North Carolina Shell Club is heading to Ocracoke Island on March 21-22 for annual Spring Meeting

The North Carolina Shell Club is heading to Ocracoke Island on March 21-22 for their annual Spring Meeting, and the public is welcome to come by the Ocracoke Community Center during the two-day event to check out the club’s activities and auctions.

“Guests are welcome to North Carolina Shell Club meetings,” said John Timmerman of the N.C. Shell Club in an email to the Island Free Press. “The group is friendly and welcoming of all who are interested in shells.”

Meetings take place at the Ocracoke Community Center, and registration for both Friday and Saturday events begin at 6:30 p.m., while the meetings begin at 7:00 p.m.

“For the Friday meeting, we have a feature presentation by a club member who recently returned from a shell collecting tour in Australia. We also have a silent auction, and will conduct club business during that meeting,” said Timmerman.

“At the Saturday meeting, we are featuring an oral auction of select shells from the Everett Long collection.”

Everett Long, of Cedar Point, N.C., passed away in April 2022, and was the president of the North Carolina Shell Club and the vice-president of the Conchologists of America. The catalog for the auction can be found on the North Carolina Shell Club’s website at www.ncshellclub.com

On Saturday, weather permitting, the club will also visit Portsmouth Island for a day of shell collecting. A count of the number of people participating in the trip will be made at the Friday evening meeting, and there will also breaks between featured presentations on both nights for socializing with club members and guests.

For more information on the Ocracoke Spring Meeting and the North Carolina Shell Club, visit the N.C. Shell Club’s website.