When the North Carolina Coastal Federation announces its Pelican Award winners later this week, the Town of Wrightsville Beach will be among individuals, businesses, nonprofit groups, local and state governments, and educators recognized.
Mayor Bill Blair received word from NCCF executive director Todd Miller in a June 26 letter.
Miller cites the town’s role in supporting the establishment of the federation’s new southeast office and Fred and Alice Stanback Coastal Education Center.
“The Town of Wrightsville Beach staff, this board and the former board invested a lot of effort to see the house moved,” Blair said during a July 30 phone interview. “It was a big event at the beach. The rehabilitation of the Palmgren-O’Quinn house was a significant undertaking. The final product is outstanding. The coastal federation is an anchor partner in the historic square area. We look forward to supporting the North Carolina Coastal Federation endeavors that concern Wrightsville Beach and ongoing coastal education.”
Nominations for the annual Pelican Awards come from the federation’s regional staff members.
Tracy Skrabal, senior coastal scientist and southeastern regional office manager, said during a July 21 phone interview, “We had the town staff on speed dial every day in 2013 with this house move. We were on a pretty fast timeframe. If the town had not gone above and beyond the call of duty, there were a lot of roadblocks that could have set us back a lot. Everybody — town manager, town attorney, Tony [Wilson] — lots of people went out on a limb to help us through some stuff, historic commission, historic preservation group. … I was talking with somebody from the town almost every day.”
The Pelican Award presentation will occur during the NCCF’s annual meeting, Saturday, Aug. 2 at the N.C. Aquarium at Pine Knoll Shores.
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