Hard to believe we’re into May already with lots of good stuff under our belts and much much more to come!
A quickie recap of the year so far to bring all y’all up to speed….
We held our annual PHluff up the PHlock party where we discussed and planned activities for the upcoming year, what we did right and what we could improve on. Last year we raised over $12,000 for varying local charities so we’re feeling pretty psyched about that and what we can do this year to break the record. Our themed PHirst PHriday PHlockings at The Emerald Club have been full of fun with great music, games, 50/50 raffles for charities, happy dancing feet, general rowdiness, and lots of laughter with friends and new acquaintances. St. Patrick’s Day saw our booth at the EI Festival with giveaways, Parrot Head Club info, and a “Riff Raff Raffle of 21 great items donated by Parrot Heads and local merchants that (despite the rainy weather) enabled us to donate $630 to our chosen charity, Family Promise of Carteret County. With a Club membership hovering around 350, we try to get everyone to know each other so we held a “New Members Social” at Scallywags in Cedar Point to get to know our newest members better with 50 PHolks attending, introducing, chatting, dancing, grazing on tasty hors d’oeuvres, and playing at coconut bowling. Community is important to Parrot Heads, and we spent some time giving back while having a great time with a cleanup of Hoop Pole Creek in Atlantic Beach in cooperation with the NC Coastal Federation, and of course our quarterly Adopt a Highway pickup on Rte. 58 leading over the bridge to the Isle. We sponsored a hole for the Gateway Western Carteret Community Alliance golf tournament, volunteered at the EI Marathon, ½ Marathon and 5K races, and also helped with the EI Bike & Pedestrian “Bike the Banks” event benefitting the Emerald Path.
Not tired yet, we’re moving on to our biggest (and probably the most fun) event of the year… the world renowned BEACH BICYCLE POKER RUN on May 16! This is a full afternoon of adult fun for a $20 charitable registration fee starting at 12:30 and kicks off with bike decorating contests and prizes in 3 categories: “Surfin’ in a Hurricane”, “Beach House on the Moon”, and “The Natives are Restless”. We’ll have event T shirts for sale and we’ll also have a gigantic charity raffle full of fabulous items donated by generous local merchants, Parrot Heads, and other folks. The “strenuous ride” starts at 2:00 with costumed crazies riding in different directions to 6 stops on the Isle to pick up a poker card to try to make the best poker hand of 5 cards, with the goal of winning cash prizes of $300, $200, and $100 for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd. Returning to the Emerald Club by 5:00, there is music by Nekked Knees, food, raffle drawings, and plain old fun with a great group of people. The best part of this “party with a purpose” is that all of the proceeds will be donated to this year’s chosen charity, Semper Fi Odyssey Kids Camp. Last year 217 people participated and we raised $6500 that was donated to this charitable organization to send children of wounded warriors to adventure camp for a week and provide mentoring throughout the school year. A great way to give back to the families who have given so much for our country, so come on out and enjoy the fun while donating to a really worthwhile charity. This year should be bigger and better so come on out!
There’s lots and lots of other good stuff being planned for the year with monthly PHlockings, PHlash PHlockings at local businesses, our Annual Pelican Island Sandbar Party, The Coast is Clear Under the Pier Beach Party, more fun charitable fundraising events, and community and environmental activities. So… check out the Parrot Heads at our website, emeraldisleparrotheads.com, visit us on Facebook, and join in the fun while doing good things for our communities. And while you’re out and about in town, don’t forget to wish a happy birthday to Parrot Heads who took another trip around the sun in May, growing older but not up… ________________________________________________________________________
Take care of yourselves and others around you, don’t forget random acts of kindness, and if you’re having a cold one or two, make sure you and those around you have a designated driver. See you around town! Ken