E.H. Ashley High School science teacher Sandie Cecelski exemplifies great teaching, getting students up close and personal with all that marine science has to offer. We gave her a Pelican Award, to thank her for her invaluable service to children.
People
He Left the World a Cleaner Place
Anyone who knew Elmer Eddy for very long was soon paddling alongside him picking up trash along creeks and rivers of the White Oak Basin. He was that kind of guy. Elmer died recently at age 94.
Coastal Sketch: The Bee Lady
Winborne Evans of Roanoke Island has a passion for honeybees. “Honeybees need humans to survive,” she says. “We’ve got to remember what they do for us, as well as what we do for them.”
Growing Up as a Student of the Sounds
That’s Ladd Bayliss, a native of Manns Harbor in Dare County and a coastal advocate for the N.C. Coastal Federation. She offers an essay about growing up along Croatan Sound.
Coastal Sketch: Barry Bey
Byron “Barry” Bey had intended to play music on the beach when he moved to Southport more than 25 years ago. He became a teacher instead. He has inspired hundreds of students and his high-school aquaculture program is known the world over.
The ‘Plastic Ocean’ and Bonnie Monteleone
Bonnie Monteleone set out to document the plastic debris that is killing marine life after a photo of a deformed turtle in a plastic six-pack ring turned her life around.
Coastal Sketch: Bill Birkemeier
As head of the Army Corps of Engineers research center in Duck, this soft-spoken, jazz-loving engineer changed the way we think about the natural forces that shape our ocean beaches. He’s retired after 32 years.
Louis Moore: An Original Tree Hugger
Louis T. Moore, the longtime secretary of the Wilmington Chamber of Commerce in the mid-20th century, had the head of businessman but the eye and heart of a poet. He championed protecting the city’s natural beauty, especially its trees, before such notions were popular.
Meet Midge Ogletree
For Midge Ogletree of Columbia, retirement wasn’t exactly about relaxing, but more about giving back. She serves on the Columbia Board of Aldermen and on the federation’s Board of Directors and works tirelessly to restore the environment of the northeast N.C. coast.
Murray Bridges: Still Fishing After All These Years
Despite declining water quality, soaring fuel prices and increased foreign competition, commercial fisherman Murray Bridges still takes to the water early most mornings in search of beautiful swimmers.
Volunteers Protecting a River
Meet federation volunteers Kevin Talon and Phyllis Evans, members of what’s become known as the Lockwood Army, so-called because of their disciplined and tireless contributions to the health of Brunswick County’s Lockwood Folly River and Inlet.
Coastal Sketch: Russell Blackwood
Come enter the aquatic world of this Buxton resident and freediver who uses his camera to take intimate photos of the denizens of the not so deep.
Meet Margaret Herring
Margaret Herring’s advocacy comes honestly. She marched with blacks in the South in the 1960s and worked with poor white coal miners in Kentucky. And it almost killed her.
Beth Moulton: A Jill of All Trades
A keen interest in kayaking brought Beth Moulton into the office one day almost 10 years ago, and her love for the coast has kept her coming back to help keep things moving smoothly around here.
Manteo’s Rain Garden Lady
Mary Ann Hodges, a teacher at Manteo Middle School, knows that kids can learn from doing something as simple as planting a tree.
Meet the Parrot Heads
You won’t go far at this weekend’s Native Plant Festival without bumping into Parrot Heads, who like to say they party with a purpose.
