Golf Carts in Pine Knoll Shores
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New K4TW Raffl es See page 6 Meet our Summer Intern See page 20 Vol. 15, No. 7 A Shoreline Community, Pine Knoll Shores, N.C. July 2020 New Leadership for K4TW Gala, Race Cancelled Pine Knoll Shores By Jean McDanal By Alicia Kramer Durham, Pine Knoll Shores Commissioner K4TW Golf Tournament remains on schedule Th e Kayak for the Warriors (K4TW) Gala and auctions scheduled for July 24 With heavy hearts, we, the Pine Knoll Shores Board of Commissioners, attempt have reluctantly been cancelled. We expected 150 people to join this celebration to replace Mayor Ken Jones. Although we know we can never fully replace Ken’s at the Crystal Coast Country Club, and unfortunately, in looking ahead, we think experience and passion for Pine Knoll Shores, appointing a new leader is vital restrictions on the number of people allowed at an indoor event will still be in to our small town’s health. We take this crucial public duty seriously, which place at that time. All registration fees will be refunded. is established by the Pine Knoll Shores Charter as shown below. Th e offi ce of Our signature event, the Kayak/Paddleboard Race, was scheduled for Saturday, mayor is an important position. He or she is the public face of the town, sets the July 11. We thought we could go ahead with our original format, but parameters town’s agenda and develops supportive partnerships with other governments and to even get this off the ground are daunting—no tents, tables or chairs, no medal agencies. ceremony, no lunch, coupled with having to have staggered start times for all It is important to all the commissioners that our mayoral selection be deliberate, paddlers. Th is has been a wonderful social event for 12 years, and we came to the fair and open to all qualifi ed Pine Knoll Shores residents. We unanimously agreed conclusion that if we couldn’t do it the right way, we shouldn’t do it this year. All to appoint a Mayoral Search Committee, and Acting Mayor Clark Edwards registrations will be refunded. appointed Bill Knecht and me, Alicia Durham, to that committee. Additionally, we Because the fi rst two events had to be cancelled, we are throwing all of our established qualifi cations and traits which we felt were important for the successful eff orts to the fi rst annual Kayak for the Warriors Golf Tournament to be held candidate, which included: at the Crystal Coast Country Club on Friday, July 31. Please register online by • Experience in government or business management going to our website, k4tw.org, click on Events and choose Golf Tournament. • Ability to work with others • A love for Pine Knoll Shores Th e registration fee is $75, which includes the 18-hole best ball, cart, goody bag, • A team builder, not divider silent auction and lunch. Registration deadline is July 17. Forms may also be • A vision to the future, not the past downloaded from our website, or picked up at the country club golf shop or at • Good communication and public speaking skills town hall. Th ere are plenty of opportunities to support Kayak for the Warriors by • Common sense purchasing a hole for $100—and having your name displayed on the hole of your • Ability to partner with other agencies at the local and state levels. choice. Send your check to Kathy Blowers, 201 Oakleaf Drive, Pine Knoll Shores, On June 2, Commissioner Knecht and I publicly discussed and outlined the NC 28512. Please write “hole” on the memo line and include the hole number if mayor selection process. As agreed: you have a preference. • Eligible individuals submitted their interest with qualifi cations to the Th is has been a diffi cult time for everyone, including our wounded warriors Mayoral Search Committee by 5 p.m. on June 16, 2020. (Continued on page 5) • Th e Mayoral Search Committee held public interviews at 2 p.m. on June 29, 2020. Each candidate was asked a series of the same questions, followed by questions specifi c to each candidate. Standard • Th e Mayoral Search Committee discussed its recommendation at a public Pre-Sort meeting. Permit #35 • Th e Mayoral Search Committee will make its recommendation to the Board Atlantic Beach, NC 28512 of Commissioners at the commissioners’ July 8 meeting. THE (Continued on page 7) Shoreline fi ts securely into the segment above it while the base remains visible. Rattle Me This! Young rattlesnakes can produce an audible sound very soon aft er their second or third shed, and as they can grow quickly, they might add new segments to By Frederick Boyce their rattles three or even four times in their fi rst year. Hence, there is no direct correlation between the number of segments in a rattle and the snake’s age in I recently noticed our beautiful timber rattlesnake at the NC Aquarium at years, though an experienced snake biologist can use the overall shape and Pine Knoll Shores relaxing by her window, probably enjoying a respite from the condition of a rattle to get a good estimate of the snake’s age. constant glass-tapping. She looked so nice that I thought it warranted taking Th e term “rattle” refers to the overall structure, and each snake has but one, a few photos. Meanwhile, yet another sensationalized news story, this time so it is actually not accurate to refer to the individual segments as “rattles,” or out of Alabama, was sadly making the rounds on the internet, with a photo to say that a snake gets “a new rattle” each time it sheds its skin. Th ere is only of some rather proud-looking fellows hoisting an apparently gigantic timber one rattle, to which a new segment is added each time the snake sheds. Th ere rattlesnake—dead, of course—draped over a branch. Th e snake was no more is however one possible instance in which the number of segments in a rattle than an average-sized adult of perhaps 40 inches, but thanks to an optical might indeed have some sort of signifi cance. Returning again to Ben Franklin illusion known as “forced perspective” (whereby objects placed close to the and his observations of the fi rst “Don’t Tread on Me” emblem in 1775: camera appear to be much larger than they actually are), it appeared deceptively I went back and counted them [the segments in the rattle] and enormous, like a python. Th e headline blared “Watch Your Step!” as if the woods found them just thirteen, exactly the number of the Colonies united were literally crawling with giant killer rattlesnakes. in America; and I recollected too that this was the only part of Rattlesnakes are actually in decline throughout their range and are becoming the Snake which increased in numbers. One of those . singly, is decidedly rare. Th ese snakes, like most creatures, are motivated by a strong incapable of producing sound, but the ringing of thirteen together, is instinct for survival and have absolutely no interest in initiating a potentially suffi cient to alarm the boldest man living. suicidal engagement with anything as large and formidable as a human if they Indeed, the British were suffi ciently alarmed to have reportedly fl ed in terror can possibly avoid it, which is the entire point of their being equipped with a from the American ships under Commodore Esek Hopkins that were fl ying the built-in warning system. Th ey desire only to be left in peace, hence the motto dreaded rattlesnake fl ag, which was designed by Christopher Gadsden, a friend “Don’t Tread on Me.” In 1775 Benjamin Franklin wrote about this very topic of Hopkins who represented South Carolina in the 2nd Continental Congress. with amazing astuteness as he pondered the newly raised company of Marines While taking these photos, I was somewhat pleased to observe that our timber and the idea of a rattlesnake being a fi tting symbol for the nascent United States: rattlesnake at the aquarium is currently a “Don’t Tread on Me” snake, with I observed on one of the drums belonging to the marines now 13 segments in her rattle (the black segment at the base of the rattle contains raising, there was painted a Rattle-Snake, with this modest motto vascular tissue and will be added at the next shed [so it is not counted], and under it, “Don’t tread on me.” As I know it is the custom to have the tip is the hat-shaped natal button). We should all be very proud of our some device on the arms of every country, I supposed this may have rattlesnakes—Franklin obviously was. been intended for the arms of America. [I]t occurred to me that Frederick Boyce is the staff herpetologist at the NC Aquarium at Pine Knoll the Rattle-Snake is found in no other quarter of the world besides Shores. America, and may therefore have been chosen, on that account, to Source: Gadsden Flag History—gadsden.info/history.html represent her. She never wounds ’till she has generously given notice, even to her enemy, and cautioned him against the danger of treading on her. She is therefore an emblem of magnanimity and true courage. Th ere seems to be an odd obsession with counting the “rattles” on a rattlesnake, especially among those (such as the guys in that Alabama news story) who view these uniquely American symbols as threats to their safety and formidable enemies, even if they’re just out in the woods minding their own business.