Ocrafolk School a First Year Success By Jamie Tunnell The pioneer class of the Ocrafolk School graduated on Friday, October 20 with flying colors, evident in their exceptional basketry, awesome jewelry, inspired photography, culinary genius, and newfound grasp on the island’s culture and history. “I don’t know if you all walk around here the other 51 weeks of the year with smiles on your faces, but we appreciate it from beginning to end,” said one student during the final show-and-tell of all the classes. The first school enrollment was made up of twenty students from North Carolina, Kentucky, Ohio, Georgia, and anywhere else?. Staff of the school consisted of teachers, coordinators, volunteer help, and the donations and community support that made the school a success in everyone’s eyes. “It was a great feeling to have complete confidence in all the instructors,” said Gary Mitchell, Ocrafolk School Director. “I never worried that someone was going to have a bad experience.” Mitchell had been inspired for years by the environment of the John C. Campbell Folk School. In an earlier press release this summer promoting the school, the mission was outlined to help preserve local culture, promote appreciation of Ocracoke’s natural resources, and bring creative people into the community. For the students and staff of this year’s school, that mission was complete. The Ocrafolk School stepped out of the classroom and took students into Ocracoke and the abundant resources of the island. The “total experience” that the school advertised was fulfilled with sails aboard the Schooner Windfall, history walks, a square dance and Opry, group meals at local restaurants, and magical settings like the Soundfront Inn. The Soundfront Inn is one of the older, true island homes. It was operated as an inn from 1951-1970 by Warwick and Margueritte “Maggie” Boos and is remembered fondly for the exceptional meals and parties hosted here. When the Senseneys moved to Ocracoke in 1973, they were introduced to “Maggie” and began a lifelong friendship that ended in 1996 with her death. The old house is being restored but has a rich history and story to tell in its old style kitchen, lace curtains, bead board walls, open air porches, and view of the Pamlico Sound. The Soundfront Inn was home base for the cooking class, taught by Debbie Wells, and the photography class, taught by Ann Ehringhaus. The atmosphere of old Ocracoke there only added to the tone of the week’s success. The cooking menus for the week included Ocracoke fig cake, boiled fish and fishcakes, lessons on biscuits from Ruth Toth (dubbed the “biscuit queen” by Wells), and a final breakfast for the whole school on Friday morning. Ehringhaus’s class had a range of skilled photographers who offered their unique view of Ocracoke at the show-and-tell on Friday. Ehringhaus’s mission was to capture the island without using the harbor and lighthouse and many in the audience could relate when they saw pictures of yards, familiar landscapes, common everyday experiences, and people that make Ocracoke “home”. One student said that Ehringhaus led them through an adventure – not just a class. The class plans on selling postcards with their work on the Ocrafolk School website – www.ocrafolkschool.org. The school was successful because it didn’t depend on one ‘campus’ – the island served as a campus with classrooms, meal locations, and extra activities all over the island. Kathleen O’Neal had the first class to fill up in the school –jewelry-making. The eight students and O’Neal set up in the Community Center for the most popular class of the week to learn about enameling. “We worked with copper, one of my favorite mediums, and different techniques of enameling including cloisonné and basse taille,” said O’Neal. “It’s been very hands-on, gratifying work and the students have taken off with basics I’ve had th eopportunity to show them this week.” The basketry class, taught by Judith Saunders, was held in her home on Middle Road. Her class included two teachers that have experience at the Campbell School, two students that were first timers, and Amy Howard who helped with the class and contributed her own basketry experience. Howard was a student of in the Campbell Folk School four years ago under the instruction of Pattie Bagley, one of the students this week. “This is more than just vacating to Ocracoke, which I have done before,” said Bagley. “We’re getting to know the community and getting a feel for what it’s like to live here – you can’t do this as a tourist.” They worked with copper strips as well as water color paper strips and explored techniques like bias-plaiting. Saunders brought her collection of baskets from all over the world for the students to observe. The Ocrafolk Sampler class was a joint venture led by Philip Howard, David Senseney, and Rob Temple. Their class was unique in that it had only residents for students. They hiked from the ocean to the sound, experiencing the pilentary tree, shipwrecks, and deer tracks. They were able to hear stories about old Ocracoke, explore the unique dialect, and even watch a video of Ocracoke from 1954 showing pony penning, the 4th of July parade, Sam Jones dancing with the Castle freshly built in the background, and the bald beach ‘plains’ that existed outside of the village and can only be imagined through picture or video. They learned sailing knots and heard tales of the sea. The Ocrafolk School came together because of the organization of existing were there capable staff and coordinators, but volunteers and contributions from the community. To encourage less traffic, the school asked the Slushy Stand, Pony Island Motel, and Ocracoke Island Realty to donate weekly bike rentals for the students. It made a world of difference to the island’s congestion, but also helped the visiting students experience Ocracoke in a common, but unique way. Zillie’s Pantry donated food items for the culinary experiments in the kitchen and The Ocracoke Seafood Company donated all the seafood for the week. The East Carolina Bank and Ocracoke Civic and Business Association made donations to help get the school on its feet and the Community Center donated the use of its space. A big thanks to the Ocracoke Preservation Society, the umbrella sponsor of the Ocrafolk School and Ocrafolk Festival held yearly in June. The concentrated efforts on preserving Ocracoke can not only be found in the museum on the island, but in the itinerary of the week. The first (hopefully, of many) Ocrafolk School session was made possible by the time and energy dedicated to make the classes a one-of-a-kind experience for each student and staff. It was a true lesson in hospitality, fruits of labor, and falling in love with Ocracoke – again.