Contributed
Having grown up a stones-throw away from North Carolina’s Pamlico County and the town of Oriental, I’m fairly familiar with the area. It’s been very interesting to watch Oriental grow from a primarily commercial fishing waterfront community into a very popular and modern boating and sport as well as commercial fishing community. In fact, Pamlico County’s somewhat obvious high rate of growth seems to have revolved around Oriental and the various summer camps such as Seagull and Seafarer and the town’s central location on the North Carolina coastline.
I’ve also been awed by the growth of Pamlico County’s County seat of Bayboro as it grows into a model of a quickly prospering coastal community with five lanes of newly paved main street that connects with four lanes of modern highway leading to a multi-million dollar bridge over the Neuse River and New Bern. The entire Pamlico County area looks to be the epitome of a coastal area who is showing a healthy growth rate without having the benefit of a large industry other than the not-to-be-ignored recreation and tourism industry.
With Pamlico County offering a variety of outdoor activities and the associated tourist and recreation-based industries there’s one central town in the county that is largely responsible for the County’s popularity, that town is Oriental.
Even the name “Oriental” is unique enough to attract the attention of boaters and nautically oriented people and, with this attraction, came a flood of well-educated and enthusiastic retirees from outside the area. They brought their expertise into the Oriental area and, over the years, the name “Oriental” became synonymous with a quaint but thriving small waterfront community that yachtsmen as well as sport fishermen like. Mention “Oriental” in most any seaport of the United States today and it’s understood that this is a North Carolina town that is well worth visiting and possibly re-locating to.
As Oriental has grown the town has blossomed into a thriving seaport. Its location along the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway has made it a stopping-off point for the boating traffic that travels the Atlantic coast. With the potential for visitors to the area it is only natural that Oriental have an in water boat show to showcase not only the town but the boating industry of North Carolina as well.
The Forth Annual Oriental In Water Boat Show is to take place on April 13, 14 and 15 at the Pecan Grove Marina and this year it should be one of the largest in water boat shows in the eastern part of North Carolina.
Sam Myers, of the Oriental Rotary Club, is this year’s organizer of the four-year-old show and looks forward to its being even larger than last year’s show which had 75 vendors and netted over $9,000 for the Rotary Club’s civic and charitable programs. In spite of last year’s hard economic times the show attracted a lot of enthusiastic buyers who generated over $500,000 in boat sales and some $135,000 in other maritime products sales.
In recent years the town of Oriental and its surrounding area has been noted as being a great place for collectors of maritime memorabilia to purchase some prize items. To take advantage of Oriental’s usual treasure trove of maritime items this year’s boat show will also feature a Nautical Flea Market that be operating alongside the In Water Boat Show.
The Oriental In Water Boat Show opens at noon on Friday, April 13 with the annual free day (no admission this day) from noon to 6 p.m.
Saturday, April 14 hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. with a $5 admission fee.
The Sunday, April 15 admission fee is also $5 with show hours from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. There is no charge for children 12 and under. Plenty of free parking is available on the Pecan Grove Marina grounds.
There are 11 free seminars scheduled during the three days of the In Water Boat Show.
The opening day topics include weather, the Neuse Riverkeeper program and state hunting and fishing regulations .
Programs on April 14 range from financing a boat and medical emergencies to safety, engine problems and kayak fishing.
The final day of the show on Sunday afternoon will feature another session on the current hunting and fishing regulations.
The 2011 vendor list can be found at OrientalBoatShow.com, which also includes more information and 2012 vendor updates.
Visitors from the Research Triangle area of North Carolina will find that Oriental is about a three-hour drive from Raleigh with most of the trip on modern dual lane highways. There are accommodations for over-nighting in the Oriental area (see below).
Interested vendors can contact Myers 252-249-0228 or via email at salmonboone@embarqmail.com.
Also, please refer to www.visitoriental.com for dining, sightseeing, sporting and maritime sales and service facilities.
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