Wednesday, July 09, 2014

Summertime is here on Ocracoke Island, in spite of Hurricane Arthur!



Hello Molasses Creek friends,
Fiddler Dave's son Lachlan, with a tree downed from Hurricane Arthur on the Back Rd of Ocracoke
Summer has arrived on Ocracoke Island and we have jumped into our weekly shows at Deepwater Theater.  On Wednesdays, Molasses Creek presents the Ocrafolk Opry and on Thursdays we feature an all Molasses Creek concert. If you are planning on coming to a show while visiting this summer, we do recommend making reservations online at our Deepwater Theater page at www.molassescreek.com/deepwater-theater, or by putting your name on the Will Call list by calling Fiddler Dave at 252-921-0260.  June shows were almost completely sold out!

We had a most unusual 4th of July this year. Hurricane Arthur roared through on Friday morning, July 4th. Unfortunately, it drove away visitors, took down some trees, and snapped the boom in half of Ocracoke Alive's Skipjack Wilma Lee tore up the mainsail. Ocracoke Alive is currently having an Indiegogo Campaign to help raise funds for repairs.  There are some great Ocracoke rewards if you want to pitch in and lend a hand. Fortunately, the damage to the rest of the village was fairly minimal with little flooding. The village chipper is making its way around the island and tourists have returned. Time to come and see what shells the storm dredged up!

Howard St on Ocracoke after the storm

This year's Ocrafolk Festival, June 6-8, was a great success and we experienced some of the most perfect weather in festival history.

Molasses Creek and the Ocrafolk Festival were featured in the June edition of Our State magazine in an article on summer festivals. Read all about it by clicking here!
   
We loved seeing all our friends from years past, including the MacDonald Sisters, Caravan of Thieves, Jef the Mime, John Golden (this list could go on quite a while), and meeting some new folks like Mipso and the South Carolina Broadcasters.

This spring Molasses Creek toured out west and also to the North. We would like to extend a heartfelt thanks to all of the presenters, hosts, and worker bees who help us along the way!  Here are some pictures from our travels.

Winfield, Kansas, home of a fabulous festival!
Fiddler Dave's hometown of Stillwater, Oklahoma, next to the famed Eskimo Joes
Conway, Arkansas, home of Toad Suck Park!
At the beautiful First Unitarian Church of Pittsburgh
With Kris Rust and students from Franklin Regional School
Hershey Area Playhouse in PA
Gerald tries on a new backstage persona under the guidance of our host and friend, Mark Cuddy
A visit to the Hershey School

Lou's quest for great tasting Ketchup is successful!

Of course, a visit to the original Martin Guitar Factory
On air with Wanda Fischer, host of WAMC's Hudson Valley Sampler out of Albany

On to New York City for a concert at the Holyrood Episcopal Church with the Hudson Cliffhangers!
Gary, Dave & Gerald visit the Cloisters, NYC
An afternoon concert and visit to the The Filomen M. D'Agostino Greenberg Music School, with director Dalia Sakas.
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Finishing out with a jam session with Neal Vorus and friends in Washington Heights.
Marcy and Gary onstage at the Tosco Music Party in Charlotte, NC
Stiltwalkers at the Lake Eden Arts Festival, Black Mountain, NC
Gary Mitchell peers out the Barn Stage window at the LEAF festival


Feasting at the lake at the LEAF Festival