Old Christmas

Brent Midgett As Santa At Shooting Competition BY LIZ Z PARDUE For more than 200 years, citizens of the Outer Banks village of Rodanthe ...

Brent Midgett As Santa At Shooting Competition

BY LIZ Z PARDUE

For more than 200 years, citizens of the Outer Banks village of Rodanthe have gathered during the first weekend of the New Year for oysters, shooting, fistfights, and a chance to interact with a mystical bull called Old Buck.


Oysters
 
It’s a tradition called “Old Christmas”, which dates back to when the first Europeans came to the giant sandbar and colonized a community the indigenous peoples named Chicamacomico – or “land of sinking sands”. At the time, Christmas was celebrated 11 days after Epiphany at the end of Advent, usually on January 6. When the rest of the United States mainlanders changed to the Gregorian Calendar in 1752, Christmas Day was officially changed to December 25, but news of this change didn’t reach those in Rodanthe for many decades. Once word finally made its way across the Pamlico Sound, the islanders shrugged and kept with their well-established January ritual, continuing the practice until now.


The myths of Old Christmas are more varied than the actual traditions. Old-timers remember when the highlight of the event was focused around the fistfights that broke out after dark between neighbors, as a chance to “settle the score” to welcome peace in the new year. Islanders tell me stories about mob brawls between entire families that happened at Old Christmas in the 1970’s and 80’s. Others remember when the party ended when the cops were called to the scene – a rarity in this small, remote village during the tourist off-season.


Santa Checks In For Shooting Competition

Other partygoers claim to remember when the shooting contest involved contestants shooting oyster shells out of the sky as a judging panel threw them, but David O’Neal assures me this isn’t the case. “We’ve always used targets,” he assures me, gesturing to the photos on the wall of the Rodanthe Community Center proving his point. His family has been the official hosts of the event for more than 40 years at this point. Along with his sister Lovie and his brother Ryan, the O’Neals continue Old Christmas as an open-to-the-public family gathering, in the footsteps of the family’s matriarch, Connie.


Shooting Competition

The trio hold true to the Old Christmas traditions they remember as children, including telling the story of the Golden Drum of Bonnie Prince Charlie, an instrument used in battle by 12-year-old Donald McDonald, a distant family member in Scotland. Later, the drum acted as a life preserver for him when he was flung from a ship on his way to the New World and washed to shore in Rodanthe in 1757. According to legend, the drum was used in battle during the Revolutionary War, and is brought out every year to remember those who fought for freedom, as a testament to the endurance of the village’s ancestors.


Tradition Of Legendary Drum
 
There is, of course, the shooting contest with prizes awarded in the form of bushels of local oysters. Later, all partygoers are invited to enjoy piles of enormous, freshly-roasted oysters from just offshore. Although the official dinner of the evening is “chicken and pastry”, the highlight of the evening is standing shoulder to shoulder with other guests, awaiting the next batch of steaming shellfish, shuckers in hand.


One Man's Winnings From Shooting Competition
 
Later in the evening, the crowd is greeted to an appearance by Old Buck, a mythical bull led through the party hall by one of the younger O’Neals. There are many ideas of what Old Buck is about; some believe he is there to judge children, letting those on the “nice list” go for a ride while bucking off the naughty ones, while others believe he is there to welcome the new year - those who can pat his nose are granted good fortune for the next twelve months. But one thing is for certain: his visit is fleeting and joy-bringing to all partygoers. A false bullhead is held by two young men draped in a zebra-print blanket and allow themselves to be led around the room, in and out within moments.


Old Buck
 
Despite what may’ve happened in past years, these days, Old Christmas is a peaceful event; the easygoing crowd sips beers and relaxes together all through the afternoon and evening with laughter, dancing, and singing well into the night. The tradition is small and intimate with less than 100 guests, and surprisingly insular; many other communities on Hatteras Island know nothing about this party.


Chicken And Pastry

This is the part the O’Neals are happy to change, “We want to welcome everyone we can to Old Christmas,” Lovie says with a smile. David agrees, “Welcoming newcomers is only way we’ll keep this going for another two hundred years.”

OLD BUCK THROUGH THE YEARS
(Photos are hung on the walls of the Rodanthe Community Center and donated by the Outer Banks History Society)













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Strange Carolinas: The Travelogue Of The Offbeat: Old Christmas
Old Christmas
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Strange Carolinas: The Travelogue Of The Offbeat
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