Elizabeth City to celebrate 25 years of waterfront's Buddies

ELIZABETH CITY

Eleven months after Rose Buddies co-founder Fred Fearing died, Elizabeth City will celebrate the 25th anniversary of when the internationally known waterfront greeters hosted their first wine and cheese party.

A marker honoring the Rose Buddies will be dedicated from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. today at Mariners' Wharf and Groupers Restaurant.

The Rose Buddies began in 1983 when two widowers, Joe Kramer and Fearing, left church one day and decided to greet boaters who stopped on the Elizabeth City waterfront.

Fearing brought wine and cheese while Kramer offered home-grown roses to the women. Over the years, word of the city's free docks and hospitality spread throughout the international boating community. Sailing magazines added to their fame with stories about the Rose Buddies. Boaters following the Intracoastal Waterway went out of their way to pass through the Dismal Swamp Canal so they could stop in Elizabeth City.

When Kramer died in the mid-1980s, Fearing kept the tradition going.

Fearing was known for his thick Southern drawl as he told visitors about the history of Elizabeth City.

In 1985, TV weatherman Willard Scott gave the Rose Buddies a golf cart. Nearly every day, Fearing, a retired postal carrier, could be seen sitting in his cart talking with boaters at the waterfront or driving back and forth to his home, a few blocks from the Pasquotank River.

A couple of years ago, Fearing's driving became so erratic that he was considered a danger to himself and others.

The city nearly revoked his driving privileges but later reconsidered. Fearing was lectured on street safety and courtesy.

Around town, he was known to be cantankerous at times and protective of his role with the Rose Buddies, declining help even as his health began to fail.

But the boaters loved him as he continued greeting almost up to his death last year at age 93. News of Fearing's death spread through the boating world, and many were concerned the Rose Buddies would disband.

"The tradition will continue," said Dave Thomas, who assisted with Rose Buddies duties. "You don't replace him. You complement his modus operandi. You can't replace anybody like that."

Jeff Hampton, (252) 338-0159, jeff.hampton@pilotonline.com