Interest in the early history of Pine Knoll Shores’ monthly newspaper, originally a newsletter—called Shore-line and, later, Shore-Line, or The Shore-Line—began in 2010 when resident Jack Goldstein donated to the town back issues he and his wife had kept from 1973 to 1985, a valuable collection with very few missing issues. It was then discovered that past editors—including Betty Carr, long-time town employee—had kept back newsletters in notebooks. Putting together what was in the notebooks with what the Goldsteins had donated provided a complete set of newsletters from 1973 to 2002, when publication temporarily ceased.
In 2004, with the support of newly-elected Mayor Joan Lamson, Bill White revived the town’s monthly publication, converting The Shore-Line newsletter into The Shoreline newspaper. About a decade later, members of the town’s History Committee and past Shoreline editors organized a collection of back papers so the town would have a complete archive from 1973 to the present, except for brief periods when the newsletter was not published.
Thanks to efforts of the History Committee, that archive is now easily accessible at www.ncdigital.com. “Shore-line 1973” is the first in a series of articles attempting to provide highlights from the archive.
The Shoreline story begins in May 1973, when Betty Hammon and Mary Doll write a one-page letter to fellow Pine Knoll Shores’ residents about the importance of having a regularly published “newsletter” for neighbors to get to know one another and stay in touch with what is happening locally. Those receiving the letter respond positively to it.
Photo by Susan Phillips of the beginning of Hammon and Doll's letter
Three months later, Hammon and Doll produce the first official edition of Pine Knoll Shore-line—a two-page 9”x14” single-spaced, mimeographed newsletter. By the second edition, with a fully volunteer staff, they figure an annual subscription fee of $2.00 will cover their minimal costs.
The publication of Doll and Hammon’s newsletter coincides with a vote for Pine Knoll Shores to become an incorporated town. The August 1973 letter reports 90% of eligible voters took part in making the decision: 120 were for incorporation and 26 were against it. The newsletter then goes on to introduce the town’s first mayor, Jim Redfield, and first commissioners—Jim Ramsey, Ruth Bray, Bill Doll, Waightsel Hicks and H.W. McBride, winners of a 16-candidate race. Shore-line writers proudly conclude: “The newly elected commissioners come from varied backgrounds and from all corners and shores of PKS.” (Of course, in 1973, nothing much was developed west of Pine Knoll Blvd.)
Back Row: James Ramsey, William Doll, Waightsel Hicks, H.W. McBride
Front Row: James Redfield (Mayor), Ruth Bray, Simon Bezuyen. Photo by Susan Phillips from town hall collection.
Presenting information on the Board of Commissioners and town governance establishes a pattern that future issues will follow. In fact, in 1973, Doll and Hammon, without intending to do so, almost create a template of Shoreline topics. The newsletters do not look at all like the current Shoreline, having minimal formatting with no bold titles for articles and no photographs; however, the typewritten pages cover many subjects current issues regularly feature.
For example, they dedicate a section to Pine Knoll Shores’ Golf and Country Club. Stan Brunt, Club Manager at the time, announces: “…there are still a few memberships open. Current initiation fees are $300 until the membership reaches 400 members or September 1, 1973, whichever is first. At that time, the fee will increase to $600 until 450 members are reached. Then the fee goes up to $1000—and so on, up, up, up until the membership is closed at 600.” As this passage suggests, 1973 Shore-lines are striking for how familiar the topics are and, sometimes, frightening for how familiar the problems are.
Celebrating volunteerism as one of the town’s great strengths is another consistent topic. The very first newsletter sets the tone:
Dedication is a big word in Pine Knoll Shores these days. One of those dedicated, probably with the biggest capital “D” . . . is Si Bezuyen, a recently retired accountant…. Si was persuaded to dive into the task of getting all the tax records from the county into tax books of our own. For several days relays of volunteers gathered at Si and Minnie’s house to copy numbers out of one book into another. This ambitious group saved the new town a large hunk of money, and apparently had some happy ‘getting to know you’ hours besides.
That last statement suggests another common Shoreline theme—namely, getting to know neighbors. The remainder of the first issue introduces seven new town residents, celebrating their achievements and regional diversity—something most subsequent issues from 1973 to the present continue to do even though getting to know neighbors becomes much more difficult as the population increases.
Other familiar topics in 1973 papers include two important resources that do not exist in Pine Knoll Shores at the time—a marine resource center and a library. Having a local library is not yet even a dream, but the September 1973 newsletter says:
Lots of us in Pine Knoll Shores are avid readers…. Once a month on Wednesday morning from 10:15-11:15 the bookmobile comes to Pine Knoll Shores with Mrs. Clarice Willis in charge… It stops in front of the Murrills’ home on Yaupon near Oakleaf, and you will see us streaming in from all directions by car, bicycle, or on foot. …. The collection is small but active, and you may borrow as many books as you wish. We make them stretch even further by lending them all round the neighborhood.
The December 1973 newsletter quotes from a presentation to the Board of Commissioners on building a marine resource center, which is expected to “attract many tourists. A Marine Center of this kind is used for educational purposes for both adults and children, serving as a sort of laboratory for the marine ecology of the area.” Though what the town now has is an aquarium and not a marine center, the quoted passage is a fairly accurate description of the value of this resource, and there is also a sense that whatever is built at the site will have room to grow. Douglas Young, who makes the slide presentation, thinks the marine center in Pine Knoll Shores will be “…the largest on the Eastern seaboard. It has the most potential because it has 350 acres of unspoiled terrain surrounding it.” At least, the latter part of that claim will prove true.
Plans for Marine Center scanned from PKS Archive by Susan Phillips
The idea of introducing town subdivisions begins in December 1973 with news about Reefstone:
. . . a tucked away set of condominiums in PKS between the Salter Path Road and the golf course boasts the only fresh water fishing lake around (and there’s a resident wild goose, too!). By the spring of 1975 Reefstone will have about 80 completed units of one, two and three bedroom ‘garden houses’…. Builders have avoided destroying the landscape, and yaupon, cedar, holly, and water oak are flourishing in the very natural surroundings.
A sense of pride in preserving the maritime forest is apparent in the above passage, and in keeping with this consistent theme, newsletter writers announce that Pine Knoll Shores has been declared a bird sanctuary.
Other familiar topics in 1973 Shore-lines include: the problem of speeding in canals; concerns about parking, waterway debris and beach erosion; explanations of town ordinances; and news about the police department, with information about how best to contact Public Safety in case of an emergency.
The first fishing report appears in October 1973, as do notices of upcoming cultural events, including drama in New Bern. The first restaurant review appears in December 1973 along with news of Beaufort historical restoration efforts and activities at the Carteret Historical Research Association. An interest in town history is also apparent with mention of a News-Times series on Alice Hoffman. 1973 topics could come from any one of this year’s Shoreline despite all the changes that have taken place.
How grateful we are to Betty Hammon and Mary Doll for starting this newsletter. Unfortunately, they don’t tell us about themselves, but do mention Carl Hammon as President of Pine Knoll Association (PKA) Board of Directors and Bill Doll as one of the town’s first commissioners. No further information is provided about the Hammons, but there are some further details about the Dolls. Bill Doll is described as being 47 years old and as having moved to Pine Knoll Shores, with Mary, in January 1973, from Sheboygan, Wisconsin. They have a son, Jon, and daughter, Julie, both living in Seattle at the time.
Betty Hammon and Mary Doll, like everyone else living in Pine Knoll Shores at the time and for years to come, are originally from somewhere else, but they are determined to make this their home. Establishing the Shore-line newsletter helps do just that and more. It makes the town a community and gives it a recorded history.
Post Author: Phyllis Makuck
Post Author: Phyllis Makuck