Wrightsville Beach Magazine September 2024 Edition
GROMS
By David A. Norris
Greenfield’s natural beauty has endured through the centuries, but a succession of buildings, amusements and characters has come and gone. NEW WAVE ARRIVES
Groms: A New Generation
By Beth Watson Hedgepeth
An up-and-coming crop of talented surfers has the same love for the ocean as the generations before them.
By Pat Bradford
A charity golf tournament raises funds for
By Robert Rehder
Remembering a special fishing trip on an uninhabited
Land Ho!
By Christine R.
Gonzalez
Capturing quaint images of sailboats, shrimpers and harbor life is the current work of impressionist Pappy Khouri.
HOME OF DISTINCTION
48 All in the Famiglia
By Amanda Lisk
A new ICW waterfront home with views to Masonboro Island and Wrightsville Beach is the setting for large extended family gatherings and signature Italian dishes.
SAVOR
60 Rising to the Challenge
By Elyse Kiel
By Rona Simmons
Remembering the ultimate sacrifice made by a Wilmington native who was also a New Hanover High School student.
Bradford
Dive shop owner Mark Labocetta brings back an annual
tournament at Wrightsville Beach.
26 Wrightsville Beach’s
Finn Viorel, age 16, makes a nice turn as he catches a wave during an afternoon surf session south of Johnnie Mercers Pier in March 2024. Viorel first surfed with his dad when he was 5, but took up the sport for real when he was 10.
After learning about the history of sourdough bread, use our recipe to bake a tasty loaf. ON THE COVER
g BEACH MAGAZINE
Wrightsville Beach Magazine showcases excellent in-depth, insightful journalism from the best local writers and photographers. It is a treasured addition to family homes and area businesses and is proudly displayed on coffee and side tables long after other publications are discarded. Our content is not advertiser driven. We tell Stories That Matter — important ones, stories that are endearing, that will change you and stand the test of time. Wrightsville Beach Magazine is Changing Our World Together, One Fascinating Story at a Time in 12 free issues a year (Print ISSN 1937-9978 / Online ISSN 19389986).
For distribution locations nearest you, please call (910) 256-6569.
Subscriptions to Wrightsville Beach Magazine can be ordered by calling (910) 256-6569.
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PUBLISHER Pat Bradford
SENIOR EDITOR Pat Bradford
ASSOCIATE EDITOR Simon Gonzalez
PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR Steve McMillan
ART DIRECTOR/GRAPHIC DESIGNER Shawn Best
HOME OF DISTINCTION Amanda Lisk
GRAPHIC DESIGNER Cissy Russell
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Christine R. Gonzalez
Beth Watson Hedgepeth
Elyse Kiel
David A. Norris
Robert Rehder
Rona Simmons
CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS John Boney
Ross Copenhaver/RossCo Innovations
Beth Watson Hedgepeth
Mark Laboccetta
Bill Ritenour
Wallaby Film Production
Wilmington Surfing Community
PROOFREADERS Christine R. Gonzalez
Will Jones
SALES SUPPORT Kimberly Graham
Amanda Lisk
OFFICE MANAGER & CIRCULATION Kimberly Graham
DISTRIBUTION Jim Rees
Advertising information can be obtained by calling (910) 256-5830 or visiting WBM’s website. Wrightsville Beach Magazine
“ For with God nothing is ever impossible and no word from God shall be without power or impossible of fulfillment.”
— L uke 1:37 A mp
My photo this month took me back to where this magazine’s storytelling began 25 years ago. my
FROM late 2000 to early 2003, I spent a great deal of time in the North Carolina room conducting research for stories and looking at photographs. I spent many quarters back then on copying documents. This was before the digital age blossomed.
You’ll notice from the photo credits that many of our archival photos that illustrate our history stories come from the New Hanover County Library system.
This month we take a deep dive into the history of Greenfields plantation from the 1750s forward. Dr. Green, a physician who also owned a nearby plantation called Green Hill, built the original dam on Greenfield Creek that created Greenfield Pond, which became known as Greenfield Lake by 1911.
I cannot help but wonder if those who walk there realize that its history includes a rice plantation and sawmill encompassing 170-180 acres of ricefields and 300 acres of upland. Later it was home to a whiskey distillery. It is a rich history.
The rich natural diversity of this community is on display in our story of 24 years of the Salvation Army golf tournaments raising funds to help the community. This year’s proceeds will go toward the building of a center to house those in need on 22 acres off the MLK Parkway slated to be complete by midyear 2025.
Also in its 24th year is the Wrightsville Beach Spearfishing Tournament, which is open to free divers and tank divers for inshore and offshore spearfishing.
For those who like to drop a hook, we have Robert Rehder’s firsthand story of chasing redfish on Lea Island.
In setting out to photograph local bread for our Savor feature on sourdough I found a new favorite place, Little Loaf Bakery and Schoolhouse, a business on Wrightsville Avenue that not only makes fabulous sourdough bread but also teaches classes on how to make it. And while proprietor Julia Castellano makes fabulous old-world-style breads and delectable treats, quite special to me she also offers gluten-free.
Spoiler alert: we are only halfway through hurricane season, which officially ends November 30 each year.
Enjoy.
Senior Editor/Publisher
Pat Bradford examining a book of Wilmington city maps from the 1700s in the North Carolina History Room of the New Hanover County main library on Aug. 10, 2024.
Pat Bradford’s hair by Frank Potter, hair styled by Victoria Paz, and makeup by Ken Grimsley, all with Bangz Hair Salon.
STEVE M c MILLAN
Putting to the Green Golfing for the Salvation Army
BY PAT BRADFORD
THE Salvation Army of Cape Fear’s annual fundraising golf tournament supports construction of the organization’s Center of Hope, a 20,500 square-foot facility located on 22 acres off Martin Luther King Drive in the Creekwood neighborhood of Wilmington, opposite the airport.
“The first year of the golf tournament raised $43,000. Over its 13 years it has raised $1.4 million,” says Bobby Benson, Advisory Board member and chairman of the Golf Committee.
Expected to be completed by May or June 2025, the facility will serve families and men and women from New Hanover, Bladen, Brunswick and Columbus counties, providing 75 beds.
Top, right: William Robison, Ben Riley and Franklin Boney watch as Drew Kaley chips onto the 13th green at Cape Fear Country Club (undated). Right: Salvation Army Golf Tournament participants enjoy dinner and refreshments at Cape Fear Country Club (undated). Below: Teams and carts line up for the fifth annual Salvation Army of Cape Fear Golf Tournament at Cape Fear Country Club.
“We hope to help people from Creekwood with our services in addition to the homeless,” says Major Ken Morris, Corps Officer, Salvation Army Cape Fear.
The center will have separate sides for men and women and an additional wing to house families.
“We will be able to handle maybe five to eight families, depending on their size,” Morris says.
Life-skills programs will be offered, including time management, money management, anger management, how to prepare for a job, and skills they need to move into stable housing.
One hundred percent of the money raised from the golf tournament will go to the Center of Hope shelter.
“The golfers bring in funds for our wonderful project,” says Morris.
The mission of the Salvation Army Cape Fear (a 501(c)(3) nonprofit charitable organization) is “to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ and meet human needs in His name without discrimination, offering help and support in southeastern North Carolina.”
Above, left: Robert Kidder, Mike Anderson and Mark Citrella chipping to the green on the fifth hole during the 2017 Salvation Army Golf Tournament at Cape Fear Country Club. Above, right: Sheila Bowles and Betsy Miles watch Carla Daniels teeing off at the sixth hole at the 2019 Salvation Army Golf Tournament.
Above, left: Celebrating a Salvation Army Golf Tournament putt-off at Cape Fear Country Club in 2018 are Lana Winneberger and Susan Price. Above, right: Tournament chair Bobby Benson and former Salvation Army board president David Price present the inaugural tournament check to Major Richard Watts in 2011.
Native Hero
Warren S. Pennington
BY RONA SIMMONS
THERE are a number of national military service holidays in the month of September, including the Veterans of Foreign Wars, Gold Star Mother’s Day, National POW/MIA Day, Victory over Japan (V-J) Day, National Service Day, the birthdays of the Air Force and the Air National Guard, as well as Patriot Day on September 11.
With summer coming to an end, students are back in school. For those who have earned passage to their senior year, it will be a year filled with anticipation. Those choosing the path to higher education will soon be perusing catalogs and visiting campuses. They also will be facing the high cost of four years of college, and many will seek a scholarship.
Often this is an impersonal endeavor, a process of filling out and submitting forms and waiting to hear a response. Few students or their parents will pause to consider how a particular scholarship came to be or the person whose name it bears.
One of these was the Warren Stewart Pennington scholarship for New Hanover High School seniors, established in 1945. The first ever to be dedicated exclusively to the school, it awarded $200 a year to a qualified senior. While inflation ate away at that once princely sum, it would be approximately $3,400 today.
Even though this scholarship has passed into the rich history of the high school, it is worth a moment to remember its namesake, a war hero who gave his life for freedom during the Ardennes Offensive on the Western Front in World War II.
Warren Pennington was born in New Hanover County just over a century ago to Warren and Hazel Pennington. He graduated from New Hanover High School in 1940 and chose to pursue studies in aeronautical engineering, entering Tri-State College of Engineering in Indiana.
WARREN STEWART PENNINGTON
Warren’s motto is this one: “Pun for all, and all for pun!”
Marshal 4 ; President Junior Class; Student Council 2; Delegate to State Student Council Congress 3; Wildcat Staff 4 (Circulation Manager) ; Visual Education Staff 3 , 4 ( Director 4); Chairman “Financing Student Activities” 3 ; School Store Clerk 2, 3, 4; Hi-Y Club 3, 4; Hi Y Minstrel 3 , 4 ( Manager 4 ) ; National Honor Society 3 , 4 ; Nature Club 2 ; Chemistry Club 3 ; Debating Club 3, 4 ( State Debating Team 3) ; Scribblers’ Club 3 , 4 ; Physics Club 4 ; Boosters’ Club 4
the war intensified and the need for soldiers rose, many of the ASTP student deferments were terminated.
Pennington was transferred to the infantry. In September 1944, a few weeks after completing basic training, he landed at Utah Beach in Normandy, then in Allied hands. He took part in the drive to push the German army back across France.
With Company K of the 328th Infantry Regiment, in the 26th Division of Gen. George S. Patton’s Third Army, he saw action in the Normandy and Lorraine regions of France and in Belgium and Luxembourg. It was about as far from aeronautical engineering as Private First Class Pennington could possibly have imagined.
As it did for so many young men, World War II interrupted his studies. He enlisted in the reserves and entered the Army Air Forces in the spring of 1943. The following year would prove to be a whirlwind of activity for the young man with high aspirations.
Pennington secured a spot with the Army Specialized Training Program (ASTP) to further his education at the University of Alabama. But as
Three months into his service, Pennington was wounded by shrapnel and spent more than a month recovering in a hospital in Paris before rejoining his unit. When he returned, the 26th was fighting in the Ardennes Forest in Belgium and Luxembourg and soon in the early stages of the infamous Battle of the Bulge. A few weeks later, on Jan. 4, 1945, Pennington was killed in action in Luxembourg.
Pennington left behind a record of his thoughts expressing his philosophy, in this instance about the war but also applicable to life in general.
Pennington’s thoughts from the day before he joined the fighting in Metz, France, read, “I shan’t then heedlessly dash into foolish positions, but always as a good soldier, I shall go where I can do the most to bring this war to a speedy end.”
It was good advice to a future generation, including the recipients of the scholarship established the year of his passing by his parents in his name.
Information for this article was obtained from multiple sources including Wilmington Star articles from 1945 and the History of the Yankee Division published in 1955.
Top: Warren S. Pennington in The Hanoverian, New Hanover High School’s 1940 yearbook. Above: Hew Hanover High School.
Above and opposite bottom: pages from a booklet about the
Men of the 328th Infantry Regiment, the U.S. 26th Division, riding on an M8 ‘Greyhound’ light armored car of the 735th Tank Battalion near Neustadt, Germany, 1945
328th Infantry Regiment.
War photograph of fighting by U.S. 26th Infantry Division in Metz, France, 1945.
Above, left: Zach Lewis with lobster and gag grouper during the 2022 tournament. Above, right: Bob Finley, Alex Wazlak and Mark Laboccetta with gag grouper and Billy Daniels with an African pompano at the Dockside weigh-in at the 2022 tournament.
Above, left: Craig Jeno with a cobia in 2021 (Mark Laboccetta making fun in background). Above, center: Lydia Laboccetta with a gag grouper. Above, right: Scott Lewis with a cobia.
Above, left: Michael Hosang from Virginia with a hogfish next to Reef Runner. Above, right: Mark and Lydia Laboccetta with a red snapper on the second day of the 2023 snapper season.
Diver Down
The return of an annual spearfishing tournament
BY PAT BRADFORD
THE annual Wrightsville Beach Spearfishing Tournament, headquartered at SeaPath Marina & Yacht Club, is back in September after a one-year hiatus. The tournament began in 1998, organized by Aquatic Safaris.
Mark Labocetta came to the first spearfishing tournament from the College of Charleston, and he says he brought free diving to the event.
Now the owner of Reef Runner Dive & Spear Fishing in Wilmington, Labocetta has been a steadfast participant over the years. After not having a tournament last year, he stepped up to revive it.
“We didn’t hold it last year because no one felt like doing it anymore. I wanted to bring it back, because spearfishing has always been a part of my life,” he says.
“In 2022, I was on the U.S. spearfishing team in Italy as an assistant coach, but winning the WB Spearfishing Tournament with a very large gag grouper (32 pounds) freediving at 105 feet depth was somewhat of a career lifetime achievement for me. Probably my proudest moment in spearfishing tournaments in 25 years. I got a special fish diving against scuba divers in the grouper category. It was the largest such grouper weighed in the WB tournament and I did it breath-hold diving with my friend Craig Jeno of High Tide Upholstery who assisted me. At 44, I felt like I am still good enough to hang with the younger guys. Now I’m happy organizing the spearfishing tournament,” Laboccetta says.
This year the regulations are changing, and divers will not be able to take gag grouper or flounder.
Competitors spend half their time free diving and the other half with scuba equipment.
“It makes for a fun rivalry,” Labocetta says. “We combine the scores. Whoever has the highest wins the master hunter award.”
Divers compete for a cash purse.
Mark Batson has been spearfishing since he was 15, both free and tank.
“What I love about it is we are in an urban environment during the week but as soon as you get out on the ocean you were in a wild environment, as wild as the Serengeti,” Batson says.
He describes less pressure on the reef off North Carolina, and fewer divers.
“Compared to other places in the world, North Carolina is as dynamic, in a way like no other,” he says. “The vibrancy of the reef, the variety of the fish, the size of the mature fish; the fish are allowed to grow to their full potential.”
Divisions are inshore (including sheepshead, black seabass, porgy, black drum), bottom fish (grouper, snapper, hogfish, triggerfish), and pelagic (wahoo, tuna, pompano and mahi, among others).
There will also be several women’s categories this year.
Competitors come from all over, including Florida and New York and as far away as Puerto Rico.
Above, left: Emma Lewis with a hogfish at the Bridgetender Marina during the 2022 spearfishing tournament. Above, right: Drake Overton with a red grouper.
Mark Laboccetta with a gag grouper (32 pounds) taken freediving at 105 feet depth. It won the 2022 Wrightsville Beach Spearfishing Tournament. He refers it to a career lifetime achievement.
Timeless Allure Greenfield through the centuries
BY DAVID A. NORRIS
REFLECTING history from four centuries and providing an echo of the cypress forests and wetlands that flourished for thousands of years in North Carolina, Greenfield Lake is a unique part of Wilmington’s landscape.
Naturalist Paul Bartsch, an assistant curator at the U.S. National Museum (part of the Smithsonian Institution), wrote a description of Greenfield when he visited the lake in 1906 in search of rare freshwater mollusks.
draped with large festoons of Spanish moss.” Through a land grant as well as real estate purchases, Dr. Samuel Green (1707-1771) acquired what became Greenfield Lake by the 1750s. He named his plantation there Greenfields, and he also owned a nearby plantation called Greenhill. Greenville Sound, where the doctor also owned land, is named for him as well.
“The pond is formed by a broad earthen milldam, about 20 feet high, which banks up water between sand dunes, inundating the low-lying ground, and transforming it into a lake, the digitations of which extend back for some 3 miles,” he wrote. “A large portion is fringed with cypress trees, and there are several cypress-covered islands in it. The trees are not large, hardly more than a foot in diameter, and all are
It seems that the original dam at Greenfield, which created the lake, was built while Green owned the property. The water backed up by the dam was released to flood ricefields on the plantation located on the low-lying land north of the half-mile of Greenfield Creek between the dam and the Cape Fear River.
Quite long ago, a mill was constructed near the dam. The Collet map of 1770 shows Green’s sawmill located south of Wilmington.
In Colonial times, the area that became Greenfield Lake and Park was a rice plantation owned by Dr. Samuel Green.
The red dot in the above map from 1770 indicates the location of Green’s sawmill.
Waterfall at the spillway at Greenfield Lake.
An Easter Egg hunt held at Greenfield. An item in the Wilmington News of April 5, 1934, reported that the public egg hunt was sponsored by the Wilmington Lions Club. Photographs of the “throng of 2,000 children” were taken by Louis T. Moore (1884-1961) and displayed at the Chamber of Commerce offices in front of city hall. Mr. Moore was the executive secretary of the chamber from 1921 until 1941.
Fountain and old mill spillway pictured at Greenfield Lake.
BORN in Liverpool, England, Green practiced medicine for about 30 years after his arrival in Wilmington circa 1740. A few years before Green obtained Greenfield, Spanish privateers attacked and occupied Brunswick Town for a few days in 1748, during King George’s War. The privateers withdrew after their rather inappropriately named ship Fortuna exploded in the Cape Fear River. At New Hanover County’s expense, Green treated half a dozen prisoners that survived the explosion. After his death, Green was buried in Saint James Churchyard, where his gravestone is still readable today.
Green’s son William M. Green sold the plantation in 1844 to Edward B. Dudley, the former governor of North Carolina who lived in the Dudley Mansion on Front Street in Wilmington.
Most called it Greenfield Pond, while others called it McIlhenny’s Pond. Only after about 1911 did the Wilmington press consistently refer to the place as Greenfield Lake.
T.C. McIlhenny subsequently owned Greenfield. He listed the property in 1855, stating that his holdings included “170 to 180 acres of rice land, and about 300 acres of upland.” Greenfield was a landmark appearing on many early maps of the Cape Fear River and New Hanover County. Rather than a grand manor house, McIlhenny noted only that the place included “a dwelling house, with the necessary out houses.” Despite advertising the land for sale, McIlhenny still owned Greenfield a year later when he
skating.
opened a whiskey distillery on the property after the Civil War.
The distillery had its share of trouble. During the Christmas season of 1880, thieves stole three stills and one worm (the copper tube that allows the spirituous vapor to condense). Police caught some of the thieves, who had already sold some of their loot as scrap copper.
Federal agents raided the distillery in 1902. The operators had added a secret tube to draw part of their product into an underground tank so they could sell the whiskey without paying tax.
Changes in ownership created some confusion over the name of the cypress-shaded body of water south of old Wilmington. Most Wilmingtonians called it Greenfield Pond, while others called it McIlhenny’s Pond. Only after about 1911 did the Wilmington press consistently refer to the place as Greenfield Lake. Likewise, the mill was known by various names according to its ownership.
Greenfield also has a long history as a spot for recreation and leisure. As early as 1806, a newspaper ad warned “persons (who) continue to hunt and hawl [sic] away wood &c. from the lands belonging to Greenfield Estate” of legal prosecution. Again, in 1845, the owners warned against hunting and fishing at “the Greenfield Place.” But, as they say, if you can’t beat them, join them.
Greenfield Lake froze over a number of times, allowing some rare days of outdoor ice
Later, some landowners at Greenfield made money by allowing fishing and renting boats to the anglers. The lake’s pleasant and shady rural surroundings lured generations of picnickers.
Local militia companies found it an agreeable place to combine business with pleasure, assembling for drills and target shooting contests. City papers noted several baptism ceremonies at the pond for members of the Front Street Second Advent Church between 1899 and 1906.
Picnics and fishing were natural enough attractions. A perhaps unexpected activity was ice skating. The cold winter of 1893 froze the pond for several days. Some folks ordered ice skates from New York, which arrived in time for them to try out. On Jan. 20, there were an estimated 150 people skating on the ice.
Above: During the Depression, construction workers built the five-mile drive around the lake. It was completed in July 1931 as part of a Works Project Administration attempt to put a portion of the numerous area unemployed to work. Below: A Sanborn Fire Insurance map of 1915 shows the former privately owned Greenfield Park; the bathhouse; dance pavilion; and the gristmill.
The winter wonderland was not to last much longer. The Wilmington Messenger reported on Jan. 24, 1893, that warm weather “has made the ice melt very rapidly.”
“There was good skating on Saturday, but by Sunday the skaters found it perilous to venture on the ice. A hundred or more were at Turlington’s mill [named for the current owner] and tried the ice, but several broke through, one or two getting in over their heads.”
Over the years, ice skaters had a few more fun days at Greenfield. In 1918, ice as much as four or five inches thick covered the lake for a few days in early January. The Wilmington Morning Star reported the lake froze again in 1940 and ran a photo of two skaters on the front page.
ALLIGATORS have long been a feature of Greenfield Lake. Evidently there were no “Do Not Disturb the Alligators” signs back in the 1800s. Several Wilmingtonians caught gators in the lake and made a little money showing them off in the streets or inside saloons.
In 1890, E. Jones caught a 6-foot-8 alligator in his net while fishing in Greenfield Creek below the dam. Jones sold the alligator to S. Van Amringe, president of the Ocean View Railroad (which connected downtown Wilmington to Wrightsville Beach).
The Wilmington Messenger reported “the gator was carried down [to Wrightsville Beach] … and is domiciled in the tank alongside the track at Switchback station.”
Its distance from Wilmington not only kept Greenfield Pond quiet but was also sufficiently isolated for the town to place a smallpox hospital there during an outbreak in 1874.
Beginning in London and Liverpool in the last quarter of 1870, Europe’s smallpox pandemic lasted from 1870 to 1874. A sailor from a schooner at the Wilmington docks collapsed with an illness quickly identified as smallpox. He was staying in a “house of ill repute” on Walnut Street. The sailor died of his illness, and occupants of the house were taken to a small house near Greenfield Pond. They remained in the emergency smallpox hospital under quarantine for 20 days before their release.
Greenfield remained the site of a mill for well over a century and a half. In 1831, James S. Green placed a newspaper ad to say the Greenfield mill was back in operation as a gristmill. A storm in 1837 broke the mill dam, and another storm in 1892 left a 35-foot gap in the dam.
In 1884, owner W. H. Turlington announced the mill had been overhauled, adding “I have had the creek cleaned out for the benefit of persons wishing to carry corn to the mill in boats.” In 1915, the mill advertised that farmers could bring in small amounts of corn for grinding. For payment, the miller took one-eighth of the
resulting cornmeal. There was a gristmill running on Greenfield Lake as late as 1923.
In 1870, the new Greenfield Street marked Wilmington’s southern boundary, a stone’s throw north of Greenfield Pond. By 1915, the city limits reached the northern edges of the water.
For years, city newspapers reported proposals to obtain Greenfield for a city water supply and for a municipal park. A privately owned park opened by the lake shore in 1910. City streetcars provided frequent service to the park.
The opening was marked by several performances of John R. Smith’s Wild West Buffalo Ranch Exposition. A newspaper ad for the show when it was in Washington, North Carolina, promised “horses with human brains. They march, waltz, and cake walk to the merry music of the band. … ‘Arizona Charley’ will every afternoon make his thrilling ‘Roman Racing’ standing on the backs of fiery steeds, besides doing trick and fancy riding.”
In the original Greenfield Park, the 1915 Sanborn Insurance map showed a boardwalk running along the southern edge of the lake and along the dam, a pier leading to the Overlake Pavilion, which was built over the water, and a small bathhouse nearby.
In 1925, the city bought the lake and surrounding land. The property became Wilmington’s first city park, which today surrounds the 91-acre lake.
Wilmington’s Junior Police Patrol enjoyed an outing at the amusement park.
Unlike today, swimming in the lake was encouraged, and the bathhouse served as a place for swimmers to change their clothes. The pavilion was mainly designed for dancing to live music, but there was also an arcade with various game machines.
In 1915, the Wilmington Morning Star described a rather suspicious-sounding vending machine at Greenfield. “The device has a slot arrangement by which one can drop in a nickel and get a package of chewing gum. It is also stated that one may get two, four, eight, 16, or possibly 20 nickels, if his luck is right.” The county sheriff seized the machine as an illegal gambling device.
By 1919, the park was called Lakeside Park. There was, said the Wilmington Morning Star, “an octagonal shaped building completely enclosed with glass, containing a beautiful Herschell-Spillman $7,500 electric carouselle [sic] with 36 jumping ‘hobby horses,’ two chariots and a magnificent automatic organ.”
From top: Motorboats, rowboats and swimmers on Greenfield Lake with the pavilion and cypress trees in the background. The powerboats were made at Herbst Boat Works in Wilmington. Greenfield Lake and Park included a zoo and tennis courts. Inset: An ad for the privately owned Lakeside Park at Greenfield Lake.
Greenfield Lake has undergone tremendous change since the 1700s, shifting from agricultural and industrial uses into a center for leisure and relaxation.
ANOTHER large new building housed Lakeside Park’s zoo, and yet another housed an “all-steel automatic mechanical shooting gallery.” A new arcade contained several new “skee-ball alley and coin operated machines.”
In 1925, the city bought the lake and surrounding land. The property became Wilmington’s first city park, which today surrounds the 91-acre lake.
In 1931, during the Great Depression, the construction of five miles of paved road around the lake provided badly needed jobs for hundreds of unemployed workers. More work came with the planting of hundreds of azaleas. The bright flowers became a symbol of Wilmington and created a lavish display for the first North Carolina Azalea Festival in 1948.
New attractions came and went. Around 1950, a miniature railroad ride and a carousel were added. Boats took visitors on tours of the lake. The Cypress Queen , a small boat used for lake tours, was supplemented by the Show Boat , a larger vessel
resembling a little Mississippi River steamboat. Many Wilmingtonians will remember the park’s children’s zoo. All were closed or removed over time.
A popular and long-running addition, opened in 1961, is the Greenfield Lake Amphitheater. Since 1993, the amphitheater has been the scene of hundreds of performances of the popular Shakespeare on the Green series.
Another recent attraction is the Greenfield Grind Skate Park. A boathouse managed by the Cape Fear River Watch rents paddleboats, kayaks, and canoes.
Greenfield Lake has undergone tremendous change since the 1700s, shifting from agricultural and industrial uses into a center for leisure and relaxation. But some things remain the same. Spanish moss still clings to the cypress trees, which frame beautiful vistas of shadowy woods and the extensive lake.
The timeless allure of nature blends harmoniously with the modern park as Greenfield Park stands on the threshold of its second century.
From top: Greenfield Lake Park playground area. The Power Boat Club location where Greenfield Lake empties into the Cape Fear River. Greenfield Lake Park pavilion, water slide and swimming pier.
Groms
A New Generation
Introducing 10 talented young surfers
BY BETH WATSON HEDGEPETH
CHECKING the waves every morning. Living by one of the best breaks in North Carolina with the old-school surfers. Enjoying the weather and waves. Surfing three or four times a day with friends and family. Being in the water all the time. Being close to a super nice beach. Going to Masonboro. Fishing every day.
Those are the best things about living in the Wrightsville Beach area according to 10 groms who are a part of the next-generation surf community.
Grom is the shorter nickname for grommet. According to Surfcasual, the term grommet (from the 1960s) or gremmie,
derived from the word gremlin (from the 1940s and 1950s), refers to a young or inexperienced surfer.
Surfing communities adapted the word over the years to describe talented young surfers. It’s both a sign of admiration and a label for younger, less experienced surfers.
In 2005, Wrightsville Beach Magazine published an article about seven local young surfers. An update followed eight years later, and another 10 years after that.
Now our pages focus on a new generation of talented surfers with the same love for the ocean as the generations before them.
While they have varied skills, interests, and successes, their common passion revolves around the local waters.
The ten groms gather for a group shot on the south end of Wrightsville Beach in June 2024. Left to right: Carson Wilcox, Benjamin Mullis, Fletcher Whittle, Christian Castiglione, Shae Whitaker, Mason Kober, Sam Hipp, Wilson Carlisle, Miles Hufham and Finn Viorel. PHOTO BY BETH W. HEDGEPETH
wilson carlisle Age 15, Sophomore
Favorite way to spend his spare time: Surfing, traveling, playing football, working with his dad.
When did you start surfing? “I’ve been surfing for as long as I can remember. I started out on the front of my parents’ paddle boards.”
Why do you surf? “I enjoy how peaceful the ocean makes me feel.”
Who are your biggest influences (in general or in the surfing world)? “My greatest influences are my mother and father. They taught me almost everything I know. My neighbor, and one of the people that influenced me most in surfing, started me on an old board of his from the ’70s. He also bought me my first board.”
What are your future goals? “Travel and surf. I would like to be able to work in the surf industry in the future.”
Fun fact: Loves football and plays on the Hoggard High team.
Christian “Meeps” Castiglione Age 15, sophomore
Favorite way to spend his spare time: Surfing, fishing, skating, biking, playing guitar, and spearfishing.
When did you start surfing? “I began surfing around age 6.”
Why do you surf? “I enjoy the competitive aspect of it. I love competing in contests to improve my surfing. I also love the free surfing side of it because of the exploration and experience you gain from it. Surfing allows you to travel to so many great places and learn and see new things.”
Who are your biggest influences (in general or in the surfing world)?
“My greatest influences in surfing are the people who were able to become great that are from my town, such as Ben Bourgeois.”
What are your future goals? “My future goal in surfing is to go as high as possible in the competitive surf world and compete at the highest level I possibly can.”
Fun fact: Plays lead guitar in a band called The Knuckleheads.
Sam Hipp
Age 13, 8th grade
Fun fact: Also likes to ski.
Favorite way to spend his spare time: Surfing, drone photography, playing ice hockey.
When did you start surfing? “I started surfing when I was 4 years old.”
Why do you surf? “There is nothing better than being in the ocean and catching waves with my friends.”
Who are your biggest influences (in general or in the surfing world)?
“My influences are my dad, Sam Reidy, Owen Moss, and Griffin Colapinto.”
What are your future goals? “My goals with surfing are to make the World Surf League (WSL) and win a world title.”
COURTESY
RYAN HIPP
COURTESY
Miles Hufham
Age 12, 7th grade
Favorite way to spend his spare time: Being outdoors, surfing, riding my bike, carving on the skateboard, and hanging with family and friends.
When did you start surfing? “I started surfing when I was 8 years old.”
Why do you surf? “I love to surf because it’s really fun, and I love the feeling I get when I land a sick turn. Being in the water makes me feel free, and I am able to relax and chill and escape the stress of the world.”
Who are your biggest influences (in general or in the surfing world)? “My greatest influences are Owen Moss, Griffin Colapinto, and my dad.
What are your future goals? “Future goals are to surf in the WSL, travel the world surfing, and to be sponsored by Red Bull.”
Fun fact: Loves to draw and skilled at pencil sketching.
Mason Kober
Age 15, sophomore
Favorite way to spend his spare time: Water sports — surfing, SUP racing, SUP surfing, fishing. Competes in stand up paddleboard races along the East Coast.
When did you start surfing? “I started riding different kinds of boards at 5, and I was 7 when I got my first surfboard.” Why do you surf? “It makes me happy, and I can be with my friends.”
Who are your biggest influences (in general or the surfing world)? “Probably Jarrod Covington, owner of Wrightsville Beach SUP. He was my SUP race coach. We like the same things, and he teaches me a lot. He is funny and hardworking.”
What are your future goals? “Just to keep getting better and to work on the water.”
Fun fact: His family has called him the negotiator since he was about 2. He’s always been determined for things to go his way, and he will let you know why.
Benjamin Mullis
Age 13, 8th grade
Favorite way to spend his spare time: Surfing, fishing, playing basketball.
When did you start surfing? “I started surfing at age 4.”
Why do you surf? “I surf because I love being in the ocean that challenges me and sharing waves with my friends.”
Who are your biggest influences (in general or the surfing world)?
“My dad, because he’s a good surfer and pushes me to be better. My mom for teaching me to stay positive.”
What are your future goals? “I would like to make it to the finals this year at the ESA Easterns and travel to surf more challenging waves.”
Fun fact: Loves to play basketball and watch the Tar Heels.
COURTESY
Finn Viorel Age
16, junior
Favorite way to spend his spare time: Being at the beach with my friends, playing guitar, traveling to new surf destinations.
When did you start surfing? “When I was around 5 my dad would always try to get me to surf, but it wasn’t really something I enjoyed. I would much rather be looking for shark teeth or swimming. But when I was 10, I decided to give it a shot again. Everything just clicked when I tried again. From there, I couldn’t stop surfing.”
Why do you surf? “I surf because I enjoy being in the ocean. The ocean is very therapeutic and calming.”
Who are your biggest influences (in general or the surfing world)? “My greatest influence would be my dad. He’s extremely supportive in whatever I do, and he inspires me to be the best me.”
What are your future goals? “My goal is to always push myself in whatever I do and to have no regrets.”
Fun fact: Plays guitar and composes his own songs.
Shae Whitaker Age
15, sophomore
Favorite way to spend his spare time: Surfing, skating, hunting, fishing, and golfing — anything outdoors and active
When did you start surfing? “I started surfing around age 6.”
Why do you surf? “I surf because it’s super fun. I like being outside and in the water.”
Who are your biggest influences (in general or the surfing world)? “Griffin Colapinto is my favorite surfer.”
What are your future goals? “My goals for surfing are to win Easterns.”
Fun fact: Instructor at Indo Jax, shapes his own surfboards.
Fletcher Whittle Age 16, junior
Favorite way to spend his spare time: Surfing, shaping boards, fishing, prone paddling, and golfing.
When did you start surfing? “I started surfing when I was 3.”
Why do you surf? “I surf because I love being in the ocean and feeling connected with it. Surfing is also super rewarding and fun and a great way to spend time.”
Who are your biggest influences (in general or the surfing world)? “Will Alison influenced me because he is successful in both surfing and shaping. Ben Bourgeois and Cam Richards are amazing role models and have both been super supportive.”
What are your future goals? “My goal is to pursue a career in surfing and shaping.”
Fun fact: Shaped his first surfboard at age 8 and won ESA Easterns at age 14 on a board that he shaped.
Carson Wilcox Age
16, junior
Favorite way to spend his spare time: Surfing, fishing, spear fishing, shaping surfboards.
When did you start surfing? “7 years old.”
Why do you surf? “I surf because it’s fun and challenging at the same time. There is always something to improve on.”
Who are your biggest influences (in general or the surfing world)? “My greatest surfing influences are John John Florence and Gabriel Medina.”
What are your future goals? “My goals are to keep getting better at surfing. I try to surf every day and work to improve. I want to participate in more surf events and continue to do more advanced surfing.”
Fun fact: Also likes spearfishing.
Wrightsville Beach Board Riders Club
The Wrightsville Beach Board Riders Club was established two years ago and has already met its goal to be a community-driven organization that connects the surfing community. A 501(c)(3) organization founded by Ben Bourgeois, Chris Curry, David Jacobs, and Ross Stevens, the WBBRC has members of all ages.
“It’s done what we wanted it to do. It’s opened doors and given opportunities for mentorship,” board member Erin Whittle says.
The clubs started in Australia more than 50 years ago.
“As a kid I traveled to Australia, and I noticed how cool it was for many years,” says Bourgeois.
He was even allowed to surf at some events when there as a visitor.
Cities in California established the first U.S. teams, and Bourgeois stayed in contact about bringing a Board Riders Club to North Carolina.
Not only has the club connected the surfing community, but it has reconnected people as well. There are regular activities including movie premieres, beach sweeps, youth surf coaching, and social events.
Clubs host competitions throughout the year and in November it is Wrightsville Beach’s turn.
There will be seven age divisions, and the WBBRC team will have 28 surfers. The points are added up, but it doesn’t focus on individual accolades. It’s a team effort. An MVP award is given, which could be designated to someone who steps up in some way or perhaps is the high scorer for the team.
It’s competitive, yet the main point is camaraderie.
Board Riders Clubs in the United States started around five years ago.
“It’s all new and growing,” Bourgeois says.
In January 2024 Carolina Beach began a club.
an impressive resume of surf contest
and international travel destinations, and have enjoyed the opportunity to put on a jersey again and work together for the
Board Riders team.
The Wrightsville Board Riders Club holds regular beach sweeps as a part of the club’s community outreach.
30s Division surfers Nick Rupp, Jonathan Mincher and Ben Powell all have
wins
Wrightsville
Chasing Redfish On Lea Island
In a deep slough just under the shoal edge, the school of reds lay in perfect casting range, stacked like cordwood in the clear waves, flashing silver in the morning light.
By Robert Rehder
OUR friend Sammy Corbett, long-time Pender County waterman and commercial crabber, told us, “Go to Lea Island across from Dead Man’s Bay. There’s a creek there that flows out to the ocean on falling tide. I’ve seen a big school of redfish lying off the surf in front of the island. They’re probably feeding on fiddler crabs from the creek. They’ve been there for the past week just where the creek outfalls to the ocean.”
That conversation brought Hampstead
outdoorsman and light tackle expert Allen Warwick and me to Lea Island the next day on a beautiful, cool September afternoon, threading our boats through the oyster rocks, bars, and backwater maze to our campsite, hoping to find that school of redfish. It was late afternoon when we moored our boats in a deep, calm lagoon and camped high among the massive backbone of dunes in the maritime forest above Dead Man’s Bay. It was a glorious place to camp. The surf boomed and crashed before us, and
the clear, salt creek swirled and eddied below us. There was a hint of autumn in the air with a fresh west wind whistling through the marshes.
Red bay, cherry laurel, and live oaks surrounded our campsite and boughs of cedar gave off a pungent, aromatic scent. Petite scarlet flowers known as Indian blanket grew along the lower slopes with pink horsemint and delicate white blooms of wild blackberries. Driftwood for our fire was plentiful, and the rough camp was warm and comfortable.
redfish
or reds as local fishermen call them, are also known as puppy drum, red drum, channel bass, and/or spottails.
Wildlife on the island was always stunning with its lovely, natural harmonies. In the evenings, doves sailed in from mainland fields to roost in the protective oaks. A scarlet king snake hunted along the wildflower beds. Marsh rabbits scurried through the thick blackberry hedges, and the deep resonant call of a barred owl echoed from down the ridge.
Marsh hens called from their perches in the hammocks, and high overhead an osprey folded her wings and dove like lightning to impale a small flounder from a shallow pond. Striking orange and black monarch butterflies fluttered among the dunes and swamp milkweed plants. Sunset came early, and the marsh lay still and calm. Along the horizon, rose-fringed clouds billowed high in the western sky, catching the last rays of sunset. As night came, red, blue, and gold hues from the campfire’s embers danced among the deepening shadows, and the island slept to the ocean’s peaceful rhythm.
The first night started bright and clear with endless stars and spectacular meteors trailing and falling across the sky. But barrier island weather is always fickle and by morning the wind switched hard to the northeast and a sudden squall, so typical of the coast, rustled our tents, rumbled through the dunes, and smoked along the beaches. The surf was a churning, gusty blast that flung walls of spray cascading high into the air above the breaking waves.
Too rough to fish in the fierce, inshore wind, we stuck close to camp, exploring the stormy beaches, looking for new rips and sloughs. With our cast nets, we netted fat mullets in the backwater oxbows and baby shrimp from the creeks. We raked a bucket of cherrystone clams from the flats. Supper was smoked mullet over oak coals with wild rosemary from the forest, boiled shrimp, fried clam strips and strong coffee.
The wind calmed during the night and turned west. The next morning, the sky
was steel-blue, cool and fresh after the northeaster. I woke to a glassy, emerald sea ripped with new eddies, shoals, and sloughs fashioned by the storm. A smoky red sun rose from the depths of the sea as I climbed to the dune tops with my binoculars, scanning the surf for the telltale, dark mass that spelled a school of reds in the surf.
Allen had a remarkably consistent, almost mysterious ability to find fish and game. He kept in top physical shape and whether we were fishing on the islands or hunting wild turkeys or upland birds, it was routine for him to be a mile from camp before breakfast, patiently scouting, observing and listening.
That morning, I thought Allen was still in his tent sleeping, and while the coffee was brewing, I was glassing the beach fronts north and south hoping I could spot the school. What I saw was lots of beautiful water with nothing in it.
Then in the distance up the north beach I made out a human form in the
early mist, jogging at a fast clip back toward the campsite. After 40 years of observing his uncanny ability, I should have known who it was. The school was moving, displaced by the storm, and Allen was already out and had found the fish feeding in a deep slough just off the beach almost a mile north of the creek that Sammy mentioned.
We grabbed our packs and gear and scrambled down to the surf for a long jog back up the north beach. When we got there, I saw what a surf fisherman dreams of. A swirling rip had driven a wall of water cascading against the barrier shoal just offshore. In a deep slough just under the shoal edge, the school of reds lay in perfect casting range, stacked like cordwood in the clear waves, flashing silver in the morning light.
They had hemmed a school of finger mullets against the shoal, and the mullets were trapped with no escape. Just as we
waded into the slough, a moving explosion ripped through the surface as the reds cut into the baitfish just where the deep water hit the curl of the slough.
In a mass of slashing, churning confusion, the surface was alive with big spotted tails, curling wakes, screaming birds, and squirming minnows. Chased into the air, the baitfish showered through the surface in gleaming, watery arcs as the predators attacked. Above us, the gulls circled, screamed, banked, dove for scraps, and then fought each other for the remains.
We cast into the swirling rip, and immediately our rods plunged and pulsed with the light Shimano reels singing. We had one-piece, graphite rods with 10-pound braid, 15-pound fluorocarbon leaders and twitch baits.
A fish would strike the lure just as it hit the water with multiple fish trailing. We caught fish ranging from 20 to 30 inches — 6 to 15 pounds — with every cast and then
carefully released each. These were heavy, hungry fish on a wild feeding spree famous for their intense fight, and for over an hour our drags whined with every strike.
Then nature’s silent clock suddenly tolled, the tide changed, and in minutes the fierce rip tide melted back into the sea, and the furious action stopped just like it never happened. The fish moved off, the gulls and terns flew back to their sandbars to watch and wait for the next battle, and the slough was again flat, still, and quiet.
Waist-high in the slough, we stood there in silence — happy, exhausted, treasuring the island, the fish, and the wildness that surrounded us. It was all quite perfect and much more than we had hoped for.
Calm and silent once again, the eddy swirled and rolled before us in a blue-green wash. Pinfish and little blue crabs scurried around our feet, scavenging the shreds of battle. We left camp that day, never again to share such an incredible adventure.
Authors note: Allen Warwick was my companion and guide on this trip. It would be our last outing together. Soon after, Allen was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, and the affliction rapidly progressed. He took a fall at his home in April 2024 with resulting complications, and he never recovered.
Right: Allen Warwick on Lea Island in 2020. Left: tail of a juvenile redfish showing the characteristic spot and blue coloring. The blue tint usually disappears as the fish ages.
Rooftop
MATT PETR PRINCIPAL ARCHITECT
Wilmington I Raleigh
art treatise
Land Ho!
By Christine R. Gonzalez
Harbor and prairie views inspire Pappy Khouri
FROM the exacting world of a left-brained numbers guy comes a softened, romantic look at boats, harbors, and landscapes, the favorite subjects of self-taught impressionist Pappy Khouri.
Khouri never studied art but may have inherited some gifts from his great grandfather, Curtis Winters, who was an artist and a sea captain.
“I have some of his paintings. He used to run a ship from Boston all the way down to Key West. I have several of the oils he did of Key west,” Khouri says.
Khouri, 76, has admired and collected art throughout his life.
“Deb [his wife] and I don’t have kids, so that college tuition went
to buying art instead,” he says with a laugh. “We have a house full of art and we are lucky to be able to do that.”
Khouri began creating his own art after making a remark while admiring the work of an artist who was painting on the porch of a gallery in Oriental, North Carolina. It may have been a wish fulfilled, or a challenge, but that’s how it started.
“When I retired, I volunteered in a gallery in Oriental. My wife and I did some design work for them. Later, I would just sit on the porch and watch the artists paint overlooking the harbor.
Once I said, ‘I wish I could paint like you.’ The artist replied, ‘Anybody can paint. Here’s a brush and a canvas, go at it.’ She literally held my hand and forced me to paint on that canvas,” he recalls.
That chance remark in 2012 to Polish artist Gosia Tojza launched Khouri on a second career as an artist.
“It has since become a passion. I moved to Oriental, the sailing capital of North Carolina, because I loved to sail, but I discovered painting is way more fun. And it doesn’t cost as much,” he says.
Khouri grew up in Beirut, Lebanon, living there until time to enter college. He selected Doane University, the oldest private college in Nebraska. He liked it so much he stayed, spending his entire career there and retiring in 2007 as the school’s treasurer.
Khouri enjoys painting with fellow artists in workshops and en plein air.
“I love to paint and I love to be around other artists. I get a lot of energy from painting in a group. It’s a cool hobby for retirement,” he says.
He takes inspiration from a variety of impressionists as well as local artist Dan Beck. Khouri and Beck recently spent time painting in Leland’s shady Cypress Cove Park.
“Russian impressionism would be the style that most appeals to me. I have been following Pavel Shumov and his works,” Khouri says.
Khouri is one of the featured artists in the Dan Beck Fine Arts Gallery, which opened in February 2024 and is located inside theArtWorks at 200 Willard Street in Wilmington.
“From the first workshop I took with Dan, I knew where I was headed as an artist. I wanted to paint looser with more expression. It’s amazing what you can soak up from a real master. His encouragement makes me see if I can make it all work,” Khouri says.
Pappy Khouri at the June Fourth Fridays Gallery Night inside the ArtWorks on Willard Street. Fourth Fridays Gallery Nights are three-hour self-guided tours of various art exhibitions, free to the public. Often, the gallery will have the featured artist available to discuss their work as it did this night.
The Night Comes On, 14 x 11 inches, oil on panel.
HIS landscapes reflect the big sky views of Nebraska, as seen in Rain’s Coming. The larger portion of the canvas reflects an impending storm and makes a colorful contrast to the bright green of a spring field.
The clouds and setting sun grab the attention in Night Comes On. The peach-themed clouds draw extra admiration as they reflect in the water. The darkened outline of the opposite shore adds contrast.
In Red Keel and Fulcher’s Fleet, the vessels are in the spotlight. In Red Keel , the primary colors are displayed, though blue is dominant, giving the sailboat a happy feel, nestled in a safe harbor. He has painted that ship and area near his home several times.
In Fulcher’s Fleet, the ships seem to be resting from a full day of hauling for Fulcher’s Gourmet Seafood. Having offloaded the catch of the day, they are in the lull before provisioning for another outing.
Fulcher’s Fleet , 11 x 14 inches, oil on panel.
Rain’s Coming, 11 x 14 inches, oil on panel.
Red Keel, 12 x 9 inches, oil on panel.
M“OST of my work recently has been the harbor in Oriental. It’s a really quaint setting, with shrimp boats and a lot of visiting boats. We’re on the Intracoastal so we have a lot of traffic up and down the docks. Mainly it’s shrimp boats,” he says.
Ruddy Harbor catches the view from a tiki bar near Khouri’s former studio inside the Oriental art gallery, now closed. “That’s a view right across from the gallery. There was this red glowing sunset over the harbor that illuminated those boats with orange and red. I snapped a couple pics of that sunset at dusk,” he says.
He enjoyed feedback from people who would watch him paint in his former studio.
“I’d get a lot of ideas from conversations with people. A lot liked what I was doing, some would give input and then buy it after I was done,” he says.
Khouri has enjoyed the colorful sunsets off the waters in Pamlico County. His future work will likely include New Hanover and Brunswick County scenes when he and his wife move to the Leland area. His travels to France and Italy may also be themes in upcoming works.
“In the gallery I’m in now, I’m in with some incredible artists,” he says. “I’m the low man on the totem pole in that shop. It’s an honor to be in there.”
Ruddy Harbor, 20 x 20 inches, oil on canvas.
Low Tide, 16 x 24 inches, oil on panel.
All in La Famiglia
Family, fellowship and Italian food inspire a coastal classic home on Masonboro Sound
R BY AMANDA LISK S
A
S the grandkids swing from the live oak tree at their grandparents’ new home overlooking Masonboro Sound, the aroma of homemade chicken cacciatore fills the kitchen. The family has gathered for one of their grandmother Nonna’s signature authentic Italian meals to celebrate the youngest grandchild being born, making eight grandchildren in all.
“La famiglia e tutto” — family is everything — say Nonna and Big Poppy, the homeowners.
“I’m Italian, I’m always cooking. On any given night we could have 20 friends and family pop in for dinner” says Nonna. “Our heart for the design of this house was for it to be very open and embracing for big groups to come in or for intimate family times. We wanted it to be current, but also have a classic enduring charm.”
This large family of five children and eight grandchildren enjoys hunting for crabs in the marsh and swinging on the live oak tree swing at their grandparents’ coastal classic home overlooking Masonboro Sound with spanning views of the ICW. Boating is enjoyed from a shared neighborhood dock.
The home’s exterior combines western red cedar shingle siding with trim painted in white dove by Benjamin Moore. Double front entry doors are mahogany. Gas lanterns and planters are inspired by the homeowners’ trips to Charleston, South Carolina, to visit one of their daughters.
THE property boasts a unique contrast of expansive water views alongside established landscapes.
“Looking out through the canopy of the live oaks to the waterway is pretty awesome,” says builder Trevor Lanphear with Lanphear Builders. Lanphear and project superintendent, Noel Tyrpak worked with the homeowners and Johnston Architecture to create a coastal-style exterior that combines wraparound porches with cedar shingle siding, warm, white trim, and double mahogany entry doors.
The interior design is by Twyla Satterfield of Twyla’s Design Edits.
“It was such a great experience seeing my husband’s visions for the home come to life. The contractor and his team and the designer were always willing to find innovative ways to turn our thoughts into reality,” says Nonna.
The home has two boat slips at the neighborhood dock. The family plans to add a pool and outdoor living space in the coming months. Landscaping is by Flora Landscapes.
“Explore the world of craftsmanship”
Soggiorno R Living Room
WARMTH and texture are used throughout the home as seen in French oak flooring and furnishings and fixtures.
“It’s a very soothing, welcoming coastal home that is timeless,” says Satterfield.
Built-in cabinets and bookcases in the living room are by Hollingsworth Cabinetry.
Grasscloth wallpaper brings pattern to bookshelves, and the fireplace has a limestone mantle. The main living area is lined by 18-by-9-feet bi-parting glass doors for picturesque scenery.
“You feel like you are part of a big live oak tree outside. It brings you close to all the sights and sounds and feels of the environment all around us,” Nonna says.
Bi-parting glass doors achieve the same look as a folding glass wall system at a fraction of the cost.
“The doors expand the living room space and the outdoor space and really bring the inside out and the outside in while still being mindful of the budget,” says Lanphear.
Facing north to capture views that stretch to Wrightsville Beach, the outdoor porch has a screen system that can descend to combat summer bugs and a gas fireplace for fall and winter months.
Tile on the outdoor fireplace resembles oyster shells. All tile was sourced by Southeastern Tile Connection and installation was by Carr’s Ceramic Tile of Wilmington.
The main floor back deck has a built-in screen system for a screened porch option. Bi-parting glass doors take advantage of water views. Tile that looks like white oak is in a herringbone layout in the front entry.
Cucina R Kitchen
ABIG family calls for a big kitchen, and a big island is nice too.
“There are a lot of family times around the island, so we made it very spacious and functional,” says Nonna.
The island is painted a soothing sage green topped with Taj Mahal quartzite. Kitchen counters are by Marmolite Granite & Marble. Painting is by Taylor Custom Coatings.
“We incorporated a foot rail to the island to add that next layer, that welcome factor of, ‘Come, pull up a seat,’” says Satterfield.
Kitchen cabinets are by Kitchen and Bath Galleries of Cary, North Carolina.
“The way we did the corbels underneath those upper cabinets and the brass hardware gives that old-world European feel instead of a brand-new construction look,” Satterfield says.
The homeowner calls the walk-in pantry her “European corner.” It’s where the Italian pottery, cookbooks, and family heirlooms are stored. A white oak pocket door leads to this functional backspace equipped with a dumbwaiter.
“When I pull into the garage, I just put my groceries straight into this door that opens and has this shelf that pullies up automatically to the pantry so I can just unload everything in there,” says Nonna.
Earthy brass hardware and stone counters provide an old-world feel in this gourmet kitchen. The family kitchen table has been passed down through generations. The island is painted a custom color of sage green. Counters are Taj Mahal quartzite. Island pendants are by Visual Comfort.
Suite Da Letto Principale
R Primary Bedroom Suite
INITIAL plans called for four single windows on the marsh side of the primary bedroom suite, but Lanphear pushed for a large picture window instead with transoms beneath.
“We framed the wall up in a way where the homeowners could see how the windows would look. They would bring their lawn chairs at night to sit and visualize it. They ended up going with the bigger window and now they are so thankful to wake up to unobstructed views of the marsh and the water,” says Lanphear.
A sitting room with water views was added to the primary bedroom suite during construction. Bedroom walls are painted Icy Blue by Benjamin Moore.
Stanza Delle Polve
R Powder Room
ONE of the favorite rooms in the house is the smallest — the powder room, which took some creative thinking to pull off.
“It was a challenge, a fun challenge, but a challenge because it was long and narrow. Even a pedestal sink would have been tight. We ended up creating a niche in the wall, had the vanity suspended to sit within the niche, and did a pretty arch over the top,” says Satterfield.
A heron print wallcovering is complemented by a geometrical pattern on the ceiling.
“They are compatible patterns, but not the same. We painted the trim and shutters the same color that ties in the wallpaper so it created this really pretty encapsulating look and you forget about the narrowness,” Satterfield says.
A custom niche is created for a suspended sink in the powder room.
Camere Degli Ospiti
R Guest Rooms
WITH now eight grandchildren, the house needed a sizeable bunk room. This one has twin bunks up top and California kings below and an ensuite bathroom.
“Our family, even the local ones, love coming over to Nonna and Big Poppy’s house for a sleepover,” says Nonna.
Adjoining the bunk room is a hideaway playroom built into the attic.
“The custom-milled arch entry door leading into this special space makes you feel like you are entering into a fairy tale,” says Satterfield.
Shiplap and white oak create a bunk room able to sleep plenty of grandchildren with double twin beds up top and California kings below.
By Elyse Kiel
THE TASTY TALE OF SOURDOUGH BREAD THE TASTY TALE OF SOURDOUGH BREAD
Ri s ingTO THE CHALLENGE
WAKING up in the morning isn’t easy for everyone.
However, a good breakfast can be an excellent motivator.
The process begins by stretching out the soreness of sleep and grabbing the toaster, then reaching toward the top shelf for that delicious homemade bread. Popping it in the toaster for exactly two and a half minutes produces the perfect goldenbrown crunch. Add mashed avocado, fried eggs, or a favorite jam to make the meal complete. It’s the perfect breakfast to start the day.
Sourdough bread has strong roots throughout history. It is a multicultural leavened bread that has traveled from its origins in Switzerland in 3700 BC all the way to the 21st century United States, where the raising of dough has become an art form as well as a hobby.
All ancient bread was sourdough and used naturally occurring yeast by combining flour meal and water that was then left to ferment.
In 1500 BC, the Egyptians developed a fermentation process that made the baked dough lighter, softer, and tastier. The slow-rising dough became a staple in diets across the European continent, including ancient Greece and the Roman Empire. These societies enhanced the baking and kneading process. In the 17th century, France developed a complicated, yet highly successful, starter yeast.
In the 19th century, French immigrants traveled to California for the gold rush and brought the recipe with them. The term mother bread started spreading throughout San Francisco once the process was improved by using flour meal and water with fermented bacteria. This
made the bread even fluffier and tastier, slowly becoming close to the recipe we know and love today.
The bread-making process traveled to Canada in 1898 with the gold hunters of the Yukon territory. The harsh weather prevented the bread from being baked at regular times, so the miners carried their starter with them in packs. They often slept with the packs nearby to prevent the starter from freezing. This earned the miners the nickname Sourdough, as the sour smell of the bacteria would linger.
Today, sourdough creation has been refined into a widely accessible process. To create a sourdough starter all you need is a jar, a towel, flour, and water. The necessary bacteria culture is naturally occurring and doesn’t need to be added as it develops with the fermentation process.
For those not ready to make their own, Wilmington’s Little Loaf Bakery and Schoolhouse teaches classes on how to do it yourself and bakes fresh sourdough bread three days a week. Shown above: Little Loaf traditional sourdough round, classic French sourdough with sesame seeds baguette and whole grain French house-milled flour baguette.
Combine the flour and water into a dough-like texture, place in a jar, cover it with a towel, and wait for it to rise. This can take from several hours to several days to a few weeks. To continue your starter supply, keep adding flour and water as time goes on. Some continue to feed their sourdough starter for years.
Once the starter is established, you can feed it up to twice a day using a ratio depending on how much you want to bake. Start with a ratio of 1:2:2 — one part starter, two parts flour, and two parts water.
For the jar, any sturdy glass or ceramic container will do, preferably one with straight sides to make it easy to scoop the dough out and one that won’t degrade
over time with use. Check on the starter every morning and you will start to notice bubbles forming on the top and a yeasty, sour smell. This is a sign the dough is fermenting.
Occasionally, a dark liquid may form on top of the starter. This liquid is called hooch and is a sign that the dough needs to be fed. A consistent feeding schedule is key to prevent hooch from developing. The choice is yours to either mix in the hooch or drain it out. Reincorporating the hooch can give the bread a tastier flavor.
When there is an abundance of bubbles and the starter has doubled in size, it is time to bake. The texture should be fluffy and spongy, perfect for kneading. Two recommended supplies for
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Spend about 8 to 15 minutes kneading the dough. You can tell when the dough is perfectly kneaded when it can be stretched without tearing. Over kneading the dough can lead to it being tough and dense.
Set aside your dough to rise for several hours. The temperature of the ingredients and the strength of the starter will determine when the dough is ready to be shaped. The rising process can be anywhere from 1-24 hours. After some time and patience, the dough is ready to be shaped and baked.
Beyond the extensive history and timely process of creating sourdough bread, there is a true art form in making your own. Taking the time to nurture and grow something that is going to be delicious makes the whole experience worthwhile.
Enjoy your hard work with avocado toast sprinkled with everythingbagel seasoning, a delectable lunch veggie panini with balsamic glaze, or a pre-dinner toasted addition to a charcuterie board.
There are endless possibilities and pairs to this bread, and it can be savored by all.
Sourdough Recipe
EQUIPMENT
Dutch oven (cast iron)
Towel
Medium bowl
Large bowl
INGREDIENTS
½ cup of active starter dough
3 ½ cups of bread flour
1 ⅓ cup of water
2 tsp of salt
Optional: 20-25 grams of olive oil (about 1.5 tablespoons)
INSTRUCTIONS
Feed the starter the night before making your bread using the 1:2:2 ratio (1 part starter, 2 parts flour, 2 parts water) to make sure it is active and bubbly by the morning.
Combine the starter, salt, water, and flour into a medium mixing bowl until it forms a consistent dough with no dry flour left. Set aside the dough and cover with a towel to rise for about an hour at room temperature.
Knead the dough in the bowl by folding it in on itself, rotating it, and folding in a different section for 10 minutes. Repeat six times with a rest time between each set. If the dough is wet, wait 15-30 minutes between kneading. If the dough is dry and stiff, wait 30 minutes to an hour to allow the dough to stretch between kneading.
Cover with a damp towel and let ferment for 6-12 hours.
Place the dough on a floured surface. Fold the dough in on itself and shape it into a ball by folding the sides together to meet in the middle and repeat with the other two sides. Place the rounded dough into a large, floured bowl with the seam side up and cover with plastic wrap.
Let the dough rest in the refrigerator for 12 to 15 hours or on the counter at room temperature for 3-4 hours.
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees with the Dutch oven inside. Place the dough onto parchment paper and scour the dough into the desired pattern. You can make a single scour down the middle or create patterns such as leaves, spirals, or mandalas.
Place the dough with the parchment paper in the Dutch oven and bake covered for 20 minutes. Remove the lid and bake for another 25-30 minutes until the top is golden brown and crusted.
Remove the Dutch oven and remove the bread using the parchment paper to lift it out. Cool for 4-6 hours. This allows the steam to be released and prevents a wet, gummy texture.
Slice with a bread knife and enjoy a variety of styles and recipes.
Baker’s tip: bread dough rises best in a warm place; cold, rainy days will impact rising time.
Above: Fresh baked Rosemary + Sea Salt Sourdough Focaccia at Little Loaf Bakery & School House.
[1] Navah Borboa, Stephen Tyson [2] Entry exhibit [3] Kathy Black, John Black [4] Judy Jobe, Alisa Pearson, Brian Pearson, Jen Capps, Brandon Capps (behind), Tammy Buck, William Buck [5] Gregory Humphries, Trace Adams, Jodi Adams, Shannon Humphries [6] Marie Warner, Jeff Warner [7] Mat Crumpton, Cassie Crumpton, Krystal Howell, Devon Howell
[1] Emcee, Frances Weller
[2] Darrell P. Monroe (USMC, Vietnam)
[3] Mac Montgomery (US Army, Vietnam)
[4] Rossie M. Nance Jr. (US Army, Vietnam)
[5] Frances Figueroa-Lowe (US Army)
[6] David Buzzard (US Army, OEF)
[7] William Stankowski (USMC, Vietnam),
[8] John Wayne Nash (USMC, Vietnam)
[9] Frank W. Geiger (USN,Vietnam)
[10] Harvey Knowles (US Army, Vietnam)
[11] Christopher Mattiace (US Army, Vietnam)
[12] Haskell B. Jackson (USMC, Vietnam)
[13] Retired General Dan Allyn (US Army), Ed M. Abbey (US Army, OIF), Sheriff Ed McMahon
