Quotes

"I have actually been Chief of Police in this town 5 times. The longest stint was 6 months. Every time a policeman quit, or they fired one, they'd put the badge on me and swear me in until they could hire another one. I never had to personally handle a serious crime. If I had I would have called the sheriff's department in and let qualified people do it. I made a few arrests; most were drinking problems."
(Dub Heglar)

"I always fished, but my main fishing was I used to gig. I'd catch somewhere around 100-150 pounds gigging for flounder. We'd all go to the bay in an old truck, pull up where there was a big sort of a pond where the inlet had closed. We'd stop there. All the men would go fishing and the girls would sit around and talk until we got back. And when we got back, we took the fish ... spots, mullets, flounder, whatever we caught, and we cleaned them and ate them. I sold fish to a guy at the fish market at Carolina Beach."
(Jack Lewis)

"In the late 40's and early 50's during the winter there was nobody here. They would block off the down town section on K. No one could take a car in. And that area was one reserved for street dances and for children with roller skates and was perfectly safe. There were always adults around. We would all hold hands and they'd play something called Crack the Whip."
(Brenda Coffey)

"We had a little place down on the rocks near the ferry where my dad ran fishing parties. He didn't have a motor. He rowed them out of Corncake Inlet all the way out to High Rock in the ocean, and he would troll these people across high rock with his oars. Usually when you went out High Rock you were fishing for mackerel. In the 30's, I was about 5 the first time I went fishing with my mother, daddy, sister and brother. Daddy never got to fish, he was so busy taking them off and baiting hooks."
(Isabel Foushee)

"All the kids would go to the little dance hall beside Smitty's. There was a jukebox all during the summer. It was free. We could buy cokes but no alcohol. We were just there to talk and laugh and dance. There were no tables and chairs. Usually when the girls went there, a father was somewhere close by and other adults sitting and talking somewhere keeping an eye on what was happening. It would start about 6 o'clock and go until 10 or 10:30."
(Brenda Coffey)

"Teenagers used mother's ironing board for a surf board. It was just a board to fit mother's table or between 2 chairs; or they got hold of a wide board and cut it out bow shaped. No strings attached."
(Jack Lewis)

"In the face of erosion, building shortages and high costs, Kure Beach Boosters are planning a big season for the summer months of 1947. And why not? They have the Atlantic Ocean to offer, a warm sun, fresh breezes, millions of fish and, most of all, a friendly smile and large quantities of the famous Southern hospitality."
(Star News 4/20/1947)