THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, June 1, 1995 TAG: 9506010411
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY JENNIFER CHRISTMAN, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NAGS HEAD LENGTH: Medium: 70 lines
Some trudged and some ran up the steep golden slopes of the East Coast's tallest sand dune Wednesday in celebration of the 20th anniversary of Jockey's Ridge State Park.
At 3 p.m. Wednesday, Park Superintendent George Barnes estimated about 3,000 people already had turned out for the first day of the Jockey's Ridge Jamboree II - a five-day festival that began Wednesday.
``Everybody seems to be enjoying themselves and having a good time,'' Barnes said as hang-gliders leapt off the front face of the 110-foot dune and children rolled down the sandy ridge.
Wednesday's events featured kite flying, hang-gliding and kayak demonstrations - in addition to a free nature hike. During the late afternoon, children with marker-stained hands from kite-decorating dug their fingers in the sand to create sand sculptures. People all seemed to be reveling in the giant sand box that stretches almost a mile down U.S. Route 158.
But if it weren't for the work of local residents, the moving dune might have been leveled two decades ago.
In August 1973, developers arrived on the then-privately owned ridge with bulldozers. They began flattening the dune to build vacation homes. One woman kept Jockey's Ridge from becoming Jockey's Cottages.
Carolista Baum, a Nags Head jeweler, threw herself in front of a bulldozer and refused to move. Within weeks, she collected about 25,000 signatures and organized ``People to Preserve Jockey's Ridge.'' The road that now leads into the state park was named in her honor: Carolista Drive.
Responding to the strong public outcry, the North Carolina General Assembly appropriated funds for land acquisition at the dune. That money was matched by the U.S. States Bureau of Outdoor Recreation.
Jockey's Ridge became an official state park on May 31, 1975 - the day of the first Jockey's Ridge Jamboree.
Although the park's history is now widely known, Barnes said the actual formation of Jockey's Ridge is still somewhat of a mystery.
``No one really knows for sure how it got here,'' he said. ``Some think about 5,000 to 10,000 years ago, this was all underwater and the water receded and left sand deposits along the Outer Banks.''
Another mystery is how Jockey's Ridge earned its name. According to legend, back when wild horses ran free in the area, people would capture them and race them around the dune's base each year. The public watched from the towering sand pile.
Today, thousands of visitors continue to flock to the soundside state park each summer - to hang-glide, fly kites or just climb the towering ridge.
``Most people who are first-time visitors have never seen anything like it,'' Barnes said. ``In my opinion, it's still the prettiest place on the Outer Banks.''
Janice Kaler, a 34-year-old visitor from Wilmington, Del., just shook her head as she stood surrounded by 414 acres of state-owned sand.
``It's simply breathtaking,'' Kaler said. ILLUSTRATION: Outer Banks sandbox blast kicks off
DREW C. WILSON
Staff
Visitors to Jockey's Ridge State Park are given a tour of the park
on Wednesday as a hang-glider sits on the dune's peak during the
first day of Jamboree II.
JOCKEY'S RIDGE JAMBOREE II
[For a copy of the schedule of events, see microfilm for this
date.]
by CNB