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articles, including Ken’s articles for Carolina Salt

Report from the Phlocking Committee

Same ‘ol, same ‘ol…

As always, the Emerald Isle Parrot Heads will be meeting at the Emerald Club at 7:00 PM on the first Friday of each month. This is great time to socialize with “seasoned” members, for new members to get “lei’d”, and for committees to make announcements.

Deviations…

This year we’re going back to some basics AND making some progressive moves. Our Phlocking will be entertained by DJ Robbie Jones, compliments of Emerald Club. Continue reading Report from the Phlocking Committee

Happy New Year Parrot Heads!

2014 EIPHC Holiday Float
2014 EIPHC Holiday Float

Come Phlock with us! The January Phlocking is January 2, 7pm at the Emerald Club. DJ Robbie Jones will be hosting our inside gathering (’cause baby it’s cold outside!) Come join us as we hang out, listen to some good tunes and munch on food provided by Eddie Peterson from Piggly Wiggly Deli! Thank you Eddie!

A little ‘dues’ goes a long way! We will hopefully be collecting our budget friendly annual dues from returning and new members. Dues are $10 per person for 2015 for your continued membership.  Please bring your dues to the Phlocking and don’t forget to check the club roster to assure we have your info correct.

2014 Phlocking at the Emerald Club
2014 Phlocking at the Emerald Club

Can’t attend the Phlocking? No worries, you have until March to pay your dues. You can bring them to the February or March Phlocking, or mail them to Sue Stone, at 9701 Ashley Place, Emerald Isle. If you join after March we will ask that you fill out another membership form, as we purge the list yearly.

How many members are in the EIPHC? We currently have 376 members! Wow, not bad for a small area like ours. We ranked 10th nationwide in size for 2013 out of 238 clubs world wide. Those clubs raised $33.9 million in funds for charities. We are past the $11,000 mark as a club for 2014. We will keep you posted on the final numbers!

Post from James Hicks (President)

Hey my fellow Buffett fans.  If you thought the bus trip was great, then you
will love our Beach Bike Poker Run!!!  I have attached our flyer for your
information.  This is our biggest fund raiser each year and each year it
gets better and better.  Last year we raised about $4500  and we hope to do
even better this year.  It is open to the public but loving Buffett is a
must!  We need your participation to make this happen!  Bring your friends!
It is fun to watch over 150 decorated bikes and riders ride down the
sidewalk to get their food, drink and playing card! You will note on the
flyer that we have cash prizes for the best bike, and the best card hand,
and loads of door prizes and raffle items.

Last but not least, if you would like to volunteer your help with this
project, we can find something for you to do!! Just write me back! Hope to
see you on the 17th! James

Parrot Heads Ride Again!

Parrot Heads Ride Again!

Hey Kids! What time is it? Howdy Doody Time!… No. Wait, that’s not right! BEACH BICYCLE POKER TIME!! But to keep all y’all in suspense (ooooh…), let’s recount the events leading up to it. First the crew had to get through our regular PHlocking with a killer combination of a Kentucky Derby/Cinco De Mayo themed gathering; plenty of PHolks dressed up in bizarre costumes to suit both events, lots of “challenging” games (like herding cats with this crew of fun loving PHlockers), laughter, incredible edibles, great tunes from our boys Jack & Dickie along with David sliding in to put a spin on things. Our PHlocking coordinators work hard to make our PHlockings a fun event and we greatly appreciate the time and effort they put in to ensure that everyone has a good time (It’s the Parrot Head way). Of course there was plenty of trash talk about who would win the bike decorating categories in the Poker Run, and some last minute planning and volunteering for the event. We also managed to throw in some donations to the Humane Society, do a 50/50 raffle for the EI Sea Turtle Program, and signed up 27 new members who wanted to join in the fun.

Onward to the big event – the world renown Beach Bike Poker Run! With great weather (always have our fingers crossed), we drew a crowd of 169 registrants for this fundraiser, who showed up on decorated bicycles to compete in the bike decorating contest and get ready for a hilarious ride on the Isle. First place in this year’s 3 categories of bike decoration (Cowboy in the Jungle, Growing older but not up, and Boat drinks) came as a sweep to the Hicks clan; James, Jan, and new coming son in law Jason Holland slammed into first place each scoring a $50 gift card donated by Walmart. Not to worry, lots of other category winners in 2nd and 3rd place with good donated prizes and plenty of shoulda/coulda winners out there. The main goal of having fun was obviously reached in this part of the event, so we then unleashed this wild eyed herd of cyclists and some walkers to hit 5 designated stops on the Isle (The Irish Pirate, Emerald Grill, El Zarape, Rucker John’s, and Flipperz) to pick up a card from one of our dedicated “Card Sharks” at each of the stops in hopes of gleaning a good poker hand. A few tumbles here and there (gotta get more practice coordinating that riding) but everyone arrived back at the Emerald Club relatively unscathed and grinning from ear to ear. After some serious deliberation and sorting out 169 completed poker hands, we came up with lucky first, second, and third place winners of $300, $200, and $100 cash awards. At this point in the day, some of the wheels were off the cart and no one really remembers the winning names, but the winners sure did. Thanks to the E Club and the Parrot Head Club for donating these bucks to the winners.

Lots of raffle tickets were sold for great prizes generously donated by local merchants and individuals. We’re so lucky to live in a community that supports the Parrot Head Club in our fundraising and partying; THANKS to all, you’re the best! We sure hope you go out of your way to support and patronize them. Door prizes from each of the stops were also drawn, T shirts, beads, and cozies were shot out into the crowd, and Big Dan got everyone dancing and carrying on with his DJ thing. Making sure no one went hungry, the Parrot Heads and the E Club arranged for a spread of tasty grub to cleanse the palate. Many many thanks to the core group of Parrot Head volunteered who pulled everything together to make this happen. A rowdy fun filled time, and BEST OF ALL… WE RAISED $4490 at the event that was all donated to the Hope for the Warriors charity to help support those who have given so much for our country. A very small thank you to a deserving charity that we were proud to be able to make happen by Partying With A Purpose. Another great day in a great place to live.

June and July seem to be recuperation time for the Parrot Head Club (aside from our regular PHirst PHriday PHlockings; come on down to The Emerald Club for some laughter, friendship, and rowdy times), but we’ll be doing good things in the community individually during this busy tourist time and will be getting ready for our annual Island Party in August followed by a host of other fun events. In the meantime, say thanks to a Parrot Head for their role in making our community a fun and better place to live, and don’t forget to wish a happy birthday to our crew who were dropped into the world in June of various years. They be: Bill McGowen, Paula Patteson, “Lovely Lois” Harmande, Gary Odle, Brad Bills, Jack “Zack Brown” Synan, Tom Stout, Mickey Henrickson, Ann Stewart, Randy Penny, Gigi Linder, Pam “Turtles” Minnick, Terry Passey, Donna Grady, Gary Pontenberg, Bill “Cap’n Coastie” Gerdsen, Sandy Rockenhauser, Dianne “Mrs. Mayor” Schools, and Tim Hester.

So, tha’s all, y’all. Keep a smile on your face, practice random acts of kindness, give back to your community, and breathe in, breathe out… life is grand. See you around the Isle! Ken

April Showers/May Flowers; SUMMER’S HERE! Parrot Heads

April Showers/May Flowers; SUMMER’S HERE!  Parrot Heads

     With better weather, Parrot Heads have been mucho busy out there in the community.   Our regular PHirst PHriday night PHlockings at the Emerald Club keep coming up with great fun, the last being a primer for the next day’s scavenger hunt with the crew running around the back yard Tiki Bar looking for a list of items.   Scearce & Ketner had their long johns on and cranked out the tunes outdoors with lots of good grub from the E Club & Eddie, a 50/50 raffle to help out a Parrot Head in Need and of course plenty of fun and frolicking.   Deals were cut and teams formed for the next day’s “Offishul” Scavenger Hunt that brought out 18 teams of 4 and a bunch of others who hung out to enjoy the rowdiness of Parrot Heads zipping around town in search of strange clued items.  Many thanks to Bob & Marsha Horner and the rest of their group who organized the event and made sure that everything went off like clockwork.  The big time winning team this year of Bernie and Emily Zucker, Doris Speicher, and Mary Passey took home first place with the team name of “Senior Moments”.  They called themselves by that moniker because they couldn’t remember what they had called themselves last year; guess what… same name last year.  For forgetful PHolks, they sure kicked it by coming in first time wise and with every item on the list.  Congrats!   Prizes were given out for first through sixth place but everyone who participated had a ball.  Ending a gorgeous early summer day with music from our very own DJ (and judge) Bobbi Raub along with a cold one or two and a lot of hysterical stories of the searching, made this another day to remember.  Partying With A Purpose, all proceeds from entry fees were split between the Carteret County Humane Society and the Carteret County Domestic Violence Program, two deserving charitable organizations.

Hey, we’ve gotten a bunch of new members this year already, so we decided we needed to have a meet and greet session for them (as an excuse for a party?).  Somewhere around 70 new and old (not in years) Parrot Heads PHlocked over the bridge to Senor Dick’s for an evening of fun and frolic and a chance to get better acquainted.  Of course the addition of Coconut Bowling thrown into the mix with prizes and some tasty appetizers cranked the rowdiness up a notch.   Amazing how insane it is to try to roll a coconut into a hula hoop; the ladies seemed to do better than the guys (sometimes with a little help from Head PHlocker James’ foot).   Lots and lots of laughter, and new friends made with a crew of folks who all like to have a great time and do good things for their communities.

Well, the entrance to beautiful Emerald Isle was starting to again look littered, so we fired up our regular Adopt a Highway trash pickup, meeting on a Saturday morning with 18 Parrot Heads taking to the side of the road for our litter pickup from Rte. 24 to the bridge.   As usual (sadly) trash was in ample supply with our crew picking up 29 bags of various “stuff” chucked or blown out from passing vehicles.  Aside from too many plastic bags, styrofoam cups, beer cans and bottles, etc. the clean team came up with a full woman’s purse (no wallet for ID), a broken cane, Ford hubcap (missing one?), 3/4 empty bottle of Grey Goose, and a DVD on exploding target instructions.  We even had one jerk (wish we had gotten the license number) who threw out an empty water bottle as they went by; amazing how stupid some people can be.  OK, lecture time… PLEASE don’t litter on purpose or by accident.  Never chuck anything out the window (including cig butts), or If you have a pick ‘em up truck make sure trash doesn’t blow out of the back.  Meanwhile, if you see a Parrot Head, tell them thanks for helping to keep the entrance to the Isle looking spiffy.

Show up for our next PHirst PHriday PHlocking (looks like a Kentucky Derby theme) and you’ll catch the buzz of excitement over our upcoming biggest event of the year, namely the infamous Beach Bicycle Poker Run on May 18 with major cash prizes, bicycle decorating contests, raffles for lots of great goodies from generous local merchants and individuals, door prizes, and tons of laughter and good times at five local stops.  As always, in honor of those who have given so much for our country, all proceeds from this event are donated to the Hope for the Warriors charity.  Last year we raised $4000 and had 140 folks participating, and we expect this year to be even bigger and better.  Watch for signs around town and come on out for a fun day for a good cause and Party With A Purpose with us!

Meanwhile, don’t forget to send out a big happy birthday wish to the following Parrot Heads who are making another trip around the sun this May:   Jane “ All the Way From Morehead” Sewell, Bets Love, Lisa Miller, Leanne Reed, Jenni Douglas, Wayne Young, Jim Tuttle, Allen Ross, Emilie “Bennett’s Mom” Zucker, David Collins, H. Curtis Umphlett, Jeanne LaVana, Russell “Sailor” Adams, Jean “Vice Prez” Jensen, Sharon Alford, John Henrickson, Rich Wells, Kip “Artiste” Baker, Terry Groseclose, Bob Linder, Leslie Herrle, Ken “Hey, That’s’ Me” Stone, Deanne Sicular, Doris Speicher, Kathey Fairchild, Tom Reed, and Emily Sears.

So, tha’s all folks for this month, aside from a cerebral thought for y’all.. “Don’t miss the donut by looking through the hole.”  Live some life and we’ll see you around the Isle!   Ken

Spring has Sprung for Parrot Heads!

Spring has Sprung for Parrot Heads!

By: Ken Stone

The beginning of the warm season… YAY!  It’s gonna keep getting better and better as we ramp up for the coming season!  Parrot Heads started out the merry month of March with our PHriday PHlocking paying homage to St. Patrick with lots of PHolks a-wearin’ the green and getting happy feet to an Irish jig or two and lots of great tunes from 4Ever All.  Plenty of games, great food, and laughter as usual.  Even had a 50/50 raffle with Rowdy Rene choosing to send the winning pot on to a family in need.  Lots of sign-ups for coming events amidst the fun and plans for the huge E.I. St. Patrick’s Day Festival and the Parrot Head booth.  But first, a crew of 22 Parrot Heads woke up Saturday morning (not too early of course) to help out the NC Coastal Federation in cleaning up and trail maintenance at Hoop Pole Creek.  The best (or worst) find this year was oddly, a full set of men’s clothing; go figure??  Anyway, Parrot Heads, Federation folks, and other volunteers left the environs around the creek looking pristine and natural; a good deed.

On to the big event for the month:  The Emerald Isle St. Patrick’s Day Festival where we set up our booth on a gorgeous day complete with a 22 item Riff Raff Raffle of great goodies donated by generous Parrot Head members and local merchants, with all funds going to this year’s worthy charity, The Carteret County Domestic Violence Program.  Lots of sunshine, laughter,  and tons of people made for a fabulous day.  We were also able to pass along info on the Program and there were lots of happy raffle winners announced and contacted at the end of the day.   As usual, we had a rip roaring good time (that’s what Parrot Heads do, Party With a Purpose) while raising and donating $964 to the Domestic Violence Program.   Now $964 seemed like an odd number, so we threw in a few extra bucks to round it up to $1000; know the program can certainly put the funds to good use.  Aside from the raffle, we set up our pirate cut out for free photo ops, promoted the Parrot Head Club and some of our upcoming activities, signed up new members, gave out a bunch of green beads and bling, had Party On the Parrot flying around the booth getting photos with kids and adults alike, saw some green hair coloring come out, and joined in the general great time of the entire Festival.  The Town does an incredible job of pulling this huge and festive event together and we’re always happy to participate in it.  Next time you see some of the E.I. Town staff or Business Association folks, tell them THANKS!

As April flows on in we’ve got a busy calendar, so come on out and join us for some community spirited fun:

  •  April 5 – PHirst PHriday PHlocking with the theme of “Scavenger Skills” to get PHolks pumped for the next day’s town-wide Scavenger Hunt and tunes by Scearce & Ketner.
  • April 6 – Town-wide Scavenger Hunt starting with registration at The Emerald Club
  • April 11 – New Member Welcome & Social at Senor Dick’s Piano Bar
  • April 13 – Adopt a Highway Spring Litter Pickup

That’s April, but don’t forget to schedule May 18 for participation in our annual Beach Bicycle Poker Run to benefit Hope for the Warriors; you don’t want to miss this!  And while you’re scheduling things, you should remember to wish a big Happy Birthday to those Parrot Heads who made their debut into the world during the month of April.  They be: Phyllis Harke, Jordan Williams, Susan Johnson, Wendy Merrill, Steve Hoyle, Ty “Water Master” Cannon, Annie Hughes, Matt Teachey, Mystie Turnage, Russell Burgess, Valerie Johnson, Matt “Mr. E. Club” Morel, James “El Presidente” Hicks, Diane Hulse, Gary Schroeder, Dan Grainger, Kim Venters, Bob Messig, Debbie Blondin, and Catherine Hudson.

The season’s upon us so take a deep breath, be kind to those around you, and of course… don’t be an April Fool (or any other month for that matter)… get a designated driver if you’re having a cold one.  Life moves pretty fast; if you don’t stop to look around once in a while you could miss it.  See y’all around the Isle; peace out!   Ken

Winter Doldrums? Not Parrot Heads!

Winter Doldrums?  Not Parrot Heads!

Well we got some cold (no snow like up north though!) and things on the Isle slowed up some, but that didn’t slow down the Parrot Head crew.  Our regular PHriday PHlocking celebrated Mardi Gras with folks pouring into the Emerald Club in costume and bringing in all kinds of gumbos, beignets, and other tasty treats related to Mardi Gras (even a King Cake, Leeanna scored the baby) to party in true New Orleans style.  Our PHlocking Committee made sure there were plenty of beads and masks to go around, people came dressed to carry on, and pumped up the good times and laughter with teams of PHlockers doing their best to dress up one member in the rowdiest Mardi Gras outfit; thankfully, few pictures of this survived.   After a spirited game, Lee Summer Williams and George Brumbelow were ceremoniously crowned mini-marshmallow catching queen and king.  Our own Bobbie Raub DJ’d the event with an infusion of Zydeco music to keep everybody cranking with good tunes, and a 50/50 raffle was held with winner Carl Rauschenburg donating back his 50% of the take to the Salvation Army who was the chosen charity for the mini raffle.  Parrot Heads… generous and fun loving as can be!

Everybody is gearing up for our next big showing at our Parrot Head booth at the Emerald Isle St. Patrick’s Day Festival.  We’ll have lots of bling and decorations, info on the Club and what we do, a Riff Raff Raffle with a variety of donated items from generous local merchants and Parrot Heads, and of course all the proceeds of this will be donated to charity.  I ‘spect you’ll also see Party-On the Parrot running around, and you can get your picture taken in our giant pirate cut out.  Stop on by and join in the fun at our booth and take in a great festival with something for everyone.  The Town does an amazing job at putting this whole event together and it shouldn’t be missed.

If you can plan ahead more than a few minutes, put some Parrot Head fun events up on your calendar: 3/2- Hoop Pole Creek Cleanup with the NC Coastal Federation, 3/16- E.I. St. Patty’s Day Festival, 4/5- Adopt a Highway Spring Litter Pickup, 4/11-New Member Social at Senor Dick’s Piano Bar, 4/13- Town-wide Scavenger Hunt, and 5/18-Beach Bike Poker Run.  That’s just a start; more to come!

And hey, don’t forget to wish a super happy birthday to the following Parrot Heads born in March when you see them around town. They be… Everette “Cap’n” Grissom, Ronna Kennedy, Suzanne “Cats” Lindley, Patricia Kennedy, Joy Musser, Gene “Colorado” Harmande, Beverly Stenzel, Austin Davis, Ed Palilonis, Kim Bennett, Russ Johnston, Carolyn Fowle, Betty Strader, Lanny Thomas, April Hardee, Carol Poe, Julia Weber, Will “Coastal Salt” Ashby, Joy “Nurse” Bailey, Wade Viverette, Debra Bejcek, Kathy Pope, and Mart Passey. Have a great day and celebrate with friends, love, and laughter; y’all made it another year in style!

Speaking of celebrating… don’t forget, if you’re having a drink or 2, make sure you and your friends have a designated driver so that you and those around you stay safe and alive.  Meanwhile, get out and enjoy the great area we live in, and throw out an act of kindness whenever you can; what goes around comes around.  Around?  Yup, I’ll see you around the Isle…  Ken