My Thoughts
We are definitely in hot August days and nights
BY Pat Bradford
Our dazzling Home of Distinction gives us a glimpse of happy family life on the water on Bradley Creek.
If it is August, peaches are in season, and we have a mouth-watering peach cobbler recipe for our Savor readers.
It’s fairly obvious by my photo that I thoroughly enjoyed scouting this month’s cover story. This was one of those instances where a story begets a story. Let me explain. A few months back we did a feature on large-animal veterinarians in three counties, because while we were at a cattle farm for another story we met and photographed their vet. On the way back from that excursion, I noticed a billboard along U.S. 76 near Delco advertising a wild pony preserve, and I was hooked.
Most of us think of the Outer Banks when we envision wild ponies, but feral or semi-feral ponies also inhabit Assateague Island in Virginia and Maryland — the Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge created by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. In the Appalachian Mountains of southwestern Virginia, there are the Grayson Highlands wild ponies.
The Wild Horse Preserve at Grayce Wynds Farm in Supply in Brunswick County has horses and ponies from both. This nonprofit farm is an agritourism destination; fun activities and farm tours go on all through August. There are RV hookups and even bunkrooms to really appreciate the ponies throughout the day.
This issue has a number of stories about flying, including an insightful look at the local Civil Air Patrol by contributing writer Mary Margaret McEachern. What a fun group this looks like, but also with a great mission, including emergency response as well as finding lost people. There’s also a story about the traffic and a noise study at ILM, which can see a number of Harrier and Boeing Osprey military jets come and go. In addition, we take a look at the amazing raptor, the osprey, mascot for our state university and a beloved sight in coastal North Carolina.
Real estate transactions change in this state on Aug. 1, so read about what one longtime area broker has to share about this important change.
God bless America!
—Pat Bradford, Senior Editor/Publisher