We are happy to report there was no damage at Portsmouth Village after Hurricane Isaias. Our neighbor island, Ocracoke, was also unscathed. We are very grateful!
Homecoming – 2022
We are so sorry and incredibly sad that we had to cancel Homecoming 2020 in April due to the Coronavirus. The next Portsmouth Homecoming will be scheduled in April 2022 – two years from now. We felt this was best to keep it on the regular schedule of every two years which is also in keeping with our by-laws. We will hold the Homecoming raffle at our September 19 meeting at the Core Sound Waterfowl Museum for those who already purchased their tickets. You do not have to be present to win but we hope you will come! Stayed tuned to this website and to our Facebook page for further details. Thank you!
Homecoming Cancelled
We regret to inform you that Homecoming 2020 has been cancelled due to the new government mandates regarding events for 50+ people. If you have purchased raffle tickets, we will hold the raffle at a later date after we get all this sorted out. Stay tuned to this website and our Facebook page for any future details. This was a most difficult decision but we had no choice. Thank you!
Homecoming 2020
Homecoming is Saturday, April 25 – and we have a new theme! Thanks – or no thanks – to Hurricane Dorian, we have chosen the theme “Portsmouth Rises” to replace the hunt club theme. Special t-shirts will be offered for this homecoming and will be available on a first come first serve basis. And as usual, all attendees will receive the traditional homecoming pin at sign-in.
We encourage you to make lodging accommodations at Ocracoke now as we hear the motels (fewer this year) are booking up. You don’t want to miss seeing why we chose “Portsmouth Rises” as our theme this year.
Fall Meeting Recap
Thanks to all who came out for our September 21 membership meeting in Morehead City. We counted 55 in attendance and gained 11 new members. Welcome!
Our thanks to Steve Anderson of the Carteret County Historical Society for his presentation highlighting the Carteret County and Portsmouth soldiers who fought in WWI.
We were pleased to announce that Friends of Portsmouth Island will establish a scholarship in honor of Richard Meissner, a past president of FPI and former Volunteer Coordinator for CALO. Dallas Spruill, lifetime member of FPI, presented Richard with the award. More information will be available on the scholarship after the first of the year and we plan for it to be available for the Fall 2020 school year.
Jeff West, Superintendent of Cape Lookout, gave a slide presentation showing the damage to Portsmouth Village from Hurricane Dorian. He detailed each of the affected buildings and explained the clean up process that started immediately after the hurricane. Crews from several national parks worked for the past two weeks removing and burning downed trees, cleaning out the mud and debris from houses and buildings and pressure washing them down, repairing floors and blown out walls, and repairing and resetting broken headstones. The damage was great and we are indebted to all the crews who came out to work in the mud, water, heat and mosquitos to help in our time of need. Way to go NPS!
We would like to thank everyone who came out and all our volunteers who helped with the meeting. Thanks to Jan Tugwell, Suzanne McWilliams, Jeanne Robertson, Richard Meissner, Ann Shipstedt, and our great board members. Special thanks to the History Place, Steve Anderson, and Jeff West, and to Frances Eubanks for the photographs.
Spring Meeting Date – May 18, 2019
Please plan to join us at Ocracoke on Saturday, May 18, for our spring meeting. We regret we had to cancel our fall meeting due to Hurricane Florence, but we are excited to be able to catch up in May! We will meet at the Ocracoke school at 10:00 a.m. and will hold our regular business meeting and elections which were postponed from the fall meeting. You do not have to be a member to attend but we hope you will join us!
Weather permitting, we are planning to offer a trip to Portsmouth after the meeting led by Jeff West, Superintendent of Cape Lookout National Seashore. Don’t miss this opportunity to tour the village with Jeff. The cost for the boat ride to Portsmouth is $20 per person round trip, and those wanting to go will sign up at the start of the meeting. Snacks and water will be available for those going on the trip.
Further details will be available to all members in the Doctor’s Creek Journal in late December. See you at Ocracoke!
Portsmouth Village is Open!
We are happy to report that Portsmouth Village is open and suffered only minimal damage from Hurricane Florence. Work still needs to be done, but the village is safe for visitors. We understand that the church painting will be starting up again this week.
Fall Meeting – September 15, 2018
All are invited to FPI’s fall membership meeting on Saturday, September 15, in Morehead City. We will meet at 10:00 a.m. at the Train Depot (1101 Arendell Street). This is always a fun place to meet. We are pleased that Steve Anderson, director of the Carteret County Historical Society, will present “The Men and Women of Carteret County in World War 1. Jeff West, superintendent of Cape Lookout National Seashore, will be there to update us on what’s happening in the village. In addition to the above, we will hold our biannual election of officers for the next two years. Portsmouth t-shirts, notecards and books will be available this one day. You do not have to be a member to attend, so if you are in the area, please come by and check us out!
PORTSMOUTH 2018 HOMECOMING REPORT
HOMECOMING 2018
April 21 was very special indeed. We counted 425 people who attended Homecoming, and those are only the ones we could match up with the register and our own memories of who we saw. But it’s not about the numbers, it’s about the sweet spirit of Portsmouth families coming together to remember home and family.
The day started early with the first boats leaving Ocracoke at 7:00 a.m. to take the volunteers over, then following with others beginning at 8:00. Thanks to Rudy, Pat, Donald and Wade Austin, and Marjorie and Dallas Spruill and Richard Meissner for coordination of the transportation. Our loaders at the dock stayed very busy! We appreciate Lee McKeithan and Marshall Hamrick for heading up the Portsmouth side.
Everyone toured the post office and the t-shirt table inside the Visitor Center before heading down to the church, school, and all the open houses. Thanks to Ann Shipstedt and Simona Spickett for manning the busy t-shirt table and to Evelyn and Donna Mink for helping with the notecards and postcards. Thanks to the Ocracoke Post Office, visitors were able to mail their cards and letters from Portsmouth again this day.
For the first time in many years we were allowed to tour the houses that had been shut up for years. The Park worked to replace porches and steps and windows to make the houses safe to enter. It was wonderful to see the families gathered around “their houses,” sharing memories and stories. The Tom Gilgo house, Wallace/Grace House, Cecil Gilgo house, Carl Dixon house, Styron-Bragg house, McWiliams/Dixon house, the Wash Roberts house, the Jesse Babb House, and the Harry & Lida Dixon house were all open for touring.
Gaye McKeithan and Ben Brinson were two descendants with wonderful displays to share who helped man the descendant area which was located in the Roy Robinson/Lionel Gilgo house. Jean Webber and Ann Foley were there to welcome new FPI members and hand out membership packets, and to sell raffle tickets for door prizes. Descendants Barbara Eugene and Debra Penny greeted visitors at the Visitor Center. On down the path Justine Paul and Johanna Huber and Janice and Bob Vogel helped register folks and hand out the coveted homecoming pins. It wasn’t long before our food tent volunteers, headed by Jeanne Robertson, were busy unloading coolers and setting the food out! We thank Jeanne, Glenn and Brenda White, Pat Winstead, Ann Adkins, Cheryl Thompson, and Fred and Karen Dixon for what is probably the hardest job during homecoming. The line was long but it moved quickly due to the great set up by these folks!
Connie Mason led the hymn singing in the church helped by Janice Smith and Justine Paul. It wasn’t complete until Kenneth Burke led the singing on “Throw Out the Lifeline!” There were not many dry eyes in the house. The singing was beautiful and just added to the glorious day.
Jim White, FPI board member and Portsmouth descendant, emceed the program under the tent. Colt Goodwin, Salter descendant, led the Pledge of Allegiance. Rosanne Penley, President, welcomed the group and called for the number of first time visitors and the number of FPI members. The families of Portsmouth were recognized by Jim White during the roll call of families, as each family member stood up when the names were called. Reverend Richard Bryant presented the Reflection. Jeff West, Superintendent of Cape Lookout National Seashore, spoke to the group and received a very warm welcome. Connie Mason’s traditional singing of Marian’s Song was very special to a lot of people.
Borden Wallace of New Orleans , a descendant of the Wallace family, was the happy winner of the antique quilt donated by Jeanne Robertson. Anne Eastman of Morehead City won the painting of the Lifesaving Station donated by Doris and George Stein. Colt Goodwin and Ann Taylor each won canvas photos of Henry Pigott by Bruce Roberts and donated by Ed and Rene Burgess. This painting was also the design of this year’s Portsmouth pin.
We can’t thank enough those who drove the gators and golf carts to haul food and people thoughout the village all day, and those who loaded and unloaded the seemingly endless coolers of food. These folks are Lee McKeithan, Bobby Hill, Phelps Forrest, and Gregory Gilgo.
Delores Gaskins handed out programs, Hazel Arthur handed out hymnals in the church, and Ann Ehringhaus took the famous group photo of all who gathered around the church.
Many of the people mentioned above also worked at Portsmouth the 3 days before Homecoming to ready the village and to begin work on the Jesse Babb house in preparation of a future painting date. Thanks to Gregory Gilgo, Suzanne McWilliams, Julius Coronel, and various others for the prep work they did on the house, and all those who helped set up tents, swept out and cleaned houses, cleaned the church, prepared lunch for three days, and got everything in order for the special day. Phil Cunningham and Glenn Dunn weedeated around each house and cemetery, helping Ed and Rene Burgess with the mowing.
Our very special thanks to the Homecoming Committee, chaired by FPI Vice President Kathy McNeilly, Ed & Rene Burgess, Jason Jeanette, Jeanne Robertson, Evelyn Mink and Lee and Gaye McKeithan. They have worked on this for over a year and their time and efforts are much appreciated. We thank BG Horvat of CALO for his involvement with the committee on behalf of the Park, as well as Jeff West and all the staff at CALO. We appreciate the help of the Ocracoke Preservation Society and the Core Sound Waterfowl Museum for their support and efforts in several areas.
It was a wonderful day! If you were there we are glad you were, and if not, we hope you will come to the next Homecoming in 2020. The date has not been set yet but we will announce it once it is finalized.
Homecoming this Saturday!
Reminder to all who are coming Saturday to gather at the Park floating dock down by the ferry at your scheduled time. Due to construction at the Community Square, no boats can run from there. Dress warmly for the trip! See you there!