Pantego Museum

04/11/2026

A picture perfect day for our Easter Saturday Shrimp Dinner. Keyzer Catering served delicious plates followed by Chester Smith's homemade peach ice cream. We thank you all for coming.
We especially thank all who have donated to enable us to repair and paint this grand old lady. She is one of a kind and our members and donors have truly blessed us with the resources to be able to keep her "healthy". May God bless you all.

03/27/2026

03/25/2026

Pantego Academy Historical Museum Association, Inc.
46 Academy Street, Pantego, North Carolina
Membership Minutes, Newsletter
Face Book – Pantego Museum
March 16, 2026

To contact a member: 252-943-2034 or 252-935-5080

Our Vice President, Chester Smith called the meeting to order due to absence of the president. He also had prayer and led us in the pledge to our flag.

Members present: Martha Baynor, Russell Tyson, Janice Tyson, Debbie Donnelly, Phrocene Allen, Chester Smith Durwood Respass, Sylvia Wallace, Wanda Ruark and Mark Woolard.

Wanda read minutes of last meeting. Phrocene made motion to accept. Durwood seconded. All were in favor. Martha gave treasurer’s report. This was approved.

Old business was report on the flag pole light. Mark is taking care of this with the help of one of his friends. More on this as project is completed.

Good news as far as some old business is concerned. This building has been repaired and preserved and looks like new except for the east side. Our contractor has done a good job of working with us to do this as our money allowed us to do. We would not have been able to do this without those of you who support us in giving your donations and attending our fund raisers.

Speaking of fund raisers – Saturday, April 4 th from 11 to 1, or sold out, is our “Spring fund raiser.” We will have shrimp plates again as everyone seemed pleased with them at our fall fund raiser. The plates are $15.00. Keyzer Catering will be cooking on site like he has done in the past. You may eat in or take out. We will be offering a service this year we haven’t done before. If you need assistance, someone will be able to take your order and take your plates to you. We know it can be difficult to find parking, get out, place order etc. We hope this service will be of help if you need it. This does not mean that we don’t want you to come “sit a spell” and visit with your friends or neighbors if you want to. Chester plans to make his delicious “homemade” ice cream. He wasn’t able to attend last year and his “special” ice cream was missed.

Sylvia and Martha have been doing a good job of cleaning our meeting area and we thank them for it. There are a lot of things that need dusting and “straightening up”. Can you imagine trying to keep all the exhibits on display “dust free”. We had some discussion on having a cleaning service come in and
clean from “top to bottom”. Durwood made motion to have this done. Phrocene seconded. All were in favor. Martha is to check on this.

The family of the late Virginia Dare Respess Hollowell has donated the genealogy information she had compiled through the years on her families. This information is on shelves for anyone interested in genealogy, you can use it for research. Ms. Virginia and her husband, Frank, we active members of the Museum for many
years. We thank her family for sharing her research with the museum.

Martha made motion to adjourn. Mark seconded. All were in favor.
Phrocene treated us with a new dessert today. As she said, “I’ve never made this one before, I don’t know how it’s going to taste.” (side note) she has never made any thing that wasn’t delicious!) This was cake with the best lemon filling and the best icing. I don’t know if she told us the name of it. We were to busy “trying it
out”, and it was so good. We will want her to fix it again. Many thanks to her for treating us each month.

REMINDER: Shrimp plates, Saturday, April 4 th , 11 to 1 or until sold out. Please come join us.

Dianne Bowen, President
Chester Smith, Vice President
Wanda Ruark, Secretary
Martha Baynor, Treasurer

03/05/2026

USS North Carolina tear jerker

03/03/2026

Pantego Academy Historical Museum Association, Inc.
46 Academy Street, Pantego, North Carolina
Membership Minutes, Newsletter
Face Book – Pantego Museum
February 16, 2026

To contact a member: 252-943-2034 or 252-935-5080

Dianne Bowen, our President, called the meeting to order asking Chester Smith to have prayer and lead is in the pledge to our flag.
Those in attendance are: Phrocene Allen, Durwood Respess, Sylvia Wallace, Chester Smith, Martha Baynor, Debbie Donnelly, Janice Tyson and Russell Tyson.

Dianne read the January minutes/newsletter in the absence of our secretary. They were approved as read. Martha read the treasurer’s report and the profit and loss statement. And they were approved.

Old business was our work on the building. Our contractor was contacted and he assured us the he would begin work just as soon as the weather got so he could start.

Martha brought up that ten of our January minutes had been returned, unable to deliver. She stated that they were mailed just as we have been mailing them for years. She took them back to the post office and they could not explain why they were returned. The postmistress said she could remove the yellow strip and mark
out the bar codes on front and back and see if they would be delivered this time. She could not understand either why they had come back. So we hope that you will get them soon.

We will discuss the light for the flag at our next meeting since Mark was unable to attend today.

New business: We discussed our spring fundraiser. It was decided that we would have shrimp like we did in the Fall. It went so much better than fish. It is scheduled for the Saturday before Easter, which will be April 4 th , from 11 to 1 or until sold out. We will try our best to do better not to sell out. But come early so
you won’t miss out.

We thank everyone who has paid their membership for 2026. Your faithfulness to keep remembering us means more than we can say.

God bless each of you for your generosity. We really need some new members. If you could see fit, to come and enjoy the people you would meet that come to see our museum and see the history that we are trying to preserve, it would be worth your while. Meeting every third Monday at 1:00pm.

Motion was made to adjourn. Chester made the motion and Debbie seconded and all were in favor. Phrocene served a very delicious candy bar cake that was enjoyed by all. We thank her for this treat each month. It worth coming to the meetings just to get
her dessert.

Dianne Bowen, President
Chester Smith, Vice President
Wanda Ruark, Secretary
Martha Baynor, Treasurer

11/14/2025

History that might be new to you.

On November 12, 1758, during a foggy and rainy November twilight just outside Fort Ligonier, two Virginia Regiments under the command of Colonel George Mercer and a young Colonel George Washington mistook each other for their enemy, opening fire on one another in the fog and near darkness. The result was around 40 casualties. That tragic yet historically significant event altered the course of the Forbes Campaign in the French and Indian War, significantly impacting young George Washington's life.

This incident would be the last time Washington would be involved in an active battlefield engagement until the American Revolution and would go unmentioned for thirty years until the winter of 1788. While working on notes for his biographer, Washington penned these words in a document that would come to be known as "The Remarks":

"Previus to this, and during the time the Army lay at Loyal haning a circumstance occurred wch involved the life of G. W. in as much jeopardy as it had ever been before or since[.] the enemy sent out a large detachment to reconnoitre our Camp, and to ascertain our strength; in consequence of Intelligence that they were within 2 Miles of the Camp a party commanded by Lt Colo. Mercer of the Virga line (a gallant & good Officer) was sent to dislodge them between whom a Severe conflict & hot firing ensued which lasting some time & appearing to approach the Camp it was conceived that our party was yielding the ground upon which G. W. with permission of the Genl called (for dispatch) for Volunteers and immediately marched at their head to sustain, as was conjectured the retiring troops. led on by the firing till he came within less than half a mile, & it ceasing, he detached Scouts to investigate the cause & to communicate his approach to his friend Colo. Mercer advancing slowly in the meantime—But it being near dusk and the intelligence not having been fully dissiminated among Colo. Mercers Corps, and they taking us, for the enemy who had retreated approaching in another direction commenced a heavy fire upon the releiving party which drew fire in return in spite of all the exertions of the Officers one of whom & several privates were killed and many wounded before a stop could be put to it. to accomplish which G. W. never was in more imminent danger by being between two fires, knocking up with his sword the presented pieces."

You can read the full transcript of Washington's "Remarks" here: https://shorturl.at/L8xUO

Image: "Flash Point" by Chas Fagan, 2019. This painting depicts the integral moment mentioned in Washington's account when he realizes that they are firing on their comrades and he attempts to stop the firing on his side. Prints of this painting are available in our gift shop.

11/10/2025

11/09/2025

Remember our veterans today and every day.

> Arthur, an 88-year-old Vietnam veteran, sat in his wheelchair in the back of the courtroom. His wife was gone, he had no children, and his small house was falling apart. He'd been cited for code violations he couldn't afford to fix—a broken porch, peeling paint, and a leaking roof. The judge,...

10/30/2025

Pantego Academy Historical Museum Association, Inc.
46 Academy Street, Pantego, North Carolina
Membership Minutes
Face Book – Pantego Museum
October 20, 2025
To contact a member: 252-943-2034 or 252-935-5080

President Dianne Bowen called our meeting to order. Mark Woolard had prayer and led us in our pledge to our flag.
Members present were Dianne Bowen, Mark Woolard, Phrocene Allen, Wanda Ruark, Durwood Respess, Martha Baynor and Sylvia Wallace.

Wanda read the minutes of our last meeting. Phrocene made motion to accept, Mark seconded and all were in favor.
Martha read treasurer’s report; it was approved as read.

Our business was our shrimp plate fund raiser – we had a good turnout. The public seemed to enjoy the shrimp this time. We usually have had fish but decided to try shrimp. That being said, we ran out early. We are sorry if you were some of the ones who came only to find that we had sold out. We will work on this at our spring fund raiser in hopes things will be better. We do thank all who came to support our efforts to keep the Academy maintained for all to enjoy this “one of a kind” treasure trove of things from days gone by.

Taking care of the building is an ongoing process and we do things as we get enough funds to do so. Stop by on a Saturday or Sunday from 2 to 4 to see how everything looks. It is a never-ending effort. Just like your house, probably, but on a much larger scale. There are lots of things that have to be dusted!!!

We are saddened to report we have lost two very faithful members since last month. Mrs. Bernadyne Windley Respess, Mr. Joseph A. Windley’s sister, passed away and she was our oldest member at 102. She had paid her membership every year up until last year as her heath declined.

Julian Russ passed away also. He was a very active member. He has done more work on this building than you could ever know. He was one our handy men and took care of so many things here at the academy. He also would be out here to greet visitors. He was at every meeting right up until his health would no longer enable him to do so.

One of our rest rooms has had an upgrade. John Allen donated new fixtures for our handicapped rest room and we are most grateful for his contribution. He lives in Virginia and it means so much that he cares enough to do that for us.

Our flag is caught on the top of the flag pole and has to be taken down with a bucket truck. Tideland has been good in the past getting our flags down when they hang up. We will call them to come to our rescue. We need a new flag to take that one’s place. Mark is to check on this for us.

We have three new members: Paul Condra, Tim Condra and Oden Ratcliff. All are graduates of PHS. Thanks, guys, for joining us.

We are fortunate that people bring items to the Museum to put on display. We recently had someone to give us what we are calling a pitching sleeve, as it may be called, today. This was worn by Eric Harris who was a member of the Class of 1965. Eric Harris pitched for the Warriors and when he would get on base after his turn at bat, Couch Kinion would call “time out “and Eric would put his ball jacket on to “keep his arm warm” so the story goes. It was a sad time when Eric died a young man his freshman year of college. If you come out sometime to see the things we have on display, maybe you can help us out as to what this is made from. Someone has written on it, “Eric Harris, 1964 – 1965. It will be on display in our “Trophy Room”. Thanks for sharing this with us.

Mark made motion to adjourn. I seconded and all were in favor. We knew what was coming next. Phrocene had made Martha’s favorite dessert – do you remember what it is? If you said Snicker Bar Cake – you were right! It was delicious. As all her desserts are. She is so good to us.

It is officially fall already. Time is flying away. Take care and stay safe.

Dianne Bowen, President
Chester Smith, Vice President
Wanda Ruark, Secretary
Martha Baynor, Treasurer