One way to eliminate the frustration of lights failing on your pre-lit Christmas Tree is to purchase a Down East Core Banks Crab Pot Tree. To understand why, we start with geography. East of Beaufort in eastern Carteret County, North Carolina is a region the locals call ‘Down East.’ Core Sound and Core Banks border to the east. Think ‘Outer Banks’ and by that I mean Hatteras and Ocracoke and then go south! The fifteen or so Down East communities, each with its own unique character or signature, can be accessed either by boat or by driving along Highway 70 East. But wherever you travel Down East you will surely encounter the ubiquitous High Tider ("Hoi Toider") accent, a dialect remnant of Elizabethan English (before the vowel shift) that was once spoken in colonial Carolina. Down East was among the first areas of the Carolinas settled by the English back in the 1600s so it is an area rich with history. Bordered by water on the north, east and south, the communities also are tied closely to the water. Fishing, crabbing, shrimping, oystering, hunting waterfowl, and carving decoys are threads running through and guiding the lives of these residents, threads that are as abundant as the nets drying and being repaired on many a lawn or stored on the work boats, commercial boats, and shallow skimmers that dot the landscape.
Like in many rural areas, making a living Down East can be a struggle. Sometimes the harvest from the sea is good. Sometimes it's not. Regardless, you could count on Harvey and Sons Net and Twine, located in the Down East community of Davis to supply the commercial fishing industry with the necessary gear to bring in that harvest. Here you could find trawl, large nets that are lowered into the water and dragged along the seafloor, to catch the myriad of shrimp and schooling fish like mullet. Crabbing is another popular endeavor Down East so, naturally, Harvey and Sons would stock stacks and stacks of brightly colored crab traps locally called "crab pots." But, it's called “fishing” and not “catching” for a reason. The variable nature of the commercial fisheries, and a desire to keep the family business growing, as a legacy for his sons, prompted Nicky Harvey to look for other products that would appeal to the larger NON-commercial fishing population. Now, Mr. Harvey's roots go deep in the Down East culture, where "making do" and "doing with the materials at hand" are long traditions. His fertile mind played with ideas of what could be done with left-over materials, and he experimented with making miniature crab traps for coastal decor. Then he began experimenting with triangles of the coated wire mesh, and BAM! the Core Sound Crab Pot Christmas tree was born.
This unique artificial tree was an immediate hit with friends and neighbors, who loved seeing traditional, commercial fishing materials repurposed and put to a new use. But Nicky's brain just didn't quit there... he experimented until he found a way to string lights on the tree. And, then, he figured out a way so his tree could be folded flat to 5% of its open position and then opened for display with the light strings remaining in place. BAM! Now Nicky Harvey had an idea worthy of a patent and U.S. Patent #6773134 was granted to him in 2004. During the Christmas season, these crab pot trees sprouted like mushrooms in coastal Carolina garden, gift, hardware and Christmas shops.
But the trees are not simply for celebrating Christmas .In the wake of 9-11, Harvey and Sons showed their patriot spirit with the Freedom Tree. That was just the beginning, however, as folks near and far discovered other creative ways to use their Crab Pot Trees as artificial trees for ALL seasons. Folks decorated the Crab Pot tree for celebrating holidays like New Years Day, Valentine’s Day and the Fourth of July and for commemorating family events like birthdays and anniversaries and for paying tribute to campaigns like Breast Cancer Awareness Month. or easily decorated with your favorite theme (or college colors), displayed seasonally on your deck, and used indoors or outdoors since their special coating prevents rusting.
By 2009, the demand for his Crab Pot Tree exceeded the capacity of his commercial fishing business. So, Nicky Harvey negotiated a national manufacturing and distribution agreement with Don Acree, owner of Fisherman Creations to make and sell them. Fisherman Creations, Inc., operates in Smyrna, just a few miles down the road from Davis so the trees retain their Down East heritage. Walk into this small operation and three things grab your attention. First, the large room is brightly lit. Second, that brightly lit room is filled with a clicking noise. Third, that brightly lit room with all the clicking is populated not by robots but by a small coterie of skilled artisans doing what they do best from Labor Day right up to Christmas: Assembling trees with simple tools and duct tape-covered fingers, the better to protect their hands from the weatherproof coated wire netting. As for the click-click-clicking sound, that came from specially made jigs the artisans spin by hand or foot, depending on the size of the tree they are making. Initially, trees ranged in size from 2 to 8 feet so there is a size for all. Then, a few years ago, they started making a 1 and one half foot tree with the scraps from the 2-foot trees. Nothing goes to waste- another proud Down East tradition.
Since his patent was issued back in 2004, well-over 100,000 trees have been sold throughout the U.S. and overseas, with more new orders almost every day of the year! Good news! Fisherman Creations even has a tree doctor. All damaged trees head to the doctor’s little corner hospital to be mended and returned to their owner. Repairs could be something as simple as updating lights from incandescent to LEDs or replacing strands. Heck, now you don’t have to plan a trip to coastal North Carolina to snag your Core Sound Crab Pot Tree. Simply go online at www.crabpottrees.com to place your order. To learn more about Down East Crab Pots and other Down East traditions, please go to my website, www.EmeraldIsleHomesforSaleNC.com and sign up for my blog. Ready to buy or sell? Call me at 919-308-2292. Explore the video tab for my weekly uploads to my YouTube channel. Subscribe to my YouTube channel and receive free donuts at my Flip Flops Donut shop. Text your email address to 919-308-2292 and subscribe to my newsletter. My book, "Live Where You Vacation" is available on Amazon.com or at Kindle.
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