From Caterpillar to Butterfly at the Cupola House
Back To School in Chowan County
No wonder Edenton is known for being so friendly...
An Edenton Hello Makes All the Difference
Most Saturdays in Edenton, you will find visitors shopping downtown and exploring our historic sites. They may come from neighboring Eastern North Carolina communities or from much farther away. As they walk along South Broad Street, they browse shop windows, enjoy lunch at one of our local restaurants and inevitably meet some of Edenton’s most cherished characters. Take Daniel for instance, strumming his guitar, rain or shine, usually near Surf, Wind and Fire.
On Saturday, Daniel was deep in conversation with a couple standing beside two hybrid electric bikes packed with sleeping gear. Dressed in serious biking clothes, they clearly weren’t out for a leisurely ride around town. I had to stop and say hello.
David and Marie Keohan had been on the road for 15 days since leaving their home in Alabama. Their goal is to bike all the way to Boston, their hometown before moving to Alabama four years ago. David served in the military, and making this trip together has long been on their bucket list.
Daniel, as many of us know, is outgoing and enjoys talking with just about everyone who stops to say hello. The Keohan’s were equally engaging, and as the couple prepared to head toward the waterfront, Daniel had an idea.
“Wow, you have come a long way,” he told them. “Are you collecting stickers from each place you stop? Would you like an Edenton sticker? I would be happy to purchase one for you from Surf, Wind and Fire so you can remember your time in Edenton.”
The couple was touched by Daniel’s offer and promised they would stop back on their way from the waterfront.
And they did.
Waiting for them was Daniel, with an Edenton sticker for the bike and a delicate bracelet for Marie to remember their visit.
In a world where everything seems to move so quickly, and so many of our conversations now take place online or over the phone, it is wonderful to witness a simple act of kindness and hospitality toward people we do not know.
That is something Edenton is known for, and something that happens here every day.
Of all the stops David and Marie will make on their long journey to Boston, I have a feeling their encounter with Daniel will be one they remember — and a story they will tell long after the trip is over.
Daniel was never asked to be an Edenton greeter. He wasn't assigned the job, and no one pays him to do it. He is simply part of the wonderful fabric of life that makes Edenton, Edenton.
The next time you walk by and hear Daniel playing one of his favorite songs, stop for a moment and say hello. Remember that this young man makes a difference in our town simply by being himself. He does it without being asked and without expecting anything in return.
He does it from the heart.
And I am so happy and proud to live in a beautiful town made up of people like Daniel.
P.S. Marie has my email address and has already reached out to tell me how much the encounter meant to them. She has promised to keep me updated as she and David continue their journey north.
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Weekend Event at the Cupola House
Edenton Counts Its Pollinators
Under semi-cloudy skies Saturday morning, local residents gathered in the Cupola House Gardens to take part in the Great Southeast Pollinator Census, joining thousands of citizen scientists across the Southeast in counting the insects that help keep our gardens and environment healthy.
Master Gardeners from Chowan and Perquimans counties coordinated the Edenton event and assisted participants as they selected flowering plants, observed them for 15 minutes and recorded the bees, butterflies, moths, flies, wasps and other insects that stopped by.
The annual census provides researchers with valuable information about pollinator populations and the plants and habitats that support them.
For younger participants, the morning included some hands-on fun. Children created colorful bees to take home for their gardens while learning about the important role pollinators play in nature.
Evan and Harper Williams, joined by their mom, Jill, learned how to make their own garden bees as part of the morning's activities.
Held in the historic Cupola House Gardens, the event offered a simple reminder that sometimes contributing to science is as easy as finding a flower, watching closely and taking the time to count what comes buzzing by.
Great morning at the cupola house counting
Make Sure to stop by to watch the progress of nature...
From Caterpillar to Butterfly at the Cupola House Nursery
There is a small miracle of nature taking place in the gardens of the Cupola House.
Each year, special nursery boxes are set up in the gardens to provide a safe place for caterpillars as they make one of nature’s most remarkable transformations—becoming butterflies. Caretaking this annual project are Jonny and Barbara Springfield, who diligently watch over the nursery boxes and their tiny residents as the transformation unfolds.
The butterfly life cycle begins when an adult butterfly lays its eggs on a host plant. From those eggs emerge larvae, better known as caterpillars, whose primary job is to eat and grow. When the caterpillar reaches the proper stage, it forms a chrysalis, or pupa. Inside, an extraordinary biological process called metamorphosis takes place as the caterpillar’s body is reorganized and develops into an adult butterfly. When the transformation is complete, the butterfly emerges, allows its wings to expand and dry, and eventually takes flight.
Providing a protected environment during these vulnerable stages can help shield caterpillars and chrysalises from predators and other dangers.
Butterflies are more than beautiful visitors to the garden. As they travel from flower to flower feeding on nectar, they can help with pollination, while both caterpillars and butterflies are important parts of the food web. Their presence can also be an indicator of a healthy habitat with the plants and resources needed to support wildlife.
Thanks to the watchful eyes of Jonny and Barbara, visitors to the Cupola House gardens have an opportunity to see nature at work—from a tiny caterpillar tucked safely inside its nursery to the moment a beautiful butterfly is ready to spread its wings. And perhaps the most magical moment comes at the end, when local children can gather in the gardens to watch the newly emerged butterflies be released and take their first flights into the Cupola House gardens. We will keep everyone informed as this transformation takes place to release the butterflies from the nurseries.
Help Make a Difference JOIN 'RAINES' ARMY'
Some legacies are measured not by how long someone was here, but by the lives they continue to touch.
Raines was a very happy, adventurous and incredibly intelligent child. He died two months and two days shy of his second birthday, and much of his life was spent at the hospital.
He loved Edenton, the beach, the Durham Ronald McDonald House and Duke Gardens. His best friend was his sister, Reid. His favorite songs were “If You’re Happy and You Know It” and “The Wheels on the Bus.” When he grew up, he wanted to be a mail truck.
Near the end of his life, every morning he would walk outside and say, “It’s a beautiful day.”
Raines also changed the children’s hospital at Duke. He enjoyed drawing pictures for other patients and delivering them like mail. Now, on the stem cell transplant floor, all rooms have a “mailbox,” and there is one at the clinic as well, so patients can keep in touch with each other.
Raines changed the world even though his life was remarkably short. One of the most profound lessons Raines taught me was to practice gratitude religiously and to appreciate all the little blessings of everyday life.
He was also tough as nails. He endured shots in his eyes, countless chemotherapy drugs, more than 60 surgeries and a stem cell transplant. In his final act of love for life and mankind, he donated his brain, eyes, spine, spinal fluid, blood and a skin tissue sample that are now available to researchers around the world.
Raines was born with a spontaneous genetic mutation commonly called RB1. It caused him to have bilateral retinoblastoma, which is essentially cancer in the globes of both eyes.
About 300 to 350 cases of retinoblastoma are diagnosed each year in the United States. Retinoblastoma accounts for approximately 3% of childhood cancer cases. There is a 96% survival rate for retinoblastoma patients to the age of 15, and nine out of 10 patients are cured.
Unfortunately, because the treatments involve chemotherapy, these patients often develop secondary cancers later in life, and their life spans can be shorter than normal. For many patients, it also affects their vision. Raines was blind in his right eye.
Raines’ retinoblastoma, however, was very unique because it metastasized to his spinal fluid and caused cancerous tumors throughout his brain and spinal cord. This was incredibly rare, and I believe there are fewer than 100 recorded cases of this happening in human history.
The median life span once retinoblastoma metastasizes like this is about six months. Raines made it 10 months.
At the end, however, there was not even a clinical trial for which he qualified, so we completely exhausted all treatment options. What we found in our journey with Raines was that simply having options provided hope. When we exhausted those options, it was devastating.
His priceless donation is of little value without the funds to actually engage in the research, which is why we started Raines’ Army—to raise funds for brain, eye and spinal cancer research.
Help Continue Raines’ Legacy
On September 19, we invite you to join us for the 2nd Annual Raines’ Army Fundraiser in honor of our sweet Raines.
Pediatric brain cancer changes the lives of far too many children and families. We can’t change Raines’ story, but together, we can help change someone else’s.
Every ticket purchased is more than admission to an event—it is a promise to keep fighting, to keep remembering and to keep believing that one day no family will have to endure the heartbreak of pediatric brain cancer.
Please come, bring your family and friends, and help us fill the room with love, hope and purpose. Your support means more than words can express.
Buy your tickets today and help us continue Raines’ legacy of making a difference.
Because every child deserves a future, and every act of kindness brings us one step closer.
https://givebutter.com/.../raines-army-inc-first-annual...
Annual lighthouse day brings visitors to edenton
THE END OF OAK STREET ... one of the more entertaining offerings of the summer
By Darryl Adachi
Those moviegoers who saw the first installment of the Jurassic Park franchise in 1993 may remember what Jeff Goldblum said when he first came upon a massive pile of triceratops droppings: “That is one big pile of #&%@.” One might immediately have the same preconception of The End of Oak Street without even bothering to see it—and that would be unfortunate. The film surprisingly turns out to be one of the more entertaining offerings of the summer. When the collective audience reaction to various scenes consists of gasps, laughs, and applause, you have to concede that, for some at least, this is a movie worth seeing.
The Odyssey demanded that we settle into a classical account of the trials and tribulations of a man who spends 10 years struggling to return home. In Spider-Man: Brand New Day, we are expected to experience Peter Parker’s existential crisis as he wrestles with his purpose in life. With The End of Oak Street, however, all we are asked to do is grab some popcorn and a Coke, sit back, and be entertained for 90 minutes. And you can tell when people have been entertained: they leave the theater chatting and laughing about some of the movie’s sequences.
Granted, some Hollywood creative director may have put his career at risk by suggesting that the studio produce a film about an entire 1980s Midwestern neighborhood being transported 200 million years into the past by a cosmic event, leaving one family desperately trying to avoid becoming dinner for dinos. Warner Bros is having a tough year, and perhaps that helped encourage the studio to greenlight what could easily be dismissed as an absurd premise.
But in a cinematic world where we are repeatedly asked to suspend our disbelief—think about virtually any film in the Marvel, Mission: Impossible, or Fast & Furious franchises—a movie like The End of Oak Street can make perfect sense. Wormholes transporting people from one millennium to another? Key characters continually, and literally, escaping death by the skin of a T-Rex’s teeth? It all works if what you are looking for is an opportunity to escape the “real” world, however you may define it.
The film also carries a distinctly Spielbergian spirit. Spielberg was always able to get remarkable performances from children in crisis while emphasizing the importance of the love that binds a family together, even in the worst of circumstances.
The plot is simple. A neighborhood gets swallowed up and transported back to prehistoric times. Mom and Dad are dealing with marital problems, and the kids are fully aware of them. The family is then forced to summon its courage and work together to survive the threat of horrifying man-eating creatures. In the end, they find a way to escape and emerge as a stronger family as a result.
We have seen variations of this story told in countless formats before, but what carries The End of Oak Street throughout is its clean, polished, solid blockbuster feel. The creature effects may rely heavily on CGI, but they also give us scientifically accurate dinosaurs, complete with proto-feathers rather than the traditional scaly-reptile design.
It will be interesting to see how the movie fares at the box office. It has opened against two of the biggest films of the summer, both of which are still going strong and generating impressive ticket sales. The Odyssey and Brand New Day will inevitably draw potential audiences away from Oak Street, so it remains to be seen whether word of mouth can carry the film through its second and third weeks.
I hope it does. The End of Oak Street does a surprisingly good job of adding something different to the summer movie slate—an offering that is, at times, both thrilling and genuinely engaging. And sometimes, that is all a summer movie needs to be.
Weather -Aug.21- Aug. 27
Historic Edenton, North Carolina
7-Day Weather Outlook — August 21–27, 2026
Friday, August 21
⛈️ Cloudy and humid with thunderstorms
High: 89°F • Low: 76°F
Heavy thunderstorms are possible, with locally heavy rainfall and gusty winds. This is one of the days to keep a close eye on changing conditions.
Saturday, August 22
⛈️ Cloudy, humid with heavy thunderstorms
High: 85°F • Low: 74°F
Another unsettled day. Periods of rain and thunderstorms could produce locally heavy downpours.
Sunday, August 23
🌦️ Cloudy and humid; scattered thunderstorm
High: 90°F • Low: 70°F
Warm and muggy with a thunderstorm possible, but there should also be breaks in the wet weather.
Monday, August 24
🌤️⛈️ Partly sunny; afternoon storm possible
High: 88°F • Low: 68°F
A somewhat better day with periods of sunshine, although an isolated afternoon thunderstorm remains possible.
Tuesday, August 25
🌤️ Partly sunny and humid
High: 84°F • Low: 69°F
Currently looking like the week's nicest day, with lower temperatures and considerably less storm activity.
Wednesday, August 26
🌦️ Morning thunderstorms, then some sunshine
High: 85°F • Low: 70°F
A couple of thunderstorms are possible early before conditions improve somewhat later in the day.
Thursday, August 27
⛈️ Mostly cloudy with strong afternoon storms possible
High: 83°F • Low: 71°F
Showers may develop during the morning, followed by a greater risk of thunderstorms during the afternoon. Some storms could become strong.
Edenton, Chowan County
Cloudy and humid with a heavy thunderstorm; thunderstorms can bring flash flooding and localized damaging wind gusts
🌟 Weekly Outlook Summary
A changeable late-August weather pattern settles over Edenton this week. Friday and Saturday appear to be the wettest days, with periods of thunderstorms and locally heavy rainfall possible.
Conditions improve somewhat Sunday into Monday, although isolated storms remain possible. Tuesday currently stands out as the best outdoor day, with partly sunny skies and a high only in the mid-80s.
The unsettled pattern returns Wednesday and especially Thursday. Thursday bears watching as the current forecast indicates the possibility of strong afternoon thunderstorms.
One welcome change is the temperature. Unlike the oppressive heat we've experienced recently, most afternoon highs this week should remain in the middle to upper 80s, with overnight temperatures dropping into the upper 60s and lower 70s by early next week.
🧭 Weekly Weather Headlines
- ⛈️ Heavy thunderstorms possible Friday
- 🌧️ Wet and stormy Saturday
- 🌤️ Improving Sunday into Monday
- ☀️ Tuesday looks like the week's best day
- 🌡️ Noticeably less extreme heat
- ⛈️ Strong storms possible again Thursday
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