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Tuesday, March 19, 2024

As volunteers clean, dawdling Masonboro Island partiers plead for boat rides

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It was after 6 p.m. on the Fourth of July and the sun was falling over Masonboro Island. By now, most of the handful of remaining revelers here for the holiday celebrations are staring warily out into the Masonboro Channel, waiting for an uncertain rescue.

Up to 4,000 people made their way to Masonboro Island on July 4, New Hanover County officials report, as most came with a plan to get on and off the island. But not all did and in the winding hours of the day-long party, some were starting to get worried about their fate.

One young man asks the crew from Masonboro.org for a ride back to the mainland. They are there to help ferry trash back from the party, not to deliver rides, and the young man continues down the beach, still seeking transportation. His friends are arguing and there’s tension in the air. A few minutes later, a boat pulls along the shore, asking if anyone needs a ride, and the trio is saved by the good graces of a stranger.

The haphazard migration off the island is always one of the more interesting wonders of the celebration, said Masonboro.org President Richard Johnson, who’s witnessed the exodus during the seven years that the organization has helped maintain trash disposal on the island for Independence Day celebrations.

“I don’t know how they do it, but they do it,” he said.

Juliette Cooke of Greenville got a free ride over from Wrightsville Beach from “some guy wearing a green beret” who picked them up from a location near the town’s south end water tower. Her cousin, a local, helped organize the crew of friends and ultimately found the group a ride back.

“I have no idea how we’re getting back and that was kind of a risk,” she said.

Also without a ride back was Hunter Hicks, who got a ride from a friend with a boat, but didn’t have his return plan set.

“Everyone here is so friendly, you always have a ride home,” he said.

Volunteers from Masonboro.org after helping remove the trash following the July 4, 2016 celebrations there. Staff photo by Terry Lane.
Volunteers from Masonboro.org after helping remove the trash following the July 4, 2016 celebrations there. Staff photo by Terry Lane.

Boaters with captain licenses will sell round trips for between $20 and $30. And several of them make sure that everyone is off the island, paying customer or not. Jeff Wolfe used his 22-foot BayRider to taxi round-trip customers over, but as the sunset, he was there to take anyone off the island who was in need of transportation. The only caveat: the destination was Trails End Park.

“I don’t want to leave anyone over here,” he said.

While often asked, the more than 20 volunteers with Masonboro.org were too busy collecting trash left by the party to offer rides, as every boat out was filled with black bags of trash, broken canopies, leftover coolers, old blankets and worn-out floats. One volunteer found a bag with a wallet and cellphone, which included contact information that will be used to contact the owner. Another set aside a near-new cooler, for their own use or possibly donation.

It’s all part of the 5,000 pounds of trash the organization was expected to collect. The group wasn’t alone, as often partiers would pitch in a hand when they saw the red-shirted volunteers at work.

“I get satisfaction from doing for others and they’re good people,” said volunteer Allyson Cox of the young crowd at the party. “They’re having a good time and most want to help as best as they can.”

The volunteers of Masonbor.org provides the free labor to help keep open access to the island. Most of the volunteers enjoy the island on days much less hectic and don’t want to lose that access because of the Fourth of July festivities. And as the group becomes more entrenched, Johnson said the participants are being better about helping.

“It’s why I give up the most important day of the year,” Johnson said. “We provide the structure. A lot of them pull their own trash now.”

The community inherent in the group of volunteers is what draws people back. Cox has done it for all seven years. So has Michael Tjoa, who made an 11-hour drive down from his New York City home to volunteer.

“I love the island. It’s a big change of scenery for me,” said Tjoa, who has also notice the change in  attitude among the revelers. “At first, people were just leaving their trash, but now they’re being more responsible.”

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