Festival Park Opens Pea Island Lifesaving Station Exhibit
Joan Collins (pictured below) was among the honored guests at the recent ribbon cutting ceremony for a new exhibit at Roanoke Island Festival Park featuring her father, Lt. Herbert M. Collins.
Joan Collins was among the honored guests at the recent ribbon cutting ceremony for a new exhibit at Roanoke Island Festival Park featuring her father, Lt. Herbert M. Collins.
Lt. Collins was from Roanoke Island and served at Lifesaving Station 17 on Pea Island, which had an all-African American crew, during World War II. When the station was closed in 1947, he served ashore and afloat in various capacities and was promoted to Lieutenant in 1969.
At the time of his retirement in 1973, the Collins family held the record for the longest continuous service in the Coast Guard dating back to 1880.
Special guests at the Roanoke Island Festival Park Adventure Museum ribbon cutting ceremony on April 10 (pictured below) included (left to right) Wally Overman, Dare County Board of Commissioners; Robert Partridge, Roanoke Island Commission ; Warren Judge, Dare County Board of Commissioners, Chair ;Virginia Tillett, Dare County Board of Commissioners; Susan Kluttz; Secretary, Department of Cultural Resources: Kim Sawyer, Roanoke Island Festival Park, Executive Director; Earl Willis Jr. ,Roanoke Island Commission, Chair; E. Brent Lane, Roanoke Island Commission; Perry White, Roanoke Island Commission, Vice-Chair; Mike Pringle, Outer Banks Chamber of Commerce, Chair.
The well-attended Chamber of Commerce Business After-Hours event was held on April 10.
The Roanoke Island Festival Park Adventure Museum ribbon cutting ceremony on April 10, 2014.
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