Friends & neighbors

Tucked between the IntracoastalWaterway and N.C. 179 in Sunset Beach, Shoreline Woods and Seaside Station at Sea Trail form a community - in far more than name only.

The focal point for friendship and contributions to the greater neighborhood of Sunset Beach is the property owner's group, Sea Trail Property Owner's Association.

STPOA predates its better-known golf plantation sibling just on the other side of N.C. 179. Lots in Shoreline Woods and Seaside Station were sold well before the building of the Maples Golf Course in 1976.

Julia Thomas, who served as the group's first president, notes that STPOA had its founding meeting in her home about 21 years ago with 23 families attending.

"We met to discuss forming a Neighborhood Watch. With that meeting we began the tradition of holding monthly covered dish suppers," she said.

When the group outgrew meeting in homes, it moved to the Sunset Beach Volunteer fire department and then to its own building in 1988. The land for that building is the group's remaining tie with the once-parent Sea Trail group, now operating across the way.

Cynthia Blankenship, STPOA President for 2006-2007, said Sea Trail gave the land and contributed some funds (to add to what the homeowners raised) for the current STPOA building at 200 Station Trail, with the proviso that the land would belong to the POA as long as the association remains active and maintains the building.

The monthly suppers expanded to get-togethers for holidays and other special events. Speakers at the monthly meetings keep residents informed and entertained with programs that range from gardening to local history.

STPOA's soup night, weekly bridge and bingo, the occasional neighborhood breakfast and more keep the POA building busy with activities for area residents all month long.

Sunset Sands, the neighborhood gardening group, maintains the decorative plantings around the signs for the community. The "Sunshine" committee members see to it that residents receive birthday cards and track needs in case of illness or surgeries.

"The sunshine list is about more than sending cards. People are genuinely concerned about others," Blankenship said.

She added that when she and her husband moved to this area seven years ago, it was the caring nature of the Shoreline Woods/Seaside Station area as well as the beauty of the location that drew them to settle there. "It's the kind of place where neighbors drop by and visit," she said.

From the beginning, STPOA has also worked to better the lot of all residents of Sunset Beach, backing such issues as bringing the Food Lion and the CVS to the town. In addition, the group's members work together and as individuals as volunteers and contributors to a number of local causes.

Recently, STPOA, in conjunction with Sunset Beach Lion's Club, provided a specialized computer for a young area woman who was born without vision.

The group's caring, giving spirit has also filtered down to its youngest member, Kayla Finnerty, a second-grader at Jesse Mae Monroe Elementary who was recently honored for contributing her hair to Locks of Love, a national organization that uses donated hair to make wigs for cancer patients.