♪

[gentle orchestral fanfare]

[resonanstrings
lead building orchestration]

♪

(male narrator)
Welcome to "Our State,"

a production of UNC-TV

in association
with "Our State" magazine--

for over 70 years,

bringing the wonders
of North Carolina

to readers across the state.

On this edition,

the loving care it takes
to keep venerable old clocks

ticking and chiming
in towers across the Piedmont,

a ride on some
of the many ferry boats

traveling our coastal waters--

And you never know
where you might find

a parade in our state.

♪

(male announcer)g]
BB&T serves the needs

of more than 180 communities,

from the Outer Banks
and the Blue Ridge Mountains

to everywhere in between.

Since 1872,

we have supported the people
and places of North Carolina,

and we've been proud
to live and work here too.

We love calling
North Carolina our home,

and we're pleased to provide
major funding for "Our State."

Additional funding has been
tk-tk, tk-tk...tk-tk V members.

tk, tk...tk

(narrator)
There's something about clocks.

We barely notice them,

and yet they command
our attention.

[bells lead
New Age orchestration]

"Where does time go?"
we ask one another.

Mostly, it seems
to have disappeared--

at least the sound of time,

thanks to today's
mostly silent timekeeping.

Oh, how those of us
who grew up falling asleep

to the ticks of a wind-up clock
miss that mechanical thing...

with its civilized bell...

dng, dng...dng

instead of that
annoyingly insistent,

blaring mosquito of an alarm
we wake up to nowadays.

[electronic beeping]
eep, eep...eep

[clattering]
klk, klk...klk

It is comforting
to know that some time,

somewhere
in North Carolina today,

someone who appreciates
time's seemingly slower,

more embraceable cadences

is winding a clock by hand...

mostly around town squares,

in clock towers
of various measure...

reached only by repeated,

often twisting
flights of stairs.

[echoing footsteps]
tp, tp...tp

♪

The mechanisms
that await the special touch

of the clock keeper
ar

e wonderfully wrought marvels,

with myriads
of patient cams and gears...

[clicking]
khh...

khh...

khh

(narrator)
tripping levers,

swinging pendulums,

and who knows what,
working in perfect synchrony

to provide the public with one
of the unique experiences

of small-town life...

[clattering]
klk, klk...klk

dnnggg

the sound of time.

dnnggg

Each of these clocks is loved

and, glory of glories,
not at all quiet.

dnnggg

dnn-dnnggg

And what
a splendid song they make.

dnnggg

klk, klk...klk

♪

(man)
Now, this is a wonderful marvel

of engineering that's, uh--

goes back more than 200 years.

Uh, Salem was
begun in 1766

as the central
community

of the Moravian
settlements here

in what we called
"Wachovia."

♪

We needed to bring
a sort of regular operation

to the community.

That meant
keeping track of time.

[mechanism clicking]
khh, khh

I'm sorry that people
outside cannot hear

this regular, uh,
thump, thump, thump

of the escape mechanism
and as the pendulum--

this 10-foot pendulum--
swings back and forth.

But standing here feeling,
with my hand on the frame,

I can feel it.

It's like a heartthrob.

The clock provides a heartbeat
for this community.

♪

(woman)
I've always liked clocks,

so to be able to be around

the city's
most famous clock

and take care of it--

it's almost like
a dream come true.

♪

We have to wind it twice a day,

and because it is as old
as it is, it--

you never
can get it exactly right,

so we--
we more or less--

we just guess
at what the time is.

Something like this,

you've got
to really be interested in.

And I waited on this job
for a whole year before--

before I got it.

I wanted this job.

It's almost like
a little piece of history.

♪

(narrator)
Not that far away,

under the same incredible arc
of Carolina blue sky,

lies a picturesque courthouse

in which a clock
still marks time

for the citizens
of Hillsborough

in Orange County.

♪

(man)
You can get to the point
where you have a relationship

with the clock
where you can hear

when the clock's in good shape
or when it's not.

My ear's tuned to it,
like having a baby, you know.

If it doesn't strike the hour,
I go into panic mode

and run up the stairs.

♪

As far as we know,
it's the oldest unmodified, uh,

tower clock in North America.

And this expert told me that it
wa

s basically the cheapest clock

you could buy
in its day--hehhh.

But it took a lickin';
it kept tickin'.

And I hear engineers

use the word elegant
about a solution

when it's as simple as possible,

and this here
is an elegant solution.

I mean, it tells time,
and it tells time accurately,

with a number of parts
that you can count

without really giving yourself
a headache.

It's just a nifty machine,

and...watch somethin'
like this.

And...

[gears clicking]
enn, enn...enn

[ringing]
dnnggg...dnnggg

I've never done that--

I have never done that
that I didn't smile.

Hehh, hehh,
hehh, hehh!

I have never done it
with other people around

that they didn't smile.

(narrator)
And that's the way it is
all across North Carolina

where these wonderful clocks
may be found.

There's a lot of pride
in maintaining them

and boasting about them too.

♪

In Henderson,

both tasks fall
to the local firemen

because the clock
is in their firehouse.

(man)
It's functional.

It's really the symbol
of the city of Henderson.

Back in 1991,

when the city celebrated
its 150th year anniversary,

uh, it kinda took it on and
really made it the city symbol.

Uh, we kinda jumped on it
prior to that--

we put it in our shoulder patch.

The city also incorporated
the city, uh, clock tower

and the city flag.

It's just part of the--

the history
of the city of Henderson,

and we're very proud of it.

The firefighters
here in Henderson, it's--

we take pride in it,
and we take ownership in it,

and we keep it and maintain it.

(narrator)
Evidence of that ownership?

The clock tower was used
at one time to dry fire hoses

and by the names of firemen
who took care of the place

scratched on the clock-tower
walls over the years.

[bell ringing]
dnnggg

dnnggg

dnnggggg

Henderson's clock
has been electrified,

so there's no winding task,

like there is in Yanceyville,
our next clock stop.

But as with them all,
a certain series of events

has to occur
to create the main event...

when the clock strikes.

(man)
It's setting up now,

and uh, it sets up
about maybe 30 seconds

before it goes off.

And then it raises, uh,
the hammer up and this--

like this.

And that's how you get
your force to pull the bell.

[clicking]
tkkk

There it goes.

[ringing]
dnnggg, dnnggg...dnnggg

♪

[machinery whirs]
zhhrrh

(narrator)
Interestingly,
Yanceyville's clock

was electrified
at one time, as well,

and then was reconverted.

It also survived a fire,

not to mention
a good deal of neglect,

after which the clock parts

wound up
scattered all over town.

(Richmond)
We

ll, we kept lookin' for parts,

and nobody knew
where the pendulum ball was.

So Ms. Anderson
was in charge of the, uh,

historical museum in town,

and I said something
to Ms. Anderson about it,

and uh,
she said, "No, Leon,

I don't know anything
about the pendulum ball."

And I said, "Well, it would
weigh about 15 to 25 pounds,

and it would have a hole
down in the middle of it."

She said,
"Oh, we keep--

"we keep the door
propped open

in the historical room
with that."

[chuckling]
So that--

that was amazing
that we found that.

(narrator)
Madison, North Carolina, too,

enjoys the revival
of its town clock.

dnnggg

Originally dedicated
as a memorial

to the doughboys of World War I,

it also
ha

d stopped running at one time,

even after considerable
repairs had been invested.

To the rescue
came a tinkerer of sorts--

a retired engineer

who happened to have a small
machine shop in his basement.

(man)
And they just asked me
to look at it

out of desperation.

I have just been looking after
it ever since, essentially.

But it takes a lot of attention,

because it will change time

with the change
in the temperatures.

You know, when it's colder,
it runs slower;

when it's warmer,
it runs faster.

♪

But I get stopped on the street,
an

d people say, "You know,

"I remember when I was young
I could hear that clock chime,

and that was my curfew time
to come home."

(narrator)
These clocks have a great deal
of social value, it seems,

and they are worthy
of great care.

Consider the thoughts
of Hillsborough's Tom Magnuson.

♪

(Magnuson)
I

think that's why
th

e clock winders come up here--

they feel
like they're participating,

feel like they have
a piece of the town,

and that they're
doing somethin' good.

♪

And there is a certain
meditative quality.

♪

I've never gone
to sleep up here.

I have come back down the stairs
with my blood pressure lower

than it was
when I went up the stairs.

♪

(narrator)
There is something calming

about the art and craft
of keeping time.

It's almost as if the regular
sounds that clocks make

mimic our own breathing.

So the next time
you have the opportunity,

pause and listen as one of these
gl

orious clocks gives forth

in full voice
with its splendid sound.

You will be transfixed,

even for but a moment,

in time.

dnnggg

dnnggggg

[gulls calling]
ahh, ahh...ahh

[engine running]
rrrrnn

[jaunty flute
and drum arrangement]

(narrator)
At several places
along our coast,

you quite literally
come to the end of the road.

[water lapping]
slsh, slsh...slsh

Travelers find that,
to continue their trip,

they must board
one of the 20 vessels

the state operates
to reach their destination.

[horn blowing]
ehhn, ehhn

♪

[steel ramp clanking]
tnnk, tnnk

For some people,

a ferry trip
is a fact of daily life.

Other folks sometimes
go out of their way

to do this when they can.

♪

For tourists,

it's often one of the charms
of coastal travel.

[violin joins]

♪

(man)
In the beginning,
it was started to--

to bridge the islands

and bridge people
to the mainland.

And of course,
it still does that today.

You know, we carry, uh,

about 2.3--
2.35 million passengers a year.

A lot of those people are people
fr

om all over the country--

all over the United States
and the world.

♪

It's a tourist attraction
within itself.

[gulls calling]
ahh, ahh...ahh

♪

But we have
three classes of ferries.

We have the sound class.

Sound class ferries
are 220 feet.

Uh, they are the largest
ferries that we have.

♪

Then we have
the double-end class.

Uh, those ferries
are 180 foot in length--

drive on and drive off
on either end.

♪

Then the other class ferry

is what we call
the "Hatteras class."

And that is 150 foot--

uh, just drive
on one end,

and of course, you got to turn
th

e vessel around the other way.

[gulls calling]
ahh, ahh...ahh

shhhhhhhh

(narrator)
On the Neuse River ferry,

between Cherry Point
and Minnesott Beach,

the daily riders
probably don't spend much time

thinking about the technology

making their trip
shorter and easier.

But these ferries have
an ingenious propulsion system,

called a "Voit drive,"

that provides better control
in windy conditions

and gives them
great maneuverability.

(man)
It's got a system
on either end--

the A end and the B end.

And what it does,

it looks like helicopter blades
underneath the water.

It's not a conventional
propeller and rudder system.

Then, if I want
to straighten up,

I just put it straight,

and if I want
the bow to go that way,

you move it that way.

And also,
I can control my B end

with this one right here.

You know, you can go
to the dock in a hard wind,

a hard northeaster,
and not even touch it.

[engine humming]
ennnnnn

(narrator)
The powerful diesel engines

are used to hold the ferry
against the dock for boarding.

[steel clanking]
tnnk, tnnk

Once the last car is aboard,

the controls are switched--

the bow becomes the stern;
the stern becomes the bow.

And the captain
simply changes chairs

to move the boat forward
out of the dock.

That way, the ferry
never has to turn around.

rrrnnn

♪

[gulls calling]
ahh, ahh...ahh

♪

Twenty minutes after boarding,

you are across the Neuse River
and on your way again.

♪

Outer Banks travelers
are most familiar

with the boats linking
Hatteras Island with Ocracoke.

[gull calling]
ahhuh, eeh

ahhuh, eeh

These Hatteras class boats

have to contend with
the constantly shifting sands

of the very shallow
Hatteras Inlet.

♪

(man)
This is our worst part
of the channel, right here.

We're slowing down
so we don't bump bottom.

We probably got maybe
a foot and a half of water

underneath the keel
right now and it's--

the tide's probably almost high,

so can you imagine
what it is at low tide?

We try not to bump bottom,

but on low tide,
you will bump bottom

in a few spots in this channel.

And the more hurricanes
we have each season,

the trickier it gets.

(narrator)
The channel
is dredged periodically

by the Army Corps of Engineers,

but it's a constant battle

between shifting budgets
and shifting sand.

Lately, the sand
seems to be winning.

(Goodman)
Around here,
you got to stay on your toes,

because we work seven day on,
seven days off.

Your first day back,

you got to relearn
parts of the channel--

every week.

(narrator)
The shallow channel

brings another challenge
for the boat captains--

the effects of the wind.

(Goodman)
These boats are made
for shallow draft,

and the less draft you have,
the more tendency they have

to adverse effects
from the wind.

So if it's blowin'
50 mile an hour,

it's gonna shove you sideways.

It's a big sail.

p-p-p-p-p-p

♪

(narrator)
Travelers to Ocracoke
from the south

gather at the ferry terminal
on Cedar Island.

The larger ferries here

are designed to accommodate
the shallow waters

of Pamlico Sound.

A similar ferry operation
links Ocracoke

with the Hyde County seat
of Swan Quarter.

The view out here is one
you can't get from any road.

The two-and-a-half-hour trip
across Pamlico Sound

is like a mini ocean voyage.

Land disappears for awhile,

and you never know
what you might see.

In this case,
it's the ship "Elizabeth II"...

a sight that might have been
common in colonial times,

but a spectacular
surprise today.

♪

No matter
what your final destination,

getting on a ferry can mean
you are where you are going...

at least for a little while.

[steel ramp clanking]
tnnk, tnnk

tnnk, tnnk

♪

[drums lead
fast-paced march tune]

♪

[brass joins]

(narrator)
It's hard to resist the fun
and spectacle of a parade.

You can watch,
or you can take part.

♪

[P.A. blasting Little Richard's
"Long Tall Sally"]

You can let it all hang out,

jump up and down,
or laugh out loud.

Ahhhhhh!

(narrator)
Parades give us an excuse

to become someone else,
if we choose,

to act out our alter ego.

March to the beat
or forget about the beat--

it doesn't matter.

In fact,
it adds to the fun--

part order, part anarchy.

And we Americans,

well, we love a parade,

especially in North Carolina,

where there's a choice variety
to choose from.

[drums pace lively march tune]

[brass joins]

♪

The Governor's inaugural parade
in the capital city

gives people a chance
to loosen their ties,

forget about
their cares for a while,

and have a little fun.

[speaker blasting George Jones's
"W

hite Lightning"]

♪

Wilmington's
Azalea Festival parade,

the largest parade in our state,

is full of springtime color
and exuberance.

[brass leads
up-tempo orchestration]

♪

[fife and drums
play "Yankee Doodle"]

♪

[indistinct crowd noise]

Practically anything goes
in a parade.

As long as it's good,
clean, American fun,

let the child in you come out
and play for a few minutes.

[band plays "When the Saints
Go Marching In"]

♪

clp, clp...clp

[bagpipes drone]

♪

[applause]
clp, clp...clp

Parades are a distinctive part
of the American character.

For one thing,
they're free.

[kids shouting]
Candy!

(narrator)
And they're patriotic.

[applause]
clp, clp...clp

The tiny
North Carolina town of Faith

holds one of the state's largest
Fo

urth of July parades.

[steel drums
lead calypso arrangement]

♪

[brass and drums
play a march]

♪

[horn blowing]
ehhh-uhhhh

♪

[bagpipes drone
as drum pounds]

♪

[brass leads
"Angels We Have Heard on High"]

Asheville's wonderful Christmas
parade can't be missed--

a creative spectacle

with the Blue Ridge Mountains
as a backdrop.

[brass leads "Jingle Bells"]

♪

[indistinct talking]

Merry Christmas!

[brass leads
"God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen"]

♪

[brass transitions
to "Jingle Bells"]

♪

[crowd applauding]

[electric bass
leads lively pop melody]

♪

(girl #1)
Merry Christmas!

(girl #2)
Happy holiday!

[foghorn blasting]
ehhnnnnn

(narrator)
And then, as the new year
rolls around,

there's the unforgettable
New Bern boat parade,

a mélange of waterborne
sounds and sights

that you'll not soon forget.

[chimes play
"Jingle Bells"]

♪

[foghorn blasting]
errrnnnnn

♪

So the next time
you hear the sounds

of a parade rising
in the distance,

drop your inhibitions
and head for the fun

at different times of the
year all across our state.

♪

Captioning
Caption Perfect, Inc.
www.CaptionPerfect.com

[man yelling]
Whooooa!

(woman)
Merry Christmas!

(man)
Heeeyy!

(announcer)
To subscribe
to "Our State" magazine,

visit the Web site
www.ourstate.com or call...

From back roads and small towns

to busy interstates
and bustling cities,

BB&T is proud
to contribute to the growth

of more than
180 North Carolina communities.

We've seen a lot change
in our 130 years,

but our commitment
to the people we serve

is one thing that never will.

We're proud to help build
th

is special place we call home,

and we're proud to provide

major funding for "Our State."

Additional funding has been
provided by UNC-TV members.