The Ocean Isle Museum Foundation (OIMF) will present the 2025 Louise Ingram Coastal Caretaker Award to Ocean Isle Beach Mayor Debbie Smith at its third annual Beach Ball scheduled for April 3 at the Tides (formerly Seabreeze) at Bricklanding.
The event, which raises funds for the Museum of Coastal Carolina and Ingram Planetarium, will feature speaker David W. Brown, the author of the book The Mission, an acclaimed true story of how a resilient group of researchers convinced NASA to begin exploring Jupiter’s ocean moon, Europa.
Debbie Sloane Smith was among the first residents in Ocean Isle Beach and has lived here since 1955, a year after Hurricane Hazel decimated the island. She first served on the board of commissioners in 1983 and was elected mayor in 2003.
Tirelessly, Smith has led the town’s efforts to improve the island town’s resiliency against coastal threats and protect it from flooding and erosion. She has long been a supporter of educational efforts about these issues.
The Coastal Caretaker Award is given annually to a person who does notable work to preserve our coastal environment, heritage and culture through education, conservation and/or preservation. It is named for Louise Ingram who, with her husband Stuart, founded the Museum and the Planetarium.
Launched in October 2024, the Europa Clipper set out on a mission to study the icy moon where scientists believe life may exist. But the evidence of life, similar to that on Earth, wasn’t always as convincing as it is now. It took a team of researchers years to convince NASA to plan the voyage. Today, in addition to the 1.8 billion-mile voyage, scientists are using Earth’s oceans to study the possibility that discovering life on Europa is more possible than it is on even the oft-studied planet Mars.
Louisiana writer, Brown, whose work appears in Scientific American, the New Yorker, the New York Times and Wine Spectator, tells this remarkable story in the literary fashion of a novel. Brown is a former paratrooper and Army veteran of Afghanistan.
The Beach Ball is a fun way to celebrate the place where we love to live: The coast of North Carolina. Guests are invited to dress in their chicest coastal cocktail attire, enjoy drinks and dinner with friends, and learn a little about our coastal environment and our universe. Individual event tickets are $125 and can be purchased here. Tables of eight for $800 are also available. For sponsorship opportunities or to host a table, please call Ocean Isle Museum Foundation Executive Director Jim Hoffman at 910-579-1016.
Event sponsors include Art Catering, Adams Beverages and the Ocean Isle Inn.
