Practicing What 

 They Preach 



By Jeannie Faris Norris • Photographs by Scott D. Taylor 



"Gentle living" is the '90s response to excesses of the '80s. 



Countless books, tapes and newsletters are devoted to the concept of living 



simpler, environmentally friendlier, less consumptive lifestyles. 

 TJie Trinity Center on Bogue Banks embraces this philosophy, teaching 

 and preaching the values of gentle living. The barrier island is its classroom. 



Owned and operated by the Episcopal Diocese of East Carolina, 

 the center is open to nonprofit groups for conferences, retreats and camps. 

 Kids from North Carolina and beyond attend the Sound to Sea program, 

 and senior citizens visit through the Elderhostel program. 



L 



live gently. 

 Respect all creatures and the 

 habitats they live in. Think 

 every day about conserving 

 the resources that nature 

 makes available to you. 



It sounds like a lecture 

 from the Sierra Club, but 

 this is word fare from the 

 Trinity Center, an Episcopa- 

 lian conference facility sited 

 on a 60-acre cross section of 

 Bogue Banks. Visitors take 

 home these messages after a 

 few days in the center's 

 environmental education 

 programs. And even those 

 who come only to meet and 

 retreat leave with sound impressions of these words 

 in action. 



That's because the Trinity Center staff practices 

 what it preaches. 



From new construction to salt marsh instruction, 

 the center takes measures to minimize its intrusion on 

 the barrier island, says Executive Director Mike 

 Morgan. This asylum of sand, marsh and maritime 

 forest, tucked off of Highway 58, has been different 



Executive Director Mike Morgan 

 poses with new construction. 



things to different people 

 for 1 1 years. It's a relaxing 

 venue to meet for some. 

 For others, it's a living, 

 breathing, growing 

 classroom. Trails wind 

 through the grounds and 

 over the crests of ancient 

 sand dunes. Elderhostel 

 visitors explore the 

 geography of the island 

 and the cultures of 

 centuries past. Kids are 

 encouraged to sink nets 

 into estuarine waters in 

 search of what lives there. 

 And, from a walkway built 

 low over the salt marsh, 

 they learn that their actions have consequences. 



"We built a very low-to-the-marsh walk that 

 allows them to lie on their stomachs and touch these 

 things, to look at them. But they can't get in," 

 Morgan says. "The damage is incredible. From 

 just one person walking through there, you can 

 see the damage for two weeks. Can you imagine 

 80 kids at a time?" 



Continued 



16 JULY/AUGUST 1997 



