Meet Sandie Cecelski, a N.C. Coastal Federation board member. This marine science teacher from Carolina Beach is passionate about getting her students outdoors and hands-on.
People
Coastal Sketch: Paul Sykes
You may not know the name, but the guy’s a rock star in the world of birds. No one — probably on the planet — has done more Christmas Bird Counts. 475 and, yes, counting. The 77-year-old will add another to the tally this month when he leads a count on the Outer Banks.
Coastal Sketch: Joe Ramus
Learn how the kid surrounded by walnuts in the hills of California who wanted to be an engineer ended up spending most of his life by the sea in North Carolina where he is a respected marine scientist and a N.C. Coastal Federation board member.
Coastal Sketch: Peggy Birkemeier
For someone who says she’s not a “beach person,” Peggy Birkemeier, a N.C. Coastal Federation board member from the Outer Banks, has caught on nicely.
Pelican Award: Troy Outland
There’s a working waterfront for fishermen in Manns Harbor, thanks in part to this guy’s leadership. Find out why the N.C. Coastal Federation presented Troy Outland with a Pelican Award.
The Tale of a Fish House Liar
Rodney Kemp is somewhat of a celebrity in Morehead City for telling entertaining stories about local history. And sometimes they’re actually true. He’s keeping alive the old coastal tradition of the fish house liar.
Coastal Sketch: David Paynter
Meet David Paynter, treasurer for the N.C. Coastal Federation’s board of directors. When he’s not bird watching or kayaking on Hewlett’s Creek, he’s trying to protect it.
Pelican Award: Sue Weddle
Find out why this Sunset Beach resident won an award for being a dedicated, persistent and effective advocate for our coast.
Miss Blanche of Ocracoke
Blanche Howard Jolliff is 94 and an island treasure. She remembers, for instance, the shipwreck that led to the first road on Ocracoke and the first road collision.
Pelican Award: Allen Propst
A Realtor and occasional developer first raised the alarm about possible illegal ditching of wetlands in Pamlico County.
Honoring the Last “Old Salt” of Ocracoke
Maurice Ballance, a waterman and musician who died recently, will be remembered with love and respect. He is considered the last of a generation of Ocracoke men who were true “old salts.”
Democracy Honeybee Style
Fountain Odom doesn’t belabor the metaphor, but he does seem to appreciate the workings of democracy with honeybees more so than those of his former colleagues in the N.C. General Assembly.
Remembering the ‘Library Lady’
Sarah Hamilton is remembered for her environmental activism, volunteerism and dedication to the N.C. Coastal Federation, but most of all for her love of books.
Coastal Sketch: John Runkle
Meet John Runkle, an environmental attorney and the only person to serve on the N.C. Coastal Federation’s board of directors for all 32 years.
Coastal Sketch: Ernie Foster
Meet Ernie Foster, whose father launched the charter fishing industry on Hatteras Island. He represents the watermen of the Outer Banks on the N.C. Coastal Federation’s Board of Directors.
Coastal Sketch: Orrin Pilkey
Orrin Pilkey spent his life fighting for the world’s beaches. Duke University honored one of its most distinguished professors by naming a new research lab for him.
