Ushering in the Holidays

After the lighted boat parade in 2019 the night sky explodes with fireworks. The annual N.C. Holiday Flotilla at Wrightsville Beach is celebrating its 40th year. The boat parade begins at 6 p.m. Saturday November 25th. Fireworks follow.

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Surfing Champion 

Throughout the year, hundreds of 14-year-old female surfers (wahines) compete in their district competitions for the right to win a spot in one of the heats at the Eastern Surfing Championship, the top event for surfers from Maine to Florida. So aside from the 32 top wahines she faced that day, Wrightsville’s Skylar Rose Steinmetz…

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Mourning the Passing of Tripp Brice

The Wrightsville community celebrates Charles McDonald “Tripp” Brice, the beloved Bridge Tender Marina dockmaster who passed away Aug. 13, 2023, at the age of 65. Tripp was an extraordinary man, a devoted patriot who embodied so much that is good in America. A happy Tar Heel, a delightful storyteller, a man of talent, sharing, and…

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Blue Star Memorial Highway Marker Coming to Wrightsville Beach

The Harbor Island Garden Club is sponsoring a Blue Star Memorial Highway Marker placement on Wrightsville Beach. Blue Star Memorial Markers honor veterans for their service to our country. There are over 3,000 markers throughout the United States, and now there will be a new stop in Wrightsville Beach. The markers are of three types.…

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Chasing Provenance

Richard Johnson did not grow up dreaming of owning a tree farm. But he purchased one at auction seven years ago when a friend suggested Johnson might want the acreage in Pender County in the 4.75-square-mile town of Burgaw, population 3,071.  Johnson had made a literal fortune with the 2005 sale of his interactive job…

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My Thoughts

We had a tough choice this month picking a cover photo between the Airlie Gardens live oak acorns and the Cape Fear River Rowing Club going to Boston to compete. The women’s eight is led by our former team member, head coach Allison Potter. The men’s entry will be doubles partners, Joe Bell and Mark…

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Country Living on the Coast

Down a gravel lane, past the horses, goats and chickens and among the oak trees stands a newly built home of coastal modern design. This current-day version of a grand country home surrounded by the great outdoors is surprisingly located in the heart of Wilmington, off Greenville Loop Road. The homeowners stumbled upon the lot…

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Head of the Charles

Rowing is the epitome of a team sport. On every stroke, each rower slides their seat up, unfeathers their oar, places their oar in the water, and pushes their legs back at the exact same time to catch water and move the boat forward. Rowers depend on one another to work in synchronization for the…

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Mount Lebanon Chapel and St. Andrews On-the-Sound: The Early Years

Mount Lebanon Chapel, St. Andrews On-the-Sound (and St. James Parish’s) history is intimately interwoven.  A coffee-table book will be published next year to celebrate the 100-year anniversary of the first St. Andrews service in the church April 27, 1923.  Historian Elaine Henson was tasked with writing the first six chapters of the book, covering 1835…

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A Covey of Memories

There were quail back then, big coveys, especially on the coastal plain. Forged by a thousand years of dodging predators, quail were wild, smart, and plentiful. They flushed like bullets and usually placed a stump, branch or tree squarely between you and their tailfeathers. In the South, quail were known as birds so if you…

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