Meet Gregory Bohmert
In 1994 after 20 years in the Heavy Marine Salvage and Construction Industry in the NYC and Baltimore Harbor areas I had had enough urban sunshine and noise, the sex appeal of the big city lights was gone. I took my sisters suggestion to visit her and her new Raleigh born husband in the outskirts of Raleigh. While there they painted a scene of the “Down East” North Carolina coastline that reminded me of the endless summer shorelines of my youth, which I couldn’t resist. While passing through Oriental I saw these two small properties side by side on lower Midyette street next to the old Garland Fulcher Icehouse that were for sale, and I thought; here I can create my own Empire, so I turned in my bid one for each property, the sale contingent upon the purchase of both. Back on the job in Baltimore I got the word both offers had been accepted, now I just needed the money to actually make it happen. I put a for sale sign on the 1964 38 foot Chris Craft consolation motor yacht I had restored and been living on for the past 13 years. She was snatched up by a fellow who watched me restore her over the years and was too happy to pay what I asked, way too happy. When the local banker asked me if I had a Job, I told him yes, which was true, I just left off the part that the job was in Baltimore, and overnight I was a landowner. I started fixing boat and building my own marina in Oriental the spring of 1995. Oriental was a different place back then and most of the black dogs in town would sleep in the middle of the streets, my English Springer Spaniel Clancy #5 was no different. More people in town knew my dog Clancy than knew me, that’s the way Clancy # 5 was he’d greet and meet everyone who walked by on Midyette street down to the wildlife ramp or elsewhere. When It came time to name my fledgling Empire I chose the most recognized name on the west side of Oriental in those days-Clancy. So Clancy’s Marina, the face plate of my Empire, got its name from a shameless Love Sponge named Clancy.
Meet Candy Bohmert
I was born and raised in Northern Virginia, in horse country. The problem was that Washington D.C. kept reaching further west into the foothills of Virginia that I loved so much. Most of the places that I grew up playing in, riding horses in, chasing cows in and fishing in, have been consumed by six lane highways, shopping malls, and homes. I was in my home in Leesburg one night and decided that I just needed to find a place to breathe. I was talking to friend on the phone and she suggested I come and visit her. She was from Leesburg also, but had moved to her husband’s home town of Greenville, NC. That began a new journey in my life that landed me in Pitt County, New Bern, and then Oriental in Pamlico County. It felt like home when I got here in 1992 and that’s what it has become. Home. I went to college here. I met my husband here. Served on Boards and Committees. Ran local festivals and community gatherings. I currently serve as a County Commissioner for my district, which includes Oriental.
It is said that Pamlico is an Indian word that means “where the water and the land touch the sky”. I don’t know if the story is true, but it should be.