Category: News

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You Can Help!

We are very happy to report that FPI has been given a great opportunity to raise money for continued restoration work in Portsmouth Village. A generous donor has offered to match DOLLAR FOR DOLLAR any donations we receive between now and December 31, 2022, up to a maximum of $25,000. We have notified our members and would like to give anyone who loves Portsmouth as much as we do a chance to contribute, member or not. All donors will receive a confirmation letter for tax purposes. If you would like to take advantage of this opportunity to make a donation and have it matched dollar for dollar, you may send to it to FPI at P.O. Box 2303, Morehead City, NC 28557. All donations will be earmarked for restoration work only, and we will provide updates on this at our September meeting, in our newsletter to members, and also in posts to this page and our website after December 31. Thank you for your consideration! An example of restoration work in the village is shown here with the McWilliams-Dixon House in photos of the post-restoration house and the way it looked before restoration. Quite a difference!

The McWilliams-Dixon before and after restoration by the Park with help from FPI members.
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Fall Meeting – September 17, 2022

Our fall membership meeting will be held on Saturday, September 17, at 10:00 am at the History Center in Morehead City. Our guest speaker will be Heather Walker, director of the Eastern Carolina Foundation for Equity and Equality, who will speak on the “Middle Passage Presentation.” Jeff West, Superintendent of Cape Lookout National Seashore, will also speak. We will hold our election of officers for the next two-year term as well. This will be our first meeting in three years since pre-Covid, so please plan to join us! The public is always invited to attend, but members only may vote in the election. See you there!

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Homecoming Update

For those of you who are planning to go to Homecoming on April 23, you may now make your ferry reservations from Ocracoke to Portsmouth! Call the Austins at 252-928-4361. The round-trip fare is $25. See you there!

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Homecoming 2022 Notice

Due to increasing gas prices, the ferry from Ocracoke to Portsmouth with Rudy Austin/Portsmouth Island Boat Tours is being increased to $25 round trip per person.

FOR MEMBERS: You should have received – or will soon be receiving – your Homecoming Notice and raffle tickets. If you wish to purchase these tickets, please return them in the envelope provided, along with your check for the tickets – $1/ticket. This is a major fundraiser for us! The Homecoming flyer that all members receive will state $20 round trip, but the price was changed after our mailing went out. It is now $25 per person round trip.

We will see you on April 23!

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Homecoming – April 23, 2022

Plan to join us this year for homecoming at Portsmouth – April 23, 2022! Our theme will be PORTSMOUTH RISES – a fitting theme for Portsmouth’s survival of Hurricane Dorian and the cancellation of Homecoming 2020 due to Covid. WE ARE BACK IN 2022! Jim White, Portsmouth descendant, author and historian, has agreed to emcee our program again. As per custom, the first 500 attendees will receive our special pin, and new “Portsmouth Rises” t-shirts will be available along with our regular shirts, sweatshirts, notecards, etc. Bring your special covered dish to the picnic on the grounds and enjoy meeting old and new friends. This Homecoming will be a great opportunity to see for yourself what the National Park Service, Cape Lookout National Seashore, and Friends of Portsmouth Island have done to save this village after the devastation of Hurricane Dorian.

We urge you to start looking at lodging far in advance as you will want to stay on the island at least Friday night and possibly Saturday night if you are not from Down East or the upper banks. Ferries and lodging will both fill up early.


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Doctor’s Creek Journal

All members should have received the latest issue of the Doctor’s Creek Journal (end of year winter issue). We say goodbye to our outgoing editor, Ray McAllister, and welcome to Peter Vankevich effective 2022. Be sure to check out the feature story about the Oscar Rue family and their special connection to Portsmouth, as well as current member news. Homecoming and raffle information will be mailed to all members in the early part of 2022. Happy New Year!

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2020 Raffle Winners

Although our membership meeting, which had been scheduled for last Saturday, was once again canceled due to Covid, our board did meet. We finally managed to have the raffle drawing that was supposed to have taken place at our 2020 Homecoming! The winners are:David Mickey was the winner of “Flight Over Fish Hunt” (The Hog Island Club) by Jack Saylor, donated by Kathi and Glenn Dunn of Marshallberg, NC. Framed 14” X 24” print.Rebecca Gupton was the winner of the double bed size antique quilt from the Whitley Plantation, Martin County, NC, donated by Jeanne Robertson of Oriental, NC.Sam Corlis was the winner of the quilted duck wall hanging made by the Ocracoke Needle and Thread club.Congratulations to all of the winners! The winning tickets were drawn by Cape Lookout National Seashore superintendent Jeff West, and the items will be sent to the winners.

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FALL MEETING CANCELLED

We regret to announce that the September 18 meeting at the Core Sound Waterfowl Museum has been cancelled. We made this decision because of the high Covid numbers currently being reported in Carteret County. All FPI members will receive a cancellation notice in the mail. If you know of anyone who was planning to attend, please help us pass the word along so they may change their travel plans in plenty of time. This meeting will not be rescheduled and our next event will be Homecoming on April 23, 2022. We hope to see everyone then!