The Unique “Keepers of Community” of Pamlico County: Holding the Community Together

Hello and welcome to "Down in the County," a weekly newsletter celebrating the people of Pamlico County, North Carolina--"where the land and the sea meet the sky."

The September issue of National Geographic magazine will feature my article about people in the United States who hold their communities together (you can see it online here.) I call them “keepers of community.”

Every community, especially communities in need, have these unique individuals who give their time, resources and energy to keep their town, neighborhood or county alive. Pamlico County has many.



In today’s newsletter, I am highlighting a few of the keepers of community I have met in the county.



The Pamlico keepers of community include the “lunch ladies” (the women who make the meals for the Pamlico students) and bus drivers at the Pamlico County public schools. During the pandemic, these giving individuals prepared lunches and delivered them to households in the county, which kept many children fed when the classrooms were closed to in-person learning. These workers were not required to come in to work during this time, but they volunteered to do so.



Billy Flockhart, owner of the local Piggly Wiggly grocery store in Oriental (he also owned the Piggly Wiggly in Grantsboro until he was forced to close it this past year), is another keeper of community. During the pandemic, Billy worked around the clock to keep the shelves stocked in the county. He greeted truck drivers delivering the goods and made sure that the extensive list of “not available” items didn’t overwhelm this small community. He also started, and continued, curbside pickup or home delivery of his goods.



Third, there are the Fishes n' Loaves volunteers. Every week, and especially during the pandemic, these women and men volunteered their time to find, sort, package and hand out food to the long line of families looking for help to provide for the dinner table.



Teresa Badger is also a well-known keeper of community; she sadly passed away last month. Not only did she receive the 2020 Volunteer of the Year Award from the Pamlico County Chamber of Commerce, she was the glue that held the county together. She connected people, delegated tasks, introduced people to the individuals they needed to know and got things done, especially at the Holt’s Chapel Community Center. She was a friend to everyone, possessed a unique heart, and, through her absence, has left a huge hole in the county. She was the truest definition of a keeper of community (you can read more about her work in a past issue of this newsletter about the Community Center).


If a keeper of community comes to your mind, please email, tell us about them: [email protected]

If you have ideas for future bulletins, please email me: [email protected]

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