[electronic strings droning]

♪

[piano notes lead]

(elderly man)
It's never really
mattered to us

how it came here
or why it was here,

but we felt the necessity
to try to protect it

as much as we could.

If it needs somethin',
what does it need?

♪

Well, most
every morning is--

is the best time
of the day for me.

I'm always loved
early mornings.

♪

And I like to make my coffee,

sit in a chair,
and just kinda meditate.

I enjoy watching the sunrise.

Frequently, when I'm lookin'
out over the water,

that comes to mind,

about how much things
have changed in my lifetime.

[musical mood brightens]

It was, uh,
a young boy's dream

to have a home on the water,

look out, and enjoy the view
that's offered every day.

♪

Across the way
is Jockey Ridge.

It's not growing
in height.

It's growing in diameter,

as all the hills do
in this area.

They move to the southwest.

♪

My parents and grandparents
that were here on the island

said that the island
was always full of grapevines.

♪

And most every family

on the north end
of Roanoke Island

had a scuppernong grapevine
in their yard.

♪

The north part
being a sandy soil--

it's what the grapevines
look for.

But the rest of the island

and the south part
of the island,

they'd have very few
grapevines down there,

and so the grocery stores
had a market for 'em.

My first money that went
in my pocket that I made

came from the sale of grapes
off the grapevine,

old scuppernong grapes.

♪

In 1939,
I was pickin' some grapes

at my grandmother's
and grandfather's yard

when I saw a lotta smoke.

My grandfather
had an old Model T truck.

He said,
"Let's ride downtown and--

and see what's happening."

It was quite a scene,

major fire in town

that destroyed probably 50%,
60% of our town waterfront

with what stores
and post office

and everything
on the waterfront.

[guitar leads solemn score]

At the time
that I first spotted the fire,

I was on top of the grapevine,
picking grapes.

[violin leads]

♪

[off-screen]
Bigger piece,
that's a bigger piece there.

[voice-over]
When we first moved here,

which was 1957,
I think it was,

the grapevine
I knew all about--

I knew it was there,
and we knew--we joined it.

(Estelle)
Th

e vine ties you
an

d I together

for all these years.

(Jack, voice-over)
First important thing to us

was the fact
that that's our neighbor.

That's a good neighbor.

They won't--
we won't have

any hard times
with each other.

♪

With this age,
you never know what to expect,

I guess, but the harshness
of the winter

doesn't really concern me
about the vine.

I figure it's--
if it's been here this long

and done well that weather's
not gonna be the--

the key to a problem
with it.

The main thing
is to make sure that it starts

to bud around everywhere.

We haven't had the weather
that will bring it out,

but I think it's comin'.

♪

In the early part of spring,
as it changes

over to warmer weather,
the sap begins to rise.

♪

Frequently
when I'm lookin' out

over the water,
there's never a time

that I can't sit
in a chair there

and look out
and see something

I'm real happy to look at

and enjoy
and appreciate the fact

that it's there
and that I'm here to see it

and how lucky I am
to still be here.

[airy, droning strings
support piano]

♪

In the spring, when it
first starts to come back,

and the first thing you know,

you see little sprouts
breaking off,

and then the leaves start.

It goes through just about
the same stage every year.

[undulating
electronic droning]

When that grapevine
has green leaves,

they stay green,
no matter how much

a lack of rain
that we may have.

Our yards may turn brown.

Some of our trees may turn,

but that grapevine
feeds itself.

It has, as most people say,
as much root in the ground

as it does vine on the top.

There was some researcher
from a college that came here

who had tried
to determine the age.

At that time,
they started talkin' about

in excess
of 400 years old,

the theory
that it was probably

the first cultivated vine
in America,

And it was
the old Mother Grapevine.

How the Mother Vine got here,
I really don't know.

There have been
so many stories,

everything from the fact

that it was brought over
by the Lost Colony

to where the Indians
cultivated it.

(Estelle)
One of 'em said they were sure

that the colony
had cuttings on that ship

from a scuppernong grape
that they brought over

at the time they
actually landed in this area.

Another one,
that when they arrived,

there was the sweet aroma
of grapes.

Everything smelled
like grapes.

Which was right?

No one
would ever know.

(Jack)
Only thing I can tell you is,

I know that it's
been here 90 years.

[piano leads
reflective arrangement]

It's never
really mattered to us

how it came here
or why it was here,

but we felt the necessity
to try to protect it

as much as we could.

It was about three
or four years ago.

It came as a surprise.

Everything was doing normal.

[guitar melody joins]

♪

I noticed some browning
in the leaves

right on that power pole.

♪

The power company,
they were going

all over Roanoke Island,

and they were actually
spraying and cutting,

the clearance
of the power lines.

Probably didn't even know
what they were spraying.

Didn't realize it was a--
a grapevine

that was important to anybody,

and that spraying
had started advancing

real fast
into the Mother Vine,

and it looks for the roots
to kill the vine.

So then, I knew

we had to cut back
onto the vine.

We got ahold of a person
down in Wilmington,

and he cut a piece
of the vine and says,

"You see the little brown
in there?"

Said yep.

He said, "That's poison,

so I've got to cut further
back on this vine than that."

From the day that he came
and started cutting the vine,

it was probably six weeks.

He did get ahead of it,
and he did stop it.

The power company--
they were as cooperative

as anybody
could ask anybody to be.

I'm so happy
that it did work out that way

and that the vine is,
in my opinion,

over the shock of the poison.

And I hope the vine
appreciates the protection

that we're trying to give it.

♪

[reflective piano theme]

I've had such a great life...

no complaints.

♪

(Estelle)
Good morning.

(Jack)
Good morning.

(Estelle)
heh, heh...heh

(Jack, interview)
Maybe my life span
has something to do

with how much
association I've had

with scuppernong grapes.

Who knows?

I can't say it does;
I can't say it didn't.

Only thing I know is,
I'm still enjoying it.

♪

(Estelle)
You see some?

♪

Oh yeah,
I see 'em now, sure.

I haven't given it
as much time as Jack,

but I love the vine.

I mean, it's part of me.

♪

(Jack)
Even today,

when the time is right,

you could ride anywhere

up in this
Mother Vineyard area,

and you will get that aroma,

a sweet, delicious smell...

♪

from the old Mother Grapevine.

♪