOTO BY KURT EPPS

PHOTO BY KATIE D PHOTOGRAPHY

Above: Lonerider at Oak Island staff Casey Forester, Katie Johnson, Dena Davenport, Leshia Johnson, Mollie Baker, Cayleigh Quiqq, Bill King and Tim Phillips. Right: Bartender Bill King.

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arranging tables outside, she was popping in and out of the kitchen to see what was going on or lugging outside a huge box of Jenga pieces for use later that evening. The outdoor area of Lonerider has a covered patio right on the water and a side area where bands play music while guests play cornhole and Jenga.

And drink. During my visit, eight beers were available on tap and one — Sweet Josie — was available only in cans.

Bill says that Lonerider in Raleigh (there are two locations in Raleigh and one in Wake Forest) sends down beers on a rotating basis. I

PHOTO BY KATIE D PHOTOGRAPHY

PHOTO BY KATIE D PHOTOGRAPHY

day. Lonerider’s small kitchen puts out some big food and gets its beer from its parent company in Raleigh, where the brewery has enjoyed a stellar reputation since 2009.

I visited the Oak Island location close to Memorial Day, almost exactly after it officially opened. Memorial Day 2023 marked its one-year anniversary and the kick-off of a busy season.

“It gets crazy,” Bill says, “and it will stay that way until Labor Day. But we’ll handle it. After all, we’ve got Leshia Johnson managing the place.”

Leshia made an appearance and stopped moving long enough for a picture, but otherwise she was pretty much a blur with the unbridled energy of a 20-year-old. If she wasn’t

sampled Cerveza, a 4.8% Mexican Lager that is intended to attract Corona drinkers. It had more flavor than Corona, of course, and it is the beer that’s used in the cooking of Lonerider’s Steampot, which is half-pound of crab, a halfpound of shrimp and a half-pound of Andouille sausage. A couple of ears of corn are included.

The beer is also an ingredient of its beer cheese. That mixture comes with the Pretzel Bites appetizer, which is quite good. But order when you have at least two or three people to eat it because you get a lot.

A second beer, which Bill claims is a favorite of the ladies who come in from the beach, was True Lyme Lyte. “It flies out of here on warm days,” Bill says. It’s got a lot of lime in both nose and palate, and though it’s not The PubScout’s cup of tea, I can see how it would be a beachgoer’s favorite.

Shotgun Betty Hefeweizen was a very good example of the style — flavorful and nicely balanced.

Perhaps the most interesting beer was one called Imperial Pilsner Light Lager. A 7.7% beer, it is decidedly not light either in appearance or potency. But it is absolutely delicious. I would hesitate to offer this as a transitional beer to entice the BudMillerCoors crowd, because it’s a solid Imperial Pilsner and nothing like any of those beers. Again, it is impressive.

Next came three IPAs. The first — Peacemaker — was described as a “juicy” IPA with citrus notes. I did not find it to be particularly juicy, and it is closer to a West Coast IPA than a juice bomb. The hops came through solidly on the back end, though, and its 5.5% ABV rendered it as a solid session beer.

The second IPA was called Hoppy-Ki-Yay, and it, too, rang in at a sessionable 6.6%. It was also reminiscent of a bigger, pinier West Coast IPA and had the requisite hop bite in the finish.

Both of these beers would pair well with spicier fare, and, very likely, that big Steampot.

The star of the IPA lineup (in my view) was IPA for Outlaws, and, by rights, it probably could have been labeled as a DIPA. After all, it was 8.3% and absolutely qualified as such. Lots of big flavor and initially, the malt threatened to steal the show from Premiere Issue — Fall 2023

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PHOTO BY KURT EPPS

the hops, but in the end they were battled to accommodate the machinery we’d need DRINK WITH to a pleasing draw. A very nicely balanced to keep those glasses washed and dried.”

A VIEW and thoroughly enjoyable beer, for sure.

So, you’ll have to be satisfied with Lonerider at Oak Island But the beer that got my full attention plastic or cans. Or, I suppose, you could was a new one called Grant’s Amber. This buy a pint glass for $5 and have Bill fill it 57th Place W., Oak Island 5.8% beer was richly satisfying, smooth on with your favorite beer.

K loneriderbeer.com/ the palate and expertly crafted. If I were to But that’s a relatively small location/oak-island choose a session beer at Lonerider, Grant’s inconvenience when you measure it against Amber would be it. good beer, good food, nice folks and an While I’ve already mentioned the ideal spot to enjoy an afternoon or evening.

Steampot and the Pretzel Bites, Bill says In fact, I’d suggest that TV stars Rick the Fish and Chips are the best seller, and and Marty Lagina give up their quest for the wings come in at a close second. Indeed, one young lady buried treasure in Oak Island, Nova Scotia, and come down seated next to me at the bar and visiting from Durham sang here to Oak Island, North Carolina, where the treasure is the praises of those wings as she ate them. far more readily accessible.

The only issue for those who love their beers in a cold, And not nearly as expensive. frosty pint glass is that they are not available.

Which makes it a Blessing.  Bill explains, “We just don’t have the space in our kitchen 40

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Tana, Clay, Walker and Molly Jenkins.

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OF O A

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FA MIL S N HOME I T K A N E S T HE J S TA R T I F OR T R I P EAM S T , D ISL A N

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N E SO

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TOGR | PH O

rowing up in the town of Washington, North Carolina, high school sweethearts Clay and Tana Jenkins had a lot in common. They both loved their small hometown, they both loved the beach and, most notably, the two competitive athletes loved playing sports. The Oak Island couple now shares their passions with their son and daughter, Walker and Molly, both stellar athletes themselves, and as a family, this foursome makes one heck of a team.

Clay spent his high school years in Washington playing soccer, football and baseball and continued with

BY M A PH Y

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baseball through his time at N.C. State University. Tana ran track and cross country and played volleyball in high school and afterward headed to William Peace University in Raleigh and played volleyball. She later transferred to UNC Chapel Hill for nursing school, a move that fanned the flames of the couple’s competitive spirits.

“Clay graduating from N.C. State and me from UNC definitely created a fun sports rivalry between us,” Tana says. “We loved to tease each other whenever our schools played.”

Upon graduating in 1998, Clay took a forest management job with International Paper in Riegelwood and relocated to Oak Island. The following year Tana graduated (although she later went back to school to

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CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

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CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

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become a nurse anesthetist) and moved to be Above: Molly Jenkins at home with Clay after the couple married. For and on the them, Oak Island was the perfect place to volleyball court; build a life together and start a family. below and at right, “We both grew up close to the water and Walker Jenkins on in a rural area, so Oak Island wasn’t a huge the baseball field and at home. change for us, and we were perfectly fine being a little isolated,” Tana says. “We love living on the island with the beach right here and the waterway, and having that small, hometown community makes it a great place to raise kids.”

The Jenkins welcomed Walker in 2005, followed by Molly in 2008.

Both children began playing sports at an early age, and Clay and Tana took turns coaching and volunteering with whichever youth sports programs their kids chose.

“Walker started playing sports at age three with soccer and T-ball,

then went on to basketball, football, track, baseball and swimming, and Molly played softball, soccer, basketball, volleyball, dance and cheerleading,” Tana says. “With Clay and I both being athletic and active, we naturally wanted our kids to like sports as well, but I think they would have either way because it came naturally to both of them.”

Tana says she has always felt strongly about encouraging our kids to try something different and exposing them to different sports.

“We never pushed them to do anything, just told them to try it and see if they liked it, and if not, we’d move on

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to something else,” she says.

Having two athletic children involved in constant sporting activities led to busy lives, full calendars and little family downtime. As tough as it was to juggle both kids’ schedules while working full-time jobs, Tana says she would not have had it any other way.

“We were always busy from one thing to the next, but we loved watching our kids compete because it was so much fun,” Tana says. “I look back on those days now, the hotel stays, riding in cars, spending that time interacting and being together as a family, and remember how fun it was.”

Even with the hectic schedules, Tana and Clay insisted on making schoolwork a priority in the Jenkins household. Other values they made sure to instill in both children were the importance of being respectful to others and always being a good teammate, both on and off the field.

“Teaching those life lessons in sports as parents is important, so I wanted to teach my kids that they can be successful, but to always try to be good team players as well,” Tana says.

For Walker, baseball began taking precedence during his middle school years, and by high school, it was clear he was no ordinary player. His notoriety started after a showcase the summer after freshman year, where Clay says college scouts and agents from across the country began taking notice and making offers.

“I went to that event with Walker not expecting anyone to even talk to us, but at the end of the weekend I probably had 60 phone numbers I was supposed to return calls to,” Clay says. “Walker had gone down to Atlanta and really looked good, but that’s how he’d always looked to me. It was the first time where I thought maybe he’s got something.”

The Perfect Game organization ranked

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prepares for her second season on South Brunswick High’s varsity volleyball team. She also plays soccer for the school and competes on a travel volleyball team, and her brother is one of her biggest fans.

“Molly is tough as nails and can deal with anything,” Walker says. “She’s writing her own path, and she’s turned into a really good volleyball player and an even better person.”

When Molly is not busy with schoolwork or competing for her teams, she is often practicing her skills at home with one of her parents. She says she never realized until recently how supportive Clay and Tana have always been in both her and her brother’s athletic pursuits.

“I just thought it was normal growing up that both my parents were always outside playing with us, hitting baseballs, kicking soccer balls and playing volleyball in the yard,” Molly says. “They’ve always encouraged Walker and me to succeed in what we do, whether it’s school or athletics.

A lot of parents might not always be willing to take time out of their day to help their kids practice, especially if it’s not something they enjoy, but our parents are always there to help us practice if we want, and that’s really helped me become better in the sports that I play.”

Now, as Molly dominates in high school athletics and Walker sets out to begin his professional baseball career, Tana and Clay look forward to watching both children live out their dreams. From cheering from the stands and coaching from the sidelines to the countless miles of traveling, hours of practicing and all the life lessons in between, the Jenkins team continues to support each other in every possible way.

“My parents love my sister and me and are willing to do whatever it takes to make us happy, and I think that’s the motto they live by,” Walker says. “They’re going to do what they can to help us succeed and live the lives we want to live.

They’re just great parents.”  CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

Walker as one of the best players in the country, and in the summer of 2021, he was chosen to represent the United States on the national team. After four stellar seasons at South Brunswick High School, Walker graduated in the spring of 2023. On July 9, 2023, as the 5th pick in the Major League Baseball Draft, Walker was drafted by the Minnesota Twins. Although these past few years have been a bevy of excitement, Walker’s family knows the added attention hasn’t diminished his humble spirit in any way.

“I grew up traveling to Walker’s tournaments but never

realized how skilled he was at baseball until he started getting fan mail, which was so weird,” Molly says. “To me he’s just Walker, my brother, but at school friends started bringing me baseballs for him to sign, and people who’ve grown up with Walker began asking him for a picture or signature. None of that’s seemed to faze him.”

Clay says that Walker is very outgoing, but he does not brag and he does not seek attention. “That is one of the things the MLB teams and scouts talk about as much as his ability to play,” Clay says. “He’s an exceptionally good player, but he’s also a great teammate and friend.”

Walker is not the only one garnering attention for his athletic abilities, as 15-year-old rising sophomore Molly 48

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COMMUNITY

Too Many Books?

No Such Thing Once More Bookstore in Southport supports the Margaret & James Harper, Jr. Library in Southport and G.V. Barbee, Sr. Library in Oak Island, funding youth and adult educational programs, facility improvements and various community outreach activities.

T

BY BETH A. KLAHRE

Tucked away behind the Realtors’ offices in Southport Realty on N. Howe Street is a 10,000-volume collection of gently used books that are for sale, most of them surprisingly priced at one dollar or less. Managed by Friends of the Library Southport and Oak Island (FOLSOI), Once More Bookstore sells an astonishing 20,000 books every year along with puzzles, DVDs, CDs and vinyls. Proceeds support Margaret & James Harper, Jr. Library in Southport and G.V. Barbee, Sr. Library in Oak Island, funding youth and adult educational programs, facility improvements and various community outreach activities.

While fiction is the largest genre, Once More Bookstore also offers nonfiction, vintage books, classics and a children’s collection. The nonfiction collection includes war, presidential and general history, nautical, gardening, travel, hobbies, biographies and memoirs, and cookbooks.

It's local folks like Yvonne Moody who help guarantee there is always an amazing selection of books in the store.

“I think as long as I have lived here, if I had a duplicate book or a book that I already read, I would donate it to the bookstore,” Moody says. “I loan books to my friends, but most of them, like me, have a good collection of books themselves.”

Before a recent home downsize, Moody

had five shelves of cookbooks and four shelves of fiction books, which she donated to the bookstore.

“I had bookshelves in every room of our home, except for the powder room and the guest bathroom,” she says, smiling.

Moody estimates that she has donated more than 250 books to the bookstore. “I can’t bear to throw books away. It hurts,” she says.

Moody has volunteered at the bookstore for more than 10 years. She spent a lot of time picking up donated books from Harper Library and transporting them to the bookstore Premiere Issue — Fall 2023

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PHOTOS BY BETH A. KLAHRE

COMMUNITY

Once More Bookstore volunteers (from left to right) Yvonne Moody, bookstore leader Kathy Fleming and Bob Plassman. Opposite page: The shelves are stocked with new and old books from all genres.

where she was also a shelver, placing the books on the appropriate shelves.

In addition to shelving books, volunteers under the direction of Kathy Fleming sort, recycle, transport and sell books. Fleming has been the volunteer bookstore leader for more than 12 years.

“We get very excited to see books like Yvonne’s come into the store,” Fleming says. “And they go off the shelves so quickly. A large portion of the books we receive are in excellent condition.”

Fleming says running the bookstore is fun, even after so many years. “The volunteers do the heavy lifting,” she says. “I just keep it organized. We have everything down to a system.”

A peek behind the scenes shows that Fleming does indeed have the process of receiving and shelving books down to a science. All the sorting and pricing is done in a workroom. Sorters go through the books, separating them 52

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into genres, placing adult fiction into boxes by the author’s last name, making it easier and quicker to shelve the books. Newly published books and trade paperbacks with paper covers get a price tag. Hardcover books don’t get a price tag unless they are newly published and priced at more than one dollar. Then shelvers place fiction on the appropriate shelves while specialist shelvers place nonfiction, children, gardening, cookbooks, vintage, local and Southern authors. Book displays, like Staff Picks, Books About Books and Book Candy, frequently change based on donations and creative volunteers’ ideas as the inventory comes and goes.

Volunteering at the bookstore often goes beyond the books, such as with Bob Plassman, who Fleming calls a volunteer jack-of-all trades. “He is a handy man, painter and book recycler,” she says. In addition to those tasks and transporting and shelving books,

Plassman volunteers for special events like the Southport Boat Show, where a selection of used books chosen specifically for boat enthusiasts are sold annually.

The bookstore, which didn’t have a name for nearly 30 years, was officially named Once More Bookstore in a contest held by FOLSOI last year.

Patty Langer of Oak Island was the winner of the contest, receiving a gift certificate to the bookstore and most importantly, perpetual bragging rights.

“I think the words ‘once more’ call to mind a book that deserves to be read over and over again,” Langer says.

Moody thinks the name Once More Bookstore is wonderful. “I am delighted that there are so many opportunities for people to read,” she says. “I am impressed at the number of nonfiction books that have been donated like World War I and World War II books, Korean War books and history books. I

COMMUNITY

R YOU

AHEDRE!

PHOTOS BY BETH A. KLAHRE

Get Noticed.

FIND YOUR NEXT PAGE TURNER Once More Bookstore 727 N. Howe Street (at Southport Realty), Southport K folsoi.org Bookstore Hours Monday through Friday 1 to 3 pm (except holidays) Every Saturday 10 am to 12 pm (except holidays) Donations Tuesdays and Saturdays 10 am to 12 pm Book donations accepted at the double doors on the 8th Street side of Southport Realty. They are unable to accept encyclopedias, textbooks, out-of-date technical books, magazines, cassette tapes, VHS tapes and damaged books.

think that reflects an interesting, local well-educated population.”

Fleming agrees. “What is amazing about Southport is the varied interests of book donors. The donations we receive often dictate the genres that go on display, which is both fun and surprising. The number of people who are willing to share their love of reading by donating their treasured books is truly gratifying.”

Change is constant at Once More Bookstore. Recalling the very early days, Fleming says, “We only had one sale per month and 15 volunteers when we first started at Southport Realty in 2011. Now we have sales six days a week and 30 volunteers who along with donors make Once More Bookstore a special and ever-changing experience.”

“Once More Bookstore is inviting, impressive and eclectic. Just like Southport, it’s a gem.” Fleming concludes.

But don’t just take Fleming’s word for it. Take a virtual tour on the Friends of the Library website. Or even better, stop by. You might just turn into a bibliophile yourself! 

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After surviving the 2018 flood and spending more than a year exploring America, the Rooks family

Flooded finds that all roads lead home — to Oak Island.

BY RANDI JO ROOKS

WITH

Love The "Rookie Roadsters" (left to right) Randi Jo, Raymond, Annabelle, Brandon and Evelyn Rooks

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Glacier National Park

Telluride, Colorado

Avalanche Lake, Glacier National Park

Arches National Park, Utah

Million Dollar Highway, Colorado

he first time we tried to move to the Southport/Oak Island area was in September 2018. My husband, Brandon, and I had spontaneously put our Leland house on the market and quickly went under contract on a house near Oak Island, but one week later Hurricane Florence devastated our Leland home with 7 feet of water.

We were flooded with God’s love and peace throughout that trying time and did our best to pass that love on to others. It was a beautiful community effort of people supporting each other and trying our best to make sure nobody felt alone. It was an exhausting, gross, sad and surprisingly encouraging time. Looking back, I do not really remember the heartbreaking scenes of devastation as much as I remember the beauty and love that poured out through people for days and weeks after the disaster.

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Antelope Canyon, Arizona

Many neighbors expressed during that time, “I had no idea such amazing people lived right around me!”

New Adventures

After the flood clean-up was done, Brandon and I realized it was the ideal time to get up and go have an adventure! We are a homeschooling family, and Brandon has worked remotely since 2015 so we bought a truck and travel trailer that would be our home for the foreseeable future and “Rookie Roadsters” was born. We had never been in an RV and had VERY little experience camping, but we kept encouraging each other with the thought, “People do this, so we can too!”

In January of 2019 we set off with lots of tears and the grandparents wondering what in the world we were doing.

Our three kids who were 12 (Raymond), 8 (Evelyn) and 7 (Annabelle) at the time were so excited and ready to explore! We headed south with the goal to reconnect deeply as a family, unplug from technology, spend as much time outdoors as possible and explore America. Those goals were all achieved, and road life was truly the experience of a lifetime that we will never forget.

We got to explore 28 states, 13 national parks and numerous historic and state parks. The kids earned 40 Junior Ranger badges, and we hiked hundreds of miles. It was a true adventure of a lifetime. How can we ever forget the beauty of the Texas bluebells, relaxing in natural hot springs on the Rio Grande, standing in complete speechless awe at the rim of the Grand Canyon and experiencing a class 1 dark night sky for the first time while being astounded at the numerous stars and galaxies?

Some of the kids’ favorite memories are rafting on the Colorado River, exploring the gravity-defying arches in Utah, rock scrambling in California and enjoying the views from the majestic mountains in Colorado and Utah. We still cannot get over the other-worldly experience of Yellowstone’s geysers, mud pots, fumaroles and colorful hot springs. We had so many animal encounters along the way: a mighty bull moose at Glacier National Park next to perfectly designed waterfalls, a cute kit fox in Joshua Tree, manatees in Florida, sea lions at La Jolla Cove, bison, bugling elk and even a cougar in Yellowstone — to name a few! We felt like for nine months straight we were bombarded with this message repeatedly: America Is Beautiful. More beautiful than we had even imagined!

Something Missing

And, yet, there was something missing. We found ourselves in Yellowstone in September at the one-year anniversary of our flood with hearts aching for community.

To know and to be known and to be a neighbor.

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Roadside views in Colorado

Grand Canyon National Park

La Jolla Cove, California

Colorado River

Lake McDonald, Montana

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Bull Elk – Yellowstone National Park

It was undeniable that we had met amazing people on our trip. In fact, everywhere we went we met interesting, kind, inspiring and caring people. We made some very deep and long-lasting connections and had generous help when needed along the way, but we began to realize that being a neighbor for a few days is very different than being connected in a community. We were ready to get back into community and ready to find our people.

The seed had been planted and our hearts were ready when we got the phone call letting us know a loved one

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PHOTO BY CLT PHOTOGRAPHY

Devil’s Garden, Arches National Park

was not well. It was time to get back to North Carolina. We quickly packed up our house on wheels and hit the road as fast as we could from South Dakota to our Tar Heel State.

We spent the next few months visiting with family and eventually landed back at our parents’ house in Leland at another fork in the road. Should we finish our American adventure and complete the loop of the country? Was it time to settle? And where should we settle? Should we just pick our favorite place from the road trip?

We had lived in Brunswick County since 2007, and Leland would always hold a special place in our hearts, so we started to look at houses there again. We remembered very quickly that we did not have to agonize over where to settle because home is wherever we are.

We did have a few select requirements for our next place to live. After spending almost every daylight hour outside for nine months, we knew we needed the ability to be outside surrounded by nature. We knew for sure we were forever ruined for city life. And then we started dreaming again about the place that had captured our hearts years before: Oak Island. We never thought we’d be able to live on the island as a family of five, because we used to think we “needed” at least 2,000 square feet. It’s amazing what living in 300 square feet for a year will do to you! Before we knew it, we were moving into what felt like a mansion at a whopping 1,300 square feet, and we were so excited!

PHOTO BY CLT PHOTOGRAPHY

Brandon, Randi Jo, Raymond, Annabelle and Evelyn Rooks at their home on Oak Island.

Home

When being interviewed by North Brunswick Magazine after the flood, I remember telling them about our youngest daughter, Annabelle, doing a homework assignment a week after the hurricane. It was a simple question for a 1st grader: “Where do you live?” but she looked up at my sister and me with questioning eyes, “Where DO I live?”

At the time I answered, “You live with your family. Home is where your family is.” We lived that out very well during road life. Home is where the heart is. And now we see, every heart needs a family and needs to be connected in community. Though we know and love many Brunswick County natives, it’s obvious there is an ever-increasing number of people relocating to the Southport / Oak Island area from hometowns all over the country. We try to encourage them with this same lesson: Home can be anywhere you are. Making a place your home is a choice.

Making Oak Island home has been such a gift, and we are so grateful for our church family that we connected with within weeks of settling. We are so thankful for our everexpanding homeschool community, and we are especially thankful for the way our three kids have found exactly where they are supposed to be. After joining Civil Air Patrol and having a dream to be a pilot planted in his heart, Raymond, now 17, is weeks away from getting his private pilot license through High Tide Aviation. Evelyn has found her people at Wilmington Conservatory of Fine Arts and the opportunity

to dance from the heart; for her to be involved in such moving performances is worth the drive to Wilmington multiple days a week. Annabelle is so grateful for Cape Fear gymnastics and especially Mr. Casey at Waterway Music & Education. His love for music and children convinced her grandparents to help her fulfill her “lifelong dream” to own and play an electric guitar.

We feel so extremely blessed to have settled back in one of the most naturally beautiful places we have seen across America. From the amazing winter sunrises and sunsets over the ocean to the bright green marsh grasses and peaceful night skies, always changing rivers and ocean and abundance of wildlife, there is so much to enjoy here!

We take full advantage of island life with daily walks on the beach, and we love to swim, surf, paddleboard and kayak as much as possible. But the road trip solidified for us the truth that people are God’s most beautiful creation. And if hearts full of love are what make people beautiful, then this is one of the most beautiful places in the world.

We are so grateful for all the lessons learned on the road — slow down, appreciate the beauty right around you, things are not that important, unplug, get outside as much as possible, home is where you make it, and most importantly, love is not complete until it is overflowing and being poured out like a flood. It’s so good to call Oak Island home and to finally be a neighbor here!  Premiere Issue — Fall 2023

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AROUND TOWN

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AROUND TOWN

Save the Hall, Y’all Up Your Arts’ campaign to revive Southport’s City Hall into a community arts center is coming into sharper focus.

RENDERING BY LISLE ARCHITECTURE & DESIGN, INC.

BY DENNIS HETZEL | PHOTOGRAPHY BY MEGAN DEITZ

A

A handful of people in 2019 looked at a beat-up public building from the 1800s in Southport and saw something special.

The building at 201 E. Moore Street near Southport’s waterfront had historic value for sure. After all, it was the Brunswick County Courthouse for roughly 100 years before it was Southport’s City Hall. Still, it took a lot of squinting to see the potential of more than just a feel-good preservation effort.

No one is squinting now.

It has taken longer than imagined, helped not at all by COVID delays, and will cost more than anticipated, but the campaign, dubbed “Save the Hall, Y’all,” is clearly pointed toward success. The

people at Up Your Arts, the nonprofit group that supports performing and creative arts in the Southport area, are confident they have a strategy to preserve the historic building and create a state-of-the-art community arts center.

It’s not an exaggeration to say the building was in horrible shape, notes John Keiffer of Up Your Arts. Indeed, you still can’t enter without wearing a hazmat suit due to mold exacerbated by roof leaks. Asbestos and lead issues likely lurk, too. Part of the exterior has a tacked-on, 1960s box feel, which makes sense since that’s when the addition was added.

Still, pictures of both the exterior and Premiere Issue — Fall 2023

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AROUND TOWN

John Keiffer and Bob Gentile

The project will gut much of the building to its bones. A new, covered entryway will be added to what was the rear doorway. The first floor could house an indoor-outdoor coffee shop and gathering area, flexible exhibition space, meeting areas and possibly a kitchen capable of not only serving major events but also becoming a teaching center for culinary students. Small cubicles would be available for rent to local artisans, visible to visitors much like the Artspace in Raleigh and Torpedo Factory in Alexandria, Virginia, which literally was a torpedo factory. Another goal that emerged is for the building to serve as a resource center for information about all local nonprofit agencies.

The second-floor centerpiece will be a room that can hold more than 250 people for events, depending on the setup, including a stage and state-of-the-art audio and video capabilities.

The cash flow from events like weddings and receptions could support operating costs. The plans also show an outdoor, rooftop seating area with dramatic views of the Southport waterfront.

Outside, the front of the building facing the water will get a major landscaping makeover, with help from the Southport Gardening Club, that includes new plantings and a sculpture garden.

“Every time we do a presentation, someone comes up with a cool new idea, which is so important to people having a sense of community ownership,” Keiffer says. “But, at the interior show a classic same time, it complicates.”

Every time we do a presentation, structure of the 1800s, With so many different someone comes up with a cool new idea, beautiful woodwork, tin ideas for the space, the ceiling details and buildout remains subject which is so important to people having a numerous other features to change once the center sense of community ownership. worth preserving. has its own governing The visual renderings, body, separate from Up including virtual video, of Your Arts. The legal work how to transform the old building are readily available at required to set up a new nonprofit organization to raise the the UpYourArts.org website along with other resources that money and ultimately run the center is underway. outline the project in detail. The pictures capture the plans “We’ll give them a vision and let them run with it,” Keiffer better than words. But I will use words to hit some of the says. plan concepts.

Part of that vision is the extensive design work already

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AROUND TOWN

performed by Lisle Architecture & Design in Wilmington, a firm experienced in extensive rehab projects, including the transformation of an old bank building into the Southport Market downtown. Up Your Arts has committed to fund the architectural work.

To get to this point, teams visited art centers across the Southeast, not only to collect ideas about what to include and how to do it but also the less-sexy but equally important task of figuring out legal structures and realistic operating projections. Should it be a public-private partnership, fully private or fully public? They visited everything from converted dairy barns in rural areas to full-fledged, government-run performing arts centers

donors, individual donations, sponsorships and tax credits.

Is this the best use for the site? Land in downtown Southport is at a premium and quite valuable these days, but Keiffer says few nay-sayers have emerged to pitch offices, condos or some other potential uses. Something eventually must be done with the building after all.

“Having a thriving arts community has a huge impact on the local economy,” Keiffer says. “We feel the best case for the site is as a community and cultural arts center.”

As a testament to the power of the idea and the transparent process to date, Up Your Arts leaders say dozens of potential volunteers are already emerging to get involved with the new, yet-to-be-created entity.

1,000-sq ft two-story addition

RENDERINGS BY LISLE ARCHITECTURE & DESIGN, INC.

New entry

Event space Second Floor Event Space

The Southport model involves a partnership agreement with the city.

Several “Memoranda of Understanding” with Southport city government have authorized the feasibility studies and other activities to take the project to this point.

Fund-raising estimates have reached $3.5 million to open the building with the expectation that money will come from a combination of grants, major

Cafe and kitchen Café and Kitchen

CHECK IT OUT, Y'ALL Learn more about Up Your Arts and its Save the Hall, Y’all campaign: K upyourarts.org k savethehall@upyourarts.org

“One of things I’ve noticed is the amount of respect and clout that we’ve garnered since 2019,” says Bob Gentile, Up Your Arts board chair.

“People I talk to respect what we do, and they’re beginning to understand.

We have a lot of support. The mayor went out of his way to say one way or another this will get done.” 

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A SEASONAL

GETAWAY

For a vacation that checks all the boxes, book a stay at SeaSons at the Point, an Oak Island oasis created by and for family.

BY ANNA BETH ADCOCK PHOTOGRAPHY BY LAURA GLANTZ AND LIGHTHOUSE VISUALS 64

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lose your eyes and envision your happy place. For Emily Demarest, that place has always been Oak Island. The memories of her youthful summers on the island have come full circle as she and her husband just completed building a beach home there.

“When I started working, one of my goals was to build a beach house,” Demarest says. “I started saving as soon as I started working to be able to do that. My goal was to be able to do it by the time I turned 40 — and I celebrated my 40th birthday last year.”

SeaSons at the Point opened for booking in November 2022. Demarest and her husband, Chris, named it for their two young boys and for its location. By booking this house for others to enjoy, Demarest wants to help others create the same experiences and memories when on a coastal respite from their everyday lives.

“We built the house to share those formative memories for

other families just miles from where I made my own,” Demarest says.

What makes this home stand out from the hundreds of other rentals on Oak Island are the spectacular views, the comfortable design and the concierge services.

The home touts 360-degree views of the water. It’s nestled right in the sweet spot by both the Intracoastal Waterway

and the ocean, one of the most coveted locales on the island. This location allows guests to truly take in the tranquility of being by the water during their time on Oak Island.

Demarest thoughtfully designed the house over the course of about three years — before the property was even found. She sourced furniture and furnishings from 25 towns throughout North Carolina, and many regional vendors contributing to its building process and maintenance, from architects and builders to the property manager and handymen.

SeaSons at the Point sleeps up to 19 adults, with each bedroom decorated with a unique theme in mind, and it is stacked with all the amenities you can imagine, including a pool and hot tub and private beach access. The open floor plan promotes a flowing, breathable feel throughout the house (also boasting those terrific views!), and the house has six decks for outdoor enjoyment.

“Our interior design goes well beyond the bare bones of most rentals,” Demarest says. “There are ample spaces for Premiere Issue — Fall 2023

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children to play, adults to connect and everyone to find togetherness in experiencing Oak Island from SeaSons at the Point. We built our home to really center our guests’ experience on what we value from quality time together.”

The home displays an array of intentionally chosen artwork and features pieces from local artist Karen Olah, who created custom work specifically for SeaSons, and a family friend, Laura Lobdell from Printed Hues.

“Laura owns a local oyster farm and also does amazing watercolor prints of coastal maps and wildlife,” Demarest says, adding that guests receive an Oak Island watercolor ornament from Printed Hues as part of their welcome basket.

While staying in a home so beautiful and bursting with amenities is already a dream getaway, Demarest has taken it a step further with concierge services.

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“It’s been really fun to partner with local vendors to put together options and itineraries,” Demarest says. “We want our guests to be able to take

advantage of as many things as possible.”

Their concierge model is designed for families and built around relaxation.

It makes it easy to plan everything from grocery delivery and beach chairs to family photo sessions and private chefs in advance.

“We’re parents and also busy professionals with limited time off — so we fully understand that time off is precious,” Demarest says. “We designed our services so generations can gather together and actually relax in a house designed for them.”

Demarest appreciates that SeaSons at the Point contributes to the local

economy. Approximately every dollar invested in the tourism industry brings back $8.25 to the local economy, with the average VRBO guest spending about $1,045 at local businesses during a five-and-a-half-day getaway. That makes SeaSons at the Point’s partnerships with local vendors all the more valuable.

A few of the businesses bolstering the home’s impressive concierge service — and allowing guests to have all the activity options they want at their fingertips without the hassle of planning — include everything from

Quicksand Beach Concierge, OKI Bike and Paddle Co., The Booze Buggy and Black Sails Adventure Company to a slew of activities to choose from such as picnics on the beach, mini golf and visits to local museums and restaurants.

“We are big fans of SeaSons at the Point and their owners as we share a similar mission of helping guests create memorable moments,” says Dixon Wright, co-owner of OKI Bike and Paddle Co. “They provide the wonderful accommodations and partner with us to get the guests cruising the

island on an e-bike or in the water paddleboarding.”

Aside from the obvious beauty of the beach, the draw to Oak Island lies in the luster of its local restaurants, businesses and people — and finding those favorite spots to keep frequenting each visit.

“We steer visitors to local establishments because it drives positive tourism impact on the economy,” Demarest says. “And it just makes Oak Island feel more like a home away from home when you go back to the same places for breakfast Premiere Issue — Fall 2023

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or dinner. For example, our family loves Pepperoni Grill, and we probably eat there four times during a weeklong stay.”

Residing in Raleigh, Demarest and

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her husband both work very demanding full-time jobs and balance activities for their two kids — making vacations a much anticipated respite. As it always has

“

When you’re a mom you’re always trying to create happy places for your kids.

HOME TEAM Demarest says a great joy in the home-building process was and continues to be forming relationships and partnerships with local experts to provide guests with a truly local experience.

“We have phenomenal talent in the surrounding area, and there is no reason to outsource any element,” she says.

Here are the vendors they worked with: ARCHITECT:

Coastal Designs, Dennis Mercer BUILDER:

Coleman Builders SIGNS:

Green Cottage Designs POOL:

Seaside Pool and Spa ART:

Karin Olah, Printed Hues; Ketsol MARKETING:

since her childhood, heading to Oak Island offers Demarest a much-needed breath of fresh air each time she visits.

“Life in Raleigh is very fast-paced,” Demarest says. “When we get to go to

the beach, the moment that we get in the car and start heading in that direction, we can just feel our blood pressure drop.”

Demarest hopes that the happy place she shared with her family growing up can continue to be passed down through her own family for generations to come as well as be enjoyed by those who choose to stay at SeaSons at the Point.

“My sons are little now and they love coming to the beach with me,” Demarest says. “But I still get together with my sisters and our parents at the beach, and I want that for our family, too. I want this house to be a place where I can see them, where they will come spend time with us and also have that happy place — and when you’re a mom you’re always trying to create happy places for your kids.”

If you’re ready to channel that seaside serenity, snag your booking slot at SeaSons at the Point — 6923kingslynn.com. 

Lillian Graning PROPERTY MANAGEMENT:

Lillian Graning LINENS:

Made in Brazil PHOTO AND VIDEO:

Lighthouse Visuals CONCIERGE ACTIVITIES:

OKI Bike and Paddle Blacksails Adventure Company Quicksand Beach Concierge The Event Guide NC RESTAURANT PARTNERS:

Ruby’s Coffeehouse Koko Cabana Haag & Sons Lonerider Salt64 Pepperoni Grill

Premiere Issue — Fall 2023

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DINING OUT

Ashley and Jim Davis, owners of Southern, A Gathering Place Kitchen & Bar

Southern Charm

A

Chef Ashley Davis realizes a lifelong dream with the opening of Southern, A Gathering Place Kitchen & Bar in Southport.

BY THERESA RAVENCRAFT

|

PHOTOGRAPHY BY CAMERON SMITH

Ashley Davis grew up in Greensboro, North Carolina.

During high school, her family moved to Oak Island, and that’s when she knew she had found her place.

“Living here makes me feel at peace,” she says. “It just feels like home.”

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After life and love took her on an unexpected journey, Davis ultimately landed in Southport. While she had found her home, it took a bit longer to find her purpose.

Inspired by cooking with her mother and

PHOTO BY THERESA RAVENCRAFT

DINING OUT

grandmother in the kitchen growing up, Davis always had cooking in the back of her mind. “My mom was one of those people who made everything from scratch,” she says. “I used to make my brother food when I was old enough to stand on a stool at the stove.”

One day, a friend called and asked her to help her out by waiting tables at her pizza shop in Southport. Davis helped her friend that day and decided to stay, eventually working in the kitchen for 15 years. “My boys grew up in that kitchen, they were with me a lot and even washed dishes,” she remembers.

Davis had always dreamt about owning her own restaurant. “I literally started writing the menu for this place 18 years ago,” she says. “My notebook with my ideas and recipes is in the kitchen here at the restaurant; we call it the Southern Bible.”

Now the dream has become a reality.

Davis and her husband, Jim, recently opened Southern, A Gathering Place Kitchen and Bar on Brown Street in Southport. It’s a small building with a big porch and lots of Southern charm.

Davis had her eye on this location for a long time. “I’m a porch person,” she says. “I used to sit on the porch with

my Nana and swing. It just isn’t a house without a porch to sit on. That’s how I knew this was the right place.”

Don’t let the name fool you — Southern food doesn’t necessarily mean comfort food. To Davis, Southern is more of a feeling and a concept.

“I want customers to feel like they are coming to my house for dinner,” Davis explains. “I want them to know where their food comes from, that it is local and always fresh.”

The menu at Southern, A Gathering Place changes daily. While the dinner menu features some staple items including salads, filet mignon, bone-in Premiere Issue — Fall 2023

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DINING OUT

pork chops, fresh local catch and specialty burgers, there are a number of sauces, cheeses and butters that transform your selection into something new each time. Patrons can order a filet with bourbon and caramelized onion compound butter or get their filet blackened with goat cheese and blackberry-peach BBQ sauce. Davis’s homemade fruit sauces and syrups can likewise be found in specialty cocktails from the bar.

There is also a daily specials menu that showcases fresh seafood and main dishes depending on what is in season.

“I want people to be able to come here six days of the week and never get the same thing,” Davis says.

On the weekends Davis and her team

offer a brunch menu between 10 am and 3 pm. It was a conscious decision to be closed for dinner service.

“My family works with me, so it was important for us to be closed to spend time with each other away from work on Saturdays and Sundays,” Davis says.

The brunch menu features breakfast and lunch offerings, including homemade quiche of the day, shrimp and grits, sausage gravy and biscuits, fried chicken and waffles, a fried green tomato BLT and more.

One of the most popular brunch dishes is the Not Really a Benedict, which is two local over-easy eggs and house-made Jarlsberg cheese sauce on an open-faced English muffin.

Additions like avocado, crab cakes, fried

chicken, bacon, fried green tomatoes or dry-cured country ham can be added.

“I knew people would tell me, this is not really a Benedict, so that’s what I called it,” Davis says.

Every menu at Southern is peppered with partnerships that Davis has built locally with food vendors, farmers and bakeries. She gets fresh produce for salads and Katie’s Ice Cream to pair with desserts from Heritage Fresh Market in Supply. The croissants that are ground up and used to make the crust of her fresh quiche are from Kirley’s Breads and Pastries in Southport. The honey served on her Fig Flatbread is from Hubert Lowe’s Apiary. At least a dozen local collaborations are featured on daily

“

I want people to be able to come here six days of the week and never get the same thing.

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PHOTO BY THERESA RAVENCRAFT

DINING OUT

menus and on a sign that proudly hangs in the dining room.

“We chose companies that do it the right way,” Davis says. “They care about the product that they put out. I think about food differently than most. I wanted to cook the way I like to cook at home. I want to celebrate the vegetables and the farmers.

Everything should be fresh and local.”

Her vision and commitment to the food make her meals extraordinary, and her team makes the experience

HUNGRY? Southern, A Gathering Place Kitchen & Bar 105 E. Brown Street, Southport m (910) 931-0786 K southernagatheringplace.com E southernagatheringplace Reservations can be made online through Open Table.

memorable. Jim can be found taking reservations, seating guests and even helping in the kitchen. Their two sons, Cameron and Landon, work alongside their mother in the kitchen.

“My sons are really the light of my life, and we are very close,” Davis says. “It is really nice to be around them all day cooking.”

When asked about her mission at the restaurant, Davis does not hesitate. “I strive for perfection in all areas, and we want you to come back.”  Premiere Issue — Fall 2023

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THE HEART OF A

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BY ANNESOPHIA RICHARDS

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PHOTOGRAPHY BY MEGAN DEITZ

W A R R I O R

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Ginny MacColl, life’s greatest goal is redefining what aging looks like —

and so far she’s crushing it.

H

aving a warrior mindset means never giving up or accepting defeat. When confronted with a challenge, warriors will do whatever it takes to persevere and come out on top. And that’s exactly what 71-year-old Southport resident, swimmer, American Ninja Warrior competitor and actress Ginny MacColl is doing.

After competing on Seasons 9 and 10 of the fitness-based reality show American Ninja Warrior, MacColl has dedicated the past four years to setting even more aggressive goals and pushing new limits. Having fallen off the first obstacle on both of those seasons, MacColl set her sights on redemption and never lost focus, despite the delays and training limitations brought on by the pandemic. She finally got her chance to conquer the course again in the spring of 2023, when her appearance on Season 15 set a new milestone for both herself and the show — MacColl is now the oldest competitor to ever complete an obstacle.

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For 71-year-old Southport resident

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Top, Twinning on the set of American Ninja Warrior, Ginny MacColl (top) and her daughter, Jessie Graff, practice a balance pose called the Foot Flag. Below, Jessie and Ginny training the STEPS.

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“I didn’t actually know I was the oldest until I watched the episode playback on TV, which I think is kind of funny,” she says. “I was delighted to get through the first obstacle because that was my goal. I would have loved to get farther, but my goal was accomplished.”

MacColl’s return to America Ninja Warrior began when she applied for the show in December 2022. After getting the acceptance call in early January 2023, MacColl amped up the workout routine she had been maintaining while competing in a variety of regional Ninja-style competitions in both North Carolina and South Carolina. In addition to doubling up on strength training, she also increased the outdoor coursework she had started before Season 9 at the Oak Island home of her friend and former American Ninja Warrior competitor, 80-year-old Charles Mammay.

“I also started driving back and forth to Raleigh once a week to take a Ninja class and work out at a Ninja gym, and I did that for ten weeks leading up to the show’s filming on March 23,” she says.

MacColl also prepped for the competition with the help of her daughter and fellow Ninja Warrior Jessie Graff.

One of the show’s most notable competitors, Graff helped her mother prepare by studying each episode of Season 14, then discussing the contestants’ course attempts together (Graff lives in Los Angeles) and breaking them down to analyze what worked and what did not.

“Jessie has such a great eye and can help me visualize what I’m going to do, so I gain a lot of information from her for sure,” MacColl says. “She’s my coach from afar. Growing up she was a mini-me for everything, and now I think I’m becoming a mini-her.”

As the competition date approached, MacColl says word started circulating from previously filmed competitors about a new obstacle at the start of the course.

After having practiced for years for what

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she thought would be the first Ageless” on the front and “Never Too obstacle. Her focus had shifted to the obstacle, the Shrinking Steps, Old, Never Too Late” printed across next new obstacle in her path, MacColl realized she would have to the back.

Greased Lightning, a grip strengthface a brand-new challenge: Pole “That’s when I saw Jessie on the testing metal track that requires Vault, a pole the competitors must sidelines, and she was telling me to competitors to hold onto a pair of jump onto from a mini-trampoline breathe,” MacColl remembers. “So I nunchucks and ride over two drops and swing over water to a landing jumped on the mini trampoline, before before swinging their body platform. grabbed the pole, held on tight and onto a platform at the opposite end.

“You don’t get to go “I knew I had to hold on an obstacle on as tight as possible beforehand, you only because those get to look at it and go nunchucks are slippery, over the rules, and then so that’s what I was they have a course concentrating on,” she tester go through it so says. “I curled into a you have an idea of how ball to absorb the two everything moves,” drops, but what I didn’t MacColl explains. “It’s do was have time to do a much more nervebig swing and wracking when you dismount. If I had seen don’t know what to people doing that practice for a new obstacle, I may have obstacle and don’t know understood you needed if you’ll be able to do it.” to pull your legs back so American Ninja you could swing Warrior films outdoors forward immediately late at night, something after that second bump, MacColl says makes the but it happened all so competition more fast.”

MacColl says challenging.

Having missed her balance is the “We filmed in LA in landing opportunity, most mentally March and it was quite MacColl tried to swing challenging cold, and I think I was her body back to gain aspect of number 27 that night to momentum, but she competing on go,” she says. “After they soon realized she did American Ninja walked us through the not have the power to Warrior. obstacles and went over get herself where she the rules, the waiting needed to be. After started. With delays and hanging in a lock off for crew breaks I didn’t get more than a minute                                  to go until after 1 am, and smiling wide at the                                                                   and the longer it took, crowd, she ultimately                                  the more nervous and dropped into the water excited I got.” below, but not before just kept climbing until I got to the MacColl says her primary goal was deciding to show her fans and platform.” just getting through the first obstacle.

America what she could do.

Although she didn’t know it at the When her turn finally came, she “I just thought ‘What the heck?’ time, MacColl in that moment became turned for the camera in order to and did a pull-up,” she says with a make sure viewers at home could see the oldest American Ninja Warrior chuckle. “I honestly think it almost her shirt, with the words “Strength is competitor to ever complete an turned out better that way, because I Premiere Issue — Fall 2023

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CONTRIBUTED PHOTO PHOTO CONTRIBUTED CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

Top, from left, MacColl on the Greased Lightning obstacle in Los Angeles; Graff and MacColl show some muscles; 80-year-old Chuck Mammay of OKI, on his backyard obstacle course..

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knew I had lost momentum and there was no way I could do anything, I just did another pull-up.”

Although MacColl did not make it any farther in the competition that

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was able to show people that I had strength. If I had just fallen immediately, it would have still been great, but this way I was up there hanging for a long time, and when I

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day, she says she is far from done with her American Ninja Warrior journey.

She plans to continue training for a future season of the show as well as further her other athletic passion of

swimming. This summer she will compete in the National Senior Games in Pittsburgh, hoping to better her performance at the Games in 2022, where she placed third in the 50-yard breaststroke, third in the 100-yard individual medley and fourth in the 50-yard freestyle. As impressive as those statistics might be, MacColl is even more proud of her performance in the North Carolina Senior Games in the fall of 2022, where she broke four records, two of which had stood since 1995.

“Swimming is a great all-around sport, and I love having goals and something to work toward,” MacColl says. “Plus, I do it for the cardio. I think getting your blood flow going is so important for your quality of life.”

When she’s not busy keeping fit, MacColl also continues her work as an actress. Her newest role in the upcoming film You’re Cordially Invited, starring Reese Witherspoon and Will Farrell, allowed her to even use her Ninja skills by performing her own stunts.

Although stunt work might be a new experience MacColl can now check off her bucket list, it certainly will not be the last.

“I’ve got a goal in this whole thing, and that’s redefining what aging looks like, for my granddaughter’s sake, for seniors and for everybody in between,” she says. “The decisions you make today will determine how you age, and you can do a lot more than you think you can. In my case I’d say that one fall doesn’t define you, the thing is to get up and train harder and do it again, especially if you love what you’re doing, like I do. Maybe I’ll become the first 80-year-old American Ninja Warrior, how about that?” 

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Premiere Issue — Fall 2023

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Oak Island beach icon Alex Zelaya, who passed away in June 2023, is remembered as an inspiration.

BY RANDI JO ROOKS | PHOTOGRAPHY BY BRENDA TORREY

LESSONS

TAN MAN from the

Many people on Oak Island knew Mr. Alex, the friendly silver-haired, deeply tanned man who walked for miles on the beach every day, but few knew his background overcoming hardships with resiliency and positivity.

Affectionately nicknamed “The Tan Man” by Oak Island regulars, Alexander Zelaya was born May 26, 1952, in San Miguel, El Salvador. His mother, Maria Orvelina Zelaya, longed for a better life for her children and made the heart-wrenching choice in 1960 to leave her husband and eldest daughter to take care of the five children she was raising (her own three children as well as a niece and nephew) 80

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to plant new beginnings for their family in America. Working tirelessly in a sweatshop in Hell’s Kitchen Manhattan, she eventually saved enough money to bring over Alex’s father and then, in 1970, all five children.

A soccer player practically from birth, Alex spent his childhood and school years playing the sport every minute that he could. He got scholarship

given to him. Over many years in New York, he helped 13 friends and family members find their home in America, letting them live rent-free in his house while they put down roots.

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n 2015 Alex had a seizure and was in a coma for a month. He flatlined for three minutes but miraculously was given another chance at life, and the doctors were astounded at his recovery. After that health scare, Alex moved from New York to live with Alexia, his son-in-law, Plaz, and his grandchildren in Stoney Creek in Leland.

When Stoney Creek was flooded by Hurricane Florence in 2018, Alex had already moved down to Southport but did not escape the devastation. In trying to rescue items from the family house, Alex’s car drifted into the flood waters, and he had to escape through the car window. Always the optimist,

CONTRIBUTED PHOTOS

offers to play soccer at UCLA and NYU, choosing the latter. He continued to play professionally until his first child, Alexia, was born. Even after his professional career was over, he never stopped playing daily pickup games. He credited his ability to endure pain and push his body to extremes to those decades of daily soccer.

In New York, Alex worked as a limousine driver for many high-profile organizations and people, among them the New York Yankees, New York Mets, the Knicks and many doctors and professionals. Yankees right fielder Paul O’Neill was his most frequent and favorite client. Alex loved that experience and retired after 30 years, proud that he had honored the lessons his mother taught him: to always be grateful for an opportunity to make money for his family and always respect his bosses. He enjoyed his career, but there is one thing he didn’t miss at all: the dress suits. On Oak Island he was recognized not only by his dark tan, but also his brightly colored bathing suits. “Bright colors are happy colors. No more black and gray and navy blue for me!” he said.

Always desiring to help others, Alex did what he could to help other immigrants have the same opportunities

Clockwise from left: Alex with his daughter, Alexia; in El Salvador as a youngster, always with a soccer ball; on the beach with friends Jennifer O’Bryant, Dan Phillips and Ed Dziubinski; center, with his wife and Alexia on the soccer field.

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“Why would I check the weather ahead of time?” he said. “I will know what’s happening when I get out there.

If it’s raining, just look for the rainbow.

That means the sun is coming.”

Alex reflected on that time saying that he, “saw a lot of good come out of the flood and things aren’t really that important anyway.”

When he moved down to Southport, Alex started walking on the beach (and at Smithville Park during the winter months).

He said he was “only” walking 10 miles a day at that point but continued to increase the distance each year. For the last three years, he was walking 16 miles every day. In 2021 he kept track and in one year he had completed 5 million steps!

The Tan Man quickly became an Oak Island icon and inspiration. It was a common Oak Island occurrence to hear children screaming, “Mooomm here comes Mr. Alex!!!” as they ran out of the water for their daily wave and check-in. Alex may not have remembered the name of every person he interacted with, but he knew what they looked like, what access they normally sat at, and some interesting parts of their story. To many, it felt like a real badge of honor when Alex began to recognize them.

It has been said if you want to remember how to be a good American, ask an immigrant.

Alex was proof of this. He could often be heard saying, “I love this country.” When asked what advice he would give for the next generation he offered,

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“Work hard and be grateful. Never complain.

Respect your bosses and think about how many mouths are being fed because of them. Respect

police officers and thank them for doing their job, even if they pull you over for a speeding ticket. Tell them you’re sorry and thank them.”

To instill thankfulness in his children, Alex took all three children to his wife’s homeland of Cuba so they could see how others outside of America live and how much they have to be grateful for.

Alex did not even like to complain about the weather, and he never checked the forecast either. “Why would I check the weather ahead of time?” he said.

“I can’t control the weather. I will know what’s happening when I get out there.” This accepting attitude went right along with his favorite saying, “Don’t worry be happy.” Not only in the sunshine but in the rain, too. “If it’s raining, just look for the rainbow. That means the sun is coming.”

I In May of 2023 Mr. Alex attended his last Oak Island Summer Concert Series event, and the community came out to greet him.

t was not sunny skies in the spring of 2023 for Oak Island or for Alex.

After various ailments this winter and multiple hospital stays, in May he was diagnosed with metastatic adenocarcinoma that had spread to his bone marrow and multiple organs. Although his legendary use of VapoRub and abstaining from medicine, alcohol and cigarettes had served him well his whole life,

Alex’s miles around the sun had been reached.

Alex and his family were able to receive lots of deserved love from our caring community in his last months. When Alexia showed him the hundreds and hundreds of social media comments and encouragement, videos for his birthday, the GoFundMe love offering and the multitude of cards sent his way, he was shocked.

“Why do people love me like this? I’m just a regular person like everybody else,” he said.

The Oak Island/Southport community is full of wonderful people, but Alex was as distinct as his tan and a connection point for so many. He was a consistent and friendly face. He was an inspiration to truly enjoy where you live and to stay active every day. He was the tie that bonded so many and he was known by all who interacted with him as a kind and gentle soul. All who have been touched by him were inspired by his mental alertness, positive attitude and thankfulness even in the midst of deep suffering.

When asked in May, “Do you miss walking on the beach?” he replied, “Yes, but mostly I miss the people.”

After being able to fulfill his bucket list wish of attending one more Oak Island Friday night concert to see many of his friends, he passed away on June 1, 2023.

Many friends commented that it seemed appropriate that he would pass away on Beach Day, the annual day celebrating Oak Island, which Alex called paradise.

He had peace in his heart and high spirits throughout his trials in the last months, showing emotion only when he spoke about his hero, his mother. She went back to visit El Salvador in 2021 and passed away, with his father following a few months later.

“I know they are waiting for me,” he said, with his voice catching. “My mother was my hero. She taught me everything I know: Never raise your voice. Be kind to everybody. Never argue. Do all things with love.

Remember Jesus Christ and never forget. And I never have. Every day I thanked Him for all He has done. I have honored my mother and I have passed this all down to my kids.”

The Tan Man, Mr. Oak Island, the Silver Fox, Mr. Alex will never be forgotten. We are all grateful for the lessons he brought with him to America and to each of us. Oak Island and Southport are better for having known him.  For details about the Celebration of Life in September 2023 and the 6K walk in May 2024 — both honoring Mr. Alex — follow SPT OKI Magazine on Facebook www.facebook. com/sptoki

From Calabash to Sneads Ferry and all the places in between.

 SCAN ME View all of our publications online at

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CarolinaMarketingCompany.com 910.207.0156 Premiere Issue — Fall 2023

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FACES & PLACES

2nd Annual Cool & Fancy Gala April 22 at Cape Fear Regional Jetport to benefit Up Your Arts

PHOTO BY BONNIE L. BRAY

PHOTOGRAPHY BY JULIE MERCER

Linda Starzer, Gary Caljean, Cindy Stafford & Chad Rector

Roberta Dosher & Pat Greco

Evan, Jess Evan and Jillian Schollaert

Rick Thomas, Shelley Ploe, Robb and Sherrie Cass, Sydney Cass, Ashton McCarter & Allie Foster

Robin Sherwood & Kristin Hill

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Tami and Jeremy Richardson & Dana Hamilton

PHOTO BY MARK BARCA

Marlette Thompson, Becky Leonard, Jenny Bostic & Jill Brown

Michelle and Jeremy Truett & Dirk and Julie Mercer

Cam Smith & John and Corinne Magensky

Jon McLendon, Nicki and Jack Craven, Debra McLendon, Barbara and Eric Lappala

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LunaSea: Steve Privott, Jason Pullin, Ben White, Bob Gentile, Janice Pederson, Rick Kranz, Juliann Knott, Maxie Washington, Tom Daniels

Larry Toler & Kelly Kranz

Harry and Barbara Burrell, Linda Platt & Laurie Witmeyer

David and Stacey Pope

Mark Barca & Holly Segalla

Michael Osborn, Loie Randall & Kelly and Charles Theis

Jake Beamer & ChyAnn Marie Ketchum

Erik Schonher, Karen Scarborough, Liz and Van Snyder

Premiere Issue — Fall 2023

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PHOTO BY SHANNON ALLAN

PHOTO BY EMILY DICKINSON

PHOTO COURTESY OF AMY WOLFF

PHOTO BY KATIE D PHOTOGRAPHY

SNIPPET

Oak Island 1st Annual Tide Sit In  On July 16, 165 participants set up beach chairs along the waterline at the Middleton Road Beach Access in Oak Island. Their goal was to remain in their seats as the incoming tide tried its best to pull them out. The last contestant sitting upright was declared the winner, and it all raised money and awareness for a good cause.

The event offered a fun way to show support for the Oak Island Sea Turtle Protection Program and

Caswell Beach Turtle Watch and raised $2,565 by collecting donations from competitors and on-lookers.

“It’s fun to watch our community show up for our turtles,” said event organizer Katie Dorsett-Dye. “I just set the date, shared it on Facebook and everyone showed up — literally and financially.”

Bragging rights and a trophy, created by local artist JT Mariotte, are shared by winners Amy Wolff and David Brazon.

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SNIPPET

NC Fourth of July Festival PHOTOGRAPHY BY BRENDA TORREY

 Since 1795, the NC Fourth of July Festival has welcomed revelers to Southport and Oak Island to celebrate our nation’s independence.

Each year more than 50,000 visitors line the streets for the annual parade and fireworks. Other events and attractions included a food truck/vendor row, f lotilla, pro wrestling, live music, first responder vehicle display, arts and crafts market, military exhibits, naturalization ceremony and a reading of the Declaration of Independence.

For more information on next year's festival visit nc4thofjuly.com.

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SNIPPET

Premiere Issue — Fall 2023

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SNIPPET

2023 Southport Plein Air Festival on May 20. Artist receptions took place at the American Fish Company and the Frying Pan Restaurant. The crowds were kept well-fed and content in Franklin Square Park, thanks to Chuck’s Mobile Seafood and Lil & John’s Sweetreat Ice Cream Parlor. While waiting for the Wet Paint Sale to commence, Perry Smith and Turning the Wheel Wilmington had everyone grooving, while local artisans showcased their talents.

There were two Plein Air Events ­— Artists en Plein Air and Kids Plein Air. Artists of all ages and skill levels braved rain and shine to capture the breathtaking views of our North Carolina coast. Each brushstroke brought to life the essence of this festival, which is all about painting outdoors amidst ever-changing light, temperature, and time of day. Ginger and Kelly from 2nd Story Art and Music Studio provided inspiration for young artists to express themselves in the truest plein air fashion.

Franklin Square Park was a sight to behold during the Wet Paint Sale, as it was adorned with remarkable paintings from the various perspectives of the plein air artists. Patrons had the opportunity to take home the very artwork they had witnessed being created.

The district court judges of Brunswick County faced the difficult task of selecting their favorites during the awards ceremony. Southport Mayor Joe Pat Hatem and Jack Randolph, in memory of his late wife, Eloise Randolph, a Southport icon, also had a challenging time deciding. The People’s Choice award went to Asheville artist Brian Murphy, whose art will be featured in promotional images for the 2024 Southport Plein Air Festival.

To learn more about next year's festival, visit upyourarts.org.

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CONTRIBUTED PHOTOS

 The 2023 Southport Plein Air Festival had yet another fantastic turnout

SNIPPET

Chop with a Cop  The Oak Island Police Department’s

PHOTOS COURTESY BRUNSWICK COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE

Community Resource Officer Program hosted the first ever Chop with a Cop on June 27 at Throw Baxe Axe House and Board Game Lounge in Southport. Teens aged 13 to 18 competed against officers from Oak Island Police Department, Southport Police Department, Boiling Spring Lakes Police Department and Brunswick County Sheriff ’s Office at a light-hearted axe throwing competition.

Kona Ice of South Brunswick County joined in the fun and provided treats as the competition heated up. The BrunswickCounty Sheriff ’s Office team managed to carve out a win.

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SNIPPET

Stand Up Southport — A Night of Comedy PHOTOGRAPHY BY JIM ROBERTSON

 The Brunswick Little Theatre in Southport presented Stand Up Southport — A Night of Comedy and welcomed comedian Lee Hardin with special guest Carollyn Xavier. The May 19 event quickly sold out, and a second night was added to the calendar. Based out of Nashville, Tennessee, Hardin has shared the stage with Henry Cho, Ryan Hamilton and Nate Bargatze. In 2019 his comedy special, “Not Quite a Grown-Up,” was released on DryBar Comedy.

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Business Profile

BY MELISSA SLAVEN WARREN

PHOTO BY JIM ROBERTSON

A.B. Miller Law, PLLC

A

re you in the process of buying or selling a property in Brunswick County? Do you want to ensure your property is protected and goes directly to your family when you pass?

Navigating the complexities of real estate transactions or creating a will or estate plan can be overwhelming. That is why it is crucial to work with an experienced and reputable lawyer who specializes in these legal areas. Attorney Anna Miller, owner of A.B. Miller Law, PLLC in Southport, can provide you with reliable representation at every stage.

In 2016, after working with international law firms in the fields of intellectual property and business law in Colorado, Miller decided it was time to open her own small practice, and there was no better place to do that than in Southport.

Originally a West Coast native, Miller moved to North Carolina to pursue her undergraduate degree at UNC-Chapel Hill. She graduated with honors with a double major in English and history. After working in advertising and lobbying for several years, she returned to Chapel Hill and earned her law degree with honors in 2010. During law school, Miller and her husband, Lance, welcomed their two children, Malin (age 14) and Kerry (age 12). Lance is a North Carolina native, and they knew they wanted to come back and raise their young family in this great state. The family vacationed in Brunswick County and ultimately decided to make it their permanent home.

Having spent the last several years in trademark, copyright and business law, Miller wanted to change her focus. After speaking with other local attorneys about relevant local practice areas, she realized that real estate law is a good fit, as are wills and estates.

“I saw the similarities and found that clients were asking questions about trust and estate documents during real estate closings,” Miller says.

When you work with A.B. Miller Law, you get an expert team who has in-depth knowledge of the local real estate market and understands the intricacies of local property laws and regulations. Miller also has established strong relationships

with local real estate professionals, including Realtors, lenders and title insurance companies, which can be invaluable in ensuring a smooth and efficient closing process. Her team also enjoys assisting clients in preparing or revising wills, trusts and other estate-planning documents.

Miller and her team say there are three things you can always expect: efficiency, flexibility and accessibility.

“A Realtor’s job isn’t 9 to 5, and therefore mine is not either,” Miller says. “I text, and I answer my phone after 5 pm. Most agents in town have my cell number. Even on weekends, I will talk to or meet an agent or client if needed. We also appreciate that sometimes things come up last minute and people want to close in a rush. Our office prides itself in accommodating rush closings — our record rush closing was 24 hours!”

A.B. Miller Law Firm is committed to providing personalized attention to each client. She understands that every real estate or estate planning client’s needs and concerns are unique, and she takes the time to understand each client’s specific needs and goals.

Whether you are buying or selling a property, preparing or revising a will or creating a trust, Miller will work closely with you to protect your best interests throughout the entire process.

In addition to real estate closings and estate planning, A.B. Miller Law, PLLC can assist with a wide range of legal services including trademark and copyright filings, business law matters, eminent domain and traffic violations. You can trust the expertise of A.B. Miller Law, PLLC to provide exceptional legal services and personalized attention.

A.B. Miller Law, PLLC 4002 Executive Park Boulevard SE, Southport (910) 363-1007 abmillerlaw.com

Premiere Issue — Fall 2023

93

Dunes Mercantile Gifts & Guitars

Business Profile

PHOTO BY JIM ROBERTSON

I

94

SPT OKI Magazine

BY JOHN L. CARDILLO

f you are looking for a truly eclectic place to shop in the beautiful seaside town of Oak Island, look no further than Dunes Mercantile Gifts & Guitars. Owners Dennis “Denny” and Jackie Del Prete have created a warm and friendly shopping experience in a store bursting with color, texture, scents and sounds that appeal to a wide variety of patrons.

The husband-and-wife duo shares a love for (and background in) the arts, so it is no surprise that most of the merchandise they carry is supplied by more than two dozen local artists. From pottery to paintings, candles to coffee mugs and diverse designs crafted from wood, metals or seashells, the rotating inventory contains items not often found in traditional gift shops. They also feature stained-glass windows and artwork designed and made by Denny.

Wander to the far end of the shop to discover what makes this store utterly unique — the Dunes Guitar Bar. Denny, the drummer in the popular local band Dave’s Not Home, has a special love of guitars that began as a teenager when he worked in a music store. Today, the guitar bar is an authorized dealer of Yamaha, Takamine, Tagima, Vintage Icon, Washburn, AMI and Oscar Schmidt guitars. They also carry amplifiers, a full line of music accessories and some used guitars and instruments.

“Half the fun is sitting down and putting a guitar in your hand to make sure it is the right fit for you,” Denny says, noting there are no other guitar stores on Oak Island.

Dunes Mercantile opened in May 2018. Denny and Jackie purchased the business in April 2019, with the goal of offering one-of-a-kind gifts and décor at reasonable prices.

“It’s a very eclectic mix of merchandise,” notes Jackie, who is also the vice president of business development for the Southport-Oak Island Area Chamber of Commerce. “We’re proud of the fact that we feature a good deal of merchandise produced locally or in-state, and we don’t charge ‘tourist prices’ because we value the locals who support us all year long as well as our out-of-town visitors.”

Personalized customer service is a hallmark of Dunes Mercantile.

Jackie and Denny genuinely enjoy meeting new people and hearing their stories. Additionally, Jackie spends countless hours hunting for new products customers will love, while Denny uses his musical expertise to help anyone from beginner to professional find the perfect guitar.

Dunes Mercantile Gifts & Guitars supports many local charities, including Seabiscuit Wildlife Shelter and SOAR (Southport/Oak Island Animal Rescue). This fall, Dunes will be a sponsor for a Pledge the Pink breast cancer event expected to draw 1,500 people to Oak Island and raise more than $700,000 for research. A stained-glass flamingo that Denny created will be raffled off as part of the event.

“Dunes has far exceeded whatever vision we had when we decided to take on this newest adventure in our life,” Denny says. “It’s such a happy place, and we are very appreciative of the support and love that the community has given to our little store in this special place we all call home.”

Dunes Mercantile Gifts & Guitars 8600 E. Oak Island Drive, Suite 5, Oak Island (954) 243-6908 dunesmercantile.com

SOUTHPORT, NC TIDE CHART

September D a t e

High Tide AM

Low Tide PM

AM

PM

October D a t e

High Tide AM Time (EST)

November

Low Tide PM

Height Time (ft) (EST)

AM

PM

Time (EST)

Height Time (ft) (EST)

Height Time Height Time Height (ft) (EST) (ft) (EST) (ft)

Height Time Height Time Height (ft) (EST) (ft) (EST) (ft)

1

9:29

5.0

9:51

5.2

3:19

-0.5

3:39

-0.5

1

9:55

5.4

10:15

4.5

3:36

-0.5

4:14

-0.3

2

10:19

5.1

10:40

4.9

4:05

-0.5

4:32

-0.4

2

10:45

5.3

11:05

4.2

4:21

-0.4

5:06

-0.1

3

11:12

5.1

11:32

4.6

4:53

-0.5

5:26

-0.2

3

11:36

5.1

11:58

4.0

5:09

-0.2

5:57

4

--

--

12:06

5.1

5:41

-0.3

6:21

0.1

4

--

--

12:30

4.9

5:58

0.1

5

12:25

4.3

1:01

4.9

6:30

-0.1

7:17

0.3

5

12:53

3.7

1:25

4.6

6:50

6

1:20

4.0

1:58

4.7

7:24

0.1

8:19

0.6

6

1:50

3.6

2:24

4.4

D a t e

High Tide AM

Low Tide PM

AM

PM

Time (EST)

Height Time (ft) (EST)

Height Time Height Time Height (ft) (EST) (ft) (EST) (ft)

1

11:08

5.0

11:31

3.7

4:39

0.0

5:34

0.3

2

11:59

4.8

--

--

5:28

0.3

6:23

0.5

0.2

3

12:24

3.6

12:51

4.6

6:18

0.5

7:15

0.6

6:50

0.4

4

1:20

3.5

1:46

4.4

7:13

0.7

8:12

0.7

0.3

7:48

0.6

5

1:18

3.5

1:42

4.2

7:14

0.8

8:11

0.7

7:48

0.6

8:51

0.7

6

2:17

3.6

2:38

4.2

8:20

0.9

9:04

0.6 0.5

7

2:19

3.7

2:58

4.6

8:23

0.3

9:26

0.7

7

2:52

3.5

3:23

4.3

8:54

0.7

9:54

0.7

7

3:12

3.8

3:30

4.1

9:19

0.8

9:51

8

3:21

3.6

3:58

4.5

9:28

0.5

10:27

0.7

8

3:52

3.5

4:20

4.3

9:58

0.7

10:47

0.7

8

4:03

4.0

4:18

4.1

10:11

0.7

10:33

0.4

9

4:20

3.6

4:55

4.5

10:28

0.5

11:22

0.7

9

4:47

3.7

5:12

4.3

10:54

0.6

11:34

0.6

--

--

0.3

--

--

11:12

0.5

0.6

0.6

11:22

11:44

10:59

4.5

4.3

4.0

5:48

6:01

5:05

3.6

3.8

4.2

5:16

5:39

4:51

10

10

9

0.2

0.4

0.5

11:50

12:12

12:31

0.5

0.6

0.4

11:45

12:11

12:17

4.0

4.5

4.3

5:49

6:37

6:46

4.4

3.7

4.0

5:35

6:09

6:27

10

11

11

0.4

0.4

0.4

12:58

1:15

12:29

0.5

0.4

--

12:56

12:56

--

4.5

4.2

3.9

7:21

7:27

6:30

3.8

4.2

4.6

6:58

7:10

6:16

12

12

11

0.4

0.4

0.4

1:41

1:56

1:10

0.5

0.3

0.2

1:36

1:32

12:27

4.5

4.2

3.9

8:00

8:03

7:07

4.0

4.4

4.8

7:40

7:49

6:54

13

13

12 13

7:30

5.0

7:42

3.8

1:03

0.1

1:51

0.3

14

8:18

4.1

8:35

4.4

2:12

0.4

2:20

0.3

15

8:53

4.2

9:07

4.4

2:45

0.3

2:58

0.3

16

9:25

4.3

9:38

4.2

3:17

0.3

3:35

0.4

17

9:58

4.4

10:10

4.1

3:49

0.3

4:14

0.4

18

10:34

4.5

10:46

4.0

4:22

0.3

4:56

0.4

19

11:16

4.5

11:29

3.8

4:58

0.3

5:41

0.5

20

--

--

12:05

4.6

5:39

0.3

6:31

0.6

21

12:19

3.7

1:00

4.6

6:26

0.4

7:28

0.7

22

1:17

3.6

2:02

4.6

7:22

0.4

8:34

0.7

23

2:25

3.5

3:11

4.6

8:31

0.4

9:43

24

3:37

3.6

4:16

4.8

9:44

0.3

25

4:43

3.9

5:16

4.9

10:48

26

5:43

4.2

6:13

5.0

27

6:40

4.6

7:07

28

7:33

4.9

29

8:22

30

9:08

14

8:24

4.6

8:37

4.1

2:06

0.2

2:35

0.3

15

8:57

4.7

9:08

4.0

2:38

0.2

3:13

0.3

16

9:29

4.8

9:41

3.9

3:11

0.2

3:52

0.3

17

10:06

4.8

10:19

3.8

3:46

0.2

4:35

0.3

18

10:49

4.8

11:06

3.7

4:25

0.2

5:22

0.4

19

11:41

4.8

--

--

5:11

0.3

6:14

0.5

20

12:02

3.6

12:39

4.8

6:04

0.3

7:10

0.5

21

1:05

3.6

1:42

4.7

7:04

0.4

8:14

0.5

14

8:06

5.1

8:19

3.8

1:39

0.1

2:33

0.3

15

8:46

5.1

9:01

3.8

2:19

0.1

3:18

0.3

16

9:32

5.1

9:52

3.7

3:03

0.1

4:07

0.3

17

10:26

5.0

10:53

3.7

3:54

0.1

4:59

0.3

18

11:24

4.9

11:57

3.8

4:51

0.2

5:54

0.2 0.2

19

--

--

12:24

4.8

5:53

0.3

6:52

20

1:03

4.0

1:27

4.7

7:02

0.4

7:55

0.1

21

2:09

4.2

2:30

4.6

8:15

0.4

8:54

-0.1

22

2:15

3.7

2:49

4.7

8:15

0.4

9:20

0.4

23

3:25

3.9

3:54

4.7

9:30

0.3

10:20

0.2

22

3:11

4.5

3:30

4.5

9:22

0.3

9:47

-0.2

0.6

24

4:29

4.2

4:54

4.8

10:36

0.2

11:14

-0.1

23

4:09

4.8

4:26

4.4

10:23

0.1

10:38

-0.3

10:44

0.4

25

5:27

4.5

5:50

4.8

11:36

0.0

--

--

24

5:04

5.1

5:21

4.3

11:20

0.0

11:26

-0.4

0.1

11:39

0.1

26

6:23

4.9

6:44

4.7

12:04

-0.3

12:34

-0.2

25

5:56

5.3

6:14

4.2

--

--

12:15

0.0

11:48

-0.1

--

--

27

7:15

5.2

7:35

4.7

12:52

-0.4

1:28

-0.2

26

6:45

5.4

7:02

4.1

12:14

-0.3

1:05

0.0

5.1

12:30

-0.1

12:46

-0.3

28

8:03

5.4

8:21

4.5

1:39

-0.5

2:19

-0.3

27

7:30

5.4

7:47

4.0

1:00

-0.3

1:53

0.0

7:56

5.1

1:19

-0.3

1:41

-0.4

29

8:48

5.5

9:06

4.4

2:24

-0.5

3:08

-0.2

28

8:13

5.3

8:31

3.9

1:44

-0.1

2:39

0.1

5.2

8:43

5.0

2:06

-0.5

2:33

-0.5

30

9:33

5.4

9:51

4.2

3:08

-0.3

3:56

-0.1

29

8:56

5.1

9:16

3.7

2:28

0.0

3:24

0.2

5.4

9:28

4.8

2:51

-0.5

3:24

-0.4

31

10:19

5.2

10:39

3.9

3:52

-0.2

4:45

0.1

30

9:41

4.9

10:04

3.6

3:13

0.2

4:10

0.4

*TIDE CHARTS ARE ACCURATE TO THE BEST OF OUR KNOWLEDGE. IF YOU ARE CHECKING TIDES FOR NAVIGATIONAL PURPOSES, PLEASE VERIFY THESE TIMES WITH ANOTHER SOURCE.

Premiere Issue — Fall 2023

95

96

SPT OKI Magazine

ADVERTISERS INDEX

Advertiser

Phone# Page#

Advertiser

Phone#

Page#

A.B. Miller Law......................................... 910-363-1007

93

Inspire by Liberty at Brunswick Forest......... 910-239-2605

Ace Hardware of Southport......................... 910-477-6444

45

J & K Home Furnishings............................. 843-249-1882 14 & 15

Advanced Urology...................................... 910-641-8650

11

Lantana’s Gallery & Fine Gifts..................... 910-457-0957

38

All in Bloom.............................................. 336-953-4254

9

Lindsey Jenkins – Century 21 Collective...... 910-368-9626

4

Bald Head Coffee...................................... 800-484-8399

7

Margaret Rudd & Associates, Inc. Realtors .... (800) 486-5441

BC

Better Beach Rentals................................. 910-278-1147

38

Mermaid Cove Boutique............................. 910-250-1151

41

Bianchi Brickyard & Landscape Supply, Inc.... 910-454-4445

46

Midway Commons Storage.......................... 910-253-5700

45

Brooke Rudd-Gaglie, Rudd Sold Group.......... 910-512-1361

BC

Novant Health Brunswick Medical Plaza...... 910-721-1000

IFC

Brunswick Catch........................................ 919-707-3100

96

Oak Island Accommodations....................... 877-672-0517

46

Cape Fear K9............................................ 910-233-3554

28

River Hotel of Southport............................. 910-294-6070

86

Cat on a Whisk.......................................... 910-454-4451

38

Southern Realty Advantage......................... 910-933-6223

49

Coldwell Banker Sea Coast Advantage.......... 910-457-6713

35

Southport Realty........................................ 910-457-7676

16

CommWell Health...................................... 877-935-5255

49

Southport-Oak Island Area Chamber............ 910-457-6964

46

Dosher Memorial Hospital........................... 910-457-3800

50

The Beach House Motel & Suites................ 910-278-5644

3

Dunes Mercantile...................................... 945-243-6908

27, 94

The Coin Guy............................................ 910-232-2342

28

Exhale Chiro Spa....................................... 910-297-0487

79

The Kitchen Man....................................... 910-408-1322

86

FOCUS Broadband..................................... 910-755-8149

79

Throw Baxe............................................... 910-363-4286

97

Hawthorne Residential Partners.................. 910-807-7910

IBC

Wades Jewelers......................................... 910-457-5800

28

Premiere Issue — Fall 2023

5

97

CAPTURE THE MOMENT

SOUTHPORT WATERFRONT Photo captured by Mark Snead

HAVE YOU CAPTURED THE MOMENT? If so, email your photos to capture@lifeinbrunswickcounty.com.

98

SPT OKI Magazine

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