Every Thanksgiving for the past 10 years, Glenn Eure has pulled on waders and boots and lead a horse down one of the large sand dunes that line the coast of Nags Head.

Eure isn’t a fisherman, and the horse doesn’t belong to him. The 35-year resident of Nags Head re-enacts the mythology of how the small Eastern North Carolina city got its name.

According to the legend, land pirates—also known as “bankers”—who lived in the area in the 1700s would hang a lantern on the neck of an old horse—a “nag”—and walk the horse up and down the tallest natural sand dune on the East Coast, which is now known as Jockey’s Ridge State Park.

Passing ships assumed that the lantern hung from a safely docked ship, and captains would guide their ship toward shore, where they would run aground on the area’s rocky shoals, which are known as part of the Graveyard of the Atlantic. The land pirates would then loot the ship in search of valuable cargo. As the legend grew, the name Nags Head stuck.

“Walking on the sand dune gave the illusion of being farther away than it actually was,”
Eure says. “Welshmen started this in the British Isles many years before that, and the legend says that people on the beach were shipwrecked Welshmen and they had done this in Wales.”

The Dare County town, which has a population of about 2,700, according to the 2000 census, thrives on tourism. The town has 11 miles of oceanfront and a total area of about 6.5 million square feet. In the 1830s, the town started to become a popular vacation destination for people looking to enjoy the beach and dunes.

Eure, who opened Eure’s Ghost Fleet Gallery in Nags Head in 1982, said Nags Head is an enclave for artists, sculptors and sport fishermen, and offers a relaxed lifestyle and proximity to the beach and the sound.

“It’s very picturesque and laid-back,” he says. “It’s so accepting and friendly here. I’ve lived all over the world, but if you live here for three months, the natives act and treat you like you’ve been here for generations.”

In 2007, the town honored Eure for his contributions by presenting him with the Keeper
of the Light Award, an annual honor given to a resident who has had a significant positive impact on the community. Eure usually presents the award, a large brass lantern, at the end of his Nags Head legend demonstration.

“It was a real thrill,” Eure says. “People are really honoring you when they make you the keeper of the light. It’s a real local honor.”

BLADEN COUNTY Farm Bureau Board Member Danny McDuffie (center) and his son Dan (right) received this year’s Peanut Yield Champions Award from Bob Sutter with the N.C. Peanut Growers Association. In addition to winning on the county level, the McDuffies were also awarded the North Carolina State Yield Award. The McDuffie’s average yield for the 2007 growing season was 5,700 pounds per acre, which is an accolade to their farming and production practices.

In other activity…The Bladen County Farm Bureau Women’s Committee donated photosynthesis promenade kits to county schools. Denise White, left, is shown here teaching her class using the kit. Students enjoyed the kits and learned about agriculture.

CARTERET COUNTY Farm Bureau awarded two scholarships of $500 each to Amber Nead and Hannah Mical.

In other activity…Carteret County Farm Bureau recently hosted a two-day meeting of the N.C. Department of Public Instruction. The county provided refreshments for breakfast, afternoon snacks, and the use of its county board meeting room in the Beaufort office.

CARTERET COUNTY Farm Bureau President Mickey Simmons was awarded a plaque “in recognition, appreciation and support for reading in the schools of North Carolina.”

CASWELL COUNTY Farm Bureau member Von “Mac” Baldwin, a beef and poultry farmer from Yanceyville, was recently named the 2008 North Carolina winner of the Swisher Sweets/Sunbelt Expo Southeastern Farmer of the Year award. He is one of 10 finalists for the Southeastern Farmer of the Year Award, which will be announced Oct. 14 at the Sunbelt Ag Expo farm show in Moultrie, Ga.

Baldwin has more than 400 grass-fed Charolais cows, which he sells through his Web site, www.baldwinbeef.com, at Whole Foods stores in North and South Carolina and at the Carrboro Farmers Market. Caswell County Farm Bureau President Hester Vernon nominated Baldwin for the award because of his active participation in Farm Bureau and other agricultural activities.

In other activity…Caswell County Farm Bureau participated in “Aging with Gusto,” a seminar for senior citizens held June 11 at the Caswell County Civic Center. Farm Bureau representatives handed out 120 bags containing information about member services to the more than 100 seniors and other vendors in attendance.

CHOWAN COUNTY Farm Bureau members recently took part in a Farm Safety Day at the Chowan County Recreation Department in Tyner. About 300 third-through-fifth-graders from D.F. Walker Elementary School attended the event. The schoolchildren visited a variety of booths and learned ways to stay safe when dealing with combines and tractors, lawn mowers, fire, RVs, chemicals, bad weather and water. Willy the Safety Squirrel was on hand to greet the children as they arrived and passed out coloring books, crayons, safety tattoos and stickers.

CUMBERLAND COUNTY Farm Bureau held a water quality meeting June 3 at the Charlie Rose Center. Twenty-six people from several counties attended. Cumberland County Farm Bureau’s YF&R Committee sponsored the meeting.

DARE COUNTYFarm Bureau’s Board of Directors and special guests feasted on a fresh seafood dinner, which included soft shell crabs that were hauled in by veteran board member Edward Etheridge earlier in the day. The group gathered to congratulate Thomas Pratt-Lozupone on receiving a $1,000 scholarship from the county Farm Bureau to be used toward his expenses at N.C. State University.

EDGECOMBE COUNTY Farm Bureau awarded five $1,000 scholarships to local high school students. The scholarship recipients were: Matthew Drake, son of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Drake of Pinetops; Caroline Pilgreen, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. James T. Pilgreen of Whitakers; Jacob Pearce, son of Mr. and Mrs. James Pearce of Tarboro; Eric Parker, son of Mr. and Mrs. Raymond Parker of Rocky Mount; and Michele Smith, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Kent Smith of Rocky Mount. Drake, Pilgreen, Pearce and Smith all plan to attend N.C. State University in the fall. Parker will attend N.C. A & T State University.

FRANKLIN COUNTY Farm Bureau and the United Way co-sponsored the 14th Annual Ag Field Day Tuesday, Sept. 16 at Riverbend Park. Every third-grader in the county was invited to attend the event, which offered a morning of hands-on experiences with agricultural life.

Top row, from left, Farm Bureau’s Kay Sims was on hand as Franklin County Farm Bureau’s Vice-President Steve Nelms presented a contribution on behalf of Farm Bureau and United Way to event planner Martha Mobley. United Way’s Priscilla Henderson is pictured far right. On hand for the check presentation were the children of Farm Bureau members Alyssa and Matthew Dorsey, who operate Bahemah Angus Farm in Louisburg. They are, from left, Micah, Leah, Anna and Silas.

MECKLENBURG COUNTY Farm Bureau Board Members Johnny and Shelby Wallace picked up an award for Wallace Farm in Huntersville at the Charlotte Business Journal’s Green Awards. The event took place April 16 at the Charlotte Convention Center. Wallace Farm, along with Linda Construction and R.T. Dooley, was presented the Green Entrepreneurial Effort/Innovative Idea award. The program was sponsored by the Charlotte Business Journal and the Charlotte chapter of the U.S. Green Building Council.

NASH COUNTY Farm Bureau former board of director’s member Elmer Daniel received a certificate naming him an Honorary Director. County President Greg Bunn presented Daniel with the certificate and a plaque “In Appreciation and Honor” of his service during a directors’ meeting April 3 in Nashville. Daniel joined the Farm Bureau in 1947 and served on the board of directors from 1961 to 2007. He also served as a county commissioner and on the board of Nash General Hospital.

American Farm Bureau Federation’s American Farm Bureau Federation’s Foundation for Agriculture awarded North Carolina teacher Sandra Hatley with a $1,200 White-Reinhardt Fund for Education scholarship to attend the National Agriculture in the Classroom conference in Costa Mesa, CA.

Hatley was one of 10 teachers recognized for outstanding efforts to promote agricultural literacy. American Farm Bureau Foundation for Agriculture sponsored the awards in cooperation with the AFBF Women’s Leadership Committee.

RICHMOND COUNTY Farm Bureau Board Member Myers Waddell and his wife, Earlene, participated in Washington Street School’s N.C. Heritage Day, June 6. Mrs. Waddell spoke to nine classes of fourth-graders about North Carolina agriculture and how people farmed in the late 1800s and early 1900s. The students learned about the many different commodities produced by N.C. farmers, such as chicken, turkey, cotton, tobacco and corn. Afterward, Mr. and Mrs. Waddell presented each class with donated Frisbees.

RUTHERFORD COUNTY Farm Bureau recently awarded scholarships to three students starting college this fall. Tiffany Brown, of Rutherfordton, is a graduate of Chase High School and is the daughter of Michael and Kathy Brown. She will attend N.C. State University and will receive $1,000 per semester for four years. Haley Lovelace, of Bostic, is a graduate of East Rutherford High School and is the daughter of Ronald and Debora Lovelace. She will also attend NCSU and will receive $1,000 per semester for four years. Tramell Forney, of Union Mills, is a graduate of R-S Central High School and the son of Tramell and Sandra Forney. He will attend N.C. A&T State University in Greensboro and will receive $1,000 per semester for four years.

STANLY COUNTY Farm Bureau held a Member Appreciation Day May 31 at the local Farm Bureau office.

Georgia and Michael, the children of Andrew and Ashley Burleson, milk a cow at Member Appreciation Day.

WARREN COUNTY Farm Bureau’s Board of Directors held its Second Annual Legislative Dinner recently. Among the 60 attendees at the event were four of the five county commissioners, farm advisers from the Washington, D.C. offices of U.S. Sen. Richard Burr and U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole, N.C. Rep. Michael Wray and N.C. Sen. Doug Berger.

In other activity…Women’s Committee members participated in the National Education Association’s Read Across America this spring at Mariam Boyd Elementary School in Warrenton. They served refreshments and lunch to 35 teachers at a workshop co-led by Pat Riethmier, local N.C. Teacher of the Year for Ag in the Classroom. In April, the group visited the Ronald McDonald House in Chapel Hill and donated $200 in supplies and home-based goodies. Women’s Committee members also sponsored local Relay for Life activities.

Also…The board of directors focused on community aid this year and donated $700 to the local 4-H for the spring five-county livestock show and sale. They also donated $5,000 to a Jaycees fundraiser for a local Farm Bureau member, a dairy farmer, who was involved in a farm accident.

And…The board of directors awarded $1,000 scholarships to high school seniors Lauren Lesas and Lindsay Varnadore. The scholarships are renewable for three years as long as the students continue to major in an agriculture-related field and maintain a specific GPA. The board awarded one-time $500 scholarships to seven other worthy students majoring in a variety of fields.

WAYNE COUNTY Farm Bureau Board of Directors sponsored a team in the 2008 Wayne County Relay For Life May 16 and 17 on the Wayne Community College campus in Goldsboro. Activities were held throughout the year to raise money for the annual American Cancer Society event.

The team’s theme for its tent at the relay was “Sowing Seeds for a Cure.” The group paid tribute to team members who were cancer survivors. They encouraged event-goers to pay tribute to loved ones who either survived or succumbed to battles with cancer by sowing a seed in a planter and writing their loved one’s name on a paper flower.

In its rookie year, the team, through its fund-raising efforts, donations and corporate sponsorships raised $6,500.

“I am so proud of all the hard work that our team members and volunteers have put in to make our first year participating in the Relay a success,” said team captain Amy Shivar. “On behalf of the Wayne County Farm Bureau Relay For Life team, I would like to thank everyone who has donated to this event.”

Ingredients

3 slices of toast or stale bread
½ cup milk
1 egg, beaten
1 pound crab meat
1 teaspoon dry mustard
¼ teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon melted butter
Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

Soak bread in milk and egg mixture. Add remaining ingredients and mix well. Make into patties and fry in hot oil until brown on both sides. I use olive oil and my grandmother’s cast iron skillet. Enjoy!

Servings: 8-10
Author: Rosie Patton, Dare County from Jim Graham’s Farm Family Cookbook