Rain doesn't dampen Croaker Festival

ORIENTAL - Brown paper fish hats, heavy rain and guitar music marked the second day of the annual Croaker Festival on Saturday.

Several thousand people sat in the shade of trees for several miles along Broad Street as the day began with the Croaker Parade. Some walked beagles, dachshunds, Labrador retrievers and pugs on the sidewalks.

The croaker band played "Yankee Doodle Dandy" on the back of a trailer, and the sounds of Florence/Whortonsville fire truck sirens filled the air. State House Rep. Alice Underhill rode in the back of a pickup and shaded herself with an American flag umbrella.

Two men rode in a bulldozer that was covered to look like a dragon. The men shifted the backhoe to move the dragon's head from side to side. Danny Alverde, who is 36, shook his head at the dragon and smiled. He said he sailed in from Virginia Beach to attend his third Croaker Festival.

"It's a premier coastal event in the east," Alverde said. "People know it up and down. The thing is, you can have nothing here you want to do, and you've still got the water."

Karie Hudgins, the 2008 Croaker Queen, waved at the crowd as the parade turned onto Hodges Street and rolled closer to the water. Others filled small yachts that rolled by on trailers.

Vendors set up booths along South Avenue. Sandy Frayton, who is staying in Oriental for the summer, wore a paper Croaker hat on her head. She shopped for wooden wind chimes and fish carvings made by William Lindley of Currie.

Connie Mason stood near the River Neuse Suites, played guitar and sang about clam chowder and oysters. Judy Robinson of Minnesott Beach danced to songs and waved at people during the parade and between the booths.

"I don't do anything without having fun," Robinson said. "And this is a tradition."

The Croaker Festival has a tradition of helping people and organizations in Pamlico County, director Candy Bohmert said. She said the turnout was good this year, especially Friday for the queen pageant and street dances.

"With the festival, we provide a place for nonprofits to come and raise money," Bohmert said. "For some of them, this is their major fund-raising event for the year."

Linda Thomas, a school board member in Craven County, said she and her family have not missed a festival since the first one in 1980. She said the Thomases had a shady spot under a tree, a picnic and afternoon plans to head to a house on the river in the Florence community.

 At 11:30 a.m., dark clouds rolled through the west side of Oriental and people talked about finding shelter when it started to rain and thunder. A bluegrass band kept playing through the rain as people ran toward tents, buildings and home.

Many stayed in the rain. A group of boys made Mohawks in their wet hair. A group of girls sat under tables near Freemason Street and South Avenue. Jack Davis, who is 7, danced in the rain while he ate a cup of homemade chocolate ice cream. Danny Alverde ate a hot dog under an abandoned vendor tent.

"Like I said, if we have nothing else at this festival, we've still got the water," Alverde said. "There's just a little extra today."